The Shop that OSB Built - at least on the inside.

Last weekend I finished covering everything in the shop in OSB.

My pile of 100 sheets is now history. It does have a woodsee feel to it and the stereo (I should call it the sound system, but everything is from the 70's so its a stereo) sounds great, even to those of us who are hard of hearing.

The ten panels in the middle of the ceiling are lift out to allow access for storage.

The centrally located throne chair is for sitting and bouncing the ball off of the door for the dog or dogs as need be.

Sometime in the future it will be properly christened, but for now it is off to the next project, which will use the glue-ups on the bench and sawhorses.

Sometimes project demands that you have some skin in the game.

Sometimes projects seem to demand that an item very personal be donated to facilitate its completion.

This donation seems to lessen the wiser you are in undertaking the task.

During the last couple of weeks I have had the opportunity to learn a great deal about the thickness planner during the RV spice rack, and now the office work surface undertakings.

Although most of the learning was via hard knocks U, I still reverted to the owners manual when the "donations" started to get colorful (red).

Its amazing what you can find in the owners manual. It leads you to believe that the builders actually know something about which they sell.

I have been using the planner since the summer of 2006. Since that time a lot of wood has gone through it for the house, and now the various putterings, as Marlys would say. Having need to use it right away there never seemed to be time to really get acquainted with it (read the owners manual).

A while ago I sent a prototype sled carrier for thin pieces through that didn't work, but did manage to put a nick it the knives. That didn't stop me from using it though, I just needed to sand the ridge on the right side of every piece a little more.

Also the wood didn't feed consistently, causing moi to push and pull the boards most of the time.

So lets go through what I found out:

• First, if you clean and wax the planner surface the material feeds real nice. I already do this with the table saw and jointer, but brain farted on the planner.
• Second, read about the gadgets on the planner, if you want to use them effortlessly, in this case the thickness stop gauge for repetitive planning of boards to a set thickness. Never really used this since the number on the gauge never matched the actual thickness. Low and behold, when I looked at the instruction picture in the manual it showed that my had been put on upside down. I should of known, since to read it I had to be on the outfeed side of the planner. Took it off, turned it around and WOW, not only could I read it, but it also worked.
• Lastly, and the most costly, read about how to change the knives before attempting it. In this case I didn't. This planner is equipped with reversible knives, so I thought I could just open it up and turn them around. Heck, the Allen wrench needed to do it was in a holder on the planner.

So off I go removing the top and the knife guards, and yes I did unplug it first. Out came the Allen screws for the first of three knives. My first indication that maybe I was not getting the most out of the engineering put into the machine was the amount of time it took me to lift the knife and backer plate out of the holder. For a machine that seemed to be so well thought out it was less then elegant in how I needed to execute the maneuver.

Now things started to get ugly. After reversing and re-installing the knife, the holder needed to be rotated to get at the next one. Of course, I tried to do it by hand. It wouldn't turn. Next I got a piece of scrap and tried to push it, resulting in the donation of skin from three knuckles when it slipped.
My knuckles bleed like a head wound with blood dripping everywhere. Even the bandaids I put on were soon overwhelmed. So I went to the masking tape secured by mechanic gloves (apply pressure to the wound) solution, along with holding my hand over my head.

Since I couldn't continue until the dripping stopped, I though "what the hell" and took out the owners manual to see what it said about changing the blades.

Damn, I should have read it first, it only to validate the places I could screw it up.

First, the Allen wrench has two magnets in the handle to grab and lift the knife and plate from the holder.

Second the knife holder has a brake that engages when the cover is pulled so that the holder doesn't rotate while changing the knife. To go to the next knife the brake tab is depressed and it turns real easy, locking in place fore the next knife.

Damn I am ignorant sometimes.

After "doing it by the book" and reading the instruction "completely"(not just the part on how to turn it on), this machine is more of a pleasure to use then before.

