Our Morning Coffee and Weather

[cooperhawk]

Overcast, 52°F, Humidity 72%
Wind Speed NE 10 mph
Barometer 29.86 in
Dewpoint 43°F
Visibility 10.00 mi
Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming sunny, with a high near 66.
Northeast wind around 10 mph.
The Emerald Ash Borer has devastated my Ash trees. I have two very large ones that
threatened my bridge taken down with a boom truck, but I have many more that are
dying. They make excellent firewood but I can't even give it away any more.

[Hatchdog]

I suspect that I won’t be able to burn free wood much longer as both my place and my neighbors place are pretty healthy.

Can't you cut free firewood on state/federal forests? My neighbor heated his house with firewood and said if he had to pay the going rate for cut firewood it would be cheaper to use his electric furnace.

Yes that’s an option for sure. But wood cutting is pretty popular around here and any dead trees within a reasonable distance from the road are long gone. I figure that if I have to buy wood I’ll attempt to buy un-split rounds for hopefully less and split it myself. Or better yet, log length not cut up. I can cut some on my property up north but I have a deal with the guy who lives across the road where he gets unlimited access to cut dead trees in return for keeping an eye on the place.

33 here today but the warm-up is happening. 70 today and 80 by the weekend. Cooling down next week back into the mid 70’s and that’s going to be down right pleasant. Taking the pup to doggie daycare for the first time today so we’ll see how that goes. Adult dog is going too so he will have a familial butt to sniff.

I cut down, limbed and cut up the five trees yesterday and today I’ll haul the rounds up the the wood shed and start splitting.

[dave77]

I actually bought a cord of fir this fall. $100 for that, dried split and delivered. They old guy even helped me stack it! He’s in his 70s and cuts wood to stay in shape. Other than paying him to work out, I have a bunch of big fir, pine and apple trees cut up and ready to split. The Apple will make it to the smoker.

Apple and other fruit tree wood goes for $300 or more a cord and we are right in the middle of a very large tree fruit growing region.

[dave77]

33 here today but the warm-up is happening. 70 today and 80 by the weekend. Cooling down next week back into the mid 70’s and that’s going to be down right pleasant. Taking the pup to doggie daycare for the first time today so we’ll see how that goes. Adult dog is going too so he will have a familial butt to sniff.

About the same here, a little warmer. Yesterday afternoon was very nice but it got cold quickly when the sun went down, got down to 42 last night but it's already up to 81 today.

[JEBar]

80 right now (4:30PM) and they say it will go up another degree within the next couple of hours .... 96% chance of rain but just checked the weather radar and there isn't a cloud showing this side of the South Carolina state line ... this morning started out busy and its been that way ever since ... first up -- take our '06 Trailblazer to a local shop to have both front daytime driving lights replaced along with a rear brake light .... I'm pretty sure some of its almost 20 year old wiring is fried .... second thing was to take our Sportchassis to a mechanic for its annual pre South Dakota trip checkup .... third, I had to drive for a physical therapy appointment ... its simply been one of those days

[220]

I actually bought a cord of fir this fall. $100 for that, dried split and delivered. They old guy even helped me stack it! He’s in his 70s and cuts wood to stay in shape. Other than paying him to work out, I have a bunch of big fir, pine and apple trees cut up and ready to split. The Apple will make it to the smoker.

Unreal most wood here in Aus is sold by the cubic meter, abound 3.75m2 to a cord. Very little available under $200 m2 and have seen prices around $500 m2 for the best quality wood in larger metro areas. That equate to nearly $1800 a cord with exchange rates still over US$1200 a cord at the top end around US$450 at the bottom end.

Apple is fantastic in the smoker, all that I burn in mine with 3.5k apple trees I have an unlimited supply

Winter has decided to hold off for a little longer down under 50 at dawn this morning and going for a top of 66. Forecast to be the same the next week with overnight temps from around 40 to days in the mid 60s

[Redthies]

Apple and other fruit tree wood goes for $300 or more a cord and we are right in the middle of a very large tree fruit growing region.

I’m just a mile north of the border at the top of the 395 by Kettle Falls on the Columbia. I know apples. Grew up with an orchard…

[Redthies]

I actually bought a cord of fir this fall. $100 for that, dried split and delivered. They old guy even helped me stack it! He’s in his 70s and cuts wood to stay in shape. Other than paying him to work out, I have a bunch of big fir, pine and apple trees cut up and ready to split. The Apple will make it to the smoker.

