Local Flavor: Happy Father's Day!

Father's Day may be a greeting card bonanza, but for us it means hanging out and enjoying family time -- just like Mother's Day! As a bonus, new toys sometimes pop up to surprise us, too, right? Today we drove up to Montpelier for a day out, hit the bookshop and toy shop, had a bite, and I stopped by Guitar Sam to drop-off the inestimable Mr. Kevin's repaired Regal tenor guitar. Fun was had by all!

The kids spent a little bit of their tucked-away dough on some toys and I got myself my very own Oona Wildwood action figure (Playmobil). My Dad (her Grandpa Rol) got her a pair of binoculars for Xmas and she was fitted-out just the same (sans vest) this morning.

Oona also gave me a sun she made in school to brighten-up my workshop windows -- which, I have to admit, are rather drab.

Meanwhile, Mr. Kevin of Guitar Sam and I did some horse trading -- repair bill for a shiny new Hohner melodica. Thanks so much, Kevin! I've been wanting a melodica for some time. This thing plays great, is in tune, and drives the kids nuts. I love it. I'm already scheming about a foot or arm-mounted bellows so that I can play it more organ-style.

The random tools are courtesy of Mr. Gus Bloch, who kindly bestowed them on me (along with a fantastic two-foot, machined straight-edge-- repairmen get excited about the dumbest things, right?) a couple days ago. I can't tell you how many people I owe random thanks to for the various extras I receive. It all gets used, by hook or by crook, in the end.

So -- Happy Father's Day to the Dads out there and Happy Family Day to the folks suffering our repeated attempts at dumb jokes.