Grandpa's latest

This is my Grandpa's latest creation. A bud vase. Walnut. 10" tall.

Jekyll Modern

According to a conversation I had with a local, the last home to be built on Jekyll was 1972. While most homes here on J.I. are your standard ranch affairs, there are a few interesting modern homes. The Prebyterian church is quite cool.

Glow Ball Tournament

Jekyll Island is proving much more interesting to me now as a 35 year old father than it was as a 15 year old freshman.



Owen and I played 6 holes on the old seaside course last night before the storm came in. We got a nice storm last night. It knocked out power and woke up AB, though Owen was wiped out and slept through the whole thing.

I am a bit disappointed that I will miss the Glow in the Dark Ball Tournament that happend Saturday night. Sounds like an event to plan a future golf outing around for next year.

Day 2 in the Books

Tragic news today...the water park on Jekyll Island is only open on the weekends...

Owen has taken the news well. Putt Putt is his new favorite activity and will serve as a perfect carrot this week (as will swimming, bike rides and playing on the pirate ship playground right outside our back door).

The note to ourselves is that while a 1 bedroom unit may be thrifty, the cost of 2 bedrooms is worth the privacy and control. We are reminding ourselves that this is a vacation, and we are going to enjoy ourselves and have a good time as a family, dammit.

Horton House

This is the Horton House on Jekyll. Horton was the first English settler on Jekyll. The house is strikingly beautiful. He rebuilt it in 1742 after the Spanish burned it down in the Battle of Bloody Marsh. jekyllisland.com

Sunrise not Sunset

We are at the beginning of our family vacation on Jekyll Island. It is a beautiful place to stay. We brought our bikes, swim suits and golf clubs. Any questions?

Ribs-n-Wings

The BBQ with gas regulation was tested on New Year's Eve. I smoked spare ribs, wings/drummies and salmon.

I set the gas to keep heat at 235 and added soaked black oak and mesquite throughout. The ribs were on for about 4.5 hours(until the therm reading was 160) and the wings and salmon for about 9o minutes.

The wings I experimented with a honey-garlic glaze after a moderate dose of Deen's house seasoning (4 parts sea salt, 1 part black pepper, 1 part garlic powder). They were fall off the bone and out of your seat good.

The ribs were rubbed with my neighbor's pork rub, http://www.ceedawg.com/. FANTASTIC!

After having my mind blown by the chicken and ribs, the salmon was anticlimactic. I did a sea salt and OJ marinade and added a light sprinkle of house seasoning once it was in the smoker. I served it with lemon slices from the neighbors tree (had some left after making fresh lemonade.)

It is tough to follow the savory with such a mild-flavored bit like salmon. But, the missus was pleased and able to enjoy the smoker's offerings (she doesn't do pig, poultry or beef>>sniff, sigh.)

Shadow Puppets

Here is an example of some of my student's latest work.

This is the result of a unit on puppetry, specifically shadow puppets. We use a pair of overhead projectors for the light source and gel material to create the "backdrops". All puppets are card stock and dowel.

The greatest satisfaction as a theater teacher is seeing your student's work as an audience member; when I can sit back and watch them perform for an audience of strangers, without having to micro-manage or provide a "safety net," it is truly the best lesson to teach!

Script is original. Thanks for watching.

Just Add Meat

My latest project involves cooking meat...


I have a New Braunfels smoker that I scored from the side of the road one early morning on the way to work. I sware I felt a disturbance in the force and heard the sound of every redneck in the county sniff the air when I was loading it in the truck; timing is everything.

The smoker is great. But keeping the wood going at a steady temperature is a challenge.
My solution came in the form of an old gas grill that had its last party this past summer. I took the valves and LP connectors, bought a new burner and bolted it all together in the smoke box.

Now I have a gas grill, an easy to regulate smoker and a custom rig that all my friends will envy.

Next step is to add the side burner on so I can cook the beans or boil water for corn on the cob.




Note the sweet knobs. They were on some valves and Cu pipe I was hoarding for scrap. See honey...thats why I keep all this shtuff around.

Steady Progress

Things are going well. The roof is complete and the interior walls are framed. Owen's room is stripped and ready for the "break through". This week we'll be staining and sealing the floor, busting through to the existing house. Nice work Mike, Chris and the gents' at Joy Builders!!