Score!!!

[aparofan]

Got a pretty cool story I wanted share. When my wife's cousin started her job at the health department she said there was this lady there that just kind of gravitated to her. Turns out they have a lot in common, our familys are from the same small mountain town and they just clicked. About three weeks ago we had 12" of rain in an 8 hour period where I live in North Carolina and there was flooding in places where there was never flooding before. When I woke that morning and looked out the door my stomach sank with what I saw...my shop was almost flooded with water. I ran down and got my hammers a few tongs, o/a torch and my compressor but within 30 minutes the water was over my head and not safe to go back in the shop. I've spent the last 2 weeks cleaning and replacing but the flooding was so bad it made national news. A few days after the flood my wife's cousin and her new friend were talking and a lot of the conversation of course was about the devastation. That's when the cousin showed her the pictures of my shop I had posted on Facebook (below...tear!)  and that's when the lady said "he likes to blacksmith?" The cousin said her friend got a little teary as the conversation went on because her grandfather had a shop in the small town where our familys are from. She said he died a few years back and she has some of the things he made for her but other than that all she had left was a box of old blacksmith publications. That's when she told cousin that she was going to bring me the box because she had no use for them but wanted to find someone who would use them and appreciate them. Long story short, yesterday I got a big box of anvil's ring, oldest dated 1979, and a few other books that are way cool. The neatest thing is his personal notes in the books, anything from measurements to reminders as simple as "make for shop". Just thought I would share how things have a strange and awesome way of working out.

 

The photo with all the water is my shop. If you look you can see the roof and stove pipe of my forge.

 

[Dave Parker]

Great story in that it shows how even bad things can have silver linings.  I just moved from Florida to Alabama and I am building a new smithy right on a large creek.  The picture of your flooded shop almost caused me to change locations but in the end blacksmithing is about overcoming and making do.  I sincerely hope that your journey towards recovery is swift and brings additional blessings. 

[ThorsHammer82]

Wow, great story. Sorry about your shop though. but part of the joys of smithing is building and acquiring the tools.

[Frosty]

Excellent story, bummer about your shop. Be happy though, you could live in Galena, Alaska where Jake the mad Russian lives. The Yukon river has taken his shop I THINK more than once. I haven't heard from him in quite  while but break up this year did a real number on folk along the Yukon.

 

What happens is the river starts flowing in spring but it flows north so the water is roaring but running into ice dams so it floods in a really BIG way. I don't think Jake was in state this spring, last I heard he was touring Europe but Galena got a serious flooding with flowing ice damage.

 

I'd truly love to get a box of books like that. You my friend have a charmed life. enjoy.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

[VaughnT]

Awesome to hear something good came of it all.  Just remember to "make for shop" anything that he noted was worth it.  If nothing else, it will be good practice.... and it would be very neat for that message to be heard and followed decades after he wrote it!

[Old South Creations]

nice score on the books, etc. Rain has been crazy done my way too...sorry about your shop