Roof Socks
We have some heavy snow predicted for the next few days, so I decided it was time to refresh the “roof socks”. There are a couple of places on the roof where snow and ice accumulate forming ice dams. I’ve found that tube socks filled with eco-friendly ice melt help prevent the problem.
Finished reading (actually, finished listening to): The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn
Three cheers for utility workers
We had several days of thick ice fog this past week. The power was out for 11 hours on one of the foggy days. We were fine. We have an emergency generator for just this reason. The outage affected twenty households, but in our sparsely populated corner of the world that meant many square miles needed to be searched to find the break. This is on a day when the visibility was less than 100 feet, and temperatures were in the low twenties. The ice had caused a pole to snap. The utility crews brought in and erected a new pole and by 10 pm power was restored. We are grateful to have such skilled and dedicated people working at our utility, Inland Power.
Elderberry branches after a couple of days of ice fog.
This is the extent of my holiday decorating this year. I spent more time tracking down dead light bulbs than hanging the lights. Still, I enjoy seeing them when I step out to do the evening chores.
On a snowy day like today, it’s nice to be able to sink into the warmth and safety of a comfortable chair by the fire.
The official Washington State fish is the steelhead trout. However, our house favorite is the coho salmon.
Although the trend is towards a warmer climate, it has been a damn cold November.
On the topic of backyard birds, I finally identified a little brown bird that has been scratching under the thistle feeder. It’s a juvenile spotted towhee. It doesn’t look anything like the adult but the behavior is characteristic.
My motivation was tested today on a difficult jigsaw puzzle.
I missed yesterday’s mbnov challenge word. I guess that shows a lack of commitment.
Largely because of this month’s challenge, participating on Mb has become a daily ritual.
Even though I am retired, I retain my professional interest in maps and the data that go into them.
I find that reading and participating in conversations on Mb have lead me to adjust my whole approach to social media. It has nothing to do with the blue bird. I closed that door a while ago.
Farm animals out for a graze.
On these unusually cold November mornings I have to break up the ice on the chickens' water bucket. (Although I see that they didn’t wait around for me.)
Something I’ve noticed about my use of MB. I check the Timeline, read some of the conversations, participate if I have something to say. Then I look at Discovery. If there’s not much that’s new I know it is time to put down the iPad and do something else. No doomscrolling here.
Every morning I repeat the same farm chores, but I also take notice of the beauty of the early morning.
I think I can walk into any room in our house and find a novel I haven’t finished.
This mystery tire showed up at our place several years ago. I assumed it belonged to our son-in-law, who was storing some things at our place as they moved to a new house. When I recently asked if he wanted it back, he said it wasn’t his.
