Good Morning All. Clear and 71° here. The Weather Underground station around the corner is still on the fritz, but it is no longer -40°F.
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But it's not 95° feeling like 160°. The weather here will generally be around 105° for the next 9 days, and then possibly rain and 97°. Think of it, rain with a temperature of 97°. We might get some of
Hughie or
Terry's humidity.
Well, it was actually pleasant enough yesterday morning to get some stuff done outdoors. Besides the usual pool maintenance, I was able to retrieve some fallen smaller branches from a few trees around the yard. I used the weedeater around the perimeter of the house, then came in to empty the dishwasher. While all of this was going on,I had a Chuck Roast in the slow cooker with some home-grown carrots and onions for supper. It was a Nolan Ryan brand Angus Beef chuck roast...very tasty. It's too bad that his beef brand is not available to you guys outside the state of Texas.
Frustrating day out in the train shed yesterday. I chose to fix a problem on the R.J. Frost Ice & Storage building. I don't know if I caused this or not. I know better than to apply decals to bare plastic and I am sure that I dull coated the structure first. But the main large decal has been peeling off in places for years, despite my efforts with Solve A Set and dull coat to fix. However parts of the decal would not come off. Here is where I started after going over the whole thing with a stiff toothbrush.
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These remaining parts just wouldn't come off. I thought about applying the new one over it, there were two in the original kit and I only used one on the front side, but I decided to remove it all together. What to use??? Water didn't work. Neither did 99% IPA, mineral spirits or Solve-A_Set. Some worked partially. I knew that Acetone would do it, but I was concerned that it would "craze" the underlying plastic. I did use it in the recessed corners with limited success. So I ended up using a single-edge razor blade and an Exacto with a #18 blade to scrape it off. Mostly successful but with a few shallow gashes underneath.
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Of course I broke off two canopy supports in the process!
The one in the middle came off in one piece and will be easier to fix than the one on the right that broke into three pieces. I thoroughly sprayed Dull Coat over the surface and left it to dry overnight. Applying the decal will be tricky, as it is over 8" long, and it is at least 25 years old. I will cut it in pieces this time and apply separately.
There's a trick to keep it from disintegrating when I use it, but I honestly don't remember what it is.
Help anyone! Is it over-spraying with Dull Coat or something similar?
Louis -
I can remember the energy crisis from 50 years ago; but I can also remember this country being self-sufficient in energy just 3-5 years ago. What do you think happened?
Steve - While I haven't read that book by Jeff Wilson, everything that I ever read by him was very good.
Guy - That is a pretty old caboose from Athearn, well before they started improving the paint and details. Still a good one, probably 20% of my rolling stock is from them in that box.
Troy - Great looking chili. It looks like something that I make. I have a friend who participates in chili cook-offs for big bucks. She once won $10K in Las Vegas. The rules in Texas Chili Cook Offs don't allow any solids in the chili except meat. All seasoning must be powdered. I think that it takes away from the character of the chili.
Peppers and other veggies grown in containers need some real soil or manure in the mix with potting soil. Plus it must be fresh every year. Potting soil alone will work if the proper nutrients are added, Miracle-Grow is a non-organic fertilizer. Honestly, those containers appear to be too small for any real successful veggie growing. The root system of vegetable plants is equivalent in volume to the top growth. Blood meal will not supply calcium, bone meal will. Besides a lack of calcium, uneven watering, either too much or too little will contribute to blossom end rot. It's probably too late in the season to add calcium right now, as it is slow being absorbed into the soil.
Tom O - While I think that all lottery tickets are a waste of money, a single ticket to you or I will not keep food off either of our tables.
Joe - There are several other tricks to deterring deer that you might try. Metal wind chimes will work until they get used to them, use them for about a week and change to hanging shiny pie plates just below head height for a week or so. Then use wooden wind chimes (different noise) for another week followed by an old AM radio on a talk station. Rotate all of these around randomly and see if it helps.There are also more expensive options involving speakers and animal noises (dogs, coyotes etc) interspersed with other noises like bells, whistles and the like. I'd try the first options before investing in some expensive electronic devices, which might disturb neighbors.
Everybody have a great day.
