The Heavy Life

I'm Jake Lunniss. I make furniture by hand in a small workshop in Ocean Grove, cook lunch for strangers every other Saturday, and write about what happens when you build a life with your hands instead of a screen. I write here every week about the slow business of building a life that smells like sawdust, dirt and dinner.


Latest

Dispatch: Headwinds

Every kinder and daycare day I take the boys in on the bike, with them in a trailer. I love it, they love it. It takes about 11 minutes each way. Today, the first day of proper nasty weather of

27 March 2026 · 2 min read min read

Dispatch: Headwinds Dispatch: Lovely legs, lovely pine, lovely crumble. Dispatch: Lovely legs, lovely pine, lovely crumble.
The first time a chisel bit into a piece of timber the lie of the digital world was exposed.
Read the manifesto →

Essays

The longer pieces — the ones worth forwarding
Essay: On Camping
13 Mar 2026 · 3 min read min read
Essay: The Boys Made the Pastry
23 Feb 2026 · 3 min read min read
Essay: Seventy-Four Posts
17 Feb 2026 · 4 min read min read

Dispatches

Notes from the workshop, the kitchen, and the table
Dispatch: Headwinds
27 Mar 2026
Dispatch: Lovely legs, lovely pine, lovely crumble.
20 Mar 2026
Dispatch: Templates, Spectres, and Saturday Prep
6 Mar 2026

Stay close to the work