Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to All from Deinna and Lou. 

   From our home in Jamul, to wherever you are celebrating Christmas, we wish you happiness and health.  This is the time of year to rejoice in the comfort received from God, our family and our friends.  May your family be warm, your friends be true, and your holiday joys be abundant.

   For our military personnel, those serving our country in other ways, and all those away from home, may God grant you a safe and speedy return to your loved ones.

My Review of Leigh D4R-PRO With Accessory Kit

Originally submitted at Woodcraft

LEIGH D4 Accessory Kit includes VRSD24 Vacuum & Router Support and #2411-8 bit set. Leigh's ingenious VRS provides router support and dust-free routing. 12-Piece bit set features 1/2" and 8mm shank bits. Includes: 1/4" x 8° dovetail; 5/16" x 8° dovetail; 7/16" x 8° dovet...

Leigh D4R-PRO With Accessory Kit

Just the Best!

By Lou from Jamul CA on 12/20/2012

 

5out of 5

Pros: Easy To Use, Easy Minor Ajustments, Good Video Instructions, Vacuum System Works Well, Adjustable Size Dovetails

Best Uses: In The Workshop

Describe Yourself: Avid Do-It-Yourselfer

After trying different brands this is the Cadillac of dovetail equipment. First test box was correct!

(legalese)

Thanksgiving Day Bird 2012

Happy Thanksgiving Day!  

We wish you and your family the best, and hope you have a safe, wonderful and grand culinary experience.  Bon appetit!

 

                                                               Lou photo

Cooking the bird!



We smoked our turkey this year, the same as we did last year, the day before Thanksgiving.  If you have never smoked anything, you can't believe how great it is, and how easy. I had never done it before but always wanted to give it a try.  Never wanting to invest in something I didn't know if I would like, we found this one at the Swap Meet.  The guy said he wanted $15, I offered him $10, and he said "take it".  Once I tried it, we both thought it was great.  We have also smoked briskets, pork chops, pork tenderloin, beef ribs, chicken, and anything and everything we thought it would cook well.  Always been happy with the results.

If you are going to try this, make sure you have everything ready. Turkey was prepared by Deinna, a nice 14 pound bird, an onion cut in half and some apple pie filling inside the cavity.  Extra pie filling for basting, every hour.  A digital thermometer is recommended, one that will permit constant monitoring to the nth degree (more about this later).  A bucket of water with apple wood chunks, which needs to be soaked for 24 hours.

See how prepared we are.  Notice the digital thermometer.  The base should be positioned somewhere close to the smoker.  We had it on the bar counter.  From the base, the sensor cord, about four feet long, goes through the smoker lid with the probe at the end which inserts into the breast of the turkey, or whatever you're cooking.  You can read the temperature of the meat without opening the smoker lid.  Wonderful!  Precise monitoring of the internal temperature of the bird and separate monitoring of the smoker itself cannot be overstressed.

(click any photo to enlarge)

  

 

This is our electric smoker.  We have the wet apple wood surrounding the element at the bottom of the smoker.  Above that is located a pan of water which provides moisture.

  

The smoker has a heat indicator in the lid.  Optimum temperature of 225 degrees has now been reached.  We begin!

First, we insert the digital thermometer probe/sensor into the turkey breast.

  The bird is now on the top smoker rack, and basted.  We put the lid on

and Hour number One begins!

 At hour number Two, I removed the lid for the hourly baste, and jerked the aforementioned digital thermometer, a $39.00 investment, plus buying an extra probe, off the bar top and directly into the bucket of water I used to soak the apple wood, thus rendering it totally useless.

Being a former camera repairman, I made a mad dash to my tool box.  I disassembled the digital thermometer, used a hair dryer and compressed air to remove the water, but to no avail.

You'll see in the following picture the old reliable analog thermometer I frantically hunted through the kitchen drawers for, and finally found. 

 

I inserted the analog thermometer into the preexisting hole left by the digital probe.

At hour three, we repeated the basting.

 

 Hour four, basted again and checked water, added more.

Hour five - golden brown - turkey is pronounced DONE!  

 

We are going to let it rest for an hour, then carve it up.  It will be ready for tomorrow's dinner.

 

Turkey is now carved, very moist!  The kitchen is cleaned up.

What's any holiday without a little excitement?

Now we can really enjoy Thanksgiving Day!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you, your friends and family!

The Last IFGA

If you don't know what you are looking at, this is a Stained glass version of Navy's Photographers Mate rating badge. Worn on the left arm of enlisted personnel, it designates the sailors job description. Nickname "IFGA" it gets it name from the real formula (I:F::G:A) it represents. The (I)mage size can be measured on the negative and is to the (F)ocal length of the lens as the (G)round is to the (A)ltitude. The three known factors (I,F and A) then can be used to determine the size of an object on the ground, like a trailer truck loaded with a missile. Remember the Cuban missile crisis? This beautiful glass piece was made by my wife, for my work space, the IIS Department in the lower center wing of Building 251 NASNI.  I removed it when I retired in July of 2006. It's been hidden in a "safe place" since then waiting to have a  frame made so we could properly display it. Now hanging in our music room, back lit by the morning sun each day, it really brightens my day. We interpreted this colorful version to represent the "Secondary colors" Yellow, Cyan, Magenta, on top, of the negative passing through the lens and diaphragm of an enlarger and creating the "Primary colors" Red, Geen, and Blue in the print.

