Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Year 16, Week 23, Day One (week 758)

Year 16, Week 23, Day One (week 758)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
06-27-15 Saturday

85 early morning, 94 in the afternoon. Blue skies above surrounded by towers in all directions. Late morning, the sky decided to open up. (Mom happened to water her plants the day before) This Weather report is brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach Department of Tourism.
   
    THIS WEEK
   
    I had Knee surgery on Monday. They removed some hardware. I stayed at my mom’s house all week. They had a brace on my leg to hold it in place and it had a piece that went up the underside of the leg that caused pressures when seated that made it impossible to do more than a quick E-mail at a time. I slept a lot.
    Friday, they removed the stitches. That helped a little with the comfort for seating. It caused other discomforts.
   
    After breakfast, we went to find a church yard sale. They decided not to have it. We then went to another. This one has had one about each month. When they first had the yard sale, they had like ten rows of tables. They are down to four tables now. There are furniture and items not on the tables, but they have really sold out most of their stuff over time. One whole table was just clothing.
    I went between the tables twice, just to make sure I did not miss anything, then we got back into the car and went home. The grounds there are rough and I have to watch where I was walking normally. I had to be really careful this time.
    When we got home, I was exhausted. That basically ended my day. I slept a whole lot during the day, mainly getting up for meals.
   
   
   
   
Year 16, Week 23, Day Two (week 758)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
06-28-15 Sunday
   
    Mostly cloudy light breeze. Towers in the early afternoon that would later come for a visit to water Mom’s Plants. They really need it. This Weather report is brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach Department of Tourism.
   
    Mom took me home today. I had to pack up a whole bunch of stuff. It is surprising what one accumulates and how it spreads out. I got home, settled in and slept. Other than getting up to eat something quick, that was my day.
   
    I doubt I will do anything next weekend. But one never knows.

    I will see what I actually do next weekend.

   
   
   

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Year 16, Week 22, Day One (week 757)


Year 16, Week 22, Day One (week 757)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
06-20-15 Saturday
80 degrees early morning, the sky filled evenly with dark bottom puffs that were more like disks than anything. The puffs raced to the west and disappeared. A tower a distance away over the ocean decided to have a race with the sun, to see how fast it could build while the sun rose. It started spreading the anvil to the west over us. A bit later, I looked at the tower was gone but high pebbles were over us. They later disappeared leaving the sun shining most of the day with clouds to the north, west and east. Temps rose to 96 degrees and stayed there. The humidity was thicker in the morning than in the afternoon.  This weather report is brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach Department of Tourism. 
THIS WEEK

I had DSL installed in my place. In the process, I completely disassembled my kitchen, moving shelving and stuff out of the way for the workman. I then looked to see what stuff needed to go back into the kitchen. A whole lot of what I had was containers. I decided that they are low priority so they were kept out. Other things are not in the way at the moment so they stayed out. I suddenly had several empty shelves. I decided to move stuff off the counter and suddenly my kitchen developed the feeling that it was empty. I did not have room to put some things where I wanted.. The knifes in their holders are too tall to go onto the shelving. The important tools are where I can get them. The rest can be relocated later. Some of the stuff not in the kitchen now, will either be gifted, yard sailed, or donated. A project like this is great in showing what you are not using.
I figured out that I really only need three cooking knives. A chef’s knife, a fillet knife and a bread knife. If I was cooking for more than myself, or changed my diet, or started entertaining, the other knives would be needed. But not right now.
With my new DSL access to the internet (I’ve been using dial-up before this), I can download viruses in a twinkling of an eye.... I also used to write my notes while pages loaded. Now the pages don’t give me that much time....
SATURDAY

