2016 - In Like A LION!

2016 slipped in and started out just fine.

Not long after I got a call from my mother.  My father fell and hurt himself.  That did him in.  He kept falling and within a week he was taken to a hospice facility.  Two days later, on Jan 22^nd my dad passed away from complications of that fall.  We drove the 800 miles up to the funeral.  I was lucky to see many distant family members that I haven’t seen for 20some odd years.  I know that nowadays people don’t often take pictures of the dead, but I still remember in the old days they would usually take one at the funeral home with all the flowers and such.  I can be old school and will do it for the simple fact of how much has happened in the world in the last 91 years since my dad was born.  The first pic is how I always thought of him (not PC) bayonetting the Rising Sun on the beach in Tarawa. 

He taught me all the things a good dad is supposed to.  How to fish, throw a ball, ride a bike, smoke&drink, hunt and drive.  That a belt had more than one thing it was good for, and wasn’t afraid to give me a lesson when I really needed it.  I can’t remember Dad cussing or swearing, he led by example…Oh yeah that one didn’t work.  He also taught me how to use a ruler when I was very young, to help him build things.  He taught me to build things to last.  He said “An elephant should be able to stand on it”.  I guess he thought of us kids as elephants or at least as rough as one.                                  

 RIP James Patrick Burns   Dec 16, 1924 – Jan 22, 2016    I will surely miss you!

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February has been a rough month for me at work.  An automatic gate (aka Poop Chute) at the sewer plant stopped automation partly.  I have had to manually close this gate every 4-6 hours, day and night.  It crapped out Feb 3^rd and is still not working.  That means that I have not slept a whole night for 4 weeks.  Talk about being out of whack.  Not sleeping properly really messes up your whole body.  Driving into town at all hours has lost its luster.  Hopefully it will be fixed soon and I can return to….wait for it----------Normal.  HA!  Don't think it's bloody likely.

This ol’ boy has gotta get going on more knives, glue up a bunch of antler products and try to have everything ready for The Blooming Arts Festival in Linden, TN.  The dates for the show are Good Friday March 25^th from 12:00 -7:00pm and Saturday March 26^th from 9:00am – 7:00pm.

Hope y’all come to Linden to check out the show.  It’s the first of the season and there are so many good vendors set up, as well as music going on throughout the show.

Showtime

 The Ames Plantation Heritage Festival was only three weeks away and I hadn’t worked on show stuff for months.  This is our favorite show and I was somewhat prepared before working on the party.  I needed to work on a few knives and some other goods to be totally ready.  It turned out to be a nice day with lots of great folks stopping by to see our stuff.

Our next show was in November with the Elk Valley Crafters Assoc. It was a two day show 80 miles away.  With a slow show, gas and all the time involved plus driving back and forth, we decided not to do it in 2016.  We were doing the one day spring show to keep our good spot, but things just didn’t work out.  

The last show of 2015 was The Farm School Holiday Bazaar in Summertown, TN.  It usually runs the first weekend in December.  The show is so fun.  It is close quarters and people are packed in tight.  There is a lot of talent and everyone is so nice.

We moved our travel trailer to its permanent location under the large carport.  I had to cut one of the upright 4x4’s to be able to pull it in.

Hunting season was successful for us.  Always glad to venison in the freezer.  Leslie got me a nice new larger grinder to grind our burger and other sausage.

Christmas was very quiet on the homestead.  It came and went as did New Year’s day.  There surely was a lot more to write about if I had just kept up with the blog.  I for one was glad to see 2015 pass.