kelseybacon.com

Random Morning Thoughts on a Monday

Posted on December 6, 2021 by Kelsey

It’s morning here on the farm. The goats are starting to make noise outside, and the dogs are fighting over chew toys and making a racket, too. I have been out to walk them twice already this morning and now my brain is whirring around with thoughts after the fashion of the dogs. There is no specific pattern to the thinking, but let’s see where it goes. I have already made breakfast for Missus, and coffee for us both, and I have till the girls come down to get this thinking done.

Yesterday was a busy day. Missus and I sorted out the last of the Christmas gift wrap. Then I went out and replaced the gate on the field front over the road. That has been a long time in coming. The chain that holds the gate shut is not long enough to reach the post, so I wired a second free standing post to the planted one, and can now close the gap with that, and chain the gate shut on it.

While I was doing all that, I spent 45 minutes aware of, or watching a couple in a car messing about at the far east end of the pasture. they would get out and mess with the fence, wave towards the llamas, and I think he showed his city boy self by grabbing the fence at one point and shaking it. I sure wish the electric was on when he did. That would have served him right. He was already on our property when he reached the fence! They would mess about a bit, then get into their car and sit for a bit, then move up the road or down it and park in another position. It was all pretty weird to watch as the owner of the land and animals they were harassing. They ring the neighbor’s doorbell, they walked into the neighbor’s backyard. They went down to the old guy who lives down the street from us, and by old, I am talking mid 90’s. They never came up to ours though, so I left them to it. They probably were just trying to get the attention of our little male llama. I should have a sign up asking to please not harass the animals in the field. That would be a nice touch for them if they ever return. I should probably get the electric fence going. That would be another nice touch.

I moved the trailers to a new parking area I made on top of the little pen I used to keep Big Pig in. They are now out of the way along the future driveway to the barn. They are also in a position where it is easy to hook up and drive them out of the property, which I should do today to empty one out ready for the coming snow, and to use to go get firewood.

The next steps for me are to finish the west drive around to the barn, clean out the garage, and set up storage in the barn. If I can do that, then pay down my current debts by spring, then it is time for a wood mill, a band saw, and electric to the outbuildings, including and especially to the garage. Looks like I am setting up permanent in there for a woodshop, which is great. It has an old concrete floor and a chance at being heat-able. We are thinking of a new building for Missus to run her business out of. Just a moveable one, so relatively cheap, but also able to be heated!

We ahve decided that since we are unable to get the value out of the property across the street right now that would make it possible for us to move right now, we are going to plan on being here for a while. No idea of that will change in the futire, but where there is no water available to make it a build lot, we best keep it for the animals to graze on. I need to find a grass that will grow on virtually nothing. The cost of irrigation shares is around $9,000 a share right now. The front field alone needs about 4 shares to maintain itself at the moment, and we have none. It is looking pretty bad. The back field benefits from leaching from the canal as it is lower than the canal, however, they are looking to put that in a pipe in the next two years or so, and we will likely lose that. I guess we may be headed to vacant lot. I’ll have to find another way to keep it useful and productive. In the long run I would rather see the place turned into a park than a storage shed location. But it is not going to make money as a park, or as it is, in the long run. Maybe we could lease it for someone else to figure it all out. But till the grass is completely gone, I will be grazing our llamas on it. I can talk to the farmer down the road who is my friend and see about getting it replanted with a better grass than is on it now that will flourish with less water. You know? I’d also like to get a beef steer soon, too.

Christmas is in a couple of weeks. I am excited to see the kids and be together as a family. That is always the very best part! Missus and I neither one live close to our siblings or parents to see any of them on the holidays, or really ever. We have to treasure what we have got here close at hand. We have family on my side spread through the United States, and on her side in England. We are kind of an independent entity here. It is what it is. There is no satisfaction in whining about it. The door’s open to those who wish to visit, and I have made it clear that I am in no position to go anywhere as we have responsibilities that tie us to the land here. But if they can’t come, again, it is what it is.

I hear the kids stirring and footfalls on the stairs. Probably oldest daughter on her way out to do her morning chores. The back door just went. It is meant to snow later today. I will probably head up to the thrift store to make a donation out of that trailer before then, and then off to the dump to drop off the rest. It’d sure be nice to empty it out before snow and ice freezes everything into it. Maybe then I can put the stuff we are keeping back into the barn for storage over the winter, and get my shop back!

Time to get rolling!

