Fire Drill

Ever since I was about ten years old I wanted to be able to start a fire using a fire drill. That's two pieces of wood rubbed together until they're hot enough to catch fire. Well now I have encountered a WONDERFUL eleven year old great nephew who is interested in doing that too. So now I have justification.

I started with a Google search of "how to" videos, then started corresponding with my youthful co-conspirator. We both looked at the videos and saw what we had to build: A hand board, a hearth board, a wooden drill, and a bow.

He was successful before I was, by getting the wood hot enough to smoke. He sent me a photo and to my alarm I saw he was doing this on his hardwood bedroom floor. Yikes! Fortunately I found out that his mother was watching and she stopped him before he burned a hole in the floor.

So I found some appropriately sized pieces of scrap wood and made an attempt myself. In this photo you can see the lubricated hand board, the friction burned drill tip and hearth board, and the little pile of dark brown, burned wood shavings.

In this third photo you can see how I held everything together, on top of a five gallon paint bucket. I'm too old to get down on one knee. Hey, but I got smoke on my first attempt!

Milkmaid Yoke

My niece is milking goats and sheep, and has been struggling to carry the buckets of milk from the milking shed to her house. So she asked me if I could carve a "bucket-carrying" yoke for her. This yoke isn't exactly like the American "milk maid" yokes that completely cover the shoulders, but possibly more like the Asian style which is more like a narrow stick carried across the shoulders. The wood I chose for this project was a stem of Hazel wood that grew with a natural slight bow in the middle.

One of the hooks is made from a forked branch I pruned off my Pear tree and the other, straighter hook, was pruned off my Oak tree. The idea for the hooks came from Roy Underhill, the host of the The Woodright's Shop TV show.

Cedar River Flood: Dec 2015

It has been raining for several days now, not very heavy but consistently, at the rate of about two inches per day. It's too warm to make snow in the mountains, so it's all coming down the rivers. They say it has been accumulating six inches per day in the mountains, so that's a lot of water coming down the rivers.

This flood isn't nearly as bad as the November flood about twenty years ago but it's still awesome. The muddy water is up to the top of the planter boxes in these photos and the high water mark is three to six inches higher. So the crest of the flood has passed. Whew!

Splitting Alder Planks

Yesterday James and I cut down an eighteen year old Alder tree and then harvested two logs from midway up the trunk. The goal was to split out some Alder planks for the purpose of barbecuing Salmon over charcoal. So we wanted clear grain with no branches. I brought the two logs home last night and this morning I did what I could to split them using my fro and the club I made years ago from a log of Boxelder.

As you can see in the photo, I managed to get two good planks out of the center. I was stopped by a knot on one side and the other side began tapering too much and I had to split it again from the opposite end. I managed to extract a third plank from that, with a bunch of scrap remaining. My poor Boxelder club suffered the most as it broke into three pieces. I had to finish the task with a rubber hammer.

The planks have a slight twist in them since that's the direction of the wood grain. The fro is stuck in the remaining slab of wood but I was able to extract it by hitting the log with a one-hand sledge hammer. Afterwards I was able to split that slab again from the opposite end and extract a decent plank from it.

Quest Crank Boom Repair #2 Part 2

Spreading epoxy with latex gloves is a messy endeavor. The glass fibers stick to the gloves and tend to pull apart leaving a tangle of glass fibers around the edges of the patchwork. In desperation I grabbed some plastic wrap from the kitchen and put it on top of the glass/epoxy mess. Then I took off the latex gloves and used my bare fingers to squeeze the epoxy and work it into the glass cloth, and I could feel the air bubbles and extra epoxy shifting around. In the end I was quite happy with the results.

In this photo you see that I have removed the plastic wrap. The epoxy is still quite lumpy but it sanded down easily with 60 grit sandpaper.

While working on sanding the two patches I noticed that the center seam was opening up as shown here. So I decided to put a patch on that as well.

In this final photo I have added all three patches along with plastic wrap, and I have already worked the epoxy thoroughly through the glass cloth. All air bubbles have been squeezed out. I even discovered that I can slide the glass cloth around while squeezing the epoxy into it. I was able to get much better alignment of the new glass. This is probably the nicest glass/epoxy patching I have ever done. Now I have four layers of glass over the area where the bolts will go through. That should hold things together nicely.

Quest Crank Boom Repair #2

It was two years ago this week when I finished repairing the crank boom on the Quest velomobile. See my blog post of Nov 2, 2013. It turned out that I should have also reinforced the fiberglass where the aluminum connects to it, holding the front end of the crank boom in place.

