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Weekend: gardening, bicycling
Apr. 21st, 2014 12:40 pmI hardly sat down to internet this weekend. That's probably a good thing!
Saturday was filled with chores and projects.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
scrottie went ahead and mowed the lawns and did laundry on Friday, bless him. That meant that, after grocery-shopping wrapped up, I had time to work on Operation Squirrel and Bird Exclusion.
I watched this YouTube video on making a conduit bender, and liked what I saw. So I set about tracing a half-circle on a big sheet of plywood, screwed in some deck screws, nailed in some nails, and bent some conduit. Unfortunately, my first semicircle was too large! Or maybe it's that my conduit was too short. I probably should have done more math before deciding on sizes. Fortunately, the screws and nails were fairly easy to pull out and reposition, and the rest of the project went smoothly up until it was time to drill some holes for the conduit in the wood. Then I discovered that a 5/8" drill bit was a hair too small, so 'twas back to the hardware store for an 11/16" bit, which worked fine.
Take THAT, squirrels!
Also, there is a small artichoke on one of the artichoke plants. I am pleased. These plants have it rough compared to ones in California. When the strawberries are past their peak, I'll elevate and transfer this hoop setup to the tomato plants. It will also disassemble fairly easily for storage and transport.
--
On Sunday, we went on a long bike ride down to Brenham, TX, to visit a local-foods store. Naturally, this bike ride involved shoving a large portobello veggie burger in my face. Naturally, that required thatscrottie photograph me.
Our friends J and K joined us, so we had a nice bike pile going. J and I both got to test-ride new trunk bags (cue lots of jokes about junk in trunks). Mine's a definite winner! J's new bag listed strongly to port, so he may have to do some reinforcement work.
Unfortunately, despite the fact that I'd asked in advance and had someone from the store say they'd be open, the store was closed for Easter. No cheese for us. Here is J, looking sad and angry about the lack of cheese. I doubt I'll manage to go back anytime soon (too big a time commitment), which is a real shame because the stuff inside looked cool.
Oh well. At least it was a beautiful day to ride with a bike posse. Here was my view for most of the ride:
The wildflowers are starting to look better, too (more Indian Blanket and Mexican Hat, fewer bluebonnets).
Saturday was filled with chores and projects.
scrottie went ahead and mowed the lawns and did laundry on Friday, bless him. That meant that, after grocery-shopping wrapped up, I had time to work on Operation Squirrel and Bird Exclusion.I watched this YouTube video on making a conduit bender, and liked what I saw. So I set about tracing a half-circle on a big sheet of plywood, screwed in some deck screws, nailed in some nails, and bent some conduit. Unfortunately, my first semicircle was too large! Or maybe it's that my conduit was too short. I probably should have done more math before deciding on sizes. Fortunately, the screws and nails were fairly easy to pull out and reposition, and the rest of the project went smoothly up until it was time to drill some holes for the conduit in the wood. Then I discovered that a 5/8" drill bit was a hair too small, so 'twas back to the hardware store for an 11/16" bit, which worked fine.
Take THAT, squirrels!
Also, there is a small artichoke on one of the artichoke plants. I am pleased. These plants have it rough compared to ones in California. When the strawberries are past their peak, I'll elevate and transfer this hoop setup to the tomato plants. It will also disassemble fairly easily for storage and transport.
--
On Sunday, we went on a long bike ride down to Brenham, TX, to visit a local-foods store. Naturally, this bike ride involved shoving a large portobello veggie burger in my face. Naturally, that required that
scrottie photograph me.Our friends J and K joined us, so we had a nice bike pile going. J and I both got to test-ride new trunk bags (cue lots of jokes about junk in trunks). Mine's a definite winner! J's new bag listed strongly to port, so he may have to do some reinforcement work.
Unfortunately, despite the fact that I'd asked in advance and had someone from the store say they'd be open, the store was closed for Easter. No cheese for us. Here is J, looking sad and angry about the lack of cheese. I doubt I'll manage to go back anytime soon (too big a time commitment), which is a real shame because the stuff inside looked cool.
Oh well. At least it was a beautiful day to ride with a bike posse. Here was my view for most of the ride:
The wildflowers are starting to look better, too (more Indian Blanket and Mexican Hat, fewer bluebonnets).
