Tied All Time Best at 16 yards and at 23 yards.

 After some difficulties (I broke the first 9 and then had the trigger malfunction and had to bail out the week before) I returned after blowing out the trigger assembly of the Browning BT-99 and joined a group ahead of us in order to make up a round.  I am tired from medications, it has been quite hot and humid, and I have stopped shooting my reloads and gone strictly to manufactured shells.

It paid off.  I staggered up to the line with these strangers and broke the first 22 before missing a straightaway.  I have never been closer to a 25.  I broke the final two to tie my all time best of 24, the fifth time I have shot that score.

I followed it up with a 19 at 23-yards which is also a tie for my all time best at that distance.  I was a very happy camper by the time my teammates arrived.  I was unable to replicate it under the lights when we shot, though, and got my usual 21 and 16 at 22 yards.

The 43 of the first round was the highest total I have ever put together.

It felt good to log at least one quality night this season with all the difficulties I have had.

BWW Project 25-18: Flashing on Roof

 BWW Project 25-18: Flashing on Roof

Where the roof beneath the bedroom bump-outs starts is protected from leaks by aluminum flashing which, over the years, has popped up in places and curled a bit.  There is only one spot where this is close to a known leak and that's over the 3-Season Porch roof, where there is a problem.

Securing this flashing all the way is a precursor to addressing the seepage which drips inside the porch when there is a heavy or protracted light rain.  

The part above the porch was done in one session because I could put flat boards on the roof and sit on them while I worked.  I pulled up all the roofing nails, many of which had come loose.  Then I put a nice thick bead of blackjack up under the metal.  Then, using inch and a quarter screws with rubber gaskets beneath the heads, I used the same holes to screw the metal down.  Then I painted the metal with valley and gutter paint which made for a nice job.

In a second session I carried the job from the edge of the roof, past the kitchen, and out to the corner by the garage.  I had to put an extension ladder out which matched the pitch of the lower roof, and have Cathy sit on the bottom rung while I went up and did each swath as I could reach it.  Because of the need to move the ladder several times, I carried the hammer, caulking gun, screws and cordless driver up with me and did all that for each swath, then came down and got the paint can and did that part.  About 4 moves of the ladder and I connected the new, finished job, to the old.

For good measure I painted the one roof vent to match.

Looks nice.  Now I can address the leak.

May 15, 2025 Reloading Study

 May 15, 2025 Reloading Study

Recob's pretty much has the lowest prices I can find.  I did a 12-guage reloading study

PRIMERS:  Cheddite 209 5000 for $259.99  or .05 each  $1.25 per box

SHOT:  25 lb for $52.99  or     $                 3.31 per box

POWDER:  Alliant Blue Dot  4lb for $ 161.19 (out of stock though)  or     $ 3.93 per box

                                            256 shells per lb

WADS:   Blue Dusters 5000 for $ 116.29  or        $ .58 per box

                            TOTAL:  $9.07 per box

I can reload 12-ga AA's for $9.07 per box.  Currently Recobs sells cases for $81.99 per box

                    I can not reload shells cheaper than I can buy them at this rate

                    Last year I accumulated a couple of cases for $89 each.  I will go by Recob's and pick off    

                    two more at the $82 price if I can get by there on the way to Sparta soon.  Meanwhile, I

                    have a couple cases of reloads to pull apart, some reloading supplies on my bench that I can

                    probably use to create a couple cases.  The biggest two items are shot and powder, so I need

                    to keep an eye out for bargains.

                    Powder:  to save a dollar a box $3.54 of powder would do it.  143.41 for 4 lb would be the

                        trigger point.

                    Shot:  to save a dollar a box 2.94 would do it.  $47.04 would be the trigger point

BWW Project 25-17: Work at and Plant Blackhawk Garden

 BWW Project 25-17:  Work at and Plant Blackhawk Garden

Before moving to BWW we always had a community garden at the Goodman Center location.  We went without for one year but got on the waiting list for one nearby at Blackhawk Gardens.  Cathy had it tilled and one of the rules is that each gardener has to donate 4 hours of community work doing various tasks like mulching around the outside of the fence, mulching and weeding the walkways, etc.

We went over and put in an hour each (mine count towards her 4--she is the garden renter).  I filled the wheelbarrows with mulch and rolled them over to the various locations where others were spreading it out.  I got a good workout.

A week later, when we were pretty sure we would get no more freezing nights, we went over to plant.  Cathy did all the raking and planting while I dug dandelions but mostly thistles out of the plot itself and also around the fence inside and outside.  Cathy planted parsnips in there.  I spent the rest of my time digging thistles from the walkway.  Another good workout for me.

Farm Project 25-1: Opening up for Summer

 Farm Project 25-1:  Opening up for Summer

I needed a break from Madison and the weather was supposed to be nice, so Monday night I drove up to the farm to open up for the summer.  If I vacuum up all the Japanese beetles from inside the window sills and off the floors, and get all the water up and running, Cathy can hit the ground running when she and I come up together next time.  Otherwise she has to sit by or work with no water while I solve all the issues.

