Year 18, Week 50, Day One (week 988)

Year 18, Week 50, Day One (week 988)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
12-22-18 Saturday

The city requested the lawns to be watered during the week before the holiday, that way they could then order the actual Christmas weekend weather to clear and cold. Snow they hoped for was to be back ordered for too many months anyway so this was a compromise. A squall line did a good job, and then a light drizzle lasted about a day then it cleared on Thursday. The cold spell that was the snow was supposed to come with, did hit us. Saturday met us with 54 degrees early morning, 75 late afternoon. Had I known it was going to get this cold, I would never have moved here. This weather report was brought to you by The City Of Pompano Beach Department Of Tourism.

During the week, I finished painting and passed out most of my first batch of cards, and have a good start on my second batch of cards. 

We wore coats when we went for breakfast, and then came directly home. After a little bit, I had to go to Lowes for something I needed. They ended up not having the key item. I did leave some money there.  No coat was needed by then.
On a Saturday mornings, one does not go to Lowes directly. I took the southern half of the yard sale route. I found two yard sales. One was a guy who has had it before, had a box of cords. There were two I knew I could use and a couple others that might be useful. I could have lived without them, but I decided to take the chance. 
The other yard sale was damaging... I found an unused  pencil and pastel kit. The wood box was nice and everything in excellent condition. I figure this was quite an expensive purchase originally. I’ve wanted a kit like this. 

Recently I saw a set of videos on how to work with oil pastels, which was in this box. I had tried some a couple years ago, and the color applied to the paper in spotty fashion. I had the same results with crayons. I instantly lost interest. These videos showed that you fold up paper into a tight wad. When you apply your color, and then rub the color with the paper which blends it. You can then apply the next color and rub it in. It is no longer spotty, but clean colors. You use the compressed paper to blend it. 
In working with charcoals, they have what is basically a paper stick called a stump, and that blends or removes charcoal from your drawings. That is what the tight paper used for in the videos, except they were using the slick part of the paper, not the edges. The stump is more a rough paper that can pick up materials. The final pictures in the videos looked as good as an actual painting.   

The real reason this stop was so damaging, was a team of Beanie Babies rushed past me and climbed into my truck and threatened to drive off with it if I did not pay for them. They kept moving the truck each time I walked closer. I had no choice but buy them. I needed my truck!!!
There was two sealed bags of Beanie-Baby state-coin teddy-bears. These are collector items. Each one is decorated for the state, and there is a state quarter on the bottom of one foot on each of them. The previous Beanie Babies I picked up at yard sales were intended to be given away wearing clothing I crocheted. That will not happen to these. I doubt this was 50 of them, it might be half.
At this moment, they sell for about twice the purchase price. I figure in 30 years, they will be worth something real.
I should remind you that “WE” ARE NOT COLLECTORS!!! We are storing them for the collectors. Thousands of people buy something. They end up being given to children, damaged by fires or floods (or leaks), get dirty or otherwise spoiled and get tossed out. They get sold for pennies in yard sales or just given to people or charities who don’t know their value.  After several decades, there are so few left that are in good or pristine condition, pieces are now valuable to those who want to have it. That is why there are stamps where there are only four or five existing that are worth millions. It is also why bottle caps are generally worthless. The collectors are only interested in them once they become fairly rare, so you have to store them and hope yours is the last in existence.

When I got home, I went outside and examined some tools. I was planning on passing on a chisel set to a friend. The angles of many of the blades are just plain wrong. They would not cut into the wood even after I sharpened them. I have to play around with them more to figure out why they won’t work or how to use them properly. The person I considered sending them to is just starting out in wood working. Bad tools can ruin a hobby big-time.
I then sharpened some turning tools I will pass on instead. They are sharper than anything I would normally use.... (my bad)  I then sharpened two knives that person will also receive and made a wooden sheath to protect the points and edges and fingers. 

To make the sheath, You cut a piece of wood in half, or take two thin pieces of wood, and, making sure they match flat, you lay the knife on one and draw around the blade. Then you shave out the wood where the knife fits, going deeper at the back than you do at the blade edge. Placing the two sides together, you should be able to slip the blade in. It does not have to go all the way in as that will work the hole open with use. It will eventually get loose. I had one that I had to insert the knife in upside down to keep the sheath from falling off.
You then glue the two pieces together, keeping the glue from the area you carved. Once dry, you carve and sand the edges and surface and the sides so they match together. I always shape the outside to match the shape of the blade. One of the blades has a straight edge, so that side was kept straight. The back, I then curved to show visually which way to put the blade in. The other knife, the cutting edge is curved and the back is flat, so I shaped that one to match that knife. Years ago, I had carved one sheath to look like a running fox. I have no idea what happened to that one.
The main purpose of the sheath is to reduce the chances of fingers meeting blade edge or point and also, when bouncing around in the knife bag or box, it reduces the chances of the knife becoming dull or damaged, though I was told “thousands” of times to at least strop the knife before using it to make sure it has not already dulled.

