Getting older and realizing that your capabilities diminish as your age increases sucks but think of the enjoyment you got from the koi pond over the years. You have done an awesome job with the removal and replacement project.
Your hobbies
- Thread starter GreenOrange7
- Start date
Hi,
It's a while since I Posted on here so an update. I've been concentrating on our gardens over the last couple of years now the bungalow is to our liking. The rear garden was in need of a big makeover; living here on the valley side makes any work done outside challenging but the top of our mountain needed attacking; laurels at 30' tall bordering the lane so these were brought down to half height; in front of the laurels was a 40' long mixed hedge mostly 8' tall snowberry this being very invasive and year on year trying to make its way down the garden; the grass was more moss and weeds than grass; I completely removed the hedge including roots; what a hard tedious job this was; next I used a garden spade and turned over the grass leaving this alone to winter. It's a long story but little by little with hard work I eventually ended up with a wonderful area of top quality soil; all the many roots and stones now cleared. Bron kindly bought me an Hyundai petrol rotavator and I've made good use of this.
With the ground now clear I was unsure what to do next because I've never been into gardening so I planted two rows of primroses to the bottom of the section and at the top of the section planted sky rocket conifers and potentillas. Now there remained a strip of soil about 15' wide x 40' long. I took a gamble and bought meadow flower seeds and broadcast these seeds about three months ago; the result of all this long hard work is absolutely breathtaking as I look at the flowers in full bloom.
Kind regards, Colin.
A great deal of time and effort to achieve this. Two rows of primroses planted to the left and these were beautiful in bloom; to the top the conifers and potentillas can just be seen; once these become established they should look good.
This is now what the bare soil looks like; the colours are breathtaking.
Our bungalow is down there somewhere. This is our new small meadow and just the top section of our garden. I'm out of time again so got to go; more to follow.
It's a while since I Posted on here so an update. I've been concentrating on our gardens over the last couple of years now the bungalow is to our liking. The rear garden was in need of a big makeover; living here on the valley side makes any work done outside challenging but the top of our mountain needed attacking; laurels at 30' tall bordering the lane so these were brought down to half height; in front of the laurels was a 40' long mixed hedge mostly 8' tall snowberry this being very invasive and year on year trying to make its way down the garden; the grass was more moss and weeds than grass; I completely removed the hedge including roots; what a hard tedious job this was; next I used a garden spade and turned over the grass leaving this alone to winter. It's a long story but little by little with hard work I eventually ended up with a wonderful area of top quality soil; all the many roots and stones now cleared. Bron kindly bought me an Hyundai petrol rotavator and I've made good use of this.
With the ground now clear I was unsure what to do next because I've never been into gardening so I planted two rows of primroses to the bottom of the section and at the top of the section planted sky rocket conifers and potentillas. Now there remained a strip of soil about 15' wide x 40' long. I took a gamble and bought meadow flower seeds and broadcast these seeds about three months ago; the result of all this long hard work is absolutely breathtaking as I look at the flowers in full bloom.
Kind regards, Colin.
A great deal of time and effort to achieve this. Two rows of primroses planted to the left and these were beautiful in bloom; to the top the conifers and potentillas can just be seen; once these become established they should look good.
This is now what the bare soil looks like; the colours are breathtaking.
Our bungalow is down there somewhere. This is our new small meadow and just the top section of our garden. I'm out of time again so got to go; more to follow.
Hi,
Something totally different; I enjoy restoring scrap machines and my latest is a Suffolk Colt petrol mower bought as scrap for £20 at Rufforth Auto Jumble last month. Today I fired it up after it's restoration and it runs beautifully. I need to sort out a leaking needle valve in the carburettor and the black paint I applied from rattle cans dissolves in petrol so I'll repaint the petrol tank and engine cowl in petrol repelling paint; two little jobs so not the end of the world but considering the condition of this mower when I brought it home I'm pleased with it now.
Kind regards, Colin.
No compression and no spark so it could only get better; here is what I found as to lack of compression; the exhaust valve to the right was stuck fully open; I did a full decoke and valve grind so it now has impressive compression. No spark was cured by a good points clean up and adjustment;
A huge improvement; water had entered the valves hence the pitting on the exhaust valve but it ground in OK after the clean up.
