Im finally dug out of this east coast type snow. Tarp and duct tape shed held. Mine like to sleep in. And yeah the grapes.... sonthis is 2 pics from right inside with the front door open. One the door can be used to kinda see and the other is on the "shed" those bars are 3 feet up that the tarp is attached to.

You appear to be getting our smooth this year. We very briefly had enough to justify the snowblower but that is gone have had a few isolated "less than an inch"  showers but at the moment, while initially cold for this winter, there are only a few patches of minimal snow cover. Wind advisory for late this afternoon through tomorrow and highs in mid twenties through Monday but then we have another few days at least of low 40. This lack of winter is not unwelcome a at our age. Particularly now that we no longer ski.

Speaking of "at our age.". I dodged a bullet this weekend. Saturday was a day of a major light show in my right eye followed on Sunday with continued light show and added large black floaters. Hubby told me my timing was bad - emergency rooms don't staff opthalmologists and all you get is a referral and told to call Monday morning. The whole episode became so worrisome later Sunday afternoon that he called the opthalmologist himself. The worry was a hole or fully detached retina. Very pleased, this is a new guy for both of us (i just saw him for the first time last Wednesday.) He called hubby back within 5 minutes, reassured us that only a small portion of these events progress to detachment but that i should call Monday morning at 8 and they would squeeze me in to make sure i didn't have a small treat in my retina. Which. I did not. Just age related posterior vitreal detachment that was tugging on the retina. I'm still at a bit of risk but only about 10% of these progress that far. So fingers crossed i maintain the status quo. And the light show is almost gone and the big fat black corkscrew floater is now only a find thread of a comma and stays mostly out of my line of sight. But, last Wednesday exam showed my eye pressures have increased to borderline, though low risk, open angle glaucoma. No loss of peripheral vision and my retinas still in good shape. Have to say, never, ever considered blind as a possible late life outcome so all this is quite unsettling. Aging in place in this property is contingent on both of us being fully functional.

Sigh. Mum was right old age is not for sissies.

Crossing fingers you're going through a lot!

Wow. My stepdad got the double wammy of a detached retina and glaucoma. Turns out anything for glaucoma makes the retina worse and vise versa. Best of luck with the eye thing.

Official number is 17 inches on the storm last week. Of course Official is the avg and considering that between my house and a neighbor there was a foot difference and even with the melt the closer to the river the more snow. Higher up got less then a foot.

So any ideas of a cheaper option then a jawhorse? Amazon has 2 knock off ones for under 115 but one has terrible reviews and one wants $50 for expedited shipping otherwise it wont be here for a month. Wen has one for 178 and the 2 name brand ones are 199 and 229. I have about a cord of wood that is between an inch to 4 inches too long that needs to be cut. Initially i had the idea of a miter saw but reddit users and hearth.com do not recommend using one. The recommend tool is either a chainsaw or reciprocating saw. I have both but neither can be used with 1 hand so i can hold the wood with the other hand. I considered the makita pruning chainsaw but realized its probably too small and the big problem i have is bending over and a 1 handed saw does not fix the problem. Hubby thinks the stand that allows you to use a chainsaw similar to a miter saw is dangerous and a bad idea. Since i dont have help i can see this being a good investment not just for the logs that are too long but for my other things that need someone or something to hold them in place. So i looked at a few cheaper clamping sawhorses. Most can only accommodate a 2x4 or smaller. Harbor freight has one that is plastic and i just dont know that a plastic sawhorse will be strong and stable enough. A good sawhorse with a large c clamp or bar clamp ends up costing as much or more then the jawhorse. I just feel like im missing something.

And yeah if you want to know i did try to use the Sawzall with 1 hand today and it was next to impossible for me to hold. Turned it on and instantly knew this wont work.

Emily what are you trying to do?

The firewood is between 1 to 4 inches too long for the wood stove. Whats left of it anyway. So i have to cut it. Its already split i just need them to be under 16 inches. I asked the guy i buy wood from to cut it shorter when he delivers tuesday but we got 3 cords from a firewood company and while most of it fit, i discovered 18 inches is the standard. I do have a table saw but its about 300 lbs and not under a covered area so its unuseable right now (still under a foot of snow) I was planning to get a sawmill attachment for the table saw. Also have a circular saw that i can definitely operate one handed but firewood is bad for circular saws.

Ultimately im also not trying to kill my back by standing on wood and bending over to cut it with the Sawzall.

This is what im looking at https://www.rockwelltools.com/product/jawhorse-portable-workstation/

If you even attempt to do what the guy in the third picture from your link, please, please have your hubby take pictures! Let's balance a door with both hands on a sawhorse and use one foot to apply pressure to the clamp ... I'd maybe last 30 seconds!

The (younger) fellow who's house sitting for a friend had maybe a quarter of a cord ... similar situation, the stoves depth is 16 inches, wood is 18" on average. But he's only 30ish so he's got it under control.

How is he cutting it?

We (Betty, the house owner, and I) thought she had a buck saw down there but Joel couldn't find it. I loaned him an old (rusty) carpenter's saw that once it cleaned itself up is doing him well.
Bear in mind that we haven't even approached 0° this year and have only froze a couple of times so he hasn't been using the stove for heat.