I decided I needed to make a special present for my brother, one he has not seen. He mentioned he wanted a BIG BOY steam engine. This was the biggest steam locomotives to be built. The way steam engines are classified is by the wheel arrangement. They count the pair of wheels on the axles. Many engines have leading sets of wheels, which help pull the engine around the corners, then the drive wheels, then some have trailing wheels to hold up the firebox (those wheels are under the cab of the engine). A steam engine with just two drive axles would be classified as an 040. An engine with two lead axles and two trailing axles with six drive wheels would be a 262.  A big boy had two lead axles, two sets of four axle drive wheels, and then four trailing axles. It is classified as a 4884.  They had to separate the drive axles so it could make it around corners. The boiler was so long that on corners, it would stick out to the outside as the running gear beneath followed the curve. 
I cut a piece of wood that I thought was long enough. It ended up being about one or two inches short, but I made it work. I used the band saw cut a chunk from the front which was a platform formed by the leading wheels. I cut half way up the side of the stick and started removing wood for the boiler, defining the cab. I then began relieving wood for the wheels. 
I made several mistakes, shaving the wheels off and starting again. Making the whole thing narrower in the process which helped. 
Mom did not like what I was doing so she gave me some punches. We think they were for leather. The rings of the tree this stick was from, ended on two adjoining corners. One side of the engine had the ends of the ring, the other side had an the face of the rings. The punches did ok on the ends of the rings but barely dented the face of the ring. I twisted it to get a mark to go by. 
I finally got the wheels in place and carved in some details. I made the mistake of, instead of having 8 sets of drive wheels, I had seven. I should have removed the center ones, that way it would be a Challenger, a 4-6-6-4 engine. I still have a lot to do. When my brother comes over tomorrow, I will work on something else while he is here, then after he leaves, I will work on his steam engine.




Year 18, Week 50, Day two (week 988)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
12-23-18 Sunday

56 degrees early morning, 78 late afternoon. Good thing I didn’t start early this morning. Some of the ice that formed on the roads melted before I left home so I was able to get to Mom’s with little problem. My route does not take me near any mall so the traffic was light. This weather report is brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach Department Of Tourism....

I dragged out the lathe, and took a piece of white pine that had a big knot in it. I first turned a Santa with a conical robe. I removed to much wood from the hem. I left the body part proud so I could carve in arms and face. Once the santa was designed, I started creating a finial for the knot part of the wood, which would become a ball. I had the knot area somewhat rounded, and was extending the finial when the wood broke. 
White pine is not a very strong wood so is not great for turning small stuff. I really should have just concentrated on making the ball and then glue in the finials, possibly from another kind of wood. I did some knife stuff to the ball ornament to remove excess wood and get it ready for turning again, then put it back on the lathe and turned on it some more. I had a cup style point in the tail stock and just stuck the finial on the other end into the hole in the chuck and turned it. 
I also carved the santa. I shaved the back and carved in the face and arms, removing excess wood. I also made the hat in more of the floppy conical hats. 
After my brother left, I took out the big engine and worked on it some more. I got it about as good as it is going to get. I used the dremmel to make windows and door, digging into the wood (I likely will do this with the other engines I have started), and used it to do some clean up also in other places also. Later I painted it and have to do a couple more things to it, like sanding the bottom and signing it before applying varnish. 
In the ball ornament, I painted the finials and left the ball is bare. It will get a varnish finish also. I painted the santa. I did the red, but need to do some white. I will do the hair yellow and leave the face wood.

I am on my second batch of Christmas cards. I added some more colors. I had expected better, but they look poor. I might add a couple more colors and have  do some pen work on the picture tomorrow, then I will fill out the inside and outside. they are not what I was expecting them to come out as. somehow, the first batch looks better, as disappointed I was with them.. we will see for sure what these look like when I am done.

We are having a Bar B Q at Mom’s house so I sliced up a roll of hamburger mom gave me. It was a five pound roll. I set the slicer to maximum and sliced it through the plastic as it had not frozen when I decided I had to deal with it. I got 17 slices this time. Not too bad.

I still have not wrapped anything yet. And we are opening presents Noon Tomorrow. I have things to do to get ready for Tuesday's BBQ.

I did have a good day and did get some things done. too bad I don't have two or three weeks more to get ready. I have never had a Christmas where I was actually ready for it. I have had many a Christmas seasons where when I was wrapping presents, I was also painting cards. I am a bit ahead on that. 
I have lots to take care of tomorrow.


Year 18, Week 50, Day Three (week 988)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
12-24-18 Monday



I got to mom’s early and as soon as it was light out, I went out back to finish the three ornaments I was working on. I sanded the bottom of the steam engine and signed it, and the other two. I added pen line around where the paint stopped, but not done well. I then gave all three ornaments a varnish finish. The santa and dangle are not great. They will do They will hang on my tree.