Definitely in need of a decoke.
Water; water everywhere; here's the clutch drum.
The engine cowl.
Grass box still looks terrible so will be restored shortly but otherwise a very nice mower in excellent condition.
I bought two new decals from Australia through eBay to add the finishing touch.
I already have two more petrol mowers so it's a shame to use this Colt and mess it up. Just a nice little restoration job for me.
Something totally different; I enjoy restoring scrap machines and my latest is a Suffolk Colt petrol mower bought as scrap for £20 at Rufforth Auto Jumble last month. Today I fired it up after it's restoration and it runs beautifully. I need to sort out a leaking needle valve in the carburettor and the black paint I applied from rattle cans dissolves in petrol so I'll repaint the petrol tank and engine cowl in petrol repelling paint; two little jobs so not the end of the world but considering the condition of this mower when I brought it home I'm pleased with it now.
Kind regards, Colin.
No compression and no spark so it could only get better; here is what I found as to lack of compression; the exhaust valve to the right was stuck fully open; I did a full decoke and valve grind so it now has impressive compression. No spark was cured by a good points clean up and adjustment;
A huge improvement; water had entered the valves hence the pitting on the exhaust valve but it ground in OK after the clean up.
Definitely in need of a decoke.
Water; water everywhere; here's the clutch drum.
The engine cowl.
Grass box still looks terrible so will be restored shortly but otherwise a very nice mower in excellent condition.
I bought two new decals from Australia through eBay to add the finishing touch.
I already have two more petrol mowers so it's a shame to use this Colt and mess it up. Just a nice little restoration job for me.
- Joined
- Sep 6, 2019
- Messages
- 18
- Reaction score
- 14
- Country
Where to start? I grew up on a farm and one thing we did in the fall after the harvest was in was hunting. I still today hunt deer and small game like squirrels and rabbits to eat and coyotes to keep them in check and sell the fur.
Also on the farm in the early spring before crop planting time we fished and during the sumer while the crops were growing. today I still fish when I find time from other persuits. I just could not get the hang of a fly rod but still own one and fish with is some but not much.
Going back to the farm I learned to love tractors just about any brand as long as it was NOT green and yellow in color.
I had a 1965 Ford 5000 gas tractor I was farming with dad on his farm and still own it today.
But I waned to get into Antique tractor pulling so started searching for one.
I bought this 1951 Massey Harris (a Canadian company) 44 gas tractor. It was in horriable shape and needed parts to be a legal puller.
While searching salvage yards and old fence rows looking for the parts My wife Kare said you should just collect them. We had seen so many in the fields and such just rusting away. today I own about 22 Massey Harris tractors in different stages of restoration.
Then getting older it was a chore to load them on the trailer and unload them then doing it again to get them back home. so I stopped showing them and the Pulling only lasted a year before it was decided that the people who wanted to spend thousands on a tractor to pull should stay in it.
Any way I had fell in love with this car when I firse saw it in Febuary 1985. It belonged to my mother in law and was shiny new that day.
Today I tell people I married my wife so I could keep my eye on it so I could buy it when the inlaws decided to sell it. It was a long wait till August 2016.
But today we own it have had it repainted and now do a show just about every week end starting in april to mid Oct.
We have won many awards along the way with it the first when it still had the orginal paint and looked just horriable.
But it was the most orginal 1985 or older car at the show.
Many to 10's also.
First in class when the show has classes.
this one is nice as it doubles as a Night lite. Fire dept. shows have been good to us.
We also have honey bees, at one time we had over 120 colonies in 9 different yards.
I keep busy in my retirement. When I worked I did 12 hour 7 days a week shifts so I could retire young.
Al
Also on the farm in the early spring before crop planting time we fished and during the sumer while the crops were growing. today I still fish when I find time from other persuits. I just could not get the hang of a fly rod but still own one and fish with is some but not much.
Going back to the farm I learned to love tractors just about any brand as long as it was NOT green and yellow in color.
I had a 1965 Ford 5000 gas tractor I was farming with dad on his farm and still own it today.
But I waned to get into Antique tractor pulling so started searching for one.
I bought this 1951 Massey Harris (a Canadian company) 44 gas tractor. It was in horriable shape and needed parts to be a legal puller.
