Between the woods and frozen lake...

the coldest evening of the year (Robert Frost).
The town pond finally froze over. I took the kids skating this morning on a bright sunny day (and cold (-6 deg C; feels like -14 deg C). A. tried to drill a hole with an antique auger to measure the thickness (100 mm should be thick enough). The auger didn't work that well because the screw part did not grip in the ice (in wood, the screw would pull the blades down). The auger came from Ralph Osterc's barn, Fishkill, NY.

This Little Stool Is Mine

We made a little stool for J.'s Christmas, based on a Brasilian model that A. got at a garage sale. The materials came from unlikely places: after preaching at Yorktown we were asked to help move some junk out to the street. Amongst it was an old stair riser. This gave us the blanks for two stools. We got the little bandsaw working earlier by gluing the rubber onto the pulley with contact cement. The top was sanded by holding a belt sander sideways on the bench and running the edge around (just like the old bobbin sander days at Jim Holland's).
The legs came from a table that someone had discarded in the bulk pick-up. I set up a jig on the drill press so that a corner was higher. This was to give the legs a splayed out angle. The angle could have been bigger but the drill press was too small (all tools were given by my neighbour who used to make things for craft fairs: bandsaw, 19x3 inch belt sander, and drill press). The legs were reduced a little to fit the hole, and driven home. A sideways screw holds them in place (just like the model).
The Psalm 23 item came from an old calendar. The Hebrew alphabet was printed with a laser printer onto an overhead transparency. After painting the wood with modgepodge (white glue mixed with clear polyurethane varnish), the letters were glued on. Then the whole thing was painted with clear polyurethane.

Breakfast Casserole

A snowy morning translated into a 2 hr. delay for starting school today. So, while the menfolk shoveled neighborhood driveways, I prepared their favorite breakfast, breakfast casserole:

1 8-oz can refrigerator crescent rolls (or enough biscuit dough to cover the bottom of a 13"x9" pan)
8 oz grated cheese (mozzarella, cheddar, or colby-jack do nicely)
4 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup milk
salt and pepper to taste
leftover cooked sausage (sliced or crumbled), ham or bacon, enough to form a layer over the biscuit dough (today I used slice ham, cut into bite-sized pieces).

Line bottom of greased 13x9 baking dish with rolls/dough; press firmly to seal. Sprinkle with meat and cheese. Combine remaining ingredients and pour over sausage. Bake at 425 F for 15 minutes or until set. Cool 5 min. Cut into squares and serve.

I usually make my own biscuit dough for the bottom layer rather than use the refrigerator rolls:

1 1/4 cup self-rising flour (or one cup plain plus a teaspoon of baking powder)
2/3 cup milk
3 Tbsp shortening or margarine.

Mix all together. If dough is too sticky, add a bit of flour. Pour out dough on well-floured board and knead for about 5 minutes. Roll out to fit bottom of 13x9 pan.

It's not exactly low cal (although one could substitute ingredients to make it so), but it hits the spot on a freezing cold morning and the kids eat it all up.

Christmas Vacation Creations

We got creative over Christmas vacation and made candles and rafts. The candles were made using wax from old candles and molds from a candle-making kit we picked up from freecycle.

We made dip-candles as well, using tin cans to hold the wax and cold water.

The rafts were made from cut-up twigs from the trees that fell in the December ice-storm

(we are now in the midst of a January ice-storm). JJ used knowledge gained from shipbuilding books we'd been reading and included a mainmast and a rudder on his raft. A naval architect in the making!

Of course, we made snowmen, too.

Happy New Year!

What I'm Listening to (to what I am listening)

Roland Kirk, We Free Kings.... Flute and Sax
http://www.amazon.com/Free-Kings-Rahsaan-Roland-Kirk/dp/B0000046XT

Esperanza Spalding.... Double Bass and vocals
http://www.amazon.com/Esperanza-Spalding/dp/B0014HC56K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1231297051&sr=1-1

Amy Grant
http://www.amazon.com/Home-Christmas-Amy-Grant/dp/B000V7HFLO/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1231297131&sr=1-4

Music Stand for Christmas

This is a flute, trumpet, and sheet music stand that I made for the boys' Christmas present. It is screwed to the wall in their bedroom. The wood came from a dresser that someone threw out. The trumpet stand was a baseball bat that I carved with a draw knife, a little bit of rasping and sanding. The curves of the shelf are made on a band saw and sanded with a belt sander.

A.'s Stamp Album

A.'s Album
I love my stamp album. It is green. It has many interesting stamps in it. I have first day issues. I also have many foreign stamps. Some stamps have animals on them. Others have pictures of people on them. I have Christmas stamps too. Some stamps I have have already been used.
I like to trade and collect stamps. My stamp album is lots of fun. It has lots of stamps.

posted by A.