I love Huey!
You'll be happy to know, I have a new love!
He's quite tall, blonde, very strong, so beautiful, so rugged. He is quite a bit older than me. He has a very rough exterior but he has an incredibly soft heart! He always smells nice and he is a great healer...if you ever need antiseptic, he has it. He hardly ever gets sick. He loves the outdoors and the water. He really is a rare breed and I love him soooo much!
Isn't he beautiful! You may not understand my excitement. This may just look like a bit of old dead wood to you but to me he's gorgeous. This is a Huon Pine log and he just became mine!Huon Pine is a very amazing timber. It is a slow growing wood which can be found only in a few small regions of Tasmania. It needs to dwell in the cold climates along the south and west of Tasmania. This gorgeous conifer prefers water views. In fact, Huey needs to have his feet wet all the time.
Huey, as we affectionately call him, grows only 0.3-2mm per year! So you can imagine how old this 2m log I bought is! Apparently, "The Huon pine can reach prodigious ages, often in excess of 2000 years, making it among the longest-lived organisms on Earth. Only the bristle-cone pine of North America exceeds it in age."
As if this were not incredible enough, Huon Pine also has an amazing oil which prevents rotting in the tree. This special quality was so valuable for the ship builders in early Australian history. This oil also gives the wood avery distinct smell. Due to the antibacterial qualities of this oil, it was also rare for men working at felling the trees to ever get sick! If they were to get a splinter from this wood it would not get infected. However, there was a downside to the amazing qualities of this oil: it was so strong that it would make the men blind after lengthened exposure to the oil.
Huon Pine has a beautiful golden grain. It really is a beautiful and amazing timber. Unfortunately, Huon Pine resources are scarce. In order to save these beautiful trees logging has very wisely been prohibited. The tree is completely protected. The only way to get Huon Pine any more is to salvage it from the forests or rivers after it crashes to the ground naturally. So, the timber is extremely rare.It is possible to buy Huon Pine in Tasmania for a fraction of the price that it sells for on mainland Australia, but the added costs of shipping make the timber expensive. I was able to buy this log at an amazing price in Sydney! I am so excited!
Now can't you see it's beauty?! I already know what it is going to become. What would you do with it?
posted by missmellifluous at 9:46 am
6 Comments:
I live in the area that has bristlecone pines. :)
I would rub it and oil it and put it in a place of honor.
Aren't trees amazing! You inspired me to look up the Bristlecone Pine as well. It's so amazing to think about how old some of these trees are! I wonder how many animals they've housed, how many fires, storms, and other natural disasters they've survived. It's incredible!
Some more amazing trees are giant redwoods. It is so incredible to drive through a giant redwood forest and to hike among the trees. I love nature anyways, so just about anything having to do with nature delights me.
I'm with Candy. If it was mine, I'd oil it and put it on the mantle in my living room.
Wow! Candy, those Giant Redwoods are amazing, too! I see why you say road would be amazing to drive down. I would need someone else to drive because I'm sure my eyes would be drawn up away from the road to the treetops. I so love trees. Did I say that already?
I like the ideas you guys are putting forward for Huey. Keeping him natural is a great idea. Oil definately, no lacquer! Honoured, for sure. But my plan for him is a little different.
I'm hoping to make Huey into a seat that surounds the base of a tree in the backyard. My dad will be the craftsman and I will issue the design brief. The underside will be kept in it's natural state while the seat part will be anded and oiled to show the beautiful wood grain. Because of the great rot preventing oils in the timber, it will be fine to use this wood outdoors. The circular seat will make use of the log's boomerang shape too.
When it's done, I'll sit blissfully under the tree and read!
Well, I was going to suggest that it stay outdoors, in its natural environment, but you've beat me to the idea.
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