Which Way Should We Go

First Tropical Storm Alberto was forecast to hit here.  Then it wasn't.  Then they said maybe.  Now it looks like it will move off into the Atlantic.  I was kind of looking forward to it as the rain is good this time of year.  Today was my first day of 14 days of orientation at my new job in a regional hospital 50 miles down the road.  Seems like a great place with good management so we will see.   It will be nice to have some cash flowing in again:o)

Not My Favorite Place to Spend the Night

I spent a good part of last night in the emergency room with my stepson.  He started moaning at the house then continuously throwing up.  When he started saying "Oh God, Oh God, get me to the emergency room and drive as fast as you can"  I figured it was time to go as it is a long 30 minute drive to the hospital.  It turned out to be a kidney stone which we knew as he had one the year before last.  They pumped him up with IV Dilaudid and some other stuff then sent him home with more pain meds to wait for the stone to pass.

The Calm Before the Storm?

We just finished 3 days of rain caused by a little area of low pressure that just sat off of the NC coast.  Today it moved south and we had beautiful weather.  I spent some time this afternoon just sitting and pondering life while looking out over the Neuse River in Oriental, NC.  Now that area of low pressure has intensified into Tropical Storm Alberto and is supposed to drift back this way over the next 3 days.  This is the earliest in the year that I can ever remember having a tropical storm out here.  I guess it will be back to rain and wind for the first part of the week. 

Nothing but Rain

It has rained constantly for two days now.  Wave after wave of thunderstorms rolling in off of the ocean has kept outdoor work to a minimum.

Eggs and Veggies

I installed a small solar panel on the chicken coop roof today.  It charges a battery in the orange box.  At sunset it automatically turns on an LED light in the coop, energizes the electric fence around their coop and their outdoor area and turns on a baby monitor inside the coop which I can listen to from inside the house.  My veggies are doing great.  Tomatoes are starting to form.  Bell peppers are budding and the squash plants are getting huge.  The last pic is of baby squashes starting to form.  There are also green beans and onions along with multiple herbs in the mix.

Floors

It's nothing but projects around here.  After finishing the chicken coop and run I have moved to the inside.   I have started work on hurricane flood damaged floors which have dried without warping but which grew a funk on the surface.  Throw rugs have been down since removing the carpet after the flood.  I managed to scrub, lightly sand then wax the floors throughout most of the house this weekend.  Molding replacement and painting is next on the agenda.   I start a new job next week so I am trying to get as much accomplished as possible before then. 

Flew the Coop

This is my last chicken post for a while.  Today I officially opened the coop into the new run.  The chickens just stood at the door looking out for about 15 minutes until one finally got the courage to hop out.  Once one jumped down the rest came piling out.  They loved it out there and when it started to get dark they all piled back into the coop.  Tomorrow I put a solar panel on their roof to power a light and an electric poultry fence which I will be putting completely around the coop and run then extending out into the yard.  This will give them extra room to roam around when I am here to watch plus it will create another layer of defense against predators.

Finally Finished

I finally finished my chicken run.  You can't see it in the picture but the sides are all heavy wire screen (hardware cloth) to keep the chickens in and the predators out.  I will be letting the chickens out tomorrow.  I still have about 1,000 pounds of sand to put inside the run but that's no biggie.

Chicken Run

All I have been doing for several days now is building the chicken run off the side of the chicken coop (garden shed).  I am almost done.  All I have to do is finish putting the screen on the front then extend the bottom below ground level all the way around.  A lot of time and money for a bunch of chickens but I am enjoying it and I am sure they will too. 

Olympus OM-D

Well, I finally received my Olympus OM-D which I pre-ordered back in early February.  I have been so busy building a chicken run the last few days that I haven't even had a chance to give the new camera a real day out.  My preliminary assessment is that this is a gem of a camera.  Using it a bit around the house shows that the image stabilization is the finest that I have ever used.  The stabilized image in the viewfinder just seems to float.  Image detail at 100% is superb.  The camera is solid and substantial.   All control dials and buttons are solid and decisive.  There is nothing so far that I don't like.  This really is the Micro 4/3 camera that I have been waiting for.

