May 29, 2017 - Monday - Memorial Day
49 degrees/clouds/mist/breezy
Pentoga Road

I hope everyone takes a moment today to think of the true meaning of Memorial Day. We tend to assume that freedom comes naturally and so many are quick to find fault with our military, yet without them, we'd have no freedom.

God bless the men and women of the Armed Forces who have served in the past and currently in the present.

God bless America.

Sunday flew by in a blur. I was out in the shop bright and early, searching for just the right piece of aged wood from which to turn a bowl. Birch? Cherry? Maple? Hickory?

I spotted a piece of red pine, one that I'd found while carrying in firewood last winter. On the outside, it appeared to be a perfect candidate. Only one problem, pine is a soft wood with huge grain. It's difficult to turn pine, but no risk/no reward. Why not?

Rounding and turning a tenon
The piece is almost ready to turn around so the tenon can be clamped into the jaws of the chuck on the left. The tail stock on the right will be removed.

I enjoyed turning this different type of wood, softer, by far, than any I've worked with. It gave a much different look than anything I'm used to and after sanding and soaking it with tongue oil, I liked the rustic look.

The bowl absorbed more oil than normal and I'm not certain how many coats of polyurethane were applied. One thing for certain, it should be well preserved!

 

It was around noon before we made our way to Iron Mountain. A quick stop was made at the park to attend a high school graduation party for the daughter of a friend. Alissa will be attending Michigan State University this fall majoring in premed. I love a good success story and this young woman seems to be right on track. 

The park was filled with holiday weekend picnickers. For a moment, I was transported back to the small town park of my childhood.

Spring is evident everywhere. The latest display of color is in front of the Iron Mountain High School where flowering trees line both walks leading up to the building.



After running several errands, we stopped by Grady's house where some of the young cousins were gathered.

Hambone and I spent a few minutes sitting outside on the front stoop catching up on the latest news. Just as quickly as he appeared, he disappeared to rejoin his young cousins. A three year old's attention span doesn't last long.



Sargie worked long and hard in the kitchen last night. She's in the spring cleaning mode these days. I'm afraid I wasn't of much assistance, but I did sit at the table to keep her company. As she said, it makes the job easier when there's someone to talk with.

We cooked southern style ribs on the grill last night. 



Sargie had parboiled them for an hour before I coated each with barbecue sauce and set them on the grill.



Needless to say, along with fresh sweetcorn, last night's supper was a three-napkin (each) meal.

We'll be leaving a bit later this morning for Milligan Mountain and the annual Mighty Milligan Memorial Day Celebration. Nancy and Ron are hosting the gathering and we're keeping our fingers crossed for a warm and sunny day. So far, it doesn't look too promising, but between the screen house and house, everyone will enjoy the day just the same.

It's time to wake up Sargie and get the blood circulating. 

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

Ivy and Andy