Year 17, Week 22, Day One (week 908)

Year 17, Week 22, Day One (week 908)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
06-10-17 Saturday

85 degrees, 70% humidity (I am sure it was really 200% as a school of minnows swam above my head in the morning.), off and on heavy rains. Constantly cloudy.  An epic front came over us this past week. The front started in Panama and stretched to the north east. Blobs of clouds would attach itself to the front and head over us. Sometimes to the north, to the south, or right over us. We had some flooding. In Fort Lauderdale earlier in the wee, one of the cruse ships came in right after one of the heavy downpours and missed the dock. The captain said it was strange to have buildings on both sides of him. He only realized, after he was about a mile inland, that he was following a road when the road became a bridge over one of the waterways. Tugs pulled him back into deep water before the rain water drained away too much for the ship to stay afloat. Later in the week, a Great White shark attacked a small sports car parked on the side of the road near the city hall in Miami. No one knows if the insurance will cover that cause of damage. This weather report is brought to you by The City Of Pompano Beach Department Of Tourism. 



The weather early morning was not conducive for yard sailing, so I did not even bother going out. People could not trust when the next shower would pass and it was a lot of work to bring stuff in and out, or to cover them. Only those who had their stuff under cover could possibly have a sale this weekend. Since we had some morning showers, it was not worth the drive to see if anybody had anything out.
When we got back from breakfast, I took a very short nap, then headed out back mom's house. Momma kitty said “Feed me” so I started feeding her.  Mom has wanted my wood collection put away for a long time and things have gotten in the way. She came out while I was feeding momma kitty and after kitty had enough,  we got to work moving most of the wood from under the awning to inside my shed. Mom would dig the stuff out into the open, and I would move the stuff to the shed, then place it where it needed to be. 
It was surprising how much fit in there. My two garbage-cans full of wood were put outside the shed with garbage bags over them. That is a short term solution right now. One large bin of wood went into the shed with a smaller bin of partially finished pieces on top that., I stacked most of the tools on top that so they can be reached. 
It made a big difference, and we can still access the tools and stuff in the shed.  There is more to go into the shed, but I had nothing left.
While we were working, I had stopped to get a drink and saw a blob on the radar to the south coming at us, so I was watching the southern sky while we worked. Nothing showed up. 

Both mom and I showered and changed (utterly soaked through and through, and we had seen no rain at all at this time). We went out for lunch. We planned on Cracker Barrel, but they had lines outside the place, so we headed to The Chinese Buffet. When we got back home, I laid down and slept for several hours. I was done for the day. I actually wanted to nap before lunch but did not have time. 

One thing I noticed was I no longer had a spring in my step. I was still feeling the effect of my work. If I was working alone, I might not have done near as much nor as fast. 

The weather tomorrow looks no better than today so I doubt I will do anything at all tomorrow. I will likely spend my time recovering from today.

698

Year 17, Week 21, Day One (week 907)

Year 17, Week 21, Day One (week 907)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
06-03-17 Saturday

77 degrees with a pebbled cloud shield early morning, 82 mid morning with the shield coalescing into puffs.  At about 10:30, a tiny bit of green appeared over our house on the radar and it stayed where it was, as it got bigger, then developed yellow and then red in the center, right over us. It developed until it covered the three county area with periodic clear areas on the radar. I tried to find Noah, but I guess it wasn’t that bad.  Mom’s plants were singing as a choir with the joy they felt from a nice long drink. Mom was all grins too as she was planning on watering her plants this weekend. Once the heavy stuff finished, it all disappeared, either in drains or absorbed into the thirsty ground. This weather report is brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach Department of Tourism


After breakfast, I headed out on my route. The first yard sale, I passed the first time, not seeing it, then went around and when I saw it, they had clothing laid out on the yard and some teddy bears on a table. It did not look like anything I was after, so I did not bother stopping and  headed on. 
I traveled half my route before I found a second yard sale. They were sending the daughter to college. They are a family that do not watch TV, but read books and did crafts. They had a bunch of art stuff out. I picked out an art set in a wooden box. It had colored pencils, paints, oil pastels, brushes, pens. It was complete except one pen was missing. I considered a bead weaving device. There was a knitting loom to make tubes. There was also a device for making bows. The art set was all that made it home. 
The knitting loom and the bead weaver were things I kind of would have liked to have. I did not think of “donating” to her by getting them until late in the day.
I was almost done with my route when I found a sale where The guy’s sister had passed and this was the remains of her estate. Nice chairs. I saw some boxes of beads (the college girl had lots of beads and I had forced myself to ignore them, so I was not going to get them here.).
The last yard sale I saw was just clothing also, so I kept going without stopping. 

