Catching Up a Busy May

I only have exterior shots of the greenhouse right now and, of course, nothing current. This is what it looked like after the builder was done. You can tell because the back fence panels are still down and you can see into the empty lot behind our property.

Its been a very busy May around here, unfortunately nothing truly hobby related. I have been working, slowly, but steadily on my wife's greenhouse. I have finished insulating the east and west walls and have almost finished the south wall. That's taking a little longer, lots of cuts because of all the windows and I had to cut in a floor level vent. All that's left there is to cut out the opening for the vent on the inside wall add insulation and seal that last 2 square feet up. That leaves the north wall which is the easiest. I have to cut in one more floor vent and that's it, no windows or doors to deal with on that wall.

We also reset all of the flagstone in the back garden about 9' wide and 80' long all of  our raised garden beds sit on this. Of course we added three more beds this season. While it was very tempting to plant as soon as the beds were ready we held off, even though we didn't get any snow in April and up through May at that point. Still as long term Colorado natives you learn not to plant before Memorial Day unless you want to do it twice. Sure enough we had a pretty good snow storm running from Friday the 20th through Saturday the 21st.

The large expanse of flagstone. The project was originally started by my wife's father and most of the flagstone at the far end (which is also where the greenhouse is located) is from old Denver sidewalks. We had to buy more to fill in the last 10' to the foundation of the workshop. This was right after it was finished and before we got the raised garden beds set back up.

At the end of the month the new workshop went up, the crew arrived on the 25th and had the whole 12'x20' structure up and ready the next afternoon. The electrician has been out and we have gone over the circuits and power requirements so that's next on the list, hopefully he can get out quickly. Once the power is in I'll start insulating and putting up the plywood (its actually an underlayment plywood, interesting stuff and not nearly as expensive or as heavy as 1/4" plywood). Then we can start moving in the tools from the garage workshop out to the new building. I still need to put a bit of fencing back up and install a new gate but I don't have to wait to do that. I'll finally be able to get the diode laser and the CnC router setup and running. Both will be on mobile platforms, they take up to much space to be left standing up all the time. Its been ages since we have been able to do any wood working so I'm certainly looking forward to getting back to it.

This is most of the view from the house. Once I install a gate in the chainlink fence that door will be our main access. Its 4' wide and opens out.

First glimpse from the garden side, you can see where the flagstone ends and the two fence panels that need to go back up on this end. Although one of them is destined to become "spare" wood.

The east side which will overlook the "wild" garden. That garden is looking a bit trampled at the moment but peas are very resilient in this area as is the horse radish and rhubarb.

This is the south side which faces the driveway for the back lot, we have an easement to use this driveway. Those are 6' doors but I only intend to use them for to get the tools and wood inside. Since they are directly across from the neighbor's garage which he uses as a workout space we really don't want the door open!

The inside which seems absolutely cavernous at this point. We opted for full eight foot ceilings and the gambrel roof to gain some extra storage. Since a lot of the wood we use comes in 10' - 12' lengths this will allow us to store it vertically.

The south wall, destined to become home to the lathes for sure, not quite sure which other tools will run along this wall.

And the east wall, nice and blank except for the door, 14' of uninterrupted wall space.

The inside of the house has been a bit topsy turvey as well. We had the floors in the dining room and living room re-finished which also means painting because if the room is already empty then painting is pretty easy to do. Right now the dining room is finished but stuffed with furniture, the living room is empty while the floor cures (about 7 days) and you can't really move around in the basement were the bulk of the living room furniture resides at the moment.

The dining room floor. We put on a fresh coat of white paint and went from a light blue to a dark blue on the walls. The floor is a lot lighter in color as well we didn't add any stain to it so that's pretty close to the natural color of the oak.

Looks like there will be plenty to do in June and hopefully a couple of projects will finally get completed and some experiments with new tools done as well. I’ll try and keep the updates coming!

Cartoon Wednesday

A day late, life continues to intervene.
 

