A Christmas Surprise

Every year the family (those who can meets up for a "Family Christmas" gathering.

This year was no exception.

It was an overnighter for most as it was a bit of a drive for most-

And of course who wants to drive after a celebration.

There were presents exchanged, and eggnog & cookies that night.

And breakfast in the morning-

Pancakes and eggs.

And the guys made sure there was plenty of bacon and liver mush.

It was time to part ways once more.

Then came the surprise.

When a family member with the farthest to drive found herself with a vision issue*, The Fuzz and His Sweetie volunteered to drive her home.

So they took off for the Port City-

the opposite direction from their home in the woods!

That trip went OK but as evening came they found themselves a long way from home-

and no desire for the drive back.

But that is one of the perks of retirement- right?

And so they got a hotel for the night.

And why not take advantage of being at the beach?

So with a quick call to a much appreciated friend back home, they decided to add an extra day and just enjoy being there.

They drove up to Topsail Island where the family has been spending a little time in the summers now for several years.

It was pretty quiet out there this time of year-

Very few people out on the beach.

The Fuzz and His Sweetie went out there for a little bit.

It was quite windy so they didn't stay long.

The Fuzz did have to put his toes in just a little.

But there was time for a snack and a beer at the Quarter Moon before heading back down to the city.

And while they were there, The Fuzz and His Sweetie got one of those "Wild Hairs".

But That bit will have to wait for now.

*The Fuzz is happy to report that she is doing much better now and things are back to normal- for what that's worth!

Christmas Flicks

Christmas is one of those times filled with traditions-

Old & New.

Movies?

Well, yeah, sometimes movies.

It's the time of year to kick back and watch some of the old favorites.

Like The Muppet's Christmas Carrol!

The Fuzz's copy was an old VCR tape-

But alas- the VCR had died.  Finally, The Fuzz and His Sweetie drove into town in the hope of finding a DVD.

In desperation they drove over to Wally World.

The place was pretty busy for a Monday afternoon.

But of course it is the Christmas Season!

It brought back memories of those Last Minute Christmas Shopping Escapades.

That was a tradition that will not be missed.

Of course, as so often happens, although there were thousands of DVDs there, The Muppet one was not-

Nor was The Santa Clause- the other flick on their shortlist.

Well, maybe they need to try Amazon next!

Christmas On The Way

Times change.

The years go by, sometimes one hardly notices.

And then one day you turn around and things a very different.

The Fuzz and His Sweetie spent 40+ years with young'uns around the house.

Christmas was always a time of intense activity.

Lots of presents to procure and wrap up.

The house was decorated, and there was always a Christmas Tree-

And it had to be a "live*" one.

There is no way to replace that smell-

It means Christmas!

But now with the kids all gone and with their own homes, kids, and Christmas;

And living in a much smaller (if less crowded) space-

There is no Tree.

But something is missing with this.

But this year His Sweetie had an inspiration.

So on the way home from a visit they stopped and picked up a fresh Christmas Wreath.

They got out the ornaments and picked out a few favorites-

So here we are!

It may be small, but it's there-

And smells like Christmas again.

*Well maybe not "live" since it had been cut down!

Out of the Woods & and Split

It was about a week ago that The Fuzz finally got around to cutting that tree he had been putting off.

It may be remembered that he had left the wood down there at the time.

But it was not due to that P-Factor this time.

He did have some concern over the state of the "road" going in there.

The intention was to somehow get the wood transported to the vicinity of the Log Splitter.

Some of the smaller pieces had already been moved "old school" with a wheelbarrow, but this would not do for the big stuff.

But not having a nice 4x4 truck* available, the only option (other than that wheelbarrow) was to pull in there with his trailer.

And this had to be pulled with a Honda Accord-

Not exactly a stump jumper!

Actually, the road/trail was not all that bad;

But there was a wet spot that had him concerned.

And it would be uphill on the way out- loaded.

But the weather had promised to stay relatively dry for a few days, so he was hoping to give some time for it to dry out just a bit more.

But now, with rain on the way, this was the day.

He made it in OK.

As can be seen, it's not exactly the Freeway.

But there was plenty of room to turn around.

He got the first load on.

It will be noticed that there was still a bit of the trunk remaining uncut.  To be honest about it, The Absent Minded Fuzz had kinda forgotten about it.  But no problem, he'd just bring the saw back when he came for the next load-

Assuming he made it out with the first one!

But there were no problems with that load, or the next.

And all the wood made it safely up to the splitter.

It was a perfect opportunity to continue the job.  But that required a trip out of the woods for some gas, and a new spark plug.

After a "Wine & Cheese" break** with His Sweetie, The Fuzz went to work, and by the evening there was a nice pile of spit wood.

