Boy oh boy has it been a minute since it posted last!

My sister-in-law’s birthday is around the corner and I had an idea that I wanted to create something that would fit into their lifestyle. I wanted it to be both functional and decorative so I settled on a butter churn! It has a use case and doubles as rustic kitchen decor.

Although I thought that this was going to be easy in practice, it very much took some patience. I started by referencing a few dozen designs online for various traditional pieces, and I modeled it after the most iconic looking churn’s.

Today I visited the famous Cafe du Monte in New Orleans! After driving for 6 hours, it was a nice break.

I was very fortunate to visit New Orleans recently! My older sister and I decided to swing down during my visit to her house in northern Alabama. Our trip took us to the French Quarter at the best an worst times!

The day we arrived, we ate dinner and the lovely Cafe Pontalba. It sits on the street corner and they the doors open and the wonderfal breeze swept through along with some jazz being played in front of the St. Louis Cathedral towering over the square.

I got my first taste of alligator as well! It was the taste of chicken but the texture of fish. It was really good with the spicy tarter sauce they provided!

The next day it rained 9″ in about 3 hours trapping us inside the hotel until the evening but it was well worth it just to visit the Quarter for a bit. Our visit may have been brief, but the memories we made will last a lifetime!

I was very fortunate to visit my sister in Alabama for a little week getaway. We visited these awe inspiring caverns only an hour from her house!

In the shop today! I went shooting with my family last weekend and we found that there was no place to sit or shoot from when we were there.

Time to fix that! I present to you my shooting bench!

(And me in shop gear! :D)

For the past two years, Bryce and I have gone to cut down our own Christmas tree! This year we went a bit overboard with a 20 footer.

Holy cow! I didn’t realize that when I ordered the part to fix my planer that it was going to take over a month to come!

Throw back to this.

I pulled apart the gearbox and found the gear that had been stripped. After scouring the web for a while, i found our that basically every brand of planer uses the same gearbox design. That said, the solution they all give you? Replace it, like the whole thing. Minimum $100 up to $250. Shoot, we only bought the planer on KSL for like $50.

An hour later I found the exact part number for the broken gear (1343910). I ordered it on ToolPartsPro.com and although it took forever, it was the exact same part. Cost? $10.

Learn how to fix stuff. Might take some time and willpower but save you so much money in the long run.

Bonus, when this happens again, which it probably will, now I have an extra gear to replace it ASAP!

My little sister and I decided to drive down to Fillmore this weekend to see the Annular Solar Eclipse. It was awesome in all sense of the word! Traffic back was a bummer though.

Doing too much woodworking I guess…

Now, if you want to know something about me that is a bit strange, I hate the heat. Living in Utah is awesome because there are all 4 seasons and much of the year in under 80° plus, there is actually snow unlike where I grew up in Phoenix, AZ.

That said, I love hot water. It could be a hot tub, hot springs or even just a nice hot shower; it just feels so good!

The gym i used to go to shut down during covid and none of the other local gyms have a pool of hot tub. I didn’t want to hike 5 miles to Fifth Water or sit in the mud pool in Saratoga Springs so I made up my mind to make my own!

It took some time to get all the parts worked out, (and all the measurements correct), but I made it out of a insulated horse trough. Lol, kinda strange but you can fit all the way inside unlike a bathtub!

An update from my last post. I forwent the button and got a brass knob!

Now it can hold much more weight without coming undone!

During my recent adventure to Stewart Falls, I realized that the thing that annoys me the most during hiking is having to hold my water bottle. I normally don’t carry a backpack that has water bottle pockets and if I do, I’m not really able to pull my water bottle out of that pocket without stopping to retrieve it which I would rather not do.

My solution? Leather belt clasp! No more stopping on the trail.

I have wanted to get into leatherworking for a bit and needed a small project to test with; this was perfect!

The button is a little too lightweight for the heavy water bottle so I’ll need to get a bigger one or make another with space for two buttons. Next I want to try a small satchel and eventually a leather book cover!

I have always wanted to go to a comicon event! I have worked across the street from the Salt Lake convention center for 5 years and have always seen people going to FanX but have never gone myself. Now that my sister has moved up here, we were able to go together!

We walked around for about 6 hours looking at all the vendor stalls. There was some pretty cool stuff!

I went in cosplay but low-effort; I was a Pokémon professor with my lab coat and street clothes! I got recognized though so that was cool!

While hiking in the Uinta Mountains over the Labor Day weekend, I found a small little creek that has a perfectly peaceful atmosphere. I took this recording to playback for good ambiance.

I finally did what I have wanted to do since I got my truck; drive it through a river!

I have always been interested in slow growing plants; bonsai, moss, terrariums, mushrooms. Because of that, I have always wanted a make a moss garden. Well, today’s the day!

I bought an ultrasonic water mister for Halloween decorations to keep the humidity high and boy does it work!

Still working on getting a bigger/nicer looking box and some airflow but it’s turning out well so far.

Every year my company hosts and annual lake day at Jordonelle in Park City. This year I was in charge of the jetski’s and also the DJ!

I got baked again just like I do every year. At least I wore sunscreen this time!

I recently learned that most organs have MIDI I/O ports. I hooked up my brothers piano to my computer and am figuring out how to write the Super Mario – Bowsers Castle Theme to MIDI so I can play it on the organ in the church building!

Yesterday, I was sitting on the couch and I noticed my brother sitting in the backyard on an old porch chair enjoying the outdoors. I thought to myself, I bet that i could make a chair a little better that that one.

Well, 24 hours later and 8 hours of sweat in the 100° heat and I built something that my brother and his wife can enjoy in the backyard by the campfire!