Below 265 SQ/FT TwoBytes Stuff

[Lyndon]

Mat, Happy Birthday, belatedly. With the plans you had for the Christmas period I didn't think you'd have time to get on here. So, how was the run up into the country with 20 of your closest friends, celebrating the big 40?

Looks like the Pretty Beach Christmas went down well!

Lyndon
The forgetful. . .


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[drivesitfar]

TB: it's all uphill/downhill from here now that you are 40. cheers and happy birthday and nice to see you shared it with your little guy who might even remember Dad's birthday more than his.

any pictures from the little guy yet or is he still in TRAINING.

HAPPY NEW YEAR a bit early in case i don't see you posting in the next couple days.

cheers (ice tea for this old guy mostly)

 

[TwoBytes]

Happy belated birthday Mat. It sure sounds like your son had the best birthday ever. I think that is just awesome that he got to climb up into a real garbage truck. I must say that he's the first one I've heard of that has such a passion for those. That's a unique piece of driftwood you snapped a photo of. Living on the coast, I've seen engine blocks used for mooring weights before. Back before the 80's it was pretty common for the fishermen to use blocks instead of rocks for moorings. Thanks for sharing, Pretty Beach looks like it's a real nice place to be at.

Thanks Dan!

Yep, he had the best Dad's birthday ever, for sure.

Yeah, I thought that engine block mooring weight was pretty cool. Made a nice photo anyway.

I had a good long chat to my sister-in-law on my birthday. She just happened to be with friends in Coastal Maine. She lives in Washington, and has spent the last few Christmas' in Maine.

Mat, Happy Birthday..

Gosford is a nice part of the country..

http://www.visitnsw.com/destinations/central-coast/gosford-area/gosford

Our youngest is at Umina Beach.

You would have been In the same traffic snarl on the M5 as she was..

Regards

Thanks Steve! Yep, it's a great part of the country alright. We went to Umina a few times. There's a great recreation area there with a big playground for the kids.

I love this thread. Above all, the pics of your little guy getting into (or onto) everything is the best. He'll have quite the collection of adventure pics by the time he's an adult.

Thanks Brent. I often think twice before posting pictures of the kids on the internet, but my stories all involve them in some way, so it wouldn't be the same without them.

Mat, Happy Birthday, belatedly. With the plans you had for the Christmas period I didn't think you'd have time to get on here. So, how was the run up into the country with 20 of your closest friends, celebrating the big 40?

Looks like the Pretty Beach Christmas went down well!

Lyndon
The forgetful. . .

Thanks again Lyndon!

The birthday celebration at Thredbo hasn't happened yet. We've had a couple of days at home, and I've just dropped the kids off with grandparents. We're leaving this morning, back on New Year's Day.

TB: it's all uphill/downhill from here now that you are 40. cheers and happy birthday and nice to see you shared it with your little guy who might even remember Dad's birthday more than his.

any pictures from the little guy yet or is he still in TRAINING.

HAPPY NEW YEAR a bit early in case i don't see you posting in the next couple days.

cheers (ice tea for this old guy mostly)

Thanks Drives!

I haven't had a chance to pull the photos off my son's smartphone camera yet, but he took a bunch more on holidays. I'll get to that when I'm back in town next.

I probably won't post again till 2017, so Happy New Year fellas!

 

[drivesitfar]

TB: you are already in the new year and ours is 10 hours away now. just wanted to wish you and your family a great 2017.

how do you like the new awning/pergola or whatever you call your cool addition to the back of your home?

while it's maybe 100 degrees in your neck of the world it's currently snowing here in Seattle, Wa.

cheers

 

[Terrick down Under]

TB, with all this spare time and now being even wiser....is the pergola finished yet? Just asking.

 

[TwoBytes]

Hey Terrick, not sure what spare time you're talking about!?!?!



Only had a couple of days at home between getting back from Pretty Beach and heading up to Thredbo for my 40th, and I'm back at work today unfortunately!

So yeah, 0 progress on any projects in the last couple of weeks, but I'll get back to them soon.

Thanks Drives! Happy 2017 to you and yours too mate.

Loving the pergola, it's been great so far.

It will be over 100f here later this week, but believe it or not, we saw snow on the weekend.

As I mentioned above, I headed up to Thredbo with my wife and about 20 friends to celebrate my 40th on New Year's Eve.

Here's the view from our balcony (a bit different to last week's balcony shot)
View media item 66714
Thredbo is a ski resort in winter, and a mountain bike park in summer. Here's the view from the chairlift...
View media item 66716
A couple of hours walking later, we got to the top of the highest mountain (hill) in Australia, Mt Kosciuszko...
View media item 66712
And there was snow on the way up!
View media item 66718
A surprisingly large amount of snow, considering it's only a 2.5 hour drive from our place, and it's going to be 37c here on the weekend.

View media item 66717
The view from the top...
View media item 66719
And the view of Thredbo village (and some guys with mountain bikes on the chairlift) heading back down...
View media item 66713
The bugs are big up there too...

View media item 66715

 

[TwoBytes]

Here's the latest view of the pergola. No more work done, so it still needs a bit more paint and tidying up, but there's chairs and a table under there now, and we've been using it...
View media item 66355
The fence still looks terrible... I need to do something about that next.

 

[Bob Heine]

The fence still looks terrible... I need to do something about that next.

TB, before you do anything drastic, like replacing the weathered wood, pressure clean it. The gray and the mildew can be blasted off and it will look a whole lot better. Not new but a whole lot better.

 

[1/2 Cup]

Mat, thank you for sharing your pics of Thredbo its certainly nice up in the hills at this time of year..

Your pergola looks a treat.

Regards

 

[dlcwent]

Mat, just wanted to add my $.02 here. That is quite a view. Funny what a little elevation will bring in terms of weather. Glad to hear that you're enjoying the pagoda. And a lot of people around here actually pay big money to have a fence with a little "patina" on it. Really, they'll pay more for old wood just to have that "look".

 

[drivesitfar]

TB: looks like a fun vacation. were there some WILD CRITTERS at that place roaming the grounds besides the two legged ones on bikes?

i agree with DLC that patina does have it's place and potted plants maybe put in front of it to break up the big walls might help. also if you do pressure wash and re stain it to look more like new just be careful cause pressure washers can shoot through fence boards very quickly if you leave it in the same spot for a few seconds.

here's the fence i'm hoping to build this spring/summer at our house. we saw it maybe 5 or so years ago and we still like it so thought i'd post it here to give you some ideas.

that Pergola you built really is OVER THE TOP and WELL DONE SIR!!

have a great day

 

[TwoBytes]

TB, before you do anything drastic, like replacing the weathered wood, pressure clean it. The gray and the mildew can be blasted off and it will look a whole lot better. Not new but a whole lot better.

Thanks for the tip Bob, I might give the pressure washer a go on a different part of the fence that isn't so noticeable and see how it comes up.

Mat, thank you for sharing your pics of Thredbo its certainly nice up in the hills at this time of year..
Your pergola looks a treat.

Thanks Steve!

Mat, just wanted to add my $.02 here. That is quite a view. Funny what a little elevation will bring in terms of weather. Glad to hear that you're enjoying the pagoda. And a lot of people around here actually pay big money to have a fence with a little "patina" on it. Really, they'll pay more for old wood just to have that "look".

Thanks Dan. How much do you think it's worth? I'll ship it over...



Pagoda = pergola?

I like it.

Not sure if you saw me mention in a previous post that my sister-in-law was in Coastal Maine for Christmas. She has a good friend who's family lives up there, and she's spent the last few Christmases with them

TB: looks like a fun vacation. were there some WILD CRITTERS at that place roaming the grounds besides the two legged ones on bikes?

i agree with DLC that patina does have it's place and potted plants maybe put in front of it to break up the big walls might help. also if you do pressure wash and re stain it to look more like new just be careful cause pressure washers can shoot through fence boards very quickly if you leave it in the same spot for a few seconds.

here's the fence i'm hoping to build this spring/summer at our house. we saw it maybe 5 or so years ago and we still like it so thought i'd post it here to give you some ideas.

that Pergola you built really is OVER THE TOP and WELL DONE SIR!!

have a great day

Thanks Drives!

