Mixed bag......

7:00 am - Wednesday - February 26th - TWW - 42° F, humidity 28%, wind 6 mph out of the east by northeast.....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 69° F.  On this date in 2013 TLE and I were having lunch in Port Salerno, FL at the Manatee Island Bar & Grill..... 

.....one of my favorite pics of TLE and I.

Tuesday was a mixed bag for us workwise.  While TLE worked to level the site where she is placing her Cowboy Wok, I worked at exposing more of the septic line so we can install a 'T' there, and install the 'hardline' from our black tank sewer connection to the new sewer connection.  You may recall that when Charles and I left off digging the other day we had just barely exposed the black ABS pipe.  In order to install the 'T' I need to completely expose the 3" pipe, and then clear dirt back about 3' on each side where the 'T' will  be installed.....

....I managed to get a 3' section of the sewer line exposed before I decided I had dug enough for one day.  I'll need at least another foot each direction to install the 'T'.  Meanwhile, TLE managed to get her site leveled, and a small mat tacked down under the 'Cowboy Wok'.....

.....next up TLE and I joined forces to move all that lumber we removed for the east side of the garage into the barn where it can be stored out of the weather until we decide what to do with it.  That was probably the hardest thing we did all day.....

.....plus we also moved all of the polycarbonate roof panels we recently removed from the greenhouse roof into the barn......

....we hope to repurpose them in the near future.

By the time we finished that job we were both ready for a nap!  Instead of a nap I just took a rest in one of the anti gravity chairs for about 30 minutes then decided to service the Ford 420 loader.  I needed to top off the hydraulic fluid, check the oil, and coolant levels.  While I was at it I decided to take the plunge and attempt to install the new gauge cluster Charles bought off eBay.  The old one is unreadable, and non-functional.  It would be nice to see the RPM's, and temperature of the engine.   It took me about two hours to do that.....

I took a picture so I could remember where all the wires went

I think one of our furry friends was living in there....I had to vacuum it out

The new gauge cluster....

.....installed

.....regretfully, the only things that work are the check battery light, and the turn signal indicator.  I'll have to do some trouble shooting on the wiring.....but it sure looks nice.....lol!

With that I was finally done for the day.  It was around 3 pm, and I was tired.  TLE used her  'Cowboy Wok' to cook Fajitas for dinner, and were they ever good!  And for the second evening in a row we ate dinner outside....a very nice way to end another TWW day.

Thanks for stopping by!

It's the small stuff......

 7:11 am - Tuesday - February 25th - TWW - 43° F, humidity 41%, wind 3 mph out of the east by southeast.....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 74° F.  On this date in 2013 TLE and I were in West Palm Beach, FL with Ernie and Carol Prociw having lunch at the Tiki Bar.....

TLE and I promised ourselves Monday would be another easy day, which would include a trip into Seligman to retrieve our mail, and buy a couple of things at the General Store (hardware store).  We figured by the time we returned it would be late morning, and not a lot of time to commit to any big projects.  Sometimes things don't work out the way you hoped they would.  Sometimes a day just evolves of its own accord, and there is nothing you can do to change the outcome.

We left for the hour round trip drive into Seligman around 9:30 am to find that the main north south arterial had recently been scraped, which made the 7 mile drive out to US-66 much more pleasant than it has been for awhile.  I think the last time they ran the road grader up and down the road was two months ago....just before Christmas.  Our first stop was the General Store where we bought a couple of 2" diameter nipples, and a pitch fork for TLE.  Next we hit the Post Office where we had 5 packages awaiting our retrieval in a parcel locker, then over to Seligman Market for some produce, then back to Family Dollar for a few more things.  We're going to Prescott on Thursday, so we'll do our big shopping then.

By the time we returned to TWW it was getting close to 11:30 am, just as I thought would be the case.  So far, so good.  There were a few smallish projects I wanted to attend to before dinner.  One was to back the Jeep out of the garage and remove the full doors, the two side panels, and the rear panel.  It's getting warmer and the Jeep interior is really kind of claustrophobic with the entire enclosure installed...

.....I'll install the half doors, and she'll be ready to drive. 

Another thing I wanted to do was to drill some holes in the railroad ties out of which we made the new raised growing bed so I could pound some rebar into each corner to keep its square shape.  I managed to get one hole drilled, and rebar pounded into the southeast corner...sort of a proof of concept.....

.....it worked well, so I'll drill three more holes (one in each remaining corner) on Tuesday.

While I was in the greenhouse vicinity I decided to see of I could reinstall a window pain in the entry door to the greenhouse that has been detached for years.  When we were working on the greenhouse Saturday I tried to install the pane, but it appeared to all of us that it didn't fit, so must not really belong to the door.  I was sure it did, but I deferred my second attempt to another time.  Well, no time like the present.  After fiddling with the pane for 20 minutes, or so, I finally managed to figure out how it fit, and this is the result....

