January 17, 2020 - Friday morning

-20/clear skies/breezy

Pentoga Road

Dang, it's nippy this morning. With the wood stove having gone out overnight, the oil-fired furnace was what woke me early this morning. The thermostat is set at 50 degrees in the downstairs hallway, so you know it was chilly in the house. 

Sargie and I wouldn't notice. Snuggled together under several blankets, we love sleeping in a cold room. It's having to eventually step out into the cold, cruel, world that we call morning that's the problem. 

The wood stove is currently roaring and the house is warming nicely.

Sargie sends her thanks to those who wrote and wished her well on her retirement. She's finished at the end of this month and is in the "two more weeks, two more weeks, two more weeks" mode. It'll be here and gone before she knows it.

Thursday was a cold one. I took Sargie to work and continued on to Iron River to run an errand or two before stopping to see Yooper Brother Mark at the plant. He appeared to have everything in order and running smoothly, so I didn't have to stay to supervise. 

Back home, I built a fire in the outdoors wood furnace and plowed the drive while the shop was warming.

I felt like turning something or the other, so I stood in front of the lathe most the day. My first item on the agenda was to finish a hickory bowl made from a fence post that I'd started before Christmas.

My poor mini lathe just isn't big enough to handle hard wood of any size and it was a chore to complete the thing. Still, in the end, a bowl was fashioned from a piece of junk wood.

I was searching for a small sliver of pine in the kindling box from which to make flowers for the wooden S-K-I name when I decided to turn a miniature chalice. 

Why? 

I have no idea. When it comes to the shop, I display a prominent case of ADHD by going from one thing to another on a whim.

This one is just three inches tall.

I spied a scrap piece of 6x6 pine that wasn't cracked. Hmm, why not? As long as I was being silly, I might as well do it up right.

Pine is easy to turn, but difficult to make look like anything. The grain runs far apart and the wood soft. Still, this chunk of wood was destined for the wood stove. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

It was a challenge to do anything as my lathe was barely big enough to hold it.

I wanted to make a mug.

I still have more sanding to do before applying a finish and separating the mug from the original wood and I'm not at all sure how I can attach a permanent handle. I'll pick Mississippi Brother Garry's noggin for a solution. He's the big brother and knows most everything there is to know.

I quit mid afternoon and had a late lunch before working around the inside of the house. I later picked Sargie up from work. The day had flown by.

You know how I'm always saying that something or the other is as much fun as having a root canal? Well, today I get to enjoy the real thing. My number three molar is about to become rootless.

Whee Haw.

It's time to get the fire banked, the car warmed up, and see how soon Sargie will be ready to go.

We all know that a dead root waits for no one.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...