Which is good because next into it went 95' of 5" wide Cedar boards to be reduced from 1 5/8" to 1 1/4" thick to build the home office work surfaces.

For those of you that helped with the sawing of these boards on the mill last summer, you would probably not believe they are from the same 6x6 posts that had been sitting outside beside the shop for three years, but it is amazing how they look now. I had to fill a few knots, but that was not a big deal.

I worked up a bit of a glow doing this last week which was OK, since it has been a little cool and windy of late in the high country. In fact having gotten sick of the breeze coming in around the sliding barn doors (ala New Yankee Workshop), I finally sat down late one afternoon and over an elixir of enlightenment (beer) figured out how to seal them up.

Luckily, there was still OSB available and I had the gasket material. It took me a whole day, but now the doors are insulated, have an OSB inner liner with a soft rubber seal at the edges that closes any gaps when the doors are drawn in by the wall latches.

This is good because the HVAC system (on the right) was being taxed, to its limit. I was even thinking of adding a second window fan. That is the refrig (portable Coleman electric cooler) on the left.

BTW, I got a sharpener for Christmas so now I can get the chisels and planes blades wickedly sharp...does anyone know of a good Kevlar glove?

One project down another almost given up on.

As you can see from this first picture this was a good weekend to be indoors, if it was not snowing there was a strong wind with which to contend.

This weekend saw the end of the bedroom tables project and the beginning of another... the spice rack for the camper.


All in all the tables turned our well. All of the wood came from tree cut here in 2005 (beetle kill).





The attempt to match the two pieces for each top turned out OK, but would have been better if a single piece had been resawed.





Marlys did the finishing over the weekend and it has 3 layers; the first was GF Original Seal-a-Cell, followed by 2 coats of GF Arm-R-Seal Urethane Topcoat. She steel wooled between all coats. 2 coats of lacquer were also added to the tops only.

While Marlys was doing the finishing, I got started on the spice rack to replace the one in the truck camper. The new one should allow for more spice and incorporate a paper towel holder.

Golden Oak is used through out the camper and in looking through the wood in the shop there was only Oak cabinet grade plywood. This was not going to work.

In digging around a bunch of cherry draw fronts removed from the bathroom cabinets during the build were collecting dust in the rafters (trusses really). These would become the next victims of the wood butcher.

It took be a while to re-mill the drawer fronts into 1/2" cherry stock, then I made wrong cut - repair, wrong cut-repair, until I stopped inflicting damage to the boards and built some OSB shelves for finishing stuff. I will start up on the spice rack again this weekend.

Hopefully the wood will be fully healed by then.

The Start of the Winter Furniture Season

It was cold and snowing most of the weekend, finally starting to clear after sunset (4PM) on Sunday.

Some of you may notice something is missing in this photo. I re-touched it to remove the platform bird feeder.

For those keeping score, the Stellar's went through 50#'s of feed between Saturday and Sunday. I believe that Bart (Family Feeds @ the Royal Gorge) has trained the flock to fly around and decimate bird feeders, so that they need to be reprovisioned... often...from Family Feeds.

Although I did have the John Koskinen Memorial (6 years) Sauna Bake Off on Sunday, which included a number of walks outside to cool down, most of the time was spent in the shop. I tried to snap a shot standing in the cold and steaming, but it was deemed unsuitable for viewing...by anyone.

Last weekend the legs and top pieces were cut for the bed side tables. This weekend the tables were actually built.

They are built entirely from beetle kill Ponderosa, harvested here at Pinon Rock, and milled on the band saw mill.

Since, Bill (the consultant) picked the "best" pieces to take back to Minnesota last summer, I have been forced to use the seconds.

Actually, I hide the best pieces so he wouldn't find and abscond with them.

The tops of the table have tapered edges to complement the tapered legs.

The drawers have the sides dovetailed in to the fronts and backs, and the pulls (not shown) are deer antler.

Although the "Molesworth" sideboard had drawers, these were a step up on the complexity scale, but they turned out good.