Posted in Journal Entry, Regular Update | Comments Off

December 2021

Posted on December 3, 2021 by Kelsey

This is the beginning of the last month of the year. It has been warm these recent days, and I have noticed that there is a distinct lack of snow on the mountains surrounding our fair valley. Of particular note in my mind was the words of a guy I used to buy wood from when we first started burning to keep warm. He pointed to the western mountains and said, “you see that snow line? Usually as it gets closer to us, people start buying wood from me.” I can’t remember if that was an October or November that he said that to me in, but the snow was at least half-way down the mountains, and it was definitely not a December! Here we are in 2021 with only the smallest patch of snow on the top of Oxford Peak, the highest mountain to the West, and sort of our weather rock.

Yesterday reached the low 50’s, and I took advantage of it to get some of the work outside done that I have been contemplating with only moderate seriousness. We have talked about running a drive through the far west side of the property at the back of the llama pens and curving around the back of the place to the ‘barn.’ That accessibility is meant to make moving trailers through this side of our property easier and give more use to the barn. It would also stop the need of driving between the barn and the granary, making a sort of yard space that is always kept free of car traffic. In theory it could also potentially reduce the driving in the front yard making that a cleaner space, but we’ll have to see. There is an advantage to accessing the front, and we do like how close we can get to the front door with the car, useful in winter, on rainy days which can be almost torrential, and when bringing in groceries and the like.

Yesterday’s work was to remove some posts that marked out boundaries to garden spaces that we will likely not use as such anymore. Those gardens were also good for housing Big Pig in the off seasons and keeping her on them when we wanted all the plant life removed. The posts I pulled were everything from metal T-posts to wooden railroad ties. I managed all with a high lift jack and a chain. I also have one metal piece that is rectangular in shape and has two holes through it, one to take a chain and hold it at any link, and the other to grab the T-post and lift it. It is really good at making the high lift jack a T-post puller. To pull the railroad ties I have a loop in the end of the chain and a hook on the other end, so I was able to grab the tie with it, and connect the chain to the jack lift, then pull upwards. It worked a treat! It’s not easy work getting a large piece of wood out of the ground that’s been buried in two and a half feet or more.

With the necessary posts cleared that we wanted moved, I am seeing a good space to put a large shed for Missus, as she has wanted for some time, which would also give her a good space for a flower garden around it. It also leaves me a good space to put a wood mill by the barn, which would up my wood game a bit. I only need a hobby mill, just large enough to cut some smaller pieces into boards.

The Forest Service limits the wood one takes from the mountains to seven feet in length, reducing what one can do with it at his end, and the wood from the dump is never quite right for milling. But my goals aren’t to build a house, they are to make furnishings and craft supplies, so longer pieces are not required. Perfect!

A hobby mill is cheaper, too, making it more realistic for me to get. Maybe after the GlowForge is paid off. I am working to make the wood hobby more than just a passive hobby for me. Supplying the material to work with is the next important step for me.

Missus is also working on getting her hobby set up as a business opportunity for herself. That will require a shed with a good workspace for her, and a bit of heat and air for when required, and space to store materials and tools. Let’s be honest. She needs more than a small or medium shed could provide. We’ll see what we can do! It will need electricity and water.

Anyway, all the speculation is off topic for what I got done, and what is in the immediate future for the drive space. Right off the bat, I have likely got a better space to put the trailers that we have got in. I will probably try them out today. I will be expanding the orchard out a bit, too, with more space for trees. I need to see how a new septic system will go in before finalizing any plans there, though. Using the area planned as a drive will keep me from driving anything between the barn and the granary. That will make that a safer space to use for kids to play in, and where things can be set up for games and hospitality. Maybe I will fence it off? A yard within a yard? Perhaps.

We tried this summer to sell the land over the road in an effort to move off this farm and onto one situated with all the land on one parcel. There were no offers because water connections to the local supply are impossible to get right now, and we are not willing to cut the price to effectively pay for someone to put in a well. If anyone is getting a well with our money, it is us. The situation as it is right now, we are not able to move, even though we are supposedly in a great seller’s market. Pretty funny.

No matter. We’ll just fix this place up a bit and make the best of it.

