Burning oil

So a couple weeks ago I was surfing the internet and came across a video of a guy making a olive oil lamp. So I watched the video and found it interesting. He took a piece of wood and using some coals to burn a depression in it. Then he used a knife to carve the outside of his bowl. I of course thought, "I could make one of those it 5 minutes" on my lathe and put some decorations on it. To make it work you find and place two stones that fit together pretty well. Place a wick in between and then fill the bowl with olive oil and light the wick. Today I taught a woodturning class and I made a little bowl. I placed some decorative lines on the outside rim and I put a spiral pattern inside under the rocks.  The bowl is made from a piece of cocobolo wood. This is a dense oily wood with really nice colors. The bowl is only about 3 inches across and around an inch deep. It does have fairly thick walls, but I wanted it to be strong and able to handle some abuse. It holds about an ounce of oil and so far has been burning for 5.5 hours. I estimate it should burn for at least another hour. This was a fun little project. I imagine the oil will seep into the wood which will help the bowl to continue looking good for a long time to come. I think I will make my next one from a lidded box that way I can use it for storage of the stones and extra wicks. 

I got a new phone

Well, the wait is finally over. I finished my 2 year contract and broke down and bought a new phone. I have been wanting one of these since they came out. Yesterday I bought one. I hooked it up to my computer (Mac) and it synced all my contacts, calendars and book marks. so now I can carry all that stuff around with me. Last night at the woodturning meeting I was able to pull out my phone and check my calendar for dates. I have really been wanting to be able to do that. After the meeting I came home and Miles and I went for a walk. We walked 3.12 miles and I have a map showing the route we took. This is the coolest thing ever! I did download some games I have a driving game and a motorcycle riding game. Of course now I have to fight the kids off for my I phone. I really like having the internet in my pocket. I can send emails surf the web, look at the weather radar. I can't believe I waited so long to get this. 

Walking with my Wife

Tonight Tami and I went out for a walk. Samantha and Miles started out with us. They walked the first 2 miles and then we dropped them off at the house. Tami set a fairly fast pace. She has always been able to walk faster then me :-) But thanks to all my running lately I was able to keep up with her. After we dropped Samantha at home we walked about another 2 miles I am thinking we walked about 4 miles this evening. It was very nice walking and talking with her, this is something we are going to start doing on a regular basis. It was nice walking at night and seeing the Christmas lights on the houses in the neighborhood. 

The smell of Christmas

Well, our Christmas Wreath arrived. We ordered it from Chloe next door, she was selling stuff for a school fundraiser. Ethan was all excited to open the box it came in. He was a little less excited when he had to pose for a picture with the wreath. Now we get a hint of fresh cut pine every time we walk past.

Merry Christmas

 

Setting up the tree

Here Ethan is putting up the tree. Last year the picture taking ended up in tears. Today after Ethan finished school we set up the tree. He was very excited to do this. I told him we would do it yesterday but we were very busy and had to wait till today. I then made him wait till after he finished school.  Then we had to eat lunch. Finally I took pity on him and we set up the tree. I put the lights up on the house on Friday and we had a fatality. Frosty didn't make it. He was an inflatable 8 ft. decoration and the seams have stretched out over the years. He would have been 6 this year. We are trying to find a replacement. I like to keep the outside decorations fairly simple. I can set them up in about 15-20 minutes and would like to keep it that way. I love those net lights yo just throw on the bushes. Did I mention I was the first one to have my lights up on my street. We have several hand made ornaments on our tree. These are my favorite ornaments. Each year they go up on the tree I think about the person that made them. I am going to post the names:

Tami

Samantha

Ethan

Dan Long

Jon Lockerman

(Thank you all:-)

I hope everyone has a great holiday season.

Have a very Merry Christmas

Outback Distance Classic

Or what I did Thanksgiving Day

I got up early and drove over to the race location. It is very nice when the race is only 5 minutes from the house. I ran in a 6k (3.728 miles) I finished in 45:46 with and average pace of 12:41 per mile. I may not be very fast but I was out there running.  There were 1,619 people running in the 6k and another 2,012 that raced in the Half Marathon. We all started at one time, this made for a very busy start. It took me almost 2 and 1/2 minutes to cross the start line. Everyone proceeded up San Jose Blvd. and then turned and started running back in the neighborhood. At the one mile mark the half marathon competitors turned left and we went to the right. It was nice being out and active early. I did well in the race and felt good when I finished. Everyone was still asleep when I got home. 

I did most of the cooking for Thanksgiving dinner. We had Turkey and Ham. I made Green beans and homemade mashed potatoes and rolls. For desert I made Pumpkin Pie. Samantha made homemade whipped cream. It was very good on the pie. After dinner we sat around and talked for quite a while. It was a very nice evening. After everyone left Tami helped me finish cleaning up in the kitchen. Miles got some ham which he really liked. 

Hope your Thanksgiving was good also. 

Brick

Yesterday I did my first Brick workout. This is a triathlon training term. I rode my bike 3 miles to get warmed up and then ran 2 miles. My legs felt like bricks when I first started running. It was interesting to run after riding my bike. After a minute or so I settled into my usual slow pace. I am still doing the run/walk thing.  I am at a 12:30 per mile pace. It is not a blazing pace but it is faster then I have ever run before, and I am just happy to be out there. 

Tomorrow I am doing the Outback 6k race. I figure this is a good way to start Thanksgiving Day. I will have a write-up after the race.