I used 3/4" cabinet grade ply for the sides and back of the drawers and it was not the best stuff when using a template and router, but my thinking was that it would be stable and reduce sticking when the humidity is high... say 20%.

Because of my past failures at staining, these tables will be left with a natural finish. General Finishes tung/poly/linseed combo will be applied by Marlys next weekend.

Three Years @ Pinon Rock

On Thanksgiving it was our 3 year anniversary of moving into the house.


I remember that first Thanksgiving in that we had everything needed for a COP, but the carpets would not be put in until the next day, so there was still and unfinished feel.

Now it seems like home. Even though there are still things/projects to be done.

There is even have time now to notice the things that change day to day, like these Elk tracks in the snow.

Its not done until the Dancing Queen says so.

I posted a list of the things that needed to be accomplished over the Thanksgiving Holiday's.

The list included:

Frames for the light fixtures in the shop. As you can see I also enclosed the vintage 1974 Ultraliner speakers.

Wood racks above the miter and radial arm saws.

A plane knob for the NO. 4 Bailey plane being restored. I was especially proud of it, since it was my first turning.

No I haven't talked Marlys into buying a lathe.

I used the POS drill press and a Stanley FatMax chisel as a gouge.

It is turned from a scrap piece of curly redwood.

I even got around to cutting some of the pieces for the next project; the bedroom side tables.

And started the milling on the old cedar that will become the office work surfaces.

But when I brought Marlys down to show her everything, she asked where the old chandelier was going to be installed. After some high altitude ladder gymnastics it is now right in the middle of the shop.

Zero Waste Reverse Osmosis Installation

I thought this was going to be an epic install. The only space to put the ZRO unit was above the washer/dryer in the laundry room and the water was suppose to be plumbed into the refrigerator in the kitchen. There was of course a wall in between and only a wall where the unit would go.

I figured a whole day may be needed to get this done. The cabinet had been finished up earlier in the week (still needs a top coat of gloss lacquer) and it was installed on Thanksgiving morning. So that much was out of the way.

The cabinet was built to reflect the Shaker style in the rest of the kitchen/laundry room. The only "goofy" thing about the cabinet is that the door is one piece and opens up. That was to provide as much room as possible for the install.

The equipment in the cabinet included a pressure tank, pump and various filters along with the actual ZRO unit on the top. There were hook ups for the cold water intake and hot water return (this is the zero waste part of the unit), pressure tank, water outlet and power for the pump.

For those keeping score at home that is 4 water lines and one electric cord.

Routing the water lines to the utility sink was no problem and all of the hardware included with the ZRO unit worked as advertised. So no problems so far.

Next the line to the refrigerator needed to put through the wall. It needed to go into the lower corner cabinet in the kitchen, then out the side into the space behind the refrigerator.

To keep it from interfering with storage in the cabinet it would need to stay high and out of the way. The lines to the sink are also visible. The white line going into the wall on the left is the one going to the refrigerator.

As you can see a couple of exploratory holes were drilled before the right spot was found, but no one will see them, especially the LOML.

The final hook up to the refrig was pretty anti-climactic. Plugged the ZRO in and by Sunday we had done the start up fill/drain routine and had water. Won't need to buy the bottled stuff anymore as Marlys has given it the thumbs up.

BTW it took about 2 hours to complete, so the rest of the day was devoted to burning slash piles.

A Stand in for Afghanistan

On Friday evening a couple of military helicopters flew over the house...low. Fly overs aren't unusual in this area with Fort Carson being about 40 miles east of here. Also the Buena Vista Airport is located 25 miles to the NW. This is important because the BV airport is a British RAF high altitude helicopter training center, along with a few other countries. Normally though we see the flights during the day time.

We found out from a neighbor that the "nap of the earth" flights during the evening hours has been going on for about a week and according to a local news source is because the area is similar to what pilots would see in Afghanistan, e.g. altitude, temperature and terrain.