We have two new puppies running the house now. They are half Australian half Beagle, and brother and sister. We bought one for our youngest, but he had a bad first day that looked to me like a lot of stress for him, so I went over in the evening and got his sister and brought her home, which immediately calmed his nerves. My daughter calls her little boy Spot, and I call my little girl Snoopy. I don’t care if it is a boy’s name. I am called Kelsey, and I am a man. So screw it. I get a Snoopy Dog! And she is just lovely! We are training them to poo outside right now. Spot is having limited success, but Snoopy seems to be at least 50% there. I think I will get Snoopy up to scruff then trade and work with Spot. I think that will do it. We are having them use the orchard because people already seldom walk there, and because in the summer it gets sprayed down with large volumes of irrigation water from above which should help clean it up. It is a bit of a walk, and especially fun in the cold nights. But I think it will be worth the effort.

Well, it’s 5:30 in the morning, and I am due for a little more sleep. Time to go get it! But before I do, I just have to say, since the Windows 11 update, the spell checker built in absolutely sucks. I have to right click on an underlined word then click on Open Suggestion, a two-step operation I have to do twice before it responds and actually actuates. Sometimes it does not respond at all. I have a pretty new computer that works fine for absolutely everything else I do on it. Then the suggestions it gives sometimes appear questionable at least, and completely missing a word that I have misspelled by only one letter. Why it does not just show a list of suggestions on a single right click like before is completely beyond me! What genius thought up the two-click solution? Microsoft, this is just idiotic.

Posted in Regular Update, The Farm | Comments Off

Conner O’Mally and The Little People

Posted on November 22, 2021 by Kelsey

AS I carried on with Joe Pera’s work, I inevitably found his skits with the Conner O’Mally character. I was bummed about the “How To Make It In USA” series. Deep psychological garb out to the side, I’ll just say it right out. I did grow up with people in my life that were of low impulse control and little intellect, which the character perfectly portrays. So it is of little appeal on that count to me. But it is also of low appeal in the sense that the world outside of the skits is plenty like it already, and Pera’s characterization needs no such contrast to emphasize his gentler nature. I bring my own dissatisfaction with the world to the show to contrast it with. But that’s just me.

I prefer the mellow skits that force me to slow down, and to think a little, and to be patient. Those are attributes that are a pay off in their own right. In a world of instant gratification patience with another human being cannot be pushed aside the way we are seeing it done with road rage and other far worse social crimes that happen daily. I cannot stress how important it is to slow down for other people, and to take them as we meet them, and enjoy them. I suppose that applies to the O’Mally’s of the world, too. I am only impatient with the characterization because I find it redundant, and unnecessary.

The particular genius of the O’Mally character occurs in places like the name, which seems to be rooted in the French, mal, for bad. The vulgarity of the character instantly embodies what it is trying to portray, and leaves little question as to what it represents. There is likely a little or a lot of Conner O’Mally in most people, just as most probably have a bit of a Joe in them, too. It’s a bit Lucy Van Pelt, and a bit Charlie Brown. We’ve all got them in us. Easy to recognize. But as I say, I bring my own to the table, and that’s just me.

Can I overlook the redundancy and the lack of appeal of the character? I have long enough to see the whole series of “How To Make It In USA.” I should watch the O”Mally solo work and see if the character is the same. But I will give it a pass for myself. Others will perhaps find him relatable, and should watch. I’ll be a snob, if that’s what that is, and stick to the gentler side of things because I find it more appealing, and more of what I need.

So, that’s my critique of what more I have discovered since first finding Pera’s work online. I have to accept that for some reason he felt the need to sit across the malcontent called Conner, and to have the vulgarity in his skits. I am not compelled as to the reasons why. That’s a part of him, too. So be it. I am prepared to be let down. On the other hand, I am hopeful he will carry on with his more philosophical work, such as disposing of a pumpkin, or meandering through different topics while talking to those who cannot sleep. They are far more down to earth, and far more generous discussions, to me. And that is what a lot of what this critique comes down to really being about. Me. What do you think? Have you seen Joe Pera Talks You To Sleep? Have you seen Fall Drive?

I have to go out later today to get rabbit food, and to put some gas in the gas can for the mower. Hauling hay in the mower trailer is far easier and less wasteful than trying to carry it across the yard in any other way I have discovered. Our wheelbarrow broke a few years ago, and no longer serves any purpose other than as a roof over the area next to where the cats get their food. While the mower seems to need a bit of a tune up, I am still not ready to invest in a new wheelbarrow.

I also have to call the estate agent to have him de-list the land today. There are no serious offers coming through, and with water not available at the moment, there is no value in it that will exceed the value of grass to feed our animals.

I will be taking the ham out of the freezer today, ready for the holiday on Thursday. I’d like to whip up the cream for the pumpkin pie too, but that would be seriously premature, and totally so I could just sit and knock myself unconscious eating it. The pie, that is. Not just the whipping cream.

