Monday morning. I am sat in front of the fire with a fresh coffee to hand, the lights off, and only the soft glow of the fire and the blue hues of morning light gently slipping through the windows to light me. Oh, and the harsh glow of the computer on my lap, of course. Under the circumstances, putting it down to under half brightness, cures that problem, and allows the other lights to rule. Much better.
So, I have been working the delivery services to make a little money to pay the bills and feed the family. It is not great money, but since the debts are relatively minimal, I cannot complain. Since getting my earnings up, I put the first of the money to work on filling up the cupboards. Our lifestyle is such that it is not as expensive to us as the people who like to send bills would like it to be.
I am fond of working the weekends, three days with our Idaho school district, and taking the kids to and from the school bus on the weekdays. A person would be hard pressed to convince me that there is anything more valuable to do with my time that be with them. I feel unbelievable fortunate to have found work that allows it. So, I spend my days working here on the farm and making in the shop. The weekends I drive my butt off working the deliveries in the city. So, Monday morning is a restful time. And here we are.
I have set some goals for today, including sorting out the big chainsaw so it runs properly and cuts better. It requires cleaning and sharpening, and I need to clean the air filter. That old saw has never seen a proper service and yet has always been very reliable. But it has started to cut very poorly, and I am not sure if it is a lack of power full stop, or too much muck down by the sprocket, or more likely, both. Simple solution is to sort it out. Then sharpen the chain good and proper. Another goal is to get fuel for the tractor. I don’t need much. Just enough would be just enough. A can or two to fill the tank up ought to do it. If all this works out, then we could do with some more firewood prepped for burning. There are a couple of nice logs set out by the log splitter that could do the trick! Finally, I also want to put the bird’s nest bowl back on the lathe and open the bottom up some on it. I like the concept of it well enough, but it wants to have separation between the contents and the lip of the lid that comes down into the shallow bowl. Then, frankly, I think the handle on the lid would look best with some proper gold leafing. I think the color is the only one appropriate to go with the walnut wood to maintain its richness. A kit can be had on Amazon for less than $20. I wonder if that would be enough to do the whole handle. Probably.
It’s warming up now. There is snow on the ground from last week. It’s been a short season for the white stuff this year. The forecasted temperatures this week will put us back into mud season already. We have already had plenty of that this year. I have been doing my level best to stay out of it. I have also been doing my best to keep the tractor out of it. It’s no 4×4 for joying about it. It gets stuck as can be at the sight of deep mud, and that stuff is where it wants to be. There is no joy in calling a neighbor to bring his tractor down to lift, yes, I said lift, my little tractor out of the mud, then watch him get his stuck in it too, then have to go bring his backhoe down to unstuck all of that. (Don’t forget that the hoe’s wheels are not its only source of mobility.)
With warmer temperatures I won’t need as much firewood. I may also soon find myself back to the woodshed build. I know I don’t want that to take all spring to get started back up on because the heat of summer is a crap time to work outdoors. I’ll be giving serious consideration to working through the nights if it is going to be as hot as I expect it will. There is also the threat of visitors this summer, and they will need tending to. Or I could put them to work!
So, overall, I will say life is pretty good right now. We might be repiloting into a new direction, or at least under sail in the old one. Whatever the case, we are moving along. We are excited to have seen some sales through Etsy, and on Missus’s website of the hairpin lace looms. She spotted a hole in the market and had me make some of these things up to fill it, and they are selling. And for once, I can do this cheaper than the Chinese. I need to make up some more this coming week. I also want to turn some more bowls and mallets on the lathe and have them all ready for the Market coming up the end of next week.
So, there’s an update on the season, and where we are at. I think things will start to slowly get moving here soon as we have significantly warmer temps in the forecast, and a way of funding basic necessities of life. I am not toto stressed at the moment because it’s not too difficult at the moment. Largely that comes of feeling so much better after the change in diet. I have even finally decided to start trying a few days off the joint pain and stomach acid tablets I have been taking. Today is the first day. But before anything gets going, I have been awake since three in the morning. A quick bit of kip ought to help the rest of the day be more productive.