While searching salvage yards and old fence rows looking for the parts My wife Kare said you should just collect them. We had seen so many in the fields and such just rusting away. today I own about 22 Massey Harris tractors in different stages of restoration.
Then getting older it was a chore to load them on the trailer and unload them then doing it again to get them back home. so I stopped showing them and the Pulling only lasted a year before it was decided that the people who wanted to spend thousands on a tractor to pull should stay in it.
Any way I had fell in love with this car when I firse saw it in Febuary 1985. It belonged to my mother in law and was shiny new that day.
Today I tell people I married my wife so I could keep my eye on it so I could buy it when the inlaws decided to sell it. It was a long wait till August 2016.
But today we own it have had it repainted and now do a show just about every week end starting in april to mid Oct.
We have won many awards along the way with it the first when it still had the orginal paint and looked just horriable.
But it was the most orginal 1985 or older car at the show.
Many to 10's also.
First in class when the show has classes.
this one is nice as it doubles as a Night lite. Fire dept. shows have been good to us.
We also have honey bees, at one time we had over 120 colonies in 9 different yards.
I keep busy in my retirement. When I worked I did 12 hour 7 days a week shifts so I could retire young.
Al
- Joined
- Feb 18, 2020
- Messages
- 11
- Reaction score
- 1
- Country
WOW!! It's amazing!!
Hi,
I've just found a new hobby. For the last 33 years I've dragged our petrol mower up the mountain to cut the grass but now having created a wild flower meadow greatly reducing the grass to cut I thought I'd try strimming. I've bought two new Hyundai petrol strimmers; a small 26cc model and a 52cc beast this being a strimmer/brush cutter.
The bad weather has been damaging the meadow so rather than wait until Autumn; yesterday I fueled the big strimmer and was undecided whether to use the cord or brush cutter; the cord head was already installed so I thought I'd try this first. I'm only just over ten stones in weight and I wondered how I was going to get on because this strimmer felt heavy; after a struggle I was finally in the strimmer harness and carried the strimmer to the top of the garden where I fired it up then hooked it to the harness; within five minutes I was strimming away without a care in the world; I was wearing my new full head protection helmet and safety shoes.
How strange though; as I strimmed I never noticed the weight of the strimmer; an hour later I was sorry to have finished; just under a tank full of petrol was used so I didn't have to stop to refuel; the new helmet was brilliant and I was glad of it as the strimmer was throwing missiles; the helmet has a metal mesh face shield which works well and comfortable ear muffs.
I've not enjoyed doing a job so much for a long time and I could get addicted to strimming; the cord ripped through the flowers with ease so I didn't need to install the brush cutting blade; just a tap on the ground exposed new cord as needed.
All of you with strimmers will understand what a pleasure strimmers are to use but for members who have never like me used a strimmer I can highly recommend strimming for fun; safety equipment is a must though with eye and ear protection being minimum.
Kind regards, Colin.
Last year the flowers looked spectacular right until Autumn but this year they have been damaged by bad weather and some animal has been running through them so rather than wait until the climate turned colder I enjoyed strimming for the first time yesterday.
About an hour to strim the lot and I'm a total novice at strimming.
Our site is very steep indeed and I wish I'd bought a strimmer 33 years ago saving me dragging the heavy petrol mower around.
I've just found a new hobby. For the last 33 years I've dragged our petrol mower up the mountain to cut the grass but now having created a wild flower meadow greatly reducing the grass to cut I thought I'd try strimming. I've bought two new Hyundai petrol strimmers; a small 26cc model and a 52cc beast this being a strimmer/brush cutter.
The bad weather has been damaging the meadow so rather than wait until Autumn; yesterday I fueled the big strimmer and was undecided whether to use the cord or brush cutter; the cord head was already installed so I thought I'd try this first. I'm only just over ten stones in weight and I wondered how I was going to get on because this strimmer felt heavy; after a struggle I was finally in the strimmer harness and carried the strimmer to the top of the garden where I fired it up then hooked it to the harness; within five minutes I was strimming away without a care in the world; I was wearing my new full head protection helmet and safety shoes.
