College Football Returns!

The NFL has one more week of preseason games, but the College Football Season is upon us. Time to forget all the off-season drama of teams switching conferences, coaches switching teams (or, worse, getting arrested), of players switching teams (or, worse, getting arrested), talk of "death penalties" and suspensions. It's time for the Referee to blow the whistle and whirl his arm signifying "Play Ball!"

August 30^th is kickoff day for the 2012 college football season and there are a few new faces in the crowd this year. The Texas-San Antonio Road Runners and Texas-San Marcos Bobcats join the soon to be dissolved Western Athletic Conference (it’s the conferences last season), South Alabama Jaguars become part of the Sun Belt Conference, and the UMass Minutemen will join the Mid-American Conference giving the FBS 124 competitors up from 120 last year. (South Alabama is ranked 113 by CBSSports.com, but the others occupy slots 122, 123 and 124.)

Additionally, an old face has been permitted back in the mix. Southern California comes off a two year period of probation and post season ban to occupy the top spot in the AP poll, 3^rd in the Coaches’ Poll and 2^nd in the CBSSports.com poll.

The frantic conference realignment that occurred as the 2011 season came to an end means there will be numerous changes in who plays whom and for what stakes—especially in the Big 12. (Welcome, TCU and West Virginia!) Even more changes will take place at the end of this season as the ACC, Big East, Conference USA, and Mountain West shuffle teams in and out, and with the dissolution of the WAC adding to the mayhem.

(As an aside, Tropical Storm Isaac may impact more than a few games as it heads up the Mississippi with a projected path having it near St. Louis, MO early Saturday morning. I know my Rutgers’ Scarlet Knights will be watching carefully as they are scheduled to play Tulane in New Orleans on Saturday.)

For now, it’s time to begin concentrating on the playing of the game and cheering for your favorite team/conference so let’s see who is perceived as the crème de la crème of the 2012 teams.

All but one of the Top 25 are in action during the first weekend, but only two contests feature two ranked teams. (Okay, one and a half since Auburn isn’t ranked by the AP.) As expected there are some mismatches on the opening slate. 

(Numbers given are the rankings of: AP/Coaches’/CBSSports. NR = Not Rated)

1/3/2 Southern California The Trojans start the season at home against Hawaii’s Warriors on Saturday night.

2/2/3 Alabama The Tide play at Cowboys Stadium (Arlington, Texas) on Saturday night against the #8 

Michigan Wolverines.

3/1/1 LSU The Tigers open their season Saturday evening at home against the Mean Green of North Texas. (Isaac will have some impact on this game for sure. )

4/4/4 Oklahoma The Sooners will play on the road on Saturday night against the Texas-El Paso Miners.

5/5/5 Oregon The Ducks host the Arkansas State Red Wolves Saturday night.

6/6/6 Georgia The Bulldogs will play at home on Saturday afternoon vs. the Buffalo Bulls.

7/7/7 Florida State The Seminoles open the season at home Saturday against the Murray State

8/8/9 Michigan The Wolverines play #2 Alabama at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, TX Saturday night.

9/9/8 South Carolina The Gamecocks will play on the road against the Vanderbilt Commodores Thursday night.

10/10/11 Arkansas The Razorbacks will host the Jacksonville State Gamecocks (an FCS school) Saturday night.

11/11/10 West Virginia The Mountaineers host the Thundering Herd of intrastate rival Marshall on Saturday at noon.

12/12/12 Wisconsin The Badgers host the Northern Iowa Panthers (an FCS school) Saturday afternoon.

13/13/14 Michigan State The Spartans will host Boise State’s Broncos Friday night.

14/14/13 Clemson The Tigers play on the road against the Tigers of Auburn on Saturday evening.

15/15/17 Texas The Longhorns host the Wyoming Cowboys Saturday night.

16/20/18 Virginia Tech The Hokies host the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Monday night.

17/16/20 Nebraska The Cornhuskers will be hosting the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles on Saturday afternoon.

18/NR/15 Ohio State The Buckeyes open their season Saturday at noon against the Miami (Ohio) Red Hawks.

19/19/19 Oklahoma State The Cowboys open their season at home against the Savannah State Tigers (an FCS independent team).

20/17/16 TCU The Horned Frogs have the week off, not beginning their season until Saturday the 8^th of September against the Grambling Tigers (an FCS team).

21/18/21 Stanford The Cardinal play Friday night at home against the San Jose State Spartans.

22/21/22 Kansas State The Wildcats open their season at home Saturday evening against the Missouri State Bears (an FCS team).

23/23/23 Florida The Gators play host to the Bowling Green Falcons Saturday afternoon.

24/22/25 Boise State The Broncos open on the road Friday night against the #13 ranked Michigan State Spartans.

25/NR/NR Louisville The Cardinals play at home on Sunday afternoon against intrastate rival Kentucky Wildcats.

NR/24/NR Notre Dame The Fighting Irish open their season Saturday—at 9 AM EST—in Dublin, Ireland--against the Midshipmen of Navy.

NR/25/NR Auburn The Tigers are on the road Saturday against the #14 Clemson Tigers.

NR/NR/24 Utah The Utes begin play on Thursday night against the Northern Colorado Bears.

There ya go. A run down of this weeks games played by the Top 25 (and then some). Get yourself some chips and a couple of six packs, sit back, and enjoy the on field action for a change. 

What I did on my Saturday.

As night fell last evening, I ventured forth with a can of Spectracide Wasp & Hornet Killer to do battle with the yellow jackets that took up residence in the leaves behind the rear wheel of my log splitter. I could see no activity when I started to spray into the visible hole and soaked it and the surrounding leaves thoroughly.

In the morning light it was obvious that this first attack had had some success but did not produce a complete killing of the hive. I was, however, able to move the splitter a couple of feet since I could grab the tongue of splitter and pull it out of the way. What I then saw had the hairs on the back of my neck quivering. (There are precious few on the top of my head, but there are a few at the nape of my neck and these were at full, quivering alarm.)

The yellow jackets had built their nest in the leaves and not in the ground as they usually do. And what a nest it was! A mud construct measuring at least 12 inches long and 6 to 8 inches high and Lord knows how many inches deep was visible with the wasps--for that's what yellow jackets technically are--swarming over the surface.

Tonight I took another can of Spectracide spray out and gave them a second salvo of poison meant to kill on contact and keep killing for days. This time I emptied the entire can and marveled at the loud "buzzzzzz" from the agitated wasps. U was half surprised not to feel the vibrations through my heavy boots. With any luck, this will be the end of the little devils.

Actually, I was surprised that the little beasts didn't come swarming out and attack me while I was mowing the lawn yesterday, or moving the splitter, or spraying their nest. I have said many silent prayers of thanks for that little blessing! I've been stung before on multiple occasions and Do Not Like the experience.

When I was younger, I was allergic to bee/hornet stings and they almost killed me--twice. As a young teen I underwent desensitizing shots so the little creeps could not kill me. As a 20-something adult, I stepped in a yellow jackets' nest and got stung somewhere between 8 and 12 times. Who counts when there are that many? This was the first test of the shots I had received and they passed with flying colors as a couple of hours later--after having waited first with a NJ State Trooper a half mile from the hospital and then with a friend whose house was again just a stones throw from a hospital emergency room--I didn't even itch from the stings.

