Wood is Good

Angie's B'day Quilt for Daddy

2012-01-04T05:56:00.000-08:00

My daughter Angela made this for me to celebrate my 60th birthday. It includes patches depicitng some of my interests to include, my love of sailing, tools, and my railroading days. There might even be a pencil/pen in there somewhere representing my 30 plus years as an accountant/auditor.

The photos don't really do the quilt justice. You have to see it in real life to appreciate Angela's talent and skill.

Thank You Angie!

Cedar Key, Florida

2011-11-30T07:00:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite places. When I lived in Gainesville I used to drive over in the evenings just to watch the dolphins and sun set. Very low key during the week - no touristas.

Oak Logs

2011-11-30T06:48:00.000-08:00

A gentleman brought these logs by from a lot he was clearing. The large one is a water oak and the small ones are red oaks. I sawed them into 5/4 thickness and for the most part quarter sawed the large log (25" x 10') and flat sawed the smaller one. Despite being dead for a while they were heavy heavy.

More Cruise Photos

2011-11-30T06:27:00.001-08:00

These are some photos taken during my 10/2011 cruise from Tampa to the Cayman Islands, and Cozumel. The sea was getting rough coming back, tornadoes were supposedly forming south of us.

Birthday PC Trip

2011-11-25T08:39:00.000-08:00

My daughters and son in law took me down to FL to celebrate my 60th birthday at Hunt's Oyster Bar. I am fortunate in many ways.

Check out this palm in a Panama City FL park in the St. Andrews area. Very unusual! Here's the official description.

A massive live oak, every young person's dream - designed by nature to be the perfect treehouse tree.

Don't forget, every one's welcome to leave comments. Daughter Angela was was the photographer.

2011 Apalachicola FL Trip

2011-11-07T12:58:00.000-08:00

This photo was taken (11/4/11) facing north on FL State Hwy 73 where it connects to FL State Hwy 71, a little south of Kinard FL. The next couple of photos were taken at the intersection of Hwys 73 and 71, south of Kinard.

Apalachicola's Seafood Festival

2011-10-31T07:28:00.000-07:00

Ok folks be sure to check out the Seafood Festival in Apalachicola, FL if you're in the area this weekend. Hey give me a pat on the back I was able to do the hyperlink without daughter Angie's assistance.

While I'm there I'll be checking on a Ranger Tug, this looks to be the perfect boat to search the shoreline for drift logs that need rescued and revitalized into a bowl, cutting board, or whatever the log wants to be.

Leave me a msg if you'll be able to make it!

Pilot Boat

2011-10-26T12:47:00.000-07:00

This is a photo of the boat bringing the harbor pilot out to the ship next to ours. I am standing on the 11th deck taking the photo. The boat is about 40 foot in length, but looks to be a toy boat in comparison to the cruise ship. Check out how clear the water is!

October 2011 Cruise

2011-10-25T14:36:00.001-07:00

Here we are on Dennis Connor's 1983 America's Cup boat the Stars and Stripes. The boat requires a crew of 14 to get the maximum speed from her. We had just finished racing the Canadian boat in the background - also an America's Cup boat. Needless to say the guy in the front and I (in the dark shirt) were the winch grinders (the bigger guys were always used). You can see the winch handle in the front right side of the photo of the one I was responsible for. The winch had 3 speeds or gearings to help tighten the genoa sail when tacking or coming about - pardon me - my sailing vocabulary is a bit rusty. The real crew were the captain Tony (UK) adjusting his cap, Joe (Argentina) in the white holding the line on the right. The rest of us were cruise line amateurs.

This is the Stars and Stripes with main sail up and the genoa sail still rolled up.

We sailed on Carnival's Inspiration - leaving Tampa on a Monday, headed to UK's Cayman Islands on to Mexico's Cozumel arriving back in Tampa Saturday Morning.

Never thought I would say this but I was ready to get home. Five days of lazy were too many for me. Three days next time. All in all I had a good time except for the weight gain.

Fall Cruise!

2011-06-24T09:48:00.000-07:00

I'll be taking a cruise later this year on Carnival Cruise Lines. We'll be stopping in Cozumel where I'll be sailing on one of Dennis Conner's America's Cup Ships, the Stars and Stripes. I am so excited. My sailing experience consists of the Chrysler Bucaneer, an 18 foot daysailor and a Catalina 22 we used to sail on Lake Eufaula (AL) and West Point Lake (GA). So this is going to be a dream come true!

