Good morning!!!!

[LS Tractor Owner]

Good morning to all! Low only went to 62. High today still forecasted to reach 88. Very overcast this morning as rain showers are moving across the area.

We / I were startled out of bed last night by a crash / bang. Apparently there was a storm to the east of us and a strong down burst wind came in an open window (that never usually even gets any breeze) knocking a quart size planter off the sill to the floor. It did not break, and just a small amount of dirt spilled out.

This storm system is very strange... traveling from due south to north. Gusts are expected from 45-55 this afternoon. We have only had a few sprinkles so far, but to the west about 15 miles away, I can see it pouring down. The track is supposed to move a little eastward, so maybe we can get some of the rain too.

Ron, great picture of the hummer... it is like he is saying “ WHAT “ ....

Randy, thanks for sharing your dad’s heroic memories.... they are still the greatest generation.

RNG, do you have a screed set up to filter out the stones? It would surely make your back thank you. I have seen some temporary ones made out of 2x4s.... maybe you have enough pipe left over for one? At least to filter out the big stuff....

Thomas, neat story about peanuts reaction to the Mrs. Do the foxes interact with her?

The agenda for today is touch up the shed paint (if the weather allows), maybe get to work on the park bench. Maybe dig a couple of post holes to install some decorative split rail corner posts at the property corners at the front drive. I called for utility location marks mid week and they have been done. I still have over a week for the dig time. If it stays dry enough, it might be a good day to do them.

Everyone have a great day!

 

[ronjhall]

Another great photo, Ron, but what an odd looking hummer. What kind is it?

I do not do very well with bird names. Glad there are others that can help me on GM.
This one was stretching it's neck to see me in the house.
Here it is just after landing.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Here's the lathe I have torn apart. Needs more bearings, and I want to put an online oil filter too.

 

[RedNeckGeek]

RNG, do you have a screed set up to filter out the stones? It would surely make your back thank you. I have seen some temporary ones made out of 2x4s.... maybe you have enough pipe left over for one? At least to filter out the big stuff....

This rock is sedimentary and metamorphic, Ted, so it's mostly thinner than it is broad. So it needs a grid type of filter, as grizzly bars would still let large flakes get through. A piece of chain link fence stretched over a frame would work well, just an old chain link gate would be perfect. But I don't have anything laying around like that, and I need to get this done, so it's all been pretty much by hand so far. Except when I was screening the fill dirt for the conduit trenches. That all went through 1/2" hardware cloth, and I sure don't wanna have to do that again for the rest of it. It's really not that bad because I'm only picking out what's on the surface, and what comes to the surface as I grade it. I keep trying to think of things to use the rock for, but so far I'm drawing a blank...:confused3:

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

RNG, LANDSCAPING GRAVEL !!! WOOHOO! Just kidding, but who does not like playing on their tractors with gravel.... just sayin...

 

[txdon]

Good morning! 95˚F at 10:30 am and I'm finished with outside work. After cleaning and examining the chainsaw I have come to the conclusion it has no fuel leak - I must have spilled the fuel. But I could not get it started until I put Seafoam in the carburetor. After that it started first pull several times.

Ron I recognize that bird, its the giraffe whatshappening humming bird.

Randy great 6/6 story!

RNG with like minded people maybe you can finish the solar project quickly and to your quality of workmanship.

Does anyone have Air pods. I'm trying to figure mine out connected to the MacBook Pro. How do I turn them on and off on different apple products, iPhone, iPad?

 

[rswyan]

RS, good luck with the vise, I haven稚 had much luck over the years with similar repairs, so I知 very interested to see how it works. ...

Thanks top ... :thumbsup:

I'll be interested to see how it works out as well ...

And thanks for the story about your father's service ... :thumbsup:

Imagining you and the family relaxing in the shade of the new awning, enjoying a cool breeze on a future summer afternoon ...

... rswyan- I/We really like Vindaloo. Sometimes I think the lamb's gaminess is due to it being a slightly"older" lamb. There is a lot of sheep raising around here; local, organically raised lamb is still available.

That could very well be ...

I really like that Kombi system. The powerhead is a solid performer and I can interchange the 3 attachments with a turn of a handle. Right now I have the polesaw cutter, the old chisel circular saw blade, and the pruning shares mounted and ready for action. I am 陷会ｽｪorking Wifey for a blower head and maybe a (Mantis-like) tiller head to round out the system.

I think the Kombi system had just come available back when we were looking at buying the HT101 polesaw ... debated going that way, eventually decided not to ... although in hindsight, I kind of wish we had. One less internal combustion engine to deal with is always a good thing, right ?

We have a Mantis-like tiller head for the FS66 trimmer ... have found it to be very handy over the years.

Thanks for the bird house information- I had one birdhouse filled with sticks like you mentioned, now thanks to you I now know the reason. Thanks.

My pleasure. The stick thing is how house wrens build their actual nests ... but they will also do similar in additional cavities, to keep competition out of the territory. There is a definite difference between the actual nests and the decoys.

rswyan it is a jungle here every three or four days

With as much rain as you have been getting I don't doubt that one bit.

