Crazy Spring - Covid, Power, and a Fire...

Crazy Spring - Covid-19, Power, and a Fire...

Covid 19 stuck my place of work on Wednesday, a worker tested positive for the virus, (I am working from home the last couple of weeks)  the plant is now shut down for 4 days now to deep clean the facility before anyone can go back to the plant.  Hopefully no more employees will be impacted by the event.  I sent my guys home for the remainder of the week, they can work from home.  We'll see what next week brings.

Rose and I were talking about a generator I was thinking about for the Camper, a unit smaller than the 6000/7000 watt unit we have for the house earlier today.  The 3500 watt unit would run the camper with ease, had electric start and was remote controlled.

Then we're sitting in the living room a couple hours later watching the news and without warning the house power goes out.  It was 6pm Wednesday night, within 20 minutes Eversource called and texted us to let us know they were aware we had no power.  Initially the messages said that by 7:15pm we'd have power back, we decided around 7pm to get the generator running just in case. It was a good thing we did, a little while later they said we wouldn't have power until after 9:30pm, then they pushed it out to 4:40AM due to downed trees they said.  Our generator will run about 10 hours on a tank on a medium load plugged in, so we should be all set until power is restored I thought.  We have to have the generator to power the fridge, freezers, etc. as we lose power a couple times per year, overnight generally, and one year for 10 days before we had power  restored.

Oddly enough after the power went out we went for a drive it smelled like someone was burning brush, thought it was our neighbor who frequently has his firepit going, a large ash fell by me as I walked out the door, Rose stepped on it as it hit the ground just in case. Rose thought maybe it was a house fire, I said it smelled like burning brush or a firepit. We thought nothing more about it until later.

Rose went out with the dogs for their last run of the evening about 8pm, I heard her talking to someone out front, turns out it was a fireman asking if we called the fire dept. No "we didn't", he said he was looking for Simon Farms Rd., that is our neighbor up the road Tony's place.  firetrucks and police cars were now driving by, flashing lights lit up the house in red and blue.  They all pulled up to Tony's house. appears it was a chimney fire they brought a ladder truck up.  We couldn't really go up there as its a one lane road that only services his house.  

Power came back on a 5AM this morning I'd turned the bedroom light switch on before I turned in so I'd know when the power was restored.  I threw on my slippers, and robe and went downstairs, opened the back door to go out and shut off the Generator and low and behold 1/2" of snow had fallen...  I shut down the generator, and proceeded to plug the Fridge and Freezer back into the wall outlets.  We don't have a generator disconnect so we power the house when needed with some extension cords, it works fine.

What a crazy night I thought as I poured a cup of coffee.

EASTER SUNDAY

Happy Easter

It'll be an odd Easter this year, churches are shuttered, family distant and holed up. Oddly quiet on the roadways, few cars driving by. Rose picked up a small spiral ham and my fav scalloped potatoes that will be great for dinner.

The governor of Maine concluded, "friendly magical creatures" including the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy are essential workers and may continue traveling throughout the state.  Whew, and I was worried...

Spring chores are in full swing now, fields getting mowed, getting ahead of all the puckerbrush and raspberries, they grow up so fast along with all the wild roses, and the nasty vines, poison ivy, and poison sumac. The birds spread the seeds of several pain in the ass vines around here, Bittersweet the worst of them can be seen climbing 20-30 feet up trees choking them out, we cut the vines where we see them at the base.

Back side of the brush pile... Freshly mowed and ready to grow, (Needs a cow)... lots of milkweed fluff the birds will be picking up for nesting.

Zebulon is getting big.  He's enjoying the good weather, and shedding his weight in fur weekly

The greenhouse before, falling down and being overtaken by brambles

The remains of the Greenhouse, benches, etc. Time to go to the dump.

We picked up and moved a bunch of bricks, Rose figures $1000 worth of bricks that we'd piled in several places over the years.

Several dead trees fell down over the winter, these all needed to be cut up and put into the burn pile. My Stihl chainsaw I picked up two years ago is still running great, it does need a good sharpening, maybe later today I'll take a file to the chain and get her ready for the next big thing.

Rose is happy, Easter Sunday her barn swallows arrived, she saw a lone scout that usually arrives a couple days before the main group of them, they normally arrive April 8th - 12th.  I was surprised to see a bluebird up in a tree in the field yesterday.  We have several birdhouses to repair and rehang before mating season starts up shortly. 

We lost a big elm by the driveway we'll have to get a tree service in to take it out, seemed healthy right through June last summer then the leaves started falling off and today most of the bark is missing and branches frequently fall in the driveway, we won't park there anymore due to the trees rapid decay.

COVID 19 continues to run rampant throughout the area, we're pretty much hunkered down at the house now. The new normal... it's funny I used to complain about long lines INSIDE the grocery store... this is the grocery store in Bedford.  

