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Ellie's Dance Recital

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T his past Saturday, we went way out to Greensboro at the Highland Center for the Arts for our granddaughter, Ellie's, dance recital.  We found that this venue was surprisingly nice and comfortable.  It was a long drive to get there but the huge advantage is that it was very comfortable making the long drive very worthwhile!  This was immensely better than being jam-packed into a primary school gym on uncomfortable folding chairs...  way, way better! There was a small bake sale in the lobby before the recital so Sheila is shown below purchasing a brownie... The seats were comfortable and there was plenty of leg room! Here, below, is an ultra wide angle panoramic view from our seats while we were waiting for the show to begin.  Our view was great! Before long, the show began... These girls, below, are aged 3-5... They are dancing to "Happy Working Song"... Below, Ellie is on stage for her dance routine.  She is in a group aged 5-7 and dancing to Nan's favori...
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Paving Done

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I managed to "pave" the new girder bridge on our little garden railroad and it is looking pretty good! I did one small section at a time.  First, I applied a rather thin coat (but not too thin) of waterproof exterior construction adhesive on a small section of the roadway.  I applied the adhesive thick enough to completely obscure the wood base.  Then I sprinkled fine sand over the adhesive.  Then I carefully pat the sand down with my hand...  then carefully and lightly brushed the sand until it was even...  then again carefully pat it down with my hand.  Then I would move on to the next section.   The idea of using the waterproof exterior construction adhesive was two-fold...  First, I wanted to make sure the sand would stay in place in widely varying weather conditions.  Next, I wanted the adhesive to act as a sort of sealing coat protecting the wood underneath.   Here is a photo looking straight down the roadway and acr...
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Indoor Test of Grade Crossing Signals

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I decided to test the newly wired grade crossing signals for our small garden railroad here on our living room coffee table.  This way, if I happened to encounter a problem, I could figure out what is wrong without all the variables of installing it outdoors.  Doing this test in a controlled environment is the best option. I have a few circuit boards in this configuration that I should explain... First, the power is sourced from four AA rechargeable batteries in the black case pictured at right.   From there, the power goes to a voltage regulator.  I need the voltage to be a steady 3.0 volts for the new LED bulbs in the grade crossing signals.  This voltage regulator can be set to a wide range of output voltages but I need 3.0 volts so that is what I set it to.  The output terminals on the regulator circuit board run to a large momentary push button switch.  The kids can easily access this big button and hold it down to keep the grade crossing si...
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Health Update with a Few Photos

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I haven't written anything here in a week or two so I know I'm behind a bit when it comes to staying up to date about my health. I had last written about designing and building a new bridge for our garden railroad.  I still need to add a second coat of paint and then build the roadway surface but the weather has not been cooperating.  It has been too cold for painting and we've had rain, on and off, every day.  I really need a couple of completely dry days to finish this project. While I'm waiting for the weather to improve, I've mostly been indoors working on a few other little scenic things for the garden railroad.  I've also had to step up my daily physical therapy for my spinal injuries.  I was having a painful time walking around after those couple of days bending and crouching while working on the bridge!   So, I've been indoors working on rewiring a couple of grade crossing signals that I plan to add to the garden railroad.  These signals ...
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