Bev: as Johnny Olson would say, "Come on down!" :-)
General Discussions 2009 - Chapter 28
LOLOL
I can't give any words of encouragement for this area. Sioux City is only interested in how much in taxes they can assess you , and the county is no better.
Kent if I were forty years younger, I'd say I'll be looking for your light.
Wow Kent, did you end up going back to finish your Civil Engineering degree?
I have wanted to go live in Germany since I was 18, I was going to study there, but then decided that an education in English would be more versatile and achievable for me. So once I started I had to pull it through before could go anywhere. And now after 5 years I'm almost finished, I cant quite believe it yet.
I had a look at Raleigh, sounds like a great city! If I do make it over the the US I will definitely check it out. Visiting NC has been on my to do list since I discovered the Cape Hatteras area on google earth, a very intriguing piece of coastline, with those long islands. We have nothing like it in NZ. I will probably go to Hamburg in Germany first, to reconnect with my family, improve my language skills, and get a good start on my career. They have a very well developed organic agricultural sector which might mean a suitable job for me. Then when I have saved enough I would love to visit the US. I have only been there once, a one night stopover in LA when I was 5, it hardly counts.
Its so exciting making all these plans, and so distracting! If I don't concentrate on my work for another two weeks I wont be going anywhere other than back to school to repeat these papers. Not so fun. I have given my written notice to terminate my tenancy in 3 weeks from now, so I better pass cos Ill have nowhere to live!
Lena, you better quit thinking about too many things here. You concentrate on your studies for now. That is the main thing right now.
Jeanette
Russ: hey, big guy. I've been offline for a couple of days. Swamped at work. Yard work. Getting about a dozen 70 yr old pines removed from my yard. Tired of picking up pine cones, etc.
Lena: nope, didn't finish my CE degree. Tried to after 4 yrs with USN, but by then I'd "forgotten" all the material and was way behind the learning curve. I did earn a BS degree while in service, but not engineering.
NC is a great state. From the coast to the Blue Ridge Mtns, it's a diverse and beautiful state.
Here's a link to one of my favorite places to visit in the Asheville, NC, area, the Biltmore Estate. Largest private residence in the USA:
http://www.biltmore.com/landing/09_xmas_family.asp?CMP=KNC-Google&HBX_PK=biltmore+house&HBX_OU=50&ef_id=1526:3:s_b062289e6abaf219f2c65cc898d3fb75_4833021916:SupcA0o-KSIAADB-e5sAAALA:20091030032243
Just another shameless plug for the Tarheel State!
Kent; I would invite you up to pick up walnuts but I think that would fall on deaf ears. lol
I have my shade garden in the corner, under a pine tree, I don't mind the cones as much as the fallen needles among all the different flowers. That is something that I failed to give any thought to when I started that garden.
I may have to cut the limbs that hang over my side of the fence.
Russ: I love picking up walnuts......the ones that have been shelled and bagged!! LOL
LOL, I have never done it, but understand it truly is a hard dirty job. My sister and BIL actually cut down their tree so they wouldn't be doing that any more. Used to get them for Christmas. /Also, I understand that nothing will grow near one of those trees.
Jeanette; It isn't exactly true that nothing will grow there but it comes pretty close.
I grow hostas there along with elephant ear caladiums. Sedums will also grow there and of course grass. I looked up the list once and it is amazing what will and what won't.
It is not easy to get the meats out in good sized bits. If you have to shell the husks off. That is a dirty job, your hands will get black. I have used Go-Jo with some success but most of the black will just have to wear off. Now I'm not certain on the country but they do make a liquor from the juice of the husks. The thought of that automatically makes me think YUCK.
I have also found that if you want night crawlers to come up so you can pick some up for fishing, just soak some husks in several buckets. Dump the juice on a small area of ground and water it in thoroughly They will come up even in the daylight.
Anyway black walnut meats are sometimes hard to find in stores. They charge a lot for shelling, so when they are available, you can only get a very small bag for your money.
Being retired, I don't mind cracking a few for fudge and or cookies or even a cake. It is way harder than an English walnut or a pecan or even a Brazil nut.
Well, I found a source for wheat straw for my strawbale garden. The bales are $4.00 each, but they do not deliver and I can't haul more than 2 at a time in my car. I want to get about 20 bales. The dealer said he would talk to one of his employees who has a truck and see if he would consider delivering 20 bales. Hope he does not want to much to delivery for me.
