Good morning!!!!

[RoyJackson]

2021-07-18, 0748

60° right now...high in the upper 60's and rain this morning, tapering off to showers this afternoon. Love this rain!! The aquifer ought to be filling quite well. And, when one has a well...and lives with 2 women, a full aquifer is a happy aquifer!

Feeling OK...bit stuffy...
This COPD isn't going to get better...best can be done is control it. I'll be going to the doctor's this week and there are inhalers that help (wife's been on inhalers since her heart valve replacement...they're used as needed, not constantly).

The internet isn't working too good this morning. I do want to check my bank account to see if I got the funds returned for those headphones I returned. Standard old sound attenuators ("Mickey Mouse" ears) do the job fine....no batteries, only adjustment is to fit over a ball cap...

Nope, no funds returned yet, but they're working in it...
Drew, are you returning yours?

 

[txdon]

So what is the purpose of that windmill? Just for looks? I don't see any sucker rod, so I'm sure it isn't pumping water. When I was a kid, our windmill did not have any oil to change or add to in a gearbox. But the wind turning it caused the sucker rod to come unscrewed a couple of times, and it was a real job for a 12 to 14 old kid (me) to climb up there and lift it, screw it back together and hook it up again.

We have an electric pump and well house for irrigation at the gardens. We also have a city water connection for emergencies.
The windmill just tells us the direction and intensity of the wind, and for looks and sounds at the entry.
Most older windmill's manuals require oil change out once a year. They have been doing the yearly maintenance long before I got here.

Aermotor Windmill Maintenance | Rock Ridge Windmills

"An old windmiller once told me that an easy way to remember to change the oil is to send your wife up the tower each year on her birthday to service the windmill. Back in the “good old days,” the Aermotor Windmill company gave you a double-sided card to hang on your barn wall to record the oil changes."

Good morning! 74˚F heading to the mid 90s, mostly clear skies with a few high light clouds.

 

[RedNeckGeek]

Good Morning!!!! 75F @ 4:45AM. Sunny to partly cloudy. High 104F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph.
Looks like we're starting off with Very Unhealthy air this morning, the third day in a row for it. The Dixie Fire is now up to 13,482 acres, burning through brush and trees that haven't burned for hundreds of years, so the fuel load in that area is immense. That said, the infrared map isn't showing any current fire, confusing to say the least. It sounded like the soundtrack for Apocalypse Now all day yesterday, with heavy helicopter traffic in and out of Chico's airport, and coming up the valley from McClellan AFB for the Very Large Air Tankers. No press conference yesterday morning or evening, not a good start for the new management team.

Nice car, Doug. It's amazing what they're doing with paint right from the factory now. We should start a pool on when you get your first speeding ticket; that arrest-me-red is sure to draw a lot of the wrong kind of attention!

Very successful brood for that hen, Ron. Hope it stays that way.

Mostly inside day due to the smoke yesterday, but I did manage to get six rolls of flexible PVC electrical conduit unrolled out on the hillside so it'll be easier to work with. Need to check the two water lines to see if they're still holding pressure. The smaller of the two seemed like it had lost a bit when I looked at it evening before last, but that could have just been the black plastic pipe cooling off as the sun set.

Started looking into Ethernet extension/repeater hardware, and like most electronics these days, there is a wide range of performance and price, and a large number of manufacturers, to choose from. The run from the pump house to the cul-de-sac is about 1400', and Ethernet's maximum range is supposed to be only 100 meters. There's no line-of-site, so doing it with solar powered radios is out.

Hope everyone enjoys the rest of the weekend.

 

[Thomas]

63F light rain upper 60's for high showers during the day more steady rain over night,good to see stream run for continuous for days now compare to month ago.

Outside chores done E muffin time.
Plans for today...rattle some pots and pans make dinner,putter,doubt very much NASCAE will have the race here in NH....yep laid back day.

Enjoy your day all.

 

[Popgadget]

Started looking into Ethernet extension/repeater hardware, and like most electronics these days, there is a wide range of performance and price, and a large number of manufacturers, to choose from. The run from the pump house to the cul-de-sac is about 1400', and Ethernet's maximum range is supposed to be only 100 meters. There's no line-of-site, so doing it with solar powered radios is out.

