Above 1200 Sq/FT Plugger Workshop

[Prospecter]

The parsley goes with the new potatoes. Nothing like fresh dug potatoes with fresh picked parsley!

Looks like they are preparing to repave our road this fall by scraping off excess sand.

This is a black swallow tail caterpillar. Probably there were eggs on the carrots, too, before the deer trimmed them.

 

[Bob Heine]

Prospecter, I love the gardens. Nothing like fresh picked produce.

I dragged home a free MFG Sidewinder sailboat that had been severely damaged in a storm. One side was missing a four-inch section of the deck and an adjoining four-inch section of the hull. Did my best to repair it and took it down to the Hudson for a test sail. As I let the roller-furling jib out, the boat picked up speed and was up on plane when I had the entire jib out. That's when my inferior fiberglass repairs let me down and the deck and hull separated. It was a really short but fun ride and I dragged it, our Old Town canoe and Century Raven toys to Florida when IBM was paying the cost of the move. Sidewinder moved on to another sucker in short order and the other two water vessels left the herd a few years later. The three of them are pictured just before we moved.

 

[Prospecter]

Prospecter, I love the gardens. Nothing like fresh picked produce.

I dragged home a free MFG Sidewinder sailboat that had been severely damaged in a storm. One side was missing a four-inch section of the deck and an adjoining four-inch section of the hull. Did my best to repair it and took it down to the Hudson for a test sail. As I let the roller-furling jib out, the boat picked up speed and was up on plane when I had the entire jib out. That's when my inferior fiberglass repairs let me down and the deck and hull separated. It was a really short but fun ride and I dragged it, our Old Town canoe and Century Raven toys to Florida when IBM was paying the cost of the move. Sidewinder moved on to another sucker in short order and the other two water vessels left the herd a few years later. The three of them are pictured just before we moved.

Those are the good times! Love the sailboat story. I've actually sailed on the Hudson but I think farther north at Castleton on Hudson. A one day event and a good memory.

"Company moves" back in the day were a unique experience. The movers and packers showed up and everything got packed up. Soap in the soap dish would be carefully wrapped and put in a box. Old lumber, hardware bits, everything. You'd arrive with everything in boxes and not know where anything was unless you could decipher the packers' thinking when they labeled the boxes. One trip they even packed our Corvair on the van!

 

[Prospecter]

We've been occupied with visitors and our own travels for most of the month. Not a lot of time for projects.

Our first Monarch hatched. With our travels, our nursery is small than usual, but we do what we can.

Who would have thought, living in Maine, that we would need to go to the Hartford suburbs to see a Black Bear? Last time I saw a bear was near the Bangor Mall 45 years ago!

After all these years I finally made a handle extension out of a piece lifeline stancheon so I can stand up straight at the splitter.

Our apple drop pick up crew is still on the job.

We've started picking corn. Probably I have mentioned in years past that I like to knock down the cornstalks as I pick.

Staking up tomato plants. We get a steady supply. Love that wheeled green garden seat.

Our Cosmos planted in the "Skips." We had a lot of skips this year. Peas are harvested so the pea trellis needs to come down.

 

[Prospecter]

The "Garden Moaning Chair" is a twin of the "Workshop Moaning Chair." More of a contemplation chair here. I was taking in the sun and warm breeze.
When I took down the pea trellis, I trimmed off the top 18". I don't use the top portion for peas, and the panels are easier to manage if a little shorter. I plan to take a little off the tomato panels, too.
Mia soaking up some rays.
Maine Marine Salvage opened for two days this week. They are moving high value nautical stuff, mostly polished brass, to another location under a different name, and hosting a moving sale this weekend, so I made the trip. All the old boats are gone. The old masts went to recycling. Nothing much in the yard, but lots of parking! I went with a list, but lots of stuff inside was gone. I still managed to fill the back of the car.

 

[drivesitfar]

Was the bear on your property?

 

[Prospecter]

Was the bear on your property?

Oddly, no. We've never seen a bear, or even any sign here. The bear was in the front yard when we visited near Hartford, CT. Apparently a common sight in that suburban tract.

 

[kaymccampbell]

Do you label your butterflies?

 

[Prospecter]

Do you label your butterflies?

Yes. You are observant. Those stickers are specially made for Monarchs and register each one. Helps with research and tracking. The stickers are applied by gently sliding them onto the wing with a Qtip or toothpick.

