Never enough time

[spro]

Hey Dave. With this break in the cold weather, I bet you worked a sweat. Well, I did anyway. It's good for the body if it doesn't kill you.
Looking forward to your prevail over obstacles and those fine feathered.

[steamin10]

No shortage of spring things to do, thats for sure. Mom just sold a bunch of growing chicks, and we have emptied a poor hatch of silkies, only 5 of 20+ survived. But the eggs were free, only the time cannot be recovered. An alley find of 4 lengths of 1 1/4 inch pvc, has me rethinking the animal water system for the summer. I am going to move the trunk hose line out of the pathway, that gets chopped everytime we mow, to a less accessible area with the pvc. I will have to purchase some pipe, but I figure to go to 3/4 inch line at the ends for cost, and 'T' out to two hose reel stations. So a hose will feed across the back yard, to the pipeline, to finish at two hose stations, available to the pens. During cold weather, we have to bucket water to the birds, and the hose system is an obvious labor and time saver. I have to buy a hose or two every spring as some is lost to various damage over the past year. In the fall, I amass a lot of low grade hose that is cast off in town, that I happen to spy and drag home. The costs show, keeping spending low is key to coming out with some coin. As for food, anything we feed, like brewers waste grain, and stale bread from the Food Pantry, cuts down the bag food bill. I baked a Ham last night, and then fried off the trimmings of fat and skin, that will be mixed into the grains to bring up more energy for the birds. A couple of cup fulls of high energy fat is good for them, along with the stale pantry veggies. The older stock is laying like crazy right now, as we plan our next campaign for 'pretty birds' in colors and stock in demand.

For me it is being able to adapt to new situations and motions that is important. Some things take time to develop, and turn into tangible items that work for you, and not against your base.

In other things, an old panel door from past era, was found in the alley along the way. It was cut in thirds, but it has some tight grain plywood panels and the stiles of the door are tight grained old growth fir. It occured to me, that properly profiled with some hard pints added, this could make the press blocks for my arch bar trucks I am designing. I have a pile of aluminum bar scraps from a sign company, that only need to be shaped. I plan to make both flat topped and humped side frames for my oldies cars, with whatever wheels I can crank out. I have many iron castings, and 5 inch blanks in steel. Never a shortage of things to do, just never enough time. I am going to sell some of my car bodies, as I am going a different direction than some of what I have.

[steamin10]

Went to a chicken info meeting at the feed store, and learned a few bits about chickens in general. Mom bought 8 bags of feed at $2 off,(yikes!). Another trip to Mantards to get new glue (I swear it wasnt old enough to be hard) made the rounds to the brewhouse, had a nice brown Ale, and made Mom a steak upon arrival home. It is trash day in town, and behold, another stick of PVC pipe fell into my truck. I had thought it was 1 1/4, but it is (all) 1.5 inch, and I have about another 100ft of 1 inch on hand from another project abandoned in mid stream. So except for terminal fittings and boiler valves, (hose bibs) I think I can conquer a new water system in short order.

New state numbers are on the trailer for yard equipment, and we move along with other projects, with the baggie of small parts from the Mantards store, Including some 5/16 rod stock to make a new axle under a wheeled trash can, with a square lid, of two that fell into my possession. Neither had wheels and were discarded, so another aged and broken round can, without lid, became the donor. Bits and bolts are always a problem, even with the stock I have, it seems I miss a lot.

In the process of locking down the Annex, and getting the floor space cleared for the bike home, and other projects. Door opener has a problem, have not defined it yet. Maybe tomorrow.

