Good morning!!!!

[LS Tractor Owner]

Good morning to all! Low was?... going up to 86°, but yesterday, we surpassed the forecasted hi of 87° by 2 degrees-- hit 89°. It's 84° already at 10:30, so my guess is we'll hit close to 90°.

Still have good chances for T-storms, but I'm not holding my breath....
Ran everything on the drip system yesterday, rain would just be a bonus.

Got an early start today, we cleaned out the greenhouse, remixed some potting mix, and transplanted a couple of flower plants. There are 8 Kentucky Coffee Trees that need to be transplanted into larger containers, that may or may not happen today. Depends on how hot it gets.

Dinner menu for this evening will either be pizza or lasagna, side of stuffed bell peppers. Depends on how wore out we get.....pizza will be easier...

Have a great day!

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

Mostly, I forgot to mention that there is a "centurion" bike race which goes down our main road. It starts somewhere up in the city of Santa Fe, comes south about 45 miles, heads east for about 10 miles, then back up north. Plenty of hills going through the mountains.

I surely don't envy those riders......

 

[daugen]

sitting here still full from being a happy oinker at Ken's barbecue party. Pulled pork, pulled chicken, lots of cooked veggies, all from high end food truck.
And I wound up sitting next to the Heineken mini keg. Oh dear. How convenient.
Two cold glasses of beer and way too much lunch and I waddled off to see friends in Newtown.
Ken has a beautiful home back in the woods in a very nice wooded area with many colonial homes around, including London Purchase Farm close by.
I got to hear Ken's son play the drums along with a friend.
Admittedly it hurt my ears...but he clearly was having fun. Nice young man.
here's a pic of the farm you pass on the way to Ken's home.
bet it's heated with fuel oil too....whoooeeee.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Millermatic 250 update:. Woohoo! I finally got a bottle of 75/25 Argon CO2, tinkered a bit on it, hooked up my cheapie new Amazon regulator, PPE, and commenced to welding. I was told it might over heat. It was 98F in barn. I wanted to see if the cooling fan would come on when it was supposed to. It did. I welded a couple of beads about 16inches long. Fan came on towards the end of the first bead so I continued. 2nd bead went well too. Fan stayed on after welding for about 5 minutes or so. Works plenty fine for me. Rusty metal, wire too had a smidge of rust. No problem, the thing is a work horse. My welding needs some practice, but I on my knees bending over doing this with no arm support.

Promax 400 amp gun. Argon was about $72. They don't have bottles to sell right now, only rent. .70 cents a day. Now that I know it works well, I will find a bottle online.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Now I need another 50 amp plug, 1 for the Speedaire, 1 for the welder.
Speedaire has been working fine too, but I don't leave it's breaker on.

 

[daugen]

one of the things I find interesting in these old houses was how they kept warm in the winter.
Stone houses stay fairly cool in the summer, though fans are always good.
But you look at those four chimneys on that house and I'm wondering how many actual fireplaces there were 200 years ago.
Actually since it's a national historic monument, not much has been changed.
I like the wood lintel over the second floor windows in the old part. That was heavy stone and the different patterns and stone size tell a story.
I think that house was 1723. I grew up in a much more modest old farmhouse, 1720 about three miles north of this house. I have a picture of the original out house
on my office wall. One of my favorite photos. Right out the back door just in the woods.

of course then the outhouse got gentrified but I liked it better the old way.

Kyle, nice bead. You'll be finding things to do.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

RNG, did I miss a post? Are you sharing your time with someone? Seems you are taking more trips and saying "we" sometimes. Just a gentle question, you can ignore me if you want to.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

sitting here still full from being a happy oinker at Ken's barbecue party. Pulled pork, pulled chicken, lots of cooked veggies, all from high end food truck.
And I wound up sitting next to the Heineken mini keg. Oh dear. How convenient.
Two cold glasses of beer and way too much lunch and I waddled off to see friends in Newtown.
Ken has a beautiful home back in the woods in a very nice wooded area with many colonial homes around, including London Purchase Farm close by.
I got to hear Ken's son play the drums along with a friend.
Admittedly it hurt my ears...but he clearly was having fun. Nice young man.
here's a pic of the farm you pass on the way to Ken's home.
bet it's heated with fuel oil too....whoooeeee.

