From David's blog: Two of David's beautiful spoons are on the cover of the January 2009 Lee Valley Catalog . Lee Valley is "a family-owned business that has been serving users of woodworking and gardening tools since 1978," it is the largest catalog of home and garden items in David's native Canada and is also available in the USA. David's Fine Art of Lovespoons is available in the catalog. David is very happy to be on their cover, he said that this was a goal of his and that he is, " very, very thrilled to be on there! "

Image 2009 by Lee Valley Tools Ltd. and VeritasTools Inc. All rights reserved.

David's blog here: http://davidwestern.blogspot.com

If you're in the USA, you can probably get an official government proclamation from the Governor of your state or the Mayor of your city, designating March as St David's Day. I've written and submitted one for Oregon:Gaabriel BecketMeriwether Lewis Memorial Eisteddfod Foundation(503) 244-8943, americaneisteddfod@gmail.com7006 SW 4th Avenue, Portland OR 97219WHEREAS: Approximately 40,000 Oregonians claim Welsh ancestry; andWHEREAS: Welsh immigrants and their descendants; including US President Thomas Jefferson, explorer David Thompson, explorer Meriwether Lewis and many Oregonians of Welsh descent played a significant part in the European settlement of Oregon and in the history of the State of Oregon; andWHEREAS: People of Welsh birth and Welsh descent in Oregon, in Wales and the world over celebrate March 1st as Saint David's Day, the patron saint of Wales and as the National Holiday of Wales;NOW, THEREFORE: I, Theodore R. Kulongoski, Governor of the State of Oregon, hereby proclaim March 1st to beSt David's Day, Welsh-American Heritage Day in Oregon and encourage all Oregonians to join in this observance.IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I hereunto set myhand and cause the Great Seal of the State ofOregon to be affixed. Done at the Capitolin the City of Salem in the State of Oregon onthis day, [date will fill in automatically].Signed, GovernorSigned, Secretary of StateEvery state and city probably has the format for submitting these on their websites and you can do this for your area if you want. For your state, start with the governor's office website. For your city, try the mayor's office.Good luck!

David writes:

"I have just returned from a brief trip to Wales, during which time I managed to visit with a couple of lovespoon carvers and spent some research time at the National History Museum of Wales. The museum, which is located in the supremely scenic and romantic town of St. Fagans, just on the Western edge of Cardiff, can be easily reached by car or bus.

"Primarily an outdoor museum, it consists of a large number of historic houses and buildings gathered from around Wales and reassembled on a stunning rural grounds of several hundred acres. The buildings have all been furnished to suit their time periods and enthusiastic caretakers can tell you everything you need to know about the history of Wales, its lifestyles and culture. It must rate as one of the best museums of its type in the world and should be a "must do" for anyone visiting South Wales."

Continued at his blog at http://davidwestern.blogspot.com

Americymru members Andy Edwards and Gareth Evans and the rest of their cycling team are preparing to ride across the continental USA this March to raise 50,000 for the Children's Hospital for Wales in Cardiff, as part of the Noah's Ark Appeal .These are some brave and dedicated crazy men to head out across nine states, from the high desert to the bayou country and swamp, in a country they've never been to and let's all support them any way we can.If you're on the team's route , can you help them with somewhere to stay, a fundraising event or just some fun and good company? See their route and schedule on the team's blog here: http://walescoast2coastusa.blogspot.com/2008/11/route.html Show these boys American hospitality and stuff them full of food and beer!They're taking donations for the Children's Hospital appeal at: http://www.justgiving.com/coast2coast-usa or contact them here :teddypenllew@googlemail.com

December 31 is the last day for the poll and then we're closing it and announcing the winner. Get your final votes in while you can, vote early and often!

Americymru member David Western's lovespoons blog has a guest blogger this week, a reader was kind enough to contribute his own pictures and carving experience as inspired by David:Bob Tinsley is a reader of this blog who was inspired to try his own lovespoon and has graciously allowed us to post pictures of his work, below, and to be our guest blogger:

HOW I GOT HOOKED ON LOVESPOONS

Hi, I'm Bob Tinsley, and I'm honored to be David's guest blogger. I'm from Colorado Springs, CO, and I've been carving off and on, mostly off, for close to 40 years. However if you put all my carving time together in one string, it would probably amount to about two years of experience.

