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After our morning briefing at work, we loaded up into our F550 and went to the store for fuel and coffee. We were a quarter mile out and the motor started clicking. So we rolled up to the pump and just as we parked it the motor squealed and died. I think we spun a bearing and she's done for. I'm sitting in the gas station waiting on another truck to come pick me and another guy up. A wrecker is coming out of Des Moines to haul it away. We have to load a ton and a half of tools and materials from our truck onto another one of our trucks before the wrecker gets here...
 
Going to town here in a bit to grab a few items and some game food.

Michigan vs Michigan State game day.

GO BLUE!
 
Woke up late today--slept all the way until 8am. Just waiting on my oatmeal now. It looks beautiful outside--lovely blue sky with not a cloud to be seen and cool at 36*. When breakfast and dishes are done, I'll be starting on 17 ounces of Addie the Romney's fleece. I pick at it a little every morning before work--separating the locks into little mesh bags. I've got 4 small bags and 1 large one to scour (wash) today. They were soaking overnight to loosen the dirt and, ehem, "vegetable matter." The batch I did last week turned out pretty good but I think I can do better with it.

Will be pulling my carrots and beets and then the garden is done except for the 3 grow bags of potatoes. If it starts to get really cold with frost in the mornings, I'll put those in one of the "greenhouses" In the smaller greenhouse I have an experimental potato bag going. It's looking pretty good along with the spinach I have started in there.
 
Amish Heart said:
Agree, it looks awful. Who in their right mind would shave off their eyebrows and draw on new ones? My mom is almost 90 (next month) and her eyebrows are nonexistent now. Sometimes she puts on makeup and draws on eyebrows. Sometimes there's only one. Sometimes one is more of a line, and the other is a half circle. It's pretty funny, really. Excessive makeup is really in style for young ladies right now.
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I've never been one to appreciate heavy makeup on ladies... I grew up on the border and I relate heavy makeup with the working ladies in the red-light district. I could never understand why anyone would want to take the beautiful body that GOD made and paint it all up. Kinda of like applying crayon coloring over a Rembrandt....
 
I ran errands this morning... I noticed that the meat section in the store was really looking sad. So we are back to low on produce and meat, it feels a lot like Late 2020, just no lines yet....

My little greenhouse is starting to fill up, it has a mix of herbs and starter trays loaded up. The indoor growing station is only about 25% full at this time, just tomatoes, rosemary, and laurel.
 
Working at my shop this morning. I have three vehicles to finish up this morning for delivery. Finally received the correct carb rebuild kit for my old Ford 4000, so I plan to get the carb rebuilt this afternoon. Planning on making a trip to the homestead tomorrow (7 hour round trip) to winterize our camper, check on the buildings and plot out the area that needs prep work for the shed we are going to be erecting there this winter. We are hoping to be able to get all the site work done and the foundation posts sunk in before the weather gets too cold and the ground is unworkable. As long as we can get that done in the next month or so, building the rest of the shed in the winter will not be that big of a deal.

We are also hoping that the gal we bought an adjacent parcel from will be around to get us the deed to the place. It's another acre of land to add to our homestead. It has an old summer kitchen/wash house on it and a main house but both are in pretty bad shape, they will most likely need to come down. On top of that, there is probably 50 years worth of junk scattered amongst the brome grass and black locust trees. That is going to be another big project for the winter. Hoping to use the frozen ground to our advantage to skid as much of the junk out. I need to find a scrapper who wants to come pick all of the metal up. I don't have the time to be able to load it up and haul it to the scrap yard during the week.

I also started soaking 100 seeds each of Rocky Mountain Juniper, Black Hills Spruce and Ponderosa pine this morning. They've got to soak in room temp water for 48 hours before I can get them in the refrigerator to cold startify. I had really good luck last year with Ponderosa pine seeds. 35 of the 50 that I prepped grew into seedlings. I'd like to get them as well as this next batch into gallon pots next spring. We tried planting our seedlings in a nursery at the homestead, but the drought this year was too much for the 250 of those and only a handful survived even with a drip irrigation system running on them. So this year, instead of sacrificing any more seedlings to the unknown, we are going to pot them and give them at least another year to grow here before we transplant them down there.
 
