Month: September 2025

Now here’s an untapped market that somebody could make an inordinate amount of money off of. A way to actually clean sports equipment without ruining it, and taking away completely the stench of old sweat, and bacteria. I have so far tried Lysol wipes, lemon scented and non scented, Microban 3000 (the stuff for stank ass shoes) and Febreeze of any sort of scent, and the anti bacterial version. Nothing much seems to work. I once, many  years ago attempted to run it through the wash but that ruined all of the Velcro, and the stiffness of the protective padding. I have heard of other soaking them in a mild bleach solution, and hanging them to dry over a period of days, but that’s only good in the summer (if it works at all).

I’m at a loss because as the groups of kids get older the gear smells worse and worse. These combat weeks make the studio stink so bad you can smell all that sweat soaked gear from eight feet out the door. Yikes. It’s an unholy, cloying, cling to your nostrils stink. It’s alive. A biological weapon of youth sports proportions!

Right now 8 have my daughter’s gear drying on the back deck after drenching it in anti bacterial Febreeze. Not that I noticed any lessening of the odor after she used it yesterday. Airing them out on the back deck only works briefly either. I bought an odor eater pod to go in the back but that had a reach of about one centimeter, so not great. I layered Bounce dryer sheets on the bottom of the bag to attempt to draw away some smelliness, but that failed to work too.

In more of the same old news I completed 90 minutes of wood splitting today. I am starting to see some gaps in the wood pile, so that’s encouraging. I had to bust out the metal splitting wedge a few times today because a couple of logs were very fibrous and knotty. Must have been pine with how many nubbed off limbs each log has sprouting from it. I nearly embedded the wedge entirely into the log with nary a split in sight, until with my last whack it gave way, and popped open. I was starting to get worried I had just lost my wedge on the third log I’d ever used it on.

Luckily my kids never played hockey, or football so we haven’t had much by way of smelly equipment to deal with over the years. But now that we are getting much closer to black belt territory, and my daughter is getting older, the stinky equipment phenomenon has appeared! Even the hockey skates, and soccer cleats/shin pad combo never smelled this bad. It’s a new age for us I suppose. Preteen kids and their odorous sports gear. Welcome to parenthood, where everything is sticky, it all costs money, and those smells linger and cling to everything. Enjoy!

The Markham Fair 2025 starts this week so I thought I would get my wood chopping in now, instead of trying to do it on Thursday, Friday when we will be very active at the fair grounds. I was initially worried that chopping would tire out my hands, hindering my climbing sessions, but the true culprit is the elbow/bicep combo, so provided I only cut for 75-90 minutes at a time, I can get out without any real damage or lasting pain to either body part. I get some additional exercise, a massive chore slowly gets completed over several weeks time, and the dog gets extended walk time to chase rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks and turkeys at his leisure. It’s a win all around.

I did add an eight pound maul to my collection of wood splitting tools, and a matching Fiskars splitting wedge. Both of which work a real treat. Still not going to get through the toughest bits I have encountered, but it offers me options, along with my little sledge hammer I can get out of most jams without too much fuss. The eight pounder really makes me appreciate swinging the six. Makes you feel like you could swing the smaller one for days after a few rounds with the heavier maul. Two pounds doesn’t sound like much, but it adds up after a series of swings that come up over your head at full extension to slam down to knee level on the chopping block. My shoulders are getting the workout of a lifetime these days. Sweating like a pig over here.

The full sun exposure doesn’t help much either, and it’s only 23°C today, but whacking those rounds, over, and over, and over again works up a nasty splash of perspiration. Pours into my eyes, soaks through my hate, soaks into my belt, and leaves my socks drenched. I’m a certified fatty, I sweat so much now. I never used to perspire this badly before. Back sweat, chest sweat, under arms, legs, neck, head, you name it there is a layer of glistening stank on me! It’s kinda nasty.

