Checking out an Expo building

Tammy is planning and organizing an expo on March 24 for direct-selling home-based businesses.   Examples of which are: Tastefully Simple, Avon, Pampered Chef, Scentsy, etc.

The location will be one of the smaller buildings at the county fairground. A few weeks ago we visited the building and measured the dimensions and got an idea of where the doors and other stuff were located.  I drew up a floor plan for Tammy and she felt we could get almost 40 vendors in the building.

We weren't sure how many vendors would be interested in being at the expo. The answer is: lots.  Tammy already has 34 vendors signed up and more may be interested.

With so many vendors participating we decided to double check the floor plan I drew. It wouldn't be good to have so many vendors and find out we didn't have enough room.  Today we went to the building to arrange tables in the building to see if our design was correct or if we were missing anything.

We found the floor plan works.  We can fit the tables without it being super crowded.   I then thought of a slightly different arrangement for one row where we could squeeze 7 more vendors in.  Tammy was getting stressed by my rearrangement as she didn't see it at first.  But, between arranging the tables and my later drawing a new diagram, she gets it.  So we have this plan in our back pocket if we have more than 40 vendors.

Here is a look at how the tables work across the width of the room.  Earlier we had placed the tables across the length.

Eggs and auction

Today Tammy and I got a carton of fresh eggs from Michelle, one of her home business direct selling friends.  She and her husband have a chicken operation with over 1,000 chickens.

Fresh eggs!  Yum!    But Tammy won't eat the eggs as they don't come from a store.  Her loss as farm fresh eggs taste better than old store bought eggs.  Tammy made me some scrambled eggs tonight for supper.  Yummy!

Before visiting Michelle, Tammy and I went to an auction in Columbia Falls.  A store that sells used sporting goods and odds and ends of stuff was holding an auction of some stuff.  Most of the stuff was "junk", though one must remember 'beauty is in the mind of the beholder'.  Not many people must have thought this stuff was 'beautiful' as the prices payed were low.   The auction did have a couple of newer looking ice axes that interested me.  I've never had a need for one, but I can see where an ice axe may come in handy on a future hike in Glacier Park.  But I had no interest in waiting a long time for the axes to be auctioned off.  So we left.

Map of trees

I like maps.  Here is a map of all the trees in the U.S. that  NASA, the National Geological Survey, and the U.S. Forest Service put together.

http://www.geekosystem.com/america-tree-map/

Barn snow curl, part 3

Tuesday there was no movement due to temperatures that only ranged from 3 to 27 degrees.  Today the curl is gone.  We had freezing rain overnight and some wind.  I think this finished off the curl.

Barn snow curl, part 2

Even though the temperature was above freezing today and the sun was out this afternoon, surprisingly the snow did not completely slide off the barn roof.

Here are photos from today.  You can compare them to the photos from yesterday's post to see the little bit of movement.

Barn snow curl

The nice thing about metal roofs is that the snow slides off.

The bad thing about metal roofs is that the snow slides off to places you don't want it to.  I had to shovel the snow away before it hardened into an ice hump.

Also notice the wood pile in front of the camper is lower. We can see the top of the camper now.  However, with this recent snow my movement of the wood is on hold.

More snow photos

It finally stopped snowing last night.  Today after Tammy and I ran around uptown for some errands I was able to shovel the snow off the driveway while she went over to visit with a neighbor.  I have the back yard left to shovel unless the forecast is true and it warms up and we get freezing rain.

Annual snow photo

It started snowing on Wednesday and hasn't stopped.  Over 7 inches have fallen so far.  Mother Nature seems to be trying to make up for a lack of snow so far this Winter.

I've been spending lots of time sweeping and shoveling snow.  Tammy thinks I should get a snow blower. She thinks I will drop dead of a heart attack from shoveling all this snow.  Nah.  What doesn't kill me only makes me stronger.  And I ain't ready to kick the bucket yet.  Beside, shoveling snow keeps me in shape for all the ranch work I have to do this year.

This morning a neighbor came over and plowed my driveway using the blade on his pickup.  I didn't turn down his offer to help.  I spent this afternoon shoveling the parts of the driveway and yard I want snow free for now.

