I have had a pretty frustrating second half of 2020 because not only have we had the covid problem, but I managed to get carpel tunnel injury to my right hand, so much so that I was basically unable to do anything with my hand – putting my building projects on hold. Not that I had any very important projects, but like to putter around and am attempting to make a studio space within our barn/shop for my wife to work. She needs, and deserves, a nice space with good light and temperature controls.
After several visits to me GP doctor I finally got an appointment with a hand specialist. His opinion was that I had waited too long before seeking treatment, resulting in severe permanent damage to the nerves in my hand. His opinion was that prompt treatment via a “small” operation could save the use of my hand, but most likely not the sense of touch. That “little” operation was extremely painful, and is taking a long time to heal. I have been unable to do anything that requires “force” for about three months – effectively putting all “puttering around the house” projects on hold. About a six weeks ago I noticed that the numbness in my fingers was slowly changing for the better. Starting with the palm of my hand, the “un-numb” parts started moving toward my finger tips at the rate of about 1/2 inch per week. It is now to the tip of my fingers, perhaps next week it will be numb free. Apparently I was one of the lucky ones and the feeling of my fingers has returned. Now I can concentrate on the studio project.
This is really a pretty simple project consisting of a few studs, installing a door, and a few other minor tasks. It will be sheetrocked and include a storage ledge. Her new space will be the section to the right that is under a shed roof.
This small project has been in the works for several years because while it seems simple enough, there was a long list of things that needed doing first in order to get to this step. I think it is finally getting to the point where it will become real and she can finally have a place to do ceramics. Her big electric kiln will be just outside of a door. She obtained the kiln second hand about ten years ago, but so far it hasn’t been used. I set it up once, including wiring it and all that – but since there was no good place to do her work it just sat there right in the way in my shop space. I am not quite sure how this is going to work out since we just have the electric kiln, which is fine for bisque but she doesn’t high fire work that will require yet another kiln, or access to one somewhere else. (It takes two steps for high fire work. The first firing gets the clay “sort of hard” but it takes very high temperatures to get it to the melting point where the glaze and clay basically turn into glass.)
I am excited to see if my hand will actually hold up to the project. If not, perhaps it will be an Easter project.