I have too many projects!
Aside from getting the Stinson painted and flying again, here's some of the things I'm trying to get done around the house.
When I bought the house in 85, it had one tree. I'm told it was an "Eisenhower Ash". Fantastic shade but it had a habit of dropping seeds in the spring and leaves in the fall. No big deal, I'd collect them all up and compost them. Now, my anal neighbor would practically have a heart attack any time a leaf landed on his side of the property line. Watching him run out with his broom and janitor-style dustpan-on-a-stick and tidy up would have been comical if it wasn't so sad. He even went out and bought a leaf-blower, then he'd blow everything down the sidewalk and up onto my driveway. Recently I discovered the cracking in my garage floor was caused by roots from this tree so, it had to go. I hated to do it, so much so that I put it off for awhile. I took a picture of it before the tree guys went at it but The picture didnt come out, I think my digital camera errored. Here's a pic of the resulting pile of wood though, before much longer it will be split and stacked, ready for winter.
Years ago I acquired a structure that I've always referred to as "The Shed". It's 8 feet by 16 feet and was actually a portable office built on skids so that it could be moved around with a tractor. It was used at the airport as a base for a film developing company. Folks would drive around to the various grocery and drug stores to pick up film for overnight developing, then meet at this base. The film would be given to a pilot to fly to the processing plant and when finished, flown back to the base for delivery. The business changed though (due to one-hour developing I think) and they didn't need the building anymore, in fact, the airport wanted it removed. I made some calls and ended up getting it for FREE!. My brother and I moved it to my house (that was an experience). Ever since then I have used it as a storage shed.
Now, I'm converting that building into a combination Garden Office/Adult Doghouse/Slumber Party/Overnight Studio room. I'm moving it, setting it on a proper foundation, adding doors, windows, phone, internet, lights, finishing the interior, even a woodstove for winter warmth. Below is a couple of pictures showing starting and current locations--check back from time to time to see the progress.
Here's where it starts: For those of you who are aviation challenged, that white thing is the nose of a small plane that I hung there just for fun.
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Here's how it sits now. Jarrod and I turned it 90 degrees and moved it to the side so the holes for the pilings could be dug. You have NO IDEA how hard it is to dig in the ground where I live. Clay (not clay-soil--I'm talking solid clay!), rocks... it's very tough going. Jarrod has done most of it with a pick and digging bar.
7/16/03 - Looks like Jarrod finished digging the holes for the pilings today:
and check out the heat he had to work in - in the shade!
Here's the forms installed, ready for the concrete pour
Here I am troweling one of the pilings
Done with the concrete work
8/8/03 I used railroad ties as a base for rollers to move the shed over the pilings. 2 "come-a-long" winches are used to do the pulling.
This method makes it easy enough for Kate to move the entire building by herself!
Move complete!
Before we lowered it down, Kyle and I added some 2X6's to the floor joists to stiffen it up.
I found a pretty good deal on a used Spa. It has a patch where it once leaked--good patch though. It also has some wood rot from the water that leaked but it's repairable. Great deal and no problems I can't fix.
Now that we have a spa, we need a place to put it. Here's Kyle doing some
demolition on an old planter wall to make way for the spa.
Wow, I turned it over to check out the underside, all of the wood is rotted beyond saving. I replaced it with Trex® "wood". It's kinda like plastic particle board. Anyway, it's plastic so it won't rot again.
Here's the concrete slab we made for it, everyone helped.
A little paint, fix a couple of leaks, run some underground power and Done! Special thanks to Jarrod for all the trench digging--it's impossible to describe how hard it is to dig the ground in Mira Mesa.
Here's a shot of the new shed the kids are helping me build. Not done yet, but a lot has been accomplished. Eventually it will house the compressor, solvent tank, and bead blasting cabinet, along with the typical lawn equipment, bicycles, camping gear, etc..etc...
Here it is.. Done!
Next, I'm making some 16" x 16" pavers to use like a patio between the spa and new shed. I'm going to plant some Spanish moss in the joints. This is my first experience with using concrete dye. The dye was labeled "Terra Cotta" but it looks like pink to me. At this point, I have about 40% of them done.
After living here for more that 20 years, I finally decided to yank out my old woodstove and the white brick surround that was behind it (painting red brick white should be a crime).
Here's what I'd like for the new stove to look like:
Progress pics - Click on a picture to enlarge it.
Chipping away at the brick base was VERY slow going. I did find a surprise in the process, a time capsule buried in the concrete filler. It must have been put there by the guy that built the original. Here's what I found.
Inside a small box wrapped in aluminum foil was a 1970 Penny, diaper pin, Kennedy lapel pin, a single cuff link, a tiny turquoise religious charm, a jack, the date from the San Diego Evening Tribune newspaper dated October 22, 1970 and note that reads:
"We the Paul Douglas Lister Family, Karen Frances, Kristen Anne, and Paul Douglas Jr, with hopes and dreams of a better world enclose something that belongs to each of us hoping that somewhere in the future whoever recovers this will remember us and our dreams. October 22, 1970"
Years ago I worked for my grandfather who taught me about foundry
patternmaking. One of the primary tools used is a good quality Disc
Sander. Recently, I found on eB
ay
that is nearly identical to the one my grandfather had. After some bidding
and a weekend drive to Gilroy California, here it is. Other than being repainted
some weird seafoam color it appears to have been lightly used. The table
has few marks on it (although it was covered in a light fuzzy rust that is
typical for ground cast iron that has been in storage for a long time)--the rust
was pretty easy to remove and now the table looks like new. It has
paint chips on the base making it look like it has had a lot of use but the dust
bag, original to the sander, looked like it had rarely been used. the disc
motor also is original but also appeared to be used very little. It
requires 220 Volts 3 phase power which is not available at my home, so I had to
build a phase converter to run it. With valuable help from my Dad, we
sorted out a wiring mistake on the converter and got it running. Then we
discovered the dust collector was jammed with grindings indicating that it was
never used (the fan blades on the impeller still looked like brand new). It
wouldn't run and after checking the wiring discovered that the control circuit
was wired for 440 volts. It appears whoever had it last could not get the
dust collector to run, so they just used the sander without it. It
eventually filled up with grindings and probably started throwing them out at
the operator and all over the place, causing them to quit using it and put it
into storage. It's all working now and MAN, does it work great!. It
uses a lot of power though, between the two motors on the sander and the motor
running on the converter, it's the single most energy-hungry machine at my home.
Good thing it doesn't run for long periods.
