Weather

So far just a bit of sleet and a little rain.

But they did turn school out early.  Actually very early, like 09:30.

But the Dogs are doing fine.

But it could get messy yet.

Spring?

Well, they are calling for a bit of nasty weather again.  Of course we won't know till it gets here.  But we are getting ready, just in case.

The Fuzz has been out splitting firewood again, but he did find this heartening sign out there.

Yes, Spring is on the way.

SG.2

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Moving Day

This  weekend The Fuzz and the whole family met to celebrate the wedding of the Younger Son and His New Bride.  It was an excellent affair.  But that is not what this post is about.

The subject at hand is moving a piano.

Some years ago, there was a group effort to move a piano up into a second story apartment.  If anyone wishes to be reminded of this, they can click HERE (1) (2) (3).

But of course that is all in the past.  Yet, as it has been said, "What goes up, must come down".  And so that time had come.  And this time it was not The Fuzz's problem.  After all, he's retired.

Any project like this requires planning, and the proper equipment.  (More will be said on this subject later)  In a situation like this, which requires lowering a huge (and heavy) object down a flight of stairs will benefit from any type of mechanical advantage.  And so a close friend of the owner made up this impressive set of blocks for the occasion.

The first task was to get the thing out of the apartment.  This was accomplished with little trouble.

In this shot we can see preparations being made for the next critical step in this operation.

The blocks were attached, the rope secured, and the piano was slowly guided down tis specially designed system of ramps.  Now we were safely on ground level.

Of course it was still necessary to get the thing onto the truck.  Here you can see this flexible ramp system reconfigured for this purpose.  The steps in the walkway were utilized to eliminate the need to lift the thing up into the truck.  It was simply rolled on, and strapped down securely.

One does not want something like this sliding around back there once on the road.

Naturally, getting the thing into it's new home presented it's own challenges.  The truck was backed up to the doorway, and once again, the ramp used to move it to the porch.  Note the dolly at the arrow.  The key to moving a piano is a good dolly.  Unfortunately this was not a good dolly.

Unfortunately, there are not any pix of this next phase of the move.  As the piano was being pulled up the ramp, one wheel slipped off of the ramp.  While the piano did not fall, the dolly broke.  It seems that plastic is not the best material for this sort of task. 

The piano was successfully moved the rest of the way up the ramp where the dolly was reinforced with a piece of plywood.

Here it can be seem in the tight quarters at the top of the last flight of stairs.

And finally in it's new home after an adventurous move.  

Here's a look at the equipment that did not fail.

And what did.

This will be going back to the Home Improvement Store, with a complaint!   

Boats of the Seine 35

Boats of the Seine 34

More Rain

More

Rain

Things are getting a bit soggy around here.  

The road is a mess.

But they claim we will see the sun this weekend.

Pretty Exciting

Not much going on.  The Fuzz rode into town to pick up the co-op order.  It was small, and fit inside the car, so the rain wasn't an issue.  Mostly we're just getting ready for the big weekend.

The Fuzz's Sweetie made some turkey soup for supper.  Now it's dark outside.  It is muddy outside also.

Pretty exciting!

Upgrading

Another rainy day here in the woods.  But over the weekend The Fuzz and His Sweetie cut down a nice (mostly) dead oak by the neighbor's trailer.  There is still a bit of the trunk left.  The Fuzz is hoping to get to that soon when it's not so rainy.

But Our Fuzz has not been idle.

The other day, he and His Sweetie stopped by an old country store* just over the county line.  While they were perusing the various "Old Timey" goods, this little wood heater caught The Fuzz's eye.  

It is well known to all faithful followers of Kinda Fuzzy, that our Home in the Woods is heated by firewood, in a rather Low-Tech sort of stove.  While this arrangement has done the job, it does have it's problems.  One being that there is no way to slow things down quite enough on those kinda-warm days.

 This little jewel is one of those fancy Down-Draft-Type-Airtight-Models.  The Fuzz figured it might be worth upgrading things.  And His Sweetie agreed.

Seeing Our Fuzz's interest, the proprietors offered him a deal.  It seems that while it is our peak heating season, it is not peak wood stove selling season.  Most folks took care of that detail before cold weather set in.

An so The Fuzz took the plunge. 

With unseasonably warm weather, the fire in the old stove had been alowed to die down.  So The Fuzz, with the aid of His Sweetie, and Young Daughter, brought the new inside for the swap out.

Of course there was some minor assembly required.  After adding this bit of gasket,

the collar for the smoke pipe was bolted in place.

Note some of these cool features.
At "A"- airtight seals
At "B"- interior firebrick lining  
At "C"- blower (not visible)
At "D"- rear baffle (forms air chamber for blower- which also works by natural convection when blower is not in operation)

And Voila!

It is cool to be able to watch the fire inside.

Even the dogs are enjoying it.

*Nestled in the Foothills of North Carolina, Washburn's General Store is recognized as the oldest continually run, family owned & operated business in North Carolina.

Boats of the Seine 33

Boats of the Seine 32

Boats of the Seine 31

It is taking a long time to get these pix up.  The Fuzz is sorry about that.

But then, this way we get to enjoy them longer, right?

The Fuzz really enjoyed seeing the working boats.

There's not a lot of that here at Our Home in the Woods!

Top of the World

The Fuzz went off for a few days to visit his sister and brother up in Virginia.  It was a bit of a drive, but worth it.  They don't get together very often these days.  They met up at his sister's place.

