Good morning!!!!

PJSprog · Jan 3, 2019

24°F and crystal clear skies this morning, going up to 44° today. The sliver of moon, stars, and planets seemed like they were all glowing a little extra bright this morning.

Worked some more on the guitar body last night, adding some contours for the arm and belly. Wife went to Granite City to visit her niece (teaching her to crochet), so it was just me and the fuzzy butts. Quiet time ... except for the light jazz playing in the background.

The 'yotes around us don't generally get too close, riptides. I did hear one growling from the woods across the road one night a couple years ago while taking out the trash. I was unarmed that night as well, but haven't made that mistake again. Flashlight and revolver go with me any time I have to walk away from the house at night.

CWB Wyo · Jan 3, 2019

It looks like 14° for low here this morning. The rest of the day will be sunny and in the mid 30's. We did make it into the high 30's yesterday.

Making a trip into town this morning. Not sure if I'll get any thing done when we get back.

Hope everyone has a nice day.
CWB.

LS Tractor Owner · Jan 3, 2019

Good morning to all! Low was down to a frigid -5 °F. Going up to 32 °F...wonder how long that will take? Maybe the sun will help melt down some of the snow. They 'updated' our snow total...a total of 39.7"...WOW! I knew it was a lot, but not that much. Would have been nicer to have that spread out over a few months.

With all the snow I'm going to have to figure out where to put any additional if we get some. The piles are way high, can't push them anymore. I better figure it out soon, new forecast says snow possible on Sunday night / Monday morning. Anybody have a large blow torch I can mount to the tractor?

Jay, the new pup wants to play with Kassie, our older (12 yo) dog, but she is still very apprehensive. No warnings have been given, but she just gets up on a chair and looks down at him. You can almost hear her say "I don't think so". She'll come around, it's all new to her also.
As for the squirrels, good luck... When we lived back east, I gave in to those resourceful critters...just put out extra for them away from the bird feeders.

Don, congrats on the promotion! Trail building is fun work! (Only if you can delegate the work).

Drew, sorry to hear about your friend, prayers sent. I have always had a philosophy of "live today like it's your last day". Sometimes I really think that is good, sometimes bad.

Ron, glad your arm is better, good luck with the Dr's visit.

David, hope you have fun with the 'acid'....are you going to tackle the 'weeds' next?

Going to try and get some of the decorations taken down outside. The cords are burried beyond recovery at this time, but I should be able to get some of the lights. At least I'll disconnect them.

Everyone have a great day! Prayers out for all.

jbrumberg · Jan 3, 2019

28ºF to start the day; 35ºF presently; mixed sun and clouds. The 1.08 - 10.19 timeframe is actually looking better for some snow. We’ll see.

“Ramen noodles are nothing but salt.”- Mike

Bill- Wifey made it clear that I do not shoot the wildlife that we are feeding.

“….. they contain a food additive called Tertiary-butyl hydroquinone (TBHQ), a preservative that is a petroleum industry byproduct.”- Drew

Drew I am saddened by your friends’ situations. My + thoughts, prayers, and wishes. At least they have a very supportive friend. There should be more individuals like yourself; this thread is full of individuals who should be cloned for the benefit of others.

Now I remember why I have not eaten Ramen noodles.

“… Not even enough snow to kick with your foot.”- Phil Started snowing ~4:00AM. I measured .5” snowfall It was nice snow for tracking. Strangely, the only tracks seen so far today were mine and Brogen’s.

Eric and Ted- Thanks for the laughs.

RonJH- Good luck with the doctors’ visits.

“….. Another six figure bill rolled in”- Mike. Sadly I can believe it. The pulmonologist/immunologist who saved my life probably spent as much time battling for prior authorization for my treatments as he spent treating me. It makes me so

and

to read about this. Venting is a healthy release of - energy.

Coywolves are shot on sight around here. I’ve seen one this year and have not heard any (yet). Some years they are a serious threat to livestock around here. I used to “carry” snowshoeing when going solo or with the dogs because of the potential threat, but it made me walk lopsided (until I got a chest holster

).

“…. Flashlight and revolver go with me any time I have to walk away from the house at night.”- PJS I should, but do not at this point.

“….. Let's be healthy and happy and content as long as we can.”- Drew

Looking4new · Jan 3, 2019

JB, were the turkeys thieving from the feeders? If yes, then you aren't 'feeding' them. They are stealing and should be shot and eaten.

sodamo · Jan 3, 2019

64 °F and .06 inches rain

Hoping for a bit of dryness and hold steady on my gas line pressure test so I can cover the pipes.

