Coffee 3-27-10

Well, ran out of coffee filters so I found an old sock to use instead. T'were one of those wintah woolies and it sure didn't hurt the flavah a'tall. Come on in. Don't be shy, grab a muffin & spend a spell. Take a minute & tell us of your week.
The crazy Spring continues. Days and nights both 10 degrees above normal, until right now.....we're 2 degrees from braking a record low that was set back in the 1800's! I'm showing 11, the record is 9. They say next week Spring will be back.
We have a girl coming in for 5 1/2 hours a week to give us a break from caring for Mom-in-law. Last Sat we took 3 1/2 hours & went to the pond. Still ice on it, but it's looking thin. It was nice to get away. The dogs had fun & I got skunked playing cribbage. This new girl, Chelsea, is just a kid. 21 yrs old, but Mom likes her. Chelsea is way more than just a baby sitter. She cares for Mom. I mean, I know it's her job, but she really does well "making contact" and "being with" Mom. We feel comfy about it. Are all 21 yr olds string beans? Chelsea sure is...geepers...if she stood sideways & stuck out her tongue her shadow would look like a zipper.
The Axeman is happily dancing along. I've ignored it for so long....haven't even swept up around it for months. Poor thing....it sure isn't getting the attention it got the first winter.
Hope you all have a smooth weekend!

Freddy wrote:ran out of coffee filters so I found an old sock to use instead

Anything will do when you need your fix.

It's great that you have some time to get away from the house for a bit. I was begining to worry. Your usually here much earlier than this.

Weather here is up and down also. Keystoker humming along during the night and pretty much idling during the day. Kind of nice to only have to tend to it every three or four days. Getting a lot of fines crammed on top of the pusher block and is causing her to moan when stoking. After shut down for the season I may take the stoker out and take it down to the factory and have them take a look at it. Really just an excuse to go see the factory.

Also off work for all next week. Contractor coming Monday to replace all of my windows. As long as windows are being replaced, i'm gonna tear down the sheetrock on the exterior walls to insulate and add a couple of extra outlets to the bedroom. One window in the LR is done and most of the insulation and sheetrock is up in there also. Just a bit more to do around the other window Mon.

Have a great weekend all.

I just got back into JFK a few minutes ago, I've gotta run and try to get home. It's 29* here at the airport, with a gusty wind from the north. Rather chilly.

Lots or work waiting for me at home,, the house project won't wait.. My Granite countertops for the kitchen are to be installed on Tuesday !! Can't wait.

I'll check in later in the day. Once I get home.

Yum,, that old sock flavor is a new twist on my morning coffee !!

Greg L

Checking in at 18 degrees from Chazy, NY. Breezing and cold last night, but it is nice and calm now. After a few weeks of sitting idle, I fired up my coal boiler last night. It is nice to have the warm basement back, but I will probably shut it down again in a few days when the temperature gets into the 40's.

I just brewed a fresh pot of 8 O'clock, no sock filter for me...our coffee maker has one of those reusable brass screens. A few cups of coffee, then the wife and I are off to VT to look at a 2yr old Greyhound that she wants to adopt.

Good morning,

Freddy, I'm happy to hear that you've found someone you are comfortable with to stay with your Mother in Law for a couple of hours a week. What a blessing! I loved your zipper analogy. That perfectly describes a lot people, my son for one.

The gas furnace kicked on a few tiimes this week as winter tried to make a come back. Even though I hate the sound, I suppose it's ok for a couple of days just so we can keep the furnace in good operating order. Next week is our spring break so I'll be off the bus, sitting at home wondering what to do with myself -- NOT. There is always something to do and my list is full.

My main goal is doing the soil/area prep for the garden. We're moving the location and the new spot has never been plowed. I'm told the area used to be a dairy farm. It's sort of hilly so first I have to put in a retaining wall of sorts to level the area. Nothing much but something using yard timbers and re-bar; 2 or 3 timbers tall ought to take care of it. Then I have to rent a BIGGER tiller then a Mantis and try to break up the soil. The last time I tried that in the general area the tines just bounced off the ground - it took forever. We started our plants inside over last weekend so they will be ready to go in by the first of May or so.

Besides the garden I'm going to check the caulk on the roof of the Travel Trailer and replace the water filter that broke when the lines froze before we got around to winterizing it. Bummer, but hopefully that will be the worst it. Thankfully, that is in the "crawl space" so that no water damage is visible inside the living space.

I'm also going to do a few day trips in the local area, i.e. a trip to capital hill and the Senate for lunch with DK. No, he doesn't work there but the cafeteria is open to the public and if you're willing to go through security the food is decent and not expensive. Afterward, you can name drop all the people you "had lunch with."

Oh, yeah - I almost forgot. I'm going to do the spring maintenance on the Harman. After I shut it down I noticed that the loading door gasket wasn't making a good seal so I'll replace that, too. Beyond that there shouldn't be much to do 'cause I did it last year when I repainted it.

