Oh! Assuming this means New York State, then I understand now. I thought you taught in Pennsylvania. I've heard really great things about services across the board in both New York and California. Like in California, any child with an autism diagnosis automatically gets 15 hours a week of one-on-one ABA therapy completely paid for by the state. Amazing.

I'm in Pa and I've found the IEP and the teachers willing to do whatever is best for my son. We have tried a number of different strategies and have changed things based upon his response to what we've done. I've found the teachers more than willing to try whatever I and/or the docs think may work. Some things have, some have not.
My situation is a little different though. I have communicated with other parents in other areas who have not had the experiences I've had. Many times it has come down to the individual who is working with him.

That's really cool! It's even pretty!

I'm still waiting for brother to come through. It's not like him to blow things off, but he's been busy hobnobbing and doing radio spots and such. He did a segment of 'fracking' for some radio program, in C-bus, I think.

I'll keep trying.

Thanks, you are teh awesome. ;)

This time, I'm certain it's black walnut, since the tree was ours, and we cut it down in the interests of neighborliness. The neighbors had been complaining (in a nice way) for a few years about how the walnuts were dropping on their cars in their driveway and staining everything. So we agreed to let them cut it down. And I asked the tree guys to cut the trunk into 6 foot lengths and leave them for me. That was 2-3 years ago, and I tired quickly of the thought of doing anything with them, so I threw the logs in the far corner of the back yard, where I piled leaves on them.

A week ago, I wondered about the logs, because I read in a book that even if a log is rotten on the outside, it can still be really good on the interior, so I went out there and used a steel brush to brush off all the mud and bugs and fungus. There were a few deep checks, and the outer inch or so was rotten, but the interior at the ends was sound.

So I cut off a two foot length, and brought it inside to rip it in half. I spent an hour and a half ripping that log, and decided it was for the birds, because I was only half way through. So I got the axe out and put it in the kerf, and used a framing hammer to pound it through and split the log.

It was really nice inside. I left the good half alone, and took the half of the log that was most rotten and had the largest checks, and I split that a few more times. This released more bugs, but I squashed them. I eventually ended up with some really nice straight grained billets. Makes me wish I owned a froe for easier splitting.

Anyway, used a drawknife, spoke shave, a gouge, and a hooked knife to make the spoon on the right. The tip is flat and sharpened so it will be a good ground meat browning tool. It will be able to break up those meat chunks very easily.

And I used a couple planes and a saw to make the toast tongs on the left. I still need to clean up the glue squeeze out.

I researched the toxicity of black walnut and saw that it's really just fine. Many horses are apparently allergic to it, so the shavings shouldn't be used for bedding, and some people are allergic to it, just as some people are allergic to actual walnuts, but for the vast majority of people, it's just wood. Lots of places offer black walnut kitchen ware.

Sorry for the crappy cell phone picture. I couldn't tell it was out of focus until I loaded it up on my work computer.

edit: I switched pictures with a sharper one.
Attachment 36922

Yep - THAT looks a lot like the black walnut I have in the basement.

I LOVE the thongs ...err tongs.

What did I make today?

A Tree. And a hernia (not shown).

Attachment 37293

Ok, it came in kit form. Last winter, three good sized Douglas Firs were blown over at my girlfriend's house. All's well, the damage has been repaired, etc. But the firewood has been endless. I've tried splitting this with a maul and a pair of splitting wedges. I give up. You might see stumps of branches on some of these rounds--those are unsplitable with muscle power. So tomorrow (depending on the efficacy of the ibuprophen), I'm going to rent a hydraulic log splitter. THAT should be fun.

Paul Bunyan, I'd tip my cap to you ... if I could raise my arm above my shoulder.

Pro-tip on splitting big logs:

Work off the outer edges first, avoid the knots, use only Snow and Neally products.

Will actually be faster than the hydraulic splitter, not including the time to go fetch one and return it either.

I use a round (conical) wedge (aluminum) and a sledge hammer.

Starting in the center, it automatically finds the weak areas in the rounds... much less intensive work than wedges.

Today I bought the ingredients for a new cake I am planning.

I intended to check the cupboards to see what we did and didn't have, but I put it off as too boring and then my parents were ready to go to the supermarket so I just jumped in the car with the ingredients list :headshake

So as it turned out I did not need to buy plain or self-raising flour or bicarbonate of soda. I'm going to keep the flour as it will be used - I intend to make this cake at least three times if all goes well. One practice at home this week, one for the staffroom when we return to school Monday-week, and one for the School Fayre.

The cream, the buttermilk, the eggs and the two types if sugar were valid purchases. This will be my first attempt at a ganache. I love the look of them, but if I don't succeed I'll go back to good old Betty Crocker, goes down just as well and is a lot cheaper after all.

The School Fayre isn't until May ( think) but I want to plan ahead. I will be revisiting the success of my Dalek cake and possibly some Banana Bread. No cupcakes or fairy cakes, they have far too many of them, it is the large handmade cakes that are in short supply.

BigV, it's also helpful to make a couple of very crude wooden wedges to have on hand. If you find you are buryind the iron wedges in the wood, having a couple wooden wedges you can put into the split and rescue the iron wedges is a real help. Since they are wood, they can't damege the iron wedges if they make contact with them. They are easy to make, just take the axe to a couple smaller pieces you have layin around and sharpen them until one end can fit into the agerage sized split you have started. So the blunt point is maybe an inch thick. ETA: You want the wooden wedges to be bigger than the iron ones.

Sundae, your cake sounds like it is going to be great. I look forward to seeing how it goes.

Agreed. A go-devil or an axe will split things a lot faster just keep working your way around the piece. I heat with wood and always start with my pole axe and only increase weight as necessary. Protect your body for the long haul. I sometimes think about it like hitting a baseball its about speed through the zone and precision not muscling up.

I've helped others use a hydraulic splitter. They are frustratingly slow. And you have to keep lifting the logs up into place and rotating them. They are almost as much work as splitting by hand and quite a bit slower. The worst is waiting for the splitter to slowly raise up again.

and Glatt, that certainly is walnut there. Regarding the toxicity that a lot of people mention, I think they may be referring to Juglone.

that's racist