Well, I have something to do with my hands- and spare time- for the next few weeks. I'm going to make a new set of 1911 grips. I've had a piece of red oak floating around for about 2 years now, and I saw these conchos at the Hobby Lobby, and.... well... might as well, right? You can see the old set of grips from my Springfield that I keep around as a pattern, and I've traced the outline on the red oak. I'll keep ya'll posted.
I don't get to practice 18th century crafts as much as I'd like anymore, but I got to this weekend. Between helping my brother clean out a shed, making a few trips to pick up the last of our stuff from our old house, cleaning and unpacking some of the last few boxes, I managed to get 2 hours to make a knife sheath.
Mike sent my wife a great fixed blade 18th century-style butcher knife. He left the sheath making to me, and I finally got around to it this weekend.
I love leather.
My son is a huge Lego fan. Recently (in the last 6 months) he became interested in the Lego City sets. The depict (somewhat) real life type jobs. There are firemen sets, astronaut sets, police sets, etc. His favorite are the police (daddy and pawpaw are 'police'), and the astronauts (what boy DIDN'T want to be an astronaut?). We have collected several of the police sets, and Nana got him the police station for Christmas.
We have been building like crazy. This set is very awesome. The bad guys have escape tools in their mattress, there's coffee pots and water coolers, and the photo wall has height measurements in 'Lego blocks'. Of course, i find it interesting that none of the police have guns or night sticks... but it's cool, none the less.
We went to the store yesterday, so he could buy another set with his allowance money (50¢ for each day he cleans his room without being told). He had over $70! He picked out the astronaut set with the big rocket and launch pad, which was $70. I figured I'd help him out with the taxes. It rang up as $37! Apparently it went on sale, but was not marked, yet. He went back and picked up another small police set, too.
Getting to play with Legos with your son is definately one of those things that make parenting worth all the hard work. My son and I have had a blast putting it all together.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
