Good morning!!!!

[masseyrider]

APOCALLYPSE LAST NIGHT.
I got up around 4AM for a pee and I heard them.
The local wind machines in the vineyards were running.
The closest to me is more than a mile away yet it still sounds like a helicopter in the backyard. Any Vietnam vets would be having PTSD flash backs.
For those unfamiliar, these wind mills are powered by big block V8s and are intended to move the cold air around so the frost doesn't settle on the grape buds.
I looked at my phone and the weather showed it was about 40F.
So I put shorts on and went outside. The frost on the windshield of my Mazda cx70 was solid.
Not just at freezing but hard to scratch significant frost. My outside thermometer showed aboot 26F.
So much for the weather station.
Those living close to these machines probably didn't get much ZZZZ time last night.
Won't know what the damage was to the apricots and other early blooming fruit until it starts to come out of it's shuck.
Life of a farmer I guess.
Glad I haven't played that game for a living in over 25 years.
Good day all.

 

[Popgadget]

Good Morning
56° and not going to change much. Grey and damp out there. On and off rain forecast all day. We already got 1-3/8” overnight. Not a good day for outside chores

Yesterday’s trip started out fine, took one passenger down to Fl. Got refueled, loaded 4 people, 4 dogs and lots of baggage into the plane, got fired up and taxied to the runway. We were about 6th in line for departure, I get to the front of the line-

And I get what is basically a “check engine light“. So we taxi back to the ramp and send the passengers back inside. We performed a reset procedure and the fault went away, we did a restart to be sure, before loading the passengers again.

Get everyone onboard, start both engines, get a taxi clearance, and before we can move, the light comes back on.
Unload everyone (and the baggage this time) and make arrangements for them to get to Philly.

Textron sent a mobile repair unit out to deal with it, they plug a laptop into it, determine what the fault was, clear it and run some tests.
They returned the plane to service, and everything was normal, until we were almost home, then the fault returned. We were able to continue to our destination, but I’m glad that we didn’t have the passengers, as we leave the cockpit doors open and they can see the annunciators.

Whenever there is a fault, we get a large flashing yellow or red light indicating there is a problem, which we can clear, and another indicator (idiot light) showing the specific problem.

The fault is in an engine control unit, are completely controlled by a computer. The thrust levers have no mechanical connection to the engine. The controls have 2 channels, one is for redundancy. Our issue is that one channel was dropping off line, so we lost the redundancy.

At any rate, I did make it home, Textron will have to come out and replace the engine control unit before it flies again.

It won’t be a good day to work outside today, but I’ll find something to keep me occupied.

 

[kenmbz]

Morning all, 57 going to 61 and light rain, got maybe 1/4" of that.
Got some plants repotted.
Got the T-posts in for the corn area (only 20x10 so not a field).
Then saw I'm out of clips, so ordered some.
Will need to get the tractor out this weekend, rip up the dirt and roots in the area and plant the corn.

See peaches forming on older peach tree, new peach and apple trees have leafed out nicely.
Watered them yesterday, now glad I did.
Fig tree is leafing out everywhere, so happy, now with the airfryer/dehydrator I will finally be able to dry my own figs.
Pear tree that got hit by the big branch looks ok so far. We never get any real pears anyway.
The tree I transplanted where a root broke is doing well too.

RS - good to see you stopping by here. Can't wait to see your garden updates.

Will need to start "training" the tomato plants and plant the last one.
Lime tree is now in it's pot and hopefully will produce and not have the issues the last one had with bugs, but I am more prepared now that I know how to get them.

Popgadget - redundancy is good. Glad you made it home safe.

Be well,

 

[txdon]

Good morning! 60˚F, 0.03" rain last night. Only heading to the upper 70s with increasing cloud cover this afternoon.

Still have the gutters, fountain and the riverbed to work on and now another yard mowing is added to the list. I can finally see the end to the riverbed refurbishing just two or three more half day sessions of removing rock before the landscape fabric gets laid and all the rocks are returned.

Pool temp still dropping (71˚) with this N wind and cool nights.

Planted watermelon seeds in the back yard yesterday will see if they sprout.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

stayed awake last night just thinking about all the work that needed to get done, and now it's a cool damp morning, and don't feel like doing any of it.... 50 deg and 99% humidity.
maybe i'll rearrange more junk in the barn.

 

[rswyan]

50F and Sunny @ 10:15, calling for a high of only 58F for the day.

Refilled the hopper feeder, two tube feeders, and two suet feeders yesterday first thing. Also scattered some seed for the ground feeders.

