The Flying Moose in downtown Marquette, owned by my friend Jeremy Poch and his wife Melanie, has now been open for several weeks. It is a modern “old time” general store that features a great selection of local farm produce, meats, organic foods, beer, outdoor gear, bikes, local artwork, and woodwork. They also hope to have a deli with sandwiches up and running within the next few weeks.

The store is located in the old Hockey Central building on the corner of Washington and Fifth street, near the Ramada Inn. The store front is easily spotted, with a cart of fruit on the sidewalk surrounded by a herd of bicycles and patio furniture. In less than a year, the building went through a remarkable transformation from disrepair to an operating general store. With its rustic woodwork, antiques, library roller ladders, and old time character, it is one of the most unique shops in Marquette.

The work is still not done. The side garden still needs edging and there is talk of building a decorative store front. The plan for the garden involves planting organic fruits and vegetables along with wildflowers. The garden will be fertilized with Metsami Creations worm castings, to highlight the results of my product.

I took some pictures of the store yesterday afternoon, and unfortunately there was construction on the sidewalk which prevented me from getting a good picture of the store front with the sign and product display.

Due to popular demand I have made prints of most of my best pyrography. The prints are printed on professional photo paper, matted, put on a foam backing board, and a protective plastic sleeve has been put over them. I can frame the prints, but due to a shortage of birch logs I did not make any frames.

I also have some deer antler and burl jewelry on display. I am using a display rack I borrowed from my neighbor but I am working on building a standing display case.

I also did a little custom woodwork in the store. I milled a counter top slab that was 30 inches wide and 10 feet long. The counter top slab was milled from a white pine at Pinecrest Resort in Republic Michigan. After I milled the slab I dried it, hand planed it, and poured epoxy over it after the contractors added the barn wood strip.

I also built a display table out of a cedar stump and some cable spool end pieces. The cedar stump was pulled out with the winch and hauled home on the M35A2. I debarked the stump with a rotary nozzle and 2800 psi pressure washer, cut the bottom flat free hand with my 394xp chainsaw and a 36 inch bar, and then put it in the wood kiln to dry over the winter. Before assembling the table I cut the stump and tree trunks into quarters, made dowel templates in the spool ends and stump sections, and then put it together using the dowels.

If you have noticed, I posted new adds for The Flying Moose in the top slide show and right side bars featuring their logo. There is also an add for Pinecrest resort on the right and an add for my cribbage boards at Things To Do In The U.P in the top slideshow. These business have worked with me a lot and I hope visitors to this site support them with their patronage.

The change of seasons is upon us. It has been a warm September so far, and it looks like it will continue into early to mid October. The trees are beginning to change color, although a bit slower than normal. The warm temperatures will delay the color change somewhat, but the sun is the main driver of the reduction of chlorophyll.

This Summer I have spent most of my time working on restoring the M35A2, however I did do some pyrography, woodwork, and jewelry to sell at the Hiawatha Music Festival and of course the Flying Moose.

Over the next few weeks I hope to be able to post some more blog posts with recaps on the Ishpeming Fourth of July Parade, the Hiawatha Music Festival, and my truck restoration. If you noticed, I did not post a summer weather forecast this Year, although I am working on my Fall and Winter weather forecast. Those of you who like warm and dry weather will be thrilled!

Stay tuned!