Maine

[superchemicalgirl]

Here's what an old(ish?) woman can do with a few power tools. (Although I'll admit I am scared of table saws, I love my chop saw!)
Coop & Run, screen house, table.

Nicely done. If I can offer some advice...
1. A 2x4 is neither 2, nor 4.
2. The lengths of any prepurchased lumber cannot be assured. Measure, and cut. This includes plywood.
3. Get a nice powertool either battery or cord operated with interchangeable parts. You'll need an impact driver (screwdriver) and a drill and a saw at the least.
4. Deck screws, not nails. Nails come out. Deck screws are easy to put in with your new impact driver.
5. Measure twice cut once. For those of us out there that are slightly idiotic with 3D... make that review the plan twice, measure twice, cut once. Hopefully.
6. If you screw up, try try again, or try to change your plan to match what you just did.
7. Think everything through. If you're going to cut something out, make sure whatever you're putting in there fits, moves like it should, etc. Walk through the steps before finalizing it.
8. Phone a friend. At the very least you have someone to laugh with, at the most, someone to bounce ideas off, hold stuff, fetch stuff, etc. If you're cutting plywood, it's also helpful to get one of those chalk line things that you can pull out and zip back up. One person holds each end where the measure mark is, then snap the line down and cut. Much easier than eyeballing it.

 

[mlowen]

Nicely done. If I can offer some advice...
1. A 2x4 is neither 2, nor 4.
2. The lengths of any prepurchased lumber cannot be assured. Measure, and cut. This includes plywood.
3. Get a nice powertool either battery or cord operated with interchangeable parts. You'll need an impact driver (screwdriver) and a drill and a saw at the least.
4. Deck screws, not nails. Nails come out. Deck screws are easy to put in with your new impact driver.
5. Measure twice cut once. For those of us out there that are slightly idiotic with 3D... make that review the plan twice, measure twice, cut once. Hopefully.
6. If you screw up, try try again, or try to change your plan to match what you just did.
7. Think everything through. If you're going to cut something out, make sure whatever you're putting in there fits, moves like it should, etc. Walk through the steps before finalizing it.
8. Phone a friend. At the very least you have someone to laugh with, at the most, someone to bounce ideas off, hold stuff, fetch stuff, etc. If you're cutting plywood, it's also helpful to get one of those chalk line things that you can pull out and zip back up. One person holds each end where the measure mark is, then snap the line down and cut. Much easier than eyeballing it.

Amen and then some. And sometimes, no matter how many times you review and measure...you just have to take it apart and do it again (and again.) Oh, the beauty of deck screws and an impact driver!

 

[CoopChick719]

I no longer care for the fryeburg fair :-( 51 weeks a year I live on a quiet rural street in the village. During fair week it's like the Indy 500 as impatient drivers speed through trying to bypass the long lines of traffic. I went out for coffee with a friend this morning. I came back first to see my rehabbed squirrel squished on the road. It was heartbreaking, but it is a constant risk to wild animals. Then I noticed yellow legs in the road on the other side of my driveway. It was my favorite bird (my black maran who laid her first egg yesterday). I'm not sure how she got out, but she was hit with such speed that you could barely tell it was a chicken. I am both sad and angry.

Thanks for letting me vent.

I'm so sorry for your losses, MEMama

That really sucks!!

 

[buckabucka]

Another building rule: To calculate the amount of time any project will take, make you best estimation and then increase it to the next unit of measure. Think it will take 3 hours? Probably it will take 3 days. And your 2 day project will actually take 2 weeks.

