What's everybody doing today?

[Amish Heart]

Getting ready to feed husband and then feed the animals. Picking up mom and driving her to the other side of her building complex to sign her and I in to visit her sister and brother in the medical care section of their assisted living place. Too far for her to walk it, and because of covid, they shut down the door that connected the buildings, and I think she'd get lost anyway. They're allowing two visitors at a time, so I'm her second. Haven't seen Uncle Melvin and Aunt Sylvia, in at least 5 months, so it'll be good to see them.

 

[phideaux]

Didn't get the garage Electrical finished yesterday.
After lunch , worked a couple hours , then my driveway guy showed up.
3 hrs later he was done.
$2000 labor , $2000 gravel.

Gotta reset my mailbox today and dress up the driveway.


And the spread. 50+ tons of gravel behind house in front of garage.
Mama did her thang too.

Busy day ahead .

Good day to be alive. Blessed.

Jim

 

[Tirediron]

Tractor tire is fixed sort of, $500 later and it's no longer flat, but the guy that came and fixed it showed us a bunch of rust on the wheel itself. That might have poked a hole in the tube. I think we need a newer tractor , but there aren't any even remotely reasonably priced ones available anywhere near us right now

It's been very nice out, sunny and warm, but very dry. This has been the driest year we have had since we moved here. I am not really complaining, I dislike it when it rains for days and everything turns to mud but we do need some rain.

Ordered nuts online for my Christmas cookies. Walmart doesn't have everything, especially shelled hazelnuts. We actually have trees, but me bad....I let the goats eat the leaves since the nuts they produced the first couple of years were very small and a huge amount of work to shell, same as the walnuts. I think the only way I would shell nuts in any amount if there really was none available in a store or online. Nuts are not hard to grow but shelling them is. I wonder what sort of machines commercial nut farmers have to make that happen.

edit: I looked it up Small Pecan Nut Buster - Pecan Nut Busters
$4000 wow, no wonder nuts are so expensive!

You are probably far better off to repair the rim, or find a decent used one, newer doesn't mean better by any means.

 

[LadyLocust]

Tractor tire is fixed sort of, $500 later and it's no longer flat, but the guy that came and fixed it showed us a bunch of rust on the wheel itself. That might have poked a hole in the tube. I think we need a newer tractor , but there aren't any even remotely reasonably priced ones available anywhere near us right now

It's been very nice out, sunny and warm, but very dry. This has been the driest year we have had since we moved here. I am not really complaining, I dislike it when it rains for days and everything turns to mud but we do need some rain.

Ordered nuts online for my Christmas cookies. Walmart doesn't have everything, especially shelled hazelnuts. We actually have trees, but me bad....I let the goats eat the leaves since the nuts they produced the first couple of years were very small and a huge amount of work to shell, same as the walnuts. I think the only way I would shell nuts in any amount if there really was none available in a store or online. Nuts are not hard to grow but shelling them is. I wonder what sort of machines commercial nut farmers have to make that happen.

edit: I looked it up Small Pecan Nut Buster - Pecan Nut Busters
$4000 wow, no wonder nuts are so expensive!

If your tractor runs well, it's probably more advantageous to keep the older model. They are usually less expensive to work on. As far as rust on the wheel, it would still cost $ but far less than a tractor upgrade to have the tires removed and the wheels re-powder coated. They would then have another whole lifetime - kinda like repainting a house etc. I need to have it done on our trailer wheels but haven't yet.

 

[UrbanHunter]

It's too bad you didn't have access to the wheel while the tire was off, a wire wheel/brush to remove the rust and a couple of coats of paint would slow that problem down a lot and it would be a lot less expensive than a new tractor.

 

[havasu]

Going to take my daughter to a small venue theater in Long Beach to see a documentary on "The Beach Boys". I've been told that Brian Wilson lives close by and has a habit of appearing to talk to the crowd. Afterwards, I'm going to have some good father/daughter time and take her to lunch..

