USMC Jacket progress

coming along fairly well

Cat Tractors, blisters, heat and chicken wire

every inch of me hurts. Got the cat enclosure ready for paint and chicken wire.  I pushed my body too far. May not do the chicken wire tomorrow. 

Okay, no blasting my un-professional wood project. I haven't done a lot of things on this size with wood.  The bracing is making it pretty sturdy. We'll paint and then wrap the wire.  The door will then be attached and we'll cut out the doorway to match the door (of course). It's hot here and I may have lost 5lbs or so from the heat (LOL). I am drinking a lot of water and eating some chips for the salt content.

There was a lot of sawing (by hand) but you might notice some of the braces are jagged. I was using what I had at hand and I used door shims for the bracers, whacking off the narrow ends.

I REALLY overdid today. The palm of my hand may blister and I currently can't lift my glass of tea (unsweetened) very easily.

I know the cat enclosure looks all redneck but I think it'll work, besides, I am from the South and inherited Grandpa's inventive mind.  Not planning this thing beyond the measurements for the frame - things had to be caught on the fly as I built it.

Henry county is on alert because of a rabid raccoon and maybe a rabid fox. That's just north of us.  With the enclosure the cats can be outside (a couple at a time) and be safe but still get out in the sun and on the grass.  I'm going to put a piece of plywood over one end for shade too.

 you can see the frame where the door will go

I'll attach the door after we wrap the wire.

Cat "tractor"

Why a moveable chicken coop is called a chicken tractor I don't know yet.  I've started a cat tractor so we can let the cats out on the grass and out into the sun.

 lumber - 2x2x8 - (7)

The saw had a broken blade so I went with the classic hand saw. Fortunately pine isn't hard to saw through.  

Pre-drilled holes for the screws

 26" legs/corners (4)
cross beams (4)
door frame (4)
long sides (4) 8'
wood screws
wood nails
small pieces of wood as corner bracing (16)
chicken wire
hinges (2)
door handle (1)

sides - 8' - the side bars are placed back far enough on the long poles to screw the legs on

I didn't take wood shop in school so this will be a little primitive looking but hopefully it'll work

instead of using nails we're using wood screws.  That is NOT easy to do.  Four corners and four legs - ugh

first part of the frame - need the bottom frame and the bracing and then I'll do a support beam on one side and then the door.

To do the support/reinforce the frame I grabbed what was available. I didn't want to use a thick piece of wood so I went with door shims, breaking off the excess.  So far it works. :)  I used small wood nails.

Then I took a break and went to Home Depot for some curtain rod solutions for the living room and didn't beat the rain back. When I got home it was lightly raining - then it opened up. No more work on the frame today. 

Plants and more Plants

 Lemon balm

marigolds (annuals, I know - we have them every year ever since I was 5 yrs old), roses and the flag

mint (I need to hand weed)

 Does anyone know what this is?

 rosemary, roses, soap wort

 soapwort and roses

strawberries

Gardening stuff and Sukkot planning

Got up early and hit Big Lots shortly after they opened. Fortunately, we live in the South, there was only 1 or 2 shoppers that early on a Sunday morning. 

I now have a nice potting table (complete with faucet and small sink), the height is perfect and it's a good thick plastic. Yay! I've been wanting something to make into a potting table to help my back.

Also got two "zero gravity" lawn chair things. Might help the back and let me sit outside more. 

A real find - bamboo curtains - 48x72" for $3 apiece.  Jackie thought I was going insane, she hates the things inside the house and they can quickly become a pain in the tail.  Then I said two words: "Sukkah booth"

We're planning on replacing the wooden frame she built years ago when we first got here with PVC pipes and the curtains will be the sides of my walls. I'll pick up some bamboo fencing for the roof = no more drooping branches on my head, no more bugs dangling at eye level by day 4. 

Jacket Progress

Dogwoods, Strawberries and Fuzz Bot

the heat is starting here - high 80s this weekend.  I did too much in the heat the last couple of days so I'm taking it easy today.

I discovered while doing yard work day before that the dogwood tree we planted for Mom and Mama Marie is hanging in there with 4 new leaves.  Praying it continues to grow.  Also, the yard has a lot of wild strawberries.  Right now none of them are producing fruit yet, except one - there are two small berries right next to the dogwood.  We know how Mom loved strawberries and collected strawberry themed things for awhile.

I got a harness and a leash the other day and we got the harness on Fuzz Bot and I've had her outside twice today.  She loved it! She's not fond of the harness but is getting the idea that while it's on, she might get to go outside.  It's been a few months since she's been out.  Deacon sneaks out but we know he barely goes into the tree line.  We've kept the others in but plan on taking Fuzz Bot, Grady and Nyx out on a leash. They were raised as inside/out cats and not being out on the grass is a bit hard on them. Having them inside is much safer though.

Ugh, feel terrible today.

here's some pictures of Evie in her bed: She throws a FIT if the lid is down or someone else is in it. She has to be petted and talked to and loved before she settles down to sleep.

The golden eyes peering up into the picture is Oscar, Evie's brother. We have a large plastic tub I'm going to put drainage holes and have as a strawberry planter. It was holding bubble wrap and pipe insulators slotted to go down to the basement. Oscar decided that diving under all the stuff on top and hiding below was a great place to ambush others from, then he learned an old military saying "a cave is a grave" - once discovered, there's nowhere to go as Alyssa demonstrated to him. LOL