The weather report said it would be a good day and we saw nothing to give us a clue otherwise. We went out yard sailing after breakfast. There were quite a few, but not as many as we hoped. 
One of the first yard sales we stopped at, the couple were moving to South Carolina to an already furnished apartment They mainly wanted to sell enough to get gas money for the trip up there on Sunday. Their big problem with us was that we could not use what they had, such as some nice furniture. All too big. Mom found some fishing reals and I picked them up. If even two were good, the find was excellent for the price. The couple was a step closer to having enough for their trip.
We visited another couple that said they would have more stuff tomorrow but were too harried to get the stuff out to display. She said she was working two jobs and did not have to gather the stuff. Mom picked up a four-prong cane. The spacing of the prongs are important. The farther apart they are, the more stable the cane is. The closer they are together, the more maneuverable they are. We have found that the wide spaced prongs are all that are available, and they are real “clunky” they catch on everything and hard to maneuver. The spacing on this one was fairly close to the cane I am using. Mom wants to have one available in case she or dad needs it.
We hit a couple yard sales where multiple people were selling together. Those are always nice. It was frustrating that they didn’t have anything of real interest. I did catch myself looking at cook books at one, I had a couple of their books already, and at another, we were talking about stuffed animals. 
Mom did get a few art and music books from a family who were into Harley Motorcycle stuff. There were two good quality acoustic guitars. I cannot play one and don’t want to take the time and effort to learn. I also don’t know who to pass one on to, so I left there without getting anything.  I have a friend who is in Harley stuff but I did not have his number on me and doubted he was buying now. Those jackets and vest were great to look at, though.
As we were getting into the car at one yard sale, a thunder tower over the ocean  It had wisps, grays, lights, shiny and dark. Mom and I discussed how to paint it. I decided that the only way to really do it justice was to paint on glass o the light would pass through it like the real thing.
Interesting cloud. It looks sort of like a bird with the head to the lower left and the open wing  
above



As hot as it was, we were drained when we finally got home. Nap time.
Thursday Morning, my cell phone decided to shut off. I tried charging it with the car charger and there was nothing. I ended up pulling stuff out of the wheeled basket to get to the emergency charger. I got the same results with that one. I ended up cleaning the contacts on the battery and had to work the plug in the phone to get the phone to charge a little. I tried off an on during Thursday and Friday and finally got it to charge. All the contacts decided to get really dirty from my guess.
Anyway, I had to re-pack everything in the basket, as it was filling the whole space. I keep being surprised at how a whole two thirds of the basket space is taken by yarn. I have to remember not to add more yarn to the basket “just in case”, but to use what I have.
I am not as heat tolerant this year as I have tended to be most years. The heat sapped the energy out of me when we were running around and the thought of going back out into the heat to do anything was a bit more than I cared to deal with.
My plans for tomorrow is sort of up in the air. I have some work to do around the house before I go out. Plans with Mom changes fast. 
I will see what I actually do tomorrow.
Year 16, Week 22, Day One (week 757)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
06-21-15 Sunday
80 degrees early morning, 95 in the afternoon. Puffs racing by quickly to the west and leaving blue sky behind them later. Later in the day, towers built a couple places to the East over the oceans and to the West over the Everglades. Sunny nearly all day long. This weather report is brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach Department Of Tourism.
It was hot, I needed to get something for Father’s Day and needed a few things. I decided to go for a walk at the local Walmart. I got a cart and followed behind it around the store. For half the store while going around the parameter, I would look down the isles and see that there wasn’t anything I needed. I went down all the isles in the fishing and camping section, skipped to the toy section and saw what was popular today, then went through all the isles of the sewing, crafting and yarn sections. The threads and yarns look best in the display where their colors are playing off each other. There are some nice fabrics but nothing I could use. They didn’t have the right buttons for teddy bear eyes. 
I skipped a bunch of sections, including the electronics and entertainment, and then went into the stationary isles. I can see why it is called stationary. It is hard to keep going when one can think of ways to make use of just about everything. One gets lost in possibilities. I got some stuff for Dad there. In the card sections, there are some great cards, but only a couple were appropriate. I found one that fitted him well. 
I skipped over to housewares and then into the food sections. I loaded up on “no no” foods. These are foods you are told “No no, you cannot have them.” Something was for Dad. 
I had parked a ways away from the store to get an easy parking place since this is a small parking lot. I had walked a lot in the air-conditioned store and then in the parking lot, and was wore out. I need to walk like this several times a week. 
I got to Mom’s and unloaded the truck, which took several trips and then settled down at the TV, not wanting to get up for a while. A while later, we gave Dad his gifts and then we went out for Lunch. 
When we got back from lunch, I decided I had stuff to do at home and left.
I am going for Knee surgery tomorrow. This is out-patient surgery where they are removing the plate and screws from my knee, that they added after the accident to repair my leg. What I don’t like is that I have no clue on how I am going to respond to the surgery. Also, it will be a while before I can drive again. I am making alternate plans to alternate plans just to handle how I will react and recover and still be able somehow get to work as soon as possible. 
I have no clue if I will even have a chance to get to do any work next weekend.
I will see what happens this week. 