 Normally, I'm a live and let live kind of guy when it comes to wild critters who could do me harm. I give unknown snakes and spiders a wide berth. I'll sing or yell at bears when I see them approach--before making my own escape. (Of course, if I'm hunting....) I'll cut the line of any over sized shark (5 foot or better) and let it swim away with my tackle before thinking of bringing it into the boat. But not with wasps, hornets or their ilk. (Honey bees are another matter. Unless they are the Africanized version known as Killer Bees.) Especially when they invade my turf it's: Kill them all and let God sort them out.

******

In other activities today, I merely sprayed the deck with cleanser and then rinsed the same off in preparation of staining. I know I said I could do some staining of the rails today but my legs and back were protesting that I did too much yesterday so I was out voted 2-1. At least the spraying of the cleanser and subsequent rinsing didn't require my doing any stooping, bending or kneeling.

It did foul up my 500 gallon cistern, however. We have a shallow well here at the Aerie (just 120-150 feet deep) and it has a slow recharge rate. The water that comes in is usually laden with some of the fine red clay that surrounds the shale of the mountain. All the deck rinsing I did today caused a flushing of the water table and resulted in a rush of red clay particles into the cistern despite the one micron filter on the line. I had just replaced that filter last week but I had to do it again this afternoon. And the cistern's tank is cloudy with fine clay, too, and that will eventually have to be flushed out using the submersible pump. *sigh*

******

The Church is sponsoring a breakfast tomorrow morning on behalf of the Knights of Columbus so an early start to the staining project is not in the books. Biscuits and gravy, bacon and eggs, pancakes, the usual. Which is just fine my me! Staining will just have to wait until afternoon. Besides, waiting until later will allow the surfaces I sprayed with water today a better chance to dry out--as long as the widely scattered T-storms stay int he Northern Tier as they predict. ("Northern Tier" is southern, New York while "Southern Tier" is northern PA where the Aerie is located. Geography can get complicated. But at least I can spell "Ohio.")

Neil Armstrong has passed away.

Sad news this Saturday afternoon: Neil Armstrong has passed away at age 82. Those of you too young to remember, Mr. Armstrong, as commander of Apollo 11, was the first man to step foot on the surface of the Moon back in July of 1969.

Many of us were glued to our TV sets when this took place:



Rest in peace Mr. Armstrong.

Workin', Workin', Workin'...

...though my knees (feet, back) are hurtin', I keep right on a workin'. Rawhide!

Terry went off on another sit-n-stitch today so I was left at home to do chores.

First I mowed the lawn. While doing so I roused at least three leopard frogs and three red efts from the ankle deep grass. They and lots of black crickets and tan grass hoppers. Less welcome was the discovery of a yellow jackets nest in the leaves that have accumulated between the log splitter and the house foundation. I watched as dozens of the little stingers flew in and out of a sizable hole in the leaves and paid real close attention as I pushed the mower lawn mower a foot or so away from them. They did not attack for which I am grateful, but they are on my hit list. In fact, this evening I took a can of wasp killer and doused the hole with as much as I cared to use--probably 15 of the 20 ounces. If there are still signs of activity tomorrow morning, I will got to phase two--the remainder of that can and a second I have in reserve. (Might have to figure a way to move the splitter before I do that, however.)

Finished with the lawn, I ate lunch and then ran down to Lowes for some supplies needed to work on the deck. It needs to get stained--again. Today was day one of prep. I took the air compressor and a spackling knife and tried to remove as much debris as possible from between the boards. Shells of sunflower seeds and more seem to get wedged in there pretty tightly. I know we spaced these boards using a screw but next time I want to use something a wee bit thicker so all this crap will fall through. I hear a carpenter's pencil works nicely. It took me more than four hours to get that job done--much of it bent over--in the hot sun. My back and knees are killing me!

Tomorrow it will be time to use some cleaner. Spray it on, scrub it with a stiff brush (with a looong handle) and rinse it off. In a day or two, the deck should be dry enough to apply stain. While I'm waiting for the deck to dry, however, I can get started on the railing and spindles. If I do the outside surfaces (all ladder work) I can do the inside when I do the deck.

The weather forecasts show only the slightest chance of some scattered thunder storms early in the upcoming week. If I keep my fingers crossed-and my knees hold up--I might get everything done by Wednesday/Thursday.

Outdoor Critter In; Indoor Critters Out

I'm working in the yard yesterday and have the two garage doors open. Every time I return to the garage for something there's a rustling from the open bag of sunflower seeds and a chipmunk with two very stuffed cheeks pops out and scurries around the corner heading for the wood pile. He does this whenever the garage door is open for more than five minutes. He loves it when I cut the grass! The sound of the mower is like ringing the dinner bell.

******

Later, while I'm putting up the pea poles in the garden, Terry comes home and goes in to the house with her things. Then she comes out through the garage to see what I'm up to and pick some cherry tomatoes--of which we have an abundance.

I finish and head for the garage only to see a very familiar pussy cat on the driveway. Apparently, Terry had not closed the door between the foyer and the garage very tightly and we had an escape underway. Julie is the one I spotted on the driveway but when I called her name she headed back to the garage lickety-split. Shadow was under the front porch and she followed Julie back into the garage. When I shouted at them to get back in the house, they shot up the stairs--followed by Chester who was under the ATV (probably intrigued by the smell of chipmunk). When I got to the door, all three were acting innocent as hell. "We weren't outside! No sir! You didn't see us out there. Must be that beer you had. Now, can we have a crunchy?"

For Shadow and Chester this is the first time they've exited the house via the garage door. Previously they've gotten out on the deck but never stepped off the wood. Julie has been more adventurous. Jess had Julie semi-trained to walk on a leash when she was younger. ("Semi-trained" because--well--she's a cat! The leash did provide a tether when she would chase squirrels up the tree.) Anyway, Julie's shot through the door, on to the deck, and out on to the lawn; even leading me on a chase around the house (past a very startled opossum, I might add). She also once got out the front door when I didn't ensure it was closed properly and the wind blew it open. On that occasion she darted into the house as I pulled up in the truck and then hid downstairs, nonchalantly coming up when I came in the house as if to prove she hadn't been outside at all. 

Busy Days

 We drove down from the Bolt Hole on Tuesday hauling the travel trailer on its final journey. The trip was uneventful and traffic moved along at a decent clip on the NY Thruway and then down Routes 14 and 54 to Bath. At Bath we unhitched the trailer in the Camping World lot and presented them with the keys. Everything inside was spick and span and, aside from a few stone dings and a need for a good bath, the outside is in very good shape, too. The only non-working items I am aware of is a wall mounted CD player and a burned out light bulb in one of the overhead light fixtures. The slideout behaved nicely when the Camping World rep tested it. And well it should after our experiences with it on our Alaskan trip and out on Cape Cod this summer. I was a little sad to leave her there in the lot, but I believe we will get more use out of the Class C than we did out of the trailer.

