Mountain Ride

The Fuzz took his motorcycle up into the mountains this passed weekend. He was going to try to make it up to Mt Mitchel again. The last time he tried this, there was a complication and he never made it. This time things went a little better.

He followed the same route he had hoped to travel last time, but this time the Parkway was open. This is at the picnic place at Craggy Gardens (see map below*). You can see his motorcycle parked down there.

He had picked up a sandwich down at Asheville (and a cold one) and rode the Parkway to this picnic area for a little snack.
This is where this cheap little "Multi-Tool" came into the picture. The Fuzz's "Cold One" had been carefully wrapped up so it would, in fact, be a cold one. And it was. But he had not brought a bottle opener, assuming that this tool, habitually carried on the bike, would handle things.
We have found, over he years, though painful experience, that "bargain" tools often fail to deliver. And once again, this was the case. The Fuzz found that the bottle opener on this nifty little thing was useless for opening a bottle. It simply would not fit over the cap. But there was a happy ending to this. That ever resourceful Fuzz, was able to use the knife blade and pry the cap up enough to finally get a bite with that thing, thus averting disaster.
Later, we will reveal how The Fuzz finally made his way to his next destination. (Circled on the Map)


*As usual, click on the map to enlarge.

Midnight Special VIII

For all you Insomniacs
For all you Insomniacs

Midnight Special VII

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Midnight Special VI

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Midnight Special V

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Midnight Special IV

For all you Insomniacs

The Work Continues, Continued

And as promised, a pix of the Skirting.

This is pretty much finished, except we still need to add some vents. Hard workers need a break now and again, so The Fuzz's Sweetie cut this Watermelon. As we were enjoying it, this bit of Fuzz turned up. A bit of fuzz is not really anything extraordinary, but this one was walking around.

And here's another look.

As you can see, the little bugger is kinda small, one of those "Little things of daily life." In this 2nd shot, you can kinda make out his little feets there.
We did enjoy watching him for a bit. He may be small, but still one of those "Wonders of the world."

Midnight Special III

For all you Insomniacs

The Work Continues

Here's a look out of the "driveway" of our new place out there in the woods. I think it has been mentioned how it can get a bit muddy in wet weather.
That Industrious Son had been doing some remodeling at his place and had a bunch of rubble piled up. When he came out to help with the skirting, he brought a truck load. Here's a closer look.
This stuff worked out pretty well for firming up this area. It's no problem for the car, but the loose chunks of brick make things interesting for The Fuzz's Motorcycle. We expect that that will improve with time, though.
The work is progressing, although slower than we had hoped. But as they say, "Everything in it's time." The Fuzz is working on the finishing touches to the skirting along with a few things inside. His Sweetie and Young Daughter continue cleaning and painting. We'll get some more pix up soon.


And for a look at some Fuzzy Thinking on Health Care Reform, Click Here.

Midnight Special II

For all you Insomniacs

July 4th

We pretty much took things easy on the 4th.
The Fuzz & His Sweetie took the pooches for a walk along the river.
Later, Young Daughter and His Sweetie played with beads and The Fuzz took a short stroll.

Here's a couple of pix of what's left of an old building in the woods near here.

About all that's left are the walls and some tin laying around.
And here's a look at The Beading Session.

Midnight Special I

For all you Insomniacs

More Beach Art

The Beach Trip is history.
But we have the memories, and the Pix.
But there are also these special ones, courtesy of that Little Known Local Artist* who has graciously permitted The Fuzz to share them with y'all.

*That Little Known Local Artist can be found Here.

Hidden Blessings

Whilst doing a little cleaning & painting out at our future Home in the Woods, The Fuzz's Sweetie found this bush near the future garden. Something about it got her attention and as she investigated further, she discovered *Blueberries !
Many years ago, when we first came into possession of this land, we had attempted to plant some Apple Trees and Blueberry Bushes in that area. This didn't work out very well, and the area eventually reverted to it's wild state.
Said Apple Trees eventually died. (Probably from very infrequent care) But, it appears that at least some of those Blueberries survived, hiding there in the woods, as can be seen here.

What a Blessing!

*To read more about these tasty treats click Here!

The Truth At Last!

Well, it seems that the scoffers were right after all. After a careful and extensive investigation, we have come to the conclusion, that this is, in fact, a mere Flashlight.
It seems that a couple of it's many features involve swiveling heads and a deployable tripod !
Considering a lack of sleep and all this, it is understandable how The Fuzz could have become confused in the dark.
We do thank you all for not panicking in this situation, and we have instructed The Fuzz to be more careful in the future.

