Hiking Treasure Loop at Lost Dutchman State Park

Another Tuesday, another desert hike.

We hiked The Treasure Loop trail (#56 shown on the map above)

14C and the trail is still damp from the overnight rain. Luckily the trail was not muddy. 

Perfect conditions for the 2.4 mile/ ~500 ft elevation rise from the parking lot.

The "Green Boulder" (left) and "Praying Hands" (center)

Here we are at the Green Boulder bench at 2580' elevation. Directly above us is a rock outcropping called the Flatiron at 4861' elevation. The peak is a popular jumping off point for BASE jumping. 

We saw 3 daredevils take a flying leap while we were hiking.

Some of the local wildlife.

After the hike we met at Filly's Roadhouse for lunch. The place rocks with live bands on the weekends but was quiet while we dined.

Hiking San Tan Regional Park

Jim and Sandy, Jeanie and Penny, Yvonne and I tackle the San Tan Mountain Regional Park.

Weather conditions were ideal for hiking. 15C, sunny with no wind. Too cool for snakes.

After walking 4-1/4 miles we all needed to sit.

From the park entrance we hiked the trail that circles San Tan Mountain.

It was Jeanie's birthday so we dropped into the Ellsworth Brewery for celebratory drinks and food.

Thanks Sandy, Jeanie and Penny for the photos and videos.

Usery Mountain Hike, Merkle Trail.

Keeping with our Tuesday tradition, today we hiked the Merkle Trail at Usery Mountain.

Tortie the Tortoise

Did you ever think that your petshop turtle could grow into a full-sized tortoise? Well, it can happen if you live the life of "Tortie the Tortoise" in Chandler Az.

Tortie was only 2" long when it was the grand children's pet 8 years ago.

You can stroke his shell and carefully give him little rubs under his head but be mindful that he doesn't mistake your fingers for food.

Tortie gets porridge almost every morning but today Lil is treating him with an apple slice while his owner and Daisy watch.

Rustic coffee table fabricated over the summer.

Our friend Jerry lived at Lac La Nonne for years.  When he decided to pack up and move to Kelowna BC to be closer to family,  we thought a replica of the lake was a fitting tribute to jog his memory of his time living near us. 

The project started by laminating pieces of oak veneer plywood, particle board and 3/4" spruce plywood for backing and strength. The shoreline of the lake was outlined and routed out of the surface layer of oak veneer plywood.

Perimeter framing pieces made from rough-sawn spruce were shaped and sanded smooth.

Framing pieces were shaped, cut to length and glued & screwed in place. Prior to filling the 1/4" deep lake with epoxy, all surfaces were coated with a clear poly-urethane semi-gloss finish. 

Diamond Willow legs and rungs were selected from the woodshed inventory.

Legs and rungs were cut to length and the mortise and tenon joints were made.

The legs were attached to the table top and leveled. The dowel holes were filled, trimmed and sanded  and everything was given another coat of clear finish.

The "lake" was filled with tinted epoxy and allowed to cure for a couple days.

Finally, it was delivered to Kelowna and presented to Jerry by Stan and Susan. He can now simply point to where his house was located and to where his favorite fishing spots were as he spins tales of those giant walleyes that got away.

Citrus trees and rainy day

Our two orange trees are doing way better this year. I increased the watering schedule over the summer and it seems to have paid off.

The Arizona Sweet tree is producing its best crop yet. This variety was developed for the Arizona desert climate. It's not advisable to trim a citrus tree while there's fruit on it so I'll wait till late February and do it before it starts to bloom.

The Washington Navel is producing well too. Both trees continually shed leaves but remain green all year round with most new growth over the summer while we are not around.

Both varieties produce oranges with very few seeds.

Washington Navels, large and juicy

Arizona Sweet, smaller but sweeter

It doesn't rain often here but when it does, it pours.

This movie was taken through our patio door.

The woodshed, firewood stools and log lamps

The woodshed

The woodshed is where I store the pieces I use to make rustic furniture. Having some dry seasoned  "inventory" on hand is a necessity. Inside the woodshed are several drying racks and an assortment of small diameter stock like: birch, chokecherry, pincherry, saskatoon and willow that I've collected from my surroundings.
Typically it takes about a year to completely dry out a 1" thick twig and about 3 years to dry out something 3-4 inches thick. I sort them by size (diameter) and length and I set aside the really unusual accent pieces. I also store birch firewood but it's outside, under the overhangs. My firewood stack is often a source if I need bulkier pieces.

These stools were made using a mixture of materials. The seats are aspen poplar, the legs are elm and the rungs are made of saskatoon.

Both of these stools have seats made of Aspen poplar and the legs are birch from the firewood pile. The rungs are saskatoon.

For joining the pieces to make these stools I use a technique known as "Mortice and Tenon Joinery" also known as peg-in-hole by some enthusiasts. The connections are tight and have to be forced together with a rubber mallet. The legs are attached to the seats using the same method.  Finally, I glue up the joints to ensure they remain tight.

This internet photo shows a wooden cube. It's apparently made with log pieces held together with epoxy resin. I intended to duplicate this cube but, as it turned out, it provided the starting point that led to me building something else. Something I call my log-lamp.

The Log Lamp

For years I'd been saving a matching set of ash firewood pieces that I had split.  I had no idea of what to do with them until now. Inspired by the cube I started by debarking and sanding all the surfaces and rounding off  all the edges to soften their appearance. Instead of going for the cube look, I reassembled the five pieces into the original log shape while deliberately leaving a wide gap between all the pieces. 

I'd been experimenting with 2-part epoxies for a couple years so a clear resin, to reconstruct this former log, was a natural choice. Also, I decided that incorporating an internal lightbulb would be a nice touch too. 

12" diameter ash lamp.

I'll provide some details for each building step but I'll deliberately hold back on a few because, in my opinion, solving a challenge as it arises is the best part of creating something.

A bungy cord was used to tightly hold the pieces together. Wooden wedges were used to set the width of the gaps. These gaps will eventually get filled with clear resin in the following steps. 

Pictured up side down: A form of some sort was needed to pour the top surface of the lamp. Eventually I stetted on using the bottom 1.5" of a 5 gal pail.

The bottom, (top in this picture) was hollowed out for the lightbulb socket assembly.

I left a 1/8" gap between the form and the wood assembly to ensure proper coverage of the top. Approximately 8 fl oz of epoxy was used in this step.

Pictured above: 12 hrs after pouring the epoxy the form was removed to expose the top surface.

The rough edges of the cured epoxy were sanded smooth before taping up the gaps with Tuck Tape. Wedges were used to ensure the gaps remained open.

Tuck Tape, a Canadian product, was used to close up the sides before filling with epoxy. Packing tape can also be used but ensure it adheres tightly to the wooden surfaces. Approximately 16 fl oz of epoxy was used in this step.

Following this step, each remaining gap was taped up and individually poured. These 5 final pours took 5 days to complete. A thin round wooden disc was made to serve as the lamp bottom cover and to hold the lightbulb assembly.

After completing the first Log Lamp I started on a second lamp. This time I used a 6" diameter piece of elm. This lamp took less than a week to complete and used half the amount of epoxy. 

Tip: When mixing 2 part epoxies, follow the manufacturers mixing proportions religiously. Even the slightest deviation in the mixing ratios can result in soft or wet results that will not cure. The only fix is to remove the improperly mixed mess and replace it. Follow the directions, enjoy the results and avoid the aggravation.