I worked on finishing the cards, Mostly lettering them. I wished I had added smoke from the train, but did not have time. that would have been at least two colors for it to look right. None of  them came out like I imagined. I decided that most of them are not horrible. Some are not good, but I can ignore that.  I have a bunch of them to mail out. a few more will be handed out after Christmas personally. 

We got together at the house of my nephew and his family. After we ate a light meal we opened presents. I gave each person an ornament and a key chain. 
I have a box of key chains. I cannot remember where I got them, either a yard sale or given to me, but I ended up with a load of key chains, ear rings, and pins. I picked out a key chain for each person. 
I gave mom a tool-bit set instead of ornaments or key chain. I had bought  one for myself also. 
Santa gave me two Home depot gift cards. Early last year, Santa said I could have the entire contents of a Home Depot store if I was a good boy. Well, apparently, While Santa knew most of the incidents I was involved in, he did not learn about ALL learn about all of them.....I really got lucky this time....
The kids got a bunch of toys. Mom gave them tumble trucks and they would not work. Later we found remote controllers the kids tossed to the side. We had no batteries for the controllers. Mom took them home to make sure they work or she would return them t o the store.
I got on the floor and played with Jenga blocks with one of the youngest. I later got back on the floor and helped pick them all up. I am not good on the floor. It takes some effort to get back up. I had to use their plush couches to help me back up. 

A while back, I learned that one can almost totally disassemble the grill, only the outer case is what is left. I never got a chance to clean the case of the grill, but everything was scrubbed at the sink with brushes and steel wool. 

I might have a chance to carve, or I might not. I will have to see. 



Year 18, Week 50, Day Four (week 988)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
12-25-18 Tuesday

64 degrees early morning, 79 late afternoon, a breeze strong enough to send paper flying a short distance in the morning, but became a calm breeze in the afternoon. The herders must have found better pastures as the sky was filled with flocks of sheep like clouds meandering across the sky. This weather report is brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach Department Of Tourism.

I got a slow start this morning. I finally got going and helped mom set up for the BBQ dinner we were going to have.  I first moved my wood working equipment and supplies around to make room for the tables. While we were expecting good weather, it is better to have people and food under cover. 
After that, I pulled out the folding tables. I opened the long one and put it on an angle just to have it sit someplace.. There was more room around it than the two tables end to end, like we ended up with for Thanksgiving. I opened up the small table and saw that the tables on the angle was not going to work, so I put both sticking out. I had to assemble the as when cleaning and washing the parts, I left them off the case. The inside of the case was not cleaned, but that was not food bearing surfaces. I got the grill out back. And then wiped down the upper surfaces so it looked clean.  I then took a long break.
Mom said she liked the tables that way. That was a big surprise. 

A bit later, I helped bring some of the food out, like the frozen meats I had put in a cooler, frozen on top.  Mom reminded me about the push lawn mower. I pulled that out and made a few passes in the lawn. When everybody arrived, the oldest of the kid mowed part of the back yard and a good portion of the front yard. I touched up a few places in front. It actually looks mowed. He had a lot of fun pushing that mower!!!

After people arrived, I was running back and forth, gathering tools, equipment, food, Mom’s neighbor allowed me to store food in his fridge and freezer. I have to do all the work retrieving it. 

When our BBQ chef arrived, he cooked up the burgers, and brats and ignored the dogs. I forgot to add boneless chicken to the cooler. It ended up where he cooked up a big package of brats and most of the burgers. He did them slowly, soaking the raw patties and links in an apple cider, then grilled them, then soaked them some more in apple cider another pan. Both were subject to the heat so they did some cooking while in there. Talk about good. We had fixings for sandwiches and just a few sides. I had some blueberry coffee and the carafe (about half a pot) was empty when we put things away.
The whole local family was there and we talked, ate, talked and ate, and then ate some more. 
I was back and forth between houses and the back through the entire thing. I know I will feel it tonight.
I will see how I feel tomorrow.




Year 18, Week 50, Day Five (week 988)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
12-26-18 Wednesday

Light breeze, lots of broken clouds (repair men were on vacation) a little sun in the later part of the day, 72 early morning, 79 late afternoon. This weather report was brought to you by The City Of Pompano Beach Department Of Tourism.

I was one of only two people who did not know we were closed today at work. I open the office so I made the coffee and waited. I began suspecting we were off when one of the guys comes in very early did not show, and I knew we were not open about half an hour before everybody was supposed to show. I waited until after the start of work and then closed up and went home. I needed the practice. They would have had to retrain me if I did not come in..... I had been too many days off.....

Last night was a bit rough. I struggled to get to sleep because my feet and legs hurt. My left foot felt like it was cramping. Once asleep, I slept fairly well. I got up and my legs just felt slow, but otherwise not bad.

At home, I did some computer work, then went to Mom’s house. I needed to move the equipment back to where they were supposed to be. I have a problem with the set of wheels with the lathe. They will have to be repaired soon, which means unloading the lathe. That will be a good excuse to clean the whole thing up for use. That is a whole day project. 

