Awful Air, Wholly Bears, Glass Studio Is Built, Harvests, Spider, E...

The fires all around have the air terrible and it was visibly smokey in the air of the farm when we got up yesterday and stayed that way most of the day.

I was slogging through the squash rows picking the meager assortment that was ready and I am pretty sure that they are all on the way out for the year. 8.5 pounds was all that they gave me.

First I found 5 wholly bears within a few feet of each other in the yard.

Then I had a handful of 7 that I found next to the hops. The things are absolutely everywhere this year.

It took me a bit to find the correct bolts that I wanted to use but finally I got the sheets of aluminum laid down with the flashing and drilled the holes and bolted them together.

The sheets got slid over the wood ceiling brace and then I bolted the flashing to the wall in a few spots. This gives me my metal ceiling that protects everything above from the heat below.

Next I pulled the sheets of foam out and cut them to length. Both pieces got slid into the ceiling and I cut the small center piece to fill the gap.

I kicked the torch on both burners and checked how the air flow is with the fan on. The fan being set farther back is way better and I have a lot of room to work now. I went outside with the big burner going and there is a healthy amount of heat being blown out by the fan.

It is a serious cave with the foam in and I really need to get the lights to put up.

Another sheet of metal from the old roof, this one is thick and heavy, that I had set aside. It is now the cover for the side of the studio to protect the OSB from the weather.

The backside of the studio now has the metal attached that protects the wood from the splash of the eaves.

Another task that I have been meaning to get to for years was the little section of the carport. The panels had been trashed for years and the water kept falling on the concrete below and would splash the house. I had 2 pieces of the metal that were already the perfect length. I ended up finding a scrap piece that fit the gap on the right exactly. Now the area is fully protected and the studio walls should be well protected through winter.

The cucumbers peaked it seems as I got a small haul of 17 for the day. I will have too pick my seed cucumbers soon and maybe the plants will get a bit of a boost.

My biggest barn spider has a killer web setup. She is big and fat and orange. It is pretty cool to see how she built her web. He one leg is sitting forward of her and it is on a strong web that is connected to the center of her big web. It is how she senses if something hits her web. She is just one of the slew of them that are littering the farm this year.

I went marauding through the tomato row with my clippers and hacked back the tips of all the wild and spreading plants. Side shoots got hacked and some small tomatoes ended up in the pile but the rest will get the energy and hopefully will ripen faster.

Sitting for a minute on the studio deck the boys wanted to do an experiment. I made J a "test tube" out of a tube of heavy wall by closing the bottom and flattening it. They used vinegar and tossed in the calcium that we use in the hot tub but it did not dissolve well and off gas the way he hoped.

Much smaller fire for grilling and the boys had a supreme mess of split wood strewn all around the yard that they had to get cleaned up.

I picked a sweet Italian pepper and cut it in half then tossed it on the grill with the buns. It came out amazing and I put mine on my burger while the others just ate theirs.

Today the air is still awful but I have lots to do still outside. A bunch of the sunflowers are getting cut soon then I will hang them, I have so much to move around the yard and stage for the dump run that I will have to do soon, and I should head up to the melon garden again.