Gotta give a shout out to my goat skin gloves because my hands are (so far) doing really well after wielding an axe for more than eight hours over the last two weeks with no signs of wear & tear on them. I can feel the pressure points on my thumbs and palms wanting to develope into blisters, but it just hasn’t happened yet. And for that, I am thankful. Climbing isn’t building up any causes yet, because I’m not there enough to do so. But I can feel some of the touch coming back to my fingers, and I’m relearning how to approach new beta’s. That’s a route up the climbing wall. I’m back to sticking with 5.8, and 5.9’s once again. Soon I might be able to try the 5.10’s again. I had high hopes that my summer spent with the grippers would help me with my climbing. I guess my strength didn’t diminish, but my skills faded without use. My forearms and hands are my weak spot with climbing. That, and not being able to raise my legs laterally far enough to make some wider steps possible. Working on it!

Back to Monday! Friday felt like a whole extra Saturday with the PA Day, and the no school, plus evening spent at the Halloween Haunt. Sunday we went back, but for the camp spooky stuff, and had just as much fun. Caught the sun a little too while we were at it, but it was fun enough.

Taking in the kidsville zone with the youngest today. Hitting up a few of the smaller amusement rides together, just the two of us. My spouse promised to ride Leviathan, and Yukon Striker with our eldest, so off they’ve gone to go do that. It’s a warm day in late September, so we’re enjoying the outdoors, and sunshine while it lasts.

It’s a tad warm for the kids in their Halloween costumes but we have so few occasions to wear them, I thought they’d get a kick out of wearing them for part of the day. We won’t be here long, since we were here late Friday night because of the PA Day. I’ve come eleven times so far this year and the Haunt only began on Friday. We will see if we can get even more use out of the passes yet! Plus Winterfest, I might make it to fifteen times!

I do need to get home to cut the grass and start working on the leaves though, so we won’t be here for too long today. It opened later so we drove the long way here.

It was opening night for the months long Halloween celebration, and the crowds showed up for it all right. Luckily we got onto a couple of older rides around the back first before the main crowds surged inside the park once the sun had set. We left after three and a half hours because we’ll be right back there in Sunday for Camp Spooky festivities for my youngest. She’s not big on scares, or loud spooky music, so that should be a more relaxed atmosphere for her to enjoy. She did invest in a No Boo! Necklace to ward off the cast members dressed to frighten, so it wasn’t all bad.

It’s now Saturday so that means climbing at the Hub with both kids for a couple of hours. I best go stretch out my hands, and firearms so that they don’t immediately cramp up once I get on the wall! Have a lovely weekend out there in TV Land. I’m watching you.

Pile number two is proving to be a real challenge, but luckily I found more rounds that would split, rather than not. It’s a real unpleasant bang when the maul bounces off the top of a log when you find one that doesn’t want to come apart because it’s not ready yet. That will make the old elbow joint sing for sure. DOING! Right off the top. It starts at the wrists, and ends in the elbows and shoulders. Not my favourite part.

But, when you get on a streak of logs that simply fly apart with a stern look it makes it so easy to just keep motoring on for the full 90-120 minutes. Today I’ve got the kids at home for the PA Day, so I had to cut it short because my kids were both over heating, and bored of picking raspberries while I focused on not permanently injuring myself with an axe. After the three plus inches of rain we had over the last two days it was really hot and sunny early today.

Pile two is in the full sun, no large walnut trees to block out the sunshine. Which means that once I got going I really started to sweat profusely. Oh! And so far my boot repair seems to be holding up. I didn’t notice any new issues so that makes me happy. Now 8 know that should the other boot sole come free I have the materials, and the learned experience to fix it competently. That’s a win in my book. Also no nails used as a last resort so that was a bonus too.

I got three big projects off & away, so as far as paid work is concerned we are all caught up, ready for Monday to begin anew. I have it on good authority that I have three more reports coming before the end of the year, which is great news. Would I like it to be six to ten of them? Yeah-sure. I like getting paid. But only if all my other clients pull back and do very little work of their own. I like a good mix of paid work. Keeps things interesting you know? Trying to do double digit reports as well as multiple piece advertising projects is really stressful. A true test of my time management skills. Prioritize and push through! Then crash in a heap come Winter Break! Ha. This is the way.

