Bogieblog

GTG Time

Last weekend I loaded the truck for a dump run and then I was to head out past Keene to visit some Firewood Hoarder friends that had come up from NJ (they are building a house in NH but getting the lot cleared first). I got in to start the truck. At first, the starter barely turned over. Surprising since I had driven it a good distance the previous week so the battery should have been charged. I let off the key and tried again and this time the belt started squealing, there was a snap and smoke, then the starter started going and the truck started.

Hmm, turned it off, lifted the hood, let the smoke clear but couldn't see anything amiss. Got back in cranked the key, and the truck acted like nothing had ever been wrong - cranking easily and starting smoothly. EXCEPT, the battery light went on. Argh, the battery is less than 2 years old. Decided to drive to the dump and found my power steering was out. So, drove back home, unloaded my cooler (water and juice - it was to be hot), lawn chair and other things I was to take to the get together (GTG), and put them in the car. Then, drove the truck to the dealership that is two miles away told them they could have it as long as they needed it. They got me home and I went on my merry way to my original destination.  A few pics from the GTG.

Long distance hug to the gang when I got there

The dealership called while I was at the GTG. The alternator had seized (never had that happen before - other issues yes, but not seizing). It required an alternator and belt, and it would be best to replace the tensioner while it was apart. I approved all the work and they said probably be done on Monday. Good to their word, late Monday morning they called and it was done. However, there was a crisis at work (the 2nd one in as many weeks - the first of which I was still working), so I was in meetings virtually all day every day, so didn't get to pick it up until Friday (now you know why I like to keep two vehicles).

Friday, after working a couple of hours (it was supposed to be an off-Friday), I started walking to the dealership. It was pleasant temperature wise, and nt too humid so I enjoyed the walk. I was surprised to hear the river roaring before I got to the bridge. Sure, it had rained almost an inch the night before, but it has been extremely dry the last couple of months (except that 4" in a couple of days several weeks back).

Dam under bridge close to my house

Bridge to nowhere next to the dealership. This was the original bridge on that side of town and the town decided to keep it as a "park" or bike path when the new bridge was built. It can't be a bike path since it goes nowhere (literally, it ends in the air to the right of the picture) and who has a park that is all concrete topped?

Love the huge flag the dealership displays. Saw a crow getting ready to go by, so waited until it was in the frame.

The truck is all wel again and steers much easier with the power steering back!

Garage Door Replacement

About 6 weeks ago, I decided to get a new garage door. The old one was older than I am, warped and ratty. Facing west, not only did the door get extremely hot, but the windows let in solar gain like no tomorrow (thus the brown paper covering them)

The frame had obviously been repaired a couple of times were not in good shape either

I ordered a new door from HD that is not wood, insulated and has privacy glass that is double paned. As well, I had a handyman come out and install a new frame for the sides.

With the new frame in, and having removed the tool racks from the walls, I decided to get that corner painted before the door install. This was the first coat.

On Thursday, the door installer was here. First panel of door being placed

This picture is before he had the rubber gaskets installed (and no, I haven't taken any pics since)

The frame is of PT lumber and it was still pretty green when installed, so the painting couldn't happen prior to the garage door being replaced. I've got a call in to the handyman that he can paint and whenever he is ready. The frame will still be painted brown to give it a bit of definition and that is how all the basement windows are.

The door moves very smoothly and is a lot lighter than the old one so I have to be careful not to fling it to the next county when I'm pulling it up. As well, it rolls down much more easily and I have to consciously keep from yanking it and letting it crash to the concrete. In time I will get used to it and I love how it looks with the lighter color.

Garden Pictures Week of 7/12/20

A few bright spots in the gardens

I can't figure out what the name of this lily is, but I just found out yesterday there are two different clumps in the shrub garden

Stella D'Oro

My view from the sitting area where I was reading the other day. That is the shade garden with some orange day lilies, and the unknown yellow day lily is showing thru the foliage of the hydrangea tree.

The driveway garden. The pink toward the center is some regular echinacea (coneflowers)

Sombrero Granada Gold Echinacea in the roadside garden

Double Scoop Mandarin echinacea

And a group shot of the various echinaceas in the roadside garden - all of them have a pleasant scent.

