Been Painting Some

 

Sometimes I paint like crazy and sometimes I don’t paint for months or even a year or more but I always seem to get back to painting at some point.I have a couple paintings I have worked on for years,One I call finished only to start up on it again a decade later and make changes then there is this other one that has been an ongoing project since 2015 ! It started out as a desert painting on a 24 X 48 inch canvas looking like this 

I worked on it and wasn’t very happy but kept on going in that direction for a while and got it to this

And then it went to this and I hated it

And I still went forward with it in this same direction to here where I let it sit for quite some time before deciding to sand it down and do something different.

A couple years passed and I got busy working on my camp and started spending lots of time up in the woods . Went up to close the place up for the winter in the Fall of 2017 and when I returned it went in a different direction and morphed into this 

I still had the desert thing going on in my mind but the sky had other ideas and as I looked at it for a few weeks it changed yet again into this

Now I was becoming happy with it and decided I would continue down this road working on it some here and there between other projects I had going on back in 2018 when this last photo was taken. Basically it was left abandoned behind the tv out of sight and out of mind until this year. Yup, now it’s 2021 and I’m back at it.I worked on it some over the past month but haven’t taken any photos so now I’m going to cary it outside and photograph it so I can finish up with this post.I have other stuff to do today like the transmission work on my 1965 Valiant station wagon . This painting is now in it’s final stages and is rainy day work when I have nothing else going on .I think slowing it down like I did was a good thing. It gave it time to grow in my mind from the input that I was getting from my time up in the Adirondacks at my camp in the Fall when I usually just go up to vacation and not work.I liked working this large canvas.I think I’ll get another and bring it up to the camp to work it over the season this year. Well, anyway, here it is as of today.I last worked on it this past Sunday and as it progresses I am starting to see other things in it that aren’t on the canvas yet so it’s going to continue for a bit longer I guess.

The Resto Begins

 

As usual all my projects overlap.As I’m finishing up the shed and working the house renovation over at Steve’s the restoration of my 1965 Plymouth Valiant station wagon is beginning.I’ve spent years gathering what I need to fix this car up.Back in January the transmission failed.As I was coming home from running errands I had trouble getting it into 1st gear at a traffic light.After a few seconds I got her into first and drove off.All 4 forward gears worked fine so I didn’t pay much attention to it.Went to the hardware store and when I went to back out of the parking space I had no reverse.I looked under the car and saw the reverse linkage rod dangling with what appeared to be a piece of the shift lever still attached so I knew right then that I had to push it backwards but could make it home.Someone helped me push it back and I was on my way ! Days went by as I was dealing with this pain from the fall I took but finally I got under the car to change the shifter with a spare I had.Got it all set to go and adjusted right but if I put it in reverse it would jam up and not go into the other gears. At this point I knew I had a problem inside the transmission. The winter snows came and I just put it all off and out of my mind sort of.I did rebuild the broken shifter though and kept forward motion on the shed work.

Now it’s spring . I got the carpentry finished on the shed , the demolition and structural work done at Steve’s and yesterday I pulled out another 4 speed transmission from my inventory of parts to begin the swap so I can start driving my wagon again. I decided to open it up and have a peek inside to make sure all was good with it and spent the day doing that yesterday.

• 

• 

• 

So, what had started out as a repair is becoming the restoration of my wagon .I’ve been wanting to fix my car up for quite a long time now and have bought all sorts of parts. I have a set of good used quarter panels I got from a guy in Oklahoma three or four years ago , a set of rust free straight front fenders from a car I parted out back in the 1990’s ,A good hood ,grill , front valance , four nice straight rust free doors that I traded some other parts for a few years back ,two decent straight bumpers ,and all sorts of other stuff I need . Planned on starting on it last year but the Covid ruined that plan .Well, at least I was able to help Steve get his 1965 Barracuda together . So now when we finish his house we will start tearing into my wagon .In advance of that I need to get her in drivable condition again. I’d like to run her up to my camp in June too so I can supply the place for my summer bike trips up.So much to do. Well,at least I have the means to do it now.I’d be screwed if I didn’t have all these parts .Got most of them for free or next to nothing from cars I parted out back in the 1990’s when no one wanted these cars.Today it’s as if they are made of gold.Just a rusted out parts car is 2000 dollars and anything decent is over 10,000 .Like everything in the land of the rich and the home of the greedy old cars are no longer something working blue collar guys can enjoy without going deep into debt.Sure am glad I kept all this stuff ! I built this car from a 400 dollar rust bucket back in the early 1990’s.This is where all my parts came from.

