Preparing for Winter IV

Finished up the leaves and yardwork this weekend. I haven't pulled the garden fence up yet but the tractor is done! Still have to change the oil and put it to bed.

I've started using what I call an oil sucker-- an oil extractor. It sucks the oil out from where you put the oil in. It works beautifully. Here is one. Here is another. You put the tube in and it sucks it out. It doesn't get any easier than that.

You still have to take care of the oil filter but for machines for which that's a minor difficulty or machines that do not have one it makes oil changes easy. The one I have is borrowed and I have to return it.

The current wine has been racked again. I plan on bottling the "white". The "red" will not be ready for a while yet. I used a white wine recipe for my mixed red wine grape juice. I tasted it last night when I racked it. It's going to take a while to mellow.

Put up the canopy over the wood-- we have four cords holding down the ground. I could stack it but then I'd still have to brush the snow off. I could build a wood shed but then I have to move it from where the truck drops it off to the shed.

A few years ago we hit on this idea. We bought a party canopy with metal struts and a cover. The truck brings the wood and dumps it and we put the canopy up over it. The original struts were cheap metal and not intended for winter use. But over the years when falling limbs and snow break the tubes I've been replacing them with steel pipe. At this point I think it might take a direct nuclear strike. Every few years we just replace the canopy.

It's been a warm fall but now that Thanksgiving is here, that's pretty sure to change.
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Wall of Idiots
Cocaine in the drinking water
Zetia and Vytorin vs Niacin
Uninsured patients die more from trauma
Ray Comfort and here

Links of Interest
Ardi
Stone tool using chimps
Post Polio Syndrome
A new species on the Galapagos
Fishing on Europa
New vaccines
Gamma rays from Cygnus X-3
Electric Vehicle Coalition
Hobbits are new human species
The Bloop of Cthulu

DIY
Stone arrowhead
Wimhurst Machine and here
Char cloth
Induction accelerator
Gear clock
Charcoal foundry
Temperature regulating coffee mug
Lost screw finder and here
Pneumatic trough
Open hardware CNC mill
PDFs of Make projects
2x4 Upright base
2x4 Xylophone
Green Thai curry paste
Kombucha tea
Faux stained glass
Pectin from scratch