Good Morning All. Clear and 76°. Nothing new on the weather scene. High today in the mid-90's, that's 35°C for some of you.
Busy day yesterday as I spent the morning canning the first major harvesting of the Green Beans. I had 9 pints total, but only 8 jars fit in my pressure canner so the 9th went for supper.
All 8 were successfully sealed. The rings will be removed this morning and into the cabinet they will go.. I'll wait until tomorrow to do the Tomatoes while I catch up on mowing today.
Other activities yesterday included unloading and setting up the battery powered push mower that I bought Thursday. Worked well as expected. First use was around the garden itself where I cannot get into with the tractor-mower. I only have a 40" aisle between the fence and garden itself. The garden location itself is still a temporary location while I wait out the Fusarium wilt, that unfortunately infected the old location. It presumably came in on infected plants and I have to wait five years for the soil to disinfect itself. The old location was successful for 39 years, although signs of the fungus wilt started to show up around year 36. My main issue with the current location besides cramped quarters, is that Bermuda Grass is encroaching on two sides. I expect to restart using the old location next Spring, starting with veggies that aren't affected by the wilt.
Out in the train shed yesterday, I mostly switched out cars at a lot of industries. I sent a local to Charlottesville and switched out 5 of the 7 industries there. Then I ran a few manifest freights from layout end to the other end, then made another local run to Vernon. There I switched out all 7 industrial locations there. Before departing for the pool, I made up another local for Rycon Township with loads or empties for all 5 industries there. Those will be switched next.
I'm still contemplating my next project on the layout. It will be a mini-scene that will make use of the contents of a pair of identical sprues from two different Preiser kits of 120 unpainted figures that I purchased 20+ years ago. Here's a sneak preview of what I already started.
These need paint next after I find some pictures to determine the right colors. While I have an idea of how they will be utilized, I haven't determined the exact location of the upcoming mini-scene yet.
Marlin - Hope that the fires don't affect you. I am envisioning the scope of them by comparing the size to the 4,500 acre farm/ranch across the road from me. That man's plot of land is about 3.5 miles x 2 miles.
Terry - Good news for you. I always hated layoffs at work, but for a different reason. I was the one who had to tell the individual workers that we didn't need them any more. I saw a lot of crying. Later on during my last 7-8 years with the company, that responsibility was transferred to HR. I distinctly remember one older lady in her late 60's who went back to her work area and picked up a purse full of scrap aluminum to take home. I looked the other way.
Deacon - Congratulations on 41 years. We will hit 53 in September. Seems like only yesterday!
David - Enjoy the trip. Don't get carried away by the Scottish lassies.
Everyone have a great Saturday and a wonderful weekend.
