January 13th, Friday the Thirtee
nth, I visited the Alvin Opry to hear a friend sing. The Opry is just around the corner from our house, but I had never been there in its 25 or so years of its     existence                                                                                                                                                                                  http://www.alvinopry.com/
Cherie Devine came on early in the show and was GREAT! She sang a song she had written about Friday the Thirteenth,  Elvis's "You Ain't Nothin' but a Hound Dog" , and Patsy Cline's "Crazy".

Stanley 77

The IT guy here at work emailed me the other day with a What's-It that I identified readily. Seems he had found a Stanley 77 that he wasn't sure of. His pictures taken on his phone were poor, but I recognized a Stanley rod and dowel machine. He bought it at a ridiculously low price and this morning he GAVE it to me!
I intend to clean it up and mount it as a demonstration piece. It has only one cutter, but other than not having the original release for the guide plate, it is in fantastic condition, and works! I only had some soft wood to try it out with, but with some TLC and good wood, it will make dowels as it is designed to do.
These things sell at prices that would surprise you- from $200 to $500 when complete and with all the cutters.

 

After some cleaning, the Stanley 77 looks great!

 

New Year's Beginning

I got a good start on 2012 with my first sunrise of the year, taken at the Confederate Cemetery in Alvin, Texas, on January 1, 2012.

 

Then, the same day, I got my first sunset of 2012, taken off Beamer Rd, near Dixie Farm Rd., near IH 45.