and a squirrel update.
Seems that three days of spending a great deal of time outdoors has got my allergies up.
Gotta love that dizzy, tight chest feeling! Add in the weird very-aware-of-my-pulse thing that happens when the pollen gets to me.
WHEEEE!!!
But in better news, it appears that squirrels don't like hot sauce. I've doused both front and rear feeders and while I've seen them foraging around the fallen seed, they haven't been gorging at the feeder itself. The birds continue to come and they are now hunting a larger area of my property.
The hot sauce doesn't work so well for the normal suet. Seems the squirrels just scrape away the outside and eat away. I'm trying a hot pepper suet that my wife picked up on a lark. Hopefully that'll do the trick.
Oh yeah, I heard an owl the other day. I need to read up on if they prey on some of the birds I'm pulling and if they take the chipmunks and squirrels I'm seeing.
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Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Birdbath
After watching the birds go from feeder to hunting/feeding about my property I googled around for more ways to pull them in.
Seems that birdbaths are a big draw. But birdbaths are silly expensive. So... I googled around some more and found this and this.
We were unable to find a 18" saucer but the 16" we did find looks alright. Also we couldn't find deep saucers like those shown in the links but as I'm looking for this to be a birdbath and not just a fountain, I think it'll do.
I've ordered a solar fountain pump off of ebay and it should show this week.
In the meantime ---
Here are the components with spouts filed out with a round bastard file and the hole drilled in the 8" platter.
Per the directions I soaked the pots over an hour (ended being over 2). I did not have a bastard file on hand and tried a rasp bit in my drill. That didn't work, so off to the store again. I had assumed that the soaking would make the filing easier, but no. It is to cut down on chipping at the work site.
It didn't occur to me to put a work glove on my working hand until I worked up a good sized blister on my guiding/pressure finger.
heh
Assembled --
I wasn't keen on leaving them natural. For one thing the pots were different colors and for another... well, I wanted to play and got it in my head to try to make a lapis finish. After googling around a great deal I found this site.
I picked up the materials last night. I'm a little worried about the "water-based gloss varnish". Of the places I checked out I found no "water-based" varnish. I did find varnish for acrylic and for oil. So I made the first of my assumptions that the acrylic varnish is water-based. My second assumption is this: the directions for the faux lapis have a step where paint and varnish are mixed 1:1 .. well, the varnish indicates that is "should not be used as a medium". I'm going to cross my fingers and disregard that directive on the label.
Here is the base coat of gold spray paint --
The additional 4" pot is for a decorative plant that will sit on top of the overturned 4" saucer in the pump tower.
I had thought to apply 2-3 coats on one side before doing the other. I'm glad I didn't because I ran out of gold very shortly after doing the flip sides. Also, the paint can was incorrect about being able to handle the pieces right away. In moving the pots to my deck box I noticed that I'd smudged away the paint in areas when I flipped them to do the other side.
Ehh, I'm trying for a faux finish and natural rocks aren't perfect so I'm not gonna worry about it.
Sill I'm not touching them again for a couple hours to cut down on damage.
Next up, the aquamarine plus black wash. I was able to find that a "wash brush" was both a brush and a technique. But I have found no specifics as to what "aquamarine plus black" means. I'm gonna wing it.
-----------
Well, aquamarine plus black creates a nice denim color. Main problem I had was trying to figure how much paint I needed and I kept underestimating. As a result some wash is a bit different than others. But, at this point, I like the slight color differences.
On to the strips of color and fly specking ---
As can be seen in the big dish, the paint + varnish dries in well under 5 minutes. I came back to smooth the stripes in and they were all dry. Not the effect I originally wanted, but I think it'll be nice under water.
The thing that is really irritating me is that from what I read I did not need primer for terracotta. That is false.
False false false.
I had seen some flaking of the gold early on and thought it wasn't dry. Well, large bits peeled away when I picked up some of the pots. I'm hoping the sealant will stop all of that cause it is really ticking me off.
Next up -- the gold hash marks and gold fly specking.
I read that the acrylic would darken after drying but I didn't realize what it would look like. I'm happier with the large saucer now.
The gold paint that I used didn't blend out nicely with the round brush and for some reason made a significant amount of specks with the toothbrush. Not sure why it would make more than the other paint. I'm hoping its colors will calm down with drying.
Next up, putting a couple coats of UV resistant sealer on all of the pots.
Should have seen this coming. As I said, use a primer.
When putting down the first layer of sealer one pot fell into another and knocked a large paint chip away. When I picked it up to see how bad things were, the paint pulled away where my fingers were. I'm thinking I can touch up those areas. Not sure.
