Live, from VT

We flew to Vermont last night and spent today looking for a place to live. That part is going well and we have met quite a few nice people and definitely have great back up choices for where to live. I think the first two Vermonters we met scared Rachel a little bit.

Vermonter #1, Met on the plane. 

This guy is a good business contact, has significant interests in similar scientific areas and is a serious wooden boat guy.

Vermonter #2, The agent we spent the morning with, trying to find a place to live.

In addition to knowing the back roads and where the nice little country houses are, this guy is an avid hunter and fisherman and a serious sailor of kayaks. We took a little detour after seeing several homes so he could show me the best gun shops. He even went so far as to point out how to hunt close to Burlington on state land without having anyone else around and recommending his favorite caliber rifle for the hilly country and necessary walking involved in hunting out here.

So, you can see why Rachel might be a bit frightened. 

A New Kind of Toddler Terror

Ellis is now saying a whole lot all of the time and he is at that age where he will see something and immediately point it out.  It can get pretty embarrassing. 

Instance #1-In line for security at the airport.

"Hey, dat guy has no hair. Dat guy has no hair. Dat guy has no hair mommy. Dat guy has got no hair..."

You get the idea...

Instance #2-Wandering around the airport killing time.

"Hey, she's older than gramma."

So you can imagine my terror when I was holding him atReagan National and here comes an amputee, accentuating her missing leg by using crutches. I was paralyzed considering how to handle the moment when he would point at her and declare, "Hey! she only has one leg!" I got lucky and he failed to notice.

Will...not...fit...

Turns out that a long bed still isn't long enough. Good thing we got a trailer. Actually, it was just set up there to allow the urethane top coats on the inside to dry faster.

When we put it up at eye-level we spotted a few spots that still need touching up. But, all in all, one can see that the shape of the boat is back.

Ohhh....Shiny

Before this thing can be be fiberglassed, the seats need to be installed. As you can see the seat refinishing has turned out very well. Originally, we thought that John's dad had made the seats and we were going to replace them. The rear and middle seat actually are original so they got redone. The front seat was a mess that would need to be recaned, so it is being replaced.
The thwarts also got a nice refinising. In this picture you can see the sanded inwales. We were pretty worried about what to do with these because this wood is fairly damaged and a little patched together. We went ahead and sanded it pretty clean and then stained it just tonight using a mix of rosewood, Jacobean and oak stains and it turned out good.

Skeg

So what you see in this picture is the skeg that used to be on this boat. It wasn't original, but made by John's dad as a replacement. You might notice that it isn't straight. In fact, it is warped in every direction possible. Needless to say, since John had straightened out the boat when he worked on it previously, obviously there isn't any way to use this one.

So this gave us the reason to go and buy a 16 ft piece of cedar, pass it through the planer a few times and then scribe it to match the bottom of the boat.

After it was scribed, it was cut on the bandsaw to match. We actually had to stop and move the bandsaw about a dozen times to get enough room on the backside to accomdate the length of board. Here you see it cut and weighted to the bottom. The tapers still need to be cut. 

The Chase

Giving his quarry a fair chance by using a butterfly net to subdue her, our young hunter takes after his prey.

Gaining on her.

With her cornered, he approaches with slow deliberate steps.

Then with her just beyond his grasp she pounces on our hunter.

Brings him to his knees...

And, then she leans in close and whispers in his ear, "I will let you go this time, but next time I will stick that net right up your #$%."

Exhilirated from his close encounter with dangerous game.

Get Ready

Ellis's teacher told us today that when they are finished in the large motor area and the other kids are filing out Ellis grabs his favorite ball and hides it so when they come back to the large motor area he can get to it before someone else does. Evidence that he is plotting and not just a few minutes down the road either.

The other day he was in the bathroom, kneeling on the toilet rummaging through Rachel's make-up tray. He had applied a generous portion of eyeshadow to his own cheeks when he offered some to his mother. She replied, "No I don't need any today." And, Ellis asked, "Is it only for boys?"

visiting "Cafrene in Hi-O"

Two weekends ago, Ellis and I made a quick trip down to Ashland to visit my sister Catherine. We indulged in the unique shopping experiences of Amish Ohio.  First up was Lehman's.  It was fun looking at everything they sell, though I had to pass up the giant wall of cookie cutters for fear of what might happen if I even started making selections.  Trey and I have been half looking for a grain mill, but I couldn't make a decision without Trey there and even my reconissance was severely limited by the customer loudly planning his fallout shelter and pressing the staff on which electric models could be converted to manual in a pinch (all of them, nitwit).  I did bring some fudge home and it quickly earned Trey's approval.  We also stopped at Grandpa's cheese barn, where we discovered their homemade pickles are rather better than the cheese.  Ellis also discovered that their policy of using pretzel sticks instead of toothpicks for dispensing samples is pure genius because even if you hate the sample item, you still get to eat a pretzel.  Sweet.  

Catherine was the consumate hostess, stocking up on all various favorite foods and even entertaining Ellis so I could sleep in on Sunday morning.  Catherine also spoiled the pants off Ellis, stuffing him with yogurt and fresh berries during a screening of Fantasia and then breaking out the big guns....left over Easter candy.  I think Ellis's expression in the bottom photo pretty much says it all.

Rose-Breasted Grosbeak

We were lucky enough to see one of these this morning. I think we have been seeing juveniles the last week but this was the first mature one I have seen.

boppin' em on the head

On the way to school today, Ellis was demaning constant entertainment and to prevent a fourth repitition of "bringing home a baby bumble bee", I switched over to some "little bunny foo foo" nonsense. Usually, for extra thrills, I walk my fingers up Ellis's leg and finish with a little tummy tickle during the "if you don't BEHAVE, I'll turn you into a goon". But today, after bunny foo foo failed to heed all the good fairy's warnings, we came to the part where she's about the carry out her threat and I was just starting coming in for the tickle when Ellis shouted "No, mommy, no! I'm a have! I'm a have!"