UrbanHunter said:
I've never been one to appreciate heavy makeup on ladies... I grew up on the border and I relate heavy makeup with the working ladies in the red-light district. I could never understand why anyone would want to take the beautiful body that GOD made and paint it all up. Kinda of like applying crayon coloring over a Rembrandt....
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My friend 'T-Bone' from the surf shop calls 'em "Bondo Queens!!!" 🤣

Relaxing here with some hot tea, enjoying another beautiful morning... wild birds galore outside and I haven't even thrown down any birdseed yet, lol. Kittens are indoors with me after a brief venture outdoors... temp is still in the high 30s. 🥶

Gonna apply another elastomeric coat to the porch today, and check the web for suitable sheet products to cover the deck later. Otherwise, I'll be puttering around and knocking out a couple of minor projects. 🙄

Cold beer and another hot steak & cheese sandwich with grilled onion & pepper later today, the sandwich I had last night was downright delicious! Those NY Strips make decent steak sandwiches when they're medium rare, lol. The Baby Back Ribs were damned good too, even cold out of the fridge... the sauce was good. 😋

Edit: Dang, NOAA Weather says 45 degrees F right now, the temp is shooting up fast! High is supposed to be 66* F, but Tuesday's forecast calls for sunny weather and 70* F, so that looks like RIDING DAY in the mountains, lol. :cool:
 
Youth deer season started this morning we got up and had a nice breakfast and were in the stand at 7am at 715 Jake shot a little buck. We got the deer back home he skinned and quartered it and we have the meat chilling in the downstairs refrigerator. It’s been one hell of a fun morning!

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hashbrown said:
Youth deer season started this morning we got up and had a nice breakfast and were in the stand at 7am at 715 Jake shot a little buck. We got the deer back home he skinned and quartered it and we have the meat chilling in the downstairs refrigerator. It’s been one hell of a fun morning!

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Hunting in a Led Zeppelin T-shirt! :thumbs:
 
Another crazy week. Work announced my new position as "Operational Technology Engineer" to the company this week - it means I'm now officially over any tech involved in the manufacturing processes as well as all of the IOT (Internet of Things) devices that talk on our network like vending machines, sensors, probes, etc. Spent the majority of this week showing around an outside contractor that's going to replace all of our switches and clean up a whole bunch of wring for our Utah locations in Q2 of next year. It kept me super busy this week, Glad I don't do much traveling for work, it's not my favorite thing.

Fortunately I was able to take yesterday off and work on my old Prius. Got it running, cleaned up, listed and sold in 1 day. Got a little less for it than I was hoping ($2,150), but not by much and it covered all the work I put into it the last year. Since we loose our street parking privileges Tuesday it's really good to have it out of the driveway - if I hadn't gotten it going I would have had the junkyard tow it off and have only gotten $75-150 for it from them.

Today I'm hoping to figure out the 3D printing process for the hydroponic system I'm trying to make. I've been having issues where the layers of plastic the 3D printer is laying down aren't sticking together, leaving gaps that aren't a good thing in a part that's supposed to be watertight. Going to try some other materials and brands of plastic to see if we can finally make it happen.
 
Been preparing to transplant trees in December. Digging out holes and clearing out the roots and trying to make the December work easier. This is three sites ready to go. (Look dor the green stakes)

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The next row over needed a patch of multi flora rose be cleared out. Nasty stuff.

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After clearing it is ready to dig and maintained with the lawn tractor.

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I did find a trail camera strapped to one of my trees in that area. Not happy about that. I wrote a note warning about trespassing and stuffed it under the strap.

I do allow people to hunt deer there during archery season but that is with my permission and I ask for a cut of the harvest. It is a favorite place for deer.

