Saturday, July 28, 2012

Building the porch to the shop

 We started by making a template for each post out of cardboard and marking each one by orientation and the number of the post.
 The metal sticking up are the anchor bolts set into the cement at the pour time. We punched though the cardboard so we knew exactly where the anchor bolts needed to be placed into the post.
 Metal plates were cut a little smaller than the post so they would not be visible once installed. This plate was then matched with the template.
 A punch was used to start the drill hole and the hole through the plate was drilled.

 The metal plate was tested on each post position.
 We then used the template to drill the hole into the post.
 Each post was set into position and anchored on 2 sides with temporary 2X4s set with screws attached to stakes hammered into the ground.
 A 6 inch c-perlin was used to "marry" the wood to the metal
 They were bolted in at each post.
 A temporary ledge was created on the building to hold the rafter for welding. Perlins were added to create a surface to attach the flashing to the top of the porch roof and under the siding.
The 4X4 rafters have been installed.
The 2X4 cross perlins have been installed and Richard is installing the roofing panels on the cross perlins. It was getting into the upper 90's so we used sheets and plywood pieces to keep the tin cooler to work on.

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Other goings on around the ranch....

Garden maintenance is always needed, keeping the weeds at bay and putting down fresh cedar sawdust. The pineapple plants in the back there each have a pineapple on them and were growing great until the squirrels got to them.  
Years ago I planted Penny Royal by seed and have regretted it ever since. It is extremely invasive and grows overnight , here I am pulling up a patch of them AGAIN!!!
Tomato plants in full production and the harvest of tomatoes, peppers and lettuce below.

One of the 8 , yes, 8 racoons we caught after they ate all the  tomatoes, green ones as well. The picture of the large row of tomatoes above they completely destroyed.
Richard working on the goose statue.
It is hard to see, but this was a welcome rain we so desperately needed. This shot was taken from the kitchen porch looking onto the chicken coop.
Mushrooms sprouting up after the rain.

Zinnias are so happy planted in the ground instead of in containers.
The pond water cleared up after we had a few days of 100 degrees. We also have been fanatical about treating the water ever week with the bacterial enzyme "POND PERFECT".
We finished insulating and sheeting the walls in the green house and painted and moved the furniture back in place.
The teenagers are roosting with the rest of the clan.
This has been the first sighting of a dung beetle diligently rolling chicken poop back home.

Is this a Hela monster ?
A funny/sad video about finding a chicken snake in the coop after a chicken was found dead. Just click the arrow button to start.