More Smiling Tulips and Friends

Here's a few more pics of the tulips and other flowers......

Here's a few more pics of the Sun Rays, tulips and other flowers......


Here's another shot of the sun and rays I poured recently. The concrete is stained with copperas and then sealed. Eventually the slab  will continue the full length of the shop and will have a tin roof following the roof line of the shop.

These are the two apple trees and the two peach trees we planted recently after I got the lilac bush removed and the old trees removed. I still have to mulch the area and finish up with some more plants.

Tulips, daffodils, and pinks on the edge of the drive.

Tulips on Humphrey Hill

Tulips on Humphrey Hill

Looking northwest at tulips on the hill

Looking southwest at the hill

Some really cool orange & yellow tulips

Looking north at the northern end of the tulip bed

A couple of patches of daffodils

Above three shots looking south at the north end of the tulip bed

This is where I moved the lilac bushes (in the front of the house). Purple one is the closest one and the far one is a white lilac. We separated the white one and ended up with 37 lilac bushes. I still have to separate the purple bush.

Above two pictures are Patsi's pansies.

Until next time....

Overthehump

The Sun is Shining and The Tulips are Smiling.......

It's been a couple of weeks since I posted any news. It's been hot here....a few days of 90+ degrees, and that's pretty hot for the first few weeks of spring, but it cooled off yesterday. I finished the sun and the rays a couple of weeks ago. We got them stained and sealed. I think it turned out pretty good.

Sorry about the lighting....not a great shot but the only one I have at the time.

The past couple of weeks I've been really busy trying to get our other back yard ready for planting. Before I could really do any work on it I had to cut the fence so I could get my tractor back there to dig up some stumps of the trees I had to cut down. Before you yell at me for cutting trees let me explain....two of them were elm tree shoots that came up off an old elm tree root that never quite died, one was a mulberry tree and I'm not talking about a fruitless mulberry. This thing made a big mess and we wanted to get rid of it before it got so large it would be really hard to cut it down. The other one was an old tree we'd cut down a few years ago but wouldn't die and it kept sprouting up suckers everywhere.

Below, that's me cutting the fence...

Big elm tree stump in the background is one I have to dig up.

Yep, I'm wearing a helmet. It was soooooo dusty and I've tried to wear dust masks, but that only makes my glasses fog up. So, I had the bright idea of wearing my helmet that I use when I ride my 4 wheeler. And yes, that is a wash rag on the bottom of my face shield. I put some velcro at the bottom and sewed the other half of the velcro onto the wash rag to act as a dust mask when I rode...and it worked great! Viola!!!! I could use it when I cut the fence, because that masonry blade creates lots of dust.

Got that chore out of the way, but before I could dig up the stumps in the back part of the yard, I had to dig up one of the huge elm stumps that we'd cut down years ago. It was right next to the fence and most of it was pretty rotten but the roots that were grown next to the fence were really hard to get loose. I finally got it loose and got the stump out without knocking the fence down. It's a good thing because we'd just had new neighbors move in next door. That would have been a bad introduction if I'd have knocked the fence over. LOL

It took me a few days to get the stumps removed because I went back to work in the meantime. A friend of mine has been really busy and he needed some help watching one of the rigs so I helped out. We only had 2 wells to work on at the moment so it was only for a couple of weeks. Maybe there'll be more later...who knows?

But I got the stumps out, worked the ground and got some corn planted. Plan on planting some beans later on. I even planted some more flowers and we have tomatoes, and herbs started.

Wow! Don't know if I got the tulips and daffodils at the peak bloom, but maybe the pictures will give you an idea of how pretty they are/were. They came up really great and bloomed fantastic. I think most of them came up. There might have been a few that didn't make it but not many.

I'm retired again, so now it's time to get back in the groove and start getting other things done. I think #1 on my list is to get the shop cleaned up and some of the small projects done in there and then get back onto the Streamline. I also want to get started on my 41 Chevy COE. I have to get these done so we'll have to to play with them before we get too old. LOL

So, it's back to work in the shop.............

Until next time............