How about fiber optic? Unlike a long buried Ethernet cable, it’s totally immune to lightning strikes as well.

 

[Popgadget]

Good morning,
It’s 73 and going to stay about the same all day. Partly cloudy with little chance of rain after the fog burns off. We got a total of 3/4” of rain yesterday, all in short but heavy showers.

Looks like we have a poacher moving in, that’s a heron decoy at the bottom right, doesn’t bother the live one at all.

No speaker work to do, so I guess I’ll have to continue to clean up in the shop until it’s time to make a quick trip to Martha’s Vineyard this afternoon.

 

[RedNeckGeek]

How about fiber optic? Unlike a long buried Ethernet cable, it’s totally immune to lightning strikes as well.

There's no power at the upper end of the connection, other than a small solar panel and 12VDC battery for the gate opener. The tooling for terminating the fiber cables is also somewhat expensive, as are the testers. I found a couple Power Over Ethernet extender options yesterday that'll get out to 3000', but they're fairly spendy at around $800. I'm hoping for a Chinese knock off at about half of that, with decent reviews.

 

[RedNeckGeek]

The windmill just tells us the direction and intensity of the wind, and for looks and sounds at the entry.
Most older windmill's manuals require oil change out once a year. They have been doing the yearly maintenance long before I got here.

Surprised not to see any safety harnesses or belts on those two on the man lift, Don. Looks like a looooooooong way down...

 

[Bird]

txdon said, "Most older windmill's manuals require oil change out once a year. They have been doing the yearly maintenance long before I got here."

I don't recall our windmill ever having an oil change. You don't suppose my memories from 65 years ago could be fading, do you? I do seem to recall it sometimes getting to "squealing?" and I had to turn it off and get up there with a little oil squirt bottle to oil it. But I suppose that memory could be a bit wrong, too.

 

[RedNeckGeek]

Really heavy smoke this morning.

Somebody needs to refill the hummer feeders...

Comparison wise, the Dixie Fire is pretty small potatoes compared to the 2018 Camp Fire.

That doesn't make the Dixie Fire any less dangerous, though. They're going all out trying to stop it, with almost 1200 firefighters and several of the Very Large Air Tankers, like this DC10, working on it.

 

[txdon]

Oh, I forgot to post our peek-a-boo friend on Whipper’s walk yesterday evening.

RNG, I also was thinking about safety harnesses.

Bird do you remember the brand name of your Windmill?

 

[Eric Salop]

Eric, glad the trespassers did not cause damage. Glad it was only air guns. I guess they would have to go to a shooting range to shoot? Or their own land?

Kyle, outdoor air rifle shooting is a popular sport here, with at least 3 different monthly magazines and 2 very active web sites. It is not too hard to find a "Field Target" club for people who do not have big enough gardens to shoot at home. The uninvited visitors were neither keen shots nor bad people, I just wish they had knocked on my door, explained who they were and asked if they could camp for a night and built up some trust before having any thoughts of shooting on someone else's property.

I know I am very lucky to be in the small minority of people who have their own land. It is something I will never take for granted and I am happy to freely share it with others occasionally, such as those who have asked to fish the pond, a couple who trained their gundog to do water retrieves, or a local birder who wanders far from the public footpath to see rarer birds. The one thing they all have in common is that they all asked nicely first.

I have said "no" to a couple of guys who wanted to come and shoot ducks and in more recent times, the local hunt who traditionally came over this land chasing foxes, although nowadays that is illegal so they follow artificial sent trails. For several years I got the sheep out of the way to allow them to pass through our fields on horseback, but in that time they never once asked if they could help in any way and twice made a mess of wet ground that I had asked them to keep away from. They did send me an invitation to their annual ball - not a freebie though as the letter also stated how much it would cost for the privilege of attending. Now my gates remain padlocked when the hunt are out and I have planted hawthorn where there was once a jump over to the neighbour's land.

 

[Eric Salop]

Another cloud free day here. At 28C/82F the heat would be nothing for many of you, for us it is more of a struggle, as we slowly learn to do nothing much except sit in the shade and watch buzzards soar high in the sky.

