Bogieblog

We haven't had any rain in two weeks. After months of only getting abut 1" of rain per month, we are in a severe drought with parts of the state in extreme drought. With state rivers and streams down to 1% (99% of years they have been running higher at this time), and lakes down massively, I have only been watering the four new plants I put in a couple of weeks ago. All other gardens have to deal the best they can on their own. Last I heard on the local channel, at present we are at the driest month of September ever, with 0.19" of rain. The month could move down in the list if we get the much needed rain that is forecast for tomorrow.

One of the black cherry trees has decided to show a bit of nice color anyway.

It has been since the early 80's that I last had to change a car tire. Yesterday I got to test my skills as I blew a tire in the driveway; a really good place for a tire to go. It was totally my fault  as I got distracted by my garage door being open (I was returning from the store). I always close the garage door when I leave the house, and I was trying to see if everything was still in there or if anyone was inside.Well, as I was rubber-necking, I hit a sharp rock on the retaining wall and the tire let me know it was not happy. No, no part of the car hit, just the tire.

I've never used a scissor jack before, or lifted from the frame, but I got the spare donut on and drove to the local dealer. I was discussing putting on two front tires with the advisor when she told me that Thursday some good rebates are coming out if I could wait. Since I have the truck (and don't have to drive to work either), I don't need the car right now, so I told her I would wait - and possibly just go ahead and put on 4 tires. I left the car in their parking lot and they gave me a ride home.

End of an Era

After 37 years of business, and my being a customer since the mid to late '90's (well before I rode my own Harley), Heritage Harley-Davidson was sold, and the new owners are closing it. After the owner's death last year, the General Manager had been trying to buy it and keep it a family business, but instead it got sold to a conglomerate that already owns 6 dealerships in the surrounding area. The same conglomerate also owns dealerships in a variety of states, including Kansas and Colorado.

The HOG Chapter is not sure what will happen as we can't continue without a supporting dealership, and all dealerships in the area already have a Chapter. The current Chapter Director is exploring options and we will have at least 1 meeting with friends (the Chapter will be shut down Oct. 1st so we can't meet as a Chapter) to vote on how those options appeal to the members.

Yesterday the dealership was well attended by customers as they said their goodbys to the staff and store.

I will miss the great management and staff at Heritage.

Heating Things Up

Last weekend I removed the portable A/C from the living room so I can run the pellet stove. It has run every night, and during windy days. First frost has already happened and I'm getting ready to tear out the tomato vines.

Yesterday I removed the window A/C in the office. I had left it in as that room heats up from all the electronics running when I am working, so I was unsure if it would be needed or not - NOT was the answer.

Today I will get the P61a, the basement stove, unpacked from it's summer hibernation. Not sure when it will be touched off, but the basement is down to 65*, which makes the floors of the main level a bit cool on the tootsies (I'm barefoot 90% of the time when I'm inside). I don't want to let it get too cold down there because it will take a lot of pellets to warm all the mass down there back up.

Today I also need to make sure the snow blowers are all set for the winter and spray the shovels down with silicon to enhance their snow shedding ability.

Bear Damage

Wednesday morning I was getting ready to let Rita out, and took a look around the backyard first as I always do. I take a look because there is a fox around, and I have seen coyote. The fox could definitely get into the pen if it wanted to, and perhaps the coyote too (I don't think so, but you never know). The neighbor's cat come in sometimes. Rita isn't interested in finding a way to escape so I just worry about something getting in. Well, this is what I saw

Hey, at least he left the feeder - and it was still in good shape. I know it didn't have very much in it as the squirrels are pretty thorough and compete heavily with the birds. All the bear had to do was turn the feeder upside down and it would have spilled the handful or two of seeds and nuts. Seriously, the only damage to the feeder was existing from the squirrels chewing thru the heavy plastic pipe at one of the feeding ports (thru the mesh wire around it).

Needless to say, Rita did not get to go out. After I got off work, I removed the fence panel, the very one that got crunched when the willow tree top came down. I tried to straighten the panel out again (remember, it had been smashed previously), but the bottom pole had been bent into a V so when I stood it up, the only part that touched the ground was the point. Even after "straightening", the top now has two kinks, one on either side of the center brace, so it wouldn't be stable. That green pole is a heavy duty T-bar that I didn't have a hope of straightening.

I neglected to take a picture, but the bear also bent the heck out of the cast iron feeder pole to get the feeder off.

I went to the local Agway and asked for a kennel expansion panel, and would they please deliver. However, checking all their 6 stores, there were no expansion panels to be found, only 1 or two kennel sets (10 x 10 x 6). Apparently those are in short supply and they couldn't even get any thru their connections. ARRGGHH.  Friday I contacted a fencing company to get a bar to replace the bootm piece. Once I got it all pt back together, I made it work, but this can't be the permanent solution this time.