How strange though; as I strimmed I never noticed the weight of the strimmer; an hour later I was sorry to have finished; just under a tank full of petrol was used so I didn't have to stop to refuel; the new helmet was brilliant and I was glad of it as the strimmer was throwing missiles; the helmet has a metal mesh face shield which works well and comfortable ear muffs.
I've not enjoyed doing a job so much for a long time and I could get addicted to strimming; the cord ripped through the flowers with ease so I didn't need to install the brush cutting blade; just a tap on the ground exposed new cord as needed.
All of you with strimmers will understand what a pleasure strimmers are to use but for members who have never like me used a strimmer I can highly recommend strimming for fun; safety equipment is a must though with eye and ear protection being minimum.
Kind regards, Colin.
Last year the flowers looked spectacular right until Autumn but this year they have been damaged by bad weather and some animal has been running through them so rather than wait until the climate turned colder I enjoyed strimming for the first time yesterday.
About an hour to strim the lot and I'm a total novice at strimming.
Our site is very steep indeed and I wish I'd bought a strimmer 33 years ago saving me dragging the heavy petrol mower around.
Hi,
I've just enjoyed a heavy session rotavating the meadow; it's always a hard job due to the steep slope and typical of my luck most people regard an horse shoe as lucky but how come I'm the one to get one jammed in the rotavator tines; GRRRRRRR.
Kind regards, Colin.
Unlucky horseshoe.
I didn't remove the strimmed wild flowers just rotovating them in to improve the soil.
I'll rotavate again next springtime then rake before broadcasting new wildflower seed.
It's hard graft rotavating on such a steep slope. I've tried rotavating bot across the slope as here and also up and down.
I've just enjoyed a heavy session rotavating the meadow; it's always a hard job due to the steep slope and typical of my luck most people regard an horse shoe as lucky but how come I'm the one to get one jammed in the rotavator tines; GRRRRRRR.
Kind regards, Colin.
Unlucky horseshoe.
I didn't remove the strimmed wild flowers just rotovating them in to improve the soil.
I'll rotavate again next springtime then rake before broadcasting new wildflower seed.
It's hard graft rotavating on such a steep slope. I've tried rotavating bot across the slope as here and also up and down.
Since I love cooking and had a lot of free time, I found a new entertainment. I decided to try different marinades for chicken. And to make it more fun I bought different types of charcoals. At first, I tried lump and briquette charcoal and compared them. I found out briquettes have a chemical taste, but it's cheaper than lump charcoal and maintains a steady temperature for a longer period. Then I ordered 6 different lump charcoals from one article (in case you're wondering, I found charcoal brands here) to compare the author's opinion and mine. So far I tried only 4 of them. The first place I gave to the Big Green Egg, because it has the biggest pieces so far, easy to light, and it produces a hot flame. The 2d I would give the Jealous Devil and the Wicked Good. Both of them are good but not good enough in comparison with the Big Green Egg. As for the Cowboy brand, I think I will give it another try because this bag that I bought was full of ash.
As for all the marinades I've tried, the best one for me is spicy marinade with cherry jam.
As for all the marinades I've tried, the best one for me is spicy marinade with cherry jam.
- Add all ingredients in blender:
- soy souse 1.5-2.5 oz (50-70ml)
- olive oil 2 tbsp
- tabasco souse 20 drops
- jalapeno 2-3 tsp
- chili pepper 1/2
- tomato paste 1.5-2.5 oz (50-70ml)
- cherry jam 1.5-2.5 oz (50-70ml)
- salt
- pepper
- Mix everything and put it in a plastic bag with chicken. It will be better with chicken wings. And leave it for 3 hours.
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- Joined
- Sep 13, 2020
- Messages
- 4
- Reaction score
- 2
- Country
Sleeping is my hobby. I have to work hard almost everyday in week. so When I vacations time. I Sleep all day long.
Hi,
Before retirement I worked five and a half days a week in a very stressful job; any spare time I had was spent improving our home and lifestyle; my wife and I have had just one weeks holiday away from home on our first wedding anniversary; since then the last 43 years have been spent doing something useful; holidays (vacations) big jobs like replacing the bungalow roof ourselves were carried out.
I've been retired for 20 years come December and have yet to find out what retirement means; there aren't enough hours in a day for us; this morning we've been trimming shrubs and bushes now I'm using a spring tine rake to scarify the grass; I'll continue when I've enjoyed this mug of tea a piece of dark chocolate.
