Dirty Little Secret

EDIT: Many thanks to Randy who commented and told me how to move this post up! Thanks so much Randy; it was very easy which is why I couldn't figure it out. Ha!
Randy is a very talented local (Birmingham) artist and you may view his work here, http://randywebb.blogspot.com/


Ok, I finally got my photos to load so here we go. A lot of people have asked me about how I did this handrail and various other questions so I'm going to try to expound on the subject. I don't feel sometimes like I describe processes very well so if this is not clear please ask me to clarify. I will probably include some superfluous info but I don't know the skill or experience level of those wanting the information so I'm just trying to be helpful.
Basically, I first determined at what intervals I wanted the posts, which was determined somewhat by the lengths of my rebar, since it was scrap. I found an acceptable, equal spacing (about 4.5') that also utilized as much of the rebar length as possible. My rebar came in 8' pieces, I think, so I did have to cut some of it. I cut the rebar so that the ends, obviously, are concealed within the posts. Keep in mind also that too long of a span on your rebar might cause it to sag if someone were to prop their foot up on it or some such, as people are prone to do. Also, consult your local building codes for handrails. I used #5 bar (5/8") but I think a thicker bar would look nice too. I don't know that I would go thinner. Anyway, once you have your materials ready, install only enough posts that your first set of bars can go through. If you put all of your posts up and it has a corner in it you will never get the rebar in. Even if you have a straight run but with short pieces of rebar, it's just easier. Loosely attach the posts because you want to be able to plumb them after you get the rebar threaded in. My first set of rebar runs through the first post but butts into the house so that holds the rebar in place. If you don't want to butt the structure just drill only halfway through your post to form a cap of sorts. When you "cap" the other end, this is what contains the rebar and it cannot slide out. This is sort of like threading a necklace except that the beads (posts) stay stationary and you move the thread (rebar) through them. Once you have that first run in, install your next few posts and thread the next set of bars. After I have installed about 3 posts I would plumb them and snug up the connection.

The corners were done with bars I found already bent. These are very common on construction sites because they are the bars that are placed in footings and protrude upward for a wall to be build around later. They had a 9" "foot" so I just went with that and put both corner posts at that dimension. So, the long end of the bar runs through 2 posts and the short part just goes halfway into one. I think it would be very hard to try to get both ends through more than one post. Leave these post very loose because you have to lean them way out to get the foot started in the one post. Run the long end into it's posts first. Once it starts into both sets of posts you can slowly draw the posts inward. Then plumb these posts and keep going!

Here's some info about rebar. If you have read my blog long you will know that if I catch you buying rebar from Lowe's I will smack you. Those places are going to rip you a new one on that kind of stuff. There are many alternatives. If you are going to do a handrail similar to mine, you are going to need a fair amount of steel. My first suggestion is to try to salvage it off construction sites. You may know somebody, who knows somebody, that works in the field. They always have rebar left over on jobs. Always. The guys don't like to have to fool with it at the end of a job because it's nasty. In most cases they will gladly give it to you to get it out of their hair. If you can't scavage it, go to a rebar supplier. They will sell to the public and in most cases, don't have a minimum order. They will also cut the exact lengths you want and bend your corners for you. One note about this. If you are using rebar that has it's original end on it, it will be slightly crooked on that end for about 1 1/2". Rebar comes in giant spools and the suppliers just pull off the length and shear it, so the force of that kinda crimps that end a little. For reinforcing concrete, rebar is technically not supposed to be cut by heating, say with a torch. So, because of that kink, it may not go through your hole in the post very well. I trimmed my ends off because I didn't want the post hole to be any bigger than necessary. Also, rebar is nasty-dirty whether it is new or old. If it's new, your hands will be black; if it's old, your hands will be brown and if your nose begins to itch your face will turn the same color. If you pick up several bars at once, it will pinch your hands and it's very painful. So, wear gloves. I sealed the rebar (and the deck) with linseed oil. You can do this before or after and use Thompson's or whatever you use on your deck. Linseed oil and beeswax (50/50) works very well to seal metal and lasts a surprisingly long time outside. Seal it immediately or it WILL stain your wood.
An auger bit works best to drill your holes in the posts. Paddle bits are OK but will bog down a lot. A drill press is nice to keep the holes straight but it can be done without one. I mark both sides of the post and start drilling on one side until I feel I have reached about midway. Then flip the board over and drill completely through. This straightens your hole up if you were off any and also prevents you from busting out one side of the post, which sometimes happens as the drill bit exits the wood.

I hope this helps and I explained everything well. Please feel free to ask any questions if I still didn't cover all of it or have got you confused now.

*All American Rejects

I'm A Moron

No, I don't think that is a song title! I published a new post but because I started it a few days ago and didn't think about that, it was posted several days back! Scroll down to "Dirty Little Secret" to see latest. Does anybody know how to fix this? It's too late and I'm too tired to fool with it much.

Tougher Than The Rest

They made a fairly sizable pour yesterday on the job; around 200 yards of concrete. That's not huge by any means but to put it in a way that you might imagine better, that's about 20-22 full concrete trucks. It was on an area of our job that I don't normally work but we did end up going over there to help out by lining forms and sticking dowels.
Anyway, it's a parking lot and so a lot of square footage. In this kind of situation, they need a good many concrete finishers so I got a chance to see 2 of my old buddies that have now retired but come back occasionally to help out on such jobs. These 2 guys are brothers and were some of the first men that I met and worked around when I first started. Abraham is the oldest at 75 and Al is 70 and they still finish concrete. Granted, they just do the floating off and not the placing but still....I'm hoping to just be able to walk when I hit 75, not go out and finish 200 yards of concrete in freaking August! I think Abraham gets bored and so does a little here and there to have something to do and be around the guys. He always gives me a big hug when I see him and has always been one of my favorites. I told him about my land and building my house. He seemed pleased for me. Then he turned with this real serious look on his face, "Annie, you still by yourself?" Reluctantly I admitted, "Yes, Abraham, I'm still by myself." I knew I was about to get scolded. He gave me one of those stern looks, as if I were being difficult and kind of shook his head. I smiled, "you know I can't find anyone willing to put up with me!" He just laughed and I had to go.

*Bruce Springsteen

Whole Lotta Trouble

I'm trying to get a post up showing how I did the rebar handrail but Blogger is being a butt again and won't load my photos. So, I'll try again tomorrow. I don't really have time tonight anyway. I need to get some sleep. Didn't work on a whole lot this weekend but I did get my bathroom light fixtures ordered. Yes, I still have not installed permanent fixtures there. I'm trying to work on a lot of little things that will actually get some rooms finished. Work has been kind of dull; we're just wrecking forms. Oh, you know I mentioned a short while back that I tried to get sent to that job we have in Tennessee? Well, my boss here told me the other day, that boss called for me to come to that job. I said I'd still be willing to go but my boss said he couldn't let anyone go yet; they would have to send him a replacement. They offered a new hire (inexperienced) in my place here to my boss. My boss just laughed and said he wasn't giving up an experienced man for a new hire, so I think they decided I was not to go.
Maybe I'll have something for ya'll tomorrow.

*Stevie Nicks

Coming Around Again

Well, we have made up for getting rained out that one day! I was going to try to post again during the week but there are just not enough hours in the day. The 3-day weekends are nice (when we get them) but the ten hour days just don't leave time for anything else because it ends up being 13 hour days with travel etc. So, anyway, we have formed our last panel and now we will wreck the forms and let the panels sit for a while to gain strength before they are picked up. We still actually have to pour the last two. Most people think that concrete is as strong as it's going to be just as soon as it sets up but that is not true. 7 days is usually a minimum cure time and I believe the concrete reaches it's full strength after 28 days (I could be mistaken about that) although concrete really continues to cure for years theoretically. If you have poured any concrete that is suspended in any way or will be moved, 7 days is a minimum to wait before you drop your forms out.

