For many years now we have been doing a Secret Santa gift exchange. Everyone in our immediate family group is randomly and secretly assigned someone else in the group for whom to purchase a gift(s). Rather than shopping for everyone in the family, you only need to focus on one person. This year, Nico was my Secret Santa and he got me a super sweet Arctyrex jacket among other smaller items. Since I have been an exceptionally good boy this year, I decided that I would also give myself a gift. When I saw this miter gauge go on sale for 50% off I could not resist the temptation. When it arrived the day before Christmas, I decided to leave it in the box and put it under the tree with a Secret Santa label addressed to me. It took the family about 2 seconds to figure out what was going on. It is said that it is better to give than to receive. I am prepared to assert that it is even more satisfying to do both at the same time.

Jeanine and I spent the night sleeping at the River House so that there would be enough beds at the Road House for all the guests we have this year. We woke up to fog on the river and swans swimming downstream. Even though there were only four of the famed 7 swans a’ swimming, it felt like a true blessing.

Fiona, one of Maya’s roommates and high school friend is staying with us over the Christmas holiday. Work prevented her from joining her parents who are celebrating in England. Also visiting us is Jeanine’s sister, Susan who we always look forward to spending the holidays with. This evening we gathered at the River House where we enjoyed raclette, a Swiss dish, also popular in other Alpine countries, based on heating cheese and scraping off the melted part onto boiled potatoes and sausages. Maya created a Bouche de Noël for dessert complete with woodland decorations (my favorite are the mushrooms). We also enjoyed fine chocolates, a gift from Nicolai’s girlfriend Samantha and her dog.

I have never thought of my sister Alissa as much of a cook. Recently, however, she has become much more adventurous in the kitchen and I am considering updating my assessment of her culinary talents. However, such will not be done until I have had a chance to sample the goods. Hint: This could be facilitated by a small overnight care package.

Before we can get our certificate of occupancy for the River House, we need to have stair railings, final or temporary in place for the interior and exterior stairs. Today I completed temporary railings for the front door steps and patio steps. These will eventually be fabricated in stainless steel, work best done in warm weather, and after the steps have had plenty of time to settle into their final positions. I was able to secure the front stair railings into the stone using anchor bolts which will not be visible when they are eventually removed. For the patio stairs, I chose to use 5-gallon pails filled with 100 pounds of concrete for bases rather than drilling holes which will be visible later.

Jeanine, Maya, Samantha, and I attended the end-of-the-year party/amputee soccer clinic/Amputee Revs soccer practice this evening in Marlborough. Children were given an opportunity to play soccer on crutches to gain an appreciation for the challenges faced by those with limb differences. They did warmup drills followed by a match. Eventually, those who did not need them, shed their crutches and play morphed into a practice session for Nico’s soccer team.

It has taken the better part of two weeks, but I have finally devised a satisfactory method for affixing the stair balusters to the stair treads at the River House. I purchased 150 round 5/8″ diameter hollow metal tubes to fashion the balusters. When they arrived, I discovered they were neither 5/8″ in diameter nor truly round both of which I was counting on to mount them using my original concept. Since then, I have experimented with several different approaches but none provided the lateral stiffness I am looking for. Today, I finally arrived at a robust and cost-effective solution. I predrill and drive a 1/2″ lag screw into the stair tread using a jig to make sure it is normal to the plane of the tread. Next, I cut off the hex head of the screw. Then, I fashion a short piece of 14 gauge wire into the shape shown in the photo and place it over the screw shaft. Finally, I drive the hollow tube over the assembly. This creates an interference fit along three lines (one on each wire and the third on the opposite side of the screw shaft). When I tested the connection it was as if I had set the baluster in concrete.

Normally, the family makes Zeppole Balls on Christmas Eve. This year the kids elected to do so early allowing their significant others to join us before heading home to spend the holidays with family. Nicolai appointed himself Captain Christmas, procured a perfect-sized tree, and directed activities for the evening. These included trimming the tree, making the Zeppole, eating the Zeppole, and watching the movie Klaus.

This morning, a fierce storm passed through our neighborhood with 70mph winds and intense rain. We had five trees come down at the River House, one across the driveway and one just missing our garage. Our neighbors to the south were less fortunate. A tree came down on their sunroom for the second time in five years. Mercifully, no one was hurt even though they were in an adjacent room at the time. Within minutes, a dozen neighbors showed up to render assistance. I used my chainsaw to help remove limbs and we eventually cleared all but the main trunk. Working on a ladder inside the house, I was able to section and remove the large limb resting on the roof clearing the way for a temporary tarp. Another neighbor had a tree blocking their walkway and I was happy to clear that as well. I have a full day of consulting tomorrow and plan to spend most of Wednesday clearing our yard.

Kyle decided to install LED lighting under the eves of his house and can be seen in this photo working his way around the roofline. He does appear to be exercising caution but I will admit to being worried all day when I learned of this project. Each year, there are more than 164,000 emergency room-treated injuries and 300 deaths in the U.S. that are caused by falls from ladders. He completed the work successfully and sent around the video below.

Maya spent the day at the Road House repairing her tiny house. It will never be as good as new, but it is starting to look respectable again. She also delivered some 3D-printed prototypes I designed to anchor the stair railing balusters. A long screw is used to secure these columns to the stair tread and the hollow steel baluster is slid down over it. The ribs are necessary because the tubes are not perfectly circular and are not uniformly consistent in size. Unfortunately, a quick test revealed that this attachment method will not provide the degree of lateral support I was hoping for. I may still use this approach but will have to design a more substantial Newell post to provide the needed strength for the assembly.

I think that most homes, like most faces, have a best side for photography. When we designed the River House, we wanted to take maximum advantage of the views of the water. A good 80% of the windows are on the river-facing side and hence most of the facade’s interest and character. We knew this would mean that the “front” of our house would be rather bland by comparison. What we did not count on, is that trees would make it impossible to capture a decent photo of the house from its best angle. The photo above is the best I could do with my drone. Ideally, it should have been taken from 30 feet further back and 10 degrees to the right. Alas, that photo will never exist. I will, however, be reshooting this in better light when I get a chance.

After testing the first stair railing I built earlier this week, I have decided that the butt joints need to be strengthened with a mortise and floating tenon joint. Even though these butt joints overlap and are glued to a continuous sistered section of plywood, they are not as stiff as I would like them to be. I fabricated the tenons from 3/8″ baltic birch plywood and made the mortises with a jig I have for this purpose. I glued up a couple of 9-foot sections and will test their strength tomorrow morning. I also completed the design for a 3D printable connector that will anchor the hollow steel tube balusters to the stair treads and the handrail.

Jeanine hosted her book club at the River House this evening. It was the first official gathering at the new house and it was also special because the book was “A Taste of Stories,” Jeanine’s cookbook memoir. Everyone came with dishes prepared from recipes in the book and Jeanine did a reading for the group. I cannot think of a better inauguration.