"I'm against picketing, but I don't know how to show it." - Mitch Hedberg

The goat pen is mucked out with fresh straw down. The chicken coop is cleaned with fresh straw down. The thistles are all sprayed with weed killer, the canopy down and stored, MoHo vacuumed, and the second of six raised beds protected from hungry deer. I think we're ready.

I wish I had welding skills. Besides all the car restoration tasks that would be easier I'm constantly coming across general tasks here on Baker Rd. that could be done better and/or faster if I could weld.
I can't, so I get creative, often with PVC pipe.


Marta's husband David made her a really cool goat stand that's like a small table with an adjustable crook in which she can secure the goats head. That pretty much immobilizes them for things like trimming hooves, prepping them before kidding, and the like.
Here's my version, made out of PVC pipe, an ABS sewer line clean-out cut in half, a hitch pin, and a couple of hours of playing MacGuyver.
The leather belt came from Goodwill for $2. The pipe is a pipe within a pipe so it's adjustable up/down, the goat's head goes in the ABS "cradle", and the leather belt goes over the goat's head to hold it secure. Now that it's all done I can see that even at the shortest setting it's too tall, but I can easily cut it down.

With the beetle-infested trees gone we have an area down by the creek that gets sun almost all day and is perfect for our raised bed veggie gardens. The fenced area up by MoHo is still too shaded by trees that remain.

I didn't want to spend the $$$ to fence this area down by the creek so it was time for more creative thinking, this time with PVC pipe and some left over chicken wire. The frames are light enough that Pam, who's in charge of the garden, can tilt them over for access to the bed for weeding and harvesting. And I think it will keep the deer from eating it all up.
I'll finish making and covering with chicken wire the frames for the other three beds, and then add two more beds that Pam says she'll fill up with veggies.

What does this car from 1934 look like? If you answer, "a VW Beetle" you'd be correct. It was the creation of Josef Ganz, a German engineer who thought a small efficient car with design characteristics he developed, including swing axles, a center spine, and rear-mounted engine, would make car ownership possible for the German masses.

He was, of course, correct, both regarding his unique design and his goal. Just one problem: Joseph Ganz was Jewish. So he was arrested and then had to flee Germany as Hitler's efforts to destroy the Jewish people took hold. His design was appropriated by the Third Reich and Hitler charged Ferdinand Porsche with building a car for the masses, a car that was clearly a knock-off of Ganz's published design.

Only two of Ganz's "Standard Superior" cars are known to exist and the most complete car has been heavily modified over the years with panels from other Eastern European cars, probably as replacements for panels damaged as the car was driven. Two men are now working to restore the Standard Superior to its original condition using crowd funding to cover the high costs of their work.

Joseph Ganz died in 1967 in obscurity in Australia.

Time to go give the goats their evening allotment of grain and alfalfa, and then get some packing done. We have an early flight out of Portland and a 2+ hour drive to the airport. Ugh.