Good Morning!!!! 51F @ 5:30AM. Sunny. High 62F. Winds NE at 10 to 15 mph.
Eric, I knew better than to play the "take me away" song. Nice try.:laughing:
Thanks for the details on worm farming, Drew. Now I wonder how they got all those worms into the bag? Gotta be one of those jobs you're glad you went to college to avoid doing...
Mike, the elder care outfits, a lot of them volunteer, were a huge help with my parents and mom's boyfriend when they started making regular trips to the hospital. It started with a hospital social worker during dad's first trip, who pointed me to the Licking County Aging Program, who had info on all kinds of programs to assist with care and well being. The VA can also help if he has served in the military. Adult Protective Services intervenes if things get too bad, but they also have connections to other support services. Just know that there is a lot of help out there; you don't have to do it all yourself, especially if you live far away from the person needing care.
The Polar Vortex made the news last night out here; bundle up is all I can say! We'll have sunny weather until the middle of next week when the rain returns. Lots to do before then!
The Field Adjustor from the insurance company called yesterday, and Wilma will be here at 9AM to look things over. I suggested she wear sturdy shoes and be ready to do some hiking.:laughing:
Finished cleaning up branches along the driveway and pulled a couple more downed trees out of the easement yesterday. I really appreciate the chainsawing tips guys; I've got some YouTubing to do before I start felling. Fortunately I can get plenty of practice on the smaller 6"-8" oaks before I have to tackle the big Ponderosa pines. And you're right, the danger is just getting started when they're on the ground. I was rather pleased with myself yesterday when I cut a little less than half way through the top of that downed tree's trunk, then had the cut open instead of pinch as I came up from the bottom. I should have had a wedge in the top cut, but I got lucky and the upper section fell to the ground as the saw met the first cut, missing my toes by a mile.
Dug some wood out of the box of short ends I keep for campfire use, and found it to be pretty wet. The pallet of wood next to it that's supposed to feed the wood stove wasn't much better, so I'll hit Harbor Freight today to see what they have in larger tarps. Gonna be hard relying on wood for the rest of the heating season if it's all that wet. I did manage to get a campfire going last night by pouring a couple of cups of used motor oil on it first, then old premix gasoline. Makes a nice whump when the match hits it.
I usually use the weed burner to light the fire, but the sparker on it is shorting to ground. Tried to fix it with some electrical tape, but I don't think what I was using had a high enough dielectric constant and the spark is still not reaching the gap in the burner. So I'll pick up another striker while I'm at HF, and also a couple magnets. Gonna see if one taped to the sparker will keep it stuck to the propane tank between uses, saving me from wrestling with a chain or string while I'm trying to use it. I'll bring home one of their free 6'x7' tarps as well. I love to put those things down when I'm changing oil on the truck because I can just throw them away instead of cleaning them.
TGIF Gang!:drink:
