Good morning!!!!

[LS Tractor Owner]

Ron, it looks like standing room only at your feeder.

Drew is going to send him one of those 'hotel' wren houses.....

 

[RedNeckGeek]

Good Morning!!!! 62F @ 6:45AM. Periods of rain, heavy at times early. High 63F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near an inch. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph.
The front is already coming in on the coast west of here, but the radar returns aren't that impressive. Hopefully the clouds can make it over the Coast Range without all the moisture being wrung out.

I'm still back on Nov. 11 and have a lot of catching up to do, but I did see that congratulations are in order for your work on the Steiner, Kyle. What a relief!


I got back from the motorcycle trip yesterday afternoon after some 1700 miles of riding. First day out was a little rough, having lost the power to the electronics and jacket heater in the tank bag to a broken ring terminal. I was able to improvise one at day's end, but didn't have time to stop before that, and things were a little chilly until I dropped down out of the Sierra foothills into Bakersfield for the night. The room was nice, the Indian Tandoori was delicious, but the other guests at the inn showed no courtesy and kept me up most of the night. Made it to Bashford's Mineral Hot Springs by early afternoon the next day, and enjoyed a hot dip and a good night's rest, thanks in no small part to a successfully repaired air mattress that kept me comfortable all night. Then it was only a few miles to the group camp, with a brief stop at a nearby liquor store where I met the pistol packing owner and found an interesting box of Scotch on the back shelf. She was very happy for the business as her day so far didn't sound like it was going very well for her. The local American Legion was putting on a steak feed that night, and after a buddy confessed to being both hungry and too drunk to ride, he hopped on the back and off we went. The steak was delicious and the tall tales told made for good conversation. Back at camp, we were greeted by a warm welcome and an even warmer fire to fend off the night's chill.


Next day, another buddy and I took off in his car to visit a nearby museum dedicated to General George S. Patton. It was adjacent to the Desert Warfare Center that Paton helped establish after WWII. The main building was closed because of COVID, but a smaller one holding some interesting military vehicles was open, as was the outside display area that held a couple dozen tanks, some going back to WWII.


Sunsets over the mountains surrounding the Salton Sea are pretty spectacular, and this year's were no exception. I volunteered for the kitchen crew that night, chopping peppers and onions for the salsa while others prepared thinly sliced beef for fajitas and sides of chorizo sausage for tacos. I don't think anyone went to bed hungry that night. Another big mile day followed as I made a run across the desert for the coast and a favorite motel in Cambria. The Thai restaurant I was hoping for was nowhere to be found, though, perhaps another COVID victim. I was still able to track down a pretty decent green chili chicken curry for take out dinner, and quiet neighbors helped for a good night's rest. Yesterday was supposed to have included a short run up the coast to an old road that runs inland across a military reservation, but the road was gated closed. That meant spending the morning frolicking up Highway 1, and having the road mostly to myself was a pretty nice consolation prize. The previous night's big meal tided me over well until about noon when I was hoping to find a taco stand with outside dining by the side of the road, but such was not the case. Ended up with cheese and crackers in a fuel stop and just pounding up the slab and home by early afternoon, making it up to myself with a small steak on the BBQ. It was also nice that the top'n'tilt valves had been delivered yesterday, and the driver had the sense to lock them into the parcel locker. Doesn't look like the weather's going to cooperate with installation today or tomorrow, but there are plenty of inside jobs to keep me busy, not to mention trying to catch up here. Maybe I'll just catch Bruce's posts and save some time...

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

Sounds like you had a wonderful trip RNG! A shame that some of your favorite eateries went by the wayside.... a sign of our current world! Hopefully a lot of places will get re-established once all this has past. Many, many mom and pop stores out here have closed their doors, most probably won't reopen. Can you send some of that rain in this direction? ... please....

 

[rswyan]

34F and light snow flurries, with the sun trying to peek through. Couple of minutes ago it was completely overcast and the wind picked up and were in a lake effect snow squall ... with the snow blowing near horizontal. No longer snowing hard, but I can still hear the wind, with it occasionally going from a howl in the background up to a roar.

By Thursday they are calling for 60F and sun.

Downstairs cat up for a visit, the two older ones confined to a bedroom, and Squeak cooling her heels in the garage.

No real plans for today ... might get out there and hang and fill the first squirrel feeder if the wind lets up a little, now that I have the appropriate fasteners.

Need to go over to Pet Supplies Plus at some point and have them refund and then rebill the last order I picked up on Sunday. Got in a hurry trying to get it done before they closed and forgot to apply the 20% off coupon that came in the mail when I placed the order ...

Other than that, probably more work down in the basement.

Hope everyone has an enjoyable, productive, and safe day. Stay warm ... :thumbsup:

 

[Thomas]

Dang Rip 4 sighs hope 2020 ends on + note for you.

 

[sodamo]

67°F and .36 inches rain.
My turn for eye exam this morning. My normally scheduled semi annual. Morning will be fairly shot by time we get home in time for lunch.

Then back to project wx permitting

Prayers for all
Be safe
Have a great day

 

[riptides]

And another sigh..... Insurance made a payment mistake...get to send money back to them. LOL.

LS- We need to figure out what is going on with the septic. I have a lot of water where I think the lines are. In my country....it is a bureaucratic paperwork exercise. And no I cannot do it myself. So far I have had to hire a "special", "certified" organization that will only "look" at the field and do "preliminary" soil and diagnosis.

Wng- Thanks for the tunes. Very appropriate.

On the low water pressure, looks like one of our new horse waterers got jammed open over night. They are not supposed to do that. More water on that side of the pasture. Well, at least it is not the well. LOL. Or pressure tanks.... or something else. Will have to monitor that waterer. I pressed down on the flap, and it moved right back up and closed out. Odd.

Thomas - 2020 can go out anyway it wants. Like most of us. We need a better year.

 

[sodamo]

37 and clear going to 54.

David, glad you got your genny running and batteries on the mend...but that's a tough way to make a cup of coffee.

Mostly, gopher status sounds good.

I think I'll finish this cup of coffee and fire up the woodstove for the next 3 days of cold weather.

And an ego bruiser, totally avoidable.

 

[rswyan]

Poured first cup of coffee. 32ｰ with light snow. Heading to 35ｰ with some sunshine in afternoon. Grass has a white tint to it this morning. Walkways and driveway are just wet. Managed another conserve energy day yesterday. Dr appointment this morning. Not sure what I will get done rest of the day.
Room for everyone.

And no waiting !

:laughing:

RS, I am glad that blackbirds have finally gone somewhere else. I have needed to fill all 4 feeders ever 2 days with them around.

Yeah ... they largely seemed to have disappeared here too.

Drew, do you use SS to assemble the feeders and birdhouses?

I've been using either brass (the Chicom cheapos from Menards) or deck screws for treated lumber for fasteners. Phillips and Torqx head.

Stainless hinges (Menards) for the squirrel feeders and barn owl nest box ... but I did use a couple of old steel hinges for the Northern Flicker nest box. Just coated them with BLO ... :confused3:

Now getting emails from Menards ... looks like last 11% of the year ends on the 25th.

Hope doctors appointment goes well ... :thumbsup:

 

[pennwalk]

A shame that some of your favorite eateries went by the wayside.... a sign of our current world!

I'm thinking that there are really going to be a lot of business opportunities when this mess is over.

Chris