In my own little world

[Masha]

[jimimac71]

Just for giggles:

It's like Masha is a step ahead and can adapt to many things.
I always appreciate it. Life is hard but Masha always makes it better.

[Masha]

I finished the flower bed!




I completed the last pass of sweeping gravel between the pavers just as the light began to fade. It was important for me to finish this today as the weather is becoming a little nasty and it will likely not be pleasant for a great deal of outside work until spring.

The border of pavers I have just now installed is to prevent the lawn from invading the flower bed, to keep some of the plants in the bed from growing out into the lawn and so that there is a clean and dry place to kneel while tending the bed.

It is on purpose that the pavers are not in a close-packed pattern. There are many places where there is a minimum one-inch-by-two-inch space between the pavers. We will next spring dig out the gravel and paver base at these locations, fill with soil and plant Scotch moss and/or creeping thyme.

The other two sides will have three-foot-wide walkways of pavers of uniform size and shape for a slightly more formal look. There will eventually be a mirror-image of this bed on the other side of the to-be-installed walkway on this bed's right. It will be that you come off the stairs from the deck and take the walkway between the beds.

The light tan rectangles at the corners of the bed are the winter straw covering for the sections planted to daffodils, crocus and allium.

The remainder of the bed is quite shabby at the moment because we have had several frosts and a very hard freeze. The asters appear dead, the scotch moss is brown at the centers, the dianthus is loaded with dead blossoms and two of the varieties of ajuga have died for the year. We will need only a comfortable hour within the next few weeks to run the lawn mower over it to make it reasonably presentable.

Edit: I am adding this to demonstrate what it looked like earlier in the year:

[Masha]

I fear that my attention lapsed for a moment and this allowed my little Fuzzy to escape the house during garage sale season.

This is the treasure which he was hugging to his chest when he skulked home:



I use: 'hugging to his chest' metaphorically because each is twenty-six inches wide, two and a half inches tall, eight inches deep, in excess of fifteen pounds and the missing lid of one and bad hasps of the other means that they must be carried flat.

We have no use for them. We have an SAE tap and die set complete from 4-40 to 3/8-24 and a Metric set complete from M3x0.5 to M8x1.25 for our hobby, repair and craft use. These sets are far larger than either of us are ever likely to need or use.

It would be impossible to rehab/refinish/refurbish them for display. I have no way to measure accurately but I estimate that the wood of each case has absorbed a minimum of nine gallons of heavy oil. It can not be sanded. Any dye, wax, varnish or polish would bead on the surface and simply roll off.

They are vintage. I have done only a most cursory search and found similar sets dating from: 1930s. I believe that they are definitely pre-war. 'Vintage' in the tool sense primarily equates to: 'useless' because the wear/rust/pitting makes them inaccurate or fragile. People generally collect vintage tools to either display them or to rebuild them completely from base metal and then claim they are using old-time tools while ignoring the Ship of Theseus arguments.

[Dargo]

Any idea what type of wood the case is made of, Masha? Walnut, perhaps?

This reminds me so much of the old wooden tool chest that smelled so much of camphor that my father had out in the garage when I was young. I think he purchased it secondhand and right after he was discharged from the U.S. Army in 1946.

(...when I inherited it after his death in 2004, it was pretty much in the same shape as this case here)

[Masha]

Any idea what type of wood the case is made of, Masha? Walnut, perhaps?

This reminds me so much of the old wooden tool chest that smelled so much of camphor that my father had out in the garage when I was young. I think he purchased it secondhand and right after he was discharged from the U.S. Army in 1946.

(...when I inherited it after his death in 2004, it was pretty much in the same shape as this case here)

I have now done a little more research. They are: "Wells Brothers" "Little Giant" sets. The original Wells Brothers company merged with several other tap manufacturers and the name was discontinued in 1916. This makes them earlier than I first believed.

It is quite doubtful that they are walnut. These were sets for common machinists, machine shops and factories. There are some similar sets offered on: eBay, Etsy and specialist auction sites. The pictures for those sets with cases in good condition suggest that the wood is: Southern Yellow Pine. That seems reasonable because it was a tree common to the area in which the factory was located.

