Booth Bijou Garage Theater (1 Viewer)

[Mark Booth]

The roses and other new plants in the railroad tie planter are blooming in abundance. Here's right after it was planted in mid-May:

And 1 month later (this morning):

There's already a bunch of rose blooms open with many more to go. A few days ago I counted all of the buds. There was just over 110 buds between 9 rose bushes. One of them had 24 buds! This one has fewer buds/blooms, but many of its buds opened sooner:

It is very rewarding to see the fruits of your own labor!

Mark

 

[Mike Frezon]

It is very rewarding to see the fruits of your own labor!

The sign in front of one of my local garden centers says, "If you plant a garden, you believe in tomorrow."

 

[KPmusmag]

Beautiful yard! Do you have hummingbirds in your area? I put up a few feeders this year and have been completely charmed by those amazing creatures.

 

[Mark Booth]

Thank you! Yes, we see hummingbirds many times each day. In fact, during this morning's "project" (which I'm about to post below), a hummingbird was buzzing near my head several times.

Mark

 

[Mark Booth]

Last night I noticed that one of the new landscape lights that I installed on the back hill a few weeks ago wasn't working. It's the light closest to the area where there's been recent gopher activity on the hill so I immediately suspected it was due to the gopher. This morning I dug down to the wiring in that area and my suspicion was confirmed. The little buck-toothed rat bastard had chewed on some electrical tape around a connection and also chewed into (and almost completely severed) one of the wires.




Okay, you little ground-burrowing pain in the ass, this is WAR!


His tunnel was only a few inches below the surface.




I left the light disconnected for now and I set a Gophinator trap in the tunnel.




After baiting the backside of the trap with peanut butter, I used a sheet of metal, flexible rubber mat, and some dirt to cover the backside of the hole. Now I just have to wait. If he heads for that smell of peanut butter through the existing tunnel, the Gophinator won't miss.




BTW, in case anyone wonders how I work on the steep back hill safely...




Mark

 

[questrider]

I recommend getting out the heavy artillery.

I'm sure your neighborhood will appreciate you ridding it of these destructive nuisances.

 

[Bob Bielski]

Go Go gophers. Remember them? I feed all the rabbits and squirrels, just to have them in the yard and feel like I am out in the country.
My neighbors want to kill me. LOL. Cut the little guys some slack, Give them something else to munch on rather than the glue in the electric tape.Questrider just may have picked out the next movie for the theater. You have to get a chuckle out of it? I hope you don't have a smart one like Bill Murray had LOL.

 

[Mark Booth]

Bill Murray wouldn't have had any trouble if he had access to a Rodenator!



Mark

 

[Bob Bielski]

Does that work on wives?? LOL.
I feel for you. But do some research I am sure you can find something that they don't like. Maybe cayenne pepper.

 

[Mark Booth]

Two days of no new gopher mounds on the back hill so, time to check the trap!

The Gophinator never misses! :thumbs:

I am not putting the image in-line because some people might object to seeing a dead gopher pop up in their feed. Click the link to have a look. No blood & guts, just a squeezed pocket gopher.

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-LG9DMV4/0/f622efa5/O/i-LG9DMV4.jpg


The Gophinator trap has been relocated to our front yard where one of his relatives is making a mess of our lawn.

BTW, the landscape light wiring has been repaired and buried again. I didn't use electrical tape this time, I think the tape is what attracted the gopher.

Mark

 

[Bobofbone]

Something else for you to watch for after the gophers vacate the area. Praying mantis nests. We have humming bird feeders, and started noticing more praying mantis around. Then we began finding nests. We found out that praying mantis catch and eat humming birds. We started catching and relocating them to the woods. They did look quite hopeful in the morning, sitting around the feeders though.

 

[Mark Booth]

The Gophinator never misses! If it is tripped, then there is a gopher in it.

The gopher that was making a mess of our front lawn has joined his electrical tape eating relative in our trash bin.

Mark

 

[Mark Booth]

Something else for you to watch for after the gophers vacate the area. Praying mantis nests. We have humming bird feeders, and started noticing more praying mantis around. Then we began finding nests. We found out that praying mantis catch and eat humming birds. We started catching and relocating them to the woods. They did look quite hopeful in the morning, sitting around the feeders though.