Cute Kitties

Last Sunday evening I walked into the kitchen and saw this

Spot on the refrigerator looking at Rainey

Rainey on the dishwasher looking at Spot

And, since I got pictures of the youngsters, I went looking for Rita. I didn't have far to go (what, 6 steps?) and found her staying cool under the A/C in the office.

Yes, unlike most cats, Rita likes to stay cool. This is where she was the next afternoon - directly in the path of the A/C air flow. Usually she is on the corner of the desk as the flow is usually directed towards the door. I must have had it pointed more towards my chair as I was working.

And this is too cute, Rainey and her "doll". The "doll is a witch Halloween decoration that came with the house. I used to hang it up  at the appropriate time of the year off the entry into the hall, just for fun. Then when I got the youngsters, they took way too myuch interest in it and I stuck it on top of the tall filing cabinet in the office (one of the few places those two haven't been on top of). A couple of weeks ago I was going to get rid of it, but the swap shop at the dump is still closed (for the bug thing). Then I decided that it could be a cat toy and I placed it on the cat stand. Much to my surprise, no one plays with the witch, and it wasn't moved off the stand. Instead, Rainey seems to have adopted it and she lays with the doll on a regular basis.

Vegies from 7/3 until 7/10

I think I had mentioned I planted a couple of tomatoes, some peppers and basil inside the fenced in area. On 7/3, they were looking really good

On 7/6, I discovered I have vegetables (or fruits for you purists).

This is a mildly spicy pepper - no, I'm not going to run outside and figure out the names of any of them :)

Roma type tomato

Teeny-tiny bell pepper with a good look at some of the basil behind it

Meduim sized slicing tomato

Yesterday I noticed the tomato plants were nearly to the top of the 6' fence, with one runner at the top :O

Today, 7/11, that tallest one is several inches above the fence. It is reaching for the skies!

Flowers from Week of 7/6/20

Lots of Day Lilies doing their thing.

Little Business is a shorter day lily and is in the front boarder of the shrub garden

Purple D' Oro in the driveway garden

This bright, vibrant, tall and HUGE yellow day lily is in the shade garden. I forget it is there every year until it DEMANDs attention. Unfortunately I never knew its name, or the tag was lost.

This is another day lily that I don't know the name to. I do know that I got it from a gal that I know thru the FHC forum - so I just call it Molly's flower :) . Althoguh the plant itself is not overly huge, the flowers are almost as huge as the yellow day lily.

I've shown one of these in an earlier post, but couldn't find the name. Now that this flower popped today, I discovered it is Night Beacon, planted under the windmill in the driveway garden

Sombrero Baja Burgundy Echinacea in the roadside garden

And these little surprises re-seeded from a purple penstemon that I planted, not expecting it to survive the winter (it didn't). But, I was delighted to find them growing behind the largest False Indigo.

Hope these beauties made people smile.

Birds and Breakage

Yesterday I kept myself busy by mowing both the neighbor's and my yards. I hadn't mowed the neighbor's in 3+ weeks because of the rain shortage. I had mowed parts of my yard once in that time, the parts in the shade and wetter parts of the yard. The sod I laid on June 16, having been watered daily to ensure it survived until roots took hold of the ground, got its first mowing.

In between mowing the two yards, I took a short break and managed to do this. I don't know how, I wasn't manhandling them, just picked them up off the counter, walked outside, put them up to my eyes and put my hand out there to stabalize.

Argh, I've had those for what seems like forever. I don't remember if Cop Car gave them to me before or after I moved to NH (I think after), but they are at least 30 years old. I don't use them every day, but on a regular basis so will need to find a replacement soon.

Another thing I don't use often, but semi-regularly, is my camera. An actual camera and not my phone. I usually only use it for the ability to zoom. A flash of white in the yard of the apartment building next door is what led me to using my camera (after breaking my binoculars).

I haven't seen a white pigeon in the area before and really wanted to find out if it was albino, or just a different color than I'm used to seeing

Although it is hard to tell because the neck area is reddish, I concluded it is just a color variation. And bonus, I didn't realize until I downloaded the pictures that I got a 3-fer in this shot.