 

[backlash]

My dad never got his flag he was supposed to get from the Army. We were never sure how to request it & when he first died it was a shock so we were not prepared at all.

I have already applied to the VA for my burial preauthorization. I filled out a form online and attached a picture of my DD214 then I got a letter back with my authorization to be interned at a VA cemetery. Easy and all my family has to do is take the letter in and it's all arranged.
Any Vet that wants to be in a National Cemetery should do the preauthorized now so they family is prepared.
The VA does NOT help with preparing the body or transporting it so that is still on the family so plans for that need to be done separately.

 

[zannej]

My father didn't really want a burial. He was cremated and said we could do whatever we wanted with his ashes. So they are still in a box since we never found an urn. Too afraid the cats would knock an urn down and break it. Might go back to Guam someday & scatter some of his ashes since he liked it there. Sadly, some of my father's military records were lost in a fire. His were in a year that were not supposed to have been affected, but he had the kind of weird luck I did where he'd be one of the few who still had the records misplaced or destroyed. He had to file for new records & had to get previous surviving c.o.s to vouch for him. Then some of the stuff he had - awards/medals, etc were burned in a fire when his office burned down. Not sure where to find his DD214s. Might be in a file cabinet somewhere. At least I have his memoirs to find out his m.o.s., date of entry, date of leaving, etc.

I've been watching diy how to videos & trying to get myself motivated to do some work on the house tomorrow if I'm feeling better. Well, technically today. Arrhythmia is keeping me up.

Havasu, that sounds very sweet. I hope your daughter enjoys the time with you.

 

[joel]

Didn't get the garage Electrical finished yesterday.
After lunch , worked a couple hours , then my driveway guy showed up.
3 hrs later he was done.
$2000 labor , $2000 gravel.

Gotta reset my mailbox today and dress up the driveway.


And the spread. 50+ tons of gravel behind house in front of garage.
Mama did her thang too.
View attachment 76556View attachment 76557

Busy day ahead .

Good day to be alive. Blessed.

Jim

I was thinking that was a lot of gravel for one little driveway, then you show the side drive going into the back of the property.
Shows how much I know, it looks good, flat & packed into place, just in time for rain & snow fall. By spring the crush & run should be natural concrete.

 

[snappy1]

Good morning! Sunday School and Church first!
Walk dogs.
Make pudding.
Put together a basket of pumpkin bread, jelly and hot chocolate for Police Dept.
Make a few phone calls and relax some!

 

[phideaux]

My father didn't really want a burial. He was cremated and said we could do whatever we wanted with his ashes. So they are still in a box since we never found an urn. Too afraid the cats would knock an urn down and break it. Might go back to Guam someday & scatter some of his ashes since he liked it there. Sadly, some of my father's military records were lost in a fire. His were in a year that were not supposed to have been affected, but he had the kind of weird luck I did where he'd be one of the few who still had the records misplaced or destroyed. He had to file for new records & had to get previous surviving c.o.s to vouch for him. Then some of the stuff he had - awards/medals, etc were burned in a fire when his office burned down. Not sure where to find his DD214s. Might be in a file cabinet somewhere. At least I have his memoirs to find out his m.o.s., date of entry, date of leaving, etc.

I've been watching diy how to videos & trying to get myself motivated to do some work on the house tomorrow if I'm feeling better. Well, technically today. Arrhythmia is keeping me up.

Havasu, that sounds very sweet. I hope your daughter enjoys the time with you.

It is deceiving, I had to have 6 loads at 26 tons each, delivered.
He dug down about 6" for the circle , and filled it and packed it level. That alone was little over 4 loads.

I spent all day yester, on the tractor , dressing it up.
Will probly blacktop it next year.

front of garage off back porch.
50 tons almost done.

Suppose to get heavy rain tonight .

Jim

 

[Neb]

Didn't get the garage Electrical finished yesterday.
After lunch , worked a couple hours , then my driveway guy showed up.
3 hrs later he was done.
$2000 labor , $2000 gravel.

