Good morning!!!!

[Buppies]

5 chilly degrees high of 28 today warm up coming next week but more cold on the horizon

 

[Eric Salop]

I read an op-ed around New Years that recommended resolutions...it said to learn something new each day, something surprising each week, and something shocking each month.

Then I will look forward to 52 surprises in 2018, though not too sure about the 12 shocks

I know it was too cold for you to go hiking the other day, but I'd be interested to learn if there really is a Trail of the Lonesome Pine in your Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia ?

 

[300UGUY]

4F, going to 24 ! That’s a heat wave right now. I have bronchitis, and couldn’t sleep, so I am up early.

Eric, I have been trying to establish a hedge here, about 300 ft long, on the east side of the house. I have lilacs right now, I am going to put in rose of Sharon next. I’ve seen pics of hedgerows in your country, they seem to be of several different types of plants? I don’t plan to trim this thing much, I want it to grow up as a barrier. Any advice?

 

[Eric Salop]

Good morning, I'm looking forward to a day without anything wet falling from the sky. Ground is frozen and and although not down deep enough to take the weight of tractor, it should at least make pushing a wheelbarrow up the slopes a lot easier.

I'm another one on the look out for a new stereo amp. My son gave me his PMC TB2i speakers at Christmas. He wasn't using them after he upgraded his own system and was kind enough to give them to me instead of selling them on ebay, which he did with all his other audio equipment. They are absolutely stunning compared to what I had before and deserve something better to drive them. Part of me wants to go with the old school class A/B amps , though they waste a lot of power (that's why they need big vent slots to let out all the heat). Class D amps are cool, literally, generally way more power efficient, so they can go in sleeker cases and are getting better all the time, so with my ageing ears they are about good enough. I used to be obsessed about THD (total harmonic distortion) numbers for amps, now thanks to tinnitus, I don't really care anymore. I have a "borrowed" amp at the moment that supports DNLA over wifi, though now I mostly stream music instead of playing from a hard disc server, it's often easier to connect to the amp using Airplay from an ipad.

 

[Ed of all trades]

Good morning all, 0 this morning going to 27 and sunny. Was going to make the scrub plane yesterday but got tired of all the tools laying on the bench so I started a french cleat system on the wall near my bench. Got one holder made for the battery charger for the drill. Many more to go. Yesterday was eating lunch and a big filling fell out. Need to get to the dentist but I guess they will just have to pull it. I have lost to many teeth and hate to loose another.

Praying for all of the guys with colds ect. and for all of you with hurting hearts and those with sick bodies. Have a great day. Ed

 

[Eric Salop]

Eric, I have been trying to establish a hedge here, about 300 ft long, on the east side of the house. I have lilacs right now, I am going to put in rose of Sharon next. I致e seen pics of hedgerows in your country, they seem to be of several different types of plants? I don稚 plan to trim this thing much, I want it to grow up as a barrier. Any advice?

I'm not sure what grows well in your climate, but here you can't beat hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) for being a tough barrier that is very tolerant to however you want to cut it. In addition you get the beautiful blossom in late spring and most years an abundant supply of berries to feed the birds in autumn. In amongst it, for variety, I typically plant hazel, field maple and wild cherry.

You can cut a hedge like this every year, but the hedge does best if cut only once every 2 or even 3 years.


One tip for a dense hedge is to not plant just a single row, but instead plant 2 rows seperated by say 9" to 12". Stagger the planting in each row. This makes the bottom of the hedge thicker.




Winter is a great time to put in bare rooted plants.

 

[wngsprd]

Then I will look forward to 52 surprises in 2018, though not too sure about the 12 shocks

I know it was too cold for you to go hiking the other day, but I'd be interested to learn if there really is a Trail of the Lonesome Pine in your Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia ?

Never head of one, so looked at my two hiking guide books of Virginia trails...one guide had no mention, but the other is a more informative book, with some local lore and history about each locale...it described it as not a hiking trail, but the old pioneer trail that now has a major highway (US 58A) along the path...my guide also references the book and movie (for my "learn something new each day resolution"...it was the first outdoor technicolor film, in 1936, with Henry Fonda). There is an outdoor playhouse that presents the story during the summer months...in a town in Virginia where I've never been, 358 miles away.

Otherwise, I did find 15 hiking trails that reference pines in their names.

 

[ronjhall]

Poured first cup of coffee. 4° with mostly cloudy skies this morning. Heading to 23° cloudy skies. At midnight it was -13°. Sure am glad it is warming up. Finished rebuilding carb on chainsaw yesterday. Must have done something right. Started on 4th pull. It's still to cold do anything outside. May be a good day to put new faucet and drain in Master Bath.
Hope everyone if feeling better today. Prayers sent.
Good Morning All.

 

[wngsprd]

Minus 6 going to 27. I'm pretty sure we've been setting record lows much of the week.

I get emails from our electric co-op triggered by thresholds I set up a while back...I had forgotten about them, but each day this week I've been getting a reminder how much power we are using.

I've had good luck with Amazon Prime deliveries...sometimes beating the 2 day promise...however, there are two warehouse/distribution centers in our county and a neighboring county.

 

[ronjhall]

I know it was too cold for you to go hiking the other day, but I'd be interested to learn if there really is a Trail of the Lonesome Pine in your Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia ?

Here you go. Trail of the Lonesome Pine.