Happiness is a stack of smooth boards

   I spent Thursday afternoon planing cedar planks at the bee store.  In the process I created a huge mound of cedar shavings, more than enough to cover both the chicken and duck pens. I'm working to prepare the boards to cover our ceiling.  This particular batch of boards should be enough to do the master bedroom. I still need to round over the edges of the boards with a router, cut a rabbet  along one side, and sand them even smoother.  Plus I need to put a finish on them. I'm anxious to get all of this work done during the next week while the weather is supposed to stay dry.  It is very satisfying to make something with your hands. I'm not saying that I would like to be a woodworker as a full time job, but it is very fulfilling work.

My stack of cedar planks planed down to 3/4 inch thickness.

   Quentin, my full time employee at the bee store, is an extremely skilled and knowledgeable woodworker.  I'm trying to take advantage of his knowledge to learn more about woodworking. There are so many little things one ought to know and it is hard to gain all of that knowledge from books.  As an example, it is important to plane alternate sides of a board in order to get it as flat as possible. He also gave me a number of other helpful hints to improve my planing technique.  Quentin is anxious to move back to Wyoming, possibly before the end of the summer.  I doubt I will be able to learn anywhere near as much as I would like from him before he leaves.  Quentin has also been my craigslist consultant and has helped me accumulate some decent quality basic woodworking tools.  Before, I just had a table saw, a planer, and a very cheap lathe.  Over the past year or so I've added a jointer, a band saw, and a good quality lathe.

Thanks to the cedar boards the ducks have much cleaner home.

The chicken coop has fresh cedar shavings too.

The old bedding from the chicken coop goes into my garden.

 

Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing

     I had a lovely Sunday yesterday.  I think I like our new 9:00 a.m. church schedule.  Our ward's choir practice has moved to 4:30 p.m. and Sabrina Clasen is our new choir director.  The first hymn we started to practice was "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" an old time hymn not included in the current version of the hymnal. However, it wasn't an unfamiliar hymn to me.

    Last summer I participated with my daughter Sarah and her two oldest children in their stake's pioneer trek.  For those not familiar with those terms, the pioneer trek was an event designed to expose the youth to the experiences of the early Mormon handcart pioneers. We actually pulled and pushed handcarts through a fairly hot and sandy part of eastern Washington for about four days.  It was both a very demanding and very inspiring experience.  I had participated in our own stake's pioneer trek about five years earlier as support staff but had not actually pushed and pulled the handcarts in the heat. It was amazing how much more I got out of this experience than I did from the earlier  one. I guess it is just part of human nature that we learn much more from experiences that involve sacrifice. "No pain, no gain."  Anyhow, I gained a much greater appreciation for the sacrifices of the handcart pioneers and am very grateful for their devotion to the gospel.

   "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" was on the fairly short list of hymns included in their trek hymnal. It also happened to be the hymn my daughter and I chose to use to teach the penny whistle and harmonica to the youth of their stake. What astonished me was my emotional and spiritual response to singing the hymn.  I got so choked up that I was unable to sing for quite a while. It brought back a rush of feelings and memories from my trek experience. It was like opening a jar of raspberry jam in December and having memories of summer come rushing back, only much stronger.

     One of my favorite trek memories is associated with this hymn. I was sitting in the shade on a hot, uncomfortable afternoon playing that hymn on the penny whistle.  Two young sisters started to sing the words of the hymn in harmony and were then joined by a third.  I got a little choked up but managed to keep on playing. That can be a challenge with an instrument that requires breath control. It was a very sweet experience.

    The hymns have always had a great influence in my life.  Nothing can cause me to feel the Spirit more easily than the hymns. Especially hymns that have personal meaning to me and are associated with prior spiritual experiences. Many years ago when we lived in Spring, Texas I often used the hymns to deal with the stress of my hour long commute to downtown Houston. It was difficult to be annoyed with the other drivers or feel stressed about work while singing a hymn. I memorized about 20 hymns and that number was more than adequate to get me to work.  To quote John Taylor, "I love to sing the hymns of Zion."  

Dedicated Bird Watcher

  With the recent cold weather we've had an increase in traffic at the bird feeder.  Consequently, Little Miss Buzz Saw also has an increased interest in the bird feeder.  She will sit on the kitchen ledge for hours watching the little birds come and go. I believe Sofie is no longer our most dedicated bird watcher.

So close but so far away.

Linda's Avian Soup Kitchen

    I use my orchard ladder to access the feeder to refill it.  If I don't move the orchard ladder away from the feeder right after I'm done, the cats like to sit on the top of the ladder.  Their hope springs eternal that some little bird will be stupid enough to come to the feeder with a cat sitting two feet away.  Fortunately the birds are smart enough to know the difference between a nearby cat on a ladder and a nearby cat behind the kitchen window.

Sledding Near Silverton

Camera shy Linda sliding down the hill with Lucy.

    We had a wonderful visit with Sarah and the girls last week.  Among other fun activities we drove out on the Mountain Loop Highway past Granite Falls and went sledding. We had Sarah and the Kang girls, including their exchange student, Han Gyeol, Beth and the little Bedlamites, and Linda and me. The original plan was to go to Leavenworth but the weather over the pass seemed a little daunting.  The Mountain Loop Highway was a closer easier alternative. We drove to where they close the road approaching Barlow Pass. That is where there is a junction with a road going up to Lake Kelcema.  There was lots of snow on that road with just enough of a grade to be fun without being too scary.