Gotta reset my mailbox today and dress up the driveway.


And the spread. 50+ tons of gravel behind house in front of garage.
Mama did her thang too.
View attachment 76556View attachment 76557

Busy day ahead .

Good day to be alive. Blessed.

Jim

The Princess would love that driveway. She hates to backup.

Ben

 

[Neb]

The Princess was around so plans changed. She "was thinking" (Ben covers his head) that it was time to get rid of the old tv stand that was intended for the old crt tv sets and associated gear. We had a nice electric fireplace in the Hobbit hole that is not being used due to remodeling. So after a furniture shuffle...

I can run an ASMR fireplace video and have a 2 story fireplace.

Since I had her around to help we got the 120 lbs air conditioner out if the back if the jeep that has been in there for a month or more.

Then on Saturday she decided it was a good day to dig up some trees that have been growing in the backyard nursery.

Two english walnut trees and a bunch of pine trees packed in wet shredded newspaper ready to transplant to The Ridge. She said they are cute. "Cute" should require that much work!

At least I got some shovel time in.

Ben

 

[Tirediron]

really trying to stay on the task of tidying my shop, but empirical data shows that may not be happening at peak efficiency

 

[Spikedriver]

You are probably far better off to repair the rim, or find a decent used one, newer doesn't mean better by any means.

There is probably a tractor junkyard somewhere near you. See what a used rim might cost you. It may not be a perfect match, but who cares? That's why paint was invented...

 

[Spikedriver]

Got off work early due to freezing rain. Normally we would work through that, but we've gone all year without an injury and if we finish the year without an injury, managers get bonuses, so they shut us down. I'm setting in the hotel, looking at rimfire rifles and scopes. I think that might be my Christmas present to myself this year...

 

[Flight]

Well last night, we had a power failure and it unfortunately fried our main computer, guess what I'll be rebuilding as soon as I get the motherboard, cpu, m.2(type of hard drive) and ram. The reason I'm getting new stuff is because my (old) computer is so old ( 10 years)it's hard to find parts cheap for it, so I decided to get new parts at a cost of around $700. A new computer pre-built will cost me over $1,300, so I'm using most of my old parts. This sucks lol. Oh well, it should last me another 10 years or so. Lol

 

[joel]

Sharping the knives.

 

[zannej]

Jim, the driveway looks great (better than the paving they did on my road-- which was thinner stuff than what they put on yours). I love the shed and the garage.

The other day my Mom mentioned to me that she wished we had a garage right next to the kitchen so stuff being brought in would go straight to the kitchen. It would look ugly, but worst case, we probably could put a car port at the back of the house & use the laundry room as sort of a mud room (or go through the sliding glass doors from the front room). I do want to add a small landing in front of each door for safety--a little more of a step to not fall when going out the door. It would be a pain to have to drive around to the back to park, but we could get used to it. If we did that I suppose I could discuss with her whether or not it is feasible to try to swap the cabinets with the fridge freezer. Not sure if those cabinets can be moved though. Would have to get all the measurements to make sure stuff would fit. They will be heavy since they are made of oak though. But it would be nice to have the fridge/freezer closer to the cooking/prep area in that triangle.

I threw up early this morning & am not feeling great-- probably from allergy mucus. Still haven't dragged my fat behind out of bed except to go to the bathroom. I need to make myself clean something today though. Maybe even change the hvac filters. I've put it off too long again. I wish I didn't have to bend down to change them. #firstworldproblems

Ben, the new little fireplace thing looks nice. I've more inclined to wall-mount stuff these days. I'm seriously thinking of ditching my old 32" tv (the largest that could fit in my tv stand) and mount a slightly larger one (maybe 40") above the stand. If the cords could reach I'd put it above my monitor, but alas, they are not long enough-- have a coax coming into my room from an exterior wall for the Dish hopper thing.

Flight, that really sucks that your computer got fried. Parts are so expensive right now. I hope you get a good replacement & that your data wasn't lost.