Theodore Roosevelt Quotes

Theodore Roosevelt, my favorite president. Some of his quotes spoken like he was looking into the future and daring us to pay attention. I think, as a nation, we may have failed to heed his warnings.

Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far

    Apparently this is a West African proverb that Teddy was fond of.

It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.

   Citizenship in a Republic (Sorbonne, Paris April 23, 1910)

Let the watchwords of all our people be the old familiar watchwords of honesty, decency, fair-dealing, and commonsense.... We must treat each man on his worth and merits as a man. We must see that each is given a square deal, because he is entitled to no more and should receive no less.The welfare of each of us is dependent fundamentally upon the welfare of all of us.

   New York State Fair, Syracuse, September 7, 1903

We demand that big business give the people a square deal; in return we must insist that when anyone engaged in big business honestly endeavors to do right he shall himself be given a square deal.

   Letter to Sir Edward Gray, November 1913

Viewed purely in the abstract, I think there can be no question that women should have equal rights with men."..."Especially as regards the laws relating to marriage there should be the most absolute equality between the two sexes. I do not think the woman should assume the man's name.

   The Practicability of Equalizing Men and Women before the Law - Senior Thesis at Harvard 1880

Working women have the same need to protection that working men have; the ballot is as necessary for one class as to the other; we do not believe that with the two sexes there is identity of function; but we do believe there should be equality of right.

   Speech, National Convention of the Probressive Party, Chicago IL, August 6, 1912

For unflagging interest and enjoyment, a household of children, if things go reasonably well, certainly makes all other forms of success and achievement lose their importance by comparison.

   An Autobiography, 1913

Be practical as well as generous in your ideals. Keep your eyes on the stars, but remember to keep your feet on the ground.

   The Groton School, Groton, MA MAy 24, 1904

Optimism is a good characteristic, but if carried to an excess, it becomes foolishness. We are prone to speak of the resources of this country as inexhaustible; this is not so.

   Seventh Annual Message to Congress, December 3, 1907

There can be no greater issue than that of conservation in this country.

   Confession of Faith Speech, Progressive National Convention, Chicago, IL, August 6, 1912

The conservation of natural resources is the fundamental problem. Unless we solve that problem it will avail us little to solve all others.

   Address to the Deep Waterway Convention, Memphis, TN, October 4, 1907

A healthy-minded boy should feel hearty contempt for the coward and even more hearty indignation for the boy who bullies girls or small boys, or tortures animals."..."What we have a right to expect of the American boy is that he shall turn out to be a good American man.

   The American Boy, St. Nicholas Magazine, May 1900

The object of government is the welfare of the people." "Conservation means development as much as it does protection. I recognize the right and duty of this generation to develop and use the natural resources of our land; but I do not recognize the right to waste them, or to rob, by wasteful use, the generations that come after us.

   The New Nationalism speech, Osawatomie, KS, August 31, 1910

I don't think any President ever enjoyed himself more than I did. Moreover, I don't think any ex-President ever enjoyed himself more."... "Success - the real success - does not depend upon the position you hold, but upon how you carry yourself in that position.

   University of Cambridge, England, May 26, 1910

Men with the muckrake are often indispensable to the well-being of society, but only if they know when to stop raking the muck." "An epidemic in indiscriminate assault upon character does not good, but very great harm." "There should be relentless exposure of and attack upon every evil practice, whether in politics, in business, or in social life. I hail as a benefactor every writer or speaker, every man who, on the platform, or in book, magazine or newspaper, with merciless severity makes such attack,

   Washington, DC, April 14, 1906

No man is above the law and no man is below it; nor do we ask any man's permission when we require him to obey it. Obedience to the law is demanded as a right; not asked as a favor.

   Third Annual Message to Congress, December 7, 1903

Alone of human beings the good and wise mother stands on a plane of equal honor with the bravest soldier; for she has gladly gone down to the brink of the chasm of darkness to bring back the children in whose hands rests the future of the years.