Ben
 
Long day, but I put down two more coats of elastomeric on the porch, and it is good to go until I take the next step... this coating was just to prevent any further degradation of the old plywood on the deck, the structure is still sound so that's why I'm gonna do as I planned, unless someone else comes up with a brilliant idea to redo the porch on the cheap. :rolleyes:

I was hungry when I finally got indoors, so I macked a green salad with lettuce, tomato & baby carrots, then slammed some leftover lasagna... showered up and now I'm about to go read till I fall asleep (too full to drink beer). I was gonna have a campfire, I cleaned out the pit and laid a new fire ready to go, but I think I'll wait till morning, it'll be cold manana. :oops:

It was such a beautiful day, and I knocked out my mission by using up all that elastomeric coating, so I grabbed my camera somewhere in the middle of things and took a few pics of my property on this fine day. Absolutely perfect fall weather, I'm looking forward to riding the 'Monster Thumper' on Tuesday, lol... and this porch project is done for now. :)

RIGHT, HERE WE GO WITH TODAY'S SHOTS... I ALSO MENDED THOSE BOOTS BY EPOXYING THE SOLES. 😒

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Y'all can see how nice it was today... beautiful day to be outdoors, and knocking out that porch project (for now) was just the ticket as I climb back aboard the home rehab horse. Those boots are my all-time favorite boots for watering in the yard, they are rubberized duck boots for shallow "swampy" areas in the PNW, but they breathe really well and they have a special liner that never gets stanky, it's some sort of Space Age material that works wonders, lol. So when the soles started to delaminate after 4 years of hard use, including long camping ventures in the PNW and SE Arizona, well, I figured I'd try to fix 'em before I just tossed 'em, ya know? I might even tape 'em up with this broad heavy-duty electrical tape I bought, I'd like to get more miles out of 'em even though the rubber is splitting in places. Good boots, that's for sure, and those Vibram soles aren't too clunky or awkward, they're just right for yard work & camping. 😎
 
Dropped some trees for a family member. Everyone the family member called doesn’t want the wood. When the FM asked me to take it I gave them a blank stare before answering. “You’ve been to my house many a times And you know I live in a woods.”
 
Worked on repairing one side of the greenhouse, then talked husband into bringing dirt over from around the farm on the tractor so I could fill the grow box. Sifting thru weeds that I didn't want in there...have the box about 1/2 full at the moment. Is taking some time hauling it in the greenhouse in buckets. So got my workout today, got takeout from the amish place. Emptied and filled the dehydrators. Tomatoes. Still have lots and lots.
 
The Lazy L said:
Dropped some trees for a family member. Everyone the family member called doesn’t want the wood. When the FM asked me to take it I gave them a blank stare before answering. “You’ve been to my house many a times And you know I live in a woods.”
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Good to see you stranger.
 
Amish Heart said:
Worked on repairing one side of the greenhouse, then talked husband into bringing dirt over from around the farm on the tractor so I could fill the grow box. Sifting thru weeds that I didn't want in there...have the box about 1/2 full at the moment. Is taking some time hauling it in the greenhouse in buckets. So got my workout today, got takeout from the amish place. Emptied and filled the dehydrators. Tomatoes. Still have lots and lots.
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I just got our tomato cages pulled and the tomato vines I will hang in the summer kitchen cut and in the wheelbarrow - didn't get them hung in there yet. Picked more green beans this morning and got the final load of onions off the large dehydrator and jarred, got the dehydrator all cleaned up and put away. Tomorrow will pick the rest of the peppers and figure out what to do with the eggplant which is now loaded. We are supposed to have our first freeze Thurs. night.
 
Visited mother in law in nursing home, funeral at 1:00, carried husband home and wedding at 4;30. I wore heels today! My fasting since August 2021 has helped me lose 29 pounds. Ready for first grandsons wedding in 2 weeks! Have a conference in San Antonio next week. Be gone Tuesday thru Friday.
 
Long week at work, lots of stuff going on, plus trying to keep up with the course I'm taking.
Left work an hour early yesterday got home and got ready for the concert we planned to go to. Got to the venue at 5:00, supposed to open at 4:30. Left for a bit and came back at 5:40 and finally got in. Then after parking we went to the gate and waited more. Finally at 6:30 we were told they were cancelling the show. Technical difficulties. Everyone was all kinds of bummed out. Then to top it off I got sick at my stomach on my way home. Felt like crap and went to bed early. Slept late this morning. Got out and worked on the camper a bit, then tore out most of my cattle panels from the garden, and some more of the drip irrigation set up.. Came in about dark, ate supper , and watched UT kick the crap outta UK
 
I took the trailer into town to pick up the snow blower from the fixit man.