Drew, that house is beautiful. Nothing modest about it though IMHO. Couldn't imagine the value...

 

[daugen]

Drew, that house is beautiful. Nothing modest about it though IMHO. Couldn't imagine the value...

priceless in a way, on the National Historic Register. And yes I'm sure Washington slept there. We always used to joke that Washington
did NOT sleep at our house...
Value is in acreage also, not sure how big the property is, think maybe some of the land was sold off for really big homes.
We had two entirely separate oil burners in our home, on each end of basement, and the fuel oil usage was heavy. Ancient windows, gucked up with Mortite and
anything else to stop the cold air coming in. Father used to howl when he got the statement from fuel oil company and if we didn't shut the main door quickly enough it was
sure to elicit quite loudly the time worn Are You Trying To Heat All Of Bucks County? the wise did not answer but slammed the door quickly.
We burned seven cord of wood every winter, all laydown from the farm, and I grew up gathering, preparing and bringing in the firewood.
Wasn't always the best stacker. Learned to find a tree to work against on one side.
We had rows and rows of wood ready to go. I loved the smell of it all.

found this: it's really pretty

John Milner Architects | Design & Preservation | Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania

We are devoted to the design of fine new residences that are sensitive to their historical and environmental contexts. Our homes are based on classic American and European traditions and are informed by our working knowledge of architectural precedent coupled with the requirements of...

johnmilnerarchitects.com

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

priceless in a way, on the National Historic Register. And yes I'm sure Washington slept there. We always used to joke that Washington
did NOT sleep at our house...
Value is in acreage also, not sure how big the property is, think maybe some of the land was sold off for really big homes.
We had two entirely separate oil burners in our home, on each end of basement, and the fuel oil usage was heavy. Ancient windows, gucked up with Mortite and
anything else to stop the cold air coming in. Father used to howl when he got the statement from fuel oil company and if we didn't shut the main door quickly enough it was
sure to elicit quite loudly the time worn Are You Trying To Heat All Of Bucks County? the wise did not answer but slammed the door quickly.
We burned seven cord of wood every winter, all laydown from the farm, and I grew up gathering, preparing and bringing in the firewood.
Wasn't always the best stacker. Learned to find a tree to work against on one side.
We had rows and rows of wood ready to go. I loved the smell of it all.

found this: it's really pretty

John Milner Architects | Design & Preservation | Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania

We are devoted to the design of fine new residences that are sensitive to their historical and environmental contexts. Our homes are based on classic American and European traditions and are informed by our working knowledge of architectural precedent coupled with the requirements of...

johnmilnerarchitects.com

I noticed the chimney on the far right matched the home's stone, but the other 3 were red brick.

 

[Thomas]

Got loader and mower on tractor. Dad didn’t think I could get it on by myself since the arms were too low to drive under. I had to back in beside it to get close enough to hook up hydraulic lines, raise arms by curling bucket. Then I could hook up normal.
Let dad take first try
View attachment 757270

Then he had me mow the rest of that field.
Hit a hornets nest, fortunately they didn’t follow me when I hit it, and next pass I saw them swarming ahead of me, and I backed out quickly.
View attachment 757271
After I told dad, he drove his old car down and I took picture thru window, then he ran over the nest. I was afraid he would get hung up and we would be stuck in the swarm.
View attachment 757272

Your father looking good.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

BEF , I always wondered if you play The Pretenders when you go,

 

[daugen]

Washington would come up to Philadelphia for the Continental Congresses in the beginning and I think since New Hope is the last stop over before the Delaware River and then NJ, NJ where the bad guys were. I grew up looking at Bowman's Hill Tower to the South from the front porch of our farmhouse, my father always had a good pair of binoculars, probably from WWII, and we would
look at Bowman's Hill Tower, this tall stone tower marking a look out spot watching over the River and particularly downstream to Trenton where the Hessians were. Ken's home is quite close to the Tower, I can only imagine the summer weekend traffic of looky lous gazing at the historic houses, barns, horses, etc etc and soon there are long lines of cars winding through the woods.
And worse, lots of motorcycle groups making a huge amount of noise.
This area draws a lot of tourists/motorists/interesting cars/motorcycles. Lots and lots of motorcycles.
The same ones that thunder past my Quaker Meeting on a quiet Sunday morning. We sit not far off the old, original Durham Road, heavily traveled from the beginning.
I don't think I would mind clippety clop...

