Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

A little more accomplished on the field mixing stucco station with ye olde cement mixer greased and installed so it can pour directly into the wheelbarrow.


I couldn't find a good sheet plastic to put under the old leaky tarps, so I used some very thin drop-cloth plastic.
I hope we keep getting rain and the weather protection gets tested. For now it is getting pretty hot outside and I really need to get after the soffet extension part of this gig.

See yas
B

Good Morning!
Wowowow! Where to begin? How about happiness?

Soffet-extension-coming-along-so-are-muscles-Aug-2018.jpg
Don't let anyone tell you short handled tools are hard on our bodies!
Okay, yesterday we received the results for my much anticipated food allergy tests!

Food-allergy-tests-Aug-2018.jpg
It looks like I wasn't wrong about dairy being a main culprit in triggering my immune system response. It looks like eggs are also causing trouble. The kicker is yeast, apparently I have a massive sensitivity to brewers and bakers yeast! No wonder switching from whole wheat bread to gluten free bread hasn't stopped the inflammation flare ups. In fact, it looks like I'm more allergic to whole wheat that the gluten component of wheat.
Everything in the column on the left is "no reaction!" Peanuts are pushing the boundary, but still, no reaction, hallelujah! I still need to curtail my munching, but that is such a relief. I was beginning to wonder if everything I liked was going to wind up torturing me.
Alright, so we need to learn to make unyeasted bread if I want to continue having toast in the morning.
Un-yeasted quick bread recipe https://bakerbettie.com/basic-quick-bread-recipe-sweet-or-savory/
Oh-crap-quick-non-yeast-bread-eggs-and-milk.jpg
Oh well we'll figure something out. Nell suggests biscuits and they are quick and easy. On the bright side we'll save a lot of money not needing to buy gluten free bread.
In the meantime back on the house project, things are moving along nicely.

Soffet-extension-coming-along-Aug-2018.jpg
Here are a couple photographs I shot at first light this morning, yeah I'm excited about this progress, lol!
Soffet-extension-coming-along-West-Aug-2018.jpg

Above you can see my version of hurricane hangers, using what I had available once I saw there wasn't anything holding the joists down to the header over the wall, whoops. If you guessed, antenna mounting hardware, you are correct.
I still need to box the inside edge in to match the addition side where instead of roof joists we created the better system of trusses. You can see one truss end on the right side by the building wrap paper which I pulled loose to get that last 2by4 installed. It feels pretty strong considering the overhang is really hanging there.
I may decide today to pull off a few pieces of tin and rearrange the sheathing above so there isn't a joint right there where the added on soffet is. I'll look at the weather as it was nice a cloudy this morning so I don't know. It sure would be sturdier with the top sheet of OSB tied in properly.

Soffet-extension-coming-along-North-West-Aug-2018.jpg
I'm having so much fun playing in my workshop it's making getting some projects finished taking longer than expected.
Yesterday when my daughter came for a visit I didn't hear her drive up because I had music blasting in the shop. I was busying myself organizing and don't laugh to loud, my collection of driver bits.

Driver-bits-collection-Aug-2018.jpg
Continued on next post
A few days ago it was all about organizing the drill bits which actually took a few days to sort.

Drillbits-shapers-collection-Aug-2018.jpg
Hehe and of course the stereo needed help too...

Stereo-needed-fan-replaced-too-super-important-distraction-Aug-2018.jpg
It's amazing I got anything else done right?
Spending four years searching for answers to my questions about what was happening to my body after being healthy all my life just about consumed me.
Now I have the first set of answers: I need to avoid yeast dairy and eggs. I can do that. The beauty is not only will I feel better, I'll have time to do the things I enjoy.
I like writing.
I hope you like reading me too.
Brian

A few days ago it was all about organizing the drill bits which actually took a few days to sort.

Drillbits-shapers-collection-Aug-2018.jpg
Hehe and of course the stereo needed help too...

Stereo-needed-fan-replaced-too-super-important-distraction-Aug-2018.jpg
It's amazing I got anything else done right?
Spending four years searching for answers to my questions about what was happening to my body after being healthy all my life just about consumed me.
Now I have the first set of answers: I need to avoid yeast dairy and eggs. I can do that. The beauty is not only will I feel better, I'll have time to do the things I enjoy.
I like writing.
I hope you like reading me too.
Brian

I hope you like reading me too.