.....its a little dirty, but it fits. I'll have to secure it with a couple of screws as the plastic hardware that keeps it in place is in pretty bad shape.

Next up I needed to complete a long, long deferred project of hard wiring the newer Norcold into our 12 volt system.  Since we installed it back in the Spring of 2020 we have just utilized the cigarette lighter plug in the through bay to power it, but it comes loose once and a while.  TLE has been gently coaxing me to finish the job, so I decided to tackle it.....

....it was way easier than I thought.  In fact, when I removed the steel plate I noticed the ground wire to the cigarette light plug was loose, which explains why we've had intermittent problems with the Norcold not coming on to cool down.  Anyway, it is now officially hardwired.

Another issue which only developed Sunday was we couldn't start the Yamaha Rhino to move it to the new carport.  It ran out of gas Sunday after Charles and Phyllis left, and even though I refilled the tank it wouldn't start.  I began by removing the air filter to find it was badly clogged, and might be restricting airflow, so I clean it thoroughly, and reinstalled it.  It still wouldn't start.  For an internal combustion to run you need air, fuel, and spark.  I surmised that perhaps the fuel system was vapor locked, so I retrieved a spray bottle of ether, sprayed a healthy dose into the carburetor, then turned over the engine.....it fired right up!  Now I could move it into the carport....

......we weren't sure whether both side by sides would fit end to end, but they do.

It was now getting late into what I had thought would be an easy day when TLE and I decided to put up our patio awning sun shades.  It's getting warmer, and with the passenger side of the coach facing the sun all day long now it is getting pretty warm inside in the late afternoon....

......so now our 'lido deck' is finally taking shape, and it has been a long time coming!

TLE got out her 'Cowboy wok' for the first time to cook dinner around 3:30 pm, which consisted of BLT sandwiches.....YUM!  We also, actually ate dinner outside for the first time since we arrived back in October....lol!  And thus came to an end another TWW day, which ended up being a very full day with a lot of small accomplishments.

Thanks for stopping by!

Unfinished business.....

 7:12 am - Friday - December 13th - TWW  - 29° F, humidity 39%, wind 6 mph out of the southeast.....crystal clear, blue, sunny skies today with a forecast high of 54° F.  On this date in 2023 TLE and I were watching the Chocolate Mountains light up at sunset, and the actual sun set over the Salton Sea at Glamis North Hot Springs......

There is so much to be done here at TWW that sometimes I get into this mode where I jump from one project to another, never quite finishing any of them.  When the list of unfinished stuff begins to get longer and longer I have to stop moving to another project, and just finish up the many little things left undone, and that is into what Thursday devolved.  There were those grounded plugs I needed to install on the cords for the 'new' compressor, and the drill press, plus I needed to install a power strip for the other two shop machines....the bend grinder and band saw, whose cords were too short to reach the fourplex electrical outlets at the rear of the CONEX.  This is where things get interesting.

I only have one available power strip, but that was attached to my Bluetti AC200P (my original Bluetti) in the trailer, which is powering the lights, fans, TV, stereo, battery chargers, etc.  If I was to remove that power strip and move it to the CONEX I would need to finally finalize the semi permanent placement of the Bluetti AC200P outdoors, and into the Rubbermaid storage container to keep it out of the weather.  In order to utilize the Rubbermaid storage container we would need to move the various sail shades, etc. out of it, and into the garage.  

Then, in order to move the Bluetti AC200P into the Rubbermaid I would need to also move the three 100 watt solar panels now powering the Bluetti AC200MAX over to the Bluetti AC200P.  In order to move those three 100 watt panels I would have to deploy 3 of the 6 100 watt panels that will be ultimately installed on the dual axis solar tracker for which I am currently digging the foundation. You can see where I'm going with this, right?  In order to install a power strip in the CONEX I would need to take care of the other aforementioned things first, or simultaneously as the case might be.

With TLE's help I got it all done.....

Power strip installed↑ and new grounded male plugs installed↓

Rubbermaid emptied and moved to the trailer, with a small umbrella to provide partial protection to the Honda EU2000i generator, which will charge the Buetti AC200P on cloudy days

Bluetti AC200P installed in Rubbermaid

Using a hole saw I drilled a hole in the back of the Rubbermaid through which the various cables and cords can pass

3 of the 6 bifacial solar panels are now powering the Bluetti AC200MAX

And the original Bluetti 100 watt panels are now powering the Bluetti AC200P

....there were a lot of moving parts all day long, but TLE and I got it all done, and now all of those small, unfinished jobs are finished, and I can focus my full attention on installing the dual axis solar tracking array.

By the time it was all finished, and put to bed it was after 2:30 pm, and it was getting cold once again.  I put my tools away, and then took a long, hot shower, and was about to doze off for a nap when TLE called to advise dinner was being served in the house.  Oh yeah, Charles and Phyllis are here....lol.  They came up Wednesday afternoon to be here for the installation of their new 500 gallon propane tank by Yavapai Bottle Gas.  The old 500 gallon tank has numerous leaks, and it was decided a week ago to just replace it with a new tank, and that was done Thursday.  While they were here I asked Ken if he could plumb my new Predator 5000 dual fuel generator into the 120 gallon tank, and he advised he could, so now we do not have to run into town to fill up our 5 gallon bottles anymore, and they can be returned to their prior duties of providing propane to the Sea-B-Que and Cowboy Wok....

