Dashing Through Time

Posted on February 25, 2025 by Kelsey

I got together a few of the smaller pieces of scrap from the walnut in the burn bucket in the shop and put them on the lathe. I was thinking of egg cups, but they were too small. I turned them into handles instead that could be used on any future furniture projects, such as a Shaker style candle box or drawer. Then I was reminded later today that one of the small projects I wanted to do at some point is bobbins. I could have turned a couple of those pretty easily. So I am disappointed that I didn’t. Somehow, I think a couple of walnut bobbins would be quite luxurious.

I had to mess about with the DoorDash app quite a bit today to get it to show me Preston. I think what it wants is for me to not just enter the zone physically but actually take a delivery there before it will remember the zone for me. It seemed to earlier today. So, I guess that’s how I solve it going forward. Drive back from Logan after a Sundy delivering and go into Preston and take a delivery, then I can be set up for the week. Otherwise, I have to do it sometime on Monday or Tuesday, whenever I can get into town. Stupid thing will require me to be there to notice any runs, though. So that would be a lot of guesswork. Best to drive up and catch one on the evening when people are fancying something nice before going back to work for the week. It will be a challenge though, because I am tired come that time of a Sunday night, after working the Friday – Sunday weekend.

Missus just called out to tell me that we finally got our first review on the hairpin lace looms on her Etsy shop! Five stars! This is great! A few of them went out and we are looking forward to seeing what people say, and how they are received. This particular review read…

“Fabulous loom, I had one in the past and you cannot find them anymore. Love it.”

Etsy Customer

Well, that’s exciting! She seems to have used them before, so I am happy that she might have experience with them, and she is happy with what I made. That is important to me. I give this customer a five-star review!

I am feeding the llamas and goats in the mornings now. That way I can be free the rest of the day, and work in the shop, or do food deliveries, or both. It is more satisfying than doing it in the evening and usually having to fit it in or forget it. They don’t like it when I forget it. I remain logged into Door Dash now till 8:30PM. That’s another 20 minutes. If it grabs me, then I go. Otherwise, after 8:30 I will start thinking about bed. I like to relax and read a bit or watch news and Late Night or maybe some woodworking related videos before I nod off. These days suit me just fine. I like them. I especially like still being able to do the school runs. That ride home listening to how the kids’ day was is very important to me. And the ride to and getting them psyched up for their day is also such important time.

Time keeps on ticking, to both the near future and the far.

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What Do You Do?

Posted on February 24, 2025 by Kelsey

Oh! I am glad you asked!

I am a couple of things. First, I am a husband and a father. Nothing comes before those.

I do delivery on the weekends to help make ends meet. I also catch a photo here and there where I can, while out to do the deliveries and at other times.

I manage a small hold farm with llamas and goats.

I gather loads of wood that would otherwise be sent to waste, and I use it to make furniture using mostly hand tools. What I cannot use from the logs I gather, or any other waste, I make into firewood to heat our home, or yours, if you come buy.

And finally, I am a chandler. I make beeswax candles both with molds, and by hand dipping.

These are my primary occupations.

When required of me, I also assist my wife’s business by making what she needs to sell, so for example, we got started like this with hairpin lace looms. They took off, and we have been selling them since through her Etsy store and at Farmer’s Markets.

Let me show you my first proper piece of furniture. It was a small table with a drawer in the front. I made it following direction in a video course I purchased online. The exciting part of it is that there were no plans or measurements. It was simply freehand, much like earlier furniture would have been in small rural shops across the colonies.

Terribly sorry about the resolution! But this is the table. I am very happy with it, but it does not get much use as it is the only one I have in my collection. I would like to build a few more and sell them. They are not difficult for me to make. I just need the dry wood to work with, and that is going to require putting my mill to work. I am learning on that and trying to get to the point where I produce good wood with no warping or cupping and properly dried with little waste.

Importantly, some of these are some of the tools I made the table with. After general stock preparation, the whole table was built by hand, with hand tools. Even the taper on the legs was done with a hand plane.

The candle stand was made by outlining the star shape and etching the designs with a laser, then cutting out the star shape with the bandsaw. The center was even found on the laser, then, with an egg-beater drill, I put the screw hole in the middle, then fastened down the candle cup. I was able ot make several of these fairly easily.