The prices for such sets vary widely. Some general sites list them from forty to a hundred dollars and more specialized collector sites range up to three hundred dollars. I believe it reasonable that the set which is lower in the picture would sell with ease for forty to sixty dollars and the set which is upper in the picture would sell for eighty to one-hundred-and-twenty dollars. This eases my mind a bit because I know that he did not have more than fifty dollars cash on him and there are no credit card charges. It does not alter the facts that we have no use for them, that we have no room to store them and that we had an agreement prohibiting frivolous purchases until house and automobile taxes and insurances are paid.

I am mildly nostalgic for early September when he was virtually confined to the house and was incapable of such antics.

[TikiSoo]

The pictures for those sets with cases in good condition suggest that the wood is: Southern Yellow Pine.

You're lucky.
My "on site/travel" tool box is gorgeous quarter sawn oak with metal corner guards I found in an antique store. I bought it thinking I'd look sexy carrying my tools in it when on an out-of-town job.

Instead, I look like Olive Oyl dragging the thing around. Full of tools the 20 lb box becomes a 45 lb box!

[Masha]

The pictures for those sets with cases in good condition suggest that the wood is: Southern Yellow Pine.

You're lucky.
My "on site/travel" tool box is gorgeous quarter sawn oak with metal corner guards I found in an antique store. I bought it thinking I'd look sexy carrying my tools in it when on an out-of-town job.

Instead, I look like Olive Oyl dragging the thing around. Full of tools the 20 lb box becomes a 45 lb box!

Robert Burns:
The best laid schemes o' mice an' men
Gang aft a-gley.

[Dargo]

Robert Burns:
The best laid schemes o' mice an' men
Gang aft a-gley.

"But I don't care about mice, George! I like rabbits. Tell me more about the rabbits, George!"

[jimimac71]

The only thing stopping him from purchasing it is that he has no projects at this moment or planner in the near future wherein it might be useful.

Ah, I've been known to create a project to justify the purchase of a cool tool...

I'm still finding this amusing.
Years ago I purchased the equipment needed to be a mobile DJ.
Didn't work out as well as planned.
Now I would like the equipment necessary to start a podcast.
The microphone I know well is $429. Funny, it was in 1980 as well.
I remember the wind screen, or black colored clown nose, was an extra $25 back then. Carpet on the walls for acoustics. The rest could be done with a computer.
Then again, my dream is to make money in my sleep. I'm on the wrong road.

[TikiSoo]

Walking with my dog, first snow of the season-


Golf anyone?


Wind picks up at the cobblestone staircase....dog still covered in snow

[Dargo]

Brrrrrrrrrrr.

Well Tiki, what kind of response DID you expect from this thin-blooded Arizonan here, right?!

Actually though, this will remind me to post a pic of when we get our first snowfall "in my own little [part of the] world" around here. As you might know, when the surrounding red rock monoliths are layered in this white stuff, it's always the most beautiful time of year in my book.

(...btw, cute doggy ya got there)

[Masha]

We received approx. three inches of snow. It was very light and fluffy and useless for snowballs. It is mostly all gone now but for those areas of heavy shade.

Over three feet of snow has fallen in Odesa. Two people died in the city and more in the area. There are rumors only regarding when electricity will be restored. Two people who are living now in Switzerland are from a neighborhood which was particularly affected and where they are expecting more deaths before the end of the week.

[Dargo]

And unfortunately, just adding to the misery of those in your and their old stomping grounds, and "thanks" to that SOB...well, you know who.

Sorry to hear this, Masha.

Ya know and come to think of it here, I'm not really sure what part of this country you and your LF reside in? I'm guessing due to this weather report of yours that it's somewhere in the NE as well.

(...but if you don't feel like being more specific here, I understand)

[Masha]

Ya know and come to think of it here, I'm not really sure what part of this country you and your LF reside in? I'm guessing due to this weather report of yours that it's somewhere in the NE as well.

(...but if you don't feel like being more specific here, I understand)

I am not comfortable providing specific location for several reasons. We are on the plains within a comfortable driving distance of Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska. One of the benefits of our location is that we are sufficiently close that we can make a day trip to visit my little Fuzzy's relatives and old stomping grounds in several states but sufficiently far that no one will drop by for coffee and chat. This is a great advantage due to our odd hours. It is of particular importance at times such as this that we are both sleeping more but it is in bits and pieces. It has been rare the recent few days for both of us to be up at the same time.