Scattered Thoughts . . .

This is one of those projects that I started many months ago but was put on the back burner while waiting for better weather.  Back in March, I designed and built a solar finder scope but I had not painted it.  I needed to wait until I could use some spray paint outdoors which means I needed warm weather and dry weather.  In between other little projects, I managed to get this solar finder scope completed.   Although the sun is very bright in our sky, it actually is difficult to get a telescope lined up with it for viewing through a telescope!  The sun is so bright that you can't look directly at it so you then just guess where to point the telescope.  You move the telescope up...  then right...  then left...  then down...  then up again...  hoping to get it in your view.  Alternately, you can try to minimize the telescope's shadow on the ground but that can also be a little frustrating.  Instead of playing this little game of cat and mouse, I designed a solar finder scope to

The other day, I finally started on our outdoor kitchen/grill project.  I already had all the lumber on hand that is seen in these photos...  two 4x4 posts and a bunch of 2x4's...  and it was long past time to get started on this project.   Actually...  since this structure ties in with the playhouse roof, the playhouse is getting a nice upgrade rebuild and renovation so this is really a two part project. Our dryer broke so that is now slowing me down a bit but I have made a significant amount of headway on this project....  hmmm...  headway...   that reminds me...  I also whacked my head twice during this project already! On our previous big project, I also whacked my head hard enough to see stars, gray-out and buckle me at the knees.  That resulted in about a month of nothingness as my mild traumatic brain injury healed a bit.   I had a couple of temporary supports holding things in place on that project.  They were supports that weren't a part of the structure so I

I started off the day hoping to get enough accomplished today to check a few things off my absurdly long to-do list.  First, I did some spraying painting...  that went well.  Then I pulled out a can of white paint, a stirrer, a screwdriver and a ladder so I could put a second coat of paint on a few windows I started a couple of weeks ago.  That didn't go so well. I couldn't seem to hold onto anything.  I dropped the paint can lid into leaves and pine needles so I then had to stop to clean it up.  Then I dropped the screwdriver into the paint covering me and the screwdriver in paint.  Then I dropped the brush to the ground into the pine needles and leaves.  At that point, I was just finishing up a sloppy second coat of paint and decided to call it a day.   It is a bit of a hazy, partly cloudy day but I decided to try out my newly built telescope pier anyway.  Crystal clear skies would have been far better but the last time I saw crystal clear skies here is one night late l

I'm going to keep this short and sweet because I am feeling so lousy.  The past few days have been generally lousy as far as my health goes.  I still managed to get a few little things accomplished over the past few days.   What I accomplished should have been accomplished in a few hours but it required a few days for me to get this done considering how I was (am) feeling.  Anyway, the telescope pier project is now a success! Here is a photo of the telescope pier doing its thing around lunchtime today... This morning, I assembled the mount leveling adapter which is the white metal part on top of the wooden pier...   And, a closer look at this newest part... In this photo, you can clearly see the polar alignment pin.  This turned out to be an easy part to create contrary to what I expected.  I did, however, need to file down one side of the top of this pin in order to make it fit into my telescope mount.  The four bolts around the outside of this adapter make it v

Yesterday, we had a little birthday party for Nan in the sweltering heat and humidity.   After Sheila and I spent the morning preparing for this little birthday gathering, I set up air conditioning throughout the house so we could take breaks from the heat inside the more comfortable house.  That worked out well especially when a few passing thundershowers passed through the area during dinner. We started the day with a much-needed haircut for Lukey.  Here is Lukey before the haircut...   Sheila managed to capture a few good photos of the haircut... And, here is Lukey after his haircut...   And, a before and after comparison in one image... While I cut Lukey's hair, Kenzie was keeping cool by playing with the cold water from the hose... Lukey had no desire to shower after his haircut but he was covered in long cut hair so he opted for getting sprayed with the hose... The water from the hose was a bit colder than Lukey liked so he did a little w

As I suspected, I only needed a few short hours to finish up the trash shed project.  I completed the entire project early this morning when I installed some pavers and gravel inside the shed.  I had one small issue yesterday.  After all the torrential rain we had the other day and through the night, all the bare, unstained wood was swollen.  The wood was so swollen that I had difficulty opening the doors...  the wood latches were swollen shut...  the wooden tongue between the doors was swollen and jammed into the mating groove on the opposite door... it was difficult opening that brand new shed!   I disassembled most of those swollen parts, sanded them down and then reinstalled them.  They are now slightly tight (because they are still slightly wet and swollen) but easy to operate.  Since then, I've installed the roof and stained everything so it should not swell up like that again.   Here is a shot of it from behind showing the new roof and looking toward our house...