What R you doing today?

[winemaker81]

This is NOT my time for grilling/smoking anything!!!

I opened the smoker to fill the charcoal tray ... only to find a very active wasp nest hanging off the side, with several wasps on it!!!

Got out the wasp spray, managed to get the smoker door back open with a sand separator (beach tool, round screen for shaking sand off items picked up on the beach), and sprayed the nest well. Waited 20 minutes, still 2 wasps buzzing around. In a lull period I pulled the tray out with said tool, scraping the nest off. Used the sand tool to pick up the nest and fling it.

Now I'm waiting to see if the wasps return.

Dinner may be a bit later than planned ...

 

[Ohio Bob]

Now I'm waiting to see if the wasps return.

Where’s the fun in that? I would have lit a fire and watch the fun ensue!

I carry an epipen too. Maybe I wouldn’t do that after all.

 

[winemaker81]

Where’s the fun in that? I would have lit a fire and watch the fun ensue!

I carry an epipen too. Maybe I wouldn’t do that after all.

One landed and I got him with spray. The other finally gave up, and the charcoal is burning.

 

[winemaker81]

At 4 PM I checked the temperature on the smaller bird (5 lbs), and it was lower than desired. So ... I put a disposable aluminum pan on the gas grill, filled it half way with boiling water, put a rack on top, and put the bird on it. All 5 burners on low produces just under 350 F. 35 minutes later the bird was up to temp. 45 minutes later the larger bird (6 lbs) was done (it got the same treatment). Success all around!

 

[Ohio Bob]

Success all around!

And no one got stung! Win!

 

[Kraffty]

Cleared the back deck of chairs, tables, BBQs and outdoor play stuff this morning before it got too hot. We have a crew starting demo on it tomorrow morning. Switching from the wood planking to Trex. They're using the existing support frame, just adding a joist between each existing one so that they're 12" on center per Trex requirements. We're also expanding the far end an additional 10 feet so new finished size will be 50'x10'. The new section won't be covered so we can put some plants in that section and also thinking of making an outdoor kitchen in part of it.

 

[Old Corker]

At 4 PM I checked the temperature on the smaller bird (5 lbs), and it was lower than desired. So ... I put a disposable aluminum pan on the gas grill, filled it half way with boiling water, put a rack on top, and put the bird on it. All 5 burners on low produces just under 350 F. 35 minutes later the bird was up to temp. 45 minutes later the larger bird (6 lbs) was done (it got the same treatment). Success all around!

I thought about getting a rotisserie when I bought my gas grill. Opted not to but don’t remember why. I cooked a 5.5lb chicken on it on Friday using indirect heat and multiple probes with Bluetooth monitoring. Added smoke via a smoke box. I was amazed at how easy it was and how good it came out. Only did one bird tho.

 

[Kraffty]

The contractor showed up on time and stripped the surface of the deck and removed the railing. Started at 7ish and were gone by about 12:00. I have to assume that since we're under a heat warning that started 3 days ago and will last until tomorrow night they'll be working short days. 113 to day and 111 tomorrow. Still I'm happy with the start. I chose to do the painting myself so I'll buy paint tomorrow and start painting the joists tomorrow after they finish for the day. BUT, just to make things more interesting, when we got back into the house after lunch our AC had stopped putting our cold air. Waiting on the technician right now. House is over 90 but down here in my winery/cellar/studio area it's a very bearable 78.

when we walked

 

[winemaker81]

Yesterday afternoon my wife & I were at one of the few remaining malls in our area. A storm passed over, a veritable cloudburst. When the rain lighted to a mere downpour, we ran for the vehicle. As my dad always said, we would only get soaked as far as the skin.

About a mile down the road lightning hit a tree about 100' to our right. WOW!!! We think we heard the thunderclap a split second before the strike.

Yeah, this was probably an illusion, but we both jumped in our seats. WOW! That was scary.

I saw the bolt hit out of the corner of my eye. WOW! (that's my third in this post. Anyone who has experienced a lightning strike up close understands. However, I don't recommend pursuing the experience!)

The odd finale was that we drove completely out of the storm in another 200 yards

 

[Kraffty]

Sharing an expensive tip that my contractor, his workers or I have never considered. When working above an Air Conditioner coil/fan unit take care to keep objects smaller than the grate on top from dropping into the unit. A single deck screw fell, hit the rotating fan, pierced it slightly but enough to launch it straight sideways, puncture the coil and drain the entire system of coolant. The coil has to be replaced at a cost of approx $1800.00 but probably can't be done before next tuesday, a week from now. In the mean time I bought two 5000btu portables so at least we can sleep at night and my wife's office can be comfortable.

