Coffee 10-26-13

Good morning. 36 degrees, cloudy, and a light rain at the moment. The coal I got for this season is burning excellent, basement is warm and dry. Still no baby #2...I expect it will be any day. My wife has been going nuts washing everything in the house. Pillow covers, rugs, sheets for the spare room, dog beds, extra towels, you name it! My EFM has been getting a good workout the last couple days making hot water. Weekend job list looks pretty short. Time for fall oil changes on the cars, and I would like to run the generator just to make sure it is in good working order before cold weather.

morning all....with the frost on the windshield of the old truck it's finally cold enuff down here to fire up the stove this weekend. I've been ready and waiting having done the prep work the last couple weekends, painting the hopper, building the coal bin, checking the chimney for critters, cleaned and oiled the fans & motors.

I have to run around this morning on some chores and then make a delivery so late afternoon I'll probably get the flue pipe connected and fire it up.

I believe that is a hawk on the fence.

Have a great day everyone.

lsayre wrote:Here is my morning hawk (just to the left of the coop/barn, sitting on the fence door), stalking our chickens in their fenced off free ranging area. Picture taken through a window, so not very clear.

layer, looks to me like your visitor is a Cooper's Hawk. Your picture of the back of the bird all fluffed out like it's sunning itself shows off the tail nicely.

Morning all, I consulted with Foghorn Leghorn & it don't look like a chicken hawk to him. Then again many things taste like chicken. My grandson is making his first trip here on his own so I guess I'll be busy this weekend & beginning of the week touring college campuses, sure wish he would figure out which direction he wants to go in he'll have over 20 credits when he gets out of high school so he'll have a good start. Everybody else seems to be pushing him towards their profession & the wife & I told him it's his life & choice so now we get to take him around.

Good mornin' all, 35* up here and that means it's time for the first fire. The wife ordered coal and it was delivered yesterday and they dropped pea instead of nut. You think your supplier would question your order after 3 yrs. of the same coal and then the wife calls and "may or may not" have said peanut oh well the grate is small enough for pea but I don't want a ton. Maybe I will have a yard sale!

goooooooood morning forum 31 here this am , 354hitzer just humming along still on an idle, not much to do here today just college football and stay warm. have a good day all...

Good morning,

Freddy, did you get the twenty I left next to the pot of java for the soda I stole, I mean borrowed, . . .purchased last week? Its a slow start for me today, I was working until two thirty a. m. in the shop. Its another snow day here as the snow continues to fall today. I am hoping for at least six to eight inches, however, I believe I may be dreaming. I'll take whatever we get, I'm just happy to see the snow continue to fall. The coal stoves are happy idling along which makes for a warm house and a happy wife. Today is going to be a good day since my wife and my long run of fifteen miles will take place while the snow is still falling. Anyway, I must get going so I can get back in the shop, no days off this weekend. I hope everyone has a safe and productive weekend.

The snowman.

Morning all! I may have to rethink this heat thing. Frosty here in the Tenn. valley this morning and this fireplace insert would not heat a small dog house. I need a real small stoker that I can tie into the hot air system. What is the smallest furnace anyone can think of? Got to go work as the job was overrun with other people in my way yesterday, went of and played a round of golf with bro-in-law, may this afternoon too! I think most if not all birds of prey are protected species. Careful with that.
Hey dc, my cousin and I used to joke that it took a team of German engineers months to design something that could not be serviced. That was when we worked on a drilling rig in Texas. I know how ya feel.

Kevin

VigIIPeaBurner wrote:layre, looks to me like your visitor is a Cooper's Hawk. Your picture of the back of the bird all fluffed out like it's sunning itself shows off the tail nicely.

Are Cooper's Hawks protected, or can I send it to Valhalla? Now I know my duck (strutting around right behind it) is crazy.

I'm mainly concerned about capping it due to the township police station (and the rest of the township government, including the zoning board that gave me the variance that allowed us to have chickens in the first place) being right across the street from us. I'd feel sort of silly going across the street and asking them for permission to eliminate it.

lsayre wrote:

VigIIPeaBurner wrote:layre, looks to me like your visitor is a Cooper's Hawk. Your picture of the back of the bird all fluffed out like it's sunning itself shows off the tail nicely.

Are Cooper's Hawks protected, or can I send it to Valhalla? Now I know my duck (strutting around right behind it) is crazy.

I'm mainly concerned about capping it due to the township police station (and the rest of the township government, including the zoning board that gave me the variance that allowed us to have chickens in the first place) being right across the street from us. I'd feel sort of silly going across the street and asking them for permission to eliminate it.

get one of those pump up pellet guns give it 8 or 10 pumps quiet and deadly go for a clean head shot.screw the protection , protect them chickens..

Freddy, don't kill the spiders. They get the other bugs in the house.
Lsayer, cap the hawk or you'll have a "silent spring".
Bob, got any thoughts on the Ohio, Penn State game ?

We lost all the summer flowers last night. We're down in a
valley close to a large creek so we are protected from early frosts.
Last night was a little too much.

lsayre wrote:

VigIIPeaBurner wrote:layre, looks to me like your visitor is a Cooper's Hawk. Your picture of the back of the bird all fluffed out like it's sunning itself shows off the tail nicely.

