It’s amazing how time flies. Although it has been about 13 years since I bought the John Deere X304 lawn tractor for the ranch, it seems like yesterday. I still think of it as “the new tractor.” So it’s always a surprise when something needs repair. I use this machine for all kinds of things, from mowing to towing, and recently it developed a screaming sound near the front.
Continue reading →I have been interested in gardening since I was a child and spent time with my great grandparents who were gardeners. The Square Foot Gardening method was developed in 1976 as a simple alternative to labor intensive and inefficient row gardening. Explore the possibilities . . .
Continue reading →I’ve been threatening to build a storage shed at the ranch for some time now. After going through everything in the shop and selling, discarding, or giving everything away I could, it was still too crowded to work effectively. I needed more space. A friend had recently mentioned a sale on small buildings at Costco — it was worth a look.
Continue reading →For the last ten years, we’ve been farming bluebonnets (Lupinus texensis) around the place. It started when I planted a few seeds and gradually, they’ve bloomed and spread. Because I’m impatient, I also helped them along by mowing the plants after they had gone to seed and spreading the clippings to other parts of the ranch.
Continue reading →Ikea makes a wonderful work light (JANSJÖ)that sells for about $13. I have several of them, and love the warm pool of light they provide on desk surfaces. Let’s convert one of them to solar power with the Altoids LED light project
Continue reading →Solar water pump for well—measured power consumption, battery capacity, inverter losses, and real-world off-grid system performance.
Continue reading →After testing our off-grid solar system, it became clear we needed more capacity. By adding solar panels, we improved charging performance, and expanded the system for real-world use.
Continue reading →Every piano is different, and although there are recommended measurements for key dip, blow distance, hammer height, etc., changes are sometimes needed to suit a specific action. At this point, Danny Boone’s Regulating Grand Piano Touch and Tone suggested fully regulating … Continue reading →
With casters installed and a rudimentary understanding of action adjustments, I was able to tinker. Hammer alignment went quickly, and as predicted, the sotto voce pedal now worked properly. Since the rockers were not snugged into their final position, they tended to drift, so I touched up the hammer line and let-off, and put the action back into the piano. It was time to play!
Continue reading →As I mentioned a couple of posts ago, the Weber had been without casters for about 20 years. After we moved to our log home, I was eager to make it more playable, but there was a distinct rattling!
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