Did it worked? Someday, others not. The hardest thing I went thru in my life so far...
But I surely needed the distractions. Lots have happened in my life since.
Fell in love, getting married on Oct 14th 2020, my immediate family grew by 1 more son and 2 grandkids plus a daughter and 2 more grandkids. Life is good again. And yes it keep this old Grampa quite busy :-)
In addition, with the passing of Jean's mother, we picked up her little dog, Diva, who was Rudy girlfriend. So now that she lives with him, 50 % of his treats and toys belong to her :-)
The boy, Rudy is now 5 years old as of June 15th, half the age of his beloved girlfriend Diva
The boy as we adopted him, 4 months old
He quickly became my trusted side kick
on tools hunting expeditions
Find one, the other is never far :-)
Tuesday on the 16th of June I pass the half a millions page views.
I never thought in my wildest dreams (not what I dream about anyway :-)
that so many people will bother to read my recollections, tribulations and tools stories.
Amazing
Been truly amazing to see were they are reading, thru Google stats on my blog.
How they count, I will never understand, some numbers goes up and down for no apparent reasons.
They also defined "day" as ending at 2000 or 2100 hrs (guessing the difference in time zone from my place) and they come up with countries name I never knew existed. So I decided to start tracking my daily stats for a while to see what shake up.
I you look at Russia to Belgium, you see two columns of numbers.
The second column is the number shown on Google (the ones that goes up/down the most) as compared to the cumulative total in the first one, which never goes down. Notice some countries are off by about a thousand, no idea why. The only two others tracked further down are Denmark, which has a hard time passing 6616, went up to 6640 once, but always settled back down and Indonesia.
No idea why??
So far, an amazing 173 countries have read my blogs, did not even new there was that many countries... A new one pop up a while back called simply Unknown Region, which as so far read me 1865 times. GO figure!!
The numbers of countries intrigued me, I could not fathom that many reading Franglish (English with a french accent Heh!) around the world. And sure enough, thru the magic of Google translate, my blogs shows up in various Language. I have no idea how good my Franglish translate but, apparently it must be readable...
Top read blog entries are no surprises, the tool history related one.
By far the most all time read is the Part 2 of the Bob's illustrated Type study of Bailey bench planes.
Top reading list, last updated May 30th
Google anything Stanley, my blog pops up in the search, amazing.
Meanwhile, life beyond Excell spreadsheets, is moving along. Quite busy with yard projects right now. This past Monday we set up the soft top shelter as a refuge from the heat and bugs. Works like a charm and so nice to retreat inside to cool off during work breaks. We are currently in the middle of a heat wave, pushing up to 40 later in the week. Was not that long we were bitching at how cold it was??? Go figure :-)
The portable, 10X10 gazebo, second location.
Nice breeze from two sides. Would never last in stormy winds like the one
Yes, we have power, lights around the inside perimeter and
a large reflector light fixture on top in the middle, bright!!
On this wall, I will set up the large projection screen.
I need some sort of audio portable set up, tired of lugging an
older receiver and speakers. Something Bluetooth??
The water barrel stand has been moved half way across the land to its new spot. Yes, it was empty when I moved it, phewww :-)
Changed barrel, installed a tap at about 3 in up from bottom.
Barrel is full (48 US Gallons), no leak
Good pressure but a tad windy, oh surprise.
need to raise filling platform closer to tap
Calling this almost done...
Now need to install solar pump, let it recharge, and install tubing's.
One is already cut to fit the Veg Trug, which also in need of a post to mount the other, and set up a barrel stand nearby. Construction project...
And yes the sink, has its own shut off valve, good thing, cause
I have yet to find a replacement tap.
Plus need a two or three barrels stand on the other side of the house (garage side).
Then there is the ring around the fire pit, to built a tiled surface jutting out 8 ft around it.
Chairs pushed back to the 8 ft circumference
Actually, 8 ft plus half the fire pit dia, but I digress... :-)
That dia may expand or reduce depending on stones/bricks I used....
Need to figured out what and how many.
Oh, and refill on Voltareen :-)
And no shortage of other projects I don't even know about yet :-)
More landscaping, digging, leveling, building and setting up. I'll be busy for a while :-)
But cannot be all work and no fun, is it??
West Nova Scotia Regiment, a storied regiment, still around.
Some of Heather's relatives (Jefferson) lived thru some of those stories.
That is with the ceiling fixture on.
Bob, taking refuge from the sun, figuring out my next shopping list
Good for you Bob. Keep on keeping in. Your neighbour, Jo
ReplyDeleteKeep on keeping ON, lol
DeleteIt's no wonder you've reached the half-million milestone - your blog articles are always chock full of history and information. You clearly research things thoroughly and have a natural aptitude for this stuff. I, for one, am thankful for what you do.
ReplyDeleteHi Bob,
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your blog milestone.
I see that you also get the Lee Valley garden catalog. I am curious about your water tank and solar pump. Do you collect rainwater for the rain barrel? What happens when it is full? Is the solar pump suitable to protect your gardens while away on vacation?
Hi Steve
ReplyDeleteOriginally, yes, the barrels were filled by the rain gutters on a corner of my house. Where the stand I built was first set up and now, there is no roof/gutters around, I simply refill them from the water point set up nearby. The whole idea was to have the freedom to go away without worrying about watering. I have tried many things and systems, bluetooth, WIFI you name it. All these works but they all also have lots of kwirks and annoying long set up. Oh, and dont forget to set the correct valves sequences, and turn the the water to the whole thing BEFORE leaving (saying for a friend) I like the simplicity of this solar pump system. That barrel is expected to last a good week plus. Testing starting soon :-) There is a water sensor taped to the bottom a few inches above the intake filter. Stop pump and flashes red, pretty fool proof (I know). With 2 such system (barrel/stand/solar pump)we expectto service the Veg Trug (medium) and a small area of the garden plot. How small/big? No idea yet, to be deployed soon. As with any rain barrel system, stand a lone or out "Outstanding" in its field, away from gutters, you always have a default overflow build in my Murphy law. Depending how long the barrel last, I may try a small roof structure above it, to A keep water cooler, and B to collect rainwater to supplement the barrel between rains and hose fill ups.
All part of the big plan, subject to changes within the next 5 minutes when I hear her list of priorities :-)
Just saw your reply. We were pondering how to protect our gardens while going away for a week.
ReplyDeleteIs that barrel a garbage can or a food drum? It looks to be in the 30 gallon range.
I don't want more stuff so I was thinking of popping a tap in the side of my shop barrel and dragging it out for trips.
I'll have to investigate the options for controlling the water.
Thanks
The barrels I used , the blue ones, are food grade containers. they are in the 48-50 gal range. As for controlling the water, you have a tons of options. I use the solar pumps on them. For the front beds, soaker hoses on a timer.
ReplyDeleteBob