Thursday, January 29, 2009

13 Saturdays to go

We have had a record number of birds at the feeders this Winter. Let's see; I have seen hundreds of finches (Purple,  Chickadees, Nuthatches, House, Gold, etc.), 20 to 30 Mourning Doves, a dozen each Blue Jays and Robins, and a Red Tailed Hawk. I have been standing on the deck trying to get the Chickadees to land on my outstretched, seed laden palm ( I hear sometimes they do that). They have been getting closer, swooping past the seed, but so far no landings. Maybe I'm ready for Spring to come.
The new snow thrower works rather well-bought it just in time. The dead Volvo wagon/storage shed looks like a weird snow sculpture.
My newest project involves designing a masonry stove to replace our steel wood stove. They say masonry stoves use much less firewood, and radiate heat into the house all day. Does anyone out there have any info on these massive gadgets. If so, tell me about it. 
I downloaded the Windows 7 beta, and loaded it onto the computer I'm using to write this post. So far the OS works great, much faster and smoother than the awful Windows Vista.  
I'll try to get down to the Market to snap some pix of the barren field. Will post next week.
 rara avis

Thursday, January 15, 2009

15 Saturdays left




Well, tonight is forecast to be the coldest night in quite a while. Our thermometer registers 0 degrees f right now. I'm sure those in the traditional cold spots: Whitingham, Marlboro, etc are much colder. Our location on an east facing hill that slopes down to the river moderates our weather  conditions. We like cold, snowy winters. Its one reason we moved here from PA. 
I'll try to get some pix of the Market site to post. Happy Inauguration. rara avis

Monday, January 5, 2009

09 Countdown

Hope everyone had a great holiday. My son and family gave Galen and I a GPS gizmo for the car. I've been driving around with the map function turned on, discovering the names of little roads all over the area. I found out that we live on Sweetwood Hill. Evidently our driveway was once a town road on that very hill, so now instead of telling folks that we live down in the gully off the dirt road off another dirt road, we can now say "We live on Sweetwood Hill". Sounds a lot swankier. Maybe I should jack the price of my cookies-after all, I baked them on Sweetwood Hill. Anyway, the countdown has begun(at least in my mind) for the 09 Farmers Market-16 Saturdays to go. It's time for me to get ready to prepare for thinking about starting to form my plans for the new season. My brain hurts already. See you next week. rara avis