Well, the pumpkin seeds I planted have taken over, and I like it.
I have not seen any signs of set fruit, but it is hard to see much past those massive wonderful leaves.
I think this is a happy area for pumpkins.
Pumpkin vines
A different kind of winder
I saw a different kind of yarn winder scrolling the marketplace, and ordered one. I was intrigued because instead of using a tilted core that spins off-axis, it uses a stationary core and an arm that oscillates. Unfortunately it makes very messy yarn cakes. Functional, but messy.
I tried several different ways of winding: forward, backward, without tension, with tension in different directions, but all the cakes were messy. Even the picture on the box had a messy yarn cake, so I don’t think I’ll be able to achieve a beautiful wrap with this device. But it could serve another purpose. I took it apart to see how it worked.
When I had it apart I played a little with the arm length and spent quite a bit of time turning the handle to watch how the parts worked together. The seed of an idea is in the back of my head to make my own yarn winder that I can use with a treadle instead of a handle.
When working with small metal parts, a magnetic watch band can be a useful accessory, if you remember that it is magnetic and will pick up tiny parts. I spent five minutes looking for the small black clip on the floor before I looked at my watch.
Throwback Thursday: cat cabinet
In January 2018 we were still working on setting up the new-to-us house and I needed a place to feed Izzy the cat. We had a space in the corner of the master bedroom and the previous owners left a large old wood workbench with drawers on the back porch. I used the drawers as the structure for a cabinet, and cut sections of the workbench top for the cabinet top, bottom, and door.
The door had a crack, so I used an old leather belt as strapping to reinforce it. It worked, because the door is still strong after 8 years.
Chimes
I wanted a set of chimes for the front entry, so decided to make some.
I read that chimes are usually made with solid aluminum or brass tubes. Aluminum is easier to work with, so I purchased a set of 10 quarter inch rods that were each 16 inches in length for about $14. My first step was to make a small groove in some scrap wood to hold the rods while I drilled a hole in each end.
Once each rod had a hole in each end, I used a band saw to cut the rods into different lengths, with about a 1/2 inch difference. I then sanded them to remove the burrs and sharp edges.
I found a scrap of cedar branch from a failed walking stick project and cut it to about 12 inches. I sanded it and finished it with Howards Feed-n-Wax.
I used steel stranded cable to hang the wood, and monofilament fishing line to string the chimes. The knots for the fishing line are all on the back of the branch. The chimes are strung with line that comes out the back and back in the front to increase ring time, and I found have a long line for stringing and a shorter secondary line for tying knots worked fairly well.
Here is a video of the chimes in action. If I get ambitious, I will tune them .
I didn’t hear it
We had a large tree fall in the back woods sometime during the last storms. We didn’t hear it fall, but it must have made a great tearing sound as it cracked and then dragged down a considerable amount of vegetative canopy.
This was a favorite hiding spot for the outside cats, and once the tree was down I could see why: there was a lovely little cavern in the trunk.
The hollow trunk led all the way to the top of the tree, giving an escape route to any critter resting there.
The top branches fell across one of my paths, so I’ll gave to trim that back, but I’ll wait until fall when it is cooler and the chiggers aren’t active. Other than freeing my path, I’ll leave the rest to nature, which is the beauty of the back woods.
Speaking of, this is the remains of the woodpile that the builders left some 10 years ago when they cleared land for the house.
Last Thursday I posted a picture of the pile from 8 years ago when it was well above cat height. There is not much left to hide in now.
Critters and Craft 