Looks like my post never made it here.

Emily - i purchased 6 of those harbor freight plastic saw horses, initial to hold a sailboat mast for repairs and then to use her for odd jobs. I do believe they would work for your present job using either s chain saw or sawzall if Jerry can help by hold the wood steady while you cut. But, husband says sawzall, whole out will work, will go through blades like crazy. Given you and Jerry's physical limitations, it might be easier just to hire someone with a chain saw to cut those ends off, probably only an afternoon's work.

Hahahaha i wish i could hire someone. The closest person i have to "hire" is 13. I can use the chainsaw just fine but yeah jerry cant hold anything right now after the fall in December. A co worker thought he had a clamp system that along with a tie down strap would work. Bigger question is, will he be able to get to the shed.

@aljones if what im thinking your calling a carpentry saw, i have. Along with the hack saw, bow hack saw, some tree saw that takes 2 people, and some weird Japanese thing that looks like a machete with teeth. They all work for cutting a few logs. Not for the 20ish a day we are currently using. And then i have some weird (ok not weird but ultra old) handmade carpentry stuff from my great grandfather.

@amymeme i will try the 25 dollar harbor freight one. Worst case i return it. I have to go into alamosa anyway on monday.

Hmmm ... okay

a buck saw




a hand saw / crosscut / carpentry saw

Yeah i dont own a buck saw but i have the carpentry saw in 4 different sizes. So i broke down and ordered this https://www.makitatools.com/products/details/XCU14SR1 home depot was running a sale and it was 70 off then military discount knocked another 15 off. Of course i did the bare tool i already have better batteries then the 1 that comes with the kit and i have the high speed 4 battery charger. Problem of having someone hold it solved. Still going to buy the 25 dollar clamping sawhorse that harbor freight has monday when i make it to alamosa.

On a side note spider is so pissed that i worked monday tues thurs friday saterday she keeps pissing on the floor. It is not a uti or an issue about the door being shut. And i still work tomorrow and monday. Then monday i have kids for the night so she will be happy. Now to explain that the 9 yr old is not her toy is something for another day

I'm sure wishing we'd get away from this roller-coaster weather.  90 today down to mid 70's Fri back to the 90's on Sun and Mon ... geeze, I wish the weather spirits would make up their minds ... what I'm really afraid of if 90 on Mon and 30 on Wed ... that's one roller coaster I don't need!

The pups have been out on the porch most of the evening, decided it was time to bring them in and shut the door ... it's starting to cool off. It's down to about 75°

Yoyo weather? Let's see - 2 days ago, Monday night, i think, down to 8⁰. Friday expecting 44⁰, Friday night 13⁰. Saturday day, expecting 21⁰, next Friday? 58⁰.

Probably will prolong the sugaring season. I like maple syrup. I don't like basking in the warm weather only too be dunked in active a day or two later!

But happy were not seeing 90⁰ - I don't tolerate heat, cold, i get cranky but i can tolerate better than heat.

We are in the wild weather also. And the wind last year got stuck in the valley and wont leave.

When people ask why i moves to one of the top 10 coldest places in the us my answer is "when its cold you can always put on more clothes, when its hot you hit a point where there isnt anything left to take off."

Did anyone else see the newsweek article about how the east coast is sinking. Baltimore, where alot of the family i dont talk too live, is sinking at a rate of 2mm a year. And i dont have to worry about sinking at 8400 feet. Now the dormant super volcano top we sit on is another story.

That article about the east coast sinking ... when I lived in way ( **WAY** ) upstate NY we kept telling the folks down in the city that one of these days it was just gonna float off into the Atlantic ...

All the north's tax dollars went down to Albany and then seemed to keep going south to the city - I don't know the truth of that but it was the common feeling.

It may be hard to take off enough to be comfortable when it's hot ... but man can it ever be interesting.  I never did like to keep putting on clothes to keep warm, seemed like I reached a point where I had so much on that I was a big round ball of cloth that couldn't move ... no fun!!

I've been out turning over my 'garden' (it's never produced anything seriously, hence 'garden')  I think I'm going to try to get some 'stuff' in early and see what I can reap before it gets too hot.  I'm thinking that if I put up a row of corn on the west side (the east is already shaded by the trailer) and then plant squash / beans / melons between the corn and the house they might get enough shade to not burn before they're ripe.    BTW, I'm not doing much, it's a raised bed 4' x 12' enough to give me something to do and maybe get a watermelon or two ...

Al - that tax thing is the common sentiment in our neck of the woods, too, but totally inaccurate. Taxes flow from NYC to North and West. With the financial sector based on the city, there are huge taxable income down there. And wet grey lots of it on the form of school aid, road funds, etc. They're forever announcing this grant or that to various entities up here.

Not sure what I'm gonna do with this dog ... in this case it's Sky again. Avalanche just isn't a problem, thank the gods!!

About two weeks ago I crashed early so she got left out of her crate. I woke up and she was stretched out across the living room and there was no unusual 'liquid' in the kitchen. So for the better part of two weeks she's had the liberty of the house. And for the last couple of nights we're back to pissing in the kitchen.

