Wooden Toys

We recently had a neighbor move out. They were a nice young couple but were outgrowing their home. They had one little boy and just had another. I have decided to surprise them by making a couple of cars out of wood. There are no moving parts and nothing can be broke off.

Two fenders a body and 6 wheels roughed out, all with the use of a coping saw.

 You can see the roughed out wheels and two more drawn out behind them. The Dremel tool has an endmill type of tool that I used to start the shape of the wheels by plunging it into the wood and holding it as steady as possible to keep everything square.

Great tool. Keeps cutting and sanding down to an acceptable level. 

Keeping the wheels round and all the same size with the tools at hand is the biggest task. A lathe would have been real nice. I once had a boss that would tell me anyone can do it with the right tool, takes a real craftsman to figure out how to do it with what he has to work with. I'm sitll trying to get to know that craftsman. Simple thing is, I just enjoy it. Oh, and the Thin Cut disc on top of the wheels is my template.

Fall Comfort

And there's cornbread to go with this.........YUM!  Home made soup in the fall is such a comforting thing.

Chrome

Bright 

   Shiny

      

Chrome

                                                                                                                   

Mirrors

Reflections of ones self......multiple times.

Simple Question...Simple Answer

To the pond.......to the pond.

A Man I Never Met, My Grandfather

I never got to meet or know my grandfather on my moms side of the family as he died shortly after I was born. This is a reason why photos are so important. Just as important is putting information on them or, if digital, you keep the real metadata file.

My grandfather in his early days as a railroad worker.

My grandfather on the left. The guy on the right may have been some sort of conductor. He's wearing a watch and looks like he's carrying papers, maybe train routes and times in a terminal or yard.

 This is my grandfather with his youngest daughter, my aunt Zoe. This was taken in front of their house in Knoxville, TN. Looks like they had a pretty heavy snowfall that year.The house had a wood cooking stove in the kitchen and one in a front room for heating. I was only in the house one time before my step grandmother died but I remember it well. Very plain with little furnishings. My grandfather had moved  up to conductor by this time of his career. He 7 kids of which 3 were sons. One was a full time railroad man. The other two were part time conductors making weekend runs.

Hanging On with Bright Colors and Some Out of the Norm

This tree is hanging in there. It doesn't want to let go of its beauty but is showing signs of weakening, given into the inevitable....its winter look.

The Burning Bush is staying tough. Of course it is somewhat protected from the winds and cold but its days too are numbered.

A color that is not normally considered a fall color so much. This bush gets lots of little white flowers on each branch which turn into a small berry. The purple berry stays through the winter and then in March the berries start to turn dark brown to black. The birds feast on them, many are Robins, and by mid to late April all is gone and it is time to trim the plant back to about six inches above the ground.