Rain coming Friday....

[David V.]

That's good and bad. If we get too much rain all the burn areas
will start eroding and we'll be having some floods.

[r***@yahoo.com]

Post by David V.
That's good and bad. If we get too much rain all the burn areas
will start eroding and we'll be having some floods.
--
Dave

Are they predicting lots of rain ?
How's things ?

We're still cleaning up tornado damage. My arms are starting to look
like Popeyes from using the chainsaw so much and moving logs around.
Yesterday I went around and marked trees that are dead and still
standing.
I quit counting when I hit 30. Most of those are dead from lightning
strikes.
I think we're down to 5 or 6 more trees that are down and I still need
to
cut up. Some of them are large enough they will be going to the
sawmill
to have boards cut from them.

Randy

[David V.]

Post by r***@yahoo.com

Post by David V.
That's good and bad. If we get too much rain all the burn
areas will start eroding and we'll be having some floods. --
Dave

Are they predicting lots of rain ?

We got a half inch here. That's good. We have a lot of denuded
burn area that needs to be moistened so that some of the seeds
that are left can sprout before the big rains come.

Post by r***@yahoo.com
How's things ?

My one female was limping pretty bad the other day on her right
hind leg. She's hard to catch and I didn't want to make her move
any more than needed. No blood and everything looked OK. The limp
is gradually going away. I think she'll be alright.

Post by r***@yahoo.com
We're still cleaning up tornado damage. My arms are starting
to look like Popeyes from using the chainsaw so much and
moving logs around. Yesterday I went around and marked trees
that are dead and still standing. I quit counting when I hit
30. Most of those are dead from lightning strikes. I think
we're down to 5 or 6 more trees that are down and I still need
to cut up. Some of them are large enough they will be going
to the sawmill to have boards cut from them.

That sounds like a lot of work. I have about 500 trees to cut
down this winter. They're all less than two inches in diameter
though. :-) They're bay laurel suckers that have grown up from
the roots of a long gone tree. Some are so dense my cat can't
even walk through them. I just purchased a pneumatic pruner that
I'll use for the smaller ones. Large hand pruners usually handle
the others.

I get laid off for 6 months on the 15th. That's planned. The job
is seasonal. Maybe next year I'll get a year round job.... or may
be not. I kind of like working for 6 months and then 6 months off.

[r***@yahoo.com]

Post by David V.

Post by r***@yahoo.com

Post by David V.
That's good and bad. If we get too much rain all the burn
areas will start eroding and we'll be having some floods. --
 Dave

Are they predicting lots of rain ?

We got a half inch here. That's good. We have a lot of denuded
burn area that needs to be moistened so that some of the seeds
that are left can sprout before the big rains come.

Post by r***@yahoo.com
How's things ?

My one female was limping pretty bad the other day on her right
hind leg. She's hard to catch and I didn't want to make her move
any more than needed. No blood and everything looked OK. The limp
is gradually going away. I think she'll be alright.

Post by r***@yahoo.com
We're still cleaning up tornado damage.  My arms are starting
 to look like Popeyes from using the chainsaw so much and
moving logs around. Yesterday I went around and marked trees
that are dead and still standing. I quit counting when I hit
30.  Most of those are dead from lightning strikes. I think
we're down to 5 or 6 more trees that are down and I still need
 to cut up.  Some of them are large enough they will be going
 to the sawmill to have boards cut from them.

That sounds like a lot of work. I have about 500 trees to cut
down this winter. They're all less than two inches in diameter
though. :-) They're bay laurel suckers that have grown up from
the roots of a long gone tree. Some are so dense my cat can't
even walk through them. I just purchased a pneumatic pruner that
I'll use for the smaller ones. Large hand pruners usually handle
the others.
I get laid off for 6 months on the 15th. That's planned. The job
is seasonal. Maybe next year I'll get a year round job.... or may
be not. I kind of like working for 6 months and then 6 months off.
--
Dave

At least you didn't have so much rain it just washed ruts and caused
mud
slides. That would be a bad thing.

We need to get us a new outside wood furnace and start heating with
wood
again. I liked that and it wasn't all that much work to do. And we
have more
then enough firewood to heat for a few years.

6 months on and 6 months off doesn't sound all bad. Person could get
used
to that but I'll bet after 6 months off it's tough to get motivated to
go to work
again.

Randy

[David V.]

Post by r***@yahoo.com
At least you didn't have so much rain it just washed ruts and
caused mud slides. That would be a bad thing.

