Trailer Deconstruction

While working on the deconstruction of the rotted wood portion of my camping trailer ... I hit a 2" x 4" board with my Thor hammer, it split in half, and the left side flipped up and smacked me in the forehead.  Dang!  Apply immediate pressure to stop the bleeding.  Go up to the shop and wash it off at the faucet.  Don't want my wife to see me walk in with a bloody forehead ... it would scare her ... she'd give me heck about it.  As in what kind of dangerous things are you doing now?  Why aren't you being more careful?  You shouldn't be doing that ... that's what saws are for.  You aren't a spry young man anymore.  ETC.  So there was just a red-mark and a scratch when I went inside.  I told her that I just bumped it.  I got away with it much better than if it was bleeding all over the place.

See!  Nothing to it!

Talkin' about that little spot on the forehead ...

We are down to the metal frame ... and 4 piles of junk in the yard.  2 of those go to the landfill, the other 2 are sold to the scrap yard.  Definitely making progress.

Foggy Night

The rain from last night and this morning is gone.

In it's place, this evening we have LOTS of fog.

Enjoy the eerie photos.  (most of them weren't usable)

looking south on the main road.

a house all lit up.

a pecan grove.

Laptop Tinkerer

My neighbor, Daniel, decided he was going to fix his laptop.

He is now at the "Do you think I can epoxy it back together?" stage.

Something Wild in the Bushes

A "Wild Thing" kitty in the bushes this after noon.

Tonight it all turned into a solid rain shower.

iPod Touch 4th Gen.

I'd love to have one of these ...

maybe next pay year.

A Buzzard Kind of Day

These are not crows ...

they are turkey buzzards 

sitting out the rainy drizzle.

I thought they would look kinda cool as sepia silhouettes. 

That was at camp this morning.  Then I dropped the kids off and visited Lowe's for a new door knob set ... one bedroom had the old porcelain knobs ... except one knob was missing on the inside of the room (and no replacements that I found would work), and it wouldn't latch.  Had to do some adjusting, but got it installed and working.  Took some fotos inside a small house.  And shared some smoked "Boston Butt" with with Bill Murry ... He was home alone eating left-overs (while his wife worked a 12-hr shift at H&R Block).  Still drizzling tonight.

Magus

Nope, I'm not welding up one of these things.

I do find them fascinating and wonder what was going through the artist's mind when he was adding parts and pieces to them.

So, the "Magician"

Frontal view -- sorry I cut off the right hand.

Back view

Look what is hidden under the back ...

a HUGE engraved spoon.

the artist picked the spoon up in New York City

and put it on there in memory of the guys on TV that rub the handle of a spoon and use their "mental powers" to cause it to bend and curl.

a strange little pagoda

prestidigitation - the right hand

back view taken with flash

left-side view taken with flash

left-side view without flash

quartering view -- no hands

(city key in background)

Time for Sheila T. to take another art welding class ...

For Sheila T.

Some better fotos of those sculpture things ...

Notice the two pillars at the entrance to the cemetary.

What do the doo-dads on the pillars stand for?

There are two key elements here ...

symbols of what?

(and we ain't talking about the bricks)

the "City Key"

only $12,000

backside of the top of the key ...

notice the eyes, eyeglasses, fish, etc.

I'll have to ask why he put those there.

Another of his numerous heads.

bird taking off into flight.

I really like this particular head sculpture.

(even without the ears)

While Walking the Dogs

Just a few observations while I was out walking the dogs this morning.

My rearview mirror.

BEAUTIFUL Ice crystals on the car windows.

There are Blue Jays, Redbirds, and Robins here for the winter ...

The only birds I could get a good photo of were - crows.

(and even this photo isn't all that great)

just a quick shot before they took flight.

These are on some tree.  I don't see birds eating them.

I wonder what they are.

My neighbor hit this with his fist.

No cracking -- 3-4 inches thick?

His hand hurt.

Beautiful sunny day.

cold.

For the winter stove ...

Noon-Time Photos

 

The poinsettia & white mums aren't doing too good outdoors.  

I think it has something to do with the weather ...

it was between 18-20 degrees F this morning.

And it's almost up to 40 degrees at noon. 

 

This is Ice imprisoning leaves and pine needles 

That's in the puppy pool outside today ... brrr
Did I mention that it is Noon? 

$10 fix for Ikea Chair

$10 Rocker from Salvation Army Thrift Store.

Scraping Ice -- a Touch of Winter

I had to scrape ice on my windshield and my rear window.

Even had to run the defrosters for awhile 

to keep them from fogging up again.

Such hardship!!

:-p

A few more Fotos

This foto does not do this justice ... phone camera.

You really have to walk around and look at all the things incorporated in this sculpture to understand it.  The artist calls it "Magus" (magician)

This is a simple line-up of sculptures going back to his shop.

Bitter cold wind blowing in today ...

Had to put the blankets on the doggies to take them for a walk.

Fotos of the Day

Brian made this little shack on a trailer from mostly scrounged materials, 

so he could use his cooker/smoker to make & sell BBQ.

The Health Dept. said he has to have 4 different stainless steel sinks (one for washing, one for rinsing, one for sterilizing with bleach, and one for something else) ... along with 2 separate sanitary food preparation surfaces.  That's all in the shack.  You'll find him out at the cooker or sitting in the rocker on the porch.

The chicken (made from chrome bumper parts) is still there.

Old style housing ... complete with chairs on the porch 

and a window A/C unit.  :)

You do notice how as this is winter-time.  

All the pecan trees without leaves and such ...

and rain on the ground ... 

while the daytime temperature hovers between 50 - 65 degrees.

Time to put them thick warm jackets on.

Yep ... definitely winter.

Fixin' to be plantin' time in another month.

Dance of the Scorpion

There is this welder/sculptor that I went to visit.  

It was fun talking about his abstract works, how and why he put various things in the piece.  I also took him some bicycle parts for his use (I'm trying to cut down on my bicycle scrap pile ... to make my landlord's mother happy).

Anyway, the artist/welder calls this piece:

"Dance of the Scorpion"

It only weighs about a ton ... he's looking for someone with a heavy-duty forklift to move it once he gets done polishing it up and putting a clear coat on it.

In case Sheila T is wondering, that brown on the the lower right flat panel is not rust.  It is actually shades of brown crayon with some red crayon and streaks of light blue crayon ... then he puts on black ink ... and finally buffs it with soft cloth gloves.  Lastly he covers it with a clear coat to preserve it.

Just think what fun things you could make and put in your living room.

Ron = artist/welder

Attire for WalMart

I get this kind of flack over going to WalMart vs. Dollar General

Or maybe it is just over whatever I'm wearing on any given day

... except church.