Week…23 (?)

It’s been almost two weeks since I last posted anything here. That’s partly due to this being a slow time of year and partly due to laziness. Oh…we’ve been doing stuff, but it’s been mostly dull routine stuff.

After nearly two weeks of operation, the water from the new well has cleared up and there’s no color—red or gray—when it goes through the filter. Having gone through several cycles of filling the cistern, even the water in the 500 gallon tank is clearing up. Guess there’s some truth to the saying: “Dilution IS the solution to pollution.” (I’m fully aware that that is NOT what the saying is, but in this case it works!)

 

Finally we can wash clothes and dishes, shower, flush...all things we took for granted but which became a constant worry when the old well was misbehaving. 

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Terry and I drove into New Jersey to celebrate Christmas Eve with my sister and her family. Unfortunately my Grand-niece, Sami, came down with chicken pox the day before so she and her dad had to stay home. My other Grand-niece, Emilee, was there, but being just a few months old, seemed totally unimpressed with the goings on. Still, it was nice to visit with family.

We stayed that night at Mom’s house in Linden and cleaned a few more items out of the garage and cupboards. There’s very little left that we need to remove before we close on the sale of the house.

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We had no Christmas Tree at the Aerie this year. We were afraid of what the cats might do. One or two of them tend to chew on and eat any greenery in the house. And then throw up. We've got too many ornaments to allow the furry ones to dictate our deisre for a little holiday decoration, however. Besides, we need the extra Christmas Cheer a tree will instill. The sun just arrives too late in the morning--when it arrives at all.

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Speaking of removal…A crew was hard at work today removing the old oil tank buried in the front yards. They discovered there was a small hole in that tank and, despite having been drained and filled with sand nearly 10 years ago, there was some soil contamination. Exactly how much will be determined as they work to clean it up. Hopefully, there isn’t much and they will be done in a day or two. We already have a contract on the house and the closing should take place before Presidents' Day.

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We had that eight inch snowfall two weeks ago but that was followed by heavy rains and near 60 degrees so that by the following Monday (one week ago) all the snow was gone. Aah, but that was merely a temporary condition. Since then we’ve had two smaller, two inch snowfalls sandwiched around a couple of days of 40 degrees. Things are looking much colder later this week with lows in the negative area possible on Friday.

 

One of the most dispiriting things this time of year is to stand on the deck and look at the gardens and realize that I can do nothing until at least April 15th when the soil is no longer covered by snow and has thawed sufficiently to make working it possible.

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So far, we've only had the usual crew of winter birds coming to the feeders. Goldfinches, chickadees, nuthatches, blue jays, juncoes...the usuals. One day we did have some purple finches but just one day. With the weather, the well, and dealing with Mom's home in New Jersey, I've not gotten out to do any birding in the field. That will be changing. Our Audubon chapter will be doing its Christmas Bird Count on January 1st. One of my New Year's Resolutions will be to spend at least five hours at least once a week out in the field bird watching. Another will be to regularly keep a check list of the birds I see on every outing and a running tally throughout the year. With the improvement of my knees, I want to take full advantage of them.

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As the title of this post indicates, my knees are now 23 weeks old. They couldn’t feel better. Still a little pain going down the stairs, but they are feeling just fine. I need to remind myself to exercise more often but more importantly do stretching exercises daily.

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I hope your Christmas was a Joyous one and that the New Year brings you Happiness and Joy.

It's Done: The Well That Is.

The guys showed up at the Aerie early this morning and did all the work necessary to connect the new well to the old pipe, dropped the new pump (and pipe and electric wires) down the new well, back filled the trench and then packed up and left just before 4 PM.

Now comes the period of slowly purging the well and then refilling the cistern. On the guys' advice, I'm running the pump for 10 minutes every hour or so. At first the water was really red but it's getting better. By tomorrow morning...after it's been sitting overnight...things should be even better.

Some particulars about the well:

• They drilled down 320 feet.
• The pump is five feet above the bottom.
• The static level of the water (the top of the column when it's not being drawn down) is 80 feet below the surface. (That leaves a column of water in the well that's 235 feet tall.)
• Each foot of that column amounts to 1-1/2 gallons of water for a total of 345-350 gallons.
• The pump can pump 5 gallons a minute.
• The well recharges at a rate of 3 gallons a minute.

Although it would take quite some time, I could draw the well down to nothing since the recharge rate is slower than the pump. But that would be BAD. As it is, drawing too miuch water at one time would really stir things up and produce huge amounts of sediments. Hence the ten minute run time that I'm using. Once things are purged and the cistern is filled, there's a float switch in the cistern. It will come on when the water level drops a certain amount, the pump comes on and fills the cistern to an upper level and then shuts off. There's about an six or seven inch difference between the two positions. Each inch represents five minutes of run time and about 25 gallons of water. Therefore, six inches of water would be 150 gallons of water. That's about half of the supply in the well and drawing down that much at one time shouldn't be a problem.

Even so, I'm going to be looking into rain barrels this spring. The garden will need watering!

Meanwwhile, the excavation really made a mess! Sure, it's at the end of the driveway and not the middle, but there will be a need to remove some of the rocks that were brought up to the surface. Then, after Mother Nature has tamped it down with her frost heaving, the earth will have to be leveled. Luckily, there's still room for the Aveo and Jeep to be parked next to the house and not out front with the Tundra and RV.

Well Progress

Today began with snow squalls and an abundance of wind. With the temperature in the teens, most of that snow drifted off the deck and some off the roof to create an 8" drift in front of the garage doors. Around 10 AM I went out and shoveled that and the stuff over by the wells--new and old--in preparation for the drillers' return to install the pump.

This whole thing is dragging on a bit longer than I expected but a lot of that has to do with the weather. It's difficult to work with water when the temps are in the teens--or lower. They couldn't even get the rig running on what was projected to be day one (Wednesday). And on the next day (Thursday), they couldn't keep the water hoses from freezing during the initial drilling. They only managed 30 feet that day and not the 200 they hoped for. They finally punched down deep enough for ground water to keep the drill bit cooled and they quickly went down to 320-340 feet which is where it stands. Monday they came back and drew up the drill, packed their gear and drove the rig out.

