Wretha's Therapist

A Tree Lizard. On a rock. The males have "handicapped blue" on their bellies. So they can park  ANYWHERE!

You can just make out the blue color on the belly.

Down With The Tank and Off With It's Head

Well, ya buy your ticket and ya take your ride!
So I decided today was the day to take our water tank down off the mountain and put it under the square tower. Like any proper mountain castle cistern. I won't whine about rolling it up there in the first place and setting it on a flat spot 8 ft. in diameter that I chiseled through solid rock to accommodate the tank, 1500 gal.- 6 ft. tall when setting up right and 8 feet wide (tall when on it's side for rolling).

Anyway I'm think as usual to myself, "watch for snakes and don't make a mistake in my footing... one misstep = total disaster or worse."

Below is the video of yours truly, moving the tank down to it's new place. I have concrete wire around it and it is a great way to move tanks. It's quick, put hundreds of handles all around the tank, provides some good rock protection and good traction. Also provides a place anywhere around the tank to prop a board up and hold the tank almost anywhere. Between the tank and the wire I had put thin white steel sheets to stop sun light damage. The water line is 100 ft. long from house to tank and it's about 40 feet higher in elevation. 30-40 degrees on a protractor.

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The next vid is too long. I recommend the first few min. or skip through it. The last half of it is nothing.

The tank came down just fine. Wretha put her boots on and helped out mainly keeping my mountain "break" board close at hand. Not cool to get run over.

So I park the tank down by the house and go move 3-4 boards in my path next to the square tower. I picked the boards up and as I step away with them in hand, I see a two footer sneakin' away! BAM!
Could'a been the end of my day!

Could-a popped me good.



 Well,,, "Just stick em in the head and throw em on the fence!"

             ...another one bites the dust!

My stick is made with 3 inch long screws through a small piece of plywood attached to a good stick. The object is to be  100% successful the first time and not lose the snake. Once it's on the "barbs" of the stick,,, you're there. Cut the head off with a shovel and treat the head with extreme caution. It'd suck to get bit now! Venom is venom. Don't mess up. And live happily ever after.

                    Down with the tank and 
             Off with it's head !    TheEnd

Meet My Therapist

One of our larger ring necked lizards crawls out from under an old RV. refrigerator. That's why the old frig is still there.

The Resident Castle Cat

Standing guard on the grounds. 

A most precious gift from my mother.

I'll try it around the property and find the best fit

Mountain wind currents.

Square Flag Tower Progress
The small window opening will have the outer frame covered with cut rock. The inside will have two hinged items. A shutter, and a framed glass pane (as seen here) and they will function independently,,,               Like I do.

Upper front reinforced screen door

Casper at the Gate
 

DOORWAY BELOW THE SQUARE TOWER
The first two short videos I'm out side. The last
video I'm inside, below the tower. 

Workin' Hard

Perfect Color

picture by Wretha

                         Overall we live on a tri color property. Blue sky, green trees and tan rock and earth. So an occasional burst of color goes a long way for us.                                             

picture by Wretha

picture by PB

                                                                                              

                                                                                                                      

VALUE -- The Story of Bob's Grill

Once upon a time, ten years ago I had this stainless steel cover made for a good customer of mine in order to protect the booster heater in the kitchen of their restaurant. 4-5 years later they had me remove it permanently because they installed a different type of unit. So here it is, fashioned into a stainless steel grill. So far it's a well tested proto type. I'll refabricate it with a top and a few improvements. It runs on propane with the twist of a knob and a spark from a old lighter.

The moral of the story? Do well for your customers and they will do well for you! The End.

UPDATE:          I improved the grill after so many good meals and now it has 4 working burners. Means all yall can come up and eat with us.