Comice Pear Harvest: September 30

Our Comice pear tree did not fare well in the drought this past summer. That may be the reason why about half the pears dried up and cracked like the one on the left.

The pear on the right represents what happened to the rest of them. They were all infested with some kind of worm. I was able to cut away small portions that were still good, but these pears aren't ripe yet. We should wait until mid October before picking them, if the worms and the birds haven't eaten them.

It's a Bird, it's a Mouse, No, It's a BAT!

Monya called to me with an unusual sense of urgency, "Come here!"

We both knew there had been a bat sleeping under our new outdoor window shades, but today she found one still there. I climbed up a ladder and lifted the shade carefully to look behind it. The shadowy little creature looked nervous but held his ground. I climbed back down.

From inside the house we can see him clearly and he isn't frightened away even when we get close with the camera. Maybe he can't "see" us through the glass. The bamboo slats in the photo are about one half inch wide and the camera was only about twelve inches away from him. You can see his ears in silhouette.

Great Grumpy Turns 85

Poor Great Grumpy had to pose for this photo at least four or five times before the camera finally worked properly. It was a short but fun little mid-week celebration with ice cream and cake. The most fun was hearing him tell about the two chickens he's been raising, and how they follow him around.

Great Niece's Wedding

Yesterday Grumpy and I attended his great grand daughter's wedding. I'm her great uncle so we were both something great. We got there early and were able to play with the bride's siblings.

How can brides always be so beautiful?

What is This Thing?

My home office is a mess, so lately I've been making an effort to organize it and maybe get rid of things I don't really need. Yesterday I found a box of strange things with a label on it: "Diffuser, Deflector, & Lube packet enclosed" Inside were two of these white things with a black ring, and a tube of silicone lubricant. The "things" were very good quality so I decided they must be valuable, but for what purpose?

Under the box was a packet of warranty papers for my scuba diving BCP, so it is somehow related to my scuba gear but it doesn't look like it would attach to any of my scuba gear.

Then I thought, "is this thing supposed to attach to my under water camera housing?" By golly it does! And that white thing is exactly positioned in front of the flash unit! This is just like what I've seen professional photographers using! It's a camera flash diffuser that softens harsh shadows and eliminates a dark shadow cast from the housing's lens ring.

So now I'm wondering if I can figure out what this other thing is. It's a black ring with a metal insert. There are several seams and at least one hinge, but I can't get it to open or unlock. It's marked "Patent Pending...made in Italy" so it has a purpose.

Jerry's Rock

It was about six years ago last October when I went to visit my friend Jerry at his house in Arizona. We had lots of fun adventures in the mountains and high grasslands nearby. I was fascinated with the flora, the fauna, the climate, and the geology of the place. The Chiricauha Mountains to the east is the location of a volcanic cauldera but it is so ancient that there are no signs of pumice or lava. Instead, the volcanic ash accumulated to about 2000 feet thick, then hardened into a silica stone and eroded into vertical stone spires called "hoodoos."

Jerry's property is located on a nearly flat valley floor some miles away from the mountains, with a creek nearby that drains from those mountains. There is a layer of eroded river stones not very deep beneath the top soil, and Jerry has had many encounters with them while digging trenches and post holes and the like.

One day while walking up his driveway I spotted an odd looking stone. I picked it up and brought it home with me, with the idea that some day I would figure out how to cut it open and see what was inside. I thought it looked like a geode, you know, the stones with a hollow spot in the middle lined with clear crystals. It wasn't likely though, knowing the volcanic history.

My granddaughter who is now nine years old began pestering me a few weeks ago, to crack open Jerry's rock. I preferred to cut it, but now there was incentive to act. I considered buying a stone cutting tool, but those are expensive. Then somebody mentioned that I should merely ask someone who owns a stone cutter to cut it for me.

