(DF) "FORGING" AHEAD

With the holidays over and the new year just started, there are all the plans of things to be done. Unfortunately, there is the small and rather annoying matter of bills to pay. Nothing gets in the way of productive plans quite like having to spend time working simply to pay bills that will be due again a month from now anyway. Sometimes the best we can do is try to forge ahead through the work week, in hopes of accomplishing some of the important stuff on the weekend.

This past weekend was one of those times. After working at the ranch all week, doing everything from feeding and working cattle to hauling equipment, Saturday morning finally arrived. Of course, there was a long list of things to be done in the nature of playing catch up. Very frustrating but necessary.

For some time now, I have been gradually working on getting my blacksmith shop up and running. It has been a slow process with lots of set backs, squeezed in between the higher priority items. Frustration takes a major toll, and I have been trying hard to remain philosophical about the whole thing. At this point, you may have realized that I truly believe patience is a virtue, JUST NOT ONE OF MINE! The most recent set back, after finally getting most of the equipment in the shop last week, was the realization that the tuyere grating (the thing with holes for the air to flow through) on the forge was pretty much burned out, and not a part you can just go down to the local hardware and pick up. This meant I would have to make one, and as luck would have it, the axle cap which was in my metal pile, salvaged from an old truck, looked like just the material for the project.

So, the weekend rolled around, with its pile of laundry, wood cutting, errands and hundreds of other things which were far behind by now, all needing done immediately. Somehow, I managed to do most of them and still find time to make the part for the forge and even fire up for a little practice. Not much practice, just enough to knock some of the rust off the tools and my skills. I'm not sure how I managed to get so much of the work done, but it sure felt good to finally be back at the forge again.

Today, I went back to work at the ranch, to make more money for bills AND for some much needed rest after the weekend.