58 days ago on a very windy day, there were reports that the 93 year-old Blackhawk Bridge was 'swaying'. Not sure who reported that, because I went over the bridge that day and didn't notice anything unusual. The Iowa DOT stated that there was "slight movement' and shut the bridge down to have a look. An inspection found that two of the bridges piers moved near the construction site of the new bridge. The pier have now been shored-up, and the bridge open just a couple of hours before this video was taken. In the two months since the last update, they got a good deal of concrete work done, and there are more cranes and barges onsite. When we get a somewhat windless day on a Sunday (no workers), I'll try to take the drone for some better footage.

#BlackhawkBridge
#LansingBridge
#BridgeClosed

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In this video, I make the Craftsman window jamb assembly and a few of the moldings for the Tiny House. Getting close to install time!

Senco FinishPro 35MG Nailer -- https://amzn.to/3vfgiHV
Titebond III Ultimate Wood Glue Pint - https://amzn.to/4d8opNO
Titebond III Ultimate Wood Glue Gallon - https://amzn.to/4d9jnRc
Titebond II Premium Wood Glue Pint - https://amzn.to/3Q9R372
Titebond II Premium Wood Glue Gallon - https://amzn.to/49KeLOj
Titebond Origional Wood Glue Pint - https://amzn.to/447akvS
Titebond Origional Wood Glue Gallon - https://amzn.to/49M595L
Titebond Quick & Thick Pint - https://amzn.to/3xHNw9H

#WindowJamb
#TinyHouse
#TinyHouseTrim

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In this video, I machine the larger craftsman trim for the tiny house. Craftsman (Arts & Crafts) trim is very large scale, and we're thinking it will look very cool in the tiny space of the tiny house. We are putting the same molding in the main house so it will match, and that's cool as well. 😉

DeWALT Random Orbit Sander - https://amzn.to/3SIAv7P
80 Grit 3M Xtract Net Disc Dust Free - https://amzn.to/448lfoT
120 Grit 3M Xtract Net Disc Dust Free - https://amzn.to/3TZGG74c
150 Grit 3M Xtract Net Disc Dust Free - https://amzn.to/3TXLoSE
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220 Grit 3M Xtract Net Disc Dust Free - https://amzn.to/3vYZ73P
240 Grit 3M Xtract Net Disc Dust Free - https://amzn.to/4aCXjwo
320 Grit 3M Xtract Net Disc Dust Free - https://amzn.to/3TXFvVK

#CraftsmanMolding
#ArtsAndCrafts
#TinyHouse

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This my absolute first time pruning any pear tree, but I'm hoping is responds well to the 'flat top' pruning system that I am using on all of the trees here in the dwarf orchard. This is the Comice Pear's third year, and it would be nice if there were a few pears this year, but I would guess that that won't happen. Next year is the best bet for that 😊

#ComicePear
#PrunePear
#PearTree

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Natalie and I were on our way to town this morning, and spotted a Bald Eagle eating road kill right at the end of our road. Unfortunately they never look as impressive on video as they do in person. They are huge and very beautiful! 😊

#BaldEagle
#Eagle
#RoadKill

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Finally, the espalier fence plantings are done! I would have liked to plant all four trees last year, but most of the trees were sold out before I ordered ― but this year, I got in there early and ordered the trees to finish the fence. The trees arrived in early April, but we had just had a major blizzard, and there was snow on the ground when they arrived! Today is a nice day though, and we get the last two trees in the ground. The Espalier Apple Fence is complete ― except for all of that pruning stuff 😉 The trees in the fence, from south to north, are; Buckeye Gala, Freedom, Wolf River, and Royal Court (Courtland). All are on dwarf rootstocks.

#Espalier
#EspalierApple
#AppleFence

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In this video, I clean an organize in the woodshop in preparation of the running of the service drops for the main machinery. Make sure to head over to Trap Door Woodworks and subscribe there to see those videos, they are quite interesting!