Got some more clean up done out front, moving a Rubbermaid trash can on wheels around back and another one up to the shop plus gathered up some plastic containers/totes that the wind had blown over into the field.

Rearranged a bunch of stuff in the barn so I could get to the old 275 gallon IBC tote that I was using as a diesel storage tank.

Brought that over to the house and blew the leaves and dust off of it then moved it back over to the barn placing it just inside the overhead door on the north end where it is easy to get to.

I recently got a Chamberlain jack shaft door opener from a friend who replaced it with a traditional opener … so I made sure to leave enough room so I could get a ladder or the Baker scaffolding in there to put that up and get it installed.

Then I brought the van over and started pumping out the diesel from the 330 gallon tote into the 275. Pump started sucking air when I had pumped around 260 gallons out so I knocked off.

That should be enough that I can lift the 330 gallon tote with what remains in it out of the van with the Kubota and get it moved inside the barn.

Once that’s done, I’ll put the other 330 gallon tote - which is empty - into the van for the next diesel fuel pickup … which will hopefully be the last one. Although I certainly wouldn’t complain if there ends up being even more diesel fuel and I have to make a 3rd trip …

After I got the fuel transferred I ran over to a friend’s place and worked on sorting out some network issues he was having. Not resolved yet, but I think we’re well on the way to tracking down the problem.

Looks to be a tad bit on the cool side today, so probably put off any mowing until at least tomorrow … as the ground was still pretty wet yesterday.

Coming up on our average last day for a killing frost so getting plants set out is coming up fast.

Hope everyone is having a decent and productive day …

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Snagglepuss helping me piddle in the barn. Raining.
So far we found the ranger oil looks brand new, and is still the original.
Found skeleton of a bird in a bucket.
Can’t find my mud mixing pan

 

[rswyan]

RS good to see you back.

Thanks.

Hope the garden fence project will keep the deer away

I'm fairly sure it will ... although the Michigan state ag research station in the UP went with a 10' fence ... probably just in case ...

We have had no deer get into our garden after fencing 8 ft high. Used 60 6 inch posts with 4 inch wire net and did not electrify.

Deer are not the only issue here - we have a variety of other critters that would enjoy a garden buffet: skunks, possums, groundhogs, rabbits, and the very worst of the worst: ... raccoons.

For those that may be unfamiliar, while they will happily (partially) eat other things (squash, melons, pumpkins, etc) raccoons will absolutely devastate a corn patch practically overnight, climbing the stalks and pulling down every ear and taking a bite ... before moving onto the next stalk. Wash, rinse, repeat.

And they are very adept at climbing.

Around here, planting a (smaller) corn patch without electric fencing is a complete waste of time.

Also installed 16 ft and 8 ft gates that have held up very well with no rust after several years

Planning on doing two pairs of 3' wide double door gates with two 6' wide (total) openings. That will provide enough width to get the Kubota and Cub in ... if I ever need to.

Gate frames will be constructed out of 1 1/4" pvc pipe and wire meshed and electrified.

 

[sodamo]

67°F and .03 inches rain

My Dr appointment pretty much a non event. She simply took my blood pressure on each arm and each ankle. Elevated some.

Met our LA friends for early Mexican dinner. My fajitas were very good.

Looks like a great day ahead for mowing.

Prayers for all
Be safe
Have a great day

 

[rswyan]

Got the mostly empty IBC tote removed from the van along with the pump and hoses.

Leaving those set out in the sun, so the hose maybe will lose the memory curl in it.

Then I ran down to Menards and picked up the 6” x 12’ posts. Still got to get those unloaded.

Posts are pretty dry so they weren’t as heavy as they would’ve been if they had been wet.

A couple of them have more warp in them than I’d care to have - a problem with special ordering stuff like this - but fortunately on the one the warp is at one end … so that can be buried.

Plan is to coat at least the buried portion with asphalt-based roofing tar, although might just go ahead and do the entire post.

Filled up the fuel tank in the van on the way back.

Probably go check the ground after I get the posts unloaded and see how it’s looking.

Then air up the tires on the van and give it a once over.

Woman off renewing registration on her car.

 

[Wagtail]

Good (Saturday) morning. Overnight Low of 3.4C and it's presently 17.5C, fairly clear & calm.

Yesterday the ute was unloaded, the wine was retrieved and I even remembered to fill the ute up after Thursday's excursion.