Yep! Keep 'em coming.

Ye olde stereo seems to rock on all day until 5:00PM when it mysteriously shuts off That's also about the time the mosquitoes rally their hordes, so I don't know... Is it a sign?
It's funny cause at this point in this disease cycle or cure, either of which I never can tell, I really need a nap around 2:00PM, which is the hottest part of the day so that's fine, but soon after I get it together to go back to the project the stereo shuts down, the mosquitoes attack and now the damn sun starts over the Sangre de Christo mountains to the west. Oh well, it ain't perfect, but this is so much better than where I was physically and mentally three months ago. I'm nothing but happy!

If you have worked with tin roofs you know pulling the lower sheets off sounds easy, but it ain't; the upper pieces are on top of the lower I may get lucky and be able to remove some (read many) screws and slide the lower tin out from underneath. Then again I may spend more time screwing around trying to finagle them out and back in that it will be easier to remove them completely.

Before installing the inner block (shown as a 2x2 above) I decided to pull the last section of old OSB off as it was in the way of the 2x3 I was going to use. I'm glad I did, it also was weather damaged, although it hadn't gone so far as to let water seep through like the north side of this wall. I'll feel a lot better with a fresh board there.

I'll be working my way around the above corner to the right hopefully soon. Today I will pull the tin off the roof above the kitchen and rearrange the decking so it helps support the extended soffet. If that portion of the decking is installed with deck screws like I believe it is, I should be able to get cut a piece of OSB to fit higher up and get that back together pretty quick.
At least from my perspective, sitting here at my computer that sounds totally reasonable...
Fish are doing really well, although I was sweeping the bottom of the big tank the other day and saw a bright yellow something down there. Oh yeah that was before I added the latest dose of EDA Iron and the turned the water red again. Well I netted the yellow thing which turned out to be the handle from a multi-bit driver minus the metal part, dammit. Those are galvanized and if it is down there in the water it's likely contaminating the water with zinc. Trout are highly sensitive to zinc and get all kinds of sick from even the slightest traces of it.
I did not see any skin lesions on the last batch I caught, so I'm naively hopeful the metal part went somewhere other than in the water, but... I hate to think I am making the fish sick again. The last time this happened the greenhouse roof leaked rain water off the galvanized tin roof of the house into the fish tank. When we put a new roof on the house it'll be painted tin not galvanized. One of my newsletter readers suggested they now make a potable water roofing material now.If that isn't terribly expensive that may be great for rain-water harvesting.
You may have seen New Mexico in the news again recently, unfortunately for something creepy and horrible:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2018/08/30/child-abuse-charges-new-mexico-compound-case-dismissed-after-prosecutors-lapse/?utm_term=.79936a7d820a
What the hell is wrong with people?
More often than ever before the rose colored glasses don't seem to work like they used to.
Brian

Good morning!

Fantastic feedback this morning
---------
On 08/30/2018 02:26 PM, Paul Dyer wrote:

It's usual to have a birdsmouth joint where the rafter lands on the top rail. The idea is to stop the rafter wanting to slide out over the top plate, which would otherwise allow the ridge to sage and posibly push the wall out.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birdsmouth_joint



Make sure you attach the rafter to the bottom chord - joist - very securely. Triangles are incorporated into building for good reason. Lecture over, lol.
---------------

Howdy Paul.

Great lecture and all things I didn't know too. I appreciate this greatly. I've been watching many youtube videos on carpentry and cabinetry learning new stuff every day, so it really helps to get feedback from my people too. I did see one video on using a square with special markings on it for angles and birds mouth measurements. I want to try them as I've always been intimidated by those. It doesn't appear from the square I have in the shop that it has those marks. I'll look on the other squares we have to see if they are there.

------------

We had a killer good day working on the house yesterday!

I removed a four foot section of roof decking in order to rearrange the deck panels so they would help distribute their strength to the new extended soffet. I'm glad I did it. While I had the decking off I had room to also improve the strength of the rafters too. Now that section over the kitchen matches the overhang of the addition and really ties the house lines together.


Somehow my narcissism lapsed and I didn't get a picture of the section of roof removed, lol!

When I took a break around 11:00 AM and washed off the mosquito repellent, then sat down to watch a little youtube and maybe nap, apparently the nap took precedence. I was awakened at Noon by a delightful surprise; The Deans appeared with refreshed enthusiasm and arms full of tools and supplies for working on the stucco lathing!