We ended up going to a store named "Jerry's Rock and Gem Shop" to cut Jerry's rock. The people there were so friendly and helpful. In less than the time it took for us to look at all the wonderful rocks, jewelry, fossils, and shells in the store, they had cut Jerry's rock in half for me. Inside we found a small opening filled with the most wonderful tiny clear crystals.

I want to polish the face of the stone halves and make them look really nice.

Gollum

Last night two mermaids told me parts of the story "The Hobbit" and then they drew pictures of what the characters in the story looked like. Here is one nice drawing.

100 Miles to Nowhere

Yesterday we did the annual 100 mile ride to nowhere, to raise money for cancer research. We used the airport perimeter road which nicely measures exactly one mile in length, and there isn't much traffic on it, although we did count almost 200 bikes in two hours. The photo shows famous rider #5595 at about 35 miles. I went along for moral support but only did 62 miles. Rider #5595 went the full 100 miles, then rode his bike back up the hill to get home.

More Human Power Challenge

Here are two more photos from the Human Power Challenge weekend. I like the one with the Quest velomobile crossing the finish line because the checkered flag is perfectly poised.

The second photo shows the flood from the torrential downpour we had Saturday night. That tandem tricycle has water nearly up to the hub and that's a 20" diameter wheel. It took 25 minutes for the rain to fall, then several hours for it all to drain away.

OHPV Human Power Challenge

Last weekend three generations of our family attended the Human Power Challenge at the Portland International Raceway. We had time trials, sprints, drag races, an obstacle course and a road race, all under human power. Some folks had bikes, some had trikes, and some had totally enclosed velomobiles. I hope to have some good photos soon, but for now here's a great shot of me on the final lap of the road race.

Here are some stats from my point of view:

1. Great Grumpy had a faster drag race speed than me even though I went faster than he did when we were side by side.

2. In the road race I was able to pass the 15 year old girl again this year.

3. I almost kept up with the famous woman who had set a 24 hour speed record on her bicycle. (Don't I get credit for "almost"?)

4. In the obstacle course I was faster than a six year old boy on a BMX.

So you can tell I was not very competitive. I didn't win any prizes this year but with a borrowed recumbent I think I improved my time trial speed and my 200 meter sprint speed over what I did on my diamond frame bike last year.

Little League

Our favorite Little League team, the Mets, were playing at La Center yesterday. Our favorite player, #13 rotated during the game from center field to left field, then to second base on the defensive side. Here you see his batting stance, a nicely aggressive pose. He was the first batter in the top of the 6th inning.

Apparently that stance frightened the pitcher into throwing wild pitches. The arrow shows the blurry location of the ball and you can see #13 watching it with disappointment. He walked to first base, then stole second.

Here our intrepid player #13 is watching for a chance to steal third base. You can see by the scoreboard in the background that two of the batters following him were put out, and shortly after this photo was taken the third batter ended the inning with another out.

It was fun watching this level of baseball again after so many years.

Last Sunday we had a pair of twin girls come to visit. They played together so nicely that it was a pleasure to have them here. I even took a picture of them all dressed up in matching outfits, right down to their matching ruby slippers. It was actually quite difficult to tell one from the other.

Lollipop Girl

The other day I met this little girl who had the sweetest face.

Papoose Snuggle

Here's a picture of the papoose snuggle I finished recently. The yarn is called "Cuddles" and is a very soft 100% acrylic. It's machine washable too.

Rather than wrapping your papoose in a blanket, then worrying all the time about keeping the blanket folded properly, you simply tuck your papoose into the snuggle in the same manner as a foot going into a sock. If the air is cold you can fold the collar up.

A Good Bicycle Rack

Here's how I keep my bike at the office, in this locked room. Each hook swings freely and rolls from side to side, so you can adjust the spacing while hanging or removing your bike. Each hook has a bar that extends down and lines up with the bike's frame, so you can lock the bike with a secure U-bolt lock. My bike is hanging at the far end of the room, on the right side, with my helmet hanging from the seat.

There are hooks on the wall to the left where you can hang your wet stuff while you're at work.

