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: A Dropped Pie, a Self-Portrait and New Residents

It's the end of a long, long day toiling in the sun and I've just put the tools back in their rightful places after wiping encrusted sweat off them. Not garden tools, but carpenters tools. We

27 February 2026 · 2 min read min read

Dispatch: A Dropped Pie, a Self-Portrait and New Residents Dispatch: A Dropped Pie, a Self-Portrait and New Residents Essay: The Boys Made the Pastry Essay: The Boys Made the Pastry
The first time a chisel bit into a piece of timber the lie of the digital world was exposed.
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Essays

The longer pieces — the ones worth forwarding
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: Seventy Four Posts, then Zero
20 Feb 2026
Dispatch: Rain, and a Place for the Gear
12 Feb 2026

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