Nan and Mike in the living room, Jan. 2005

 

Click on any of the photos for a closer look.



The photos are (in order) Allison (Mom) and Drew, Drew X2, the Christmas eave dinner, Mike and Drew, Nan and Drew, Steve (Dad) and Drew X2.  The rocking horse was my gift for Andrew and the stool was made earlier.
 
This is Andrew Dameron, born April 1, 2004, but growing fast.

My wife, Nancy, and I live in the Central Piedmont of North Carolina, about an hour from the "Triangle" and "Tri-city" areas.  We've been back in North Carolina since May 1996.  We moved to our home out in the woods of Pelham, NC in March 1999 and have been redoing some of the rough points of the house ever since.  We refinished both bathrooms in the winter of 2001-2002 and did a bit in our bedroom.  During Spring 2002 we added a concrete walkway the length of the backyard, installed a slate patio for a shady place to sit outdoors, and put in a shade garden to use some of the space where grass will not grow.    You'll find some photos of the patio and backyard later on the page.  In 2003 we remodeled our living room, kitchen and dining area.   We had a tree fall on the house during the hurricane Isabel and spent much of the fall and winter recovering from the damage.  I started teaching a woodworking class in turning on a lathe and taking watercolor painting classes.  

Making a living

I retired from the USAF after almost 27 years of service. I worked for a contractor at the Department of Energy and managed an office for the University of North Carolina.  After I left work,  I went back to school to study fine furniture design and construction at Rockingham Community College (RCC) towards a possible new career as a cabinetmaker.  I've always enjoyed working with my hands and with wood especially.

Other Significant Interests

Fishing:  Nancy and I like to fish for Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass, and catfish.  We fish from both a canoe and a power boat.  We have been fishing in both Virginia and North Carolina.  I hope to get a lot of fishing in this summer...the boat's ready.  I took the photos off so we would have room for this summer's pictures.

Woodworking: I continue to enjoy  woodworking after 35+ years of experience.  I design and build many pieces of furniture and restore wood on homes.   Nancy and I also work constantly on improving and renovating our home(s).  I graduated from Rockingham in May 2001 with a two year degree in Fine and Creative Woodworking.  I also took follow-on courses in veneer and artistic design.  I started teaching woodturning and am also doing a woodworking class for continuing education at Rockingham Community College.  Click on the word "Woodworking" to see some of my projects.
 

Stained Glass: Nancy's main hobby interest is the design and fabrication of stained glass pieces.  The Community College (RCC) asked her to teach an adult continuing education course in Stained Glass.  The course is keeping her a bit busier than normal but she's enjoying it all the same.   She does beautiful work both for us and others.  I'll be uploading more photos of her work in the future.  We share that hobby, with me making frames and supplemental pieces of both wood and metal.  Now she's gotten into tile work as well.  Click on the word "Stained Glass" to see her work.

Pottery: has been taking up more of Nancy's time lately...and mine too.   Click on the word pottery to see some of Nan's work.

Painting:  A recent development is my interest in painting in watercolors and acrylic painting.  I started with a Watercolor course at Rockingham Community College and am taking classes in Danville, Va. now. I'm enjoying it and Nan seems pleased with the pictures. 

  

 

  

Other Interests: include shooting, bird watching, and gardening.   Nancy is adept at many crafts and not reluctant to try something new. 

I almost forgot.  We share our world with two Jack Russell Terriers.  Who says that dogs don't smile?

Patti and Molly keep things interesting around the house.

Our other lives: We grew up in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.  Nancy and I wed in 1965.  Our two grown sons live in Key West and  Ft. Meyers, FL.   I spent most of my life in military service, from 1966 and served until 1993.  Half my career was spent as an NCO and half as an officer, retiring in the grade of Major.  I served most of the time as a technically trained special agent with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI).  We traveled a great deal all over the world and lived in Mississippi, North Carolina, New Mexico, Texas, the Azores (Portugal), Turkey, Washington D.C., and Maryland.  Because of my job, I spent time in many other countries and various areas of this country.  Not looking back, I went on to support the Department of Energy in Washington as a contractor, then took a position as Manager of the Electronics Repair Facility at the University of North Carolina.  I stayed at UNC for about three years until my "retirement" in June 1999.  Nancy worked as a hairdresser for about 26 years, managing several shops in various places across the country.  Because of complications from Multiple Schlerosis, she stopped working outside the home in 1990 and had a small business doing stained glass consignments from 1993 until 1997, and still does some work for others.  We're not sure what the future holds for us :  another business?  For sure it will include fishing, some travel, and spending time with each other.

This page was updated on 3/22/2005 by Mike and Nancy