That's daughter Amy on the beach in 1983 or so, I'm in the yellow sailboat - the Bucaneer on Lake Eufaula, AL.

Father's Day Lunch w/Daughters

2011-06-24T09:07:00.000-07:00

Last Friday, my daughters and I had lunch at the The Farm House in Ellerslie, Georgia. Angie and I had the chicken and dumplings, Amy had the chicken and brocolli casserole. They were all good, the candied yams were exceptionally rich. The desert choice required some deliberations - there were so many to choose from. I could not have asked for better company to enjoy the ambiance of The Farm House and the true southern cooking. Check their website out. Thumbs up!

2011 - Apalachicola's Annual Antique Boat Show

2011-06-01T11:42:00.000-07:00

I was able to attend Apalachicola's Boat Show this year see www.antiqueboatshow.org for more info. It was the 4/15/11 weekend. If you like wooden boats this is something you might want to check out.

Of course the seafood is always worth the trip down from GA for me. This is a photo of my favorite meal at Boss Oysters Restaurant - blackened grouper with of course a cold beer, nothing more needs to be said.

I had a great time I met my buddy Chuck there and friends Becky and her husband Jim.

The other photos were taken at the Sportsmens Lodge in East Point, FL.

The peacock was trying to entice a hen that was feeding in the bushes. I watched him for about ten minutes and still the hen continued to ignore him. Women, whatta you gonna do?

On the way home Sunday I stopped at Sadie's Flea Market and bought some plants. I still have not been able to get a rosemary to survive the winter, so I had to get a couple more of them. Now the question is, will they survive the summer - its been way too hot and no rain in sight.

I also stopped in at Harbor Freight to add to my tool collection. Can't have enough!

Well folks thats it for now.

Don't forget you can click on photos to enlarge them and remember all comments are welcomed!

April 2011 Chattanooga Trip to Visit Daughter Amy

2011-05-24T08:47:00.000-07:00

I visited my daughter Amy in Chattanooga for a fun filled weekend. I was exhausted afterwards. Got there around 10 on Saturday morning.

First thing we did was take an excursion train ride on a steam engine http://www.tvrail.com/ . We got to see some scenic views and - for me the most interesting part was watching the engine turned on the roundtable. The roundtable is so balanced that when the engine and tender is centered, one man could actually rotate the table. Also had to take a picture of a Southern engine - I was a Southern Conductor/Brakeman for a while years back.

Next thing we did was get a pedicure, yes, I got
one too. Apparently it is OK for men nowadays.

There was a male bodybuilder getting one as well so I did not feel too bad, plus I was out of town so no one I knew would have seen me anyways.

After that we went to the annual Corn Bread Festival in Pittsburg, TN to enjoy the crafts and of course cornbread and pinto beans, check it out http://www.nationalcornbread.com/ .

By the time we got back to Chattanooga we were hungry (at least I was) so we stopped at the local Five Guys http://www.fiveguys.com/ for burger. A suggestion here - one order of frys is enough for 2 - 4 hungry eaters. Wish we had a franchise in my area.

We then rested for 5 minutes, changed, then went
to a Chattanooga Lookouts game. The highlight of
the game besides the actual game was a performer
named The Amazing Christopher who performed a Village People take off using life size puppets. I could not do him justice by explaining so search for him on the Internet!

That was Saturday, are you tired yet, I was and am!

Sunday morning we stopped at Dunkin Donuts for my favorite coffee which Starbucks cannot touch.

Then off to downtown for a ride on a Duck http://www.chattanoogaducks.com/ on the Tennessee River. The driver gave a very informative
commentary about the river and its history in
addition to the development of the Duck which
is a WWII deuce and a half truck converted to a
dual purpose freight hauler (by land and sea).
This is a trip every one should take when visiting Chatta.

We then went to Chattanooga's Market http://www.chattanoogamarket.com/ , another treat special to the area. They hold the market every Sunday in a pavilion downtown. There are all kinds of fresh local grown produce, local artists, crafts people, food vendors, plant/tree vendors, bakers, in addition to a musical performer. We got some German bread, brochens, and I got 4 Dahlia tubers, and hey they are doing well.