It did cause a little, but it could have been much worse.

Post by r***@yahoo.com
We need to get us a new outside wood furnace and start heating
with wood again. I liked that and it wasn't all that much
work to do. And we have more then enough firewood to heat for
a few years.

I just got tired of messing with the wood. I love my pellet stove.

Post by r***@yahoo.com
6 months on and 6 months off doesn't sound all bad. Person
could get used to that but I'll bet after 6 months off it's
tough to get motivated to go to work again.

By the end of the 6 months off, it's nice to see that pay check
coming in. Plus, I need the rest. I work too hard around this
place, cutting brush, cleaning things, building things, repairing
things, and so on. I need to take the soffits off of my place and
empty out the acorns. I removed on board and almost 20 pounds of
acorns came out. Those damn acorn woodpeckers. They were putting
them under the shingles and they'd fall down into the soffit.
Then they'd go get another and do the same..... for over 10
years. I fixed it so they can't do that anymore, but I'm sure
there's a hundred pounds of acorns there.

Now I have to reinforce, or put an electric fence on, my garbage
can holder. A bear got into it last night. I know it was a bear
because it left a HUGE pile of scat. It was a real steamer.

I knew something was wrong when the dog, after being in the house
all night, went outside and then ran right back in and hid behind
me. Some guard dog she is.

I wonder what bear meat tastes like.......

[r***@yahoo.com]

Post by David V.

Post by r***@yahoo.com
At least you didn't have so much rain it just washed ruts and
 caused mud slides.  That would be a bad thing.

It did cause a little, but it could have been much worse.

Post by r***@yahoo.com
We need to get us a new outside wood furnace and start heating
 with wood again.  I liked that and it wasn't all that much
work to do.  And we have more then enough firewood to heat for
 a few years.

I just got tired of messing with the wood. I love my pellet stove.

Post by r***@yahoo.com
6 months on and 6 months off doesn't sound all bad.  Person
could get used to that but I'll bet after 6 months off it's
tough to get motivated to go to work again.

By the end of the 6 months off, it's nice to see that pay check
coming in.  Plus, I need the rest. I work too hard around this
place, cutting brush, cleaning things, building things, repairing
things, and so on. I need to take the soffits off of my place and
empty out the acorns. I removed on board and almost 20 pounds of
acorns came out. Those damn acorn woodpeckers. They were putting
them under the shingles and they'd fall down into the soffit.
Then they'd go get another and do the same..... for over 10
years. I fixed it so they can't do that anymore, but I'm sure
there's a  hundred pounds of acorns there.
Now I have to reinforce, or put an electric fence on, my garbage
can holder. A bear got into it last night. I know it was a bear
because it left a HUGE pile of scat. It was a real steamer.
I knew something was wrong when the dog, after being in the house
all night, went outside and then ran right back in and hid behind
me.  Some guard dog she is.
I wonder what bear meat tastes like.......
--
Dave

Best get the bear out of the habit of raiding your garbage real fast.
And then get it away from the house. Not sure what bear tastes like
but yours probably smells like garbage. I don't mind the bears being
around but I don't trust them and I sure don't want to run into one in
the
dark. Remember Starr lost at least 1 alpaca to a black bear.

I understand what you are saying about working to hard around the
place.
Been there, done that and still doing that. Winters coming up and I'm
not
even close to being ready.

Randy

[David V.]

Post by r***@yahoo.com
Best get the bear out of the habit of raiding your garbage
real fast. And then get it away from the house. Not sure
what bear tastes like but yours probably smells like garbage.
I don't mind the bears being around but I don't trust them
and I sure don't want to run into one in the dark. Remember
Starr lost at least 1 alpaca to a black bear.

Would an electric fence around the garbage cans work? They don't
cost that much.

Post by r***@yahoo.com
I understand what you are saying about working to hard around
the place. Been there, done that and still doing that.
Winters coming up and I'm not even close to being ready.

I was to do a lot of work this weekend... but I caught a cold.
One thing I want to do right away is clean up as much poop as I
can before it soaks up all that rain. I do have some pipes to
cover too.

I came up with a crazy idea.... I have some regular plastic food
wrap. I'm going to press it onto one side of the hose bib and
spray some of that expanding foam on it. Then I'll do the same
for the other half. That way I'll have a form fitting "pipe
wrap." It might even work. Or... an easier way would be to just
put the plastic wrap around the whole faucet, spray the foam all
over, then when dry cut it in half in a way that it could be
removed easily when I want to use that faucet.