I will be careful with the pressure washer (I've learned my lesson by blasting stickers off motorbikes!), but I think (hope) the timber is in decent condition despite it's appearance. As mentioned above, I'll find an inconspicuous spot to test before going crazy.

That fence you showed is awesome! Talk about over the top. I love it.

By the way, I've been following your chair build thread, although I haven't had anything to contribute. Looking forward to seeing the finished product.

 

[dlcwent]

Mat, I did see you mentioned that. Do you know what town she was visiting?

I'll refrain from commenting on the "pagoda". I see it has only one roof.

 

[TwoBytes]

Hey Dan,

I think she was near Portland. Is that anywhere near you?

Adding a few more roofs to the top of the pergola is a fair way down on the to-do list

 

[Kenfab]

Just read from the start. All the projects look great! Thanks for sharing

 

[dlcwent]

Mat, About an hour and fifteen minutes to the south. And the single roof is just fine. I'm not sure why anyone would need more than one.

 

[TwoBytes]

Thanks Ken!

And Dan, my sister-in-law's pictures of the beach where she was near Portland looked amazing, it's a very nice part of the world. Hope to get over there for a look one day.

I agree, Installing more roofs just so I can call it a pagoda is a bad idea... it's off the to-do list

 

[dlcwent]

Probably Old Orchard Beach. One of the best Maine has to offer.



okay, the pagoda idea can now be laid to rest.

 

[TwoBytes]

That beach looks awesome mate! My sister-in-law's pics had more snow, but I think that's the right area.

Right, no more pagoda

 

[drivesitfar]

TB: is it too dang hot to work on the playhouse or is your assistant taking time off?

hope all is well with the new PERGOLA and it looks AWESOME.

cheers

 

[TwoBytes]

Hi Drives, thanks for checking in mate.

I've been following your chair thread, it's looking great! Well done.

The heat has slowed down progress a bit. The assistants don't last long outside when it's 37+ (almost 100F), which it has been lately.

There has been a bit of progress though. I was waiting until I had the deck down properly before I posted pics, but that might still be a while.

I got all the decking trimmed up and fitted at the fence end. Just need to oil it all before I screw it down.

View media item 67530
View media item 67533
I'll cut this end off straight after it's screwed down...

View media item 67532
I need to allow some time to make sure all the screws are clocked...

I bought myself a birthday present too.

Dad built this mitre saw table out of an old Black and Decker folding workbench decades ago...

View media item 67535
It was OK, but it's too short, the casters are too small to roll properly on the pavers, it doesn't have any material support capability, and it takes up a lot of room in storage.

This was on sale at Sydney Tools, so I treated myself...
View media item 67534
I'll repurpose the old one as a general use portable bench. It's currently sitting next to the BBQ with a pot plant on it.

View media item 67536


Speaking of the BBQ... It's sitting on an old Singer sewing machine table, which is great, but it's not very portable. It's got some tiny little wheels built in, but they only go one direction, and don't roll well on the textured pavers.

Since the pergola went up, I don't like seeing smoke from the BBQ swirling up under my nice white ceiling!

So I'm building a trolley with big casters to sit the existing stand on.

View media item 67537
The Singer sewing machine table legs will sit in those holes.

View media item 67538
I'll oil this when I do the cubby house decking then put the 4" casters on it.

 

[drivesitfar]

TB: thanks for the support on my little girl's chair project. your progress looks pretty good from my chair. also it looks like your assistant has maybe taken on the SUPERVISOR ROLE in the picture while he's giving you the ok on the BBQ caster's stand you are building.

did you router the edges or just sand them? also looks like you are using maybe square headed screws (clocked?) that look nice.

cheers and thanks for the updates.

 

[TwoBytes]

Thanks Drives!

It doesn't feel like I've made much progress, but it felt a bit more significant when I typed it all out.