After that we stopped for Mexican food at Taco Max I think the name was. Amy had to work that evening so she caught a nap while I headed back to GA to check on the chickens. Had a great time. I am very fortunate in that both my daughters enjoy (I hope) hanging out with me.

Comments are always welcome, thanks!

Remember to click on the photos to enlarge them, enjoy!

Amy and Angela hanging out with daddy!

2011-05-23T10:18:00.001-07:00

Some photos of daughters and daddy's big toy (Wood-Mizer Sawmill).

Don't forget to click on the photo for a larger view.

Cheerleading!

2011-05-23T10:14:00.001-07:00

Angela, Jason (cousin), and Amy years later.

Sweet little daughters!

2011-05-20T14:46:00.000-07:00

Amy and Angela during the ballet and dance phase that we all put our daughters through!

I keep meaning to ask them if they enjoyed it as much as we (the parents) did.

I'm back!

2011-05-20T09:54:00.000-07:00

I've been away for awhile w/FB and decided that I prefer posting to my blog. Soooooo, folks stay tuned! Your comments are always welcome and appreciated!

2010 Krewe of St. Andrews Mardi Gras Parade - Panama City FL

2010-02-15T19:54:00.000-08:00

Remember to double click on the photos to enlarge them! The fire engine was actually the last of the parade. The next two pictures are of the Parrothead Club's (which I plan to join, if I ever get moved down there) float, the last two are of a float pulled by a tractor just like mine, had to include them! The weather was great, a little cool but plenty of sun. The floats each had great music systems and plenty of beads, I probably got about 5 pounds worth, a fun time was had by all!

Chickens on the ground, chickens on the ground!

2010-02-15T19:43:00.001-08:00

Remember to double click on the photos to enlarge them! The chickens came from my friends Andrew and Chuck. Andrew incubated eggs from his original batch of mail order chicks and walla, here's the result. I've caught two snakes in the hen house with swallowed eggs and they ended up deceased. Two more were abducted by hawks I think, one minute they were squawking the next they were gone. In the summer I get about 3 - 4 eggs a day, in the winter about 1 a day. Too many for me!

Snow in Whitesville GA

2010-02-15T18:19:00.000-08:00

Our first snowfall of 2010 in Harris County, Ga.

Remember to double click on the photos to enlarge them!

Angela's Firewood Rack

2008-11-11T12:20:00.000-08:00

Remember to click on the photos to enlarge them, you will be pleased you did, the definition is so much better, thanks!

Angie wanted me to build her a firewood rack for her Christmas gift - it took a couple of weekends to build it. Of course she had to keep after me to get started on it so I would not procrastinate until after Christmas. I fooled her - I got it finished almost 2 months early. The rack is about 10 foot long, 2 foot deep, and 6 foot tall.

But the cool thing is that the majority of the wood used in the rack came from a tree I cut down off their place in January of this year. Sooo, she can now point to the stump and say the tree that used to be there provided the wood for the firewood rack.

One of the pictures is of the rack loaded on a trailer and the other is the rack in place loaded with firewood. Angie says her outdoor cat sleeps wedged under the roof.

I'm wondering what Amy wants me to build. I told my daughters cookies work fine for me as gifts - I prefer making gifts rather than caving into most of society's commercialism of the holidays.

That's it for now folks, smooth sailing for all.

Amy in Chattanooga

2008-11-11T11:49:00.000-08:00

Remember to click on the photos to enlarge them, you will be pleased you did, the definition is so much better, thanks!

Hello all, I visited with my daughter this summer in Chattanooga TN. Here's some photos we took. I found the area to be really scenic, especially with the mountains in the background.

We went to the weekly (every Sunday afternoon) farmer's market gathering. http://www.chattanoogamarket.com/ There were the normal displays of locally grown vegetables mixed in with local artists' work. In addition there was a young lady singer performing and selling CD's of her work.

This all occurred under a pavillion which also sheltered food booths representing local eateries. A nursery man had all kinds of plants so I bought a couple of grape plants to start my own vineyard - we'll see how that goes - I'll keep you posted.

The bridge over the Tennessee River in the background is one of the two longest pedestrian bridges in the USA. It is about a half a mile across - I can say it did take a while to cross it.