Mary
Well that would be nice Mary. How far would he have to go?
Jeanette
a 10 to 15 minute drive. I was in the area today and timed myself back home.
Mary
Well, I don't see why he should charge you much for that!! Jeanette
I hope not. Will let you know.
Mary
Two years ago I brought about 20 bales home, 2 at a time, in the back of my friends car! The were a ten minute drive away. Getting them delivered wasn't an option unfortunately, I hope it works out better for you.
Thankful that I have a pickup.
A number of years ago, we bought a refrigerator, we brought it home in a Vega. lol Believe it or not the hatch did close.
I wouldn't think he should charge much but then he could have a gas guzzler for a pickup. snicker snicker
Thanks alot randbponder. If I have to I'll pick the straw up in my car, two bales at a time. But hoping I can get the guy to haul it all in one load.
Mary
From the Prayer Request thread:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1053850/
Merry Christmas to all my DG friends!
Rainy and windy here, but enjoying the Holidays none the less.
Hi Kent~~~~~ About now I'd trade about a week of that wind and rain for this wind and deep snow.
Just went down in the back yard to feed the goats. I had to walk twice as far as usual, the drifts were too deep to get through. I had my knee boots on but guess I should have had waders. I may have to dig a path.
All of our family are staying home that is with the exception of our youngest daughter. She headed out before it really got nasty. It took her a little over 2 hours to go 35 miles. all county roads. So she is at one of her girls place for the duration of this blizzard. It should let up by Sunday. but then the weather man is saying there is another one building up and heading this way.
I'd be happy to help you take care of clearing your drive way, if you would come here and help with mine. Just being neighborly ya know! lol
Russ.
PS Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Russ: dang, big guy!
Nothing like that here.
Just wet and breezy and 56 at the moment.
Got a house full of folks and it got plum hot preparing supper for them. Had to open the front door to get some air in the house and cool it off some.
Our worst weather usually comes in the form of freezing rain that takes out the power, but we've even dodged that bullet for some time now.
Hope you get a break soon.
I've never been to Iowa, but did spend a winter in Omaha at SAC HQ once.
Reported the weekend in that a white out blizzard came in. About minus 30 windchill.
Glad I was reporting to Pearl Harbor after that!!!
Catch you again, soon.
Kent
SAC is just under 100mi south of here but that is the difference between being able to grow peaches and some other things like that, and not. The wind chills do get nasty here.
Guess we will wait for the house full for the middle of next month. We will celebrate our 50 years together, Christmas and New Years, all at the same time. That is if we aren't snowed in again.
It had let up for a while but it's a complete white out again, This one means to dump on us with everything it has. Thankfully no power outage here yet.
Well, do have a very merry Christmas.
10-4 on keeping the power on. That makes things a lot rougher, for sure, until the power company can get things back on line.
TTYL
Hi you all, sure sorry to hear you got that storm Russ. I am surprised you still have your computer connection. Are you on dsl, broadband, satillite, or dial up? With me that would be the first to go.
Anyway, it is nice that you and Barb get along so well. How is the eye and head? Do you have to have any more surgeries? Did your eyesight straighten out?
Good to hear from you all and very envious of your warm weather Kent. Our highs re in the mid teens. Been like this for a month or so now. Not good on the old electric bill. Yes, we use wood too.
Keep those goats fed and warm Russ. Didn't you say one or two of them were going to have little kids? Take care of them.
And yourselves. Stay out of the snow drifts. Nothing out there is worth getting lost in them.
Have a wonderful new year everyone. Christmas is about over and hope you all had a good warm one.
Jeanette
Jeanette; Well, I still have the double vision when I look down.
Looking straight and level, I am ok. But to read I would either have to raise my glasses up to use the bifocals or use a pair of prescription reading glasses. I am willing to just let things be, although it would be nice to not have that problem. My head, yeah I still have problems. It is a constant pressure ache, that I'm learning to ignore. But I do tire more easily.
I got a good work out this morning. I had to shovel a path through 2 snow drifts to get to the greenhouse where I have the feed, then another to get to the goat shed and their pen. It was kind of fun watching them trying to get around in the deep snow.
I'm not going to even try to clear the driveway yet. It's supposed to continue snowing all day yet, then taper off Sunday morning sometime.
