Bridge Decking

Even with the horribly hot temps this weekend Alan was able to finish up the decking for the bridge.

The rise in elevation that the bridge makes isn't that clear in the above photo.

Alan was able to stay reasonably cool since the site is over the stream and in the shade. He also had a box fan keeping a steady breeze blowing.

There is still a bit of dirt fill needed on the house side of the bridge and I am still deciding if I want/need a railing.

Getting Ready to Build the Bridge

Taking down the old bridge was the first task. Alan has now finished building up a stone wall to hold back the soil he will add to replace that which was worn away from the bank.

We bought the pressure treated wood for the frame and somehow managed to get 16 foot boards in our E150 van.

Of course this weekend is supposed to be beastly hot again so we shall see how much work can get done on the bridge.

My Spinning Wheels Part I (Or How to Repair a Broken Flyer)

Let me introduce Caroline. She is a 1970s Country Craftsman I recently bought for $45.

She was being sold by a family cleaning out their basement. The wheel had belonged to the man's mother; although he doesn't think she used it for spinning. He just remembers it as decoration. It was made by Rooney and he retired in 1982 so it is older than my oldest son. Caroline is missing the last piece of the distaff and the flyer was broken. The family were thrilled that we would be fixing it up and using it as a spinning wheel.
Now that she is all repaired she spins like a dream. I can spin so much finer on this wheel than on the Louet.

My husband Alan will now take over this post and explain his repair.

The flyer came repaired with hot glue and was not only a mess but was drastically out of alignment. Removing the glue was easy as all I had to do was reheat it and wipe it off. A mild wire brushing removed most of the visible residue. There were small pieces of the flyer missing and since there was old dried glue soaked into the joint it was doubtful a simple new glue-up was going to hold. The real solution was to remove enough old wood to glue in a sizable block of new wood and re-drill the hole for the spindle.

I selected hickory from a previous project to use as the fill-in block. Hickory is a great wood for this application since it resists splitting on the grain.

First thing is to make a template. Align it as best as possible and establish a square reference line, in this case its the long axis between the wings, that will be used later to find the center for drilling the spindle hole. The template will also be used during the glue-up.

Squaring off from the reference line and marking the flyer pieces for trimming out the bad joint.

The new wood block glued in place. The block is oversized at this point as the excess will be sanded away once the glue has set. There is a small piece of parchment paper under the joint to keep it from being glued to the template. Any clamping arrangement will work as long as it puts adequate pressure on the glue surfaces. Fit it up before applying the glue to make sure your clamping arrangement will work.

 

The glued-up and sanded flyer. (the yellow color is due to the lighting/camera)

Not knowing how the flyer was broken in the first place, I thought reinforcing the joint with a 1/4 inch wood dowel would be a good idea. The flyer is set up in a jig for drilling the 1/4 inch hole. A useful tip to know is that soft wood dowel from a home center or hardware store is actually smaller than the  advertised size. This drill bit is just under 1/4 inch to make sure the dowel will be snug. After the hole is drilled support the flyer well, dribble glue into the hole, and gently but firmly drive the dowel through. Later when the spindle hole is drilled it will intersect and go right through the dowel.

Back on the template to find the center line for the spindle hole. Taking half the distance between the wings of the flyer and making a right angle line through the joint shows where the hole will go.

Squared up on the drill press and well supported for the through hole. The spindle is a precise 1/4 inch but has slightly over sized splines at the end to hold the flyer so it's important the hole is drilled to exactly 1/4 inch, clean and true.

The completed assembly ready to go back on the spinning wheel

And now a little dissertation on the repair versus replacement philosophy. Though it would not have been very difficult to replicate the whole piece or have it replaced by a professional, I get a great sense of gratification that comes from restoring what one craftsman has painstakingly made with the expectation of lasting for generations. Saving the original from an early demise brings continuity to the project as a whole and is also by proxy a communication from one craftsman to another. It shows appreciation and respect for both the piece and it's creator. Also, the ideology of repair delays the universal law of decay, which will destroy all things given enough time. A pleasant afternoon in the shop becomes in a small way a defiance of the universe itself. How about that!

Demolishing the Old Bridge

This old bridge's time was up.

Not only were some of the boards missing, the end opposite the house had slid down the bank about two feet. It was impossible to take a wheel barrow across the bridge and stepping onto the bridge when it was wet and slippery was just plain dangerous.
After stripping off the planking the supports came up easily with a tug from the tractor.

The replacement bridge will be a simple flat structure spanning across the stream. The south side will be about two feet higher in elevation. We debated steps/no steps/arched etc. but I need to be able to take a hand cart across the bridge. So a simple structure it will be; which will also be simpler and easier for Alan to build. We'll have a hand rail on one side so I can pretty it up with some flower boxes.

Happy Father's Day!

This is the first Father's Day I have ever picked tomatoes!

Last year I thought I was lucky to pick tomatoes in mid July. These little Bumble Bee tomatoes are delicious and apparently very early. I started them from seed in February and they were flowering when I planted them. The ones we had last year from Rodale were a little bigger, but we shall see as the season progresses. And the snow peas are just beginning as well.

My hubby is having fun with his Father's Day present, a pressure washer, and washing our camping trailer with the youngest.

It looks soooo much better after just a rinse.

Washing Wool

My daughter and I finally tackled washing some of the skirted wool from the fleeces. It had been soaking for about a week and was starting to get nasty. Of course I couldn't find the bottle of Kookaburra wool wash I picked up at the MD Sheep and Wool Festival last month (it must be somewhere really safe!)
When my husband built his shop in the garage he put in this great big double bowl sink. It works great for washing wool.

The best parts of the wool are at the processor so these were the bits I couldn't bear to throw away, but will take a bit of carding/combing to be able to do anything with it.

After drying I tried my hand at carding (boy do I need to get better at that!) Finally I was able to spin my own sheeps' wool that I processed myself. The top half of the bobbin is some mystery roving I got from a friend, the bottom half is all mine!

I am a very beginning spinner and still have a lot to learn. But, heck, I spun my own sheeps' wool!!!
(Note to self; write post on my spinning wheels and beginning spinning attempts.)
 My indigo plants are just about to bloom so need to be cut back. Maybe we can try dyeing some of the cleaned wool blue.

Trellises

Finally, the raspberries and grapes have their trellises! Last year I could only pick about 2/3 of the raspberries because of the way the branches fell over. And we have never harvested any grapes.

The job went much faster with the new post hole digger.

The grape vine trellis had rotted away years before we moved in and the grapes had taken over the arborvitae for support.

I found these cool gadget called wire vises that make stringing and tightening the wire supports so much easier. They work like a chinese finger trap. The wire goes through in one direction only.

There is a predrilled hole (1/2 inch) in the T post that accepts the end of the wire  vise.

The wire is cut flush with one end and has a little tail on the other end to tighten up the wire as needed.

The grape vine trellis is just three posts with two holes drilled in each post to accept the wire supports. The raspeberries have two cross pieces attached to each post at 24 and 48 inches with the wire at the ends of the cross pieces. Most of the Mennonite farms in the area have similar raspberry patches and we took the design from them.

We had a nice surprise when we received the package of wire vises from Orchard Valley Supply. Turns out our niece works for them and packed our package and this was written on the back:

Our niece moved to North Carolina years ago and we had no idea where she was working.

Now the raspberry patch is nice and tidy.

Just in time for a bumper crop in July.