In these days, we are blessed with technology that helps to make our lives easier, but because of that, many miss the satisfaction of creating things with their own two hands.
    Our forefathers discovered bog iron in swamps. They smelted it to forge into hardware. Trees were harvested from the land that the settlers not only used to build their homesteads but to use to build furniture, tools and utensils.
The life of our forefathers was truly in their hands. From hunting, fishing, planting, and harvesting, they were solely responsible to provide for their table, a table most likely crafted by themselves. By diving for water, to dig the well, with tools they made themselves, their destiny was truly in their own hands.
    These qualities and skills can still be found today when you devote the time and energy to search and learn. I have been blessed to have had parents and grandparents that believed these qualities and skills were worth teaching, sharing and passing onto the next generation.

   A simple life doesn’t mean missing out on things you need to survive. We just need to tell the difference between need and want.
    My blacksmith shop has the same tools that my grandfather and father used to lead a simple life. Many of the tools in my woodshop are also tools used by craftsmen of years gone by.
    My father always told me that you never stop learning. Take the time to learn from the examples and teachings from our forefathers. These skills will always be needed and used.

Freddy Brehant
F. Brehant Village Blacksmiths & Woodwright LLC