Dan Antion

CFFC & a Bit of DIY

Cee gave us “Caramel” as her Fun Foto Challenge this week. She included a color chart, but I’m taking a loosey-goosey approach to the color picking.

The DIY part is in the little slideshow deal. For those of you who want to see how I completed the cover for our AC compressor. We cover it because ice and snow fall off a tall steep (Gambrel) roof and might damage it. The caps are removed from the fence posts close to the house. A riser is installed. “Rafters” are inserted. The structure is covered with hardware cloth and then the whole thing is wrapped in a tarp that has been trimmer to fit. See the captions if you’re interested.

The photos for Cee are under that. Under those, of course, is the intrusion by my marketing department. I hope you all have a great week.

  • This drill is the same diameter as the pol. It will form a curve around which I can weld
  • Welding the riser supports to the support rod
  • Tacked in place
  • If you can’t weld, you need to know how to grind
  • The riser fits
  • 1″ EMT (conduit)
  • Cutting the “rafters” to length
  • This will fit, with a little help
  • Conduit connecting piece forced onto end to make it thicker (to fit hole better).
  • Vinyl tape to build it up and offer a little cushion
  • Heat-shrink tubing
  • Shrinking the heat-shrink tubing over the taped end
  • The screw helps anchor the rafter pole
  • The end needs to be flat to be bent
  • Bending the flat end over an iron pole
  • Upper joint fits nicely
  • Bending the ends over makes a good fit and prevents tearing the tarp
  • The tape and heat-shrink tubing keeps it from rattling
  • Structure is up. Hardware cloth will support the tarp
  • Somewhere in here is the tarp I want.
  • Punching the hole through the fabric
  • Placing a grommet here
  • Grommet and back plate ready
  • This is the anvil for compressing the grommets
  • Everything is in place. Need pressure
  • The press is smacked with a hammer to compress the grommet
  • A new grommet
  • Done
  • Ready for winter
Caramel? Close enough, I think
Caramel?
Caramel – I think
Last bag of leaves for 2022
Maddie would be happy to know these are on their way to the curb
Close enough to caramel for me
Baileys Gilato. Not bad, but not as good as the ice cream version.
Mmmmm
Blueberry Pie and Ice Cream from the Vermont building.
I’m not sure what color the sign on the dumpster is, but I’m calling it Caramel so I can include the flag


If you like magical realism with suspense, action and a bit of family sarcasm, you will enjoy these books:

Knuckleheads
The Evil You Choose
When Evil Chooses You

Series page on Amazon

My profile page (and books) on Lulu

All available on Kindle Unlimited!

74 comments

      • My grandmother used to can them and she’d have me go down into the root cellar to get a quart of berries for her cobblers. Oh my word… LOL memories! Hubby and I took a trip to Canada one year and whenever the car stopped, I’d get out and pick wild berries off the plants growing alongside the roadway. I’d blow the dirt off before popping them in my mouth! Here at home, I won’t let Robert eat a grape before washing it off! LOL

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  3. I read through the entire DIY section, and my brain will never be the same. Good heavens. Now if my father had read that, he’d be enraptured by the precision of it all. Me, I’m numbed. I cannot imagine having such skills. On the other hand, I can imagine caramel. Drizzling caramel over vanilla ice cream over apple pie is my idea of DIY.

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    • I didn’t think many people would be interested in following that process, Maureen. I appreciate you slogging through. This was also a case of perfecting a process. The previous “roof” had a few flaws, so this one had improvements. The big benefactor are the bunnies that hide out there on stormy days.

      I was certain that I had a picture of a caramel sundae, because it’s my favorite kind. I couldn’t find it.

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    • I knew you would watch the slide show, Judy. It was fun building this one. I hope the tarp lasts a few seasons, it was hard working with so much tarp. You might have been more at home with that than I was. I had to keep checking to see if I was still installing the grommets in a straight line. The previous fence/roof was perfectly covered by an 8’x10′ tarp, right out of the bag. I admit to finding more things caramel than probably are the correct color, but I liked the photos.

      I hope you have a nice week.

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    • I wonder what their problem was. The initial fence was to keep our male dog from peeing on the compressor fins. The installed took one look at Reilly and said, “keep him away from this.” When I raised the roof, and we saw the force with which the snow falls off, I added the top for protection. I don’t know if insurance would pay for ice/snow damage, but I would think they’d approve of protecting something as expensive as that thing was.

      Sorry about the ice cream urges. Then again, Ice cream in winter is a very good thing.

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  7. Hahaha! Only you would call the color of the sign on the dumpster caramel! But I’m glad you included Old Glory!

    Winterizing the air conditioning unit was quite a project, and very nicely done.

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  8. Yep, WP took my comments away before I finished. Hmmmm, maybe they’re trying to tell me something!

    As soon as I saw the leaf bags I thought of Maddie and how upset she would have been. After all, that’s her deck you’re using!

    You know, just the word “caramel” makes my mouth water!
    Ginger

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    • Caramel is a favorite flavor, Ginger. I’m pretty sure that sign isn’t caramel-colored, but I wanted to include a flag photo.

      I almost forgot to put those bags out at the curb. Today is the last pickup. If I had missed that, I’d have Maddie guilt all winter.

      I hope you have a good week.

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  11. Excellent project photos, Dan. Loved your choices for caramel, too. (I just started reading Knuckleheads. 👍🏻 I bought it long ago but wanted to save it for my pre-holiday reading. I will post a review after I finish reading.)

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    • Thanks Maggie. The project was fun to build. I learned from the previous one. It lasted over 20 years, but the exposed sharp edges cut the tarps every year. I hope this tarp will last – that was that hardest part, I hope you enjoy Knuckleheads. Thanks for your support.

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    • One time when I was running the snow blower past the back of the house, a big sheet of snow and ice slid off the roof and landed next to me. It tipped the snow blower over into a the standing snow. I decided I didn’t want anything landing on the unit. I do enjoy pie :-)

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  13. There you go again Dan, speaking in that foreign language I don’t understand. What is it again… technical? 😂😂As always it looks like you’ve done an amazing job. No… the food photos I totally understand and yum to that fish fries. I’d say caramel was well represented here today. 👍🏻

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    • I’m nit sure the leaves are really caramel, but I know people like them, so… I like projects like this. I have an idea, but no set plan. Adjustments were made so I could work with the material I could get.

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  18. OMG… did I see fish & chips there? Forget caramel-color — I’m green with envy.
    There’s more than one type and color of caramel, so you’re covered, Dan. The new handle looks flawless, made the whole thing look brand new. You really are a great craftsman.
    Hugs.

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  25. I love caramel everything, starting with the three pumps I get in my cold brew each morning. Caramel is kind of a “fluid” color so I think you did pretty good here, especially being colorblind. That blueberry pie and ice cream looked fantastic. Getting those leaves to the curb for the final pick-up is another sign winter is fast approaching now. The slideshow was very cool, and a good training tool for anyone else considering it.

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    • Thanks Bruce. I figured it would help if I included some food shots. The leaves do seem like caramel to me, although not very appetizing. Still, having forgotten to put them out one year (and being stuck with them until April) it was important to consider them. I actually forgot they were out there until I read John Howell’s post yesterday. The DIY project was fun. I enjoy projects like that.

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  26. Posts like this make me wish you lived nearby, Dan. I can be handy, but only after watching some YouTube videos. Would love to be able to ask you questions! I know I can do that now, but still — it’s not quite the same as being able to say, “Hey, can you stop by and give me some pointers in exchange for some pizza?”

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