A birthday candle is fairly quick and easy to hand dip and depending on the length can cost a little or a little more. The labor is the same, but the materials have to be accounted for.

Larger candles are more expensive. This is an example of one I have dipped then straightened as I go, with no weight at the bottom of the wick to hold it there. I rely on my hand to make adjustments as I go to straighten it. It has, I think, a more primitive look to it, and is suitable to someone who wants either that, or the look of a candle made out on the trail. With a weight attached to the end, the candle naturally comes out straighter. There is a little more work involved. But it looks like a candle made in civilization.

And as a final example, I turn you back to the one in the star up above. That is a candle made in a colonial style tin taper mold. They are very consistent. They are all sized the same and are reliable for candlesticks.

Finally, on the topic of candles, this is a handmade candle box filled with beeswax candles. I refuse soy or other candles and use only beeswax because it is natural and seems to have more benefits than ails. The smell is warm and lovely, and the wax in the air attaches to the dust, weighing it down and cleaning the air for you.

I built two Roman workbenches. One for the shop, and one for the front porch. I am modifying the one for the porch so it can do a lot more than the one for the shop. It is meant to provide me a warm place to work over winters, if we still have those in the future. This Roman will serve as a place for grandchildren to come visit Grandpa.

This is the porch bench in progress. It ideally will serve also as a sort of shave horse when it is finished.

I had a container for sourdough starter that lost its lid to breakage before I ever even got the chance to use it. Then my oldest daughter asked to use it, so I made her a lid to go with it. She never has done anything with it since. Snob!

Another project for the lathe and for the walnut wood a neighbor gave me has been to make carver’s mallets. I like this type of mallet, a lot. I keep saying I am making them to sell, but I like them too much to let go of. I need to make some to sell!

Finally, I needed a place to store a few tools out by the sawmill. I thought it would be fun to make it look like a place nobody would want to come snoop around in. The best part it that it would very easily convert into an actual outhouse. I think a plastic bucket to catch waste in under a little bench built on the supports of the bottom shelf, and we would have the necessities should we ever find ourselves without proper disposal. Just dump the bucket way out back when you are done!

Those are some of the things I have made. I will next move on with the skills acquired and make some more of the same, and some things new. I intend to get more complicated as I go with designs, but slowly. When all was said and done, the table was not that hard. A couple more and I will be totally convinced of that. I also will make them of different shapes and sizes, adding to my maker’s skill, and further convincing me how easy it really is. Also, having built the one, I already have ideas on efficiency.

So, this is where the new woodworking season begins. I really look forward to it getting under sail. Then there are also some things to do with the sailboat to get it up and running and in ship shape, which is it not, by far, right now! I could use some teak to really get it set up. Maybe the hand planes will reveal some under the grey wood that is there now. That could save a load of money!

Posted in Candle Making, Journal Entry, Woodshop | Comments Off on What Do You Do?

A Blast of Warm Weather

Posted on February 24, 2025 by Kelsey

Today was a day off, more or less. I did mess with the larger chainsaw and determined that the chain hit something metal, and it blunted the points of the cutters on the right side pretty severely. The left cutters are still sharp, and they cut fine. But on the right side it does not make it through and the bar curves to the left when doing a plunge cut. I also took down the rakers a little too far, giving a good strong kickback. When dropping the cut normally, the thing barely cuts at all. And all this after sharpening the cutters quite a lot. Where it is not cutting on the right, it means the cut is too narrow for the bar, and it jams up, too. I would carry on sharpening it, but the nicks on the cutters are so deep that I will have to shave half of the things down to get past it. I foresee a new chain, again, in the near future so I can get to work on the firewood. I also cleaned out the air filter, and the saw started and ran brilliantly. That old Stihl is being pretty amazing so far, over the last ten years or so I have had it.

I charged the battery on the tractor. I had to do that so I will be able to jump start the truck. I need to jump start the truck so I can go down to the gas station with a fuel can and get fuel for the tractor. But before I do that, I need to update the registration on the truck, as apparently, I missed it back in November. This is getting busy, circular, and expensive. Well, the tractor starts for today.