During the last four months I've gotten serious about carving, doing some carving every day, mostly small figures in the flat-plane style and a lot of Santa Claus Christmas ornaments.

I got into selling my Santas with a push from my wife. After I had about 10 pieces finished and painted (8 Santa ornaments of various types, one Santa Bear full figure about 6' tall and an Old World Santa I called "Watching the Weather" because he was looking up), my wife said, "What are you going to do with these? They're starting to clutter the place up." My wife is big on reducing clutter.

My daughter, on one of her jaunts through one of the more touristy parts of town, saw a store called "Handmade Santas & More". So I figured, what the heck. I wrapped the pieces in brown paper, put them in a box and headed for "Handmade Santas & More". The first time I went there, the owner was out. The lady at the counter said to come back tomorrow. I went there the next day, a different lady was there, but she wasn't the owner either. Third time's the charm. The next time I went there the owner was in. She looked at my work and bought all of them on the spot. This was about mid-November. By mid-December she had sold all of them and wanted me to do a commission for a gift to a man who played Santa for a charitable organization, which I did over the next weekend. She wanted a fat, jolly Santa, so I did a fat, jolly, dancing Santa.

She liked that one as well and put in an order for next year. She said just start bringing them in around the end of March and keep them coming.

I first ran across David in the pages of Woodcarving Illustrated (WCI). I liked his enthusiasm, and checked out his website. I was floored by the intricacy and delicacy of his art. I wanted to do that, so I copied the pattern in WCI, bought a couple of 1 x 3 x 12 poplar boards, ordered his book from Amazon, Fine Art of Carving Lovespoons , and got started.

I received David's book when I was about halfway through carving my first spoon. It was like getting an early Christmas present! The book is laid out in a supremely logical manner. Without asking David about this, I can be pretty sure that this book wasn't intended to be just about how to carve a lovespoon (though that information is there). David apparently wanted a book that would introduce new people to the art and romance of lovespoon carving. In this he succeeded. Beginning with the history and lore illustrated by examples of lovespoons done by him and several other artists, the book covers the materials and tools, step-by-step instructions for three patterns, then finally patterns and something that is sorely needed in all carving books but seldom included: a chapter on doing your own designs. This, in my view, elevates Fine Art of Carving Lovespoons above 99% of the carving books on the market. And I have to say that the photography is outstanding.

My tools consist of two Pinewood Forge knives, a small sloyd and a hook knife, a coping saw, a small Japanese hand saw and a battery-powered drill. I roughed out the profile with the Japanese saw and finished it with the sloyd. Surprisingly it didn't take nearly as long as I thought. Poplar is pretty easy to carve with a SHARP knife. I emphasize the word "sharp" because, even though I can put a shaving-sharp edge on a pocket knife, until I got my first Pinewood Forge knife, I didn't realize that pocketknife sharp and carving knife sharp are two different things.

I drilled holes in the pierced areas, not just one as David shows, but as many as I could fit in. I was going to have to do the piercings by hand, so I wanted to remove as much wood as I could with the drill. I started to clean out the piercings with the knife, but realized that it would be easier if the handle weren't so thick.

I took out my handy-dandy two-sided Japanese hand saw and ripped a half-inch off the thickness of the handle. Once I had done that, I could start rounding off the bottom of the spoon's bowl. I decided to do that before I tackled the piercings again, because it looked, and was, easier.

Once that was done, I started back on the piercings. The larger ones I did only with my knife. Some of the smaller ones I did with the coping saw, but discovered that clamping and unclamping that blade after taking only five or six strokes was a major pain. So I continued with the knife.

I found that getting a clean corner where two curves came together, such as at the bottom of the heart cut-out, was not easy. Cutting down into the corner was almost always against the grain, so I had to develop a technique to get the point of my sloyd into the corner and cut up out of it (with the grain) a little at a time until I had cut all the way from the front of the handle to the back. It took a while to get the joint as clean as I wanted it.