Here is Deinna in November 2005 after we installed it my office. 

The "Crow" shown below is the last version of the many transitions that this rating badge has gone through for the Photographers Mates since 1944. Another version was a bellows type camera in place of the IFGA. Another version of the IFGA had wings for aerial camera men.
Photographer Mates did all phases of photography: shooting ground and aerial pictures, processing film and paper, both by hand and machine processors, and recording all events of historical and newsworthy interest. PH's also used motion picture camera equipment to record film documentation, pioneered the use of Video recording in the fleet, and basically subsidized the growth of digital photography. In the 90's, we paid Kodak $2,500 apiece for a one megapixel camera. 

Also, in the year 2006, the Navy began consolidation of the Photographers' Mate (PH) with the Journalist (JO), Draftsmen (DM), and the Lithographers (LI) into the new rate Mass Communication Specialist (MC).
So if you ever have a need for an IFGA fix, keep the post handy.

Jamulfest 2012

Sunday, October 21st, was "Jamulfest" here in Jamul at St Pius X Catholic Church. The day started at 8 am with Jamul's only parade of the year, on a stretch of Lyons Valley Road.  Small, but fun, with lots of locals participants. The main event is a whopping 1,200 pound deep pit BBQ.  Local dance groups provide some of the entertainment, and this year, a high school dance band preformed. A big white elephant sale (one mans junk is.....)!  Games and jumping tents for the kids.  Raffle prizes included a Grand Prize of $1500 dollars cash.  Also a raffle for a 55 inch TV.  The 'beer garden' provided lots of refreshments. Each year the Knights of Columbus, Council 9659, man the bar.  In addition, with the help of many parishioners, also set up and tear down the festival booths.  There were numerous 'crafters' providing handmade jewelry, tole paintings, and one lady, Lisa Howe, who traveled from Scottsdale AZ to make available a selection of her beautiful pottery.  We placed an order that was so big we have to pay it in installments! The ladies of the parish contribute immensely to organizing and keeping things running smoothly at the White Elephant sale and also making sure everyone gets fed. The Kiwanis conducted the Gymkhana (an equestrian event consisting of speed pattern racing and timed games for riders on horses) for our young Jamul equestrians.  St Pius X is one of the few church's (read only church) with it's own horse corral. 

"Thanks" to all who sponsored the Jamulfest with financial assistance.  Also, to all the contributors to the community raffle. 

This is the only time I have to wear this outfit. Like Dolly Parton says, "It takes a lot of money to look this cheap." 

So, mark your calendars - next year, October 2013 - and we'll see you then!

Photo by Deinna, location our back yard!

La Mesa Farmer's Market

After driving by the "Farmer's Market" sign in La Mesa numerous times,  which says they are open on Fridays from 2 to 6 pm, we finally made it there, actually on a Friday!.  It is located at University and Spring streets.  Lots of vendors with a large variety of fresh food, some locally grown and some from northern California.  There were the usual varieties found at most markets, plus some that are grown only by dedicated gardeners.  Like, tables full of 'heirloom' tomatoes - beautiful!  Beets that were sort of pink, with varigated centers.  One gal let me try some little pickle that was the size of an olive.  She said they were great!  They didn't suit my taste.  One lady had a table which featured objects from Kenya, made by children who were being schooled by professional artists to make figurines by hand.  Very unique.  A lady who made handmade copper jewelry, a booth with ladies blouses (I bought one), two or three booths with vegan specialties, and one featuring things like hummus, tabbouleh, and other stuff I've never seen before.  All in all, a nice little farmer's market.

The highlight of the trip was visiting a vendor who was NOT selling vegetables.  His thing was "skateboards" - or what he calls Blue Murphy's Original Wonderboards.  They range from two to eight feet long, one inch thick plywood boards painted in bright primary colors with complimentary psychedelic wheels.  Here us a link to his website.  It contains various pictures of the "Wonderboards" he manufactures in El Cajon.

This picture show how brave we are.  Hah! Neither of us have ever skateboarded in our lives.  Blue, the woodworker, could hardly get this picture taken, he was laughing so hard.  So, if you're in the market for a fancy "street cruiser" skateboard, check his site out, or look for him at the farmer's market on Fridays, from 2 to 6 pm.

National Geographic photo winners

From the National Geographic Site:

 

National Geographic Photography Contest Winners: 2011

 Site:

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/photo-contest/2011/entries/gallery/nature-winners/