I can see a trip down to Florida in the spring with stops in South Carolina and Missouri for visits to relatives playing a part. Might even be able to get to Louisiana, Tennessee and/or Kentucky.

******

While Terry went off to one of her sit-n-stich hen parties, I ran a few errands down the hill then came home and did some work around the yard. Pulled up weeds from areas I didn't want them (that's how goldenrod and Queen Anne's lace become weeds around here). Trimmed the red bud that was threatening to completely shade the herb garden. Tilled the bed that once held onions, lettuce and beets and planted two rows of snap peas with their attendant climbing strings fastened to cedar and bamboo poles. And burned a lot of waste cardboard and junk mail. That work required almost as much walking back and forth as mowing the lawn would have necessitated--and I've still got to get the grass cut. Maybe Friday.

******

Tomorrow, Thursday, is the day we go pick up our new (used) motorhome.The only thing that scares me is that it has a 55 gallon gas tank. I read somewhere that the Ford E450 V-10 Triton engine will get around 9 miles to a gallon--about the same as the Tundra hauling the trailer. That larger tank may provide a few heart palpitations when I fill it up, but I won't have to do so every 200 miles like I did for the Tundra with only a 26 (?) gallon tank.

Done Cleaning

We drove up to the Bolt Hole this morning (having waited until the post office was open) arriving shortly after 1 PM. Immediately we hitched up the travel trailer and pulled it out of the barn and into the sun where we could at least open the blinds to get some light inside. I reinstalled the two propane tanks and the battery before emptying the outside storage bays. Terry went through the closets, drawers and cabinets to remove everything inside before doing a little washing of the interiors. About two hours after we began, the inside of the trailer looked almost as good as new. Unless we give the outside a good scrubbing, it's not going to get any better. (And it's not going to get that scrubbing unless some passing down pour does the job tonight or tomorrow when we take it to the dealer's.)

We set aside two days to get this particular job done since we weren't sure what the weather would be like or what we might find as we started our clean-up activities. Now we can take off Tuesday morning for Bath, NY (about 180 miles from the Bolt Hole) and drop the 2002 Wilderness travel trailer before heading home to the Aerie and the adulation of our three starving pussycats. Thursday we will go back to Bath to pick up our 2007 Winnebago Access mini-motorhome (Class C).

******

On a side note...I had occasion to peek at the calendar today and all I can say is: Where the hell has August gone? I've got a million things I wanted to do this summer and....whoosh!..August is almost over.

Our Lazy Day

Terry and I enjoyed a very nice celebratory dinner over at Timeless Destinations in Wellsboro today. (I may not have to eat for another 40 years!) Afterward, we took a brief walk down the block to a sidewalk sale at Dunham's and to From My Shelf Bookstore. I got some nice polo shirts for $10 each and we both picked up a couple of books. (And talked to the bookstore staff about the Bacon Movement they so obviously support.)

This afternoon we just lolled around the house digesting.

******

Terry and I will be heading north tomorrow morning. We've got to clean our stuff out of the travel trailer and then haul it down to the Camping World in Bath, NY where it will serve as a trade-in on our new/used Winnebago Access Class C mini-motorhome--which we will pick up on Thursday.

Forty Years

It was forty years ago today that Terry and I exchanged vows of marriage.

A long time ago but it seems like yesterday.

Home again!

I'm back!

Joe and I just returned from our fishing trip with Caesar's North Camps on Gouin Reservoir in northern Quebec. We had a great time despite the rain (five of the seven days) and somewhat slow fishing. We've caught more and larger fish on other trips but had a good time and made lots of memories just the same.

Before we left to head north, Joe had gotten a call from Am, the office assistant. She warned that the lake water was down and that the level had been falling quickly (almost a foot a week!) for the last month. Just the word that we were coming, however brought two days of rain and our arrival guaranteed the end to all this "dry spell" talk. Joe and I are going to start a company called Drought Eradicators. We'll work for the cost of a fishing trip/hunting trip in any area you name. You want rain in the desert? Either let us shoot what ever wild game might be resent or stock the oasis pool with fish. A week after we arrive, there will be a bloom on the desert like none you've ever seen.

The highlights included Joe catching a 4-1/2 to 5 pound walleye that measured between 22 and 24 inches and (nearly) landing a 32" pike that broke off just as it touched the net. Those two fish plus our first ever sighting of a lynx made the trip worthwhile. We only caught 40 walleye and 25 pike in about 5 days of hard fishing. (Okay, semi-hard fishing. We basically fished from 8 AM until 5 or 6 PM each day the rain allowed.) 

We got rained off the lake one day when over two inches of rain forced us to retreat to the cabin and fire up the wood stove to dry everything--including ourselves--out. As in previous trips, however, we managed to work around most of the rain that fell.

The lake was loaded with loons that showed no fear of us or our boat and allowed us to to get so close we were concerned they might try for our jigs.

I did all the driving up and back (12-13 hours one way just to get to our float plane in Clova), all the driving of the boat, and the dish washing. Joe purchased our food, fileted the fish we kept to eat and bring home, and did the cooking.

A couple of things northern Quebec has plenty of is water and sky. Often they combine. 

You could watch the clouds for hours and hours.

Don't like the set you've got at the moment? Just wait fifteen minutes. There will be some new ones along shortly.

This one looks like the Roadrunner. 

View from the porch as the sun sets behind us. 

One morning we drifted with the wind casting to some weedbeds along the shoreline trying for some pike. As we got near the end of our drift (too shallow water), this tawny cat popped up from the grass where it may have been waiting for some careless ducks to come within range...or it could have been napping in the sun. (Using a point and shoot I'm not that familiar with, these are the best I got. NOW, of course, I know how I could have gotten better by adjusting some settings. Know your tools before you have to use them.)

Uh? What the heck is that? 

 

Curiosity could have gotten this cat killed. But not today.

He's seen enough and heads slowly for the woods. 

Joe with the large walleye. It was released soon after the photo was take.

Some of its smaller relatives were not so lucky. 

They, and a couple of pike got fileted for dinner or the freezer. (Note the essential tools of the trade: sharp, flexible knife; firm cutting surface; late for filets; and, most importantly, an adult beverage in the blue can.)

In addition to the lynx we say a young beaver addling around a bank lodge, a black bear along the shoreline, Bald Eagles, terns, gulls, Cedar Waxwings (eating fish?!?), very friendly Red Squirrels we could have hand fed if we had peanuts, a couple of snowshoe hares--one of which looked like a small kangaroo, a little brown bat (awfully far north!), and, of course, deer mice. (We tried to eradicate the latter with little success.)

Things we learned on this trip:

1) Call the credit card company when you leave the US. Our first stop for gas saw our cards rejected. We ended up paying cash (which we hadn't converted to Canadian). A short call to VISA got that problem corrected but too late.

2) Bisquick can be made into reasonably good pancakes using canola oil if you leave the eggs back home in your refrigerator. Taylor ham and egg sandwiches are a bit thinner without the eggs, however.

