Avalanche is gonna drive me nuts!  Two nights ago I put out his food and he looked at it; last night I added about a cup more and he looked at it.  Didn't even look at it this morning when he went out.  Put about 1/2 a can of dog food in this evening and he ate it all.  Need to make sure I get him out, we were out for about 1/2 hour and neither dog did anything.  

'Course A's got the excuse that we have clouds in the neighborhood so that means thunder I can't hear ...

It used to drive me nuts when kenzi would go off her food. Course now I can't allow her to go off her food due to medications. Being on raw she has been less inclined to go off her food. Only had to deal with it once since she became diabetic and that was a heartburn issue. Put her on pepcid (I think it was that one) and it started to ease on her and she went back to eating. Still not sure what caused the flair up.

Al - looks like you might have got a bit of rain? Maybe quarter of an inch? Hopefully, not the foot of rain that others are getting!

Dallas is flooding

@amymeme Yep, we've gotten some nice showers.  My water tanks are full so I'm a happy camper.  The really nice thing about this rain we've been getting is that we'll get a good downpour that'll last for a few minutes and then it stops to let the water soak in.  Means we're gonna have a really, really green desert in a couple of weeks!
If this place got a foot of rain we'd be so far under water that it wouldn't be funny. A few years back the low spot on our main road was something like 6 feet under. I wish the rain would keep up like it has been, maybe get out water table back up some, like every place out west we're in a drought that this rain will help ...

@lostmaniac You sure you got the right city? It's Houston that can't hold it's water.  Stupid people built a city in a swamp and now people can't figure out why it floods!  
Ouch!! I went looking at Dallas weather while I was waking up, they really got it bad!!  And the worst part of that is that most of that rain is gonna end up in the Gulf in a day or three.
Checked out Houston while I was at it.  Right now a lot of rain but not flooding but they're predicting rain for today through Thursday ... yep, Houston's going down again.

We're starting to get some more normal rain accumulation. And the grass is green and growing again. I need some non week water to top off my pool. PH and total alkalinity are way too high this year. Putting week water in for topping of to compensate from evaporation just continue the imbalance. But it least it's not acid and eating my metal parts!

I'm a crank today. Hubby went up to garage to work on the toilet he picked up used - I think he escaped in flavor of self preservation I'm coming off a Prednisone taper and I'm cranky as all get out! (who gets pneumonia in August?!!? Not COVID, either.)

But. At least it's cooler and I'm not prostate from heart.

You're getting rain and we're getting, for us, a lot of rain. We've had the better part of 10 days of clouds and rain ... thankfully most of it is soaking in but if it keeps up we're going to have some really muddy run-off.

I've been firing up the generator to keep the batteries charged and provide house power. Living on solar is good when there's sun and the absolute pits when there isn't!

That used toilet, is it a one-holer or two? The first thing that flashed through my mind was the typical old out-house.
Hope you get to feeling better soon!

Now that is a funny. Should read used TILLER!!! The old Troybilt horse we picked up several years ago is leaking oil everywhere. Someone strings the corner from us had a yard sale with another Horse tiller, this time an 8 hp instead of 7. No oil leak so hubby brought it home. He's now cleaning it up, waxing the metal parts, putting ACF50 on all screws and bolts. Runs well. Probably could use new tines. I'm hoping to get my garden prepared for spring this fall and cover the whole thing with mulch paper and straw. The last several years, spring had been way too wet and cold to do any soil preparation until mid June. Various news articles suggest this might be our new normal among with droughty summers

Of course, this plan was conceived before I developed pneumonia again I'm not as sick this time around so well see how long it takes me to recuperate.

Aha, I think it read better as "toilet" left my old mind wandering in all sort of directions.

Well, my pups have officially declared that we've had enough rain. They know they're going to melt if I send them out and I'm not sure I disagree. Individual water guages are reading over an inch - and in the desert that's way too much water! The one benefit, other than having full water catchment tanks - is that we can expect the wild flowers to come out in force next spring. The Bluebonnets this spring were pathetic, I saw a couple of stands but nothing to talk about. With this rain they should be out in full glory next spring.

