Pie Safe Part 2

I had the opportunity to spend a couple of hours on Ms. Kay's pie safe this week.  This project is going to be a slow process.  As you can see, the old white paint that was shown in the first pictures was doing a very good job of covering up this nice blue paint that was applied sometime before Caesar was in office.  The picture above has the sides stripped down to the wood and the middle section is holding on to its color with all of its might.  The stripper that I am using seems to have very little effect on this super paint, so I am going to wait for it to dry and try a new approach.  I have had good luck with a rubber sanding wheel, so I will let you know how that turns out.

Happy New Year everyone and thanks for being a part of this blog with me!!

Christmas Grey Birds

It sure is a busy time of year.  Once all of the shopping is through and you have attended all of the numerous Christmas parties, Christmas Day arrives in a flurry of shredded wrapping paper and instructions for gadgets written in Chinese.  I enjoy Christmas and the time I spend with family, but I have to admit that I needed a break after a long day of "Daddy, open this!!"

That much needed break came the day after Christmas in a peanut field with Josey the Wonder Dog and my Browning Maxis.  The second dove season here in South Georgia is my favorite because of the abundance of birds and the cooler weather.  Reid and I both wore a light jacket as we sat down next to a peanut hay bale and got ready for a good day of shooting.  We didn't have to wait long as the birds started to make their way into the field across the branch where we were set up.  I was shooting fairly well and Josey was retrieving like a  champion.  Reid and I left the field with our limit in short order.  My Dad also obtained the limit so we had a good mess between us.  As we gathered up after the shoot, several people gave me their birds as well.  Tonight there will be grits, biscuits and close to 100 birds dropped into some 350 degree peanut oil as I cook for the hump day crowd.

I have often told you how much I enjoy wing shooting, but I also enjoy the crowd that gathers when you start serving up game birds.  I love nothing more than good friends enjoying a good meal and reliving the hunt.  Now that's a Christmas present like no other!!

Happy New Year!

Ms. Kay's Pie Safe

I have worked with Ms. Kay for the past 13 years.  She is currently our Head Teller and is charge of keeping me straight on a daily basis.  I was very excited when she asked me if I would refinish a pie safe that was given to her by her Mother.  It has been in her family for a number of years and is in dire need of a make over.  I had a chance to get started on it this past weekend.  These pictures will give you an idea of what I was up against.

Why does it always have to be blue?

I started by taking the doors and all of the hardware off of the safe.  New hardware will have to be ordered.  I removed all of the trim that was holding the screen in place on the doors and I will try and save the original screen if I can work around it or remove it without tearing it.  It is in pretty good shape.  I then stared removing paint and was able to complete the front of the safe as well as all of the inside.  I think the wood is cedar and it is turning out very nice so far.

I'm looking forward to seeing how it is going to turn out.  Hope you will follow along with me.

35-23 Good Guys!

The Black Bears of Maine showed up at the prettiest little stadium in America this past Saturday to receive their whipping from the semi-final bound Georgia Southern Eagles!  The Bears put up a good fight, but in the end they realized that we were playing football and not a hockey match.  They had no chance!  The score was actually closer than the game ever was.  If we don't keep making mistakes and putting the football on the dirt, we win this one in a route!

I would like to thank the Duckman for being a good sport and taking his beating like a true gentleman.  Despite the rumors that are circulating, we actually had no bet on the game and I am not making him shut his blog down for 6 months (although he may want to after I'm done reminding him of the loss over and over).

Georgia Southern is on to Fargo, North Dakota to take on the 2nd seeded team in the semi-finals!  This will be our second trip to the semi's in the past two years.  We have some unfinished business to take care of!!

March on Eagles!!  GATA!  One more time on our quest for #7!!!

It's the Brave Eagle -vs- The Duckman!

                        -VS-





It truly amazes me that the world can be a very small place sometimes and how things can come full circle to meet in the most unlikely of places.  As most of you who have been following my blog for some time may know, The Downeast Duck Hunter and I have developed a friendship through this little blogging nation of ours over the past year or so.  I have enjoyed getting to know him and feel that I have a good friend in the great state of Maine.  We are both planning trips to visit so that we can experience the hunting lifestyle that the other enjoys.  This week though I am sad to announce that the Duckman and I will be on the opposite sides of the field!