After letting it dry for a half hour, I came out to see if it was dry to the touch. Most of it was but there were a few wet areas (I had problems seeing where the sealant had coated the pot and ended up spraying much to much sealant on). Well, some paint stuck to me. Luckily it was in a hidden area. But based on how the pain is acting, anything that hits it will knock chips away.
I'm really not sure what to do. Strip the paint and start again? I just don't know.
I'm going to let the current coat sit to 8pm and then flip them to do the other side.
============
I put three coats of sealant on both sides and then put 3 coats on the parts that chipped away.
Then I mixed gold, aquamarine, black, and gloss varnish for touching up. After doing that I put on three more coats of sealant over the problem spots.
The issue now is that heat from the sun causes the paint to bubble around the chipped areas. It also makes all surfaces sticky enough to pull the paint off.
At this point I think it looks ok. The bubbles are in hidden areas. I'm not sure that I'm liking it because it's nice or because I'm almost done.
Heh.
I don't like what the flash did to that pic, but I don't have a stand up tripod. Ehh
I'll grow some short flowers in the top pot.
I had thought of gluing the tower parts together. But it is looking likely that I'll be doing piecemeal stripping/repainting over time. So no gluing.
Next step is to wait for the pump to come in. Then buy some tubing based on its outflow port's diameter. Lastly, some marine glue.
Seems that birdbaths are a big draw. But birdbaths are silly expensive. So... I googled around some more and found this and this.
We were unable to find a 18" saucer but the 16" we did find looks alright. Also we couldn't find deep saucers like those shown in the links but as I'm looking for this to be a birdbath and not just a fountain, I think it'll do.
I've ordered a solar fountain pump off of ebay and it should show this week.
In the meantime ---
Here are the components with spouts filed out with a round bastard file and the hole drilled in the 8" platter.
Per the directions I soaked the pots over an hour (ended being over 2). I did not have a bastard file on hand and tried a rasp bit in my drill. That didn't work, so off to the store again. I had assumed that the soaking would make the filing easier, but no. It is to cut down on chipping at the work site.
It didn't occur to me to put a work glove on my working hand until I worked up a good sized blister on my guiding/pressure finger.
heh
Assembled --
I wasn't keen on leaving them natural. For one thing the pots were different colors and for another... well, I wanted to play and got it in my head to try to make a lapis finish. After googling around a great deal I found this site.
I picked up the materials last night. I'm a little worried about the "water-based gloss varnish". Of the places I checked out I found no "water-based" varnish. I did find varnish for acrylic and for oil. So I made the first of my assumptions that the acrylic varnish is water-based. My second assumption is this: the directions for the faux lapis have a step where paint and varnish are mixed 1:1 .. well, the varnish indicates that is "should not be used as a medium". I'm going to cross my fingers and disregard that directive on the label.
Here is the base coat of gold spray paint --
The additional 4" pot is for a decorative plant that will sit on top of the overturned 4" saucer in the pump tower.
I had thought to apply 2-3 coats on one side before doing the other. I'm glad I didn't because I ran out of gold very shortly after doing the flip sides. Also, the paint can was incorrect about being able to handle the pieces right away. In moving the pots to my deck box I noticed that I'd smudged away the paint in areas when I flipped them to do the other side.
Ehh, I'm trying for a faux finish and natural rocks aren't perfect so I'm not gonna worry about it.
Sill I'm not touching them again for a couple hours to cut down on damage.
Next up, the aquamarine plus black wash. I was able to find that a "wash brush" was both a brush and a technique. But I have found no specifics as to what "aquamarine plus black" means. I'm gonna wing it.
-----------
Well, aquamarine plus black creates a nice denim color. Main problem I had was trying to figure how much paint I needed and I kept underestimating. As a result some wash is a bit different than others. But, at this point, I like the slight color differences.
On to the strips of color and fly specking ---
As can be seen in the big dish, the paint + varnish dries in well under 5 minutes. I came back to smooth the stripes in and they were all dry. Not the effect I originally wanted, but I think it'll be nice under water.
The thing that is really irritating me is that from what I read I did not need primer for terracotta. That is false.
False false false.
I had seen some flaking of the gold early on and thought it wasn't dry. Well, large bits peeled away when I picked up some of the pots. I'm hoping the sealant will stop all of that cause it is really ticking me off.
Next up -- the gold hash marks and gold fly specking.
I read that the acrylic would darken after drying but I didn't realize what it would look like. I'm happier with the large saucer now.
The gold paint that I used didn't blend out nicely with the round brush and for some reason made a significant amount of specks with the toothbrush. Not sure why it would make more than the other paint. I'm hoping its colors will calm down with drying.