[steamin10]

OMG! The Devil is in the details... Got bolts for a cage stand some body orked up, and the package cam out 2 pcs short, for another trip to the store.. Drilled the holes for my new number tag as required by law, and my pop rivets are too short. Behind the times for getting an air test on the Black Ranger, the scanner shows engine light is out of parameters for rt-lft bank too lean. No sensor failures. So this is probably a function of E-85 fuel used for a flameout from low fuel levels. E-85 is not usable in my 4.0 Ranger, and I proved it. Anyway, erased the codes, by disconnecting the batt for 5 minutes, and then driving code free to the check station. REJECTED! There was no history to read in the computer. I have to let it develop for a few trips, before a retry. Our two counties in NW IN are the only ones in the state for Federal mandated pollution checks. or you cannot plate the vehicle. Unplated vehicles are subject to seizure under abandoned and junk car laws. All this frenetic motion is putting me in bad spirit, as it delays other things on the plate.

[steamin10]

I have the winged feet of Mercury, I swear! Much running for stupid parts and paper work. Trailer of many years now has paper plates and a Title of ownership, and its own number. (YIPEE!) The Computer situation with the Black Ranger has solved itself and passed on the thrid try, my sticker is on the way, a month late.

Work on the new/old Suzi is road ready now, wiht a list of details to snipe during the year. Washed and polished the soft bags (to make it run better) and getting new fuel lines to change out the aged ones this week.

Finally made a connection to get coal at a reasonable price, and I can pass it on to anybody local in the steam hobby. I am dusitng off some tools, and going through my pattern work to see what might be used in the hobby. I think I will start with a stationary engine kit, and go from there. Ihave some long ignored projects to finish, as I am reminded by my spring re-organization. So work continues on the critter frame and mocking up the body wiith cardboard taped together to make sure it all fits.

I am a bit overwhelmed, but thas the way it is usually around here. Today I get to clear ditches and culverts in the cold, as my drainage swails are holding too much water from trash/debris form human types, as told by my sump pump not likin it much. Teh last rain turned the pump on for about 3 hours, and now it cycles every 4-5 minutes. Way too much. So I gotta dig.

The brewhause got some new fermenters, in gleaming stainless, so I get to take the light wooden packing crates. I see some wood framed box cars in my future.. Laters.

[steamin10]

whoowee! Stormy uneven air is blowing things about here, gusting over 45 on the flat. Remains of some weather that spawned some tornado activity NW and West of me. Again, the Lake Michigan influence pushed the squall lines South, and weekend the activity here on the North end of the weather.

I am heavily engaged in repair and modifications of chicken habitat. Everyone is doing spring cleaning around town, so many usable items are hitting the curbs, and I dragging them off. Teh used Shop vac, bought a month ago for $10, let teh magic smoke out of the motor, and is done. A trip through Lowes, and I am the proud owner of a Bucket vac, that sits atop, well, a bucket. Only $21. Another Vac from the back corner of my old garage, hsa been brought to the for, and I think I can swap motor units to the Burned out 10 Gallon model, from this ruptured duck with a 5 gallon body. The air hole for the top cover looks about the same, so I will try to change it out with the 5 screws, that assemble it. My most useful vac, with the detachable blower top, has bearings screaming again. So it is out of action until I put bearings in.

I got all the packing plywood from the Brewhouse, now I have to trim off the metal stamp works along the edges, and place it in my stock. Mom glommed onto two Rabbit type hutches, and they are being modified for individual cages. I talked to a department manager, and they have bundled cull stock outside. They want to get rid of it, and have offered it at 85% off list price. So I am going to try to snipe some decking and treated wood and 4x4 for use around here. I have an itch to build another building from the fence scraps, before they begin to go to nature.

I have 3 cart projects, first is a double wheel barrow, that the brewhouse broke the plastic tray lip. The Plastic tray was $20 about, but a slightly different design. So now I am trying to adjust the metal handles to fit the divergent angles of the pan, rather than just drill holes, and lose the re-inforced areas in the plastic pan. Next is putting a pan on my own wheelbarrow that rusted out, and putting tubes in the everflat tires. Last is the two, too small yard carts, for lawn tractors. I am going to dissect the bodies of 2 carts, and make it 4 wheeled with 3x the capacity, and floatation tires, rather than those silly everflat wheelbarrow looking things. I shoulda been more active last winter, but I hate the cold anymore.

