Running Bear's September 2020 Coffee Shop


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Welp... Apple butter is done for the year. Wife's regret was two-fold.
- Selling off her old canning pot and tools in the pre-move garage sale 4 years ago
- not going to local orchard for thicker apples. The grocery ones were very juicy, but not strong in pulp. The yield in half-pints was a couple less than expected.

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Don't worry Sherrel, I told the wife that I'd eat your share. We only got 7 half-pints out of one batch. Was expecting 9 or 10. We only had 9 jars, so we'll count that as a minor victory.

But, how does on do the canning process, without the pot and tools for such?

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Well, our local supermarket had this: A large torilla steamer - with perforated rack in the bottom. The steamer plate in the bottom is removable and got nudged by bubbles during boiling and went cattywumpus. We could get all the jars in, though.

Getting them in and out was a challenge without the jar tongs... Fortunately, I purchased the really big channel locks. Someone once told me they are a great gift. Because when you need them, you REALLY need them.

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I also made a magnetic lid lifter rod out of some plastic rod and a rare earth magnet. Even put some of the handyman's secret weapon around the handle-end. So I didn't grab the hot end by accident. You'll need to use your imagination since I didn't take a pic of it.
 
WILLIE - Question? What's that dry ice cost and where do you get it? I never bought or needed any - just curios?
Good luck on getting the new freezer in the house and setup.
Dry ice costs me $1.48/lb. plus tax. I get it at the grocery store. My local Kroger carried it up until about a month ago! I have now been getting it at a grocery chain called WinCo, which is actually about five miles closer to me. I have spent almost $400 on it since the freezer went out last week. Still cost me less than throwing out several hundred pounds of meat, homemade bread, frozen veggies from the garden, and assorted desserts. Plain ice would only keep stuff at 32° and produces a LOT of water as it melts. The dry ice will keep things colder and sublimates directly into CO2. Just don't take a big breath when you open the freezer door!:(
EDIT: We will find stuff that we no longer want or need when we re-stock the new freezer!:mad:
 
Good afternoon all. So far so good. 5.6" in the old rain gauge for 24 hours. A few communities closer to Houston have gotten 14+ inches. That's enough to put water into homes, which it did per the news outlets.
I did manage a 2 hour operating session yesterday. Since my current layout is a single track main, I set a freight running the main, and then switch the industries around the mainline freight. It does get interesting sometimes, trying to get a small consist off the main before the freight comes by.

STAY SAFE
 
Good afternoon from the model tree center of Verona, Wi. I started to finish off the trees to plant when I found the QC inspector either did it with the lights off or can’t remember what colors branches are. Other then that it’s a great weather day, the 2 mile walk was brisk and my lab results from Monday were fine. Great pictures and decent stories on these pages. I still can’t believe the numbers of a responses a question/pictures/stories on this forum gets without going off the rails. Pictures of my 2nd QC failed inspection after branches (coca fiber on this tree) and super leaves added. I noticed the bright gray branches AFTER I added the fiber and leaves. Of course I was out of the right color last night, so I watched the hockey game. I will be heading to pickup the grandson for hockey practice and will stop at the Local Hardware store for camo brown spray bomb. I am taking the spray bomb shortcut instead of mixing up the air brush. Have a great balance of the day. TomO

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Afternoon All,

Ran errands this morning including the LHS where I found 3 bags of the bushes I had been looking for. Later I put down ground cover in the back corner (what a p.i.t.a. that was). That has to dry overnight and hopefully I'll get bushes on it tomorrow and possibly some trees. Today was the first day that I did not need a nap which means chronic tiredness was a reaction to the night time medication I was taking. Last night I didn't take it.

Jerry- Any progress is progress.

Willie- Nice job on the backdrop.

Guy- Nice CN loco.

Joe- Nice pictures.

Justin- Nice C&O loco.

Alan- Great photo. I didn't realize there was that much difference in size.

TomO- Nice looking tree.

I hope everyone has a good night.
 
