This weekend we were promised by the weather prognosticator, Punxsutawney Phil, that we would be getting six more weeks of winter. This is a strange forecasting tradition that is placed right smack in the middle of winter and probably has more of a root in the idea that the weather will be cold or warm for the remainder of the winter than the actual length of it. I remember when I was so young that I thought there might be some truth in the forecast of the famous furry rodent. Was I ever that young? But now it is easy to see that the date of his festival is in mid-winter, and that he is used as a marketing and tourism scheme for a town. I am not going to knock it. I know how hard it is to get people to come to your planned event, but to do it regularly for decades upon decades? They have my respect over there in Pennsylvania. But the weather should call Phil out of his burrow more often now than it once did, if he is looking for warmer weather to guide his forecasts.
I’ll say this for our own little rodent of a forecaster, which is the weather app on my phone, it overpromised for this weekend. I was expecting a decent layer of snow on the ground by this morning. I was looking forward to the possibility of sitting on the front porch and carving at some wood on my bench there while looking out over a yard covered in snow. But when I looked out jus a couple of minutes ago, rain. The weather app says it is 37F outside. Way too warm for snow. (For some reason my weather station is offline. That will need immediate attention.) I can see Punxsutawney Phil would be up for a day like this. It is warm enough that the temperature in my room when I got up was relatively stifling compared to the expected normal. I have a little heat panel on the wall in there that uses 400 watts and kicks out a radiator like effect of heat in the room. Above a certain outdoor temperature, that is too much. It seems that certain temperature outdoors is around 35F. I only tossed in a log and two other smaller pieces of wood in the stove when I came down for coffee and morning solace.
If I were running a prognosticating festival today, I would have my little rodent crying for more winter, while pointing out that it is too warm for the middle of winter in this place, and that my ancestors used to crawl back into their hole and hibernate the rest of the next six weeks, but I am going to be up in my workshop more than expected, and to please stop by the craft booths and help the other crafters clear out their stocks and make room for what they will be making with their extra time in the shop this year. Whew! I’d have a lot to say in one sentence!
I am not running such a festival, but I am running a workshop. And I am not keeping stocks. I don’t have room for it. But I do make the things I need when I do. Recently, my oldest daughter asked me where the sourdough starter pot was that I had bought from Kings Mill a couple of years ago. I reminded her that the last time I saw it up close, the lid had been cracked, a situation that developed almost as soon as I had it delivered. Then I reminded myself that I have a lathe. So, I made a lid for the pot yesterday, and put it on the kitchen island, ready for service.
I need to work on creating a foot on the item and doing a better job at the top of the handle. Well, in future. This one is as it is. I will likely carve the top center with the carving tools. I’ll use that as motivation for making a jig as a work holding piece on my Roman bench on the front porch. Then some sort of scalloped piece, or a flower or nut if I am feeling particularly adventurous. We’ll see what comes of it. A leaf, maybe? Whatever I add, as long as it adds to the piece. Anyway, I love the walnut wood. The finish looks fair in this photo, but to the eye it is marvelous. It adds to the pot. The angle of the photo at close up with such converging lines makes the lid look too big in this photo. It is not. IT is just right. If anything is too big, it is the handle. But again, that is exaggerated by the photo angle. You can see why I have such a hard time with doing my own marketing!
Well, my coffee is gone. My fire is burring low. The light has not begun to lift the starry curtain, but it is a good time for me to get a start on that massive pile of dished next to the sink. I enjoy doing them. I had such a problem with my joint inflammation and cracking skin for so long that I truly welcome the opportunity to do this chore for my family. I had to duck out of it before. Now I can do it all I want with things feeling much better. So, I do, and they look at me with curiosity and wonder why I enjoy it. They have never had something like this opportunity to be helpful and do a service for others taken away from them. Off to the suds! And not the ones in the pub, I say!