I didn't really expect them to show today because of the weather, but a guy did show up just after noon with a small backhoe. He was here to dig a trench between the two well heads for the pipe needed to connect the two. The trench he dug is about 40" deep so as to be below the frost line and runs about 40 inches between the two well heads. It doesn't sound like much, but with all the shale, he was here for three hours. And left one heck of a mess! But a necessary mess.

With the weather improving over the next two days (40s? Seriously?), I'm sure that the crew will be here tomorrow morning to drop the pump and pipeline into the new well and connect it to the old line coming into the house.

Week 21: Feelin' Good!

The knees are now 21 weeks old (four months actually) and are feeling pretty good. Stairs continue to be a problem but it's getting easier to go up and down. Walking on flat surfaces and even rough terrain and slippery slopes presents no difficulty. Looking forward to the day I won't think about going up and down the steps.

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The well drillers worked hard on Friday and punched down to a depth of 320-340 feet. They were disappointed that the recharge rate was only 3 gallons per minute, but that's still a gallon per minute higher than we have in the current shallow (132 feet) well.

Today they pulled the bit and packed up the drill rig. Tomorrow (weather permitting) they'll install the pump. Hopefully we'll have water running later this week.

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Saturday's storm produced 8 inches of light, fluffy snow. Sunday, Terry cleared the deck and the area in front of the front door. I used the tractor to clear the driveway. With the need to scoop and dump with the bucket loader, it took me close to three hours of driving around. Then another hour was needed to brush the snow off the roofs of the Tundra, Jeep and Aveo and shovel the snow that was too close to the vehicles and RV to use the tractor. A long morning!

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Additional snow is forecast from several quick moving fronts this week. "They" say we'll have 2-5 inches from them--even as "they" are saying the temperatures will be in the 40s this weekend. We're likely to be having a white Christmas this year. And a Ground Hog Day (February 2nd), Valentine's Day (February 14th), Presidents' Day (February 17th), Saint Patrick's Day (March 17th) and maybe even Easter (April 20th). Global warming my a$$!

Drilling [UPDATED]

So. Yesterday the well drillers were supposed to start on our new well. They sent a crew out with a dump truck and spread cinders all over our driveway and up to the site of the well, lost a nut that held the broadcast spreader on the back of the truck and left.

No one else showed up so I called after lunch to find out what was going on. They couldn't get their rig started in the cold weather. (It was 9 degrees on Wednesday morning.) They were hoping to get to us on Thursday.

Thursday morning we had 7 degrees on the deck so I didn't have too much hope for them showing up. But they did. They pulled in at 8 AM and, after a little shuffling about of vehicles (and sending Terry and her Jeep off to Curves), they were able to get the drilling rig into the site and started setting up.

Drilling has been slow, however, as their water hoses keep freezing up on them. (It's gotten all the way up to 15 degrees.) And drilling without water to keep the bit cool is not a good way to extend the life of your bit. If they can get down to a point where ground water starts to seep in then they won't have to worry about hoses.

The "plan" was to get down to around 200 feet today but the temperatures may have put a damper on that. The average well in the area goes down 350-400 feet. We shall see.Whatever gets done--and whenever it gets done--there will be one heck of a mess int he driveway from the tailings to the overflow water. With luck, much of the worst of it will be in the small patch of woods between the well site and the driveway.

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The forecast for the weekend calls for 4 to 8 inches of snow starting after midnight on Friday through noon on Sunday. It will be getting warmer though. Highs are to be in the mid to upper 20s.

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UPDATE:

The guys called it a day around 4 PM. They didn't get very deep; just 30-35 feet. The water hoses kept freezing up. They will be back tomorrow and say that they'll get much, much deeper tomorrow.

Eighth Day of Hunting Seasonor, as we call it, Tuesday

No hunting this day. And probably not Wednesday or Thursday either.

This morning's temperature was in the low 20s and it never got above 32 here at the Aerie. We also got snow for a good part of the morning but it didn't accumulate much; just a half inch of light powder. A steady breeze in the 10 to 15 mph range blew out of the north-northwest all day.

After running down to the post office and WalMart with Terry at 1 PM, I spent the rest of the afternoon clearing a couple of stacks of fire wood that would be in the area where the well drillers will be working tomorrow. They weren't big piles, only amounting to about 1/4 cord each, but it had to be moved by wheelbarrow over a slippery, snow covered slope. At least it got moved DOWN the slope and not UP.

Then late in the afternoon I had to take Terry down to retrieve her Jeep Compass. It had an electric short that was causing all the warning lights to come on at random intervals. The trouble started when she left Texas heading west back in October. She thought she had it taken care of by a Jeep dealership in Anaheim, but the problem started again as she was heading east.

Week 20: Knees vs StairsNot Hunting

While I still haven't gotten to the point where I feel no pain, things are steadily improving. So far the stairs are the only sore spot in my recovery. Especially going down stairs. Walking on rough terrain or smooth surfaces like parking lots or WalMart, produces little or no pain or difficulties.

Stairs are a differnt animal. Going up yields some discomfort in the left knee. Going down is even worse. If I do some work nthe stationary bike it loosens things up a little more and the pain is less. IF I were to do my exercises, I'm sure things would be even better.

I've been something of a slacker the last few weeks. All the round trips into New Jersey, the going up and down stairs at Mom's house as we cleaned things out, moving that same stuff up and down stairs at the Aerie, going up and down the hill to hunt, etc. provided plenty of exercise...I thought. I'll have to get back to a daily routine of stretches and exercises.

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Joe, from Andrews Well Drilling, showed up today to mark the site of our new well and get a signed contract. They'll be coming on Wednesday unstead of Tuesday. The company's owner died at age 79 on Friday after a lengthy bout with cancer.

This afternoon and part of tomorrow I'll be moving things around so they can get their drilling rig into the area. If things go with out a hitch, we should have clean water this weekend.

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We got just a tiny bit of snow Sunday night capped by a crust of ice. The soft snow made cleaning off the windshield of the Tundra easy. Heck, even the driveway was easy to shovel. Early in the day we had some freezing fog that left a coating of ice on the upper portion of the trees around the Aerie and a glistening coating onthe goldenrod fields down the bottom of the hills. After I got the driveway shoveled, the TOAD trailer (the one that hauls the Aveo behind the RV) moved, and Terry to move the Aveo out of its winter parking spot, it started snowing. Terry was on the phone with a firend who lives jsut 10 miles away and she said she had blue skies. We never got those blue skies. THe best we got was a high temperature of 36 degrees.