I did get out to the shop to put the bird’s nest on the lathe and turn the bottom down. Now I don’t have to worry about the lid catching on the object that is inside the bowl. It has a lip inside. I will probably go ahead and try to sell it at the next market. $30?

I started the tractor and left it running a bit while I charged the battery. Not to waste fuel I went ahead with it and put a big log on the log splitter and got it down to firewood. I left it run while I did that, too.

I suspect that if I can get to the machine tomorrow, I will put my laundry in to wash then go up to town to get the registration sorted out on that truck so I can go get diesel. Hopefully while I am up there, the DoorDash app will stick to the Idaho zones, and I will be able to activate dashing while I am in the workshop the rest of this week. Right now, it reset to Utah after I drove up to Preston after working Sunday. That was pretty stupid. I need to do the short dashes in Preston rather than driving 20+ miles to Logan to work. I only do that when I can stay down there for several hours and burn fuel. I need to make a little during the week up in Preston, so I have a little start before heading into the long weekends. I am happy to bust it Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Other days it is shop time with the occasional run as required. I think if I get more active, Preston will, too.

Okay, so this week’s goals are to put some more walnut on the lathe and turn some items to sell at Market. I still need to figure out what to make for the neighbor as a thank you for the wood in the first place. I also want that to sort of remind him that if there is more wood, there are more objects, and maybe he can order what he wants rather than taking random ones as I make them. Either way, I am loving the wood and how it works on the turn. I will have to mess about with it after resawing some, too. I will make a wooden box.

I keep drinking coffee because of a lack of options. This is not good. I mean, it’s fine. But I would like some variety in life! Don’t tell my wife that! I tried a Crystal Light today. I could not drink it without worrying about what the doctor said about the artificial sweetener triggering a hormone in my brain that would cause me to store fat. That man has ruined everything, apart from the fact I do feel so much better than I ever have before.

The weather is warming, and the shop is inviting me to come and start a regimen of sharpening tools and cleaning up for the season, as well as some projects on the smaller side. I have a table and a stool or two in mind. I also still want to build the bedside cabinet that I put off last year till after the cold passed. I can’t tell you how miserable it is in the shop when all the tools are too cold to hold. But with the weather getting into the 40’s, there is nothing to it. That chainsaw revitalization today was a hell of a lot more pleasant than the weeks before today. I even went out without my coat on!

Yeah, I am getting eager to get some tools in my hands and get to work on some wood.

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Supervillain Plot Twist

Posted on February 24, 2025 by Kelsey

A supervillain has become the richest man in the world. He has many endeavors, including one that is reported to have recently had success installing a computer chip in a human brain, giving that person the ability to look things up on the internet with their mind. But that ‘s what the media reported. Really, it happened at the resort of a failed minor villain who’s sole capability was charismatic lying, but it got him elected President of the United States. So, the super villain visited the minor villain at his resort for a bit, drugged him, and installed the chip in his brain, and has been controlling him ever since. The super villain had the President put him in charge of the Department of Government Evisceration and cleaned out the US Treasury while having his little puppet try to get him Greenland so he could build his lair there, because he hates small tropical islands with volcanoes. His ultimate plot is to gut the US Military and have the President destroy the world order, start a war between Europe and Russia, and another between China and Tawain, and ultimately leave him the most powerful entity on Earth after the dust settles.

Of course, I don’t actually believe this stuff, but the mind does travel. This comes out as a movie, I want a large percentage because the plot is so bad, I won’t be able to buy a used car with a small one.

I’m the one that lives in the Disappointment Room.

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Deliveries and Plans

Posted on February 23, 2025 by Kelsey

It was another day of Door Dashing and Uber Eats for me today. I wanted to see if I could break $100 for the day, and I did. I made $541 for the week working on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, as well as a couple of short delivery runs during the week. My mantra for today was hurry, but don’t rush. I get the orders, and I don’t hang about. But I don’t speed (much) while I am driving. I was also having a nice long conversation with my GPS again. She really is nuts.

On my way home I drove all the way up to Preston to get Door Dash to illuminate it on the app so it will show when it is busy there, and I can take orders through the week. Then I drove home and put it on to show Missus what I did, and it switched back to Utah. So now I will have to try again, maybe tomorrow. This is ridiculous. I wish there were a way to do it in the app, but it does itself, and I have to physically drive up there to get it to switch. I’d rather be able to select it in the app, and then see where I want to work, when. But does anything ever work how you want or need it to? Of course not!