The Truth Is Out There

It has come to our attention that there are some who think that this is some kind of scam, some sort of Photoshop creation of a sick mind.
Well, here is an actual, un-retouched photo of this strange phenomenon.

The Fuzz claims this was made from about as close as he felt safe.
But we will get to the bottom of this-
The truth is out there.

What The ......!

Things have settled down a bit, but I've never seen anything like it.

What The.........?

Will try to get a better pix.
I hope it's safe.

Beet It

It will be admitted that The Fuzz has never been one of The Gloved One's many fans. In fact, he is more familiar with Weird Al's parodies of Jackson's work.
But His Sweetie pulled up these Beets from the Garden the other day, and he couldn't resist.

This wasn't all of them, there was another milk crate at least 1/2 full.
She pickled some, and made us some yummy Borscht also.
This morning, before it got too hot we picked these Green Beans.

The garden is doing pretty well this year, since there has been plenty of rain. It's hard to believe June is almost over. But next week is The 4th. Seems like every year goes by faster and faster. Or else, I get slower and slower.
Our annual Beach Trip is behind us, but it seems like a good time to share this one, by a Little Known Local Artist.

Cute Kitty Pix

Not having anything better to do, I thought y'all might enjoy this
Cute Kitty.

This little feller is frequently found napping in this thing.

Pirate Stuff

So what's with all this pirate stuff anyway?
Well the story is that the pirates used to hide out here at Topsail Island. In fact this is the origin of the name.

"Topsail Island's name is supposedly derived from its nefarious history. According to popular belief, pirates once hid in the channel between the island and the mainland waiting for passing ships. The topsail was supposedly the only part of the pirate ship that could be seen by the passing 'victim' until it gave chase. " (Wikipedia)

Well, so much for History. But here is a pix of the Beach House. Sorry, no Pirates. For them you'll have to go to Somalia.

Fun Facts

Regarding that Critter in the Shell, The Lazy Iguana says-

"That is a "Horse Conch". I believe they are protected on account of people almost eating all them up.

To get the snail out you hang it from a hook. Eventually the shell falls off.

You can also cut off the end of the shell and cut the tendons that hold the snail in.

Fresh conch is pretty good - but only legal in The Bahamas."

The Fuzz says, "Thanks for the Info."

More Beach Stuff!

Last time we saw how a train could interfere with a Beach Trip. But there are more potential hold ups than that.
Here's another.

In this shot, it's closed. But of course, that is not always the case. In fact as we approached The Island, it was open, which means a long line of automobiles, and a long wait. There is another bridge, but it is on the other end of The Island. This is not a long bridge, but since our car is not amphibious, we opted to wait. We finally made it across, and out to the Beach House, where the rest of the family was already enjoying their Beach Experience.

One of the "Boys" found this thing, whatever it is.

Here's a look at some of the Beach Houses from the marsh area out in the Sound. The Fuzz likes to paddle around over there in the canoe. This time he had his camera.
The real beach is on the other side of the Island. It's just a short walk to the wind and surf, but The Fuzz spends more time over here.

Gone To The Beach

It was time for our annual Beach Trip.
For the last few years the family has gathered together for a week at the beach.

So how does a train fit into all this? Well, this is the train that blocked our route, in route, to this exciting event. This one was apparently on the siding waiting for another to pass. Unfortunately, the result of this business was that this road was blocked, for a long time. This was a bit frustrating as the road we were trying to get to was only about 1/4 mile ahead. Eventually, some local folks directed us on a bit of a detour which got us where we needed to go, although it was a few miles out of the way.
But we finally made it out to the coast.
Here is a shot of the sunrise over the town of Topsail Beach, from across the sound, courtesy of The Fuzz himself.

Still Gone

Still gone
Be back soon
(I hope)

Skirting the Issue

To be approved as "inhabitable" by the county, we must have underpinning, or skirting. So we got a crew together, and went to work.

First there had to be some sort of framework to attach all this stuff to.
We dropped a plumb line from the trailer to locate this bottom board, and staked it to the ground.

Next we cut and fitted some corner posts at each corner.

Then we cut these panels from some sheets of siding and screwed them to the trailer and bottom boards.

Here you can see our expert crew, hard at work.

And here's a look at our Brand New Skirting, and the pooches playing on the porch.

There,s still a few details to finish up, and then one more "porch" to build. And then, maybe we can get the county to let us begin to move in. But this will have to wait for a bit, 'cause now it's about time for a Wonderful Beach Adventure.

