What did you do in the shop today?

[ThomasPowers]

If you draw a line from Arkansas' North east corner to it's southwest corner; pretty much everything to the north and west of that line is beautiful.  Lots of hills (Ouachitas, Ozarks), Caves, Magnet Cove---interesting geology! and of course the U of A---positioned about as far from the Legislature as possible...for both their comfort!  

South and East of that line it's Mississippi flood plain. They grow rice and cotton and mosquitoes big enough you can see the FAA numbers on them as they fly by.

However Arkansas has a rich blacksmithing history what with the Bowie knife being forged there!

What I did today was to load almost all of the tools and cruft down here ready to leave around 5+ am to drive it north and shoehorn it into my shop.  It's rather a Beverly Hillbillies load as the tailgate is down and all the long stuff going catty corner so it doesn't extend too far. (20 10' long 1/2" sq pieces to start.+ wood, etc)  and loaded up till I had to take the wheels off the forge cart to get it stuck in sideways under the cap.  My NA gas forge is sitting in the passenger's seat. Double bagged and packed in tight.  

However I was able to sweep out the tool closet in the house and have everything out of the shed to boot! Only hit 101 degF so not too bad. "Feels like 98 degF."   (Humidity at 15%)

[CrazyGoatLady]

TP, his hotel was in Conway, but they had jobs all over. He said he loved Jerusalem and Petite Jean mountain. He was so impressed with it , it's the only state we would consider moving to and that's saying a lot. Man, you've been busy. If we were where we could help, we sure would. 

I worked in the shop for awhile. Just practice. I made a little palm bottle opener out of a rusted washer I found by the shop. It kinda works... but it was good practice for drifting. Knocked around a couple of other things, but didn't go as planned, so I quit for the evening. But practice is good, whether your successful or not I think. 

[arkie]

CGL, we retired from Texas (native Texan) to NW Arkansas in the Ozarks.  Beautiful country, great people...never looked back, never go back.  You'd never regret it.

[CrazyGoatLady]

arkie, my ex MIL was a truck driver and I rode with her up to Kentucky.  We went through Arkansas. The trip there was at night so I didn't see much. But coming back was during the day and I thought it was beautiful. He actually looked at land when he was there. Land prices are cheap compared to here. We live in sandy loam horse country.  Lots of ranches in several towns surrounding us and including immediately around us. Land prices are at a premium even for acreage that's not good for anything. We were going to buy a place, but we couldn't find anything we could afford with good land. Even fixer uppers. It's a sellers market right now. And everybody is moving to the country. I love my state, but if you want to own anything, you better have pocketfuls of cash. 

[Frosty]

8 hours ago, Chris Williams said:

Probably the mosquitoes... They sure do well in this environment. We've got 5 common unpleasant varieties, and some of them even fly away after you swat them. This time of the year, about half-a-dozen come in every time the door gets opened. 

Skeeters, the smaller ones are Alaska's state bird and the big ones require tail numbers. We try not to swat them it makes them mad. Cutters is the state cologne and Deet's popular too.

Do we know of an environment mosquitoes don't thrive in? An environment where you don't have to scrape the salt off your shirt regularly that is. 

Frosty The Lucky.

[SLAG]

 Jer,

About two years ago,  I bumped into a report in a scientific journal*. that catnip is many times more powerful,  as a mosquito repellent,   than citronella, DEET, and most other substances.

Come to think of it our wonderfelid,  (a.k.a. Litzie),  is a great fan of the herb, too.

Bedtime for the ,

SLAG.

Gute nacht.

*I do not recall which one.

 

[pnut]

Mr. Slag, I'm glad you found proof of this. My grandmother used to tell me to fill a sock or rag with catnip and give it a squeeze and rub it on to keep the bugs off. I've done this many times, mostly to humor my granny. I didn't get any mosquito bites but refused to connect the catnip with the lack of bites. She grew catnip in her yard and later on when she moved into our house all over our yard and said it kept the mosquitoes away. I just thought that there weren't any mosquitoes around. I'm glad she was right. She told me she learned this in the mountains when she lived there as a young person.

Pnut

[Chris Williams]

Mr. SLAG, 

You, Sir, have provided me with inspiration for a gardening project. 

I will report back once I have results, either positive or negative. 

If only the little vampires couldn't stand coal smoke... 

Chris 

[ADHD-forge]

not much forging going richt here now, major remodeling going on now. trying to set some major wrong's of the original contractor straight.  the house was build in '56

i had to take the facade off because all the masonry was loose and the dit nog use the normal amount of tie-ins . but now we are going to insulate the back off the house and put in new windows to.

