9.30.2022

Jim got up a bit early this morning to make sure he was ready for his steel delivery.  But it never came.  He called at lunchtime and apparently wires got crossed; delivery is rescheduled now for Monday.

Jim was also waiting on a call from the auto shop that was turning his brake drums.  He called them at lunch as well; they apparently had his phone number wrong and had tried to call him to tell him they were done.  He headed out and picked those up.

Once he got back, he continued to work on the pavilion area as well as spread some gravel.

The adapter Jim made for his new screed looks great painted bright orange!

High 60.8/Low 37 

 

9.29.2022

 Jim wanted to get the brake drums turned on the 4Runner.  He called a local place that said they could do them and get them back in short order.  So he spent the morning getting them off the car and ready to go.  After lunch, he drove out to the place and dropped them off.  Then hours later, he got a call saying that their machine was broken and they couldn't do them.  Argh.  They said that another location could do them so I got ready and headed out to pick them up and take them to the other place.  I was partway there when Jim called and said that they were going to get them to the other location and we could just pick them up tomorrow.  Jim and I always say that whenever we have to get other people involved, things get complicated.  I did come back home and then go out and picked up some diesel fuel for the machines.

Because Jim has continued to work on the pavilion area - it looks pretty fabulous!

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

High 61.1/Low 44.7 - frost advisory out for tonight!

9.28.2022

The morning didn't start off the best - Jim was expecting his steel order to be dropped off this morning.  Typically, they just drop it at the end of the driveway and Jim takes the Bobcat down to pick it all up.  Well, today the driver didn't want to just drop it.  He tried to call but Jim didn't see the call.  He had to call and reschedule the delivery to Friday.

I had to run errands this morning and do a few pickups for Jim.  He worked on finishing up the car work... 

Everything's done but the oil change - it's so nice to have the lift and all these cool tools!

Putting the oil in, then he ran it for a bit to make sure there were no leaks.

Our ultrasonic bird/animal repeller came in the mail today so Jim put it in the ground.  We'll see how it works!

High 60.6/Low 50.9

9.27.2022

Jim turned the heat on this morning (way too early - it's September!) but just to get a little heat inside and to test out the system more.  Here he is working over the toilet (one of his favorite things) to bleed some air out of the line... 

But today, Jim mostly wore his mechanic's hat as he put the 4Runner up on the lift and started really digging in.

He's replacing belts but some required lots of dismantling...

Jim had another Craigslist sale and met the guy late afternoon to complete the transaction.

High 62.4/Low 45.5

9.26.2022

Jim met a fellow for a Craigslist today - got rid of some stuff and got some money in return!  He also had to spend a good chunk of the day on the phone - getting car shipment quotes and quotes for a steel order.

In the metal shop, he is modifying his car dolly to put on the new wheels - he had to cut off the handles...

Handles cut off...

He's starting to work on the 4Runner - this is just a big tune-up right now.  He still wants to rebuild the engine but that will wait until winter...

Parts and pieces coming off the engine!

High 67/Low 53.1

 

9.25.2022

It was a drizzly day so a good one for inside work.  Jim did more tweaking to the furnace system and tested it out.  Because he opened up the lines, there is air trapped that he is working on releasing.  We even tested the unit in Mom's room in heat mode - wow, it pumped out heat in short order!  It's nice to have that as a backup if need be.

In anticipation of having Jim's car back in NY at some point, we need to make some room in the metal shop so we started that project today.  We emptied out this cabinet that holds all of Jim's metal working tools and equipment, and Jim moved it...

It's now over near his welders so it's a good place for it.  He's rearranging things back on the shelves.  We also emptied out the cabinet that Jim is planning on moving up into the wood shop.  We took all the belongings up to the shop but he'll wait for a dry day to use the Bobcat to move it up.  The other cabinet will go out into the pole barn.

Jim also replaced our smoke detector in the bedroom today and got it online and tested.  

