A Spidery Christmas

...nka and, hearing this, a spider overnight spins its web all over the tree, making the spiderweb sparkle and glitter in the morning sunlight. This explains the tradition of tinsel on the Christmas tree. The various embellishments of the story depend upon the teller and the tale. Another version has the Holy Family hiding in a cave during their flight to Egypt. The benevolent spiders spin webs and cover the whole entrance to the cave. When Herod’s s...

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Saturday Linkages: Quitting Email, Muskiness and the RRR

...2017 In the clearing: https://t.co/odIWq8jbaB — Root Simple (@rootsimple) December 16, 2017 The Best Seed Company in the World | Garden Rant https://t.co/MdWftVbuXQ — Root Simple (@rootsimple) December 16, 2017 How @Uber and @lyft are making traffic worse: https://t.co/AfKQVU3XvJ — Root Simple (@rootsimple) December 12, 2017 New insights into the Ridiculously Resilient Ridge & North American Winter Dipole https://t.co/O2Lnj9q90n — Root Simple (@ro...

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Cutting Dovetail Joints With a Router Jig

...at I needed to cut some dovetails. Dovetail joints are used most often for making drawers. The arrangement of the joint makes for a drawer that resists racking. Dovetail joints also prevent the front from coming off with repeated use. Even without glue the joint wants to stay together. It’s also, I think, very attractive. The two most common dovetail joints are through dovetails: Image: Wikipedia. And half-blind dovetails: Image: Wikipedia. Since...

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Fun With Mortises and Tenons

...els of craftsmanship, I haphazardly fixed the table with screws and nails. Making the mortises and tenons took forever even though I was working with power tools–a plunge router to make the mortises and a table saw to cut the tenons. Of course, a great deal of the time in the workshop was spent in idle chatter. My workshop is right on the public sidewalk and serves as a kind of conversational trap for every passing neighbor and dog walker. Kelly s...

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Whacked the President with a Single Stick

...e ex-Colonel nor the ex-Lieutenant Colonel of the Rough Riders has aimed a making this point, but both havve confined themselves to developing their skill with the weapon and getting as much exercise and fun out of the game as possible. Notwithstanding this, it is impossible to play with single-sticks without occasionally getting hurt, and both the President and his ex-superior officer have daily given and received some pretty severe raps. Lumps h...

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