Basic Shed construction

For those of you new to construction, I found a good diagram of how a building is constructed.    This shed project is a basic building for someone to store lawn equipment or as a potting shed.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/uploadedFiles/articles/issues/2011-04-01/Garden_Shed.pdf



And here is the link to the shed article from Mother Earth News.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/do-it-yourself/garden-shed-plans-zm0z11zgri.aspx

Raspberry Pi - Staying up late tonight

Big Announcement for the Raspbery Pi.   I am staying up late to hear it.   Base out of London, so announcement will be at 01:00 for us EST in the US.
Visit raspberrypi.org for more info

Ladies and gentlemen, set your alarms!

Posted on February 27, 2012 by eben

302

The Raspberry Pi Foundation will be making a big (and very positive) announcement that just might interest you at 0600h GMT on Wednesday 29 February 2012. Come to www.raspberrypi.org to find out what's going on.

Posted in Uncategorized | 302 Replies

My Unhealthy Obsession

My Unhealthy Obsession - Boiled Peanuts

 

     Being a North Georgia Native, I see boild peanuts for sale along the roadside all over the place.  I never really have experienced the pleasure of "The Nut".  Mostly due to the fact that if you have ever looked inside one of the cooking pots, it looks like they are stewing the Black Plague.   The water that the peanuts are cooked in is a bubbling heap of dark back soup.  Also,   being a regular peanut lover, I never was keen on the idea of soft mushy peanuts.   But as you become older you try and like things that you never liked as a kid.  About 1 year I plunged in and experienced "The Nut".   Once I got over the mushy texture I was pleased to enjoy the taste of the peanut.

    After buying many quarts of "The Nut" from road side vendors, I decided on trying my own hand at boiling.    I have been cooking 1 pound  of peanuts at a time with about 1/4 cup of salt.   Which seems to be the right taste.  But, I have not been able to get that flavorful, soft taste of the roadside nut.

     The first time I used a crock pot and it did not cook hot enough.  I let it sit for 24 hours on the high setting and the outcome was terrible.   Straight to the circular file.  

     The second time, I used a pot and boiled the peanuts on the stove.  Two things were wrong with this pot. 1. I only had roasted nuts not raw peanuts 2. I was impatient and only let them cook for 3 hours.

      Last night I tried for a third time and the results are pictured above.   I used a pot on the stove and raw peanut and about 4 hours in to the cook I took a nap on what was a lazy Sunday afternoon.   When in the middle of my nap.  I was awaken by my wife to the smell of burning peanuts.    I raced down the stairs and found all the water had boiled out of the pot and bottom layer of peanuts burned.   I picked out the burnt ones and refilled the pot.  I let it cook 2 more hours.   The result of this batch was acceptible.   The Nuts were semisoft, but I could have cooked then with a little higher tempreture and for a little long.    

     Overall, I was happy with my expermenting.  I have another 1 pound bag of raw peanuts to try again.   I am thinking about soaking the nuts over night in a salt watr bath before I cook them.    

Unil then . . . .Have a great day.

My Son's 4th Birthday.

My Son wanted a pirate party for his 4th birthday.   So my wife and I made a scavenger hunt for him and his friends.   Since my younger son was almost a 1 years old, I thought it would be good to build a boat around a wagon so my younger son could keep up with the older kids.  The most fun I had on this project was painting the ship. And this was probable the fastest project I have done in a long time.  It took about 3 hours total.  Most of that time was waiting for layers of paint to dry.
     I like when projects like this get used multiple times.  A few months later my wife and sons used the wagon in a charitable fun walk.   It fit right in with the theme.   There team name was the Whale Watchers.   So I told my wife that the boat was Ahabs.  She was not too fond of my Moby Dick, whale killing, reference at a kids event.