Goldie now has company. Two more fish were purchased Friday.

February 11, 2017 - Saturday

29 degrees/cloudy skies/calm winds

Pentoga Road

It looks as though the cold spell we've been experiencing is heading east and several days of near-freezing temperatures are predicted. I noticed there's even a mention of forty degrees further into the ten day forecast. 

With the days getting longer, my thoughts are beginning to turn to the maple season, when I drill holes in the tree, tap in the spouts, or spiles as they are formally called, and begin to collect the sweet sap that runs every spring. Of course, the final and most time consuming part is boiling the liquid down until it turns into a light amber syrup. It's still a month too early, but I hope this year, I'll have everything ready to go before the season begins rather than waiting until the day I actually begin tapping.

I was a busy boy on Friday. All kinds of errands were run in Iron Mountain. A stop at Home Depot found me purchasing more sand paper along with four sample pots of paint, all brilliant primary colors, for the puzzles. 

I filled the Blazer with gas, picked up the aquarium and two more goldfish, left the taxes with the accountant, and finally, stopped to see Grady and Macrea on my way out of town.

It was a fast and furious morning.

Once home, I began doing laundry while setting up the aquarium.

 Just a little five-gallon affair, all three fish seem happy and I'm waiting for Grady to name the two new ones.

With the laundry washed and either hung or folded, it was afternoon before I got to the shop. The large piece of birch I started turning the day before completely blew apart when I snagged a chisel. Thankfully, I was wearing a face shield. 

My lathe is a mini, not designed for larger wood, but I wanted to push it and see what it was capable of. I certainly found the answer. The small motor continually bogged down and room for the chisel was about non existent. I'll begin shopping for a larger lathe to go with my smaller one next year after the addition to the shop is finished. I can see a real advantage to having two machines, each set up for different turning projects. It appears I won't have any problem finding people to give bowls and other goodies to, so hey, why not have two?

The rest of the shop time was spent painting the worm/alphabet puzzle.

The folks at Home Depot mixed four sample pots of brilliant primary colors for me. In the end, it turned out to be much less expensive than if I would have used regular hobby paint.

Thankfully, I put on a pair of disposable latex gloves before beginning or I'd be sporting rainbow colored finger tips.

I could only paint three sides of each piece, labeling the back, so the corresponding alphabet letter can be painted on the front. Once that's done, the back side will be covered and the puzzle completed.

Sargie was home early last night and we had a great evening simply being lazy. She's off today and as far as I know, other than our usual drive around the countryside, we have no plans. 

I'm going to start the heat in the shop and spend most the morning out there. Hopefully, I can find my stencils so the letters can be painted onto the puzzle pieces. I'd like to get the first puzzle finished and in the mail this coming week. 

Time to get busy. Daylight's burnin'!

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...