Monday, November 9, 2009
Sunny clear skies, but cold, it was 13 degrees at 9:30 this morning and the low was 10.2 earlier. NWS is predicting snowstorms starting tomorrow and last through the week, so I’d better get outside and get some more firewood and finish up a few things as I may not see another day this nice for a while.
At the end of the day, I had split and stacked all the sectioned tree I had cut up last week. It was cold and by the time the sun ducked behind the mountain, I was ready for some warmth from the fire, so after one more playtime with Zack, we came in. I fed the crew and sat down with my V-8 juice to warm up before showering and having dinner.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
The sky is clear and the morning is cold, with a low of 21 degrees. At least the wind has died down and if the sun warms things up, it will be nice to work outside.
I spoke too soon, before I could change into my work clothes and get outside, the wind picked up again, gusting to 28 mph. Even in the sunlight, the wind drove the cold through my jacket and made my nose constantly run, but I managed to finish my work.
I bucked the downed tree from last week and cut it into two sections so I could drag it to the cabin with the Argo. I then proceeded to cut down four more trees, buck all of them, cut them in two pieces and drag them to the cabin. One tree was too big and heavy, so I ended up cutting it into three sections. By the time I got the last section to the cabin, I was too tired and cold to continue, plus I have a rule of not operating the chain saw, or any dangerous equipment, when I am tired, so even though it was only 3 PM, I quit for the day and put things away.
After parking the Argo, I came in, built up the fire and sat down with my V-8 to relax for a bit. Wood chips had gotten down the back of my shirt, so I stripped and showered, enjoying a nice hot shower. I played outside with Zack briefly and then fixed some dinner and relaxed in front of the fire and television.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009 Veteran’s Day
Today is the day that every American should be thanking all of the men and women that have or are serving to preserve our way of life. Agree or disagree with war or our current situation, but remember that those men and women are serving us and following directions whether they agree or disagree with them. Thank a veteran today; my sister thanked me.
It is overcast and threatening this morning, with NWS predicting a 60% chance of a snowstorm. They are predicting snow for the entire week and through the weekend, with high temperatures never getting above 28 degrees. Right now it is 37.5 degrees at noon and the wind is starting to pick up, but no rain or snow as of yet.
It is now evening and no sooner had I wrote the above and it started to snow. At first the flakes were large and floated through the air searching for a place to land, and then they came faster and faster until the ground was covered with them.
Due to the snow, I found things to do inside and spent the day in front of the fire watching it snow. Zack and I played inside and a couple of times outside, while Zoey and Rusty watched through the windows. Rusty seems all well now and I finished the last dose of medicine tonight. He loves to play in the water dish, so I have restricted him to having a very small amount in a heavy bowl that he can’t tip over. I wash his feet two or three times a day to get all the caked-on cat litter off, but it is an ongoing process.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
It is still snowing lightly and has accumulated; covering the trees I pulled to the cabin on Tuesday. NWS is predicting snow through Saturday night, with some sun on Sunday, so Joe and Michele may be up to help split and stack wood.
I finally got a return email from La Crosse, which is the company that made my weather station. I had written to them last week to see if I could just buy the wind indicator and not have to buy a whole new weather station. They told me that while they didn’t sale directly to the public, I should check with Great Big Outlet, as they handle the company’s entire surplus, discontinued and blemished products, so I did. It turned out that they had the indoor receiving unit, but not the sending units. I did find a replacement wind sensor that would work, but it was $32.75, whereas, I could buy an entire weather station, that was a discontinued model, for $42.75, so I opted for that.
I do have the old weather station sending good data on outside high and low temperature, and wind speed, so I can use it as a back up to the new unit. The new unit has some differences, but I think I’ll be able to learn those differences without a problem.
I have spent the day inside, due to the snow, and organized papers and paid some bills, while keeping warm and cozy. Zack hasn’t even bugged me to play and he and Zoey are napping in front of the fire, while Rusty naps on the chair next to me.
It has just stopped snowing, so I’ll ask Zack if he’d like to go out and play and I’m pretty sure I know what his answer will be.
The afternoon cleared up and the sun even came out, but it still only got to 31 degrees, so I stayed indoors and kept the fire going. I did a lot of computer work, nothing important, just this and that. Zack and I played inside and out several times and when I went out to start the generator, I broke off a rather large icicle and threw it for him to chase. When he picked it up, it shattered and then he proceeded to dig in the snow looking for it.
Rusty is behaving like a normal kitten, well as normal as he can be, and playful, especially in the water dishes. After he pulled over the big self-filling water container, I spent a lot of time mopping and cleaning up the mess, then bathing him to remove the litter. I am glad he likes taking a bath, but hope he gets over the playing in his water dish.
As of right now, I plan to make a trip into town tomorrow for a few items, including returning the incorrect chain for my 18” chain saw. I picked up the wrong one and although it is for an 18” Husvarna, it won’t fit mine. I will also drop off a couple of chains to be sharpened professionally. It is worth the small fee they charge to have them done correctly and it is time consuming for me to do them. I may also have my new weather station as UPS tracking is telling me it should be delivered tomorrow.
I shall feed my zoo and then shower and have some dinner before relaxing for the evening.
