Bits and Pieces

Yes, I know, I've been busy - so there. This is supposed to be my busy season. Not so much. This economy has kicked my butt. At least the weather is nice.

Spent most of yesterday in my garage sorting through my Coleman stoves and lanterns. I own a bunch...many wait for restoration. I have three stoves completely restored, two in stages and another torn down. I enjoy the work but I'd never be able to sell them and recoup my investment in parts and time. As they say it's a labor of love.

Anyway, a fella recently asked if I had one for sale. We settled on a price so this morning I lugged the beautiful old girl into the shop and it now sits in my office. Thing is - well, now I'm not so sure I want to let her slip away. The price I quoted wouldn't cover a tank of gas for my truck.

But a deal is a deal.

*****

Our group gathered at the farm this past weekend and I missed it. Here I am the founder of this bunch of like minded individuals, and I let them down. Talk about an awful feeling....but, sometimes life just gets in the way.

Me, the guy that has always pounded the mantra, group first, screwed the pooch. Sorry guys. My friend and fellow group member, Senior, posted a nice note and described the day's activities. Bet they didn't miss me for a moment.

Bunch of slackers...

*****

I will make extreme effort to make the blog rounds today...if work allows. Kinda miss you guys.

Later,

Stephen

Stuff

Want to know what really ticks me off....when in between customers I walk back to my office to pull a cup of coffee and find the pot empty. That, isn't good.

*****

The windows of the shop shake from the gusty winds we have today. It's also pleasantly cool. Sunny, but brisk. Nice change of pace.

Tomorrow I shall close my business and burn gun powder and hammer a few nails and sit and chat with my friends. Our group will assemble at our bug out location and finish work on our firearms range.

My good friends, Senior and Duke will attend along with the rest of our friends. We're a bunch of misfits, all veterans, that enjoy a day of fellowship and all things firearms related. I will pack along one of my AR's and have Duke clean the gas port and I'm sure Senior will put a fine shine on my boots. Since I'm the oldest 'old fart' in the group the boys take good care of my needs, as befits my status.

I'll write an after action report. Standby.


*****

Sunday morning, after church services, Sweet Wife will abandon me. She has plans to drive north and visit her elderly mother. I said she should just call her. She told me to mind my business and be a good boy. She called me, boy.

I informed her since I'll be alone Sunday night I'm hitting the town with bad intentions. She gave me, the look.

Guess I'll read.

Later.

Stephen

Good Afternoon

Sorry I didn't write an update last night but yesterday was hectic, to say the least. On my way out the door for my afternoon with the doctors and nurses I heard an awful sound. Do you guys and girls remember the water line leak I had last week - well guess what.

I dialed the plumber as I drove away and told him his repair didn't hold. Informed him I wanted water before I came home last night. He said, "I'll try."  At the doc's office the nurse asked why my blood pressure was so high.

So, I get to his office twenty minutes early, take a seat and wait with soul searing patience. Finally the nurse, all cheery and chatty, screams my name. She takes me to a room and I sit there for one solid hour. Thank God for Kindle. I arrived at one forty-five in the afternoon....left at five. I kid you not. At least I had water when I arrived home. I forget the author of the famous phrase, 'It's times like these that try man's soul.'

kymber, my dear lady, as requested, here's your picture of the soup I built yesterday.

As many of you know I am the founder of a group of like minded individuals. We're all veterans of our country's various military services. A great bunch of men and women. For the last year we've met once a month. Lately we just call our monthly meetings, work days. I, nor Duke, for obvious reasons, could make this month's meeting/work day.

We, as a group, have under construction what we call, The Boar's Nest. Its a combination storage/bunkhouse/kitchen constructed on stilts located far out in the boonies on a beautiful wild river.

Last weekend the guys, without mine and Duke's valued help, finished our power connection. We have lights....and a freshly painted ceiling, in white. They did a great job. Wish I had a photo to share. Well, I do but it's an older picture of a few us on our quest for treasure taken last year. Duke is that big fella on the far left.

Above, a rare picture of yours truly. I don't like cameras. For the curious it's a Glock 27 in my old Galco SOB holster. I remember it was a hot sweaty day and I'd jerked my shirt tail out, and yes, the trousers are old woodland camo. I live in Guy Harvey shirts.

 (snip)

This morning on our way to school I look over to find Little Bit with the trucks visor mirror pulled down and her reflection under careful study. She turns this way and that and smiles. I finally asked, "Honey, what are you doing?"

She turns to me with, "Papa, I'm wearing my new lipstick, and now I'm pretty, and it's pink."

Seems her Nana gave her a stick of that lip balm stuff for her birthday. The brand is geared towards little girls.

I don't know, ask someone else.