Not much else to say about it all. I am keeping at it as Door Dash is promising to upgrade my pay offerings again in about ten deliveries. I’ll be on the highest tier then. As I am up a tier now, I can say I have noticed that it is putting forth better offers to me. I’d be excited to see what it gets to in ten. Off I go to bed for an early morning tomorrow. Up at 5AM. I plan to work in the shop this week. I have a load to do to get ready for Market coming up soon. So here goes the week!

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Crazy

Posted on February 23, 2025 by Kelsey

I went down to the city around lunchtime yesterday. I had several runs with Uber before the 3PM slow. Then I picked up with DoorDash and ran the dinner rush with it. Its higher tier finally got a chance to work its algorithmic magic and give me some better runs. So that was good. I was able to make $100 yesterday, a Saturday, after fueling the car up again. IT was a long time for it, but it will put some money in the bank, where I need it.

Nothing in particular happened that I really thing I need to journal about. I delivered two sets of flower arrangements meant for funerary purposes. The rest was all food. I got hung up at a couple of places because they were very busy. That is a lot of standing around waiting, and then I run the delivery, and almost nobody comes to their door till after I am gone. Nobody wants to talk to people anymore. When waiting at the restaurants, nobody there wants to talk. They talk to their crew just fine, but as the delivery person, they are not interested in you. So it is a lonely job. I spend my time in only one meaningful conversation all day, and that’s with my GPS, and she is crazy. Sends me in circles around parking lots trying to find her way out. She won’t do me the favor of just orienting north so I can tell for sure what direction she wants me to go out. So I get a little lost till I get moving in a committed direction. Yeah, she is nuts. So, since my only conversation is with a lunatic, I am doing my best to keep myself sane. Everyone else is just some transitional face in the flow of the day. And it’s not that I don’t think they are worth talking to. They don’t show any desire to talk to me very often, at all. There’s been a couple who will hold a decent conversation for the brief minute I am there. But it is not much over the course of days. If I didn’t need the money!

Today is Sunday. I will no doubt go down to the city again today. I expect it to be slow. But will it be a waste of time slow? There is only one way to establish that. I need the experience. I am tiered up on DoorDash to get better runs. So that might make a difference. I am also 30 runs away from levelling up again. I’d like to see what that gets me for deliveries. Again, maybe it is worth it.

I also need to rethink some strategies. I was offered a run in the city yesterday that had me waiting while the shop fixed up the food. It took them quite some time, but I waited it out thinking I am there to provide timely service. The app offered me to drop it for something else, and I refused that offer. So, I ended up waiting for a while with nothing to do. That was probably not worth it. I could have made more money by giving that one up and getting something else. I sat there, then when I finally got to go, there was no particular reward in it for me. There is no appreciation. The customers are not forming any kind of bond. They are just paying a tip out because that’s what they think they should do, and they should. It is a voluntary amount to pay for delivery. Not everything we buy and sell in this country is on such a payment system. But they do pay what they want for it. I accept because the app gives me more work and better work for taking everything it throws at me. So, I have to suffer the crap along with the good ones. But the customers generally don’t meet me or see me, except on their doorbell cams. That is intentional on their part. It is very transactional. No waves and smiles. Just drop and go. That’s what they want. I try to get the food there fast and hot. That is to me, my end of the bargain. Plus, the fast part gives me more time to get more work before I wear out for the day and go home. So, in the spirit of fast, I think I should drop the long waits and let someone else pick it up. I can wait somewhere else where I don’t look stupid there with nobody to talk to in the restaurant. My GPS never stops talking to me. She is crazy.

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Starvation Wages Feeding People

Posted on February 22, 2025 by Kelsey

I am flogging my guts out for pennies at the moment. Tough stuff when there is such a horrible job market. I have spoken to one who has put in 70 job applications and heard nothing back on any. Missus knows of another who has done 300, and it’s the same. No job to speak of. The whole job market seems to have evaporated. So, I am lucky to be able to do delivery driving, and I do enjoy it. I deliver in a university town, and I wonder what will become of all the young people studying there if things continue on like this? Maybe they will be okay at first as “young talent” has been the hot thing for years now? I am not advantaged with youthfulness. I am doing well after a lifetime of poorliness. I am doing something that comes easy, has no difficult hiring process, and is sort of on demand. I get work when I get it, and it is at the moment it is required.

