Good morning!!!!

[txdon]

Good morning! 79˚F heading to 104˚F (before heat index). That will make today the hottest day of the year, so far.

Kyle I am finding a lot of information and tubes on pruning tomatoes but none that specifically tells how to prune for the July/August heat months to help the tomatoes survive to produce again in September. The garden guy on the radio said to cut out the middle but none of the pruning tubes say that.

I have two watermelon plants up in this heat out of 25 planted and upped my irrigation to water every 4 hours for 15 minutes - drip irrigation.

While at the garden I had a request for tractor work but at 101˚ yesterday I just said I'll get to it latter this week.

The covid cases are reducing in the county after a two week spike but the two surrounding counties are still spiking. My observation of the face mask law compliance in this county is at 100%.

 

[daugen]

I have been watching a number of videos about the problems with plastic recycling, some 60 Minutes, but many more.
It is sad and shocking to know that only 2 percent of the plastic we so carefully put in recycling bins actually gets made into something useful.
For decades it was shipped to China who two years ago said enough, no more. Now plastic rubbish is being sent to Malaysia and it is a real crime.
Not only is it piling up, but they are burning it, and the waste water is going into rivers used for drinking water.

Every country should build the infrastructure to manage their own plastic and rubbish. Government is failing us by allowing this polluting of the world to continue.

 

[rswyan]

A very pleasant 69F with partly cloudy skies @ 08:30, high predicted to be 79F for the day.

I beat The Woman in getting up this morning, so my first cup is cafe con leche ... which is always a treat ...

Cleaned off the back patio yesterday and moved some 2 x 4's for fish tank racks from upstairs to around back and finished priming those. Probably start painting them today (forecast is 0% chance of rain)

The Woman decided to give the downstairs bathroom (which rarely gets used) a "deep cleaning" so I helped with that ... on the high and low parts she couldn't reach.

She also trimmed back the pachysandra off one side of the front walkway ... and it's now 20% wider ... :laughing:

Wound up with an entire garbage can full of cuttings so might have to see about potting those today to root and propagate them.

Blueberries plants are looking good, although the soil is still showing a pH of around 7. Gave them each a gallon of vinegar water yesterday.

Cleaned the air filter pre cleaner foam and checked the fuel tank on the Trac Vac - was surprised to find out that it wasn't all rusted up on the inside ... so might be able to get that running today with a minimal amount of effort. If so, I'll go ahead and change the oil in it.

Amazon delivered a 12-pack of CR123A batteries yesterday (and a StreamLight ProTac 2L-X, which will be my EDC) ... so I was able to get the batteries changed on the light on the shotgun.

I was sitting out back last evening around 20:30, just about to bring those 2 x 4's inside, when Rocky showed up at the bird feeders ... so I snuck up upstairs and grabbed the shotgun and managed to get off a shot (with some no. 9 birdshot) which sent him running for the woods.

Looks like the live trap we got may have a hair trigger ... it got tripped last night (bait still in it) so I reset it before going to bed ... it was tripped again this morning, but I don't know if they got the bait or not.

Going to see if I can get the flicker nest box set up today. Found that the 1" black pipe pole I'm using for the mount just fits inside 1 1/4" schedule 40 PVC ... so the plan is to sink a couple of feet of PVC (capped on the bottom, with a hole drilled into for drainage) into the ground and then just set the pole into it.

Need to check sparrow trap for customers.

Hope everyone has an enjoyable, productive, and safe day ... :thumbsup:

 

[PJSprog]

66°F and clear skies this morning, going up to 89° today. This is the mild day this week, as the rest of the week will see mid to upper 90s, and into next week.

Spent most of Saturday morning on the mower, and made most of the grass shorter. Still haven't mowed in the new growth area where dirt was moved around in what used to be the back of the pond. The fill brought in by the former landscaper was so dirty, it almost seems there was more garbage than actual dirt. We keep finding large chunks of bricks and rock and all other manner of debris either sticking up or laying on top. I found half of a rusted steak knife Saturday morning. Removed as much of the hard debris (rocks and bricks) as I could find in one area, and dumped them into the ditch leading to the new pond. Thinking I might just use the rotary cutter in that area, as I'm still not comfortable with the idea of taking the zeroturn in there until I can see what's on the ground better. We should have cleaned it before it grew, but we honestly didn't expect it to grow back this fast. Oh, well ... live and learn.

Got out the tractor and used the bucket to transport the debris to the ditch, then put on the Ratchet Rake to smooth some of the rough areas in the front between the pond and the road. There have been a few spots there that have been rutted up and unmowable since this mess started. Much better now. Dirty tractor and mower got a bath after that


Sunday morning we went online and processed our CCW renewals with the Illinois State Police. So, now that's done for another five years. After that, we got started on the assembly of the new cabinets in the garage. The assembly wasn't difficult, but the cleaning out of the old cabinets turned it into an all day affair. That's something we've been talking about for awhile, but had pretty much put off until we got new cabinets. The trash can is already full, and pickup isn't until Wednesday. It looks a lot cleaner in there now with uniform looking cabinets instead of the hodge-podge of plastic cabinets we had before. Mounted a new clock over the work bench, mounted a new small parts storage cabinet over the bench, and put a hose hook on the wall by the tool box to hold a few of the popular extension cords. The rest are in totes atop the new cabinets. Still need to sort the tools in the various took boxes and get those organized, but it's already leaps forward from where it was. Getting there.


Congrats on the farm sale, Drew. One less thing to worry you.