all of these homes Kyle have had additions built, many early on as folks got more prosperous. It's fun to see how the stone changes and even the mortaring technique.
if you have unlimited funds you can exactly duplicate the original style but folks also wanted something more modern. I grew up in a frame addition on the end of the frame kitchen
added to the original stone home. And my bedroom had a door to the outside. A door of freedom. I learned to walk in the pitch black dark nights, trying not to wack face on low lying horse chestnut tree limbs. Those suckers had those spiny sharp balls that did not feel good at all. Because of them, could never go through at night in bare feet.
Like a freaking mine field that I chanced once to my serious regret.

The picture of Buckeye's Dad still on the tractor is marvelous.

 

[Thomas]

82F clear sky no breeze,did have quick down pour around 2:30pm.

Been couple weeks since Kubota seen little action ran like top.
It was slow motion day and tomorrow looks the same,soon feet up on deck enjoying couple popsicles waiting for critter and stars.

Enjoy your evening all.

 

[daugen]

popsicle sounds good

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Left for Ohio. Got to town and low oil light came on in Subaru. Pulled into autozone, oil barely on dipstick. Bought and added qt and went back home. It’s not leaking, so that means car is now burning some oil. 7500 miles since last change.
Switched to truck and made it to the farm.
In some light rain on the way. Dad got a big rain before we got here.

First job of installing new fan switch did not go well. Moved them one at a time from old to new. Had trouble with wires not catching. Switch uses stab in wiring. When I got done, fan only works on low. Soaked in sweat from that. No AC in the house.
Did not mess with tractor yet.

Don had a Subaru that burned oil. IIRC, they didn't hone the cylinders properly. Buy you a 5 qt container, and keep it and a funnel handy.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Good morning! 78˚F . Yesterday was suppose to be a bit cooler but it was 102˚, we will try again today to stay under the 100˚ mark for the first time in many weeks.

Today I have an appointment to get my wife's voice changed at Costco, it's a little too loud and screechy sounding. Getting the final adjustments made on my hearing aids.

you certainly have a way with words....hopefully you survive this. LOL.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Don had a Subaru that burned oil. IIRC, they didn't hone the cylinders properly. Buy you a 5 qt container, and keep it and a funnel handy.

It never burned any up till now. At 137k miles.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Speaking of Washington slept here. Drove by this plaque tonight.

38 yr old George Washington camped here oct 25 1770 on his 1770 journey down the Ohio river. He was appointed to reimburse the Virginia militia with land for their fighting in the French and Indian wars. His party with Indian guides canoed from fort Pitt to the kanawha river and back up. I did a 12 part post on FB detailing his journal entries for the trip as it pertained to eastern Ohio.
It’s also interesting to read of his 1754 surrender at fort necessity that started the war (22 years old), and he was part of the 1955 Braddock’s defeat at fort Duquesne (Danial Boone was a wagon master on that trip). He
He started his career in 1753, taking a trip to Ft Lebouef to tell the French that Britain claimed the Ohio territory. The French laughed at him.

started his career 0 for 3.

He was one of the first to visit the forks of the Ohio, what would become Pittsburgh.

 

[txdon]

you certainly have a way with words....hopefully you survive this. LOL.

I thought I did a lot of prepping before I used the word screeching by explaining the way Costco really turned up the high frequency volume . . . . didn't help much but I survived. With Costco's re-adjustment of the high frequency her voice is pleasant again. I have scheduled another Apt at the end of the month for some more fine tuning if necessary.

Whipper is doing puppy moves with doggy Advil. It was only 91˚ during her evening (7pm) walk and quite pleasant - 10-12 degrees cooler than usual.