Good luck on getting the new freezer in the house and setup.
Thanks Sherrel. Delivery window was 1:30 to 5:30, but they showed up about 2:45. Successfully got it in and running and the old one hauled off. Supposed to wait four hours before adding items, but the internal temperature went from 75° when first plugged in to 35° in less than an hour. Yes I know that it helps not to open the door at this time, but I couldn't stand the wait. So I put some very solidly frozen hunks of meat in there to assist the cooling down process.
 
Well it the first day of Autumn in the books today after work I try to walk as much as possible to help the Arthritis in my hips and legs I noticed some more Golden Rod Flowers on the place than last year. Also the Persimmons we’re starting to drop. I picked the last of my tomatoes today also. Fall is here and I’m glad I hate Summer. Here’s some pics I took today. Have a good night Everyone.
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Good evening gang!
Work was H-E double toothpics today, was too busy to follow the coffeeshop today, BUT there was a package waiting for me when I got home! ;)
Ain't she a beaut!
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I've got a picture around here of the real thing with 2 of my boys (now 30 + 31) standing on the footboards of the prototype at the B&O museum. Ran it for a bit tonight, it's perfect!
 
Good Evening gents. 1st day of a new season and my "tender" and I are celebrating 47 years together in Cambria, Ca. I took some pics today at the San Luis Obispo, CA train depot/museum, the museum that has the model railroad was closed,(guess why). I will post a few pics when we get home in a couple days.
 
Greetings from Oregon's high desert country. An even 50 degrees, calm wind. Mid seventies expected for the high today.
Willie...yes thanks, there is progress on the fire situation, as no new ones have been started, the on-going ones are being contained and with the lower night time temps, that raises the humidity to help things out. Authorities are allowing people back into the Phoenix-Talent area to pick up what pieces are left. 😢
Good luck with the new freezer!
It's made with a 1x4 frame, with is bowing as it dries
Mcleod...When I built this bench work, I went ahead and got the----what Home D-pot calls---"select" 1x4 lumber. No knots, kiln dried. Don't recall the price off hand. I just wanted wood that the chances of warping was minimal. Also when I put the wall up to divide the shop for the train room, I had the entire building insulated, ceiling, walls, including the inside wall, with an insulated metal walk thru door into the train room. You can see the little stand-up heater I have in the room, I keep it set at 65.
The new layout build I am seriously considering metal framing for bench work support.
Jerry- Any progress is progress.
Curt...lol, it did feel pretty good just to get the place vacuumed after months of mess.

Here's a fallen flag a long way from home......
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Everybody have a safe day!
 
Morning... ugh.,, Redeye coffee Flo

Had one of those Awake at 3 to pee and couldn't get back to sleep. At 4:30 gave up, sat in my recliner until I was endlessly refreshing Facebook and this forum. Tilted the chair back and got another hour of sleep.

Glad to see Willie's freezer issues are resolved. Reading that in my semi-sleepy state made me curious where they stock dry ice in the grocery? is it back by the milk? or do you need to find "that guy" ... you know... probably Vinny. Since it's no handshake social distancing, you need to wear a ball cap backward, have one pant leg rolled up to show your sock, and flash him the surfer hang loose hand gesture. Only then does he take you into the back and ask "How many bodies you ... er... how many pounds you need?"

Didn't do squat on the layout last night. Part of that is because I'm starting to see where terrain features should go. Need to cut some foam away from what is glued down. But how much?

Wife wanted to make apple crisp, so I got the apple torture device out. Impaled them, skinned them, and rotated them into spiral chunks. It was yummy with ice cream. All that after trying a new to us pizza place downtown in The Fort. They're next door to a parking garage and were able to take over a row of about ten angled parking spots just off their alley. Technically, it's open to anyone, not just their clients. So, we got to eat outside as we used to in La La Land. Even had a homeless dude in front of the restaurant asking for change, just like in LA.

Here's their cool alley:
(well, a cool mural and some paper lanterns over string lights)
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Morning all,

Time for coffee this morning and a large pecan roll.

Supposed to begin clearing off later today, but not much precip in those clouds the past 2 days. Supposed to be summerlike over the weekend.