"Papa."

"Yes, Honeybun."

"Aren't I pretty?"

"You have always been pretty to me with or without that stuff."

She smiles at me. Then, "I know Papa, I just wanted to make sure you still knew I was pretty."

Girls.

Stephen

The Weekend

Good morning, my friends. Yes, I made it back safe and sound - sore too. It was fun, tiring, and since we completed our objectives, satisfying.

The weather out at the Boar's Nest was cool and windy. Perfect weather for hard work. Our goal was to dig, by hand, a trench of 200 feet long, two and half feet deep (in one stretch, three foot) and place a power line and conduit inside and cover the trench in one day. I'm proud to say we completed the job within four hours. Four hard hours, but we did it.

As a simple explanation, the location of our Boar's Nest serves two purposes. It is a location for our group to gather and camp, shoot, and relax. Our firing range is within yards of a nice wild river. It is also our BOL if and when needed. As such we utilize redundant systems, a backup to a backup to a backup.  The power line we installed this weekend is our second means of electrical backup. Our first is a gas operated generator with a hard wired panel. The third system will be solar. These systems take time - we use cash. A person asked me this weekend whey we didn't just rent a power tool to dig the trench. I said we have eight men and a boy....with shovels. We're frugal.

The weekend in pictures, in random order...warning, this post is picture heavy.

The trench. The pipe to the left is a ten foot section of conduit for the power line. The power line is forever known as The Modern Day Redneck power line. Our good friend, MDR, donated the wire for our installation. We've adopted him into our group. As old timers once said, he's family.

We hit water.

Above, Rebel sizes up the situation. We had to trench under the house. He's thinking, I'm slim so they'll make me do it. Rebel is one of the hardest working men I know....he's fine people and I'm proud to call him my friend. As a side note...to the left is our radio tower...it's on the list of things 'to do.'

This is ShooterSteve. He's a master electrician, and a valuable member of our group. Here he's prepping the MDR wire for removal and placement into the conduit. The one strand he holds measured two hundred and forty seven feet.

We had to dig one section of the trench under two sections of fence through a horse corral. Above, the conduit about to be placed into the trench.

ShooterSteve and Rebel as they pull wire through the conduit.

Above, the starting point of the trench, a nearby farm. Here's Duke (wearing the 1911) Rebel, with the young man in the forefront, William, and ShooterSteve, all hard at work on a gas line repair (yes, we cut it). I'm of course holding a shovel and camera. Duke has a unique gift...he can repair dust, torn trousers, tractors, children's toys...or severed pipes with ease.

Above, my friend Duke hard at work beginning the dig under the Boar's Nest.

We didn't work all weekend. Here's a shot of the guys on the firing range. Our friend, Senior, husband of Jacked Up Glock Mom, built us a rolling target stand. We had fun. Senior did a fine job. The stand is attached to a rope. Place rope in someone's hands, tell them to run....fast. Try and keep the front sight on the target and not the runner. All joking aside, the runner is well out of range....

This is Duke drawing a bead on the moving target...look closely to his right, just under his arm, see it in the distance...my camera doesn't do well on long range shots. The river is just beyond the trees. When the river floods it fills the background of the range. Then it's time for catfishing.

Tools of the trade. All these men are exceptional riflemen. You do not want them shooting at you. Each are veterans. Two of us with combat experience, including my friend Duke. Together, God help those that pose any threat to our families.

Just another picture of the range. It was a beautiful day. This is a pretty good shot of Senior's target stand. It has four tires and rolls fairly fast. It's a challenge at fifty yards - the sucker bounces.

Camp life at the Boar's Nest. In the foreground is ShooterSteve's tent...he snores. The fire bucket ready for a night of lies and yarns of old. To the right is our generator. ShooterSteve took a basic generator, donated to the group by Senior, and installed a marine stainless steel tank, 32 gallons worth, and made other improvements. On the far edge of the picture is the MDR deck table...

Just before sunset. Rebel relaxing with a cup of coffee. You know, any man that will refuse a cup of coffee, at any time of day, must be a damn communist. Nice fire. It will be two years, this April, since we began construction on the Boar's Nest. It's been hard sweaty work, but worth the effort.

Above, here is the most valuable man in the group. Please, may I introduce, Jim. Jim is our medic. He patches us up when we're hurt, which is quite often, makes us eat correctly, mends our souls, and is just an all around nice person. Like Duke once said, Jim has the biggest heart among us. I'm proud to call him friend. Before I forget, he's also our group secretary. He collects our funds, sets aside money for group projects and makes sure (along with Senior) that we make group stored food purchases. This month it's Winter Red Wheat. We would like to thank all of the nice people at our local LDS cannery for their help and kindness. Even though we're not members they treat us as such with grace and gentleness.