More Plumbing

Here's our new Washer & Dryer out at the trailer.
The Fuzz and His Sweetie went over to the local Appliance Place and got this Brand New Washing Machine. Long time followers of this amazing blog may remember the demise of our previous machine. Well, since this trailer has Hot Water among it's many amenities, and since it would be a long drive to the laundromat (not to mention the expense), it seemed like the time had come for this Brand New Washing Machine.
Of course nothing is easy, and when The Fuzz went to install this wondrous machine, there was the inevitable plumbing situation.

Here's a glimpse of what was going on.

You will notice that the plastic hot water hookup (on the left) has been replaced with a shiny new brass one. This was because when The Fuzz attempted to hook it up to this new machine, it was found to leak. So it was back to that Home Improvement Store once again.

And here's a look at some of the equipment.

A- The washer itself
B- The instructions to complete the procedure
C- The expensive crimping tool
D- The old, defective, valve
E- One of the excellent, new, valves (Since we had it apart, we replaced both)
F- Tool borrowed from Son-in -law for cutting plastic pipe
G- Rings, for crimping
H- First hookup, already in place

And we are happy to report that the repairs were a success, and this Wonderful Brand New Washing Machine is now fully functional.

Keeping Things Quiet

Here was the situation.
This was the Muffler on Son's automobile.

You will note it's poor condition. In fact, it had already removed itself from the vehicle in question.
You will notice at A how the exhaust has been ripped from it due to rust and all that stuff. A check of the local Auto Parts Place indicated a cost in excess of $100 for a replacement. It was clearly time to once again slip off into Cyberspace and that wonderful source for "All things automotive". There was found this somewhat more generic unit, priced more reasonably.
It did lack some of the convenience of the OME type unit, such as the hangers (B) on the high priced unit, but we figured with our great skills, we could rig things.
Naturally, it was raining, so everyone involved got soaked, but here is a look at this Shiny New Muffler.
We did use clamps instead of trying to weld the thin meatal under the car. At C you can see how we used some bent rod for support.

Every thing seems to have worked out well, and the car has quieted down considerably. So, we'll call this "Another job, well done".

Grab You

Death Comes To Another

You may remember these guys. They were the subjects of a recent inquiry* involving an unpleasant incident on the back porch.

Well, the sad news today, is they are now orphans.
Their foolish mother got out in the road one too many times.
Fortunately, they are old enough to make it on their own, but it is a sad thing for all.

*The results were inconclusive, although B seems to played the "Cute" card.

Time For A Change

Time had taken it's toll on The Fuzz's old watch. Particularly on the band.
The Fuzz does not really enjoy wearing a wristwatch, especially in hot weather, but his work situation this week made it desirable. But as is evident, his watch was not up to this.

This is an excellent little timepiece, a gift from the Young'uns many years ago. It's one of them Timex things that "Takes a lickin' but keeps on tickin'". But the wristband was, alas, history. Here's a look at things-

At A- Just plum Tore Up. (Note the less than successful attempt to staple the thing together)
At B- Rubber band used to secure loose end when buckled.
At C- One of the pins that later caused so much trouble.
At D- Enlarged (and very frayed) holes for buckle.

After assessing the situation, The Fuzz decided the best course of action would be the purchase of a new band. Simple enough, or so it seemed.

In an effort to avoid that "Walmart Experience", he payed a visit to a competitor. There he had an encounter with a pleasant, if not particularly knowledgeable person in the jewelery department. First there was a rather drawn out process to determine the correct size. This involved opening a number of bands and comparing them to the current one.
Once this had been determined, he (The Fuzz was pretty much doing this himself at this point) began to remove these pins (C). This was the beginning of the next complication. The 1st pin came out as expected, but the 2nd refused to cooperate. In fact, eventually, it broke off in the tiny hole. The Fuzz soon discovered that the only pliers available, was some Chanel Locks, hardly what one would expect for working on jewelry. I'm sorry to report that at this point the sale fell through.
The Fuzz rode sadly home considering the possible purchase of a new watch. There he made an unsuccessful attempt with the needlenose. But not one to give up easily, he got out the Dremel Tool. He picked out the tiniest bit he had and began to drill. This proved more successful and soon there was a new (if slightly larger) hole for the pin.
Now all he needed was a band. It was at this point he remembered an old, non functioning, watch he had stashed years ago. It seems The Fuzz is a bit of a pack rat, if it must be known.
And now he has a somewhat battered watch, with a Fancy Snakeskin Band, to wear to work.