A chair I picked up a few weeks ago broke. I decided to see what needed to be done to repair it. On one side, a “cap” on the rod that goes from one side to the other that held the wood was missing. It had pulled out. On the other side, the wood was cracked near the place the rod went through. 
My first project was to deal with the end cap. Mom had some aluminum nails used for gutters, so I stole one of them (telling mom after the fact). It was a bigger in diameter than the hole it was going into. I drilled a hole all the way through the end of the rod, which the end was hollow for a short distance in, I then measured the end hole and cut the aluminum nail to length, then used a dremmel to reduce the diameter some. I then drove it into the hole until it was flush. I then used the hole I already drilled to drill through rod to also drill through the nail and stuck in two brads to act as pins for holding it. That likely was not needed but I did it anyway. The hole I drilled was just too small for the rod of the brad to get past the heads, so I ground the heads on one side, then forced them in and cut them off. 

I should note that I did not have a clamp available to pull the legs together to give me access to the end of the rod, so I used a trick I have seen several times on line. I took too bar clamps, which were long enough to go just past half way and linked their tops and had them pull on each other to get the length I needed. 
After I had the brads in place, I drove the rod end, with my aluminum nail head, into the hole. The pins had to cut their way into the wood. That is going to hold it in place even better. 
My next project was to reinforce the cracked area. I took a piece of flat molding and cut it to length and drilled a bunch of fine holes into it and then drove screws into both sides of the crack. There was better wood around I could have used as this is not a strong wood, but I decided it would hold the crack in place so it won’t break any more. I used a grinding disk to hollow out a relief a little of where the head of the rod met the wood. That would allow the patch to fit tightly against the surface. 
It might have been a good idea to glue the surfaces, but I chose not to. I did not have the right glue with me. White glue is not water resistant. 
Anyway, the chair was repaired and likely will stay that way for years to come. 

We have another holiday starting next weekend. I am planning it to be a project weekend. I have loads of projects to do that won’t get done any time in the near future as it takes too much time and effort to do them, compared to the amount of time I can commit to them..
I will see what I do next weekend.

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My method of clamping the sides of the chair to pull them in.

the clamps are hanging onto each other.

the aluminum end cap I made. 

You can see the hole I drilled for the pins to make sure it does not come out.

The cracked side of the opposite leg.

grinding out a relief for the bolt.

The patch to make sure it does not break any more.

The new cabinet made from a light box. Pegboard inside to help hold the shelves I will make later.

  

one view of the lawnmower

another view of the lawn mower. 

There are some tall stem type weeds this does not like to cut, pushing them over instead, but otherwise easier to use than the electric.

The box I saw of the color set.

The whole color set untouched. Pencils, pastels and color.

Year 18, Week 49, Day One (week 987)

Year 18, Week 49, Day One (week 987)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
12-15-18 Saturday

68 degrees early morning 79 late afternoon, mostly sunny, with clouds building as the day wore on. We did get showers in the late afternoon for a short time as the remains of a front passed through. This weather report is brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach Department of Tourism.


I knew about a yard sale a friend of a friend was having. I went there as it was in my general area and drooled over everything and left without a purchase. I did take my money out for something, and he walked to the other side of the circular driveway to help a customer so I had time to talk myself out of the purchase. 
I then went to have my truck serviced. There was something pointed out to watch for so they had to take extra time to check it. They had a problem with a hidden key on the truck, tapping against the metal, but they found that nothing is really needing to be cared for, for a while.
I had a dish cloth I had started before. It is the zig zag stitch where you create hills and valleys as you work. I had already tried to solve a problem with it and as I added a few rows, I realize it really had problems that could not be solved at this stage. I ripped out about half the dishcloth to about where I thought I saw where the problem started and then added a couple rows. It still had problems so I ripped it out more, then added some before I realized that I had an initial design error. I will tell about that farther down.
I ripped it all to the first two rows and wound the yarn in the center pull ball I always do and restarted the zig zag stitch. After about the second new row, the yarn stopped pulling out of the center of the ball. 
I made a small mistake when I wound the ball, yarn to bind. It would not come out any more without breaking it. I’ve had a few commercial yarns that has done this to me also, so I don’t feel too bad.. I ripped out what I had, balled it up and stuck it into the hole in the center of the ball, and then restarted, pulling from the outside. By the forth row I saw I had a new mistake and ripped it out again. 
I then decided to go with a ribbed dish cloth as it was easier. This is where you grab the post of the stitch below, rather than the top. Ridges form and with dishcloths, that works well for scrubbing.

