I now feel like I was run over by a truck, but have a nice healthy supply of turning stock put up after a few hours...well, more than a few hours...of work.
It started out when I pulled down a tree with the tractor that had toppled during a winter storm and was leaning against some others. Once the chain saw was out and about, the pile of "prospective turning blanks" was calling me loudly, especially when I transported the remains of the fallen black birch to the same general area where I keep the good stuff. An hour and a half later I had what is shown in the first picture. Several hours after that, and a whole lot of time at the MM16 bandsaw making a real mess, I had what is shown in picture two.
That's a whole bunch of osage orange, cherry, ash, spalted Norway maple and...some really wonderful box elder that Tom Sweeny "donated to the cause". The color in that box elder is stunning and I can't wait to turn out some things from it. (Thanks Tom!!) The ash came from Fred Voorhees and should also be very nice to work with...some is wet and fresh; some if from a dead tree on his property and has a little staining and slight spalt.