Friday, November 13, 2001
It didn’t occur to me that today was Friday the thirteenth until I typed it. I am not superstitious but all the same, driving to town on the snow I do have can be troublesome.
The weather is cold (0.3 degrees) and NWS still predicts snow, but it is just a very few flakes blowing by and the sky overhead is perfectly clear and bright blue. I hope the snowstorms hold off until just before Christmas and that way I can still drive all of the way in and out to town.
Zack and I made the trip to town and we stopped at Murrdoch’s to replace the wrong chain for my 18” chain saw. Marc, the manager, simply gave me the correct one without even caring to see my receipt, so we next stopped at Ace Hardware and I bought a couple of tarps to replace the ones the wind storm tore up. I visited with Steve, one of the managers, for a short while and discovered that they carry the vinyl snow fences and he said that due to living in the mountains, he installed some where the snow drifts across his driveway and always blocks the road. I told him about the two or three spots where the snowdrifts fill in my road, making it difficult to pass in the Argo. The snow fence comes in 4’ x 50’ rolls for $30.00, so I may try it this winter and see if it will help make it safer in the drift areas.
We then stopped to pick up my mail and the new weather station had been delivered. I also had a lot of mail, but mostly junk mail. I drove to Safeway, got a few items and picked up a prescription, and then filled three 5-gallon gas cans and we headed for home.
I stopped at the motor home to get the tow bar, as I will need to tow the Jeep down to Marysville before the next heavy storm. It was 28 degrees outside and I had trouble getting the lock and electrical line off, so my hands were almost frozen. I finally got tools out of the Jeep to help remove them and managed to get it off and put it in the Jeep.
We didn’t arrive home until after sunset and it got dark fast. I unloaded the car and then played with Zack for a few minutes before putting the groceries away. I built a nice fire, had my V-8 juice drink and then opened my mail. Upon completely that, I fixed myself a very nice T-bone steak and made a fresh spinach salad. I also sautéed some fresh mushrooms and had all of it with a nice glass of red wine. It was delicious and as good as the steak dinner Michele, Joe and I had last Sunday.
A shower and some television before bedtime rounded out the day.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
It doesn’t seem as cold this morning, but it is only 14 degrees at 9:30 and the low was 9.6 overnight. The sky is mainly clear and the sun is shining, so I am hoping it will melt some of the snow on the ground and make tomorrow a nice day to work outside.
I spent the majority of the day doing several loads of wash, cleaning the kitchen, playing with Zack, Zoey and Rusty, working on the computer and watching television in front of the fire.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
It is clear but cold this morning with a low of 13 degrees. There is a slight breeze, but I am hoping that it doesn’t build, as I’d like to cut more firewood today.
My friends Joe and Michele were planning on coming up today to help me split and stack firewood, but Michele’s car broke down and they have to go car shopping. It’s just as well because the wind picked up here and while the temperature, in the direct sun, was 29, the wind chill factor made it 5 degrees.
Before I discovered just how cold it was outside, I donned my work clothes and heavy work jacket and went out to tackle the job. By the time I put the new chain on the chain saw and gassed it up, my fingers were tingling and burning. When I was in the service, my nose, ears, fingers and toes were slightly frostbitten, so they are the first to react to the cold. I cut part of a tree and had to go inside to warm up. After cutting the entire tree into sections, I took another warm up and then stacked the sections next to the log splitter, so they don’t freeze to the ground. By this time, I decided I should wait for a warmer day to continue, and stopped working.
I spent the remainder of the afternoon setting up my new weather station. While it is similar to my old one, it required reading the directions twice to set all the proper settings. I finally have it up and working and really like that it shows some different things than my old one, like the indoor temperature AND humidity with a little happy/unhappy face if the humidity isn’t high enough. Having dry itchy skin is probably due to the low humidity when I have the wood stove going all day. The humidity was only 32% when I finally set up the unit and 45% to 64% is considered the normal range. Because of this, I have been running the humidifier to help adjust the humidity.
This unit also has a moon phase display, showing the moon phase for the day with an image. One feature I really like is the wind gauge. It not only gives the wind speed, but it shows the highest gust, plus it has the Beaufort scale, showing the top wind speed from 0 to 12 in strength. My old unit only showed the max wind speed if I pushed the buttons while this new unit displays all of the information all of the time. This weather station doesn’t show the wind direction, but then that usually doesn’t change at my location, so I can just look at the trees outside and see the direction it is coming from.
I am still reading all of the information on how to get the high and low, with the date and time, so I can keep a record. I am very pleased with the new station and you can’t beat the price ($42.88 + 12.33 S/H) for a unit that is usually $159.95). The blemish, which is an almost unperceivable little mark on the plastic face, is why it was sent to La Crosse’s discount distributor, Great Big Outlet. If you, like me, are interested in keeping track of your weather, I highly recommend going to the outlet store and finding a weather station that fits your needs.
Bad news about Rusty, he seems to be coming down with the infection again. He has been acting like a kitten up until this afternoon and then he became listless; with rapid swallow breathing, drooling, a slight temperature and signs of some dehydration. I have been forcing water by using a syringe but he resists it to the point that most of it runs out and down his chin. I will monitor him through the night and call the vet in the morning to see if I can get him started on the antibiotics before it gets too bad.