That's Amy hang gliding, an ultralight actually pulled them up to about 3,000 feet - you would think as an air traffic controller she would want to fly in something more stable - but that's Amy.

My daughter Angie has more high flying photographs on her blog as well. I would like to take credit for Amy's picture but if you can believe that - I've got some other stories I can wow you with!

Visit Chattanooga - there is more to it than Lookout Mountain, the Incline Railway, the Aquarium and the other typical stuff we visited in the past.

One place I would highly recommend for all booklovers is a visit to McKays Used Bookstore http://www.mckaybooks.com/. Bring your old books to exchange and get a credit towards purchasing DVD's, videos, books, and/or CD's. You will be much impressed. Have a great day!

LOG ARCH

2008-08-26T08:33:00.001-07:00

Remember to click on the photos to enlarge them, you will be pleased you did, the definition is so much better, thanks!

These are some pictures of a log arch I had a welder buddy of mine build for me about 6 years ago. I would like to be able to take credit for designing the arch, but I saw an advertisement for a commercially made one in a logging magazine. I just cut the advertisement out and got a set of wheels and spindles from a junk yard and gave it all to the welder and he went from there.

The top of the arch lowers to the front. You wrap a chain around the logs and hook to the top of the arch. As you pull forward the arch held by the weight of the logs will raise lifting the front of the logs up so they won't dig in the ground.

To lower the logs to unhook the chain, you just back up a little and the arch folds forward releasing the tension on the chain. I usually just put a short log under the towed logs and as you pull forward it raises the logs and again releases the tension on the log. The arch supports the majority of the weight with the pulling vehicle only used for towing the arch with the logs.

For years I used my pick up but this little tractor does a great job. As you can see I had scooped some sand in the front bucket to help keep some weight on the front wheels.

A word of caution here, whenever you pull logs up a hill or steep rise go straight up and not sideways across the hill. If you try the sideways route the logs may try to roll and the weight of the logs may cause the arch and possibly the tractor to upset.

The first picture is of one pine log about 24 inches in diameter at big end and 16 foot long. According to http://www.woodweb.com/ the log weighs about 2,000 pounds.

The other pictures are of the arch with 2 pine logs one 16 foot long and the other 20 foot long. Both together weighed about 3,000 pounds.

I pulled them about 700 feet (2 1/3 football fields) from the front of my property to where I keep my sawmill. I was able to get 60 feet of logs out of this one tree - one eight foot, two 16 foot, and one 20 foot one. We (or rather mother nature) can go grow the heck out of pine trees here in the red clay of Georgia.

Finally the aftereffects of Fay, mainly rain and strong winds are decreasing. Only had 2 planted pines (about 30 ft tall) blow over.

Take care my friends and family - remember your comments/feedback are always welcome.

My Little Dog

2008-08-25T07:19:00.000-07:00

Remember to click on the photos to enlarge them, you will be pleased you did, the definition is so much better, thanks!

Hello all,

Finally got some recent photos of my little dog JR. He is a Lab/Beagle/Daschund mix, about 3 years old.

JR, whom I just call puppy is the most independent dog I've ever owned. He'll come to you for a hug or a little petting, but will not stick around for any extended contact. Of course this might be a result of when I got him as a puppy he was kept by himself in a small rabbit cage.

JR is the runningest dog you'll ever see. He is continuously in motion. When he runs he'll hop straight up in the air, maybe this is from his beagle blood jumping up to see above the tall grass when chasing rabbits.

I let him run free on my 5 acres, so hopefully he will keep the deer and other varmits away from my fruit trees. But he did not do too good of a job this year. One of my peach trees was loaded, but the day before I was going to pick them they disappeared. I think the squirrels or crows got them.

He is definitely territorial when it comes to other dogs. I had a friend over one day with his Rottweiler, and JR chased him (the Rott) until he jumped back into the truck. He's done that with every dog that someone brings over. I've got a couple of half wild cats that hang around the garden shed and he is continually treeing them and trying to climb the tree after them.

Don't forget to click on the photos and they will get larger, but JR is a little fellow. Enjoy!

30 Years Later

2008-06-10T08:25:00.001-07:00

Remember to click on the photos to enlarge them, you will be pleased you did, the definition is so much better, thanks!

Hello all, my daughters took me to Callaway Gardens for a Father's Day picnic. The butterfly house was something I had not seen despite all the years it has been at the gardens. We spent a nice relaxed day - very comfortable just hanging out together.