....Ken installed a "T" to run a separate line to the Predator 5000.  And, also, since they were here they topped off our 120 gallon tank.....SCORE!

With the installation of the new 500 gallon propane tank they now can use the new stove/oven, run the clothes dryer, and a propane catalytic heater in the house.  Unfortunately, the virtually new water heater that came with the house is not set up for propane, but for natural gas, and will not work, so a replacement propane powered water heater has been ordered.....like I've said before.....2 steps forward, and one step back.

We had a delightful dinner, and even more interesting conversation before heading back to the Newell around 5 pm.  I watched the Thursday Night Football game between the Rams and 49ers, won by the Rams 12-6 on a very rainy Santa Clara night in the Bay Area....only field goals were scored in this game, but the Rams really dominated the time of possession with a great running game.  The Rams began the season 1-4, and have now won 7 of their last 9 games to get to 8-6 on the season, and now have a great chance to make the playoffs.

Thanks for stopping by!

That ennui.....

6:45 am - Saturday - March 30th - GNHS - 55° F, humidity 65%, wind 10 mph out of the southeast......partly cloudy today with rain forecast for this afternoon, and a high of 68° F.  On this date in 2018 TLE and I were having a late lunch at the Back Abbey in Claremont, CA....love that place.....

 That all too familiar feeling of melancholy and vague ennui is hovering just over my head as I write this morning.  Whenever it is time to roll our wheels and change our views I begin to miss, in advance, where we have been the last period of time.  Our two winters here at GNHS have exceeded our expectations, and we have made new friends whose contributions to our lives will be felt for years.  We have just a week until we depart GNHS for perhaps the final time in our lives as we change up our plans for travel next winter.

We had two bookings for Friday....one 1/2 day rental for a family of four, and an all day rental for the guy who was late for his 1/2 day rental on Thursday.  Both were on their way by 10 am, and then it was a matter of awaiting their return in the afternoon.

I spent some of the time packing the 'through bay' in the Newell, taking down the BBQ table, and stowing the Sea-B-Que, and both propane tanks in the through bay, and taking down the two tool tables in the trailer, and stowing them, also, in the 'through bay'....

Tool tables gone

Sea-B-Que, Cowboy Wok and BBQ table gone

Through bay packed

....the dining canopy will come down Sunday afternoon, and my Haibike SDURO eBike will be stowed, and all of the stuff left on the floor in the trailer will be moved forward to prepare for turf and VW insertion.

The day was beautiful with light breezes.  After Hunter returned from driving his friends back to the airport in Palm Springs, he joined us to work on installing all of the new RZR parts which have arrived in the past two weeks.  That will be a mammoth task, and one in which I will not be partaking....that is a job for the young guys.....

Hunter working on RZR #1

....both of our customers returned on time, and without incident, and by 5:15 pm we had ended our second to last work day.

Thanks for stopping by!

Going batty......

6:42 am - Friday - March 8th - GNHS - 55° F, humidity 64%, wind 3 mph out of the north by northwest......partly cloudy today with a forecast high of 75° F.  On this date in 2014 TLE and I were at Lake Pleasant, AZ......

Those are giant Saguaros

 I did all the driving on Tuesday on our 4.5 hour RZR ride, so we decided to take another shorter trip out to the Bat Caves, and let Charles do the driving out and back.  We left around 11 am arriving near the Bat Caves 20 minutes later....

Back side of the Bat Caves

The Salton Sea, and Mt. San Jacinto in the background

.....at which time we took a brief break to enjoy the beautiful scenery, and take a few pictures.  Soon we were back in the RZR heading to the Bat Caves.....

Charles and Phyllis exploring the Bat Caves

The Bat Caves

.....then it was time to begin the return trip to GNHS....we saw a lot of wild flowers beginning to bloom.....

...as well as the site of a terrible RZR accident 3 years ago....the RZR crashed in the middle of a grove of palm trees, and burnt it to the ground....the driver survived.......

Incinerated grove of palm trees

....in all we were gone just under 2 hours, and had a great time!  We bid our adieus until dinner time around 5 pm when we reconvened for dinner on the 'dining/game' deck.  TLE cooked Jambalaya in the Cowboy Wok for our dinner....I think there were a couple of bottles of Catena Malbec enjoyed by all.....

....we dined, sipped vino, and talked until after 7 pm....I wish we were having more fun.....lol!

We're off (Friday morning) in about 2 hours to play golf at Del Rio Golf Course in Brawley, CA....Charles and I are both hoping we don't embarrass ourselves...lol!

Thanks for stopping by!