Next up, putting a couple coats of UV resistant sealer on all of the pots.
Should have seen this coming. As I said, use a primer.
When putting down the first layer of sealer one pot fell into another and knocked a large paint chip away. When I picked it up to see how bad things were, the paint pulled away where my fingers were. I'm thinking I can touch up those areas. Not sure.
After letting it dry for a half hour, I came out to see if it was dry to the touch. Most of it was but there were a few wet areas (I had problems seeing where the sealant had coated the pot and ended up spraying much to much sealant on). Well, some paint stuck to me. Luckily it was in a hidden area. But based on how the pain is acting, anything that hits it will knock chips away.
I'm really not sure what to do. Strip the paint and start again? I just don't know.
I'm going to let the current coat sit to 8pm and then flip them to do the other side.
============
I put three coats of sealant on both sides and then put 3 coats on the parts that chipped away.
Then I mixed gold, aquamarine, black, and gloss varnish for touching up. After doing that I put on three more coats of sealant over the problem spots.
The issue now is that heat from the sun causes the paint to bubble around the chipped areas. It also makes all surfaces sticky enough to pull the paint off.
At this point I think it looks ok. The bubbles are in hidden areas. I'm not sure that I'm liking it because it's nice or because I'm almost done.
Heh.
I don't like what the flash did to that pic, but I don't have a stand up tripod. Ehh
I'll grow some short flowers in the top pot.
I had thought of gluing the tower parts together. But it is looking likely that I'll be doing piecemeal stripping/repainting over time. So no gluing.
Next step is to wait for the pump to come in. Then buy some tubing based on its outflow port's diameter. Lastly, some marine glue.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
I hate squirrels
But my wife and daughter would hate me if I killed the blasted bushy-tailed rats.
We *HATES* them.
Yes, yes we do.
I'm working from home today and have been chasing off a bushy-tailed rat that figured out how to get to the bird feeder that I'm using to pull in some useful bug eating birds (NC has a ton of them).
Then I go out to check on my garden and find two corn and a melon dug up. Not eaten, just dug up. A bunch of my wife's carrots were dug up as well.
I hate them.
HATE HATE HATE HATE them.
With an unending passion I hate them.
We *HATES* them.
Yes, yes we do.
I'm working from home today and have been chasing off a bushy-tailed rat that figured out how to get to the bird feeder that I'm using to pull in some useful bug eating birds (NC has a ton of them).
Then I go out to check on my garden and find two corn and a melon dug up. Not eaten, just dug up. A bunch of my wife's carrots were dug up as well.
I hate them.
HATE HATE HATE HATE them.
With an unending passion I hate them.
Farmer Bear
As mentioned below I'm trying my hand at gardening. I'm doing this not only because I'm curious if I can, but for the past couple quarters I've been seeing signs that Carter era inflation is on its way. I suspect it will be seen everywhere by late summer to early fall.
The primary reason I moved to NC was to buy a house outright and to be fully out of debt. But that wasn't the only reason. By early 2005 I saw crazy things happening in the northern VA area. Huge numbers were attracted to the area by the then popped dot com salary bubble. So much so that my (one-way) just over an hour 60 mile commute grew to three hours. This drove the insane housing market in that area. The cost of living continued upwards at a remarkable rate regardless of the fact that six figure incomes were no longer common. Further, the county governments were implementing ever larger budgets based on property taxes.
I thought northern Virginia was nothing more than a ticking bomb. With the stories coming out these days of LA type gangs and squatters in foreclosed houses, I think I was right.
Well, soon after I got to NC my allergies went into overdrive and caused my mild sleep apnea to become very severe. The thing was that my symptoms were not clear and the docs thought it could be all sorts of horrible things. Long story short, my debt free status went away with mounting hospital bills for tests. Thankfully, that is in the past and I'm on my way to paying that all off.
So where does that put my household?
The plan is to get rid of the debt, lower expenses, and hunt for ways to pay the bills/taxes with something I can do at home.
The "something I can do at home" is slow going, but I'm not yet discouraged.... just frustrated.
Expenses are a different story. We're good about not falling for the current shiny thing and while we do indulge in a luxury now and again, they are a rare treat.
I'm eyeballing solar but for now only homeowner subsidies make it viable. Also, with energy costs going up, the tech involved will improve and the cost will drop. So jumping in now would be like my purchase of GDX... jumping in right before a pullback.
I've also thought out a system of three crawlspace dehumidifiers powered by a RV solar panel to harvest water. But water is still cheap here and the cost/benefit ratio isn't there yet.
That leaves food.
