What did you do today?

[Handy Don 12,109]

On 10/11/2024 at 7:46 AM, Mickwhitt said:

HMS Victory is high on my list but the Mary Rose is our main attraction.

A couple of years ago we took the ferry from Portsmouth to Caen. On the way out of the harbor we passed very close by the docked HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier (with a couple of very protective looking security boats in between). Quite the impressive sight!

Hope you have a terrific time in that lovely city.

Edited October 12 by Handy Don

[adsm08 2,011]

Spent about 3 hours in the blind with the boy this morning. The most excitement we had was when a ground hog ran out of the corn. I was going to take a shot, but he ran off when I tried to get my pistol out.

 

Then we came home and replaced the ABS unit in the wife's car. It stopped OK, and she wasn't complaining, but the pedal was not right. Now I can't even push it in to where the brakes started grabbing before.

[8ntruck 6,975]

We are currently in our Mo. location.  I've been playing brick layer on and off this week.  Today is a milestone day.  I've topped out the north column on our long running porch project.

 

 

2 more columns to go.  About 120 bricks.

Then it will be on to building a decorative beam between the top of the columns and the bottom of the roof, installing the porch ceiling, soffit, and facia boards.

[Mickwhitt 4,578]

Having a great time in Portsmouth.  

HMS Victory is outstanding,  cannot believe she fought in the American war of independence as well as Trafalgar and many others. 

I can't imagine the hell on earth that the gun decks would be during battle. The noise, smoke, blood and sheer terror is hard for us all to understand. 

 

The different types of shot shown here makes your hair stand on end; ball, grape, cannister, bar and chain shot, all designed to damage rigging or ships timbers, but also capable of tearing a man into pieces. 

 

The place where Lord Nelson died on the lower deck of Victory, shot by a sniper from only 15 yards away. He knew he was beyond hope as soon as he was hit, but clung on until the battle was won. I was very touched standing here, such a great man and the saviour of a nation. 

 

Tomorrow it's the Mary Rose, Henry the eigths favourite ship. 

 

[Mickwhitt 4,578]

Mary Rose is absolutely stunning! 

Archeology is hard enough on dry land, but to excavate a site under water and recover things that are 437 years old and so fragile is beyond belief. 

The museum itself is a marvel of engineering,  to think they planned so far into the future.  Raising her was only the start of it. Conserving and then displaying her to the standard they have is astonishing. 

There were a fair few American accents around and a guy we saw was obviously ex Navy and very proud of his experience over here while serving.

Went on a harbour tour and saw HMS Queen Elizabeth,  one of our new carriers. Jeez it's big!

Then completely by chance the arctic survey ship Sir David Attenborough was in port. This is the one that they asked the public to name, the power if the Internet saw the stupid name Boaty McBoatface voted for. Thankfully the owners declined and gave it a roper name instead. 

Tomorrow it is the submarine museum and the museum of Naval explosions! Yay...

 

[Mickwhitt 4,578]

Well, it's the end of our Portsmouth odyssey. 

Couple more museums ticked off and the Nelson gallery where we saw a lot more about the great man.

There are many portraits of him but all quite different,  some painted to make him look more physical, or more heroic etc. But they have done research and come up with a wax work that is about the best rendition of him at the time just before his death.

He was tiny, well compared to me he was. 5 feet five inches and pretty skinny from all the diseases and injuries he suffered from. 

I'm six feet two and I wonder what Nelson would have thought of the 18" shell I'm standing in front of. Probably would not have liked the thought of killing at such long range, no honour in it.

 

The final one is a 15 inch gun breech, my God I cannot imagine this thing being fired. It's impressive but so depressing that we drive ourselves to make bigger and better ways to kill each other. 

 

Back home tomorrow,  via the model engineering fair in Warwick where I can pick up some materials and tools for my primary hobby. 

[8ntruck 6,975]

We met our son for breakfast this morning.  Since he had today off, he came out to our 20 acre wood and helped building an 8x8 storage shed.

 

We got the area cleared, set foundation blocks that accounted for about 8" of rise in the 'reasonably flat' spot we chose for the shed.  Got the floor deck built and all 4 walls framed and erected.  Hopefully, we will get it finished off this weekend.  

 

This will get us some dry and reasonably secure storage for stuff we often use when we are working on the property.  It will also reduce the amount of stuff that needs to be hauled to and from the property.

 

Yes, we took pictures, but I didn't  bring the proper cables to move the pictures to the proper device.

[19richie66 17,497]

Building the she shed……

[ebinmaine 67,188]

8 minutes ago, 19richie66 said:

Building the she shed……

 

 

You gonna put any sheathing on? 

Might be breezy and leaky if you don't.......

 

[elcamino/wheelhorse 9,290]

When are you planning on moving She to the shed?

[davem1111 2,027]

This weekend, I managed to get the second coat of black silicone on this side of the roof, and laid down the strip of river rock along the house. The upper right part that looks a bit lighter was done a few weeks ago - it seems to pick up some dust & such and isn't as black and shiny.... going to see later if a little light scrubbing can return its fresh blackness. The off-white section to the top left is a screened porch, which I'm either going to just clean up better with a pressure wash, or may coat with white silicone because it can be like an oven in there.

