Hiking Gear and Food

Rest in Peace Missy

Missy, our 12 year old Lab, died today of natural causes.  We will always miss her.

Ocracoke Island Ferry - Outer Banks of North Carolina

Funnel Cloud

Solo Woodburning Hiking Stove

This is an aluminum hiking stove called the Solo Stove.  It burns small pieces of wood and weighs 9 ounces.  A little heavier than an alcohol stove and a few ounces of fuel but on longer trips it comes out ahead.  It actually works extremely well and you can always find fuel.

Add a Few Ducks to our Menagerie

Patrick and Danielle

My best friend Patrick and Danielle, his girlfriend.

A Little Tornado Damage in Washington, NC

Global Warming

Snow Again

Our third snow in 2 weeks.  This one topped out at 12 inches which is more snow than I have seen out here on the coast of North Carolina since moving here 20 years ago.

Eclipse

Solar eclipse this morning at sunrise.  Taken in Oriental, NC at about 6:40 am.

Claire Elizabeth Carson

I'm a granddad again!  This is Claire Elizabeth Carson, born on this date in Houston, Texas.

Burn Day

Decided to burn the burn pile today.  About a years worth of debris.  Today was the first day in weeks where it didn't rain and rain is forecast again in a day or two so I jumped on the weather window.

Diamond's Folly

The place to go when you are looking for a diamond in the rough.

R.I.P.

I went out to collect eggs today and found one of my chickens dead in the coop.  No signs of trauma.  She was one of my two Easter Eggers which lay blue green eggs.

Garage Repair

I spent the last 3 days replacing this entire garage wall and the end of some of the rafters above. This picture was just before the wall came out.  Flood damage from Hurricane Irene in 2011 and subsequent termite infestation caused the damage.

Osprey

Mom bringing home a little dinner.

Cream 2005 Royal Albert Hall (We're Going Wrong)

Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker and Eric Clapton.  One of their greatest performances of We're Going Wrong.

Knowledge Can Be Enlightening, but Scary

Spring!

Spring has finally settled in here.  The flowers are blooming.  The grass is getting green and the daytime temperatures are starting to approach 80.  While it never got much below freezing this winter the cool weather lasted several weeks longer than usual.  This is a picture I took today of one of the farm fields just down the road from me.  These are Canola plants which produce Canola oil.  Their bright yellow flowers which cover these fields are beautiful.