Britton and Elise starting their run

Rachel and Lilly

       "Too scary" is definitely in the eye of the beholder. By three year old John's definition it was all too scary. On the other hand, his sister Britton is quite the little daredevil and probably would have enjoyed a faster steeper sledding hill.  There were enough sledders who had preceded us such that there were well established ruts that kept us mostly on track. This minimized the occasions when sledders left the road bed and went over the road embankment.

Han Gyeol on her saucer

Grandma Linda and Lucy getting back on track

     Grandma Linda brought hot chocolate to go with the snacks Beth and Sarah had prepared. Excluding John I would say a fun time was had by all, A hearty thank you goes out to the Proffit and Miller families who lent us various items of snow wear and some of the sleds.

Even during an action shot Autumn manages to avoid looking at the camera.

Christmas in Maryland

    We had a lovely Christmas with the Romero family in Maryland.  It was very fun to get caught up with grandchildren, especially the younger ones.  Shortly after our arrival, James and Jonathan each gave me the grand tour of their favorite toys. I feel like I finally made in onto three year old Cozette's "A List".  She actually asked me to sit next to her in the car and invited me to play with Monster with her.  It was particularly fun to be there on Christmas morning. I was very impressed with Tony's stamina on Christmas morning.  He very patiently assisted both James and Jonathan in assembling fairly complex new Lego toys. He then spent a fair amount of time in the construction of James' model volcano.

I didn't end up with any group picture of the Romero children in which they were all sitting still.

      The volcano project lasted several days as the plaster, various coats of paint, and the sealant each needed to dry in turn before the volcano construction crew (Tony and James) could proceed to the next stage of construction.  Because of the lengthy construction process the actual eruptions didn't take place until the morning of the day we left to return home.  We all assembled in the dining room and got to watch a series of baking powder and vinegar volcanic eruptions.  Tony built a little safety containment berm using using wrapping paper tubes and a plastic garbage bag. The berm was for the safety of the table and other items on the table, not the spectators.  As it turned out, the eruptions were more like a Hawaiian volcano than an explosive Mt St Helens eruption.  There was a relatively steady flow of lava down the side of the volcano.  Any villages in the path of the flow would have suffered death by baking powder, but there wouldn't have been any significant ash cloud or burning debris raining from the skies.

James was pretty focused. I guess volcanic eruptions are a good way to hold a boy's attention

The eruption is fueled by baking powder, a few drops of red food coloring, and a tablespoon of vinegar

Training Day

   A few days ago Linda and I accompanied Lia on a home school outing with Jonathan, James, and Cozette. We visited Brookside Gardens, a local park that has a very nice conservatory.  During the summer months, one wing of the conservatory is turned into a butterfly house. As Christmas approaches they convert that wing into a G scale model train exhibit. It really was quite fun. They had a long list of items hidden within the exhibit for the children to discover. That search kept Jonny and James very focused for close to an hour.  By the time we left I think Jonny had a new goal in life. In addition to growing up to become a ninja, he would also like to operate a model train display.

This portion of the train display included a model of the very conservatory which housed the train display. There is an actual moving model train within the model conservatory.

This portion of the display included  a model of a local ice rink.

Jonny carefully studies his list of hidden objects to see what is his next target. He insisted on locating the various hidden objects in order.  Maybe he'll grow up to be an engineer instead of a ninja.

    After the conservatory, we walked through the rest of the park and enjoyed their Japanese garden. The kids climbed a few trees, harassed a few geese, and generally had a great time.  This particular park has a nice light display.  The park is free during the day, but you have to pay in order to see the light display at night.

Cozette and Grandma Linda on the Butterfly Bench in the Conservatory

Just two little monkeys in a tree.

Part of the Japanese Garden

Anthony's Recital

  Linda and I are enjoying our visit with the Romeros in Maryland.   A few days ago I was able to attend my grandson Anthony's high school piano recital. First of all, I was amazed to learn they teach piano at his high school and I was even more impressed to see how much progress the students had made in one short semester. I have no clue how they go about teaching the piano to a whole room full of students at the same time. Also I suspect it may be easier to get younger kids used to playing in front of people than to wait until they are in high school to start that. Some of the kids did seem  very nervous.

   I took a little video of Anthony playing his short little piece. He did very well (from the perspective of a non-piano playing grandpa). I hope that the piano playing Kangs will be kind in their assessment of Anthony's neophyte piano skills. While I didn't ask Anthony's permission to display them on my blog I did have to ask his help in getting that video transferred into the blog considering the fact that I am a bit of a technophobe dealing with a strange computer. If he objected to my use of the video he was to polite to express it.

     After the recital was over they had a refreshments in the form of various dishes brought by the students' families. The food represented the diverse cultural heritage of the class. Ironically, Anthony had volunteered his mother to make enchiladas.  After all, red-haired fair-skinned Anthony Romero is one quarter Hispanic. Included in the varied fare were several Ethiopian dishes. Lia and I actually knew that the plate full of pancakes was part of the Ethiopian food. We visited an Ethiopian restaurant many years ago in Seattle as a daddy daughter date. Lia was still in high school.  The waiter brought out a big pancake on a plate but no silverware. Eventually we figured out that the pancake was the silverware. It just shows that you never know when some little bit of knowledge gained many years ago may come in handy.