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Recent Entries to this Blog
THE BATTLE OF OLUSTEE
Posted: 07 Dec 2020 Posted: 23 Nov 2020 Posted: 16 Nov 2020 Posted: 12 Oct 2020 Posted: 07 Sep 2020 All Entries |
The Eclectic GardenMaking a little bit of everything look just right.
Winter in Florida
Category: Life As I Know It | Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2015 10:25 pm It felt like Summer in Central Florida today. The mercury was resting at just over 80 degrees all day long. Even now, at 5:15 in the evening it is 79 degrees. My wife longs for cooler weather, but I love the warm Winters.The picture below was taken about 3:00 in the afternoon. 
1/3/2015 ( photo / image / picture from eclecticgarden's Garden ) This blog entry has been viewed 515 times
Fire College
Category: Life As I Know It | Posted: Mon Dec 15, 2014 11:09 am Well, my son graduated from Fire College last week. It's been an intense four months for him. We got to visit in October and witness some of the training. I can say that I now have a greater respect for firefighters. Here are a few pictures from his training. The last one is graduation day. 
( photo / image / picture from eclecticgarden's Garden ) 
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Graduation Day ( photo / image / picture from eclecticgarden's Garden ) This blog entry has been viewed 529 times
Chickens and Compost
Category: Chickens | Posted: Thu Dec 11, 2014 7:18 pm Every morning when I let the chickens out they run to the compost pile as fast as they can to see what's new. I love watching them run...heads stretched out, wings slightly out to their sides. I don't know why but I find it extremely amusing. On this day I had put some rotten oranges on the pile. The chickens didn't really care for them, but they still spent a lot of time scratching sround. 
Chickens and Compost ( photo / image / picture from eclecticgarden's Garden ) This blog entry has been viewed 538 times
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Oh Happy Sting!
Category: Bees | Posted: Mon Nov 17, 2014 11:37 am A wonderful thing happened to me yesterday. I got stung by a honey bee! Why is being stung by a bee a such wonderful thing? Because I didn't have any kind of reaction to it whatsoever. Apparently I'm not as allergic to their stings as I feared. After being rushed to the hospital over the summer with a severe allergic reaction to multiple stings now I'm finding that I just might be okay taking a single sting once in a while. That really makes me feel better about working in my hives. This blog entry has been viewed 599 times
That Didn't Work Out As Planned
Category: Life As I Know It | Posted: Wed Nov 05, 2014 1:09 am Sometimes the simplest task can turn into a real nightmare. For example, on the way home from church this past Sunday our car overheated. I won't even go into the ordeal that it took to get it home, but I finally managed to get it there. I checked the radiator and the coolant level was good. It didn't take a lot to surmise that the thermostat was the culprit. I thought to myself, "At least it shouldn't take very long." Boy was I wrong. I made the ten mile trip to the auto parts store and purchased a thermostat, gasket and a gallon of antifreeze. Once I was back home I pulled out the two screws holding in the thermostat housing and removed the old thermostat. I cleaned off the old gasket material, put in the new thermostat and screwed everything back together. It only took me about twenty minutes. At this point I was pretty happy with the outcome. I didn't even lose any coolant so the gallon of antifreeze wasn't needed. My first mistake was not checking for leaks before test driving the car. I got down the road and the temperature gauge shot over to hot. I turned around right away and headed back home. By the time I got there steam was boiling out from under the hood. I popped the hood and could see that water was shooting out from around the thermostat housing. After things cooled off a little I took a closer look and found what was wrong. Apparently I had torn the gasket when I put it in. So, I made another ten mile trip to the parts store and bought another gasket. Back home I pulled everything back apart, installed the new gasket and put everything back together again. Since I blew out all the coolant in the first go round I also filled the radiator back up. This time I checked for leaks before I drove anywhere and found a trickle of antifreeze coming out from behind the thermostat housing. Ugh! So… I took everything back apart again, cleaned both surfaces really good and then put it back together. The leak was still there! Thankfully, it was about this time that my wife let me know that dinner was ready. I sat at the dinner table frustrated and aggravated and while I sat there a funny thing happened. It started getting dark. I had completely forgotten about the stupid daylight savings time and how darkness was going to start coming one hour earlier. I don't have lights under the carport and I wasn't about to struggle with a flashlight to get the work done so I realized that my work on the car was over for the day. I can't say that it hurt my feelings either. I called my boss and explained the situation and he didn't have a problem with me staying home to get the car running. That's about the only good thing that came out of this experience; I got to stay home from work. The next day I started with a fresh attitude. I took my time and pulled everything back apart again. I gently removed the thermostat housing and watched in utter disbelief as the gasket promptly ripped in half. So, here I go once again on a ten mile trip to the parts store. I picked up the $1.29 gasket and headed back home (I spent more than that in gas). I started to buy an extra gasket just in case, but my stubbornness and pride wouldn't let me. Back home I took a look at everything one more time before putting it back together. It was then that I finally found what was preventing everything from seating properly. There was a very small piece of the old gasket almost cemented to the housing. I had to work pretty hard to get it off, but once that happened and I got everything back together the mystery of the leaky thermostat housing was finally put to rest. When everything was said and done it took me two days and three trips to the parts store to complete what should have been a twenty minute job. And who knows what my blood pressure was reading all that time? Sometimes it's easier to just let someone else work on the car. Last edited: Sun Apr 17, 2016 1:35 pm This blog entry has been viewed 577 times
Gold Laced Wyandotte?