 

[drivesitfar]

Do the people (or organizations) handing you the numbers let you track where your butterflies go or are? Since there is that huge monarch butterfly preservation area in Santa Barbara California I wonder if they might fly to there or do yours go to South America or ??

 

[Prospecter]

Do the people (or organizations) handing you the numbers let you track where your butterflies go or are? Since there is that huge monarch butterfly preservation area in Santa Barbara California I wonder if they might fly to there or do yours go to South America or ??

They track them, but we don't know where they go. Maybe Mexico? The Monarchs laying the eggs this year were very large and healthy. The offspring were smaller than usual. Consistent with drought and poor food supply. We have lots of milkweed, but the drought makes it less accessible to the monarchs.

 

[Johnno]

I live just north of Hartford Ct and yes we have bears that frequent the neighbor hood almost daily during certain times of the year. There is quite a healthy population of local black bears for sure around here.

 

[Prospecter]

All the metal and wood salvaged from Maine Marine Salvage is processed and put away for now. Too many outdoor things to do while it is nice. I will have time enough in the shop next winter.

The engine lift does not roll very well across gravel, but the zero turn is a nimble and capable pusher. I used the ZT to move the lift into the shop. Used it to change the blades on the ZT, except the replacement blades on hand are too long. Put the old ones on the mower for the rest of the season, and I will modify the others next winter. Changed the oil and I am good to mow tomorrow.

 

[Prospecter]

I tripped the SawStop processing some mahogany. The blade hit a screw I did not notice. I could literally do this 2000 times before it cost as much as the repairs to my wrist. Like so many things, it was a hassle until I stopped to read the directions. Then the old cartridge slipped off and the new one slipped on. Still need to get a blade to make it work. I use the SawStop blades because they are tested to work with the cartridges.

 

[kaymccampbell]

I tripped the SawStop processing some mahogany. The blade hit a screw I did not notice. I could literally do this 2000 times before it cost as much as the repairs to my wrist. Like so many things, it was a hassle until I stopped to read the directions. Then the old cartridge slipped off and the new one slipped on. Still need to get a blade to make it work. I use the SawStop blades because they are tested to work with the cartridges.

At the NWA shop we've got samples of many different brands jammed into Saw Stop brakes. Even one very pricey dado. I think the machines are nonsectarian.

 

[Jacko264]

Love all the toys you have
Graham

 

[Prospecter]

At the NWA shop we've got samples of many different brands jammed into Saw Stop brakes. Even one very pricey dado. I think the machines are nonsectarian.

You made me smile! I love the image of many SawStop triggered cassettes with blades in them. The cassettes are non-sectarian, as you say. A non-SawStop blade is potentially maybe a millisecond slower. . . probably not worth fussing over. I do like the SS blades though.

 

[Prospecter]

Love all the toys you have
Graham

Thank you. I feel very fortunate.

 

[Jacko264]

All I have is a electric push grass cutter a wheel barrow a brush and a fork and spade
if I had more the wife would expect more work 🫣
Graham

 

[Prospecter]

The last ten days have been busy with routine necessary business of life stuff. Chores, errands, and appointments. A few things were accomplished. Frosts have arrived in The County. Comfortable, breezy days with no bugs. I went right around the house repairing loose and broken vinyl siding. The second photo was the worst part. Someone before us with limited skills replaced melted siding from a fire. The vinyl is all repaired except that I ran out of perforated vinyl soffit, so I will need to purchase some and do that. I replaced / repaired quite a bit of metal trim, but still need to do some more.

 

[Prospecter]

Made a quick day trip home to the mid-coast, where there were also frost warnings. The house plants are all back inside, and most of the squash / pumpkins are picked. Also dug carrots, beets, and potatoes. Small harvest this year due to cold, wet spring, followed by drought conditions. We are hoping to squeak out some frost free nights to let the butternut squash and tomatoes ripen.

 

[jon72vega]

Good job on the siding repair.
Nice harvest so far.

Beautiful countryside.

 

[drivesitfar]

Great work!!

Harvest time is my favorite time of year to eat.

 

[Prospecter]

Good job on the siding repair.
Nice harvest so far.

Beautiful countryside.

Probably not unlike your part of Michigan. Midcoast is usually 5d. warmer.
The siding is learn as I go. Slowly I am getting the hang of bending trim. At least on the northern house, I am usually replacing sections, so I use old pieces as patterns. Also, that trim is all 90d. bends. The midcoast house trim is a little trickier in places. I am procrastinating on those while I develop my skills.

