Last summer....I bought some silver wire and then Vivian and I bought a few handfulls of gemstones. Remember the trip to Texas? Buc-ee's? I mentioned it in the blog.

Saturday night, I decided to freehand wrapping a couple stones.

Didn't seem to difficult. So I decided to try something a bit more elaborate Sunday morning. A five strand braid.

It was a tad bit more detailed and I might add....time consuming.

Maybe a little more practice would have been helpful....maybe not! It took a little time to figure out how to wrap a fairly even wire braid around an uneven rock and make it look somewhat even again.

I took my time. I think it turned out half decent for a learning experience.

Funny how digital cameras tend to wash out color. I flipped it over to show the back.
Same spot as the picture of front. Same light. It is rose quartz. Looked white in last picture.

So now have a new little batch of tools.
Going to be doing more of this. It does not bother my back and it keeps the mind occupied. I actually enjoy it.

We stopped on the way out yesterday to watch some of the Chinese boat races.

Interesting! I had never seen anything QUITE like it. Unless a canoe race counts ;-)

Was all set up to paint the van this weekend. It rained yesterday. Was sunny and nice today. But...it is raining now. I guess the van will turn white when the van turns white.

It is just as well. I have had a very rough week as far as my back is concerned. I would like to avoid having many more days like I had this week. 'Nuf said!

This month starts the thinning out of unused worldly possessions. I will not get rid of everything in storage. I have things like chamber reamers for a series of rifle cartridges I designed. One of a kind reloading dies. A few rifles I will not part with. Piles of reloading and gunsmithing/stock making tools. Actually, I sold over 40 guns all together. Every one had been customised in one way or another. I sold them for pennies on the dollar. It is like everything else. Spend all you want modifying something. In the end...it is only worth what someone else will pay you for it.

I can tell you that one rifle had over $2,500 in parts added to it. I did the stock. The cold rust bluing, well..lots of things. I never added up what the labor would have been to pay someone to do it. That was just one gun. Suffice to say. I have been away from shooting and hunting so long now that it matters little.


Will I ever get back into guns again? Not likely unless it becomes necessary to hunt for subsistance or to defend myself. I rest confident that I can shoot just fine with any gun I have. Repair said gun if needed and put food on the table with that same gun.

So....not getting rid of all my unused stuff ;-) Certainly not parting with any more tools. If you have no tools...you have to pay someone else to fix your stuff. I like fixing my own stuff.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Vivian!!!

Yesterday(April 22) was Vivian's birthday.
  It was a busy day. We had an out of town soccer game to attend. So...picked up pizza on the way back home.

Does anyone remember me saying I need to pare down my list of projects so I can concentrate on getting Mary Lee and the nester dinghy finished?

Even when I was working (before getting hurt) I was always working on a project of some kind. So the day before Vivian's birthday, I decided to re-dye her leather jacket. She has had it over ten years. She likes it. She doesn't want a new one. The dye was wore off in a bunch of places like the seams on the sleeves etc.

I researched how the re-dyeing is done at those places you can send them to.

Then did it myself.

It was not difficult. I airbrushed the dye and sealer on. It was a little time consuming, but not bad. The very cheapest I could find to have it done was $100. By the time shipping was paid etc, it was about what a local place charges for a new leather jacket. Did I mention Vivian did not want a different jacket?

It cost me about $4 and about 45 minutes of actual activity. Counting the wait time between coats....about two hours.



It looks a bit shinier in the direct sun. You cannot tell where the worn spots were.

That was my first time doing anything like that. However...since I had everything set up. I decided to do something about the sketchers I had ordered online. They looked much different (color) when they arrived than the picture showed. I decided to just wear them anyway.

They were pretty silverish looking. I was thinking grey when I ordered them....not shiny grey. I had spilled stuff on them and although still comfortable, they were getting pretty dirty looking.

I decided to experiment with the brown dye. They are not shiny anymore.

We spent some time in the courtyard last weekend. I put some of the edging up around some of the flower beds(?). I have a bit left to do. Vivian planted the flower boxes and more herbs. I planted the green bushes by the white fence pieces we put around the heating/cooling unit.

Of course there is always more stuff to do

I got a ticket. Not speeding.

Vivian played Della Street and put together a case file.

I got up in front of the courtroom and pled not guilty. Got to choose between a bench hearing or jury trial. Chose bench. Got to sit in the vacated jury seats while everyone else pled guilty and moved on. By the time they were all done, the officer who wrote my ticket had arrived. I really didn't have much of an argument but.....why not? The fine started at $155. It ended up being $65. It turns out that just showing up cuts it in half. I saved $12.50. Worthwhile effort??? Maybe not. Vivian went with me. We drove the van down, experienced a court proceeding. Watched a couple people argue tickets in ways that were not beneficial. Went out for pizza at a new place(for us). The $12.50 savings just about paid for the pizza. I think we even went to the state park to enjoy a walk on the pier.

