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4/8/2023
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My main making activity continues to be working on block 
flutes, or to use a more expansive term, all things
involving a fipple -- a category which includes whistles 
and ocarinas. I love it as a hobby. On a nice day, most any
operation can be done outside, and then when I am done, the 
finished product takes up very little space.

On our property, two trees have died. The peach tree of 
natural causes, but the plum was growing into our sewer 
lines, so that forced upon me an act of murder. I plan on 
making at the very least some whistles out of them, if not 
some full-sized flutes, but first I must let the wood dry 
out on its own ina somewhat protected environment.  This will 
be my first experiment in seasoning wood.  

Also, I feel some pressure to get it right when the day 
comes to make my fipple instruments out of those branches,
so the day I labled the branches and put them away, I also 
had a renewed burst in fipple activity, making in the same 
day my first wooden whistle out of some left over dowel and 
using a longish plastic pipe to make my first flute in the 
in what is called the Native American Style, which means 
that after you blow in it, the air gathers in a chamber, 
which then moves to hit the plane which allows for the 
sound. It is hope that it might be a more reliable method.

In any case, I will let the branches season for a year, and
I may very well stay in practice the entire year.

Update (12/2023): I certainly did not stay in practice all 
year, but I am very interested in renewing the hobby in the 
new year and trying out those wood pieces in April. 
                                                          
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Do what you want with it.