Art can be a dirty dirty business

The tranquillity of the distillery has been slightly disturbed this past couple of days, where the artistic school of thought has certainly been that of becoming at one with the material. This week scraping, banging and grunting noises have been heard emitting from the shed behind Balvenie Cottages, home to Trevor and Rhonda, as becoming one has been a very literal experience for Trevor. Armed with a wire brush and scrapper he has been preparing a number of old cask staves and making them ready for the next stage. The Canadian pair usually work with shelf bought sheets of veneer but at Glenfiddich have decided to make their own. With now over 50 staves cleaned up, free of any grit and spots of rust  - left clinging where the stave was in contact with the iron hoop, the next stage will see the faces of the staves put through a band saw. Producing thin slivers of wood still showing the marks of ageing which will give the resulting veneer sheet its own character.

Fortunately a new washing machine was installed into Rhonda and Trevor's kitchen yesterday so Trevor should be able to have something clean to wear at tonight's first coin making workshop. 

Alternatively... he could borrow a tin flute from the very dapper Han Wonsuk who arrived in style from Korea yesterday evening.