Good morning!!!!

RedNeckGeek · Jul 15, 2018

Blame Don!

The west end of the house bakes so badly in the afternoons, the heat makes it all the way through the walls and has the A/C working overtime to keep up. Worse, the A/C itself is on that side of the house, and it can't be good to have it in the sun, too. The shades Don installed over his old pool got me thinking the same thing might work here, so I went shopping last week on Amazon and came up with these shade cloths. That end is in the shade in the early morning, so instead of sleeping in as I try to do on Sundays, I got my lazy butt up, had a cup of coffee with breakfast, and got with it. Stainless steel screw eyes were installed through the stucco at the house end, and I brought home some 1/2" rebar that I cut into 2' lengths for the stakes. Each one got a washer welded to the end to keep the ties from the cloths in place. Start to finish, it only took a couple of hours to put up, and while a strong wind will probably pull the screw eyes out or uproot the stakes, as long as I take everything down before the first storms of winter hit, I think it'll be fine. And if I'm mistaken, it was worth the hundred bux in materials to find out.

Fingers crossed...:confused3:

300UGUY · Jul 15, 2018

87 here in mid Michigan. Going out to putter around the shop in a bit. Yesterday, I got bit by hornets that had setup housekeeping in the light fixture on the front porch. Instead of going out for dinner, went and got some hornet spray. No hornets this morning, so that is ok. My ear and my left hand are still a little swollen. Really humid out, we went for a coffee, and the local bigbys coffee shop was full up. Most seemed to be getting iced drinks, no surprise there. Have a good one, boys!

300UGUY · Jul 15, 2018

RedNeckGeek said:
View attachment 562784 View attachment 562785

Blame Don! The west end of the house bakes so badly in the afternoons, the heat makes it all the way through the walls and has the A/C working overtime to keep up. Worse, the A/C itself is on that side of the house, and it can't be good to have it in the sun, too. The shades Don installed over his old pool got me thinking the same thing might work here, so I went shopping last week on Amazon and came up with these shade cloths. That end is in the shade in the early morning, so instead of sleeping in as I try to do on Sundays, I got my lazy butt up, had a cup of coffee with breakfast, and got with it. Stainless steel screw eyes were installed through the stucco at the house end, and I brought home some 1/2" rebar that I cut into 2' lengths for the stakes. Each one got a washer welded to the end to keep the ties from the cloths in place. Start to finish, it only took a couple of hours to put up, and while a strong wind will probably pull the screw eyes out or uproot the stakes, as long as I take everything down before the first storms of winter hit, I think it'll be fine. And if I'm mistaken, it was worth the hundred bux in materials to find out.

Fingers crossed...:confused3:

I’ve seen aluminum awnings on houses, primarily older ones, I’d guess pre air conditioning days. We see ads for retractibile canvas awnings here, supposed to be good in up to 100 mph winds.

txdon · Jul 15, 2018

Good morning hi 70s to hi 90s - and tomorrow the hundreds start till . . ?

Drew, for baked okra after they are cut and a bit of slime gets on them it make a perfect sticking surface, no oil is needed. I put a mixture of corn meal/garlic powder/cajun seasoning/onion powder, salt and pepper and shake it till it's all coated and bake till brown about 45 minutes at 350˚

Ted, I with your wife on this one, slow down. Put the neighbors projects on the back burner. Save your energy/time for your project.

RNG good shading, none of the grommets ever came out on my triangles, looks like a good idea.

Kyle, that sickle mower was the kind with a wooden shaft, I found it broken in the barn, but my dad had replaced it with a metal bar. The owners manual says it is a "John Deere Number 9 integral mower."

Looking4new · Jul 15, 2018

Temps are in the mid 80s today around Thunder Bay, ON. They got into the 90s yesterday. Even the air con in the truck couldn't keep up.

This is day 2 of my 36 hour reset and I already did everything I wanted to do today. I greased the compensating 5th wheel on the rear of my lead trailer, all 10 fittings.
I will be back at the grind at 4 A.M. tomorrow.

Have a safe day all

txdon · Jul 15, 2018

Obligatory tractor pics- JD mower

RedNeckGeek · Jul 15, 2018

txdon said:
RNG good shading, none of the grommets ever came out on my triangles, looks like a good idea.

One of the reasons I picked those particular shades, besides the good Amazon reviews, is that they have D-rings sewn onto each corner instead of grommets. I've never had much luck with grommets; they always seem to pull out sooner or later. There's also a 1" wide hem along each side where it looks like the cloth has been folded over twice before it was sewn, and the hems transition into the the loop that holds the D-ring at each corner. As long as the sun doesn't tear up the cloth, these should last several seasons.

BTW, Don, did you leave the sun shades with the new owner of you home, or did you find a use for them at your new place?

txdon · Jul 15, 2018

RedNeckGeek said:
One of the reasons I picked those particular shades, besides the good Amazon reviews, is that they have D-rings sewn onto each corner instead of grommets. I've never had much luck with grommets; they always seem to pull out sooner or later. There's also a 1" wide hem along each side where it looks like the cloth has been folded over twice before it was sewn, and the hems transition into the the loop that holds the D-ring at each corner. As long as the sun doesn't tear up the cloth, these should last several seasons.

BTW, Don, did you leave the sun shades with the new owner of you home, or did you find a use for them at your new place?

You are right they are D rings. I left some with the new owner but took some new ones with me also I had about 10. My new patio faces in a NE direction so it is well shaded by the house in the evenings. It was one of the reasons we picked this particular house. I was tired of the sun before moving to Sun City. By 7pm (July) my entire back yard is in the shade, that's when I mow.

daugen · Jul 15, 2018

Ted, I agree totally with RNG. Turn the job down, keep your wife happy, don't blow out your knee again and get seriously disabled doing a job for someone else where if you get hurt you won't be covered by insurance. hmmmmm.

Don, what's this about cutting the okra and getting slimy? I was just going to snip off the ends and do them whole, after breading.

Find it odd that same company's organic marina sauce has 10 grams of sugar instead of the standard variety's 6 grams.
The sauce was pretty tangy, figured the little bit of extra sugar would help, and it does smooth out the sauce.

jbrumberg · Jul 15, 2018

300UGuy- I am sorry to read about the hornet stings. This placed reeked of neurotoxins during a following the A/C installation due to the wasps. No hornet problems here yet.

RNG- I am sorry to read about your solar gain challenges. Shades and awnings work, but decent ones are not cheap. Good luck.

Some mornings require wearing sunglasses while sitting in the kitchen here due to the sun's intensity (and not some hangover). Window shades and a retractable deck awning are in "The Plan;" after the window replacements and residing and re-roofing and ......

I used to string my saiboat's old blown out mainsail and jib across the deck. It looked weird, but it did work.