Butternut

Butternut has long been my favourite wood to carve natural finished sculptures. It tends toward a light brown to golden color when finished with oil. The wood is softer than Walnut so it carves well and stains easily. Unfortunately a canker is killing off most mature trees and this wood is getting harder to find in carving blocks and is getting very pricey as well. As a result I decided to locate a supply and stockpile some. Through my brother David I met a young man named Todd Girard. Todd and his father Luke, run a logging operation near my home town of Stanbridge East QC. They are also General Contractors who specialize in removing dead and broken trees. They delivered several Butternut logs to Todd's Grandfather, John Rhicard who in turn operates the Thick-N-Thin Lumber Mill. John and his daughter Eliza invited me to the mill to help with the cutting of the logs and show them what I wanted. It seems I was more in the way than anything as John and his daughters work very well together and in no time I had 300 board feet of Butternut planks 3" to 4" thick. That pile is now safely tucked away in my brother's barn along with another 200 bf from a later load of logs cut and sawn by John. I now have a good supply of clear and wormy Butternut carving blocks. Most of it will be dry in 2015 and the rest in 2016.

I have known the Rhicard family for many years. John and his wife Dianne and their large extended family are the most skilled group of people I have ever met. They can create or fix anything you can think of. John and Dianne's Owl Hoot Farm Maple products are the best I have ever tasted. They are also very generous and community minded. Every Spring for the last 22 years they have hosted a sugaring off party to benefit the local hospital. Last Spring more than 900 people attended.