Words and pictures featuring Missouri
Hammock Camping in Paddy Creek Wilderness — As it is going to be a short day in terms of mileage, I don’t have to rush to get on the trail. I took the time to light up my Firebox Nano stove for my morning coffee, breakfast, and a follow-up cuppa tea.
Morning view from my hammock — Day Two, Camped in Paddy Creek Wilderness.
Paddy Creek — Day One
Ooh, it fits! Camped in Paddy Creek Wilderness, at a spot I’ve nicknamed Paddy Creek Trolltunga. Backpacking the Big Piney Trail, December 2023.
The well was dry — I was surprised to spy a rat at the bottom of the well.
Gary on the trail (and a new hat, too) — on the South Loop at the short cut junction. Backpacking the Big Piney Trail, December 2023.
Sun burst through the trees — Taken on the South Loop at the short cut to the North Loop trail junction. I’m continuing on the South Loop — into the sun. It took me just over three-and-a-half hours to get here.
Not a lot of water — This is Little Paddy Creek. I’ve never seen it this low, it was not really running. That doesn’t bode well for my trip. And all the small springs I have passed so far have been dry too. 2
Roby Lake Trailhead — The Big Piney Trail, December 2023. And my plans for a four-day, three-night trip. Three-minute read, +1
Sunday morning therapy: cleaning — It’s good to push the keyboard away, get out the cleaning materials, and smell the G96 gun oil and Hoppes #9 gun bore cleaner while taking my time cleaning and checking my guns.
Sparkle Zone color. There’s a reason why we call this room of our house the ‘Sparkle Zone.’ +1
Testing, testing. One, two, three — Two outpatient visits to the hospital today for some tests. Ultrasound in the morning, and my annual cardiology checkup in the afternoon. All my results were good. In a little experiment, I used AI to obfuscate the personal information in the image. It makes a nice change from pixelating it.
Bowed — before I threw away the bowed worktop I’d set aside as a workbench top, I decided to check how bad it was: 5/16-inch over 36 inches. No, I wasn’t going to be able to use it for anything, so into the trash, it went.
Small Product Photography Setup — Once we’ve been using it for a while and know what we like and don’t like, I’ll tidy away the cables and power supplies. Until then, it’s going to be a bit messy.
Harbinger — The yellow light at sunset is a warning of the incoming storm.
Lanie’s been in Europe since December. It’s been my job to give her car a run out every now and then while she’s gone. One has to do these things in style 🙂 +1
Table saw cart — completed (for now). That’s another job finished. As I hoped, the dust collection seems to work well. I also made a zero clearance saw blade insert for the saw. 2
Family range time — We organized a family trip down to the Sound of Freedom in Ozark and had some fun. Katie is trying out a scope on a pistol. Gary is reloading. There was also a new AR15 to be tried out and sighted in, and some other new handguns we’d not taken down the range.
Building my table saw cart. One-minute read, +4
New workbench storage — I have finally updated the storage area above my workbench. There used to be five plastic cat litter boxes on the shelf. I made these five wood boxes in an afternoon, so the finish isn’t furniture level, but they fit the space well and look much better. 2
Hitachi C10FR Table Saw — My next project. It’s a very well-used worksite jobbing saw, and it is time to make some improvements.
Hibiscus — Hollywood. Our hibiscuses have generally been a bit ‘Meh’ this year, so this one stood out. The blue tinge is due to reflected skylight, not coloring.
Set up for a quick test — I used a small hand-held fill in light for the test pictures. It has finely adjustable color temperature and brightness.
Sparkle Zone Storage Center, Stage Two, almost complete — Some final adjustments to the bottom doors to be made. There is still some minor work and finishing touches to be completed. Apart from that, all done. +5