The edges are routed with a 3mm round over bit, and the screws are 5mm hex head lag screws (in stainless, because it looks so nice!).

The best thing about hex head screws is that they have 5 side so they are very easy to "clock".

 

[1/2 Cup]

Thanks Drives!

It doesn't feel like I've made much progress, but it felt a bit more significant when I typed it all out.

The edges are routed with a 3mm round over bit, and the screws are 5mm hex head lag screws (in stainless, because it looks so nice!).

The best thing about hex head screws is that they have 5 side so they are very easy to "clock".

Mat, you have done well..

Good to read you have clocked you screws..

Regards

 

[oldironfarmer]

Looking good!

Your supervisor looks like he approves of your work. That puts you most of the way there

 

[metalhead140]

The best thing about hex head screws is that they have 5 side so they are very easy to "clock".

Pent head perhaps?? Nice progress, looking good!

 

[1/2 Cup]

Looking good!

Your supervisor looks like he approves of your work. That puts you most of the way there

Andy, 1/2 way there..

 

[TwoBytes]

Mat, you have done well..
Good to read you have clocked you screws..

Thanks Steve. Clocking screws is a firm requirement now, no way I'm putting pics up here without the screws clocked!

Looking good!
Your supervisor looks like he approves of your work. That puts you most of the way there

Thanks Andy,

Yep, passed the first inspection!

Pent head perhaps?? Nice progress, looking good!

Haha, yeah... that should have been 6 sides I guess... oops!

Thanks metalhead!

 

[TwoBytes]

Andy, 1/2 way there..

Yep, 1/2 way there, although with the pergola, the red tape felt like about 90% of the job!

 

[wasfast]

Those sewing machine bases with the large pedal are super cool. My Mom had one when I was a kid. I'm sure it can be repurposed again into another type of table.

 

[TwoBytes]

Yeah wasfast, I like them too.

I'm keeping the Singer stand as the BBQ table, the new trolley is going under it.

 

[drivesitfar]

TB: I can't tell you how many times i tried to talk to the other members to buy stainless hex style screws hence NO CLOCKING. not a one of them is buying that idea. JUST YOU AND ME I GUESS so here's to us!!

any progress on the Jr's playhouse?

cheers

 

[TwoBytes]

Haha, thanks Drives! I think standardising on hex screws to minimise the clocking is a great idea!

No more progress on the cubby house since the pics above.

Last Thursday was a day off here for Australia Day, so I took Friday off and we took the kids back up near Thredbo where we went for my 40th birthday/New Years Eve.

We spend the 4 day weekend here...
http://www.lakecrackenback.com.au/

So got nothing done at home, but hopefully get back into it this weekend.

Watch this space!

 

[1/2 Cup]

Mat, it would be great up there this time of year..

https://www.thredbo.com.au/

Regards

 

[Terrick down Under]

We did some work up their along the "boot end" where the new huts are. Its hard not to sit and take in the view.

 

[TwoBytes]

Hey Steve and Terrick, thanks for stopping by.

Yeah, it's great country up there hey, very nice at any time of year I think!

 

[TwoBytes]

Here's some pics from Lake Crackenback.

More from the "views from my balcony" series that I started in Pretty Beach and continued in Thredbo...

View media item 67768
View media item 67767
View media item 67766

 

[Grumblebum]

I must get back down there at some point. Been a long time since I've spent any time down the snowys.

GB

 

[1/2 Cup]

Mat, thank you for sharing, what a lovely view..

 

[TwoBytes]

Cheers GB and Steve,

It really is an awesome spot. It was a very active holiday, kayaking, canoing, bushwalking (with toddlers in backpack kiddie carrier things), and I did a heap of mountain biking with both kids taking turns on the front in one of these things...
http://www.mac-ride.com/

https://www.google.com.au/search?q=mac-ride&tbm=isch

Which is great by the way. Mountain biking is a helluva workout with an extra 20 kgs between your arms!

I didn't get any pics on the weekend (too busy riding), but here's one from about 6 months ago when I first got it. (it was a lot colder here then obviously!)

View media item 67799