for furniture weenies

I just got home from Furniture Forum at Winterthur and I'm still tired from the cab driver's lecture on being good to your mother (hi mom!). Here is a brief recap of the past few days:

The grounds: Winterthur is beautiful. Saturday, especially, it was warm and sunny. See Jess's post for the cutsie lodgings, she did it better than I could. My version would be post-rain, but you'll get the idea.

The talks: Kem Widmer did not disappoint. He's done recent work on cabinetmaker Nathaniel Gould, and a portion of his lecture was about the discovery process, which I prefer to just a snoozerific summary of the findings. Jennifer Mass covered the sciency part of invesitgating painted furniture finishes, and though I think the Christie's contingent in the next row was bored, I was totally into it. Boy do I love a cross-section of paint layers! The other fun part was the demonstration of carving by Allan Breed - he carved a fan aaaand a Boston claw and ball foot right there for us - it was so cool, and I wish I could get some lessons from him (well, I could for $900...).

Bonus points: I met someone who gave me a 17th-century nail which is still in the pocket of my dress. Sweet potato fries with mood-lighting at Buckley's. Dinner at Pauline's. Driving. In 5th gear. Saw all four grandparents!