Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[NovaAman]

A few weeks back...Or more, my hinge broke free from the frame on my jeep. Drivers door... I know, I am sure some of you were thinking you knew my hinges were loose/broke, but I mean the real one on the jeep, not the figurative one in my head. Well, a 3 weeks back my friend welded the hinge back in place. Yes, no more zip tying the hinge in place and bungee cording the door shut cuz it is so badly out of alignment I had to loosed the locking mechanism in the door. LOL. Yeah bad... SO today....

We decided that welding again was not really an option unless we were able to weld in another piece of metal behind the hinge as well as around and over. The owner of the bowling alley said he didn't think it was a good idea to weld anything with his welder... SO, we bolted the sucker. Yup. Got a 1/2 in thick backing plate, 2 inches wide and 5 inches long. Drilled a hole in the hinge, in the backing plate, and in the remaining peice of frame that the hinge was originally attached too. The backing plate is bigger than the hole that was created when the hinge rusted away, so it is sitting against good metal. The fun came when we had to figure out how to get it in the spot we needed... Oh hey, we'll use a strap.. we'll put it thru the hole we put in the new backing plate, put the backing plate thru this rust spot here and pull it up into place... BUT WAIT! It's stuck. Drop it back thru the bottom rust hole, tie it up a different way, and back thru the hole, and pull it back up. BUT WAIT AGAIN! Hey look! So, did we see those wires there? Oh, jeez, hope we didn't drill any of those... Oh well, down again, and the strap too, because we have to get the strap on this side of the wires... YEAH! Success... Oh... wait... How do we get the strap off and out of the hole we drilled on the backing plate now, and NOT drop the darn backing plate and not loose it in the jeep??

Anyway, after much rednecking around, using a jack and a paper bundle, the jeep door is bolted on. I was 45 minutes late getting the kid from school, because his dear ole' dad decided he needed to go to school early, left me in a real pantie twister...

No, we weren't jacking up the jeep, but the door to get it up high enough to align right. LOL. And yes... some of that is rusty chunks from the bottom of the jeep. GO MICHIGAN!

OH! And I have chicks. I don't have pictures yet. BUT I knew there was a problem when I went to get the eggs from Skatter that she can't have and she was in full out "I am going to kill your face if your put your bleepity bleeping hand under my butt!" mode. Cutest chick ever! I gave her eggs from the chuckles chicks now hens... The first one out is pink skinned, so, Rod Stewart is a daddy! Go Rod, Go Rod, it's your birthday...

 

[taprock]

Wow I'm not behind on reading, how oddly quiet.

 

[NovaAman]

It's so quiet.... Terribly quiet.... Unbelievably quiet.... AAAAAAAAAH! Lol

So, what ya shooting at today tap? Dress up animal or jeans animal? Hehe. Hope your coyote doesnt come back.

 

[taprock]

No shooting today but.......the guns always ready and waiting for the next critter who messes with the chickens.

I have baby button quail!! I knew she had been sitting and marked it on the calendar but this is a week earlier than I thought. I saw she was out of her hut and it was moved a little so I went to fix it and found two little chicks! I'm so excited. Missy quail and Sprout are parents. I'm just not sure if Sprout may be a danger or not.

 

[NovaAman]

Couldn't answer that one...

 

[chicken grandma]

Nova, glad your car got patched! As a single mom, I have left kids stranded many times when I just couldn't pull it all of and did not have anyone to call. Worst feeling in the world. But the kids turn out o.k. Just stresses the mom to the MAX.

Taprock - I would love to see a photo of the button quail!

I hope everyone has a great day! It is a cold one out there this morning!

 

[Opa]

Been up since 4am and the temperature hasn't risen much. I may just have to get a heavier jacket out if I intend to mow the lawn today.

Last Thursday I towed the boat all along the Grand River looking for launch sites where there would be enough water to float. Starting at Lansing we headed downstream checking every possible launch site. When you consider that I only need 4" of water and not finding it until just before reaching Grand Rapids it was pretty pitiful. Finally launched at Grandville but weren't able to get into any fish. Still the weather was ideal and that stretch of river has park land on both sides so it made for a beautiful float.

 

[RBahmer]

Good Morning Sam. Welsummer chicks are doing great. Thank you so much only I think they are all pullets. I'm hoping for a roo

. At least one LOL.

 

[RaZ]

I, too, was up at 4:00 am. Stoked the fire and wisely went back to bed.
This little wood stove is pretty nice. The only drawback is that the firebox isn't big enough to burn through the night. But on the other hand, I haven't packed it up with much yet. I'll try more wood in it as it gets colder and hope I can get to a 6 hour burn time.

Looks like a good day for some outdoor chores. Powertools and beer.

 

[Opa]

Today should be a good day for working outside even if it is a little cold. Raz, powertools are indeed wonderful things and I strongly suggest that each time you operate one you count the number of digits you possess. Then count them again when you finish working. If the number is les than you started with it would be adviseable to reduce the amount of beer.