Back To Norway/Back To School !

A year and a half ago I traveled to Norway to give my daughter, Laken's hand in marriage.  Then, in August of 2014 I went back to welcome their first child, Laila Elizabeth Sandrod.

This little girl (in the middle above) grew up to be this woman:

And now to be this mother:

God is good

Now it is March of 2015 and I am enrolled in a Disciple Training School of Missions at the YWAM center at Grimerud, Norway, just north of Oslo.  It is a six month endeavor that is a bit out of my comfort zone, but it is all good....and what an adventure!

Grimerud is a former boys school that some believers were able to obtain and begin a Youth With A Mission base.  It is also a working farm and is located halfway between Stange and Hamar, Norway, just northeast of Oslo.  It is totally staffed by supported missionaries who draw no pay-- that includes office, cafeteria, maintenance, farming, and every other aspect of life here.  And it works well!  I was so skeptical!  We had hippie communes in my youth that seemed to work well for a bit, but always failed.  This base is now 40 years old and is loved and cared for by everyone who lives and visits here.  Pretty amazing!  All it took was a Higher Power!

http://www.grimerud.no/events/40-ars-jubileum/

The dining hall is in the lower floor and upstairs there are dorm rooms and my class room.

Laila is now 9 months old and truly charms me!

This is my apartment (dorm) house.  My room is upstairs with the light on, in the center of this picure.

Not long after my arrival there was a solar eclipse.  We stopped class to come out and see.  Sure enough!

I asked the class to look impressed as they looked at the eclipse...without protection.  I am the only American in the class (I mean only Texan) and there are Dutch, Swedish,
Netherlands, Spanish, Colombian,  Lebanese, and Australian members.  No one has heard of the Alamo here!  I said "What? Have you been living under a rock all your life?  I'll bet you don't even know what barbecue and TexMex is!"  But they seemed to know all about that!  In class we were asked why God created the earth.  After a little silence I spoke up and said "So He would have a place to put Texas"  I don't know if my kind of humor will work over here....

Class in progress!



Flipping An Old Boat

Sold my Hunter 26 to a sailor in Santiago Chile (shipped on a freighter!)  and took possession of a 1989 Hunter 34 that had been unattended at Lake Travis for several years.  This is the story of how one might get that bigger boat you have wished for on a budget and with some TLC bring it to life again.

As I bought it.  Not bad, but all the lines needed replacing and the old windows were all hazed and no good for seeing out.

The bimini in place and all windows replaced.  Made a huge difference in the light and ambiance on the inside!  Plus the larger salon windows have a much more modern look.

One project I first did was to cut out an area for a microwave in the galley:

This was wasted space I thought.

   

It worked out well.  Good spot for the microwave.

Bought an orbital sander and made quick work of the faded and stained navigation table. 

New faucet and counter top--easy

Old sink

After getting tired of buying ice for the ice box I installed a wine cooler ($99) next to the microwave nd now can cool drinks and perishables --great move.  It is all the refrigeration I need.

A little cleaning and staining brought the salon back to life.

The old companion way teak boards were cracked and warped.  I had an old piece of Lexan that worked beautifully as a retrofit and gave much more light to the inside.

Dated window design--needs to be bigger.

It took a chisel and sabre saw to get the old frame out and open up the window hole.

New and bigger openings for the windows. 

Taped neoprene gasket sheet over windows and marked the window openings to cut  out for a flush fit from window edges to the outside edge of the over-sized Lexan windows.

Bolted in place and then edges sealed with silicone.

I used 5/8" aluminum angle to frame out the inside.

All the ports were weathered.  I Rotozipped out the acrylic panes, leaving the frames intact and had 1/4 inch glass cut to fit then siliconed them in place. Eight windows in all.

Before...

I love the results!

.  The new windows could have cost several thousand -- I spent about $200

Kassy's First Cozumel

A promise is a promise and I eagerly looked forward to taking my 19 year old granddaughter to Cozumel.  It was her first trip out of the US and first time to free dive and scuba--and with me!  What a blessed man I am.  We met in Dallas and flew together to Cozumel, stayed at Mi Casa En Cozumel (you can google that) and what a great place and a great time!

This is Kassy, and I know,  she looks even younger than 19, but she happens to be an impressive young woman--who likes bugs, snakes, spiders, and fish.

This was one Big moth and Kassy loved it.

We loved eating in Chankanaab Park

We snorkeled the first few days and had a great time introducing her to the world underwater.

I then introduced Kassy to scuba and made two full tank dives.  She saw lobster, octopus, morays, cuttle fish, and lots of sea life.  She was a natural!  (of course, she is my granddaughter)

 

She took some pictures too, and swam through schools of fish.  Actually was an excellent new diver!

The downside....now I miss her terribly.  But that is not a bad thing.

Diving Downtown Austin

    We were running a 3 mile loop around Lady Bird Lake with all the other random Austin joggers on a beautiful December morning.  As we crossed a foot bridge just below Barton Springs Drive I couldn't help but notice the clear water below.  Pam informed me it was Barton springs flowing into the lake and I thought "gotta get into that".  A recurrent dream I have is that I am traveling somewhere and happen upon clear water that calls to me in such a way that I spend the rest of the dream trying to get to it...only to wake up before I get in.  So, next trip to Austin I put my snorkeling gear and wetsuit in the trunk and after looking over google maps went to explore the possibilities.  Tips from the relatives were taken and I parked as close as I could in Zilker Park.  Cousin Missy and her son Carl met me and watched from shore.  There happened to be a no swimming sign, so they served as look outs as well.  It turned out to be a pretty magical place to dive; even in winter; even in Texas.  The water is a constant 75 degrees.  Not bad with a wetsuit. The depth gets only to about 9 feet, but there is lots to see.

 Check out this short video I took: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqXnMgbF7IU

Either a type of Cooter turtle or Mississippi Map Turtle  There are lots of turtle species!

 

Lots of bass and perch (you might notice the tail of this one)

Lots of plant life like Saggitaria make a great environment for all the animal life here.