Opening and seeing the future...

Cutting the gourd open to create 'the book' part of the project was easy enough. A bandsaw was altered to accommodate the height of the gourd on its side and a slicing cut was made.

Unfortunately, the blade hit a particularly weak spot or drove seeds into the wall and chunks of the gourd were dislodged from the whole.  Now the question is how to salvage the idea. Originally the hinge was going to be placed at the bottom so the viola could be placed on a stand and swing down to reveal the book but perhaps the hinge now goes on the side to cover the hole? 

One part was found and glued back in place, but the other piece is still amiss.  Drat!  

What to do?