Good morning!!!!

[Eric Salop]

Good morning, wind has dropped and no frost on the grass. If the rain holds for a while I may be able to do a bit of welding on a prototype rotten-gate-post-puller.

Eric - nice gate install, I assume that design makes it so people can’t leave it open.

Yes, it is difficult for stock to get through a kissing gate even if the gate was not fully snecked on the catch. This particular one also has an offset bottom hinge pin to utilise gravity as a self closing mechanism. Another benefit of having a cage around the gate is that it makes it impossible for sheep to sneak up and get through as can happen when an ordinary gate is opened.

How do people get over/ though stock fences where you all live ?

Sodamo, that looks a good repair job It could last forever if you put a strain gauge across the joint, wired to a gizmo box that makes a sound like a frightened puppy, ready for the next time Sophie goes into racing mode.

 

[Buppies]

48 and that is the high going to low 40s then 20s tonight high of 40 tomorrow very windy too

some of the fish people are catching in the Atlantic are huge now wonder why

prayers for all our Country

 

[ronjhall]

Poured first cup of coffee. 29° with cloudy skies this morning. Heading to 33° with cloudy skies. Was a great day yesterday. But while waiting for it to warm up. I started scanning some more photos and film. Sat to long at the desk. Back started hurting. Did refill bird feeders. But not much else. Back is better today. I need to put a better chair at that desk. Will do some more scanning today. No other plans.
Got report back on Sundays MRI yesterday. NO changes from last report. No added care needed.

Gale, I have changed my diet also. Has helped my BP to the point where I no longer take meds. Refuse to take meds that end up making me take another med to fix side effects of first med. So far it is working. This thread over the years has had lots of help with diet. At 78 I am doing good.

Drew, how is taking Black Cumin. I had to move taking mine until lunch. Works better when I take it with food.

David, when you get everything back aligned. I would put some type of pins in to hold everything in place if you cannot weld in that area.

Roy, good passwords are working.

RS, nasty looking stuff.

Don, I plan to where my mask whenever in a crowd. Hope it will not be needed by June.

Rick, hope you find problem with compressor.

Rich, have a good trip.

DFT, I stay away from garage and flea markets. But need to have a garage sale for myself.

Popgadget, I use a small flashlight like you most of the time. If larger is needed I use my Maglite 4 D battery flashlight. Plus adds some protection if needed.

Randy, when is the UTV going to be delivered?

Everyone stay healthy and safe.

Good Morning All.

 

[daugen]

good morning all. Nice sunny day today, highs in mid to upper 40's.

getting my second vaccine shot tomorrow, then decided to celebrate by going out to dinner in a week.
My lady friend is treating since it will be my 71st birthday next week. Have to admit a year ago wasn't sure I was going to have
another one, but prayers were answered and life goes on.

Just got the black cumin seeds in, will try them today along with lunch.

Last of my seeds came in, a beet assortment, so I have my flowers, potatoes and some of the veggies covered.
Will buy living tomato plants locally. My biggest challenge is starting too early...was originally thinking of starting seeds April 1 for
May 1 planting, but part of me has the itch to start about two weeks early.

Seems very unwise not to wear a mask in enclosed areas no matter what the politicians have to say.

 

[Popgadget]

Good Morning
35 with a high of 40 for today. Another clear day, supposed to get breezy later in he day. It’s been great weather for getting a controlled melt, which is good, as there is still 4-6” of snow cover. I’m going to be reckless and say that I won’t be plowing any more snow this year.

Yesterday’s visit with the FAA went smoothly, I was done just past noon. That left me some shop time after I got home. I think that today will be spent doing electrical with my mechanical contractor buddy at his house.

Still not vaccinated, but I have been a slacker at aggressively searching for an appointment for the last few days.

 

[daugen]

Popgadget, try St Lukes in Allentown. I keep hearing they are taking appts but ?
Lot of just in time delivery going on I'm sure.
Get your shot and then let's go to lunch.

Landlady agreed to long term lease and upgrading cottage, including new electrical panel, so
I can add a/c and a hot tub safely. The lights already dim every time the well jet pump comes on so
this electrical system is overdue for an upgrade. I offered to make monthly muffins a part of the lease and she
thought that would be highly important. So far so good. But I'm still keeping an eye out for a place with more land.

Am also considering going back to the beginning with my tractors and start a garden again at my older doctor friend's farm on WindyBush Road.
Grow potatoes for local food bank, something I know how to do. Would be an outreach project for my church's young people. Wonderful fun to pick
up potatoes in a field, particularly the red ones. And this time do it more comfortably than I did with a 1956 Super A.

Might enlist Ken and Popgadget in the tractor duties, particularly implement swapping. Ken is only five miles away.
Where I grew up on Aquetong Road, the view off our front porch due South
was of Bowman's Hill Tower about two miles away. Now just over that mountain with the revolutionary
tower on it is a beautiful wooded area where Ken lives. Not much of mountain, hence it only ranked a "Hill".
But if you ever get to New Hope and your heart is in good condition, need to climb the Tower at Bowman's Hill.
Lot of steps and gets pretty narrow at the top. But it was cool to go up there and see our farm down below in the distance.
Very blessed to have grown up in this quiet, safe area nestled along the Delaware River.

 

[NHBX]

Good morning all

26 now highs in the mid 30’s and sunny today. Winds 15-25 mph.