Now the rain has set back in.

There were still a few of the larger blocks he didn't have time to get to.

But he'll get to that soon enough.

Some of those guys are a bit bigger- 18" diameter.

So he'll probably tip the splitter into the vertical mode so as not to have to lift them suckers.

But all in all, the operation was a success, and The Fuzz and His Sweetie should be able to stay warm over the rest of the Holidays.

*Actually, The Fuzz does have a truck.  But the thing laid down on him once too many times.  It sits in the Driveway at the old place waiting for him to either fix the piece of crap- or junk it!

**The Fuzz realizes that operating power equipment after drinking wine is not recommended- Yeah.  Ok.

Finally- Finishing Up

Well, yeah.

It is another case of that "P-Factor".

The Fuzz and the P-Factor go way back-

all the way to grade school and homework and stuff like that.

But this is not the time to go into that.

Remember the Shower project?

Well everything was done and in fine working order.

At least on the surface.

And while The Fuzz and His Sweetie have been enjoying those nice long hot showers-

There did remain one little detail still unfinished.

And with the cold weather moving in, it could no longer be put off.

It will be remembered that there was a considerable amount of plumbing done under the trailer.

And that is the sort of thing that can freeze if left uninsulated.

And due to that P-Factor, that was the situation.

So The Fuzz grabbed his trusty roll of Gorilla Tape, and crawled back under there.

It was a simple matter to pull the insulation back into place and tape the membrane back together.

Except for the feed lines!

With no place to put the cut-offs in the bathroom, The Fuzz had put them under the trailer.

It would have been easy enough to simply cover them up, but they needed to be accessible of course-

That's what they're for!

First he boxed the area in.

This is a shot looking up at the arrangement.

Then a bit of insulation was stuffed in-

It would be easy enough to remove if necessary.

And finally a door-

And latch.

This should be sufficient to handle these North Carolina Southern Winters.

And The Fuzz can scratch one more off of that

P-Factor List!

In Context

Exhibit "A"

So what are we looking at here?

No, it's not one of those "Mystery Pix" that turn up here at Kinda Fuzzy from time to time.

It's actually a shot of a tree stump next to the back porch of the trailer out here in the woods.

Here it is shown in a bit more context.

Ok...

So, The Fuzz admits that the pix "A" is really not so much about the stump itself, but the Fungus.

Or is that Fungi?

Whatever.

But one does have to admit that without said stump, there would be no Fungus!

(Or Fungi- if that's what it is)

And so it really is a pix of the stump.

It's just camouflaged!

On the Ground

Both of our loyal readers will remember how The Fuzz and His Sweetie rely on the old woodstove to stay toasty this time of year.

Well that "P-Factor" is a factor here as well.

One of the neighbors out here in the woods had given Our Fuzz a dead oak tree.

But the thing was, it was down in the woods-

and still standing.

And this is where that "P-Factor" came into play again.

There were a few smaller ones nearby, but The Fuzz had already gotten to them.  He would finally have to face the big one.

He still doesn't know why he had put this off like this.  Really, he has handled bigger ones before- some really big!

Maybe he's just getting old-

But then...

It's probably just Laziness- and that "P-Factor".

But not even The Fuzz wants to spend the winter freezing his tush off.

It was one of those trees where the saw won't quite reach all the way through.  But that doesn't have to be a problem for an experienced wood cutter like Our Fuzz.

It turned out that the tree fell right where it was planned.

There is a sort of a road down into these woods.

But there is one kinda wet spot.

These blocks are bigger than they look in these pix and will have to be split up of course.  And the best way to handle this is naturally with power tools*.  But there is no way The Fuzz wants to pull that heavy splitter down here with that little Accord.

At this point the plan is to wait a couple more days, and hope that the "road" dries out enough to get in-

and out-

with the trailer.

The splitting will be done at his own woodlot-

with Power Tools.

*The Fuzz actually took a shot at splitting this stuff Old School with a maul.  It wasn't going all that well.  And besides- that's why they make power tools anyway.

A Bit of Plumbing

It was previously mentioned that The Fuzz & His Sweetie were involved in a bit of Granddaughter Duty not long ago.

This involved some time spent away from their Home in the Woods, in town.

While there, They offered to replace a kitchen faucet that, while functional, was not, shall we say- in pristine condition.

Once it was ascertained that this would be agreeable to all concerned, (it's a guy thing) The Fuzz and their hostess slipped over to that Infamous Home Improvement Store;

(There seems to be one in every town!)

...And a replacement was procured.

The next step was to get under the kitchen sink-

which is never much fun.

But once everything was out of the way, things went surprisingly well.