I hit the water first.  I had fixed the dishwasher and installed it, but needed to hook the water supply and the drain back up.  I put a short line from the shutoff valve so that I can now shut off the feed to the dishwasher without having to shut off the hot water to the sink, if the dishwasher develops a leak as it did a few years ago.  I had just capped off the feed, but now I put a short line to it and tightened the feed tube to the DW to the other end of the valve.  We do not really ever use the DW anyway, so I left the valve turned off.  If we don't use it this summer, I won't have to drain it or put anti-freeze in it.

That done, I did the list of opening up the water.  Once all was well, I turned on the pump and started filling the system.  I immediately got a leak in the downstairs bathroom.  Thinking it must be the toilet feed, I sat down to inspect it and saw nothing amiss.  Then I realized my butt was getting wet from behind!

The cold feed tube and valve under the vanity had had a little water come sliding down the line after I blew it all out last fall.  The pressure fitting was not crimped down tight enough and the ice just pushed the valve off the copper pipe.  There was no deformation in the pipe, so I got a new female pressure nut and a new compression ring, slid them on and tightened it down to the old valve.  Good and tight!  

After that the water came on with no additional problems.  Did dishes, laundry, and bathed to make sure all systems were go.

Now it was just vacuuming up the beetles in the windows and on the floor around doors where they crawled in thinking this was a nice cave to hibernate in for the winter.  These things and a little shopping for essentials and to put a lot of ballast in the fridge and freezer, and I was pretty much done with my responsibilities.  

BWW Project 25-16 Wallpaper Removal

 BWW Project 25-16:  Wallpaper Removal

This was a big bite-off for a person with 50% steam.  A new skill.  Cathy had gotten an estimate for wallpaper removal in the living room, kitchen, and upstairs bedroom above the chair moulding.  It was like $2600 and we almost fainted!  I was wondering if they were including a root canal for that price!  And you know that once the deal was set, a couple of little gofers would come in and work one day doing it.  And be paid a hundred bucks each.

First of all, we worked smart.  We hired our grandson and a friend and paid them eighty bucks each for a seven hour day.  Our daughter had used a steamer once and came for the very beginning to get us started.

Rented the machine for two days from Ace.  It looks like a giant mailbox.  Basically it is a boiler.  You put a few liters of water in, hook up either the large steam head or the smaller, longer one to the hose and wait for it to start bubbling.

You score the wallpaper with a little roller that digs little holes through.  That is for the steam to get in and attack the glue.  

We started with the big head, getting large areas.  You hold the head against the wall, move it to an adjacent spot and then, with a putty knife you lift a corner of the paper off the wall and it peels off like sunburned skin where you have steamed.  There is a learning curve to the whole thing and before long we had Nik steaming away and Blake doing follow up on little pieces that didn't come off.  Cathy attacked the bare areas left and tried to get backing paper and glue that had not come off.  She used a spray bottle of wallpaper glue remover.

By the end of the day, we had the whole LR and the big parts of the kitchen done.  All the little strips here and there and everywhere between moulding boards and around kitchen outlets and window tops were left.

On day two I fired up the narrower longer head and attacked these places.  I was now pretty darn good at it and these came off with ease, sometimes a half-inch strip between a window frame and cupboard just peeling out in a six-foot ribbon!  

All the while, Cathy busily attacked what was left behind.  It was pretty exhausting but by afternoon I was able to clean up the machine and return it.  

We decided not to do the upstairs bedroom because we kind of like the wallpaper.  We also left the old wallpaper on the kitchen cupboard top that hangs from the ceiling and holds glasses and such.  Kind of like a rememberance.

I napped, headed up to the farm for a few days and Cathy stayed to finish scrubbing and rubbing.

If I were to do this again, I would start with the narrow, long head and do around all the edges first.  It works so efficiently!  I'll bet that's what the pros would do too.  Then the big areas left are fair game for the big head.

Now that I am an expert, maybe I'll never have to do it again!

BWW Project 25-15: Curtain Rods Upstairs Bedroom

 BWW Project 25-15: Curtain Rods Upstairs Bedroom

Not a real killer, but requiring exacting measurements.  Cathy wants double rods for curtains and to mount them just above the top piece of the window, but 6 inches beyond each side in order to create the illusion, when the curtains are mounted, of the window being a bit wider.

Going out six inches means using anchors because unless we are lucky we won't find a stud there.  We didn't.  First of all, measure three times and drill once.  Using the long box that the actual rods came in as a straight edge, I measured out and lightly marked.  From here, I used one of the brackets as a template and marked the holes carefully.  The middle bracket is easy because it is centered on the window and the pilot holes for the screws are drilled into the header.  

I used a tiny bit for all pilot holes and followed up on the sides with a bit that fits the plastic anchors I used perfectly.  No anchor for the middle brackets, of course, just a bit larger hole for the screws to bite.  The anchors pushed in tight with a little bit of thumb pressure.  Then it was just a matter of putting screws into each bracket.  They worked perfectly.

Everything lined up perfectly since I measured three times to drill once.  

Nice looking curtains when I got done and she hung them.  They DO make the window look a bit wider.