 

[Prospecter]

Great work!!

Harvest time is my favorite time of year to eat.

Absolutely! Our food bills definitely go down this time of year. My expanded tomato selections worked out well. Some heirloom varieties. Sadly, I was using up seed, so I am not sure exactly what I planted!

 

[Prospecter]

So that is how our bird houses keep getting tilted!
Roughly half the trash I picked up while mowing. I used one of those extension grabbers so I would not need to stop the blades and get off the mower.
Last of the gladiolas. After they die back, we will them up to save for next year.
I was sharpening the chainsaw, and remembered I had some of those dremel chain sharpening bits. Works well. I need to adjust the teeth a little bit. One side is longer than the other.
Time to do the firewood. The 3ph forks are excellent as a sawbuck. The forks are rugged, and I can saw most of the wood at waist level. Saves my back, and keeps the saw out of the dirt. (Front bucket is in the air because I don't have much room to maneuver on that side of the pile.)

 

[Just Puttering]

That is one heck of a big pile of logs!

 

[Prospecter]

That is one heck of a big pile of logs!

Just Puttering: I generally tell the logger I will buy as much as he can load on his tri-axle. That usually works out to 11 cords. Then I got a one in a lifetime deal on 4 more cords. Since then I have cut off maybe 3 cords, so the pile is something like twelve cords. There was a time when that would be a winter's supply. With better insulation (I went with the higher Canadian requirements at the time), more efficient wood stoves, and heat pumps, I now only burn 4 cords each winter. The rear forks as a sawbuck, pick-a-roon, and splitter make me feel like a lazy old man living in luxury. Thanks for checking in.

 

[drivesitfar]

I was going to say that pile looks like you might only heat with wood like a few other GJ members in the Midwest. They pile might be about half of what they burn each winter but both the members I know they get free wood (well not free exactly if you don’t count chainsaws and maintenance, gas, splitters and of course labor.

Yep you’re living the good life so keep that positive thinking that more of us could use more often.

 

[Jeff Ivers]

Man, that is a lot of wood to process!

 

[Prospecter]

Man, that is a lot of wood to process!

Slow and steady, I'll get there.

 

[Prospecter]

Almost finished repairing the vinyl siding and metal trim. A very still day was a good opportunity to repair trim on the peak.

 

[Just Puttering]

Looks like you maxed out the reach from that ladder

 

[Prospecter]

Looks like you maxed out the reach from that ladder

Yup. Not quite the scaffold I was just looking at in your thread! Scaffold is sure nice to work off of!

 

[Prospecter]

I hoped to be fitting firewood this week, but. . The floor of the shower stall broke. Not surprising. The shower went in 1992, and when we lifted the house in 2002 the floor of the stall was not supported well. Fortunately, today is big item pickup, so demolition debris went straight to the roadside. I still need to level the base, straighten a wall, and deal with a stack that encroaches on space for the base. Not an issue before, but in the way of the new stall.

 

[Just Puttering]

The floor of the shower stall broke.

Nothing like those seemingly small items that turn into major projects.

Looks like you have several days of work ahead of you, but at least with the demo mostly done, the surprises are behind you.

 

[Prospecter]

Nothing like those seemingly small items that turn into major projects.

Looks like you have several days of work ahead of you, but at least with the demo mostly done, the surprises are behind you.

JP: That's correct. All difficulties identified. No more surprises. The work I did to switch over to Pex A running back to a central manifold is paying off now. I even left some extra slack in the shower supply lines in anticipation of needing to do this work in the near future. And the future is now. Just need to work around other obligations. (And the slower pace of retirement!)

 

[Jacko264]

Hi
mr Prospecter
can I ask how much land you have it looks fantastic on the photos
my land is about as big as a postage stamp as most are in England uk
Graham

 

[Prospecter]

Hi
mr Prospecter
can I ask how much land you have it looks fantastic on the photos
my land is about as big as a postage stamp as most are in England uk
Graham

You live in a very beautiful country. We have roughly 35 acres of poor farm land. Mostly shallow soil and clay. Lots of ravines to make access challenging. We wanted to "some" land, but 35 acres is what came with the house. The house is probably 1840s. The land is part of a King's grant going back at least to the 1700's. I also grew up where lot sizes were small. It is nice to have room to spread out.

 

[Jacko264]

The only word I can use is im jealous .
we have been looking for a bungalow to move to with about one acre
we will have to see what comes along
G