Blooming Thistle

Repaired iPhone

Fixed an iPhone 5 broken display.

2017 Potato Crop

I gave my dad about 4 pounds (1.8 kg) of potatoes to plant back in March. The plants grew up and then died leaving about 16 pounds (7.25 kg) of potatoes in the ground.

So far I cooked the smallest ones with fresh green beans and a onion my mother grew in her garden. Very tasty. The largest potatoes I have been eating as baked potatoes. Soon I hope to make some mashed potatoes.

3D Print Tractor Speed Control Plate

If you look at the picture above it shows two plastic plates. The top one was the original plate from a lawn tractor that allows 7 different speed setting to be used. The notch broke that let speed #4 to be set. I created a replica of that plate using a 3D printer and ABS plastic. My notch settings are approximate to where the originals are. This object pushed almost to the print size limit of the printer where I had to print it diagonal on the square printing glass plate.

 It took 19 hours printing at 100% fill with 0.1 mm layers. The left side of the object did not print the text "SLOW" or the number 1 correctly, I think because the print plate was not completely level.

This next image shows the bottom plates, as you can see the original plate was hollow thus the teeth were weaker and susceptible to breaking. The 3D print plate has complete solid plastic teeth.

This last image shows a side view of the printed plate. Since it took so long to print and the plate heating is not uniform, left side of the plate started shrinking so it is not the same thickness as the right side. I do not think this will affect the plate mounting on the tractor chassis.

Lichen

Here is a picture of a leafy fuliose lichen growing on tree bark.

Learn more at this site: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foliose_lichen

Fern

The fern is an ancient plant that has been in existence on the planet for hundreds of millions of year.
Learn more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fern

Purple Iris

Iris is named from the Greek word for rainbow. Learn more here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iris_(plant)

Berries on a Mahonia Plant

You have all you basic colors represented in this plant: reds, greens and blues. The genus Mahonia is a named for Irish American horticulturist Bernard McMahon (1775-1816) in 1818 by English botanist Thomas Nuttall (1786-1859). The Mahonia was one of the plants returned by the Lewis and Clark expedition that McMahon cultivated .


Learn more at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahonia

Monument to Henry Murger in Paris

Here is a picture of monument to the French poet and novelist Louis-Henri Murger (aka Henry Murger). His writings were the basis for the operas La bohème by Puccini and La bohème by Leoncavallo.

I came across his monument in August 2016 while walking thru Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris France while looking for a nearby mineral museum at École nationale supérieure des mines de Paris (MINES ParisTech).

Learn more about this artist on Wikipedia.

Rollo's Tomb

These pictures were taken in late August of 2016 at the Cathedral of Rouen in France. Rollo was the first Viking ruler of Normandy. After watching the fictional interpretation of him on the History Channel's show Vikings, this tomb had more meaning to me during my visit.

I think this is a lion his feet are resting on. One foot is broke off. That lion is skin and bones though,

Icebergs Off Greenland Coast

While flying back to the United States from France, I was able to take a few pictures of icebergs off the coast of Greenland. The pictures were taken in late August 2016.