I got one of those tiny tot cars, from the recycle bin, ( come on people, its plastic, not cardboard!) and plan to steal the wheels and casters off it to make a flat bed wagon, that the winter sled will fit inside the rails. (The sled is a mixing box for concrete, from Mantards.) this will give year round use to the box. I happened to find two 'D' handles, one fits my snow shovel, that is broken, and the other is just tailor made for the new tot - wagon. Since I cleared my tractor toter with the state, title numbers and L plates, I am going to dig a plastic truck bed liner out of the weeds, and figure how to mount it for carrying, dirt/stone for the garden projects, that find me running to the asphalt plant for supplies and filler. It has occured to me, that I might mount the heavier slipper springs this year too, as it poops out about 800 lbs and bounces the tires off the frame.

Thats a big list already. Cheers.

[steamin10]

Well, into the fray go I. I guess you have to stay flexible to take advantage of any opportunity that comes along. To my surprise, I got a temporary Allie in my Next door neighbor who does more work by accident than I can plan for. A much neglected terrace in front of my house has been overgrown with tall stringy weeds for years, and several half hearted attempts to put in shrubs, and greenery have failed over the years, and frankly, it is an eyesore with edging blocks and rotting railroad ties among the weeds. Well in two days we lopped and chopped and denuded the entire 40 x 20 sloping area and pulled invasive mulberry trees from the hillside. Wow, it is so much cleaner now. I have the opportunity to move a coupla Arborvitae that screens the West end of the Tunnel and wing wall, and complete the stone block step wings. The Beertender at my local watering hole asked another tree cutter friend for some mulch, and got 2 truckloads delivered, about 10 times what she needed, so she said I can have as much as I need. Cool! , now I have to get some ground cloth and have at reshaping the hillside, that is about 6 feet tall in two levels. I have a CL30 Ford and a Jubilee Ford to work the dirt into shape. I am going to dig 2 arbs of 3 out and leave the tall and healthy 10 ft specimen, and finish the wall behind it. When the granite blocks are in, I will plant a new 9 ft arb to catch up with the old one, and see where we go from there. This is a must do emergency thing while all the materials and tractors are available NOW! If the weather gives me a small break, I can get it done.

I went to Lowes lumber and missed on some lumber, but got my 12 foot treated lumber, and 12 foot 1x4 treated for ridiculous low prices from the cull pile I checked last week. I am going to try to create a 8x8 Gazebo from some salvaged decking, and miscellaneous. A covered bridge of short length, over a drainage swale is contemplated to use up some piles in the yard, as I think it would be fun, with a half wall on the side and wood shingle roof. Quaint. It has to handle the mower with its 60 inch deck, so about 6 foot is minimal width. The ROP bar is high, so I have to account for that, (remember it would not fit in the barn I built for it) so it may get ungainly, and not well suited to my ideas. They also have a pile of 35- 14 ft 2x4 marked down from $360 to $150, I may try to snag tomorrow.

I worked on two rabbit style hutches, and they need roofs to be in service for isolated birds. The English Orpingtons are HUGE at two months. They will require a new house soon. Now I dunno where the time will come from. It dont matter, I just plug and chug and something will happen. I have a new design worked out that is 8x12 with a porch and railings, that is really cute, so I may do that one. I have an overhead net salvaged last year, I dunno how big yet, but we will have to stretch it out, to see if it is usable for our purposes.

I want to make a rotary ditcher, for my PTO, but dont know if I have enough of the right material to throw it together. I sure would help in shaping the ditches without getting shovel weary.

Laters.

[reggie_obe]

I went to Lowes lumber and missed on some lumber, but got my 12 foot treated lumber, and 12 foot 1x4 treated for ridiculous low prices from the cull pile I checked last week.
Laters.