3) Patience pays off. We did a great deal of trolling to located walleye, but when we did, we were able to catch quite a few in the same spot using jigs or trolling back and forth over the same area.

4) Give 'em something they haven't seen before. When the standard yellow or black jigs stopped producing, I switched to a chartreuse and immediately connected. Then, when that slowed, a watermelon and connected again.

5) When you wish to see how a lure looks in the water, i.e. what sort of action it may have, before tossing it overboard it is wise to first connect it to your line.

6) Caught in a rainstorm while fishing 2 or more miles from the cabin, you might as well keep on fishing. you'll only get wetter--and in different laces--if you open the throttle on that little 9.9 horse power motor to try and get back to the cabin. (I think Myth Busters did something about walking or running to your car in the rain and proved you get wetter running.)

7) If it is raining cats and dogs, NEVER say: "Well, it can't get any worse!"  It can--and it probably will. (This is an old lesson that needs relearning. At least this time it didn't start hailing.)

New Used Motorhome.

Well, we did it. We went out this morning and ended up purchasing a used 2007 Winnebago Access. It's a Class C (aka mini motor home) with only 10,800 on the odometer. This is the vehicle we looked at last Friday but were discouraged by some cosmetic damage. They lowered their price, promised to make repairs, gave us a great value on the Wilderness trailer as a trade, and we signed the papers this afternoon.

We will have to get a dolly for our towed vehicle so we will have more mobility once we reach our destinations. So if you see this vehicle moving down the highway with a bright yellow Chevy Aveo come  September, wave. It will be us.

 2007 Winnebago Access 30C

2007 Winnebago Access 30C

We looked at lots of layouts since last Friday as we visited nine different dealers and twice that many on-line sites. Terry really, really liked this model's interior and extremely low mileage. Aside from a few minor blemishes, it was well maintained inside and out.

The slideout provides ample elbow room in the living area and even when it is closed , as it was during our short test drive, there's still plenty of room to walk to the bedroom or work in the galley. For one night stops we may not even have to open her up.

 View from middle looking forward.

 Super slideout consists of the dinette and couch--

just like in the trailer.

We may have to "borrow" some of my daughter's DVDs and invest in a coaxial cable. The trailer never had a TV--and it wasn't missed--now....

 The entertainment center (rather than a bunk) over the cab.

The kitchen (galley) is essentially the same as in the trailer with a bit more counter space but no pantry. There are, however, lots and lots of drawers and cabinets.

The galley has more counter space than most and 

an oven as well as the microwave, cook top and refrigerator.

In addition, there's over 100 cubic feet of storage outside in various bins, a 4000W generator, a rear view camera ad several other amenities.

Aerie Report, August 6, 2012

It's been a busy few days at the Aerie.

Terry and I have been shopping around for a used Class C motor home and that's had us driving hither and yon.

Friday we went up to Bath, NY to visit Camping World and Wilkins RV. Each had a couple of nice units listed on their web sites and gave us a good feel for the layouts/floorplans we would encounter. Unfortunately, the former had one unit that would have been ideal but for some (to us) serious damage to the linoleum floor and shower stall. The latter had a beautiful Endura that was not listed yet but that 1) was just a bit above our initial price range and 2) had a few thousand more miles than we would have liked.

Saturday we went considerably further afield and visited two dealers down near Souderton, PA: Fretz RV and Indian Valley RV. Again, the former had an older Itasca Spirit that meets our criteria and the latter had a Class B+ that held some promise, but those dealers are four hours away!

On the way back, we swung by Hamburg, PA to visit Cabelas. As chance would have it, Saturday morning's mail had a 10% off coupon that would expire before I return from my fishing trip so we decided to take a slight detour. There were two more RV dealers in that area (Tom Schaeffer's and Boat N RV) and we stopped to see what they had. The answer was nothing that we were interested in.

Today we took the utility trailer up to Elmira, NY to pick up the Yamaha Prohauler since it was up and running again. While up that way, we swung east to Nichols, NY to stop at Jim's RV Center. They had nothing that matched our criteria but the salesman later called to make a proposal on a new Tioga Ranger that sounds pretty good if well above our price range.

Well, we have our name out there now and we've let the sales people know what we're looking for. If they get a trade-in that matches our criteria they should call. Well, if they want to make a sale, they should call.

******

I've got all my gear packed for the fishing trip. When Joe gets here on Wednesday we'll make some final decisions and toss our stuff in the back of the Tundra and start on our way. We have a flight out of Clova, Quebec at 7 AM Thursday morning. It's supposed to be a 15-16 hour drive from here. We shall see.

******

Sunday morning I was sitting at the table eating my breakfast when a black bear walked up on the deck. It sauntered right past the screen door and the watching Julie cat and headed around front where I usually have the bird feeders so it's pretty obvious that it has been here before. I got up and closed the sliding glass door and the bear came running back around the corner, down the steps and up into the woods.

Then it rained some. Or I should say some more. We had 0.33 inches on Thursday night and ran into one hell of a group of T-storms while we were out on Saturday. This Sunday rain didn't amount to much leaving just 0.08 inches in the rain gauge.

When the rain stopped and the breeze had dried things off a bit, I went out an harvested beets and onions from the front garden. I've about a peck (quarter of a bushel?) of each. Some were the size of golf balls while others were as big as softballs. The onions are spread out in the garage to dry. Terry cooked up some of the little beets for dinner tonight and they are the sweetest. The greens were also cooked with a little olive oil and garlic and proved to be even better than spinach.

******

Tomorrow I have to cut the grass. The buckhorn plantain heads are a foot high and they and the clover flowers are distracting the honey bees from the my zucchini and cucumbers.

More Food Stuff.

Terry spent the better part of Thursday doing some cooking.

First there were the ribs we had for dinner (with plenty left over for supper), then there were the stuffed cabbage (she cooked up five meals which now sit in the freezer), and finally she did some bread & butter pickles (five jars went on the shelf while the one that didn't seal went in the fridge).

Me? I cleaned the jars and supervised. And ate ribs. And they were good!

Ho-hum. A Quiet Day.

A quiet day at the Aerie.

Terry went off to southeast Syracuse for a stitching meeting and I was left to hold the fort.

I checked the rain gauge this morning to see how much we got during the storms that passed our way last night: 0.64 inches for Tuesday night. We also lost power for about 15 minutes. Long enough to through all the digital clocks off and have Terry run around lighting candles. (Saturday we had 0.12 inches here while Williamsport got over 4 inches in two hours. Summer storms can be pretty spotty.)

I ran all the necessary errands (grocery shopping, some banking, a visit to Lowes) this morning. After feeding the cats (poor Chester threw up everything he ate!), I went out to pick more black berries. I managed to harvest a quart which I washed and put into the freezer. Picked a few string beans and two cucumbers also.

I assembled a new set of shelves in the basement for all our canned foods.

I did some small amount of work (or at least I thought about) on selecting the fishing equipment  for our trip next week.

And now it's 10 PM and I'm heading to bed.

Hope you had a good day.

From the Garden(s)

Having amassed numerous zucchini and cucumbers from our garden and Joe's, Terry went into cooking mode today.