Thursday, June 18, 2015

Year 16, Week 21, Day One (week 756)

Year 16, Week 21, Day One (week 756)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
06-13-15 Saturday

    82 degrees early morning, 88 degrees afternoon, Mostly cloudy, loads of low clouds in the morning and late afternoon, but between was high feathers and pebbles filled in with a haze in places. A light breeze early morning, grew, until it gusted at times in the afternoon. There was some sun at times.  This Weather report is brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach Department of Tourism.
   
    I learned that I had messed up when I put in my order for the phone company to come in and install DSL. The order never went through so when I waited on Monday for the phone guy to call, it never happened. A day or so I later called by phone and ordered it again. It will be put in Thursday. In the mean time, my kitchen is disassembled to make room for the guy to get to the phone outlets.
    I’ve done more digging to pull stuff out so I can see it. I will be making a couple bins of stuff that can be sold in yard sales or donated, depending on the mood and situation that arrives when the time comes.
    It is cool to find out what you have. I had a hurricane bin and found I accumulated what could well be twenty or thirty Sterno cans. During the weeks of power out for Hurricane Wilma, I think I used half a dozen cans. I emptied a low cabinet and found a bunch of coffee makers and my Wok. I am not doing that kind of cooking right now so it will go back in storage.  Finding my Wok, it dawned on me that the Sterno cans are perfect for the kind of flame the Wok was designed to use.
    I went through a small bin of kitchen accessories and found one thing that was interesting, a tomato slicer, and found it was dull. Other than measuring cups and spoon sets and egg slicers, most of it will never ever be used. I got a lot of it with other things.
    I need to mop AT the floor again before I move things back into place. The floor needs to be scrubbed, but since I am not about to get on the floor to do it, it won’t get done.
   
    Mom decided we had plans in mid morning. We did a quick check in one area on the way home from the Restaurant, and saw two hard sales we did not stop at. They have yard sales most weeks and never have anything we want. Mom decided to stay home once we got there, so I went out on my own.
    The first yard sale I ended up hitting twice. I followed the first sign and go there just a short way off the main drag. I picked up a ergonomic keyboard that will fit a computer I have sitting next to me. I got it years ago from my mom and it is a second emergency computer. I have not had to make use of it. The keyboard that mom gave with it is also ergonomic, but has a touch-pad in the middle. That keyboard has seen better days so I decided now was a good time to get a backup on that. There were several people involved in this yard sale. I then went down the main drag a good distance and found another sign and followed it and it turned out to be the same yard sale. One guy had warned me about making that mistake and I did not understand what he meant until I made the same mistake.
   
    A second yard sale was a little one. I considered not stopping but decided to look in anyway. I saw tent rods, flexible rods that are connected by bungie cords and they fit together. I got a pair last month. I had an idea for a project so I picked them up. I then noticed that the tent was with it, but priced separately. I decided to get both of them. This is a kid’s tent that the tent itself is one-piece nylon and the posts slide in sleeves around that go over the top. The two sets of flexible poles cross at top and give it an iglu shape..
    Later, when I set it up, I found one rod had a kink in it. I do have another set of rods I got a month or so ago and will swap them. (I could not find the other set of poles and while writing this, looked one last place I thought they could be and found them. There is a couple inches difference in length, but it should work anyway. It will just be a little tighter.)
   
    At the third yard sale, also by several people, had a lot of craft stuff. I saw a cloth grocery bag of yarn. I mentioned “Why am I looking at this? I have a lifetime supply of yarn already. When the girl said fifty cents, the yarn leaped out and tripped me up before they tied me up. The yarn was choking me until I handed over the two quarters to buy the yarn. The yarn went back in the bag and was singing as I walked away with the bag hanging on my arm.  There were a couple colors I absolutely love within the bag of yarn.
    At the other end of the yard sale, I saw a book of boxes and had a look. I found myself browsing cook books. I exclaimed, “why am I looking at these? I have seventy cookbooks already.” One book caught my eye was a bread-machine cook book. I put it down. I had a quick conversation with several people about bread making. I told about the last time I made some bread where I added mixed grain to it to a nice effect.  One neighbor said she would donate her bread machine to the woman with the yard sale.
   
    I was getting close to the time to get home. I ended up finding one last yard sale but it looked mostly like clothing and since I was basically out of time, I skipped it.
    The yard sales were really sparse today. I had joked with Mom that if we had no time to go to yard sales, there would have been hundreds of them.... That happened the last time we had no time to stop.
   