Last evening was the second time that I caught a [the same] brush-tail possum in my kitchen eating Penelope's dry cat-food. Penelope is an indoor/outdoor cat with the door to the covered 'entertainment area' held open with a padded brick. The possum is vey mellow and doesn't 'panic' when I confront it... I just talk gently to it and, with some direction, it goes out the door, which I then shut for the night.

Today will be a paddock transfer from #6 to #1 [for those of you keeping track at home].

That's about it, take care all.

 

[Looking4new]

Well, today was a kind of a bust...Installed the meter, it leaked and we couldn't stop the leak so off it came. I have tried contacting the seller, but I am not holding my breath on that score. After a full month of waiting for them to reply to me on how to change the orientation on the meter, I have pretty much written them off.
I did refill the house tank to just a tad over 3/4 full. That is enough for the summer. Didn't top off the tractor.
Pushed up the third load of firewood and checked the moisture content on some of it...Anywhere from 23% down to 7%. Only one stick was at 23% most of the rest was from 17 to 2%.
Tuesday the Dodge goes in for the winter to summer tires swap, oil change, fix the check engine light problem and fix the gas cap loose problem.
Wednesday the tractor goes in for my hydraulic problem and oil change.
Gonna be an expensive week.

 

[mostly_gas]

Good evening all. 56ºF for the start, partly cloudy, breezy. Light wind, moderate gusts, partly cloudy sky, and high temp was 76ºF. Made coffee to start day. Bike ride, then change oil in truck. Trip to bike shop to pick up new mirror, got gas for $2.609 per gal. Tried new BBQ place, it was OK.
Resuming Wednesday 11:34 PM CDT post 206,598:
Jim keep it going. My high mileage bike is at 35,500 miles.
Thursday 3:41 AM CDT:
Ron glad you got grass cut and trimmed. Hope grocery shopping went well, along with garden weeding. Cool pic
Thomas sorry more rain in forecast. Hope you found the plants you want.
Billy glad you got to do some more of the AT. Good to hear much of the hurricane damage has been dealt with. I wore sandals on first two ot three Bike across Kansas.
Billy thanks for pics of Audie Murphy memorial and recap of service record.
Paul hope you get dried out from the rain. Sorryw ife had to put alpaca down. Hope trip to Palm Beach went smoothly.
Scott(vt) glad work went well and you got grass cut. Good luck with hearing aids, my FIL didn't like his, but we could hear TV in next room with out them.
Drew sorry HVAC not working. Do you know about Meclizine?
Buppies good evening sir. Glad Holly taking pills sorry meals are a challenge. prayers sent.
Don hope you made enough progress on your list. Sorry burger no ready for prime time.
Happy(nc) hope you made more progress on bridge.
Bill hope your day went well and got all you errands done. Hope quake visit was good. Hope trailer didn't jack-knife on you braking for the cubs.
Frits hope you got your grass mowed. That yoke was heavy duty. Sorry to hear D's knee getting worse.
Friend(trac) Sorry bill so high on Z-turn, but if they use you to do some PM might go longer than ten years Glad you got mushroom soil taken care of. Hope you get the weekend agenda finished.
RS welcome back! You have mowed as much as I have. Nice score on home heating oil, you get most of it out. Glad rain has stopped for a few days.
Ken glad you got the plated for new truck. Hope EZ pass and parking easy to work out. Nice pic
Drew glad you could keep house from getting too hot till HVAC got there.
Bill A1C not bad, and more firewood.
David hope new cooler works and no leaks. Hope VA Doc visit went well,
Drew sorry you got surged. Glad A/C running again. Nice Kale. Sorry not style point for A/C repair.
Randy(wag) glad all signs picked up. Glad wine Faeries have dropped of another couple of cases of wine.
Dennis glad chair are working out. hope Sunday night class material ready.
Bill glad next year's firewood delivered.
More catch up tomorrow.
prayer for all, especially Jay/Peg, Kyle /Daughter, /mom's breathing, /son's migraines, Mike /BIL in FL, Ron /heart, David(moss) /remodel, /divorce, Buppies /cancer, parathyroid, blood sugar /wife, Thomas /gout, Phil /reflux, Frits /veteran son with mental issues, /granddaughter with Evans Syndrome, Ken /dad dementia, /chronic fatigue, Diet not working, Randy(wag) /sister stoke, Steppenwolfe /son-auto immune disorder, Grev /wife's eye, Ted /knee recovery, /retirement & disability red tape, /family issues, /wife back issues and cancer, Lou /eye issues, /heart issues, /wife hip replacement, Doug and wife/health issues, / hand nerve and surgery, /fall and recovery, / wife headaches and heart eval, / David(sadamo)/Sophie's hip or leg pain, /back issue, Scaredy/shoulder dislocation, /marriage dissolving, / friend stop drinking, Dennis /retirement, /neighbor issues, /brother's lymphoma, /dad surgery recovery, Drew /back operation issues, /friend's wife cancer diagnosis and recovery, Scotty /back pain, Helogabals /wife's friend situation, Fatjay /father broken hip, ******, Ukraine war, hurricane victims, and Country.

