Chuck's Space

I started dabbling in leather work within the last year, thinking it would be an easy hobby to get into and master.  I ended up buying the Deluxe Leathercraft Set from Tandy Leather .  Needless to say, the projects that I completed form the kit were less than satisfactory in their final outcome. But as I worked through the projects included in the kit, I did see my skills improve. I'm far from good at this stage, but am getting good enough where I am comfortable showing my poor skills.  While at my parent's house over Christmas, my wife and I drove into the Tandy Leather store in Independence, MO and looked around for awhile.  I ended up buying a Card Case w/ Money Clip , while the wife selected a Roper Wallet Kit .  This article details my attempt to complete the Card Case w/ Money Clip. Card inserted in the Card Case kit

Last April, the family took another day trip to visit the Shiloh National Battlefield. The battlefield is located about 3 hours west of where we live in Lynchburg, TN near the town of Savannah. I had visited the battlefield many years ago, but the rest of the family had never gone.  Our visit coincided with about the same time of the year that the Battle of Shiloh (or the Battle of  Pittsburg Landing as it was known in the South) took place so we would be seeing it as the soldiers did during this epic two-day battle.  If you want to plan a visit to the battlefield, I'd recommend starting at the National Park Service website which you can access here .

This may be an obvious post, given that we live in Lynchburg, but the Jack Daniel Distillery is a neat place to visit.  Holding the distinction as the oldest registered distillery in the United States, is the location where every drop of Jack Daniel whiskey is produced.  The history of the distillery is interesting as well, as Jack Daniel was an actual historic person.  Jasper Newton "Jack" Daniel was born in 1850.  The exact date of his birth is in some dispute. Jack was one of 13 children born to his father Calaway Daniel.  His mother Lucinda Cook Daniel bore 10 of those children prior to her death. Calaway Daniel remarried, but apparently Jack did not like his step-mother.  After his father's death in the Civil War, Jack ran away from home at the age of 7.

Last March, we took a trip back to the Philippines so my wife could visit her family.  It's been a couple of years since we've had the chance to see them and they hadn't had an opportunity to meet Zachary.  The wife's family lives in a suburb of Manila called Taguig City.  So while on the trip, I took a couple of days to slip away and visit Corregidor Island in Manila Bay. Before we get into the trip, let's look a little at the history of the island.