January 10, 2021 - Sunday morning

24 degrees/cloudy/calm winds

Pentoga Road

The sawing of the Lord's Prayer was finally finished Saturday afternoon. More about that further down.

I don't know if I slept well last night or not. I woke up every couple of hours thinking that I wasn't sleeping worth a darn, but then I don't remember anything between those awake times. Hmm, maybe I did sleep okay. I'll worry about that tomorrow.

I managed to get quite a bit done early Saturday morning before Yooper Brother Mark arrived for our morning walk. When Tim delivered the mahogany wood given to me by Kyle a week ago, we'd just stacked it on the barn floor.

That wouldn't do. I had to tip toe around around the pile every time I entered or exited the shop. Yesterday, the longer pieces were placed on a rack in the barn, the shorter ones carried to the red shed where I keep most milled lumber. One thing's for certain, I better get busy making some of these ideas I have floating around in my head or I'm going to have to build more lumber racks.

I started a fire in the outdoor wood furnace so the shop would be warm upon return from our walk.

Initially, I start the fire using kindling and smaller pieces and once it's well established, stuff the fire box full. One load of soft popple will heat the shop for half a day. Hard wood, such as maple or ash, will last into the evening. If the wood runs out before I'm finished working, a propane burner is used to keep an already warm shop comfortable.

It was with a shaky hand that I threaded the saw blade through the letter E, the last hole drilled in the word AMEN. 

Oh Lord, (no pun intended) Tom, don't screw it up now. I started sawing the prayer months ago. It would be like leading the pack in the Indianapolis 500 and having an engine blow with a hundred yards to the finish line. 

I finished threading the blade and began. 

A push, a pull, and slight turning of the wood.

Suddenly, the letter popped out and I was finished.

All six plaques were brought inside and laid out on the dining room table for Sargie's inspection. Though I'd talked about giving the prayer away, we've decided to keep it and hang it inside our home. The prayer is something we both recite daily and hey, if the shoe fits...

I think I'll deviate from the original pattern and to save space, permanently mount all five pieces onto a single board. 

To paint or leave natural? Right now, I'm leaning towards that natural look. We'll see.

Sargie and I had a nice drive yesterday. Hoar frost covered many of the trees making them look as though they'd been frocked.

Once home, I worked a while longer in the shop. Sargie did her thing inside before coming out and chipping away at some potentially dangerous ice on the back deck. With our mild weather, freezing and thawing has been a daily occurrence. Though we're grateful for the warm daily highs, the below freezing nighttime lows cause some slippery conditions in inconvenient places.

I'm heading out the door at first light for my morning stroll. No doubt, after, I'll be in the shop until Sargie's ready for brunch. Following that, hard telling what we'll end up doing.

Everyone knows that we're just a couple of wild and crazy, out of control, north woods, kids.

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

So are the tales from Pentoga Road

A herd of deer had been grazing on our local golf course in town