Opossum Skeleton

Over the years I have found lots of carcasses of dead animals in my yard. Mostly they have been rats, mice, birds, squirrels, cats, and even some dogs. But last week I discovered this skeleton of an opossum. I have seen opossums running around in the middle of the night, and I've seen dead ones lying in the road, so I knew they were here, but it still surprised me to see this one. It was laying in the middle of the path worn into my lawn by regular patrols of raccoons. I suspect the raccoons dragged it here, and maybe they even ate most of it.

One Knitted Dress for a Demanding Client

I finished knitting this dress and delivered it last night. It took only 29 days. It had to be done quickly because she is growing so fast.

Ice Storm: Jan 19,2012

Here are a couple of sample shots of the ice on our car and in the Maple tree. The freezing rain is sticking to everything out there, including the side of the house.

Raccoon Tracks in Snow

The baby raccoons have grown up and now we have five adult raccoons patrolling our driveway. I think this became their route because we used to leave cat food out on the porch for Pompi. When the cat food disappeared, I always assumed it was Pompi who ate it, so I kept putting it out each night. One night when it snowed and I saw the only tracks around the cat food were raccoon tracks, I quit putting out the cat food. But the raccoons continue to use the route past our porch.

Christmas Tree Ornaments

Here are some of the Christmas ornaments I made last December using yarn left over from previous projects. The first photo shows four hats that fit perfectly on my fingers.

The next photo shows the hat and sweater sets I made. Each sweater was a miniature of the original sweater made from that yarn. We put fuzzy pipe cleaners inside the sweaters so they would hang on the tree.

November Glass Bead Class

Last November I took a class to learn how to make functional beads rather than merely decorative jewelry types of beads. First I will show you some that I made. They make nice handles for things like letter openers, canope knives, light switch pull strings, and maybe even pendants. The red one is Monya's favorite but I like the transparent blue beads. The white beads were just markers to identify my beads compared to other student's.

The next three photos show what an expert (not me) can make. There is a hollow teapot, a plain hollow bead, and a snowman. All of these are still on the stainless steel mandrel, with a coating of white release agent. We use a pair of pliers to hold the mandrel while we twist the bead loose. Since these good beads were not mine, I was not at liberty to remove them from the mandrels.

Froe Mallet

My new froe arrived the other day and I was excited to use it right away. Unfortunately, it requires a mallet which I needed to make. So I picked out the smallest log from my stash and began cutting it in half with my crosscut carpenter's saw. In the first photo you can see my new froe in the foreground, and the log being cut into its partner mallet.

In the past I have always had a difficult time cutting a log such as this without the saw kerf meandering. By the time I finish the cut, the kerf being cut does not line up with the kerf at the beginning. But now, thanks to my hero Roy Underhill, I know how to do this: "Rotate the work frequently, and keep one's mind clear of impure thoughts." It worked very well, as can be seen in the second photo.

The next step was to cut a handle out of one end of the stump of log. I followed the same process of keeping "one's mind clear of impure thoughts" and sawed partially through the log, splitting off the excess wood with a chisel.

When it came time to clean up the new handle with a drawknife, I discovered that my shaving horse was woefully inadequate. The jaws of the shaving horse were not large enough to accomodate a full sized log. So I tied the log to the shaving horse and braced it against my knees with a piece of scrap wood.

Here's what the handle looked like when I quit working on it. I could clean it up a little with a spokeshave, but it's just a froe mallet.

I'd like to show the froe and mallet in action, but that takes two hands, leaving nothing for holding a camera. I used it to split the other half of the log I used for the mallet. It will be a nice piece for making a hammer handle, and I have enough left over for making several more handles, or spinning tops. Now I have lots of indoor projects that will keep me through the rainy winter.

Launch of The Merry Yarn

Today we launched our new row boat, The Merry Yarn.

The whole crew (except for the photographer) posed for a photo opportunity.

Monya tried it out first.

Then Bopop took the mermaids for a ride.