Stopped at the meat cutters after, and picked up a hundred lbs or so of scraps and bones for the dogs. It also included four long shank bones for me to saw up for stock.

Will probably get all the scraps from a moose, 4 steers, a sheep and 4 lambs next weekend.

My dogs were extra happy to see/smell me when I got home tonight. They are set to eat well for a year at least.
 
gaah I needed to be up at 0400 for work, but I woke up at 0200 to an elevated blood glucose level, and a bad case of heartburn. Not sure what that's all about, but I had to deal with it before going back to sleep. The numbers didn't start going down until I ate something. Go figure...now its 0330 and it's too late to go back to sleep.

So yesterday I got bumped out of my position at work. I now have 15 days to bump another position. I'm looking at going to a gang that's working in Waukegan, Illinois. I worked on that gang from May of '19 to Feb '22, I know most of the roster and the manager pretty well. It's a good gang. They'll be moving from Illinois to Barstow, CA in December to replace ties between Barstow and Las Vegas. If I have to go out west for the winter that's one of the better situations to be in because flights to Vegas are cheap and easy. The gang I'm on is holding me for 2 days, in place of another guy who went on vacation. I won't have to miss any work if I don't want to. I just didn't need the stress of dealing with it right now...
 
Spikedriver said:
gaah I needed to be up at 0400 for work, but I woke up at 0200 to an elevated blood glucose level, and a bad case of heartburn. Not sure what that's all about, but I had to deal with it before going back to sleep. The numbers didn't start going down until I ate something. Go figure...now its 0330 and it's too late to go back to sleep.

So yesterday I got bumped out of my position at work. I now have 15 days to bump another position. I'm looking at going to a gang that's working in Waukegan, Illinois. I worked on that gang from May of '19 to Feb '22, I know most of the roster and the manager pretty well. It's a good gang. They'll be moving from Illinois to Barstow, CA in December to replace ties between Barstow and Las Vegas. If I have to go out west for the winter that's one of the better situations to be in because flights to Vegas are cheap and easy. The gang I'm on is holding me for 2 days, in place of another guy who went on vacation. I won't have to miss any work if I don't want to. I just didn't need the stress of dealing with it right now...
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Besides the hard work, your job comes with it's fair share of stress! Hope the Barstow thing works out!! Stress sucks!
 
Going to clean my building, then do a touch up for a lady who had company over the weekend. Hubby has to work too. An older lady we know had her daughter over this weekend and the hall bath toilet mysteriously cracked. The daughter is skinny so who knows what happened. So he is replacing the toilet and hooking up a utility sink in her big laundry room. Supposed to be a pretty day so I'm looking forward to a nice afternoon at home with the critters!!
 
Wingnut said:
I figured I'd try to fix 'em before I just tossed 'em, ya know?
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I gorilla glue the soles on my Easy Spirit sneakers many times before pitching them. Before they are done, I am calling them my hobo shoes, but they are sooo comfortable!
Bacpacker said:
cancelling the show.
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I'm sorry your show got cancelled and then your stomach ills is like adding insult to injury. Hope you feel better soon.

Today is Church first.
Walk dogs.
Order new "hobo" shoes. LOL
Make dog food this afternoon to pressure can tomorrow. I prepped vegies and meats yesterday.
 
Today we will do church, then I have to pull-up remaining plants in the summer garden.

I harvested a bunch of celery yesterday, I cleaned and cut all the stocks for dehydrating, no room left for the greens, will do them tonight. I tried to run the dehydrator in the greenhouse over night using the battery bank and inverter, by 07:30 the low voltage alarm was sounding. It was a good test, tells me that at that draw rate I can only cover about 10 hours. It also means that I do not have sufficient battery storage for my goals....
 
Had breakfast at Dad’—always do on Sundays. We’re going to can up some apple slices. After that, it’s pull carrots and beets. Some very minor household repairs/upgrades to do. Maybe play with fiber this evening.
 
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