Good morning!!!!

[scott_vt]

Good Morning Again,
Forgot to mention I had my first POTA, parks on the air activation yesterday. One of the fellow club members walked me through the process for the first time. I made 19 contacts on 20 meter CW. Lots of different things you have to do to start the activation. So I’m guessing I will need a few more times out with him before I can go out on my own. Lots of different parks in my area so it should be fun. I also need a small portable transeiver and antenna along with a rechargeable battery to power the rig. Hope to have everything within a month or two.

Looks like the plans changed and we are heading north this afternoon.

Hope all are enjoying their Friday

 

[daugen]

Scott, can you explain POTA more fully?

successful morning, rv dealer took rv in right on time and returned it two hours later as promised
for exactly what was quoted. How marvelous...
filled rv up with gas on way home and had a birdie (two tries) on backing into driveway.

now headed out to pick a lot of string beans before it gets too hot

 

[sodamo]

69°F and .05 inches rain

Excellent day with the BX mowing. Got all my interior sections mowed.

Today I’ll switch over to my LS and attack the extetior portions starting on the Laupahoehoe end of property. Almost embarrassing how high and thick it got while Sophie was away. I’ll be paying the price.

Prayers for all
Be safe
Have a great day

 

[rswyan]

82F and sunny @ 11:45, WU says that's supposed to be the high for day ... a fair bet that we'll beat it. Extreme Heat Watch has been issued.

Got 11 sweet potato seed halves placed in Mason jars in water in the greenhouse yesterday afternoon. Several seeds were mushy and had to be thrown out. Really curious to see if these do anything.

10 of the winter squash/pumpkins planted in pots in the greenhouse have sprouted. Plus a couple more on the back shelves.

Got up late this morning and rushed downstairs to check plants on shelves out back, worried that they might already be drooping. They are all in such small pots that if there is much greenery they dry out very quickly.

Thankfully, only one - a burpless bush cuke - was drooping just slightly. Gave it a drink, along with the larger tomato plants still in pots ... which will suck the moisture out of the soil very quickly.

Will be working on getting that stuff planted today.

Removed labels off cat treat containers yesterday afternoon and used them to sort and store seeds:

Took a (belated) birthday picture for Ron, since he said yellow was his favorite color for flowers:

Think those are Asiatic Lilies ... Woman said She didn't do anything special with them ... just left them in the planter outside to overwinter.

Just got Menards order placed a bit ago and already have a text that it's ready for pick up. Mostly critter food.

Will probably head out to pick that up here in a bit.

Temps (and humidity) will be brutal here for the next few days.

While I can probably handle both if I stay hydrated, doing it while sitting in the hot sun ain't gonna work.

Thankfully Menard's has 9' umbrellas on sale for fairly cheap, $10 off. I was thinking of picking one up but when I mentioned it to The Woman She decided She wanted Her very own ... so 2 it will be ...

Time to get moving.

Hope everyone is having a decent TGIF.

 

[daugen]

never steal your wife's shade RS...

picked a dinner's worth of string beans and one green pepper.
put exhaust fan on in rv so it won't get too hot in there in full sun, also put up some reflective sheets on main window

lastly tied up half a dozen strongly growing tomato plants, and all looks in order.
time to stay in the a/c this afternoon.

FIOS has crashed repeatedly, am running off my Verizon mifi.
Lot of trees and a lot of wires went down

 

[kenmbz]

Afternoon all, up to 83 and sunny.
Storm last night wreaked havoc in my area.
At one point 11 roads closed due to downed trees and branches.

We somehow kept power and only a few brownouts, but according to PECO, 71% of the area was without power this morning.

Our internet just came back online, we also lost the Cell tower until about an hour ago.
So we were mostly off line for phones and laptops, hard to do day job with no network.
Found a tiny signal from another Cell tower when out by the pool, so put up umbrella and took meetings there.

Got the driveway skirt about 80% done yesterday, lots of tractor and shovel work. a little more than 4 hours of hot.

At one point a fawn decided it needed to play with me on the tractor, so I had to park it. Didn't want to run over the playful bambi.
Turtle also showed up and was chowing down on some of the recently fallen greens.

Was watching tree parts fly past last night.
No obvious damage, so all good.

Massey , sad to hear, hope the pace slows down.


Be well,

Fawn stuck around after I got off the tractor, look to the left.

I guess turtles like poplar leaves?

Long day moving dirt, got a good test last night and worked as expected.
Still need to do the last 200 feet up to my neighbors, but first 500 done!

