I had yesterday off, though I did have to deal with a work emergency in the morning. Fortunately, I could do it by VPN from home.

mia_mcdavid and I ran some errands, then went to lunch at a local Indian restaurant. After that we went to the Textile center, where Mia settled down at the electric carder. I looked around at the various looms, spinning wheels, and other gadgets. I also took a walk up and down a couple blocks. This let me run an errand for colgaffneyis at the local post office. I also stopped in at General Nanosystems, which is just two doors away from the Textile Center. Did not buy anything, but looked around. I expect another computer purchase for the family will be coming soon, and it was interesting to check out what was available.

We decorated the tree in the evening. As usual, there were a few ornaments we could not locate. I am sure they are around the house somewhere.

Today was relatively quiet. I watched The New Yankee Workshop in the morning. Quite a show: Norm actually used at least four hand tools (drawknife, chisel, and at least two different saws), and said there were some things that you could only do with hand tools. After that came The Woodwright’s Shop. Roy had a guest from Colonial Williamsburg, who demonstrated 18th century techniques for upholstering a chair seat. You need a good supply of horse hair and hog bristles.

Mia and James went out Christmas shopping in the morning. Afterwards James asked me about a gift he had picked out for Mia. He wanted to know if it was a good choice. I thought it was. We will know for sure in less than 48 hours. So this

1. Affirmed my son’s judgment.
2. Spared me the need to take him out on another shopping trip.

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I went down to the office briefly in the afternoon for something I had forgotten on Thursday, then went home for a nap. Afterwards I did a little woodwork. I played with some ash that we had cut down a couple years ago. Unfortunately, it is really too knotty for anything but firewood, though I might get a couple handles for chisels and files out of it. Trying to work it did confirm that my new shaving horse is strong enough to use. It also gave my quite a bit of exercise.

Tomorrow noon we are picking up Tom for Christmas. He will be staying overnight here for the first time since he moved out in June. The big issue will be keeping him entertained. I don’t expect to have a lot of time to relax while he is here.

Free association: The word “entertained” can mean a lot of things. I recently read a contemporary account of the Siege of Kinsale (Ireland, 1601). The English author spoke of the an counter-attack by the Spanish in the town, who were “entertained” by the English in their siege works.