Leah

Good idea, I really like that.

Hey Duck, I like the hold down tool too.

Thanks for the link, Jr. That sure is some beautiful work.

I don't know what happened but the lizards seem to be gone. Maybe they ate all the bugs and left. No bugs and no lizards....works for me.

Dawn, Shannon and Nathan, I am so sorry to hear about Ralph. I admire the way he handled himself during his illness. He was a brave man who loved his family and knew they loved him. I will keep you all in my prayers.

Thanks to all of you for your kind words. We had the funeral this afternoon so now we can start getting Mom settled. She is not too keen on staying by herself but someone will be with her the rest of the week. Steve and I have been busy putting in motion lights and deadbolt locks. She says she may get a dog to keep her company. I let her read everything you folks had written here and she could not believe how a bunch of people, most of whom I have never met, would offer such kind words. I told her it was because BLACKSMITHS ROCK!

Rich, you nailed it, they do kinda slither and wiggle.

Ellen, at least I don't have to worry about them being poison. But, they still may make me hurt myself.

I just make a lot of noise when I go into a room and that seems to work. I had some broomstraw in a paper bag by the back door the other night and one got to playing in there. Boy, it sounded like a pack of rats! I was a big girl and just picked up the bag and sat it outside.

My father passed away this morning in his sleep. Mother is a light sleeper had did not even wake up so we know he went peacefully. His health had been failing for the past couple of years, but he could still meet his friends for coffee and go check on his deer stand. At 71, he was happy to be able to do that. He helped me light my first fire and, every time I saw him, told me the backscratcher I made him was the best thing I ever forged. He got a kick out of telling his friends that his daughter could weld him up a new target stand when he needed one. I have not shed a tear. Every time I think of him, all I can do is grin. He was a fine man.

I will be out of pocket for a few days. Please remember my mother, she will be lost for a while.

Thanks for the update, Pam. I hope your recovery goes well.

Wow, I knew she was going to have some sort of medical procedure done, I did not know it was this serious. I will be sure and remember her in my prayers.

Little tiny lizard cages....I like that idea.

Ok, I admit that the thought of not ever having bug in my house sounds good. If they were scampering up the wall, it would not be so bad. It is just that, when they crawl across my bare foot, I sort of make a sound that humans normally don't make. I will try to make peace with my new little friends.

I just have one question. If the lizards came around to feast on the bugs, what is going to show up to eat the lizards?

Thanks for the input.

Ok, this is about as non-blacksmithing as it gets. I have little lizards all in my house. Steve is no help. All he does is laugh when I let out a scream and run into the living room and beg him to kill it. I am not usually afraid of critters and these would be cute if they were not running over my toes when I walk into the kitchen and turn on the light. They are very small, tan and have light purple to pink spots on them. I swear, I have not been drinking any mushroom tea or anything like that. I have heard of people using "snake away" or moth balls or even sulphur to keep snakes out of places. Do you think this would work for lizards? I am about ready to move out of my house and just let them have the place. I don't have any bugs (that I know of) in my house and I don't let anything sit in the sink with water in it for them to drink, so why are they in here with me? I just had one fall out of a pair of jeans when I picked them up out of the dirty clothes hamper. I did not know I could make a sound like that. Come on folks, I really need some help here.

Those are very nice looking leaves. What did you use to cut the stock?

That was beautiful, thank you.

I have also used two part epoxy to tighten loose handles. This has worked well for me.

Thanks for the update, Ralph. I am glad the surgery went well. Take care of each other. I will keep you both in my prayers.

Glenn,

I really like this new format. The "new posts" option is very nice.

Thanks a bunch.

I will keep you both in my prayers.

That is too funny, thanks.

Wow Chuck, that is the first time I ever heard of anyone doing their own bypass. Good Work! I hope the Doc lets you go see your friend. Good luck with your other procedure.

The floor in the shop I have now is concrete. I had a dirt floor before and, while it was much easier on my feet, it was a pain to move stuff around. A lot of the stuff in my shop is on wheels so I can move it out of the way and next to the wall when not in use. Maybe it is just the girl in me-you know how much we like to rearrange the furniture. 8)

Good luck Chuck, you are on my prayer list.

Your Grandpa is on my list.

Thanks for the update, Ralph. Good news on catching it early. I swear, it seems to be more like when we get it nowdays instead of if we get it. Early diagnosis is just about the best defense we have.

Prayers are going up.

Primetechsmith,

When I get tired of hearing "My grandfather was a blacksmith", I usually smile and say something lilke "That is great", and listen if they want to talk a little. It helps me remember when Iwas the one standing on the other side of the rope asking the dumb questions. Had it not been for the patience shown to me that day, I might have not gone home and built my first forge.

I have to admit that, sometimes, I do ask them if their grandmother ever did any smithing :wink:

Just today at work, a fella came up to me and went into a loooooong tale about his grandfather being a blacksmith. I listened, and at the end of our conversation, he told me to come by and he would give me his grandfather's 250 lb. anvil because he had no one in his family that wanted it and he wanted it to go to a blacksmith. I don't know what brand it is or what kind of shape it is in, but I am going to go pick it up next week. I did ask him to write up a little information about his grandfather and what kind of work he did so I could keep the information with the anvil.