A little bit of this and a little bit of that...

Much to my surprise, I got most of my work-tickets finished yesterday.

Bamboo poles to support tomato vines as they out-grow the feedlot panel. Before weeding.

The ducks like to hang-out beneath the willow bush on the right side of photo and in the background.
 

After weeding, from the other side.

Tomato, not Rose de Bern

Plant from same seed package, might be Rose de Bern. Most of the tomatoes on this plant are as round as ball-bearings.

A long truss of green tomatoes on Might be Federle. Note that they are not elongated.

Random photo of green Federle tomatoes pulled off the web. No long cluster. Very elongated and pointy.

Assessing 2,4-D effectiveness

Beneath the trees in the Upper Orchard

You can see where I missed a patch on the left side of the photo. It provides a nice before/after comparison.

 

Not every type of weed is as visibly hammered as these were. Perennials like goldenrod that are mature enough that their stems hardened-up are yellowing and only the succulent tops are twisting. The older burdock seems unaffected so far.

While I was visiting I sprayed the Keepsake apple tree with calcium and lugged water to the eleven newest trees.

The P2.5 air-quality is predicted to be bad today but (likely) better on Saturday. 

Nashville scouting report

The fishing site behind the Assembly of God church is not viable. I parked in the church parking lot to check it out. I walked to the edge of the pavement and stopped. It was clearly part of a yard that belonged to the house next door.

I had turned around and was walking back to my truck when I heard the door of that house open and a man called "Can I help you?". Midwest friendly.

I mentioned that I was looking for a place to go fishing but I wasn't going to sneak across his yard.

It turned out that he is the Pastor of that church. We had a wide-ranging conversation. He was a very easy guy to talk to.

He showed me the one place where I could get down to the river. It was behind some apartments. The bank was steep and stabilized with slabs of broken concrete. Absolutely treacherous for anybody older than 12 years-old.

The public boat-launch.

The channel didn't look as promising as behind the church but the access was wide-open.

The old dam-site was also mowed and a couple of kids were fishing there and looks very promising. No pictures taken as I wasn't carrying my phone.

Quaker Brook south of the Dollar General store

Quaker Brook also had access but was very mosquito-y. The water was 12"-to-18" deep. It looks like a prime place to catch suckers in the spring before the mosquitoes go crazy.

Potatoes

The last two things I did yesterday were to set a trap for a raccoon and to dig some potatoes before turning on the sprinkler in the garden.

A little more than two-pounds of potatoes from one hill. These were microwaved and will be used as needed.

Fake News Friday

Apparently, there is an AI app dedicated to composing "Dear John" letters. It is named "Maria" 

Some pictures from the County Fair

 

Smoke from the fire in northwestern Ontario

Not crowded at all

Closeup of a cooling station

Same station from farther back

The display was made from fiber-art. All of the display sampes were knitted.

A practical sewing project

Another denim dress with classic lines

A basket woven from Black Ash, some strips natural, other dyed.

Some photos

More photos

4-H Shooting Sports

A close-up showing some of the images

As Mrs ERJ and I were leaving, we saw the Military Recruiting booths.

I stopped and chatted with a Navy representative, last name of DuPont. I was not able to determine his rank.

We talked a little bit about Hegseth's push to test military personnel for testosterone. Link

One of the electricians I worked with had been diagnosed with low T. After the doctor prescribed supplemental T, he needed three hours less sleep a night and still had more pep than before.

To satisfy my curiosity, I asked DuPont "What is the longest period that you have had to remain awake in one stretch?"

"I was once required to be awake for 68 hours straight. I am a medic and I was supporting a Marine unit that was unable to re-link with the rest of the unit. My patient had lost a lot of blood and had second and third degree burns. Protocol required that I check vitals every five minutes and push more IV fluids when he needed them."

The recruiter standing next to him said "You got me beat. I did 48 hours at least twice." That recruiter was a Figherfighter-Trainer, so I assume that occurred when he was either fighting a fire or was in a simulation situation.

They also touched on the fact that military are exposed to toxic chemicals more often than civilians. Many of those chemicals, especially the halogenated ones, often have hormone-like effects which can interfere with natural hormone production.

I don't want to sound snarky, but the Progressive applauded when Biden's military used tax-payer money to inject women with male hormones and men with women's hormones. It seems disingenuous to feign angst when Hegseth proposes monitoring testosterone. 

Hey, Chum!

Responding to a question in the comments:

Working from up-stream to downstream:

Soaked-and-boiled, shelled corn (for carp) behind the Assembly of God church and at the boat launch. These used to be a mill-pond and the sill of the former dam still backs up the water to form bayous.

Cut up, Bar-S hotdogs below the rapids where the old mill dam was. I may push some pea-stone into each chunk so it doesn't float downstream too fast.

More cut-up, Bar-S hotdogs where Quaker Brook runs into the outside of a very tight bend.

Planning a trip to the County Fair

The peak wind-chill predicted for today is 14 degrees colder than it was for yesterday and the day before.

Mrs ERJ mentioned that she wants to go to the County Fair. I like making Mrs ERJ happy, so it is likely that I will eat an elephant ear and look at various farm animals and arts-and-crafts today.

I took a break from weeding the garden during the hottest days this week. The weeds did not take a break. So, I am behind in that.

The tomato vines are approaching the top of the feed-lot panels I put up to support them. My plan is to install bamboo poles with a single drop of twine to give them another 4' of head-room. Mrs ERJ toured the tomato garden and was concerned that 24' of row did not seem like very many tomatoes. We will see.