I ran across Mel Bartholomew's site Square Foot Gardening last month and picked up his latest book. I've set up a 4x4 for myself and a 3x3 for my wife and daughter. Currently I'm learning what deals with the partial/dappled sun in my back yard. Considering how freakishly cold it is this time of year, I'm not sure my findings will have much use in a normal year (some of my pole beans and small melons do not like the current cold snap).
Another thing my wife found was Angel Food Ministries. At first this struck me as something for very poor folks (like government cheese) and I didn't want to participate in something where I'd be taking away from folks in genuine need. But in reading over their site it looks like they operate by way of bulk purchases and volunteerism. Their base package is nicely priced but their meat add-on prices are very good. We're picking up a package very soon to determine if it is something we'd like to do.
The primary reason I moved to NC was to buy a house outright and to be fully out of debt. But that wasn't the only reason. By early 2005 I saw crazy things happening in the northern VA area. Huge numbers were attracted to the area by the then popped dot com salary bubble. So much so that my (one-way) just over an hour 60 mile commute grew to three hours. This drove the insane housing market in that area. The cost of living continued upwards at a remarkable rate regardless of the fact that six figure incomes were no longer common. Further, the county governments were implementing ever larger budgets based on property taxes.
I thought northern Virginia was nothing more than a ticking bomb. With the stories coming out these days of LA type gangs and squatters in foreclosed houses, I think I was right.
Well, soon after I got to NC my allergies went into overdrive and caused my mild sleep apnea to become very severe. The thing was that my symptoms were not clear and the docs thought it could be all sorts of horrible things. Long story short, my debt free status went away with mounting hospital bills for tests. Thankfully, that is in the past and I'm on my way to paying that all off.
So where does that put my household?
The plan is to get rid of the debt, lower expenses, and hunt for ways to pay the bills/taxes with something I can do at home.
The "something I can do at home" is slow going, but I'm not yet discouraged.... just frustrated.
Expenses are a different story. We're good about not falling for the current shiny thing and while we do indulge in a luxury now and again, they are a rare treat.
I'm eyeballing solar but for now only homeowner subsidies make it viable. Also, with energy costs going up, the tech involved will improve and the cost will drop. So jumping in now would be like my purchase of GDX... jumping in right before a pullback.
I've also thought out a system of three crawlspace dehumidifiers powered by a RV solar panel to harvest water. But water is still cheap here and the cost/benefit ratio isn't there yet.
That leaves food.
I ran across Mel Bartholomew's site Square Foot Gardening last month and picked up his latest book. I've set up a 4x4 for myself and a 3x3 for my wife and daughter. Currently I'm learning what deals with the partial/dappled sun in my back yard. Considering how freakishly cold it is this time of year, I'm not sure my findings will have much use in a normal year (some of my pole beans and small melons do not like the current cold snap).
Another thing my wife found was Angel Food Ministries. At first this struck me as something for very poor folks (like government cheese) and I didn't want to participate in something where I'd be taking away from folks in genuine need. But in reading over their site it looks like they operate by way of bulk purchases and volunteerism. Their base package is nicely priced but their meat add-on prices are very good. We're picking up a package very soon to determine if it is something we'd like to do.
Life has a funny way of getting in the way
I live yet!
Lowest bodyweight drop was to 285.5 last Sunday. I've been bouncing from that to 290 all week. If recent history is any guide, I should be breaching upper 270 around the middle of next month.
Juniper pollen laid me low earlier this year and Birch (I think.. possibly Maple) was giving me grief recently.
A very happy note, the allergy shots appear to be working. I've been on the maintenance dose for a little over a year now. I'm now able to get to yard work that would have left me gasping for breath within a half hour. I'm well pleased.
That and my experiment with square foot gardening has kept me from this blog and my stones. Granted, I'm now positive my wife is correct that I'm finding everything in my power to avoid the moonstone and rhodochrosite because it had been giving me such grief.
Currently I'm focusing on yard work that has been put off since late 2005 that *must* be tended.
Lowest bodyweight drop was to 285.5 last Sunday. I've been bouncing from that to 290 all week. If recent history is any guide, I should be breaching upper 270 around the middle of next month.
Juniper pollen laid me low earlier this year and Birch (I think.. possibly Maple) was giving me grief recently.
A very happy note, the allergy shots appear to be working. I've been on the maintenance dose for a little over a year now. I'm now able to get to yard work that would have left me gasping for breath within a half hour. I'm well pleased.
That and my experiment with square foot gardening has kept me from this blog and my stones. Granted, I'm now positive my wife is correct that I'm finding everything in my power to avoid the moonstone and rhodochrosite because it had been giving me such grief.
Currently I'm focusing on yard work that has been put off since late 2005 that *must* be tended.
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