About 3 years ago the family told me to find a hobby and stop being a grumpy old man. Not wanting to watch the TV soaps, I bought a lathe and started woodturning. It was a decision made after some consideration, even though I have always worked with wood and have built most of our family room furniture (buffet, bookcase, TV cabinet and wine rack, etc). The considerations were several; cost of equipment, ego, would I become bored with the exercise or would it expand and continue to challenge. Could I do it? I now find the challenges increasing, in trying to improve my technique's, design and form, material selection and finishing. Early on I looked at the work of other Western Australian (WA) wood turners, and in my contrary way then decided not to concentrate on using jarrah and sheoak. Having worked as a field exploration geologist, I had seen the variations in other WA native timbers that I had access to though my work and decided to use these timbers. One of these timber types was the 'mallee root', the root legume or ball developed by many eucalypt species from the drier or near desert areas of WA. I guess I sort of associated with the 'mallee roots': bit rough around the edges, survivor, and scrubs up OK with some effort. I think they also symbolised my preference for the country or bush and dislike of cities. In keeping with this rural flavour, the majority of timbers are salvage from farms, woodpiles, clearing windrows and city pruning. I try to collect dry materials with their naturally developed features from the drying process, but am also experimenting with green turning to allow the timber to distort or warp whilst it dries. I have limited the finishes to waxes and oils with a strong leaning towards beeswax based polishes following my rural theme. If asked, I would name Bert Marsh as the wood turner whom most inspires me: his fineness of form and thickness of vessels appear the ultimate compliment to the wood. I have a long, long way to go and maybe you will be interested in travelling it with me; so any constructive criticisms or critiques are always welcome and I hope you enjoy my work.