Good morning!!!!

[Looking4new]

Wife woke me up at 3:30am after hearing a scream outside near our window...Coco barked, too. She said it sounded like a lady screaming multiple times. Of course it was silent once I got up. I'll look for bodies after it gets light, but no one lives nearby, and we're back too far from the road, so thinking it was wildlife. Maybe a fox, coyote, bobcat or owl. But she was sure spooked.

That sounds like a Fisher Cat to me. They do scream like a woman.

 

[sodamo]

Drew, do you harvest / capture any rainwater to use in the greenhouse? Do you start your seeds in local soil or do you use the peat cubes?

I think I use about a gallon a day to water the greenhouse in early temps, later when hotter maybe a little more.
The answer is no, my greenhouse is awfully tiny though the garden shed next to it could use a rainbarrel on the corner.
Which would mean putting gutters on it. I use a professional propagation mix which is ground very fine, in addition to some Burpee seed starting mix.

This year doing just flowers and no veggies is much easier. I over seed the tray, and then transplant when large enough by breaking the tray apart in small pieces. Later on, close to middle of April, will start direct seeding, all of this going into prior veggie garden. There I have water piped out to garden and can run sprinklers in dry weather. That garden is mostly covered in black plastic with one big open area.
Thankfully local municipal water rates seem reasonable. .09 cents per gallon.

I have no doubt your results will be gorgeous.
I also suspect your bounty will be sorely missed this year.

 

[sodamo]

David... I get very good results with TEKS Self Tapping metal screws.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Teks-12...l-Point-Roofing-Screw-80-Pack-21412/100187594

So have I. Haven’t bought any yet. Sometimes a slight hammer tap is a help.

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

LS, I keep getting drawn to the cedar grove area.

When you glue panels do you biscuit them?

Yes, you are correct to the Cedar Grove area.... was my hint to easy?

If I am doing larger boards (+4-5 inches), I will usually biscuit join them, especially for tops. The top for the drop leaf table was tongue and groove. This next project (two end tables) is being made from a bunch of leftover 2 inch white oak tongue and groove that either had bad tongues or bad grooves. I am ripping them through the table saw for uniform width (taking off the bad spots) (both T&G). Makes them about 1 5/8 wide. Just gluing the edges/ ends together. Once dry, I cross cut for square and run them through the planer.

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

Drew, do you harvest / capture any rainwater to use in the greenhouse? Do you start your seeds in local soil or do you use the peat cubes?

I think I use about a gallon a day to water the greenhouse in early temps, later when hotter maybe a little more.
The answer is no, my greenhouse is awfully tiny though the garden shed next to it could use a rainbarrel on the corner.
Which would mean putting gutters on it. I use a professional propagation mix which is ground very fine, in addition to some Burpee seed starting mix.

This year doing just flowers and no veggies is much easier. I over seed the tray, and then transplant when large enough by breaking the tray apart in small pieces. Later on, close to middle of April, will start direct seeding, all of this going into prior veggie garden. There I have water piped out to garden and can run sprinklers in dry weather. That garden is mostly covered in black plastic with one big open area.
Thankfully local municipal water rates seem reasonable. .09 cents per gallon.

I am sure the food pantry folks are going to miss your contributions! With that in mind, you need to take care of you first. We will be transplanting a bunch of small pines and bushes that have overgrown their current containers this spring. I was going to do a 50/50 mix of the natural soil and potting mix to get them used to the soil for planting the following spring.

 

[toppop52]

That sounds like a Fisher Cat to me. They do scream like a woman.

I don稚 know if they are that far south. Maybe in the mountains, we don稚 have them here though.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

32 and foggy...rain ended and heading to 50.

Nice looking church, Kyle.

Well, did as planned yesterday...roasted coffee (use the metric system for weights and temps) and worked on taxes...used inches if I wanted to measure the stack of papers .

