Sleighbells ring, are ya listenin'?

April 24, 2017 - Monday
24 degrees/partly cloudy/breezy
Pentoga Road

I love big, lazy, snowflakes falling from the sky... in December. Problem is, it's almost May. C'mon, for crying out loud, I've got tomatoes ready to set out and giant pumpkins to sprout. Mother Nature is being a bit difficult in letting go of winter this year.

I worked in the shop most of Sunday morning. The first item on the agenda was to assemble the parrot puzzle.

I'm glad to see Polly fly out of the shop and into some munchkin's life.

I've had an idea for sometime, that of taking a rough limb and not touching the outside on the lathe, only turning the inside.

Every now and then, I see a piece of beautiful, natural, wood. There's no way a human could improve its beauty. God already did it all.

This piece of maple presented a special challenge, mostly because it's not perfectly round so the inside walls are thicker on one side than the other. 

I also had a bit of difficulty clamping the wood into the chuck as I didn't want to leave jaw marks and it wasn't long enough to make a tenon. Right now, I can list about eight or ten things I'll do differently with the next natural bowl.

Wet snow was falling and it wasn't a nice day to play outside. Sargie and I drove to town and purchased several chicken fingers and sliced ham from the local deli, picked up a couple of McDonald's Cokes, then spent the rest of the afternoon driving around looking at storm damage from ten days ago.

I know those who live in the south are more used to big storms and tornadoes, but we don't have many this far north.

 In some areas, the damage is unreal.

Back home, Mark and Sheri drove their side-by-side out for a visit later in the day.

They had a couple of bales of straw that were used on a holiday float and asked if I wanted them. I've been wanting to try bale gardening for sometime and this will give me the opportunity. More about that later.

It was cold and wet. Sargie and I needed some comfort food. We combined our efforts last night and made a huge pot of clam chowder and biscuits. Needless to say, we went to bed very comforted and with full bellies.

A beaver house/pond just up the road

Sargie closes the Vision Center tonight. I'm going for my usual walk then hope to finish assembling the flag pole and get Old Glory waving in the breeze.

That large hillbilly pile of wood is still there to work up and of course, the shop is calling me. 

Lately, I've been playing a mental game. I can only play in the shop after my work is finished... kind of like Mom used to keep me from going outside to play until my chores were done, my room was clean and my toys picked up. 

Mom was a tough task master when it came to expectations. It's plain to see that her unrealistic demands permanently damaged my delicate psyche as I now do the same to myself. Darn Mommy, she forced me to learn how to take responsibility and develop traits that I still use over sixty years later. 

If only you had my life.

(I know Mom is shaking her head while reading this. Worry not, Mommy, I still love you.)

With all that being said, it's time to get Sargie's lunch packed and breakfast on the table. 

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

The Net River

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

HGTV? Nope, just a dwelling in one of our local communities. Let's see:
Flowers painted on the side. Check.
A peace sign. Check
Some indiscriminate designs. Check.
A stove on the front porch. Check.
And Sargie complains about my wood pile. Geesh.