I was in the shop early Sunday morning, well before daybreak.

January 16, 2017 - Monday 

6 degrees/clear skies/calm winds

Pentoga Road

OK, I overslept this morning and have exactly ten minutes to write. It's 6:55 AM now. On my mark, get set, GO!

Sunday was one of failures and a huge victory. I began the day in the shop, eager to complete a project or two that I've been working on. Neither happened.

One, of which I was so proud, was almost finished when I made a wrong cut, turned left when I should have gone right, all that stuff. The piece completely fell apart in my hands.

I did salvage a little piece of it though and experimented with painting a bit. I have no idea what one does with part of a scroll saw cutting, but right now, it's sitting on the end table.

I imagine we'll get tired of dusting around it and it'll end up in the wood stove. I told Sargie we could glue a safety pin onto the back and she could wear it pinned to her white lab coat at work, or even better, affix a paper clip and she could wear it as a hair piece! Ah, it's not easy living in the fast fashion lane on Pentoga Road.

I began working with the large piece of birch, but soon found that it was too rotten on the inside with which to do anything. Still, I needed the practice.

I began shaping the piece,  not really making anything, but simply experimenting with different chisels and various methods of turning that I've seen demonstrated online.

The inside needed hollowing towards the bottom. Mississippi Brother Garry suggested earlier that I could cut a longer piece in two, hollow the very bottom, then glue and clamp it back together.

It certainly made the job much easier.

Indeed, I did the gluing and clamping and this morning, whatever it is looks almost normal. It's so rotten that I had to glue several pieces of the wall back together, but I needed practice with that process too. I guess I'll continue to make the walls thinner and then decide whether to sand, polish, and finish the thing or simply throw it away. As I said, I'm learning, plus, I'm not sure what I'd have if I finish it.

I'm tempted to fashion a handle and call it a beer mug. Hmm, it could be decoration for the bar in our entertainment area that doesn't exist.

I was back inside, showered, and wearing my Packers clothes by the time the big game started. As usual, Yooper Brother Mark was in Caspian, John in Boise, Idaho, I was on Pentoga Road, sons, Matt, chimed in from New Hampshire, and Luke, from southern Maine. 

We all had a great time watching the Packers pull out a last second victory over the Cowboys. Atlanta is next on our march to the Super Bowl.

Once again, I fell asleep on the couch last night making Sargie's evening extremely exciting. Poor girl, works all the time and comes home to a mushroom who can't keep his eyes open past 7 PM.

Sargie opens today. I'm going for my usual walk then will play in the shop until Neighbor Mike calls and says it's time to go fishing. I'll let him tie my jigs on the line and do the driving. It's to be a sunny, warm, and calm day, perfect for hauling big bluegills through a hole in the ice.

I'm going on eleven minutes of writing here. Darn, I missed the ten minute mark. No time to proof read, no time for nothing other than to get this day on the road.

After all, a man's work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...