In these photos you can see that we just keep stacking the panels on top of each other to save space. A chemical, called a bond-breaker, is sprayed on each panel to keep the next panel from sticking to the one below it. Hopefully. That's a lot of concrete to break up and dispose of if you screw them up. These panels average around 24'x 36' and probably weigh 35-40 tons each. Each has 2 mats of reinforcing steel in them, which you can see in these photos. In the old days they hired rodbusters to tie all that rebar but nowadays the carpenters are expected to do it all. We wear many tool belts these days, literally.

In the last post I made, I mentioned that I had deleted a post from last weekend, citing that I thought it made me sound unstable. I was surprised to hear from so many of you who said that you had written things that you later deleted or never published etc. I think it's funny that we are so sensitive about things we write for complete strangers to read but are willing to act like freakin' nuts in front of our friends. Why is that? Why would you care what some people, whom you will more than likely never meet, never speak to on the phone even, are going to think? Anyway, what I wrote was nothing indecent or truly psycho, I just talked about more patterns I had noticed happening lately. Look at the photos above, do you see any patterns in the grids of steel? I see all kinds of stuff. I don't know if it is my art training, which taught me to see pattern, color, etc. or just my natural inclination but I always pick out the repetition of line or shape in scenes, sometimes to the exclusion of the actual object I am looking at. One time we were building a hospital and I was walking across the parking lot after it had been striped and painted. I found myself standing over some shapes in the paint that I just could not make out; they were so odd but lots of them. Suddenly I realized I was just standing on top of a series of arrows pointing the way out of the lot. I felt like an idiot but all I could see was the series of same shapes the negative areas created around the painted arrows. Now, my sister on the other hand is just the opposite it seems. She can find a four leaf clover in about 2 seconds no matter how big the patch of grass. I can't find one to save my life. I've tried for years with no success. I asked her one day how she does it. She thought for a moment and then said, "well, I guess I can just see the one thing that is different from all the rest."
So I'm wondering if this tendency to see literal things a certain way translates into how we, as individuals view life. I know I'm not the only one who notices variances in patterns etc. Does my sister only notice certain events if they are different that what would normally occur, like the 4-leaf clovers? I don't know as I'm not around her enough to tell. I notice repetitive patterns of behavior or events, as I have noted in this blog before. I have always thought, because of this, I would have made a good detective!. Further discussion just gets you into predestination and related topics, which I definitely do NOT believe in, and is really more than can be mused over here. I have only the most minute understanding of life but I wonder about lots of things. I guess it is just an effort to make sense of a life that is so different than what a lot of other people seem to experience. Or is it?

*Carly Simon

Respite

We got rained out this morning first thing. Get up at 3:30 a.m. Drive almost an hour to work. Sit in the connex for 20 minutes and then turn around and go home. Another hour drive. That sucks. But it does give me some time at home to work on things. However, we will have to make today up on Friday; messing up our 3-day weekend. Sucks. Well, that's the way it goes in construction. And you don't get paid if you don't work. When the building is further along we will not get rained out but we are still coming out of the ground and will be for a while. This area really needs the rain though so it's hard to complain much. Plus, this front that has moved in over the weekend has brought some marvelously cool weather with it. After the past 2 weeks it is just heavenly. We were joking at work that we may have to break out our coveralls.

I ran some interior trim around windows this weekend and was really pleased with how that came out. It is so amazing what just that little bit of trim can make on looks and it helped my feelings a bunch! I hope to stain some more trim today and get it ready to run later. I'm using up material that I have had in the basement for months so that is good too. I plan on doing a post on trim work also, hopefully soon. Maybe I can show some details here and there with helpful hints on making it easier to do such work. A lot of people apparently find trim work aggravating.

I also will do a post very soon on the rebar handrail and just how exactly I put that together. I need to get some photos etc. I wish now I had taken more as we were putting it together but I honestly did not think many people would be that interested in it! So, hang with me and I will get that up just as soon as I can.

I did post some stuff over the weekend (and some of you might remember that photo) but I deleted it shortly after putting it up. And so those , hopefully few, that caught it, you're not imagining things; there was a different post up. After I went back and looked at it, it occurred to me what a complete lunatic it made me sound like, so I trashed it. I am a little different but not nutso! And so there you have it, ask me technical questions about building things and you won't have to read my demented ramblings about my personal life.

Every Last Drop

This is some of what I worked on last weekend. I have had a stack of siding sitting out in the yard, getting muddy as you can see, and so the big push was to get all of that used up somewhere on the house. I have not finished painting on the front and did not want to break that scaffolding down just to have to put it back up, so we came around to the back of the house and installed a bunch of the siding there. I also got several runs above the door and windows on the east side so I can, at least, install some porch lights now.
This is not really the back of the house, it will be the side you enter from mostly. To me, the house doesn't really have a front or back. I think that will be more obvious when it is completely finished. This side will also be about on grade with the landscaping when finished. I need to waterproof and backfill this concrete wall and then this area will get a flagstone walkway and patio. There will be natural cedar posts that sit on short, stone columns which will support the roof over the walk also. When the entire house is built, that little bit of roofing overhang will extend down another 12 feet or so and butt into the other part of the house.
Looking around lately I have realized that I have quite a bit of unused material lying around. Interior and exterior trim, paint, sinks, stone etc. so I am going to work on getting all this material in place before I go purchase more. If I get too much stuff in one area I get overwhelmed and frustrated so I need to get rid of all surplus stuff right now. This has several advantages; I'm not going to spend any money because the stuff is here and it will all be going towards finishing the house.
It cleans up clutter and lets me see what I actually have in supply. When I have used up absolutely everything I can get a very close estimate of how much I need to finish each project. This obviously saves money because you don't end up buying more than you need or buy too little, which can actually end up costing you more, if you figure cost of travel or shipping, which you really have to these days. Yes, I'm a little OC but it drives me crazy to waste or go buy something and then get home and realize I had enough but just couldn't find it. I also have some items that I can use to make some really cool decorative, artistic things for the house with and I would really like to do something like that right now. I have had a strong urge lately to make the house look a little more presentable. I don't know why. I'm probably just tired of looking at bare dirt and plywood. Although I have had more weird stuff happening every month on the 7th or 8th.....