We also visited the chapel where I married my daughter's mother in March of 1978, 30 years earlier.

If you are in the area you should visit the gardens, it has something for each member of the family.

Life is good!

Heart Pine Headaches

2008-06-09T12:29:00.001-07:00

These are some 12"x18"x14' heart pine beams from the former Eagle and Phoenix Textile Mill on river bank of the Chattahoochee River in Columbus GA. They are turning the mill into lofts and condos overlooking the river. The lumber from the beams are going to be used as decorative ceiling decking.

The first picture shows (to enlarge, double click on the photo) the saw cuts made before I started hitting nails. The building contractor tried to remove all the nails out he could see but apparently he missed some. I ruined 6 blades in the process. Never again, everytime I've sawed heart pine beams I've hit nails.

The second picture shows the nail holes and the distinctive staining of the wood by the iron in the nails. The lumber does have character and there is something to be said for recycling products of nature that not only took many many years to grow but also survived the impending Union attack during the Civil War. Supposedly, the machinery from the mill was removed, coated in grease, and sunk in the Chattahoochee to keep union forces from destroying the mill and the machinery. The Columbus Battle was the last major battle of the Civil War. For more details check out:

http://www.exploresouthernhistory.com/GAColBattle1.html

The final picture is of the lumber I was able to saw from the beams before the nails stopped me. Fellow sawmillers, avoid heart pine beams unless you have the means to find and remove all nails and foreign objects.

Mother's Day 2008

2008-06-09T09:25:00.001-07:00

Here is my mother and brothers Bob, David and myself. We are only three of her seven children. My brother Randy who lives in the area could not make it because he is recovering from surgery. The other siblings live in NC, WV, and PA.

My mother is a living example of the strong devoted mother. We lived the typical life of a military family back when soldiers were both severly under paid and under appreciated. To this day I do not know how she kept us fed, clean and healthy. You could always tell who was at our house by the shoes outside the front door. You could not come into her house with shoes on.

Mom is German by birth but has become Americanized to a degree. She is still opioniated and very straight forward in her beliefs. She does not candy coat anything. She basically learned how to speak English by reading everything she could get her hands on. She probably still goes thru 4 - 5 books a week. My mother's love of knitting, crochetting (sp?), and sewing - I think passed to some of us - in that we have this need to work with our hands. She is also still a great cook and baker. She makes cakes for her friends who all rave about them. I could go on and on about her skills and accomplishments. But the one thing I will always remember her for - was her ability to provide for her children and make a home for us on the very limited resources we had at the time. Mom is Great!!!!!

My mother's maiden name is Anneliese Grete Kunzel. She was born January 26, 1931 in Selb, Germany. I hope this information will show up should my German relatives look for her. Please contact me if you would like more information! Thanks, Fred

Pulpwood Days

2008-05-08T13:30:00.001-07:00

This is a photograph of my buddy Danny on the left, me in the middle, and brother Stan to the right taken in 1977. The truck was a 1968 (I think) Ford F700 with a 15 foot bed and a cable loader. You can see the loader boom above Danny's head. The way we loaded it was to drag the cable out and wrap it around a stack of pulpwood, then I would operate the loader controls on the back of the truck to winch the wood to the truck and lift it on the bed. Danny would be on the logs already on the truck directing the load to where it would go. Once I winched the cable out from under the logs he would hand the cable down to Stan who would drag it out and restack logs on top of the cable and the whole process would start again. Labor intensive it was. The truck had the big 360 V8 with a 5 speed transmission and the 2 speed rear end. It would pull whatever you put on it.

I was thinning a stand of loblolly pines on Sand Mountain in Harris County GA. That load was a little over 4 cords. Back then I was getting about $20 a cord, so do the math. I wonder how and why I was spending half a day cutting and loading the wood to make $80 before I paid the help in addition to fuel, truck, and chainsaw expenses - in the mean time - I was a senior in college at the time majoring in accounting, working at night in a factory and still carried a full college load. So even then I was always biting off more than I could handle - I even had a girlfriend then!

Those were the days my friend!

On the positive side I was thinner and did not have grey hair. Well friends I hope I have entertained you with my discourse and a look at the past. Keep the chains sharp, water jugs full of ice and all will be well. As always, comments are encouraged.

