Good morning!!!!

[wngsprd]

I love honeysuckle and some species are native to North America, I grew up in the south where honeysuckle like sweet tea, was a religion. I’ve bitten many a bulb on the bottom of the bloom to get the nectar, sweet as sugar. I’ve had trouble keeping mine because of several briar vines that tend to grow in the same spots. But they’re worth the effort.

We did the same thing for a quick sweet fix. Our honeysuckle grows like crazy here. Deer eat it in the winter.

 

[MoKelly]

Good morning.

We are off to Little Rock today for a brief vacation. My wife’s family lives in LR.

Hopefully it will be relaxing and stress free time. My wife needs some down time.

Hope all have a great day.

Take care.

MoKelly

 

[rswyan]

68F and sunny @ 08:15, heading up to around 88F for the high.

Drew around 30 gallons of water for water changes and cleared five shelves of old house paint while the jugs were filling. The Woman will be glad to hear of that as we talked about it a while back. Now just need to move them outside and open them up so they can dry out and be disposed of.

Worked on the lamb vindaloo last night while I caught a little of the Olympics. Think that makes the 3rd meal on it and there's still a little left.

Made this morning's coffee and a new batch of juice for the hummers and cleaned out their feeder while the water was heating up.

Did some more trimming on the forsythia a bit ago, making some progress but still a ways to go:

Got a few more buckets of compost screened as well.

Saw this yesterday when we were removing the honeysuckle bushes:

Assume it's some kind of fungi.

Would like to get the gutters on the back side of the pole barn cleaned out today - which is looking promising, as I think I hear my helper stirring ...

Hope everyone has an enjoyable, productive, and safe day ...

 

[daugen]

it's fungus amungus RS...

Mo travel safely and have fun

67 and rising quickly as the sun comes up with a nice blue sky though I still think
it has a little grey in it

 

[txdon]

RS those look like Monotropa uniflora.
It is an uncommon wildflower.

​

74˚F heading to the 90s, cloudy, still muggy air.

 

[Bird]

Bird, those are all good companies. At issue is how they handle your age and the storm risks to your home.
The Insurance Services Organization, aka ISO, sets a basic rate based on all shared carrier claim info for each state.
Each insurance company can elect to "deviate" off the basic rate for marketing purposes to attract for example the better than
average driver or lower risk home.

If I were over 75 years old, I think I would try to stick with one company and not move around.

If one carrier offers full replacement cost on building and contents while another won't, I'd pay more for the full replacement cost.
Keep the total premium down by electing a 500 or 1000 deductible, but in a major fire or hurricane, full replacement cost coverage is
enormously helpful. Just remember you have to replace the item first to get the full value, otherwise even a replacement cost contract
only offers ACV if replacement or rebuild is not performed.

I adjusted hundreds of claims myself and wrote checks on the spot where needed. Always property claims, no agent ever had liability draft authority
to my knowledge.

If you can find a long standing mutual insurance company to insure you, with a local claims office, that's where I'd look first.
Mutual companies vs stock shareholder owned companies all want to make money but mutual companies ultimately report to their policyholders,
not the investors, which is usually a good thing. For example, my LTCI is with Mass Mutual, a true mutual company going back forever, and while they had to
raise my rates for the first time last year since I took out the policy almost 20 years ago, I knew they were doing so because they absolutely had to.
And they held off raising my rates long past most other competitors. Any of you who still have LTCI will know all too well about rate increases.
Bottom line is I trust the mutual company more.

So first I'd stay where I was if I was at least satisfied with them. Second I'd pick a mutual company first if same price.

Oh, I'm with Westfield too. Old, expensive (likely full ISO pricing) and handled by an agency who is more important to me than the premium.
I went from a 700 dollar loaded policy in NC to a first quote of 1500 here and I said no way. Got it down to 1100 but I know I can
get it cheaper elsewhere. But for a couple hundred bucks more, this is a fifth gen Quaker owned insurance agency and if I have a problem,
they will take better care of me than I could wish for. I was the neighboring Quaker owned agency to theirs in the next town North.
So sometimes it's the agent, not the price, assuming no crazy differences. Like a tractor dealer you come to really like, with the parts guy who always
has what you need, and yes, you pay a little more for that. I'll save money elsewhere.

