Tag Archives: clann

Got stuff done

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I have done the first four of the items on Tuesday’s list of things to do after last weekend with colgaffneyis. Derusting the tools was not hard. Steel wool and oil sufficed for everything except the drawknife. A wire brush in an electric drill took care of that. Finishing the froe club was easy when I could hold it in the leg vise on my work bench and use one of the big drawknives I have here.

I still have to finish the Gaelic notes. Since Sunday I have found out something more about colgaffneyis war cry, “faugh a ballagh“, which to include. It solves a small mystery.

Never too late

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Saturday afternoon (when it was not raining) I was doing some woodwork outside our tent at colgaffneyis muster. One of our newer members came by to look at what I was doing and chat. He is an older fellow (mid-late 40’s I would guess). He saw what I was doing and said he wished he could actually do stuff like that. I told him that I will turn 58 next month and I have only gotten serious about this in the last 10 years.

I hope he got the message.

Getting back to normal

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colgaffneyis stuff is out of our garage, and we have managed to get our stuff out of it as well. So we are able to put both cars in it. Still to do:

  1. Put away all the wool plaids that have been drying in the basement.
  2. Clean the rust off some of my tools that were caught in the rain at Mankato.
  3. Clear my workbench (At least far enough that I can use it).
  4. Finish the froe club that I made at Mankato. It is actually usable now, but the handle could use some more work.
  5. Revise the notes on Scottish and Irish Gaelic from my talk at Mankato. I was quite gratified by the interest shown by my fellow members. I will submit the notes to colgaffneyis newsletter and put them up on my website.

How long can you tread water?

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We had a good night’s sleep. For me it was one of the best night’s sleep ever at a colgaffneyis event. We were woken by the breakfast bell at 8AM, followed immediately by loud thunderclaps. It has been raining hard ever since.

Fortunately, our site (Jack McGowan’s farm) has a lodge house which we are able to use. We have retreated there until the rain stops, or we have to pack and go home anyway. We have some indoor activities to keep us busy. E.g., I gave a brief talk on the Gaelic languages which was well received.

More on Saturday

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This afternoon I helped represent colgaffneyis at the Minnesota Tartan Day ceremonies. Like last year I was one of the musketeers. My first shot failed, but without harm. The second went off correctly.

Afterwards I went home. I did the tax return for our son J, following up on this morning’s work. Everything is clean. I will wait a day or two in case I can think of any additional deductions, then electronicly file the returns.