Waiting in the shade sitting on a brick ...: December 2010

31 December 2010

As we go into the new year remember ...

Hey Abbott!

My beautiful wife and youngest son, Emerson who looks remarkable like Lou Costello from Abbott and Costello.

The end of another pet era

After more than 5 years, our sweet Madagascar Day Gecko Anansi has passed on to the big insurance company in the sky.

Anansi left behind a modest dirty fish tank he called home, a ceramic water bowl with a faux cactus, a tree branch and 12 crickets. He will be deeply missed.

The boys stand close to Anansi’s resting place, at Shady Backyard Lawn. Echo dug the hole that morning not realizing that a Madagascar Day Gecko is way smaller than a horse.

Some of the boys try out the resting place which is one of our family traditions.

The hand-off.

Hank places Anansi in his final resting place.

A final few words.

The cover up.

Hank and Silas complete the job.

30 December 2010

Handmade gifts are always the coolest

Below are Elise and Silas’ special handmade Christmas gifts that I put together this past week. It’s always been a tradition for me to build little things from time to time. The first thing I built was when Echo was a toddler, I made him a custom set of blocks made out of teak, maple and mahogany.

This will be the third workbench I have made; it usually takes them about three years to destroy one. Let’s see how long this one last.

The super special thing this time around was building a kitchen for Elise. Within seconds she went right to work alongside Judith in the kitchen pretending to make dinner and wash dishes. Truly a lovely sight to see.

For years the boys have always been by my side pretending to be me and helping me with house project and Judith had no one at her side. Now she does and it's a wonder to watch how happy Judith is to have a little companion.

Everyone should have a companion and Judith and Elise make a great team.

I used cabinet grade birch plywood, a dog bowl for a sink and rosettes for burners.

Every boy deserves a workbench

All too true when you're a carpenter

If the only tool you have is a hammer,

you tend to see every problem as a nail.

Abraham Maslow

27 December 2010

We had an enjoyable Christmas weekend that started with a traditional Italian Christmas Eve dinner of sea food, family and friends and ended with Judith and I watching a romantic comedy last night alone together on the couch. I had planned on taking this week off but like all things our plans never seem to work out. Let just say this week will be rather lite.

What made this weekend so special was I turned my cellular phone off last Friday morning and now I’m staring at it debating whether or not to ever turn it back on. Life would be so much better if I was able to let the battery die and never look back but I guess in today’s world that ‘s not possible is it?

Hope you have a nice week.