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

5.9.2024

Jim got steel ordered today, including the aluminum for the pull-out laundry drawer.  The order should be delivered tomorrow.

This afternoon, Jim went back to working on the pole barn door.  He had the rail brackets fastened good enough for placement, but there are really big bolts that have to go into each bracket to make it strong enough to hold up the door...

He got those bolts all attached...

Then it was time for rail work.  He used his punch to make holes in the rail for attachment and then got everything ready to install...

Rail all in place!  There's some slight modifications he needs to make, but it sure looks great!

After that, Jim did some grass cutting before heading in.  Today is a Holy Day, so we watched Mass and then headed into Saratoga for an early Mother's Day dinner.

Check out these burgers - is it any wonder this is our favorite place?  And the picture doesn't even show the sweet potato fries which are the best we've ever had!

High 63.6/Low 47.4

5.8.2024

Jim had to take the rail down and extend the blocking all the way across, then put the rail back up... 

Making sure everything is level...

All the brackets are now attached...

Next thing to figure out is the piece of siding that covers the rail structure to keep water out...

Jim decided that he wanted a piece of wood behind the cover to make it fit tighter...

Attaching...

Testing the cover again...

He's happy with the way it fits now - he took it for now and cleaned up...

When he went up to the pavilion to see if there was wood he could use, the nest had two pretty eggs!  

High 75.3/Low 48.8