Mary and I were into the 2nd week of a month in Nova Scotia. We were leisurely touring west to east along the Lighthouse Route. We had used the quaint cable ferry at LeHave and were looking for our night's landing. We needed to look no further than the town of Mahone Bay.

We loved this place and stayed for several days. We spent our first morning lingering over a 2nd cup of coffee at JoAnn's Deli Market and Bake Shop. (Look for the funky doors and a bag of carrots used as a counterweight to keep the doors closed.) Mary went poking her nose into the shops and returned with news that she had found some interesting frames and curio cabinets. I went to look and agreed that we needed to find Michael Ernst who had created these items.

John at the Manse helped us out by giving us general directions. We set off on our borrowed bikes for a delightful trip around the bay. Our search led us to Silverwood, which was Michael's little corner of the world on a small cove just across the bay. Michael also gives sailing instructions so we waited until he was available to introduce ourselves. Michael welcomed us with his brand of Nova Scotia hospitality. We toured his home and small studio. We met his cat, Hywel, and had a cup of coffee. Michael explained his niche for building functional items from all sorts of found objects. The projects shown in our studio are made from lathing and odd hardware out of old home places.

In Michael's shop we found a short saw, a tack hammer and a wood rasp. He said, "Using simple tools keeps the objects simple and pure in form."