Pat

A Green Truck Camper

I think Marlys is going to have a hard time on hills. But if fuel prices spike again.....

From the Weird RV Blog: http://weirdrvs.rvtravel.com/2009/08/rv-runs-on-food-and-water.html

Weekend in town

We had a commitment this weekend that kept us in Denver. This was probably OK since there was a two phase snowstorm, e.g. Friday and Saturday night that would have made the drive up and down a challenge.

We seem to be able to keep ourselves busy for a day in town with errants and things, but after that it gets pretty boring. I know my Dad would find that amazing as he can't figure out what we do up at PR even for a weekend.

Here is my prioritized list of items for Thanksgiving Week, I hope we can get to them all.

1. Reverse osmosis cabinet completion in shop
2. Reverse osmosis installation in laundry room
3. Truck servicing in Canon
4. Camper title transfer in Canon
5. Lighting fixture frames build and install for shop (13 left todo)
6. Wood rack for miter saw station in shop
7. Build/install plier rack in shop
8. Make a front knob for the #5 Bailey plane in shop
9. Build refrigerator/filing station in shop
10. Cut pipe clamp cauls in shop for home office work surface glue up
11. Move slash piles for area below house to burn pile behind shop, maybe burn (weather dependent).

My to do list (including trips) is up to 60+ items and lengthening, I don't have time to work anymore ;>

My Review of Voyageur Mid

Originally submitted at Onlineshoes.com

The Voyageur Mid trail shoe from Keen takes on any challenge. Breathable and flexible, the leather webbing and mesh upper with ventilation windows and a woven textile lining offer built-in climate control for hot or cool days. The mid-level height protects your ankle from debris and rocks, while th...

Voyageur Mid

Great Boot, if the outer sole stayed on

By Pat Caulfield from Canon City, CO on 11/10/2009

 

3out of 5

Pros: Comfortable/No Break-In, Ankle Support

Cons: Not Durable/ Wears Easily

Best Uses: Everyday, Day Hiking

Describe Yourself: Casual/Recreational

Sizing: Feels too large, Feels half size too big

This is one of the best boots I have worn.

I use them for hiking.

Keen should have included a tube of Shoe Goo based on the number of times I have had to stick the outer sole back on.

A day of four summits.

Tags: Using Product, Made with Product, Picture of Product

(legalese)

Walken meets Lady GaGa

If you are a Christopher Walken fan you will appreciate this, if you are a Lady GaGa fan you have to wonder about her choice of lyrcists.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xy5JwYOlgvY

What your beer selection says about you.

http://adage.com/article?article_id=140106

Interesting article on beer selection and personality types.

Lately my selections have been:

• Bud Light
• Coors Light
• Corona
• Fat Tire
• Steam Engine Lager

If I read this article right I guess that makes me pretty ... confused.

The Girls are back in Town

We went through 50lbs of bird feed between Friday and Sunday evening. Although there were a few dark headed male Stellar's Jays, the real culprits were the ladies...if you could call them that. At one time I believe we had 30 female Stellar's either on the feeding tray or eating the feed kicked off on to the ground around it. They were slobs.

A few little Finches tried to get in, but they were relegated to the ground spillage.

The males would show up, but they don't get along well with one another so they pretty much eat alone.

The other snowbird was just gathering...well snow.

My Beer Bucket List

This is a ever changing list. I have used a 4 asterisk rating system on those tried, so far.