The wind has died down though and I do appreciate that, at we can see further and the snow don't bite when it hits your face.
I have seen a few trucks go by so the road must be partly cleared.
Would like to get out to go to church tomorrow, but if I don't, it's okay.
We have had worse blizzards here but I don't think they were advertised
as much. Must have been more common then and weren't news worthy
then.
We filled the ol propane tank just before this hit, so we are in good shape for heat. With that wind though, the furnace was running almost constant. Right now hardly any wind and it's +24. Not too bad.
Russ
Well had to shovel my way back to feed the girls again this morning.
Thankfully the blizzard is over. My driveway has been scooped out. A friend and his skid loader cleared it for me. The roads are snow packed and very slick but passable. Go slow and no quick starts or stops.
If I were real artistic I could carve my mountain of snow into a castle or something like that, though I don't know where I would put the snow I carved away. lol
I hope that everyone that was hit with this blizzard are just as fortunate.
That is really nice to have good friends that cleaqr the driveway Russ. Were you able to go to church this morning? Hope so, it gets to be a long winter when you are stuck in the house all the time.
Remember when we were kids my dad helped us make an igloo. He rolled big snowballs and stacked them up. He was over 6 feet tall and he could stand up in it so it was pretty big. Thought we would have it all summer.
I don't think I would try carving one. They could cave in on you. Would Barb be able to find you and dig you out? Lol, not very funny when you think about it.
Be careful. You know what happens when you are careless. Jeanette
No several of the members including our pastor were still snowed in.
The County hadn't got to the secondary roads yet. My son in law's Dad cleared 3'4 of a mile so he could get out. They are the only farm on that section of road.
We did get out of the house though. We drove to the town just 10 miles north, just to get out and also pick up a S paper, also wanted to get another view besides our snow drifts and white mountain,that is big enough to make a castle.
I think Barb would be right there with a broom and I don't mean dusting the snow off either. LOL
It looked like where there was still corn still in the fields that is where most of the snow stayed, at least that is where the road had the least snow.
In those areas you could even see parts of the center line. We met one plow, he was clearing some of the shoulder and putting down sand at intersections and bridges.
Oh and we only went 35 to 40 mph, depending on how bumpy the snow pack was. kind of like driving across a frozen lake only bumpier. lol
I don't do that anymore, but I still see a lot of cars and pickups out on the lakes," Ice fishing ".
LOL, I remember ice fishing when I was a kid. They had little huts that we sat in with heaters even. Amazing. They pulled those things out on the ice with vehicles. Last year a pickup went thru the ice on that same lake. Guess a couple of guys in a bar decided they could drive clear across the lake. Didn't make it.
Weather is nothing to mess with. No snow caves Russ. Glad you did get out to see a view of other things tho. Do that when you can without taking any chances. Even if it is just to get a S paper. After a while you think that stuff will be around until June.
It truly is nice getting this far in the year without snow. I drove over to my sisters today and saw that other people do have some that is left from 2 weeks ago also. It has just been too cold to melt. The ground is really frozen.
Hi all,
Well we aren't going to get by without snow this winter. It is snowing here in the Willamette valley floor. We are just 300 feet above sea level here so snow is not
common. If we can make it until February more than likely we won't have snow.
It has been snowing for 2 or 3 hours and I see about 2 1/2" on the tops of the cars.
I don't more than stick my nose out the door or walk on to the porch when it snows.
You should see the STUPID come out in people. I just stay in the house and let the
snow fall where it may. We have too many California transplants here that have
spent the good money for the SUV, which means 4 wheel drive. Well, I can go
anywhere. The problem they don't stop any better than a 2 wheeler.
The cost of body and fender repairs makes me stay at home.
Oh, By the way, our furnace decided to quit Christmas Eve. Here it is Tuesday and
I still haven't been able to get a furnace man out to look at it. We are staying warm with portable "Electric" heaters.
I do want to caution any that might find themselves in my predicament, don't use any type of Gas Heater in the house. It will kill you.
Happy New Year All.
lonejack: great day, fella, we need to get a service guy to your house!!
That's why I love my gas logs, gas stove, and gas wall heater, and generator.
Hurricane Fran in 9/96 killed our power for over a week. I was determined to not let that happen again.
Hope your next report is better!
Russ: are you doing better?