I was going to a birthday party later in the day and I decided I had better take a nap before then. I woke to a torrential downpour and checked the radar. The heavy stuff lasted an hour. The light stuff went on, with some off and on, the rest of the day.

Nothing done on Sunday other than work around the house. More of this weather system over us.

Will have to see what we do next week. 

514

Year 17, Week 20, Day One (week 906)

Year 17, Week 20, Day One (week 906)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
05-27-17 Saturday
   
    78 degrees early morning, 82 as I started driving,  88 in the afternoon. While it said 68% humidity, it felt like 99%.  Blue sky all day long. This weather report was brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach Department Of Tourism.
   
    Wandering, I found five yard sales, stopping at two on my first run. Two of the yard sales were clothing and I did not see anything worth stopping for. One sale that I saw the sign for, I could not find the first time. I had not picked up anything at this point. One had a lot of interesting stuff, but nothing leaped into my hands. Another had furniture.
    I made a run to a store later and since I was in the area, I decided to have another try and finding the yard sale I saw the sign for but could not find. Well I found it and learned it was a mistake to look for it.
    This was a family moving to Dallas. They had a lot of interesting stuff, but I kept looking at two huge aluminum pots. One is a turkey frying pot and has marks for how far to add the oil for two ranges of turkey sizes. The other pot, according to the woman, was used for lobster boils, where you fill it up with sea food and cook them all together. I decided I would get them. I have some ideas for them. Since they did not want to give out change, they gave me a better deal on them than the listed price.
   
    I hate shopping for clothing. Shoes are the least detestable part of clothing shopping. I went out to buy new feet for my shoes. I like work boots so I had to bring the bank with me. It was the store run that lead me to find the pots.
   
    I took the rest of the day really easy until lit was time to go.
   
    I hope to do some wood working tomorrow.
   
   


Year 17, Week 20, Day two (week 906)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
05-28-17 Sunday
   
    Sunny, 89 degrees. Humid. There was a slight haze to the blue sky, not a bright blue. This weather report is brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach Department of Tourism.
   
    When I arrived, Mom decided we should go out and eat. I don’t really complain about that as I love getting to eat out. It is just nothing gets done.
    I laid down for a nice long nap, and took the rest of the day easy, sort of like a pig, eat and sleep it off....

    Tomorrow is a day off for Memorial day. We will go for breakfast, later than we do Saturday. I will go out and make some sawdust.




Year 17, Week 20, Day Three (week 906)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
05-29-17 Monday
   
    80s all day long, blue sky, high humidity. In the afternoon, when the sun started to shine beneath the awning, the computer said it was 88 degrees, but it was 95 under the awning. This weather report is brought to you by the City of Pompano Beach Department Of Tourism.
   
    After our late breakfast, we went to see if we could find some walmartians at Walmart. All I saw was normal looking folk. I wonder what they think of me????
   
    We came back home and I went out back and rolled the lathe out into the open. I took the block of wood with all the knots, and after measuring and positioning it, I mounted it on the lathe and turned a tenon so it could be held on the lathe the chuck so I could hollow it out. I decided that between Walmart and standing during the turning, that I should get off me feet so I laid down and napped for a hour or so. 
   
    I came back out and Momma kitty begged me for some food and attention. I got the food and sat and gave her lots of love while she ate. During this, My brother showed up. Momma kitty, not knowing him well enough to trust him, left quickly.
    My brother and I started talking, then he said he wanted to get out of the humidity. We went inside.
    We watched some shows on the pyramids of Egypt and some other historical shows, We talked. Then more family showed up.
    We celebrate birthdays in groups, since many of our birthdays are close together. Mom made some stew for all of us. She said that if she knew they were coming, we could have a BBQ meal, but she made due with what she had. I got a nice card and a gift card for Lowes Hardware.
   
    After everybody left, I went out back and packed up everything. Looking at the piece I was doing, I decided I have it centered wrong for what I was after. I was measuring from the widest areas to find the center. I should have been measuring from the narrowest areas.
     I might remount it and correct that. It won’t be as tall, but it will look better when done.
    I am thinking that I will make the mouth small, and hollow it out through the small hole, then drill through the branch ends for a decorative bowl. I will decide that kind of thing when I turn it.
    Some decisions will be determined because of mistakes you make. A little slip of the tool becomes a design opportunity....
   
    I will see what I get done next week.
   
    946   
   
    

 left pot is for the lobster boil. the right pot is for the turkey fryer. It has marks for how much oil to add for each sized turkey.

 view one of unworked wood mounted in lathe. base is on an angle.

 view two of unworked wood in the lathe.

 bottom view of wood.

 turned piece around in chuck. you can see where the drive spur dug through the bark.

base mounted in chuck.