Some snow is forecast for tonight and tomorrow morning but there shouldn't be much. Overcast skies, snow flurries and dropping temperatures will be our lot this week. Should make well drilling interesting.

Seventh Day of Deer Season (?)

Or is it Eighth? PA doesn't permit hunting on Sunday so it's the Eighth day since the beginning but the Seventh legal hunting day. Let's call it the Seventh Hunting day.

No matter, I'll not be venturing forth today. It's 26 degrees and the wind is howling to judge by the trees. (It's actually relatively calm on the deck, but up above...ooohh boy!) I've a few things to do before the guys come to drill a new well tomorrow so I believe I'll be staying around the house today and probably until the drilling is finished later this week.

I enjoyed seeing all the snow that was falling in Philly (and Baltimore and Pittsburgh) during yesterday's football game but wondered if we were due some of the same. Nope! All we got was a half inch or less. This despite the warnings of 2-4 inches. Didn't even get the freezing rain they forecast to cap the snow off as it stayed too cold.

BTW, there are fresh areas of the lawn that have been scraped up so as to reach the grass. *sigh*

Sixth Day of Deer Season

They were (mostly) wrong. We only got about 1 inch of snow/sleet over night. It was much colder this morning so they got that right. It was also a little windier on the hill since the wind now was out of the northwest and there's really nothing to protect me from that direction for miles and miles...maybe somewhere in Canada.

I went out anyway. Going up the hill in the dark was pretty easy as that little bit of snow really lit up the landscape. Flashlights were not needed even though it was overcast and no moon or stars could be seen. I was on stand by 6:40 AM--less than ten minutes after leaving the house. I took my seat and waited.

Some shots were fired from all directions around me between 6:45 and 9 AM but nothing really close to me. Dogs barked down the hill at something. Beech leaves rattled and spilled snow in the wind. A tiny shrew scurried from under a seedling hemlock and dove into the leaves next to a small rotting log. Chickadees and titmice (and that workaholic downy woodpecker) moved through the woods. Otherwise, things were quiet. Very, very quiet. Still I sat and looked around me and took note of any sound. THings can happen quickly. Sometimes. The sun finally appeared through the breaking cloud cover around 11 AM. An hour later, I headed back to the Aerie.

I saw no deer. None. Zip. Zilch. And no tracks in the woods or along the upper driveway.

That's because the deer had been digging in the snow to get to the grass of the Aerie's lawn. Looking down from the deck, I could see several spots--areas 2-3 feet square--where at least one deer had pawed down to nibble on the grass. True, they could have been there in the dark before I went out. Or these could be New Jersey deer. You know, those that have learned to live in suburbs by bedding between houses during the day and coming out at night to eat your flowers (especially hostas and tulips!). After dinner tonight, I went out on the deck to get the bird feeders and a deer spooked from under the pine behind the garden--between the Aerie and the hunting camp down the hill. *sigh*

Fifth Day of Deer Season

It was raining when we got up (late) this morning. The cats let us sleep in until 7 AM! The drizzle gave me an excuse to enjoy a leisurely breakfast and then run a few errands with Terry.

The rain ended early and by lunchtime, I was getting antsy. After all, you can't shoot a deer if you aren't out in the woods. So, I donned my gear and headed out intending to shoot a deer or stay until the wintery mix forecast for late afternoon showed up.

There was a light breeze blowing out of the north and the sky was overcast but there wasn't any precipitation until around 3 PM when a smattering of sleet started pinging on the leaves of the beech trees and bouncing off my clothing. It wasn't enough to make me quit and I sat until it started coming down harder around 4:15.

Like Sgt. Schultz, "I saw nothing." Just a few chickadees and a very industrious little downy woodpecker who must have gone up and down every tree in front of me--some of them more than once.

They are forecasting 2-4 inches of snow tonight. That could mean more movement tomorrow. Along with the ability to legally shoot antlerless deer starting tomorrow, which could mean a few more hunters in the field, might make getting up early and getting out there worthwhile.

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Got the word that the well drillers will be here on Tuesday of next week. They're talking drilling a new well (not cheap!) rather than drilling the existing well deeper. While their company drilled the original, it was so long ago that the current folks have no memory beyond what's on the little 3" x 5" in their files.

It's going to take them at least two days to get the well drilled to 350-400 feet or so. That's going to put a dent in my hunting next week but having clean water would be worth it. As for that depth they hinted at, they drilled a new well across the street a year or so ago and that well went down about that far. Hopefully, they won't need to go that far.

Fourth Day of Deer Season

I took the Third Day of Deer Season off so as to be in the house when a representative of the well drilling company came by. We (again) explained our problem with really, really red water appearing at the end of a pumping cycle and discussed the probable need to either redrill the existing well to deepen it or drill a new, deeper well. Our current well, drilled long before we bought the property, is just 132 feet deep with just 24 feet of casing and a recharge rate of 2 gallons a minute--that's slow. Across the road, they've gone down almost 300 feet.

While we await word on when they can drill, we tried shortening the cord on the float switch so it would start and end the cycle a bit sooner. Didn't work. When we tried to fill the cistern later in the day, we got red clay near the end of the cycle which means it would still be in the pipe from the well when the next cycle started. We really, really need to get the well down deeper and keep the pump off the bottom a little further.

The guy who showed up was one who was here to install a new pump protector a couple of weeks ago. He was surprised to have been sent out to do what he was instructed because he knew I had tried all those solutions. He was also surprised that our 1 micron filters were still allowing clay material through. "Not much gets through those suckers!" Well, quite a bit gets through ours. This clay is extremely fine.

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I did get out this morning, Day Four of the season. It was warm all night with the temperatures in the 40s so all the snow had disappeared. The ground was wet and walking made no noise at all. THere was a wind blowing from the southwest according to the clouds and windmills, but where I was sitting it was predominantly blowing TOWARD the southwest. This was because the wind coming over Armenia Mountain was drawing the air out of the valley. This was good as the ceiling down there was about 1500 feet while I was at 2200 feet and should have been IN the clouds but they were being lifted over the ridge leaving a little zone of higher visibility where I was. Still, the trees were gleaning moisture out of the air and there was a constant drip, drip, drip to go along with the shaking, rattling beech leaves. Those were the only sounds I heard as, once again, there was no shooting going on.