It's not pretty, in fact downright ugly, but I can let Rita out anyway. It is barely stable because it is still horribly out of wack and doesn't track along the straight line of the timber it is supposed to rest on.I'm pretty sure that the first snow dump off the roof would wipe it out.

It's times like these I wish I had a real truck. I can find a used panel on CL but getting it here from 40 miles away is a challenge without a vehicle that has the capacity to carry it. And if I have to rent a vehicle to carry it - well, let's just say I might as well buy the entire kennel from Agway between the mileage and gas I would have to pay for.

Last of Fall Planting

Turtle heads in the shade garden are blooming - bees love them

 

Planted a couple of Rose of Sharon's in my new garden area by the swamp.

And I got a different type of turtle head  that I planted in this section

I wasn't really pleased with the way the rock wall came out, but found a way to make it much better (in my opinion) by adding cap stones.

The small plants between the two Rose of Sharons are Japanese Anemones, Curtain Call Pink (it is tough to see the RoS's as they blend into the greenery of the shade garden). I also added some crocus bulbs that have been in the fridge since last fall. It seems the chipmunks/squirrels have already been digging those up. I could find some re-planted somewhere else :)

My place got a 1/2" of rain on Wednesday, but no more rain is in site at least for the next week so watering this area will be my night job.

FHC September 2020 G2G

Last weekend I went to an FHC get to gether (G2G) for a guy that is moving from NJ to NH (eventually). He had someone come in a clear the house lot and yard. The person did it for free as he got to keep the wood. However, he left all the tops so the G2G was to help pile those into burn piles for the winter.

Three of us were from NH - The two on the left (me and Mike - from towards the seacoast) and Molly on the right (her husband was there, but he is physically disabled so was a cheerleader). Dave, the land owner is the one with a drink in his hand (his wife took the picture). Brad, in the yellow shirt came up from CT with his wife. And Mike, next to Molly, is from Massachusetts.

Mike from NH was actually there to cut a small path to the pond for the wood and the rest of us put up 7 huge piles for bonfires. We got fed well, with a late lunch, for our efforts.

A couple of weeks prior to the G2G, Mike from MA had mentioned in the gardening section of FHC that he needed to dig up some volunteer Rose of Sharons and give them to neighbors or take them to the dump. I replied that if he was coming up north, I would take a couple of them. Well, he came thru and brought a couple with him. I was expecting smaller starts, but they were about 6' tall with the rootballs.

Dang, he saved me about $120 bucks right there (I happened to be at L*we's on Labor day and checked out the prices). Can't beat that with a stick!

Router Woes

Yesterday morning I was trying to since my Kindle to download some books I had just bought. For some reason the Kindle couldn't access my network and nothing I tried would get it there. Figured the device was showing its age and just shrugged it off. In the afternoon, tried again and same result so downloaded onto my computer and then tried to transfer to the Kindle thru USB. After much frustration, I gave up and decided to download the books to my laptop while I debated getting a new reading device.

Then I realized my laptop didn't have a signal from the wifi. Checked both my phones (personal and work), and they were running off the tower. Hmmm, this is not looking good if the router isn't throwing a signal. I installed a new Router (Netgear) just over a year ago (August 2019 to be exact), so maybe an update was pushed and it needed tweaked. After an hour, I was no closer to figuring it out. My desktop still ran fine (it is hardwired to the router), and my work computer was okay - until it suddenly wasn't. Now that is of major concern since I am 100% working from home. I messed with it until 4:45 and made the executive decision that I needed to get a new router - and now because Saturday I won't be home (land clearing with the FHC crew) and Sunday is HOG and I didn't want to leave it until Sunday afternoon. Got online and got the last Linksys AC2200 router reserved for pickup (no, I didn't research - no time, just did it). Of course they close at 6, and it was at least a 45 minute drive (especially with everyone going north for the holiday weekend), so I hopped right to it.

Got the new router home and the first thing I had to do was download the app to my phone. It kind of peeves me that everything is so app driven that I can't even download the software onto my computer first. Anyway, I got over my peevedness, downloaded the app, removed the old router, installed the new one and got it all set up. I WAS pleasantly surprised that the set up for the Linksys was much easier than I remember it being for the Netgear. Although I did have a minor heart attack because it couldn't find the 'net at first after rebooting the modem, but that is because my modem took it's sweet time. Once I had the router try it again, it worked just fine.Bonus points are that the Linksys router is smaller so fits on top of my tower, within the cubby just fine.

How the Netgear router "fit" in the cubby

The new Linksys fits in the cubby

I got my phones, Kindle, work computer and laptop all set up with little hassle and had everything running by 7:30 last night.