Occasionally I try to focus on a local business in this space. And last week I had the pleasure of meeting with Lance Huber from The Tool Box. He's local here in Rappahannock County and he does some amazing work.

The Tool Box is primarily a handyman service. And every homeowner knows how hard it can be to find a good, reliable, reasonably priced handyman! Lance fits the bill on all counts. Whether it's drywall repair, doors that need adjusting or minor electrical and plumbing jobs, he's done it all.

Now all of that is pretty impressive because it's so rare to be able to find someone who even shows up when they say they will! But I'm even more impressed with the woodworking that Lance does.

The above photograph illustrates some of the more formal furnishings that Lance has done. But that's not all he's produced.

Pieces like this garden bench are more whimsical. I love this piece!

And this "rooster chalet" is a remarkable, totally unique work of art!

His work has been featured and sold all over the world. And it's wonderful to have such a treasure right here in Rappahannock County!

If you'd like to contact Lance either for his handyman services or to purchase some of his woodworking skills you can give him a call at 540-937-3332.

Warrenton's mayor, George Fitch, has issued a call for Warrenton to become more energy self-sufficient; to, as the local newspaper put it, "go green".

First of all, I applaud Mayor Fitch for taking this step. A focus by the town on renewable energy resources is a welcome one. Every locality should be looking at ways to reduce our energy consumption and our dependence on sources of energy that are bad for our planet and increasingly bad for our country.

The mayor's focus seems to be on buildng a small scale biorefinery capable of producing ethanol from locally available materials such as corn. The idea of small local refineries that are joint public and private partnerships is, in my mind, a good one. It could be good for the local economy, local farmers and, to some extent, for energy efficiency.

My concern is that ethanol made from corn, which seems to be the cornerstone of the plan is not all that efficient a fuel. Some studies show that more fossil-fuel energy is expended in the production of corn-based ethanol than we would ever save by burning it.

But it's early yet and the idea is just getting off the ground. There's time for fact-finding and, eventually, modification of the original proposal. The Warrenton Town Council has provided $5000 for a feasibility study and I look forward to hearing the results.

I hope that no one is waiting for this to solve our energy dependence problems though! This is another instance where "waiting for the world" is definitely not the way to go! Each of us can be looking at ways to reduce our own carbon footprint. Whether your motives are cost savings, saving the planet or making our country energy independent, there are plenty of good reasons to look for ways to reduce our energy consumption.