    We went to listen to the Archeologist / Historian-speaker at another presentation. He makes what would normally be dry and boring discussions into vibrant, enjoyable presentations.
   
    We all took a nap. Mine went longer than planned. After the nap, I went outside and photographed my findings. I sorted and untangled some of the yarn I had gotten. The tangle was cut into sections. I found through a number of pieces included in the tangle that they were learning braiding. They would twist together two different colored strands, and make several, and then braid them together. There were some interesting styles of braiding. I am sorry I don’t understand how to braid. As a kid, I once knew how to do a basic braid, but now I have forgotten how to do it.

    I have options to work on Tomorrow. I told Mom that if my brother is not coming up, I will stay home and do some projects.
   
    I will see what I do tomorrow.
   
   
   
 

 The yarn with the tangles


 
 Untangled yarn with braiding

 
 Children's tent

Year 16, Week 21, Day Two (week 756)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
06-14-15 Sunday
   
    Lots of grey bottomed clouds, but no showers predicted. I did get a few drips on the windshield when I drove someplace but that was all there was. A nice breeze made it nice. This Weather report is brought to you by the City of Sunrise Department Of Tourism.
   
    I got an early call this morning from Mom. My brother had to work so I shifted to Plan B. I did an Run to take care of some things first off. I had to wait for a while during part of my outing. One skein of yarn demanded to become a teddy bear, so while waiting, I started another teddy bear. The teddy bears I am doing are made one piece, the two halves connected together.  I got the first arm and first leg finished, and had started the second leg in the time of waiting. I had to make the skein of yarn into a ball because when I pulled the yarn out of the center of the skein, a big blob came out. I wound the yarn so that it will come out of the center of the ball. Including the rewinding of the yarn, I got quite a bit done in the time I waited.
   
    Once I was back, I emptied a lower cabinet in the kitchen, put a bunch of stuff away.
    I did only a quarter as much as I planned to do. A nice long nap in the middle messed up some of the time I could have worked.  I have not worked with the kitchen stuff at all, but instead worked with papers, trying to find ones that disappeared, and tossing stuff that was no longer valid. The kitchen in disarray makes things tough. I cannot put things back until the Phone guy comes. I empty one thing and it makes a bigger mess some place else. It is interesting to find things you forgot about. It is also interesting to lose stuff, especially when you know exactly where it is supposed to be...
   
    One big project next weekend will be to get everything where it belongs after the Phone guy is done. I also need to get other things in order for when they are needed.
   
    I will see what I actually do next weekend.
   
   
   

Monday, June 8, 2015

Year 16, Week 20, Day One (week 755)

Year 16, Week 20, Day One (week 755)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
06-06-15 Saturday
   
    80 degrees early morning 85 in the afternoon. The air is beginning to thicken up with humidity, as it usually does towards Summer. It was not bad, though, just noticeable. Unbroken low pregnant clouds to the south giving birth, overhead and to the north were high, badly damaged clouds. Some towers could be seen to the East over the ocean. A low pregnant cloud visited in the late afternoon. It did not look like it would amount to much. We ended up getting a nice cloudburst late afternoon, which I assume was from that cloud as there was nothing deep gray North of it. Only the high feathers and pebbles were overhead when I looked out a bit later. This weather report is brought to you by the City Of Pompano Department of Tourism.
   
    Yard sales were sparse this morning, at least where we went, as the weather report was questionable to say the least. I saw a shower curtain to the south as I headed north from home. Once I got to Mom’s area, I knew it would at least be a good morning. Many who might set their stuff out would not want to take the bet on the weather, though.
    We hit only a few yard sales. Each one had interesting items that I chose not to get stuff. One had some beautiful mirrors. Last month I had an idea for a bunch of mirrors, but decided against that idea after some thought about the project. Too much work for the effect desired. The mirrors she had were now relegated in my mind into “the nice” catagory. Another yard sale had a couple items I had several of and I forced myself not to add to my collection. I did get a spinning fishing reel, and avoided getting a second rotary doggy-nail trimmer. I have a couple poles that could use the fishing reel on.
    Household decorations were still the most popular thing on display. After we got to our normal northern border, Mom said she thought someone might drop by for a visit so we ended our search early and headed home.
   
