Walking down into Pentoga Village after a light snowfall 

November 24, 2020 - Tuesday morning
24 degrees/cloudy/calm winds
Pentoga Road

Whew, I'm still trying to clear the cobwebs from between my ears this morning after getting a full night's sleep. One thing about it, I feel rested. There were even coals in the wood stove this morning which made rekindling the daily fire a breeze.

Lots of sleep/a stove of glowing coals... yep, it's going to be a good day!

Monday was one of recovery from last week and the weekend. Sargie spent most the day walking up and down the stairs washing sheets, changing beds, and doing laundry. Seems as though that washing machine and dryer were going all day.

I went for my walk then returned home to continue work in the shop. I was sorting through some of the wood Kyle has given me, scraps of mahogany from the cable car company where he works, and found two one inch laminated boards... just scraps, but far too good to go to waste.

Hmm, why not try to fashion a dough bowl?

I removed any wood not needed to make a rectangle, then ran that through the table saw at a 45 degree angle. Other than a few burn marks caused by a dull saw blade, I was happy with the blank.

Next came the difficult part, hollowing the inside using a special attachment on the angle grinder. I drew a rough oval by hand and began.

The last time I used the attachment, it took twenty minutes to fashion a bowl and two days to rid the shop of dust. Remembering that, I lay a piece of cardboard on the pavement in front of the barn and moved my operations out there.

In the end, we now have a red tinged pavement, but at least the mess is outside and not in the shop.

I always save sawdust, a trick learned from Mississippi Brother Garry, for later use. Mixed with epoxy or glue, it allows a repair to be made unnoticed, often blending in with the wood.

Some of the original glue, applied at the cable car company, had separated between the two pieces of wood, so I mixed sawdust and epoxy. Once everything is dry and sanded, it ought to be just fine.

I've been working on a spalted birch bowl in the lathe. The darn thing has a beautiful grain, but is so soft that it keep breaking apart. As I told Mississippi Brother Garry earlier this morning, there's room for about two more breaks before it become too small to fashion a bowl and ends up in the wood stove. 

One step forward, two steps backwards. Occasionally, I luck out and the opposite happens.

Today will tell the story.

This morning's writing almost came to you from beyond the grave. Sargie and I were coming home from Crystal Falls yesterday and were on a sharp curve just outside of Alpha, when we were met by a car driving at least fifty to sixty miles an hour on our side of the road.

I looked at the options and they were few, either be hit head on or take the ditch with a drop off of around ten feet.

I was just about to take the lesser of two evils, the ditch, when the car swerved at the last minute, just missing us by inches. I slammed on the brakes, keeping us from going head first into the ditch.

Sargie and I, both, sat there stunned. Of course, the drunken, crazed, driver, continued on. We sat in the middle of the road and after verbally thanking Baby Jesus, continued on home.

Last night was a quiet one spent in front of the television.

Today looks to be a carbon copy of yesterday, at least for me. I'm going for my walk then head out to the shop for a day of woodworking. Progress is slow, but sure, and I hope to get the Christmas presents and other goodies finished and out in the mail next week.

Time to go for a walk before the snow begins. One to three inches are in the forecast.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

My good friend, Eileen, sent this picture of their family that I had earlier fashioned into a puzzle.