The forecast out of the Elmira-Corning airport was for rain to start around four o'clock and I intended to sit until it seemed to arrive.That turned out to be a little after 1 PM.

Still, I did manage to see a few deer. At 9 AM I had a single animal come down the logging road from the other side of the cove. When I lifted my rifle and looked through the scope, I immediately saw it was a young spike buck whose antlers were just 2-3 inches long and didn't even project beyond his ears. This made him one of the protected class--along with any antlerless deer--for this day. (PA requires a buck have at least three points on one side for it to be legal.) To rub this status in even further, he turned and came up the hill right toward me. I watched as he came closer and closer and those antlers didn't magically grow one bit. He stopped several times and presented my with broadside shots at 50, 30, 20, and 15 yards. He looked right at me a couple times and presented those little horns like they were his get-out-of-jail-free pass. And they were.

At 1 PM I saw several deer rush into the field to my right. They were a long ways away and through much brush so I couldn't tell what they were and I was sure they were going to cross the field and disappear. Suddenly one of them popped into the woods where the young buck had earlier. It  was a young antlerless deer and it kept looking back toward the field trying to figure out where the others had gone. I also wondered where the rest of them were as it stood there for several minutes before heading back toward the field. I saw it get to the field and then lost track of it.

That's when the rain seemed to be getting real so I packed up my gear and headed back to the Aerie. Instead of following the upper driveway back, I took a shorter route through the woods and intersected the logging road near the yard. As I got there, 10 deer suddenly took off running toward the road. I saw lots of bounding animals, white tails and no horns. Some of those deer looked like they should have had saddles on them. They were huge!.

The rain did continue for an hour or more before it stopped--for the time being. Tonight we'll get more rain and the temperatures will be falling. By tomorrow morning, they forecast, we will be getting snow again. They say we'll get 1-3 inches before it stops sometime in the afternoon. Could be a good day to go out but I won't rush it. Starting Saturday does are off the list of protected class. (The spike buck is still going to be protected, but if there are NO horns, it's fair game.)

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BTW, going up and down the hill in wet, slick conditions was no real problem for my knees.

Second Day of Deer Season

The morning began foggy and stayed that way. With the temperature hovering between 32 and 36 degrees, snow and ice still on the ground, and absolutely no wind at all, we had lots and lots of ground fog. Visibility was reduced to about 50 yards or less and with the snow softening up, there was little to listen to until the taller trees began to glean moisture out of the air and drip, drip, drip was all you could hear.

The guns were silent too. Unlike yesterday, I heard just three evenly spaced shots from the same direction at around 9 AM. Those could have been a hunter, but the even spacing leads me to believe they were from someone who had 1) missed yesterday or 2) dropped his rifle and wanted to check the zero.

I saw nothing except a couple of grey squirrels today and they seemed to take pleasure in producing as much noise as they could as they passed behind me. How they got the snow to crunch as loudly as they did is beyond me.

I pulled up stakes at noon and returned to the Aerie moments before Terry got back from Curves and the post office. We spent the afternoon delivering some furniture to My Neighbor's Closet, taking a couple of vacuum cleaners over to Stony Fork to get repaired, and arranging to have our well examined/drilled/corrected. There was no fog down in the valley as we drove along Route 6 to Wellsboro none south of Wellsboro toward Stoney Fork--very little snow on the ground either, but it (fog and snow) was still hanging around the Aerie when we returned.

[The water from our well turns a muddy red clay near the end of the pumping cycle and definitely not suitable. The well is just 125 feet deep with 24 feet of casing. It's recharge rate is just 2 gallons per minute which is why we have a cistern to hold 500 gallons and provide all the water we need. It's when we refill the cistern we run into problems. The clay is able to pass through our 1 micron filter and turn the water in the tank an ugly shade of maroon. Lifting the pump, drilling deeper or a combination of the two may be needed. They're trying to tell me that increasing the time between cycles might work, but with red water already in the line at the end of one cycle, it will still be pumping red water at the beginning of the next no mater how long the delay. I think they want to go with the easier, cheaper fix but I want clearer water, damn it! Screw the cost! (That's easy to say because we didn't drill the well in the first place and have next to nothing invested in it at this point.)]

Otherwise, the day did improve slightly near sunset with the fog actually settling into the valley below us. With someone from Andrews Well Drilling coming tomorrow, I believe I'll sleep in and speak with them.

First Day of Deer Season

Got up bright and early this morning to don my hunting clothes and weapon and head out in hopes of bagging a buck on PA's opening day. I was well layered as I headed out in 30 degree weather with anticipation of being nice and toasty all day as the temps were forecast to reach the 40 degree mark. Didn't happen. It was overcast and dull all morning with no sign of sunlight until around 2 PM. At that point it DID reach 39 degrees on the Aerie's deck.

Me? I was shivering. I should have been warm but I wasn't and I place some of the blame on having lost 20-25 pounds after the knee surgery. No personal insulation.

Before I left the Aerie I noticed that the bear had been back and knocked down on of the bird feeders I had carelessly left on the deck. Paw prints were all over the fresh dusting of snow and the metal hook upon which the feeder hangs was laying on the deck. (I would find out later that the feeder was intact and that the bear had chosen the lawn instead of the woods as its bathroom--again.)The knowledge that the sow and her cubs might not have denned up yet would have my head on a swivel whenever there was a louder than usual noise form snow falling from the pines and hemlocks.

Going up and down the hill on layers of ice, snow atop shale was no more difficult than it was before I had my knees replaced. Might have been easier, in fact. The loss of weight and the physical therapy may have made the climb less stressful.

I didn't get my buck, either. Though I did see four deer between 12:10 and 12:20. Two went up the hill on the other side of the powerline right of way and, though I could see through my rifle scope that neither had horns, I had no shot through the web of beech brush on each side of the cut. Just as they went out of sight to my right, there was a stomp to my left and I turned to see two more antlerless deer standing 10 and 25 yards away. The closer animal was stomping it's forehooves and sniffing the air over an unfamiliar smell (me) but had no idea I was standing so close as there was a 12 inch diameter tree between us.The more distant critter was looking right at me and, after a brief staring contest, I must have blinked. It decided it was better to be THERE than HERE and bounded off down the hill and across the cove. The puzzled nearer animal followed its pal.