The tools were gotten out-

And really, when it comes down to it, it's largely a matter of having the right tools.

You might notice that The Fuzz's shirt is just a wee bit damp in this picture.  But really that is nothing compared to what can happen if one is foolish enough to tear into these things.

And here is a look at the new faucet.

Of course it took a couple of days to realize that the reason the dishwasher wasn't working right was because The Fuzz had inadvertently turned off the valve to it!

But then-

All's well, that ends well.

Right?

The "P" Factor

Ah yes- that "P" Factor!

So just what is this?

It's the reason The Fuzz has not been heard from for 20 days.

Otherwise know as Procrastination.

The Fuzz is an expert at this, having been an active* procrastinator for years now.  In fact he has become rather adept at this useful skill.

Of course there is a down side to this.

Procrastinations seem to pile up after a while until the pile is a bit hard to even see past.

Well, The Fuzz and His Sweetie have been kinda busy, in a way;

But that is no excuse.

Anyhow...

Previously The Fuzz mentioned something about things getting back to normal.  Well what is "normal" anyway?

In this case it turned out to be looking out after a grandchild whilst her usual caregiver was out of town.

(actually out of the country)

It's not that they have no experience in this matter, but it has been a few years since they were dealing with a Sweet Little 2 Year Old!

But all in all, they were glad to have the opportunity for some of that "quality time" again.

But getting back to the woods and "normal" it was time for The Fuzz to get back onto the project he had started.

He had picked up the motor for the table saw from the Electrical Motor Doctor and actually gotten the thing put back together.

Other more pressing matters (such as working up a bit of firewood!) had been taken care of, and The Fuzz felt the itch to get out into the shop again.

He had fun playing with his toys-

and even made a slight improvement to the design.

And here's a look at the new arrangement.

It seems to have turned out rather well.

Now the rest is up to His Sweetie.

*as if this word can be applied to the phenomenom!

Fun Pix

Just a couple of fun pix here...

And...

Getting Back to "Normal"

Getting Back to "Normal"

And just what is this "normal" stuff anyway?

I believe it was Junie B. Jones☺︎ who once said-

"Nobody in my family is normal."

Be that as it may, with the bathroom fully functional, it is time for The Fuzz to move on to other things.

And of course there is no shortage of other things.

Today, it seems that indoor things would be appropriate.

Even the Kitties agree.

The Fuzz's Sweetie saw an idea for mounting various bits of art on the wall and The Fuzz thought it was something he could handle.

In fact he had already done something like this-

although on a smaller scale.

To do it right, he would want to use the table saw of course.

But now there appeared to be a problem.

Whilst he was cutting a few chunks of firewood into smaller boards the other day, the saw quit.

(Well actually, it wouldn't start back up after he had shut it off)

It would just buzz and act like it wasn't getting enough power.
And there was that disquieting bit of smoke.

The Fuzz quickly determined that there was nothing wrong with the blade and bearings.

The trouble was the motor.

Bummer.

So it was time to take the thing apart.

In this first shot, the motor has already been removed.

But of course even that turned into a bit of a project.

In order to do this the drive pulley needed to be removed.

So he backed off on the set screw.

Unfortunately, the pulley still did not want to slip off of the shaft.

Step 2

So he got a rubber mallet and tried tapping on the shaft to loosen it.

Step 3

Tapping while while prying on the pulley.

(Which didn't work either)

Step 4

It was time to get out the gear puller.

Or what was left of it.

The Fuzz has this tendency to pick up cheap tools at- for example, Big Lots.

Sometimes this works out...

And sometimes not.

And...

The Fuzz has a tendency to push these cheap tools just a little too hard.

And that was what had happened to the gear puller.

If one closely examines this pix, one will see that the shaft of this precision tool is just a little bent!

This does make it a bit more difficult to use.

 But in this case ti did the trick-

The pulley was pulled-

And the motor is at the Electric Motor Doctor's.

The Fuzz should probably be using this time to clean up the mess in the shop.

But instead he is playing around here on the computer!

Well, there'll be time enough for that later.

Bathroom Update

The Fuzz is pleased to report

That the tile and baseboards are in.

And the Brand New Shower is hooked up and ready.

It has been one of those projects that grew a little as it went along.

At first the idea was simply to replace the bathtub.

But it was decided that a walk-in shower would be a better arrangement.

And since that would be a different size, a new wall would need to be framed in.

And then there was a matter of raising the floor just a bit as well to accommodate the drain.

Then-

since a few tiles would need to be added to fill in a gap-

It might be a good time to replace those stick-on vinyl ones with some real tiles. 

And that was a project in itself.

But all that is behind The Fuzz now.

All that remains is a new shower curtain and then-

a nice hot shower!