 

and i got a nice surprise when taking off the old roofing from the roof. there was hardly any slope on the roof and to raise the level of the roof they just put building debris on the concrete with a 2mm layer of cement 

 

but today raised and sloped the roof to the richt level and slope so my roofing guy can insulate the roof and put on new roofing. 

same for our back side of the house, we have a smal poch on the back off the house but the tiles where just layed in the dirt wit some cement and no slab underneath.

so i had to pour a new slab and need to insulate the floor and level it so i can put on some hardwood flooring.

 

pfff way to much crap to deal with, i'd rather be forging the cleanig up this mess.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[BillyBones]

Catnip is a very useful plant. Grandma used to give us a cup of catnip tea when us chillins would take sick. A mild seda-give (best one word joke ever, thanks Mel) that would settle upset tummies. So safe that i asked the doctor about giving my daughter a little when she was an infant and would get cholicy. I remember grandma doing that and the doctor said as long as there were no pesticides or the like it would be fine. 

Another quite useful plant is jewel weed. Does wonders on poison ivy and grows near poison ivy. Just tear off and bruise a few leaves and rub  it on the spot you touched the ivy, dont work if you have already started reacting. Granpa told me the it was becuase the moisture and roughness of the leaves, you were just washing the oils off. Dont care why, i just know it works. 

[twigg]

Haven't done any forging recently. My brain's been preoccupied with a 42000 RPM vacuum pump at the lab where I work that's been making a concerning amount of noise. Time to start bringing my face shield to work...

I did manage to braze flexible accelerators for my 1/2" burners (design from Michael Porter's book), and hang a 15 oz cross pein. Used a section of ash I got from a dirt tamper my folks were getting rid of to make the hammer handle. I ended up needing a steel wedge and cracking my handle. I gave it 50 or so whacks on my already-swiss-cheese railroad anvil, and I didn't see the crack grow. So I just filled it with epoxy and wrapped some thick thread over the cracked part to hide my shortcomings. The coverup is mostly so I don't have to look at it all the time.

[Frosty]

Catnip bug repellent eh? I'll have to give it a try. Not only do the cats like it but a cup or two of catnip tea makes a gentle laxative. 

Say Slag, how many branches of the Mint family are so useful? 

Frosty The Lucky.

[BIGGUNDOCTOR]

Frosty, the desert is one clime the skeeters don't like. I have yet to see one at my house since I moved here in 05. 4" of rain a year, and lots of bats help. They do get them in Las Vegas where they have lots of swimming pools, landscaping,  and West Nile has shown up there.

[SLAG]

Good evening Frosty,

The mint family  (Lamiaceae),  has tens of thousands of members.

Many if not all produce essential oils. A lot of the plant members are used as herbs in fine cooking.

I am sure that many of those oils deter insects,  and other and other herbivores.

Some that are known to thwart mosquitos, are lavender,  basil,  oregano,  rosemary,  and of course, catnip.

I am certain that there are many more mint plants that do the same,  but I'll stop there because I am baby sitting  Litzie, (the wonder felid)  as Marg,  (The Marvellous), is away at a convention in Phoenix for the week.

Regards,

SLAG. 

Have you been affected by the forest fires recently?

[pnut]

12 hours ago, BillyBones said:

. Grandma used to give us a cup of catnip tea when us chillins would take sick.

Yup, my granny was born in a house in Perry Co. KY. to two immigrants. One an ethnic Greek man from Turkey and a woman from Co. Sligo Ireland. I only mention that because I find it amazing that those two people found each other in New York and ended up in the hills in Ky. They later resettled in Cincinnati.  She knew every plant and what it was good for. She was like a walking herbal encyclopedia. 

Pnut

 

[BillyBones]

Lots of us from KY that are of Irish decent. My people came from Derry (Ulster, N. Ireland). Both my grandparents knew their stuff about what was growing about. I have forgotten alot myself but i could still survive out in the wild from what i remember about wild edibles and the like. They grew up during the depression so i am assuming what they knew was a matter of survival at one time for them. They also taught me the importance of what we now call "prepping", that was daily life when i was growing up.

Slag, thanks for the info there. My granddaughters get eaten alive and i have been tryng to find a safe effective repellent. I was going to try the catnip but then the cats would not leave them alone. 

[pnut]

6 minutes ago, BillyBones said:

. My granddaughters get eaten alive and i have been tryng to find a safe effective repellent. I was going to try the catnip but then the cats would not leave them alone. 

Try steeping it in alcohol or hot water and spraying it on them.  I'm going to try this myself when I get around to it.