Best (as noted by others):

• Saison Dupont - ***
• Victory Prima Pils
• Ridgeway Bitter
• Trappistes Rochefort
• AleSmith IPA
• Celebrator Double Bock
• Ayinger Brau Weisse - **
• Bamberger Mohr Leicht

Ales & Bitters:

• Full Sail Pale Ale
• Coniston Bluebird Bitter
• Fuller's ESB
• Samuel Smith's India Ale
• Sierra Nevada Pale Ale - ***
• Stone Levitation Ale
• Lagunitas IPA
• Odell 90 Shilling Scottish Ale

Belgians:

• XX Bitter
• La Bavaisienne
• Loterbol Blond
• Chimay Triple - **
• La Chouffe Golden Ale
• Achel Bruin
• Fat Tire - ****
• Flying Fish Exit 4
• Southampton Grand Cru
• Bruery Orchard White

Lagers & Pilsners:

• Mahr's Unfiltered Lager
• Eku Pils
• Ayinger Jahrhundert Bier
• Stoudt's Pils
• Czechvar
• Pilsner Urquell - ***
• Left Hand Polestar
• Victory Prima Pils
• Full Sail Session Black

Dark Beers:

• Kulmbacher Monchshof Schwarzbier
• Guinness Stout - ****
• Dogfish Head Indian Brown Ale - ***
• Carnegie Stark Porter
• Southampton Imperial Porter
• Heavyweight Perkuni's Hammer
• Schneider Aventus Weizenbock
• Ommegang Three Philosophers
• Pennichuck Feuer–Wehrmann Schwarzbier
• Oskar Blues Ten Fidy Imperial Stout
• Ellie's Brown, Avery Brewing Co
• Out of Bounds Stout from Avery in Colorado
• O'Fallon Smoked Porter - ***
• Black Hawk Stout from Mendocino Brewing
• St. Ambroise oatmeal stout, from McAuslan Brewing in Montreal

Summer:

• Hoegaarden
• Fantome Saison

Smoked:

• Spezial Rauchbier

Others:

• Allagash ConfluenceDeschutes Dissident
• Dogfish Head Squall IPA

7 states and 2800 miles in 72 Hours

In the last 72 hours we have covered close to 2800 miles and traveled through 7 states, driving to Washington state, from here in Colorado to pick up a truck camper. During the course of that time we went through every season, except summer, having driven in rain and wind traversing Washington and Oregon, with a finish going over Monarch Pass here in Colorado in a snow storm with somewhat icy roads.


this all got started about two weeks ago when we saw the ad for a Okanagan 117DBL. As mentioned, in last week's post we have been on the look out for one of these going on 12 months.


After the calls had been made and the monies exchanged, Marlys and I up anchored on Wednesday evening for the drive to central Washington.


It was raining when we left Denver and being a weather obsessive, all of the websites had been checked to try and read the tea leaves on what could be expected. I suspect that the "professionals" must use the same sources, as I was about as accurate. It looked like other then the weather we were driving out of in Denver, it should be a pretty nice drive, there and back, but more on that later.


We made it to Buffalo, WY before calling a stop and checked into the Comfort Inn. BTW: if you haven't stayed at one of these lately, I would recommend it.


Knowing that Thursday was going to be a haul, because we wanted to get within striking distance of Ephrata, we were on the road by 5:30am.


Montana can look a lot like eastern Colorado, but the NW region where I-90 crosses into Idaho is pretty nice.


We noticed that there was still yellow in the forest, but we couldn't quite figure out what we were looking at, since the trees looked like pines, didn't look like beetle kill and were bright yellow like Aspens. We found out at a fuel stop that they were Tamaracks (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamarack_Larch ) a deciduous coniferous tree, meaning they drop all of their needles in the fall and re-grow them the coming season. I for one had never heard of that.


It had been cloudy all day, with intermittent rain. Not a good forecast omen, especially when my tea leaves had said otherwise less then 24 hours before.


We got into the Coeur d'Alene/Spokane metro area mid-afternoon. Coeur d'Alene is a city in a forest, it went on the list of places to visit again when we weren't on a schedule.


The region between Spokane and the Cascades appears very arrid with miles of center pivot irrigated fields of corn and hay. Once off the super slab the orchards and vineyards also became visible.


We finally crashed (not literally) in Moses Lake, WA, about 25 miles from our objective.

