9th Grandchild

 

2021 Thanksgiving and Hike

 My own family was sparse, a combination of sickness and other engagements. But the brothers and spouses and nephews and nieces and grands had a good time visiting, playing flag football, singing hymns, and eating abundant food. I gained 5 pounds in three days even with the activity. (1) Our topics of conversation range from engineering concepts to raising children to nature to Scripture to culture and many other subjects in between.

Spouses, in-laws and plenty of children. My brother has grandchild #15 on the way in a few days.

Three grandchildren and a friend

My son-in-law and oldest granddaughter were the only representative besides my wife and me.

My brother's grandchildren range from 25 down to 2.

Every time we get together they want to take a picture of the four of us. I figure it means someone thinks we may not be together too much longer. I guess we can't last forever, but we are doing OK for now. (2)

Our tradition is a day after hike for anyone willing and able to go.

The beginning of the hike was unimpressive. The trail went through some hedge snarled young second growth and along a road mostly just out of sight of Tellico Lake. Then it went up a gentle slope into an area of low underbrush with a mixture of dying Eastern Redcedars and numerous Dogwoods. Though I took some notice, the conversations and catching up with family and watching my brother's grandchildren run and laugh occupied my attention.   

Besides discussing the foibles of children and the beauty of the day, we talked about Lego bricks. Can you guess why?

When she crawled up onto the log I rushed over to sit beside her. She has a good heart and reaches out to other children who are left out.

Evidently, high moisture, freezing conditions, and dying flowers can form "ice flowers" by splitting the stems open and exuding ice. (3)

There is my sister-in-law with my granddaughter by a large red oak.

Cousins enjoyed time together and were fascinated by things like Shagbark Hickory bark.

In preparation for the wet season, TVA lowers the lake levels.

Ground Cedar in bloom

Basswood is not a common southern tree

I can't place what these are, but I think that they are not edible.

Taking a break and enjoying the sunshine and company.

Look closely at the pine cone. You can see two mushrooms and the mycelium extending into the cone.

Bitternut Hickory

I don't why they built this bridge here. Yeah, I see the creek, but the bridge is drastic overkill.

Our home state

The reflection is better than the scene.

We are so blessed with family and God's provision of all that we need. We should make a habit of thanking Him more than on holiday of the year.

1 No worries. As of this writing, from hard work out in the cold I have already dropped 3 pounds.

2 Many of the pictures in this blog entry were taken by my sister-in-law so she doesn't always show up in the record of events. But I caught her a few times.

3 Elusive 'Ice Flowers': A Natural Phenomenon // Missouri Environment and Garden News Article // Integrated Pest Management, University of Missouri

Christmas Cactus

 As I had mentioned previously, I think it is blooming so well because I left it out in the near freezing temperatures for several weeks before I brought it in. It sure is blooming profusely:

I find it very difficult to take good pictures of white flowers, but you can see the ornate beauty of this otherwise humble plant.

Praise should be thus, ornate and extravagant, because God is a worthy and exalted being.

Random Wonders

My wife and I were having a picnic the other day, as we have taken to doing each week lately. I was looking at the Red Maple leaves, trying to find a near perfect one. I laid a few on the tablecloth that we spread on the picnic table and thought what a nice contrast of colors and patterns.

Retro moment! Who knows what this is and what it is used for? How many of you have installed a pair of these at all or with any frequency?

I was supposed to spend a half a day on removing and replacing six rotten boards. The decision was made to forego subsequent repairs by replacing all 56 decking boards.

The deeper problems were revealed by removing the floor. The majority of joists were fine, but eleven were not.

At my son's house, he pointed out an interesting phenomenon. On cold mornings a practically perfect fog oval forms on the atrium door. Note that it does not form on the other pane of glass. Why does it form and why in this shape? At one level, it is easy enough to say that water vapor from the room condenses on the cool glass, but why isn't the whole glass involved? And why are there no corners like the glass has? The other door is completely sealed and does not open. Also, there is a central air vent on the floor to the left of the glass. I would think that the wood is a better insulator than the glass, but heat must be transferring from the wood to the glass so the the center of the glass is cooler. It additionally seems to be a mystery as to why it is cooler in the middle of the glass, since it is a double pane window.

My brother asked if I had the Flexible Flyer sled that we grew up with. I replied that I did not. Instead, I have one that was given to me at the landfill as I and my neighbor were dumping trash off the back of our trucks. I asked why he was throwing away a good sled. He replied that his family was moving to the Deep South and didn't expect to have need of it. I took it home and my children used it a number of times over the years.

I stepped out my front door to dump the compost bucket. There was the Moon and Venus brightly shining.

My wife and I had homemade soup for a few days. On the particular evening that I took the pictures, she was having Pumpkin Soup with sausage and Coconut Flour Bread spread with Almond Butter.

I was having Lentil Soup with chicken. We are grateful to eat well and there is nothing quite like a good hot soup on a chilly evening.

A final random curiosity: I almost waited too long to bring in my succulents. The temperatures have been in the low to mid-thirties for several nights in the last week. On the other hand, perhaps I discovered the trick to getting a Christmas Cactus to bloom well. I have never had one nor seen one with so many blooms.

I find that life is only mundane if you don't look around and contemplate the small and great wonders of the world. You don't see great wonders often, but the small ones are abundant and waiting to be taken in. They point to the Creator and Sustainer of all that is. 

 

Table Deck

What good is a door to nowhere. Let's put in a deck for access and leisure outdoor activities.

One way to keep the posts from rotting is to keep them out of and off of the ground. These cardboard tubes make easy forms for a footer to set the posts upon.

And once the concrete has dried and cured a few days with a galvanized bolt in it, just mount a handy base to set the post upon, and you have a post that will be there for a long time.

Given the lack of horizontal stability due to the post mounting and lack of attachment to the house, stout diagonals are in order.

By cantilevering the the joists you can use smaller ones and stiffen their support.

The decking complete after 2 screws per joist per board. Given a 12' board needs 20 screws and a 12' x 12' deck needs 25 boards, that's 500 screws. You may think that I am almost done at this point, but the stairs and railing are half of the time spent on most decks. The posts, joists and decking are very straightforward.

I have seen too many stairs weakened by poor design and the ravishes of time. So, I have decided to make my stairs far more sturdy. That begins with a good foundation. I poured the bottom post holes full of concrete and made a concrete footer for the 4 stringers. Here I have the space dug out and am making a temporary support for the stairs so that I may build them while the concrete cures.

In the following picture, the posts were set and plumbed and then screwed to the outside stringers. Posts and stringers had tar applied to prevent rot which occurs most at the interface of ground and air. The concrete is poured and curing and the first two riser pieces are screwed down to stabilize it all.

The stairs are finished with end posts.

I have seen many stair stringers barely hanging onto the bottom of their end joist. I install extra support.

With railing finished, I think they look quite nice.

A sword of heavenly light pierces the completed deck.

The railing is sturdy and symmetrical.

Many diagonals stabilize the posts.

This should add value to the house.

          Clean up and then it time to go home. Another job for which to thank God for His provision.