[r***@yahoo.com]

Post by David V.
I came up with a crazy idea.... I have some regular plastic food
wrap. I'm going to press it onto one side of the hose bib and
spray some of that expanding foam on it. Then I'll do the same
for the other half. That way I'll have a form fitting "pipe
wrap." It might even work. Or... an easier way would be to just
put the plastic wrap around the whole faucet, spray the foam all
over, then when dry cut it in half in a way that it could be
removed easily when I want to use that faucet.
--
Dave

Is this a faucet on the house or is this one of those yard hydrants ?
If it's on the house there is already a foam cover made and it's
cheaper then
buying a can of foam.

Randy

[David V.]

Post by r***@yahoo.com
Is this a faucet on the house or is this one of those yard
hydrants ? If it's on the house there is already a foam cover
made and it's cheaper then buying a can of foam.

It's a free standing "yard hydrant." It cracked last winter and
finally broke this summer. It originally had one hose bib and I
had a splitter on that. I put a T on the top and put two new
faucets. Not just any old hose bib though. I got the $12 brass
ones that have a ball valve instead of a compression gasket that
wears out. You only turn the handle a quarter turn for on or off.
It's great.

One side is on all the time. I put a "Little Giant" automatic
waterer about a foot away. It supplies water for all the birds,
and other critters around. It's also the dog's water when she's
not in the house. That is on year round. I used one of those
hoses that have the metal braided covering for that. It stays on
all year.

[r***@yahoo.com]

Post by David V.

Post by r***@yahoo.com
Is this a faucet on the house or is this one of those yard
hydrants ? If it's on the house there is already a foam cover
made and it's cheaper then buying a can of foam.

It's a free standing "yard hydrant." It cracked last winter and
finally broke this summer. It originally had one hose bib and I
had a splitter on that. I put a T on the top and put two new
faucets. Not just any old hose bib though. I got the $12 brass
ones that have a ball valve instead of a compression gasket that
wears out. You only turn the handle a quarter turn for on or off.
It's great.
One side is on all the time. I put a "Little Giant" automatic
waterer about a foot away. It supplies water for all the birds,
and other critters around. It's also the dog's water when she's
not in the house. That is on year round. I used one of those
hoses that have the metal braided covering for that. It stays on
all year.
--
Dave

Well since it split and now has the T on top it no longer self
draining and
frost/freeze proof.
How cold does it get there in the winter ?

Randy

[David V.]

Post by r***@yahoo.com
Well since it split and now has the T on top it no longer self
draining and frost/freeze proof. How cold does it get there
in the winter ?

The way it was before was not self draining. We get a few
freezing storms every winter. Cold enough to freeze a bucket of
water into solid ice.

[r***@yahoo.com]

Post by r***@yahoo.com
Well since it split and now has the T on top it no longer self
 draining and frost/freeze proof. How cold does it get there
in the winter ?

The way it was before was not self draining.  We get a few
freezing storms every winter.  Cold enough to freeze a bucket of
water into solid ice.
--
Dave

ok. I would put some pipe insulation around the pipe and you're right
make something to protect the head from freezing. You might have
been on the right track with the foam. Just don't know. I used to
just
put a bucket over the head to help insulate it a bit.

Randy

[David V.]

Post by r***@yahoo.com
ok. I would put some pipe insulation around the pipe and
you're right make something to protect the head from freezing.
You might have been on the right track with the foam. Just
don't know. I used to just put a bucket over the head to
help insulate it a bit.

I have a lot of that foam insulation made for pipes, but I have
to buy more to replace some that got damaged. Maybe I'll just buy
one "tube" of the largest size and make some kind of faucet cover
out of that. And I'm covering all this foam with that "metal"
duct tape. That's been working great for me.

[r***@yahoo.com]

Post by r***@yahoo.com
Well since it split and now has the T on top it no longer self
 draining and frost/freeze proof. How cold does it get there
in the winter ?

The way it was before was not self draining.  We get a few
freezing storms every winter.  Cold enough to freeze a bucket of
water into solid ice.
--
Dave

Did you get it done ?

We had an underground pipe split the other day. Don't know why as
it wasn't even down to freezing. Just split. Good part was it was
for
2 field hydrants we don't use much. Bad part was I had to find the
shut
off valve.

Randy

[David V.]

. Did you get it done ?

Not yet. I have a month or so before any hard frost sets in. I
hope to get it done next week though. I have to build a dog house
first.

