We got one heck of a rain storm this afternoon. We need all the rain that we can get but all at once is just crazy. I was driving into town and was almost struck by several branches and trees that were coming crashing down left and right. I had to stop at one point and go out in the rain to pick up and move one tree that was across the road, blocking traffic from both sides. Got soaking wet, but I got there.
We finally have had a couple of days that we can call rainy days. We have been so hot and dry for so long, it has been totally refreshing. Instead of temperatures in the high 90′s we have enjoyed a few days in the 70′s and now the garden is looking better and better.
June 1st is here. Black fly month is officially over, and the mosquitoes are taking over. There is about a two week overlap where both of the pests are intolerable, but for now it is mosquito season. I really dearly love living in the countryside in New England, but I think that I would enjoy it more if there were fewer biting insects!
One thing is for sure, the bats and the dragonflies will not be starving to death anytime soon! There are plenty of mosquitoes to support their families for a long time to come. And I have plenty of Deep Woods Off to help me survive out there!
With all of the defeats going on with the attempts to plug the gushing oil in the Gulf of Mexico, and the news of how it is reaching the shore, and into the marshes, I started to wonder what in the world will happen if this stuff catches on fire? With hurricane season upon us, is this going to spread the pollution even more?
I wonder if the experts at BP have even called in outside experts to try to help with this problem. I am very disappointed that every attempt to stop the gushing oil has failed. I have to wonder if it will ever be contained or will it just keep gushing until the well runs dry.
I don’t know which I hate the most – black flies or mosquitoes! They both will annoy me to no end! May is beautiful, but it is tempered with the aggravation of black flies. I’ve found, though, that if I try to do my work outdoors in the cool of the morning that they don’t bother me. Black flies like the hotter part of the day. Only rarely do the actual biting hurt me – it’s the swarming around the head that drives me crazy! I’ve tried a variety of insect repellents, and I think that the Deep Woods Off does the best all-around job for ticks, biting flies, and mosquitoes. I also like Ben’s 100, but I haven’t seen that in a spray that I can apply on my clothes.
My wife says that all of the repellents give her skin a chemical burn so she wears the netted hats and long sleeves when she has to be outside. Sometimes I forget that the chemicals burn her and I’ll give her a hug and a kiss; before I know it she is running to the sink to wash off the area that we touched because she says her skin is burning! It must be tough to have that kind of skin sensitivity!
I just started seeing some crocuses and hyacinths peeking up out of the ground. This is incredible! It seems like just yesterday (although it was three weeks ago) there was over three feet of snow on my front lawn – not counting the snow banks where we piled the snow to get it out of the driveway!
Now actually, there are little patches of green grass, pretty soon there will be bigger patches and bigger still. And I’ll have to get ready to fertilize, and eventually mow the lawn. But for today I’ll be happy and content just to look at the little flowers coming out of the ground by the house!
I think spring is around the corner! We’ve had five nice days of sun! The temperature wasn’t bad, either! I took a few days off and did probably the last of my ice fishing I’ll do for the year. Time to get the boat ready! Put away the snowmobile!
One thing that my wife has been trying to convince me about is how ceiling fans help to save energy regardless of the season. She learned that if you buy a reversible ceiling fan that you can change the direction that the propellers spin and that the change in direction helps to keep the place cooler, or helps to keep it warmer. Well I have to admit that I’m not convinced about that but she keeps showing me articles that she found on the Internet that talk about it. But one way or another, keeping the air moving is a good idea because it does help to even out the temperature of the house. And that’s a good thing.
Although Hansen Wholesale Ceiling Fans name implies that they only sell to retailers,they also sell to the individual consumer. They offer free shipping and guarantee the lowest prices on the Internet. I was looking at their site today and saw that they sell Energy Star ceiling fans. I didn’t realize that there even WERE Energy Star ceiling fans! I’ll have to check those out even further!
One of the things that I always enjoy is seeing a moose out in the wild. Every now and then as I’m driving along, minding my own business I’ll see a moose. Sometimes it is crossing the road in front of me (thank goodness not too close!) but most of the time I see them off the road a little bit. Sometimes I’ll see a bull moose trying to romance a cow during rutting season. That’s always funny and sad at the same time – you know what I mean?