Meeting people

There I was with Mrs ERJ, walking around the track at the Alive fitness center. We were passing another couple who were also walking around the track when the man bumped the brim of his baseball cap with the knuckle of his pointer finger, revealing another couple inches of his forehead.

"I think I used to work with you" I blurted out.

"Maybe" the man replied.

"Jim?" I guessed.

He perked up. "Maybe you did" he agreed.

Then I said "Pipe-fitter?" (his trade).

Then he replied "Fisher Body!".

The last time I worked with Jim was in 2004. He is now 79 years-old. 

And another

A short time later, Mrs ERJ struck up a conversation with another woman.

It turned out that she attends the same church we do. We did not recognize her because she usually goes to a different (time) service than we do.

Boosting the signal

These are very short videos (like about 30 seconds). I shamelessly stole these from The Daily Timewaster blog.

Content We should be "working" so we can live a balanced, moral life, not living to work.
 

Content Marriage exists for three reasons: 

Marriage turns men's physical attraction toward women into a positive thing as it bonds them into a team

Married heterosexuals create the optimal environment for raising children. The Orthodox priest reminds us that children are created in the image and likeness of God himself.

The third reason is that God is present when two people meet in his name. A holy marriage is when husband and wife invite God into it and allow themselves to be windows that let God's light shine into the world. 

Stretch target for today's goals

Visit the Upper and Hill Orchards and water the new trees.

Swing by Nashville, Michigan and check out a couple of fishing sites on the Thornapple River. I might even throw some chum into the water and come back Friday with a fishing pole.

Still here

The Red Squirrels started cutting the ripening filberts down. Time to step-up my game in knocking back the numbers. The orange cap is filled with peanut butter. The distance between where the trap is mounted and the top of the support seems to be an important variable. It needs to be close enough that the squirrel has his hind feet gripping the top of the support but far enough away that the squirrel is reaching a little bit to get to the bait. This one is set with 2" between the top of the support and the top wire of the #110 body-grip trap.

Burning yard-waste 

It may be counter-intuitive, but burning yard-waste is not a bad way to use hot weather. It is not very aerobic. I got rid of some of the "ugly" wood that was going to be more work turning into firewood than it was worth.

Does a bear poop in the woods? 

I am not qualified to answer that question, but I can verify that raccoons will poop in the grass. You can see the mulberry seeds speckling his/her poop.

Tomato chicanery

I may have been scammed on some "heirloom" tomato seed that I bought over the internet.

The Rose de Bern is supposed to be very round and free of cracks. Of the two that set fruit, one matches that description and the other does not.

The Federle is supposed to be a long, sausage shaped tomato. The young fruit are very round and not showing any interest in elongating.

It is too early to tell for sure, but I am beginning to have my doubts.
 

Fill-in work for when it is hot

Peak temperature beneath our shade trees today was 87F. When Mrs ERJ and I went out today it was seven degrees hotter in the sun, over pavement.

Installing the new Predator 212cc motor on the Troy-Bilt Pony

It was a good project for beneath the the shade trees on a warm day.

When I unboxed the motor I saw that it had the cast aluminum valve cover. According to the Youtube video I watched, that means it is the "hemi" variant. On the whole, if you are not going to modify the motor to soup-it-up, the hemi variant has better intake and exhaust flow and, theoretically, should have slightly cooler head temperatures. 

The trip we took was to buy new nuts, bolts, washers and a new belt. I needed to remove the current engine and pulley and belts before I knew what I would need.

The bolts were 2" long, 5/16" coarse-thread. I looked up the torque spec and for "wet" or lubed bolts and washers, it was a meager 8 ft-lbs of torque for an SAE Grade 5 bolt.

I installed the pulley as far out on the shaft as it would go and not have the end of the shaft sub-flush, but the drive and driven pulley still didn't line up. The motor has two round (aka, "net") holes and two slots. I can elongate the holes in the mounting plate beneath the round-holes in the casting and gain about 5mm, almost a 1/4. While not perfect, it will be closer and the belts should live a lot longer.

The original motor had two, counter-rotating shafts. One for forward and and one for reverse. The new motor's shaft aligned with where the old "forward" shaft was so the machine will have "Forward" but no "Reverse" gear. I will have to put it in neutral and use my muscles when I want to back it up.

I filled the motor with oil and put in about a pint of gas into the tank and lit it off. I did not engage the drive (more on that in a bit). I let it run at about 65% speed until it ran out of gas.

The forced air convection from  the cooling fan was notably strong. It pushes a lot of air past the cooling fins on the cylinder casting and the fins on the head. That is an EXCELLENT thing. The fins are not "ducted". Ducting makes the airflow more efficient by forcing it into close proximity to the fins but exposed fins are rarely clogged up by mouse nests and chaff and are generally preferred for agricultural applications.

After the run-in, I drained the oil. Then I checked to see if I could budge the plugs on the transmission case. I could!!! One plug was in a port on the top of the casting while another plug was in the side of the casting about 2" above the center-line. Typically, the side port would be the "fill-to" mark. I scrubbed the outside of the casting to remove a decade's worth of grime before cracking them open.

The inside surface of both plugs were as dry as a bone. I spread newspaper and cardboard and turned the tiller on its side and about 8 ounces of dark brown (but clear) lube with a very high viscosity came out. That was good news. At least there was something wet in the transmission.

I added fresh motor oil to the engine but did not add any gasoline. I buttoned up the safety shields and then pushed it under cover.

I ordered GL-4 gear lube, 5/16" round files and a spare belt.

And now we wait...