I'm Back at the Grindstone

I looked at my blog and couldn't believe it had been so long!  Life has definitely gotten in the way, to say the least.  Between kids and work, and generally having more to keep track of than I care to think about, most all of my noble intentions toward bushcraft, etc., have gone by the wayside. 

Well, I'm back!  My oldest will be graduating soon, my other two are teens and their stuff is settling down, so I should have a little more time.  I'm  planning to get my youngest in on it with me and go through the Basic Bushcraft Class on Bushcraft USA.  He's always been the one that was more interested in that type of thing, and always much more interested in the way I grew up doing things with my grandparents.

I don't have much (or maybe I have too much to get straight) to say, but I wanted to let anyone still following my blog know that I'm back and should be updating soon, and much more frequently.

God bless and keep you all!

Ramblings and Whatnot

This was a busy week. Work was crazy but that's normal.  I took my mom for her second cataract surgery on Wed.  My oldest started football spring training and my youngest, soccer.

Watching the world only made me pray harder and further my resolve to prep and teach my family to survive. With North Korea threatening to end the cease-fire with South Korea and launch pre-emptive nuclear missiles at the U.S., our government being virtually incapable of making a smart decision, and it taking a 13 hour filibuster from Sen. Rand Paul to get an answer from the Atty. General on whether or not the President would/could launch drone strikes at non-militant citizens on U.S. soil, tells me things are not the best.

 

The weekend was a little calmer.  I got some work done in the yard at my house and my mom's.  Yesterday afternoon, I took all three kids fishing.  The eldest was the only one to have any luck, and he only caught one little bream.  Then again, when the wind is blowing between 10 and 20 mph, you're not gonna catch much.  They had fun, though, and that's what matters.

 

Last night was week #2 of The Bible on the History Channel.  I'm still enjoying this, and am thankful for folks like Mark Burnett and Roma Downey, who will heed God's call to spread the Gospel.  God bless them!

 

Well, back to work.  God bless!

 

I'm not dead!

I'm still alive, though if you're still checking my blog, you might have wondered if the contrary was the case.  Life has been crazy, and kept me away from the blog, much of any crafting of things, etc.  It's been pretty much nothing but work, home, kids, and helping my mom.  Fortunately, I think things might be settling a little, so I hope to be back.

My mom has her second cataract surgery coming up on Wednesday, and I'll be with her.  I plan to take my leather stuff with me to work on once I get her back home.  If so, I'll do my best to take pictures and get back to the possibles bag tutorial.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

The Rumors of My Passing...

...have been greatly exaggerated, in the immortal words of Mark Twain.  No, contrary to what folks have probably wondered, I'm still very much alive.  Unfortunately, life has gotten in the way of living in the past few months.  I haven't forgotten you, dear readers, nor have I forgotten my bag tutorial.  It's just been so hectic between work and kids and my darling wife's grad school, that I haven't had time to even try.  I do promise, however, to get back into the saddle as soon as possible!

God bless you all,
Brandon {FoxfireSkilz}

Almost Finished...the Multi-Generation Chair

Growing up, we hand-milked our few cows.  When we went to milk, we always stopped at the little, cedar log "seed house" and shelled corn to put into the troughs for the cows to enjoy while we milked.  We always sat in the same old ladder-back chair with a white oak split bottom.  That chair stayed in the seed house all my life and my mom never remembers a time it wasn't there.  Looking at it, it is a perfect match for two of our inside chairs, as well as my Papaw's high chair.  They were likely bought near the same time, which would put them at being around 113 years old.

The inside chairs all have their original seats in them, and are in exceptional condition.  Considering that they've all gone through my great-grandparents, grandparents, parents/aunts/uncles, and all of us grandkids, it is a true testament to their maker's craftsmanship that they have held up so incredibly well.  The one from the barn, however, had seen better days.  The frame was in perfect condition except for the few layers of paint and decades of dust.  The seat, sad to say, was shot.  probably 70% was still solid, but one corner and side were completely apart.  Considering the fact that I don't live where I can fell a white oak anytime I want, and don't honestly have time to hand make white oak splits, restoring an original style seat wasn't an option.  So, what's any self-respecting country boy to do??? Improvise!