High 55.7/Low 47 - drizzly

9.24.2022

We had an early start to the morning - the smoke detector in our bedroom started chirping a little after 5:00 this morning.  It's up at the top of the vaulted ceiling, so Jim couldn't silence it without getting a ladder out.  We have another Nest detector that he will install there so that all the house units will be the same.

We had our coldest temps of the season this morning - 37° - so Jim continued doing some furnace modifications.

In the afternoon, Jim headed out to do some more driveway updates with the gravel...

As he was working on the pavilion site, these branches kept getting in the way so he stood in the Bobcat bucket and cut them down!

Continuing to cut...

Working on the site...

High 66.2/Low 37.3 - beautiful!

9.23.2022

Jim got the new pump all wired into the control box today - we had a cool day which is definitely a reminder that we'll be needing heat soon!  (Hopefully not too soon!)

He continued working on the adaptor for his new screed - drilling holes and tapping them...

Attaching it to the new screed...

Then he got these disconnect handles for it so that he can easily switch between his different screed lengths...

In the afternoon, he worked on distributing more gravel in the driveway...

Looks really nice - he's trying to build it up along the edge so that the water diverts the way he wants it to go...

He wanted to get a reference on elevation of the pavilion area - I would have sworn it was all 3-4" higher than the driveway...

It sure looks higher from this angle!

But no - he still has more dirt to put here.  It's hard to grade it the way he wants because it's a small area and mounded up, so the Bobcat can't get a good flat surface.  But it's taking shape...

High 55.9/Low 44.5 - cool and breezy!

9.22.2022

 

How did it get to be fall?  Even though there are signs of it in the color of the leaves and the cooler temperatures, we still aren't quite done with summer projects yet!

Jim did some work in the metal shop - he bought a smaller screed for his power screed that he hopes to use to put down the concrete in the lean-to.  However, he needs to make an adaptor to fit his model.

We had some on/off quick showers in the afternoon but Jim managed to do some more gravel work in between drops.

We cut the day short so that we could head into Saratoga this evening.  We topped off our errands with a stop at Applebee's.  We have lots to be thankful for this week - that Mom wasn't hurt worse by her fall and that we passed the building inspection!

High 64.4/Low 53.3

9.21.2022

Whew.  What a day.  Mom and I had haircuts this morning, planned to go to the hearing aid center at 1:00 and then errands in between.  We got all that accomplished and had one more stop in Saratoga before heading home.  Unfortunately, as we went down a ramp at a crosswalk downtown, Mom tumbled to the ground.  But thanks to divine intervention, a worker from the local urgent care was picking up lunch for the office and she fell practically in front of him.  Mom had torn the skin off her left arm and he said she needed to be seen.  He took our names, called ahead to the office, and when we arrived 5 minutes later, she was seen right away.  A good cleanup, wrap and a tetanus shot later, and we were sent on our way.  She's a little sore but doing well (and smiling underneath that mask!).  It could have been much worse so we are very grateful!

Poor Jim - I was frantically keeping him posted along the way and this was our scheduled appointment with the building inspector for the lean-to.  Everything always happens at once - he came while we were being helped.  But good news - all passed (of course!) and they will be sending our compliance form in the mail.

But it was quite the discombobulated day for everyone - Jim did a little bit of grading after we got home before calling it a day.

High 73.4/Low 55.9

9.20.2022

We were happy to see that the turkeys stayed away from the triangle last evening - maybe Mr. Skeleton did the job!  It's early days though, so we'll see!

It was an on/off rainy/sunny kind of day so a good day for inside projects.  Jim went back to working on the new pump installation - it's all in now but just finger tightened.

Jim got it all tightened up and tested it - so far so good!  The only thing left on this project is to wire the new pump into the control box.

Checking out the plumbing by the manifold - Jim's seeing if anything else needs to be done before winter.

Then he welded together all four of the rebar pieces he bent to make a cage - he's going to use this in our new mail drop box...

High 67.4/Low 59.3 - on/off light showers