It is a quarter to five in the morning now. There is plenty of noise in the house already with fans downstairs to circulate the warm air from the wood stove around, and a TV in the next room, and the beeping of a lonely alarm in the bedroom upstairs. The girls are still asleep. My youngest has all the dulcet tones of a 104 piece orchestra falling down a stairwell.

Posted in Philosophical, Regular Update, Unfiled Customer Complaints | Comments Off

A Cup of Joe Pera

Posted on November 19, 2021 by Kelsey

I forgot to put the garbage out yesterday afternoon, so I ran it out first thig this morning. Here’s where I have to admit that I don’t often get outside so early, and I forgot how beautiful mornings are. There was the lingering smell of burnt paper in the air, as though someone had just started a fire in the woodstove, but the logs that were in there when I came back inside were far beyond a first burn. Maybe the neighbor started their pellet stove?

Musings on Joe Pera

I have been listening to some of the material on Joe Pera the last couple of days, since his appearance on Townsends. His timbre is slow, and his voice quite soothing. Topics are everyday things that are relatable to the average person, and often overlooked by them, as they are so mundane. Though I had never heard of him before, I found that he has visited the likes of Stephen Colbert, and Seth Meyers.

I learned the secret to happiness a long time ago from a blonde and her Beetle. It was a shiny red car, from the late 60’s or early 70’s. The year was 1990, and she was a waitress that had just come in for her shift at the restaurant my grandfather and I were sat in for breakfast. Grandpa was in his blue plaid shirt, the blonde’s hair was curly, and tied up at the back of her head. She began her banter with her manager the moment she opened the door. He said her car looked so clean. She smiled and laughed, looked out at it through the large windows and said “isn’t it? I just washed it! It looks great!” I could not remember ever seeing anyone so bubbly over a clean old car. She and her manager went back and forth a bit about it before she took over as our server. Her bubbles continued.

It was not like someone had just given her the car! What struck me was that I had always considered car washing as a chore, drudgery in action. And here she was, exuberant over the mundane!

My writing in my blogs has tried to carry the element of happiness about the simple, all these years later. She is still echoing in my head! But lately I have not been writing it down, indulging in the inspiration of everyday simplicity. I need to come back to it.

In comes Joe. His topics ramble from why the ice age contribute to his standing on the shores of the Great Lakes enjoying the day, to ritualizing the disposal of his Halloween Jack O’ Lantern in a river. Tie the topics to his soothing tone, and slow and thoughtful pace, and you have something different to the everyday comic who bashes out firebrand social commentary at such a pace and with such force that it feels inevitable that if one were to meet with them as friends, it may not be long before they turn on you, and begin to attack you, or worse, put you into their stage routine. Not Joe. He is a soothing cup of hot chocolate wrapped in an warm blanket, in front of a fire, with a trusted old friend who cares about you. It all adds up to something relatable and familiar.

Bastard! Joe carried off my favorite prose better than me! But I tip my hat off to him, and retract the ‘Bastard!’ at the beginning of this paragraph with my sincere apologies. Joe may be a friend to all who wish to slow it down and take a breath, and still be social and enjoying hometown friendliness. (Unless your hometown is New York City, or Los Angeles, or some other big place with a fast pace and no time to slow down a moment to notice you just took your first breath.) Thanks Joe, for reminding me a person can run slow, and still be running.

Posted in Memories, Philosophical | Comments Off

Rambling from 1AM to 6AM on the Thought Train

Posted on November 18, 2021 by Kelsey

I think it was around 1AM when I woke up this morning. I had to run down to the usual place I like to go that time of day. Only a couple of minutes later, after putting a couple of logs into the stove to counter the cold outside, below 20 degrees, and turning the taps on in the kitchen to prevent them from blocking up with ice, I was back in bed, snuggled up warm, and head cozy on my pillow. I thought I could dive back into sleep, but soon realized I was on that train of thought that resembles the one we used to ride from Birmingham to Worcester some evening after visiting the big city, only two cars long, and hoards of people leaving for the day, trying to pack into the tiny spaces between the filled cars, where they connected together, and the articulations of rounding the bends on the rails made us a little unsteady.

I decided to go ahead with the usual routine of watching a few YouTube videos and trying to fall back to sleep. Joe Pera came to mind. His soothing voice, and calming images should be perfect to fall back to sleep on. By 4AM, I had followed his train of thoughts out of the city of my mind, and into a meadow, away from even the country lanes he takes his viewers on, and when there, I realized that the tangential topics he leads one along had not called me to sleep, but to change.