I found are three major causes of problems I was having with the zig zag stitch. One is if you skip a stitch, usually in a valley. That flattens out that area.
Being sloppy where you do your skip-three stitch for the valley or triple stitch for the peaks as they will wander side to side and you might merge the valley and the peak. If you have 15 or 20 stitches between each valley and peak, it is easy to see where you are working. If you have only 5 or 6 stitches between them like this dishcloth, then a slight wander to the left or right will cause the straight stitches between the peak and valleys to shrink causing them to merge.
The number of ups and downs straights have to be the same number. If you start the row with an up, you need to end your row with a down. The reason for this is that you take away from one side, but add to another.  Compared to the straight edge, the actual sides of the piece are on a slight angle to the rows you are working. 
I had all three of these problems in this dish cloth.



Year 18, Week 49, Day Two (week 987)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
12-16-18 Saturday

Mostly sunny, 65 degrees which is cool, in the morning, 79 in the afternoon, nice light breeze. This weather report is brought to you by The Pompano Beach Department of Tourism.

I stopped by the yard sale I saw yesterday and I am now a proud owner of a push mower. I tested it out. It is a bit harder to push than the electric and the electric does pull the grass up taller before it cuts it, but it is kind of nice to have. We had one when I was a kid and it was hard for me to push so I never really got into using it, but as an adult, I have SORT OF wanted one for years. Never sure why. I have one now. My brother said that what I need to do is to show it to the kids during Christmas and they will end up mowing the lawn for me because it will be fun to push. That I will have to see. 
As I said, it is slightly more difficult to push than the electric mower, but you don’t have to deal with the cord or starting a gas motor. I noticed it is a bit easier to manoeuver than the electric but it only mows one direction. I consider it a toy to try out once in a while.  

I made it a slightly lazy day. I carved a steam engine and touched one of the others. They are still not coming out the way I want them, but they do look like steam engines so I am not complaining too much. I figure the last one will be exactly what I am after.

During the week, I’ve worked on my Christmas cards. I had finished the background during last week, with full knowledge that very little of it wold show when done. I then started painting the steam engines on it. I used a dark purple with the idea I could go black, for shadows and lighter for highlights. The engines I painted were cartoonish, every single one, I accepted that and would work with it. On Monday I sat down to add additional color to the steam engines. I figured they would be green boilers and red cabs. I added the green to the very first one. ARGH!!! 
It was so horrible, I stopped and did not touch the cards for the rest of the week. Talk about an idea that would not work. Saturday, I decided to go with grey and just paint the highlights. That started looking fairly good. Today I added a yellow splotch for the number board and for a name on the cab and some black for touch-up. 
To write on this acrylic paint with a pen, one needs to wait a day or two. Tomorrow I plan to paint Christmas lights on the tree. Then I can start with pen work on the picture and on the back and inside. I hope to be able to hand these out in the next day or so.  I might rush a few so I can give them out early in the week.
The moment I finish this batch of cards, I have another batch to paint. You don’t realize how many people you know until you start painting your own cards.

Christmas is next weekend. I will have a multi day weekend. I have loads of wood to turn into chips and sawdust, I mean finished pieces. I have presents to gather and wrap (I would rather country or rock them, but everybody says they should be rapped.....) 
It is surprising how I was way ahead last week and this week I am way behind.

I used to buy a box of cards and just use them to identify who was getting a present and who from. I never gave any thought about the cards. 
A lot of years ago (2003), I had gotten a teddy bear stamp. I decided I would use the stamp to make some Christmas cards. I then realized that the stamp was going to be a harder than it looked. I really did not know anything about stamping. It is one thing to pad the stamp in ink and touch it to the paper. It is another to have a nice scene to go with it. 
Since I had the paint and had some painting instruction, I decided I would paint my cards, figuring that would be easier. I ended up painting just six cards. The only record of them I have are some slightly out of focus pictures I have. They were not too bad looking, viewing them now. 
I skipped a year and then started painting cards. First for just the family, then for others.  It has been something I have done most years ever since. 
Some people choose a card just for the person, with the right picture and saying. Others choose a box of cards that has the right message for the year, and then write something inside that is meaningful.
I found that I get a lot of satisfaction out of painting my own cards. I have put a lot of my time and effort (putting in a lot of myself) into the cards. I know people who have every single painted card I have ever given. It means more to everyone than a card just picked out. 
I have copies of most of my cards over the year and none are really what I would call artistic. They are done fast, using the wrong brushes, not really planning out what I am doing and I am “splashing” color on a bunch of them at the same time. If I painted each one start to finish, one at a time, the results would be different. I see commercial cards now sort of in my style looseness of the picture... 
What many artists will do is paint one card, possibly in a larger format, and then scan them in and print them. That is good, they are original works, but getting something actually painted, where you can see the mistakes, feel the lumps of paint, and the splotches on the backs of the cards (I don’t clean paint mess on the backsides simply because the results of the corrections are worse than the mess) and if you happen to see someone else’s card, you can see they are not exactly the same, but quite similar. 
It happens that I am the only one I know paints them individually. 

