It just ain't summertime till......

[Dawai]

(1) Spring cleaning in the shop here..(all the crap from a hundred projects)
(2) Pollen chokes you to death nearly (sneezing while riding my bike)
(3) you get your first purple fingernail of the season
(4) Plasma cutting a "quick fix" with flip flop sandals on
(5) you get to hide in the basement till the Tornado on radar passes over.
(6) YOU KILL YOUR FIRST COPPERHEAD.. (under the sprout box full of tomato plants on my front porch), with shorts and Sandals on.

Time to finish some old projects and start some new. Everything is wonderful here, as normal.. How is Summertime there??

[AndersK]

Well, it came a little bit of snow three days this week.
Had to scrape ice from the windscreen in the mornings.
Today is a sunny day, sitting outside drinking coffee in shorts and a t.
Changes quickly sometimes

Take care DC
Anders

[Hotrod1932]

Well David spring HAD arrived here in the Land of Enchantment, my bulbs had come up on schedule and trees starting to bud out. Spinach and lettuce up in the garden and the tomatoes and strawberries my grandsons and I had planted were coming right along. Temps in the mid to upper 70's in the day and then dropping back into the 40's at night. Perfect spring weather except for all the dang wind.

I was just about to take the water walls off of the tomatoes when the first few days in May the temp dropped like a rock, two nights below freezing and on May 2nd we even had snow flurries! :o

But it is after all New Mexico, and if you don't like the weather just wait a few minutes and it will change. Had to cut the grass for the first time yesterday. Still need a way to see about gettin you out here to help me with that V2XT Bridgeport electrical. Got the new VFD to allow or 220 in and 220 3 phase out for the motor but that's all the progress I've made.

Take care my friend and keep the wheels on that dresser pointed down. You make it out here and you can take my 100th anniversary V Rod out for a spin. Now that's a real silver bullet!

[DanGunit]

Already in the 90's here for the last week. Harvested my first tomatos of the season on April 27th along with some lettuce and bock choi, got some more on the vine ready to pick today. Have had the BBQ fired up for the past few weekends and have been enjoying grillin the Tri-Tip, potatos, and corn on the cob...gonna try some chicken next weekend. All in all, a pleasant start to the season.

[Dawai]

First time I ever tried to raise chickens.. Made them a mobile coop with a jack and wheels at one end.
Hand feeding Worms to the chicks.. reckon they will be as spoiled as my dog??

Moved my trucks around, the 57 GMC is in the shop. THE Vortec engine is LOCKED UP solid, no rust in cylinders.. no clue yet.. I roll all the stored engines over a few times a year to keep them limber.. I am wanting to put them aluminum heads, MPFI top end on a OLD 1965 327 with forged internals tho.. This just gives me a reason to do so.. the Vortec I have has a nodular iron crankshaft. I think the 57 will get the Magic 350 for a while, a week in the El Camino did it for that chassis. I moved the 05 Pivic to the shop so I can reach it with a DA and air line.. Sold pieces off the 41 BUG project.. the frame sits outside.

Metalwork?? I made two feeders today from Mirror 22 ga stainless.. Of course they need re-engineering.. the silly birds get into the middle of them, too much like a dance hall for chickens instead of a feeder trough.

New tools? *you know I am a junkie?? The new Cpress has proven to be a winner..

[Roger J.]

Used to raise baby chickens when I was a kid. We usually brought home about 50 at a time. Lost a few every time, but ended up with more free eggs than we knew what to do with.
When they got big enough to put out in the coop, Dad ended up putting an intercom in there so we could here what was happening out there at night. If we heard the chickens getting riled up, Dad would run out the door with the 22 and sure enough, there would be a possum in there trying to get himself a free meal.
I thought having chickens was great until I went to work at a hatchery when I was 16. Somehow the sound of 20,000-40,000 baby chickens all peeping at the same time turned me off to eggs for quite a few years.:o

[whateg01]

Originally Posted by Hotrod1932

... it is after all New Mexico, and if you don't like the weather just wait a few minutes and it will change. ...

Hey! That's Kansas motto! Give it back!

Dave

[whateg01]

What are the twigs for?

Dave

[Dawai]

Hi, well.. they need somewhere to perch.. and they look nothing like them pictures.. they have to "get up off the ground" when they sleep.. or they poop on themselves.. and I hate poopy birds. These things are so stupid, they poop where they eat, and eat where they poop. And fight?? all the time.. we got 2 roosters in the "all pullets" we purchased.. even the hens fight.. One of the black ones runs over and bites my hand everytime I stick it into the cage.

They fly right now as well as pidgeons.. The chicken tractor is two full pieces of thin expanded metal with 1" angle around it, welded with cross bars 32" wide.. open bottom.. they fly the full 8 feet from one end to the other.. when I had them in that lil box, they'd fly out and My bulldog would want to catch them. I threatened to get a badmitton racket to "smack" them back into the box. They do a pretty good job at weeding the garden, but not enough of it, I am feeding them too well.. wanting egg layers.. develop them into big birds..

THE new stainless and Pvc feeders, well no food on the ground this morning.. but they get into it and stand.. time to re-engineer.. I hate wasting metal..

For all you guys who have had chickens, remember, this is brand new to me. Them 4 month old Rhode Island Red roosters were waiting on me this morning (I get up at daylight).. Pat Groover brought them to me. . Pat had a national meet yesterday.. Powdercoat event..

ON the other note: Last night I watched the neighbor try to Patch a cab panel into his 2009 Ford truck with a stick welder.. I started to walk over to offer him the tig or mig.. but then I remembered how good he got me on a recent trade.. so... I'm drinking my coffee and wanting a peep at a metal patch holocaust.. He got a gallon of "bondo" from me the day before.. I was using it to make a buck..

[CARS]

Welcome to the world of poultry David! My laying hens are a 2 this year, so I wont get any till next spring, but I did get 40 Cornish Crosses last week to fill my freezer in 10 weeks!!! Mmmm, chicken! (chicks don't roost and they will eventually learn not to poop on themselves)

(btw: a great forum for this subject is http://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/index.php )

Ya, spring has finally arrived. Chicks, planting the garden, a few rain showers... finally! It's been a LONG winter. Finally opened up all the shop doors and washed the walls and floor. Some of that dust was 8 months old!