Another deck picture. I had to post this one of Rebel. He hates me to post his picture.

This is Senior, making breakfast. He did bacon, eggs, and grits. Did a fine job of it too.

Above, an American made kerosene lantern I found at a flea market last year. We use it on the deck at night as a reference point for when we visit the outhouse. Its tank holds plenty of fuel for a long nights burn.

Which has reading materials suitable to its purpose. All firearms related, by the way.

Here's ShooterSteve's fine craftsmanship. Notice he fabricated and installed a muffler. Soon we'll build a generator house and Shooter will wire our generator to a panel.

The fuel filter.

Nice work, isn't it. ShooterSteve, like Duke, can repair a drowned mouse.

And, last but not least, Rebel's 1986 Dodge van, beautifully restored. He sleeps in it....he likes his privacy you know....most of us sleep in the Boar's Nest. We're normal. To the right is ShooterSteve.


Thanks for your time. I hope to be able to get around to all my friends blogs today....can't promise. I've been away from my business for the last four days. I've much to do...Oh, I haven't the time to edit this post, so please, ignore my mistakes.

So, until then. God bless.

Stephen

Tower Update

I'm sorry but this will be brief. I've just received word my younger brother has been taken to the emergency room with a life threatening illness. Not much I can do at present, other than prayer. So this will be a post of pictures and a few notes.

Now to bring you up to date. Since my last adventure with my group and the post I wrote of the trip, I've added a few new followers. To bring you nice people up to date allow me a moment of explanation. I had an idea many years ago of forming a group of like minded individuals to support and defend each the other in times of either man made or natural disaster. Simple, huh. Try it. But fighting all the odds against, I succeeded. This success was due to the hard work and time of the nice men and women that joined hands with me in this adventure. They are the individuals due all the credit. They took my dream and made it possible.




I am still very reluctant to expose much about our group. But, by using careful wording and revealing nothing of our location, preps, and other details, I believe it safe to chat with you good folks of our labors.

Recently we were given a tower, a damn fine antenna tower, a beauty, all we had to do was move it. Ever hand dug and moved a 40 foot tower that's had the base sunk into four feet of concrete. It isn't easy. By utilizing hundreds of feet of rope, pulleys, a jeep, shovels and muscles and a few carefully chosen curse words, we 'got 'er done' in record time.

I ask, please excuse my poor photography. Above is one of our new members, let's call him AF1. The tower (left in the picture) still has vines as decoration. Here we're just beginning to dig. Little did we know there was a huge ball of cement underground.

This fine looking feller is Senior Chief. He has just climbed the tower (harnessed) and is striking a pose. He's attached a strap and hardware. We used a block and tackle in a large pine, and three other ropes to ease the tower and antenna to the ground. We did not want the antenna (at the top of the tower) to be harmed. This is one nice and expensive gift (thousands) and treated it as such....as you can imagine.

Sorry for this blurred picture. This is Rebel steadying the ladder for ShooterSteve as Shooter secures the block and chain in the pine. From here we ran a rope to the western side of the tower.

We begin to dig.

Above (as is the rule for all my photos) here we have ShooterSteve (best master electrician in North Florida) and Senior Chief. I think they've spotted a squirrel and are debating the best course of action to bring it down. They chose sticks.

An hour or so later, success. It's down, and more importantly, with no damage. Now the work begins. Rebel used his Jeep, and with the help of our new friend, Tim, eased the beautiful tower down like an Angel's caress.

Above we find new recruit, AF1 and Senior Chief dancing an Irish jig in joy.

There she rest. After a couple of hours of tractor work (Thanks to my Father's loan of the tractor and my nephew Dusty's tractor skills, we had the tower with its sock of cement back at the Boar's Nest. I swear I lost ten pounds. The heat and humid conditions were awful. Time for lunch on the Boar's Nest deck. 

My Father, in his electric wheel chair, sits just off deck as the rest of us take a well deserved break and eat lunch. The fellow to the left of my father in the boys pants and slippers (we'll correct his dress soon) is AF2, soon to be an auxiliary member of our group.  He is the nice guy that gave us his antenna tower. The least we can do is add him to our group, he does qualify. He just needs to complete a few steps in the process. He will make a very nice addition.

Another random shot of the legs of AF1 and Senior Chief....at parade rest.


I need to post and run. I've a dinner to cook, calls to make. Little Bit and her parents and little brother, Sport Model, are eating dinner with us tonight. I shall make a Shrimp Etouffee today. The shrimp stock is simmering as I write. Ever peeled three pounds of shrimp. It's fun.

Hey, this has turned into a long article for one that began as a quick note. Please, have a good evening.

Stephen