Bogieblog

Patriot Flag Escort

I have a bunch of vacation days I need to take before the end of the year (use or lose) and I specifically chose Friday, 8/25/17, as one of those to participate with other HOG members in escorting the flag during its Patriot Tour.

We left the dealership at 10 that morning and I got back home about 4:30. We didn't take the flag very far, to a dealership at the VT/NH boarder, but we took the scenic route. On the way, we took two rest stops;

Blake, who had carried the flag on his bike officially presented the flag to the Granite State HOG group. That is the fairing of my bike in the second picture :)

The 4 LOH members who rode in the escort: Nancy, me, Michelle, and Sandy

After the hand off, we found a place for a late lunch (as one of the member's kids put it "Linner"), then we split up to find our way home. I and another member (of whom I have no idea of his name although he helped work the BBQ a couple of weeks ago also), who lives in Weare - basically my area, rode together until my exit off of 202.

The weather was awesome, in the 60's and 70's and mostly sunny. Had a great time and ride!

UPDATE: Today the dealership posted this on their FB page - naturally all of those who escorted the flag also gave donations before the ride.

Roof Repair and Other Work

As I had stated in an earlier post, the roof was finished last Saturday but I didn't get to take pictures until after the post. So, here they are.

The left side of the roof is where the repairs took place. Approximately half that side was damaged toward the edge.. You can also see the overhang.

In this picture you can see the overhang much better and tell that it is a little wider than the porch part. I should have no issues with snow sliding off the roof and hemming in the storm door.

From underneath. I painted it soft yellow yesterday so that it would match the siding and be protected from moisture.

Since they were working on that side of the house, I had to find a new project to work on. I had several shrubs in my holding garden, along with some flag iris (siberian iris - whatever you want to call them), and I thought they would make a great addition to my sitting area.

From front to back; Flag iris, Variegated Weigala, two Ninebarks (I've lost their tags - they could be Coppertina, Centerglow, or one of each :) )

The next day I went to Home Dep*t to pick up other things, whcih I didn't find there, but I did find other things to bring home. Mums were in, and I had been looking at the planters by the back door thinking how sad the summer flowers looked, so I figured I would bring some home. I got them planted the same day.

The other prize I brought home was an October Glory maple, which also got planted that day. I placed it below the stump from the willow (a couple of feet lower), so it will take quite a few years before it can provide any shade to the house. However, unlike the silver maples in the back, which only turn a pale yellow and then directly to brown, this will provide some nice fall color. The first picture was taken from the yard, the second from the living room window so I can compare year-to-year growth.

I did manage to get some more pea gravel while I was at HD, so other than staining the landscape timbers, the fireproof area under the pellet stove and dryers exhausts is complete. Yes, I realize I made different patters. No, it wasn't intentional but these pavers were drops from cutom cutting for a pathway, so I had to work with the sizes/shapes I got (that's my story and I'm sticking to it ;D )

Big Rain

Friday the roofers were supposed to finish up but Mother Nature had other ideas. It rained all day, but even so by the time I got home from work at 5:15 the rain guage only showed 1/4".

At 7:38 I took this picture, which shows about 3" in the guage.

At 8:18 the rain guage showed close to 4"

Saturday morning the grand total

Pretty much what happened when i had the metal roof put on 3 years ago. However, this time there were no leaks in the unfinished area.

Fireproof

Back in July, while preparing for the taking down of the willow, I started a project that I left incomplete because time and materials restrictions (very end of linked post). I knew I had to get back to it before fall, and last Sunday I started back up on it.

The project isn't complete but the intent was to get it far enough along that nothing was in the way of the roofers, and all divots from the tree service truck parking at the side of the house could be filled in. I didn't take any pictures since the project wasn't complete - and I expected to finsh yesterday. At least I accomplished my mission, which was a good thing as Tuesday afternoon I got a text that the roofers had dropped off equipment and would be starting on the job on Wednesday.

So I ran out to take a picture of what I had done :)

It's hard to see, but there are largish patio pavers below the lower stove exhaust and the exhaust for the dryer. That is a CL find I'm rather proud of - free, along with a bunch of other pavers and retaining wall block!

Long story short, they started the roof on Wednesday, and they finished last night, so I haven't had a chance to finish up that section yet.

HOG Ride

Last Sunday I finally got to take a break and joined a Concord HOG Chapter ride. There weren't many attending as a lot were on vacation, but I prefer small groups anyway. We met up a 10 at the dealership then took a circuitous route that eventually meandered past my place and over to Peterborough, where we stopped for lunch.

My bike is closest to the camera

I asked Darlene to take a picture to prove I was actually there. I stood behind her trike, so am a bit hard to see.

After lunch, many of us split off to find our way home, while others continued on for a couple more hours. I chose to ride home in the company of two other members; one of which stores her trike in my town (although she lives elsewhere) and another trike rider who was headed back to Concord. It was cloudy and cool so I decided to wash and shine the bike up a bit. As I finished, the sun shone a bit thru the clouds - she cleans up nice :)

 

Yard Art

After the doings from last Sunday morning (see previous post), I went to Tractor Supply to get cat food. I always have to wonder around and see what they have and have lusted after some yard art 6' tall metal windmills in the dark bronze color that I favor. I even knew exactly where one would go. However, I was not willing to shell out what they wanted, so I have always just looked.

Well, last Sunday they had a sale and although the windmill I really wanted was only $10 off, another was $25 off. The only difference between them was the motif (I wanted the horse, the cheaper had choice of doves/rooster). Ah well, not like I was going to be looking at the tail of the windmill much anyway. So, after much internal debate, I grabbed a cart and the windmill made its way to my car.

After getting groceries and putting them away, I started putting together the windmill. And in short order, I had it in place.

Blades are turning slowly in this pic - not that you can tell.

Naturally, we have had perfectly still days for the last week. So still that 80 degrees feels much hotter. So, I'm guessing we won't have any wind until I have to take it down for the winter.

Oh, and at the base of it is a whole bunch of the iris from Cop Car that I planted Saturday afternoon (use your imagination since they are just rhizomes right now).

Truck Housing

A couple of weekends ago I emptied out the shed, prepared a new, level rock base closer to the tree, and set up a sliding system to get it there.

Last Sunday, a crew of guys came in and moved it into place.

The reason I wanted it moved was because I had arranged to buy a couple of Concord Hog Chapter members' used tent garage (and she is in LOH too). The deal was I would pay them to deliver and set up - oh, and move the shed since it sat square in the middle of where the garage would go. The Hog members had used the tent garage for years, and ordered a new cover last fall, which arrived in January (it was special order for a discontinued frame so it took months). In the time it took for them to finally get the cover, they decided to install a real metal garage, so the tent garage was no longer needed. I had been looking at both tent garages and metal garages anyway and overheard a conversation at a meeting about how they were going to put it on CL after the metal garage was up. I expressed interest and went to look at it in April (I think - early spring anyway). I explained my needs and we agreed upon price, and the rest is history.

So, once the shed was in place, they proceeded to set up a tent garage.

Blake, a HOG member is next to the metal shed in this pic

In a couple of hours the garage was complete and the truck was safely ensconced in it. This 13 x 20 tent garage will save me so much time in clearing frost, sleet and snow off the truck. And added bonus, as a "temporary structure", no added taxation :)