i'm building wheels for my touring bike. this is the rear. it came out really nicely

I have a nice old cast iron truing stand, but no dishing tool. Dishing tools are only 35 dollars or so, but they are really only worth about 5. Being cheap, I cant seem to part with the money.
Instead, I'm making one from an old jacked up level.
Dad was a little horrified when his eye caught, amongst all the clutter, a cut up level. I explained to him that it had been on a shelf in the shed for about 30 years, so it must have been off somehow or it wouldn't have been there in the first place, and it is being transformed into a new tool; he was a bit more understanding.
I have a couple sets of wheels to build. Its nice to have a diversion when the madness of Christmas trees looms.

prepping for birch deliveries

my neighborly dairy farmer friends were kind enough to rent me their plow rig. it's a fine machine and really does a nice job.
because of the rainy spring and summer, we were force to manage much of the sweet corn ground under wet conditions, which made for some soil compaction. this chisel plow does a nice job of breaking up that compacted soil.

the wind and rain sure can take the fun out of the pumpkin business. washing pumpkins in full rain gear layered over winter cloths is not too fun. still the loads are quite lovely and there are plenty of orders to fill this week

we've harvested a mountain of pumpkins, squash and gourds.
this gourd is the most amazing of all and it may take me a while to figure out how to capture photographically its incredibleness.
maybe you'll have to see it in person

12 plus hours to prep for the weekend markets.
I sure hope the sun shines upon us
Its all so ordinary, almost sad, when its gray
but when the sun comes out
even for a moment
spectacular