Georgia Southern University defeated  Old Dominion this past weekend to advance to the quarter final round of the FBS (formerly 1-AA) playoffs.  The Eagles play real football where our Champion is determined on the field with an actual playoff, and the next opponent standing in the way of their 7th National title is none other than The University of Maine Black Bears.  Take a wild guess who attended the University of Maine!  You are correct if you guessed that it was none other than the Duckman himself!  This is going to be a problem.

I'm sure that my friend from the North will be bringing all of the smack talk that he can muster and I have to admit that this game worries me.  All games at this time of the year worry me.  Maine defeated App State in Boone this past weekend, so I know that they have a good football team, but we do have a little history on our side.  The two teams have met in the playoffs twice before with the good guys from Statesboro, Georgia winning both contest.  I'm hoping that our defense will play well and the the Maine Black Bears will have trouble defending our triple option attack.

If we win the game we will advance to the semi-final round and send the Black Bears back to Maine.  If we loose the game, I may have to shut down this blog to avoid the Duckman's wrath!   It's a battle of epic proportions!!



Our good looking Southern Boy!

-VS-

This scraggly dude from Downeast Maine!


LET'S GET IT ON!!!!!

A Few Good Men and a Worthy Cause!

Clay C, Nate W and Hal W hard at work!

I have always found that when the opportunity to do the right thing is presented to you, the reward for doing so is one that cannot really be measured.  Christmas is certainly the time of year where such opportunities are present all around us.  As Christians, we are celebrating the birth of our saviour this month, but we should also take the opportunity to let our neighbors know of God's love for us in every month of the year.  How can you do that you might ask?  Everyone has their own special way to reach out and minister to people, but my friends and I choose to help children at Christmas by letting them know that Jesus loves them and that with him as their saviour, there is always hope!

The Sportsman's Sunday School Class of First Baptist Church, Fitzgerald is a class made up of about 40 men who enjoy hunting, fishing, golfing, football and all other outdoor activities.  We range in age from the low 20's to the high 60's.  We meet each Sunday morning for a fellowship time and a weekly bible study.  It is pretty much like your typical Sunday School class, but we pride ourselves in being a class that is very giving to those who may be in need.  We have given countless hours as well as funds to people in our church family as well as those outside of our church family.  We believe that if people see "outdoor"type men being "real" men for their church, they may just see God's love working in our lives. 

Our biggest project is one that I would like to tell you about here.  Several years ago we decided that we wanted to do something for the needy children in our community.  We all agreed that a child waking up on Christmas morning without a Christmas present from Santa or their parents was a terrible thing.  A child should feel joy at Christmas and learn that Christmas is a special time of year.  We put ours heads together and came up with "Bicycles for Christmas".  For the past 6 years, we have worked with our local school system councilors to target needy kids whom they felt would not receive a gift for Christmas.  This system has worked well and we are even working along side our local "Toys for Tots" campaign to make sure that we are not giving bicycles to children who's parents have applied for help with them.  The Sportsman's Sunday School Class has donated over 700 bicycles at a cost of about $31,500.  I still find it hard to believe that we have been able to do that.  We have some wonderful people in this community that have donated a great deal of time and money for this project.  It is a lot of hard work shopping for bicycle deals and putting them all together, but so worth it to see those kid's faces light up when you present them with a brand new bike with a tag on the handle bars that says "Jesus loves you!  Merry Christmas from The Sportsman's Sunday School Class First Baptist Church".

I'm sitting here thinking about all of the items that my children are getting for Christmas and how spoiled they really are.  I love my children and I am glad that my wife and I have the means to spoil them a little bit, but the work that I do for our Sunday School class reminds me of how hard other people have it and I admit to feeling a little guilty.  I wish I could buy every needy child a Christmas present but I know that this is not possible.  But I can keep giving a little money throughout the year, shop for bicycle deals on Black Friday, turn a few wrenches on a cold Wednesday night, and help deliver some Christmas Joy to a few needy kids who deserve to be happy on my saviour's birthday. 

I'm thinking that's what Jesus would do, so I'm good with that!