Sounds like all good information. Thanks for posting it.

 

[kenmbz]

Good morning, sunny and nice
Fixed wiring in garage so now lights work properly, Lots of odd jobs and pool work. Three hours later finally called it quits.

Rich-glad the deer didn't knock you down. Saddle bag replaceable.
Drew - radishes came out great this year- had a variety pack of seeds-some better than others.
Last night driving home saw about 30 deer in various areas by the roadside.
Paxon hill map shows a naked Alien?

Stay safe and be well.

 

[PJSprog]

66°F and partly cloudy this morning, going up to 90° today. The heat is officially back. Upper 90s forecast for next week.

Got no mowing done yesterday evening after work. Got home, changed clothes, sat down, and promptly fell asleep. Interrupted sleep through the week finally caught up with me, I guess.

Glad you weren't hurt, Rich. I've always had deer whistles on all of my bikes. No idea if they really work or not, but I have seen deer lift their heads and perk their ears as I approached, and none ever jumped out at me. Seeing a deer on the side of the road from the seat of a motorcycle is definitely a pucker factor of 10. They are the number one reason I never liked riding at night.

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

Good morning to all! Low of 58, going up to around 92.... heat is back. Only a slight chance of a t-storm. Monsoon flow returns next Tuesday or Wednesday. It will be dry and hot until then.

Glad you made it through the deer encounter without getting hurt.

Wng, nice to hear you had a good hike the other day! I bet it felt good to get out there.

RNG, I saw a report on the news about people's wells going dry in Cali and having to buy water for storage tanks..... One guy said it was costing him $3600 a month to have water trucked in! I hope you can find an affordable hauler. Part of the report also stated that a lot of the places selling bulk water were either limiting the quantity or charging ridiculously high prices.

Appointments went well yesterday.... and I took the string trimmer for a short walk. The new head works great, no more jamming or breaking string. It got too hot to continue, so quit for the afternoon.

The battery on the garden tractor went totally dead.... not even a click. This morning it will get a charger on it and in a few hours I'll see if it has any life left. Probably have to get a new one. I can't complain, I think this is year six or seven for it. Got it at TSC.

Gonna get moving.... temps are rising quickly! I have to go knock down some weeds....

Everyone have a great day!

 

[RedNeckGeek]

I've always had deer whistles on all of my bikes. No idea if they really work or not, but I have seen deer lift their heads and perk their ears as I approached, and none ever jumped out at me. Seeing a deer on the side of the road from the seat of a motorcycle is definitely a pucker factor of 10. They are the number one reason I never liked riding at night.

Back in the '80s, I put deer whistles on my K75S BMW. I never saw them make a difference in how deer responded when I approached them on that bike. They would still dart out into the road in front of me, run the other way off the road, or totally ignore me.

The only reason I'm more nervous riding at night in deer country is that I can't see them as well. A good set of driving lights helps a ton. I like Clearwaters. But both of the deer I've hit on the motorcycles were in broad daylight. Both came bounding out of either the woods or up out of a creek bed, mere feet off the road. There was zero time to react, except maybe nail the brakes and brace for impact.

Years ago I took a weekend training course from Stayin' Safe. Larry Grodsky was the lead instructor. His big idea was situational awareness, and having a plan already thought through for all the situations you could anticipate. It was a three day trip that started in Southern California and ended in the SF Bay Area, and each of us had a radio and speaker in our helmets. The instructors could talk to us, but we couldn't talk back. They also shot video, and we'd review it and their observations at roadside chats and after dinner each evening. Easily the best and most valuable training I've taken.

One evening, Larry was talking about the hazards of motorcycling. He said if he died while riding a bike, it would most likely be due to a deer strike, as there's really no way to mitigate the danger with them. Several years later, on a cross country trip, he had trouble finding a motel room and chose to continue across Texas after dark. A deer jumped in front of him and he lost his life, fulfilling his prophesy.