The Only Sincere Candidate

Making Bread

Just whipping out a couple of loaves for the week.  I have gotten to where I love doing this.

Chicken Coop

Today I worked on converting the shed to a chicken coop.  I cut a chicken door low down on the side and five windows for ventilation up high on the ends.  Cheap vinyl flooring is on the inside to help with cleanup.  Tomorrow I finish up the vinyl, build some roosts inside, put wire screen over all the ventilation windows and attach hinges to all the cut out pieces so everything can be closed up if need be.  I also have some hurricane damage to fix which is that corner of the roof without shingles and some other broken pieces.  The chicken door will open out into a 15 foot long screened and roofed run which I will be building next.  For now I just need to at least get these chickens into the coop as they are getting overcrowded inside in their tubs.  I think the transfer will happen on Thursday.

My three week old chicks spending some time outside for the first time.  They definitely loved it.

The Best Things

Pilar

They are almost done with my boat restoration (I wish).  This is a replica of Ernest Hemingway's 38' fishing boat Pilar which was built in 1938 by Wheeler Shipyard in Brooklyn, NY.  A friend of mine is doing the cabinetry work on the boat which is being prepared for an upcoming movie/documentary about Hemingway's life.  The boat has been just down the road at Moore's Marine in Beaufort, NC, since last year and is getting ready for launch in a few days.

More Fun Today

Another fun day cutting up a tree.  Even though a chain saw is a beastly thing I can't imagine doing something like this with an axe.  Even with a chain saw it wore me out.  Makes me appreciate those settlers who built log cabins with nothing but hand tools. 

Cutting Trees

 I spent all morning mowing and trimming (2 acres takes a while).  I spent all evening tackling the long overdue task of cutting up trees that went down in Hurricane Irene last year.  I hate cutting trees as I can't think of a more dangerous thing to be doing outside.  You never quite know where or what a tree is going to do when you cut it and the weights involved can tag you quickly.  Part of the tree below was caught up in the air on another tree.  I warily cut partially through the large limb where it connected to the main tree then used the truck and rope to pull the cut apart.  That big limb then snapped apart and swung out with a vengeance as the upper part slid down that standing tree.  If I had tried cutting all the way through it would have got me.  I have another two foot diameter tree that broke about 6 feet above the ground then fell between a fork in another tree.  The whole downed tree is about 6 feet off the ground (you can see it in the background of the pic).  I'm not sure how I'm going to tackle that one without getting myself killed.  I guess I could stand on top of it and cut through from the side:o)  Maybe I could build a big fire under the middle.  Maybe I should just leave it until it rots and falls apart.

Lumber

I made a run to Lowe's today to buy the lumber for a chicken run that I will be building in the next week.  It will be an 8 foot by 16 foot roofed and screened area which will connect to my 10 x 10 foot shed.  The shed will be converted into their coop with a small door opening into the run.

Chickens

This is a photo of one of my chickens taken today followed by a pic taken a week ago.  It is amazing how fast these things grow.  They are definitely getting into that 'awkward' phase where their feathers are growing in.  This particular chick is my favorite.  When I walk up to the clear tub they are in she starts running around and as soon as I lower my hand down she runs up and immediately jumps on my hand.  She loves to be taken out and handled. The others are a little more hesitant with varying degrees of wariness.  Interesting creatures that are hypnotizing to watch.  They peck at any speck in their environment and they lock onto any movement with a laser like intensity.  Will be fun to watch them outside when they see a bug.

Dark and Rainy All Day

Water Barrels

These are my two 75 gallon rain barrels.  They work great.  I have a hose connecting the overflow tubes of the two barrels so when the main barrel fills it then overflows into the second barrel.  Just a moderate rain a few days ago filled both barrels.  With as much rain as we have here the barrels should never run dry.