Not much going on yet this morning. Yesterday it was quiet until I fired up one of our new host servers. It's in my office instead of the server rack until I can get it configured. I finally powered it back down when I realized I wasn't going to be able to play with it and didn't need the noise. I'm afraid to fire it back up this morning. I don't know what I did to Murphy, but he bites. 🤣
 
Good Morning all 52 degrees in the Ozark Foothills. Flo. Coffee and a English Muffin

Troy. The Apple Butter looks good

Guy. Thanks for the complement the SD still looks good

Justin. Nice U Boat I think Athearns U Boats still are the best they did back in the day also

Willie. Glad the freezer dilemma is over

Here’s a few more pics of the Pig Yard. Enjoy your day
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Good morning y'all. A cooler than anticipated 48°, on the front porch this morning. It's going to be in the upper 70s later today.

Karl: That's a nice locomotive. I preferred the original Reading Co. flavor, but.. very nice indeed. I actually had to ride with it a few times, once under its own power. Damn, that was a long time ago. We still had engineers working, that were steam qualified.

I plan on spending more time working on the layout. Other than that...my calendar is open.

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Ex NYC Lima-Hamilton RS12 # 8062 with a draft under the overhang at Philadelphia's 30th Street Station on 10-25-1969. I don't recall if this one was re-powered with and EMD prime mover or not. Crew out of Race Street. My guess is #9 track, spotting a New York train.
 
Good Morning Everyone. Cloudy and 66°. Weatherwise yesterday was a somewhat miserable day for the first day of Fall. Temperature never got above 69° and it was overcast and near misty all day.
Quite a day yesterday with the new freezer being delivered. Spent the morning taking stuff out of the old one and putting it all in coolers and cardboard boxes with the dry ice remnants, and putting the boxes back into the freezer (kind of a very large cooler), for quick removal whenever the new one showed up. It actually came earlier than expected. When you're fifth (and last) on the delivery schedule out in the rural boonies, we normally expect to see them around 5:00. Efficient crew removed the back door, had the old one out and the new one in in less than fifteen minutes. Yes, I had to communicate with the crew in Spanish as their communication abilities "en Anglais" were rudimentary at best. Then I spent the rest of the afternoon monitoring the internal temperature and slowly filling it back up. It's at -5°F this morning. And I don't even have it set on "Super Cool". Afterwards I grilled chicken thighs and made Mexican corn for supper.

Did Troy bring in any doughnuts this morning Flo? No! OK then, I'll have one of Mel's apple fritters along with a handful of bacon.

Thanks to all who liked or commented on my landscape artistry yesterday; Sherrel, Justin, Guy, Joe, Phil, Garry, Patrick, Lee, Chad, Hughie, Curt, Tom, Tom O, Jerome, Ken, Karl, Jerry. And also many thanks for all who wished me luck with the freezer. It worked!

Due to other more important activities yesterday, I didn't get a lot of time in the train shed. But I did assemble the canopy on the diner.
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The all white support poles look just fine.
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I still need to finish painting the four bicycles that came with this kit.
Please note the misleading advertising on the kit box.
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Assembles in minutes might apply if you don't paint anything or embellish the detailing somewhat. I worked on it for over a week, but I only put in small time periods each day while waiting for paint or glue to dry.
Here is the next door business with sign, roof details and black paper view blocks inside.
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Guy - Those GP60B units, ATSF had 23 of them, were not robotically controlled. They were just cabless "B" units used with usually a pair of "A" units on either side. They're mostly still on the BNSF roster today.
Troy - Your wife did well. It's good to see others who do home canning. I'll trade stories with you next Spring. Get the can tongs, they're cheap and easier!
Hughie - Good to read that you were spared too much rain in your area. The weather geeks were forecasting much more for here than actually fell. Pretty much nothing, less than a tenth of an inch over two days.
Lee - Nice pictures last evening.
Dave - Congratulations on 47 years.
Chad, Troy and any others - Dry ice in the grocery stores is always kept in a cooler between the checkout stations and the entrance/exit door. It is not self-serve in any place that I have been. At the WinCo's that I have used, it's right at the self checkout register so they can bag and weigh it right on the spot. Handling it is tricky if you're not careful. The stores don't want that liability of customers getting their own and then traipsing through the store with it.

Everybody have an awesome day.
 
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