With left over materials from our last solar job, I fashioned a base using 8 inch sonotube, 3 inch PVC conduit and an 80 pound bag of ready mix.

Scientific Sundial, mounted

I knew were a large rock, by large I mean car sized, was in my yard,  I found it the first year while digging trenches for drain pipes for the gutters.  I dug down with a post hole digger and placed about 18 inches of sonotube on the rock.  I also drilled into the rock a little bit with a masonry bit and put a 1/2 inch rebar into the rock, pinning the sonotube footing in place.

Then I filled the sonotube and the 3 inch PVC with ready mix concrete.

I waited two days.

Scientific Sundial, about 5 pm

Using the Solar and Moon calculator App for my android phone, I determined that solar noon was 12:57:58 pm today.  I don’t thing that two seconds will make that much difference, so at exactly 12:58 pm, I aligned the 12:00 noon analemma with the shadow made by the Gnomon.   This sundial is now aligned to true north/south.

The motto means “Life resembles a shadow“

Concord Grapes on the vine

I picked several pounds of these, destemed them and washed them:

Concord Grapes ready to be juiced

Using a potato masher, I smashed them up as best as possible, then put them on the stove.  Brining them to a low simmering boil for 10 minutes, I mashed them again.  Then, I strained them through a metal strainer to get rid of the seeds and skins.  Finally, I strained that juice through cheese cloth and ended up with about two quarts of grape juice.

I must say, the grape juice is pretty good, slightly tangy but yummy.  I found cutting the grape juice with 1/2 water made it taste better.  Also, my wife is planning to make grape jelly with the juice, as we have lots of it, and having homemade grape jelly, just like the home made strawberry jam, will be welcome in the middle of winter.

Fast forward to this summer.  I was researching sundials for some other reason when I came upon a company called Scientific Sundials.  They looked really cool, and they are completely customizable.  I ordered one and it showed up yesterday via US Mail.

Scientific Sundial

I’ll be making a mount for this one and putting it up when I build the new front porch.

1. The zoning laws had changed.  The deck no longer met the required setback from the road for the front of the house and I wanted to get clarification on what I was allowed to do.
2. We decided that we were not going to replace the deck in kind, but rather install a covered porch along the front of the house, which will require more money.
3. Lack of time.

After last fall’s mix up when installing the footings for the solar system, I wanted to be sure that we weren’t going to run afoul of the town code enforcement officer.  I reviewed the situation and he said what we were planning was fine, reducing the encroachment into the required setback is always welcome.

removal in progress

So, last Saturday, I got busy and removed the rest of the deck.  What I found explained quite a few things.  I think it was constructed around 1980 or so.  First of all, not all the wood used on the deck was pressure treated.  Several supporting members were full of carpenter ants.  Secondly, the deck was not properly attached to the house, it was nailed to the siding.  Thirdly, no flashing was used, so the ledger board was extensively rotted.  In fact, it is so bad under the front door that the rot made its way into the rim joist.

pile of junk

I used the trusty skilsaw, sawsal and 10 pound sledge hammer to get the job done.  In the end, I had a pile of mixed wood, some treated, some rotted, some not.  I took the stuff to the town transfer station, which charges $0.05 per pound for C&D material.  It ended up costing me $64.00 to get rid of everything, which works out to 1,280 pounds.

Front deck removed

Apparently I wasn’t quite tired enough, so I also got out the chain saw and removed the two overgrown rhododendron bushes as well.  The front of the house looks a little bare right now, but I kind of like it.

Fortunately, the rotted rim joist is one small section and it doesn’t seem to affect the sill plate.  I will examine the sill more closely when we get ready to replace the rim joist.

In the coming weeks, I will get a building permit and put the front porch on before winter time.  It will be nice to have this project done.

Now, onto the wheat.  This was done as somewhat of an experiment.  I must admit that I expected nothing from this, and therefore I am not disappointed with whatever the outcome.  To my surprise, the wheat is growing well:

Hard red spring wheat

As of last week, all the wheat stalks have heads and are growing well.  It is a little stunted because of all the hot dry weather we had earlier this month, but by and large, I expect to increase the amount of wheat by about 20 times what I sowed. I left the weeds growing in between the wheat plants unless they get too tall, then I pull them out.

Exactly what I am going to do with this when I harvest it, I don’t know.  I may make wheat beer.  I could save it up and grind it as needed to make bread and pizza dough.  Or I might collect it and plant it again next year.  I figure that if I do that, I am making seeds that are adapted to my area.  Each successive planting will yield better, more adept, more viable seeds.