 

[sodamo]

Scott, there are a number of free practice exams online. I did a bunch of them. Took about 10 minutes for real test, 100%

 

[ronjhall]

Coffee is done brewing. 38° with plenty of sunshine this morning. Heading to 77° with mix of sun and clouds. Washed car yesterday. Finished garden weeding. Then did some conserve energy on back porch. Hope to get some more conserve energy in today.

Everyone stay well and safe.

Good Morning All.

 

[daugen]

good morning all
had to get up and turn heat back on, cold floor in bathroom better than thermostat
pleased to hear the hvac switch to heat properly and come on.
not like we tested the heat portion yesterday, but...with a new thermostat whose little AI
brain has been restored (I kept the old one to let landlady smell it...good burned wire smell)
seems to be happy again.

the older I get the less fun it is to get out of my temp comfort zone.
today should be lovely, sunny but lower temps
not sure what I'm going to get into today.

the day after a heavy rain is really nice. The air seems so much cleaner, the daily pollen washed away
for a few hours. And I really think my veggies like natural rain better than my hose water.

have to fess up, looked online at cedar birdhouses, was able to buy three for less than 60 bucks, nice ones too.
All installed on new fence for half the cost of the wood I bought to build them. Decided to use the real cedar to build
an owl house. It's an interesting build, like building a small dog house, and the install is challenging, has to go way up in the air.
Owls apparently like to be higher, see better, can swoop down out of nest for next meal.
I've always been fascinated by owls.
would be wonderful if they enjoyed tenderloin of squirrel...

Mostly, cheapest regular here is 3.19, good deal where you are.
sounds like you have nice weather there now too
soon to get much hotter

 

[Looking4new]

Good morning, the low is 41 and going to a high of 54°F. Wind SW 5 mph. Mainly cloudy.

The grass could use a clipping, but I think I will let it go to seed first. I usually cit down to 3".
Today might be a good day to cut the trees down at the mouth of the driveway. We'll see.
I gotta go on amazon and see if I can get another fuel meter. I do want to wait a couple of days and see if the manufacturer of this meter will step up to the plate.

Ron, that is a healthy looking tree rat.

Drew, we got regular at $1.35/Litre. $5.10/U.S. gallon If I was to go 45 miles away I could get the gas for $1.15/Litre ($4.35/US gallon) but that will take an hour and a half out of my day. Somehow I don't think it is 'worth' it to just go for gas. I get 23 mpg on the highway. If I was doing other stuff there then yes it is worth it.

Time for goobers and breakfast.

Have a safe day all

 

[wngsprd]

41 going to 74 and sunshine. Nice.

Had over 1.5 in of rain so may not get mowing finished today. Lots of other things to do.

Roasted 3 coffees yesterday. Letting them rest before trying them.

 

[daugen]

longer days are wonderful, fun to look out at 5:30am and see the world waking up
as I look for the first squirrels to try to beat me to the feeders. My bb gun is ready.
problem is creaky kitchen window. Even after oiling it makes a little noise cranking open far
enough for me to get rifle barrel out. And now they know exactly where I am.
So they watch for me, and vice versa. Game on.

Bill, usually ten cents or less per gallon difference no matter where you buy here, so yes may not be cost
effective hunting down cheaper gas on smaller tanks. But I have one friend obsessed over it, only buys after checking
latest Gas Buddy listings. I think he makes a game of it, he's well off. I'd rather buy name brand certified gas at clean stations.
and since one local station is where I started buying gas in 1965, and the owner comes out to shake my hand, well...not hard to choose that.

 

[m7040]

good morning, 44 going to 71 with sunny day. Catching up on rain with another inch the last day. Still behind though I am sure

A little heat is on from the Mitsubishi and feels good this morning

iPhone went hot and stopped working last night. Did not charge even when plugged in overnight. But this morning back on the inductive charger it is taking a charge and turning on

Changed the frayed power cord on the Makita miter saw and moved it down to the welding shop on the wheeled table

D is on the way this morning to Honolulu