Yeah we're flooding as well. The old farmers are saying this WAS normal before the 90s this time of year and they are praying the 19 year draught is over.

Mine seem to like the rain as long as its not the big drops or really hard or windy.

Now the flies...... anyone try the bug a salt rifle or similar ones?

The flies?!!? They were awful this year. Never had so many. Finally resorted to my grandmother's solution. Gross but it works

My kitchen area. And i have fly tape everywhere and 4 rescue bags outside that i have to change every few days. The starbar ones dont work for us.



The outside one i just put up an hour ago

Hey, don't knock the flytape, it always worked in the cow barns! I have two hung here in the house, one over the kitchen sink and one by the back door. And I agree the flies have been atrocious this year especially since we've gotten so much rain ...

I didnt knock the flytape. I have 12 of them up right now. The starbar disposable things dont seem to work.

I need to put up some fly tape. We fight the flies and gnats this time of year because I'm bringing in so much produce. I have to get it taken care of fast or the gnats get going something terrible.

Well, the verdict is in:  around the area we got between 2 and 4 inches of rain.  Yay???  I went into town yesterday and the roads are still so muddy I had to go around the "roundabout"  I came in one road further east than my road since my road was nothing but mud!  Started to come in the back way I normally use and part way home I decided that this was a bad idea and turned around.  I now have a desert mud-colored Jeep.

I know that @lostmaniac will understand why the variance in the amounts of rain, the mountains tend to direct the clouds around the mountains which means some of us get it and others don't.  I was on the phone with a friend who live about a mile from me ove evening and it was raining heavy here and not a drop over at his place.  Weird!!

Flies are having a ball! I've coated one strip already in just a few days.

Avalanche has been waking me up at night, seems as if the coyotes have been driven out of the wash where they normally live which brings them up toward my back yard. I saw a family (2 adults and 3<?> pups) walking the treeline back of my place - Avalanche was having a fit and it didn't bother them at all!

Here its not just the mountains its the magnetic field changes because of the continental divide and a dormant volcano sitting on a dormant supervolcano. But here there is a hill about 5 miles east and at the top of it is a rest area. Alot of times there is a distinct weather change in that spot. We have heard it also has to do with underground lava flows.

Totally get it.

We get drastically different weather due to water here. We used to live at the lake and could get lake effect snow at times on one side and the other side would have nothing. Now we live north of the Missouri River and it is always a gamble as to what weather will be like when you cross the river. The rain may stop and dissolve at the river or it might blow up and turn into something else. When we were doing the hour and fifteen commute there would often be nothing at the lake then we would hit ice at JC and would cross into mountains of snow once over the river. Or the weather system would hit the lake and we would get a snow dump on the south side and on the north side there would be nothing.

It's too quiet here, has anyone heard from @Amymeme? When she's absent for this long I have to be concerned.

Silly dogs, I've been trying to teach Sky to 'Lay' and she just looks at me like ... nope, ain'ta gonna. I give the two of them a treat (dentastic) late evening before they go out for the, hopefully, last time. Avalanche will plop on the floor when I say "down" and stay there till he gets his; but not Sky.

And we're back to sunshine - which makes my solar panels real happy!

Still alive and kicking. Working on pool closing. Lost a day accompany Wayne to Rochester for prostate biopsy (still waiting on results.) Had a week of cool, dreary, foggy, rainy weather. Which coinsided with the end of Prednisone and left me really, really down in the dumps, more than usual. At the moment, trying to deflate 9 rather large pool floats. After working on the first one intermittently for 2 hours, rolled it up and...half done But son 2 called to see if granddaughter could come over this weekend and, hearing my slow progress, volunteered DIL's deflator pump. YES!!! Didn't even know they matter such a thing. So deflating pool floats is on hold till tomorrow.