Long neck Hummingbird checking me out. Still seeing only one at a time at feeders.

That's funny ...

Thanks all for the House Wren ID. Sparrows are being barred from using birdhouses.

Saw a house sparrow on top of one of the bluebird nest boxes here the other day. Time to get out the sparrow trap I guess.

RS, hope the vise works after repair. I have a similar Craftsman vise. So far OK. About 30 years old.

Yeah, that's about how old mine is. I got looking at the repair yesterday ... the other end of the removable jaw (opposite from the one that I noticed moving) has a definite gap at the top, between it and the half of the jaw that it mounts to.

Neither of the jaws are what you would call "loose" ... what I'm seeing could be a consequence of screw hole being slightly "off axis" as a result of my hand drilling, although I did notice that on one of the screws my "turn down job" in the drill press appears slightly off-center from the hex recess you use to drive the screw. Might not have had that one chucked up in the drill press exactly right ... and it may have to be redone.

My biggest concern is chucking something in the vise and really cranking it down tight and then having the casting crack or break due to a misalignment. Turning down another screw I can do all day long, fixing a broken casting probably not so much.

... Had some disturbing news yesterday. daughter in the land down under is under covid isolation. Her entire compound has been instructed to not go anywhere until testing and results come into play. Seems there was a confirmed case in the "village" and the health authorities are trying to track and contain. Hopefully she can manage through this as family support is 14 hours difference by phone/video only. ...

Hope that turns out ok ... :thumbsup:

(The hostas here are pruned regularly by our resident deer ... )

... I've only had nectar go bad once, RS, and it took nearly a month. These days, I'm lucky of a jug of the stuff lasts three days, and right now, the little buggers are swarming the feeder outside the bedroom sliding door, letting me know I need to climb out of bed and fill them all again. There's six of 'em on the feeder right now, and they're taking turns knocking each other off.:laughing:

Good to know ... :thumbsup:

I'll keep an eye on it here - probably just change it out when it starts looking cloudy.

Got word from the guy I've been working with at Everything Attachments that they'll make an eighty-four inch tooth bar for the big tractor, and it'll take three or four weeks. I was hoping it could ship with the grapple, but it went out yesterday. I just need to send them a drawing of the stove bolts that hold the bucket edge in place so they get the countersunk square holes right, and McMaster makes that easy on their website. Took delivery of the hydraulic couplers that the grapple will use day before yesterday. I decided to go with flat faced couplers, as the design spills a lot less oil than the old Pioneer style.

FF couplers are what I'm using here ... converted everything over to them ... :thumbsup:

... There's almost nothing on the bench for the first time in years, and I'm trying to keep it that way as I move stuff back into the garage from storage. ...

You're living a truly blessed life ... :laughing:

80F and very sunny @ 12:00, under a pollen alert. High expected to hit 82F.

Got up shortly after 05:00 yesterday and was pretty tuckered out by 23:00 so I went to bed "early", still tired ... slow to wake up and get moving today.

Someone recently posted some info from the Workshop Manual on rebuilding the cylinders on an LA463 FEL (which is the next size up from my LA 402 I believe) which they got from Messicks. Involved some special tools (that Kubota doesn't even offer ... ) Probably might be a good idea to see if I have the WSM for mine, not sure if I do or not. Likely will still go ahead and disassemble the piston and gland nut off the rod even if I don't. If it appears to be straight forward I may proceed further and finish rebuilding it.

If not, I'll probably get started doing the leak testing ...

 

[sodamo]

68°F and .19 inches rain. Seems a bit breezy this morning.

I foresee a day of seat time piloting the flail mower around the inner property.

Prayers for all
Be safe
Have a great day

 

[daugen]

Ron, great bird pic
RNG, thanks I can dress myself, get around for short distances, work my way up to supermarket food shopping using the cart as a walker.
Dealing with poop and diapers several times a day is beyond depressing; I'm a "clean" guy and waking up to that yukky environment is gross.
When I finally get out of here, will be able to go to bathroom promptly and not wait for nurse, hope it will improve matters greatly. But I'm looking at diapers for forseeable future. Very humbling to be a six month old pooping baby again
I desperately need to get out of here and have my own place I can control and optimize.

no therapy all weekend, will use some tension strap shortly to get some minimal exercise.

 

[Steppenwolfe]

76 years ago at daybreak, my 19 year old dad jumped off a shot up wooden LCM, into water over his head, wearing 70 lbs of gear. He had a tall buddy help him to shallow water, where all they had to worry about was withering **** fire, stepping over the body parts and hoping his next step wasn稚 on a land mine.
Eleven months later the Nazis surrendered because the greatest fighting force in history had just totally kicked their butts across Europe. Farm boys like dad, rich people, movie stars, formed into the most feared Army/Navy and USMC and saved the world.
THEY WERE 19 YEAR OLD KIDS, think about that as you go about your day.

:thumbsup: