Sounds of Silence

It has been 8 days since I last posted, a time of busyness, and of joy. Last Wednesday saw the arrival of my newest grandson Gideon, and the weekend saw me attending a four-church family camp at Baylor University in Waco, with my wife and youngest son, and connecting with old friends.

Most joyous first! Gideon arrived Wednesday afternoon, weighing 10 lb 9 oz at 22 inches tall. When the baby is 22 inches or more, I think it should be listed as tall, rather than long. Mother and baby are doing great, and my bride and I went to see them at the hospital on Thursday, and took several pictures. Gideon has an older sister, age two and a half, who is, typical of that age, somewhat ambivalent about her new baby brother. She loves him, but does not like the division of attention. It is earth-shattering for her that she is no longer the center of the universe. I have provided pictures of Gideon, and of the three generations of Gideon, his father, and me.

It truly is wonderful to have our grandchildren so close by. Gideon and family live two and a half miles away, and my remaining grandschildren are only ten miles away from us. Much easier to build and maintain a loving relationship with grandchildren and adult children when you are a few minutes drive away, than nearly 1500 miles and a two day trip just to say hello, or contact primarily by email and telephone.

Since the blog is about pens, guitars, and coffee, on to pens! On Thursday, my new project arrived by UPS. It is a five drawer jewelry chest which I am converting to a pen chest. I already had acquired some pen trays, and trimmed them to fit inside the drawers; however, I need to get additional trays, and trim to a more exact fit. After trimming and inserting the trays, I sorted out the bulk of my pen collection into the drawers. I was a little surprised to find that I mostly filled it already. I will have to rearrange things, particularly the accessories, to make room for the pens remaining. I was going to convert a cigar humidor into a pen chest, but this came along, and it is much more suitable, so now I need to sell the humidor. If you are interested, email me at dovecreekwinns@sbcglobal.net and I can send pictures and we can discuss price.

Here is a picture of the pen chest loaded. I can't get a single picture with all the drawers open, because they overlap. The chest is likely not a family heirloom, but then I didn't pay an arm and a leg for it. It is nicely built and attractive, however. The top lifts, and there is a mirror inside the lid, which is fine for a jewelry chest, but less functional for a pen chest. The left side of the top is occupied by nonremovable ring rolls. The two bottom drawers are deeper than the other three, and I have put accessories, e.g., pen carriers, ink, silicone grease for my eyedropper fill pens, kleenex to blot the ink after filling, in those drawers.

When I get the pen trays redone, and the project completed, I will post new pictures, with an empty drawer, as well as drawer full of pens, and another with accessories.

Until later. . .