Can't See The Forest Through The Trees...

...So I guess I’d better get rid of the trees then. A number of people have asked why am I taking these trees down. Well ya see; they’re all pines. And they all suck, because they drop pine cones and pine needles all over the place, the sap drops onto any cars that are in the driveway (and is like super-glue to try and take off), and anytime there is a decent wind, they drop branches. Not just regular branches, but giant ones that you can feel the vibrations through the house. So it was beyond-time for them to go. .

They say a pic says a thousand words, so instead of a big write-up for this one, I’ll just let the pics to the talking. .

Here’s some ‘before’ shots, showing most of the trees which were to come down.

The work has begun! Branches are being dropped and fed to the ever-hungry chipper.

Of course, waiting for the branches to come down sometimes meant there was a lot of this going on.

Bill, cutting and dropping.

See? Lots of standing around. That’s ok, though. The tree isn’t coming down yet. I’m sure the guys that’re just standing around will grab all that extra rope and lend a hand when needed.

Hmmm…guess not. That’s ok guys, we’ve got it!

Bill, sectioning the trunks.

Now this is when the wood really started moving. Jesse in the bucket, Bill working the crane.

The horseshoe stakes that Bill had put in a couple years ago were in the way so we had to yank them out. I couldn’t understand why they wouldn’t pull out though. Tried working them back and forth without luck. I finally gave up and threw construction cones over them. Then Mike tried a hand at it and finally succeeded. Holy crap – no wonder they didn’t want to come out. They were 7’ long!! Do you really think that was necessary, Bill? LOL

Here’s some shots of the big-assed mother that we dropped into the back yard.

You see what’s going on in this pic? Yeah, this was pretty much when things were winding down. Guys were gravitating toward the fire. Oh, and see that blue box on the ground? Yeah, everyone was making friends with that. Ok, correction; they'd befriended the two blue boxes before this one, and would soon befriend the 4th and 5th blue box after this one. That's 5 boxes...@ 30 per box...are you doing the math?

Here are some after shots.

The next morning, Potsy was out to check on things. He was impressed with the size of our wood, and that we’d managed to not kill or maim anyone with it.

It was farking cold! We’d left the water running for the fire and look what happened. Even Potsy was amazed.

And here’s the back yard after everything was finally cleaned up. Not too shabby, eh?

So what’s the plan for all this wide open space? I don’t know that I’ll be able to afford it this year, but I want to have a company come in, yank (not grind) the stumps, then fill in with loam and get a nice lawn put in. I’ll have the front lawns redone at the same time, and then the household should be looking pretty damn good.

In closing, I’m going to try and get this vid posted. (Yes, the angle is sideways again. Sorry about that.) It shows the big monster tree that we dropped into the back yard. This was the one tree I was really excited to get rid of.

And there you have it; the tree job of 2011.

Going Door to Door

When I did my bathroom over a number of years ago, the process included installing a nice 6-panel entry door. As soon as I’d put that in, I looked at the bedroom doors and realized they were an embarrassment. Right there and then, I made the decision to swap them out with nice 6-panel doors, too.

But that was as far as I got…

Fast forward to ‘now’. I figured since I was already painting the bedrooms over, I might as well go ahead and put those new doors on while I’m at it. So the first thing we need is…doors!

I love the grain in these and it’s a shame to paint over them, but the folks who owned this house before I did set the stage by painting just about all of the wood in here, and it’s easier to paint over, than replace. So anyway, moving along.

The first step is to scribe the hinge locations onto the new doors. Wait, scratch that. The first step was to buy the new doors. Ok; “check”, I’ve got the doors. Oh, and the hardware, too. Yes, I have the new hinges and door handles as well. Ok, now we can scribe the…wait, I have to take the old doors off. Ok, they’re off. NOW can we scribe the…what’s that? Oh, right; I had to rip the new doors to the correct width and height as the doors they were replacing. Ok…I think we’re ready. Are we ready? Yes? Ok, good. Where was I…oh, right; I had to scribe the hinge locations onto the new doors, using the old doors as a template. (And yes, I know some of the pics are blurry, but you get the idea.)

