Time Passage

Has it really been 5 years since I've posted here? Wow! Where does time go?

In 2015, my wife retired. In 2016, we bought a house about a mile and half away from where we were. Much better house and neighborhood - the first house we've ever owned, either one of us. It's about time! When we moved, we did bring Grumpy with us. We had to. After all, we adopted him as our own and became his people. To leave him behind would have been a knife in the back to him. (He first came to us in July of 2011.) His adjustment was painless. Never once did he show any signs of wanting to go back to his old neighborhood. The important thing to him was apparently that he got to stay with his people. He will be 14 years old next year.

Grumpy's New Home.

To this date, he has never tried to leave the confines of our privacy fence. He is not a climber, and doesn't follow me out when I have any of the gates open. He seems to be very content here. We have two small dog houses, both with heated beds in them. One is in the back yard, and one in our attached garage. His litter box habits aren't good enough to keep him in the house with us, so we made sure he has plenty of comfort wherever he is.

My magic numbers for retirement will arrive in the latter half of next year. I hope to be able to do so, but will have to run the numbers to see how we will be sitting financially.

Over the last several years, I have developed a fondness for fountain pens and have been able to improve my penmanship using them. I even made a custom nib holder so I can do some calligraphy. I'm left handed, and an "over-writer" without a "hook". So, to keep from having to learn to write all over again, I made that nib holder so I could do calligraphy like the big boys. It's working out pretty well so far.

My first "real" fountain pen.

Homemade nib holder and writing sample.

I've also acquired a small wood lathe, and have been turning various things like ceiling fan pulls, candlesticks, bowls, honey dippers, etc.

Turned honey dipper.

Turned bird feeder.

We are about to turn over another year. Here's wishing you a Happy, Healthy, and Prosperous 2019!