First she baked up seven loaves of zucchini bread which will now be heading to the bowls of the freezer. Then she made up a double batch of sweet pickle relish. That gets canned in one cup jars and is in the process of being boiled as I type. We should get around a dozen jars to go on the shelf.

There are still plenty of cucumbers to deal with (thanks Joe!) and they will be turned into bread-and-butter pickles.

Meanwhile, the zucchini and cucumbers are still producing as are string beans. The onions are about ready to harvest and the beets will come out of the ground in a couple of days. There are a couple of green bell peppers that need to be taken off the plants before they weigh the poor things down. And tomatoes...if all those that set turn ripe we're going to be up to our whazzoo in cherry tomatoes, Early Girls and whatever the third variety is. Now that the ground hog has been hustled off to the pearly gates (or the fires of Hell, whichever) the tomatoes are doing just fine. And the lettuce is producing again, too.

Then there's the head of cabbage Joe gave us. That will be turned into stuffed cabbage and some will be eaten while the bulk will get frozen.

The eggplant were delicious, BTW. One got chopped up with onions, peppers, sausage, a little mozzarella cheese and a bit of tomato sauce. That was served on a bed of rice. One got sliced thin, breaded and fried. Add some tomato sauce and mozzarella on a bun and we got two meals out of it and a couple of slices got eaten along the way.

Used Farm Equipment For Sale

Received this via email this evening. I'm posting it because Dana Carvey and Jon Lovitz have been complaining that comedians just aren't doing enough with all the material coming from D.C. this cycle.
[UPDATE 8/1 Added a link and corrected Mr. Lovitz's first name spelling.]

YOU ARE PROBABLY NOT VERY INTERESTED IN ANY USED FARM EQUIPMENT BUT YOU MIGHT ENJOY THIS AD TAKEN FROM CRAIGS LIST:

FIFTY YEAR OLD MANURE SPREADER - $1 ( WASHINGTON , D.C. )

Fifty-year old manure spreader. Not sure of brand. Said to have been produced in Kenya. Used for a few years in Indonesia before being smuggled into the US via Hawaii. Of questionable pedigree. Does not appear to have ever been worked hard. Apparently it was pampered by various owners over the years. It doesn't work very often, but when it does it can really sling the manure for amazing distances. I am hoping to retire the manure spreader next November.

I really don't want it hanging around getting in the way. I would prefer a foreign buyer to relocate the manure spreader out of the country. I would be willing to trade it for a nicely framed copy of the United States Constitution.

Location: Currently being stored in a big white house in Washington , D.C

We did some socializing on Saturday.

We did some socializing yesterday.

The Rutgers' Alumni Club of Central Pennsylvania had a planned Summer Sendoff for kids in our area that were going to Rutgers this fall. It was held at the home of the gal who has become the default club president (Hey! It was her idea to form the group.) down near Lewisburg. Mindy said she had heard back from a little more than a dozen folks that they would try to attend and we thought it would be pretty cool to see who else in the area were RU grads.

Turned out that the four students (from as far flung places as Altoona and Bloomsburg) couldn't make it. One was on a family vacation, one was already at RU attending "captains' practices" with the football team (incoming QB prospect from Bloomsburg), and the other two...well, they didn't respond. And the Alumnae weren't much better. We ended up with just four couples. Terry and I and Mindy and her husband are all grads. Then one of her neighbors, Cheryll, is a grad of Cook and another gent--Roy, a retired law enforcement officer--was also a Cook graduate. (CAES and Cook were pretty well covered!) All of us were once resident's of New Jersey but moved to PA for pretty much the same reasons--taxes, cost of homes, and/or jobs.

We had a  good time visiting and talking about New Jersey and PA. Terry and I were by far the oldest couple there having graduated in 1971. The next oldest graduate, Cheryll, got her degree in 1991. Roy got his in 1997. (He obviously was working while a student.) Mindy and her husband are babies in comparison!

******

We left Mindy's house around 4 PM heading over to Jersey Shore to visit Joe and Pat. Joe had called early Saturday to ask for some help. He had a slew of cucumbers and wanted to know if we wanted any so we were going to swing by and pick a bucket of them up. We ended up with a whole lot more.

Heading north we saw some pretty impressive thunderheads in the distance and ran into a brief heavy downpour as we turned west on I-80. Turns out if we had been heading home through Williamsport we would have really hit some rain! They got over 4 inches in 2 hours around the time we would have been passing through. (Holy Buckets!) As it was, once we were out of the little rain we hit just as we left Route 15 to head west on I-80, we got nothing. There was no rain at Joe's at all.

We had a great time visiting with Pat and Joe, had a very nice--if unexpected--dinner, and came home with a two gallon bucket filled with cucumbers, a huge head of lettuce (Stonehead, I think Joe called it) and a couple of very nice eggplants.

Just a little of Joe's produce.

Joe has a heck of a green thumb when it comes to growing vegetables. The two of them also do pretty good with flowers.

Terry and I finally got home around 8:30 PM to be greeted by three cats who were complaining of having been seriously shorted on their crunchy quota.

******

Thursday's line of severe storms that produced  the damaging tornado in Elmira are now being credited with a tornado in Coudersport, two in Corning and two more in eastern PA (Montrose and somewhere else I can't recall).

Small business appreciation day.

I did some business with our local sporting goods store today. 

 

Back in '89 or '90 I bought a Daisy Legacy Model 2202 for Rick to shoot in the Adirondacks. It's a small bolt action .22 with a composite stock that was adjustable as the kid's arms lengthened and had a 10 round barrel magazine. We used it two, maybe three, times before scout camp came along and he out grew it and was big enough to use the full sized Marlin and the shotgun. It's been sitting in the back room up north ever since with the booklets and in the original box (price sticker said I paid $75 for it.) I had no use for it and felt it was time to get rid of it. 

 

I put it on the counter at Cooper's Sporting Goods in Mansfield and opened the box. Tim looked at it. "Wow," he says, "I've never seen one of these before." 

 

He picked the rifle up examining it closely and worked the bolt. Then he pulled out his "Bible" and looked it up and says to me, "I'll give you $100 for it." 

 

I almost fell over. I hoped to get between $25 and $50. He showed me in the book that a model like mine in "Very Fine" condition was valued at $150--twice the original retail price.

 

Seems Daisy only made this rifle for three years, 1989-1991. 

 

I took the money and said thank you!

 

Checked on the internet when I got home (Yeah, should have done that first.) and it seems that there are only a few of these out there and for a .22, bolt action collector they can go up to $200. (More if they have the scope which mine didn't.)

 

I'm not sorry about getting "just" $100 for the Legacy. Parts are hard to come by for this little rifle and that alone would result in it seldom getting used. Tim can have the fun of finding a buyer and closing that deal. Hey, he's got the FFL so even if I did locate a buyer, it would probably have to go through him anyway.

Thursday's Activities

We had a line of thunderstorms move through during the night. There was some booming and banging and enough rain (0.26 inches) to make it worth while in a gardening sense. (Maybe that's why this morning's ground hog--the dead one--was out feeding on the grass and not the tomatoes.) Things were cooler this morning and the overcast sky kept them that way through the morning hours.