I'm not sure what's going on, nothing's changed but she's objecting to her crate - never has before, in fact has used the crate as a home. Now I'm running into nightly wet spots and she virtually refuses to go into her crate. When she does she spends a lot of time scratching (digging at the floor of the crate). Last night I put her out on her lead at about 22:30 (10:30PM) ... and in less than a half hour she's whining she wants in. I let her in about 04:00 so I could get some sleep ...

Some days she eats normal (two cups, free fed, over the day) other days she wants nothing unless I top it. Then she's right there with Avalanche for their evening treat.

I'm at a loss .... 'bout time for a run up to the vets, I'm thinking.

I thought kasper had a uti here a while back because he randomly peed in the house. He has never done this before and he did it twice in a day. No uti. Still not sure, only thing I can think of was an over excited moment or two mixed with Kenzi being in heat.

Kenzi on the other hand is so more restless during the full moon and close around it. The deer are moving then and I think she used to be able to hear them. Her hearing is starting to go and that has settled some thank god. She is also battling sun downers that has started in the last couple years. I never really know what drives her behavior anymore. Could be the moon, weather, smell of nearby dogs/critters, or just her own frustrations with getting old. I do know it's been very hard on my floors and my sleeping patterns.

My Sky has picky eating patterns, too. I'm not sure that's too abnormal but I guess if she's begin peeing, I'd look into that. Actually, my girl has begun licking her legs more lately and I'm not concerned but I'm flagging it as a different behavior.

Hopefully your Sky is all good, @aljones

@aljones

How's this for yoyo weather

https://www.syracuse.com/weather/2024/02/central-ny-could-see-record-warmth-flash-freeze-and-8-inches-of-snow-in-48-hours.html

amymeme wrote:

How's this for yoyo weather

https://www.syracuse.com/weather/2024/02/central-ny-could-see-record-warmth-flash-freeze-and-8-inches-of-snow-in-48-hours.html

I'm not sure what to call that.  I'm sure my cousin in Ogdensburg can probably think up a few things!  There are some similarities though we've been in the record warm area for the last couple of weeks - 70's and 80's mostly with a couple f 90's tossed in for good measure.  A very dry 80 is fine, a NY muggy 80, not so much!  We are looking at 60mph+ winds over the next couple days - they were supposed to be in this afternoon but so far it's very quiet (winds out of the SW, gusting to 2 ... that's gusting??) We're supposed to cool off for the next couple of days - into the 60's daytime (normal) then back to the 80's (15-20 above normal.)

I've got seeds in for a garden, got the garden space (all 48 sq ft of it) turned over; went to Alpine yesterday and picked up two strawberry plants and a replacement fig tree (remember all my plants died from dehydration after 3 weeks of no water while I was in the hospital.)  The strawberries are in a larger pot and seem to be happy.  The fig is still in it's store pot but I'll transfer it to a larger pot in the next few days ... thinking about just putting it in the ground but these "bwasted wabbits", I think, would eat it off to a stub.  Last year on Mar 16 we had a couple of inches of snow ... that would be enough to kill most anything that was just sticking its head out of the ground (not zombies, regrettably) so I'm setting her in my (no T-shirt) skin wondering if I want to plant now or wait.

---

Still can't figure out what's up with Sky.  I've had three <?> urine free nights; Avalanche woke me at 5:30 this morning (which he normally doesn't do) and they both went out till I got back up at 8:00; Sky's not eating, but won't miss her evening treat) and Avalanche will try to steal hers (she objects and he knows better than to push it.)  I am beginning to see some signs of hip problems but nothing to write home about (or go to the vet about) she's just slower getting up and has slipped on the floor a time or two and she's normally pretty steady on her feet.

This is our wild and wooly day today. https://flxweather.com/2024/02/28/weather-hazards-break-down-for-the-flx-wednesday-and-thursday/?fbclid=IwAR0C4BBczqX9z0w7TlCqFbl0p9qOcd5MMO758Q3GpDPyMH3A3KP4bMSNHhw NWS warns us to expect widespread power outages so I've filled pans with cooking water, jugs with dog and plant water and pails with flushing water. Not much I can do about lighting other than our little kerosene lamps, candles and rechargeable work lights. Topping off our various charging bricks for phones. Now pondering what to cook for dinner that can, if need be, reheated on the wood stove. The most obvious would be a pot of spaghetti or chili, but of late, my once cast iron stomach has become decidedly cranky when confronted with tomatoes. I suppose I could make my totally bastardized version of Texas Red that uses NO tomatoes (fortunately, I can still tolerate chili peppers.) But i don't have any toppings in the house. We just finished a big pot of Pasta e Fagioul so I doubt hubby would go for that. (my favorite, hubby "tolerates.") Hopefully, all preparations will be for naught but, here on the hill, not likely

Spaghetti

Sky refused breakfast today. I got back from a trip yesterday and I was told she was being picky with breakfast and today she went and moodily laid on the couch. I even brought her fish and different kibble and she ignored it. I think she's being grumpy, TBD in a few days