The days shooting commenced a bit before the legal hour when someone fired at 6:45 AM other shots soon followed from a variety of directions. As most were single shots, I assume people were getting their deer. (Old Indian saying: "One shot, deer. Two shots, maybe deer. Three shots, no deer." There were a couple cases of "three shots" today but not many in those opening minutes.) Things got really quiet after 9 AM and there weren't any shots at all from 1 PM through 3:30 PM when twilight began to seep up from the deeper coves and valleys. I returned to the Aerie with the same number of shells as I had when I left. Hey! Ammunition is expensive!

All I saw, besides the four deer, were three grey squirrels, lots of birds and one hunter coming down the wood road on the other side of the cove. He came down around 9:30 AM and turned toward the homes to the northwest of us. For most of the day I had this song by Paul Anka running through my head.

Week 19:The Knees Please MeA Hunting We Will Go!

Monday marks the 19th week I've had my new knees and I must say that they have been pleasing me no end. They're doing extra fine on flat surfaces and even on the ice and snow covered slanted driveway and up stairs. The only trouble has been going down stairs--and that's getting better.

Monday morning they will carry me up the hill to sit during the opening day of rifle season for whitetail here in PA. With any luck, all the other hunters from the suddenly occupied camps will send a nice legal buck my way. It will only take one with three points on one antler to make me happy. In the zone I'm sitting in a buck with at least three points is the only thing you can shoot during the first week. I've not seen one in the yard with those requirements. Does? Yes. Bucks? No.

There have been several antlerless deer passing through the yard and even eating things off the compost heap. I've seen as many as six during one evening. Among the antlerless deer is at least one button buck who is not considered legal as a buck and, until the second week of the season, illegal as it has no antlers just little bumps on its head. (It and its sister are small to boot, having been born this spring. Not much meat on their bones.) 

I have some hope that there's a larger buck out there. There are several saplings that have been rubbed by a buck trying to get the itchy velvet off its antlers. And there are several spots along the logging road where a deer has scraped the earth and nibbled the branches directly above leaving its scent behind to mark a territory. All I need is to have that larger buck come back to its "safety zone" when other hunters start moving about.

The weather has been really cold but it's supposed to warm up starting Monday. In fact, the temperature has been rising much of Sunday evening. There's a layer of icy snow on the ground so things will go "crunch" as they walk and any blood trail--if I need to follow one--should stand out on the white.The chance of new precipitation during the day is given as 30% but it's supposed to be overcast all day.

Thansgiving Visitors

The 2013 Pennsylvania bear season ended yesterday at sundown. I didn't go out although I had been asked by Don if I wanted to. There were a couple of considerations in my decision not to participate. Two of them are called "knees."

In PA you can not bait nor use dogs to chase bears as you can in other states. It's a rough hunt with groups of hunters--often 20 or so--doing drives to rouse the bears. Half the hunters take up posts along one straight line while the other half goes a mile or so further down the road and enters the woods to push any bear to the standing hunters. When the two groups meet they either celebrate a bear kill or find a new place to repeat the process with the teams (standers and drivers) changing sides. It's very imprecise and very rugged. Especially rugged in the hilly country of the Northern Tier.

With the knees just 18 weeks old and my footing on rough terrain still a work in progress, I figured I'd play it safe and leave the game to others. And there were plenty of others in the woods. Monday, when Terry and I were going to the dump via Mountain Ridge and Fallbrook Roads which cut through parts of Tioga State Forest we came across two groups of hunters clad in solid orange. (You want to be as visible as possible to 1) scare the bear and 2) alert the other hunters that you are NOT a bear as you crash through the brush.)

Still we heard very few shots during the four day hunt. The exception was one cluster of shots from one to two miles to the west on Tuesday evening. Two quick shots were followed by five very well spaced shots. I assume the first wounded the bear and the latter finished him off. At least I hope that's what happened.

So, as I said, the season ended yesterday at sundown.

Brian safely navigated from New Jersey to the Aerie and arrived around 4 PM. We had a nice venison roast for dinner and enjoyed a drink or two pre and post meal. Then we sat and talked for a bit.

At approximately 8 PM there was a sound on the deck and the cats ears went up. A second noise sent them running to the windows and we followed.

 Mama Bear

 with baby Cinnamon

and Blackie.

These three hadn't been seen since early summer/late spring when I stopped putting the bird feeders out. I've seen scat on the logging trail but actual sighting of any bear hasn't happened. To the point where I got careless/lazy and left the bird feeders out over night. Still, they've been out there for two weeks and this is the first time they've been robbed by anything other than a squirrel.

I was very pleased to see that Mom had succeeded in making it through the season with out getting separated from her cubs and possibly shot (sow bears with cubs are protected). Seeing how big the two cubs had grown...well, that was a shock! When we first saw them they weren't much bigger than Chester, our 22 pound cat. Now they look to tip the scales at 70-80 pounds! That's a lot of berries, grass and grubs. Not to mention Mother's milk. Both cubs looked healthy as could be.

They came up on the deck not five minutes after I had come in from being out there and stayed on the deck for the better part of half an hour. We banged on the window ans they left...for two minutes before returning to slurp up black oil sunflower seeds. The Cinnamon followed the lead of Mom but Blackie was a little more reticent. The Cinnamon also seemed to dominate Blackie in chasing it away from the stairs and into the woods briefly.

After their second round on the deck, I banged on the glass really hard and Mom took the hint (she had also finished all the sunflower seeds) and led the cubs off the deck and out on to the lawn. I took the opportunity to step out onto the deck clap my hands a few times to spook them and they dashed off into the woods while I retrieved the undamaged but now empty bird feeders.

So. Who  are you having over for Thanksgiving?

Week 18 The Knees and More

I spent many hours behind the wheel of the Tundra this week driving back and forth between the Aerie and Mom's house in Linden, NJ. It's 250 miles one way and I made three trips in eight days. Add the trip to and fro for Mom's funeral and since October 28th I tallied 2000 miles. With each one-way trip taking approximately 4.5 hours, that's some 36 hours. That didn't leave a lot of time for exercises but, once I was at Mom's, climbing up and down stairs, toting boxes and bags and furniture more than made up for my lack of routine. Back at the Aerie, unloading much of that stuff and hauling the rest to the dump also had me doing what I call "occupational therapy."

That said, I've got to report that there are days when I (almost) don't notice any pain in either knee. The left is still complaining more than the right, however, so there is still some room for improvement.