I am always impressed with this cheap little Powershot camera when I do long distance shots. In this case it is over 150' (I know, that isn't long distance to many people that have better equipment)

So, after I got the neighbor's lawn mowed (remember, I was mowing at the beginning of this post), I took a shower (the 4th shower between 5 am Friday and 11 am Saturday) I got in the Explorer and headed 38 miles, and 50 minutes away, to pick up pellets that I had found on CL A ton of pellets for $125 was something I couldn't turn down, even adding in the $8-10 in gas I used. When I got on CL early yesterday morning, it wasn't to look for pellets, but I happened to search for them and there was an ad that had been put up the night before. Fortunately I could get to their location using mostly back roads, so I wouldn't have to push the loaded truck too hard to get back home.

I really didn't have room in the basement, but I made room in front of the P61a. I'll have to move them before heating season starts, but for now, they are fine.

Yeah, after all the hard work, I pretty much read the rest of the day.

Playing in the Thorns

Last January, I had taken a day to go out and trim back some of the invasive roses trying to cross over the drainage from the swamp (see Invasive Rose Control). It was difficult as I had the fence behind me and very little ground (snow) to stand on without plunging into the stream. Indeed, that was most of the impetus to take down that fence last month. With the fence down, I could see there were several things I needed to take care of; Roses Gone Wild and rose clumps in the middle of the drainage (bad enough if they give a bridge to my yard, but could also cause damming of the stream).

Yesterday it was nice and cool in the low 70's. Unfortunately the humidity was 78%, but there was no sun so I donned long-sleeved shirt, my trusty thick gloves and thick jeans to take care of some of the thorny issues. A picture is worth a thousand words, so here is the before and after comparison (click to get full picture).

Three clumps of roses I dug out from the middle of the drainage area

Piles of brush. Doesn't look like much until you imagine that the piles were rolled into tight masses (like hay bales) before being stuffed into the back of the Explorer - which was completely filled.

Now, I can see the onslaught of poison ivy - the green stuff in the middle and right.

After taking all the thorn brush to the dump, I took a very thorough shower since some of the branched I cut had 20' whips on them that dragged thru the PI as I was pulling them to my side. After the shower, I went to take a look at what was blooming;

Here is a volunteer butterfly weed in the driveway garden (mama is in next tier up) that has nestled up to the smaller of the two baptisia (false indigo).

This day lily is in the tier above mama butterfly weed (part of which can be seen as the orange flowers)

Voodoo Sedum, planted on 6/14/20m is starting to show some color in the roadside garden

The native day lilies aren't putting on as nice a show as usual, probably from the drought stress, but still look nice in front of the house.

More native day lilies next to the willow stump. The Sweet Autumn Clematis has completely covered the obelisk I put up for it this spring (I diligently trained it). I should have found something 10' tall. There are several tendrils going thru the lilies, and it should be quite the show when it blooms in another month or two.

And last, a couple of blooms from today - a day lily behind mama butterfly weed

Day lily close up

Say Goodnight Second Raised Bed

The afternoon after I posted "Transplanting a NInebark"  I continued work on removing the raised bed. And Voila, it is gone

Most of the excess soil went into leveling areas around the sodded areas although there were other large divots that were filled.

The view from the back door is so much better - even if there is a lot of bare dirt (see Side Yard Transformation from June 14 for "before" pictures).

And as if Mother Nature was just waiting for there to be a bunch of loose soil, Sunday night she let loose with some much needed downpours

Pic taken 6/29/20 at 5:40 am

Pic taken 6/30/20 at 3:05 pm. 1" of that was delivered between 2:30 pm and 3, while I was hosting a virtual meeting. The thunder was drowningly loud and the house was literally shaking fro m the deep booms.

Pic taken 7/1/20 at 6:03 am

We needed the moisture badly and we continued to have minor showers thru the rest of the week. My rain totals seem to have been better than most in the area as the local TV station was reporting that Hillsboro had gotten 1.7" of rain in those 3 days (I'm unsure where their official site is in my town). Surprisingly, the dirt that I had leveled and smoothed stayed unscathed by run-off and I didn't have to do any repair work.