 

[lazy gardener]

To the advice of SCG, Mlowen, and Bucka: I might add: Plan on it taking at least twice as long to gather all of your tools and equipment for a project as it does to complete the project.
Murphy's law #1 states that when you buy the hardware for a future project, and put it some where safe, when you go to DO that project, knowing that you've been pro-active and have all the supplies needed, you won't be able to figure out where that safe spot is. Murphy's law # 2: after spending an hour and a half going to the hardware store and spending way too much money to replace the safely misplaced hardware, and finally getting your project well under way, you'll discover that you are 9 screws or ... fill in the blank... short of having enough hardware to complete the project... so it's back to the hardware store again. Murphy's law #3: After returning from the hardware store again (an other 90 minutes wasted) with the bag of screws because you bought extra because you just know you'll strip a few, drop a few and then you'll have a few extra for the next project ( Refer to Murphy's law #1). Murphy's law #4: When said project is completed, you stand back to admire your work, and realize that you could have done it better and saved a lot of time and saved a lot of money if you'd done it differently. That's when you start planning the next project.

 

[Widget]

Dont forget Murphys Law #5- As soon as you are done with the project you find the safe spot with all the extra parts. And Murphys Law #6- You will put down a tool,even a large tool such as a hammer, not move one inch from the spot you are standing in and still manage to lose the tool.

 

[IZZYBELLA]

I no longer care for the fryeburg fair :-( 51 weeks a year I live on a quiet rural street in the village. During fair week it's like the Indy 500 as impatient drivers speed through trying to bypass the long lines of traffic. I went out for coffee with a friend this morning. I came back first to see my rehabbed squirrel squished on the road. It was heartbreaking, but it is a constant risk to wild animals. Then I noticed yellow legs in the road on the other side of my driveway. It was my favorite bird (my black maran who laid her first egg yesterday). I'm not sure how she got out, but she was hit with such speed that you could barely tell it was a chicken. I am both sad and angry.

Thanks for letting me vent.

I'm so sorry to hear about your girl, MEMama. Simply awful.

 

[Widget]

Had some happy ducks this morning. I filled their kiddie pool with fresh water. Just like a cat waiting for the litter box to be cleaned they were all hanging around the edge of the pool until it got about half full. Then it was a free for all to see who could splash the most water. All except one duck. My broody crested Indian runner was too busy sitting on ten eggs to join in on the festivities.

I also noticed that some wasps or hornets have decided that they should build not one but two nests on my porch. I do not think so. I let them build a huge nest on the back of the house of few years ago because it was about 30 ft above the ground and therefor out of the way but I draw the line at the porch. They will receive an eviction notice later today.

 

[Jazor]

Had some happy ducks this morning. I filled their kiddie pool with fresh water. Just like a cat waiting for the litter box to be cleaned they were all hanging around the edge of the pool until it got about half full. Then it was a free for all to see who could splash the most water. All except one duck. My broody crested Indian runner was too busy sitting on ten eggs to join in on the festivities.

I also noticed that some wasps or hornets have decided that they should build not one but two nests on my porch. I do not think so. I let them build a huge nest on the back of the house of few years ago because it was about 30 ft above the ground and therefor out of the way but I draw the line at the porch. They will receive an eviction notice later today.

Be sure and clean the area so they don't assume it's safe to rebuild! **** wasps are always encroaching on my space. I swear I used my weight in RAID this year on them...

 

[lazy gardener]

My hubby once used a can of black spray paint on a wasp nest at work b/c that's all he had on hand at the moment. It worked. If it's a small nest, I use a wide putty blade and a jar of ammonia... or kerosene... or hot soapy water. It gives me quite a sense of accomplishment to wipe them out without the RAID!!! If they're in my hay bales, I carefully take the bale apart one flake at a time until the nest is exposed, then... if it's a small one, I just stomp it.

I'm going to take a trip to the habitat store to see if they have any patio doors. That would be perfect for a permanent cover for a hay bale cold frame. Heavy enough so the wind won't take it, and will transfer the light better than poly. I went to Blue Seal with a $10 coupon today. Had to spend $50 in order to use the coupon. So, I thought that an other cattle panel would fit nicely into the scheme of things. The gals at the register had to discuss what a cattle panel might be and did they have any. They determined that they did not, so I bought an other bag of chicken feed, which I don't need yet... then I drove out back to see what they did have... they had a whole stack of panels leaning up against their shed.

Incompetent employees are one thing, but when there is a gaggle of them, I just have to shake my head and walk away!!!