The Past Week

Well, it's been a crazy week. We got to wife's parents in Florida around 11:30 pm on Christmas. Saw old friends Merv and Eli, and enjoyed beer and conversation. Went to Gram's place on the 27th to celebrate the season with her. Boy-o got a lotta loot from Grams, and she loves seeing him open all the packages. I got a wonderfully gunnie gift from grams: a Lee electric lead pot. No pics, because it's packed up in the trunk, but they will follow. She also got me a lead thermometer and an aftermarket trigger group and sight for my duty weapon. Sadly, as it is an issue gun, I can't use them, but she left me the receipt so that I can turn it into something else,  like say a set of sights for my 1911. Also got a fitted LSU cap!
We went to Gainesville for two days while Boy-o hung out with grandpa and nana. We ate great food, and saw more friends (and stained a pine chest, but thats another story. Grandpa, my wife, and Boy-o all got wicked sick, and Boy-o ended up in a Florida emergency room after 12 hours of vomiting. He wasn't too dehydrated, and they gave him some nausea medication, and he was able to keep fluids down on his own, so no need for IV's. He's back to his normal self now, and we are headed back to Central Louisiana as I type this.

It's been a hell of a week!

Photoception

A photo of my wife taking a photo of my kiddo at the christmas light show.

Also, I'm a lucky man to be blessed with a wife and child as beautiful, kind, and fun as those two are.

Gun stuff

I haven't had much time to look at my regular internet haunts over the past few days. I've been reading.

In response to the Sandy Hook affair, Larry Correia has put up a post wherein he looks at several issues being proposed by the gun control crowd, and deconstructs them. It's a great read.

http://larrycorreia.wordpress.com/2012/12/20/an-opinion-on-gun-control/

Also, at Kelly's place, he opens up his comments to a REASONABLE discussion on gun control. He has ground rules, but, basically, they mean be respectful of others, or you get banned. Doesn't matter of you are pro- or anti-gun.

http://ambulancedriverfiles.com/2012/12/20/it-is-time-for-a-meaningful-conversation-on-reasonable-gun-laws/#disqus_thread

If you are interested in this debate, go read. There's several hours of reading between these two posts, but they are some of the most reasonable discussions/posts that I have seen on this issue in years.

Go read, if you have time.

Your move, Dad!

While I was washing the dishes after lunch, my 4 year old son was playing with play-dough. He looked up and asked

"Dad, are beans vegetables?"

"Yeah, they are, buddy."

Ten minutes go by.

"Dad, they make chocolate out of beans"

I looked at him, and he had a look on his face that said "your move, dad".

I'm in for a lot of headache in a few years.

Encampment

Well, the encampment was awesome. We spent 36 hours pretending to be from the 18th century, and as such, I got very few pictures. None, in fact. I managed to avoid electronic devices for the entirety of my stay. I stole these pics from my lovely wife. We slept in a period tent, cooked period food, and did period crafts. I made some leather goods for some friends that I owed, and they were happy with what they got (one got a belt, and one a knife sheath... both were items they requested) and my wife sold some of her homemade lye soap. I also got a nice burn on my left pinkie while frying some eggs for breakfast.

We B.S.ed with all the other reenactors, and made some new friend, as well as reconnected with old ones.

It was a great way to spend the weekend... but getting a bath when we got home was pretty awesome, too!

Mail

I leave for the annual December Encampment this afternoon, and as I was gathering up my gear, the mail lady pulled into my drive. She had a Package-O-Happiness for me. Mike W. ( http://mrwill-dointhetimewarp.blogspot.com/ ...sorry, linkie no workie )Had sent me a grab-bag to make any reenactor jealous. In the photo, you see clockwise, from top left: a Case Sodbuster Jr, one of my favorite pocketknives. I posted about them a while back, and how Ihad one, and lost it. Mike remembered the post. A shellaced rawhide tobacco pouch, a pipe tamp, and a wrapped pipe. This is super awesome, as aside from being period correct, I'm a pipe smoker, so I'll USE this. That big packet of paper? 18th century cleaning methods for flintlocks. Cool, no? An envelope, to send some money for the knives. There's an old superstition about any knife given between friends cutting the friendship. I believe this superstition, so even if Mike didn't include an envelope, I woulda dropped a dime in the mail to him, anyway, so it worked out. Lastly, two belt knives. The one with the wrapped handle is for me, and the walnut handled one is for my wife. Mike left the sheath making to me, as I am a *hrm!* leatherworker, after all.

This was an amazing box to get, and I'm thrilled with all the goodies, and I can't wait to use' em this weekend.

But Mike wrote me a letter, too. One law enforcement professional to another, and there's a bit of sage advice in that letter, and an admonishment to stay safe.

I have to say, the letter is probably my favorite thing from the box.

It's been sew-sew, lately...

Actually, it's been great, but I've been sewing a lot the last 3 days. I am getting ready for my next encampment, and I needed to make sure my boy had acceptable cold-weather clothing. I had an abandoned capote I was making for myself, but when I was halfway through, I realised that I didn't have a big enough blanket, so it got shoved to the back of the closet and forgotten. When trying to figure out what to do about my son's lack of cold-weather clothing, I stumbled upon it, and realised that I probably had enough to make a capote for him. I took his measurements, and got to work. In keeping with the french marines, the cloth is a heavy, cream-colored wool, and I used navy blue wool yarn to sew it. It took about 6 hours, but it turned out nice.

The next day, I was talking with my wife, and she informed me that she had not gotten around to sewing the neck line, cuffs, or gussets on her shift. Another 6 hours later, and I completed her shift. Will I ever win any sewing contests? No. But are we ready for the reenactment? You bet we are!

Squib

THIS is why you stop and check when a shot doesn't sound right. Yes, this was a reload, and yes, I trust the reloader, but every once in a while, weird things can happen.

BE AWARE OF YOUR GUN!

Saturday

Yesterday was busy. My son had his tonsils taken out Friday, so we've been letting him laze about, watching movies and eating icecream. But in the morning, I went to my brother's house to beg him to help me pull an oil cooler hose off of our '90 model Isuzu Trooper. Being a mechanic, even though it was in the most inaccessable place ever, my brother managed to get it off in a reasonable amount of time, without having to disassemble the engine. It's a high-pressure hose, so I will have to go get one made... no quick trip to Napa on this one. When I got back home, we ate some lunch, then I was getting ready to bottle my 2 batches of beer, when my other brother called. Seems he was helping move his mom-in-law, and his help's back gave out. That's what family is for though, so I set aside my bottling equipment to go help him move his mom-in-law (who is a nice lady that I would not mind helping, anyway). I let him know that I was happy to help unload the moving truck, but that as soon as it was empty, I had to go, so I could bottle my beer. In about 2 hours, she was unloaded, and I bid my brother farewell, and headed back to my house to bottle. My wife pitched in, and I had finished cleaning the beer equipment and tidying the kitchen by 7pm. I made my wife and I some turkey sandwiches for dinner, because it was about all I felt like messing with. By the end of the day, I had a happy, tired son, a full belly, a clean(ish) kitchen, a truck that was one step closer to being fixed, and a thankful brother (who had a thankful mom-in-law).

Oh, yeah, and I had 99 bottles of beer conditioning in the corner.

Aaaaaannnndd done!

Well, it's in the carboys. Now to put it somewhere dark and clean the kitchen.

(Sigh).