It's been another heavy week in the garden as usual with no let up; I've got lots of interesting workshop projects lined up for winter; we go to bed at 10pm and arise at 7:30am with me getting up at 6am to make two mugs of tea taking these back to bed for an hour before getting up.
We love our lifestyle and beautiful home; we don't feel the need to go away on holiday only bringing back memories; as I say though we're all different and our lifestyle would suit few couples but we're happy and content. I'm now 73 and still active and fit putting many young ones to shame;I'm built like a stick insect with no excess weight go carry around. If I do sit still for a while I start to fall asleep so I keep busy.
I'd better get off my backside and get stuck into scarifying the grass.
Kind regards, Colin.
The last three days I've spent clearing this ground. Here it is completed.
Here's the same area before clearing; it started with removing an oak tree and I thought whilst I'm at it why not clear the lot because it was looking untidy.
Here's the oak stump and roots; I also removed lots more stumps like the huge Hebe and a number of small holly trees. I've now got a blank canvass to play with. All the hard work tires me out and gives me aching bones but it's much better than watching someone kick or knock a ball around on TV all day. It suits me and is my choice of how I enjoy my time in retirement.
Everyone's different.
Before retirement I worked five and a half days a week in a very stressful job; any spare time I had was spent improving our home and lifestyle; my wife and I have had just one weeks holiday away from home on our first wedding anniversary; since then the last 43 years have been spent doing something useful; holidays (vacations) big jobs like replacing the bungalow roof ourselves were carried out.
I've been retired for 20 years come December and have yet to find out what retirement means; there aren't enough hours in a day for us; this morning we've been trimming shrubs and bushes now I'm using a spring tine rake to scarify the grass; I'll continue when I've enjoyed this mug of tea a piece of dark chocolate.
It's been another heavy week in the garden as usual with no let up; I've got lots of interesting workshop projects lined up for winter; we go to bed at 10pm and arise at 7:30am with me getting up at 6am to make two mugs of tea taking these back to bed for an hour before getting up.
We love our lifestyle and beautiful home; we don't feel the need to go away on holiday only bringing back memories; as I say though we're all different and our lifestyle would suit few couples but we're happy and content. I'm now 73 and still active and fit putting many young ones to shame;I'm built like a stick insect with no excess weight go carry around. If I do sit still for a while I start to fall asleep so I keep busy.
I'd better get off my backside and get stuck into scarifying the grass.
Kind regards, Colin.
The last three days I've spent clearing this ground. Here it is completed.
Here's the same area before clearing; it started with removing an oak tree and I thought whilst I'm at it why not clear the lot because it was looking untidy.
Here's the oak stump and roots; I also removed lots more stumps like the huge Hebe and a number of small holly trees. I've now got a blank canvass to play with. All the hard work tires me out and gives me aching bones but it's much better than watching someone kick or knock a ball around on TV all day. It suits me and is my choice of how I enjoy my time in retirement.
Hi,
Our immediate neighbour is moving house and has generously given us items she no longer wants; one item given to us is a metal detector;
This is a basic level metal detector but ideal just to have a go.
It came with the kit all it needed was two new batteries so I soon had it working.
I finally tried the detector out this morning wandering up the mountain; with lots of heavy rain over the last few days the ground was soaking wet and the breeze coming up the valley gave a real chill factor; I think winter's here again.
At the top of the garden I found an area giving a strong signal and thought I'd found a treasure chest filled with gold items; in real life it was a large sheet of rusty corrugated metal just under the surface; this is a job for a warmer day to dig it out. However during the 30 minutes pottering around I found a nice selection of rusty metal including nut & bolt and a large hinge. I need to wear heavy clothing in future because I felt frozen by the time I came back indoors.
Here's an horseshoe that certainly wasn't lucky for me; I found this whilst rotovating the meadow when it jammed the rotovator tines solid; most people regard an horseshoe as lucky. Pity I didn't have the detector sooner.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/b06l51nr/detectorists
When I emailed my chum David letting him know I'd got a metal detector David replied with the link shown above; "Detectorists" is 3 series and apart from the swearing we're enjoying watching it; the countryside is stunning showing our country at its best; it's well worth watching.
