5.18.2024

 

Today is Armed Forces Day, set aside to honor all those military personnel serving in the US Armed Forces!

Jim put the bucket on the Bobcat and then loaded up the power sprayer.  Thanks to our repaired lawn hydrant, he was able to hook up the power sprayer and do some clean up.  First the patio...

Then the furniture...

Cleaning up the outside of the generator...

Then the air conditioning unit...

Jim and I brought the cage he made over to the unit and then carefully set it on the pad...

Jim had put little holes in the bottom so that he could put some bumpers in to keep the steel from sitting directly on the pad...

One side was open so that Jim could put the leg through the tubing, so time to attach it on the frame...

Last piece going on...

Done for now!  Jim already has the roof structure pieces cut so that will be coming!

After putting all the tools and equipment away, Jim did a little trimming before coming inside to get ready for church.

A few nature updates - our little bird keeps flying into the pole barn lean to, so we're assuming everything is good in that nest.  Jim went up to the pavilion today and took a peek at the nest there - there were only 2 eggs, but now there are 4 pretty blue eggs!

There's also a next way up in the peaks of the pavilion - since it's open, this will probably be a bird sanctuary!

High 73.1/Low 54

5.17.2024

Jim had a doctor's appointment this morning, down closer to Albany, so he was gone most of the morning.

In the afternoon, he brought out the cage for the air conditioner.  He wants to do a little cleanup of the unit as well as the surrounding area before putting it in place, so maybe tomorrow.  I know he's glad to have it out of his shop!

Now that our chainsaw oil finally came in and it was a beautiful afternoon, we decided to do more woods cleanup.  Filling up the chainsaw...

Lots of scrub trees cut down!

Cleaning up the edges of the woods to expose more pine trees - now there's chipping to be done as far as the eyes can see!

High 75.7/Low 50.8

5.16.2024

Mom had another doctor appointment today so we were gone most of the morning, giving Jim a little quiet time for his computer work.

He was working on his chipper cart when we got home.  He designed the corner braces which he will also use to attach the wheels.  He had to drill and tap holes through the steel... 

Showing us how the wheel will fit on...

After lunch, he headed outside to work on the barn door.  He got the bottom wheel attached that will keep the door in position when moved...

He had to take the bottom siding off in order to attach the wheel, so modifying it and putting it back on...

Marking where he needs to cut for one of the top siding pieces...

The siding is just tacked on right now but it's starting to look more finished!  Are you wondering about that last piece over the lean to?

Well, Jim went to get siding pieces from the top of the lean to and found this beautiful bird nest, complete with 5 tiny eggs!  He had slid the siding piece out but carefully slid it back, so hopefully no harm done.  He's going to leave it open until there's an empty nest.

After cleaning up, he had lots of grass to cut - the weather has been perfect for growing!

High 70.4/Low 55.2

5.15.2024

Mom had a hearing aid checkup today so we were out bright and early this morning.  We did a few errands afterwards because we also had haircut appointments late morning.

Jim worked on the computer this morning and then did some metal work in the afternoon, starting to figure out some connections for the chipper cart.  Cutting some steel...

He has his old computer all cleaned and did a new software load.  It's ready to sell so he was getting it ready for its photo opportunity...

High 63.6/Low 58.2 - light rain

4.14.2024

It was a gorgeous day, so Jim wanted to get the barn door up.  It would be nice if he had another man to help, but Jim always makes things as easy as possible for me.  He put pipe clamps on the ends of the door that we could use as handles to carry it.  It worked really well and we got it outside...

Jim had made provisions in the top of the door so that the bolt for the wheel assembly could be inset into the door...

Then he put on the bracket...

We stood the door up and Jim had to get the wheel into the rail...

Then lifting the wheel assembly on the other side into the track...

Trying it out...

He got the stops put on either side...

He still has a little tweaking and a few loose ends to do but it looks amazing!!  

High 81.5/Low 52.1 - beautiful!

5.13.2024

 I had to leave early for a bone density test and then ran a few grocery errands.  Jim made two eBay sales so he packaged them all up and I took them to the post office.  I also had to run to the printer for the fire school, so I wasn't around too much to take pictures!  

In the afternoon, Jim wanted to beat the raindrops so he cut some grass and did a lot of trimming.

High 67.1/Low 38.5 - few drizzles

5.12.2024

 

Hope it was a Happy Mother's Day for all!  Nice to have Mom here to celebrate in person.  We did dinner out on Thursday, so today was low key but a good day.

We ran out to the store quickly and when we got back, Jim was trying to see if he could piece together enough Corian for the laundry cabinet.  He was explaining the process to Mom...

Another on/off drizzly day - hopefully good for our grass seed! - so Jim was busy with indoor projects.  Time to take apart the table saw and give it a good cleaning...

Cleaning parts...

Back down in the auto bay, Jim torqued the wheels on the MINI.  Then he got all the cars back in their spots...

Jim really likes his new computer, so he wants to get his old one ready to sell.  He did a little work on it at the end of the day.

High 55.1/Low 45.8 - drizzly

5.11.2024

It was an on/off rainy day, so Jim worked on his computer this morning and then headed down to the auto bay after lunch.  He brought the MINI into the car lift bay to rotate the tires.  While the tires were off, he took them outside and sprayed them off and cleaned up the insides.  While it was up on the lift, he also sprayed some areas with the fluid film.

High 57.7/Low 45.3 - on/off light rain

 

5.10.2024

Jim has things set up with the steel company that they call him 10 minutes before they arrive so that he can get down the driveway to meet them.  But this morning, he got a call about 7:30 saying that they were up in the turnaround!  So Jim scrambled out to get the steel off the truck.  He got the solid aluminum bar to use for my laundry drawer as well as some heavy duty angle... 

Once the chipper comes and he gets the dimensions, he's going to use the angle to build a cart for it.  He already has the cool orange wheels!

He cut the aluminum bars to size and used his grinder to bevel the edges...

Fitting them in the cabinet...

He's putting a screw at the end of each bar, just to lightly hold it in place...

Fitting it in the cabinet...

Amazing - just what I wanted!

High 58.8/Low 48.2