My best friend is getting married, and his wife found something like this on Pinterest and wanted to do something similar for thier centerpiece displays: So today I made some cookies for the wedding! I wanted something with interesting bark and pleasant smell so I decided to go with cherry and ash. I already had a pile of clean EAB free ash logs, but I had to find a cherry to cut. I picked this one - about 12" at the base- it had a pretty good lean to it and a nice clear place to land. Not that great of a specimen, and there were 2 really nice white pines next to it that were just starting to catch some shade from it. I didn't notice until I was getting ready to make my cuts, but I'm pretty sure it was hit by lightning. There was a Virginia creeper vine covering up the scar. It looks like ants has started working on the stump too, so all in all I think it was a good pick. Hard to see in this pic, but I think the lightning entered here through an old branch, and that vine grew over the scar.
Now we are getting into hand crafted decorations. Nice going. I bet she loves the cherry cookie decorations.
Nice contribution, Shawn Curry. What are the tell tale signs of lightning struck trees? Just curious... Heard tell around here it likes to hit certain kinds of maples- the local folklore says any of this particular type of maple will have dark, (wide) black streaks on the bark from where "the" lightning hit it all the way to the ground. Hope your handiwork is well received! Pics of course, sir!
This one had a scar running down the side of the trunk that i noticed after I peeled a couple vines back to make my cuts. Ill try to get some better pics. Ill post pics of the display when I get some too.
My girlfriend and her husband did a lot of them for their son's wedding. Just make sure they air out properly if the wood is wet to start with. In our climate here, her's went green with mold quite quickly so they had to bleach everything just before the wedding.
That's a good question. I told him to get them out of the hot car right away when he gets home, and to stack them in a dark place in the basement. Hopefully the cooler, moister air, and lack of sun, will keep them from drying out before the wedding. If that doesn't work I'll have to make some more and try storing them in the freezer or something.
Yeah, maybe drying slowly and stacking them with some lathe(or something similar)between them will help. Maybe some weight on top, too, as I have seen cookies really warp and curl as they dry. Pics of finished product is always good.
