Day 110

Bench and upper days are somehow both exhausting… and a little tedious

Day 107

Working out with a man with 30 years of experience, 10 years more life than me, and somehow even more stubborn than I am, who is 5 weeks out from a show.

Day 106

New gym, same work ethic. Never skip leg day.

These are all the axes I’ve customized since I started back.

Working my way up to learning how to make them from scratch.

Question for y’all:

What should I do next? What should I try?

But for now the idea of this being a “Southern Viking” axe I made out of one I bought at a store makes me happy.

I just customize axes in ways I like to see hanging on my wall. And if someone wants to buy one, then I’ll sell it. And then make another. And another. And try to get better each time. I’m even looking into custom cutting/forging new heads down the road too.

Also, someone asked if I sell these. I do. All of these are up for sale. And I’ll even accept someone wanting a custom one. I just haven’t made this a business, I don’t have a current Etsy page, or an EBay, or anything like that.

Then once I’m happy with what I can do through figuring it out, I go and see how other people did it.

Okay, so I’m actually really proud of this one.

I tried some new things, got input from all of y’all on FB/IG/Threads/Bluesky, and even watched some other axe making videos online. That last part is rare for me because my brain likes to go try new things by trial and error first.

Okay, next question:

I need a pattern, and a symbol, to put on the axe handle. What should those be?

This is roughy the design I etched into the head.

The thistle didn’t make the cut. But the rest did. And the green isn’t actually there. That was just for printing.

What should I etch into my axe head?

Crowdsourcing ideas as I draw a design. The theme color for the axe will be green.

The worst part about April Fool’s Day posts is when they’ll show up in your feed days from now and you’ll still have to check the date to see if they were posted today.

New axe. Tried @unicornspitstain this time around for both the main wood color and for a wash for the whole thing.

Didn’t take a lot of pix. Spent most of my time to respond to people trying to disrupt the protest. But I’m always at these things as much to support the message as to keep them from getting dangerous. Today was a lot of the latter. No one outright physical… just a bunch of nuisances.

Guy with YAF kept trying to start fights on camera.

I was the safety lead.

After following him around all day, one of our volunteers offered him water.

I asked for a selfie. He said “to get facial recognition?”

I told him “nope, just to prove our water was good enough for you. You’re welcome.”

The amount of assholes and counter protesters I chased out of the protest today…

I need a drink and food now.

I’m so so so tired of being told by employers that I was a strong candidate, interviewed really well, and/or was one of the final round of decisions… only to be told I didn’t get the job.

Another week, another axe. Experimenting with new patterns and colors as I go. I’m not a yellow guy.

In the words of Jake Peralta…

Not to be that guy (but kinda to be that guy), but…

This mirror loves my biceps

Days 78-80/365

More work, but more play
Same amount of struggles, sure
But more happiness

Now accepting requests for shirtless painter services ;)

#ThursThreads Tying Tales Together Year 13 Weekly flash fiction writing challenge

#ThursThreads Week 699 Mentions blog is up. Congrats to 36X WINNER @davidaludwig.bsky.social! Great thanks to @captainvalhalla.bsky.social for judging this week with the tough prompt. Check out the winning tale. #FlashFiciton #WritingCommunity #AmWriting siobhanmuir.com/thursthreads...

#ThursThreads Tying Tales Together Year 13 Weekly flash fiction writing challenge Gold ribbons against a dark multicolored background

#ThursThreads Week 699 is now LIVE. Come tie on your tale for judge @captainvalhalla.bsky.social . What kind of tale can you tie on? #FlashFiction #Writing #WritingCommunity #AmWriting siobhanmuir.com/thursthreads...

Days 73-77/365

Friends, family, epic caloric intake, dogs, farm work, house work, axes… and workouts.

#ThursThreads Tying Tales Together Year 13 Weekly flash fiction writing challenge gold ribbons against a dark multicolored background

Are y'all ready for #ThursThreads tomorrow? @captainvalhalla.bsky.social is our judge and he's waitin' on your tales. Got a tale to tie on? #FlashFiction #WritingCommunity #Writing siobhanmuir.com

Which explains how I misspelled Bragh… and had to jam the G in. 😂

[Summers Go Bragh Axe]

My brain has been repairing as I focus on keeping busy and rebuilding good habits… and part of that is getting the urge today to play around with customizing axes again. This is far from the most intricate one I’ve done. This was done in about an hour freehand.