I'm sure you know that HomDee cull lumber is priced at 70% off and they discard the cull pile on a weekly basis. If your friendly with the guys in the department, most anything on the rack with a blemish, knot, or wane, can get marked as cull with a shot from the purple spray can. No questions asked. The last thing they want to do is continually flat stack crap lumber throughout the day.

[steamin10]

I have Home to Pot, Mantards, and Lowers, all within a few miles. (five stores) Between them there is a lot of sniping of material, especially in spring. I also salvage decks and small buildings where I can for materials, and build out back yard sheds that are sold and then moved to a home property. Some of the material discounts are passed on but generally I get my labor, no matter what the project, and it is much easier to sell the same image of a building at say $800 than $1400. I keep the same either way. Building with culls is second nature to me, thinking around the pitfalls. For example the 14 foot lumber is an odd length. But cut for a ten foot wide floor, they leave 4 foot shorts that are good for side walls and rafters. So it works without sacrificing any waste.

I economize on the buildings so hard that using standard lumber, all the cutoffs and shorts will fit in a 5 gallon bucket when I am done.

[ken572]

I have Home to Pot, Mantards, and Lowers, all within a few miles. (five stores) Between them there is a lot of sniping of material, especially in spring. I also salvage decks and small buildings where I can for materials, and build out back yard sheds that are sold and then moved to a home property. Some of the material discounts are passed on but generally I get my labor, no matter what the project, and it is much easier to sell the same image of a building at say $800 than $1400. I keep the same either way. Building with culls is second nature to me, thinking around the pitfalls. For example the 14 foot lumber is an odd length. But cut for a ten foot wide floor, they leave 4 foot shorts that are good for side walls and rafters. So it works without sacrificing any waste.

I economize on the buildings so hard that using standard lumber, all the cutoffs and shorts will fit in a 5 gallon bucket when I am done.

Dave,
That is VERY COOL
Ken.

[steamin10]

Oh my back! Best Bud had 2 trees removed and stumps ground out of his yard. Roots were destroying his manicured driveway, that he is about to expand. Anyway, with a small trailer we loaded 3 trips of about a yard of the dirt and grindings each to my hill site.my bad trees have been yanked, and cut granite blocks are moving into the wall trenches, for the West end. The trench is filled with crushed limestone from another attempt, and now the granites must be stacked for the dirt holding. We have to work very carefully with the machines, as the ground is very fragile, and skins and slips around easily, with the amount of water here.

Daughter Steph is trying to talk me out of simple grass, to mow on a bad slope, and is trying to run down Creeping Phlox for ground cover for this grand area of about 25 x 40ft. Once started it should fill out, in theory.

I have a gaggle of wheel barrows, with a broken handle, flat tire, rusted pan, you name it. Fix, repair, or scrap. Next..

Collecting various piles of vinyl siding into one space, as I have to sort the shorts, and sell the scraps to the recycle guys for .08 a lb. along with last winters can collection.

Nothing like movement in the spring.

[steamin10]

Brrr. Darn wind makes the 8 degree below normal temps seem sub zero. Landscaping is racing ahead at tortoise speeds, I fired up the Suzy 1400 and got spits and sputters. Added an ounce of Seafoam, and Premium fuel to the tank, within 10 miles it coughed up somthing, and forced me to reduce the idle screw setting. Low jets probably corrupted from sitting. Feels nice to roll on the road again, but need to build confidence for the road, while other service details are attended to.

Sorting and consolidating back yard savings. Coal is palatized, for access, a stone block wall is under construction, 2x3x 1ft thick granites are tough to move without a bucket tractor, that cant float on the soup that is my yard at this time of year. So it is bar, lever, and grunt work, to place the stones.

Meanwhile materials for the Big coop (vinyl siding leavings) have been collected and sorted from storage, so one more pile eliminated (at least moved to the use area). many small projects falling off the DO list. I am happy with progress, but really want more than I can do with my slowness.

New puter and pics soon.