Merry Christmas at our house

Rainy. Cold; at least cold compared to what we've been accustomed to the past few years. Faith took Janelle to the dentist this morning, and with the HP plant shutdown for two weeks over Christmas and New Years I get to kick back with a second cup of coffee and take care of some odds and ends of things around the house that have needed to be done lately. Such as updating our poor, neglected blog.

As we thank God for all he's provided for us this year, we want to reiterate that we now have a sufficient and reliable income and are no longer living on missions support. Any monies received into our missions account in the New Year will be directed to continuing the work we have been involved with in Latin America, but we want to make sure that it's understood that we are no longer living on that account. For five years we have lived and worked on financial gifts, and in that time have never found ourselves in a position of need. God has been truly faithful, as have been His people, and we want to say a final 'Thank You' to all those who have walked with us over the past five years in our exploits.

On another note, for Faith's Christmas present this year she wants a kitchen table. We have a kitchen table; that is, there is a table in the house we are staying in. But she has wanted a kind of rustic, farm-style table for years, and recently found a design that she really liked. And with the afore-mentioned plant shutdown for two weeks, I have found the time to at least get a good start on it.

With a twist, though. When you mix engineering with sufficient free time and a natural interest in timber-frame joinery, what you come away with can get a little wild. At least, wild by Engineer standards. I'm going to try and build the entire table without fasteners. No nails; no screws. At least the lower part - legs, supports, apron. The table top will be planked, which may mean screws. Maybe hardwood dowels; we'll see. Although the idea of hewing the planks out of the forest by hand and dragging them home behind a mule and building the whole thing with hand tools is intriguing, it's not so practical, and I'm not abject to using power-tools, especially my router. My CAD system is 10 years old, so it's practically vintage.