After years of wanting one, today I finally ordered a ‘real’ home weather station. I’ve had some small wireless La Cross indoor/outdoor thermometers for years, but they only monitor indoor/outdoor temperature and, the most recent one, indoor humidity. A major disadvantage of these inexpensive transmitters was the inability to get an accurate reading when the sun would shine directly on the outdoor sensors. They…
Just a couple a random thoughts as I relax and enjoy this beautiful rainy day… Springtime lawn destruction: Where’s the logic in ‘rolling’ the lawn? Over the last few days at least three of my neighbors fired up their riding mowers and dragged a large, heavy lawn roller around their properties. As I watched, I asked…
With opening day for the Fort Wayne Tincaps less than two weeks away, It’s time to refresh my play-by-play baseball scoring skills. While there’s a scoring sheet included in the programs handed out at the games (at least for the Single A Tincaps), it doesn’t provide for full at-bat statistics. The thing I like best about full scoring is the ability to look back and…
Working towards the 2010 goal of 5000 puzzle pieces, puzzle two has been completed. As you can see in the photo, our kitty, Gunner, is exhausted after an afternoon of puzzling. Actually, Lisa did the majority of this puzzle. This puzzle is MasterPieces Puzzle Company’s “Besides Still Waters”, #70911. A painting by Kim Norlien. I purchased…
It’s hard to believe it’s been nearly seventeen months since I wrote the first entry in SPISBLOG’s Journal. That first post was about a surplus of firewood we got as a result of some mature trees being removed and what I did to get that wood ready to season. This afternoon’s work was the closing chapter on that firewood post. The remainder…
Ask anyone what they consider the first signs of spring and you will get as many answers as people you ask. For the baseball fan it may be when pitchers and catchers report, a gardener when they see a certain bulb break soil, a birdwatchers when they see their first of a particular bird, etc. For me, one of the key signs of…
While enjoying some darn fine Doc Watson videos on YouTube tonight I figured I would check to see if Doc was still touring and if he had any dates in the area this summer. Much to my surprise I discovered that he was playing in Ann Arbor, MI tonight! Of all nights, the evening I searched…
This week the postman delivered the most recent addition to my Survival/ Preparedness/Homesteading library. It’s a 1999 reprint of William S. Wicks’ book “Log Cabins and Cottages- How to Build and Furnish Them”. My copy is a nice little fabric covered hard bound 1999 version. The original was published in 1920. The book covers some basic…
A few weeks ago I planted a green onion kitchen scrap root trimming. Looking at the roots on the green onion and the plantless pot sitting on the window sill, where a spider plant start failed to take, I figured ‘why not give it a try?’. Within a few days the center of the green onion started growing…
The time has come to take down the rest of our messy hybrid willows. Come Monday, they will be nothing but stumps. We’ll have those ground out come springtime. We were in no rush to deal with the last eight willows but after seeing the mess of switches they littered all over the neighbors’ yards after just…