Wife woke me up at 3:30am after hearing a scream outside near our window...Coco barked, too. She said it sounded like a lady screaming multiple times. Of course it was silent once I got up. I'll look for bodies after it gets light, but no one lives nearby, and we're back too far from the road, so thinking it was wildlife. Maybe a fox, coyote, bobcat or owl. But she was sure spooked.

Metric taxes....that would be tough.

Hope you don't find a body.

I'll bet your coffee is great!

Good Morning!!!! 50F @ 5:00AM. A mix of clouds and sun. High 66F. Winds light and variable.

All this talk of weights and water has me hoping no one drowns anytime soon. And Eric, my bodyshop neighbor is a nice guy, but he's also the one that almost cut his leg off with a chainsaw last year. Not sure I'd trust him with that loader joystick.:laughing:

Thanks for the photos, Ron. The cardinal is another bird I miss, and not just their bright red feathers. The song, too.

My money would be on a fox, too, Wng. First time I heard one here was dawn on a summer morning with the sliding glass door open in the master bedroom. Sounded like what I'd imagined a mountain lion scream would sound like, sent the hairs on the back of my neck standing straight up. Sprang out of bed, pistol in hand, and peeked out the door only to see a little gray fox standing 20' away. If a fox can laugh, that one was all but rolling on the ground.:laughing:

We got the holes augered for the solar array yesterday, and if there's such a thing as the perfect tool for the job, that big backhoe was it. We hit rock several times, and that heavy auger point combined with the down force from the hoe just chewed right through them. :thumbsup: But we almost didn't even get started; the extension I'd rented was so beat up it wouldn't fit on either the auger or his drive motor. I had to grind off heavy burs in the hex socket and shaft, wasting his time and my money. The rental was sorry about that, and refunded the rental fee, but my buddy was being paid by the hour to watch me run the grinder and belt sander.

The rails for the solar array showed up right on time, and the driver even helped me get 'em into the shipping container. And the pine in the little pallets the package came on split into some nice kindling while I was waiting on FedEx to show up with the generator. But they never made it, and a call to them revealed it hadn't even been loaded on a truck yesterday. I could'a been cleaning up the dirt around the auger holes, but I didn't want to swap the forks for the bucket on the FEL in case the tractor was needed to unload the generator.:irked:

I did get the van washed, and drove it to return the auger extension, so it's all ready to go camping today. It's our annual No Football campout down in the Sacramento River delta. And as usual, the forecast calls for fog, "heavy at times". But no soggy tent in the morning this time; I'm sleeping on the floor in the van.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Faulty/crappy rental equipment. Arghh. Hate those backward steps impeding progress. Once rented a 3 point tiller. The top link holes were so elongated, that they allowed to POS to just bounce up and down instead of cut. Wouldn't give me my money back. Never went back. They went out of business. Shame, because they were so close to me.

Good morning! 37˚F, a dusting of frost and clear skies heading to the high 60s.
Kyle the two best features of that church are the original bell in the tower and the pipe organ. When the bass is played the floor vibrates.
Kyle one of my distant relatives made your local paper when he started a brush fire (probably with gasoline) and severely burned himself. They are looking to amputate his leg.
Ron, thanks for the link to Harvey's thread. He does take on huge projects. Of course without him I would have never thought about building my grange/workshop.

Time to head to the garden and make a fuel run for all the equipment. We will have the big spring clean-up in two weeks.

Wng, I'll put my money on the scream of an owl.

Hope your relative can keep his leg. Hard to imagine how his leg got that badly burned, unless he was trying to put out the fire regardless of his leg.

All, the church is Don's church. I think it is very nice looking.

Got plenty o' chores to do today. Weather is nice.

 

[ronjhall]

Got my taxes done after spending 1 hour on phone with TurboTax. Seems that their software does not properly transfer data to Michigan state tax form if you are a senior born before 1946. Then when I tried to use their online help they wanted $50 for that. Phone call wanted same thing until I called another help number from past years. It’s done and I am getting more back than last year.
In Michigan if you are born before 1946. You are grandfathered into not having to pay income tax to the state.

