12-05-2024 -- Merry Christmas to all.

Howdy. It has been awhile. A looong while. I wasn’t getting many views, so I decided to take a short break. That became a longer break, which became 2 1/2 years. Wow.

You likely came here because you got one of my Christmas Card packets. I had lots of fun creating the various projects, and had to do something with the results. Now my project box is empty again. Time to start on something else.

I have been keeping up on my gardening the last couple of years. Not at the moment, of course. Today is another winter weather advisory. We got well over 4 FEET of snow in the last week. Now it is just cold and super windy. 55 mph winds off the lake to start the day. Very chilly out there with actual temperatures about 25-27 degrees (Freedom units).

This year’s garden wasn’t as good as years past. The weather was just plain bad. First very cold and wet, then nicely hot but super dry. Did get a lot of small tomatoes and cucumbers and potatoes. Way too many tomatoes and potatoes.

I gave away tomatoes. I sauced tomatoes, I dehydrated tomatoes, I froze tomatoes with onions and garlic. I froze tomatoes cut up. I froze tomatoes whole. == Slowly using them up in pasta sauce and chili.

The potatoes I mostly passed on to others. But I also roasted lots of the baby ones (red, white, yellow, purple). Also had some strange looking long thin knotty purple potatoes. Ugly, but still tasty.

I did refresh my indoor Click and Grow hydroponic garden about a month ago. I have tiny plants of Basil and Parsley, red and yellow mini tomatoes, and mini sweet peppers (various colors, I hope). The plants are all barely 2 inches tall at this point.

Also had some work done around the house that was needed. I had the deck inspected and a few boards replaced, and then another coat of stain. Looks good again. The same guy also replaced some rotting boards in the outbuilding with the composite stuff, and painted the whole thing back to original colors — after pressure washing it, and the deck.

He also built a new step for the entrance to the house that works perfectly for us old people who can’t handle 18 inch high steps very well. And I had him install handrails on the stairwell to the second floor. They are on both sides now, and there is always a place to grab as I go up and down. Hey, getting old is not for the weak.

Oh, and he replaced the fake shutters around the windows with new, like, ones. Made the house look like it was freshly painted.

Other things, by that handyman, and my lawn service team, have improved living here. Things like removing trees that banged against the house in storms, or the old TV antenna from the roof that also made noise in the winds. I can’t stop the winds, but we can make it less noisy when they are here.

Biggest improvements here have been in my craft / toy rooms. I enjoy doing projects with my Xtool S1 Laser/Engraver, and dedicated one room for it and its materials and tools. A big thanks to my nephew and his wife for getting all the old photo gear and holiday props and such, out of that room, and selling it off via Ebay and Marketplace. Did me a big favor.

The other room, had a mini CNC router in it that I really just couldn’t get into. Way too much fiddling to make it create anything. I want to create, not be a electronic mechanic. That was passed on to someone that supposedly enjoys that “hobby”. I replace it with a couple of 3D printers. Bambu Lab P1S and their X1 Carbon. The P1S is great for most decorative type projects, but could be upgraded to do more. The X1 Carbon is ready to do the more functional prints that can hold up to the elements and the wear and tear of real life. I’ve been creating useful items with the Carbon, like stands to hold filament, battery boxes for storage of AA and AAA batteries, tools to use with the printers, and that type of thing. Also, a few of the holiday projects too. It is a do-it-all machine.

That’s it for now.

Enjoy Life!