August 20, 2020 - Thursday morning

66 degrees/clear skies/windy

Pentoga Road

Whew, it warmed up significantly overnight with rain in the forecast for this afternoon. I see in the extended forecast that it's to cool down towards the end of next week with highs only in the 60's. Yep, fall's coming, like it or not.

Wednesday was a "me" day. Sargie dropped me off about five miles from here on her way to Milligan Mountain and I took my time walking home, snapping pictures along the way, talking to the neighbor who lives directly in back of us, and enjoying the scenery. 

Beauty surrounds us, even in the form of a simple leaf, covered with dew drops, lying in the middle of a country road.

 The rest of the day was spent in the shop where I was convinced that I was in the last stages of Alzheimers. 

I needed to make two names, Meagan and Ben.

Simple enough.

Meagan came out just fine. It was the three letter name, Ben, that made me think I was completely losing it.

I carved the first BEN and discovered that I'd made the N backwards. Muttering, I made another only to find I'd done it again. Thinking three was a charm and hoping I might be able to get a discount on a room at the local nursing home, I found the N was reversed on the third name.

I'd have driven myself to the nursing home had I not been fearful of getting lost.

One BEN fell to the floor and it was then I discovered I wasn't going crazy. The problem lie in the fact that I wasn't very bright.

Two BENs don't make a right

The BENs had all been turned upside down making them seem correct except for the last letter. I laughed, almost hysterically, as I turned all three right side up and found I hadn't made a repeated mistake after all. 

In the end, the names were completed and will be shipped out in today's mail. At least I have a pocketful of BEN's should I ever need another.



I've kept a piece of very spalted (a nice way of saying rotten) birch for quite a while and decided it was time to attempt turning a bowl.

After splitting it with the froe given to me by Mississippi Brother Garry and rounding it on the band saw, the piece was mounted on the lathe.



I knew the chances of it actually becoming a bowl were slim to nil as the wood was just too soft.



I was really giving it the soft touch and for a bit, thought I might be successful as it was made perfectly round.



Even the inside began to take shape.

Yeah, well, if it's too good to be true, it probably is. Things began to get ugly and despite my velvet finger handling of the chisels, a third of the wood eventually fell away.

Nothing ventured/nothing gained.

Oh, remember that clean shop I once had, the one that took me four days to make spotless?



No need to worry about that any longer. It looks like it should... a working shop complete with a layer of sawdust accompanied by the delicious aroma of wood.

Sargie arrived home later in the afternoon and we had a quiet evening.

I'm heading out the door fairly soon for my usual walk. 

Later today? 

All I can say is the sky's the limit.

It's how Sargie Pants and I roll here on Pentoga Road.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

Practicing safe Covid protection
Distancing? Sargie was a hundred miles away in Escanaba. I needn't worry about contaminating my neighbor, Sue, who lives half a mile away as I was wearing a mask. Joe Biden would have given me a pat on the back. Heck, I was even wearing a shop apron to ward off any pesky germs that might sneak the ten miles out from town, under the door, and up from the floor.
Oh wait, Sargie was shopping and I didn't want to inhale or wear a tree's worth of sawdust.
Never mind.
I'm bad.