From the looks of it I can continue to split wood a few days a week for the next several weeks. Probably right up until the rains settle in for November. Because at that point it’ll turn to freezing rain or flurries, and out right snow accumulation. I’m not splitting in the snow by axe. I’d like to think that by then the hydraulic splitter will have surfaced and I can rock through all the too tough to split rounds, and scream & curse maniacally at them as they creak, crack, and twist under the rams pressure. Fuck you twisty wood knots!

So it’s Friday, and another week deeper into the school year. Most of the kids programming has started up, and we are neck deep & upside down in extracurriculars for both girls. Madness I say, complete and utter lunacy. Love it. Gotta fill up that belt display somehow!!!

What a rain it is. Likely to get several inches of rain this week alone. Going to refill the water table at this rate unless it all runs off because the soil was so hard packed, and unable to soak in the moisture. We lucked out with a much nicer Tuesday mid day, and Wednesday, so it’s hard to complain. I know my father in law had hoped of harvesting the soya beans this week, but it would have suited them better to try last week while it was hot, and dry as a bone. Perks of being a farmer is hindsight of twenty twenty.

So I’m all dressed up with no wood to safely split. I took the time to run a prescription over to the pharmacy, so I will grab that tomorrow. I have a stockpile for overlapping days because sometimes it’s good to have 7-10 days of medicine in your back pocket for unexpected delays or mishaps. I never want to run out and hope they have more on hand to refill my needs. That’s a risk not worth taking.

Sure has been humid the last four days. My dehumidifier has needed to be emptied at least twice per day. If I wake up and it’s full, it probably could go three times a day. I need a rain barrel to store it for the dryer weeks of the summer for watering the flowers, and keeping the pumpkins going. Bad year for pumpkins, at least for me. I got one viable orange pumpkin, and two early growth blobs, and one which got a reasonable size on the vine, then withered into a smelly puddle. In previous years I’ve had 8-10 with no major issues beyond the vines strangling out everything else around them. The vines were big, and strong, with lots of flowers, but hardly any fruit! So weird.

Works been busy this week for the first time in quite a while. Happy to have the work! Worked hours means invoices going out, and money coming in!

Not much to do but wait on feedback, and sit to listen to the rain. Making me sleepy.

**Edit: just been informed that we’ve had more than three inches of rain over the last thirty six hours, with still more yet to come. The kids Terry Fox run has been rescheduled for next week, so don’t pack up the running shoes and calorie gel packs just yet.

While at the farm splitting wood my heel came apart almost instantly, so that put a damper on both my mobility, and my mood. But fear not intrepid user, I do some modest leather working (yet another hobby) so I have Barge contact cement on hand, and at the ready. Luckily I had some old screws laying around to keep the two faces apart while the glue sets up. I don’t have a form to hammer on, so once the glue sets up and I apply the pieces together I will just have to stand still with the one boot on, to get it to adhere properly. I only need to do this for a minute or two, then I will take it off and allow the glue to continue curing over night. Otherwise I might have to resort to finishing nails, and duct tape! How fine!

I will be pleased as punch if this works. Besides how scuffed they are, the boots are in terrific condition as far as I’m concerned. I’m on my second set of laces, but the steel toes are great, the soles are intact, even if the one side came apart like the glue just fainted and evaporated this morning. “Oh dear, I have the vapours!” Poof! …and gone.

Well it’s Wednesday, hump day. I have some paid work to go take care of, and some volunteer artwork to submit for the fair APPR department, so I best get on it. Random hobbies are cool. Otherwise I would not have the best in class industrial contact cement on hand. Lucky me!

Not the best full figure, free standing sculpt I have ever done, but I’m happy enough with it to A.) paint it fully, and B.) display it in public for all to see. I have a few back up pieces I could have submitted if this one fell completely flat, but I think it has some redeeming qualities at least. If I had to do it over again, I would definitely make some adjustments, and different choices, but here we are. Beside my photography entries I am just about done. I might have some brownies to enter too, but we’ll see just how busy the lead up to the fair actually is.

As far as my usual sculpting goes this turtle is fairly plain. No major embellishments like detailed armor, or knick-knacks and pouches on the belt. No weapons even. I’m not totally comfortable working in epoxy, so I put it to rest once I’d had enough of working on it to make it at least feel somewhat complete as a thing. My paint job leaves much to be desired, but whatever. I don’t flog myself off in public as a painter. I like to paint, same as I like to sing, doesn’t make me much of either in the public eye.

