In March of 2017 I hand carved and painted a fishing lure for my Dad.
I did coat the lure in a water proof gloss finish, but didn’t take a picture at the time. Below is a picture of the lure in 2026.
Throwback Thursday: lure
Standoff
It has been while since I checked trail cams. Mostly the SD cards were full of cats, raccoons, and opossums, but there was a series of photos where an opossum was investigating the cat food when a cat came along.
The result was a no-contest. The cat went straight to the bowl of the food on the cat box, away from the opossum, and when the cat settled in to eat and not attack, the opossum left. I’m pretty sure the cat is the one we call Greebo, who has scars from fighting and his fur is thinned with some kind of mange. He actually looks healthier since he joined the neighborhood colony. The last couple years he and Fang show up in the Fall and then head out again in Spring or Summer.
I was wrong
I thought I would be fine with a living room chair that swiveled, but didn’t rock. I was wrong. To make the chair rock, I cut a 1.25 inch dowel in half and put it under the base to make it unstable. Just behind the center line gives me an easily obtained balance point when I sit in the chair, allowing a small rocking motion.
Even this small amount of movement helps to keep my muscles from setting up when I sit too long.
Crossvine blooms
The crossvine (Bignonia capreolata) on our front fence is happy to greet the Spring. This Texas native does well in sun or shade, is evergreen during mild winters, and blooms repeatedly throughout Spring, Summer, and Fall.
This sounds like a plug for the crossvine, but it is not a paid promotion. This is honestly one of my favorite plants in our yard. It is a superstar.
Pitch Pipe Solution
My Barbershop chorus has an electric pitch pipe that is quite versatile, and quite large. It doesn’t fit in a pocket very well and although it comes with a stand, it doesn’t have a way to carry it hands free. We did have a lanyard loop stuck on the back with double sided tape for a long time, but then the tape gave out and the pitch pipe fell to the floor. So I came up with a mechanical connection.
The back of this kind of pitch pipe removes with a single screw. Use the smallest drill bit possible to drill the hole through the thick section of the plastic. Head pins are available in the jewelry section of most hobby stores, as are split rings. I used a clip-on strap from a small purse.
I wear the pitch pipe over one shoulder, which puts the device in easy reach of one hand and keeps it off to the side. One of the benefits of this method is that the pitch pipe hangs straight down and easily rotates, which makes dialing in the pitch and pushing the button easier.
Critters and Craft 