Hannaford in Bedford

I'm hearing about farm feed shortages, probably a good time to buy a heifer, oh and garden seeds being in short supply in some areas, seed suppliers have orders at 800% of normal, lots of scared or very bored folks out there. I do think we'll put in a garden this year.

Yard work, & Covid 19

Second Week in April 

Rumor has it the sun may come out, that'd be nice.  Dogs are going stir crazy being cooped up in the house, we are still squarely in the midst of mud season here.

Yard work is tougher the older you get, and it seems to take longer every year to get to the point it no longer hurts to do yard work.  Rose and I re-stacked and cut up a bunch of the Apple wood from several apple trees that came down a few years ago. We hang onto this apple for camping as it burns for a long time doesn't pop and crack like pine and it smells great when burning.

Managed to get the lawn tractor started up, unfortunately the DR Field and brush mower needs a new battery, I think I made a mistake when I bought this one, there is no pull start on this 14.5 HP mower only electric start so if the battery is dead, you can't use it. I'll have to get a battery on order...

We took down the old greenhouse frame, the area looks nice now.

Snow's all gone, seems like just a week ago we had 8+" on the ground.

Called Mom to wish her a happy B'day and see how they were doing, they're itching to get out of the house... 

I read an article from a Wuhan China survivor who was talking about being prepared to shelter at home for 4 months. This'll get ugly if that's the case.


They're saying stay away from the grocery and pharmacy over the next couple of weeks when we're expected to peak around here.  NH has 819 Covid 19 cases active, while Mass has 18,941 as of this morning...

T Shirts I want to produce...

• Out on an abundance of caution!
• Flatten the curve!

 Stay safe, now go wash your hands...

Early Spring Mud season and more

Early Spring in New Hampshire

We're doing our best here with Mud Season in full swing, we have three dogs that just love digging and splashing in any puddles they can find or make themselves.  They'll come in the house and shake that mud all over everything. I'm sure I'll have to get couple yards of loam just to fill in the holes they've dug in the yard.

Although Spring officially started just a couple days ago on March 19th, The Robins came in on Friday the 20th, we had 20 or so patrolling the field in the morning.  We'd heard them, but this is the first we'd seen them in large groups.  No worm droppings showing up in the front yard yet, probably still a little cold underground but we're close.

With the buds on the Maples opening in Manchester and the Pussy Willow buds opening here in New Boston, I'm thinking about going fishing already.  Time to get the rods ready and the boat out of the field from under the covers.

They've been talking about early spring, and from what I'm seeing they are right.  What little snow 1" or so we got on Thursday was gone the next day as we hit 66 degrees F.  The piles in the yard from the snow plow are almost gone. Rose has already commenced in clearing the garden beds & deadheading everywhere they're not snow covered.

The COVID-19 pandemic...
Still spreading like wildfire, 56 in New Hampshire as of this writing. I'm still working as of this posting, many states are telling folks to shelter in place shuttering all non-essential businesses (Essential workers Hospitals, Fire, Police, supermarkets, pharmacies, etc. will stay open).  CA, NY, IL, have all given the order to shelter in place.

Coworker asked me if we'd seen any ticks yet, and although I heard on the news that ticks were out already I hadn't seen any yet on us, or the dogs and we've been walking the fields.  So Zebulon came in today and I saw something on his cheek, sure enough it was a tick, looking further another tick on the top of his head, and so it began, tick checks on all the dogs.  Hannah was next and sure enough she had one on the top of her head too.  One by one we tweezered them off the dogs they don't seem to mind much we tell them about the "bad buggy" and show them the tick(s) when we remove them. All of the dogs  rec'd their Lyme shots over the last few weeks. Though VERY EARLY this year we'll start Flea and Tick meds for the dogs that normally commences around April 10th when the tree swallows come in, we're trying a chewable "Nexgard" our Vet recommended over the Frontline Plus+ we normally use. I think I have a bag of the Ortho BUG B Gone granules left over from last year we'll put it down tomorrow, that stuff works wonders at keeping the ticks at bay here on the farm, we put on all the areas that we walk, and everywhere the dogs can get to as well and it pretty much stops them dead for 3 months or so.


Stay Healthy!

Spring 2020 is here

SPRING IS HERE!

Daylight Savings time today 3/8/2020 Spring Ahead!

The birds are gathering, the sparrows are fighting, the Red Winged Blackbirds have arrived.  Rosie heard the Woodcock twitter as they flew by, and last night 3/7 the classic "Reeep" calls out in the field, we look forward to hearing them this early in the year. While we haven't seen it yet this dance is pretty funny you have to admit. We've been seeing ducks flying all winter long, I don't think the larger rivers ever froze over completely.

The fields are clear, everything is a dull brown, we noticed a couple bird houses that blew down over the winter we'll have to patch up and rehang. There are some daffodils poking through the mulch up along the house foundation about 3" or so, the crocuses are just popping out of the ground.  We're hoping the dogs don't get to them before they can flower.  