Prayers for all
Be safe
Have a great day

sodamo · Jan 3, 2019

Sad indeed, Eric. Seems lately i’ve spent a lot of time thinking about acid and no end in sight

sodamo · Jan 3, 2019

Ted, I pretty much leave the weeds to the wife.

jbrumberg · Jan 3, 2019

Bill- I understand the logic, but I do not think wifey would. It's probably a gender thing with the "processing."

Using the same logic I should shoot and eat the squirrels too. Actually I have eaten squirrel stew a couple of times. I like it. It's a lot of work skinning those tree climbing rats. Turkeys too.

David- Is this cement acid treatment a once and done effort?

sodamo · Jan 3, 2019

Jay, that’s the hope. Sealer says 5 years and recoatable.
We did stain when first did the concrete(2009), but i didnt seal it, so it has gone away over the years. I’m using a penetrating sealer this time
Concrete & Masonry Impregnator - Glaze 'N Seal

Eric Salop · Jan 3, 2019

jbrumberg said:
Actually I have eaten squirrel stew a couple of times. I like it. It's a lot of work skinning those tree climbing rats.

Skinning all but the toughest old male squirrel is really quick once someone has shown you the easy way to do it, like this How To Skin A Squirrel In One Minute - YouTube

Maybe even quicker if you gave Brogen the tail to pull .

toppop52 · Jan 3, 2019

Up to 52 now, had morning showers, but they apparently are slipping back to the south now. More moving in tomorrow. Above normal until late next week. Got the oil changed in my truck today, tire shopping now. I think I’ll replace the 265/60/18 with 275/55. 2% shorter and a bit wider. Price is similar. Thought about 285/55 but they are super expensive.

Have a good day guys, God bless.

jbrumberg · Jan 3, 2019

Eric- He made it look easy. Thanks for sharing.

I wonder how much a red squirrel would dress out at. I have 6 red squirrel visitors and two gray squirrels as frequent visitors. The "King Tree Rat," one of the grays, figured out how to get to the feeders via a decent leap from our pear tree. It's about a 6' leap and it has an 80% success rate. I forgot who posted it, but maybe I should just go out and get a squirrel feeder and place it farther away. One of the reds really torments Brogen; charging and barking. It's a nasty bugger; missing part of its tail. I am happy and lucky that Brogen is usually choke chain conscious. Today was an exception which resulted in a doggie take down.

David- When we added the cellar the contractor used a similar product to seal the exterior over which he used some kind of tar. We had a dry cellar until this Autumn when I got a weep. I've been using hydraulic cement which does not quite stop the weeping (yet). I may resort to using a similar product or that product that you use.

bunyip · Jan 3, 2019

In for an unpleasant day, 42c with some places expectting 46c, won't be taking the BX out today as the aircon is not working.
Tomorrows forecast is 21c, looking forward to that.

jbrumberg · Jan 3, 2019

At 107.6ºF I would not venture far from the A/C.

sodamo · Jan 3, 2019

Jay
Maybe check out these guys : RadonSeal Concrete Products Store

I was very interested in their Lastiseal product but couldn’t arrange for shipping quantity I needed a few years back. This time I was working (hopefully) a shorter time schedule so didnt try.

sodamo · Jan 3, 2019

Initially concerned a tad with my pressure test, down a tick when I checked, but told wife could be temp related as it was less than hour after sunrise and would wait a bit. Checked about 2 hours later and right on. Pipes now backfilled with sand

jbrumberg · Jan 3, 2019

David- Years ago I sealed my Parent's cellar and a rental property cellar with a latex product that worked really well. Thanks for the link.

I am thinking that maybe I should do another radon check of the cellar. I was - the last time. This is a bad area for radon gas intrusion.

HVAC technician was here today to replace some failing components. He found some more failing/failed components today.

He'll be back tomorrow. Apparently the "mammal safe" antifreeze used is highly corrosive. A necessary costly evil here due to location and home design (bulkhead crawlspace).

Bird · Jan 3, 2019

Some of the recent comments about coyotes has made me wonder how widespread the news has been about the recent coyote attacks in Frisco, TX. There's been stories on Fox TV news and in The Dallas Morning News. Some people out jogging or out for a walk were attacked at different times by a coyote. Now this is in town; rather large town. After a woman was pretty severely injured in an attack, they haired a professional hunter and supposedly killed a coyote, thinking they got the right one. But since then, a person out walking a small dog had the dog attacked by a coyote and some pretty serious injuries, but the guy managed to drove the coyote off and save his little dog. Of course, all I know about it is what's been in the newspaper and on TV and I sure know how brief and inaccurate they can be.