Overthehump

2 More Rays & 2 Posts

It's been a few days (okay, maybe a couple of weeks) since I posted last. Been pretty busy trying to get the sun rays finished, waiting on nicer weather. Yep, it snowed and sleeted here for a couple of days, so we didn't do much but stay inside and keep warm and dry.

Last Thursday it was fairly nice and I was getting ready to set a couple of posts for the cover that I'll put over the concrete I've been working on. I had hauled the posts and was getting them positioned in the back yard when a helper angel showed up. Robert Salmon, a friend, that lives up the street stopped by to help me mix and pour some cement. Boy, he couldn't have picked a better day (at least for me!!). The weather wasn't so great because the wind was blowing pretty hard. But, he was definitely a great help. Don't know if I would have been able to do it by myself. A big Thank You to Robert.

Below you can see the posts and the 6' x 18" curb we poured out from the greenhouse.

These pictures were taken Sunday after our little bit of bad weather Friday & Saturday. I poured the third ray in the middle, which you can see is still wet. The posts will be the mid supports for the roof cover we plan on putting over the concrete slab. Still lots to do!

I prepped the rest of the area yesterday (Sunday) afternoon so I could pour another ray today.

Recipe for Concrete:

Forms ready, mixer in place, sand & gravel ready. Portland Cement. Mix ingredients and add water. Easy. 

Only problem they left out the labor part. I guess you'd say that's the hard part. But, gosh, it's been fun!

Got this ray on the ground. Only one more to go and this section will be finished as far as the concrete goes. The plan is to pour the last ray Thursday. In a couple of weeks after the concrete cures and is totally dry I'll stain the rays orange & red. You can see in the pictures above that I've been experimenting with the stain already. I've got the sun looking nearly the way I'd like it to look. Maybe I can get the rays to look right with the stains I have.

Next week I'll get busy on the inside of the shop and set the cabinets and more rearranging. Seems like the rearranging is a never ending job.

That's about all for now.

Until next time......

Overthehump

A Couple of New Rays

Well, it's been a busy few days which resulted in a couple of new rays. Below is the form for the 1st one I poured on the 28th. 

Everything nearly in place and ready to go. I used the wheel barrow to mix this ray. After I was through I realized I didn't get enough cement mixed in and it came out rather grainy.

Burning scrap wood.

Finished the pour. I think it took about 8 wheel barrow loads. I sort of lose count and in the big scheme of things I guess it really doesn't matter. LOL

We poured the second ray (in the past few days) this morning. Made sure I mixed more cement in with the mix today and it turned out much better in my view. I need to pour a curb extending out from the greenhouse and then I'll have three more rays to pour to finish this section of the slab.

I finally got the east side of the house ready for the apple and peach trees. I have the apple trees in the ground (below) and we're waiting on the peach trees. They should be in sometime next week (I think??)

 

Below is my brush pile from the trees and shrubs I removed. I ran the chipper the other day most of the afternoon. I made a dent in the pile but still have quite a bit left to chip.

It took most of the afternoon to get this small pile of mulch. It really makes you wonder if all the work is really worth it. 

This is Patsi's new planter for her pansies. A friend of ours was going to take the sink to the dump but we wanted it for a planter. With no plumbing to hold it together we had to glue the sink to the stand and then glue the stand to the cinder block tiles. She'll have it full of pansies in a day or so.

Here's some shots (above) of the flower bed on the south side of our drive to the shop. There are some daffodils coming up and I have some tulips planted in this spot also.

Above is some pics of the cabinets I finished a week or so ago. I haven't installed them yet but wanted to see how they would look in place. Maybe I'll be able to get them installed next week. These will sure help on getting rid of some of the clutter.

Gonna take a break tomorrow and head out to the mud races in Nadine. A friend of mine just rebuilt his Bronco for the mud races. He's ran it for the past few years. I've only been out there once and that weekend it was raining like it never rains in NM. I think that was the last good rain we've had....must have been a couple of years ago when I went. lol

Hopefully, it will be a nice day tomorrow.

Until next time.....

Overthehump