It's officially Mud season here in NH, the dogs track it everywhere. We have a dirt (Mud) racetrack around the house mostly from Hanna zooming around, she's a champion zoom-er, with Zeb following closely behind. It's funny she looks downright petite compared to Zeb who's growing rapidly. Zebulon busies himself by pulling entire rose bushes out of the ground then proudly strutting around the yard with his catch!  

Zebulon "Zeb"

Zebulon with Hannah behind him

There's a few patches of snow left in the fields. Our pussy willows are out, this year's buds have a pink hue to them we never noticed before. Rose and I gathered a bunch for the house.

We have a bunch of things to do today, seemingly endless things to do...
Pulling the boat out, changing the house water filter, cutting some boards for the camper bunk beds, we may pick up a straw bale to help with the mud pit of a lawn.  

Rose has been sewing up a storm making curtains and cushion covers for the couch and beds.  Her sewing machine crapped out, that's the 3rd Singer that's gone belly up over the years, we've picked up a Elna machine, Swiss design, a brand recommended by a local shop Levesque's Sewing Machine & Vacuum in Hooksett, NH. We found out Dennis the owner is actually a neighbor that lives just up the street from us in Weare, NH. 

Watching the Corona Virus totals go up daily, impacts to manufacturing could be epic, time will tell, the Johns Hopkins Corona-virus Map is starting to look bad for the US with 436 cases now.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas

  

I hope you and yours have the best Christmas! 

Hannah is doing much better since her spay a couple weeks back, she has her "Cone of Shame" off now, and has had a bath! Hannah our drool queen with her slobber.

 Here she is trying to eat with her cone on, nobody is getting to her food!

The family is doing well, the dogs on the other hand are passing something back and forth, even Zeb is off his feed this week.

Merry Christmas to All and Happy New Year!

 

SNOW!

Our first real Winter Storm is headed our way, a cool 21 degrees this morning, smells like snow out. Up to a foot of snow is predicted, timing is good Sunday into Monday. We're ready for it, Sand barrels are out along the walks, shovels are all out, and the scrapers are ready in both cars.  Now with any luck we won't lose power and have to fire up the generator. We're ready for it though!

Pic via the Weather Channel

Thanksgiving was great, Turkey Soup will get made today, we couple of saved turkey leg quarters in the fridge to make a pot of soup for this winter.
 
Black Friday was a bust, no craziness for us... we went out with the grand kids to Ollie's for the best Loaded Nachos (James thought the Jalapeno he ate was a little on the hot side) and a Pizza, then over to Hobby Lobby to pick out their traditional Christmas ornament.


Frosty Morning Does

I Love You!  Every morning Zeb talks to Rosie

 That's all for now!

The Deer in August

The Does this year are looking good.  A little on the thin side.

Pups on the fence

Pups on the fence


The two Pups are getting big, Hannah is now 15 months old,  this picture is Zebulon two weeks ago just before he went on the Petsafe fence.  He's trained to the fence now, we still watch him but he has free reign of the yard now.

Rose helped train Zeb on the new fence, Rose pointing out the "BAD" flags that designate the borders of his wireless fenced area.

Nostalgia

Nostalgia

This is the equipment I started my NC Programming career on. It was used to program 3 Axis NC (Numerical Controlled) Drilling and routing equipment at a now-defunct company in Groton, MA.

Teletype ASR model 33

A Teletype ASR model 33 terminal with Paper tape output.  As you typed on the keyboard the teletype would punch characters one row per character on the 1" paper tape punch on the left side of the machine, you can see the series of holes that were punched in the paper tape. If you made a mistake you could back up a character and punch all the holes in a row or if you found out too late you needed to manually read the paper tape splice out the bad code and repair the break in the tape.  Want to see one in action?

 

The paper tape would then be used to run high-speed NC Drilling and Routing equipment like this used to manufacturing printed circuit boards.  These Teletype ASR model 33s are museum pieces today.

 

Wikipedia Article on Punched Tape

 

Even older...  My dad used to program back in the day on Punch Cards. I remember seeing them in shoe boxes in the back seat when he would sometime bring work home.

 

 

Dog Days!

It's the Dog Days of Summer

Sad to say summer's winding down, it's been hot enough.  The yard is beginning to brown up, our pond is still at a good level so thankfully no dry well fears this year.

The dogs for one will be glad once the summer is over,  we have a half dozen big holes in the yard to fill in this fall from the dogs trying to cool off.

Zebulon (Zeb) Nope, I wasn't digging...

We've been out in the Boat a few times, we hit a couple lakes and ponds in the area we scouted this spring. Nice time boating, not a lot of fish were caught. Rose wants to take Zeb out this week, we'll see how he does.

Fishing  Lake Massasecum

 Near as we can tell we have a single fawn this year.

Fawn feeding

Doe and Fawn

We had a single Dragonfly last week, they haven't been back since, provided some fun for the dogs trying desperately to catch 'em!

 James was out with my camera last week he took some nice shots.

 Stay Cool!