I have now got my laundry running, I am dressed, hair combed, and sat with coffee beside me, my warm chair blanket around me, and the keyboard beneath my fingers, still trying to relax. And it is not that I am not relaxed. I am. I am also stressed a bit.

Earlier in the year we put the field up for sale across the street, in hopes that we could sell it, use the money to fix what needed fixing on the house, then take what was left to put down elsewhere, and move, then sell the house to finish buying into the new place. But life changes, and not always in the direction one tries to go into. Now we are looking at removing the listing, though I am not sure how we will cover the costs of repairs on the house. We need the field to feed the animals we want to raise and we need the repairs on the house. Paying for them is something we will have to consider.

That is part of my stress. The means by which we live will likely change soon, and I don’t know when. I have some debts to pay down first. Then we will have to learn to put one foot in front of the other another way.

I also need to get down to the dump and get some more firewood. I am worried that I have not yet really collected enough to get us through the winter. I keep wavering back and forth between that, and thinking there is probably enough. But even if there is, getting ahead for next year is a fine thing to do. I could do with doing that.

I would like to get up to the mountains next year and get maple trees and dry them out and start spinning those on my lathe, and making small furnishings out of them. I guess it is not much of a business plan. But it is what I want to do, and I have found that the things we want to do are the things we should do, as long as those things are born in a healthy mind and are good also for those around us.

The old house just stands and stands. It wants a little help where it has one bad ankle. But it remains well into its second century. I feel lucky to be a part of its history. It does not suffer from the modern fashions that the young houses do. It makes me wonder how well I will stand in my future, and how I will stay propped up when my ankle, or my leg, gives a little under me. The old house looks after me. I want to look after it. I want to give it to the generations to come, and vanish into the list of the names on the deed that had a chance with it over the years, and who have raised families here. I want to do all this. I should just do it.

It’s nearly 5AM now.

There is a computer upstairs in my den that is dedicated to a near singular task, which is to record data from my weather station and see to it that it goes online so others in the area can see the weather data and use it to plan their days, and decide their local conditions are better or worse than other places where they know people who live around the country. It is my small contribution to the world around me. We don’t always say ‘hello’ to the people in our neighborhood, but I like to keep them appraised of the weather close to where they live, and make my contribution in that small way. At the moment though, the computer’s hard drive is reported as failing, and I am trying to replace it. It is not going quite as well as I had hoped it would, so the weather station is reporting online as down at the moment. If I were a little more tech savvy or maybe if I were better at following directions, I would have it back up and running right now. I will approach it again today, probably after a nap. With good luck, I will have it properly cloned and up and running before the girls pick out their 3 o’clock snacks. Even with my nap.

Sometimes a light catches my eye through the window. It is a car driving by on our little country road that is often used as a cut from the highway, or from State Street to Weston. I wonder if the people in the car are doing what they want to do? Or are they trapped in the social cage that they have been programmed for from school right through the traps of debts and career? Even for a homesteader, it is nearly impossible to be truly self reliant in this country. I don’t know of many who don’t support their lifestyle on the back of some work outside the home. Someone has to punch a clock, while someone feeds the goats. How can we both live the idyllic country life? I have got that stressing my mind too.

It’s time to refill my coffee cup.

One thing I have been pondering for many years now has been the value of the news media. This goes deeper than worrying about their biases, to the level of the noise they bellow out at us; the general public. Many years ago, while conversing about the importance of being informed with another fellow whose name I cannot remember any more than his face, he told me, ‘why worry about it? What goes on – out there – had not direct effect on your life. Why let it in; why let it stress you out?’ It always seemed to me to be a statement like, ‘as long as you keep the duct tape around the doors and windows, the nuclear fallout won’t trouble you.’ Knowing what is going on has helped me to understand things, like why the planes fell silent in the skies for a short while in late 2001, and… In the last twenty years, that has been the most significant thing of all. The rest has been a lot of who shot who, and how the weather is. Honestly I don’t need to be appraised of who shot who to know that it was not right for them to do that. There’s not many ‘whys’ that ever justify it. People can be really ugly, and that is the overwhelming sense I have gotten from the news. I don’t like that feeling. But it contributes to the feeling of fear that keeps us as sheep, and keeps us controllable.