As you can see in this first photo, the fiberglass has broken and the aluminum support has fallen down into the nose cone.

This second photo shows how the original construction contained two layers of fiberglass, and they were not bonded properly to each other. The two layers have delaminated.

The other side doesn't have two layers of fiberglass. I wonder why not.

Here you can see how the aluminum structure aligns with the fiberglass. I have two spring clips holding the aluminum structure up against the fiberglass. Not really a good match, but that would be because the aluminum crank boom broke at the weld and was re-welded two years ago. I think it came out about one quarter inch shorter than the original, causing this mis-alignment and some fairly ugly matching between the top and bottom fiberglass shells.

This last photo shows how the headlight, mounted on the crank boom, nearly aligns with the hole in the center of the nose cone.

I need to think about how I am going to build up that fiberglass again, without causing additional alignment problems, and correctly locate and drill some new holes for bolting the aluminum to the fiberglass.

A Day at the River and Lake

Today we took The Merry Yarn and one kayak out in the river, then out to the lake and back to the river again. It was so hot we all went for a swim too, and for the first time in about 15 years I swam in that cold river water.

Our first photograph, taken from the shore by our intrepid photographer shows Lief rowing The Merry Yarn with mermaid #2 as a passenger. Mermaid #1 had already jumped out to swim in the river.

The next photo shows mermaid #2 in the rear hatch of my kayak and mermaid #1 swimming with her daddy.

The last photo shows that since mermaid #1 was too big to fit in the rear hatch, she was required to paddle the boat herself. She did so remarkably well for her first time paddling, in spite of the wind and current pushing her in opposing directions.

Ultra Marathon Bicycle Race Across Washington

Last weekend I had the privilege of driving the chase vehicle behind my son Lief as he raced across the State of Washington. He started from the Canadian border near Oroville and rode practically non-stop to the Oregon border near Pasco. The clock started when he began riding and it kept running even while he rested, and while he sat at stop lights.

This photo, taken at the Canadian border, was time-stamped 4:54 AM PST, showing that my camera clock is about 20 minutes faster than actual time. Light from the coming sunrise was beginning to appear in the northeast horizon. An hour later a deer hopped out onto the road, then ran across in front of Lief, narrowly missing a collision.

We were so busy watching for traffic, and monitoring Lief's needs, that we didn't take any more photos until we reached the finish line, 12 hours and 28 minutes later. This photo is time-stamped 5:25 PM PST.

With only 40 miles to go, after straining into a horrendous head wind and experiencing a spell of unanticipated overheating, Lief was on the verge of giving up. His brother James poured a gallon of cool water over him and told him to take it easy and just get to the finish line. Then only a few minutes later we came upon a giggle of mermaids who were there specifically to cheer Lief on. It was an enormous boost in morale. They leapfrogged ahead several times and then met us at the finish line.

The posed picture shows Lief next to the "Welcome to Oregon" sign, holding his bike up in victory. We wrote the elapsed time on the back of our chase vehicle.

Wisteria

These two photos were taken at the base of the Wisteria bush in Jones Park. That bush has been there for as long as I can remember. The arbor supporting it was replaced about twenty years ago and now it's even looking old.

I took these photos with my cell phone, just to capture the history, but even with the smeared lens they turned out excellent. It must be the subject matter.

Stop and Smell the Roses

Last weekend Lief and I went for a bike ride. Actually Lief went for a bike ride and I followed as a support motorist since his route was planned to extend for more than 200 miles. While we were temporarily stopped I took advantage of the situation to literally "smell the roses" and here are some pictures of the roses I smelled.

This rose has the latin name Yellowus Rosus

This rose has the latin name Blueus Rosus

This rose has the latin name Blackberryus Rosus

As you may have guessed by now, I have no idea of the real latin name for these flowers. Well the bottom one is actually flowers on a blackberry vine. These flowers were just barely noticeable and quite a surprise to find alonge the side of the road.

Superbowl XLIX

The fans watched breathlessly...

...while one of the players was taken off the field in a wheelchair.

Maria Parker

Last night we had the incredible experience of meeting Maria Parker and her daughter Lucia. For those of you who don't know who she is: She holds four world records as the fastest woman on a bicycle, and she broke the record for women over 50 in the Ride Across America (RAAM) in 2013. The RAAM is a non-stop race from San Diego to Annapolis, Maryland. It's about 3000 miles and she did it in less than twelve days. As an example of one of her feats, here are the results of the race in Sebring last February. Notice that Maria finished first, riding 100 miles in less than 4-1/2 hours. To put that in perspective, I rode 100 miles in about 8 hours.

