The end of Summer

As Summer draws to a close, there is change in the air..The leaves are starting to turn colors, the nights are getting colder (down to 48 the other night) the evenings are getting darker quicker and the garden is ending.

This has been an interesting gardening year.  The raised beds are almost done for next year.  I have 3 more to go which means another trip for pallets. We will finish those up, get the dirt into them and wait til spring to see how well they work.  I notice that the animals even sense the change in the seasons, it seems that they are full of more energy.

No I did not run her over, she came outside and that is where she laid...dumb dog.  I also saw this the other night.

As you can see the tree in the background has started to turn yellow already.  I know that I HATE winter but this is to early for summer to end.  On a positive note I think my Summer squash plant is finally done, and ready for the compost bin!!!!  I have been picking pumpkins for a couple of weeks, and I still have some nice large green ones that should be ready for Halloween!!!

I have been building some tables, trying different avenues to build and stain them.  My goal is to do a bunch of different things, then next year go to a couple of the Arts and Crafts things and see if there is interest.  I am also going to try some planters over the winter.  If I don't try something, I will go nuts.

As we start into September, this will be a month of change for all of us.  My parents are moving to Texas full time.  I will be moving their stuff at the end of the month.  By the time I get back it will be time to put the bikes away for the winter.  I so hate winter, it is a time where I miss the outdoors, the ability to go out without a jacket and enjoy things.  Sure Christmas is nice, but there is a long haul from Christmas to Memorial Day.

Well I hope that all of you have a great Labor Day weekend, and are able to do things with those that you care about.  As Java says, be safe and have fun.  Talk to y'all in September.

   Something to remind you of Summer ;)

Times are changing

This is the time of year that is nice, but I really do not care for...Fall.  While working around the house yesterday I heard that familiar sound...I looked towards the heavens and saw it...geese flying in formation.  This coupled with the fact my leaves are changing, the nights are getting colder all point towards the end of summer.

Unlike some of my friends, I love the warm temps, the long days, the ability to go outside and do things without jackets and gloves.  I do like seeing all four seasons, however there is something to be said about summer.  While working in the garden, my Rottie even seemed sad to see the change coming.

Trying to fight mother nature is a loosing battle, but someday I know I will live somewhere that will allow me to enjoy nice weather year round.

An average Sunday

So what to do on a nice Sunday in August.  I was looking at the table that I needed to finish, and figured heck it would only take about an hour, let's do it.  So I loaded the girls up and went to the local lumber yard and picked up a couple of 4x4's that I could use as legs.  I get them home and measure them up, cut them and after I assemble them I noticed that I wanted to add a little support.

No problem, I have some scrap 1x1 I will measure them up, use an 'L' bracket, all set.  Heck, I can put a little shelf in it and it would look cute.  So I carefully cut my lumber, and find three pieces of slats to use as a shelf.  I sand them down, make them look real good.  After I put the support on I then realized that I had cut the shelf to short..oh well guess a shelf wont be put in.  Of course I forgot to cut a support for the other side, so now I had to measure that side, cut and sand the support for it.  Now I get my brackets ( DO NOT buy Stanley 'L' brackets)  These things are made in China, and of course the damn holes that were punched in the bracket were to big for the screws.  Now I have to spend 10 minutes looking for screws that I can use.  After finding it, I go to put the screw in, and of course I drop it...better find it before the dog steps on it.  So I am searching everywhere for the screw.  After 20 minutes I figure I will find it when I clean up.  So now I am using the damn China made bracket, hooking the legs together, the dogs are playing tag all around me.  I drop the drill gun.  After picking it up and I start to put the screw in the little dog grabs some sandpaper and feels that it is time to play chase.

I get the sandpaper, the legs are secured I get cleaned up from the job (which now has taken 3 hours) and I still can not find the damn screw.  Oh well, at least the table is together.  You know, looking at it, it does need stained, that should only take about an hour.....

Karma-

I belive in what goes around, comes around, and I have been lucky lately.  I was able to buy a really nice trailer at a cheap price, I may have the ability to go to school and finish up a degree that I could not finish years ago and my surgery results were good.  I hope to launch this no little business, setting up compost bins and small raised Garden Bed's.  I also have started building furniture out of reclaimed pallets.  It is amazing what these companies throw away.  The pallets are in great shape, with a little work amd patience they clean up really well.

I can do anything from coffee tables to work benches with very few motifications.  Some of the pallets are made from nice hardwood, pine, just about any type of wood.  People love reclaimed and reused products, hopefully I can put some stuff together that will work.  We will see.

Have a great weekend!!!