I think that will just about fill up my week so I'll not plan anything else less I find I didn't accomplish everything on the list. That would be a bummer, indeed. I hope everyone has a great week and you get everything done you want to. Lisa

Mornin all. Well sounds like I picked a good day to have a cup of tea.... Old sock? Kinda glad I still have a sore throat. Nothing like a soothing cup of tea with a little lemon and honey to break up the congestion.
Cool this morning! Theres a little frost on the pumkins! The Snow-Mountain I made for the kids is slowly melting away like an ancient glacier, little river-lets coming out of 2 sides of it. We are the only ones in the nieghborhood that still has snow in our yard.
Finished painting our foyer/hallway. Wow, that has to be the largest 'room' in the house, with 10 doors, 11 if you count the attic pull-down. On to the Great-room this week. I dread having to move all this furniture.
The DVC-500 is just happy as a clam in mud. Its just been idling along all winter. Almost time to let 'er go out for the season, I'm now scraping the bottom of the coal bin.

Onward and Upward!

Balmy 27 here, old sock? Nooooo thanks, I would run out and buy some Joe before I would corrupt a fine pot of Java with
my stinky feet. Loading and wrapping Easter plants today, Pansies arrive Monday ! Stay warm!

27 here right now as well. The Harman is still out, although I could use the heat right now, as the Alaska is doing it's best to make heat but it's not enough. Going up to 47 today. It's a good time to light the Fisher and burn up some of that firewood that's outside.

15 degrees at 6AM............clear skies...chilly day upcoming.

Today is the day Freddie should have had an EFM 520. The 'sock filter' could have had an anthracite filter media added simply by pulling the 'fines' lever with the Maxwell House can under the pot. Gives new meaning to "Stuff it in a Sock!

Glad to hear Freddie has been up to the pond...ice out here on Wednesday...and I heard the same was true in central Maine on several lakes. Great weather for a spring weekend!!! Is Bob out on an Ice Floe up in Ft Kent? Forget 'Ice-Out" day, when is "remove the Long Johns for the Season Day? Memorial Day? Motorcycle Week at Loudon? July Fourth?

Saw a bear at dark in the back yard....feeders took it hard before I could remove them. She looked hungry, so no need to feel badly. Ground feeding the birds this AM....woodpeckers still have their suet, so the pecking is not too loud.
Cardinals don't like to be ground feeders, but they will have the feeders back up in an hour, all other species only want to eat...like little pigs!

This weather reminds 'stoker users' why they own them and makes 'hand fed' folks search for the moving target called the 'sweet spot'. Maple weekend again....come and get it.....forget the diabetes for a day.....

29* here this morning, have the channing running half throttle, have a nice coal fire going in my fireplace, enjoying some Yuengling Bock , celebrating 21 years today on the fire dept, 6 to go and I'm done! Might open a stove shop, who knows..

Bk

11 on the hill this A.M.---what's the problem w/ the sock everybody around here uses them,we all thought it was the norm sounds like you've got a busy wk ahead Freddy--you'll notice the difference,we sure did--well off to rake all the stones off the road edge of the front of the house--county gives them to us every year,free of charge Have a good week-end all

Filtered is as Filtered does ! Nice touch,Freddy. Cold all over the area,but that's Spring. Always take time to let yourself enjoy the simple things in this Life. That's why dropping in here for coffee and a hot -crossed bun is something I wouldn't miss !

I had to skip the early coffee and crank the pot when I returned with a full trailer load of the composted leafstuff that was available for free starting at 0800.I was down there and in line at 0645.I learned my lesson last year and spent hours in line waiting to get loaded. The new small dump trailer works great for these kinds of jobs.We will get more rain tomorrow and that will make the garden even wetter so I will have to wait to put the compost on until the garden gets proper for the rotary plow. The Keystoker has been mostly lazing around all week until last night.It was 24 deg. this morning and I am very appreciative of it. No sock coffee for me,I'll stick to the Maxwell House de-caf. Enjoy your week and be careful. Mike

Made it home,, Hey Lisa, is there anyone in your area with a 3-point hitch mounted tiller?? they make short work of tilling old ground.. I've tried it with a walk-behind tiller before.. I'd rather run a jackhammer !!

I've got a coat of stain on most of the stairs and balcony woodwork, I'll add a photo to the 'Huge Project' thread in a few hours..
The tile design around the island and bar is coming together, I think it will look great..
Steel fab guy is coming over tomorrow to finalize the railing measurements and designs..

And, I've been up since this time yesterday, I couldn't sleep in the noisy hotel last night,, so I'm exhausted.. But damn'd glad to be home..

Greg L

[quote="LsFarm"]Made it home,, Hey Lisa, is there anyone in your area with a 3-point hitch mounted tiller?? they make short work of tilling old ground.. I've tried it will a walk-behind tiller before.. I'd rather run a jackhammer !!

LOL - what's a 3 point hitch mounted tiller? And how would I fit it between the houses and out back? Heck, our yards are so small and the houses so tight we don't even have riding mowers; ten steps and you are done; such is life in the suburbs. Still the walk-behind tiller is better then a shovel and hoe! Lisa