Unreal most wood here in Aus is sold by the cubic meter, abound 3.75m2 to a cord. Very little available under $200 m2 and have seen prices around $500 m2 for the best quality wood in larger metro areas. That equate to nearly $1800 a cord with exchange rates still over US$1200 a cord at the top end around US$450 at the bottom end.

Apple is fantastic in the smoker, all that I burn in mine with 3.5k apple trees I have an unlimited supply

Winter has decided to hold off for a little longer down under 50 at dawn this morning and going for a top of 66. Forecast to be the same the next week with overnight temps from around 40 to days in the mid 60s

You must be down near Adelaide? Or Melbourne?

[cooperhawk]

Fair, 39°F, Humidity 100%
Wind Speed Calm
Barometer 29.95 in
Dewpoint 39°F
Visibility 10.00 mi
Increasing clouds, with a high near 73.
A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2pm.
Light and variable wind becoming northwest 10 to 15 mph in the morning.
Winds could gust as high as 30 mph.

[Hatchdog]

I actually bought a cord of fir this fall. $100 for that, dried split and delivered. They old guy even helped me stack it! He’s in his 70s and cuts wood to stay in shape. Other than paying him to work out, I have a bunch of big fir, pine and apple trees cut up and ready to split. The Apple will make it to the smoker.

Wow, $100 for a cord of fir. Sure wish I could find a deal like that.

39 under bright sunny skies this morning and the forecast high for Spokane is 80. We’ll be a few degrees less but wow, it’s going to be a wonderful Mother Days weekend around here. Nice all next week with highs in the 70’s and lows in the 40’s. We planning on heading up to the property around mid week and that weather forecast is perfect.

My firewood saga is nearly over for this year. Got the five trees cut down, limbed, cut into rounds, hauled up to the shop and split. The three small trees are a pretty pitiful pile of wood but the two medium trees are respectable. That’s what is in the trailer. Normally I cut a tree up into rounds one year and split it the next but this year I was forced to cut and split at the same time. I’ll leave the pile of split wood you see on the ground for 3-4 weeks to help dry it out and then stack it for further drying. My wood storage area is a metal building that faces the west sun and it gets pretty hot in there in the summer. That will help dry this very wet wood.

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[Redthies]

Looking good in there Hatch! I was in need of a top up and although I had seasoned rounds, I wasn’t going to get a chance to split them, so I asked the old guy that cleans up the wood lots for our local logging contractor if he had any. He said he had a 1/2 cord and I paid him the $100 for it, but he showed up with a full. Almost the best deal is his kindling. He gives it away for free! I try to pay him more, but he won’t take the money! I am very fortunate to live in an area with amazing neighbors!

[Redthies]

Oh, and keep an eye on the northern sky tonight. Supposed to be a crazy Aurora happening. Should be visible down here in the border country.

[JEBar]

72 now on its way to 82 later today .... 51% chance of rain later today, starting around 5PM .... we are due to attend a baseball game to watch our youngest grandson .... that forecast could complicate things .... breakfast is history as is a mile+ walk at a local city park .... looking forward to a 4-day camping trip next weekend .... it will be our last outing prior to pulling out for South Dakota late this month

[dave77]

Apple and other fruit tree wood goes for $300 or more a cord and we are right in the middle of a very large tree fruit growing region.

I’m just a mile north of the border at the top of the 395 by Kettle Falls on the Columbia. I know apples. Grew up with an orchard…

Kind of sad here in that we used to have many orchards right in the city limits. I don't think there are any left as they have been turned into housing, progress? I'm just outside of the city and just below probably the last large orchard close to the city. It was apples but was changed over to cherries. Unfortunately due to the recent death of a land owner they may be able to get a second road up to it and will then be able to divide it up into residential lots, there goes my very light traffic dead end road. The orchard is zoned medium density residential so will be quite a few lots and I'm sure they will be using my road as well.

There are still many apple, cherry and pear orchards here, just further out from our growing town. A lot of grape vineyards being planted too.

I did work in the orchards for a few years in my youth, hard work but that has changed too, most cherry and apple trees are now kept much smaller so only need a very short ladder and a lot of the fruit can be picked from the ground. I remember picking cherries standing on the top of a 14' ladder set on a slope. Recently there has been a shortage of pickers so the growers want to make the picking and prices paid competitive. If a picker is good and puts in long days they can make very good money during the harvest.