We had an underground pipe split the other day. Don't know
why as it wasn't even down to freezing. Just split. Good
part was it was for 2 field hydrants we don't use much. Bad
part was I had to find the shut off valve.

I've been slowly replacing all the super cheap faucets around
here with nice ball valves. I just have a few more to replace and
a few pipes to cut and add a valve. All the water comes from the
tank, downhill, to the house. There is a shut off at the tank,
but not one below the house. If I have to do any work below the
house, it drains the house - water heater and all.That's not
working too good.

[r***@yahoo.com]

Post by David V.
I've been slowly replacing all the super cheap faucets around
here with nice ball valves. I just have a few more to replace and
a few pipes to cut and add a valve. All the water comes from the
tank, downhill, to the house. There is a shut off at the tank,
but not one below the house. If I have to do any work below the
house, it drains the house - water heater and all.That's not
working too good.
--
Dave

I've been dong the same thing with all the inside faucets. Have all
new ones
and have replaced some of them. Just not enough time in the day.

I'm in the process of putting gravel and sand into the new shop/garage
so we
can level out the floor before pouring concrete. The idiot that made
the building
pad screwed up bad and it wasn't even close to being level. Not fun.

Randy

[David V.]

Post by r***@yahoo.com
I've been dong the same thing with all the inside faucets.
Have all new ones and have replaced some of them. Just not
enough time in the day.

I've replaced all of those already. Only 3. What I do have to do
is repipe the whole place. I have cheap plastic tubing held on
with rusted clamps, instead of real pipes or the good kind of
tubing. I'm thinking of building a manifold and then, one tube at
a time can be replaced without shutting off everything. That way
I can do a little bit at a time.

Post by r***@yahoo.com
I'm in the process of putting gravel and sand into the new
shop/garage so we can level out the floor before pouring
concrete. The idiot that made the building pad screwed up bad
and it wasn't even close to being level. Not fun.

I know that! The only good thing here was that the neighbor was
the brother in law of the people I bought the place from. The
neighbor is a general contractor that builds upscale homes. He
helped build my workshop. It's level. But the rest of the place
is a mess. I've been tearing out and rebuilding it right.

[r***@yahoo.com]

Post by David V.
I've replaced all of those already. Only 3. What I do have to do
is repipe the whole place. I have cheap plastic tubing held on
with rusted clamps, instead of real pipes or the good kind of
tubing. I'm thinking of building a manifold and then, one tube at
a time can be replaced without shutting off everything. That way
I can do a little bit at a time.

The manifold idea is a good one. I will probably have to replumb the
majority of the pipes in the house we bought for my mom last year.
The copper pipes looked like they might be starting to have some
tiny pin hole leaks. Most of the plumbing in that house is fairly
easy to get at from the crawl space.

Post by David V.

Post by r***@yahoo.com
I'm in the process of putting gravel and sand into the new
shop/garage so we can level out the floor before pouring
concrete.  The idiot that made the building pad screwed up bad
 and it wasn't even close to being level.  Not fun.

I know that! The only good thing here was that the neighbor was
the brother in law of the people I bought the place from. The
neighbor is a general contractor that builds upscale homes. He
helped build my workshop. It's level. But the rest of the place
is a mess. I've been tearing out and rebuilding it right.
--
Dave

I'm real real tired of moving sand & gravel to back fill the building.
Guessing I'm about 3/4 or better done but was getting stupid and
decided to call it quits for the day before I break something. It
sure
is nice having a 4x4 tractor with a frontend loader to do most of this
work with. Otherwise I guarentee it wouldn't get done.

Randy

[David V.]

Post by r***@yahoo.com
The manifold idea is a good one. I will probably have to
replumb the majority of the pipes in the house we bought for
my mom last year. The copper pipes looked like they might be
starting to have some tiny pin hole leaks. Most of the
plumbing in that house is fairly easy to get at from the crawl
space.

I'm going to use the new flexible plastic tubing they have now.
It requires only one tool, a spreader. It slightly expands the
last inch or so of the tubing then you attach it to the fitting
or whatever, and it quickly shrinks back to form a leak proof
connection. It can be used for hot or cold and is flavorless. My
neighbor has the tool and a source for the tubing. It will cost
me about $100 to do all the house. While I'm under the house I'm
going to reroute the shower, bathtub, and all the sinks to a grey
water system.

Post by r***@yahoo.com
I'm real real tired of moving sand & gravel to back fill the
building. Guessing I'm about 3/4 or better done but was
getting stupid and decided to call it quits for the day before
I break something. It sure is nice having a 4x4 tractor with
a frontend loader to do most of this work with. Otherwise I
guarentee it wouldn't get done.