    Once at home we sat and talked. Then I got on Mom’s computer and played around for longer than I expected to. About the time I was done, it was close to lunch time so I “cooked” lunch by getting a twelve pack of tacos. It was a nice surprise for everyone and was the right kind of lunch for today.
   
    Having ate like a pig, I laid down for what was supposed to be a quick nap, which became a nice long one instead. I woke to a downpour outside and decided not to try to do any outside project. With some TV and more talking, we ended the day quite relaxed.
   
    I have a big project at home for tomorrow so I will likely make my visit with mom short unless Mom has something else planned.

I will see what I actually do tomorrow.
   
   
   


Year 16, Week 20, Day Two (week 755)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
06-07-15 Sunday

88 degrees, evenly spaced grayish short puffs marching to the south with some sun shining between them and sometimes through their edges, high pebbles and feathers. One petulant cloud was just coming above Mom’s house and there were some drops on the window. My new Dad hurt his leg this week and was soaking his foot to help control swelling. While we sat and talked, I heard a nice downpour outside. When I went outside to leave, there were towers over the Everglades, and towers a long distance away over the ocean, and really high feathers and pebbles overhead. The little puffs were just a memory.
   
    I am upgrading my internet connection at home so I had to open up access for the phone outlets in the Kitchen. That meant emptying some shelving and moving stuff in front of the shelving. I loaded some bins and took the stuff out of the kitchen. After the third bin on plastic containers, I bumped something that fell over. It is always fun to try to straighten something out when you cannot set down what you are holding. After that, I would carry just a few things in the bin and set it, and then take several trips with stuff in my arms. The stuff was getting heavier anyway. Some things are not likely to return to the kitchen as I never accessed them in a couple years. They might end up in some yard sale later.
    I put my Cast Iron pots and pans, that I am not using right now, into one bin, carrying most of the to the bin after I set it in an out-of-the way place. Once it was loaded,  I then realized that I cannot lift it. It is going to stay where it is until the phone work is done and then unloaded piece by piece, just like I loaded it.  It is not in an optimal location and not as out-of-the-way as I hoped, but it will do for now. There is more that could have gone into that bin, but since they are on the stove or hanging on the wall, they are not in the way of the work and might be used soon anyway.
    One fun thing about this kind of project is that you get to see what you forgot you had.  I have many items in their original boxes and have never been used. A few items does not fit what I am working with now, such as a microwave popcorn maker that needs a bigger microwave, or something I purchased as an idea for a present and never gave.
    I have a small container of kitchen gadgets that I have not dug into in over a year and will need to see what I have. There might be some things I almost considered picking up at a yard sale. Don’t want to get more if there is something like that in there.
    I have another bin of Hurricane supplies, mostly sterno and lighters. I need to dig through that again. I have a styrofoam cooler full of sterno that could go in there if I arrange things to fit better.
    I tried to load the bins so that the stuff that might not return to the kitchen are the least accessible. The more needed stuff are on top or in front..
    After everything was out, I saw I had to mop the floor. The floor got mopped-AT, anyway. I likely will do it over again when the phone work was done.
   
    The nice thing about working at home is one can get really comfortable to rest.
   
    I am not sure how much of this stuff will be put back until next weekend or maybe later. There are a few things from a previous organizing of the kitchen that is still in the temporary location I put them the last time.
   
    I have no clue what plans will be for next week. There are plenty of options.
   
    I will see what happens next weekend.

Thursday, June 4, 2015

Year 16, Week 19, Day One (week 755)

Year 16, Week 19, Day One (week 755)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
05-30-15 Saturday
   
    92 in the afternoon with small puffs packed in to cover half the blue sky that grew a little bigger as the day wore on, mostly sunshine, with good breeze. The sky is actually showing some light BEFORE I leave the house now. Summer is almost here. This weather report is brought to you by the city Of Pompano Beach Department of Tourism.
   
    A speaker we love on historical and archeology was involved in some seminars and we were invited to go and listen to his presentation. Because of this meeting, we were unable to stop at any yard sales in the morning, and we saw several signs on our way to the meeting.
    He had done some archeological digs in Israel. He said that most people go to the sites are actually there to move dirt. After a few days they decide to visit the tourist sites and forget about all the work. He said that he kept at it, and the archeologists were so happy with him, that they took him to places that no one is allowed to see without special permission, many of which are not known publicly.
    Anyway, he was talking about the historical festivals that Israel had and how they changed over time. We arrived at about eight, and left at noon, and he was going to continue till three, but we could not stay. It was very educational and informational, and he is always a good teacher / story teller.
   