Florida Weekend - Panama City Parakeets

2008-04-28T06:52:00.001-07:00

This weekend I visited with my friends Leonard and Betty in DeFuniak Springs, Florida. I had not seen their house in quite a while. Leonard has the yard and his barn looking good. Lots of nice, large shade trees. I felt I was staying in a house straight out of Southern Living, Betty should be a consultant to those that want their homes to depict the decor and ambiance of the south. I should have taken some pictures. I don't know how she kept it so immaculate. It was good hanging out with them.

I stopped in Panama City and visited with my friend Becky. We ate seafood at Hunt's Oyster Bar. It is located near the city marina, away from the tourist crowd. If you are in the area you should try it, the food was great as usual. I recommend the blackened Mahi Mahi. Oysters were good too. We later went to the city pier to check out the shrimp boats.

There was a lady there with three parakeets that rode on the back of her MG Midget. She said the wings were not clipped. They were trained to hang on to the convertible top frame as she zipped around town. When she left they just rode back there like it was the thing to do. They were pretty tame as you can tell when they roosted on my arm. They liked me, they waited until they were back in the car to do what birds tend to do. She had a bag of peanuts still in the shell on the hood of her car (see the bottom picture). The parakeets would hop over to the bag, get a nut, crack the hull, and eat the peanut. I guess I better plug the business the lady was advertising for - "Legend or Legends" -could not remember which. It is a charter fishing boat based there at the city marina. When we walked by it had just come in from a charter and it was loaded with fish.

On the way home I stopped to check out Sadie's Flea Market south of Dothan. I bought a couple of tomato plants. Lots of stuff there and mostly just that, "stuff." I did pick up a few woodworking ideas to add to my "to build" list.

Well I better get back to my day job. I wish smooth sailing for all.
Comments are always welcome.

Amy's 4/15/08 Visit

2008-04-21T10:22:00.000-07:00

My daughter Amy visited from Chattanooga to try out dad's new toy. She enjoyed the throaty sound of the 3 cylinder diesel and the ease of the hydrastatic transmission - basically a 2 pedal (one for forward and one for reverse with a hi/lo option) system. It works well if constantly backing up and pulling forward when digging a stump or loading dirt.
If you double click on the photo you'll notice the blooming dogwoods and also little flags stuck in the ground. The flags are there so I will not run over the little volunteer walnut seedlings from nuts buried by the squirrels. I've read somewhere that squirrels forget where they bury nuts within 30 minutes after burying them.

Well friends it is time for the annual Apalachicola FL Boat Show trip this weekend to look at the wooden boats and eat seafood. Every year I go I say I am going to build a boat for the next year's show, but hey we all know how that goes - something always comes up! Wellll thats it for today. Comments are always welcome!

Before and Later!

2008-04-18T11:18:00.000-07:00

These are some logs a local farmer cut off his place near Greenville GA. My tractor could not lift any of the logs. But I was able to drag them to the mill and roll them on the lifting arms with the tractor. The pine logs (18"x17' & 15"x16') were sawed into 1 inch boards and the 2 oak logs (34" x12' & 28"x10') were sawn into 5 quarter lumber. The farmer pulled the trailer with a full size pickup, which was strained coming up my drive. It took me about 3 hours to saw the logs.

All's well that ends well - no nails or other foreign objects.

This is about 700 board feet of lumber sawed from the 4 logs, 2 which were water oaks (of the red oak family) and the two long ones were local loblolly pines.

Sooooooooo bring your logs and I'll saw them to your dimensions.

All comments are welcome!

New Toy

2008-03-19T06:40:00.000-07:00

Hello all, its been a while since I've added anything. So here goes. As you can see my new toy is the John Deere 3203 tractor with a front end loader. I also got a set of pallet forks to move logs and lumber with. The dealer delivered it Friday 3/14/08. I spent all weekend moving sand/dirt from my creek bottom to level spots in the yard and fill in a flower bed. Last night I moved logs with the pallet forks until after dark. It is truly something I should have gotten a long time ago - maybe it would have lessened some of my back issues.

Saturday, a customer will be delivering pine and red oak logs to be sawed. I will post some pictures of the tractor in action moving the logs and lumber soon.

