River Day 04/26/2021

 One of the good things about getting warmer weather is that we have choices about where we're going to hang out (at Jay's, anyway):  backyard, shop, or front porch.  This week Jay, Ted, Tim and I took advantage of all three at one time or another.  After a period of time in the yard, we were all ready to rotate anyway, so we moved around some.  We had a surprise attendee when we moved to the porch - Pat made his first appearance for 2021.

While we were in the yard, the conversation turned to Jay's sundial for a bit.  He even adjusted it for Daylight Savings Time:

You can tell by the straight shadow near the raised "nipple" that the time was 2:25 (or so).  And of course this lead to the comment "I love nipples".  It made me think of a comment we used to hear a lot "I have to be home by 3".  

Happy River Day to everyone!

Prayer Meeting 04/23/2021

 Sorry to disappoint, but Jay does not have a can stuck to the bottom of his shoe this week.  Not for lack of trying though.  We did however have a full house for this week's Prayer Meeting:  Jay, Ted, Tim, Jay's son William, grandson Liam (not pictured), and myself.  

Because we always mention the weather, I'll say that it was mild this week, following two days of snow squalls.  Yes, snow in late April.  Would have been a blast at the river, but oh well.

Following up from the previous week, we explained what the mysterious piece of cast iron was, as found on the internet.  Apparently it was used for livestock and is a pedal to activate water for a cattle bowl (see pic):

And since we're known for going down rabbit holes (especially in our conversations) it quickly became cast iron "show and tell" in the shop.  Jay broke out a couple more items to talk about: a lock and key, and a bull leader:

Notice in the background that we also had an aluminum collection going on (as usual).

Once again we (I) had a great time getting together.  I hope that fellow Rivertarians all over the world are doing the same.

Prayer Meeting 04/16/2021

 Ted, Jay and I got together Friday evening for our end of week meeting.  We had a pretty nice, laid back time in Jay's shop telling stories and catching up.

You know the old saying, "lightning doesn't strike twice in the same place"?  Well, Jay disproved that myth this week, flattening cans:

We truly couldn't have faked this one if we'd tried.  Check the post from last Friday - looks like the only thing different is the clothes Jay was wearing.

Lori came in to visit with us and showed us an unknown object that her parents, or at least her mom has had around for years.  It's a piece of cast iron with the markings "x720" on it.  We speculated what it might be but couldn't figure it out, so I took a couple of pics of it:

Kinda neat, huh?

I did figure out what it was from the next morning, but I'll leave that for another post.

As usual, a great time with great people.

River Day 4/12/2021

Hello to all! No pictures to post; I'm so sorry..Unless Ted just has not released them to Mark or I? I wasn't sure if Mark was going to do a post but as you can see and read I'm doing one anyway! Just the three of us got together to celebrate while Tim was working on the road and spending some time with the in-laws, I'm sure both of those things can certainly make a person want to enjoy a cold one? It was not a long river day, due to the fact that Mark had some obligations and the street lights would eventually come on so Ted also left early. For the record guys and whom ever else might be reading this blog, we all did do alot of laughing and whatever else I just can not remember. Sorry.....Hope to see you for Prayer Mtg.

Prayer Meeting 04/09/2021

 Just Ted, Jay and I this Friday for Prayer Meeting - Tim was off his in-law's place in Florida.  Not sure if it was a personal, business, or both kinda visit, but hope all is well.  We did get to exchange photos with him, just to stay in touch.

The weather was pretty nice outside, but we chose to hang around the shop for this gathering.

We didn't get into any projects this week, and I don't seem to have any quotes from this session.  Jay did manage to stomp on a can so hard that it stuck to his shoe.  I guess he was pissed at that one.

Sorry it took so long to get this post up.  Seems like it gets harder and harder to shuffle pics around.  Thanks again to Ted for the photos he sent.

Oh, and if you're missing one of these:

It may still be in the ashtray.

River Day 04/05/2021

 Nice weather seems to be more and more the norm: temps were around 70 this week with no clouds in sight.  For the 1st part of the afternoon we (Tim, Ted, Jay and I) all sat outside at Jay's and watched Lori work.  We did have to rotate occasionally to keep an even burn.  

Jay was having a little problem with one part of his furnace.  He had dismantled it and rigged up an alternate solution until he can get a replacement part.  So of course the Rivertarians all had to look at it to offer our ideas.  Thankfully it's the end of "furnace season", so there's no real pressure to repair it right away.  Knowing Jay, he won't wait too long though.

Since I now have a regular meeting on Monday's, and because I didn't want to cut my River Day short, I decided to bring my laptop along this week.  The last time I had this meeting I stood out in the garage for about an hour and a half.  As you might imagine, it was much more comfortable sitting inside while the meeting was conducted.  I'd like to think I was multitasking.

Quote of the day:  "Speaking of breast milk..."   I'm really not sure that we were, but it was a great segue into the next conversation.  I think.

Thanks to Jay for the use of his internet and space.  And thanks to Ted for providing the photos.

Happy River Day to all!

Prayer Meeting 04/02/2021 (Good Friday edition)

I can't really say that our Prayer Meeting this week was a profoundly religious experience, even though it coincided with Good Friday.  About as religious as it got was the discussion as to when it was going to be okay to eat meat again.  I get the feeling that there were some grills fired up on the Saturday after.

Anyway, Jay, Tim, Ted and I all got together this week at Jay's.  The weather was a little deceiving; clear and sunny but with a pretty cold wind blowing.  

We had a great time catching up on stories and just laughing as usual.  Sometimes I have no idea what we found so funny, but I always remember laughing a lot.

No projects this week.  Jay showed us his catalog of tractor parts.  If anyone needs a gift subscription, just let us know, we'll get you on the mailing list.

And a little more random, Jay also showed off his collection of Cotter's pins.  I can testify that I've never seen a more extensive assortment of pins - a size for any hole.  Maybe that's inappropriate.

Oh, there was indeed a quote of the week:

"I can't do that anymore"

At least that's the note I put in my phone that I just had to remember.  Now if I could just remember why.