Pulling Teeth

Lately that is what it feels like trying to get anything done around here! I actually did get some work done on the house this weekend and I will show that soon. It's not very exciting though but it is some progress. It occurred to me recently that I have not shown the inside of the house in quite a long time and some readers may not have seen much. Unfortunately, it has not changed a whole lot lately. I have sheet rocked the living room side of this partition wall. The other side is the kitchen. I need to continue the Durock wrap on around the upper sides and then this area (the Durock) will be tiled. I may also build a small hearth with a stone cap below the wall heater there. I plan to make at least part of the tiles myself for this wall. I'm thinking of tiling it in a commercial tile, either ceramic or stone, and then inlay a design of my own making of tiles I do, to create a mural or something along that line. Where the wall indents on each side, there will be built in bookshelves. I just had that small bookshelf already that I put there to hold a few of my books and art. And in case you have not been reading long, that plywood wall is not finish; it will get a better surface than that. One day....
On a completely unrelated topic but one that still is related to the title, Pablo asked the other day if we ever get to do anything like the little time capsule on any of our jobs now. You may remember a long time ago when I worked on that mansion restoration, our crew put a small capsule of items into a cavity in a chimney on the house for whomever to find one day. That was Pablo's idea by the way! Anyway, do we ever get to do anything like that on new jobs? Well, no, it's hard to find a good place on new construction. Something about commercial work just doesn't make for good opportunities. We do have a few old traditions that we still hold to though and his question, for some reason, reminded me of this story. The superintendent that I worked for at the railroad always insists that we throw money (small change) into the first footings that we pour. And yes, he'll throw his own; he doesn't make us throw ours! It's best if it's the very first pour you make on the job but can be any one of the first big pours. He says that is an old tradition observed so that you assure your job makes money. In other words, you don't run over schedule etc. so that you lose money. He is one of the most esteemed supers we have so maybe he has something.
Anyway, back to the story... We have this older carpenter that works for us that is just one of those people you have to meet to believe. We call him Hippie (years ago he had real long hair) and he is about as backwoods redneck as you can get. Hippie is so redneck, his false teeth are missing teeth. He is an absolute sweetheart though and I love working with him although he pisses and moans all day long. So, one day they are making this big pour. I was not on this job but one of my regular partners was relating this to me. Now, as I have said before, on big pours you often don't have time to eat. Sometimes someone will bring a bag or box of food out and you take turns running over and grabbing a bite to eat in between trucks or whatever. Well, someone had brought chicken wings to share with everyone this day and Hip got a break and ran over and grabbed a wing. He was talking to my partner and eating this wing, when he took a big bite and as he tore some of the meat off, two of his teeth came flying out also and sailed over into the fresh, wet concrete! Hip just looked at Anthony and said, "well, I'm not going in after those." I was laughing my butt off when Anthony told me this and I asked Anthony, if throwing money in a footing makes the job go well, what you reckon throwing teeth into the footing does?! He just laughed and shook his head. "Your guess is as good as mine".

*Green Day

Round Here

The photo is of a plant that is known locally as mountain mint. It grows abundantly here. The colors in the photo are correct; the tops of the plant become almost snow white as the flowers on it bloom and age. When I first saw the large clumps of it growing on the roadsides, my first thoughts were that some truck had come by and accidentally strewn some type of powder out onto the plants. But they are just that way naturally. If the leaves are crushed it produces a very strong menthol smell. Traditionally the plant is not taken internally but used to make salves or compresses for sore muscles or sinus problems. I need to harvest quite a bit of it. I have transplanted several clumps of it into my little native flower garden by the drive. The bees and butterflies just go nuts over it.

Thanks to you all for your wonderful comments and encouragement on the last post. I'm glad some of spoke up on what type of posts you like. I have always written about what I wanted too, and will continue to, but I had considered not posting about work anymore as no one seemed interested. I know commercial construction work is not every one's bag. But knowing now that some of you do like the posts, I will still occasionally show some things. I also know you can't please everyone all the time and some people are not interested in some posts but I think that is why it's good to mix it up a little and have posts about a variety of things. Plus, I just like to talk about different stuff and see what other people's ideas are on those subjects. Again, if you don't like to comment or whatever, please don't feel like you need to. As long as I can see that people do keep coming back then I know someone is, at least somewhat interested.

I am still looking for a tractor and will have the tractor naming contest. I have heard that sometimes in the late summer some of the dealers come down on their prices somewhat because the height of the season is over. Can anyone verify this for me? Have you seen such a thing? It makes sense that they would. Plus, I need to pay off one particular bill before I make this leap, so I am holding out just a little longer.

I am working on siding this weekend (YEA!!) and hope to get a fair amount up. I'll have some pics of that. I know that's kind of boring but hey!, there's nothing else going on! It's too damn hot to do much. I hope to start some of the creative projects in the house soon that I already have materials for and so will not call for more money. Such as the stained glass window for the bathroom etc. I think ya'll will like that.

Well, back to work. I'll try to post during the week some if I don't spontaneously combust from the heat at work!

*Counting Crows

Problem Child

Update! It's not Blogger, it's Explorer having trouble with some Blogger sites. I don't think it's just me because Allen can't access the same sites. I switched over to Mozilla and am not having any trouble. I know some of you use Mozilla; I assume you like it better than Explorer? I may just switch over. Anyway, I'll try to reply to comments soon. Thank you all for talking!



Hey Everybody, apparently there is some problem with Blogger right now and I cannot access my own blog to see the comments. I know they are there and can post this but can't pull up any pages on my site to respond to comments. Hopefully, this will be worked out soon. Blogger says they are working on it.

Come Talk To Me

Hey! It's the weekend for me, thank God! This has been a rough week and I'm glad it's over. The heat is still going strong here and the 10 hour days are a little hard to handle. Last week 2 of our younger boys were throwing up and another missed some time. The heat does funny things to your body but you can acclimate somewhat. We have lots of safety talks etc. and get to take breaks and so on but also, having to wear so much safety equipment (hardhats etc) really adds to the burden. Well, enough of that. I really an determined to get some more siding up this weekend and do actual work on the house! I'm still in a crisis over how to paint the eaves but have lots of other stuff to do. It's raining here tonight which is very good as I believe it is supposed to be dry the rest of the weekend. Hopefully I'll have some good photos of the house to post. I know I have not posted about the house in some time and I apologize, but I have just not done anything lately due to several things. I must get back to work though.

Since I have not been posting on the house I have written about some other, completely unrelated things and have really wondered about how appropriate that is and such. I have also noticed recently on several other blogs that others have had a lot to say on the subject of posts and comments or lack of comments etc. Yeah, Ron, you're one of them! Sorry I missed all of that! I have often wondered how OK it is to write about "other" stuff. Obviously, I started the blog to show the construction of my house and that is still the main thing but as in any chronicle of events, it's not always consistent and there are lulls in the action. To fill in or not? I think if it is an accurate depiction of what it is like to build your own house then you should show the down times, I mean the times when weather or lack of funds, work or whatever keeps you from doing much work. That's part of life. So, do you write about personal things? Well, some do and some don't. Some get tons of comments when they do and some get few or none, like me. Why is that? I have noticed that male bloggers tend to get many more comments than females unless the females are writing about how sorry their ex-husband is or their boobs or they curse worse than a drunken sailor. Maybe I'm just boring. I have some colorful tales but would be quite reticent to share many as most of the people involved are still alive and some people I work with read this blog! When I write about personal things it really is with the intention that I am willing to say, "hey, I've had some tough times but I got through them and you can too if you are having trouble." Whether anybody gets anything out of it or not I don't know but we often don't realize the effect, good or bad, we have on other people. Oh, and I've got several stories on that subject! When I read personal things written by other people I often don't comment because I'm not sure what to say (don't want to sound like an idiot, you know) but it always makes me think abut things and maybe consider something I had not thought of before, so I try to keep that in mind when I don't get many comments. I personally like to read about other people's experiences in life, even the sad ones, not because I'm glad that something bad happens to some one else, but because it lets me know I'm not alone. And I can experience some things, in a way, through other people that I will never know myself. The birth of a baby, a life long love, children growing up and going to college or far away places and so on.

As far as number of visitors and how many comment, I have gone through fits over that myself. I removed the statistics of Sitemeter from my blog because the numbers were and still are so paltry I was embarrassed. I finally concluded that I must be entertaining in some way to somebody, a source or information or good laugh, because I have a list of regulars even though most do not comment at all. But they keep coming back. Yes, I wish I got more comments. I do like to write just for the mental exercise but I like to hear other people's ideas. My life is so removed from what is "normal" that I just like to kinda check in and see if I've drifted completely off the screen yet, if you know what I mean. I realized the other day that I can literally go weeks without talking to another female, other than my Mom who I try to call regularly. I am around nothing but men, which brings up a WHOLE 'nother subject, which I will not go into now. So, to hear a woman's opinion on something, even if it is read off a computer screen, is unique to me. And I find it so funny that of the few comments I get, they are for the most part, by men.