On another note, a former colleague/good friend - Leonard and his wife Betty visited about a month ago on their way home from Atlanta. Leonard and I worked together for the federal government and then later for a CPA/consulting firm. It was good to share old memories and reestablish our friendship.

Just finished a good read, David Baldacci's "The Camel Club." Like all good books, it causes you to imagine how his story is really possible, especially knowing what I know (based on my 20 years of government exposure) about how certain government officials can and do abuse their positions. Enough!

A couple of friends and I are going to start an informal interactive group, we decided to name it the Creek Social Club based on the core members either live or have property along Mountain Oak Creek. Our meetings will be directed towards exchanging ideas and experiences related to our past careers and current interests. The Camel Club inspired us. Of course we will not be able to impact the nation as Oliver and the rest of the Camel Club members did. I will keep you posted and of course will add our world and local society saving ideas

Well, I am off to play with the green machine. As always your comments and responses are always welcome. Later, Fred

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to All!

2007-12-21T10:40:00.000-08:00

Hello all,I am headed to Appalacicola FL this weekend for seafood and the ambiance of being near the ocean or the Gulf that is. My buddy Chuck has a condo there, actually it is on St George Island. It is beautiful there, very limited commercialization other than high end condos (which is way beyond my means - building lots are advertised in the $900,000's). The good thing is that it limits the boom box crowd. There are some really good seafood restaurants there - surprisingly - reasonably priced.

I was there last month for their annual seafood festival. I brought back a pickup load of oyster shells to add to the gravel on my driveway. The flies followed me for the first 75 miles or so. Once I put it on my drive it took about 2 weeks for the fish/salt bouquet to dissipate. Maybe TMI, pardon me if so!

The weekend after Christmas I will be cutting some walnut trees down for a client. I'll take some before and after photos. One tree leans heavily over a creek. It will be challenging - hope I don't get wet! The wood is so beautiful. I will take some close up shots.

I wish you all a safe and merry time over the holidays. Are we getting way too caught up in the Christmas tree sensabilities thing or what? Don't want to get me started on that.

Guten Tag,
Fred

Men at work or play, rather!

2007-12-03T09:54:00.001-08:00

These are 12/07 photographs of some poplar logs being cleared for a garden spot in the Whitesville GA area. The tractor is a 1952 Ford (a testament to old is not always bad) and worked well in moving the logs to the mill. You have to look hard but Clinton is in the forefront while Tommy is in the background. Enjoy!

Then and Now!

2007-12-03T08:11:00.000-08:00

The first picture was taken in Panama City - I think in 1985 or so. That is Angie in the front and Amy hugging me. The second picture of us (Amy,Angie,Fred) was taken in WV in July 2007. Its amazing how the girls only get better looking and we men just get old. Enjoy!

36" Water Oak Log

2007-11-30T09:56:00.000-08:00

These are a couple of 2006 pictures of a job at a Pine Mountain, GA sod farm. I was hired to saw pallet (5/8"x4" and 2"x3") lumber. The logs were of various species to include poplar, sweet gum, soft maple, river birch, and local oaks cut from the property. The large log was a water oak and was almost too big for the sawmill. That's me to the left with a helper whom I cannot remember his name but he sure was a very strong fellow for his size.

Small Boat and Canoe Built in the 80's.

2007-11-30T09:04:00.000-08:00

This small boat was built in 1984 or so from plans (Martha's Tender) published in WoodenBoat. It was built using 1/2" exterior BC plywood. The seats, knees, rub rails, stem, and other miscellaneous parts were from red oak. The hull was covered with fiberglass cloth and resin. I was able to slide it in the bed of a full size pickup and used it in local lakes.

The canoe was built in 1986. I used western red cedar 1/4"x3/4" strips for the hull and then covered it with fiberglass cloth inside and out. The seats were made using red oak and plastic webbing weaved into the chair cane pattern. I do not recommend the plastic webbing, it stretches after a while of sitting. The gunnels were made from clear red fir. I still have this canoe and use it occasionally.

August 07 - Barn Siding Job - Harris County GA

2007-11-28T12:19:00.000-08:00

The following photographs are of a barn I was hired to saw the siding for. It came to about 7,000 board feet of 1"x8"x12' and 1"x"6"x12' boards. As you can see I was able to set up out of the sun and the logs were literally brought to my doorstep. This rarely happens as you'll note from other pictures posted here.