Saw Horse

Found a good way to recycle some old rattle cans and add some finishing touches to a saw horse. I built this in anticipation of a long, cold winter which has not yet materialized. It's way too early to comment on anything except the past few months where we enjoyed clear weather, even here in Happy Valley where there are few VFR days in any given year.

Our house includes a wood stove which is very efficient and capable of burning for more than eight hours on a full firebox. It's a Lopi Leyden and has been keeping us warm for many years. To achieve an overnight burn it's necessary to have filled the firebox with large and long lengths of cured oak logs. Some of the success is due to a proper length of log - not too short to encourage a rapid burn but not too long to not fit in at the top of the fire box, as the Leyden is a top-loader.

While it's not a big deal to get up at four o'clock to stoke the stove, it's more of a contest to develop a complete understanding of operating the Leyden and knowing its performance envelope. All of this less than necessary detail is merely a build up to even further details on the support and planning that goes into a successful wood stove season.

When log lengths vary and are too long to fit into a nearly full firebox, then the burn time is reduced. It's a matter of a few inches over the desired length of 20" and it's not something to which the guy who cuts, splits and delivers oak gives much concern. He asks how long and I say twenty inches. I've been very satisfied with his efforts, reliability and friendly manner. No complaints whatsoever. This post is about tuning. Actually, this post is because some things pique my interest and in the winter the larger catalog of things that do so seems to narrow and a bit too much. That's why you are reading this and why my house stays warm in the winter and why I am seldom up before 6 a.m., at least for the purpose of stoking the wood stove.

I can't do anything about too-short logs but I can modify those that are too-long. Having a surplus of scrap 2x4's and a wonderful friend who has a knockout of a wood shop, complete with several dozen saws, a professional table saw and more other wood working stuff that I can begin to describe, led me to a new creation.

Check it out:

 






Happy Holidays!

Greek Pasta Salad

1 - box bowtie pasta (Farfalle)
1 - medium red onion (diced fine)
1 - jar green olives
1 - can small or medium size pitted black olives
1/2 c grated carrot
1/2 c chopped celery
1 - bag baby spinach (remove stems)
cherry tomatoes
1/4 c chopped chives (if you don't have them, fine without)
1 - pkg feta cheese (calls for the herb feta but I have always used traditional feta)

Dress with Greek salad dressing. I use half "Gazebo Room Lite" and the Weis or Ken's Greek dressing.

Mix well; sometimes best made day before.

Phoenix to Sedona on Gold Wings

Here are some pictures from our recent trip from Phoenix to Sedona and around the North Central Arizona area.

Shed Project

Here are shed building photos from last summer and new photos from this winter. The shed is 16x20 and will be a welcomed addition to storage capacity as well as a place to brew beer, etc..









































Thanks to Connie, Dave, Tyler, Dylan, neighbor Mark and others who made this huge effort happen.