Battleship U.S.S. North Carolina

What a pleasant surprise!  I woke up this morning to find this behind my house.  I found a card on the side from President Obama which said "Dear Tom,  Please accept this as a token of our Government's appreciation for all of your hard work and tax dollars."  I take back all of the unkind things I have been saying.  (not long after that the County Tax Assessor was at my door stating I owed 5 million dollars based on my new property assessment)

Crosby and Nash

Just enjoying a Crosby and Nash Video this evening.  Their harmonizing carries me away.

Taxes

Well, I did my taxes today and I am now several thousand dollars poorer.  This picture is how much money I have left to my name.  Now I am going to have to go back to work.

Veggies

 

The vegetables are growing really fast, especially the squash in the second photo.  I am sold on the EarthBoxes and will probably be buying some more.

Chicks from the Top and Rear

DC Shunt

Yay!  I got my DC Shunt today.  Now it's solar power time.

One More Day

I continued with my solar install today but didn't quite finish because I am waiting on a DC Shunt which allows the use of the Tri-Metric System Monitor (the white box).  It should be here tomorrow so I will have juice flowing by tomorrow night.  I spent the rest of today planting some more vegetables and caring for baby chicks which are loads of fun.

Egg Producers

I got a call this morning from our local Post Office saying "Mr. Hill, you have a box here making a lot of noise".  I opened the box and all 8 chicks were alive and doing well.  Our dog Missy is wondering what in the world these little things are.  There are a total of 8 hens (4 Buff Orpingtons, 2 Easter Eggers and 2 Barred Rocks).

Solar

 Well, I thought I would have my solar panels mounted and the electronics mounted inside before the day was over.  I did manage to get the rack for the panels built and the panels installed on the roof but that was it.  Troubleshooting some voltage problems plus not having several connectors and do-dads put the brakes on getting the system up and running.  I will have to wait until Amazon delivers the needed parts on Thursday to complete the installation.  I will also be adding additional panels as money permits.  My plan is to have the 1000 watt sine wave inverter mounted in my 'study', the room which opens out onto the back patio.  This power station will power my desktop electronics including computers, SW radio, scanner, cable and TIVO boxes, printer, stereo and AA battery chargers and lights.

I will also be connecting it to one outlet in the master bedroom and one in the kitchen.  In the event of no grid power we will at least have basic power for lights, fans, electronics and a small microwave.  No air conditioning, heating or electric range on my budget.

Working Outside

It was another beautiful day here.  Spent the whole day doing yardwork and cleaning the garage.  It helped to have a free forced labor helper to do the hard work in clearing the ditch.

Wet Wood

Cleaned out the last of the flood damaged wood today.  The bottom shelf of my workbench was inch thick particle board which totally fell apart after getting wet.  I had to chop it out today with a roofing shovel then shovel it out.  Wasn't too bad a job.

It was one of the most beautiful days I have seen in a long time.  Clearing skies, highs in the upper 60's and a 10mpg dry north wind.  It should be like this for the next week.

Wet and Cold

It rained all night and most of the day today and brought in much cooler weather.  It feels like winter after the unseasonably warm weather we have been having.  It was 84 degrees here a few days ago.  This is just a snap of a flower opening in a vase in our dining room. 

Chicken Dance

Chickens are coming soon!

Fresh Veggies in a Couple of Days

Let's put some veggies and herbs out front on the south side of the house to get some good sun.  I spent all afternoon planting about 14 planters.  I am glad I don't have to do that every day.  It was more work than I expected.  I also spent part of the day dismantling a Russian Mosin Nagant rifle that had been packed in cosmoline.  There was grease in every single nook and cranny.  Soaking the parts in mineral spirits did the trick on the metal parts.  The wood stock was put outside in the sun all afternoon and 'sweated' the grease out for the most part.  Pics tomorrow.

Almost Planting Time

I picked up some tomatoes, squash, bell peppers, hot peppers, onions, and five different herbs (sage, rosemary, oregano, basil and cilantro) along with potting soil.  Only thing I am missing are some green beans.

Earth Boxes

Getting some EarthBoxes ready to plant.  I will be making a big run to Lowe's tomorrow for potting soil and many other miscellaneous items that are adding up on my list.