A little something to show

 

It got down to 20F a few nights ago. Needless to say, it was a bit chilly in the house, and since the following day's high was in the mid-50s, the chill never really left. So for the first time this season, I lit the stove. Ooooh, heaven. Radiant, embracing warmth. I lit it again last night. It is autumn. 

First fire of the season

It was dark when I went out to fetch a few logs so I donned my head lamp. No sooner was I on the top step leading to the wood shed and I spotted two eyes shining back at me from about 15 feet away at eye level. Strange. A better focus of the light revealed it to be a sweet raccoon, quite plump, climbing up the trunk of a tree--for whatever reason I cannot fathom. It's only about 10 feet to the shed and I proceeded to load up with kindling and 4 splits of wood. The light on my head was following my every move and when I looked up toward the edge of the forest, not too far away, there was a large eye (or was it?) shining back. It had a very distinct yellowish tint to it, but I believe that is typical of several wild animals. I presume the other eye was hidden by leaves or branches, else I'd have to conclude there's a cyclops in my woods. It was also about eye level, so maybe a deer or moose. Or maybe be a horned owl? I wouldn't think it was a bear, but I could be mistaken... and the more I've thought about it, the more it seems likely it was a bear. A bit eerie. A few shivers up the spine and I was loaded up. I've seen that light before, at 4 am one night when I came downstairs for something which I can't remember now. No one lives in that direction, it's a 500 acre forest in conservation.

I knit a single sock about a year ago. This week I finished the other one. It had been so long that I forgot what pattern and specs I was using. A study of the original sock and I soon had it recollected. Mongrel socks. I knit them to use up bits of left over hand spun yarn along with a smidge of commerical yarn as well.

 

Mongrel socks

The pump organ is on it's back...

The pedal assembly had flopped apart

 

I am working on the broken pedals. Almost done.

There's a new keyboard in the house, quite unexpectedly. It arrived via my piano tuner who told me about it when he was here to tune my piano a few weeks ago. It's a project he was hoping to undertake but he's realized that it's not going to happen, so he offered it to me at a good price. It's an Aeolian player reed organ! I can't believe I have it sitting here in my living room. It was very dirty and needs work. It cleans up well, lot's of accumulated dirt and grime are coming up. Will not do any refinishing until the inside is working again. Even then, it may not need much in the way of wood restoration. The two veneer side-panels may need replacing in their entirety, but I'm not sure yet.

You can tell where I started cleaning!

Getting cleaner bit by bit

 

A full six octaves and several stops

Most of the action work looks to be in good shape. The bellows are torn and will need to be rebuilt. It looks to me as if the organ was flooded at one time; there appears to be loose veneer and discoloration near the bottom of the case. But it's all intact and the damage looks to be cosmetic.

I'm very much looking forward to hearing it play a roll of music!