Here's a look from the Top of the World, which The Fuzz learned was located nearby.

One evening they made a visit to this nearby observatory.

The line to get a peak through it was a bit too long.  But the exhibits were interesting.

Thanks for a great visit.

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Boats of the Seine 29

A Wet Start

It's a New Year,

The Year of Our Lord, Two Thousand and Thirteen!

And here in the woods, we had a wet start to it.

Well, the world didn't end, at least not yet.

So what's ahead?

It's hard to say.  

The politicians are still playing their foolish games.

But for the rest of us, life goes on.

The Fuzz hopes to do a little better here at Kinda Fuzzy this year.  Maybe he'll get some new stories up this year.  Maybe even keep up with some pix.

But for now,

It's Still Christmas!

And The Fuzz wishes all

A Happy New Year!

Another Year

The end of the year is upon us.  And it has been a year of change for The Fuzz.  Probably the biggest change has been retiring from his job of 33+ years with the city.  And what may have seemed a simple thing, is really not so simple.

The Fuzz is still dealing with this.  Before, his life was pretty much planned out for him.  But now...

Not to get the wrong idea here, he has plenty of things to keep him busy.  He has taken on a few more things around the house, notably- the laundry.  This has been a learning experience, he didn't realize it could get so complicated!  And of course there are the usual things, yard work, firewood, etc.  There has been more time for Motorcycling as well.  And there is that ongoing project of the Shed. 

And there is more time to spend with His Sweetie, which has necessitated some adjustments on her part as well.  But all in all, this has been a good thing.  As the Good Book says*, "Iron sharpens iron".

And so another year passes, and we look forward to the adventure that will come to us.

*"As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend." (Proverbs 27:17)

Christmas Travel

One advantage of going north for Christmas is a better chance for that illusive, (in North Carolina) White Christmas.

But When The Fuzz and all woke Christmas Day, here it was.  Of course we're not talking blizzard here, but it was a nice touch.

The Fuzz and His Sweetie had a pleasant morning walk in this winter wonderland.

And besides, who actually wants a blizzard, especially when they are a long way from home?

The Fuzz had traveled north though the mountains.  This avoided most of those unpleasant cities with their nasty traffic.  But with winter storms imminent, The Fuzz bit the bullet and headed home on that infamous

I-95.

It was snowy-slushy-icy at Washington.  So it was not a good time to visit the zoo, and The Fuzz continued on southward, hoping to get out of this mess.

At Richmond, traffic came to a standstill, and there was plenty of time to admire this cool looking bridge.

And then, many hours later, there was this welcomed sight.

There was still a good bit of driving left, but they made it home safe and sound.

All in all, it was a good Christmas visit.

White Christmas?

This year, The Fuzz, His Sweetie and the Young Daughter are visiting family a bit further north then their Home in the Woods.

And it looks like this could be a White Christmas.

Here's a shot of the situation late afternoon on Christmas eve.

The Fuzz would like to wish every body a

Very Merry Christmas! 

40 Years!

The Fuzz and His Sweetie 40 years ago on this special day!

"Equipment Failure" Revisited

You may remember how things were not going well for The Fuzz in the laundry room.  Well, the part that he was waiting for did come in.  And so it was installed.  this was a surprisingly simple procedure.

Of course the The Fuzz would have to get in to the "guts" of the thing this time.  

But no problem!

Notice how these simple clips can be removed with a screwdriver.

This enables the whole cover to be tilted away from the "guts".

Here's a look at the old and new together.

Installation was simply a mater of slipping the new water inlet valve's tabs into slots in the back of the machine.  And then hooking up the water hoses.

The machine is working, even now at this moment.  But The Fuzz (ever the pessimist) couldn't help wondering if he had replaced parts unnecessarily.  But then His Sweetie pointed out that this view of things only robs one of the joy of having an operating washer again.

And of course, she is right.

The Christmas Tree Thing

The Fuzz used to be a purist about this Christmas Tree thing.  One just did not put it up until Christmas Eve Day!

But over the years they have worn him down.

So, here it is.

"Equipment Failure" in the Laundry Room

So what's that Fuzz been up to lately.  Well, really not that much.  But sometimes stuff happens.

Since he has given up the Garbage Business, at least on the previous scale, he's been involved in the laundry business- at least on the private level.

Unfortunately laundry equipment is also prone to "equipment failure".

But of course Our Fuzz's Motto is "I can fix that- Let me get my tools".

So here is a pix of the current situation.

Things started out with the thing quitting in mid-cycle.  It would fill, wash, drain and spin.  But then nada, zip, etc.  Our resourceful Fuzz managed to rinse that load by recycling into "wash", with no soap.  But then the thing died completely.  Various checks were made, and The Fuzz reluctantly concluded that the timer (A) was dead.

So a new one was ordered.  And the next afternoon installed.  
(Which was actually a piece of cake, thanks to You Tube*.  This thing was well designed for repairs.  Unfortunately, it needs them!)  

The Fuzz watched happily as the washer, with it's brand new timer, went enthusiastically back to work.  Unfortunately his joy only lasted till the rinse cycle.  

With the clothes piling up, The Fuzz and His Sweetie were forced to resort to the Laundromat. 

But now, a brand new water inlet thingy (at B) is on order.  It may even come today!

The Fuzz promises to keep all posted on these exciting developments.

*A great tool!

Zero Tolerance

"An AutoZone worker who stopped an armed robbery by retrieving a weapon from his truck said he was fired by the company for violating their gun policy."

Does this make any sense ?