I say I started this blog for friends and family that were interested in my house, and that was true, but I have discovered that my family couldn't be less interested so I mainly rely on the kindness of strangers and their encouragement with what I am trying to do. The friends I had in mind when I started the blog are also not interested so I was surprised to discover that several of the guys from work or associated with work are regular readers. But you never know, right? I have given up trying to guess what people will be interested in, comment on etc. Even with my pottery, pieces that I think just suck, someone will go nuts over and buy right off! When I am sure I've come up with a post that will get lots of comments, Bam! Nothing! Ha! Oh well, I guess it just boils down to the fact that you just have to do what you feel makes you happy and take any feedback, or lack of, in stride. I remember years ago, I worked at a local ice cream plant in the maintenance dept. as a welder. I was the only woman in that department. there were lots of women in the other, less paying departments but they never spoke to me much or anything and I felt weird about it. Anyway, I left that job because I got set up at my current position and was making more money. A couple of years later my construction company actually went to that plant and did an addition and I worked there for a short while. I was talking to my former boss one day and he told me that after I starting working in the maintenance department that the other women started applying for positions previously only held by men and getting the jobs! And doing well and making more money! I felt happy about that and it didn't matter to me then that I felt out of place. I didn't do anything great, I was just willing to go first. A lot of people don't consider an alternative unless they see someone else try something new. So, I don't mind going first, I've always been a little headstrong anyway!


*Peter Gabriel

Semi-Charmed Life

Hey! I'm back and somewhat revived and refreshed! It was an intersting and enlightening sojourn into a world that I have only seen occasionally. See, the deal was, Allen went to the Southeastern Homebuilder's Meeting in SanDestin, FL. It was held at the Hilton Resort there, a very expensive, exclusive place. As president of this county's homebuilder's group, he gets reimbursed for the trip and I got to go along for just a little extra. Very nice rooms with plush beds, spa services, and for the occasion, lots of free food and free booze. Lots. Alabama Power took us to dinner one night at a very nice seafood place so I stuck it to them for all I was worth. Give me the most expensive water heater to maintain will you?!! Ha! I cost them at least 2 months of water heating with that one! Oysters Rockefeller, calamari, whiskey.... actually, the appetizers were the AL Power lady's idea but they were so good. Yeah, that's me in a bikini but this is as close as it gets! It took me 2 days to get the nerve to take my shorts off.

The beaches are so beautiful in this area and the water was very clear. However, the jellyfish must have thought it was a nice place too because they were everywhere and yes, I got stung twice. And no, vinegar does not help much. While staying at this place, I found myself amused at the apparent common idea of luxury. Yeah, the rooms were nice, staff very friendly but when I went down to the beach in front of the hotel I was taken aback a little. It was very crowded, you had to rent their umbrellas and chairs and at $50/day for one of each I decided to pass. The water was fairly clear but not great and there was trash here and there. And noisy. People pay lots of money for this? Lots. And some kid pooped in one of the pools one day so that was shut down. Sorry, I just don't get it.

So, we decided to find a state park nearby and just so happens the TopSail Preserve was only 3 miles away. It is rated as one of the top two beaches on this side of Florida, I believe. I think Grayton Beach is top. Anyway, we packed a picnic lunch, lots of drinks and for $2 enjoyed one of the finest beaches I have ever seen. The photos really don't do it justice. The water was much clearer than at the Hilton and there were very few people there! The jellies had calmed down on this day so you could swim without much fear. We would just do an occasional "jelly check". Stand up in the water and look to the west(?). They only drifted from this direction and you could see them coming easily. Our few neighbors would point to any they spotted also and to the sharks. Yeah, we saw several small sharks. Once, we went out to a sand bar and was wading around in the knee deep water looking for shells or whatever. We looked around and there was one shark swimming between us and the shore. But he passed on by so we swam back until we were closer to the beach. We were not out very far anyway.

So, it was a nice trip and I didn't get bad suburned like somebody I know that ought to know better! Ha!! Wink, wink! We came back Saturday night so I had Sunday to flit around the house and clean and mow and water. I just wish I was able to take such trips a little more often. Maybe later I can. But they can keep their Hilton, I'll take the state parks.

Oh! You know how I like to see such symbolism in everything and so on, guess what washed up literally, at our feet one day on the beach! A doublehead nail! For those that don't know, a doublehead is a type nail that we form carpenters use daily. On a good day we can drive 3 or 4 pounds of these nails apiece. Ha! Ha! I just thought it was funny. But dang, I did kind of take it as a sign that they are just over building that area.
*Third Eye Blind

Down By The Seaside

Well,OK then, I'm gone to Florida for a while on a short holiday. Part of me just wants to stay home and putter around but I need to get out and do something different. Seeing the ocean and getting in the water always helps what ails you. I read once that salt water will cure anything, whether it is in the form of the sea, tears or sweat. Maybe that's true; I've tried the other two so let's see how this goes. Hope everyone out there has a great weekend. The flower is a morning glory raised from the seeds the O'Melay's sent. By the way karl, the tomatoes are wonderful too. Very tasty and I'm saving seeds.

Roadhouse Blues

I showed ya'll a photo of myself all dressed up but this is what I look like most of the time. I was a little dirtier than usual because we got to play rodbuster all day at work and that is a very grimy job. The rebar is covered with some kind of black gunk that gets all over you. I was trying to show how dirty my arms were but I don't think it shows much. No wonder I'm single! No man in his right mind would get near that. This was taken Thursday, the last day of a very hard week. Ten hours a day in the heat is very hard and I had a small spat with one of the foremen at the end of the day also so that just completed one tiring week. I try to always be cheerful and get along with everyone at work but he just pushed my buttons and we were all dog tired too, so I kinda had a small "come apart" as one of my buddies would say. I have been eagerly accepted by most all the men that I work with and they treat me great but this one has never liked me being there and takes every opportunity to criticize me. He will never give me credit for anything. So, yesterday he accuses me of always getting the easy work and avoiding the hard stuff. Anybody that has ever worked with me knows that I will do the crap jobs willingly and always try to pull my own weight. In fact, I was going to leave a gravy job for him and his crew and move over to the next panel to start one of the harder processes. So when he starts running his mouth he pissed me off. I was very proud that I did not cuss him but I did tell him, (kinda loudly, oops) and in no uncertain terms what I thought about his attitude and his role as foreman. All the other men got real quite. I guess I shouldn't have gotten so mad. Oh yeah, we now have to wear those stupid, neon yellow shirts because somebody thought that would keep us from getting ran over on the job sites. As a matter of fact, I spoke to my Mom this past week and she was telling me about a young man getting crushed by piece of heavy equipment just the other day on a job in her area. She always tells me about anything like this she sees. I just try not to say too much about the jobs I work on. She would freak if she saw some of the stuff we do.
The title of this post just refers to my frustration at having gotten so little done on my house these past 2 months. I have not been able to get anywhere as far as building goes. This place just seems like a stop in the road where I come to bath and sleep for a little while. I don't even eat here much. Anyway, I was really looking forward to my new 3-day weekends; get a lot done, ya know. Then Wednesday I get this call. I did the restoration on the structure you see in the photo above about 5 years ago. The committee that oversees it calls me in a panic; it has been damaged by lightning; huge chunks blown out of it and they've got people wanting to get married up here in less than 2 months. Can I please come look at it and give them an estimate on repair? So, there goes my 3-day weekends for the next while.
I've got lots of stuff coming in from the garden now and would like to preserve some of it and need to beat back the weeds and brambles too. Last weekend I helped Allen mow around Fred's place etc. and had to tend to my land and garden some, so that cut house time short. Maybe I should just relax some on the house until the end of August. That's not good though because then I have no house news to blog about and I know ya'll get tired of my work posts. I do have some bizarre events that I have been wanting to write about, perhaps I could fill in with some of that. I'm all confounded about exterior stain colors too. Thanks for all the suggestions by the way. They were all appreciated and have given me some ideas.
So, as I sit here and write I have been listening to the Doors. If they can't get you in a cool groove nobody can and Roadhouse Blues has always been a favorite.