Category: Chickens | Posted: Tue Nov 04, 2014 12:46 am Alright all you chicken experts. Is this a Gold Laced Wyandotte? We had two of them, but a raccoon killed one a few weeks ago. I've tried looking at pictures from the Internet. Sometimes I think it is and then I start doubting myself. 
Gold Laced Wyandotte ( photo / image / picture from eclecticgarden's Garden ) 
Gold Laced Wyandotte ( photo / image / picture from eclecticgarden's Garden ) 
Gold Laced Wyandotte ( photo / image / picture from eclecticgarden's Garden ) This blog entry has been viewed 528 times
Light Brahma
Category: Chickens | Posted: Sun Nov 02, 2014 12:35 am If you've been following my last few posts you've come to realize that we have quite a diverse assortment of chicken breeds. My mom and wife just brought twelve chicks home one day back in April. I'm pretty sure they got caught up in the moment and couldn't help themselves when they saw all the different kinds. So, along with four Silver Laced Wyandottes, two Rhode Island Reds and two Austrolorps we also have two Light Brahmas. Besides Lucy and Ethel (the Rhode Island Reds) the Brahmas are the only other ones we've named. Well, my wife named them. She says they remind her of her grandmother and aunt so she named them Sadie and "G". They are pretty birds with feathers on their feet. They were the first ones to start laying. My next post will be about the one chicken I'm not quite sure about. 
Sadie ( photo / image / picture from eclecticgarden's Garden ) 
Light Brahma ( photo / image / picture from eclecticgarden's Garden ) Last edited: Mon Nov 03, 2014 1:15 pm This blog entry has been viewed 615 times
Australorp
Category: Chickens | Posted: Fri Oct 31, 2014 12:50 pm I am 95% sure that we have two black Australorps. I say 95% because my wife swears they were labeled as Jersey Giants when she bought them as chicks. I've watched them grow and I took the time to read about both breeds. From what I can tell they are more like Austrolorps. I love the black color with the green sheen. They haven't gotten any bigger than the other chickens either so that also steers me away from the Jersey Giant label. It doesn't really matter what breed they are to me. I like them either way. 
Australorp ( photo / image / picture from eclecticgarden's Garden ) This blog entry has been viewed 540 times
Rhode Island Red
Category: Chickens | Posted: Thu Oct 30, 2014 4:59 pm We have two Rhode Island Red hens. I affectionately named them Lucy and Ethel. Lucy is the only one of our chickens that will actually let me touch her. She can be a little aggressive if some kind of treat is offered. In fact, my wife had some bread and she flew up and snatched a piece out out of her hand. It was a spectacular sight, but my wife was not impressed. 
Lucy ( photo / image / picture from eclecticgarden's Garden ) Last edited: Thu Oct 30, 2014 8:38 pm This blog entry has been viewed 527 times
Silver Laced Wyandotte
Category: Chickens | Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2014 12:25 pm I am really liking the four Silver Laced Wyandottes that we got back in April. They have grown into very attractive birds. Their appearance is so unique and they are rather friendly. 
Silver Laced Wyandotte ( photo / image / picture from eclecticgarden's Garden ) Last edited: Tue Oct 28, 2014 5:50 pm This blog entry has been viewed 519 times
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