Had some tree damage from Tuesday’s winds, nothing major.

2nd Moderna shot scheduled for this afternoon. Looking forward to getting that over with.

Eric - most of the gates you see in our area are just a standard wood or metal gate. As the population grows more and more private lands that were open are being posted for no trespassing, no hunting etc. It’s unfortunate but I see why. People don’t seem to care about other’s property leaving trash and vehicle damage in their wake. Even the town owned forest trails require constant trash removal all by volunteers, it’s a shame really. I’ll get off my soap box now!

Stay safe and healthy
Enjoy your day everyone

 

[Looking4new]

Good morning, -4°F and only going to 19. Wind N 12 gusting to 19 mph. 30% chance of flurries.

A dump run today and town. I need to get to the bank, get some money to put down on a new Drolet wood furnace. Just a couple of hundred should do it.

Any of you that eat breakfast sandwiches at Tim Hortons need to be very careful and smell the eggs BEFORE you eat them. I got into a bad couple of egg sandwiches from them two days ago and have been 'paying for them' ever since. I thought they smelled a little bit strong, but didn't heed what my nose was telling me. NEVER again. McDonalds here I come. This is directed at Industrial Tools & check. They both live up here in TH country. I do have a complaint in to TH, but I doubt very much if they will get back to me.


Have a safe day all

 

[wngsprd]

32 and hard ice in the birdbaths. Looking for 58 and some sunshine. Things are starting to dry out, and lots of weed flowers are blooming.

Ron, congrats on the good MRI.

Gale, thanks for sharing your experience...good motivation for better diet.

Don, I read that Moderna has developed a "booster" shot to address the variant.

Eric, not sure a "kissing gate" video is complete without a Hallmark kiss at the end. Your gate looks better than the video. Our gates are plain swing open types.

 

[RedNeckGeek]

Good Morning!!!! 47F @ 4:30AM. Plentiful sunshine. High 66F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph.
Weather underground is calling for about an inch and a half of rain through the end of next week, while the local weather guesser is saying at least twice that. More would certainly be better, but we've had many forecasts this year predicting healthy amounts of rain that never materialized.

Looks like a good repair to me, David. Will it all have to come apart again to get the outside reinforcing plate installed?

Thanks for the video, Eric. I wasn't clear before seeing it that there was still a swinging gate involved in the kissing. In the Eastern Sierra, they use gates that require the same U shaped path for the walker, but the gate part does not move. They work well for cattle, but would probably let sheep and goats through, just like they will a large dog.

Good luck finding a vaccination, Paul. I just saw a headline saying new priorities have been established to provide more vaccine in "impoverished counties" here in California. That's all it was, just a headline, without explanation. Butte County certainly qualifies, and to date well less than a quarter of the doses needed to vaccinate the population of 210,000 people has been received, and much less than those have actually gotten the shots. As of now, it's "don't call us, we'll call you", and since I'm not in any of the authorized categories, like farm workers, prisoners, or 65+, I haven't even bothered with trying to chase one down.

I just threw away a 2 D cell Maglite, one of the newer ones with the LED bulb. It was bright, when it worked, but the batteries never seemed to last very long in spite of their D size. It was always crapping out in the middle of a job, or was dead when I tried to use it. I have two of the small lights that use the rechargeable 18650 batteries, and I'm thinking I'll just put a cheap USB charger out in the shop and get a spare battery so I'll always have a fresh one on hand. I've also learned that there is such a thing as too much light, especially for close work. I have a Coast 285 lumen headlamp that is just too bright with a new set of rechargeable batteries, but it has a dimmer switch built in that helps the batteries last a bit longer, too. Flashlights are getting to be like cell phones, with the technology progressing rapidly that throwing out perfectly working old ones is worthwhile to get better run times and lower costs.

I have two species of morning glories I want to plant on an east facing embankment, Drew, but the instructions say to wait for a soil temperature of 70 degrees. Can I use a metal stem meat thermometer to make that measurement, and if so, how deep does it get stuck into the earth?

No news is good news on the MRI, Ron. Looks like the deer didn't leave much for the birds, again...

Got the hoops on pallets #11 and #12 yesterday, but #12 threw me a curve. It wasn't the same 43"x43" as all the rest of them, more like 38"x50". At 50", it wouldn't be able to fit in beside one of the forty three inchers, and the long side will waste space, but it is what it is. I didn't catch the difference until I had the tubing cut, but it just meant shortening the tubes, not having to weld another section into place. Seems like it's always sumthin'. But that caused me to go measure the container again, and there is room for 16 more pallets in there. Take away two for the ones I just finished, and another four for the ones next in line, and I still need to pick up ten more at the pallet yard today. It also means I'm almost half way done with building hoops, and not quite that far along on splitting wood.

UPS dropped off the new gate opener yesterday, and it's a monster! Overall, the opener itself is about the same dimensions as the Mighty Mule, but this one is all steel with a huge motor housing. The control box is giant, too, and is metal instead of plastic. But unexpectedly, they also shipped a new battery, a hundred dollar item I didn't order, and it looks like they also sent an old version of the control board, so they've got some 'splainin' to do.

Town run first thing this morning, then use the afternoon to scope out the gate opener installation.

Hang in there, gang, Friday's comin'...