It was a great day in all.

Two soccer games this week so far. Socastee(sock-us-tea) won both. Vivian's youngest son Jon plays for Socastee. One more on Friday. Monday's game was also senior night.

Of course...I have a picture of proud Mom with son..

and a couple game shots. Jon is 6'4" and weighs about 180 pounds. Vivian is about 5'10" and maybe 140 pounds sopping wet with a pocket full of rocks. Funny how much bigger Jon looks.

Last but not least. Vivian works at the university. Last week the mascot (chauncy?)was caught on break.

Yup...mascot is a chicken!

I had a pretty ambitious weekend planned. Turns out, my body is still not able to get everything done that my brain plans.

 More on that later. I now have a van. Yes....I guess I did just re-enter the world of vehicle ownership again. I will need a vehicle to work again. More importantly though. Need a vehicle in Marathon, FL. this fall. So here it is.

It was the very best GMC offered in 1994. The diamond executive vandura. It needs a little tlc.

I spent some time looking for the right one. It needed to be cheap. Run out good and not have a destroyed interior.

We actually drove 3 1\2  hours up to Saluda, SC. to look at one. I felt like the guy deserved knots on his head for the misleading ad. Seven hours driving to look at a piece of junk. I won't say more than that. I should have taken a picture.


That was last Saturday. April 4th. Tuesday we drove 3 1\2 hours to Durham, N.C. and bought this van.

We knew we had new neighbors before we had made last Saturday's drive. We had not seen them yet. When I walked out to the car with Vivian Monday morning, we found a green conversion van in their driveway. So Wednesday morning it looked like vans were overtaking the neighborhood.

Wonder what the rest of the neighbors thought? :-)



So with the great price of $1,200. The van needs a few repairs and paint. Not fond of the purple carpet and door panels but have a very good cure for that.
 It had a wheel bearing in the rear end that needed replaced.

I also needed to replace one axle. Since it was apart, I replaced bearings and seals on both sides. The home owners association would have had fits if I had done this job at home. I drove up to Mary Beth's home in Southport,N.C. to do it.

I should have got a few more pictures. Maybe at least one of the slide hammer bearing puller I used to get wheel bearings out. Or of differential while pulling clips out. But I didn't. Just know that there were several steps not photographed. Actually, you can see the bearing puller case opened up on the tire.

The rear end went together without a hitch.
 I had picked up about $500 in parts all totalled.

This was the first pile on the counter at parts place. The rearend parts were about $200. They were another pile. My back was pretty sore. I decided that the radiator hoses, rebuilding the power steering pump, serpentine belt(fan belt) and tensioner pulley, thermostat and power steering hoses can all be replaced at home. I am sure I missed something in the list.

Actually :-) I did forget to mention one thing. Dad taught us boys how to paint cars when we were kids. Small paint shop next to the house. We rebuilt engines and all kinds of things in that shop. I can and have painted vehicles for a living.
So when I tell you Dad will cringe when he hears how I am going to paint the van....I am not kidding.

I am going to roll and tip it with rustoleum. :-) :-) :-)
I gave it quite a bit of thought. Black is too hot. In Marathon, that thing would be like crawling in an oven. White will help. I need to practice roll and tip painting on something.  It is likely I will end up doing it on a boat. The van has some rust. Doing a standard auto paint job would be very labor intensive. I don't have the place or time for that. About $180 for the rustoleum primer, paint and accoutraments. You aren't going to buy all the materials for a car paint job for remotely close to that.

I watched a utube video where a guy rolled and tipped his pickup. The more I thought about it....the more I liked it. I do not even have to do it all at once. It will look fine when done. If you never knew how it was painted...you would never guess without close inspection

The van drives like a cadillac. Has a queen bed when rear seat is folded down. Can pull a trailer or haul full sheets of plywood. Not likely to own it for more than a couple years. Will look clean, bright and be reliable. Very important piece of the puzzle for our near future plans. Let's not forget me needing to just lay down when my back hurts.

Vivian and I jokingly call it a big horking van. Shortened to horking van. Gonna call it Orca. It is kind of a whale-of-a-van!

Last...and certainly not least. Went out to dinner at the Dead End Saloon in Southport, next to where I had Mary Lee while there. They got $18 out of me for dinner. My favorite.

Fish and chips. With the tip, it may be the most expensive fish and chips I have ever had. But, you know, fish and chips is my favorite. It was a pretty big plate of food. I was barely able to eat it all.

Next post should see van painted...or at least in process. For now...finishing coffee and then going grocery shopping with my honey bunchess in a huge black van.