I have been leery of social norms since childhood. As a kid, the school saw to it that I would be in constant contact with a psychologist, to see why I found schoolwork dubious and why I could not get along with the other bots, I mean boys, that liked to bully me. Not following a crowd is my norm. There’s nothing interesting going where everyone else is. Raising chickens has only confirmed to me how low we are on the evolutionary ladder. A chicken sees another chicken picking at the ground, and goes to see what it is, and join in. A chicken becomes injured, and the others see the weakness and go peck at it till the bird dies. I live in a country that is follows fads as they develop and uses ‘social media’ to expedite the trends, and hashtags to speed them along. It cannot agree that healthcare is a basic right of its citizens. It all seems chicken to me. I don’t know why we cannot agree to not shoot each other, and that everyone deserves to have a doctor available in the inevitable time they become sick or injured. It’s something we all do. So let’s look after that together! Or is it because some aspects of healthcare may be dispensed in ways that we cannot all agree on? That’d be like shutting the schools down because we don’t all understand evolution.

Pardon my rambling thoughts here. It has been a long time since I have been able to do this. The past few years my thoughts have been sucked up by the political disposition of the New Media. It’s been a bad time here in America. There is a lot of bickering over what we stand for as a nation. I do think to some extent the media has amplified it beyond reality. At the same time, I see things that indicate to me that it is as bad as they say, usually printed on a flag bearing a name, and language that was once considered too uncouth to put in the sight of children. Yet, here we are. Well, my brain needs a rest from all that, so this is all I am going to say about it at the moment. I would rather be all consumed by the junk mail in my inbox, than… no wait. That is just about as bad.

Across the room from me is a picture frame with an image of a house in it after the style of Pennsylvania Dutch art. The house is a country home, flanked by two trees, and under it is the word “Peace.” I have always thought of this as a call for peace, as in ‘world peace.’ This morning it strikes me as country peace. Peace, as in little noises from a nearby road. Peace, as in no shouting, or hollering. Peace, as instead being able to almost make out the words of a conversation being held more than a quarter of a mile distant. Peace, as in the pace of time being marked by sunrises and sunsets, rather than hours and minutes. Peace, as in enough rain, but not too much, so the corn grows, and the tomatoes too. Peace, as in watching the chickens, and not growing more cynical about humanity for doing it. Peace, like listening to Joe Pera, without his soothing voice or his relaxing topic train derailing my brain in the realization that I am still without peace.

Posted in Journal Entry, Philosophical, Regular Update | Comments Off

As the World Turns & Turns

Posted on October 21, 2021 by Kelsey

It’s a funny old thing how much of what we have developed and use comes from things spun and turned. It may not seem immediately obvious, but how much fabric alone is spun cotton or animal fiber? Next we can get into handles and spindles and wheels and pulleys that would have once been easiest made of wood and turned on a pole lathe.

I have turned maybe ten projects so far. Last night I turned a spindly shape that I then hollowed out, and put two cuts into, one straight in, and the other at a 45 degree angle. Add a fipple and next thing you know, I had a whistle. I can see some more of those being made and given to the nieces and nephews and grandkids at Christmas. Well, maybe not. But I will be doing more of these, and I want to make a multi-chambered whistle, then connect it to the air compressor. Yes, I am looking to mimic a train or shop whistle.

It seems a pretty easy craft to pick up and do. Doing it well on the other hand is a challenge. But every project is practice. Even the simple, cute ones.

My youngest brother called yesterday. It was really good to talk to him! It was good to catch up with how his family is doing, and what they have been up to lately.

We have a kid on the way down later today to borrow the log-splitter. It’ll be good to see him! It always is. I was thinking of sorting him out with this log-splitter sometime, since he is getting into firewood burning, and could use it. But then why would he visit us if he had one of his own? I like the design of the Yardmax much better. But to be fair, some of the problems of the Champion have been sorted out. There are still some things I don’t like, though. I think the Yardmax is in order. Need to pay off the lathe and hand tools first, though. There’s also a few more things needed in the shop.

About that. I’d like to get a new air compressor, and build a workbench. The shop will need a bandsaw, and a mill saw, even if it is only small. There are probably many other things I need, including some planes and ploughs, and some setup that will make threaded dowels so I can build a vise and make some toys and tools. Finally, there are some sharpening implements I must get. I’ll have to build the better part of a steamer for bending. Jigs and the like are also mostly of my own production.

I also need to get the shop cleaned up of all the crap we are storing in it right now. To do that, I will need to get the trailer cleared of all the crap we are storing in it right now. It sounds like a problem, but it is actually the majority of what is left of some much bigger problems that we have had for years. I suppose I should get the shop properly attached to the electrical supply, too. It would be lovely to get the heat going in there, too. But then we get into the insulation and such, and it starts to get back to moving house to someplace already set up.