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We got our first really cold weather of the season yesterday as the low temperature was 8.8 degrees at 6:45 in the morning. That day it got all the way up to 22 degrees. Today was slightly warmer with a low of 11.5 degrees and a high 30.9 degrees. The thermometer making these readings is on the porch just eight feet from the house and on the sunny side to boot so there may be some heat island effect going on.

We're forecast to get a bit of serious snow starting Tuesday night and all day on Wednesday. It's supposed to be warming late in the day on Tuesday causing the snow to switch to mixed precipitation which will affect the amount of snow. Maps currently show us in the 3-6 inch zone but that 6+ area is less than 75 miles to the west so a slight shift in either the temperature or the storm system could bring us more.

Our nephew, Brian, is supposed to fly into NJ Wednesday morning to pick up the car Mom left to him and then drive out here for Thanksgiving. The weather's likely to affect his flight and decision to drive northwest. Vicki, his wife, will be flying into Corning/Elmira on Saturday, renting a SUV and coming for a second Thanksgiving dinner before they both drive home to Milwaukee hauling several large pieces of furniture (hence the SUV).

Once again, the best plans aft gang astray.

******

Terry and I made one more trip to the dump today with ten or so bags of trash from Mom's house as well as some of our own. There's still a good deal of sorting and decision making to be made as well as some old paints that need to be made safe for disposal, so there will be more trips to the dump in the future.

Terry also took care of some banking stuff in connection with her role as executrix. After I shifted stuff around in the garage, I turned the tractor around to prepare for "The Snow" they say is coming. Some of the stuff I had to move included folding chairs--lots of folding chairs--we didn't need. Terry took them and a couple bags of clothes to My Neighbors' Closet in Mansfield and they were very happy to receive them.

College Football: Delayed once more

Due to the intrusion of real life events detailed in the previous post I'll not be making any comments on last week's results nor posting on this week's rankings and the Week 13 schedule.

Week 17 Knees and More are Growing Old(er)

The knees are growing older--and less painful. With the well acting up this week, I was up and down the basement steps--a lot. Then going in to NJ to clean up Terry's Mom's house meant more up and down stairs and toting stuff. (More below on those activities.)I can't say that they don't hurt at all, but they almost hurt less than before surgery and they are getting better as compared to their getting worse weekly prior to surgery. And, with rifel deer season just around the corner, that's important to me.

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We're spending this week doing some work in NJ cleaning up Terry's Mom's home. I went in on Saturday and Terry and Lucille came in on Sunday night. Time to pack up all the odds and ends we didn't throw away, move some of the furniture out to open up space, and do those things that will make the house more salable.

Today, while the girls did some packing and met with a realtor and lawyer, I hauled some stuff back to PA. Some of it will go to the dump tomorrow (Linden doesn't pick up anything but kitchen garbage until December 18th without a fee), some will make its way to a second hand store in Mansfield, and some will go into the pantry. (Mom may not have been a prepper, but she sure took advantage of sales at the grocery stores: canned goods, aluminum foil, Saran wrap, Kleenex, paper towels and toilet paper abound. We may not have to purchase any of those items until April.) 

Terry says the realty representative was impressed with the size of the interior (looks much smaller on the outside--not quite Tardis-like but still larger inside than it appears) and all the recent improvements Mom had made within the last 5-10 years: new roof, new carpets, converting from oil to gas and the new furnace that entails, new paint job upstairs, etc.





Terry and Lucille took Mom's auto (10 years old and just 25,800 miles) to a mechanic to get it checked out. It was making some peculiar sounds when we went back and forth to the airport two weeks ago. We need to make sure it's in fine condition before we get the title transferred to Brian next week. He and his wife, Vicki, will fly in for Thanksgiving and drive the car back to Milwaukee. 

Tomorrow I'll be driving back to NJ to rejoin the girls and pick up another load of stuff to be hauled westward. 

All this back and forth with a truckload of stuff reminds me of 2006 when we moved out of NJ and had to store our stuff either at a facility in Mansfield or up in the Adirondacks. It's 250 miles one way just like it was back then. Lots of time to think while I'm driving. Still, seeing the same 150 mile stretch of I-80 time after time grows old quick. Makes me want to make a new, different road trip.

Cold and Waterless

A chilly 17 degrees here at the Aerie this morning. At least the wind has stopped so it doesn't bite right through you. The birds have found the feeders on the deck and have been putting a dent in my sunflower seed supply. It will get busier as winter takes hold. So far only one squirrel has been spotted on the deck/in the yard. Often there are a dozen or more fighting for their turn at the bounty of black oil sunflower seeds.

******

The water well at the Aerie is shallow (only about 150 feet) and slow to recharge. As a result, we have a 550 gallon cistern in the utility room to provide all the water we need. The well also passes through a mix of shale and clay which proves problematic. If we stress the water usage (doing lots of laundry and washing dishes, or trying to water a new lawn, or spending too much time watering the garden, etc.) we will get a cistern full of water that's just loaded with colloidal red clay. This despite limiting the well pump to just 3 or 4 minutes at a time and then only after a 90 minute interval, and we have a whole-house filter that is supposed to screen out anything over 1 micron in size.

Apparently, we over stressed the well (again) when Terry returned and commenced to do her laundry after three weeks on the road. Add all the bedding (which, in hindsight could have waited) and the dinner dishes. The "water" in the cistern took on the consistency of a mud wrestling pit and the water coming from the taps would have been useful for the folks filming the shower scene in Psycho.

Yesterday was spent draining the the cistern and swabbing out the insides using all the big fluffy bath towels we could scrounge up. I got the bloody (no pun intended) thing cleaned out and then tried a new filter from Monsanto's 3M company. It had no micron rating but said it was good for sediment, rust and soil as well as odor and other stuff. I should have read the label better. In addition to some red sediment, I got a shot of carbon from the damn filter which is not really meant for a cistern application. The directions state clearly that you should run the water for several minutes to purge the lines after installation. That must be to clear the lines of the carbon the filter releases.

This morning we went back to our plain old 1 micron filter. The water, after a night's rest in the well, is coming through clear. With luck, we should have water back in the cistern deep enough to turn the house jet pump (for water pressure and supply to the house lines) sometime tomorrow. I'll probably have to change the filter at least once before the cistern fills. I've three more filters on hand and a dozen on order. (They aren't on the shelves locally so I have to mail order them.)

