What we woke up to this morning... 

November 23, 2016 - Wednesday

28 degrees/snow/calm winds

Pentoga Road

It was bound to happen sooner or later, but later would have been okay. According to Carl the Weatherman, this glop that is falling should end early this morning and rising temperatures ought to ensure the roads become wet rather than snow packed. Since Sargie has to work, we'll hope so.

I put on my butcher's hat first thing Tuesday morning and worked up and froze ten pounds of hamburger.

We purchase it in a tube and learned from one of Sargie's sisters that it can be sliced and frozen just as it comes, producing ready-made hamburgers. We started doing that a year ago and it's worked well.

Goldy, the goldfish, the one remaining survivor of this past summer's fountain experiment in the garden, needed her water changed. She's been living in the garage in an ice cream pail and will be going over to Grady's house in the next few days. We've got the bowl and other goodies. She just needs a new home.

The rest of the day was spent in the shop. I was having difficulty cutting with the scroll saw and when I went to adjust the tension, found the tightener had broken on my go-to machine. With the Dremel dying, I was out of scroll saws.

I worked all day on one or the other, even tried to resurrect the Dremel, all for naught.

The more I worked, the more frustrated I became. Finally, after several hours of skinned knuckles and having said more than enough cuss words to have my mouth washed out with soap for all eternity, I came in the house and ordered a new professional model DeWalt scroll saw. 

When it comes to scroll saws, I've always had other people's castoffs. Even my first, one that I bought almost twenty five years ago, was a factory second and never ran right. 

Between age and vision, I imagine this will probably be the last scroll saw I ever own, so why not get the one I've always dreamed of owning? I did.

The saw is to arrive on Friday, brand spankin' new, just begging to be used. I'll be that guy who's going to make it hum.

I did take the time to mount the glued two by fours on the lathe. So far, it appears they will be just fine to turn wooden soldiers/nutcrackers. I have a bunch of two by four pieces, odds and ends, and rather than burning them in the wood stove, am looking for a way to utilize them. 

It was late afternoon before I hauled wood and came inside. Sargie arrived home late as she had to close and we finished the day by watching the last Dancing With the Stars episode of the season on DVR. 

Sargie's back to work today, but has the next four off. I'm going to put on my kitchen hat and work up a bunch of rutabagas and make the old fashioned, pop-in-your-mouth cranberries. 

It's a short one this morning. I need to do a quick preflight check on the Blazer, should Sargie want to drive it to Iron Mountain. From wood worker to kitchen chef to mechanic... you know what they say.

A man's work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

Turned to round, I hope to begin shaping some sort of wooden soldier from the laminated 2x4's, hopefully, later today. Sargie's ready to paint. I just need to get turning them out!