   The Great Adventure, 1918

Cartoon Wednesday

 

New Tools - Longmill Mk2 CnC Router - Sienci Labs

Another tool that I can't put together yet has arrived. This is the Longmill Mk 2 CnC router from Sienci Labs in Canada. The first time ever I have had to pay UPS an import tax! I'm looking forward to putting this one together and putting it through its paces. For now it gets to remain in the box as there is literally no place for me to put it at the moment. It won't be to long now though, we are 15 days, and counting, from our new workshop getting built. Until then I can only dream about mounting up bits and starting projects on this one, much like the D1 laser cutter from Xtool.

Garden Upgrade - New Potting Shed/Greenhouse

We finally bit the bullet and decided to replace the 30 year old wood storage shed with something we could actually use. The original was a small 8'x10' gamble roofed shed that was really a garage for the old lawn tractor and all the accoutrements that went with it. My wife's father never did anything in half measures!

It was built on a concrete pad with a built in concrete ramp. When the old shed came down the concrete looked like it was brand new, not a single crack. Her dad certainly took a lot of pride in his work and concrete was his business. Anyway the new shed is 10'x12' and the whole south side is filled with windows to make this both a workspace and a greenhouse. I'll be insulating this one within the next week or so as we gear up for the planting season, which doesn't start here for another month. We keep telling the new folks in the area that you really can't start planting outside here yet despite the unusually warm and snowless April.

Unfortunately these two windows will have a terrific view of the fence once we put it back up. You can see the fence post right between the two windows.

The door side, a little shorter than I expected but I don't bump my head so it works fine.

The window side, 4 windows plus transoms to really let the natural light in.

All the remains is to insulate the inside which requires a trip to the DIY store for insulation and plywood.

Cartoon Wednesday

 

Thomas Jefferson - Quotes

And back to the comfort of an American; Thomas Jefferson who has somewhat sadly dropped down a few pegs in my admiration levels, and not because he owned slaves. Still a brilliant man that was so important to the creation of our nations. 

 I do try and make sure that the quotes I list have been verified as being spoken or written by Jefferson, just like I did with other famous speakers. There are lots of quotes out there attributable to famous individuals that have been twisted or just plain made up.

"But this momentous question. Like a fire bell in the night, awakened and filled with terror." On the Missouri question 1820

"I find friendship to be like wine, raw when new, ripened with age, the true old man's milk and restorative cordial." To Benjamin Rush 1811

"No occupation is so delightful to me as the culture of the earth, and no culture comparable to that of the garden...But though an old man, I am but a young gardener." To Charles Peale 1811

"I cannot live without books: but fewer will suffice where amusement, and not use, is the only future object." Jefferson to Adams 1815

"This institution [University of Virginia] will be based on the illimitable freedom of the human mind. For here we are not afraid to follow truth wherever it may lead, nor to tolerate any error so long as reason is left free to combat it." to William Roscoe 1820

"I have sworn upon the alter of god, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man." to Benjamin Rush 1800

"But as it is, we have the wolf by the ear, and we neither hold him, nor safely let him go. Justice is in one scale, and self-preservation in the other." to John Holmes 1820 on the Missouri question.

"This was the object of the Declaration of Independence. Not to find out new principles, or new arguments never before thought of, not merely to say things which had never been said before; but to lace before mankind the common sense of the subject, in terms so plain and firm as to command their assent, and to justify ourselves in the independent stand we are compelled to take. Neither aiming at originality of principle or sentiment, nor yet copied from any particular and previous writing, it was intended to be an express of the American mind, and to give to that expression the proper tone and spirit called for by the occasion." to Henry Lee 1825.

"To all of which is added a selection from the elementary schools of subjects of the most promising genius, whose parents are too poor to give them further education, to be carried at the public expense through the college and university. The object is to bring into action that mass of talents which lies buried in poverty in every country, for want of the means of development, and thus give activity to a mass of mind, which, in proportion to our population, shall be double or treble of what it is in most countries." to Jose Correa de Serra 1817

"A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned - this is the sum of good government." First Inaugural Address 1801

A little food for thought.