Finished Another Project

Well I finished another project but most of you will have no idea what it is. I recently bought a box of sample woods to play with and see what they were like. I decided on a project and my first attempts with it were dreadful. What I learned was that not all hard woods are as hard as others. When making small projects this one is only about 5" x 3" it is really much easier when you work with really hard stuff. On my second attempts, I discovered Curly Maple which was getting the job done but the Cedar that I used was difficult to keep together when I cut it then. That's when I made my third attempt with Walnut. Many of my future small projects will be this combination, the dark against the light wood has gotten many comments from the critics here at the house. Even the teenagers noticed it and said they liked the combination and how well it finished.

So what is it. Its a holder for my Blackberry which fits into the window mount in my car.

Trip to Big Sur

For my birthday Dorothy and I went down to Big Sur to spend the weekend. We stayed at a nice place that rents cabins called Ripplewood. Many of our tennis buddies recommended it. We rented cabin #2 and found it to be located very near the river and with just enough luxury to be comfortable. We went down on Friday in time to get to dinner at the Ventana Inn. This was all about the luxury we had a wonderful meal and shared a bottle of Michaud "The Pinnicles" Estate Syrah 2002 and it was really wonderful. We had appitizer, entree and desert and were amazed at the quality of each course.

The next day we drove down the coast hoping to take a short hike at Limekiln state park. Unfortunately it is one of the state parks closed due to budget cuts. So we decided to go down and check out Treebones, a Yurts hotel. It was amazing and try as I might I don't think Dorothy will every go for it. The place has great ocean views, from the deck of the yurts. On the way back up the coast we stopped at Sand Dollar beach and walked out to Jade Cove. Dorothy was very familiar with this place as her mother has large

Jade bookends that came from this beach. We were easily able to pick up some small pieces that I hope to incorporate into a small box at some point. We stopped at Lucia on the road north out of nostalgia mostly, its been almost unchanged for the entire 38 years that we have been stopping here. Then on to lunch at Nepenthe were else. It was mid 60's and sunny as you can see and there are few places nicer when the weather is outstanding like that.

Dinner that night was a casual event at the Roadhouse restaurant the food was good but not like the night before. The great part is the Roadhouse was just a short

walk from the cabin. While we didn't drink as much that night we could have done so much safer. In the morning we had breakfast in the cafe at Ripplewood, its very nice and while the quality of the food is a little inconsistent the atmosphere is friendly and clean. Always sad to leave such a beautiful place but it has helped to calm and quiet some frayed nerves and lower the frustration level a bit.

A right of passage, Trick or Treat

This is our little Trick or Treater. He was Browby from his favorite TV show Yo Gabba Gabba. The hat was not a big hit thats why we put it on top of a Baseball cap which he does like to wear. Not sure that he got the whole trick or treat thing but he was totally into the candy the next day.