I have been bragging. Although Vivian and I do not always agree on everything. We are at our two year anniversary and still not one fight(probably because neither of us cares for fighting). I sure do love this woman. We are two peas in a pod.

The drive to Saluda, SC. on Saturday was a bust. The van looked okay in the pictures. The ad stated a manual transmission. I have driven with a manual transmission most of my life. I liked the idea. As I walked up to the van with the owner, he told me it had an automatic. My shit detector went into the red zone. What else would not be the same as ad?
It was a conversion van. The outside looked okay. I opened the drivers door and saw chunks of wiring laying on the floor and the captain seats were all but destroyed. Turns out the two captain seats in the rear were half decent. That was the interior pictures in ad. The door panels were carpeted a long time before the windows had leaked and destroyed them. It was parked in a mud hole and needed jump started. Bald tires. I was surprised when it started and ran well. But I can buy a good van for what he wanted.

It was a 3 and 1\2 hour drive up from Myrtle Beach. We tried to contact other people with vans for sale in the area. Easter weekend. No luck. We returned home.

So that was not my van. One will show up.

Meanwhile....back at the ranch(so to speak).
I have been busy getting geared up for boat work. I have a booth and table to build for Mary Lee(amongst other things) and a nester dinghy to build. Neither project is very difficult but I am putting all other projects on hold until finished with them.

First was practice runs with edge banding bits in router table and horizontal router jig I built a short time ago (see...it was for a reason).
 This is a look at the project.

Plywood edges shaped on the verticle and solid wood for edges on the horizontal.

Then put together with edging stained.

More surface area to glue. Stronger than tongue and groove. Will do table and cabinet doors on Mary Lee this way.
That piece is actually very similar to what I will be doing in Mary Lee to brighten it up and add contrast. I will be using maple countertop laminate on marine plywood and wrapping the edges in mahogany hardwood. So similar, as in light wood with dark trim.

I made a shooting board. Dovetailing and fitting corners tightly requires very straight cuts so the edges have no gaps. I needed a way to absolutely have this on every edge.
Top picture is with piece I made(yellow paint)to do 45° corners.
Of course the bottom is for square ends. The hand plane slides on the edge just how you see it. 60 grit sandpaper glued on top keeps everything from slipping. I made a practice corner piece the way I will do table.

 The stain makes the corner look like there is a gap. I assure you. It feels smooth when you run your fingernail over it.

I also squared the other practice piece perfectly.

You notice the chisels? I spent some time in my 20's working as a meat cutter. I  worked kill floors, grocery stores and meat packing houses. I know very well how to sharpen a knife. I needed a good way to do chisels. Got one.

That is a diamond sharpening stone with the standard stones.
It is a fine grade. Still feels rough to me. But it is great for squaring up the edge of whatever you are sharpening before polishing it out on a good stone.

The white stone is a very good stone. I can make anything razor sharp on it.

The coolest thing about the diamond stone is lapping the real stones with it to keep the surfaces flat.
Just like picture of grey stone on top of diamond. I do it in a sink of soapy water. I draw pencil lines on stone. When it takes all lines off. Stone is flat and perfect for lapping chisels. I never use oil. Just soapy water. Oil can get on meat, clothes, whatever. Soap is a great lubricant and contaminates nothing.

Yes...the grey stone is my cheap throwaway stone for fixing edges before I will touch them on the good stone. The chisels are very sharp.

The diamond stone works so well, it may eliminate the need for the cheap grey stone.

Yesterday morning I decided the rose bush needed moved in the courtyard. We were going to plant two. This one has no thorns. We went back to get a second one last year and they were out of them everywhere. Now this one is so much bigger that a second one will always look small.

It was on left. I centered it under windows. It blooms all summer and is really growing fast. Vivian will be able to see the flowers from inside the house as well as out.

The Live Oak tree we rescued(supposed to be a dwarf) is really taking off this spring.

When we got it, it had been pulled out of the ground, drug off near the woods and left to fend for itself. The water running by it from the rain kept it alive. It had very few leaves on it when we planted it. I reluctantly pruned it this winter. I was afraid of killing it as it had shown no growth last summer.

It is doing well now. These are all new leaves coming out. Should make a nice looking tree after all.

So Vivian cooked a nice Easter dinner for us. Later...it got quiet. You know how it gets quiet when kids get into things?

There she was putting photo albums together. What a sweetheart!

This month we start  getting rid of unused "THINGS". Both of us are beginning to adopt a more minimalist lifestyle. We will still have things. I will not part with any tools again. She has keepsakes she will not part with. I admit to some of that myself.

But we can sure thin out some other stuff. I did a lot of that when I moved out to work on Mary Lee that first summer in Baltimore. I have to do more.
 It should be interesting