It will be nice to have water flowing again. Jugs and bottles of water are okay for cooking and drinking, but the dishes are starting to pile up and flushing the toilet....

******

Today, Terry and I will be going up to Bath to pick up the RV from Camping World. They were doing some minor (?) repairs on the Winnie Access and finished a couple of weeks ago. We just haven't been able to find the time to go pick it up.

 The only other item on our schedule is to keep a close eye on the water situation. And keep warm.

Oh, and a Happy Birthday to my Little Sister, Ruthann.

College Football: Week 12 Polls & Schedule

Week 12 polls don’t look terribly different than Week 11. Except for the slide of Oregon down to the #6 slot after they got manhandled by Stanford. There are still six undefeated teams and only Northern Illinois looks to have an opponent with a credible challenge to that. They start things off on Wednesday night so stock up on snacks and beverages!

The numbers on the right are for the Associated Press, the Coaches’ Poll, the BCS standings and the CBSSports.com 126. NR means that the team was Not Ranked by that particular poll. I’m not sure for the reason that the CBSSports Poll is so different from the others except that it is the result one man’s opinion and not much else. There is a way you can vote as to whether a team is ranked too low or too high.

1/1/1/1 Alabama (9-0) The Crimson Tide will hit the road to play the Mississippi State Bulldogs (4-5).

2/2/2/2 Florida State (9-0) The Seminoles host the Syracuse Orange (5-4).

3/3/3/4 Ohio State (9-0) The Buckeyes play on the road against the Fighting Illini (3-6).

4/4/5/3 Baylor (8-0) The Bears host the Red Raiders of Texas Tech (7-3).

5/5/4/5 Stanford (8-1) The Cardinal are on the road to face the Trojans of USC (7-3).

6/7/6/6 Oregon (8-1) The Ducks host the Utah Utes (4-5).

7/9/7/9 Auburn (9-1) The Tigers host the Georgia Bulldogs (6-3).

8/6/8/7 Clemson (8-1) The Tigers host the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (6-3).

9/8/9/8 Missouri (9-1) These Tigers are on the road against the Ole Miss Rebels (6-3).

10/11/11/11 Texas A&M (8-2) The Aggies have the weekend off.

11/12/10/13 South Carolina (7-2) The Gamecocks will host the Florida Gators (4-5).

12/10/12/10 Oklahoma State (8-1) The Cowboys hit the trail as they look to corral the #23 Texas Longhorns (7-2).

13/15/13/16 UCLA (7-2) The Bruins host the Washington Huskies (6-3) on Friday night.

14/16/16/12 Michigan State (8-1) The Spartans will play on the road against the Nebraska Cornhuskers (7-2).

15/19/17/17 UCF (7-1) The Knights head north to face the Temple Owls (1-8).

16/14/14/15 Fresno State (9-0) The Bulldogs are idle this week.

17/20/22/14 Wisconsin (7-2) The Badgers host the Indiana Hoosiers (4-5).

18/18/21/19 LSU (7-3) The Tigers will be idle this week.

19/13/20/21 Louisville (8-1) The Cardinals host the Houston Cougars (7-2).

20/21/15/18 Northern Illinois (9-0) The Huskies host the Ball State Cardinals (9-1) on Wednesday night.

21/22/19/20 Arizona State (7-2) The Sun Devils will host the Oregon State Beavers (6-3).

22/17/18/22 Oklahoma (7-2) The Sooners will host the Iowa State Cyclones (1-8).

23/24/24/23 Texas (7-2) The Longhorns host the #12 Oklahoma State Cowboys (8-1).

24/23/23/25 Miami (Fla.) (7-2) The Hurricanes head up the coast to face the Duke Blue Devils (7-2).

25/NR/25/NR Georgia (6-3) The Bulldogs are on the road against the #7 Auburn Tigers (9-1).

NR/25/NR/24 Minnesota (8-2) The Golden Gophers have this weekend off.

Week 16, Terry's Travels, and SNOW!

My knees celebrated their 16th week yesterday and I put them to good use as I finally got around to cutting the other half of the lawn and spread some lime. Good thing I got that done too, as last night the temperature dropped to 20 degrees and this morning there were one and a half inches of snow on the deck and the lawn was covered--the driveway too, as yesterday's temperature was low enough to suck the remaining heat out of the dirt and rocks.

******

Terry got home yesterday about noon. She covered just about 2700 miles from California to home chewing off 700 or so miles a day as she drove dawn to dusk.  Dead heading like that is not fun. It was a long, eventful three weeks with across-country round-trip flight thrown in for good measure. SAGA Convention near Dallas, visit with daughter in Anaheim, funeral for Mother in NJ (on the opposite coast from the daughter), a second visit with daughter (again in Anaheim), visits with niece and sister on the north end of SF Bay, and a long drive home. She made it safely and with no unusual road stories.

******

We have had problems with our well since day one. Very fine red clay (colloidal in nature) comes out of the shale with the water and into the well. About once a year that red clay overwhelms our filtration system (with a 1 micron filter) and fills the cistern with red water. Turn the faucet on and it's a scene out of Psycho with red water swirling around the drain. At that time I need to drain the cistern and flush the entire well before slowly refilling the tank. That takes time and filters. Lots of time and many filters. I've only got four on hand and that ain't enough. I've ordered more but for now it looks like a run to Wally World for bottled water for cooking and drinking.

College Football: Week 11 Results

Week 11 produced a couple of notable loses by ranked teams (#2 Oregon, #10 LSU, #12 Oklahoma, #24 Notre Dame and #25 Texas Tech) so there will be changes in this week’s rankings.  

The numbers on the right are for the Associated Press, the Coaches’ Poll, the BCS standings and the CBSSports.com 126. NR means that the team was Not Ranked by that particular poll. I’m not sure for the reason that the CBSSports Poll is so different from the others except that it is the result one man’s opinion and not much else. There is a way you can vote as to whether a team is ranked too low or too high.

1/1/1/1 Alabama (9-0) The Crimson Tide made it look easy—in the second half—as they tamed the #10 LSU Tigers (7-3) 38-17. AJ McCarron tossed three TD passes and T.J. Yeldon ran for 133 yards and two TDs as the Tide remains dominant.