As for solar panels?!!? We may be shopping. Two year ago we signed an electric supply contract for .043 kWh. Contract is up January 2. Started monitoring the current rates and just about had a heart attack. Cheapest fixed rate is 2 years at .0983. The company were with now is no longer offering fixed rate - their variable is current. 20!!! And there was a message on this months bill that sure to the current volatility, they may switch or account back to our utility. Their variable rate is currently .072. but looking over the rates, they are all over the place. That .0983 rate is about what our total supply AND delivery is. Or. Was. So this changes the metrics around solar for us. That and the new incentives. First I'll have to monitor the sun exposure in the northern field, I thinks it's ok but there are some pine trees about 150' south of there and may cast shade late November to early February. Our roof is no longer a great option due to maples on the east that have grown exponentially in the last few years and a beautiful oak to the west. Though spongy moth may have begun the end for that oak tree. Would be a real shame to lose that.

At the same time, the first step for energy conservation will be window replacement. Whole the frames are good, the glazing compound is missing out cracked and loose. And the tracks that the dash runs in is aluminum. Which connects inside and outside with an exposed half inch lip in house that radiates cold. I was hoping to put money into floors now that cover vaccination is relatively wide spread but wasn't expecting our electric rate to almost triple wouldn't be quite so bad if we didn't have electric baseboard in addition to wood heat. And the pool pump uses a lot as well. Electric pump for well. Water heater dryer. Cooking. They tout heat pump water heaters but our water heater is in the laundry room which is between the kitchen and our bedroom. I really don't want to be sucking room heat to power the water heater in January! Not so bad in July but winter is another story. Not happy about this but I guess these rates are sort of par for the course for most of the country. I know my new England family pays way more (we benefit from Niagara falls hydroelectric.) Sigh. It's only money, right

Ah, it's good to see you here, your comments about pneumonia get to be scary, knowing our ages at least.

It may be only money, but that commodity seems to getting more scarce by the day!   I can't relate at all to the electric rates since I've been off grid for 12 years.  It can be convenient, but solar power can also be an expensive albatross if you're not real careful about what you're getting in to.

You're thinking right, I think.  The real first step is to limit your use to what you need to use.  Do you really need that security light that illuminates the whole neighborhood?  (Don't know if you have one, they seemed too common the last time I was in the country.)  Those with motion sensors are a lot more conservative than one that comes on at dusk and off at dawn.  Maybe think about going to on-demand water heating?  It's going to take the same amount of time to get hot water to the spigot but you're not heating water 24/7 when you're only using it for am ablutions and evening showers (and dog baths / cleanup, of course)
(( Aside, we're dark sky preserve - the largest in the continental US - so external lighting is 'recommended' to be limited to ground coverage so we can still look up and see the milky way!! ))

Once you have that under control by kW usage (measuring by the dollar, as you've seen, gets to be crazy) then look at things like those metal window and door frames.  Flooring that seals any leakage from the cellar and enough attic insulation that you can keep the house comfortable with that wood stove ... sure it's a pain in the morning while you wait for it to warm up but it looks like a good wood lot is going to be less expensive that electricity.

If you're considering commercial installation with long term payout be VERY careful.  I've read some real horror stories with those.  It's no fun when they raise the note (or they sell your note) and you find you're paying more on that payment than you would on electricity.  If I were in your shoes, I'd consider doing some self installation so you're familiar with the equipment and the terms - consider a small unit for your pool or greenhouse rather than jumping into a whole house system 'cause there you're talking about some really, seriously big bucks!  Solar panels come in a variety of types with varying efficiency, you want the best you can reasonably afford.  Inverters are the next most costly single item, you want to get one that matches your usage (I don't use much so I have a small 3k inverter)  The last item to consider is back up storage - batteries!  Batteries have been a moving target for the last 10 years or so and I'm looking at more changes in the near future.  I've followed the trend, started out with "deep cycle" (which weren't) moved to AGM deep cycle which were but I'm disgusted with their life.  I skipped the Lithium Ion - they were too expensive for what you get and they were combustible - I really didn't want to screw up and burn my trailer down! - I'm using Lithium Ferrous Oxide (LiFePo4) and at about a year in I'm more than happy with them.  "Salt" batteries are the up and coming item but like any new commodity they're expensive!