 

[daugen]

My FIOS is still out, have been on backup, and they now say 7pm to return.
lot of wires must have come down, and since likely the big stuff goes out 202, and 202 was closed, that means all the major
lines went down.
sure is nice to have internet backup. I have it for the rv but actually my phone would work.
But the speed of the Tmobile mifi is remarkable, I clocked approx 800/20, way faster than the Verizon mifi.
going to let those contracts expire, have all this connectivity for the big trip. Now just one will be fine.

lawn crew came and weed wacked my whole place, I stayed inside since their machinery hurts my ears. Looks nice though.

cut up some local mild sausage and cooked that with a lot of veggies, which is simmering now and smelling good.
I like adding corn and black beans and fire roasted tomatoes. Plus sliced up my first green pepper from the garden and
popped that in the pot. Cut off a big sprig of fresh basil from the plant on my kitchen windowsill
and chopped that into the pot, plus I add a few squirts of sweet barbecue sauce, just enough to taste a little something extra in there.
lots of spices, chili, curry, little of this, little of that. Never did follow a recipe.

Friday night, June 20.
hot and getting hotter
my 142 dollar electric bill will be double that this month.

 

[rswyan]

never steal your wife's shade RS...

Always happy to throw a little shade The Woman’s way …

 

[scott_vt]

Good Evening,

Scott, can you explain POTA more fully?

Drew,
POTA, or Parks on the Air, is an amateur radio activity where licensed operators set up portable stations in designated parks and public lands to make radio contacts. It's a popular program that combines the enjoyment of outdoor recreation with the hobby of amateur radio.

Hope this somewhat explains it !

 

[scott_vt]

Good Evening,
Heavy wind but nice sunset sitting with Kathleen on the deck !

 

[Wagtail]

Good (Saturday) morning. Overnight Low of 3.5C and it's presently 13.4C, mostly clear & calm on this the shortest day of this year.

And that's about it... I'm all 'caught up' with planned projects around the property.

That's about it, take care all.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Made it to the farm today. Was going to bring the ranger, but it stalled twice getting it out of barn, so parked it. It’s been running rough, but ran good with new gas. But last time I used it it kept stalling again.
Brought wood to build a new ramp for dad. Already determined didn’t bring enough wood, or it’s going to be steeper than the old ramp.
Also, ground hog has dug bunch of stuff out from under the porch, which is in the way. Will be shoveling that tomorrow.
Mowed one loop with tractor. Very muddy below our pond, worried about getting stuck but got out.
Switched SD cards on cameras, got pics stored on computer.
Brought portable AC unit, but no 3 prong outlets in the house. Used a cheater on it for awhile, but cheater gets warm. Pulling around 7 amps.
Brought stuff to change outlet to 3 prong, but didn’t get to that. My circuit tracer has dead battery.
Just using window fan, but will fire up AC for short periods.

 

[mostly_gas]

Good evening all. 78ºF for the start, mostly clear sky, moderate breeze. Moderate wind, increasing clouds in morning, decreasing clouds in afternoon, and high temp was 93ºF, HI 102ºF. made coffee then Malt-O-Meal for breakfast, zoom call went long, bike ride, lunch, finished bills, fish club work, got truck and trailer tags renewed. Earl early start in morning for bike ride.
Resuming Wednesday morning:
Drew slept well since coming home.
Buppies prayers sent.
Thursday Morning:
Ron a belated Happy Birthday!
Bill thanks for link to Toronto underground.
Kyle no sure if everyone can eat like Warren Buffet. Good sleep is good idea.
Ken glad you got haircut and dad tree repotted. Hope you got dirt moved.
Masseyrider hope new car works out.
Drew thanks for pics and explanations.
David hope you were able to mow.
RS hope you can dry out. Hope you got the ground hog. Steak-n-Shake sure has changed. Hope no damage from the storms.
Drew thanks for memory and pic
Dennis glad you got yard mowed. Hope no storm damage.
RS glad you are giving last year leftover planted, hope it all sprouts.
Masseyrider sorry you are missing your neighbor.
Randy(wag) glad good time at Easy Tiger. Sorry Meta giving you a hard time. Unfortunately their rarely feel the need to explain themselves. Hope you survive the short day.
Friday Morning:
Ron glad a neighbor treated you to breakfast. Glad you got some help with hose change on tractor. Hope you got MMM finished on on tractor. Nice mourning dove pic.
Drew sorry about storm damage. Weather here about normal temps mid 90's and heat index near 100. hope hot wate heater went well in RV.
Scott(vt) I don't know anyone who is a fan of high humidity. Hope truck care went well, and boat ride fun. Safe trip to VT and you pass stones soon.
Bill hope dump run went well. But is your cat population growing like Dennis's?
Thomas hope day and mowing went well.
Happy(NC) glad you are ready to cancel Hughes. Good stabilizer bars welded and back on tractor.
Paul glad yesterday went well, and today's flight to Sarasota went well.
Buppies hope job quoting went well, grass got mowed and sorry about loss of shrub.
Masseyrider sorry about loss of another neighbor. My condolences to you and her family.
Friend(trac) glad firewood processing called off for heat. Sorry no company at gun show. Never had anybody act like your parts guy. Maybe he doesn't have enough to do. Hope you get mowing caught up
More catch up later.
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, and Country.

