We've made our friend a gift

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In about an hour, we’re off to Perth, Western Australia. Tomorrow we’re attending a 70th birthday lunch for a very good friend. We have made her a wooden box which you can see in the photo. It’s lined with blue velvet and is made of jarrah, a red hardwood indigenous to Australia. It takes us a long time to make something like this. We had to glue two pieces of wood together to get pieces big enough for the bottom and lid. The piece was then put through a thicknesser over and over till it was the thickness we wanted. The four sides were glued together then glued to the base. It took overnight for each gluing to bond properly. Then the whole thing was sanded with four different grades of sandpaper. The hinges had to be attached very exactly then removed while four coats of varnish were applied, each with a light sanding in between. The velvet was glued into place, the hinges replaced and four little clear plastic ‘buttons, placed on the base to prevent it scratching whatever surface on which it might be placed. After all that work, she’d better like it!! (That’s a joke)