Waspers!

 We use short sections of rebar to tie up plants in the garden, and we use aluminum cans, plastic bottles and plastic cups on top to keep from poking out an eye. Red wasps like to build whenever we provide cover, so we have to think about that when working in the garden.

 

Back To The Old Grind!

Weekend Steam II: A Couple Of Fricks, One Steam And One Gasoline

 Thank You, Merle! The steam engine is done at about 50 seconds, and then pull the slider over to 4:45 for the gas tractor.

Weekend Steam: V-2 Marine Engine

 Al Berry's V-2 marine engine. This is a really neat little engine. It's reversible and has a feedwater pump! Nice pick, Merle!  Thank You!

Ruger Mk IV, Thrill, Disappointment, And A Fix

I won this Mk IV Target model in a drawing and picked it up at a local gun store last week. I tried it out with ammo that has been running in my other Rugers and it stovepipe jammed every third round. I gave it a good brush out and cleaning with no improvement, so I took a close look in the chamber. There was some obvious metal buildup at the top of the chamber. I used a tight, oily patch with some valve grinding compound to smooth it, and tried it again. In three magazines I had only two stovepipes. I just polished it some more, and took it out again. After the second polishing with valve grinding compound, that spot is smooth, and I just ran three magazines of CCI Mini Mags with no malfunctions. The trigger pull from the factory is 3 3/4 lb, and the takedown is much easier than my Mk IIIs.

 

Carnage In The Tomato Patch!

We have critters! We have seen a rabbit in the garden, but some little Baggins is eating tomatoes more than a foot off the ground, so we think the culprit is a squirrel. We have a lot of 'maters coming on, so we are OK, but we hope the rest of the family doesn't show up.

 In other garden news, our Rattlesnake beans are done for. They have what appears to be a mosaic virus, and they all died over a few days, in spite of rain and watering.  Aphids, leafhoppers, and stinkbugs all have piercing/sucking mouthparts, so it could be any or all of those pests. 

Environmental Heroism

 If we're not certifiably green, we are at least certifiable. We were working down in the basement today and Susan asked for a longer pull chain on one of the lights, because she couldn't reach it. I had just changed the flapper valve on the basement toilet, so I fished the old flapper out of the trash, removed the plastic chain and metal hook, and put that back to use as a pull chain. Reduce, Recycle, Reuse. 

Tuesday Torque: 18 HP Olds Hit And Miss...

 ...from 1904! It looks like an easy starter, but I think it took some work to become that familiar. Thank You for the link, Merle!

Busy, Hot Weekend

It was hot, and the garden was really drying up. The beans were hurting, and we watered peppers, cucumbers, okra, beans, eggplants, and tomatoes. We picked a bunch of tomatoes, and Susan canned 15 quarts of juice. We also dug another row of potatoes, and there is one more row to go, then we will plant turnips. We had a couple of nice cells go over us between 1 and 2 this morning and got an inch of rain.  Back To The Old Grind!

 

Weekend Steam: Schiller Steamboat, Lucerne, Switzerland

 A beautiful engine, and a beautiful boat. Thank You, Merle!

Mama Deer

 We've let our yard go this summer, what with fuel prices and Susan's surgeries. We have up close wildlife shows every day because of that. A couple days ago, two hen turkeys and their poults cleaned all the berries next to the garden, so we learned something. I think this doe is the same one who raise twins last year, only this time she is right up by the house.