I've been working on making a carving bench for some time now. Nearly 9-10 months maybe? Kind of like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_TML30m-fk
Found a log that was the right size, as well as another larger diameter one to use as a base for the axe work.
I put maybe 20-30 hours into cutting and shaping it last spring. (Mostly by hand, with an axe, then a draw knife.) But around end of April, beginning of May I started working on other projects and set it aside. In part, I needed some tools that I know I own but haven't been able to find since the move.
Refusing to buy replacements for tools I already own, I borrowed the tools I needed from a neighbor last week, and sat down to work on the bench today.
Unfortunately, after I lifted the bench off the axe block, I noticed a dark strip where the bench was in contact with the axe block. The green wood of the axe block wasn't able to dry in that spot, and it had fostered some mildew growth.
And... a whole mushroom had fruited in the bark on the underside of the bench!
I thought maybe I could salvage the bench by just taking off the bark, but when I started taking the bark off the *top side*, farthest from the mushroom, I could see the mycelium had spread throughout the whole bark layer. It didn't smell like anything I wanted to keep in the house, so I chucked the whole thing outside.
Ah well. Now I need a new axe block and a new log to make a carving bench out of.