It is Tuesday. I am moving ahead at a decent pace on my report, so that’s great. I had a heck of a day yesterday, getting through twenty of the thirty five pages I have left. Still a long row to hoe today, but at least I can see the end in sight! That’s gotta be worth something. Small early wins makes it easier to focus and stay on task. If it fights me every step of the way I am more likely to drag my feet and slow walk the entire project out of frustration. I could still need tomorrow morning, but that remains to be seen.

Tonight is climbing with my youngest, so I have until about 6:20 pm to work on it this afternoon. A long day, but potentially worth it to finish a first draft early in the week.

That’s a great way to start the week off feeling tired, drained, and under rested. It was a poor life choice, but I did get out and swim, walk the dog around the farm, do some paid work, and take my older daughter to the driving range yesterday. I did sit down to read at one point but had to stop just as it was getting really interesting, so picking up where I left off was top of mind all last evening. I had meant to just finish the chapter I was on, but ultimately I got carried away and read for a few extra hours beyond my bedtime. Rookie mistake. Poor choice for a Sunday night. You can get away with that on a Thursday through Saturday, but to be so early in the week and all ready tired is dumb. I regret it immensely.

So here we are back to Monday. I completed maybe just less than half of my report. Enough to feel like I got something done, but not enough to breeze through today, that’s for certain. Good news is no wood splitting until Wednesday (weather permitting). I can split in a drizzle, but not a down pour or electrical storm. So I will have to take a wait and see approach to my exercise plans, above & beyond the indoor rock climbing.

Luckily we did all of our laundry on Sunday afternoon, so I can finish my breakfast and drop full force into my latest report. It’s a little different from other ones we’ve done, so it’s taking a little longer to pull itself together, but I’ll get there. Slowly but surely it will start to coalesce into a cohesive document.

In other news I have confirmation that my passport documents made it to their destination late last week. I am hoping that five/six weeks lead time is enough for it to get produced without going over the expiry date. I’m under the gun if we want to do anything in late October this year.

Downloads of the book are leveling off, which is fine. I have no grand vision of being a late in life best selling author. The fact that more than one hundred and twenty plus people have downloaded both the first or second book is pretty awesome in my esteem. I hope they enjoyed parts, if not the entire thing. It was a labour of love over a few hard Covid years getting it all out together.

The kids are getting their 2025 Markham Fair entries out together. Those have to go in on Saturday or next Tuesday. The photos should be made ready in the next twenty four hours. I need to complete my painting project, otherwise all I will have this year are my photography pieces. I’d like to get my Ninja Turtle sculpt into the mix if I could.

I need to get working if I want the time to paint this week. Best of luck to you all.

Our main weekend plans were cancelled, so we kept our climbing session as scheduled, and my eldest had her pre-planned play date with friends that went forward, so we still did some things, just not a cottage run, and no Wonderland today. My body is tired from both climbing, and splitting wood for four or five hours this past week. My feet hurt and walking on concrete all day can be a bit much. Plus next week the Halloween Haunt begins so we will go enjoy that for some themed fun.

I have a large project on the books as of Friday afternoon, so that is my main focus for now. I also had some work come in via my second largest client which was a rush, so I needed to rearrange my day, to push their project up to the top of my priority list. Luckily I have seventeen pages of the report done as of last night, plus five or six pages of comments too, so now I can drill down into the body of the data sheets and plug along nicely. I’m trying to get myself to complete even more today so I’m not under the gun come Monday morning. Whatever I get done now, is something I don’t have to do during the week. I should put the fact we aren’t at Wonderland to good use by actually working. I’m just working up the drive to go and do it. Ha.

I saw a bunch of new furniture build videos dropped on YouTube so perhaps I’ll eat lunch, watch a video or two then work for a few hours this afternoon. Seems like a fair trade to me! Relaxing morning, with a family dog walk, and then a few dedicated hours of work to utilize my day properly now that nobody else wanted to go ride coasters in the sunshine.

Maybe we will hit the driving range later this evening as a reward for working so diligently! Best be kind to ourselves! Have a Funday Sunday.