There's a sample joint sitting on my desk — an embracing shoulders tenon I cut for an AWR article — and I can't stop playing with it. Sliding the tenon into the mortise, hearing the click as the shoulders seat, hearing that pop as it slides out again. Pulling it out. Sliding it back in. It's practically pornographic. Monique has started shooting it jealous glances.

The article is for Australian Wood Review, hopefully it'll be in the September issue, and the joint needed a clean example free from the chaos of an actual build. So I milled up some Silky Oak and cut the thing, which is a much calmer experience from cutting it under the pressure of a commission piece where a mistake costs you a week. No stakes, just the cut. I'd forgotten how pleasant that can be.

Pleasant enough, apparently, to carry the thing inside like a trophy and sit there clicking it together while I'm supposed to be helping with the kids.

The Red Gum desk delivery has been pushed back to August, so I've pivoted to a fireplace surround. In Red Gum. After which there's a standing lamp. In Red Gum. I like the timber. I do. But by the time September rolls around and I'm finally onto a piece in Myrtle I suspect the relief will be dramatic. Red Gum fights you at every turn; Myrtle just does as it's asked. I'll appreciate the collaboration.

It's been a desk-heavy week, which is its own kind of work. The AWR piece needed drafting, the surround needed a worksheet and the dispatch needed writing. The bench has been quieter than I'd like. The surround is coming, though. More red dust.

Back to clicking.