*The Doors

One Way Or Another

Well, I don't know... I don't think I like it. What do you think? I thought maybe the rafter tails and soffit etc. should all be the sage green. But the rafter tails are such a nice shape that I kind of like them to stand out a little. Looking at it today I thought maybe it's not bad. Hmmm. I hate trying to decide something like this. I'm not making a lot of progress still on the house. I have moved back to the Birmingham job that I was on and they have gone to four 10 hours days so there is not time for much of anything when I get home. I will have 3 weekend days to work here at the house for a while though, so maybe I will pick up the pace some. The 10 hour days in the heat are quite exhausting and I just flop out when I come home. This is one of those times in my life that I think, "what the hell am I doing this kind of work for, am I nuts?"
I get up about 3:30 in the morning, have some coffee, and pack my lunch etc. i eat a little breakfast on the way to work. It is customary for us to get to work at least 20 minutes early. Some bosses consider you late if you are not there 10-15 minutes before start time. You are supposed to have your hands on your tools at 6:00 a.m. We work non-stop until 9:00, when we get a 15 minute break. Then work on until 12:00. 30 minute lunch. We also get a short break at 3:00 since we are on 10's and then get tools up about 10 minutes before time to go. We started pouring the tilt-up panels today. I'll show some of that because it is very cool. Well, I know ya'll probably think, "yeah, right"! By the time I get home it is time to eat a little, shower and go to bed. I guess it's a good thing right now that I don't have a spouse or family. They would not see me much. I try to at least walk through my garden for a few minutes at sundown.
Well, gotta go to bed.

*Blondie

With A Little Help From My Friends

I hate to use such an old photo from another job but I was not able to get any new ones during my short tour of duty at the The Hole. That is what we pretty much called the place due to the fact that the footings and foundations were so big that they basically dug a hole about 30 feet deep and just started forming and pouring at the bottom, working their way up. Of course, on sites now all holes over 5 feet deep must be stepped or sloped to certain degrees so it was not just straight down, therefore, you basically end up with something that looks like a crater. Taking photos on jobs is becoming a challenge now also. The days of just showing up on a site with your tools and going to work are about over. Often times, a whole day of prep work is required in order to be able to work a certain site; orientations, drug test, safety training and background/security checks are the name of the game. I have such a collection of ID badges now I have to double check when I go to a new job and make sure the correct one is attached to my hardhat. Security cameras watch us constantly while we work and any picture taking by us lowly field personnel is highly frowned upon. Not by the company I work for necessarily but by the people we build for. God forbid, some rival company see what their footings look like.

It was a very interesting project though and I almost wish I could have stayed to see what we were forming finally be poured. It will probably take them another week or so to finish the formwork. I'm used to your kind of standard 8" thick walls and stick forming everything. This work was so large they used prefabbed steel forms that had to be set with a crane. The walls are 2' thick and 18' tall. I did get to build a block out though and do some other formwork. A block out is a form that you set inside the main form to "block out" an area where the concrete will not go. When the form is wrecked out you are left with a void of a certain size (hopefully) in which you place doors or windows etc. and so they are about the size of a standard door or window. Some are very small for sump pits etc. This block out was over 18' long, 7' tall and 4' thick and so had to be set in place with a crane. It was the neatest thing.

The photo above is also evidence of one of the nicest jobs I have worked on. We got spoiled on that one. What I mean is, no mud (the railroad likes gravel), shade at lunch time and long, straight walls. The Hole was a little different. It was dry when I went out there but this past week we got some rain. Now, we need it and so no one wanted to complain but it makes for rough conditions sometimes. I was working in one of the Smaller Holes, only 5' deep, forming pile caps 16'x7'x4' deep on Thursday when we noticed the dark clouds forming to the south and west. The occasional flash of light amongst the clouds made us hurry a little and keep one eye on the approaching storm. The only thing nice about a thunderstorm at work is gentle gusts of cool air that precede the rain and they felt like heaven on this day. We were all soaked to our knees from the heat and humidity and down in the holes, it was suffocating. The flashes of light were getting closer and the accompanying thunder claps were now clearly audible above all the rumblings of the machinery and generators. Suddenly, an enormous lightning bolt plummeted straight down with such force, it rattled the windows in the crane sitting scarcely 15 feet from me, it's boom fully extended skyward. After I regained my composure somewhat, I peeped out of my hole and realized we were all surrounded by nothing but lightning rods; the crane, the endless rows of vertical rebar all pointing to the sky. All the guys in the Smaller Holes or above ground were bailing out, running for the tool sheds as the smattering of rain started. One crew that had started to pour concrete continued on though. They were at least away from most of the steel, next to the main building. As we gathered in the tool sheds, the boss informed us that the storm would pass over shortly; the piers they had started on must be poured out so that a heavier downpour would not deposit layers of mud inside the forms and under the rebar. True to the boss's words, the storm passed over in a matter of minutes and we all went back to work, now slogging around in Smaller, Muddy Holes. There is nothing quite like Alabama red clay. It is almost like it has a life of it's own, clinging to everything it touches in a determined effort to draw anything living down to it's level. Many a man has had his boots stripped off his feet in the struggle to free himself from this slimy adversary. Scarcely an hour had passed however, when the next storm hit, this time with very little lightning but a lot of rain. As luck would have it, the concrete crew poured out right as the rain started and managed to get everything covered as well. Something about having been in this business for so long told us this one was going to last though, so shutting everything down and gathering our tools, we headed for the sheds again, hoping for an official rain out. You know that you've got a good crew when you can cram 15 guys in each shed, all soaked to the bone and covered in mud, trying to get tools put up and still laughing and cutting up with each other, proud that they got the job done despite the conditions. We did not let the fact that it was almost quitting time anyway deflate our good mood when the boss said we could all go home.

The next day was my last one as promised. My other boss had called the day before to confirm that I would be coming back to his job this Monday, so there were lots of 'good-bye for now' hugs and collective 'we love yous'. Don't tell anybody though 'cause it would ruin the guys reputations as big, tough construction workers for people to know what gooshy marshmallows they are! There's a lot of days though, when it's 100 degrees or 25 and we crawl up out of some mud hole, tired and sore, if it wasn't for each other, we'd say the hell with this...let somebody else build these things. I only hope I encourage and help the guys as much as they do me.

*The Beatles or Joe Cocker

Little Wing

I found this fellow on the fence around my garden the other day. I have no idea what species or anything so don't look to me for any kind of ID. I would call him furry moth because he really had hair or something on his back that looked just like rabbit's fur in it's coloration etc. I really wanted to pet him because he looked so soft but knew he wasn't going to like that so I left him alone.