The thing about moose is that they don’t usually RUN across the road like deer do. No, they just take their sweet time and meander, not a care in the world. Woe to the car that plays a game of chicken with a moose! The car loses. Thankfully no one I know has ever struck a moose – that would be serious.
This morning I saw a young moose walking down the middle of our road. It was traveling the same direction I was traveling and it was taking its sweet time. It didn’t phase the youngster one bit to have me tailgating it! So we took our time for probably 300 – 400 feet or so before it decided to turn off into the woods. I’m glad I wasn’t in a big hurry!
My daughter asked me for advice on what to buy her guy for Valentine’s Day. I suggested that she buy him one of the Citizen Eco Drive Men’s Watches for him. I know that they are both very interested in reducing their carbon footprint, and I found that these watches are environmentally friendly. The don’t need batteries – they have a solar cell that charge itself from either solar or indoor light sources. The life expectancy of the solar cell is about five years. I think that would be a pretty decent gift, don’t you?
There is a wide assortment of styles available too. I was looking at all of the different ones on the Internet and found one that I liked a lot. It has a two toned metal strap to it, a perpetual calendar and alarm. I really like the versatility of a two-toned watch. It seems to “go” with everything so that I don’t have to worry about switching back and forth between black and brown straps.
I was surprised, though, that the selection did not show any digital watches – all of the ones that I saw had the old fashioned dial watch face. I found that there was a wide price range on these watches, so it isn’t too difficult to find one to fit any budget.
I find it incredible how many people go shopping inappropriately dressed! I think it is a very sad commentary on a lack of self-respect to be seen in public in a store wearing things that should only be worn in a bedroom! And it shows a disrespect for the people around the shopper. Sometimes I feel like walking up to the person who is clearly wearing their pajamas, fuzzy slippers, and bathrobe and pinning a note to their back advising them that they should consult their doctor and tell the doctor that they were seen sleep-shopping at the store!
Oh the sights I see at that store – it truly hurts my eyes sometimes! Oh my poor eyes!
It wasn’t that many years ago that shoes were a major industry in this state. I can remember for most of my life going to the outlet store that was on the same property as the factory to buy outlet-priced sneakers.
There were several big brand names that ran factories within an easy drive of where I grew up, so we had no trouble at all finding great deals on just about any kind of shoes you ever wanted to buy. Most of my friends and I tended to buy mostly running shoes – they were the most comfortable, and they looked trendy as well.
Sadly, most of the factories have closed down and moved overseas. They have moved overseas because the big corporations can make bigger profits by having the factories overseas. The employees get paid less, and the environmental pollution controls are almost non-existent overseas. Yet the price of the shoe, to the consumer, only increases. I always used to say that if this trend continues, the American people will not have the money to buy those brand name shoes anymore, and I think that the time is now. Makes me sad.
Now that the trees have peaked it is time for fall cleanup! It is hard to believe how many leaves there are on the ground! I really hate raking leaves – not just for the hard labor point of view, but because I know that leaves are the basis for good, rich soil in the woods. When I rake leaves up I feel that I am robbing the earth of the nutrition that it needs. And decomposing leaves are FREE nutrition! If it wasn’t for the fact that I make good money doing fall cleanup services for my customers I don’t think I’d remove the leaves at all! And I am very grateful for the invention of the riding mower with bagger attachment, and the leaf blower! They make my work a lot easier!
My wife is a nut about saving money and recycling. I was just walking around the house, looking for a scrap of paper to write a list on. I told my wife what I needed and she went into our media room and grabbed an empty envelope that she had saved from the incoming mail. She tells me that when she goes through our incoming mail every day, if the back of the envelope is blank she saves it. She uses it later to write notes, make lists, and put coupons or bank deposits into. Sometimes I think she is too frugal, but I know that every penny she saves is a penny I can spend on fun things, so I try to humor her!