 

[Looking4new]

Got my taxes done after spending 1 hour on phone with TurboTax. Seems that their software does not properly transfer data to Michigan state tax form if you are a senior born before 1946. Then when I tried to use their online help they wanted $50 for that. Phone call wanted same thing until I called another help number from past years. It’s done and I am getting more back than last year.
In Michigan if you are born before 1946. You are grandfathered into not having to pay income tax to the state.

B O N U S !!

 

[Looking4new]

toppop; yer right. I just looked it up and the only areas so far, that far South is 4 counties in North West Virginia, in the big hills.

 

[toppop52]

toppop; yer right. I just looked it up and the only areas so far, that far South is 4 counties in North West Virginia, in the big hills.

I get a repeated loud cat like sound in the trees by the creek in the summer sometimes, spooky as heck and no idea what it is. Could be a bobcat I suppose, but they usually try to stay unrecognized. Don’t hear it often.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Yes, you are correct to the Cedar Grove area.... was my hint to easy?

If I am doing larger boards (+4-5 inches), I will usually biscuit join them, especially for tops. The top for the drop leaf table was tongue and groove. This next project (two end tables) is being made from a bunch of leftover 2 inch white oak tongue and groove that either had bad tongues or bad grooves. I am ripping them through the table saw for uniform width (taking off the bad spots) (both T&G). Makes them about 1 5/8 wide. Just gluing the edges/ ends together. Once dry, I cross cut for square and run them through the planer.

Was looking in cedar grove area before the hints. Haven’t found you yet but haven’t had time to look.

At hospital with FIL.

 

[jbrumberg]

An overcast 29ºF for today’s low with some light snow falling leaving a dusting. 35ºF presently and still overcast which is probably today’s high temperature. Dump run completed. Still using the crampons- 1” - 5” ice/snowpack in the open areas; 3” - 5” in shaded areas/woods.

Don- I am sorry to read about your relative.

Phil- It looks like 2 weather systems will be running along a relatively stationary/slow moving front stalled over southern NE mid week with unsettled weather probably including mixed precipitation with a possibility for precipitation into the weekend. I do not expect to see much if any snow around here. Northeastern NY, VT, NH, and ME will be colder with much better chances for snow.

RonJH- Thanks for another great bird photo. Our resident pair have been fighting WIfey’s Forester’s door mirrors. Yesterday I watched a pair of Downey wood peckers tag team harass a Hairy Woodpecker guarding the suet cage. They finally harassed it into leaving. Then the resident bird bully, a Red Bellied Woodpecker showed up and took over at the suet.

BEF- Good news about your FIL. I hope he continues to progress.

RNG- The installation’s auger crew never hit any rock here. They told me they actually prefer hitting some bedrock. The only one who finds bedrock/boulders around here is me. Good luck with the projects.

I hope everyone is having a manageable day.

My + thoughts, wishes, and prayers.

 

[sodamo]

Got my taxes done after spending 1 hour on phone with TurboTax. Seems that their software does not properly transfer data to Michigan state tax form if you are a senior born before 1946. Then when I tried to use their online help they wanted $50 for that. Phone call wanted same thing until I called another help number from past years. It’s done and I am getting more back than last year.
In Michigan if you are born before 1946. You are grandfathered into not having to pay income tax to the state.

Awesome

 

[Thomas]

Roy.
If the forecast holds, we're supposed to get a total of 9-10 inches by Friday (spread out over three days.
??..???
Sure hope Phil tomorrow over rules forecaster guessing.

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

Well, the shed deal was a no go....but... there was another that was repoed, someone had made it into a tiny house. The guy apparently shot his neighbor, sent to jail, so the barn got repoed. The shed dealer told me they were going to call corporate HQ so they can reduce the price. I gave them a low ball offer. Maybe corporate will come back with a reasonable counter offer.

