The Pen Makers Boat: #507 Now Sold

Zebrano/Green Spirit Stain and Chrome Plated Ballpoint Twist Pen

ZEBRANO - Microberlinia brazzavillensis

Also called Zebrawood, Zebrano is a pale brown colour broken up by parallel darker streaks which create the zebra pattern that gives this timber its name. Zebrano has a coarse texture, and the interlocking grain is generally straight. With an oil finish, Zebrano can turn a dark brown colour

Ordinarily we would have spaced out a journey like Norbury to Fazeley (our next market in ten days time) to seven or eight short days travelling. Even though the weather at Norbury Junction wasn’t very nice to say the least we did sell quite a lot of pens and I’d need to get some serious hours on the lathe to replace the stock. The decision was made to get some long days in and try and condense the eight days journey into five to give me some work time. We arrived at Fradley Junction and moored above Shadehouse. Lock by Thursday afternoon and three days longish cruising including a stop off for shopping in Stafford and visiting boat trading friends who had managed to get a spot at Penkridge market.

Luckily the weather was firmly on our side and we had a marvellous few days cruising and the weather for our four day stop off was just about perfect and pauses in long days pen making were punctuated with sitting out under the dappled shade of the trees watching other boats on their journeys.

Pen #507 was turned at Shadehouse Lock just above Fradley Junction on May 6th 2016