Paying careful attention to the forecast while trying to get rid of the shaking from the constant road vibe of the day, it looked like tomorrow would bring a chance of showers, but one we would drive out of as we headed south.


My a??! They use the same forecast sources in Spokane as the folks in Denver. We woke to rain, with a forecast for rain, but it still should end as we head south.


The plan for the return was not to go back via I-90 and I-25, but to head south to Kennewick and pickup I-84 to Salt Lake City, via Boise. In SLC we would grab the I-15 to Spanish Fork, then two lane it into Green River, Utah and pickup I-70. Then on to Grand Junction switching to US 50 and through Montrose, Gunnison and Salida to home. We would stop in Gunnison and show Derek the rig and take him to dinner.


We had talked about how long we wanted to spend in Ephrata, so as to get a good start on the drive home. We wanted to be back by Saturday night.


Our planning pretty much went out the window the next day, when we met Marylin and Jim. They were great people and we ended up spending 4 hours doing paperwork, going over the rig, getting it loaded and just talking. It was time well spent, as they are great folks


They took a couple of last pictures of the camper, we said our goodbyes, got in and headed down the road...slowly as the Porsche of trucks suddenly was slower, pondering in movement and now stopped on a...well it took longer to stop.


My initial impression, about 2 minutes into the 20 hour drive was...this was going to be a long drive.


As we went down the two laner back to the freeway and traversed a few rolling bumps, I thought a couple of time this thing could get divergent, but no, it generally settled right back and never headed for the corn field. It has after all a binder diesel, and did exhibit a slight pull to the right.


Every time I check the mirror to see who was around us, I could see the bottom of the overhang above, which gave the feeling of driving without taking the car out of the garage.


Did I mention that it rained the whole time Jim was going through the systems and loading the rig? Well it was still raining. And as we crossed the Columbia in Kennewick the wind came to play also. We had a warning on the wind because as we started up to the SE out of town the ridge we needed to crest was covered in wind generators...and they were up to speed.


We finally called it quits for the evening in Twin Falls, ID and pulled into a wayside rest. Instead of crapping out in the truck cab, we went back to the camper, made the bed, (put in ear plugs) and went to sleep. It was about 10:30pm. We woke at 5am and got ourselves together and back on the road by 5:30.


I had slept real well. Its nice to have your bedroom on your back.


By this point the driving was very...well normal other then watching for overhangs and canopies when pulling in for fuel/food and consideration of stopping distances. Even in the mountains of Colorado we were not a pylon for others to figure out how to go around.

We arrived home at 9pm Saturday night. We were tired, but very happy with the purchase and going over trip ideas.


The TC traveled well and our research in the pairing with our 2008 F450 dually paid off. The only mod (beyond the factory camper package) was a set of airbags (set to 50PSI). I noticed that when parked the factory camper/overload springs were not even in play.


As you would imagine MPG was very MPH influenced, but at 75 in Utah it stayed in the 7.5-8 MPG range and at 60 was in the 10-12 range, but is was very windy during that stint.

So, now it sits waiting for an adventure.

Maybe the first REAL trip, should be to the Las Vegas NASCAR race in Feb/Mar. That's the ticket.


This morning when we headed back into Denver it was covered in snow and the temp was -5F.

I am sure glad Jim winterized it last week.

The Rack of Wood

The shop project is getting down to the end, luckily so now we can get started on the projects we had actually planned. There is now a little space starting to show up and we are hoping as we finish up we will have a net gain, but that will probably evaporate quickly.

The actual work area is starting to come together, but one of the nice things about the OSB walls is that if we want to re-arrange items the old screw holes won't shop, unless someone has an anal streak and decides to look real close.

The change in methodology for the OSB layout (6' vs. 8') sheets has resulted in the pile of 20 sheets in the lower right corner and a lot less cutoffs in the burn pile.

If you look real close at the pile you can see that the pieces sitting on top are strips 2' long by 4" wide (need to look real, real close) that were cut from the 2'x4' pieces left when a 6' sheeted had to be used. These will become the frames that surround the light fixtures (yup another un-planned project).