Work on my house has just about come to a standstill lately due to the heat and humidity here. The brief afternoon coolness we were enjoying a week or two ago has vanished and been replaced by sweltering heat so heavy, it literally seems to weigh on your body like a damp, clammy blanket. Of course, work at the job goes on regardless and despite warnings from the weather stations to stay inside during the hottest part of the day but you can bet by the time I get home I don't feel like doing a whole lot outside. We are accumulating a large crew at this new job and several of the carpenters have been on inside jobs for some time. We are not given any chance to acclimate to a new job in situations like this so some of them are having a bit of a rough time this week. I will try to get some photos of the job just because the formwork is so big and I have actually never worked on one like this before. There are so many carpenters on this job that is amounting to a reunion of sorts for me. They are all a great bunch of guys and some that I have not worked with in years, so that part is fun and, of course, lots and lots of stories and catching up to do! Stay cool if you can!

*Jimi Hendrix

Keep On Growing

When work gets stressful or tiring I retreat to the garden. I don't think about too much when I'm there sometimes and then sometimes I do my best thinking there. This past week has been unusually and gloriously cooler in the late afternoons; almost fall like, so a wonderful time to go out and putter about amongst the flowers and such. I harvested my first batch of green beans and cooked them. I should have a batch of okra soon. I have lots of tomatoes but none ripe yet. I am experimenting with companion planting on a small scale. I read where it is good to plant catnip around eggplant, as it deters flea beetles, and I have a time with those little pests, so I tried that this year. It did not seem to be doing a lot of good but then the catnip really took off and the eggplant really looks much healthier now. I usually keep some catnip growing anyway for Grendal and for myself. It is a stimulant in cats but a sedative to humans and if you have a tension headache or just need good sleep, a hot cup of catnip tea works great. I add some passion flower to it also and will sleep so soundly.
The corn is doing well. This is Silver Queen. It is about as tall as I am now. I try to always plant my corn in blocks or spirals instead of long single or double rows because corn is pollinated by the wind instead of insects and if it is kinda clumped together it seems to do better.
Some of my tomato plants are almost my height also. I am very eager to harvest my first ripe tomatoes. I plant marigolds all through the garden also to deter different insects, plus they just look pretty and don't require much attention. I brought home a large roll of burlap from the railroad job and have been using that in the walkways of the garden. It works pretty good but it's better to put it down before the grass gets up much because it will not kill grass already there. I have been intending to cover it with pine straw to kill the grass and for looks but that is way down my list of to-dos. I wish I had brought a second roll of the burlap home now. We had tons of it left over from the job and tried to give it away instead of discarding it but could not find anyone who really wanted it. We use burlap to cure concrete so it is not unusual for me to be able to get lots of it.
This is a new plant for me this year. It is paprika! It is doing very well with all the plants having 3-4 good size peppers each. I am especially proud of these because I started these from seed; something that I am not too good at. You can pick these when they are yellow/orange and use like a pepper or wait until they turn red and then pick and dry them to grind up for the spice. That is my intention. I have not had to water much this year but don't think that is going to last. Our rainfall has slowed down considerably. I also add powdered kelp meal to my soil every year along with an organic fertilizer and compost. I till all of this in when I first turn up the garden in the spring. The kelp is supposed to help the soil retain water and improve the soil texture. I think it helps and it is not particularly expensive. I know a lot of you prefer to only use amendments that you can produce yourself and maybe one day I can have the time to work on that myself. When I get my chickens going (chooks, eh Molly!) I know I'll be using them to help fertilize!
This is one lone Moon and Stars watermelon that has volunteered in the garden. I did not plant any watermelon this year but this one was determined to come up anyway, so I let it have it's way. It's doing pretty good actually. And in case you are not familiar with this variety, the plant is not diseased with those spots on the leaves. The melons not only have little "moons and stars" but the foliage does also.
I have a 3 day weekend now so I am going to attempt to get a significant amount of stuff done on the house. We'll see. I guess I have been a little burnt out on the house lately because I've just been having to make myself work on it. I need a change of some kind; a bit of good mojo to float by. I'm not sure what is wrong with me. I've been out of sorts for some time, cranky and restless. That is why I have not posted a lot at times. I did not want my posts to reflect my mood. I feel like a butt for feeling this way because I really don't have any problems to speak of but I guess it happens to everybody sometimes. Anyway, I hope everyone has a happy and safe 4th!!

*Derek and the Dominos

This Woman's Work

I have actually done some more work on the siding but it is still moving at an excruciatingly slow pace. I have, at least, reached the eaves with the siding on the north wall only and have most of it painted. I am painting as I go so that I do not have to rebuild scaffolding. It is looking pretty good I think although me and the architect had another fuss the other day about colors. I must come up with a drawing of the entire house finished so that ya'll can see what I am working towards. The house looks very plain to me right now but it will be a rather interesting design when finished.
Other than this I have not gotten a lot done lately. Work has been very tiring to me this past 2 weeks. I know ya'll are tired of reading about me pissing and moaning about work and how hard blah, blah, blah. I've been trying to make an accurate record of this thing I am attempting to do so that if anyone comes across this blog who would like to build their own house, they might understand how much it involves. I know my circumstances are different, everybody's are, but it is still very tiring no matter what you do for a living, to work all day and then come home and try to work more. Last week was rough. We were forming and pouring about 100 feet of wall every other day. The walls are only a little over 2 feet tall but lots of extra steel in them and anchor bolts to set etc. It has just been me and 2 apprentice boys forming. I guess I have been declared one of the lead carpenters. Anyway, we were pouring one section and I got stuck with vibrator duty because the boys have no experience with that. No jokes here please. It is very rough work because those things (vibrators) are quite heavy. OK, again, no jokes, (snicker). It was pretty hot that day and so I got a little white-eyed, as we say. The chute man wasn't helping me any either as he kept piling the mud up too much and I was having to drag it too far. So, fortunately, we had to call for a clean up and I got a break. I had to go sit in the shade for a while and cool off. Normally you are never allowed to sit down on a job except at break and lunch. It doesn't matter what is or is not going on, you never sit down. But in this case nothing was said. The guys could tell I was in a little rough shape. They would come over and check on me and wanted to bring me Gatorade but the water was fine. Lupe' (our Hispanic carpenter) said to me later, "Annie, you feel bad? This first time I ever see you give it up!" I said, "Yeah, Lupe', I had to give it up for a while." "Is OK," he declared.
The next pour wasn't much better although I made the boys get on the vibrator. They've got to learn sometime. Anyway, this time the mud came too wet ( 8" slump) and the engineer shut us down. Our foreman had already poured about 12 feet of wall so we had to dig all that mud back out of the form and wait on a new batch. However, it wasn't a new batch. That same truck just went back to the plant, doctored his load and came back so when he got to us that mud was so hot it would hardly come down the chute. They are not supposed to do that, and would vehemently deny any such thing if confronted, and it did not occur to me what was happening because I was working so hard to try to get the stuff to lay down in the form. I did find it odd he got back to the job so fast. I begged the foreman to put a little water in it which he finally did but at that point it didn't matter much. We had to wait on another clean up and so I tried to strike it off again to make the finish look a little better but the mud was already set up. It was about 5:00 pm before we got off that day. So, I was very tired last week. But, the wall looked great when we wrecked it the next day! We were all suprised that it did not honeycomb.
This week I have been loaned out to another job to help them get caught up due to a couple of their guys taking off some. It is a very heavy duty industrial job, a car manufacturing plant. I hoped I would never have to go to this job but agreed to for 2 weeks. There were 2 fatalities (not our company) on the first phase of the plant but this is a much smaller operation. All the guys are super nice and so far it has not been so bad. I did add another scar to my collection when I snagged my forearm on a piece of rebar but it was not so bad. And of course, being with a new crew, I have been able to catch up on some new gossip! Men are far worse than women ever thought about when it comes to that.