Pnut

[SLAG]

Pnut,   sir,

Making a hot water extraction,  or an alcohol tincture would probably work.*

But there is no need to wait.

In the interim, crush some catnip leaves and rub same on your grand daughter's exposed skin.

I am tempted to experiment with those methods soon.

Since there seems to be some interest in this topic, I will consult the science literature to see if there are subsequent publications on the catnip finding.

I hope that it works for your grand daughters.

Cheers,

SLAG

* they most probably will work, I suspect,.  But then again, the hot water  or alcohol extraction just might denature the oil.  (very unlikely).

Growing the herb will attract cats and other Felidae.  Solution,  plant many plants so both you and they will have all that you want.

p.s.   I did a quick internet search and, voila,

Try,  https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010828075659.htm

And 

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010828075659.htm

   this reference, also,  discloses a method for constructing an outdoor mosquito trap to reduce their numbers.

And how to grow the plant,

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/08/010828075659.htm

[SLAG]

Citizens,  of this thread and any lurkers with an interest,

Amazon,  (Mr. J. Bezos and his myrmidons),  sell catnip oil.

That is for folks,  that need it in a hurry,

or have a fistful of brown thumbs.

SLAG.

(signing off, to rejoin the 'real world')

[Chris C]

SLAG, I was very interested, so I checked out all three of your links..........................and they, all three, are the same page.

[SLAG]

C.T.C.,

Sorry! ,  

I was in a hurry to get the links into the 30 minute editing time for amending my original post.

Soooo,   you need only check one reference, site.

There is a lot of good information there.

Regards,

SLAG.

My control c and control v   is not working again.

www.doityourself.com/stry using-catnip-to repel-mosquitoes-and-insects

[BillyBones]

How to grow catnip, i cant keep it from growing. That and peppermint is quite plentiful on my little slice of this planet. Peppermint completely surrounds my shop, love the smell. And catnip all the way around the house and barn. 

Funny story, i used to pick the catnip around my grandma's house hang it and dry in the garage. Then i would just put it in a baggie to store. I would usually just throw it up on top of the fridge. One day granny got a new fridge, the guys came to put in the new one and get rid of the old one. When they moved the old one the bag of catnip fell on the floor. So grandma and the 2 movers stand there looking down at a rolled up baggie of herbs. Grandma picks it saying "oh this is my grandson's". Not saying once what was in the bag she just put it in a cabinet. I guess we could all imagine what they thought was in the bag. 

[Chris C]

4 minutes ago, SLAG said:

C.T.C.,

Sorry! ,  

I was in a hurry to get the links into the 30 minute editing time for amending my original post.

Soooo,   you need only check one reference, site.

There is a lot of good information there.

Regards,

SLAG.

I have, and thanks.  All of this is news to me.  My family originally came from Ireland, but I've no knowledge of plants like the people of the Appalachian Mountains do.

[Frosty]

Master Slag: I wasn't wondering so much about the mint family as insect Thwartenaters but medicinal and other uses.

Almost forgot. Fireweed sap makes mosquito bites go away in seconds. just cut or break the stalk squeeze out a little sap and dab it on the bite, don't rub it in just dab it on. You can watch the swelling go down and the itch just stops. It's amazing and makes you a super hero for the little ones. 

It's literally an old Indian trick, told to me and demonstrated by an Indian "medicine man" some decades ago. Doesn't work for all bites but is great for the hystamine reaction bug bites.

We're getting smoke in serious quantities, yesterday's air quality report was at dangerous levels, my eyes and throat were burning. The big fire, Swan Lake has been burning since early spring and torched last I heard 140,000 acres. Wind cane up a couple days ago and it jumped the Sterling Hwy. so the hwy is closed or one lane pilot car travel depending on conditions or if the FD needs to move equipment. 

We have 3-4 fires burning a few miles up the Parks and the State is bringing in hot shot and fire crews from the lower 48 to help. The water bombers have been flying steadily since early spring. Alaska has a number of resident water bombers, I wish we had a couple of the Heavies, a DC10 or 747, nothing like dropping 100,000 lbs of retardant to help hold the line. 

So, yeah we're living a fire watch, you can see how hazy it is against things more than about 50' away, it's much clearer today.

Gotta go, doc apt in Anchorage and the one and only Sonic opened yesterday and it's in Wasilla. Gonna stop for a chili cheese dog or bacon cheese burger and see if it's worth getting off the road for. 

Later folks.

Frosty The Lucky.

[Chris C]

Stay safe, Frosty.  Those fires are no fun, to say the least.