The verdict-

Well I went and saw my surgeon today, and he told me that the biopsy came back negative, there was no malignency noted.  While this is great news, it still does not explain the weight loss and other issues, so I guess my PMD will be busy.

I launched a new service today, with people wanting to go green and recycle I am offering compost bins.  We will see what the local market has to say about the idea.  Many people are trying to recycle, reuse and Green.  I am offering an alternative to buying top soil made from China reduce the amount of stuff in the landfill.

I am preparing for the trip to Texsas, while it will be fun, it sure is a long way down.  I know my parents are paying for gas but I know my Silverado loves to suck it down.  If I get 15mpg, thats going to be about 250 gallons of gas, I just hope it is cheaper down south.

Be good to one another, thats all we got in the end.

Good day for the Average guy-

As I stated in the beginning, I was going to chronical the good, and not so good days, well today was a great day.  I lost my job about a month ago, and being a middle aged guy, that's pretty scary.  Being a Vet, I was blessed with a retraining program that will allow me to go to school full time, and then help get me a job.  My wife is supportive, there will be some income to help pay the bills and I can focus on getting my degree.  Tomorrow is going to be a huge day, I am going to meet with my vet representative, go to the doctor's and find out if th mass that was removed is going to cause major problems, then I am going to an interview for a part time Limo driving job.  I hope that all of this good news carries through to tomorrow, and I can open a new chapter in my life.

Going to school scares the hell out of me.  I do well in everything but math...I hate math, and it hates me, all those x's and y's I don't get it.  But that will be my full time job for about a year.  Why do things happen the way they do, I don't know but they  do and we have no control over it.

Here is hoping things are going well for you, and remember to be good to someone you don't know, because someday you will need the kindness of a stranger, and support in something you are doing.Honey-Can-Do 8-Pc. Back-To-School Home Storage Kit (Google Affiliate Ad)

The garden saga continues- The Compost Bins-

"we put all of our garbage, except meat, oily stuff, glossy news paper blah blah and we get great material for the garden, by the truck loads."  I am a guy, really? I can find the garbage can about 70% of the time, but now I have trash, wet compost (veggies), dry compost (news paper) and don't forget the recycables, but not tin cans (that's a whole different blog).  O.K. I will try to save money, and am willing to try anything once.  Now we have been using an idea that was found on Pintrest, with some major modifications.  As posted earlier, with the raised garden beds we are constructing boxes which are about 30" high, and 50" long.  The compost bins are about 60" wide, 50"high and 30"deep. Now what I know about compost piles is very limited but once again the Internet is a great teacher.

The First thing you need to do is construct the box.  Not including leveling the ground, this step should take about 10 minutes (really I am not kidding).  After finding a fairly level spot, and with the assistance of someone one, stand your side and back panel up.  Using either 90 degree corner plates or straight board menders (or even a combination of the two) connect the pallets.  Experience has shown that pre drilling the holes help a lot, because the pallets can be constructed of any wood, or combination of woods.  Once the first corner is done it becomes easier. Take your second pallet that will be used on the back and attach it to the first using 2 board menders.  Don't worry if it is not 100% flush, or perfect, remember it is holding materials for compost.  Now comes a little trickey thing.  We wanted to divide this bin into two seperate bins so we took two pallets and put them back to back and attached them to the back wall.  The goal is to keep this project inexpensive, so I did not use any extra lumber, we basically split the difference and moved along.  Now we placed the other pallet on the outside wall and attached it using board menders  The next step was the moment of truth, we took two pallets (one in each bin) and for a reason still unknown to me they fit.  This step according to my wife is very important, it allows for air flow underneath the 'stuff'.  Because these will be in contact with the 'product' securing them seemed silly because they will need to be replaced. The engineer changed the specs at the last minute, and instead of putting hinges on the door we 'lashed' them shut, allows for greater access to all this compost we will be getting.

My wife read about a way to turn stuff into compost in 21-28 days, and the key is air.  So now comes a little expense, We went to our local home center and bought 8 10ft pieces of 1" PVC pipe.  Have stress at this point? Now is the time you get to release it, using a large drill bit make lots of holes, for air movement.  I created a guide, just to give me a more stable working surface.  Try to remember, this is about function and fun, exact measurments are not important as long as there are lots of holes.  After drilling holes I took my battery operated 'saws all' to the 'site' and cut the PVC to fit inside the boxes.  These Pipes make a checker board and will compress as the stuff turns into 'dirt'.  The last picture shows how they are set in.  Karen now has the job of 'filling the bins.  I will keep you updated on how this stuff works, it will either work great, OR I will be inviting my friends over for a hell of a bon fire.

If folks want specifications, or easy to follow directions please feel free to e-mail me, and unless I have been buried by the truck loads of compost, I will get them to you.