*Kate Bush

Shadows and Light

This is not a very good photo of what I am trying to show you but it was the best I could come up with. This is one of 3 small, west-facing windows in my house. Now, you out there that know a little about passive solar design will note that most sources recommend NOT having any west facing windows because of the high solar gain in the summer. Try telling that to my architect. And I did have to agree with him on this. It would have just looked funny to not have any windows on that end of the house so I made a few concessions and the windows are helpful for heat gain in the winter since I am a little lean on south facing windows. They are much smaller than the other windows and I recently discovered an interesting product that I thought I would tell ya'll about. You can't really tell in the photo but I have applied a tinted film to these windows. It is basically just like the stuff they tint car windows with. This particular brand claims to reduce heat gain by 65% and UV rays by 95%. I did a little checking around and found out that Lowe's carries a similar product that they claim reduces heat gain by 70%. It is very easy to apply and in the winter you just peel it off the window, roll it back up in the paper backing and store until next summer. It's not terribly expensive either as one roll was $35 but you can use it over and over. You do have to cut it to fit your window but that was not too difficult. I can honestly say it has made the bedroom noticeably cooler. When you look through the window it kinda looks as though you are wearing sunglasses but it has a very clear and clean appearance. Yes, you could just install blinds on the windows but to me, why have windows if you are going to keep them covered always? I know in some areas you need to for privacy but I don't have those issues here. The deer will just have to get an eye full. Plus, my little orchid there can still get good sunlight and I like having such a beautiful flower by the bed. Get a little fung shui going if you know what I mean!

I have always said I do not have a clue as to what I am doing with this house and didn't know if what I am experiencing here is any better than a conventionally built house. I think that the house is more comfortable and easier on the budget but I am probably biased. I do have this evidence though; Allen was talking to a guy that said his power bill for his small house was running around $300/ month right now. Now, I don't know what kind of appliances this guy has or whatever but I do know his house is not much larger than mine and my power bill is averaging about $70/ month so I felt much better. I know some other people who are saying their power bills are $150-$300/ month. I know mine would be much lower if not for that #$#@!&! water heater. I do run, in different cycles, 2 small air-conditioning units, mainly to dehumidify the air. The units cycle on at the hottest part of the day and I rarely run them at night so the house stays about 76 degrees all the time. I have opened my clerestory windows for venting and actually slowed the ceiling fans down. This helps the hot air rise up to the clerestory and be vented out instead of getting stirred back down into the cooler air. Since cool air will not rise, the rooms stay very comfortable. It is to me anyway but I work out in the broiling sun all day, so any shade is cool to me. Some people say, well, why run air at all, you should be used to the heat. Well, constant heat drains your energy and you must find some coolness to be able to sleep well and renew yourself. We construction workers have learned to deal with this and our standard treatment for when we get overheated at work is to come home, take a cool but not cold shower, drink non-caffeinated beverages and go to bed even if it is still daylight. Sleep for a couple of hours, get up and have a light supper and go back to bed.

I have been able to rest some this weekend and have even gotten a little done on the house which I will show you soon. It's not very exciting though. This week was so draining I have not worked on the house lately or even in the garden. Next week does not look good either but I'll tell you about that later.


*Joni Mitchell

Quick Note

Hey Everybody! I have been trying to get some time to post but this week is just killing me. We have had to stay over at work some to finish pouring concrete and I am worn out! Barry, if you are able to check this away from home, I will be here over the weekend so come on by! I would love to have some visitors. May go to a friends on Sunday for a little while so if you could let me know kinda when you might drop by, that would be good. I'll try to post some over the weekend but I must recover some from this week. It's been one of the roughest I've known in a while.

Lavender's Blue

I had several things that I wanted to post about regarding the house but then discovered that I didn't have any photos to go along with the posts, so I had to just use a random pic I found. My lavender is doing well so far since being moved and has started blooming. I plan to harvest the blooms but am not sure exactly what I am going to do with them. I thought Karen might want some for her soap?? This variety is provence. I would like to collect some of the other, more rare varieties. This variety has a wonderful fragrance that keeps well after it is dried.
The tractor shopping continues. I have looked at used ones and new ones, Kubotas, Case, McCormick, Mahindra, Deere, FarmTec and Massey-Ferguson, I think. I am leaning heavily towards the Kubota. I could do SO much if I had one with a front bucket. Thanks for your info Woody; I appreciate that so much. You are right, they think a whole lot of those smaller ones. It confounds me that you can often get a bigger tractor for less money. The implements too. The hydrostatic drives are very nice too but I don't think I really care if it has a tilt steering wheel! It's amazing what you can get on a tractor nowadays. Getting into something where I have a monthly payment again is not a great thought to me though, even though I can afford it. I just wanted to be free of that but I need some help badly. It is just too much to try to do all of this and help Fred take care of his land also, doing it all by hand. Even though Allen is very healthy, he is getting older and just does not need to be pushing a mower up these hills. I don't either for that matter. I have a tremendous amount of stamina and strength for my size and usually continue to work on stuff when I get home from work but it gets to the point where you are having to constantly be working just to keep things maintained, not improved. I want to enjoy my house finished for a little while before I croak. Fred has done so much to help me, I must do a better job of helping him around his place and this machine would help Allen also. So, buying some mechanical help is the only solution I see. I can get maintenance issues done much faster and without wearing myself completely out and have time to make progress on the house and gardens.
I'll try to post again this weekend of some new stuff going on around here with new photos. Those of you getting too much rain out there are welcome to send some of it our way. I fear we are entering another dry spell.

*traditional

They're Red Hot

This is maroon coreopsis, coreopsis tinctoria. I have had a number of these flowers come up in my little wildflower meadow this year and just love them. The old standard yellow coreopsis grows abundantly wild here and there were some in the seed mixture I bought also. Interestingly, these red ones bloom much later than the yellow. It took these 2 years to come up and I hope that they reseed well for next year.
My quest for a tractor continues. I have informed the guys at work of what I am looking for so today several of them brought me newspapers etc. with tractors they had found, new and used. They are very good to help me out and advise me on stuff that I don't know anything about. Of course, a lot of them farm or just know about equipment. So, I am going to stop at a dealership tomorrow after work and may go look again this weekend. I need to do something soon though, the place is getting out of hand as far as maintenance.
I thought of a great idea also! Or I think it would be fun anyway. I have seen where some other bloggers have giveaways for different things so I decided to have a "name that tractor" contest. We have to wait until I actually buy a tractor so we know what brand. That might be important. Anyway, you submit your choice of name and the guys at work will help me pick one winner so that I don't play favorites. If you win, you get one of my hand made coffee mugs! How's that?

