Year 13, Week 19, Day 0ne (week 695)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
06-01-13 Saturday
   
    86 degrees, grey skies with some blue peaking through, a couple early morning drips dissuaded yard sailing, nice breeze all day long, A shock wave of hard downpour found while driving home around noon. This weather report is brought to you by the City of Pompano Beach Department of Tourism.
   
    Mom has kittens! A delicate cat has hung around for quite a while. Mom has not fed it as she really does not want to take care of another cat. Last week I moved some equipment and heard a kitten. This week she saw the cat and she had three black kittens following her.
    Today we went out to feed scar face and after he was done, we sat down and placed the food on the ground. The female came out hesitantly and started eating. Her three kittens came out and played a short distance away. She was flighty and if we moved with any speed, she spooked. A bit later, she settled beneath the chairs, in view and nursed her kittens. Mom is "so happy" to have kittens among our equipment under the awning.
   
    Last week I received a pasta maker as a birthday Present. During the week I decided to give it a test and made some regular thin noodles which were pretty good, and some Lasagna pasta.
    Later in the week I made some Lasagna using my noodles. I used my meat grinder to grind some pork into hamburger and did not have enough tomato sauce so I boiled some tomatoes I had on hand in the sauce. I put it together with Ricotta cheese, which was the first time I had ever purchased it, and some cheddar cheese I grated. It turned out to be the very best Lasagna I had ever made. It was slightly below what I get on average by other people. I made two loaf pans full, and ate one whole one for breakfast one day, and the other loaf pan lasted two days and three meals only because I forced myself to.
Later in the week, I put a bunch of different kinds of grains in my coffee grinder to make a multi grain flour. That will be for my next test of the pasta maker.
   
    I am digging through my kitchen to see what I have and what I can get rid of so I have room for something else. This week I found some things I forgot I had, and located some items that were not where I thought they were. I have a lot of "Tupperware" kinds of containers and need to get them all out in one place and see what I might use and what will never be used.
    One problem I am seeing was I purchased a bunch of stuff for one kind of cooking, and then I changed my cooking style. there is that nagging thought that if I change, the stuff I get rid of could be stuff I should have kept.
    I've been using small plastic plates usually used by children for dinner. It keeps my food volume low as if it does not fit on the plate, it is too much. I noticed that my ceramic saucers are only slightly smaller and they do not score when a steak is cut in them. I found a use for something I was not using at all.
   
    Saturday
   
    During the week, I picked up a spare tire for my truck. I have never had one for this truck. There is always that nagging worry about what if I have a flat tire that cannot be fixed on the spot. With a spare, I am not so worried. Since the cable is broke on the crank that lifts the tire beneath the truck, I picked up a lock a while ago and a cable Saturday and locked the tire in place. I did find that I could not lock it the way I wanted so I had to use bungy cords to make sure it stays in position. I will work out something better later or get the tire crank replaced.
   
    I decided I would go to the antique shop and check on my work on display down there. I made a quick stop at home to get some things and then headed farther south.
    At the antique shop, I swapped out some pieces. I needed to take my carved vases with me to show someone what I used to always do. I laid tissue paper down which improved the display. I really needed to add a couple boxes to the display to place some pieces at a higher level. I have some pieces on a table, and some on the floor. It would be better to have a third level. It would improve the display quite a bit. I forgot to take pictures of the display. It is kind of hard to get a good picture as there is a giant display window directly behind it and this camera has no controls.
   
    After the antique shop, I stopped at a local thrift shop. I saw several things I could get in the kitchenware section, but did not get them. It was then that I saw I have an addiction to kitchen equipment. Knowing I have an addiction and solving it are two different things. I have not decided it is a problem yet......
   
    Back home, I gathered my laundry. I was at that point in my laundry where I HAD to do it. It was not I would like to do laundry, or I should do laundry, I was at HAD TO DO laundry. My condo has washing machines but you have to buy tokens. I go to a laundry mat as the machines are bigger, better maintained, and seldom are you unable to find enough machines to do your laundry. 
       
    I am not sure what tomorrow will bring, but I do hope to do some sort of wood working.
   
    I will see what I do tomorrow.
   
   

Year 13, Week 19, Day Two (week 695)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
06-02-13 Sunday
       
   
    86 degrees at around 10, 88 degrees around noon and stayed there at two. Blue skies, sun, with high feathers. Thunder bumpers developed over the Everglades early but drifted west and out of sight. At two, thunder bumpers developed over the Everglades, the anvil covered us and the sun, and it was time to pack up. Here in South Florida, Interstate 95 (I-95) tends to be a border for a lot of the thunder boomers. They will stop around the interstate and drift back west. In the evening when the off short winds die down, the thunder boomers then rush to the sea and on out. I drove through a portion of the thunder boomers while driving home but was past them by a long way by the time I got home. This weather report is brought to you by the City of Pompano Beach Department of Tourism.
   
    I arrived early at Mom's house and immediately set up in back. I got the folding table from the garage and set it up, dug out my mini metal working lathe and the tools I needed. I settled down to making another rod for crochet hooks. It was a challenge. Last time, I made a quarter milometer mistake and made a rod that was supposed to be an E size into one that was a D size. Today I wanted to make a new rod the right size of E.
    This was a rectangular piece so I drew on one end a square and placed a hole in the center of that, then did the same on the other end. I then slowly whittled down the excess wood until I had a round rod. It fit into the G hole of the template but not the F. I then made a few more passes with the cutting tools until it fit into the F hole but not the E. Finally, I used sand paper to reduce the size down till it fit through the E hole. I had better luck on the bowing of the rod. It behaved better.
    I do see one little problem. Some of the rods look like they might be mahogany rather than black walnut. I was using cut pieces I already had, It is sometimes tell two kinds of wood apart when they have a slight aging on the surface. That is how the mistake may have happened. I will have to cut up some black walnut and make rods out of that now to make up for the mahogany rods. I will make more mahogany rods so that will end up a full set also.
   
    I have no idea what will be happening next weekend. I mean I have no clue. I figure Saturday will be taken up with non-woodworking projects. Sunday I hope to do wood working, even if it is just making more rods on the mini lathe.
   
    I will see what I do next weekend.