Next weekend, I have planned a lot of wood working, getting stuff ready to box up and ship out (after Christmas, which is typical) and to get things ready for Christmas. I have to start painting a new batch of cards the instant I pick up the first batch for lettering
I will see what actually happens during the week and this weekend..

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a closeup of the first cards I painted.

one set of the six cards I had painted the first time.

second set of the six cards I had painted the first time.

My steam engines

some of the cards from the first batch this year. 

I had already passed out some of them before I remembered to take pictures.  

I show the back and inside of a couple cards. 

Year 18, Week 48, Day One (week 986)

Year 18, Week 48, Day One (week 986)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
12-08-18 Saturday

84 degrees afternoon, nice breeze blowing kept it comfortable. We did get a short splattering of showers, it left individual water dots on the pavement. It was over shortly after we noticed it.  A front is looking to pass through. We had some cold weather during the week because of a front, and it warmed up after just a couple days. We are expecting some more cold weather next week from the front passing through.. This weather report is brought to you by The City Of Pompano Beach Department Of Tourism.


During the week, I took my briefcase of ornaments to work. I have a lot of ornaments that are many years old. I have a sleigh, and couple bells from my very first batch of ornaments. One of the women at work picked out the sleigh and a few other ornaments. I gave an elephant ornament to the lady that delivers our mail. She’s a good friend. One January, I got an idea of carving “stuffed animals” as ornaments. It ended up that they were not all that popular. Mice and elephants tended to be the most popular of the stuffed animals. 
I started painting my Christmas cards. I did the two color background one night and then four color present boxes another, then the ribbons on the first batch of presents a third night. I am doing 25 cards on this batch and will do at least one more batch of 25 after these are done. I am already deciding that the next batch will have simpler backgrounds. 

My basic process of painting cards is to do one or two colors at a time on a batch, usually 20 to 25. I stack the cards next to me and take one at a time and add the same colors to all of them. I usually work right out of the caps of the bottles of paint. I pour some into the cap and dip the brush in there. I will use a little water to thin the paint, sometimes dipping the brush in water first then the paint, which slightly thins the paint over time, but sometimes I dip the brush in the  paint first and then the water. This thins the color on the brush so you can do a wash.  Most of the time I use the paint straight as I am after covering color. 
When doing Christmas lights on a tree, I will have four or five fine brushes and do one each color on the card. I set the cards to the side and go to the next one, usually starting with the last brush and color I used going backwards through the colors. I am working fast so the quality is not going to be in the artwork. I am mainly after a good impression of image. Make it recognizable. Most of the time, the results are appreciated. Some people have said the cards were as good as some cards you see in the store. 

SATURDAY

After breakfast we visited two yard sales and we got almost nothing. a few cords for phones. These seemed to be higher quality than we normally buy 

I decided to get my Christmas tree set up. I located my collection of ornaments that goes on my tree. I have a copy of all but a few ornaments I have made over the years. Most of the versions I am missing are ones made during the years I did not make very many ornaments, sometimes just as many as I absolutely needed. With them was a bag of ornament blanks I had been working on when I last carved seriously. At that time, I had enough for the moment and did not carve the whole dozen. I might work on them later. Some are blanks for ornaments I can use a few more of. There is a spool of thread and a light bulb I turned, and painted both of them red. The idea was to carve Santa faces in them. These are the most interesting of the blanks in the batch.

I do have a good collection of ornaments. Since my tree is against the wall, only the sides and front will be covered with ornaments and they do cover the tree. I have not counted them. I did find I have several repeats of some. Some of the repeats will go in with my brief case assortment.

It is surprising how you know what something looks like until you try to copy it. You find that you really don’t know what something looks like. An example is what is the difference between a horse, a Great Dane, a cat, a goat, or a deer. When you get into it, the differences between each are not really great, but they do make a difference. 
I know what a steam engine looks like. I understand how they work. I decided to carve another steam engine. I made some of the same mistakes again. While I know what they are supposed to look like, I miscalculated on a few things. For one, I must remember that the wheels are half the machine. The way I've carved the first two engines, the wheels should start at the bottom of the block. I could add wheels but was not planning on that. it really would not be too hard, come to think about it. I will give it consideration. 




Year 18, Week 48, Day One (week 986)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
12-08-18 Saturday

The temps were nice, we got a good shower around eleven, but except for a few puddles here and there, there was no sign it ever happened. It was mostly cloudy though the day. A good strong breeze kept things nice when we were under the awning. 
The front is coming at us like a chainsaw cutting its way across the state on an angle. we will likely get some wetness tonight. It will cool down  tomorrow night and Tuesday. when it warms up, it does not look like it will be quite a warm during the day the rest of the week. This weather report was brought to you by The City Of Pompano Beach department Of Tourism.