You know Kent, when we did that, got a generator and had a transfer switch put in etc. after the power went out for 5 days during the holidays, the power hasn't been out since. Been about 4 years now. Lose it for an hour or so once in a while but that is all.
Figure every one in the county should pay for that generator and switch. Crap, Bob doesn't even buy gas for it any more. Maybe Kent had proper ventilation Lone Jack.
You guys must be getting our snow. We had over 60 inches this time last year and we now have about a quarter inch. Suppose to get some tonight but it is suppose to warm up so it will melt. I doubt that tho. The ground is frozen hard.
I brought a rose bush in the house that I didn't get planted and it has a dozen buds on it.
Jeanette
Jeanette: that's about right. Not many outages since Fran, but I have more peace of mind knowing I'm a little more prepared.
Kind of like insurance.
I like the old saying, "I stay ready, to keep from getting ready."
Kent; I didn't get a generator. but I did add a furnace that don't need electricity to work. It will keep two rooms warm. I do have a portable welder that can supply 115 V DC , 120 AC or 220 AC. But don't have a switching device. I can run a cord and run lights and small appliances.
Haven't run it lately, guess I should check it out in case we need it again.
Am I doing better? It's really hard to tell. My head feels numb where the damage was the worst. I have like an annoying ache, that I just put up with.
I mentioned that to our family Dr. and he more less thought it was post-trauma. I'm thinking that nearly 10 months is a little long for that. I plan to push it little more my next visit. see about another CT scan, or an MRA. It's not enough of a problem that I let it interfere with what I want to do but it is there and lets me know if I'm pushing a little much.
Loanjack; I had ice cover the intake pipe once and that stopped the furnace cold. If either the air intake or the exhaust are restricted ours will shut down, it is a high efficiency one. I felt rather foolish when a repair man only had to clean out a bird nest from the flue. I now have a screen over it. lol
Hi all,
The snow is melting and the temp is over 40.
Here is a picture that shows why I don't go out in this weather. The Willamette
River has 7 bridges and I don't know how many overpasses and freeway
approaches that get too slick to stand on. The snow we get is very wet and
packs to a slick glaze in no time. Mix that with STUPID and you have a real
circus.
randbponder great call. Last summer we had a neighbor call and said that we
had a raccoon lounging in our chimney. Maybe it left something in the furnace
chimney. I have a double chimney, one fire place, which is not usable and
one for the furnace. I'm not going to climb up there and see because my
bride and daughters would kill me, since I got so sick, they sure keep a watch
on me. You would think I was getting old or something.
Lonejack; I seem to have that same problem now, since I got knocked in the head with a tire and wheel and suffered a fractured skull and spent time with a surgeon. I do believe the Lord wanted me to stick around a while longer. But yes my lovely bride of 50 years and the girls are getting pretty bossy, with my activities.
But I know they do care for me and want me to be around a while longer too.
Hang in there, it's not a good time to need a repair man right now but I'm sure he will eventually get there. Glad your temps. get up into the 40s.
Yesterday the day started at -9 today started with 9. and got up to 18.
Ah but there is only 1 day left of this year and I can start the count down to spring.
Russ
Wow LJ, what a mess!!!
You know they have those metal flex pipes that are for chimneys. They could put one of those down and give you another working chimney. And maybe clean out whatever the little bandit left you in the meantime. LOL
I had a chimney cleaner come out to do my chimneys about 4 years ago. He put his equipment down there and all of the big clay tiles came tumbling down. I was sitting on the main floor and heard them breaking all the way down. Bob had to clean out the mess. My brother in law put a bypass into the other chimney, but now I am sorry I didn't have him put one of those in instead.
I imagine when they built the house they didn't put anything between the tiles to fasten them, glue, them together. Probably cement or something????
Jeanette.
Russ, if you are getting what we have had for the last month or more, it will be around for another week or 2.
Jeanette
Yeah Jeanette; that is kind of what they are predicting.
Every so often we get a January thaw. Really just enough to melt some of the snow and make it greasy on the surface of the garden. Not really a thaw. But I appreciate any warm up. I don't need to mess with the garden just yet. However early this coming spring, I plan to stretch some black plastic over where I want my sweet potatoes. Get that area to warm up earlier. Also I'm going to make sure to cover between the rows with paper. Don't need to fight those weeds. Needless to say a bunch of the weeds went to seed last summer. My work is cut out for me, Right??