Are Cooper's Hawks protected, or can I send it to Valhalla? Now I know my duck (strutting around right behind it) is crazy.

I'm mainly concerned about capping it due to the township police station (and the rest of the township government, including the zoning board that gave me the variance that allowed us to have chickens in the first place) being right across the street from us. I'd feel sort of silly going across the street and asking them for permission to eliminate it.

I couldn't find anything on the web regarding the Cooper's Hawk protection classification. I did find a .pdf from my state, NJ, stating:

• Concern for this species is evident in nearby states, such as New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and
  Connecticut, where it is listed as threatened, and Massachusetts and New York, where it
  is considered a species of Special Concern. The National Audubon Society also included
  the Cooper’s hawk on its Blue List of Imperiled Species from 1971 to 1982 and in 1986,
  the final year of the list.
  • http://www.nj.gov/dep/fgw/ensp/pdf/end-thrtened/coopers.pdf
  Who knows if this information is current?

Personally, I don't want to see hawks eating chickens but it's what they do. I don't know if they'd tackle one given the size comparison but I wouldn't put it past their capability or determination! They eat a lot of small rodents and other birds. Their targeting mice is why I like them ... Lymes disease is spread by mice and the fewer of them near me the better I like the hawks. I don't want another case of Lymes so I love to see them hunt the woods.

Good morning all, thanks for the coffee Freddy. It's about 35 here, but somehow there was frost on the truck last night. Got a couple of Halloween related events today, but I am hoping to get some time in to split the rest of the locust I had taken down(that stuff is heavy!). Anyone else find that a house heated to 66 with coal is warmer than a house heated to 66 with oil or gas ?

Morning gang,

I slept in this morning. These long days and nights were getting to me and I needed some extra down time. Got home Thursday night around 9:30 and the wife is waiting patiently ?? at the kitchen table all wrapped in sweatshirts and blankets asking me why the thermostat is set to 68* but the house only reads 62*? A quick trip to the basement while she sets the thermostat higher reveals that the pipes are warm on either side of the circulator but nothing further along the line. And I can hear the grundfos whining. Well can't do anymore except wait for the morning. And maybe hope she gets cold enough in bed to snuggle. Nope that didn't work so it was just add another blanket......

So off to the plumbing supply house on Friday. I think I got a good deal. Old pump was a grundfos 15-42fc but they told me that has been superceded by a 15-58 fc. Who am I to argue. So I get one for only $ 90.00 + change. And it is a 3 speed pump to boot..........

Got home after 9:00 again last night and had it switched out in 15 minutes. Lucky for me, the previous plumber had installed flanges and shut off valves on either side of the pump so the swap out was a breeze. Now she's happy and so am I.

Short lived happiness as coming in to work this AM I get a call from a long time customer who's son was involved in an accident. He's OK but his truck isn't. And the friggin' towing company will not release the truck until Monday. I've had my run ins with this guy before. He will not follow the customer's directions to have them towed directly to me. I can't see how he stays in business. Oh that's right, he is a township stupidvisor so he can do what ever the hell he wants to do with the P.D.'s blessing !!!!!!! And he has the balls to tell me I have to pay him cash when he delivers it.

Larry.............. don't ask, don't tell and have a hole ready before hand. We are constantly target shooting on our property because we can. You name it, we shoot it. The PD doesn't even respond anymore to "shots fired" calls near us. Just sayin'

Rick

Morning all! Freddy, I hope you don't mind, I snuck into the kitchen at 3:30 this morning and got a tea bag. I woke up with a headache and runny nose, a cold, I am sure.

Well, the cold snap reached us last night. At midnight, the temp hit 30f, but I don't think it got much colder than 28f during the early morning hours. We were aware this was coming, so last week I got the DVC-500 prepped. I got a surprise when I opened the load door to re-glue the grates back in.... the loading door glass had cracked over the summer! The crack cannot be seen from the outside looking in, but can easily be seen if the door is open and you look thru from the inside of the door. The crack runs side-to-side, but stops halfway across. I know as soon as I put heat to it, it will crack the rest of the way. So I lifted off the door, and just swapped it out with the other DVC-500 until I can get a piece of ceramic on order. Took 30 seconds to swap doors, they just lift up and off.
Fired it up around noontime Friday. I let it simmer for about 8 hours, to make sure the new door was sealed good. Then I started opening her up, and ran about 50% BTU output all night.
The dog liked the warmth so much, he dragged his bed from the hallway, and put it right in front of the stove! Dang smart dog, but not smart enough.... the cat jumped on the bed and was unwilling to share it. Pissed the dog off, so he just sat on the cat. Just like to kids fighting....

Todays project, continue dropping trees from around my old barn, and get the 60 year old hay out of there. The gable end walls are shot, which I will have to rebuild, but the post/beams/roof/floor are fine! Not bad for 100 years old, and not maintained for last 60 years.

ROB! Congrats on the Moderator Title! Do you get a salary with that title?