Terry and I took advantage of the cool, overcast but dry skies to visit the Morris Chair Shop and purchase a new table and six chairs. Delivery will be in about 8 weeks as they do not keep any tables "in stock" as it were. Much too bulky and item for a small company to keep laying about. The table is 54" long and 36" wide with two 16" leafs on the ends. It's Mission style (or Prairie, if you will) and made from quarter-sawn white oak. The chairs are of the same style and materials. As Terry said, "We've been married 40 years, and this is the first table of our own we've ever had." (Previous tables were hand-me-downs from Grandparents, cousins and aunts.)

On our way back, we stopped for lunch at The Landing Strip in Liberty (excellent meatball sub with fries) and then at the bank to replenish our wallets after putting our deposit on the furniture. (Heh. I didn't know the Morris Chair Shop didn't take credit cards.)

The sun has struggled to come through the clouds and the temperature has risen to a muggy 85 degrees. The national weather service has put us under a severe thunderstorm watch until at least 10 PM. Areas to the north in New York have a tornado watch. Currently there's a thin line of yellow and red stretching from the western Finger Lakes southwest to Pittsburgh and on nearly to Charleston, WVA. That line is inching it's way eastward and is likely to reach us in a couple of hours.

Me 1; Ground hogs 0

I brought the .22 bolt action Marlin down from the Bolt Hole to the Aerie because the ground hogs had put on so much fat eating up my garden and lawn that the air rifle just wasn't going to do the job.

Today that decision paid off. After seeing ground hogs twice with no chance of a shot, I laid a fat ole boy to rest. Took two shots--although the first would have been lethal by itself. Darn thing tried to crawl away after a chest hit and got stuck in the wire fence I've got around the herbs, beets, lettuce and onions. Had to put a second round behind his ear execution style so I could drag the carcass out of the fence and into the woods.

Normally I hate the idea of having a critter suffer after being shot, but if he had made it to the weeds, I would have been okay with the knowledge he would probably die in his hole. his rotting corpse would have probably discouraged other ground hogs from moving in what is now a vacancy in prime territory. (I say "prime" based upon the weight and size of the ground hog I slew today.)

What I did today.

So, Terry had a small knot of stitchers over for a sit-and-stitch luncheon today. Like any sensible, sensitive male, I hit the road. I would have gone to the Lamb's Creek Range to shoot, but it's closed this week because the NRA sponsored International YHEC (Youth Hunter Education Challenge) events that are spilling over from the Mill Cove Environmental Area. 

So, instead, I did a tour of the county with a few stops along the way. Out Route 660 to Leonard Harrison State Park and the Grand Canyon of PA, then back through Stony Fork to the Wellsboro's Green Public Library (didn't find the books I was looking for), the Tioga County Courthouse (to obtain a concealed carry application), and AAA (for a new Road Atlas--we wear them out after two years). Then back to Mansfield and Lowes (to complain about carpet delivery and price deck stain), Agway (black-oil sunflower seed is on sale! $22.95 per 50 pounds. I got ten bags), McDonald's for lunch (because we don't have a Chick-fil-a nearby), Richmond Township offices (just to say "Hi! to Deb and let her know I'm putting her husband, Don, down as a reference on my cc application, and then, as I was driving up the hill with intentions to wander about Tioga State Forest on top of Armenia Mountain, Terry called to give me the all clear.

Good news! The ladies didn't eat many of the brownies and left some of the Cool Whip and pineapple cake.

Sur-prise, sur-prise!

A week and a half ago, Terry and I went to Lowes to order an 8x10 area rug for the dinning area. (We had been using the 6x8 carpet that once was part of Jessica's apartment at UMass many, many moons ago.) We found a nice one for under $400 with free delivery. The pattern on the carpet is Mission style and goes well with most of the furniture we have purchased. The color is a sage green and matches the sofa and chairs we bought last year.

Yesterday it got delivered. No fuss, no muss, no door bell ring or knock. The thing just magically appeared on the front steps. Although wrapped in plastic, if it had rained it would have gotten soaked. Someone (me mostly) was home all day yet never did we hear a truck pull up or a carpet get dumped on the front steps. (I guess, it could have come while I was behind the house cutting grass behind Terry's sewing room. The lawn mower noise could have masked the sound of the ruck and delivery.) If Terry hadn't gone out to sweep the steps in preparation for company coming today, we would not have known it was there.

I stopped at Lowes today to mention this little faux pas to the customer service desk. They looked at my sales receipt and told me that it wasn't one of their deliveries. Since we arranged to have the carpet direct delivered, it was probably delivered by the Big Brown Box truck. That I believe, he often backs into the driveway and puts packages on front porch with out ringing the door bell. But, this was a huge freakin' carpet left laying on the steps half out under the sky! This guy (or gal) will get an earful the next time we get a delivery and snag him or her before they run off.

Tomorrow we go shopping for a new dinning room table and chairs at the Morris Chair Shop. They had a nice one on display when we visited two months ago. Probably should have bought it then, but we were about to head for Cape Cod and then Portland, OR. Delivery would have been a problem. Hopefully , they don't change their floor models too frequently.

Good Morning!

This morning's wake up call came courtesy of a couple of snorting deer in the brush to the south of the Bolt Hole.

The increasing volume and cadence put me in mind of the "Dueling Banjos" tune of "Deliverance" fame. The clamour finally caused me to get the hell out of bed and get dressed. By the time I got down stairs, they had STFU and departed. Bastards! (Or bitches, as the case may be.)

Yesterday it was a single doe with her twin fawns out back. The kids must have been romping about int he apple trees while Mom checked the ripeness of the fruit (still very, very green) and nibbled alternately on apple twigs and tall grass. The twins got Mom to stand still for a few minutes and nursed enthusiastically before the trio wandered off and out of sight.

For a secluded area with only distant neighbors, this is one noisy place. Bears and deer crashing about in the brush and--in the case of the bears--climbing trees in the night, an unknown something (not a deer or canine as far as I could tell--fox? possum?) bleating in the area between Mark's cabin and the Bolt Hole during the night, White-throated sparrows singing their high-pitched, sweetly whistled "Sam Peabody, Peabody, Peabody" song also in the middle of the night, and, of course, the early morning/late afternoon chattering of the red squirrels.

There are considerably fewer red squirrels thanks to a little 3x scope on a .22 caliber Marlin bolt action rifle, but there are still red squirrels. Don't know if Nature's Law of Vacuum or just a very, very prolific sex life of both squirrel and pine tree that makes the small area immediately behind the Bolt Hole loaded with red squirrels, but DANG! I've disposed of at least 10 within 50 yards of the house so far in June and July, yet they just keep on appearing. Peeled and striped pine cones are everywhere inside and out.

******

Got a call from my buddy Joe yesterday. He's heard from Caesar's and we are good to go on our August fishing expedition to Quebec. He reminded me of the balance due, reservoir fees, and fishing license costs so I will be able to bring enough cash with me. We talked about what gear to bring, who's truck we would take (mine) and how his menu/food planning was going.