Nell was still in town at physical therapy, after which she called saying because of the holiday our social security checks were in early and she was going to buy the paint for the living room makeover we're planning. I explained about the happy nap interruption and how I had to put my shoes on and blah blah blah. "Poor ol' Brian," she said in her ever soothing way. Rachel came up with the best hug ever and explained how today was Brian and Rachel day, because we need to spend more time together. Oh my god, doesn't that just warm the heart?

Jona explained that first we had an open roof to deal with, damn him, hehehe. Not really, but I did just wake up, lol!

I cut the two new pieces of decking for the open roof and screwed them down. My carpentry skill is improving and the two pieces of decking fir with only one recut on the last one, yay! Getting measurements right on the first try saves so much aggravation and time, I actually watched one youtube video on measurement tricks and learned a bunch. One thing I learned was to compare all of my measuring devices to see if they all agree, which they didn't. One tape measure was 1/4 of and inch off from the other, doh! So it wasn't just the medical cannabis that kept messing with me, lol!

I can't say Rachel waited patiently, but she waited and hung out with me as I put the roof back together. When I was done, we spent the rest of the blessed day playing together. That was so perfect, not only because we needed that time together, but I needed a break from carrying tool bags and building materials up to the roof in the blazing sun all day long.

Meanwhile Jona was super productive at detailing the finishing touches on the metal lath around the sides of the house we worked on together the other day.


Jona is a perfectionist and it shows in the level of detail he puts into his work. I almost hate to cover it up with stucco, hehe.

Oh and the dogs want dinner honey!
Until next time,
Brian

That looks great Brian. Are you going to do the whole house ?

For this season we'll cover three sides. The East side (greenhouse) and parts of the south and north sides still need tying-in for continuity of the overall structure. The front door area will get a complete makeover with perhaps either a mud room or a bay window, we haven't decided yet. Mostly it's the new sections that'll get treated this time, although I need to rework all the windows in the kitchen with proper weather-proofing. We'll make the corner on the NW side to the kitchen door. I'll continue to remove the weather-damaged OSB and replace it as I can until the weather (or illness) makes me stop. I'm feeling pretty damn good, so that makes this process evermore exciting, not to mention how good it makes my wife feel seeing the exterior get finished
We had that whole white trash look going for the fist 15 years of this self-built house I hope that look is going away now, well there is that recycled bard tin roof to consider .
Brian

I love hand tools, especially really well designed and fabricated tools. https://scythesupply.com/outfits.html


We used to have an antique scythe, I may need to find it, cause damn, these really nice scythes are also really expensive.

For the food allergy test do they just take a blood draw and run tests or do they make you eat each food? I need to have it done just haven't looked into it.

This one was a finger prick blood smear for US-Biotech labs

We had a very steep hill on my fathers farm, did hay with a scythe on it. Would take all day long, 3 guys.
Next day with special wheelbarrows we would take the cut grass to the bottom of the hill and than stack the grass on to tripods called Reuter to dry. The so called good old days

When there was something to show for work done.

I cheated yesterday and used a tractor to clean out a bunch of prickly vines. I had fought them to free dog panels and finally gave up on the last one and semi-mangled it good. It was nice to have the bucket take the abuse beside myself. I really could have been precise if I had my tractor here to to the work with its backhoe. However, I'll still get to go in by hand and finish the job.....so new school meets old school....

On their site Scythe supply, they suggest "You'll never want to use a weed eater again," Hehe, I already never want to use a weed eater again.
Just make sure all the pets are up in the house before using the scythe!
Another cool device similarly defined in horror stories is the sickle bar mower for small tractors.

I'm thinking instead of hiring a hay cutter, cutting less and and the best hay then stacking the loose hay in our barn the old-timey way.
Man that sounds like a lot of work just writing about it.

Sun's almost up. I went out and shoot a couple of pictures of what I gruelingly accomplished yesterday.

I probably shouldn't have wasted my time recycling a gutter system.
One section looked like it had been driven over and was completely flat. I used to love to unbend metal, unfortunately it isn't so much fun or rewarding as it once was

If it looks like this gutter stopped some rain off the roof, I'll keep it. When it gets a little lighter outside I will see how many low spots in the gutter there are. If it's bad, I'll head to the hardware store in a bit and buy some new gutter sections and redo this.