Radiant Heated Work Shop.

The last time that I posted I thought that I had some pictures of building my chicken tractor (coop). However; my phone went on the blink and I got a new phone and lost the pictures in the old one.

Sense that time I started to demolish and build a new tool shed. So now I am posting a picture of my chickens and the work on the tool shed. Sense I have a lot of brick pavers that are just stacked in the corner of the yard, I will use them for the floor of the shed. After thinking about what I need to do that, so I left the 4X4s in the ground from the old shed to use to level the ground.

I  bought some granite crushing to place the brick on and decided to go one step farther. I put some foam panels down as insulation from the ground and began shoveling the granite onto the foam insulation.

I will put some tubing in the granite so that I can run hot water through to heat the floor in the cold months. I will build some kind of solar water heater to do that. I haven't thought that far ahead. I am going to stop calling it a shed and start calling it a work shop effective immediately. Stay tuned to see what pops out of this head next. Be safe.

Movable Chicken Coop

I thought that I would post a few pictures of a little project that I have been working on over the past few months. My grandson Denny came to spend a little time with us a few months ago. So I got this whim that I wanted to get a couple of chickens so he could see where eggs come from. I didn't think that it would be a big deal, but I didn't think Alex would like them. Anyway, she didn't seem to mind too much. So I sat down with pincel and paper and drew out my plan. Went to the Big Box and bought some 2x4s, chicken wire and some other material and got busy. It took me a week or so after work and on Saturday afternoon. Then a couple days before Denny and Becky arrived, I got on Craig's List, and looked for some hens. I found a lady that had trree hens and a rooster, that she didn't want to split up. I told her that that would be fine. I didn't want the rooster, due to the neighbors. I went and picked them up, and took them home. The lady that sold them to me($30 total), told me that she didn't want to feed them all winter because her husband was getting laid off. She just wanted to keep a couple for herself some eggs. I didn't mention that I planned to name one of them Rooster Noodle Soup. Since I brought them home, I get 2-3 eggs each day. With both of us eating as many eggs as we can we cannot keep up. Alex gives about a dozen a week away to her friends, so now I see that she actually likes the chickens. I let them out to run the yard each day when I get home from work, and they have about an hour of daylight. Then they return to the coop for the night. I have not had any problems with them, except that there is a hawk that sets in a tree and watches them sometimes. I guess that hawks have to eat too, but I hope that they find some mice instead.

Weekend in Asheville NC

On Friday when I got home there was a message on the recorder from a friend that moved to Tennessee in 2003 from Colorado. That was the last time that we had seen each other. Lanny said that they had a travel trailer and were spending a few days in Asheville. He offered to drive to Charlotte and so we could see each other. Lanny is a retired Sheriff's Deputy, and we have been friends since about 1974, when he moved to Denver from Indiana. He was not aware that we had a RV.  So I asked what RV Park he was in and we could meet them there. They were in Wilson's Riverfront RV Park just off I-26, very near downtown Asheville. I called the park on Friday and they said to just pick out a spot and then go to the office and pay. When we arrived, the office was closed on the weekends and they had envelopes to put your park fee in. It was a Passport America park and the fee was $15 for members and $30 for non-members. We are not members. It worked out great, and we went into the downtown area and found several good places to eat. We had a very good time, talking about old times and enjoying ourselves. The RV Park was very nice, but it is close to the highway and there was some traffic noise. It also is a little tough to get into, because you have to turn around just after you exit the highway and go back the opposite direction on the service road. That was not a problem with my RV, but it might be a little tricky with a large 5th wheel, if you are not very experienced. I parked on the side that the highway was on and Lanny was parked on the river side, with the river just a few feet from the back of their site. Here are a couple of pictures that tell it all. Thanks for stopping by and be Safe.


Chillin with Old friends 

Dog Days of Summer

I thought I needed to update a little bit. I turned 63 a week or so ago. I am a little down that we haven't sold the house yet. I think that it will be just a matter of time. I have been very busy at work lately. We are working on an extension to our current light rail line, and also a start on a street car demonstration line. That means that the city of Charlotte is building a 1.5 mile line from center city to the community college and hospital. The long term plan calls for extending that farther in both directions. The Streetcar project is marked to open in 2015 and the light rail extension 2019. On top of that we are getting ready for the upcoming Democratic National Convention that is to be held in Charlotte. There is a lot of planning with the security (as in Secret Service) for that. I have been trying to hire an additional employee to replace the one that left and went to DC.

The time has been flying by, and if I have to stay in Charlotte for another year, before I retire, that will probably fly by also. I will post a picture of the excitement I was having on my 63rd.

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Travel to Colorado

I have pretty much recovered from my eye surgery. I was not suppose to do anything that was a strain on my eyes, so I went took a few days off and rested. Then we decided to take a vacation and go for a ride in the RV. I got clearance from the ophthalmologist, and headed for Colorado. We broke the drive into 4 days going and 3 coming back. We stopped in Memphis and went through Graceland, sense we had never been there. I enjoyed it and think Alex did also. When we left Memphis, and got into Arkansas, we had a Stop Engine light come on. This is usually due to low oil pressure or a hot engine. We have gauges for these and the oil pressure was at a steady 60 psi, and the engine and transmission temperature were at about 180 degrees. I felt that it was a oil pressure sensor and that stopping and shutting off and re-starting the RV would clear it. It did, but only temporally. So we looked up and stopped at a Cummins dealer, and that delayed us about 4 hours. It was the sensor for the oil pressure and they replaced it and we were on our way with no further trouble the rest of the time. The folks at Cummings Little Rock, treated us as a priority, and the total cost was $11.90 for sensor and 19.00 for a wiring adaptor for the upgraded sensor, plus tax and 2 hours labor made the total at $284.00. I thought that was a bargain for a road breakdown. We had a great time and saw the kids and grandkids. Brahm, Louis and I went to the property and replaced a water hydrant that had corroded and then spent some time target practicing with their guns. We are now expecting puppys from Shiloh and Ruger. No explanation necessary.