Now that we finally got snow this Winter, it is time for my annual 'Back 40' snow photo.  Enjoy.

Auction items

Tammy and I ran around uptown today in advance of the predicted snow.  One of our stops was at an auction place.  We were there a few hours before the auction started.  There was nothing there that enticed us to return for the auction, though there were a few items we had some interest in.

The rooster weather vane actually would be more of an interest to my Uncle Curt and Aunt Cathy as they like roosters.

The suit of armor was in fact made of tin, and not that tall.  "Hey little buddy."

More trimming

I start pruning and get carried away.  After I finished pruning the apple trees I worked on the shrubs in front of the house.

Before:

As I started to trim them in 2009...

Before I started in 2012...

After...

Hmm...  in the photo the 'shorter' shrub now looks wider than tall.  In 'person' it looks better. This is a shrub that was allowed to grow and grow and should have been trimmed many years ago.  All the greenery is on the outside of the shrub so it is hard to trim it back.  I hate to cut down trees and shrubs, but this Summer it may be the end of the line for this shrub.  It depends on - now that the interior is opened up to sun - whether greenery will grow and fill inside.

I also trimmed a couple feet off the tops of the two arborvitae bushes.  These bushes also had been let go over many years.  Over the years I have been cutting the height down.  The 2009 photos was not the first time I trimmed their height down.  I'm not sure I can 'save' - or trim to be smaller - these bushes either as I may be limited in how I can sculpt them to be smaller in size. Still, for arborvitae I have noticed that greenery will re-grow out of trunks and branches to fill in open areas exposed to sun.  So there is hope.

Pruning apple trees

The weather is nice.  No snow on the ground.  I decided it would be a good time to prune my two apple trees for the year.

While I could, and perhaps should, trim the trees lower in height, I decided not to.  Overall I am happy with the number of apples I get from each tree.  I decided to mainly trim the new branches growing upward since my last pruning job last Winter.  And to thin the interior branches to give the apples a chance to get air and sun.


Tree number 1:

Tree number 2:

Fallen branch

A few days ago it was windy.  Well, for the Flathead Valley... windy.  I found this branch in the NE pasture.

I have not waked around all of the pastures to see if there is any more tree damage.

Night clouds

Late last night / early this morning just before I went to bed I stepped outside and checked the weather.  No snow.  Good.

Here is what I saw...

These photos were taken in color and not in black and white.

Sisyphus and the wood pile

Another nice day. No real rain or snow in the forecast for a week.   I surveyed my pole shed and decided to start moving the wood pile and camper from one bay to the next so I can have the vehicles next to one another.  If Sisyphus can move the boulder, I can move my wood pile.  Besides, even though there is no snow on the ground, the ground is frozen preventing me from digging fence post holes.

That's a lot of wood to move!

The start.

What I accomplished for the day.  Now do you get why it takes me so long to complete the work on one of these bays even though I worked well after the sun set?!

Actually, I did more than what is shown.  Go back to the side view photo.  I removed all the small odds and ends of wood right next to the camper above the brown concrete.

You know... I should have a contest.  Instead of guessing when the ice on some lake will melt, people can guess when I finally get everything moved. 

Odd fire extingisher

Last week, while in my attic to string the speaker wires, I took a photo of one of the odd fire extinguishers I found on the attic beams.

At least I think they are fire extinguishers as I can think of no other reason for them to be hanging in the attic.  When I look through the clear top I see a liquid inside the container.

Actually I looked these containers over in depth years ago back when I put extra insulation in the attic.  So I can't really answer (remember) right now whether these containers are glass or plastic or ceramic or some other combination.

I did a little research on Google about "glass fire extinguishers"  and I found out three things:

1. They are collectible and worth money,
2. Some versions are called fire grenades, and
3. They are very dangerous.

From Wikipedia:   (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_extinguisher)

Another type of carbon-tetrachloride extinguisher was the Fire grenade. This consisted of a glass sphere filled with CTC, that was intended to be hurled at the base of a fire (early ones used salt-water, but CTC was more effective). Carbon tetrachloride was suitable for liquid and electrical fires and the extinguisers were fitted to motor vehicles. Carbon-tetrachloride extinguishers were withdrawn in the 1950s because of the chemical's toxicity–exposure to high concentrations damages the nervous system and internal organs. Additionally, when used on a fire, the heat can convert CTC to Phosgene gas,formerly used as a chemical weapon.

