During one particularly very windy day, there was an owl perched on the peak of it. Until a particularly strong gust blew it off.
Posted on 12/02/2023 6:51:19 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
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Yikes! :)
Foggy, “drippy” sort of morning with showers later. Very mild temps: mid 60’s today, maybe 70 & rain again tomorrow!
This week was ‘Merry Christmas’ to me - ordered & received the following:
A candy thermometer that is built into a spatula. When making jams that do not have added pectin, instructions tend to be boil until ‘gel point’ is reached - this is about 220°. With the thermometer IN the spatula (removable for cleaning), I can stir while watching for the correct temp & I do not have to worry about the probe point touching the bottom of the pan & giving a false reading. I have a recipe I am going to try it on: Cranberry-Apple Preserves, p. 65 Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving. The recipe is also posted here, with the only change being to bring to a full rolling boil for 2 minutes rather than to 220°:
Cranberry Apple Jam with a Hint of Orange
https://www.onehundreddollarsamonth.com/cranberry-apple-jam-with-a-hint-of-orange/
Didn’t I mention some threads back I was through with canning for 2023? Ha ha ha ....
A casserole carrier - does hot or cold, double-decker, holds 2 9x13 dishes. I am tired of scrounging coolers, boxes, etc. for carrying dishes to family feasts. It will get used the first time next weekend for a family Christmas dinner & should keep my dishes hot for the 2 hour trip.
Book: “Fire Cider, 101 zesty recipes for health-boosting remedies made with apple cider vinegar” by Rosemary Gladstar. This, to me, was thoroughly delightful & more than I expected. It tells the tale of how the community term ‘fire cider’ was trademarked & why this was devastating & a very bad precedent for the herbal community. I looked up the legal case & Rosemary et al won ... the trademark has been removed! There are MANY recipes with 75 contributors, several of whom have written books I own. Of course, there are various contributor-favorite fire cider recipes, but also drinks, salad dressings, sauces, soups, & many other recipes which have fire cider as an ingredient. This book was recommended on the Garden Thread I think - THANKS to whoever recommended it!
Book: “Health Through God’s Pharmacy, Advice & Proven Cures with Medicinal Herbs” by Maria Treben. I heard about this book & “Swedish Bitters” on the Southern Appalachian Herbs blog hosted by Master Herbslist Judson Carroll. It is a ‘classic’ for those using herbs medicinally. Based on Judson’s personal experience combatting the flu with Swedish Bitters, I have found a source for the mixture (11 herbs) & it will be added to my medicinal herb cabinet.
I also got items I ordered for Christmas presents, so except for one great-nephew (15 mos old) that I am still trying to find a present for (non-junk, no clothes, no toys he’ll outgrow, etc), I am ready to enjoy all the ‘non-present’ aspects of Christmas: celebrating the birth of my Lord & Savior Jesus Christ, very precious time with family (first Christmas without dad & a beloved first cousin - the ledge of life is narrow enough, doesn’t take much to knock people off, especially those that are of a more advanced age), and lastly: some good food/feasting at family get-togethers.
Evidently, I am a “canary” ... I’ll have to think about that because I definitely don’t see myself as one.
Posting on my phone, which is never easy.
We have owls on our property but not sure what kind they are.
Beautiful pics, especially the rosebush.
I am a raven. Well I guess “brilliant” and “loyal mate” fits.
Swan here.
Tomatoes love the fall weather.
Wife made/baked a Bacon Maple Cheesecake.. Oh my goodness!
Back to the 82 degree beach weather..
Aloha!
We have barred owls on our property…sometimes. I think the ones that used to visit most frequently have died, and now we have their babies (who I’m sure are all grown up now) that visit every now and again. One of the parents used to hang out in a tree with tangled limbs. I have no idea what kind of tree that is, but the owl stopped hanging out there a few years ago. That’s why I’m assuming he has passed. He was a cool bird.
I think that is the kind we have based on the hooting.
We see it on occasion.
Wow
I have some “good enough” photos of our owls. I was a budding photographer when I got some lucky shots a few years ago. There’s one of the two of them preening each other, and another of the first one just staring at me as I admired him (or her) staring at me through our window. I sure miss seeing them on a regular basis.
During one particularly very windy day, there was an owl perched on the peak of it. Until a particularly strong gust blew it off.
That’s cute. I bet that was a surprise.
it’s a beautiful thing...
Everything but the poly film is going to last many years. The controller I'm using for my irrigation timer is the same thing they're had running for 15-20 years at work and they run 24/7. Can't buy that in your local store either. The electrical connectors I'm using get used in city busses, 18 wheelers etc. Linear actuators, not so much but are swapped out with two pins for easy replacement. If they don't last long, I'll start swapping those out for industrial versions.
My rocketbombplane(wind speed/direction sensor) is sitting at the UPS distro center in the college town 10 miles North of work and has been all day. I'll get it Monday.
I'll be able to test it a little at home by spinning with a cordless drill and taking an AC voltage measurement. I pulled a 90 VDC motor and DC motor controller off the shelf at work today so I can test the wind speed part of it. With the setup at work, I can dial in the RPMs, double check it with a testing tachometer, and take a frequency reading in Hz(hertz) and do the math to make sure it's what it's supposed to be as translated to MPH. A calibration check basically. I can do a second check at a different RPM, do the same math and know it's good throughout a range of speeds.
Wind direction is a piece of cake. Three wires; put 5 VDC to one and read the voltage across the other two. Rotate unit to lowest reading and call that North. Highest reading is South. With a number called Slope, it will work out to 0 being North and 180 being South, just like a compass.
I'm a wee bit nervous/hopeful that both will work. If so, OMG a $1200 commercial unit for $130. They use these things at small airports, AG ext research stations, Forest Service for fire weather data - forest fire fighting etc. It's a bad mamajamma rocketbomblane.
June, Mourning Dove. Good match for me, as I grew up with Mourning Doves in trees near out house and I loved listening to them.
It was.
I was going to try to get a picture of it, but the wind blew it off before I could.
are “tree rats” a real thing?
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