Today the materials were delivered. They cut the stucco, very cleanly I thought, added the hangers and pored the footing for the extension. Temp down to 110 so they went home at 1:00 again but should be able to hang the all new joists tomorrow. My goal is to paint all 50 joists tomorrow so that they can start laying the composite boards thursday. So far they're staying on track and hopefully (probably over-hopeful) they wrap up by end of week.

 

[ibglowin]

Mike you may want to reach out to your insurance company. They may cover the damage to the AC by your contractors negligence. The insurance company may then try and recover the damages from the contractors insurance company.

https://www.allstate.com/resources/...tractor's insurance company for reimbursement.

Sharing an expensive tip that my contractor, his workers or I have never considered. When working above an Air Conditioner coil/fan unit take care to keep objects smaller than the grate on top from dropping into the unit. A single deck screw fell, hit the rotating fan, pierced it slightly but enough to launch it straight sideways, puncture the coil and drain the entire system of coolant. The coil has to be replaced at a cost of approx $1800.00 but probably can't be done before next tuesday, a week from now. In the mean time I bought two 5000btu portables so at least we can sleep at night and my wife's office can be comfortable.

Today the materials were delivered. They cut the stucco, very cleanly I thought, added the hangers and pored the footing for the extension. Temp down to 110 so they went home at 1:00 again but should be able to hang the all new joists tomorrow. My goal is to paint all 50 joists tomorrow so that they can start laying the composite boards thursday. So far they're staying on track and hopefully (probably over-hopeful) they wrap up by end of week.
View attachment 113917View attachment 113918View attachment 113919

 

[Kraffty]

Thanks for the suggestion, I realized I didn’t think to mention that the contractor brought in the AC guy and is covering all costs. Guess I got the one fair guy in the state by dumb luck.

 

[Kraffty]

Over the weekend my goal was to paint all the joists, beams and posts. I started each day at about 6:00 and worked to about Noon. Temps reached 108 each day, maybe 103 about noon when I quit. AC unit was replaced Friday so Saturday we moved back out of our motorhome and into the house. The contractor is estimating another 3 days till they wrap up, fingers crossed. Can't believe how sore my arms and shoulders are but I think my work is done at this point.

 

[Hazelemere]

finished pitting wild black cherries between thumb and finger one at a time. A pitter doesn't work because the cherries are too small. Anyway the job is done so they are in the freezer waiting for wild blackberries and dried elderberries e.g. 35 bottles from 11 lb pitted cherries, 22 lb wild black berries and 1 lb dried elderberries. Some of this will get mixed with raspberry wine with chambord liqueur top up after RC21/71B ferment. I'm still picking late season raspberries (the least acidic) every 2 days for the freezer to make Framboise 2024.

 

[Old Corker]

Put up 60 bottles today. Filtered, cleaned bottles, filled and corked by myself.

 

[Kraffty]

They finished laying down the Trex except for some of the edges. Tomorrow they plan to put the railings back up and build a new staircase. Very close to being complete and I'm following the weather reports and planning what to BBQ over the weekend.

 

[Rocky]

Our stock was "danger low" so my Bride and I did some bottling: 12 gallons of our Zinfandel/Muscat blend, 5 gallons of Zinfandel, 12 gallons of Merlot. All of these wines had been in bulk aging for at least 2 years and their taste was very satisfying. We still have 20 gallons of whites and 28 gallons of red to go. On deck, I have several kits (5), four of which are red and one white. I am just a little nervous about starting them and drawing in the fruit flies.

 

[BigDaveK]

That reminds me ... we finally got our rotten fence replaced last month and now that it's completed, I can plant some black raspberry bushes! I wanted to wait so things wouldn't get trampled.

Bramble multiply like crazy and you'll have a boatload in no time. Last year I harvested 6.6 lbs of black raspberries and made an absolutely delicious wine. This year my haul was 30.2 lbs! VERY happy!

 

[bstnh1]

Our stock was "danger low" so my Bride and I did some bottling: 12 gallons of our Zinfandel/Muscat blend, 5 gallons of Zinfandel, 12 gallons of Merlot. All of these wines had been in bulk aging for at least 2 years and their taste was very satisfying. We still have 20 gallons of whites and 28 gallons of red to go. On deck, I have several kits (5), four of which are red and one white. I am just a little nervous about starting them and drawing in the fruit flies.

If my math is right, you should wind up with about 400 bottles. That should be enough to carry you through the weekend.

 

[Rocky]

A little lighter day today. We bottled 6 gallons of Petit Syrah, 6.5 gallons of Super Tuscan.