    We stopped for lunch on the way home and spent time talking. When we got home, we were all wore out. Between naps and TV, nothing got done today.
   
    Mom has something planned for us tomorrow so I will have to see what happens. I doubt I will get anything done.
   
    I will see what happens tomorrow.



   
Year 16, Week 19, Day Two (week 755)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
05-31-15 Sunday
   
    92 degrees, Blue skies with loads of little puffs, all sunshine, light breeze low humidity. This weather report is brought to you by the city Of Pompano Beach Department of Tourism.
   
    One of my blinkers went out last night on the way home. I am one of those rare people who actually know what a blinker is, knows  how to use it, and actually use them as a normal course. I did not like that I did not have a working blinker. A quick check showed that the rear blinker had gone out. After picking up the right bulb, I got a couple tools and got to work. The rear blinker was easy to replace. Just a couple of screws and a short time, the blinker was working correctly again.
    Since I had the tools and the initiative, I decided to fix a front blinker. The front blinkers have two bulbs in each unit and one had burnt out. It was flashing fast. After a little bit of work, I got to the first bulb that was a problem, but I could not figure out how to get to the second bulb.
    I don’t get on the ground often as it is tough to get up. In my attempt to figure out how to get to the bulb, I got on the ground. I think the housing is screwed in place, but I could not figure out how to get to the screw, there was too much stuff in the way. I think I touched the bulb connection but could not get it to come out. I was reminded of several reasons I don’t get on the ground as I got up. I made sure the bulb was working and got the housing in place. The blinker is working so I have to leave it as it is.
    There is a joke where a congresswoman takes her care in for a checkup. She said to a senator, "I thought he was gong to rip me off, charging me a thousand dollars, but he said I was really lucky. The only problem was my car was seriously low on blinker fluid.....
   
    African toads had arrived in Florida back in the 80s and are a nuisance. They have a poison in their back that when a dog or cat bites them, the poison will kill the dog or cat. Mom has two toads in her back yard. The biggest one developed a fondness to Momma Kitty’s food. It would get into the food dish and after eating, just sit there. Mom would find sand in the dish and Momma kitty would have nothing to do with the food. The smaller toad was commonly found in the water feeder or the bird feeders. Mom found a way to get rid of the big toad. She set a small cat cage on the ground and tossed some food inside. When she came back out to check on Momma kitty, the toad was in the cage. Mom did not tell me what she did with the toad, but it was gone. Momma kitty is now beginning to fatten up again.

    I put everything away and went out back. My brother could not come up as he had some work so mom had told me her plans were postponed. I was waiting to see what her different plans might be.
   
    I remembered about that piece of wood that I was cutting the spiral into. It was not where I first expected it to be and had to look. I found it and instantly knew why I had put it there. It should have been the first place to look.
    I removed my clamp and saw I made a tiny mistake. The piece I was gluing had tipped over and made contact with the next spiral over. It is well glued in place. A few tests with the knife showed it was not going to be easy to pry it loose to straighten it up without breaking anything. I won’t throw it away, but whether I live with the mistake, figure out how to repair it or find a way to hide it, I don’t know. I decided not to mess with it today.
       
    A Wood Turning Association Magazine came in so I sat and read through part of that while waiting, and petting the cat. We ended up talking, having lunch, and then I left for the day.
   
    Nothing of much of record happened this weekend, but I enjoyed every minute of it anyway.
   
    I will see what happens next weekend.
   
   

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Year 16, Week 18, Day One (week 754)

Year 16, Week 18, Day One (week 754)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
05-23-15 Saturday
   
    85 degrees early morning, 90 late morning 92 degrees late afternoon. Mostly blue sky, fading into a giant herd of sheep heading to the west. The breeze helped keep the temperatures feeling at an acceptable level. This weather report is brought to you by the city of Pompano Beach Department of Tourism.
   