Another article on the fire grenades is found here:  http://www.thegavel.net/grenade.html

Other articles mentioned how carbon-tetrachloride robs the fire of oxygen.  That is both good and bad.  The bad is if you are nearby and need oxygen also.

For now I will leave them be.  Initially I thought they were neat.  Now that I learned more about them I would like to remove them but I don't want the risk of accidentally breaking them.   They have remained intact in the attic for 50 to 70 years - the range between when the house was built and when it appears these type of fire extinguishers were taken off the market (late 1950s)

Now... if someone wants to buy them and remove them, I would be fine with that.

Also, in the photo you can see how old my attic is.  Instead of plywood sheets for the roof, the builders used 1 inch boards.  And why the long bamboo pole is in the attic... who knows!

Larry Light

The following photos show a light Larry left me with.  I didn't notice the light until a few days after my uncles and aunts left last June.  My uncles Larry (taking the lead) and Curt re-wired my barn when they were here in June.

For the electrical outlet my second well pump will plug into, Larry installed a Ground Fault Interrupter.  The unit also has a small light.  Now whenever I am outside after dark in the back yard I think of my uncles and how they re-wired my barn for me.  I call it my "Larry Light".

An opening has been made

Well, this time I was right.  I only needed one more day to finish clearing an area in the pole shed.  Oh... and I needed one pickup as I moved a pickup load of wood to finish my cleaning.

I forgot to take a "before" photo.  The best I could find was a photo from November 2010.  The blue bars indicate the section I cleared.  The wood and other stuff mostly filling this area was six feet high and the length of a pickup.

Wow.  It is amazing how clean it looks.  It certainly took me long enough to clean, clear and sort all the stuff that used to be here.  It hasn't looked like this since 2002 or 2003 when I last sorted and cleared this area.  Then bit by bit over time I placed various boards, pieces of wood, and other items in here until it was huge unorganized pile.

This is one step.  I have lots of odds and ends of wood. It will take several iterations later this year until it is completely organized by board width and length.  Just as my fence work seems never ending, so does the sorting of my boards and wood.

Ideally I would like to move my pickup camper over to this location so my pickup and Tammy's van can be side by side in the pole shed.  Ha!  That's a gigantic project for another day.

Broken fence wire

The deer are at it again.  I had another barb wire to fix.

After looking at the following photo I took of my repair job, I could have done better.  I should have attached the broken wire to the same level on the stay.

Another day. Another attempt.  Look better?

Here is an example of why I don't like the vinyl fences.  They are suppose to be maintenance free, but they break so easily.  This is one of my neighbor's fence.  I don't know if it was vandalized or if a deer tried to jump over/through the fence.

Later in the afternoon Tammy helped me clear out the spot in the tool shed for her vehicle.  Each time I work on clearing the spot I think it will take only one more time to finish.   Even with Tammy's help it appears it will take one more time for me to finish the job.

It was nice to have Tammy help me.  We moved the rest of my wooden fence posts over to the hay shed.  To ensure the posts don't roll down in their new location we pounded a couple of metal posts into the ground.  Tammy bravely held the posts upright while I used a sledgehammer to hammer the posts into the frozen ground.

Why in the attic?

One of my uncles asked me why I ran my speaker wire in the house's attic instead of under the molding along the floor.  In case you were also wondering, here is why:

The living room has no molding.   (Yes, I plan to eventually get rid of this old ugly green carpet and replace it with wood/laminate flooring.)

The speakers are mounted near the ceiling.  Notice: no sign of speaker wire.  (Yes, the hated red shag carpet will also eventually be replaced.)

By the way, I ran the microphone speaker balancing test last night. The home theater system sounds great.  Even when watching the movie, Date Night, which is not a movie to really test the home theater's abilities, the sound was rich.  I should have had this home theater setup a few nights ago.  Then maybe I could have understand half of what Jeff Bridges mumbled in the movie, Crazy Heart.