We’ll see how things go.

Posted in Journal Entry, Regular Update, The Farm, Woodshop | Comments Off

First Turning Project

Posted on October 16, 2021 by Kelsey

I got the new lathe yesterday, and Khallie helped me set it up. That was good fun. I then mounted a piece of 2×4 in it to at least try the tools out a bit till I found a decent piece of wood somewhere to really mess about with it. Today I rooted around through the firewood spares, and found a couple of pieces of logs. So, I put one on the lathe and did all the wrong roughing and all the wrong cuts and came up with my first project. It has a lot to be desired, but most of that is not visible in the picture below. Luckily.

My first turning project is a basic yarn bowl.

I told Missus she could have it as a yarn bowl till I can make her a better one. I want to do one with one of those curlicue slots that the yarn flows through, but holds a ball in the bowl. I expect that due to some dampness and some little cracks, this one will warp and fail in a few weeks or less.

I did all the wrong cuts because I set up the wood, then panicked! I had to get to work, and did not want to go look up a whole video on how to do a bowl, as none of them are very short. I used spindle gouges on the outside of this, and I should have used my bowl gouge, and not just for the inside. I also should have used a push cut. That will have to come to be on the next bowl. I watched a video after I finished this, and it all makes a lot more sense now, and I think I get it. I need the things I learned in the video, over an hour long, to stay in my head till I get to go do them myself, and I can reinforce them.

Anyhow, the new lathe felt very controllable and stable. I was able to set exactly the speed I felt comfortable with. The only thing I think I would like to do is finish getting the accessories, especially the light. I can really see how that would come in handy after turning this bowl. It is hard to see inside it with the overhead light. I could obviously go cheap and use a flashlight, but doing the accessory light, I would have better options and better light from above when I set it there. So, there are reasons. I also want a keyed drill chuck so I can use the drilling function of the tailstock. I also need to sort out sharpening on the tools. Here is a trippy thought. Say I turn another bowl. It is like this one, about 8 inches in diameter. That is the finished size, but it started out closer to ten, and had bark on it. If I have to spend an hour, and I only count it as the average of nine inches, and it spins at an average of 1,500 RPM, then the tool cuts 212,057 feet of wood. Tools don’t stay too sharp that way. Happily that ends up being a bit exaggerated to the cuts I would need to do such a bowl, but… It shows where an hour of cutting goes, and how much wood passes over a blade.

I look forward to the next chance I get to go out and work in the woodshop!

Posted in Journal Entry, Woodshop | Comments Off

More Woodcraft Learning

Posted on October 12, 2021 by Kelsey

I called today to ask about the progress of shipment of the lathe. The place I called turned out to be the same place that they count the lathe as having shipped from. So, here are the lessons learned.

Woodcraft is actually headquartered at Parkersburg, West Virginia. They have a store there, which I found originally. They also have their headquarters, and a warehouse there. The lathe shipped from the warehouse. The lady I spoke to called the carrier and got back with me to tell me they will get it moving tonight, and that it will eventually change carriers to Diamond Lines, which operates out of the West.

Sadly, she spoke to the same lady at R+L Carriers that I had spoke to last week, who had promised me that it would get moving by that night. Apparently, the depot in Chicago is understaffed, and swamped. Is it? Given the state of the world, right now, probably. That’s fine, but I would love it if they would communicate that to me, rather than say they will move it along when in reality, she probably has no control over it at all.

So, it is supposedly getting moving tonight. I doubt it. But let’s see, shall we? I am eager for it to get here. With supply chains buggered, and with fuel prices going up, I am eager for this one thing to happen, and to help us to maybe make a bit on the side, and make us a little more independent. If nothing else, we can make more of our own things and save a boatload right there. Well, maybe.

Let’s be honest. I am just over eager!

Posted in Unfiled Customer Complaints | Comments Off

Sat Over A Morning Cup of Coffee

Posted on October 11, 2021 by Kelsey

I am sat here, the girls off school this week, and thinking about what to do with my order from Woodcraft. I called customer support at the carrier, and they promised it would be out of Chicago this weekend. I called again, for good measure, and they promised it would be at my house by Tuesday, via a trip to Salt Lake City on Monday. It’s Monday, and according to tracking, it has still not left Chicago.