We'll drive out of the Aerie on August 8th and head north on I-81 crossing the border at the terminus. Through Ottawa, and up towards the small town of Clova and we fly to the northern end of Gouin Reservoir from there.

Looking forward to it!

******

Terry called yesterday to complain about the blankety-blank ground hog she spotted in the garden eating green tomatoes. Either she's go to learn to shoot or I'll have to make the fence more critter proof. Maybe a few Claymore mines would help.

Later she called to tell me there was a standoff at the screen door between Julie and some stray beige cat that just wanted to get out of the rain. They sat on either side of the barrier sort of rumbling at one another while Chester and Shadow sat silently a couple of feet behind Julie as observers/supporters. Terry closed the class door just so no one got the idea to go barreling through the screen or claw it any further. Stray kitteh was NOT to be allowed in the house!

Well, that's about all for now.

Senior Moments

Been there. Done that. (Well most of that, anyway. I think.)

Computer worries.

My Toshiba laptop has been acting wonky for a couple of months. It refuses to go to sleep. (The screen will go dark if I walk away from the computer for more than 10 minutes--sometimes--but usually not.) It refuses to shut off. (It freezes after going through 99% of the process.) And, today upon arrival at the Bolt Hole, when I started it up after shutting it off at the Aerie, it did not show anything on the screen when I started it up. Not seeing a log in screen, I shut it off and then turned it on again...three times. Nothing but I could hear the usual sounds in the background so I typed in my password and hit "Enter" and heard the usual sounds from my normal sign in routine. WTF?

I started looking around to see if there was a button I might have accidentally pushed that caused the screen to go dark. AHA! Function-F5 seemed the likely culprit. It switches to a monitor as the output device--and back. Perhaps if I pushed Function-F5....

BINGO! The screen came alive again.

This is the first time this has happened and I've no idea how or why it occurred. It's virtually impossible to accidentally hit Function-F5 so it must have something to do with the poor behavior at Shutdown.

This little Toshiba Satellite has served me well for at least five years with nary a hitch until the last 6 months. (One exception: Windows Defender fails to load "The handle is invalid," it says. Of course, no Windows Defender means I can't control the start-up programs.) I did upgrade its memory at one point when it was having some issues running PhotoShop Elements. (Issues that are still occurring, BTW.) It's running Windows Vista (Home Premium) which is not the most stable of systems. Perhaps it's time to start looking for a new machine.

(There! Let's see if the little bugger gets the hint!)

Well, don't blame me!

Retail Purchases in U.S. Unexpectedly Decrease 0.5%

Retail sales in the U.S. unexpectedly fell for a third month in June as limited employment gains took a toll on consumers.

The 0.5 percent drop followed a 0.2 percent decrease in May, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. The decline exceeded the most pessimistic forecast in a Bloomberg News survey that called for a median 0.2 percent gain in sales. Other reports today showed manufacturing in the New York region picked up this month and U.S. inventories increased in May.

The retail figures prompted economists at Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Credit Suisse to lower their forecasts for economic growth in the second quarter. A cooling job market is sapping the household spending that makes up 70 percent of the economy, curbing sales at retailers such asTarget Corp. (TGT) and Macy’s Inc. (M) 

(h/t Instapundit.)

Not. My. Fault. I just dropped close to a grand at Bass Pro Shop and Cabelas. And Terry and I just purchased a new carpet for the dining room from Lowe's. Then there's the upcoming bill for the ATV repair...Oh, wait, all that was since July 1st. In June we just had a ball spending money all over the country for gas, meals and motel rooms. (Don't know if those count as "consumer spending" but I've nothing to show for it except miles on the odometer, a couple of extra pounds on the waist and several good night's sleep.) I guess we can expect the report for July to be a bit better since we did our part and will probably do even more. (There's a new dining room set in the near future. You know, to go with the carpet.) Unless you guys are slacking off, that is!

Fun Times North and South

While Terry was driving up to Syracuse for a meeting/stitching session with some of her friends, I drove south to the Harrisburg/Hamburg areas of PA to visit the Bass Pro Shop and Cabelas.

If Terry had driven a little further she would have reached Lake Ontario, about as far due north of the Aerie as you can go without reaching Canada. She ended up spending the night when the ladies went out to dinner and didn't finish until 9 PM. She says they had a great time and the restaurant was an excellent Italian place on the north side of town in Dewitt near the airport.

I, too, had a great day even though I stayed in state. First, I visited the Bass Pro Shop for the first time and dropped about $100 on "necessities" for the upcoming fishing trip: lures, knife, polarized clip-on sunglasses and such. Second, I drove over to Cabelas and bought myself a new "tool" in the form of a S&W M&P in .40 caliber. Plus tools to clean it and all my other "tools" and ammo. I've been looking for a long time and had narrowed my choice down to Smith & Wesson and Springfield. Both had excellent reviews on the Cabelas' site but then I found out that the Springfields are manufactured overseas so I paid a bit more for the S&W kit. The only "bad" thing about the purchase was that the digital background check system was/is down while they make some changes. That meant filling out the paperwork the old fashioned way and then hanging around for close to an hour while they did the phone in thing. Good thing it was a slow WEdnesday afternoon and not a busy Saturday morning. (And why do they need to know if you're Hispanic/Latino? That's one of the specific questions on the form. Some of the others are just plain dumb. "Are you an illegal alien?" Really?)

Just doing our best to boost the economy. 

Oh, and I got to drive around a lot (350 miles round trip) and walk around the two stores a lot and my knees did NOT hurt! Not at all. Hooray!

It may be Monday but...

...it's been a fairly productive day at the Aerie.

Terry and I started off with breakfast at Grandma's Kitchen in Mansfield and then went up to Murphy's Blueberry Farm to do some picking. We were there for just a little over an hour and came home with 10 pounds of berries which we packaged in Zip-Loc bags for the freezer.

Then we trailered the ATV up to Elmira to drop it off at Glider City Powersports. I told them my tale of woe and asked them to get the thing running. The shop has about a week's worth of backlog but he promised to get to it when its time rolls around.

Back home again we did some picking of string beans and inspected the damage done to the zucchini by the ground hogs. The plants are putting out flowers like crazy and there are a couple of small zukes forming but if the ground hogs aren't stopped, they'll probably eat those before we get to. The cukes also have flowers galore but there are no signs of any fruit forming yet. Tomatoes are doing very well. They've lots of flowers and green fruit but only a couple Early Girls that are turning red. Some beets are about ready to be pulled and the onions are knocked over under their own weight. When the stalks turn brown I'll be able to harvest some very, very large white onions. The lettuce is pretty well done having succumbed to both the heat and some critter (deer?) that's nibbled them over the low fence.

I'm spending some time cleaning a few dozen canning jars that Mark gave me. He came across them while cleaning out his Dad's stuff. Most are the old fashioned kind with the glass tops and wire springs that hold them on. All we need to do is find a source for the rubber rings that they require. A few are wide mouth jars of the more modern variety that use the rings and lids. I'm pretty sure I can get the proper sized lids at the local Agway. They might even carry the rubber rings.