Actually I am surprised the buzzards and kestrels are able to fly today after gorging themselves yesterday on a banquet of voles served up by the hay cutting. We let Max out in the late afternoon but soon had to lock him indoors again as he just wouldn't stop sneaking away to gulp down yet more sun ripened de-capitated voles.

Don, I wouldn't fancy climbing that ladder, a sure sign I am admitting getting older. Will we see some aerial shots from the cherry picker at the next oil change ?

 

[RoyJackson]

Boy...for a forecast of "light rain" and "showers", it's coming down steady and a bit more then "light rain"

Looks great and I'm enjoying watching the rain fall...

 

[MoKelly]

Good morning all. Happy Sunday.

Hopes to be a great day. No rain, high temp 82F.

Church then brunch then a lazy day fiddling in the garden and enjoying the landscape.

This evening both boys will be over for dinner. Just some grilled hamburgers, mixed veggies, fries and pie.

Hope to eat on the screen porch this evening - should be wonderful.

Started “harvesting” lots of stuff from the garden - tomato’s, cucumbers, green and banana peppers, squash and eggplant. Like lots of folks on this site, we get so much we are giving baskets to family and friends.

Stay safe and healthy.

MoKelly

 

[toppop52]

84 now, they say 86 later but it may well be hotter. We got .71” of rain last night in a fairly brief thunderstorm.
It doesn’t seem we’re getting much benefit from the passage of the cold front, still very humid. We missed church this morning, we were dressed and ready but somehow let the time slip away it was about time for the service when my wife realized it.
Some friends stopped by later for a few minutes. Several do it’s today, then dinner with friends later.
Have a good day.

 

[Bird]

txdon wrote "Bird do you remember the brand name of your Windmill?"

No idea at all. I know it was there in 1942 and I'm pretty sure it was pre-1940.

 

[sodamo]

68°F and .8 inches rain.

Sophie’s Craftsman back running. Proved to be water in gas again. Tank fully drained. Changed the spark plugs as well. Didn’t pull the carb, just run it thru. Might be time to get some new gas cans.

Prayers for all
Be safe
Have a great day

 

[buckeyefarmer]

txdon said, "Most older windmill's manuals require oil change out once a year. They have been doing the yearly maintenance long before I got here."

I don't recall our windmill ever having an oil change. You don't suppose my memories from 65 years ago could be fading, do you? I do seem to recall it sometimes getting to "squealing?" and I had to turn it off and get up there with a little oil squirt bottle to oil it. But I suppose that memory could be a bit wrong, too.

I don’t think the one I looked at years ago had an oil gearbox, which is why it was worn out and they put up a new one.
This is the one that replaced the worn one.

 

[txdon]

Feeling OK...bit stuffy...
This COPD isn't going to get better...best can be done is control it. I'll be going to the doctor's this week and there are inhalers that help (wife's been on inhalers since her heart valve replacement...they're used as needed, not constantly).

I found this study interesting.

"120 COPD patients were randomized into two groups. Half were told to boost their fruit and vegetable consumption, and the other half stayed on their regular diet. The intervention group was told to eat at least one more serving a day of fruits or vegetables. And they did, and they did for three years. More fruit, and more vegetables, than control.

Here’s the control group. Slowly but surely, they got worse. That’s what happens in COPD (emphysema); you get worse, and worse, and then you die.

The group told to eat at least one more measly serving of fruits or vegetables every day started out the same, but didn’t get worse. One year, two years, three years. In fact, if anything, it looks like their lung function got a little better. That’s not supposed to happen; you’re supposed to get worse.

Could be the antioxidant effect of fruits and vegetables; could be the anti-inflammatory effect; or, frankly, it may not directly be the fruits and vegetables at all. When you eat more of one thing, you tend to eat less of another. For example, the addition of fruits and vegetables resulted in a decreased consumption of meat, which is known to be a pro-oxidant.

Either way, though, there is now hope. These findings suggest that a dietary shift to higher-antioxidant food intake may be associated with improvement in lung function. And, in this respect, dietary interventions might be considered in COPD management."

Treating COPD with Diet | NutritionFacts.org

Dietary interventions, including increasing fruit and vegetable intake and decreasing meat intake, may not only help slow the progression of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, but may actually improve lung function.

nutritionfacts.org