I've gotten on a soap box here, so I'll carefully step off - don't need to break anything.  If I can help, just ask.

We would not be using batteries - it would be grid connected. NYS had a very nice net metering program. When we moved in 35 years ago, after the first winter electric bill, we had an energy audit. We had the first floor  insulated in the basement with fiberglass insulation and additional vapor barrier. The water heater is on a timer and has no
insulated jacket. It heats the water say night for about 4 hours total. We almost never run out unless we have house full of first and then we turn it on at the timer - that uses the element closer to where the water exits to the house. We were told point of use instant heater would not save us money over the way we use it. My washer is a front load and has an eco warm setting that is not cold but not warm, either, just the minimum temp to work with today's detergents, 50⁰ or 60⁰ I believe. All bulbs have long ago been changed to LED. Outside doors were swapped out for insulated Peachtree fiberglass doors years ago. We would most likely be using a reputable local company that has been doing solar for years - there are at least 2. And no financing needed. The sticking point for us in the past is after they've given their proposals, and we do the math, with our low electric rates once NY separated electric supply from delivery, the systems don't provide payback until it's time to replace the inverters. The question now is, are these rates permanent or just temporary with the Ukraine/European situation and the fallout from the pandemic. Or permanent. Son#2 works for GE supporting the power producers and the turbines used to generate electricity. He told us several years ago that electric rates had no where to go but up - that power was being sold cheaper than it could be produced and the industry could not be sustained like that. We sort of forgot that And so we're quite shocked at the surge in prices. We've got 2 more months before we have to choose a supplier. Wayne talked to our current supplier yesterday and they basically told him, find someone new, they are not competitive at the moment. Looking at theit current variable rate, they are losing money big time on us.

You're lucky, most of the folks here who are on grid get their elect from Rio Grande Co-op and co-ops aren't allowed / required <??> to buy user generated electricity.  I know folks who have systems that will keep them up on a bad day but would power our town on a sunny day ... and they can't do anything with it once their backup is 'full'

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I took Sky to town with me Thursday and stopped at the café and the crisis center for a while.  She got me up last night at 02:00 / 04:00 and again at 06:00 because she wanted out!  I don't know if she got something bad, obviously did, but she's regular as clockwork - every two hours - with muddy little puddles.
I gave her some pumpkin with a little of her normal food but it's the wrong time of day for her meal and she ate a bit and left the rest.  We'll see if she finishes it at supper time.

We are on a super expensive rural electric coop well unless you get a owner operator check. Its a coin flip as to if its a check or a bill when it comes every year. Tied in solar costs money on both ends because they discovered not enough revenue to maintain the grid so now if you dont use the power (or feed it back) it still cost you $75 a month. We were looking at a split solar system. Run everything but the well/washer/dryer/water heater off solar because an off grid system that will run everything is in the 28k range.

Hope sky feels better, spider is dealing with some crazy bacteria infection.

Well, today she seems to be feeling better but I'd have expected to see some appetite but nothing seems appealing to her.  After a round of softer than pudding feces yesterday she left me a mucousy mess on the porch.  I don't know whether she shat that or threw it up ... in either case clearing it seems to have helped.

I put a big tablespoon of pumpkin in her food - early yesterday afternoon and she wanted nothing to do with so I added some regular food and put it out as her evening meal ... the pumpkin still sets in her bowl -- oh well, time to toss that.

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28k for off grid ... is still a lot cheaper than getting Rio Grande to run wire to my place and connect me.  Folks have been seeing quotes in excess of 50k and they have to get the easements for the line...