 

[Looking4new]

Mostly, at one time we had 16 cats. One senior and 4 born here. The rest were feral. Down to 3, one born here, one feral and the youngest is the gray one we acquired 4 years ago. The senior one we had for 23 years. He survived 5 moves. He was actually my sons' cat. All the animals that come in here are 'fixed' whether they like it or not.

 

[rswyan]

69F and clear @ 00:00, heading down to around 64F for the overnight low.

Pickup at Menard's went pretty well. Drove around back to the order pick up area and they got me loaded fairly quickly.

Then around front for the umbrellas since I was going to use a rebate check to partially pay for those. Remembered to head in through the Garden Center and grab some yellow wax beans while I was at it.

Asked a young lady where the section number I was looking for was and mentioned that I was looking for umbrellas. She took me over there and said "That's everything we have ..."

Of course, after looking over the display, they didn't have any of the ones that were on sale. So I tracked her back down and asked if maybe they had anymore in overstock somewhere since the app showed they had 6 of the ones I was looking for ?

She offered to "check the mezzanine" and headed off up the stairs with a young associate who was hanging around in tow.

She came back with the 2 red umbrellas I was looking for and the young associate restocked the display with the other 4 that they apparently found.

Went up front and paid and then collected my birthday present (coffee mug) at Customer Service and got the van loaded up and headed out.

Took me a bit to locate it but I finally found the Dunkin' and grabbed a large iced coffee with Butter Pecan and then got on the freeway for home.

Once I got back I got everything unloaded, and got the bird food put away in their respective containers.

Loaded up some tools in the dump cart after that and headed around back to see what I could get in the ground.

Weather was kind of deceptive this morning ... first it was sunny, then as I was about to head to Menards it clouded up, then by the time I got home and unloaded it was sunny again (of course)

That didn't last for long though and it clouded back up. Even got a few sprinkles while I was working. But it never developed into a real rain shower.

Got 4 winter squash planted on the west side of the arched trellis: 1 Hubbard Blue, 2 Hubbard Golden, and 1 Guatemalan Blue:

Also planted 3 more Sunny Boy tomatoes which were large enough to go in the ground. All those have had their lower leaves pruned but I still need to finish pruning the indeterminate tomatoes on the straight trellis.

And got the cukes and the 4 winter squash at the arched trellis all mulched with straw and caged as well.

And weeded the area for the next cattle panel to go up.

Collected up the old aluminum umbrella stand/base before I came up for dinner. Will need to load that with sand tomorrow.

After dinner I unboxed one of the umbrellas ... not much to assemble ... just stick the lower pole onto the upper section. Seems decent for the price ($45), will have to see how it holds up.

Hope everyone had a decent day.

 

[Buppies]

Long day here still going on new pup is here very careful of new surroundings. She has eaten well drinking water carrots for treats sleeping in den. Woke me up a little bit ago wanted outside false alarm. Holly sleeping she and good friend went out for lunch had fun.

Big time heat coming here not good for outdoor working

Prayers for all our Country

Nice shoulder work Ken

Scotty beautiful place

Agree Ron yellow is beautiful

Did I miss your birthday rswyan?

 

[ronjhall]

Drinking fresh brewed cup of coffee. 64° with cloudy skies this morning. Heading to 91° cloudy a few clouds. Got .12" of rain yesterday. Grocery shopping went good. Got MMM maintainace done and installed on tractor. New high lift blades do a good job cutting back field. Will do maintainace on JD mower today. Then cut front grass before temperature gets to high.
Cooling off in garden pond.

Buppies, good puppy is home.

Everyone stay well and safe.

Good Morning. All.

 

[Looking4new]

Good morning, the low is 54 and going up to 73°F. Wind SSW 2 mph. 70% chance of rain with possible T-storm.

If the rain holds off and I get motivated early enough, then I will top dress the hole the big stump came out of and seed it.
I've got about 4 small square bales of straw and will take three or four flakes and shake them out on top of the seed.

That is all I plan on doing today. Too windy for the tractor shed roof.

I priced out a used 15KW trailer mounted diesel generator the other day, it has 9998 hours on it for $8800.oo+ tax = $9944.oo to be used for when the lights go out. I was going to put a grand down and finance the rest, but the strut issue came up on the Dodge and that is more important. So the genny got put on the back burner until next spring.

Have a safe day all

 

[daugen]

good morning all
up early, slept well, want to get moving this morning early to beat the heat.
Have a ten dollar off coupon if I spend 50 bucks at local Ace hardware, so going to pick up bird seed
this morning

Buppies, new puppy sounds wonderful

Mostly, slow and easy in all that heat. You Texans are used to this, hope your electric grid holds up.

sunny and into the 90's today, 100s coming.

Scott, nice pic of wife.
Bill, that sounds like too much money for a high hour non automatic generator unless diesel is your only option.
RS, glad umbrellas worked out. Very happy my new pergola did not blow away in recent storm.

 

[ronjhall]

L4N, how about something like this.

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