I was cutting some wood for steam engines when my brother arrived. I carved a steam engine, and touched up another one. Looking at the results, I figure that by the time I do twelve of these, I will have the form right. The shapes all say “trains”, even if there is no accuracy at all. These are more like toy trains, but they look pretty good anyway.
My brother brought out the little machine lathe and worked on some setup, then did some tests. There are little lines on the wheels and he wanted to know what each line was. Each one is a little over 100th of an inch (.01). It helps to know how accurate the thing is. My brother is working on improving his accuracy when it comes to machining. He said he designed a part. He machined it exactly to the specifications he designed it for. Then found out he designed it wrong...... He is becoming more interested in machining stuff. He kids us about making a watch or more likely a real steam powered train. He won't, but it is fun to think about. 
My brother gave up on the idea of blacksmithing as his body is in bad shape now. He gave up on metal casting also. He does machine stuff for work when parts are unavailable. His machining never made money at work, but his welder has. 

I am close to finishing the background of the cards. The next batch will have a different background entirely. It does not have to be that complicated. the next background will be a whole lot faster to pant.

There is fun in being active in crafts and hobbies again. To see something accomplished is a little heady. “I did that.” “I confess, I confess, I did that.”

I will continue on my cards, I hope to play around with more steam engine carvings.
I will see what I accomplish during the week.

1390

My brief case display at work.

My collection of ornaments from over the years.

My first four carvings I ever did. Left is first, second left was second and was from a cedar board. the right figure came out pretty good except the crossed arms. I learned on that one that I do not like sanding. 

My christmas tree filled with ornaments, the palm christmas tree in front with crochet ornaments and a couple felt snow men.

My first for carvings in front of them, and a crochet card from a friend. 

my three steam engines the middle one was the first one I did. while the shape says what they are, they are not what I was after.

the backgrounds of my christmas cards.

Brought to you by the City Of Fort Lauderdale Department Of Tourism. 

Come, visit, spend your money and return home.....

Year 18, Week 47, Day One (week 985)

Year 18, Week 47, Day One (week 985)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
12-01-18 Saturday

Broken clouds early morning. They repaired them later in the afternoon. 75 degrees early morning, 82 late afternoon. A strong breeze made sure one put something on top a bag or it would be floating away. Early in the week we got down to 49 degrees two days in a row. This is far below the 56 degree frost temperatures here in South Florida.  Cars were spinning out on ice on the highways. I avoided them by driving on the solidly frozen canals. I did have to drive to the beach because the Glacier that forms off the tallest natural land point in Broward county, had rushed across the landscape and was threatening to put icebergs into the ocean. It was only because of the “parrot heads” (the people at the bars on the beach) were chipping ice off the front of the glacier for their drinks, that the glacier did not reach the ocean on the second cold day. I hate it when it gets this cold. This weather report was brought to you by The City Of Pompano Beach department Of Tourism.

I went to Joanne’s Cloth World which is half crafts and half fabric related items. I had a list of things I needed, which included greeting card stock, paint, glue. Somehow, I through the store twice and did not come out with anything I didn’t have on my list. They had to mop the floor in the yarn isles after I drooled my way through there. Somehow the yarn were not leaping into basket. 
I should note that Santa said I could have the contents of one of those chain craft stores if I was a good boy. I sure hope He has not heard about all those little incidents........

During the week, I painted my ornaments. It was fun. I knew where my paints were, but could not find my brushes. I searched, and dug and hunted. I knew I had gathered them together in one place, but I could not remember where they went. When I found them, in a little drawer in a unit next to my desk, I THEN remembered why I could not find them. I had originally stuck them in the cookie tin that holds my paints at one point, and then moved them into the drawer. I only remembered the tin and could not find the one I put it in...... the reason it was no longer in any tin.
I painted the tea pots several bright colors, like the ceramic coating they put on them. I painted the lid knob on top and the handles black. The gingerbread houses were painted a dark brown, and then dabbed with white on the roof to sort of look like dots of snow on the shingles. I left the windows raw wood as that was like the warm color of a light inside. I showed them to my mom and she said paint the doors red. This weekend after she saw the results, she said to paint a wreath at the front door. 