• 

• 

It took quite a few cars to build and the left over stuff got saved.It became an addiction actually.I’d buy just about every Valiant or Barracuda that crossed my path back then.No one wanted them ! I bought cars for a hundred bucks and took out thousands of dollars worth of good parts. So, now it’s time to use them and then sell off what’s left so they don’t end up in a dumpster when I’m dead and gone. I turn 72 next week so that expiration date could come anytime now, or not , so with the or not in mind I’m still building and planning on moving out west.I’m even planning on getting a 1930’s car after I get settled out in Arizona to play with. Always wanted a 30’s car .

It’s a beautiful day here in New York and you know what that means . Yup , TODAY I RIDE !

The Fun Has Begun

 Last Monday I started ripping apart my friend Steve's house with him.We spent 3 days ripping the place apart and building temporary supporting walls to hold up the attic floor and ceilings in the rooms we are working , getting materials ,and building this massive beam and installing it .It started out looking like this

After the first day it was looking like a construction site and the dumpster was starting to get loaded with debris. We got the temporary walls in place then cut the ceiling to expose the framing we were going to replace and give Steve access to all the wiring . Steve's an electrician .We work together on jobs whenever I need electrical work done and work well together so this job is fun.He saved up his time off from his transit authority job as an electrician to do this project so for the next month we are going at it with all we can.

So,after opening up the ceiling and building our temporary support walls on each sine of the wall we were tearing down  the first day was finished. Spent the next day tearing off sheet rock from the walls so he can do the electrical and then went to the lumber yard to get all our framing lumber to start building this triple 2 x 10 beam to hang the attic floor on. The week went well and on Friday we were building and installing the beam on top of the old existing wall we will be removing .

 

So,after getting it all secured we took down the supporting walls and the remains of the old wall we were replacing with this beam and created a really nice open space for the new look  that we are bringing to this house.Instead of these three confining rooms we are now going to have an open floor plan . This is where we were on Saturday when we finished it up for the week 

So now Steve has a full week ahead of him to get the electric all sorted out and where he wants it before I start  with insulation ,sheet rock, and spackle & tape  . The new cabinets arrive the beginning of June so we have plenty of time to get the space all finished and ready for that phase of the job.This week the floor guy is coming by to have a look and the plumber is due for a visit as well. It's fun building a new kitchen !  Today I ride ,I'm free for the next week so I'm going to do things here like work on the neighbors shed some , do some more yard work , and ride a little.If time permits I'm going to replace the 4 speed transmission in my wagon with another one I have to get that problem solved too. I miss my wagon .It's a nice day today and an even nicer one is on tap for tomorrow so it's motorcycle time for me now.It's nice being retired . I get to make the choice when I do what I do now .

Yesterdays Ride

 Yesterdays ride was really good.My plans changed and I ended going on the Moto Guzzi rather than the Yamaha R5 .I was out in the garage getting ready to start working on the R5 and figured I'd have to spend 2 hours on this beautiful day fooling with it so I decided to leave it for a crappy day instead.Pulled the Moto Guzzi out , set the tire pressure and loaded my tool bag. Also decided to take the highway and just be vigilant looking for the pot holes .As it turned out there were a couple but most have been filled with a crappy repair that will probably fail in a month.It was a good ride out east.The MG runs great ! Went out to the pine barrens where there are some good roads to have fun on and blasted around.Stopped here at this park for a short hike to stretch my legs.

After a brief 15 minute walk I hit the road again and wandered some more. 

Stopped here and there to just check things out.Went to the canoe launch site where I met these two guys trying to repair their inflatable kayak.The one guy said a mouse ate a hole in it ! Wished them luck and headed on down the road  towards the highway and home when I spotted this.

Just had to stop and shoot a photo ! Rode home and arrived around 3:30 PM so I decided to do an oil change on the MG.Just rode her a shade over 100 miles so it was a good time to drop the oil.She's all serviced and ready to be ridden to anywhere I choose now. Today it's cloudy ,cold,and damp.I'm going to do yard work and continue getting the place in order so I don't need to waste the nice days fooling with it.Doing yard work seems to be helping my leg some also . I guess it's like physical therapy  and it seems to be helping.Yesterday was the longest I've ridden since this injury happened back in late December. I couldn't even ride in January so I have made serious progress even though it doesn't seem that way day to day. Gotta get back into shape so I can travel !