Eric, rest assured that you are indeed not alone in your "may-one-day-come-in-useful-itus" affliction. In one of the cabinets this weekend, my Wife found a steel plate I'd used years ago to practice laying welding beads. Her grandmother used to keep everything, too, and I frequently tease her with "Are you Sure you want to throw that away? You never know ..." She typically hits me or throws something at me in response.

Beautiful orchids, David (Sophie). My Wife keeps some nice orchids in the sunroom. I've come to understand over the years that they are not the easiest plants to keep, but she seems to have no problems with them.

That is quite a fleet of planes, Ted. I'm sure it won't be easy to pare that down. I have that same problem with musical instruments.

 

[toppop52]

68 early, 84 now, headed to 90. New to us mower works great so far. Watched red headed woodpeckers playing in trees last evening. I couldn’t get very good pics with my iPhone 7+.

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

Good morning to all! Low of 65, almost to warm for sleeping. It is very warm this morning, some high cloud cover, but humidity is definitely higher. We actually have a chance at a passing t-storm. I sure hope we get some rain.

Bruce, it is a very simple answer as to keeping the correct wings... they are all color coded... I am glad I only have 2 radios, with one having the most models programmed into it.

Ron, nice daisies. The little bit of rain we got last week started the wild daisies out here to finally start to flower. There are not many though....

We used to have an Airedale terrier that constantly had "reverse sneezing" .... sounds horrible when happening, but never seemed to affect her after it stopped. It never really created an issue other than grabbing our attention!

Decided to go into town tomorrow to get the suspension parts, consolidate a couple other trips that cannot happen until then. So, I will probably concentrate of getting the rest of the RC stuff organized. I put in a request to the wifey to make / sew some cloth strips for wing hangers. Not sure when they will be ready for use.

Everyone have a great day!

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

70 high of 88 today at least not 90

Washed and waxed my truck and wifes car yesterday sore today, two employees out still awaiting tests results on covid 19

Glad Keko spelling is better

Prayers for Drew Kyles daughter Jay and wife and all others

Prayers for our country

Thank you for the prayers, it turns out, they were still needed. We pray to be moving forward from a "situation" as of today.

Good morning all. Like Drew's sister's place, it is sweater weather here too. Showers look to be coming over from Wales for most of the day.

LS, so many planes ! Never mind a hobby shack, you need an aircraft hanger.


:laughing: Hard to resist that trick.

Sad times in the garden, my wife has just announced that fresh strawberries and raspberries have come to an end for this year. I know that plenty went into the freezer, so strawberry pie is always a possibility if I play my cards right. Best of all is strawberry crumble with lashings of custard, although she rarely makes that - perhaps I should I try a pre-emptive roll over

Eric, 3 years ago it was your suggestion/talk of raspberry tart that led to my BD dessert....Now strawberry crumbles is in the running, along with dewberry cobbler.

After that, we got started on the assembly of the new cabinets in the garage. The assembly wasn't difficult, but the cleaning out of the old cabinets turned it into an all day affair. That's something we've been talking about for awhile, but had pretty much put off until we got new cabinets. The trash can is already full, and pickup isn't until Wednesday. It looks a lot cleaner in there now with uniform looking cabinets instead of the hodge-podge of plastic cabinets we had before. Mounted a new clock over the work bench, mounted a new small parts storage cabinet over the bench, and put a hose hook on the wall by the tool box to hold a few of the popular extension cords. The rest are in totes atop the new cabinets. Still need to sort the tools in the various took boxes and get those organized, but it's already leaps forward from where it was. Getting there.
View attachment 663108

Congrats on the farm sale, Drew. One less thing to worry you.

Eric, rest assured that you are indeed not alone in your "may-one-day-come-in-useful-itus" affliction. In one of the cabinets this weekend, my Wife found a steel plate I'd used years ago to practice laying welding beads. Her grandmother used to keep everything, too, and I frequently tease her with "Are you Sure you want to throw that away? You never know ..." She typically hits me or throws something at me in response.

I like those cabinets. Hopefully she doesn't throw the practice welding steel plate.

 

[kenmbz]

Good morning 66 going up to 88 - but almost every day exempt one for the last two weeks has been above 90.
Pool is leaking and hand dug the pipes up to where it goes under the cement. almost 8 hours total in 2 days of sun/90 some odd degrees.

Today need to clean, brush and repaint the leading edge of the front stairs.

Drew - glad to see the closing went to plan- RV park should be a nice change.

LS my uncle was part of an RC plane club in brooklyn many years ago. His biggest plane had a 13' wingspan! they used to do mock battles with bombs dropping etc.

PJS - those cabinets look real nice. Wish I had room for something like this.

Be well and stay safe.

 

[sodamo]

68°F and .18 inches rain.

Back to tractorshed today after yesterday’s unexpected diversion. Maybe steal a bit of time to mow the dogs’ area though.

Zoom Happy Hour this afternoon.

Prayers for all
Be safe
Have a great day

 

[sodamo]

Funny how we don’t know what we don’t know sometimes. His reverse sneezing being one. Of course we had witnessed this in the past. Usually chalking it up to some temporary thing that most often evoked a ‘get some water’ from either of us, and always so infrequent & random not to cause an alert. Now we know.
5 pills 2xs a day, not sure Kekoa is gonna miss treats so much as wonder why he is getting so many at once. Putting each pill in a piece of cold cut, no resistance. Of course Kalani is right there to get her share sans meds.