Today is sunny but much cooler than last week. The high has been around 78 degrees and the breeze makes it feel even cooler in the shade. I'd take a summer of days like these.

Aerie weather

Saturday at the Aerie was a scorcher. The temperature reached 88 F before noon and would have gone higher except that Mother Nature pushed a blanket of clouds our way. Said clouds brought severe thunderstorms to our north and south as they swept in from the northwest. Us? We didn't get anything...until later in the afternoon.

That's when a cell of T-storms several miles in diameter took direct aim at the Aerie and slowly (there was remarkably little wind) moved overhead. In 15 to 20 minutes we had a couple of dozen lightening strikes--some so close I barely had time to say "one one thou...", more than a quarter inch of rain--there was 0.32 inches in the rain gauge this morning, and a drop in the temperature of 10 degrees from 83 F to 73 F.

We got a little more rain during the night but the sky has been mostly clear with a few fair weather cumulus clouds today. The temperature has been pleasant as well and hasn't yet reached 80 degrees. Tonight's low is supposed to be in the mid 50s so it might be good to turn the bedroom AC off and enjoy the quiet.

Looking at the 10-day forecast at weather.com and it shows little chance of precipitation during that period. Just one day is listed as 30%, ONE day--Sunday, July 15th! All the rest are 0-10% chance with most of them being the 0. Highs are listed as low to mid 80s but we're usually a few degrees cooler here at 2100 feet, and the lows are mid 50s to low 60s. (The lows are usually pretty accurate except during the winter. Cold air sinks and accumulates in the valley then and we are a couple of degrees warmer. During the summer, that cold air has to get past us first.)

If I can stop the depredations of the ground hogs, I'll be watering the garden regularly.

Well, that was...

...frustrating!

After charging all night, the new ATV battery was ready for installation. (Just as soon as I finished cutting the grass.) No problem at all getting the old battery out and the new one in since the Prohauler was still on the trailer and the battery location was about chest height.

New battery in place, I turned the key and pushed the start button. The engine growled but didn't catch. Got some starter fluid and sprayed it in the air intake hose and tried again. Nothing but growls. Made sure all the settings were correct (gas tank on, choke on, kill switch set to "Run," etc.) and tried once more. Still nothing but a few growls. Drained a bit of gas from the carburetor (a tiny amount of water but nothing significant). Pulled the new (in May) spark plug and it was moist with fuel. While holding the spark plug in my hand and under the shade of the engine I pushed the start button again. No spark! Shit! I pulled the air filter and checked all the wire connections. They seemed fine. Now I'm at a total loss.

I put the things I took apart back where they belonged and went int to have lunch thinking I would have to wait three weeks to haul it to Larry's to get it repaired.

Meanwhile I had to take the Tundra over to Sayre to have it serviced--again. Just an oil change and quick inspection after our trip to the west coast. Everything with the Tundra was fine. They even wanted to do the state inspection for which I'm due in September. I held off on that since I'm not sure whether Joe and I will take the Tundra up to northern Quebec for our fishing trip or use his vehicle. Might need another oil change in September if we do use the Tundra! For now, I'm good for another 7K miles.

On the way back, I swung over to Elmira to locate the Yamaha dealer there. Found it easily enough and asked about his service department's backlog. "One week," was the reply. Then I told him all about my Prohauler's malady and said I had talked to Larry's. "Yeah," he said, "I hear they're a month behind. Bring yours in and we'll see what we can do for you." So Monday morning I'll be hauling the Prohauler up to Elmira to have the guys at Glider City Powersports take a look and, hopefully, get it up and running before the month is out.

Back at the Aerie hauling the hauler

After several very sunny, hot days at the Bolt Hole during which I did little but cower in the cabin, I drove home to the Aerie early today.

Wednesday, Mark and I had tried to get the Yamaha Prohauler started. We checked over all the wiring. Checked over just about anything we two could think of (but being non-mechanics, that wasn't much!) and then even tried jump starting the thing by towing it behind Mark's van and slamming it into gear. (It's difficult to do when the gear shift is a foot lever and you'd like to get into 2nd gear.) We had no success and ended up pushing the ATV onto the utility trailer for a trip back to PA.

I researched Yamaha dealers/servicers in the area and found three: One in Elmira, NY; one in Hugesville, PA and Larry's Sport Center in Galeton, PA. I decided I'd rather deal with someone from God's Country (that's what they call Potter County, PA which is home to Galeton) and so made plans to call Larry's when I got close to home.

I did make that call from a rest area just north of the NY/PA border on Route 15--in case I could bring the ATV out there via Routes 49, 349 and 6--only to find that the service department has a month's worth of work on their hands. They also sell motorcycles (Harleys) and this was a prime season for repairs and maintenance.The service manager was sorry he couldn't help, ASAP but asked what the problem was. I described the "click-click-click" I was getting and he surprised me by saying that it sounded like I might have a weak battery. That was the last thing I would have thought of since the lights seemed bright enough and the charger had indicated no problems with the battery. He suggested that I try using the truck's battery ("Do NOT turn the truck on!" he warned.) and a set of jumper cables to see if I could get a response from the ATV's engine.

In the driveway of the Aerie, I ran the jumper cables from the truck to the ATV, turned the key, pushed the starter and got a much more familiar "grrrr-grrrr-grrr" as the ATV's engine attempted to turn over. That was enough to convince me that the problem (probably? hopefully?) lies with the battery.

Terry and I took the drive this afternoon out to Galeton and bought a replacement battery from Larry's Sport Center. It's charging in the garage right now and will be ready for installation tomorrow or Saturday. If it get's the ATV to run, I'll have saved myself a bundle on repairs--and Larry's will be the first place I go when I decide to purchase a new ATV.

Saturday morning was...

...a bummer.

In May I fired up the 1989 Yamaha Pro Hauler (an ATV designated YTU1W) at the Aerie. After sitting in the garage all winter, it was a bit reluctant at first but draining some of the water laden gas out of the carburetor and giving it a new spark plug had it soon humming along just fine. So I loaded it onto the utility trailer and hauled it up to the Bolt Hole.

When I got to the Adirondacks, the blasted thing would not start. All I could get out of it was a rapid "click-click-click..." from somewhere along the starting line. I traced the sound to the starter relay and, thinking that was the problem, ordered a new one from Village Motor Sports in Speculator.

What with our preplanned travel and my gimpy knees, I wasn't able to pick up the part until Friday afternoon.

Saturday I installed the new starter relay, turned the key and hit the starter button: "Click-click-click...." Damn! The freaking machine still will not turn over and I'm now at a loss as to what the problem might be. It could be something incredibly simple or something that needs to be totally rebuilt or replaced. I'm no mechanic! Hell, I barely understand the principle behind the internal combustion engine and when it comes to the electrical side of the damn thing, I've not got the slightest clue as to what those little black boxes do.

I guess I'll have to wrestle the beast onto the utility trailer and haul it home again and then out to a shop nearer to the Aerie. (The shop in Speculator is also a snowmobile/boat shop and--being in the middle of lake country with summer here--is busier than a one armed paper hanger. There's no telling how long it would take them to get around to working on the beast.)