We even have a video of the ceremony. Notice how much at ease the two girls are. When I told them to "hold on" because I was about to hop into the boat, they tucked down low to the bottom of the boat, making it much more stable.

Launch of The Merry Yarn from Jim Zimmerman on Vimeo.

Clean Garage

Once every fifteen years or so I clean out my garage. Somewhere I have a photo of our 1981 Toyota Starlet inside the garage but I was unable to locate it. It's probably a printed photo, not digital, so I wouldn't be able to post it anyway, and within one week the garage was so full of junk that the car didn't fit any more.

When I started, there was only enough room for two bicycles to roll in and out. This occasion for cleaning the garage is to make space for Monya's new 14' rowboat on a trailer. I still have five boats hanging from the ceiling, so maybe I should call this a boat house rather than a garage. It's certainly not a woodworking shop.

October Flowers

Monya planted these flowers at the same time as the tomato seeds. The summer was unusually cool, so the tomatoes didn't ripen before the cold Fall weather returned, so she pulled out all the tomato plants and left these flowers to finish maturing. Now it is mid October and the poor things are just getting going.

The Fireplace Channel

The other day I noticed we had the television tuned to "the fireplace channel" and decided it was worth a photo.

Bicycle Repaired

Yesterday the guys at GHY Bikes called to tell me that my bike was ready to pick up. Those guys are really good! I'm just barely able to ride a bike again while those rarely replaced parts have been ordered, shipped and installed.

Broken Parts
front fender
hydraulic brake line
hydraulic brake fluid
rear view mirror mount
right shift housing

Worn Parts
brake pads (front and rear)
chain
cassette
Schwalbe Marathon Plus tire

So in order to save a little walking time, I decided to ride the XtraCycle over to the shop, then walk both bikes back. But Jesse pointed out that I could put the front wheel of the Norco into the carrier of the XtraCycle and it will pull like a trailer. It worked so well that I could have gone much farther and faster without any problems.

Grape Harvest 2011

The weather this summer was very cool. In fact, the summer weather didn't even start until nearly July, and during the month of August the high temperatures never reached the average. So our grape crop was very late in ripening.

Last year the crop wasn't ripe so I left it on the vine until the Fall rain started. Three days later all of the grapes had fallen off the vine and we lost all of them.

Two years ago we had a great harvest (Grape Harvest 2009). So when the rain started this weekend (Oct 1) I immediately checked on the grapes. They were not ripe but they were swelling, getting soft, and falling off the vine.

In desperation I gathered up what was left: about six gallons of grapes. Some of them were the ripe purple color, but most of them still had that reddish glow. A few were still green but full sized. I picked all of them.

I picked the grapes off the clusters and put them into a crusher sieve. Since there were so many reddish grapes I wondered whether the juice would be too bitter to drink, so I tasted the first batch. It was wonderful! A bit on the sour side, but very nice.

I finished off by including even the green grapes and finished with about 4 quarts of juice. Next year I'd like to try using a centrifugal juice separator since the sieve I'm using doesn't get all the juice out. Maybe an apple cider masher would work more effectively too.

Tree Climbing

We had two visitors spend the weekend of Sept 24-25 with us. I put up a rope swing in time for a wind storm to blow through. I captured a few seconds of the wind gust blowing through the oak tree while two girls screamed in mock fright. A few drops of rain fell and when the girls were touched by rain they immediately fell to the ground, growing mermaid tails. Unfortunately I was not prepared to take a movie of that action. Later, I put up a real climbing rope and LaGrande showed her strength and courage by climbing higher into the tree than she's ever been (except for the movie where she "jumped" out of the top of the tree). By the way, these photos have not been altered except for rotating and sizing for web viewing.

Swollen Hand

Two days later and the swelling in my hand has gone down quite a bit. I've been keeping an Ace bandage on it, and that helps around my wrist, but it isn't very effective around my fingers or knuckles. I don't know why the swelling would go way up into my fingers since it was only my wrist that took the impact.