Dad gave me this toolbox in 1987, when I was building the wooden cottage on Forktree Road, Carrickalinga. He made it from scraps of this and that scavenged from his workshop – somehow resisting the temptation to incorporate sections of Jarrah and/or Lignum Vitae. I can easily lift the box with one hand, even when it is full of tools.
Nevertheless, it is made to last, and will no doubt outlast me.
For twelve or so months, now, it has kept me company on the boatshed site. I could not ask for a more companionable companion: steadfast, reliable, good-humoured, sympathetic, discreet….
It sets the standard. I am daily reminded that solid construction is more important than superficial appearance – and can have a quiet beauty of its own.