Tap Tap Tap ...... takes 10ft pole and pokes it into the forum

[Frazz]

Sometimes no news is good news, sometimes no news means something bad happened.



Good news for us is that we have had some rain lately, might have a millet and milo crop this fall afterall.  Wheat did ok for the conditions it had.  It made from 7bu. up to 26, which isnt bad for hardly any rain on it last year and before harvest.  Grain prices arent too bad either, sure could be a lot lower.  These 100 degree days are sure getting old.  Seems like the sun just bears down on a person when you are outside working and wears you out. 

Bad news is last week my sons house in oklahoma caught on fire.  His alarm system called it in, and the fire dept got it out and saved it, although it burned a hole in the roof of approx 5 ft.  Charred a bunch of roof stuff and the normal water/smoke damage.  Guess it started in a bathroom and a got a small part of one of their kids bedrooms.  It will take 2 months to get it repaired it is estimated.  We tried to go down, but they kept talking us out of it as there was absolutely nothing we could do, they had to stay with her parents a few days and the house couldnt be touched until it was inspected by insurance and fire marshals and stuff.  Her parents live down there so they helped secure the place and whatnot.  No one got hurt which is the most important thing.

Anyway, thought id throw a log on the fire and see what was going on around here.

[Onepoint]

I have been wondering if you were droughted out down there.  They had a decent harvest here, we had a wet spring, so they had some rust problems and bugs,  but mostly its been the hail.  Had a couple monster hail storms go through, but it was hit or miss, mostly missing us by 1/2 a mile.  The dang grasshopppers are getting to be a problem in biblical proportion.  I have lost probably a good 30% of the hay to the little bastiges. Spraying doesn't seem to make a dent, works for a couple days and then they as bad as ever.    We have not had many triple digit days, but high 90s and a lot humidity this year.  Miserable to be in, of course the good thing is I can just do what I normally do and then look like I really work with sweat soaked shirts and hats.  And as far as wearing me out, seem the older I get just being awake wears me out. 

Sorry to hear about the fire, but you are right, at least they are fine, and they did not lose everything. 

[balsum fractus]

A ton of respect for those working the land....the weather has been anything but cooperative up here this year...starting with the heaviest winter snowfall for years....that goes quickly and everything dries out and we enjoy the benefits of wildfires and fire bans...just get a handle on that, then  the rains come..flooding any flat area of land...including a town up north that got hit bad with a wildfire sweeping through, then got flooded


......but wait, we're not done!....guess what blood sucking critters flourish in standing water?? Yes, Mosquitos...millions and bazzillions of them!!!  The stores sold out of bug spray and were bringing it in by the skid loads and selling out again. A dose would only last about 10 minutes if you were lucky...

Summer may have arrived as we have had a few days of blue skies and sunshine while Ma nature conjurs up her next surprise........

Hope someone is enjoying a decent summer somewhere.......

[Onepoint]

Wow that's a bad fire too. There is a forest fire going about 50 miles west of us, went through about 12000 acres last I heard. Smoke was really thick here yesterday.  Too bad it doesn't kill grassghoppers.

[zrct02]

I can't remember the last day the high was less than 105.

[stetto]

Summer here has been textbook. Had a week in the mid 90s, the only wierdness is that August is almost over and the vegetation is as lush as it was in June. The garden is spooky. My Amish Paste tomato plants are over 7 feet tall, we've brought in so many green beans and snap peas that the kids have started trying to sell them (and lemonade to draw the customers in, of course) with a roadside stand. The traffic flies by pretty fast on this highway, but they made 50 cents yesterday and a LOT of the over-the-road guys honked and waived. School starts in two weeks, they live in fear...

I am laying 800 square feet of engineered acacia flooring and will have to fabricate new baseboard when done, maybe heat vents as well. Acacia baseboard is over $20/linear foot, so I'm gonna stain match some poplar or pine...I haven't even got my outdoor projects like painting the house or fixing the deck or getting the shed straightened and Terrin's garden shack done, but I DID finally finish her walk-in closet (she's never had one) and now she's talking about getting the master bedroom done.

I will die with a hammer and a nailset in my hands...

[jetmex]

Frazz, sorry to hear of the fire, but am really happy to hear no one was hurt.

We finally broke the streak today.  Had 24 days in a row at or over 100 degrees.  Had some thunderstorms move through last night, but no appreciable rain and it will be 100 degrees again tomorrow.  We haven't had any significant rain since March.  The rivers are drying out, the lakes are drying out, and my grass is dying (which is no great loss  ).  There are boathouses (with boats installed) on the banks of Lake Houston that are now fifty yards from water. There are, however, no mosquitos!!

We didn't have any 4th of July fireworks celebrations and we've had a burn ban in place for months.  People are complaining about how hot and dry it is, but it's like that where I come from anyway, so what's the big deal? 

And it damn sure is too hot to fly....

[balsum fractus]

Stetto, if you are building stuff, does that mean your arms are working again?  If so, that is great news...

[stetto]

Heh heh, well Nony, it's kinda hard to explain; Yes, I can use the arms, but I can't lift anything above elbow height. I can work below myself (like a floor, or higher stuff if I get on a ladder), but the arthritis in my shoulders is progressing. I have a friend who comes over to help, a farm kid 10 years my junior, who is charged with babysitting making sure I don't try to get myself killed or something. He does the bulk of power tool work, because my right hand is NOT to be trusted.

Thing is, there's no one else to do the work. Can't afford a contractor, and I can hammer my way out of a wet paper bag on a good day, so it's me or it doesn't get done...

[Onepoint]

And it damn sure is too hot to fly....

Yeah, its been pretty warm even late in the day and mornings are too busy trying to cram a whole days worth in the 4 hours or so of cool.   But I have managed to slip in a few flights now and then, I even got out the neglected Goldberg Ultimate and fired it up, hope to have the chance to take it out soon, all I have been flying is electrics and now those 90 size planes seen so huge. 

[zrct02]

Finally.  1/8" of rain (almost) and a high of only 91.

[jetmex]

Well, it's time to break out the parkas.  It's only 89 degrees right now.  No rain here, but 80 miles east they're getting so much they don't know what to do with it.

[Onepoint]

We had a taste of things to come, it was about 50 this morning with a definite chill in the air, starting to feel fallish, just like throwing a switch since it was 98 a couple days ago.  High today was 75, but most of the day it was at or just under 70 and down right chilly in the breeze on the atv changing water after sundown.  In fact its 55 as I speak so its probably going to be in the 40s tonight. 

The only good thing is maybe I can get time to enjoy the newly bladed runway now that its not surface of te sun hot out for the better part of the day. 

[zrct02]

Only 100 yesterday.  81 Right now.  A definite chill in the air.

[jetmex]

About 80 here, cloudy and really windy.  It's been spitting rain on and off all day, but nothing steady. 

If it stays this way, I might make into the garage to get the Phantom phinished.....