So, yesterday I started out on Uber and things were good for a bit, then it got quiet, so I put Door Dash on, and it soon sent me from Logan to Smithfield for $4.50. It’s a long drive at 6 miles and takes up a lot of time when I could be doing shorter runs for the same amount in the city. But I took it because the apps don’t like to be ignored. Seriously, people! If you live in one town and are ordering food to another one three towns over, pay the driver a few more bucks to make it worth the time they are losing in the actual market. Make it ten, and it’s not bad. But this person is using their own fuel and car and time and trying to feed a family or pay rent or whatever. If you can’t butter your own bread for a sandwich, then pay appropriately for delivery.

I returned to Logan and went deep, almost to the other side, where there are a load of restaurants, and thought I would avoid doing that again. Boom! Another order to Smithfield, $5! Oh, thank you! So, I go. Get up there, and now I have wasted well over an hour messing about to try to get $9.50. Mind, I will be fueling up after, and then paying taxes. I am lucky to see a bit more than half minimum wage and less than that when I have to do repairs and buy tires, and take into account the high risk of the poorly laid out city I am driving in. But, hey!

While I am up there, I get an sandwich order, and I go to pick that up. They are not done making it, and it is going slow. The girl at the counter finally askes me to grab the customer’s drink from a cooler, then looks and decides that they are out, and she will check in the back. Nope. So, can I get hold of them and see if they will take a fountain drink instead. By now I have already noticed the bracelet on her says “WWJD?” Okay. Customer is okay with the fountain drink and Miss WWJD wants to give them a medium. I am like, “hey, you guys didn’t have what they ordered, at least let them have a large.” She is reluctant but says “okay.” Man, do the customer a solid, especially at the amazingly low cost of upgrading the size difference on a drink when you don’t keep your stock properly supplied. What has customer service come to? You want people to come back!

So, finally it’s back to Logan, and I am getting really pissed off now. So, I put on Uber, too. Uber offers me a quick $2.75 run, and I accept. Door Dash then sends me a $9. I have to reject it. Then, before I can do Jack-diddly-squat, here comes a $7 on Door Dash! WTF!? Where were all these when I was being hauled up to Smithfield for less? I do the Uber, and then log back in, and Door Dash has put me on probation for rejecting, and does not offer me anything for an hour. Unwritten policy, according to Reddit. I was probably screwed in all out of about $20-$25. That is a hard thing when I have busted my ass all day from lunchtime till after late supper just trying to break $100. I finally went home after ten with a couple of groceries that cost me more than what I have earned for the day, and I had to fill the tank. Even with this work, I am going backwards!

Is it worth it? I have not had a major repair yet. Ask me then. It feels like a drug addiction. It is not worth it, but I cannot live without it. It wants to punish me for not doing what it says, so I am being totally manipulated by an algorithm. This is not living. Yes, it can efficiently deal out the orders. But what does it do to deal them out fairly? This whole situation was just after earlier in the afternoon I was told by the app that Door Dash was happy with how many orders I have taken for them, and it would be prioritizing me for higher paying runs. Seriously? So, it can manipulate me! But then it sticks me with crap.

And I will be down in town around lunchtime today to do it all again. Just run with it? Trust the system? I suppose I will try and not think about it. But I can assure you that a person trying to survive in this town may only succeed because they would have to live in their car to do so and could be unburdened from having to rent a place. That would be alright.

Sarcasm aside, It is cutting it like a rusty, dull knife through a hickory stick. If there is progress, it is hard fought for. I forgot over the past several years what it was like to struggle.

Now, on the lucky side! The diet must be working out. I am doing pretty good as far as my joint pains go. I am not suffering the way I did over the past forty years or more. So that is a positive! I mean, it is not grueling work, but I am out of the car a lot doing pick-ups and drop-offs. It would have killed me a year ago. Inflammation would have knocked me off my feet after yesterday. It is six the next morning, and I feel like another nap, and I will be ready for another day of it. Impossible with the old me! The old me? The one from before, not the old one I am now. You know, me from days of yore!

