Wood Turning

This RV park is unique in that it has a woodworking shop. There are people who supervise the use of the shop and others who teach you how to make a wood bowl on a lathe. I had never done that and in the past had thought it would be interesting to try my hand at a wood turned bowl. What better chance when the tools are available as well as the experts who can show me what to do. The bowl I made has 3 layers and each layer has 8 segments. It was a rather long process as each part had to be cut, sanded, glued, then wait for the glue to dry before the next part could proceed. The woods I selected were walnut on the top and bottom, with maple in the middle. I thought I would like to try to wood burn a design on the lighter maple. It may have been a total disaster, but nothing ventured, nothing gained. I just finished it today and I must say I am pleased with the results. The wood burning had never been tried on any of the bowls made in the shop and several people expressed an interest in doing the same on their bowls. Now Dan is looking in catalogs for a lathe!! I am not sure I am ready to launch out on my own without an expert to ask, but we'll see where it goes. In the mean time I had a great time doing it.

A Trip to Houston

Last week we drove to Houston to visit Dan's daughter. We had not seen her for a while so it was nice to catch up. We talk on the phone but it is not the same as a visit. She is also an excellent cook and we got super spoiled!! Also got to visit with his son who came over. While there we got to have a delicious lunch with friends Carol and Leonard who we know from some of our birding trips. Carol is an excellent cook and the afternoon was most enjoyable. However, after spending time in Houston we have decided that we are country mice....who would go crazy if we had to drive in that traffic all the time. At one time I thought I was a city person but I have since seen the light and really appreciate the more rural lifestyle.




While I was away, various friends offered to water my garden for me. I think they kind of overlapped and everything got extra watering but when I got back, everything had grown like mad. It made me realize that I was probably not watering enough.

The picture shows where the RV park tills a 10 ft wide strip along the edge of the fence and anyone who wants can plant what they want. There is water provided and the rest is up to the gardener. As you can see, everything has done well. Our park is next to a farm field and the people who have sites along the fence can watch the herd of brahma cattle as well as the birds that hang out in farm fields. Certainly nicer than looking at the back of a shopping center.

We went to Progresso [the nearby Mexican border town] the other day. We had not been for a couple of years, partly because of the increased border violence associated with drug smuggling. However, aside from being less busy than it was the last time we visited, things seemed much the same....mainly a tourist destination with lots of souvenir stuff as well as lots of cheaper pharmacies and dentists.