this is 2 cords of poplar that needs resplitting to dry faster

I don't know about anyone else but our weather herebhas been off from the norm. Are y'all having wetter weather than nirnal? we've got another week of forecasted rain inbound. Currently its just pouring.

live q and a has been converted to a an open chat for members. I am currently stranded an hour from home and haven't got enough cell service for a mobile live stream.

Yesterday I picked up a new Keurig coffee maker after trying to repair the old one with no luck. Got it home, filled the reusable pod with coffee, popped it in the machine, and... it wouldn't close properly. My first thought was that the coffee pods were too tall, and it was hitting the bottom puncture pin. Turns out, it wasn't. After a little head scratching and some odd-looking head twisting to see better, I discovered the new machine has a pin in the top that punctures disposable pods. My reusable pod, with a small permanent hole on top, didn't have enough clearance for the pin path, so the top pin was hanging up on the very edge of the hole. Just enough to cause the machine not to close. The fix? Drill the hole in the top of the reusable pod just a little larger, from 1/4 inch to 3/8 of an inch and voila! Now the pin has clearance, the machine closes properly, and my coffee brews perfectly. Five minutes with a drill and a utility knife saved me from buying disposable pods or hauling the coffee maker 50 km back to the store. That's a good reminder that the first obstacle usually isn't the real problem. Sometimes the answer isn't spending more money—it's slowing down, looking at how something works, and asking, "What's actually causing this problem?" Whether you're fixing a fence, building a table, repairing an appliance, or just trying to get through everyday life, problem-solving is one of the most valuable skills you can develop. Tools wear out. Products change. A person who can think their way through a problem will always come out ahead.

A lot of people quit gardening before they even get started because they think they need a shed full of expensive gear. Truth is, most backyard gardens were built for decades with a handful of simple tools, some stubbornness, and a willingness to get dirt under your fingernails. You don’t need to look like a landscape contractor to grow tomatoes. If you’re starting out, focus on tools that save your back, survive abuse, and do more than one job. Cheap gimmicks from the garden center usually end up buried behind the lawnmower by July. Here’s the basic toolkit that’ll handle probably 90% of what a beginner gardener runs into. The Hand Tools You'll Use Constantly These are the tools you’ll grab almost every time you head outside. Hand Trowel If gardening had a pocketknife, this would be it. A solid hand trowel is ideal for transplanting flowers, digging small holes, loosening soil, pulling weeds, and mixing fertilizer into pots. You’ll use it constantly. Prairie clay soil, like what many people tend to have, doesn’t care about marketing slogans. Skip the flimsy plastic ones. Get a metal trowel with a comfortable handle and full tang construction if possible. Full tang construction just means that the trowel blade and the handle are one single piece with a handle over top. This is versus a trowel blade with a nub jammed into a wood or plastic handle that can break off. Hand Pruners Every beginner eventually realizes plants don’t magically manage themselves. Good hand pruners are worth every penny. You’ll use them for trimming dead branches, harvesting vegetables, cutting flowers, and keeping plants from turning into an overgrown jungle. Bypass pruners are usually the better choice for live plants because they cut cleaner. Get the best you can afford, cheap pruners tend to fail right when you’re halfway through a job and already irritated. Garden Gloves Some people garden bare-handed. Those people either enjoy pain or don’t grow raspberries. A decent pair of gloves protects against thorns, splinters, blisters, bug bites, and whatever mystery creature is living under your mulch pile.