Bridal Wreath Spiraea and Radiator

 5-29-2024

Our Bridal Wreath Spiraea bush is in full bloom now.  I had to do a Google Image search to find out what it was.  It blooms like this every year.

5-31-2024

I have been working on the Smart Car fan job for the last couple of days.  Today we got the radiator out from behind the air conditioner condenser, removed the old fan assembly and installed the new one.  Vera made many tool and parts runs for me.  James stopped by after school and helped me get the right side windshield wiper arm pulled off.  Now I just have to reverse the process and put it back together.

Brakes and Flying

 

Yes, yesterday I got the brake job on the Smart Car finished.  The left side went faster as I had all the tools out and knew how it came apart.  I did have to go back and redo part of the right side because I had a spring in the wrong position.

Today I did some cleanup in the shop and made 4 or 5 fights with the planes pictured.  The Stearman flew great after being repaired.  I flew the Vapor on the right several times, but the last flight was getting hard to see as the sun set.  I got out the Night Vapor with lights and made a nice 10 minute flight as it got dark.  It was a nice laid back Memorial Day for us.

No Brakes

 Ok, I didn't do brakes today.  When I woke up this morning my right shoulder was really sore.  Some of the bolts were really tight and I did a lot of pulling with my right arm.

I took it easy until about 4 when I wandered out towards the shop but ended up taking a bunch of flower pictures on the way.  This is a Columbine by the sidewalk to the deck.  It was originally blue but has changed to purple through the years. 

This Columbine is right next to the purple one and probably caused it to change color.

Our Smoke bush sure is interesting looking as it starts to bloom.

The over forty year old rhodendrons by my shop are in full bloom now.

This is the Phlox by the shop porch.  They seem to get taller every year.  I finally made it into the shop and did some work on my little Stearman biplane that got damaged during the trip from Cottage Grove.  By the end of the day my shoulder was feeling pretty good so maybe I will get the brake job finished tomorrow.

Brakes

 

James came up after class to wish us a Happy Anniversary.  As always we had a great visit.  I did things different today and had Vera take a picture of James and I.  This afternoon I went out and installed new rotors and pads on the right front of the Smart Car.  I didn't think I would get it all done today but things went pretty good and with a little help from Vera I got that side completely done.  With any luck the left side will go good tomorrow. 

60th Anniversary

 

This picture was taken by my aunt Jean while we were on our honeymoon in San Francisco.

Here we are sixty years later having lunch at the Country Folks Deli today.  We had our favorite grilled ham and cheese sandwiches and then had Volcano Chocolate Lava Cake to celebrate.  The staff was great, taking pictures for us and checking to see if we needed anything.

The last time we were there Vera asked what the Long Bell whistle was so I parked by it and we checked it out after lunch.  We did a couple of things in town before heading home for the day.  It has been a great sixty years that seems to have gone by really fast.  I sure lucked out when I married Vera.

Goal Done +

 

My goal today was getting the bumper off.  I ended up getting it off fairly quickly so I got a good start on taking the radiator support brackets off.  I also got one windshield wiper arm off which was one of the tougher things I did today.  I will put some penetrating oil on the right one before I do it. 

After dinner I decided to mow the lawn, as I was mowing I noticed this Siberian Iris in bloom, I stopped the mower and took this picture.  It is a beautiful flower and I hope it spreads. 

Smart Car

 

James stopped and had lunch after leaving school early because the kids were testing today.  We had a great visit remembering some of the guys we had flown with through the years.

Yesterday I started taking the Smart Car apart so I could replace the air conditioner fan.  It has made terrible noises for several years when using the AC.  I have had the new one for a couple of years but never got around to putting it in.  Now I know why, there sure are a lot of steps to get it out.  This picture is of how it looked last night when I quit.

First thing this morning we ran down to Harbor Freight to get a set of Torx sockets.  Just about everything in the Smart Car is some type of Torx fastener.  I worked on it for awhile this afternoon and this is how it looked when I quit this evening.  Tomorrow my goal is to have the bumper and all the towing hardware off.