Monday 17 May 2021

Puzzle Me This

 the latest binge is jigsaw puzzles online. I've mentioned these before. Still at the infant stage. 35 pieces and aligned in their proper attitude. I'm not sure of the procedure of flipping or rotating w/ a mouse. Touch screen maybe.

We've hit the warm of May. CV 19 numbers are sliding down but our goal is well under a 1000 cases a day and we are at 2000 and a bit. Vaxxing a lot of people.

' Take the bus and leave the driving to us ' - a truly marketable slogan. That is gone. " Greyhound " , the company and not the movie is packing up. A combination of diminishing ridership and the distancing dilemma for businesses < and isolation > added up to a non existent business model.

And bingeing, the epic, continues w/ " Elementary " based on Sherlock Holmes in present day < 2012 or so > New York, New York. ' So nice, they named it twice '. As in ' shabu shabu ' or fish head stew. Got ya' w/ that one, right ?
" Elementary " is dragging me along into Season 2. Character development and relationships are blooming.
I get a kick out of recognizing the names of people and places referenced from the original Conan Doyle writings. Maybe, nostalgia ? or glee at having known the seminal versions.

Back to ' puzzles ', sort of. I've Googled the topic of knots on YouTube. Two videos in particular are important. The story. I've always been interested in knots. A Boy Scout growing up in the United Church, I needed ' knot lore ' and tying to advance in Scouts.
And after camping and presently owning and using a boat < 18 ft > knots are a necessity - especially good and solid ones.
A while back, M gifted me ' paracord ',  thicker woven cord. There is ' knot macrame ' for want of better wording. Many utilitarian objects can be created. I started viewing the YouTube items on the ' monkey ball ' a decorative and functional use of paracord.
By chance a video popped up under suggestions in YouTube. Conveniently, the title was ' 5 knots from one basic form '. The demonstator started w/ the ' marlin spike knot '. This visual got my attention. A marlin spike is a seaman's or outdoor worker's tool for picking out tangles in rope or chain and much more. 
I practice yesterday and can now tie a ' marlin spike ' knot in about three seconds.
Yes. I'll go back for the other 4 - soon. The video is bookmarked. I'll tie one right now. OK. Done. See about three seconds ! Da da.
Tied another msknot.

Of course, there is guilt b/c I've kept the paracord and    it s unused. < 4 Xmas s ago ? > Thus, I'll break out the paracord and start the knotting. B/c I'll soon know 5 knots.

Actually, one more knot.

This AM approx 8:30, I decided that the stump, marking the site of the late umbrella tree, was too obvious. In truth. about a week and half ago, I started the lowering job by cutting verticals approx 1/3 in from the edge of the bole. The slices went approx a foot down the stump. 

Today, it was time to go horizontal. I used a sawsall to start. Figured take out big chips and that I could worm my way down. Nope, got the axe stuck after the first bit.
And I ended up going horizontal w/ a bucksaw.

The results are a stump that rises less than a foot above the ground amongst boulders that are 8 - 14 in. tall. Meaning the stump is nigh on invisible. Soon, holes will appear in the stump < drilled at intervals > to speed the decay process. On YouTube, the next step is to pour oil into the holes and the oil soaks approx a month. Then burn the stump flat.
That won't happen here. The holes will do their work over time. Rain, rot and fungi can do their thing

And the end result. A much cleaner looking frontage and the elimnation of a tree that was difficult to maintain, blocked the view of the street as you turned out. As well, it was a marker that told the snowplow drivers to pile the snow there. The first pile wasn't too obtrusive but each additional pile mounded the packed ice 6 inches higher and encroached further over the drive - again blocking the street.
Plus, never liked that tree anyway.

This winter, however, the ice pile never got above 2 ft.
Maybe, my re - design did the trick or maybe less snow was on the road. I did notice much snow stacked across the way, spanning 60 ft or so. New snowplower ? b/xc there was a lot of snow, over there.

P.S. the city did plant a deciduous native hardwood two years ago < three years ago but that one got a disease or failed to root >. A much nicer tree.


No comments:

Post a Comment