Canceled an order from Walmart. It was an early black friday sale (about a week before black friday). Was supposed to arrive on black friday but they never shipped it out. On that friday they sent me a notice that it was "delayed". Sat there with that message ever since. I decided that I don't want them to keep my $ when I don't know when or even if I will get the item. I think they over-sold it and were actually out of stock. So I ordered a better item for a little more on Amazon.

 

[INresponse]

Wasting time. Earlier I vacuumed the 100 gallon fish pond in the small greenhouse and topped it off with fresh water. Cleaned the side mount filter. Used the vacuumed up fish poop water to water the plants in the greenhouse. Watched a live YouTube feed where the guy was giving live updates on the end of the Lions/Vikings game. I was expecting to hear of a loss after the lions blew their first half lead and were down with 2 minutes left in the game but somehow the Lions got lucky. I still believe the Ford family needs to SELL THE TEAM!!!!!!
Last night I ordered some blank Tshirts to make Christmas presents for everyone. I will probably design and cut out heat transfer vinyl to make most of the shirts but later today I will make adjustments to a design I have for a "Central, Utah" shirt and have 25 or 50 heat transfers made and sent to me so I can sell them to neighbors and people passing through the corner farmers market on Saturdays. Our small community has no stores and no one makes anything related to Central so I am hoping to start making some money selling shirts and window decals. I bought all the equipment when I retired 11 years ago and finally got it back from the ex a few months ago so hopefully I can build up my retirement career again.

 

[Bacpacker]

Nothing today. Woke up and felt like crap. Stomach still not great. So I just laid around

 

[hashbrown]

Live in the woods it will be fun they said! I worked from day light to dark mulching and blowleaves. The wind blew like hell all day and laid about dark so I figured I would burn all the ditches out. As soon as I got the fires started the wind came back up. I finished burning what I had started and decided to wait for a better day.

 

[Peanut]

Someone wanted personal photos the other day? Here is one with me and the calf! I took him an apple slice tonight.

Last night I got caught up on laundry, I was way behind. But everything is washed, put away, even the kitchen towels.

I checked on all the critters this afternoon, made sure water and feed was plentiful. Watching the National Rodeo finals on tv (bronc riding).

 

[zannej]

Backpacker, sorry to hear you're not feeling well. I felt like crap this morning as well. Only dragged myself out of bed near dark to cook for Mom and then forced myself to do some cleaning in an area I'd been putting off cleaning.

Hashbrown, that fire looks sort of like digital art or some sort of abstract art piece. I know how that goes with the wind picking up. I still remember when a burn pile fire spread all over the yard and I got covered in soot dipping old blankets in water and dragging them across the ground after we hosed the yard down. Wet blankets really do put out fires (if they aren't too hot). One time my dad thought he had escaped unscathed because he had "delegated" and "supervised" while we put the fire out. He was bragging to the firemen how he didn't get any dirt on him. So I shouted "Indian war paint!" and took my fingers and spread lines on his face with the soot.

Peanut, the calf is adorable!

I have accomplished something productive today so I feel better about myself and I'm not feeling as sick as I was this morning. Tomorrow I have to pickup more prescriptions and mail. Should have some packages in.

 

[Double R]

Prepped another set of freeze drier trays and got them in the deep freeze. Current load will be ready to come out in an hour and a half. Should be able to defrost and get the next load running before bed.
Sifted the 22 qt roaster of bone broth and got it in the fridge to separate. Will separate the fat and get it cleaned up and jarred up tomorrow and get the bone broth ready to freeze dry. Found another big box of bones in the freezer so have at least 2 more batches to go before I’m done for now. Trying to get them all used up and in jars on the shelf (lard in the freezer) so there’s plenty of freezer space.
It’s very hard to see all the freezer space we’re creating and not have anxiety. Hard to grasp its on the shelf not in the freezer but we’re not short those items.
Husband had to go to work early. It’s good financially but I’d rather him home. We made great progress this weekend though so that’s a good thing.
We gave a car we had prepped to sell to our uncle who was in need of a car. Last of the items we had for sale now gone. We got two trailers taken down to scrap and an engine ready to recycle. While our move is on hold because of my MIL’s health we’re still working on getting stuff ready. When the time comes I hope it will be fairly simple to load up and go. Sure feels good to see all the stuff gone that needed to go for a long while.
Time to go make critter meals and feed the pairs. Then onto working on more rag quilts for Christmas presents.
Hope y’all had a great weekend.

