Things Are Hoppin At Nan's And Cheez's

We have our daughter and children from NC and also some daily visits from another daughter and her children who live locally. So, I have some happy time pictures to show.

The newbie is eight months old and will stand at any time or opportunity, with or without adult help. Within seconds of this picture, her older brother walked up and opened the door from the outside. Not so much fun looking out the door then. Except for a rap on the gourd, all was well and she soon was back to her normal high spirits. Scared the crap out of the Safety Officer though. He saw it coming but was to far away to catch her.

Sky Bean, at 11 months is good at standing and even takes a few steps when he forgets himself. Not actually walking yet but very close. You can see by his normal look that life upsets him.

The face you get when you ask an Irishman to look like a pirate. He also says Arrrrgggghh Maitey very well. I think he is in training for "National Talk Like A Pirate Day".

Cousins hanging out around the backyard tug boat.

Gus working in the dirt. All of our grandchildren like to come over and play in the dirt. Summer is great because you can hose them down when they are dirty. The last few days the temperatures at night have been below freezing so there is not so much hosing going on.

I believe this actually looks like a Safety Officer in Training. I was not there for the picture so I don't know the story behind it. Ise is however sometimes referred to by his mother as a junior safety officer.

When all else fails, or whenever she feels like it, Nana is known to pick a baby up by their heels and blow in their ear. You can see it really scares them.

The smile is hidden behind the Bink. This picture was taken shortly after her brother opened the door on her. If she had a song it would, "I gotta be me"!

The Mossberg Model 46B Project Begins

The Mossberg Model 46B was made from 1938 to 1940. I am going to repair the stock and put this fine little beauty back into service. At this point, the rifle has just been unpacked after receipt. Rest assured, I bought it in this condition. So far, all I have done is remove the trigger guard which held the two stock pieces together.

Yep, during my initial inspection, I broke the little ear off checking for cracks in the stock. I need to identify any cracks in the stock resulting from the stress that broke the wrist. On the bright side, you can see the little safe-fire buttons are still with the stock.

This is the right side of the break in the wrist. There are gaps around the edges that will have to be filled in. I don't have any of those pieces, so we will carry on without them.

Another look at the wrist. This the underside showing the groove into which the trigger guard fits. To a varying degree, gaps exist all the way around the wrist. My start will be to bond the two larger portions, butt stock and forearm together.

This is an Acraglas Kit, which I will use along with an oak dowel inserted through the wrist to effect the repair.


There are some small cracks in the tang of the stock. My first hope is they will be stabilized when I bond the butt stock to the forearm. But I will keep an eye on the cracks to see if pins may be required.

This is the butt of the stock with the butt plate removed. Obviously some kind of inappropriate screw has been used in the past to secure the butt plate.

As I write this, the Acraglas Kit is riding "The Brown Truck of Happiness" enroute from Brownells, Inc. to my house.

More Pre-Christmas Pictures From NC

Nana gets her sugar at every opportunity.

Baby Dee has been introduced to new toy. This item came from her Florida Aunt Marcy.

I don't know if the kids at Aunt Marcy's house outgrew it or Aunt Marcy got tired of tripping over it.

As you can see by my pictures, Baby Dee was really into this. The tabletop mounts on legs but at this time it is flat on the floor. Baby Dee was not yet standing by herself when these pictures were taken. However, she was just getting ready to graduate from the slow and low crawl to a faster up on her knees crawl

Pictures of the family in North Carolina.

Some more of my pictures next to the Christmas Tree.

Ise kept checking with Baby Dee to make sure everything was OK.

I shot a lot of these however, usually if one kid was on track, the other was drifting elsewhere.

Often the look on Baby Dees face reminds me of her mother when she was a child. Other times Baby Dee's expression reminds me of my mother.

These pictures are of no particular order, I just liked them.

When you are the blogger, you get to pick the picture used.

We all had a good time and nobody cried, at least not a lot.

Two New Projects For 2009

A Mossberg Model 46B, circa 1938-1946, with a broken stock in need of some surgery followed by some TLC.

A Mosssberg Model 46M(b), circa 1947-1952, also in need of some TLC.