    THURSDAY
   
    I went to the Gold Coast Woodturner’s club meeting. The demonstration was on finishing. Specifically, the demonstration was on how to apply an CA (Super glue) Glue finish.
    He sanded his work to 600 grit, and then mounted the piece in the lathe and spun it at about 500 rpm (my big lathe’s slowest speed is 1000 rpm so I doubt I will try this..
    He first added a coat of oil (tung, linseed, walnut, etc) to bring out the nature of the wood and let it spun under the cloth until dry. He then added several coats of shellac (the commercial liquid) cut 2/3rds with denatured alcohol. He sanded with steel wool between coats.
    He then started the process for the CA glue. He sprayed the accelerator onto a cloth (paper towel) and wiped it on the work. He then applied a small amount of CA glue in a cloth and wipe it across the work quickly. Don’t stop, don’t go over it again. Wait about 90 seconds (timed), and then add the second coat. After the third time, sand lightly (600 to 1000 grit sandpaper).
    Repeat the CA again, including the wipe with accelerator before adding the next layers of CA, with sanding so you have six layers, then do another three without the sanding (for a total of nine).
    He used MEGUIAR’s CLEAR PLASTIC CLEANER to the surface to create a glass like finish.
    The demonstrator said that he chose this method for finishing as it takes less total time (about 45 minutes with all his talking) than other methods he tried. He said it is not good for natural ended pieces where there are spaces between parts of the work which can slap your fingers hard as you are wiping the cloth on it.
   
    SATURDAY
   
    We hit several yard sales again. Mom is searching for some items to give as a gift. I am along for the ride. I have found that there is a slight edge of anticipation of finding something special as you go.
    Some friends had a yard sale and they said they started early morning and were still bringing things out. I found a angle guide that works with my band saw. It slips into a slot in the bandsaw table and one can set an angle and push the worth through the blade. I really did not need it, but it seemed to be something to buy.
    There were a couple yard sales close together, one we had seen advertized in the local circular.
    With one, they had a meat grinder. I gave it a long thought and decided that the two I have is more than enough. The husband mentioned he has no use for it as he just gets his hamburger at the store. I mentioned that ground pork costs more than ground beef. He said “I never thought of that.” I have no idea if he will ever use it, but it was fun planting the thought in his mind.
    Another yard sale, the one advertized, had sets of nearly similar decorations in four different colors. This was in the wealthy section so she much change her color scheme periodically. I picked up a kitchen timer and a basket that looks like a deer. I had a timer like the one I bought, but it stopped working. When I first saw the basket, my thought was dragon. Then I realized that it was a deer. 



 

 deer basket
 
 kitchen timer

   I picked up another peculator coffee pot along the way as I have use for the cord. In testing, it turned out to be a pretty good coffee pot.
   
 

peculator coffee maker. I love these and have many things that can use the cords.



    When we got home, we sat and talked and rested for a long period of time.
   
    I went outside, petting the cat, cut a piece of Sea Grape wood, and split it until it was square. It was nearly twice the size I needed but I got something done.
   
    I took the rest of the day off, watching television and talking.
   
    I hope to do some work tomorrow. I have several projects I can work on. I just have to decide which it might be.
   
   
   
   
   

Year 16, Week 18, Day Two (week 754)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
05-24-15 Saturday
   
    I reduced the size of the piece of Sea Grape I worked on yesterday. It is to be a replacement post for a food processor. I made one before, but decided since I have two of those food processors, I should make a second one, and see if I can do it better.
    I knew I should split more wood off the stick, but I did not want to go too far, so I decided to use the disk sander and just square it up and bring it down to size just with the sanding disk. The trick on this is to make one surface straight and flat. You then square the sides on that one surface, then use both sides to get the top square. Since I was reducing the size, I kept rotating the piece and flipping it to make it square and straight.
    






 

Drive post for the food processor in upside down accessory holder. I got the square to fit perfectly. Now to get the round part round.


    I stopped for a break and dug out my half finished teddy bears. I sewed a nose on the one I had already partially stuffed and ran the line that creates the neck, and then partially stuffed the other two teddy bears I had made. I rearranged stuff in a couple project baggies, I put the teddy bear stuff away when a puff of stuffing blew off the table twice.
   
    I went back to the food processor post and started sanding again. I got it down to where it was extremely close. I double checked the square from end to end and kept measuring by trying to fit the post into the accessory. It took a little time but I got it where both ends slid in.
   
    I then packed up everything and was about to start a new project when Mom asked if we wanted to go out to eat. That ended the day.
   
    I have tomorrow off from work. I have a bunch of little projects to do around the house. I doubt I will write anything about tomorrow.
   
    It looks like Mom might have something planned for me next weekend that will prevent much at all being done, so I will have to see what actually happens.