Once I had the cut-outs finished, but before starting the rounding, I used the hook knife to hollow out the bowl. I thought that the ridge going down into the bowl from the top was going to be difficult, but it wasn't. I also didn't have much trouble with the grain at the bottom of the bowl. I don't know whether this was because of the wood or the sharpness of my hook knife. I suspect it was the wood.

I began the rounding process on the handle and quickly discovered where the grain changed direction. A very light touch with a very sharp knife was the key to making these areas smooth.

I like tool marks on my carvings, so I didn't sand at all. Any place I thought was too rough, I smoothed out with numerous shallow cuts with my knife. I did use a cabinet scraper on the inside of the bowl.

I finished the spoon with a hot application of neutral shoe polish applied with a toothbrush to get in all the nooks and crannies. I wiped off the excess with a rag, then buffed with a soft brush.

I enjoyed the process as well as the result. It's really not as hard as it looks. I've already started my second spoon, so I guess you could say I'm hooked!

Thanks, David, for the opportunity to do this.

Announcing a new competition group on Americymru: The Left Coast Eisteddfod Tom Jones Impersonators .Our "virtual eisteddfod" is meant to be as fun as it is serious and so:Contestants will create videos and post them on an outside service or location, such as youtube.com, then post a discussion to this group and embed or hotlink the video in it. Americymru members can do this directly themselves; non-members email the url for your video here and we'll be only too deliriously happy to post it for you. Title the discussion with your name or email address so we'll know whose is whose!1. Videos must be hosted on another site and embedded or linked here. (see above)2. Videos must contain a performance of at least two verses (which can include a chorus) of any Tom Jones song and must be video of a living creature (if you have a singing dog or cat, for instance, yee-HA! humans, too, no species discrimination), not animation. Accuracy and/or sobriety are of no importance whatsoever. Karaoke is totally acceptable.3. Videos must be at LEAST PG-rated, suitable for all viewers, and may not contain any statement perjorative of race, religion, gender or national origin.This contest will run until 22 August 2009. As imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, all entrants are winners in their own right, just for entering, however, a first-place Tom Jones will be chosen by a secret panel of judges and will be named the "Official Tom Jones [NOT ACTUAL]" of our Virtual Eisteddfod and awarded the grand prize of $100.00 US currency, as well as the accolades of fame.If you have a little Tom Jones in you, please share!

Wales Online has an article today from Robin Turner of the Western Mail on a fascinating study on the origins of Christmas carols. From the article:"Dr Ian Bradley, a theologian at the University of St Andrews in Scotland claims the popular tune comes from Nos Galan (New Years Eve) which was played when groups of merrymakers danced around a harpist."The tune has been linked with Nantgarw it is also known as the Nantgarw Flower Dance and with North Wales."Dr Bradley said: 'Originally carols were dances and not songs"'The accompanying tune would have been used as a setting for any verses of appropriate metre.'"It is thought Deck the Halls was exported to North America by Welsh miners who emigrated to the Appalachian mountains of North Carolina the lyrics of the modern version are of American origin."Dr Bradley, who undertook the research for his Book of Carols, said: 'The tune was discovered in a musical manuscript by Welsh harpist John Parry Ddall who died in 1782. The tune however is almost certainly dated from the 16th century.'"The composition was published in the 1784 and 1794 editions of the harpist Edward Jones Musical and Poetical Relics of the Welsh Bards."Poet John Ceiriog Hughes wrote the first published lyrics for the piece in Welsh, calling it Nos Galan."Dr Bradley said: 'Like decorating trees, some carols have more to do with paganism than Christianity."'Deck The Halls was originally a Welsh dance carol sung on New Years Eve and belongs to a very distinctive Welsh tradition where people would dance in a ring around a harpist."'It talks about:See the blazing yule before us, strike the harp and join the chorus.'In some sense, carols have their origin in pagan religions because they come out of dance it is the Greek chorus, the circling dance, accompanied by singing and associated with fertility rites.'So its very much pagan, and that of course is precisely the reason why the Church was so uneasy about singing carols for so long.'" More here .