Saturday, October 28, 2006
WindStorm and Damage!
Had a lot of wind today, which blew down a tree. Just so happens that my storage shed got 'in the way' of the tree...
Monday, October 23, 2006
Monday, October 23, 2006
Had a contractor put down asphalt today. Took the better part of the day, athough they did not seem to be in a
hurry. Looks pretty good to me, guess we'll see what the 'better half' says...
Next I'll be painting the outside - hopefully this will be done before it gets too cold. Had a friend who came
by with his power washer, and we did that over a month ago. Weather hasn't really cooperated - need a couple of good
warm days without rain to do the painting.
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
News, work, activities, etc...
It's been a while since I posted anything here, so l'll try to get 'caught up' a bit...
June 7th - We became grandparents, for the first time! My daughter & her husband are the proud parents of a
baby boy, Adam...
Found some problems and issues with the 'Blue Goose', which have kept him on jack stands for a while - waiting on parts.
After looking for quite a while I managed to find what I was looking for - an emergency brake cable. After replacing
the front cable I got it down off the blocks, only to find that the back cables appear to be frozen. At this point,
they still don't move/work. Continued on, maintenance, checks, fluids, cleaning, etc...
The gates for the fence have been 'hung' for quite some time now (still need to take some pictures). I've observed that
in spite of the advertised 'no sag' bracketry, the drive-through gate doors are sagging. Firgured this might happen,
so left the gateposts long, so I could install support hardware - which I did... Bought some hardware from Home
Depot, and it appears to be fine.
End of August - My friend Ron came over for a visit, and brought his power washer with him. Spent
the better part of a day power washing the workshop/garage, so that I could paint it. Now I need to get about 5 gallons
of paint, brushes, rollers, etc..
First week of September - Have been off all week, but am not getting much accomplished, not even painting.
The weather has been terrible, raining for almost a week straight.
Thursday, September 14th - Jim Guinn called. He has my '39 loaded (see photo album), and will
be heading my way soon! Should be here Sunday afternoon.
Sunday, September 17th -
Was more than a bit frustrated about the emergency brakes, and after some initial testing, decided to take a drive
anyway.
Filled him with gas (see the photo on the front of this webpage), and went for a drive on the neighborhood
streets & roads - about 15-20 miles total. No problems encountered, although the steering is more than a little loose
in my opinion.
Jim Guinn called, and is running late - won't be here until tomorrow afternoon.
Monday, September 18th - Am excited about getting my '39, after 14 months of waiting. Since I
don't have any place to put it inside, I bought a portable 'garage' for it.
The '39 Hudson Pickup finally got delivered, at about 11:00 PM. Had to off-load it in the dark, with
flashlights. Covered it with a tarp, and will be putting-up the portable garage over the next few afternoons/evenings.
Thursday, June 1, 2006
More Clean-up
Well, it is late in the week - hard to believe that, but it has been a "holiday week"... When I wasn't attending
family holiday get-togethers, I spent much of the holiday weekend doing clean-up around the yard & hauling away limbs,
branches, etc., to the local landfill (who turn them into mulch). Even picked some cherries off of the tree in the yard.
Believe it or not, I still have a lot more to do! The
'yardwork' never seems to get done, does it?
Well - more of that planned for this coming weekend, however I might actually get my truck
out of the garage & work on it a bit - after I get all the tools and supplies out of it. It has been 'hauling' the
tools for parking pad/fence work for the last few months.
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Monday, Monday -
After work on Monday afternoon I stopped @ Lowes and bought the gate latches & hardware - probably too much stuff,
but I can always take back what isn't used. I hate having to stop in the middle of something to 'make a run' because
I am short a bolt, nut, bracket or piece... But it always seems to happen.
- First thing I did was remove the walk-thru gate, and re-hang it to 'swing in' and toward the garage.
I think it will work better that way.
- Put a 2"x4" board under the gate, and used that as a reference for clearance of the pickets, then measured, cut and
hung the pickets on the walk-thru gate.
- Couldn't do that with the drive-thru gate, as the asphalt has not yet been layed. Instead, put a string at the
level of the pickets on either side of the gate and took my measurements. I cut 1 1/2" off of the bottom of each picket,
and marked the distance from the top of the picket to the first rail - to align them on the fence. Managed to get all
but the two 'end' pickets up (they need to be cut lengthwise then fitted around the hinges).
Work yet to be done this week:
- Mount the gate latches and hardware;
- Rake, seed and water the landscaped areas;
- Clean up & straighten up;
Thoughts/Ideas:
- Need to 'clean up' the curb/concrete I cut last year, near the driveway entrance. Am considering making a form
and pouring a bit more concrete for that.
- I will probably put the residual rock/gravel that is just outside the fence next to the shed. There
is 2-3 cu yds of topsoil still there, but should be able to 'shovel' it further to the side, enough to allow a 'drive thru'
for the work area, into the back yard!
- There is some leftover retaining wall blocks. We have a lot of rotted 6"x6" landscaping timbers around the flower
gardens, this may be of use there...
- Neighborhood children are using the 'new driveway' to cut through the yard. Looks like I need another fence -
probably just a 40' extension of a 3-rail decorative "rustic" fence that is already there.