So, I am going to try to get those last few Z’s in, and then get up, do some chores, drink some coffee, spend a little time with my wonderful family, and then get ready to vanish off from them and chase pennies, again. There are bills to be paid. Most of them probably subscriptions that were started years ago, and we have no evidence of except when the money vanishes. I do wonder how many people are broke off these stupid subscriptions and don’t even know it? Modern society is all about screwing people, making slaves of them, and them not even knowing it. The plug into the Matrix slips in unconsciously, and unconsciously do we endure it. I feel like I am being simultaneously stabbed by the needle at both ends. The money just goes, so I try to restore it working for an algorithm and doing drone work. There is no boss, no HR, and no complaints department. There is no care if I am coming up short, so long as there is someone who will hit the accept button and do the job in the moment. I have no Union. I have no recourse for any dissatisfaction. It’s just work, work, work. Or not. I don’t like it, lump it on home.

I take slow days off to make in my shop. I definitely need to up that ante. It’s my best hope! It’s that or try enjoying hunger.

I feel very fortunate this morning. It is below 5 degrees F out. Yet the house feels no less than mildly cool. This could be a lot worse. The forecast says we will be in much warmer temperatures by Monday, with them climbing still in the days after. Well, that’s great news as the firewood pile is pretty damn low, and I am cutting up wet wood to keep us fixed. I have some bigger logs, but the appropriate saw is not functioning properly, even with the newer chain on it. I need to get it fixed and ready to work. I am not well educated enough to do a proper job of it myself, but I have some ideas on what to try. It seems to be hanging up at the sprocket, and the chain seems to need a good proper sharpening, even if it is by hand. It is a pain in the butt, so is not having it working properly. I could really use it to produce wood from those big dry logs I have got outside.

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I Cannot Think Well Enough

Posted on February 19, 2025 by Kelsey

I have troubles organizing my thoughts. I don’t make arguments on Facebook or even on my own website here because I cannot get everything organized and put into a sensible order, then make a compelling argument. One reason is that there is just so much to include. Another is because there is so much I cannot remember. I look at Facebook and see a relative’s repost of a video of a girl in her class saying that Evolution takes as much faith as Christianity because she just cannot believe it. She makes the argument from surrender and ignorance because she is too lazy to actually learn and understand how we have come to understand evolution, so therefore, it all has to be intelligent design and a creator. But for me to try to argue against that requires so much more than I can put to print in just what I know, never mind the parts I do not know, which is such an overwhelming flood of information that could cause a guy to build an ark. Yet, metaphorically, that is what she does in the video. I am not sure what the video is trying to prove, in fact. I came away with the sense that it is just inspiring people who view it to give up on learning anything and just believe in the favored myth of the era.

That’s just one video. There are more videos, more writings, more podcasts, and more points of view to take on, and I am no Christopher Hitchens. Then there is politics, where it is easy to see that if the meek will inherit the Earth, then the oligarchy is trying to usurp it, and using Christianity as a tool to wrest it from them. And the further one dives into the MAGA mindset, the tighter the bonds of irrational stupidity are apparent. I feel helpless against it because I am of the McDonald’s generation that wants a Big Mac argument that will satisfy the hunger. But the problems with that are compounded, and the nutritional metaphor is overwhelmingly apt. It is not my responsibility to single handedly win that argument against society. But it is society’s responsibility to educate the young on the progress we have made as a species, and how we are moving forward away from our primitive selves to an advanced culture, and how to continue to build on what progress we have already made, and how to temper our growth so as to not destroy all of our resources.

But throw your hands in the air and decide that the truth of how we came to be is unknowable because you already know that someone or thing had to create it all. Decide on the argument that nothing could be without being made, then decide that it was all made by something that was unmakeable. Yet that is the whole argument of the video on my relative’s Facebook page. Do I address that and the flood of stupidity that will then come after that? I don’t even know where to begin.