 

Not pictured but also got some seeding mats laid out on the bare ground to get some new grass started, and about 1/2 of the other side of the roof second-coated. If anyone feels inclined to refresh a ribbed metal roof with silicone, I have a few tips. Get a drum-type pressure washer attachment and get the metal really clean. Buy and use the special yellow primer - otherwise the stuff may not stick well. Either invest in the expensive grooved rollers for ribbed metal (about $65 each  ) or just use a 4" roller with 1/2" or deeper nap - you'll have to make 3 passes on each section to get both sides of the ribs with the roller tilted, then down the middle. Expect to throw away the roller every time you take a break longer than a few hours even if you put it in a plastic bag, because the stuff turns to rubber very fast after air exposure. Also, be extra careful walking on the coating after it cures - if it's wet, it's extremely slippery, and if it's dry, even "clean" shoes will leave footprints. I'm pretty happy with the results. Still not sure why white coating is only about $100 per 5 gallons, but the black is about $450 per 5 gallons . Still cheaper than a new roof. 

 

[19richie66 17,497]

3 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

 

 

You gonna put any sheathing on? 

Might be breezy and leaky if you don't.......

 

Actually started on the walls yesterday. Run out of steam 

[Beap52 783]

We've spent the past few days looking over the mid-eastern part of our state of Missouri.  Bonne Terre Mine is a closed lead mine that had been operated from mid 1800's until 1962.  I think the mine is 5 levels and 500 feet deep.  The mine is mostly flooded so water level is something like 150 feed below surface.   Apparently it's a location that attracts scuba divers.  We rode the pontoon boat around and toured the mine--see picture below.  

 

We visited a earth berm walled civil war fort and Elephant Rocks State Park, a closed granite quarry from 1800's,  I wondered how a fellow strolling around 150 years ago would decide to open a lead mine or granite quarry.  If I just wondered through those woods, there would have been nothing that caught my attention to the point of establishing a mining operation.  

 

The last place we visited was a state park near Missouri and Arkansas border.  The state park consists of a collapsed cave, a couple hundred feet wide and 3/4 mile long and more than 130 feet deep.  A cave like hole, probably 10 feet tall drains the collapsed cave into a spring some 6 miles away. The collapsed cave void can fill with rain water in a few hours time up to 100 feet deep and may take days or weeks to drain.  Hopefully you can enlarge the second picture and read more details about the cave. 

[8ntruck 6,975]

@Beap52 that cave is very similar to Lost River Cave in Bowling Green Ky.  Another collapsed cave with a river flowing into a cave.  We happen to be in Bowling Green this week.  Have driven by it several times.  Been a couple of decades since we last took the tour, though.

 

We have a shed project going in our 20 acre wood just outside of Bowling Green.  Got the roof rafters and a couple of pieces of roof sheathing on yesterday.  Bought the sheets of siding this morning and got it installed on 3 sides today.  Going to get a few hours in on it tomorrow before we leave for MO. location.  Pictures to follow at a later date.

[Ed Kennell 37,988]

11 hours ago, 8ntruck said:

 that cave is very similar to Lost River Cave in Bowling Green Ky.

And our Penns Cave. in central Pa.

[c-series don 8,650]

Today to enjoy this beautiful weather we have been having, my wife and I oh and Lucy took a ride on the beach. We met up with our daughter, son in law and granddaughter. The past few days have been absolutely perfect weather wise. 

[Mickwhitt 4,578]

Pretty bad few days for me of late,  stinking case of covid is the least of my woes.

On Friday I had to break in to a friend's fathers house as they were co corned about his welfare. He was on the floor after a fall and he died in hospital last night due to spending hours in a cold room etc. 

Then I get a blood result from all the tests I'd been having that means I've been referred to cancer treatment at hospital. It's very early days to say if there's anything wrong or not, but getting letters from the oncology department sure makes your gut tighten.

Apologies to admin for the political posts, I guess I was distracted somewhat. 

Mick. 

[ebinmaine 67,188]

@Mickwhitt

Keep ya strength up mister. 

[Lee1977 6,632]

On 10/21/2024 at 12:26 PM, 19richie66 said:

Actually started on the walls yesterday. Run out of steam 

I see you put double doors on it. You can still get a couple of Wheel Horses in there.

[Mickwhitt 4,578]

Halloween,  spenthe day at the community garden where we held a kids party as it was going dark. They seemed to enjoy running round dressed as ghosts etc.

Bit freaky to see some kids wielding large plastic knives with all the news stories about stabbings Over here,you'd think parents might have a bit more sense.

Plus we never did trick or treat when I was young, we caught that from you guys. But our yoofs got the wrong idea, they knock on your door and if you don't give them a treat they put your windows through as a trick. 

 

[8ntruck 6,975]

. When I was young, some would soap windows, or egg houses for lack of treats.

[ML3 1,172]

On 10/21/2024 at 8:55 AM, 19richie66 said:

Building the she shed……

Nice she shed. When we moved bout 3yrs ago & decided to downsize (best decision we ever made!) I promised my girlfriend I would have a she shed built for her. Ran electric,  insulated it, has heat, tv, etc. 

 

Next year plan to add a patio off the right side with a pergola, bar, & and outdoor fireplace.  

Edited November 1 by ML3

[Oldskool 6,640]

@ebinmaine @wallfish

 

I haven't been on here much in the last.....well for quite a while now.

 

I picked up a new hobby/side gig.

Metal sculpturing and junk art.

It's been a fun road traveled.

It's made alot of people happy including myself.

It's mostly simple things but some bigger and intricate pieces mixed in.

So far I have pieces from Maine to Florida and out to Colorado.Even have one here as a mascot for a local brewery.

Here are a few I've made this year.

[ebinmaine 67,188]

@Oldskool

Wonderful stuff man!

[SylvanLakeWH 25,466]

Wow nice!!!