Wearing my pretend astronaut shield

February 22, 2017 - Thursday

30 degrees/cloudy/calm winds

Pentoga Road

What is this? We went from sunny skies and green grass to three inches of wet, heavy, snow, during the eight overnight hours. To make matters worse, Carl the Weatherman is saying we could get a winter storm beginning late tonight and lasting into Saturday. 

Other than piddling around in the shop, Wednesday was a pretty ho-hum day in the neighborhood. Emotionally, I'm into the late winter doldrums. My mind knows spring is at least four to six weeks away (optimum) but my body and soul are ready now. There are all kinds of projects I could do, but I don't want to do any. 

Yep, I'm going through the late winter blahs.

Taken a few minutes ago.
Susan from San Diego said she was looking forward to seeing more snow pictures in the days to come. No doubt, there'll be many more.

On a side note, I checked back into previous entries and found that I didn't begin planting in the indoor greenhouses until March 10th last year. The timing was almost perfect, so I'll wait a couple more weeks. I was hoping to play in the dirt a bit earlier, even if it was inside. 

Sigh.

I stepped off my five miles in good shape on Wednesday morning. At first, I was somewhat fearful as I'm breaking in new hiking boots, but they were extremely comfortable and I arrived home with nary a blister or raw spot. 

The rest of the morning was spent in the shop fashioning a name for one of the kiddies out of a block of wood. I enjoy cutting and carving and it's something I can do while sitting in the shop listening to music. (Sargie has a problem with me whittling while sitting in her recliner in the living room. The girl has no sense of artistic ambience.) 

I talked with the mechanic who said the Blazer was finished. Yooper Brother Mark came out later in the afternoon and drove me to town.

The rest of the day was spent turning a bowl out of a large chunk of birch wood that I had to split and size down on the bandsaw. I've always used branches that are a more convenient girth.

I discovered that it can take as long or longer to get the wood ready for the lathe as it does to actually turn a bowl. I also found the grain from the trunk of a tree can "feel" quite differently when turning. 

A bowl, more rounded than usual, with a plain base, was fashioned. I'm practicing on larger wood so I can eventually make a sugar bowl and lid for the upcoming tea sets. The sugar bowl will have a fitted lid and be a bit more flattened with handles on each side.

 My main objective on Wednesday was to continue to learn how to make a better fitted lid.

Using Grandma Reinhardt's sugar bowl as an example from her China set, the lid I turned yesterday was inverted on the inside and in the end, fit much more snug than that from the day before. 

The knob was also larger and more practical.

I turned the lathe off before Sargie arrived home and dashed through the shower. We had a quiet evening catching up on past programs recorded on the DVR.

Sargie opens today and should be home early tonight. I'm going for my walk then clean the drive and patio of snow before heading back to the shop. There are several kiddy projects I'd like to finish before week's end.

A winter storm is bearing down on the UP that's to begin late tonight and last through Saturday. The four-wheel-drive works well on the Blazer so I'm not worried about making it to our family destination tomorrow... I think. We'll see.

Meanwhile, it's time to tote that barge and lift that bale.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...