most of the parts removed

A 2001 Polaris Sportsman 400 found it's way to my place yesterday. The front right corner seemed as if it had hit a concrete wall pretty hard. Today I removed the broken front cargo rack and support pieces and straightened bent metal (cargo support/mount, bumper and mounts, radiator grill/protector and misc) so the rack now sits as it should. I also removed the radiator and flushed it and cleaned the mud from the cooling fins then reinstalled all. It's ready for use on some Colorado mining roads and trails.

radiator protector/bumper mount + bumper

straightened parts reinstalled + cargo rack repaired w/aluminum plate

zucchini- and look close and see a few small peppers...and yarrow and asparagus and cucumber vine, and sage

Yesterday I picked the first zucchini and cooked it fresh in a little oil with lemon juice and pepper. I'm still eating fresh foraged lamb's quarters and poke weed with a little purslane thrown in the mix...and my swiss chard. There are peppers about 1/2 size now and some of the asparagus has pushed up their 3rd shoots.

the before picture

The rain last night came with a lot of wind and again the plastic covering the large end door way on the shed was torn loose. So, I decided to just temporarily close it up with some salvaged wood I had on hand. I also included an old window sash, so now I get some daylight in there. It was a quick project but a big improvement. Getting a door in there can wait.

the shed end "door"

1995 Ford Explorer drivers side lower ball joint replacement

In prep for a road trip to the mountains I went to rotate my tires and discovered one particularly bad lower ball joint. I had to tear into it to feel safe- and it's nice off my feet kind of work...and you get to PoUnD! with a BFH. Being 4 wheel drive, the old Explorer's lower ball joints are more involved. It's done though and today, inspecting the other side, I found it to be serviceable. I also lowered the spare to see the mechanism worked and greased the crank and cable.

the soffit metal going back in place, nice deep overhang

the small attic window

Yesterday I went up on the rear porch(closed in)roof and re-installed all the metal soffit pieces that were ripped of in a couple of storms with tremendous wind gusts last fall. It's been installed over nice bead board, but it would be too much work(and toxic lead paint) to prep and paint. While I was up there I decided to have a look into the attic from the vent opening in the gable end. Well, to my surprise, the vent had been installed over a closed window, so no venting was going on- at least not from the rear. I removed the vent and opened the little window and then put mesh over the opening. Someday I will put in a real vent or maybe an exhaust fan. I did look in and see some old loose insulation, not much depth- but better than none. Maybe in the fall I will see about adding a good 10" of something new- suddenly it became too hot and humid/sticky to be in any attic. I think I'm now caught up with all the pressing exterior work I wanted to get done before some inspector came by and wrote me up.

Today the end of the outside work bench(under the east lean-to) got "sided" with salvaged cedar fence boards.This creates some weather proof storage on the other side.

2 birdhouse/nesting boxes

shed gets a bird house and large pinecone

The exterior work continues. The trim around all the replacement windows is done now. I painted the chimney a sort of brick red(a paint someone was throwing out). It looks better than the white that it was. I also put together the to bird houses I had started the other day. I mounted one on the shed.

painting the chimney

lower chimney all painted

I also used another scrounged paint-an exterior blue, on the cap stones on either end of the front porch.

sun flowers are doing well. I'm picturing the blue around the windows also...maybe next year

bedroom window trim ready for finish paint

Yesterday I finished the prep on the 2 north side kitchen windows as well as the 2 south side bedroom windows and the side basement entrance door way. Later I worked on building a couple of bird houses/ bluebird nesting boxes- patterned after one of my Route K nesting boxes. I cut pieces out some salvaged cedar fence boards for 2 boxes.

nesting boxes to be

Also, I got around to mounting my saw mill blade on the picket fence and some snow skis on the shed above the west lean-to.

skis mounted above lean-to

saw blade mounted above my barge chain

yum, can I have some more please

I went to Como yesterday to deal with the house there, seeing if it was vacant and turning it over to a new tenant. I was blessed with a house full of furniture and televisions the tenant left me...in the yard. I'm not sure yet how I'll arrange it all.

gate latch

Today I unloaded things and hung a few interesting pieces on the shed. Also, I finally made a letch for the gate- since the tuck pointing on the lower chimney is done. I attached a bit of salvaged cedar to the chimney and then made a latch with some oak and an old plumbing valve handle.

elderberry?

The garden in front is doing well. The asparagus is pushing up second stalks and there are red raspberries ripening. I put cages around the tomato plants finally. I have let some "bushes" grow by the side fence- stuff that came back after everything was cut down last fall. I think they may be elderberry bushes. They will have to mature more before I can be sure. I also found some purslane growing, only one plant so far- bit I added a little to my evening greens I foraged for dinner.

purslane

the main garden

The shed roof was covered with white mineral roll roofing today. I had been waiting for some metal to materialize but such has not happened yet so I finally just went ahead and did it simply. It was time to get that tarp off the roof. Maybe later I'll cover it with metal.

side living room windows...my bedroom really

The painting continues. I'm on the south side now-done with the living room windows and started in on the chimney. I raked out the joints with loose mortar and yesterday and tuck pointed today...below the roof line anyway.

the chimney gets attention before painting

Tear Mender to fix some jeans. So much better- and easier than sewing. Great adhesion and sets up quick.

when I purchased the house-the porch foundation was white too...

I'm focusing on things that may get me written up, such as when a city inspector comes to the area for "summer inspections". Today I got the front, exterior window trim scraped, primed, caulked and painted. I didn't want to go back with white, too much white here. I used the only non-white exterior paint I had on hand, a bit of a tan?...it looks good. I also finished the siding on the end of the shed- using the last of the red metal siding/roofing I had. Then I used an old metal sign to make the fence section from the gate to the shed- it had been temporarily done in chicken wire.

the shed end siding, and the metal sign + bamboo for fence

Some poke and lambs quarters for dinner greens:

Did I say how much I like the swing? Yesterday I took a bit of old floor joist and sanded one side and rounded the corners and drilled four holes for rope...and made the swing! It's a great place to be as the sun sets- and it's a nice breeze on a hot day, both forward and back.

A sweet tree swing. I won't be w/o 1 ever again.