Well, that didn't work

So you didn't care for "What's the story," huh? Let's see, you want to hear about our mission project to Kenya? Once again our church is sending volunteers to Kenya this summer. We have three teams this time so that the logistics won't be too overwhelming. Everyone is excited, but we are running into a snag.

Back in November, we received a floor plan of the building that our church is paying to have built. The idea has been that the summer teams would be able to do some construction work on this building. But we find out that there has been much discussion and very little action. The final plan for the building still has not been approved or submitted to government authorities for permits to build. It is only two months until the first team is supposed to go. What do you think the odds are that construction will be started even?

So we are having to explore other activities we can do there. (The non-refundable tickets for all 18 people have already been bought.) One possibility would be to accompany the Kenyan college students back to their villages to do ESL or Bible school or door-to-door evangelism. Sounds exciting, but I wonder if some of our team members will be up for that. I guess we will see what God makes available, won't we?

What's the story?

Funny, I had already been thinking about posting a photo and asking for stories. Then I read Rev. Dave's posting and he beat me to the punch. So let's try this--see if you can put together a story that combines BOTH the photos below. Let's start with something easy, shall we?

Got a new project

Sure, it's an eye, but what kind of eye? It's part of a new project that I have going.

Like I don't have enough to do already. There are still the cabinet doors to finish up for the kitchen. They are cut and ready to glue up, basecoat, sand, paint, paint again, add hinges, and hang, but it is rainy outside today and, besides, I won't have much time before church (the evening service). When I ran out of glue yesterday, I went back to another project that I started with Cat in mind. See, she is a collector of elephants (I could easily do a year's worth of elephant photos), so I drew off a flying elephant for her. Not a "Dumbo" ear-flapping elephant, but one with wings, serene and mystical. We decided to make a wall hanging of it so I enlarged the drawing and sketched it onto a piece of MDF. Then I fired up my trusty scroll saw and cut out the form.

Well, it sat like that for a while. When I sharpened my chisels and started to work on it, I realized that an assist from power tools might be in order. A router helped reduce the thickness of some of the back legs and wings. And a sander got me started on the belly. But what helped most was finding a wood carving set made in Japan. Wow, those blades are sharp!

Here's the way the whole project looks at present (lying on our dead lawn). I am saving the tail for the very end of the carving so I won't break it off. Eventually the wings will be completely detailed, there will be wrinkles here and there, and it will be time to paint. What color do you think a flying elephant should be (NOT pink)? I can't decide between a solid color or the kind of decoration that they use in India with little mirrors glued to it. Or maybe several layers of different colors, then sand it and otherwise distress it for an old, nostalgic look. Hmmmm, what do you think?

Back from my nap

No, I was NOT taking a nap. Sometimes you just get real busy (I am not going to whine about that, however). So how about a combo posting? Let's start with a rock picture. This amethyst was bought in Austin, Texas (I think). I went to school there long enough to get a Master's degree. It was a cool town back then and probably still is, except the traffic is maniacal. Anyway, one often finds amethyst inside geodes. This piece is about 3 inches wide.

Now for a vocabulary item. A friend of mine sent a list of fake musical terms that included dill piccolino (a very small wind instrument that only produces sour notes) and alregretto (a tempo which the performer discovers is much too fast). But now let's talk about a real word: ort. This is not the "helping verb" my grandmother used to express an obligation (although she did say she was "too tarred to arn the close"). No, this tiny, completely English word means a scrap of food left from a meal. "'Scuse me, are you gonna eat that ort?" Or how about "Oh, I'm sorry for the misunderstanding. I said I was an ort collector." Well, you make up your own usages.


And finally we conclude with a "watzat?" This one should be pretty easy. It is in my study, of course, and we have had it for about five years, I think. Reminds me of a fireworks display. What do you think it is?











Here's the rug. It isn't old or expensive or even the right colors for the room, but it keeps my tootsies warm in the winter.