Just Chillin'....

You can definitely say it's cold out this morning. Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, y'all. Good for you if you have the day off - should start to warm a little this afternoon with good sun and less wind than we had yesterday. Yesterday was a brrrrr one all around the board.

Good thing that cold air got held up Saturday or we'd be in a winter wonderland of inches of snow still. Can't argue with the (overall) good amounts of moisture NC got between Thursday and Saturday's fizzle-duds, though that dry air from the northwest seriously evaporated the precipitation totals in the N and NW Piedmont Saturday. While we at News 14 have the capacity to go live with weather as long as we need to, it has a way of wearing the limited ponies out. I can safely say when I woke up Sunday morning I did not want to think about any weather for a while!

The only blip this week is Tuesday morning when some light rain may move in with surface temperatures at or below freezing. Ultimately we lose the freezing rain threat with rising temperatures later in the day, but that's all that is immediately ahead.

Our extending period of cold weather has put a whammy on my flute-making as I can't get the outdoor grinding and mess-making steps done. Not having a shop or even a garage is a bit limiting in the winter at times! Besides my hands freezing, it's not a good idea to go sending orbiting vibrations through glue joints in well-chilled wooden tubes. I've got enough firewood as it is. One special order flute has been seriously delayed by the weather, so I'm anxious for a break soon...they are, too!

Thought you'd like to see a couple of pics of one recently finished flute that had been sitting around for a couple of months and just needed some final hand-sanding (OK, lots of hand-sanding). Light sanding like that and adding oil coats are messes I can handle inside. I had found this unusual board of Cocobolo last summer, which I knew would make a gorgeous mid-range flute (F#). There was one problem spot in the wood as I was shaping it down, which is why the added mouthpiece area is a little longer. The mouthpiece and the bird block are made of Zircote, and I added an Ebony spacer and endcap for aesthetics. The dense woods make for a hefty flute, but a beauty, in looks and haunting sound quality (click on pics to enlarge):




Stay warm!