#ServiceDrop
#MachineryDrop
#CleanAndOrganize

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I could not make the implosion unfortunately, and did not get past the area until a couple of weeks later, but this is what was left. The main plant was stripped of a lot of stuff on the lower couple of floors for quite some time, and when the blew it up, it dropped down to where it wasn’t stripped, then just tipped on its side. The chimney collapsed completely, and you can see the rounded shape behind the building. There used to be a whole complex of buildings here, and almost all are gone now. Hopefully this doesn’t affect our power supply in the future, but I’m afraid it will 😐
#DairylandPower

#DairylandPower
#CoalPowerplant
#ControlledDemolition

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This will be the third year for the dwarf Bing Cherry tree in the dwarf orchard, and the first year that I am pruning it. I pruned cherry trees before, but that was a semi-dwarf, and I always had problems with that tree! I am hoping things are better with this tree, and with any luck I'll get a few cherries this year!

#BingCherry
#DwarfBing
#PruningBingCherry

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Always nice to see the first barge of spring on the Mississippi! 😊

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In this video, I do the late winter pruning on the apple trees on the Espalier Fence. This is the second year for the trees on the fence; a Wolf River and a Freedom, and I remove all of the branches that came with the trees — except any branches that made it to the wire last year of course. These two trees were both bitten by rabbits over the winter, and were half-way girdled, so it will be interesting to see how they do this second year! There will be two more trees joining them so we'll have a full fence this year so make sure to subscribe and watch the progress!

#EspalierFence
#EspalierApple
#AppleFence

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Over the last two days, we got 10" of show up here on the ridge with sustained 20 to 30 mph winds gusting up to 50 mph. In some areas the ground was scoured bare from the wind, and there are areas that are four feet deep! 🥶

That ended yesterday, and today is 51º and sunny 🥴

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In this video I prune my dwarf Honeycrisp, and this year, I get rid of all of the droopy branches! For the last few years, every crop has drooped some of the branches all the way to nearly touching the ground, and the reason I am pruning them to a flat top is so that I can get under there and pick easily. Also, there was damage to the tree two years ago that I need to balance out. I think it looks beautiful, and we will see how many apple it produces this year — I am guessing another bumper crop 🍎🍎😊

#Honeycrisp
#HoneycrispApple
#PruneApple

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I've been driving by this old subsistence farm for 20 years now, and at least four buildings have fallen down during that time. The barn at the beginning nearly fell down last year, and the farmer held it up with his tractor while he fixed it. He always used the garage up at road level, and I knew it was just a matter of time before the floor gave out — it was open to the weather and I figured the floor boards were rotting. I did not see it happen, and I hope the farmer is OK 🤔 Most of these little subsistence farms are gone now, and this one will be as well when he is gone 😑

#FloorGaveOut
#FloorCaved-In
#GarageDoorCollapsed

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I have a fairly long break in the work on the tiny house as I wait on a tool and the weather to get a bit better so I can sand my boards, so I plan to get the upper tin and the electrical to the South West corner done in that time ― which means another big cleanup and organization! I need the South West and West wall completely cleared off so I can work. I will be sealing the upper tin, and will show that here on Planet Mojo, but the tin install and electrical work will be on @TrapDoorWoodworks so be sure to head over there and subscribe!

#TrapDoorWoodworks
#WoodshopBuild
#DreamWoodshop

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A quick peek at what's going on in the woodshop! I'll be doing a big cleanup out there in Sunday's video, so make sure to catch that!

#TrapDoorWoodworks
#ShopUpdate
#Cleanup

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In this video, I rough cut the lumber for the full-sized craftsman molding that will go in the lower bard area of the tiny house. I got most of the work done, but I was missing a couple of things that I need to order, so the next video will be me sanding the parts, routing the corner round where needed, and creating the relief cuts on the back of the base and casing pieces. It’s going to take a while, but eventually the tiny house will have some very cool full-sized Craftsman trim that is seldom seen these days.

