Tuesday, October 04, 2011

Aerie Report, Morning, October 4, 2011

I was awakened at 5 AM by the sound of heavy rain again this morning--again--so it was no surprise to find the Aerie engulfed by heavy fog at 7 AM when I came downstairs. The rain gauge recorded another 0.17 inches over the past 24 hours. Some spritzes are still in the forecast for today and this evening, but both weather.com and AccuWeather are promising this will be the last rain we'll see in the foreseeable future. That's 10 days at least of nothing but sunshine and more normal temperatures. We shall see.

It did remain cold enough long enough that I gave in and turned on the heat. The thermostats are all set at 64 degrees though, so, while comfortable, any little bit of sunshine will be enough to warm the house without having the heat kick on or having to build a fire.

As soon as we get a couple of days of sunny weather, I'll be able to go out ans stack the firewood that I cut and split. It's been uncovered and is pretty wet right now. Luckily, there are two stacks that have been covered and a smaller stack int he garage that are relatively dry and ready to be burned.

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I'll be heading up to the Bolt Hole to check things out tomorrow. Mark says he's got no pictures on the game cameras for the last two weeks so it's a good thing I didn't drop a couple hundred on a NYS hunting license this year. The lack of game and personal mobility would have made any foray into the woods a futile effort. There just isn't any food available for deer in our neck of the woods. The beech trees haven't produced a mast crop in several years. The cherries didn't do well either. Only the apples seem to have fared well but they just aren't more than a single midnight snack for the few bears and does that are in the area.

He (Mark) also reports that it's actually been warmer around the camp than down here at the Aerie. Dryer, too. Even so, the pipes need to be drained before freezing weather sets in, hence my need to get up there.

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Bow season started here in PA last Saturday. It's not nearly the big deal it was in New Jersey or that the gun season that starts after Thanksgiving is. The gun season is like a state holiday with schools closed and everything pretty much grinding to a halt on that Opening Day Monday.

My aching and still recovering knee makes climbing into a tree stand out of the question right now so my bow season is on hold. I've got a portable ground blind I could use but the rainy weather would have made it a difficult choice anyway. Following a blood trail of an arrowed deer is tough enough when the darn stuff isn't washed away by the rain.

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Terry departs for Anaheim, CA and her Smocking Arts Guild convention later this week. She's pretty psyched about getting out there and meeting up with some friends from around the country as well as taking classes.

I'll be staying home with the cats. I'll spend much of my time in the wood shop with the scroll saw. I've quite a few different projects I want to work on. The only problem I have there is a bunch of very rusty skills and plans that call for difficult to find thicknesses of wood.

Why is it that plans from Scroller and Winfield typically call for 3/8 inch thick stock but neither company sells that dimension of lumber? Even Lowe's hardwoods come in 1/4 and 1/2 thicknesses. There are other sources on the web that provide 3/8 inch thick hardwoods, but I've never ordered from them and have little idea of what to expect if I do.

Unlike Terry's projects, where if she goofs up she can rip out the threads and start over, if I goof, make an error, or have something snap, I can't just reuse the piece of (expensive) wood. Except as a fire starter.

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