5.31.2019

Now that the backs of the cabinet shelves are done, Jim flipped them over, taped and covered the laminate, and put the first coat of polyurethane on the front edges...

Since he did all the hand millwork on the backs of the face frames, he tried them on the cabinets to see how everything fits...

He also turned the door panels over and painted the other side...

 Now that Jim got the excavator hose put on and tested it out, he put all the covers back on and did a little cleaning inside.  Soon I'll work on cleaning the controls and putting a coat of Armor All on them for protection.

 Then it was back to more moving things out of the pole barn.  Jim moved the pallet of siding shingles out and into the auto bay...

We carried the brick and block saw into a position that Jim could then use the forks on the Bobcat to lift it up...

And move it into the auto bay temporarily.

Arghh....there's always a piece of equipment that needs work!  Comes from having lots of equipment!  Jim has known that the compactor needs a new carburetor so he'll order that.  It works but not great.

Check out how good - and empty! - the pole barn looks now!

Jim moved the mortar box and a few other pieces of scaffolding to the shed.

Here he is modeling the latest in workwear - a friend sent him a Wolff Bros hat and this shirt!  Thanks, Neil!

High 70/Low 49 - gorgeous!

5.30.2019

Jim lightly sanded the backs of all of the shelves and then put the final coat of polyurethane on.

In preparation for hanging the shelves, Jim made and painted the ledger blocks that will go on the wall that the cabinet will sit on to aid installation.

Painting the door poses some challenges that Jim didn't have when we just stained them.  Wood will naturally expand and contract - you don't want primer showing when it does.  So Jim rolled a coat of paint on the panels today...

This afternoon, Jim worked on putting the excavator back together.  He put the battery back in, buttoned up the floor, and then put the seat back in.

The original hose failed because it rubbed against the spring when in operation.  To help prevent that, Jim bundled all the hoses and put all these wire ties on to act as a shield from the spring.  He put some rubber tape on the collar that holds the hoses in place.  Jim is going to wait to put on the cover for this area until he makes sure that there are no leaks.

Then it was time to test it out!  Jim has been wanting to take out this giant rock from the triangle...

Filling in the hole...

Jim also worked on moving more things out of the pole barn, including all the extra windows we have.

We had to cut the day a bit short - we have Holy Day services tonight at church and then we are heading to a brew pub in Glens Falls for dinner.

High 71/Low 52 - gorgeous!

5.29.2019

Jim continued working on the remaining cabinet shelves this morning...

Wow - a glimpse of the end product!  Shelves are in place and face frame just standing next to the cabinets...

Jim showed me the back of the face frame with pocket screw holes and milling work done.

Doing the hand milling to accommodate the bottom and top shelves...

Hand milling done...

Sanding the back of each of the shelf pieces...

Then he put the first coat of polyurethane on...

 It lightly drizzled for a good part of the afternoon but at the end of the day, Jim was able to go out and work on the excavator.  He was able to untangle and remove the old leaking hose and then get the new hose put back on!  He'll put the battery back in tomorrow and test it out.

High 60/Low 49

5.28.2019

First, a note of thanks - three tornados hit the Dayton area last night, all at least F-3 rated.  Thankfully, my mom and brother's family didn't have any major problems - my nephew had hail damage to their cars.  But my mom said the winds were terrifying and she spent much of last night huddled in the bathroom of her apartment!  So grateful that they are okay and thoughts are with all those that have to clean up afterwards.

It was a rainy day today, but just some welcome light rain.  I ran errands this morning while Jim worked inside.  He did run to Bobcat after lunch because he got a call that the hose he ordered for the excavator came in.

Jim worked on the kitchen cabinets this morning - he got the other cabinet all assembled and started working on the shelves...

Laminate cut and ready to be attached to the shelves with contact cement...

To make the edges look better, Jim makes the front edge of the shelves out of wood so he cut and milled those pieces...

Two shelves with the fronts attached - look how pretty it looks!

High 51/Low 44

5.27.2019

Hope everyone had a good Memorial Day - and took some time to thank and remember all of those who gave their lives so that we could enjoy all our freedoms!

Jim worked this morning assembling the next cabinet!  He had to get everything square and clamped it and then used crown staples to attach the back...

Attaching the top piece...

 So pretty - very excited!

In the afternoon, we continued clearing out the pole barn and moving up more scaffolding to the shed...

Putting the scaffolding away...

 We loaded up all the various scaffolding feet and wheels....

Putting the feet into the scaffolding "shelves"...

Everything looks so neat and orderly in the shed now...

Plus, the inside of the pole barn is getting cleared out too!  Jim continues to spend time sorting through things in here for staging in the auto bay.

Jim did more grass cutting today and power sprayed the lawn mower off at the end of the day.

I went into town to get diesel fuel for the Bobcat and saw all the baby goslings...

High 71/Low 46

5.26.2019

Jim worked this morning on rebuilding the foot pedal assembly.  He had to first heat the axle in order to remove the old parts.  Then part of the bearing was pressed on to the end - he saved the washer and used tack welds to hold it all in place.

Then he was able to put it back in the excavator and get the steel plating put back on the floor.

Since we picked up more polyurethane last night, he was able to get the rest of the cabinet pieces finished.

He also got the back side of the door panel pieces primed...

In the afternoon, we loaded up the Bobcat with some old wood blocks and extra stakes and took them up to the top of the hill.

Jim had done an amazing job clearing out the shed.  There's been some water damage and he had to remove a 4" thick coating of squirrel debris from the floor which caused the floor to be wet.  He's going to work on some better flashing just to keep the shed in good shape for a while longer.

We loaded up all the extra insulated concrete form webs that were stored in the shed and took them down.  Jim's going to spray them off and store them in the attic of the pole barn until we need them again.

Back in the shed, Jim wanted to add braces to either side to help support the extra weight from the scaffolding he wants to store here.

Attaching the brace to the other side...

Then he exchanged the bucket for the forks on the Bobcat and loaded up some scaffolding.

Just for a start, he loaded up 6 frames and some cross braces.

He put some runners down and then brought in the scaffolding.

At the end of the day, he did some grass cutting.

High 81/Low 50