I could use one of those. I need a backhoe though. The only way
to get rid of this bay laurel I have growing all over the place
is to dig up the roots. Although... I did pour some bleach on a
whole bunch of suckers in one area. They're dead now.

[r***@yahoo.com]

Post by David V.

The manifold idea is a good one.  I will probably have to
replumb the majority of the pipes in the house we bought for
my mom last year. The copper pipes looked like they might be
starting to have some tiny pin hole leaks.   Most of the
plumbing in that house is fairly easy to get at from the crawl
 space.

I'm going to use the new flexible plastic tubing they have now.
It requires only one tool, a spreader. It slightly expands the
last inch or so of the tubing then you attach it to the fitting
or whatever, and it quickly shrinks back to form a leak proof
connection. It can be used for hot or cold and is flavorless. My
neighbor has the tool and a source for the tubing. It will cost
me about $100 to do all the house. While I'm under the house I'm
going to reroute the shower, bathtub, and all the sinks to a grey
water system.

I'm real real tired of moving sand & gravel to back fill the
building. Guessing I'm about 3/4 or better done but was
getting stupid and decided to call it quits for the day before
 I break something.  It sure is nice having a 4x4 tractor with
 a frontend loader to do most of this work with.  Otherwise I
 guarentee it wouldn't get done.

I could use one of those. I need a backhoe though. The only way
to get rid of this bay laurel I have growing all over the place
is to dig up the roots. Although... I did pour some bleach on a
whole bunch of suckers in one area. They're dead now.
--
Dave

Are you talking about plex tubing ? Good stuff.
Don't you also need a clamp of some type at the joints ?

Buy more bleach, it's much cheaper then a tractor.

Randy

[David V.]

Post by r***@yahoo.com
Are you talking about plex tubing ? Good stuff.

My neighbor swears by it and has installed it himself in several
of the homes that's he's built.

Post by r***@yahoo.com
Don't you also need a clamp of some type at the joints ?

I think they do have some clamps, but when he was showing me how
to install the stuff, there were no clamps used. Just the
spreader and then in a few minutes it shrank back to it's regular
size.... at least I don't remember any clamps.

Post by r***@yahoo.com
Buy more bleach, it's much cheaper then a tractor.

Bleach is cheap. I just wonder how "environmentally friendly" it is.

[r***@yahoo.com]

Post by David V.

Post by r***@yahoo.com
At least you didn't have so much rain it just washed ruts and
 caused mud slides.  That would be a bad thing.

It did cause a little, but it could have been much worse.

Post by r***@yahoo.com
We need to get us a new outside wood furnace and start heating
 with wood again.  I liked that and it wasn't all that much
work to do.  And we have more then enough firewood to heat for
 a few years.

I just got tired of messing with the wood. I love my pellet stove.

Post by r***@yahoo.com
6 months on and 6 months off doesn't sound all bad.  Person
could get used to that but I'll bet after 6 months off it's
tough to get motivated to go to work again.

By the end of the 6 months off, it's nice to see that pay check
coming in.  Plus, I need the rest. I work too hard around this
place, cutting brush, cleaning things, building things, repairing
things, and so on. I need to take the soffits off of my place and
empty out the acorns. I removed on board and almost 20 pounds of
acorns came out. Those damn acorn woodpeckers. They were putting
them under the shingles and they'd fall down into the soffit.
Then they'd go get another and do the same..... for over 10
years. I fixed it so they can't do that anymore, but I'm sure
there's a  hundred pounds of acorns there.
Now I have to reinforce, or put an electric fence on, my garbage
can holder. A bear got into it last night. I know it was a bear
because it left a HUGE pile of scat. It was a real steamer.
I knew something was wrong when the dog, after being in the house
all night, went outside and then ran right back in and hid behind
me.  Some guard dog she is.
I wonder what bear meat tastes like.......
--
Dave

I thought about a pellet stove a few years ago before we moved. I
didn't
like the idea of paying for the pellets and this house is probably to
large
to heat it with just 1 stove.

Randy

[David V.]

Post by r***@yahoo.com
I thought about a pellet stove a few years ago before we
moved. I didn't like the idea of paying for the pellets and
this house is probably to large to heat it with just 1 stove.

I have to pay either way. The pellet stove has a thermostat which
makes it much easier to heat a lot, or a little. My place is
barely over 1000 sq feet. It's easy to heat.