[cooperhawk]

Fair, 54°F, Humidity 63%
Wind Speed Calm
Barometer 29.89 in
Dewpoint 41°F
Visibility 10.00 mi
Sunny, with a high near 73.
West northwest wind 5 to 10 mph.
Our township has ordinances that prohibit building housing complexes.
To build a home here you need to have forty acres that either you own or that a
farmer has to dedicate to never build on. Then you can actually own as little as
five of those acres.
No businesses that are not agricultural are allowed.
Five miles north of us is a business park with an airport, but it stops right on the
township line. A lot of folks fight that, but so far it is the rule here.

[Hatchdog]

Fair, 54°F, Humidity 63%
Wind Speed Calm
Barometer 29.89 in
Dewpoint 41°F
Visibility 10.00 mi
Sunny, with a high near 73.
West northwest wind 5 to 10 mph.
Our township has ordinances that prohibit building housing complexes.
To build a home here you need to have forty acres that either you own or that a
farmer has to dedicate to never build on. Then you can actually own as little as
five of those acres.
No businesses that are not agricultural are allowed.
Five miles north of us is a business park with an airport, but it stops right on the
township line. A lot of folks fight that, but so far it is the rule here.

Spokane county where I live has a 10 acre minimum to build a home. This is due to the abundance of both wells and septic systems. So this minimum is in place to limit the numbers of both. A plus for the homeowners is we won’t get a housing development built next door.

46 this morning with a nice sunrise. Sat on the patio to enjoy my first cup of coffee and watch the sun come up. House stayed warm overnight and was 70 inside when I got up. Haven’t turned the A/C on yet but it’s coming. So nice to be able to open windows.

Today we have a community clean up scheduled. We will be filling potholes in our crappy road and limbing trees alongside the road that are blocking veiw of oncoming traffic. We have one intersection that has a visibility problem plus trees growing alongside the road will become a problem in the future. Nice weather today for the project.

[JEBar]

its been a busy one .... first up, a 9AM Little League game for our 8 year old grandson .... he played a good game both at bat and in the field .... shortly after getting back home our youngest son and his son arrived and the mowing began .... once they finished they started getting his boat (which is stored in a shed at our place) ready for the season .... he installed a new horn and took care of a few minor things before starting the the spring cleaning .... my first chore was to repair one of our camping chairs ... nothing major just a little drilling needed to replace a pop rivet with a bolt and nut

[Redthies]

Kind of sad here in that we used to have many orchards right in the city limits.

There are still many apple, cherry and pear orchards here, just further out from our growing town. A lot of grape vineyards being planted too.

Are you in Wenatchee or? I grew up on the BC side north of oroville. Most orchards in Kelowna are now housing developments too. It is definitely not “progress”…

[dave77]

Kind of sad here in that we used to have many orchards right in the city limits.

There are still many apple, cherry and pear orchards here, just further out from our growing town. A lot of grape vineyards being planted too.

Are you in Wenatchee or? I grew up on the BC side north of oroville. Most orchards in Kelowna are now housing developments too. It is definitely not “progress”…

Yes, just off the highway to Malaga a little ways up Squilchuck Canyon, Squilchuck Creek runs right along the edge of my property, at least I hope it does this Summer, our snowpack water content is quite low this year. If we have as hot a Summer as we've had the last couple of years I expect it will go dry at least for a while in August.

Most of Washington's snowpack is at 60% or less and I've heard that even the Columbia will be running lower than normal this year.

[Sir Henry]

Fair, 54°F, Humidity 63%
Wind Speed Calm
Barometer 29.89 in
Dewpoint 41°F
Visibility 10.00 mi
Sunny, with a high near 73.
West northwest wind 5 to 10 mph.
Our township has ordinances that prohibit building housing complexes.
To build a home here you need to have forty acres that either you own or that a
farmer has to dedicate to never build on. Then you can actually own as little as
five of those acres.
No businesses that are not agricultural are allowed.
Five miles north of us is a business park with an airport, but it stops right on the
township line. A lot of folks fight that, but so far it is the rule here.

No ordnances here. People are free to do whatever they want for the most part including shoot on their own land. It’s one of the things that attracted me to the area. I was looking at Montana but there was so many restrictions.

I like living in a county with a dozen people per square mile. It’s especially nice because ten of those dozen live in the city. I’m in kind of a desired area and have about ten per square mile for a 25 square mile radius. Then it drops off to two for miles.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price_County,_Wisconsin

My mailing address is Ogema but I live in the Town of Hill.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hill,_Wisconsin