After breakfast, we checked a nearby area for yard sales and there were none, so we went directly home and the first thing was to finish the painting of some of the ornaments. I then went out back to work. A coffee pot I made, as my first ornament, ended up getting three coats of paint. I first painted it white to represent metal. It looked horrible. I mixed some black and white paint for a grey and painted it. After it dried, there were spots that I missed, and because I mixed the grey color, rather than out of a bottle, it could not be replicated. I ended up painting it a light blue, figuring it would be close enough to a metal color. I plan to keep that coffee pot for my personal collection.
I dug into the shed and pulled out a hand-held belt sander. I needed to sand the bottoms of the ornaments so I can sign them on clean wood. Some of the bottoms where scorched from dull sandpaper on the disk sander. I plugged the sander in and turned it on, and it worked. 
The problem was the sandpaper belt had broke. I saw there was another one in the box so I took that out and had to re-learn how to work the sander for swapping sandpapers. I moved the lever which pulled the wheels together, which made it easy to slip the new sandpaper on. I then released the lever and the sandpaper broke. On both of them, the glue holding them together deteriorated. I will have to glue them together again so I can use this sander later. Instead, I laid a sheet of sandpaper down on the workbench and sanded the bottoms that way.
When given a chance, I would rather use a machine where time and effort warrants it. The sandpaper sheet and some outdated elbow grease worked.  
I had to dash to Ace hardware (actually now a TRU-VALUE but will always be ACE to me. The owner of the place has several of each type of store), which is in our neighborhood and picked up a bunch of tiny eye hooks. They were mean to me, in that they relocated them and I missed them entirely, and had to ask where they were. When you know where things are, as you browse, you might not look too closely in some isles, and carefully examine in other isles. They were in an isle I did not look carefully at.
Last week, I found some ornament blanks I had made years ago. I found two thread spools I turned for carving it was already painted red so a wood colored face was to look nice. The first one ended up having bug holes where I decided to carve.  I tossed that, then carved an old-man face into the second one. It looks good, not spectacular, but good. I am really surprised I have not lost any of my touch when it comes to carving. I can still picture what it is supposed to look like and can guide the knife to do most of what I want to do. I did not quite get the kind of face I was after on this spool, but it was a good face. 









Year 18, Week 47, Day Two (week 985)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
12-02-18 Sunday

75 degrees early morning, 82 late afternoon. A light breeze made it nice. We were supposed to have a wet Sunday. The Board of Tourism and the Board of Store owners demanded the wetness be delayed until later in the week. This weather report was brought to you by The City Of Pompano Beach department Of Tourism.

Last night, I went to a Christmas Party for the Gold Coast Wood Turning club that I am a member of.  The location was out where the meeting was last month, and then a mile or two south by the way the roads curved. We were again at the edge of civilization. I used the tracker to get home. I have now learned that not only do you listen to the voice, you must also watch the screen. I took the wrong road three times, but it got me where I recognized where I was. The highway system down here is not designed for people who don’t use the roads often, and especially not for tourists. That is the only problem with Florida being a vacation spot. 
The food was good, Italian. We had a “Bring a gift, leave with a gift.” gift exchange. I put two ornaments, a santa I had turned, then carved, and an angel. Into a gift bag, and threw a red-white-blue lei in just for fun. The guy who got that, called out, “I don’t know who gave the ornaments, but I really like them.” I confessed... 
The gift I selected had a large Florida Mahogany Vase. Normal, or Indonesian Mahogany is a solid dark color. Florida Mahogany has a light heart wood and a not so dark brown sap wood. The two tones makes it popular in wood turnings. 
Some people gave turning tools. One guy carried on a very old joke. Along with a real gift, he gave a card with two, two inch stones attached to it. On the back, it said, “two grit sand paper.” I called out that “I never start that fine.”
There was a lot of talk at each table, and I think there was like 26 people there. They also had a raffle for items given by companies. There were gift certificates and some items useable in the hobby selected by raffle tickets. I did not do a great job, but I shot 52 pictures for the club. No one seemed disappointed with the gathering or party. 

SUNDAY

My nephew came with his daughter. She was a bundle of cute. She acted as we think a child should act. He made a good choice on children........ I wonder which store he got her....

I took a stick of wood two by two wood and started carving. The wood fell off quickly and the end result was a steam engine. Not well done, but it is recognizable.  Well, actually, that was my third attempt. My first attempt was in a bad piece of wood, bug holes in it, I tossed it quickly. My second attempt, which I likely should have kept, had the wheels where they would be for a real steam engine, under the boiler (the bit round tube in front) and the cab was solid wood and it tipped backwards. The third one was what I ended up with. It looks good, but I am already seeing where I can make it right. I might take a drill and hallow out the cab a little. Will have to see what my mood will be in next weekend.  I see the design is doable and can be done fairly quickly. 

The past few weeks of carving has been easy on my hands. Today, though, I developed some blisters on my right hand where the knife rubs as I work. They were small and did not hurt. I guess I was a lot more aggressive with the knife this time. The steam engine did take more work to carve, more wood to remove. I might find places where I can use the bandsaw to remove some excess wood to make the carving easier. White pine comes in hard and soft varieties. The soft is almost pure white. The harder has stronger rings showing on the end. The pine I am using right now have good strong growth rings and is hard. It is still softer than yellow pine. 

I hope to start my Christmas cards this week. I have a design, I have the paint and a place to work. Now I just need to find the time. 

I will take my ornaments to work to show off. I always get some oohs and aahhs. 

I need to work more on ornaments

I will see what I accomplish this weekend.

1888

Showing the nature of the sticks of wood I am working with for my tea pots.

The handle and spout shear off easily if I am not careful.

the vase I recieved at the Christmas party

My steam engine

a tiny bit of wood removal from the cab.

another view of the steam engine.

the ornaments, tea pots in front, gingerbread houses in back

another view of my ornaments