 

[LadyLocust]

Prepped another set of freeze drier trays and got them in the deep freeze. Current load will be ready to come out in an hour and a half. Should be able to defrost and get the next load running before bed.
Sifted the 22 qt roaster of bone broth and got it in the fridge to separate. Will separate the fat and get it cleaned up and jarred up tomorrow and get the bone broth ready to freeze dry. Found another big box of bones in the freezer so have at least 2 more batches to go before I’m done for now. Trying to get them all used up and in jars on the shelf (lard in the freezer) so there’s plenty of freezer space.
It’s very hard to see all the freezer space we’re creating and not have anxiety. Hard to grasp its on the shelf not in the freezer but we’re not short those items.
Husband had to go to work early. It’s good financially but I’d rather him home. We made great progress this weekend though so that’s a good thing.
We gave a car we had prepped to sell to our uncle who was in need of a car. Last of the items we had for sale now gone. We got two trailers taken down to scrap and an engine ready to recycle. While our move is on hold because of my MIL’s health we’re still working on getting stuff ready. When the time comes I hope it will be fairly simple to load up and go. Sure feels good to see all the stuff gone that needed to go for a long while.
Time to go make critter meals and feed the pairs. Then onto working on more rag quilts for Christmas presents.
Hope y’all had a great weekend.

It does feel good to "clean house" even if it's not in the house! Hope MIL is doing well.

Made 4 butcher aprons today - posted over in sewing thread haha Getting ready for holiday market. "They" changed our forecast from snow tomorrow to rain No where near as much fun. Brought the totes of Christmas stuff in and have yet to dig into them so still not decorated.

 

[Double R]

It does feel good to "clean house" even if it's not in the house! Hope MIL is doing well.

Made 4 butcher aprons today - posted over in sewing thread haha Getting ready for holiday market. "They" changed our forecast from snow tomorrow to rain No where near as much fun. Brought the totes of Christmas stuff in and have yet to dig into them so still not decorated.

Yes it definitely does feel good to clean house. Even outside.
Thanks Surgery is scheduled for this coming week. We’re scared. She has limitations for hospital intervention due to her religion. So far they say no kemo but we won’t know until they see what’s going on with the surgery.
Butcher aprons!?! I’m going to check those out. We no longer have a locker and have had no luck finding a new one so we’re going to be doing it ourselves.
Bummer about the rain vs snow. We may get some light rain next week but I’m not holding my breath. Gotta get the plants moved into the barn in the next few days. Gunna get below freezing end of the week so the weather report says.

 

[The Lazy L]

Waiting on FedEx to deliver a part.
When tracking showed the part was on their truck for delivery I tore down my vehicle in preparation. Part never arrived. Tracking showed that at the end of the delivery day the part was shipped to FedEx warehouse five hours south of me. Then on its way back to my local FedEx warehouse. Been in transit since Friday night.

How much you want to bet it will show up soon after I put my vehicle back together using the old part?

 

[The Lazy L]

It is deceiving, I had to have 6 loads at 26 tons each, delivered.
He dug down about 6" for the circle , and filled it and packed it level. That alone was little over 4 loads.

I spent all day yester, on the tractor , dressing it up.
Will probly blacktop it next year.

front of garage off back porch.
50 tons almost done.
View attachment 76624

Suppose to get heavy rain tonight .

Jim

Looks nice!

73 limestone with powder?

 

[phideaux]

Looks nice!

73 limestone with powder?

Yes sir.
Packs like concrete.

Jim