Now, there are loads of other things that could be brought into this note on my lack of thinking ability, and in this case, it is not because I cannot think of it. It is not because it is irrelevant, either. But because I need to limit the scope of the not to the point. And maybe that is a part of why I feel I cannot think, because I don’t know how to set my boundaries. Maybe if I do that, I can also limit the supporting evidence that is required to make the point. Then I can worry about the scope of what I need to research and include. But honestly, I feel overwhelmed, and I have not even addressed the stupid video with the person that posted it. But then, I know that person to have a lifetime of absolute devotion to their beliefs, and they have always refused any actual knowledge. I cannot stop the one who insists on ignorance at full speed ahead.

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More Wood Projects and Looms for Sale

Posted on February 18, 2025 by Kelsey

Today was a Tuesday, and out of Uber and Door Dash I got one order today in Preston. It was for $6.75 at Wendy’s. It was not a good day for money, but it was fine for wood turning. I made two bowls from the Walnut branches I have. I will start making some to sell at the upcoming markets soon as these practice ones are for me and family.

Also, we have two Hairpin Lace looms to mail out again tomorrow. They seem to be selling like hotcakes.

It’s a pretty simple build that we have selling at $18, or about half the price of the metal and plastic ones online. They are on sale now for $10 each. I make them from cherry wood and bamboo rods. I will have to make more soon.

Handmade Hairpin Lace Crochet Loom for Open Lacework – Antiquary Artisan

I cut wood and split it today. I made enough for a couple of days. We seem to be headed to warmer days. So I think it should be easy enough to keep up with the demand for it for a while. I hear it is very cold in some other parts of the country, but not here. So weird.

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Selling Hairpin Lace Looms

Posted on February 18, 2025 by Kelsey

I made me another bowl today. I think in many ways it is better than the ones I have done before. There is still room to improve, and the important thing is I think I did from the last one. So, I think I know how far forward I can keep reaching to improve this little production.

I also cut some firewood and split it today. I am not feeling good about how dry it is, but I am pretty happy with it being there as opposed to not. It is still the cold part of the year, and perhaps it will be better than freezing! There is dry wood in the pile still. So, there is that. Also, on the topic of firewood, I keep seeing rounds piled up next to people’s driveways and houses and sheds. I think that is a good idea. I think that would be a great way of starting the seasoning of the wood for the year prior to splitting it ready to burn after. It seems like the rounds with the bark on, especially, would keep the water off the wood naturally. Then I could split them the year after, and then I could stack them in the woodshed ready for the winter to come. The rounds could pile nicely next to the shed, or along a fence line, and dry from the ends first, then in the middle over the summer after they are split and put in the shed. It seems like a good idea, and it would mean that I could get ahead on my prep by a year without having to do it all in a year, while giving the wood a good place to dry without having to build it. Doth that maketh senseth? Me hopest so!

So, here is an exciting topic. Missus identified a hole int he market for hairpin lace looms, and had me build a bunch. I made twenty or so, then she listed them on her Etsy shop and her website. Next thing you know, she gets an order for one. Then another. Then over the weekend, two more. She mailed those two out today, and this afternoon another one sold. We are in shock. I will have to make more. I will work on my production sills and try to make them better than the last batch was. But I will also think about ways to make fancy versions to sell at a higher price. We think there could be a market for premium ones, too.

Handmade Hairpin Lace Crochet Loom for Open Lacework – Etsy

I’ll check the stock and see what we have before getting to work on some more. It might be time to order parts ready up for the next batch.

Okay, so driving was hardly worth it on Monday. President’s Day did not affect the day in any way I can measure as I don’t have a previous year to compare to. Also, I just don’t consider it a major holiday. I made enough to refill the tank and then $30 more. But given the hours I worked, that was probably less than I made in high school when minimum wage was $3.35 an hour. Consider too, I have got to set aside for taxes yet. The weekend was pretty great. I will be working the days I am not taking the kids on school runs, which is Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I don’t see me going down there on the other days as I want to be sure to be around to get the kids on time. But I am lighting up Preston for those days. Well, I am looking for Preston to light up. Today it has not. At all! It has been really pathetic! I have Uber and Door Dash on, and nothing from either of them. Maybe tomorrow. But it did give me time to work in the shop. I will likely go out again in a few minutes to do some more. I still need to make for the fair. I still want to make me a plate, too. I think I will have to cut up a log then glue up the pieces for the blank. That would beat not making what I want just because the logs are too small around. So there is that job to work on tonight. It’s still above freezing out there, a little.

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