Stockings hung by the fireplace

Smoke or Fire

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Sitting in front of my fireplace watching the logs smolder I began contemplating why the fire burns well sometimes but at others it just sits there and smolders. I know there have been times that I have brought in "green" wood that is still so wet it doesn't want to burn but there are also times when I use seasoned wood that just sits there smoldering!
While growing up my family spent many weekends camping. One of the things I remember my dad doing on some of these camping trips was filling a paper cup with water and placing it in the middle of the fire. We all know that paper burns readily, much easier than wood, but the paper cup filled with water does not! As an adult sitting around a campfire with friends I demonstrated this to their teenage son. We even went so far as to boil an egg in the cup in the middle of the fire.
 
3d printed ring

Complicating the Simple

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A few months ago the key fob that I carry to unlock the doors to our Buick Enclave started acting up. The buttons would stick down causing the lift gate to open or the alarm to go off spontaneously. After several attempts to clean the fob it became evident that I was going to need to replace it. After researching my options I discovered the key fobs for my model and year were NOT end user programmable. While I could buy the fob on Amazon I would need to take it to a locksmith (or worse, a dealer) to have it programmed. I consider myself a resourceful individual so I figured since the control board inside was fine it was just the button covers that were sticking, and it is the same shape and size as the original, I could purchase a new fob and just swap out the board. Little did I know that inside the battery contact setup was different - the new fob had a clip on the board to hold the battery but in the old fob the battery was secured in the case - making it difficult to swap out the boards. I did it anyway and tried to tape the battery in place with very limited success - the fob would open the doors one or two times before the battery would slip, losing contact so the fob stopped working. For the past two months I have been opening the doors with the key which triggers the alarm until the car is started. This has been very frustrating and I was coming to the conclusion I would have to give in and pay a locksmith to reprogram the fob.

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Pogo running with his frisbee

Chasing the Shadows

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When we were first introduced to Pogo one of the things that fascinated me about him was his intense focus on chasing things. Throw anything - sticks, rocks, a ball, any of his toys - and he will chase it down and bring it back to you. He has exceptional mouth-eye coordination - he can catch things coming over his shoulder, or while he is spinning around. Every morning before heading off to work he wants his Frisbee time (he also wants it when we come home for lunch or when we quit work for the day.) One of his weaknesses however is that he can be easily distracted, - on a day like today when the sun is shining and few clouds in the sky he often gets sidetracked by the shadow of the Frisbee flying overhead. In the afternoon when the sun is getting lower in the sky the Frisbee can be right over his head but he is focused on the shadow 20 feet away. He misses the real thing because he is chasing the shadow.
New grapes on vine

Flourishing

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As the Sabbath begins this week I have been reflecting on a post from a few weeks ago where I talked about pruning my grape vines. Since that day of pruning two of my vines gave me great concern for their vitality. For several weeks afterward there appeared to be no growth, I thought I had killed them! Eventually they began to sport little green tufts where they were starting new growth. At this point all six vines are flourishing, and five of the six vines have grapes 🍇 on them!

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