corn in the pot
It seems like forever since I've been able to work around the house. OK, I got to do this a couple of weeks ago but it still FEELS like its been since forever ago. Last night I got the old pickup out of mothballs and drove down to the industrial area for a load of mill ends. I found some great kiln dried alder for only about twenty bucks a pickup load. It was so dry and kept us toasty last night that this morning I decided to go back for more. About half way there something broke and the engine wouldn't go anymore. The starter would turn over all day and I seemed to have good electrical flow but the engine sat, as quiet as tea kettle. I had plenty of time to reflect on the fact that I should have taken the cell phone with me and also that the geriatric truck breaks down about every third time I take it off the property. Thankfully my dad drove by about a half hour after I started walking and picked me up. By the time I got home, I was ready to go through the phone book until I found someone who owns a tow truck. I met him at the scene of the break down with the keys and the title and handed them both over. Good riddance. The worst part was that I spend half an hour this morning putting shiny new duct tape over the broken window. Wasted duct tape, oh know! After the truck debacle, I really felt the need to accomplish something and do something fun so I went to the garden to harvest corn and potatoes. I end up with about five full paper grocery bags of potatoes. I harvested half the corn even though not all of it is ripe yet because the wet weather is here now, mildew is starting and who knows when I'll get back to it. After shucking, boiling and cutting it off the cob, I got a total of about 10 quarts. The other half I'll leave up for us to continue eating. Gardening Lessons I've Learned this Year: 1. Plant only red spuds. Those did really well where the purples and yellows came out of the ground not much bigger than when I put them in. 2. Plant all spuds deeper. 3. The bean house is a waste of time and string and is not as condusive to all plants getting enough light. Bamboo teepis are easier both to build and harvest from. 4. Forget about cabbage. The slugs go nuts for it, but I didn't really want the head s I got. 5. Plant more onions, deeper, and in raised beds. 6. Same goes for snow peas. They were delish and I could have eaten twice as many.
Four Generations
We found out yesterday that the new baby will also be male. Pictured here are my son, my, dad, and Poppa.
Go On and Sand That Floor
Sanding 98% complete. I have to go back, still, and sand away some of the patterns left by the 50 grit belts and my propensity to tip the sander up on its nose, but a noisy, stinky, unpleasant task is now almost completely in the past. Next stage is a light stain and then several coats of sealant.
Strippers in da house
Well Scott in Washington and Cousin Steve have been busy busy busy. The constant grinding of the sander is enough to drive anyone completely crazy..I don't know how they can stand it. I've been holed up in the bedroom with cottonballs in my ears, while they strip the 70 plus years of varnish off Mr. Moo's bedroom floor. I'm sure The Man will want to post about the actual heinous-ness that is sanding..for now here are my pictures. The boys before they started this morning:  A before shot, and a during shot...  
Sanding the floor is really boring.
Its true.
Stupid Meme Tricks
Alright, you asked and you pestered and you badgered me... OK, not really, but here it is.
7 things I plan to do before I die:
1. Run a marathon 2. Retire and live quietly 3. Finish my studio 4. Take my son backpacking 5. Go to Russia 6. Learn to weld/fabricate 7. Take cooking classes 7 things I can do:
1. cook 2. run away really far
3. talk to people/groups/interviewers, etc Its like crack for me 4. throw pots 5. concentrate and learn 6. do the driving 7. Speak three languages 7 things I cannot do:
1. stop geeking out on one thing after another 2. talk without hand gestures 3. anything higher than calculus 4. object oriented programming. I can't grok it!
5. navigate my way out of a wet paper bag 6. play golf 7. fix my car 7 things that attract me to the opposite sex:
1. Well, lets just say that the first I notice about you as you come towards me on the jogging path won’t be your sense of humor 2. humor/intelligence – everyone says that, but can you imagine not saying it? 3. Long legs/tall
4. An easy laugh 5. Athletic 6. Caring for kids/dogs/things that go goo goo 7. Someone who can take care of themself but is willing to lean on me too 7 things I say most often:
1. "Its my fault" 2. "hmm, OK" 3. "What I hear you saying is…" 4. "no, no, NO, Thomas! get away from there! Ok, thank you, good boy" 5. "Now click on the, no move your mouse over the, and left click on the.. No, OK start over. Move your mouse to, no, OK, hit the back arrow." 6. "That sounds good, but email me." 7. “Put your hands on your head. Now get down on one knee.. Now the other..” Wait, I don’t have to say that anymore do I? 7 celebrity crushes:
1. Brad Pitt 2. Linda Carter 3. Kylie Minogue 4. Sandra Bullock (Baa haa haa, like that could happen!) 5. Elizabeth Schue 6. Clair Danes (not stolen from Keith) 7. Lauren Bacall 7 people I want to do this:
1. I dunno. This is stupid? 2. Do it if you want to? 3.
4. 5. 6. 7.
Back in the Saddle
I don’t feel right blogging about the day-to-day stuff in my life until I get something out of my system, so bear with me. My first reaction was a little nod at sadness, then alarm, then anger, then deep sadness. I’ve be back and forth on that scale since. My gut reaction was to load up the truck and start driving but I know that wouldn’t help anybody. By the time I got there the really crucial time would have passed (let’s hope). My next thought was to jump on a plane and go there to lend a hand where I could but then I realized I can’t do that either. I have more responsibility now than I ever have had in my life. I have a little son and a pregnant wife and a mortgage and a job that makes the first part of this sentence possible. So, I threw off the romantic and emotional responses and did the best thing I could do – drove down to the Red Cross to write a check and give a pint of blood. I hope we can connect personally with some of the poor people who have lost everything but their lives and send them some of the items they need to rebuild. Other than that the best thing I can do is keeping going to work, work on the house, mow the lawn etc. That and keep voting. ‘Nuff said. I am taking the last week of the summer off to work on the house before the kids and faculty all come back to the college. The contractor called the other night and said he doesn’t know when he is going to be able to get back to the house to work on the bunk room. That was stipulated when he started the project so no worries. The target moves instead to getting the boy’s room habitable. I have the carpet and linoleum torn out. Today I moved all the boxes and furniture out of the room and started preparing to sand. This will be my first experience with the shellac and poly process I’ve read about on the likes of Aaron and Jeanne’s and Gary’s and Greg’s blogs. I’m excited.
Cutting Edge, Baby
File under: How Cool is That? It's a dimmer switch. Small, lightweight, inobtrusive... I can plug it into an outlet and then use it to dim the lamp I plug into it. What will they think of next? My wife will be so happy when I plug the interogation strength reading lamp I use at night in bed into this baby and amp it back a bit. And can you imagine, our industrial arts people were going to throw this bad boy away?
|