You can also see another opportunity to clear things away in the finishing bench to the left of the right window (confused?).

The largest still to be tackled project is the NE corner, which you can see has become the dumping ground during this transformation.

BTW, that is Halle walking in the lower right corner. Dusty (the dog) had a sleepover last Saturday night.

She is a good shop dog as long as a ball is thrown her way or not her way every once in a while.

The plan is to construct a cantilever rack system for the wood piled to the left and right of the RAS and miter saw.

The rack is a modification of a plan found online. The final product will also include the RAS in the center of the rack. The miter saw will move to the right of the door and there could be another rack for long items above the door extending into the center of the back wall, but we will see if it is needed.

On Sunday the framework for the rack was built and installed, along with the building of the rack arms...all 35 of them. Since these are a glued and screwed fabrication, they will be left until next weekend before installation. Also I need to come up with a better stand for the RAS.

Next weekend, of course will be dependent on when we get back from another un-scheduled, but anticipated item on our list, which is the truck camper.

As mentioned last week we found one, and as of now appear to have paid for it. So off to the Pacific Northwest to pick it up and bring it back to PR. The plan is to be there by Friday morning and back by Saturday evening...that's the plan anyway.

Marlys got all of the needed work done to the truck yesterday, so the drive is the only thing left.

This last picture is from the kitchen on Saturday at dinner time. I thought the back lit lenicular cloud over Waugh was nice way to end the day.

Some changes

It was a cool/cold the 4 days spent finishing the shop project last weekend, with the propane heater going most of the time although up top it was bright and sunny, I kept hearing about the terrible traffic accidents and freezing drivel in the Springs and points east.

Well, I ran in to those conditions coming down through Woodland Park on Sunday.

Bright, 55 degrees in WP and when I hit the cloud bank you can see in the pictures the temp dropped to 25 degrees. It stayed like this all the way back to Parker.

It says on the signs Woodland Park - "The City above the Clouds" I believe it now and on Sunday it certainly was.

The shop project is finally done, and the number of splinters in my fingers from the OSB is still being totaled up. The place looks real nice and the lighting has improved greatly. There is still a lot of re-arranging and shelf building to be done, but the heavy lifting is over.

Also as I mentioned back in March 2008 ( http://patcaulfield.blogspot.com/2008/02/we-take-next-steps.html ) that there was a second shoe to drop on the truck purchase, and we dropped it last weekend by putting a deposit down on a Okanagan 117DBL truck camper ( http://www.okanaganrv.com/Camper%20Floorplan%20Page/camper.htm#OK_117DBL ). Marlys and I will be going out to Washington state to pick it up next week.

This means next year we hope to attend the Gypsy Camp-in, and other gatherings that may be scheduled. Marlys is even thinking that we should get a convoy together and attend Burning Man. Hhere are some pics taken this year by one of the people I work with
http://picasaweb.google.com/Sean.Miller.Photos/BestOfBurningMan?feat=directlink .

Since the "real" camera is back this weekend, I will grab some good pics of the shop.

The Replacements - Stellar's & Blue Jays

Leaves are at peak in our area.

The hummingbirds are gone, we assume since the feeder was still pretty full at weeks end (during the high season the feeder was filled daily).

Marlys though put out a regular bird feeder last weekend...and guess what it was empty. So we hung another one next to it. On Saturday Marlys built a feeding platform and we now have Stellar's Jays everywhere. These are a large bird with a big black crest. Although the numbers are not in the dozens, e.g. hummingbirds, there are quite a few.

Even the smaller Blue Jays showed up for a while and they were pretty aggressive toward the Stellar's

I, of course was, working on the shop interior, which is about 75% done

...but the 25% remaining is going to be allot of work since it is the actual shop part of the shop.

I hope to get it pretty close to done this weekend, so I can get to the actual list of Fall/Winter/Spring projects.