Bogieblog

Just a Few Tidbits

On 3/21 I was doing some garden clean up - cutting stalks down and remoing leaf cover from over bulbs (wherever the snow wasn't anyway). The Voodoo Sedum in the roadside garden (full afternoon sun) was already starting up, along with a few bulbs in the shrub garden.

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On 3/22 and 3/23, even with snow melting our outdoor humidity was extremely low. The only reason I realized it was that they said something on the news. Sure enough, from my weather station - 8% humidity (which was in line with what the local news was saying), and a low for the day of 5% humidity :O

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Dropped the truck off first thing this past Friday to have the snow tires rotated off for summer tires. Also had some recall work done and state inspection (which it passed with no extra work).

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Yesterday I went to BBS in Concord and picked up some landscape timbers (light duty) to coral some pea gravel. Depending on how workable the ground is, may get them installed today. Will post pics of the work, assuming I remember.

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The land next door has gone up for sale. This is normally wet/swamp land, so technically should be unbuildable. However, between the drought last year, and the low snow and rain totals over this past winter, it is pretty dry. Although right now it has a small stream going straight down the middle of it that dumps into the drainage ditch at the edge of my lot, someone could get lucky and get a build permit. Someone had bought it years ago but it has never done anything but hold abandoned vehicles (1 at a time) and they finally gave it to the town in lieu of taxes (or the town took it, I don't know which). I had been half watching for the town to put it up for auction, but apparently missed it. A Texas bank got it for under $4k according to the tax records. Now they are asking for 5.5x that amount. Toying with the idea of putting in an offer. Part of me wants to, but another part says I have better things to do with my money. One consideration is if someone does get lucky and build, that could be an issue for my drainage during wet years. Just need to do some more mulling.

That is pretty much the exciting stuff that has been going on around here, hope everyone has a Happy Easter!

Why?

I don't know how many times I've seen something similar this - why do people feel the need?

Friend posts on FB that she got the second shot and took a dose of ibuprofen (1 dose) to alleviatae symptoms.

Someone comments, "Be careful with that ibuprofen. It killed my younger brother. He ate it like popcorn and it destroyed his kidneys and liver."

Seriously, my friend posted 12 hours after getting the second shot and she has taken 1 FREAKING DOSE OF IBUPROFEN. That is no where close to eating it "like popcorn". So why the need to bring it up?

Another example - I occasionally post pictures of Rita out in the fenced area (6' tall fence) behind the house. During such posts, because I know what is coming, I point out that

• She only spends a short time out there
• She cannot climb and can barely jump (the couch is a big effort for her and has been since I got her - I assume back or hip issues). She has no interest in getting out.
• I will state that Rainey and Spot are not allowed out, because they definitely could climb over the fence.

Comment examples: "Cats Climb, she will climb out" "hawks/eagles/owls will sly in and take her," "foxes/coyotes/fishers can get in"

Eh, things just irritate me today.

Iceberg Progress

We've had some warm weather for the last week so the iceberg shrunk dramatically in size

3/20/21 (original)

3/23/21
3/26/21 - this is the day I was able to remove the rest of the poles that were frozen into the ground at the backside. This allowed me to straighten that edge so I could get the accumulated water to run out. Since it was supposed to rain that night, it was good timing.

First thing yesterday morning I straightened out the tent garage cover so I could roll the rest of the iceberg off the tent garage cover - looks like it was the only thing keeping the cover from taking off in Friday night's high winds. The cover was in a ball around the ice as all the edges had come out from under the blocks that were holding them down. Once I got the cover semi straightened out, I walked around under the cover to get most of the water off so the wind could dry it up.

Doesn't look like much compared to the first photo, but it has to be 100+ pounds of ice cube. Picture taken after I had straightened out enough of the cover to be able to roll the ice toward the fence (downhill thankfully)

Texted the dude just after noon that it was all but dry and he came and picked it up. Meanwhile the iceberg will continue melting out at the edge of the yard.

Coming Down

Friday evening the doorbell rang. Yes, that is odd, I rarely have visitors . Those that I do have, I am expecting and am out in the driveway before they are even out of their vehicle. Given the above, and looking out the window to see a car in the driveway (means it wasn't a neighbor), I expected the person to be selling something.

Upon opening the front door, a guy was standing there, and he started out with, "I know this is a strange question, . . . " No, he wasn't a long lost family member or anything, but a dude that was interested in the collapsed tent garage. He was wondering if I wanted to sell the cover (which although stretched, is still in good shape). He has one of the older, stronger frames, but his cover is shot. After telling him I thought a former coworker was going to take it, I got his name and number in case she decided not to (after all, the frame is shot).

I got ahold of said friend and she said she had gotten a good frame from someone else over the winter, and it is neither the right shape or size for the cover. I texted the guy and he came over yesterday to disassemble the thing. The last couple of days I had thought about seeing if I could pull the frame forward into the yard to free the ton of pellets trapped underneath, so dude's timing couldn't have been better.

Meeting of the minds

Problem, that iceberg. Well, at least it and the tarp that was holding it will catch the afternoon sun so should be small enough to move in a few days. Dud drives by here on a regular basis so he said he'd keep an eye on it and get the tarp when the ice melts. At least I can get to the pellets and plan on moving them into the house today.

Iditarod Musher Recreating Origins of Race

The inspiration for the Iditarod race was the dog-sled delivery of life-saving diphtheria medication to Nome by Leonhard Seppala and his dog team.

In a sign of the times, this year musher Larry Daugherty is carrying empty Covid-19 packages.

