Christmas Ornaments

Getting together with family at Christmas is a tradition I have enjoyed since I was a child. Food, gift giving and decorations is what makes Christmas a special time of year. Years back my wife’s family started a tradition to exchange tree ornaments, pulling names so everyone ends up with an ornament. I pulled my brother in laws name, he is a collector and a woodworker, so I decided to make his ornament in lieu of purchasing a store bought. The year was 2006, I decided on a small birdhouse ornament. I continued making a birdhouse ornament each year. When my son finished college he mentioned he would love an ornament as well, now I make two!

Each birdhouse ornament is unique in its own way. I theme them off of jobs I had, building trades, and events.

First year
2007
2008 “The Plumber”
2009 Homegrown Bamboo
2010 Turned acorn
2011 Tinsmith
2012 Electrician
2013 Jail Bird
2014 Bow hunter
2015 Wood chopper
2016 Camper
2017 Mechanic
2018 Welder
2019 Xmas tree salesman
2020 Pandemic Hospital
2020 Pandemic Ornament Bird Hospital

2021 Celebrated the birth of my grandson Charles William Grimmett. We affectionately call him Charlie.

2022 Lake Placid family trip sparked this idea for an ornament. beautiful area! I caught a photo of a road sign heading into Lake Placid , NY.

2023 Hudson Boat Company

My son Chuck introduced me to his friend Jon Richer at Jon’s kayak building studio in New York. Jon and Chuck have become good friends and have built custom skin-on-frame kayaks and Adirondack Guide boats together. Jon is a delightful man that I enjoy chatting with when we visit New York.

Adirondack Guide boats Chuck and Jon built

2024 is a miniature of my son Chuck‘s shop at his home in Peekskill, NY. I attempted to go into detail mostly by memory from our visits to his home.

Christmas morning biscuits

Christmas morning in Northern Ohio charmed us with eleven inches of snow and eighteen degrees!

A perfect morning to try my hand at biscuits. Inspired by Kent Rollins Cowboy Chef, my biscuits were a hit.

The recipe calls for baking the biscuits in a Dutch Oven, something I want to try when we camp next year. I found I needed to add ten more minutes to the baking time in a conventional oven. I turned the broiler on in my electric oven for a couple of minutes to get the color I was was looking for. These biscuits turned out flaky and delicious.

Firewood Round

My son and I decided to split some wood this weekend! Northern Ohio’s temp was hovering around 20 degrees F. I have been stacking my wood in rounds that are approximately eighteen feet in circumference. The wood was from a large oak tree that fell during a wind storm last month. The tree was large, each round produced 68 pieces of firewood. Very heavy!

Doing some simple calculations, each stacked round holds approximately a full cord of firewood.