I really enjoy the challenge of refurbishing these old rifles. Right now, I am awaiting their delivery via the Brown Truck Of Happiness (BTOH). More pictures and information will follow as this project continues.

Some Before Christmas Pictures Taken in NC

Baby Dees first Christmas. That's not her present but she sure liked the ribbon.

Here we put Baby Dee next to her big brother and to see what happens.

Hmmmm. The baby notices her older brother appears to have something interesting in his hand.

Here, her focus becomes more intense.

Here Baby Dee moves into phase two, her let me see it now phase.


And finally, the total investigation phase.

The Christmas Play

In early December, Ise played "Joseph" in the church school play. He got upset the final day of practice because "Mary" was giving him to much direction; so he informed everybody that he quit.

"Mary" agreed to stop with the constant direction of "Joseph" and the band played on. Little does "Joseph" know what awaits him in the coming years.

The show started at about 6:00 pm and by the time it ended at or about 7:00 pm there were little actors and actresses asleep in their positions on the stage. You can see here, that "Joseph" is looking for his own manger.

Boys Bowling

Over Christmas we visited our daughter, her husband and their two children. Here are some pictures of Luke with his his son, Ise bowling. I came along to work the camera.

This is Ise with the bowling ball he used.

This is a typical delivery. The ball is relatively large when compared to the bowler but that didn't seem to phase him.

And we have pins that are knocked down. This is not their first time bowling and Ise had a really good time.

Ruger SR9 Recall

Sturm Ruger & Co. will retrofit all Ruger SR9 pistols starting with serial number prefix 330 (330-XXXX) with new parts at no charge to the customer.

In order to ensure correct fitting the new parts must be installed by Ruger at their factory in Prescott, AZ.

If your Ruger is subject to recall, call (800) 784-3701, fax (928) 541-8873, e-mail SR9Recall@ruger.com or visit www.ruger.com.

You must provide: name, address, telephone number and your pistols serial number.

Ruger will send you, instructions, a shipping label, and a shipping container so your SR9 can be returned to the factory at no cost to you.

For your inconvenience, Ruger will return your pistol after update with a spare magazine free of charge.

If your SR9 is eleigible for update Ruger says "Do not load or fire your SR-9 until the retrofit is complete."

Pictures From North Carolina

This is Joseph greeting the audience after his performance in A Mighty Day presented by his preschool on 11 December 2008.

As the crowd moves on, so does Joseph. The play started at 7:00 pm and by the time the play was over it was obvious that more than Joseph's sister was ready for bed. Some of the kids fell asleep in position during the play. All in all, it was fun and a pleasure to watch.

Baby Dee, wants everyone to know that boys are not the only people who can be pirates.

Some Memories Of S'Mores In August 08

Nana is the senior Girl Scout in this family and Nana loves S'Mores.


You don't even have to be a Girl Scout to know you need a campfire to make S'Mores. Since our area of Florida has had its share of forest fires, Nana got her own firepit for the making S'Mores.


Making S'Mores is more fun when you have a crew to roast the marshmellows. Here are a Ise and Gus at work toasting their marshmellows.


Not everyone likes their marshmellow on fire. To some crewmembers it was upsetting when their marshmellow caught fire.


Then again, sometimes you have to get close enough to the firepit to at least warm the marshmellow.



Properly prepared S'Mores have a short lifespan. Well I guess improperly prepared ones also have short lifespans. While Baby D looks like she wants a S'More, this picture was taken just shortly before she decided she was going to eat real food. Perhaps that was the "last straw" that got her to eating real, not baby, food. If you tried to eat a S'More that close to her now there would be a problem.


Gus ensures their is no fire on his marshmellow.


This could be an Irish jig or like my cat, Gus could have realized he should be somewhere else.


Will does not like to wait for the marshmellow to cook. He is the youngest boy and rather than wait, he eats his marshmellows straight up. He has a couple in his left hand.


A shot of Ise and Will goofing around. You have to start traing kids about S'Mores when they are young. However, when they are young they quickly lose interest.


Ise assemblying a work of art, a S'More good enough to give to Nana.