Not much to report.
Mrs ERJ continues to marvel at my ability to protect the floor from drywall mud by strategically positioning my body so it catches every drip.
One of the things about drywalling is that I am learning fast but the muscle memory will have faded away by the next time I need to use it.
I found this guy's channel to be user-friendly. Key points: He lists the final consistency for the "mud" in terms I understand. I.e., "Add water and mix until the mud has the consistency of sour cream".
Also, he gives the camera a good "look" at the amount of mud he is putting on his knife with each trip to the mud-pan. That is a very big deal because a knife cannot carry very much sour cream or pancake batter mud. Trying to cheat means you will be wearing extra mud when you are doing overhead work. It is a small but obvious detail.
Food
I cooked 2 pounds of pinto beans yesterday and made a pan of whole-wheat, yeast rising rolls.
The beans had ham, molasses, a bit of vinegar, and tomato paste added. Plain, simple eating.
Cattail seeds
Mrs ERJ enjoys the convenience of firestarters when starting fires in the fireplace.
We evolved to three cotton-balls wrapped in a tube of newspaper and soaked in paraffin. It may be overkill but it certainly gets the job done.
I like fiddling with things, even when they are not broke. I want to see if I can substitute cattail fluff for cotton balls. Cotton balls are not a local product. Cattail seeds are.
I was dismayed to find that many of the cattails have already shed their seeds.
The good news is that I found a source of cattails 1200 feet from my front door.
Search and destroy missions
When I walk in my young woods, I try to carry some kind of cutting tool, hand pruners, lopping shears, a bow saw.
My current mission is to cut back the MALE grape vines that are climbing over my trees. I don't begrudge the females the sun because they produce food. The males, however, need a little bit of discouragement. That is because the male vines are almost always more vigorous. After all, they don't have the metabolic burden of ripening fruit and seeds.
Back about 60 years or so my buddies and I used cattail seed to catch sparks from flint and steel when we were doing our Davey Crocket /Daniel Boone/Boy Scout adventures. Haven't tried it for well over 50 years but I reckon it would still work if you're carrying a Daisy Red Ryder. ---ken
ReplyDeleteTape black cats to the cattail, light fuse and toss like a German hand grenade
DeleteThat's downright devious, and it sounds like it would be fun to watch.
DeleteMost important part of putting the mud on is "don't play with it too much"
ReplyDeleteYep...hit it a lick and promise it better next time.
DeleteERJ- At the Ranch, the same is true of wild blackberries. I like blackberries, but not growing all over the pastures.
ReplyDeleteWhat about dryer lint instead of cotton balls?
ReplyDeleteDryer lint is mostly artificial fiber and it doesn't ignite with a flint and steel spark or those new sparking igniters nor does it burn well. ---ken
DeleteIf you have pets, dryer lint smells strongly of burning hair when lit. I have started using wood pellets in cardboard egg cartons bottoms, with melted wax from garage sale candles. Melt, pour over, let cool, break apart. Portable, clean, very easy to light. Burns hot and long.
ReplyDeleteTwo pounds of Pintos ? You'll be eating beans for a week . But I do love em ! Grandpa called them brown gravy beans .
ReplyDeleteIt's always interesting reading the comments. I can guess the majority age group, mostly because I'm in it.
ReplyDelete