Jim and Stew work the land in Silverdale, finishing the garden in time to share a nice steak dinner afterward. The garden holds one row of tomatoes, five rows of corn and 240 squash and pumpkin plants.

Posted by Jim W Coleman at 5:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Knowing that I would be doing some heavy duty work, I bought this shovel last year - one piece steel construction, lifetime warranty. Well, I'll let you know how that "lifetime warranty" works out as I will be pursuing that. So far, Fred Meyer (where I purchased the shovel) was absolutely no help, telling me to contact the manufacturer. You see - THAT'S why I like Lowe's. I've never had a problem returning anything there. Needless to say, I was very dissatisfied and disappointed with Fred Meyer, a store I've heretofor had great respect for.

Posted by Jim W Coleman at 11:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

CAN I PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE COME IN NOW AND STOP WORKING ON THE GARDEN I PROMISE TO BE A GOOD BOY!
If ever I've felt like I was held hostage or imprisoned, any one of my four gardens makes me feel that way. But incarceration is a good thing ... in reality, you would have to drag me kicking and screaming to get me out of the garden. :)

Posted by Jim W Coleman at 7:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Jim's technique for growing green beans is often imitated, and he considers that the finest form of flattery. Here, yet again, a swingset has been stripped of swings and fitted with wooden stakes. This year's crop of broad beans will grow up the stakes. The beans will hang down, making harvesting easy. "It's like milking a cow," Jim says, demonstrating how it's done. "Just walk down the middle and milk the swingset. In the end, you get buckets of beans."

Posted by Jim W Coleman at 7:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today, I planted the first plants into the crop circle (small Celebrity tomatoes) and also laid in the soaker hoses for the corn. I planned on putting the corn in by Saturday but our weather is still rather cold and crappy, so I'm going to wait until at least Monday. Right now, the corn seed is spread out and covered with a moist towel to get an early start on germination. Since the crop circle is now a garden, any future "gardening" type of pictures of the crop circle can be found in the "Garden" category of this photo blog.

Posted by Jim W Coleman at 6:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We have numerous bird houses on the property. This one is located above the door to my outbuilding. Here, a martin takes flight after emerging from the bird house (which was built by local Kiwanian, Al Cook).

Posted by Jim W Coleman at 3:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A martin launches herself from a birdhouse, one tiny split-second before opening her wings to take flight!

Posted by Jim W Coleman at 3:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

With temperatures hovering between 80 and 90 in the Seattle area the past several days, Jim takes advantage of it and does some rototilling, lawn mowing, dropping an engine out of a car, excavating, building a retaining wall ... and much more - all for a Wellness Buck. Here, on the anniversary of Mt. St. Helens' eruption, he takes a break, red as a lobster, with much on his mind.

Posted by Jim W Coleman at 2:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As many people have heard me say: "It only takes ten minutes to drop a motor out of a Classic VW Beetle if you know what you're doing!" Well, it took me a day and a half. And I know what I'm doing.

Actually, it went very well but I got hung up on the engine mounting bolt behind the clutch lever. This is a very tricky one to reach as you have to get underneath the car and you generally get your forearm and elbows stuck. There's very little room to maneuver. I struggled with it yesterday and then gave up - I have plenty else to do to keep me busy. This morning, I grabbed a beefier ratchet and it only took five minutes. Five minutes after that, the engine was on the ground. The problem, as near as I can tell and what John in Gorrrrrst said, is a burnt exhaust valve on cylinder 3 - very common in these motors. Later today, I'll pull the head off and decide whether to have it rebuilt with new valves or just to bolt on a new head. It's a little too early in the morning to go thinking about head right now, though. At least let me finish my coffee.

Posted by Jim W Coleman at 8:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On this day, we spent some time watching the martins carry nesting materials to one of many birdhouses we have on the property.

Posted by Jim W Coleman at 5:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here is a broad overview of the area where I will be building two retaining walls and landscaping around the observatory. You can also see some of the 30 new trees that were planted on the property this spring.

Posted by Jim W Coleman at 5:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)