My wife and I have a floor lamp that she bought a long time ago that she dearly loves. Personally, I don’t care for it at all, but my wife loves it. It has a 3-way socket that has finally quit working so I bought a new 3-way socket and some new wiring so that I could rewire the entire lamp. I like working with my hands, and even though electricity intimidates a lot of people that I know, I took a few courses a long time ago and I know how to work with it.
It took a few minutes to take the lamp apart and re-wire it, but it was well worth it. The lamp works again, and my wife is a very happy camper! If you have a lamp that you (or your wife) dearly love(s) and the socket dies, just re-wire it! It is a money saving and environment saving thing to do!
One of the things my water-conscious nephew has suggested to me that I can do in my own house is to save water by installing dual flush toilet. I told him that I had some concerns about low flush toilets because I have heard that a lot of them take several flushes to actually flush the sewage down past the trap, and if that is the case then I really didn’t see how it could conserve water at all! And to be honest, I’ve gone into some people’s homes where that was the case, and the people were not happy with their toilets at all! He said that dual flush toilets are different than low flush toilets.
He said that issue can be resolved through the use of a dual flush conversion kit. Those are conversion kits that can be used on existing toilets that conserve water without sacrificing the ability to accomplish a successful flush. Apparently the way it works is that you can select how much water gets used to accomplish the flush that needs to be done. Well, the kits only cost about $29.95, so I think I’ll give it a try.
One of my nephews is studying environmental engineering at Princeton. He has been working on a lot of projects revolving the earth’s water. Last summer, and this summer he has worked internships with organizations that are focused on researching and solving water issues. He tells me that he would like to ultimately become involved in creating public policy regarding water conservation and water quality. The last time I saw him I offered him a bottle of water to drink and he refused it, saying he would prefer to drink tap water! He’s really serious about that!
Do you even know what Jellycat is? I didn’t, until my daughter told me that Jellycat is the queen of a fictitious country. Apparently all of the subjects in the country are animals. Well, my daughter wants to collect the jellycat stuffed animals that she found for sale on loulouscorner.com.
So, I suggested to my wife that she check out this website and see about ordering one for my daughter’s birthday, which is coming up soon. She told me that the website is essentially a specialty shop for gifts like designer baby clothes and eco-friendly barefoot dreams clothing. The eco-friendly part interested me quite a bit so I went online to see what they had. I was interested in the magnolia tree seedling that they sell, but I don’t think that magnolias would grow very well up here!
I looked at some of the jellycat animals too; I thought that the little truffle pig was cute.
My wife belongs to a yahoo group that focuses on local networking. Basically a community group where people share advice, ask questions, give reviews of local businesses, that sort of thing. This past week it seems that the general trend of conversation has been how to rid the folk’s homes and yards of things like bears, groundhogs and snakes!
It seems that one lady has snakes living in her attic. She doesn’t say what kind of snake! I hope they are not copperheads! Probably black rat snakes. One thing is for sure, my wife would totally freak out if she found snakes in our attic!
Another lady is worried about black bears on her property. She’s afraid that they are becoming aggressive and might harm her children. I’d worry about that too!
And then the groundhogs. Puts me in mind of the movie “Groundhog Day.”
All of these folks have one thing in common. They want advice on how to get rid of these unwanted critters without harming them in any way. It’s nice to be tenderhearted, but there is a limit!
I enjoy working in the yard. I like cutting down trees, clearing brush, and working in the garden. Those are some of my favorite things to do. What spoils the fun, though, are the biting insects. The ticks, black flies, and mosquitoes really put a damper on the enjoyment. Not only are the biting bugs a huge annoyance, but they carry diseases too. Yes, I use skin products that repel them, but once I start to sweat the effectiveness is lessened dramatically. That is why my wife and I are considering buying one of those new mosquito trap machines.
My wife has been “bugging” me (pun intended) to buy one of those ever since she found out about them – about three years now. I’ve been trying to put her off, but our old bug zapper light machines have finally died and I can’t seem to find any new ones to replace them so it looks like my wife is going to finally get her way and end up with one of those machines. I know once we get one, we’ll both be more likely to eat our dinners on the back deck, so it will be well worth it.