I miss the good old days when things took weeks to arrive, and it would be months before a fellow might question it. But nowadays with the Internet, and scanning and the like, I get to see too clearly into the operations of a carrier, and I get to have anxiety that someone may be about to call me from the Teamster’s Union and tell me that for a fee, my freight might get moving again. The modern age really seems to contribute more, rather than diminish anxiety.

Woodcraft may be a wonderful company on just about every level, but their logistical decision making has a lot to be desired. I don’t see myself ordering from them again. I have ordered parts for the lathe from another supplier and they have already arrived. I now have a fully expanded empty space in my shop.

Whatever!

A week on the dock in Chicago for something they could have shipped from a store two hours from my house? And what if it arrives and doesn’t work? Anxiety inducing!

The Billy goat in the pen next to the dog is calling. I think he has given up on the weeds in that pen, and wants hay, instead. I’ll have to feed him in a bit when I go out.

We have sold the female pigs this year, and Big Pig died. We also sold a goat. We need to sell the one calling from the pen right now, too. I have an old mare, if anyone is interested. Two old llamas could not likely make the trip if we were to move any reasonable distance. They could do with going on the auction block, as well.

Our chickens are laying well. I get upwards of nine eggs a day from the flock. One habitually lays double yoked eggs! They are huge! Her genetic anomaly suites me just fine!

It is cold enough here now to put a morning fire in most mornings and take the chill off the house. Or, it has been the past few days, anyway. I need to finish cutting up the firewood and stacking it. I have a dry mountain of it that needs this work. I need to cover it, too. The rain that finally fell on it soaked up the seasoned wood pretty good. That has not been too helpful these cold mornings.

The woodstove is almost fully serviced now, with a cleaning and a new gasket. I have a new set of vermiculite on order for the inside, top. I also have a heat activated fan on order, as well as the piping to get down to three inches in diameter, and bring in air from outside, rather than inside the house. That would stop it breathing through the draughts in the house, and allow the stove to instead push a heat envelope outwards against them.

I have a couple of things to finish up in the shop today, if there is time, or tomorrow. Missus wants a heddle jig for her looms. No problem there! That looks easy, and I know how to make it a part of the cart she had me make her recently. The only question is, do I make a new cross board, or use one of the two I already put on the cart to give her a table top surface on the top of the cart? More workspace is always good! I also have to put on a couple of dowels to give her the spots to hold bobbins on the cart. Seems easy enough, too! That, I can do in the house!

I better go out and feed the animals now. There are things to do today!

Posted in Journal Entry, Regular Update, Unfiled Customer Complaints, Woodshop | Comments Off

The Trouble With Woodcraft

Posted on October 10, 2021 by Kelsey

I do have a complaint. It is about Woodcraft, and about RL Carriers. I placed an order for a new lathe, and stand, with Woodcraft on September 30th. They are a woodworking supply chain with stores throughout the United States. I figured it would be a simple matter of them shipping a lathe up to me from one of their local stores, such as the one about two hours from here in Salt Lake City, or even the shop in Boise, Idaho, which is further, but at least in the same state as me. If not, they have the same lathe also in stock in Loveland, Colorado. It is further, but it is the third closest shop their website listed it in stock. No problem. Then I got confirmation that they shipped it.

It is coming from a store, for sure, but in Parkersburg, West Virginia! WHY? Why is is being shipped from West Virginia?

So the shipping company moved it quickly through a couple of towns in West Virginia, and Ohio, before dumping it off at a depot in Chicago, where it has now sat idle for five days. I have spoken to their customer service line once to ask of the status, then again to reply to a message on the webpage apparently telling me to call them. Both times I spoke to a pleasant agent who seemed quite helpful. The first time she noted the documents to say it needs to get on a truck that day, as it is already late. The second agent said it would be on the truck this weekend, and at my door on Tuesday. There is still time for this to be accomplished, as it is Sunday morning that I am writing this.

But what the hell is the purpose in a world of high carbon emissions and modern logistics of sending me something from West Virginia to Idaho, when it could be had at any of three shops within ten hours of me? I am frustrated with the sipping company, to be sure, but I am more frustrated with Woodcraft for originating the order from a standard storefront location several hundred more miles than necessary from me!

I know that to some this may come off as petty. To me, it is the first step in defeating why I ordered the tool in the first place, which is to make things at home, in a homespun lifestyle, to reduce carbon emissions, and to increase our family’s independence. Next it has to get here, and work properly, and do what I want it to do, without having to return it to Woodcraft. This is my first time buying online from them, but it may well be my last.