Spring is Trying to Make an Appearance

We had almost a week of above freezing temps, with one day in the high 60's and two days in the fifties. We've also had some pretty good winds, which helps the melting. Pictures say it all

The chair out back is an excellent way to illustrate the meltage Pictures are 3/8 - for which I didn't get a shot specifically aimed at the chair, 3/9, 3/11, 3/12 and yesterday (3/13) - no pics were taken 3/10. This area is in partial shade (just from tree branches that are bare of leaves) during the winter, and gets a bit of wind.

Yesterday morning the high at midnight was 38*, but the temp must have dropped pretty quickly; by 3:30 it was 27* and had snowed

These pictures are comparing by the propane tanks and show the power of wind, or rather, the lack thereof. The area is protected from the majority of the wind and is pretty shady after mid-morning. First pic from 3/8 and second pic from yesterday, 3/13.

Yes, there is a decent amount of meltage

But compare to the berm at the side of the road that is in high wind area for the same time frame. This area not only get the road plow snow, but gets some additional snow from the snow blower. This area also gets good afternoon sun. (3/8 and 3/13)

The driveway garden that gets a lot of of extra snow from snow blowing the driveway, is in a good amount of wind but only late day sun. I have circled the little platform toward the top of the windmill in yellow to help with the scale. (3/8 and 3/13)

And here is the ramp from yesterday (3/13/21) - it gets basically no wind besides what swirls from either side of the house,  but is in sun until afternoon. The berm has backed away from the edge of the ramp and it (the ramp) is now totally free of ice.

Yesterday was in the 30's and this week will be the same, with a couple of mornings in the teens and single digits, so melting will not continue to much extent.

Too Much Snow?

Taking a peak at the Iditarod website and took in this article.

Usually they adjust the course because there is not enough snow. This time there is too much snow to make for good grooming of the trail (eyebrow deep) when their time would be better (more efficiently) spent on other parts of the trail that need attention.

Veteran musher, and NH native Aliy Zirkle had to scratch because of an accident that gave her a concussion. She has placed second in several Iditarods and has consistantly been in the top ten. This was to be her retirement race, not the way anyone was expecting it to go.

For up to the date news and current standings, visit the Iditarod home page.

2021 March - In Like a Lion

March 1st was extremely windy. This was a sustained wind with gust over 60 MPH that shook the house. Although the pellet stove was keeping it a nice 69* inside, the screaming wind made it sound colder. I was reading and the youngsters snuggled in around me. Luckily, and for a change, my phone was sitting on the coffee table

I was getting ready to place the phone back on the table, when Spot looked up all sleepily, and just too cute.

Still waiting for warm enough weather for melting the snow pack. I'm watching other people in NH post pictures of their tulip greens emerging and this is what I have (taken Friday morning).

Then I found this neat little map on the interwebz at WeatherStreet.

I'm at 12-14" (measured yesterday afternoon along the back pathway shown in the picture).

Although we are having highs in the 20's and low 30's, the wind is still active (not howling like on 3/1 thankfully, but still giving a wicked wind chill), We are supposed to have a couple of single digit mornings before warming up in the middle of the week. The talk is of 50* weather, maybe up to 60. I'll have to remember to install the drain pipe for the garage sump pump so it is deposited away from the house. Naturally the weather is supposed to go back downhill for next weekend.

Oh yea, almost forgot, I ordered some tomato and pepper starts, along with cuke seeds yesterday. They should be arriving in May.

Last year I bought starts from local garden stores, but that meant I had to take what was offered. By ordering from Totally Tomatoes, I was able to choose what I will get. Their selection of starts is limited (the seeds they offer are abundant), I was happy to see the Amish Paste Tomato on the list, but at least I could research the other offerings to determine the best for my needs.

After the Thaw

We had about 36 hours of thawing, where the temps were near 50* and there was a nice wind during most of that time, The wind is critical for thawing as it moves the cold that the snow emits. These pictures were taken late afternoon on 2/24/21. The thaw lasted until morning of 2/25, where the temps were in the low 40's. But with the wind abating overnight, it doesn't look much different.

Most of the ice build up is gone from the paths, but there is still a bit left near the gate that leads to the big compost bin

This picture, shows the thawing that went on. Not that you can tell without a before picture. We had received 3-4" of snow the previous day and you can tell most of it melted because of the birdseed detritus below the porch. That is where I dump the seed shells from the small platform feeder on the porch rail, so that is at least a couple of days of leavings.

The thawing event was the first for over a month according to the local news.

Since about mid-day 2/25, the temps have been below freezing. Snow is expected this morning, then it should turn to rain as the temps try to get back up to the mid 30's this afternoon and the 40's tomorrow. We will be back in the deep freeze with single digit overnight temps for Monday.

Snow Mounds

Although we haven't had many largish snow storms this year (one 22", one 10-12" and maybe an 8"), there has been little meltage so the 2-4" snows add up. I have taken to shoveling the snow out about 10' from the garage to be able to clear the snow mounds with the snow blower.

Backing the car out of the driveway is a challenge, or an adventure, whichever way you want to look at it. This is the view out the window at the end of the driveway.

The berm beside the truck doesn't look as tall, but the view is deceptive since the ground the truck is on is on the high side of the slope.

Although I haven't gotten a recent picture of the mound of snow off the ramp, here is a picture from 2-16-21 where you can see a part of the ice I had to shovel off it from the sleet we had gotten while the Midwest was freezing in negative temperatures. That picture was taken before the second roof dump. You can see how high the berm is, in the upper right corner. That was prior to the additional 5" or so we got between Thursday night and Saturday morning.

We are supposed to see 40* in a couple of days, so hopefully some melting will be going on.