*Robert Johnson

School's Out

I recently attended my brother's college graduation when he received his master's degree. He is 4 years older than me and it has taken him a while to get his education but he finally made it and we were all very proud. He put his wife through 2 degrees before pursuing his own and working at the same time. That is our mother standing beside Mark and the little short stuff there is one of his 2 daughters. He lives about 2 hours away and my sister is an hour off so I do not get to see them very much. They both have 2 kids and busy families so they don't have time to come here and it's hard to catch them at home even. Sometimes I think that we all just get too busy these days.
I sort of wanted to post this photo to show that I can clean up and do not always wear a ball cap or hard hat! If I ever see any of the guys from work, away from the job, where I am cleaned up it usually takes them a few minutes to recognize me. I always thought they were kind of putting on about that but one day, when I was still at the railroad job, I stopped by work after a doctor's appointment. I was dressed about like you see me in this photo but still wearing jeans. Anyway, I just walked in the office trailer and went over to the assistant superintendent who was sitting at the desk. I noticed that he looked kinda funny at me and did not smile. Kinda like, " who are you and what makes you think you can come on this job site?" I then spoke to him and made some joke and a look of recognition came over his face and he started laughing. He then admitted to not realizing who I was at first, until I spoke. Now, during all this, one of the Norfolk Southern bigwigs was in the office, meeting with their on site rep and had been casually observing this. He always seemed like a nice guy but never spoke to any of us field personnel, which is not unusual. Anyway, I said, "Oh, come on, I don't look that different than I do when I'm dressed for work!" and this guy walks over quietly, leans towards me and simply says, "oh yes, you do" and walks off. I wasn't sure what to think. I mean, I don't try to look rough for work but I guess it just happens.
It was raining when I got up this morning so I spent a good part of the day doing some research and shopping around. I have decided that with 17 acres and Fred's place to maintain also I need some mechanical help. I am going to have to buy a tractor. I can get a 48 or 60" mower attachment for the 3 point hitch and several other tools for it such as an auger and front bucket. I have been looking at the smaller Kubota tractors. They are a considerable investment, one of the smaller ones was more than I paid for my truck! I bought my truck brand new and it's not a stripped down model either. I had a little bit of sticker shock but that faded somewhat when I drove the tractor. Hehe, I have to admit, I like nice machinery. Keep your old pearls and sparkly things boys, give me a backhoe! I don't intend to clear that much of my own land but there is a lot of maintenance to do regardless. One thing is that I must keep the area underneath the power lines clear or the power company will come in and spray that horrible poison on everything to kill the vegetation and I will be very upset if this happens. Some of my lines will later be run underground but there is quite a bit that crosses Fred's land before it gets to me. Anyway, I am looking at some used tractors also and different options. Something tells me that what type of tractor to buy is not a decision that normal women have to make but I guess I should be used to that feeling by now. I don't really have a desire to be "normal" but I guess I would just like to sometimes not feel so different. I don't understand why things are the way they are.


*Alice Cooper

In The Garden

Edit! After reading some comments I guess I did not make something clear in this post. I do not use synthetic pesticides or herbicides or fertilizers of any sort. I only use organic, natural pesticides and then, only when I have a bug problem. Generally I prefer Pyola, which is an organic product containing mostly canola oil and pyrethrins. It does not persist in the soil and does not harm beneficial insects such as bees etc. It is the only organic product I have found that is effective against Japanese beetles also which are a major problem here. Also, if you look closely in the shot of the tomato plants you will see marigolds planted in amongst the vegetables. I like marigolds but I use these as a pest deterrent also. You can tell I don't spray my weeds because of the humongous jungle over to the right!

My garden is doing pretty well despite my neglect of it. I have tried to weed and spray after I come home from work but that doesn't always give me a lot of time. There is grocery shopping and supper to fix etc. Plus, some days I am just too tired. The heat is fairly difficult right now and there is talk of our crew going on 4/10's to save driving into town one day a week. We are all spending quite a bit on gas right now. In a way, that would be nice to have a three day weekend but we have also considered the possibility of not being able to make 10 hours in this heat. We are in some of the hardest part of construction work; the foundations and 8 hours is pushing it sometimes.
I'm not sure what you can make out in the pics but I have planted okra (half from karl) , corn (silver queen), purple hull peas, blue lake green beans, several varieties of tomatoes, eggplant, just a couple of squash plants and cantaloupe. Oh, and 3 types of peppers.
Hey karl, these are my wonderful Pantero Romanesca (sp?) tomatoes you sent! I have several of the Cherokee Purples too. They are all doing wonderfully and I am sooo happy with them. These are waist high and starting to get little green tomatoes! I also found an old heirloom tomato from Russia (Black Prince) at our local co-op. I was quite surprised they would have such a thing but bought 2 and they seem to be doing well. Has anyone out there ever raised any of these before?
My 2 fig trees finally seem to be flourishing. They have just sat in the ground and tried to die the past two years but look much better now. I think hoping for actual figs may be asking for too much though. I don't know, they may have 2 or 3 this year.

I have done some work on the house and will try to show that maybe this weekend. I am now able to move my scaffolding up to the next level for the siding and should be able to top out the north wall soon. I hope none of you are experiencing really bad weather where you are. Seems like there is all kinds of stuff going on everywhere. We had a fairly strong thunderstorm here yesterday but I was glad for the rain.

Oh, the grasshoppers are horrible here right now! There are just hordes of them. They don't seem to be eating much of my stuff but they probably will start. I have read that ducks make good grasshopper control. Do any of you notice that ducks or chickens help with this? I know chickens will eat them but didn't know if they are actually that aggressive in their pursuit of hoppers. I thought I might get some Muscovies as I read they are especially fond of grasshoppers.

*Van Morrison

Eight Miles High

The recent crane collapse in New York has caused some talk on the job lately. Unfortunately, cranes falling are not that uncommon even here, away from the real high rises. I mean, it doesn't happen all the time but I know of several incidences in my short career. These photos are from my one time in a tower crane several years back. We were building onto a hospital in Anniston, AL. This crane was only at about 200 feet but to me it was pretty high. They sway so much that I actually felt motion sick as I reached the top. Another thing that is about as common is to have the crane operator die in the crane of natural causes. I guess since most operators are usually older men and the cabs of the cranes get very hot, several of them have had heart attacks. By the time anyone knows what is going on and can get to them (it takes about 15-20 minutes to climb to the cab) they are already dead. One we know of died during a concrete pour. A lot of the high rise floors here are poured with a crane and buckets that holds 2-3 yards of concrete. The operator had enough wits about him when he realized what was happening to hit the emergency stop on the crane but he unfortunately, passed away.
I took this photo while I was sitting in the operator's seat. The floor of the cab is Plexiglas so you can see straight down. I gave me a really uneasy feeling at first. Another thing the surprises a lot of the guys is when they find out that often times in the summer, the tower crane operators will be nude. It gets so hot in the cabs, as they are essentially glass boxes, many of the operators will take all their clothes off. This was the case with another one that died in the crane and when our guys got up there to him they were quite surprised with what they found.
There was another young man killed on a site this week not far from here. In fact, it was on a job that my company was supposed to have gotten as general contractor. Two construction workers in less than a year is a little unusual. From the reports it sounded like he was electrocuted. You know, when I see some of you out there working on construction projects of your own and I say, please be careful etc., I don't think that you all are stupid or don't know what you are doing, it's just that we see so many bad things, it makes you constantly aware of what can happen. We have safety crammed down our throats and stuff still happens every day on jobs and it happens in the blink of an eye. I mean, I know of 2 incidences where I was just 3 or 4 inches from buying the farm myself. You maybe don't really find out how close you came until later and it is very sobering. So, please be careful anytime you are climbing on something, working with electrical or gas or working under an object that is not completely secure.
I haven't felt like posting much lately even though I have several things going on at the house. My mood is still kinda flat and I just don't feel like I have much to say that would be of any interest to anyone out there. I learn so much from all the other blogs out there and hope I provide some new ideas maybe, to someone, but I guess I feel like I don't have anything new to share. Anyway, maybe I won't be away too long. Ya'll be safe.


*The Byrds

It Don't Come Easy

Hey guys, I'll try to post some stuff soon; I've been working on several things around the house. This has been the first week down here that the temps have been in the 90's and so work has been a little rough. It takes about a week or so to really acclimate to the heat when you are working outside for so many hours. We have been having to work on top of steel decking or black plastic too, in the sun, while tying rebar so that has made it especially tough. Plus, I've been in a little bit of a blue funk but it will pass.
Barry, sorry I missed you Saturday! I had forgotten to mention that I had to go to Tennessee to attend my brother's graduation. I only missed you by about 20 minutes though. Agh! Please try again around the 4th. I know I'll be here then.


*Ringo Starr. Also, a favorite song.