I did not get a chance to get out into the shop. When I came home, I saw the neighbor struggling with some big arzz trees.... jumped on the tractor and went over there. We used the tractor to left them off the trailer, place in the hole, and then backfill. They (neighbor, son, and another guy) were exceptionally grateful.... saved them a bunch of back breaking shoveling. I got about 3 hours of playtime on the tractor!

Tomorrow will be shop time.... maybe...

 

[mostly_gas]

Good evening all. 30F this morning,partly cloudy calm wind. Another low wind day, sky cleared off quickly, and high temp was 65F. Bike ride this morning, nap after lunch and that was it. Saw a cow with interesting horn, stopped and snapped pic.
Billy there are a lot of critters that make the eeriest crys, good luck narrowing the field.
Roy good to hear battery still good. Have a day or 2 of dog sitting myself, Scooter gets mopey just after he gets dropped off.
Phil, that is how it goes for most of us retired guys, don't know how the world got along without us.
Eric that is heresy suggesting PJ sell guitars !!
RNG good to hear holes got augered, nice you had skills to save day. I guess your not worried about cold start on the van?
Don, never heard of amputate leg for burn, must be bad.
Ted look forward to wood work pics and video editing
Ron, nice taxes are done, and got help w/o breaking the bank. Nice deal in MI
Jay that is a long time to have ice, you will wear out crampons.
Ted sounds like you enjoyed seat time
prayers for all

 

[Looking4new]

Good morning, low 27°F and the high will be 32. Wind SSW 9 mph. 40 % chance of periods of snow.

My 10' wide driveway is now 14-16' wide after I pushed the banks back yesterday. I tell everybody that comes in the driveway to "stay in the middle". So far, nobody has needed a tow truck. The snow under the previous banks isn't frozen yet and therefore very soft. Easy to get stuck in.

Today is an energy conservation day.


Have a safe day all

 

[wngsprd]

36 going to 57, then 70 tomorrow and a couple of 65 degree days to follow..maybe give the woodstove a rest after tonight. I think it was about this time last year that it got down to 7F.

Jay, the woodpeckers have the same pecking order here.

Mostly, those are quite the horns. Don't think I'd turn my back on that one.

Ron, nice that your state waives taxes for you. I was working on the Income Statement and Balance Sheet for taxes for the relatives' farm last night and left my PC to eat dinner...it crashed. I'll find out this morning how much data I lost. I shouldn't be using such old computer and software.

Roy, glad your battery took the charge...save a few bux.

Here's a lesson for many of us that use chainsaws: I was talking with a guy at the gym yesterday that manages operations for our electric coop...was talking about my lightning tree, and how alarmed I got when I saw how split/weak it turned out to be from the strike once I saw it on the ground. He told me about a fatal tragedy of one of his linemen who had cleared trees and branches from their power lines for years...went to help a neighbor with a dead tree when a branch started falling...he reacted by raising his chainsaw above his head for protection and the branch pushed the chain into his head.

Well the screaming woman story...I played a number of recordings and videos from the internet...none matched what my wife heard perfectly...she heard one screech owl that was close, just not long enough duration...heard a fox vixen that sounded the closest, so the winner. A bonus for me was while searching for the sounds on you-tube, found a high quality game cam video/audio of a bobcat crouching and then attacking a passing coyote...great scream from that, too.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

34°
After leaving hospital last night, stopped near Elliott city for supper at a little Mexican place I picked out on google maps. Had good reviews and was very good. Small place, was packed. We had to sit at bar to eat. Bar sat 6. They had a guy playing guitar and singing.
Heavy rain on drive home.
Mostly, nice horns.
Wngsprd, sad story about lineman. My next older brother was working summers for township while he was in college, was holding ladder for a guy cutting tree branches with chain saw above him. He dropped saw on my brother, couple cuts on his shoulder, fortunately not too bad.
Looking back, what a stupid way to trim trees.