Lief organized the event last night. Lucia was a member of the support team on Maria's fantastic ride in the RAAM in 2013. So here I am in the same room with three amazing people.

By the way, Lief is planning to compete in an upcoming race, riding the same model bicycle that Maria rides. It's a Vendetta model designed by CruzBike. You can see a photo of Lief riding his Vendetta bike on this blog in the "Winter Bike/Trike Ride" posting below.

Last night's event was actually for Maria's 3000 Miles to a Cure fund raiser to help research a cure for brain cancer. It was Maria's commitment to her sister Jenny, the "3000 Miles to a Cure" fund raiser, along with promises she made to lots of other cancer patients, that motivated her to the incredible feat of endurance in the RAAM of 2013.

Seahawks Post Game Party

All five sisters were present for the Seahawks game today. We enjoyed the game, and even more, the company. The only Erskine in the photo is Lief.

Believe me, you did not want to hear the roar during the game, with the TV audio turned up to 78, a grand nephew playing the piano, two grand-daughters, three nieces and a great-niece playing video games, and five sisters all talking at the same time. It was actually OK; we didn't need to hear the play by play anyway.

The Seahawks won again: 20-6

Winter Bike/Trike Ride

Riding a bike in the winter time requires some extra equipment, for staying warm and dry. Notice the hand warmers on the handlebars. Notice the black head covering under the helmet. Notice the wind and rain proof jacket. Then notice the yellow fiberglass fairing in the lower right corner that completely encloses me, so I don't need any of the above.

Seahawk Fans

The whole family is ready for the Seahawk game tomorrow. Everybody is wearing a #12 in this photo.

Yard Cleanup

BEFORE

The landscaping came last week and cleaned up Dad's yard in only one day. You can see here in the "before" photos, taken last May, the Lilac bushes were so huge you can't see the house from the street. The Apple tree and the Juniper bush consumed nearly the entire front yard.

AFTER

Now you can see the entire front of the house, from multiple places on the street. The lilac bushes and Rhododendrons are still rather large and will look beautiful in the Spring. The Apple tree and Juniper bush are both gone.

They took away the gigantic brush pile in the back too, from the four trees we cut down. They even cleaned up the raspberry patch.

Potato Fudge

Monya made some fudge using mashed potato, coconut oil, and sugar. It tastes just like real fudge and there's no dairy in it. Finally I can eat something that everybody else can eat and enjoy too.

Dad's Last Photos

May 4, 6:15 PM
Broken Bow, Nebraska
Barb (Zierlein) and Dahl Jungren, and Rich, family of Everett Zierlein in Broken Bow Nebraska, along with the Webers from Arnold.

Barb, maybe you can describe who is who here.

Monday, May 5, 6:28 PM
Cody Wyoming: family of Leonard Zierlein.
Frank and Glenda (ZierLein) Willis, Uncle Leonard and Aunt Carol, Dad and Uncle Bob.

Monday, May 6, 12:56 AM
Cody Wyoming: more family of Leonard Zierlein.
Dad, Kim, baby Toby, Auggie, Louis, Aunt Carol, Uncle Bob, Uncle Leonard

Obviously, Dad's camera clock is about six hours off. The first two photos were taken near noon, judging by the angle of the Sun, so the third was probably taken sometime around 6:00 PM.

UPDATE: The third photo was taken at about 8:30 PM on May 5.

Beaver Relocated

For the past several years I have seen signs of beaver along the Cedar River. Last winter he started really attacking some gigantic Cottonwood trees, cutting one down altogether, and killing three or four more by girdling them (chewing off all the bark, all the way around. Today I walked over to see how he was doing and discovered that the Parks Department has cut down the dead trees and put wire mesh around the remaining trees to stop the chewing. I also heard a rumor that they had trapped 9 beavers, or trapped one beaver 9 times, and relocated him upstream. Maybe this is the last we'll see of the beaver for a while.

Here in this first photo you can see three stumps, all that remains of three awesome Cottonwood trees.

This second photo shows the freshly chewed wood over the top of the dark brown older chewing marks. The whole trunk is now surrounded by 1/4 inch wire mesh.

This third photo shows the tree the beaver successfully cut down and then stripped of all of its bark. Notice that the beaver only had to chew away the outer layer of wood since the Cottonwood's heartwood was already rotten and was unable to support the weight of the tree.

This last photo shows a close up of the teeth marks on the log that had been laying in the river. You may have to download the full size photo and zoom in to see the teeth marks.