So I've now adopted yet another new hobby; I'll see how I progress with this detector and might upgrade to a more professional detector because it's the kind of hobby I could enjoy being outside in the fresh air totally on my own away from all the world's problems; below us down the valley is a disused railway line that will be ideal for a bit of metal detecting.
Kind regards, Colin.
Our immediate neighbour is moving house and has generously given us items she no longer wants; one item given to us is a metal detector;
This is a basic level metal detector but ideal just to have a go.
It came with the kit all it needed was two new batteries so I soon had it working.
I finally tried the detector out this morning wandering up the mountain; with lots of heavy rain over the last few days the ground was soaking wet and the breeze coming up the valley gave a real chill factor; I think winter's here again.
At the top of the garden I found an area giving a strong signal and thought I'd found a treasure chest filled with gold items; in real life it was a large sheet of rusty corrugated metal just under the surface; this is a job for a warmer day to dig it out. However during the 30 minutes pottering around I found a nice selection of rusty metal including nut & bolt and a large hinge. I need to wear heavy clothing in future because I felt frozen by the time I came back indoors.
Here's an horseshoe that certainly wasn't lucky for me; I found this whilst rotovating the meadow when it jammed the rotovator tines solid; most people regard an horseshoe as lucky. Pity I didn't have the detector sooner.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/b06l51nr/detectorists
When I emailed my chum David letting him know I'd got a metal detector David replied with the link shown above; "Detectorists" is 3 series and apart from the swearing we're enjoying watching it; the countryside is stunning showing our country at its best; it's well worth watching.
So I've now adopted yet another new hobby; I'll see how I progress with this detector and might upgrade to a more professional detector because it's the kind of hobby I could enjoy being outside in the fresh air totally on my own away from all the world's problems; below us down the valley is a disused railway line that will be ideal for a bit of metal detecting.
Kind regards, Colin.
I've just added a near sixty-year old "element" to my 51 year old jukebox.
I'd been searching for this 45rpm record for some time, I had to get it from the USA.
I'd been searching for this 45rpm record for some time, I had to get it from the USA.
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Hi,
Well done Doghouse; old stuff was made to last.
I've tried to open the YouTube link but this pops up?
Kind regards, Colin.
Well done Doghouse; old stuff was made to last.
I've tried to open the YouTube link but this pops up?
Kind regards, Colin.
Sorry about that, I've re-uploaded it.Hi,
Well done Doghouse; old stuff was made to last.
I've tried to open the YouTube link but this pops up?
View attachment 3294
Kind regards, Colin.
Hi,
Many thanks Doghouse; it's fine now.
What a wonderful list of songs; I'll add a lot of these onto my iPod for playing in the workshop; thanks for sharing.
Kind regards, Colin.
Many thanks Doghouse; it's fine now.
What a wonderful list of songs; I'll add a lot of these onto my iPod for playing in the workshop; thanks for sharing.
Kind regards, Colin.
Welcome to the forum.
It's been too wet for golf or gardening, so I turn to my other hobbies, that sometimes get neglected. Talking to people on a music board about "one hit wonders" the other day, I remembered this from the seventies. It was a No 8 hit for Jimmy Helms, but he's not rememembered for nmuch else. It was never covered at the time by anyone else, unsurprising, as you have to be a bit of a "vocal athlete" to sing it as the range is more than two octaves.
So I thought I'd give it a go on my Tyros 5, as it works well as an orchestral piece. I record tunes I play from time to time and post them on a dedicated electric piano message board. as do all those who subscribe. I've posted over 200 tunes of all sorts of genres over tme.
As it was a "one hit wonder," I couldn't find any sheet music, but I played it anyway, working it out as I went along, I like substitute a few jazz Major sevenths chords into tunes, where they fit.
So I thought I'd give it a go on my Tyros 5, as it works well as an orchestral piece. I record tunes I play from time to time and post them on a dedicated electric piano message board. as do all those who subscribe. I've posted over 200 tunes of all sorts of genres over tme.
As it was a "one hit wonder," I couldn't find any sheet music, but I played it anyway, working it out as I went along, I like substitute a few jazz Major sevenths chords into tunes, where they fit.