#CraftsmanTrim
#Craftsman
#ArtsAndCrafts

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It's always hard to record the pruning of the dwarf orchard. I want it to be warm enough so that I can take my time and be comfortable about it, but near the end of winter, those days are generally windy so it's too hard to record. Luckily we found a day this year, and even though I'm pretty sick in the video 🤧 we got the job done! This year I was on a mission to remove some of the lower branches to make it easier to cut the grass under the tree — and I think I achieved that 😊

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#McIntoshApple
#FlatTopPrune
#PruneApple

Sorry for the delay, but I've had a bad cold for the last week, and this video took all of that to create! But the floor in the downstairs of the tiny house is done! Now, I will begin the trim, which will be painted as it goes in, so that will likely be a couple of videos. Stay tuned!

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#TinyHouse
#VinylFlooring
#FloorInstall

Today I spritzed PB Blaster @BlasterProducts on my airport tower! The tower is a historical light tower from a rural airport that dates back to the early days of flight (and electricity!). It was removed during an update to the airport about ten years ag, and bas been sitting on it's side in our woods ever since. We plan to replace all of the bolt sets, paint it with some galvanizing paint, and set it up as a deer stand down in spirit hollow (about 210 feet down behind our house). The first step was pulling it out of the woods (a neighbor put it there), and this second step will hopefully have at least some of the bolts loose enough to wrench off when the time comes. We will be pouring concrete pads and building a wooden structure on top once we have it down there and painted. Should be fun! 😊 (look for the square head bolt. it's one of the originals).

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#AirportTower
#DeerStand
#PBBlaster

Today I killed the cool season grasses growing amongst my warm season native grasses that are part of the oak savanna restoration. Very early in the spring and late in the fall, you can spray any grasses that are green with glyphosate, and be sure that you are only killing the weedy grasses. Of course this does not work if you have native cool season grasses planted, but that is why you wait until your warm season grasses are well established before planting any cool season grasses or forbs (broad leafed plants like wild flowers). Last year I missed both windows in certain areas, but this year I will be doing a lot of grass and small tree killing to catch-up. 😊

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CHAPIN 2 Gallon Lawn, Sprayer - https://amzn.to/45kvDcB
Lazer Blue Gal. -- https://amzn.to/3uHoIaE
Lazer Blue Qt. -- https://amzn.to/44A5CFP
Lazer Blue Half Pt. -- https://amzn.to/3reZmoF
Glyphosate Gallon - https://amzn.to/49VtTcd
Glyphosate Quart - https://amzn.to/3wDUeNE

#NativeGrass
#CoolSeasonGrasses
#WarmSeasonGrasses

Some updates for you on the progress on the Tiny House as well as the work going on @TrapDoorWoodworks

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#WoodShop
#Oneida
#TinyHouse

Just a quick little video showing the Feit Electric Smart Wi-Fi lights going in the lower level of the Tiny House. These lights are controllable by color, hue, and brightness, and you can use an app or Alexia voice commands to control them.

Feit Electric Smart Lights - https://amzn.to/3OM6Gky

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#TinyHouse
#FeitElectric
#SmartLights

Just a quick update on the Tiny House. A lot has gone on over there this week, and a lot is coming up in the next week. The wooden ceiling is complete, and the lights are in! Next week, we'll be starting the full-sized craftsman trim! Stay tuned 😊

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#CraftsmanTrim
#TinyHouse
#Lumber

02-01-24 Update on the new Blackhawk bridge. They have the approach formed and nearly ready to pour concrete, and it looks like the coffer dam for another is nearly there as well. There is a large tubular cage that they have been working on for some time that looks to be at least 100 feet long, but I'm not sure where it goes — maybe down into the coffer dammed area? That makes sense. As of yet there is nothing going on on the other side. It is still just a small cleared lot.

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#BlackhawkBridge
#NewBridge
#BridgeConstruction