2/2/3/2 Oregon (8-1) the Ducks fell behind early and failed to come back as they fell from the ranks of the unbeatens at the hands of the #6 Stanford Cardinal (8-1) 26-20. Tyler Gaffney carried the ball 45 times for 157 yards and a touchdown and Jordan Williamson connected on four field goals for the Cardinal who jumped out to a 26-0 lead and had to hold on in the fourth quarter as Marcus Mariota (20 0f 34 for 250 yards and two TDs) and Co. staged a comeback that came up short. Rodney Hardrick returned a blocked field goal 65 yards for the third Ducks’ touchdown.

3/3/2/3 Florida State (9-0) The Seminoles overwhelmed the Wake Forest Demon Deacons (4-6) 59-3. Jameis Winston completed just 17 of 28 passes for only 159 yards and two touchdowns—and one INT, but it hardly mattered that he had an “off” day. The Seminoles got three rushing TDs and TDs from a 56 yard interception return (Nate Andrews), a 23 yard fumble return (Jalen Ramsey) and a 97 yard kick return (Levonte Whitfield) following Wake’s only score.

4/4/4/4 Ohio State (9-0) The Buckeyes had the weekend off.

5/5/6/5 Baylor (8-0) The Bears beat the #12 Oklahoma Sooners (7-2) 41-12 Thursday night. Baylor proved it’s more than a high scoring, offensive team as their defense performed amazingly. Bryce Petty rushed for two TDs and threw for three as the Bears exploded for 21 unanswered points in the second quarter of a 5-3 game to take a 24-5 lead into the locker room and never looked back.

6/6/5/6 Stanford (8-1) The Cardinal beat the #3 Oregon Ducks (8-1) 26-20. See above for more.

7/10/9/9 Auburn (9-1) The Tigers destroyed the Tennessee Volunteers (4-6) 55-23. Nick Marshall rushed for 214 yards on 14 carries scoring two TDs and Tre Mason rushed for 117 yards and scored three TDs as the Tigers ran, ran, and ran again.

8/7/7/7 Clemson (8-1) The Tigers will be idle this weekend.

9/9/8/8 Missouri (9-1) The Tigers routed the Kentucky Wildcats (2-7) 48-17. Maty Mauk tossed five TDs and Henry Josey scored three times (twice rushing) for Missouri.

10/12/13/12 LSU (7-3) The Tigers stood toe-to-toe with the #1 Alabama Crimson Tide (9-0) before they went down 38-17.

11/13/15/13 Texas A&M (8-2) The Aggies beat the Mississippi State Bulldogs (4-5) 51-41. Johnny Manziel went 30 of 39 for 446 yards and five TDs—but proved he’s human as he also tossed three INTS—as the Aggies and Bulldogs went back and forth. Dak Prescott rushed for 154 yards and tossed two TD passes, and De’Runnya Wilson and LaDarius Perkins scored twice each for the Bulldogs

12/8/10/10 Oklahoma (7-2) The Sooners got beat badly by the #5 Baylor Bears (8-0) 41-12 Thursday night. See above for more.

13/15/12/16 South Carolina (7-2) The Gamecocks were idle this weekend.

14/14/11/14 Miami (Fla.) (7-2) The Hurricanes fell to the Hokies of Virginia Tech (7-3) 42-24. Trey Edmunds rushed for just 74 yards on 14 carries but he scored four touchdowns for the Hokies and Logan Thomas threw for 366 yards and two TDs. The Hokies also held Miami to just 28 yards on the ground on 24 carries.

15/11/14/11 Oklahoma State (8-1) The Cowboys jumped all over the Kansas Jayhawks (2-7) 42-6. Clint Chelf threw for 265 yards and three TDs, Desmond Roland and Tracy Moore scored twice each, and Justin Gilbert returned the opening kickoff 100 yards for the Cowboys.

16/18/19/19 UCLA (7-2) The Bruins beat the Arizona Wildcats (6-3) 31-26. Myles Jack rushed for 120 yards including a 66-yard TD run and Brett Hundley tossed two TD passes for the Bruins. Ka’Deem Carey rushed for 149 yards and one TD, while B.J. Denker connected with Nate Phillips for two TDs for the Wildcats.

17/17/16/17 Fresno State (9-0) The Bulldogs continued their winning ways, beating the Wyoming Cowboys (4-5) 48-10. Derek Carr completed 33 of 46 attempts for 360 yards and four TDs as the Bulldogs gave the Cowboys a 10 point head start before going on to put 48 unanswered points on the board.

18/19/17/15 Michigan State (8-1) The Spartans had the weekend off.

19/21/21/21 UCF (7-1) The Knights struggled to down the Houston Cougars (7-2) 19-14 in what was expected to be an offensive show but ended up as a defensive battle. Storm Johnson rushed for 127 yards on 28 carries, William Stanback scored two TDs on the ground and Shawn Moffitt kicked two first half field goals for the Knights.

20/16/20/24 Louisville (8-1) The Cardinals had an easy time beating the Connecticut Huskies (0-8) 31-10 on Friday night. Then, who hasn’t had an easy time beating the Huskies this year. Teddy Bridgewater tossed just one TD pass—and one INT but Louisville also got TDs on a blocked punt returned 7 yards by Charles Gaines and a 17 yard interception return by Terell Floyd.

21/22/24/18 Wisconsin (7-2) The Badgers beat the Cougars of BYU (6-3) 27-17. James White rushed for 147 yards and two TDs and scored a third on a short pass from Joel Stave for the Badgers

22/20/18/20 Northern Illinois (9-0) The Huskies were idle this weekend.

23/24/22/22 Arizona State (7-2) The Sun Devils were down by 12 in the fourth quarter before coming back to edge the Utah Utes (4-5) 20-19. Marion Grice rushed for 136 yards and Taylor Kelly rushed for two TDs and threw for a third for the Sun Devils.

24/25/23/25 Notre Dame (7-3) The Irish got beat by the Pitt Panthers (5-4) 28-21. Tommy Rees threw for 318 yards and two TDs only to be matched by Tom Savage’s 243 yards and two TDs—both the Devin Street. It came down to two short TD runs by James Conner for Pitt vs one by TJ Jones for the Irish. That and the three turnovers the Irish committed.

25/23/25/23 Texas Tech (7-3) The Red Raiders got mauled by the Kansas State Wildcats (5-4) 49-26. John Hubert rushed for 157 yards and one TD and Daniel Sams and Jake Waters scored twice each for the Wildcats who also got a TD when Ty Zimmerman returned an interception 43 yards for a score.