A hammer and wood chisel make short work of things. Gotta make sure you pay attention to the depth, can’t go too deep or you’re screwed.
Then we check the fitment to make sure things are good. Height is good, depth is nice and flush – things are looking good.
Now we mount (?!?!) the doors into the frames and check for fitment, there. Again; things are looking good.
Next step is to cut in the hole for the handle spindle. Careful with this! You don’t get a second chance if you measure wrong… (I’m going to stick with the existing strikeplates in the doorframes.)
Then the hole for the deadlatch…

Now have to mark and chisel out for the face plate…
Now things are ready for painting! A few benches set up, some ultra bright white interior paint, and we’re off and running…
The painting took a while, as each door had to be painted on one side, then let dry, then painted again, then flipped and painted once, let dry, then painted again. But I think the end result was well worth the effort. Here’s a look at the front spare bedroom…
…and here’s looking down the hallway at both new doors. Regal, I tell ya, Regal!
So there you have it; the door project.

Now then, what to move on to…well, the bedrooms look pretty sharp with their new paint, I should probably get some pics of those up here...

Celebratory Stout

So the new sink was in and working great, and I was celebrating with a stout. The one on tap this time around would be Hoppin’ Frog’s D.O.R.I.S. the Destroyer Double Oatmeal Stout.

Per the label; “This extreme Double Oatmeal Russian Imperial Stout (D.O.R.I.S.) will overwhelm, satisfy, and destroy your taste buds like no other!! Dry-hopped and first-wort hopped with the finest American hops for a great Imperial Stout experience! Enjoy the darkness!” (well, the 10.5% ABV will certainly help with that, won’t it?)

The cap was plain black, so there was no need to save it for the bar project. The bottle opened nicely and I eagerly inhaled the aromas wafting out. Nice! The description made no reference to chocolate, but the faint hint of chocolately goodness was definitely there. It poured smoothly and evenly…things were looking good!
I must say, however, that the very smooth pour did give me a little bit of pause, for I was concerned it may be an indication of low carbonation. And as it turns out; it was. However, this didn’t wind up being much of a deterrent. It drank smoothly and played nicely with my palette. And while part of me was searching for the missing carbonation, the rest of me was enjoying this beer. Sweet, smoky, quite nice overall. Not my favorite, but it definitely finds itself on the “I like it” list.

Another successful task under the belt. Now, what should I tackle next. Ya know...those bedroom doors have needed an upgrade for years...

Letting It Sink In

Time to get some of these pics up that I said I owed you. (Again, I know these are not bike related, and this is supposed to be a bike blog. Once the bike is back in my possession, I’ll have more riding tales to share.) So let’s move on, shall we?

Whatta we have here?

Why Dave, it looks like parts to a new faucet. But one would expect a new sink to accompany these things, no?Hey, look at that; a new sink, too!! But if you’re putting in a new sink, that means you’ll have to get rid of the old one first, right?
Nice – so let’s get moving on this project! It took no time at all, aside from one delay being that I had to chip some slots into the wood underneath the counter, to allow the sink clips to clamp down. After that was completed, everything went into place nicely.

Ta Da! A swivel-head faucet, a soap dispenser, one-lever control, and…no leaks! This called for a celebratory beer...

Tequila or not takillya

DD brought a licquor from Mexico. She claims it's Tequila. The taste (and the label) would indicate otherwise. She won't hear it. We may have to wrestle it out.

Oatmeal O'clock

It's not Jaeger O'clock...apparently it's oatmeal cookie shot o'clock. Hate this place.

Cake Face

Kristy (bartender) double-dared me to stuff a plate of cake into Matt's face. I asked her what was in it for me. She said a beer, on her. Sweet!! Let's do this thing....

The Busy Little Duck

Obviously, we've been doing a lousy job of keeping an eye on Potsy. He's somehow managed to create two new friends. I wonder which of the lovely new friends we made today is the proud mama?

Matty getting a Jaeger shot from other new friends @ the bar. (Sorry for the lo

Matty getting a Jaeger shot from other new friends @ the bar. (Sorry for the lousy pic, I had minimal time to work with.)

Cake Decorations

This is the pic that was on Matty's bday cake. Look familiar? It's the shot from the Safari Club, from Key Largo. (We wish we were still there...)

Matty's Bday!

Matty was pleasantly suprised by the bday cake. Love this place!

Phase II

Dropping the bikes off for cages & heading to the PBP. Time to power up with one of these wonderful attitude adjustment puppies.

More Miles

More miles under the belt, now time for a bar break. (But Potsy is still not a fan of Bob needing a glass.)