I've never seen a praying mantis in our area.

Mark

 

[Bobofbone]

I've never seen a praying mantis in our area.

Mark

Lucky for the humming birds !

 

[RCRochester]

Something else for you to watch for after the gophers vacate the area. Praying mantis nests. We have humming bird feeders, and started noticing more praying mantis around. Then we began finding nests. We found out that praying mantis catch and eat humming birds. We started catching and relocating them to the woods. They did look quite hopeful in the morning, sitting around the feeders though.

Yikes, WTF?

 

[Mark Booth]

I am going to set up the Booth Bijou Garage Theater this weekend (just for my wife and I) so we can watch 'Greyhound' in a real movie theater type of atmosphere. It will be a bit of work but it's not like I don't have the spare time.

Trying to decide what we'll watch as the B movie before the main attraction. War films aren't my wife's favorite cup of tea. I might have to choose something more in the romantic comedy vein.

Mark

 

[Mark Booth]

Well, the forecast is for temps close to 100º today and tomorrow. My wife and I have thought better of our plan to set up the Garage Theater. We are going to have our "date night" movie event in front of our little 75" 4K screen. I'm preparing hot dogs for lunch plus a batch of real movie theater popcorn (not that microwave crap) in our Stir Crazy popper. We'll enjoy some snacks and sparking beverages with the popcorn while we watch a double feature.

Mark

 

[Mark Booth]

Over a month ago I started a project to remodel my den/office/Miata room. The small room (10.5' x 10.5') was overflowing with Miata memorabilia, photography gear, and my growing collection of magic props. It had become an unorganized mess. So, I took everything out of the room, installed new baseboards, painted, installed some additional floating shelves, installed a new corner desk that stretches almost two entire walls, and then spent 3+ weeks adding stuff back to the room.

A lot of the photography gear is now stored in a closet in another room. I was selective about which Miata stuff I put back. A bunch of the larger scale model Miata were eliminated and, on the walls, only Miata stuff that was of a personal nature was returned to the room. That cut down the Miata stuff from the original 3 full walls to about 1.5 walls. The rest of the room is now magic related props and artwork. It took a couple more weeks to get the Golden Age of Magic poster reproductions I ordered, but they finally arrived and the room is (finally), pretty much finished. Click images for larger versions.


















The largish blank spot on the wall below the Thurston poster was bugging me. After the above photos were taken I added this:




Just like my backyard project, this project was good for my mental health. If I'm stuck at home, might as well do something constructive instead of spending all my time in front of a computer or TV.

Mark

 

[John Dirk]

VERY nice work, Mark! Love your desk! I have a very old model that is similar but not quite as nice. It's seen a lot of action over the years and has survived several moves but now needs to be replaced. I've been looking all over but they don't make then like that anymore as far as I know. If you don't mind me asking, where did you get yours and approximately when?

 

[Mark Booth]

Thanks, John. The desk is actually three pieces. The center is a 48" corner desk. To the right is a 60" freestanding straight desk. To the left is a 48" extension top. The desks are modular units designed for use in cubicles in an office setting. The 48" extension on the left has a leg on the far left but the right end is bolted to the underside of the 48" corner desk. The 48" is available as a freestanding straight desk too, but I needed to eliminate one leg to be able to fit the shelving cabinet under it.

I purchased the three pieces from Global Industrial. It's their Interion office line. Including shipping, the three pieces cost me just under $840. That does not include any drawers or cabinets, I already had those and just slid them underneath. You can buy extensions that have drawers/filing cabinets attached or even just cabinets that slide under. The company shipped promptly (the day after I ordered) and it was delivered by truck (on a pallet) 5 days later.

The desk is available in 5 table top colors, the one I got was Cherry. The quality of construction is excellent. The top is laminate over manufactured wood but the laminate is much thicker than any other laminate top desk I've owned. The edging is a nice thick plastic that seems like it will hold up for a long long time. This isn't "furniture" in the sense of a nice oak or mahogany desk, it's more utilitarian than that. But my goal was function over "beauty" and I wanted something that I'll never have to mess with again. I ordered the desk the middle of last month.

Office & Computer Desks

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www.globalindustrial.com

Mark