Some thoughts from the mountain

[Rikki]

one of them fake diamonds made of zerconium, right? No, units of yacht measurements made up by the gods, huh?

[Virginia]

Well the mountain nymphs had a good laugh, I guess. At exactly 7:00pm last night the lights went out. I could tell the way that everything just shut down it was going to be a long time before that could be fixed! The NOAA channel said we could expect wind gusts WIND GUSTSof upto 80 that's eight - zero!!!!! MPH and I think some of the blasts that hit our house easily made that!!!!! Cranked up the kerosene heater, turned on the jazz station on the battery operated radio and just chilled out. Listening to the wind outside with that low, constant roar, then the very loud howling, it was interesting to say the least!

The old saying, "it ain't braggin if you can do it!" Well the improvements I made to the house evidently paid off as the outside temp was a balmy 18 degrees with sustained winds of 30 - 40 mph and the monster gusts up who knows? We never got real cold! I'd guess we never dropped below 60 and we both slept good, albeit it was an early night!

This morning, the only complaint and a major one at that was NO COFFEE!!!! Had to drive to the local convenience store for that!
Anyway, 4:00pm on the dot on came the power and here we are.

Not too bad!

Love,

Virginia

[Carol Ann]

Virginia,
Look invest a couple of bucks in a Coleman stove which run off little bottles of propane you can get anywhere. Now you will have hot coffee in the A.M.

Now the wife and I put in a wood buring stove the first year we moved here to help out in cold weather. I need to get a propane generator for when the power goes out as we have no water pressure.

Do you have about $6,000 handy you could lone me.

[Virginia]

Propane?!

There is a company that sells two sizes of solar powered generators. I am seriously considering buying one of them. They are portable, can be kept in the house, no fumes, no noise, and the larger one will basically run the whole house (except and I will call them about the well pump!) Our well is 500' deep so that may be too much but anyway the things come with portable solar cells that, I guess you could install permanently if you wanted. Really cooll stuff. Just google Solar Power/generators.

Virginia

[Carolynn]

What is the fall back when it is snowing/icing so there is no sun, the wind is blowing too hard to leave them out, and such conditions can last for days if not a week or more, as here in Oklahoma? We have had 11 days without real sun, and only today had kinda of a hazy sun through high ice clouds and 38 degrees. Do you know how well the photocells would work under those conditions?

I have friends who use solar collector water heating that usually work because they are heating a glycol solution in their tubes and work with the higher wave lengths of light that come through the clouds, but occasionally even those fail, freeze and flood the house. Under normal conditions, the collectors keep the house warm with steam heaters and keep hot water for the house. The current ones are replacements, as the original were torn off the house by 80+ MPH winds during a little non-tornadic thunderstorm. The latest ones were mounted on the house in a different manner, but the tubes were damaged by branches blown from trees during the blizzard on Christmas Eve.

They do have gas backup in the house for when the solar collectors don't work but save a bundle most years.

[Virginia]

Hi Carolynn,

I'd have to go to the website to get the specifics again, but from what I remember, the panels, being portable can be kept in a shed, garage or inside and what they do is charge a "state of the art" battery(s) and then you use the battery for the power and depending on the load you apply to the battery determines the length of time before it is drained. They did say that if you plug into the system during sunny days, that it takes you "off the grid" and can substantially reduce your electric bill.

The one thing that attracted me was that it is a self-sustaining system. You don't have to depend on gas or propane delivery or electicity.

Virginia

[Diannna]

Isn't life just grand living up in the mountians. With all the unexpected situations that constantly arise, it not only test your new living skills, but it is truly a wonder world. ( sometimes wondering why you moved there to begin with. )

[Absaroka]

We have solar panels which work well in the summer when we don't need them except for hot water, pretty well in the spring and fall, and poorly from November to January. And they don't work at night or on really cloudy days. With a few changes that we are contemplating they would work better in Nov-Jan. If this was a new house we could have integrated them into building systems so that they worked on all but really cloudy days, and would be able to save up heat for the night time.

We probably saved about $3000 on oil this year. Combine this with major tax incentives and they pay for themselves in a few years. But they only do heat and hot water, not electricity.

Zari

[Virginia]

SL and I were returning from the store the other day when a recent graduate of the PTI crossed our path. I was able to stop in time, jumped out and grabbed the thing - oppossum. It hissed abit and showed its "pearly whites" and they do have quite a set of choppers. It was calm however and I showed it to SL and suggested we take it home, put a collar and leash on it and she could take it for walks - well, I know, she did not think it was funny either. Now I wish I had not let it go, They are not the brightest fur balls in the woods, I could have put it in a "drum cage, hooked it up to a generator and voile!!!! power!!! Opposum power! that would really be neat!!!

thinking always thinking!!!

Virginia

and.......no Carol Ann, no opposum stew!!!!

[Carolynn]

Wow Virginia. Good call!! This time of the year they have been eating carrion and whatever else they can find and their rendered fat stinks!! Need to get 'em in the fall right after the persimmons are ripening. Mmmmm good then!! With dumplings!!


Their tanned hides with fur could bring a nickle a piece though.

Carolynn

[Lydia]

Virginia,

Either you are lucky or skilled in animal handling or the 'possum was just too scared of you. They are nasty, snappy critters. Their bite is bloody but not fatal - unless the thing is rabid. You are right in assessing their mental prowess or lack of it.

Next you'll be rescuing rattlesnakes.

I have heard that 'possum stew is a gourmet delight - see Carol Ann about this.

Hugs,

Lydia

[SilverLady(SO)]

Hi, Lydia -

The possum didn't look like it was 'up to par', or maybe it was just too cold? Temps were in the 50's the day before, and had dropped to the low 30's the next day.

Next you'll be rescuing rattlesnakes. Good Lord, I hope not! I can't tolerate snakes of any kind!

I have heard that 'possum stew is a gourmet delight - see Carol Ann about this. Uhm, no. Not in this lifetime, thank you.

Virginia said that any rattlesnakes caught will end up on the grill, but this GG will not eat it. Char-grilled gator tail with lots of ice cold beer was okay, but no rattlesnake for me unless it's in the form of shoes, belts, or purses.


I do hope that you are getting around more since your accident?

(Hugs)

- SL

[Carol Ann]

OK Lydia and all my sisters,

You'al have picked on this Ozark hillbilly long enought.
POSSUM STEW:

1 nice size possum skinned and cleaned and quartered
Place in a large pot cover with water, add carrets 1 onion halfed and 6 garlic bulbs.

Bring up to a boil
In the mean time put on your hazmat suit with gasmask and cook.

I promice you will never sell your house because of the smell, burn it down and collect the insurance.

Bon Appetit

[Kandis]

That's why my possum stew never tastes right. I only add 2 cloves of garlic.

Kandis

[Virginia]

Just over the past week things have begun to change. Tueday, we had our first robin show up, our pink dogwood came into bloom, then quickly turn to green.

For the past several days, there has been a shortage of birds at the feeders. No juncos, no chickadees, no titmouses; just a few cardinals, a couple of cowbirds, a chipping sparrow, and a very frustrated wood pecker who tries desparately to get food out of the feeder without having to bend himself into a pretzel to get at the seeds. Then this morning I saw the first pair of gold finches and there are a few what seem to be very happy mockingbirds in the area. I was working outside this morning listening to all the birds all around singing. I came inside to turn on the computer then had to go back out for something and it was so quiet. I came in, sat down and looked out the window and there was a beautiful raptor circling the feeders, then it landed in a tree for a while then flew off and ten minutes later the cardinals and the dove were all back.

We have a small rectangular feeder with some apple suet in it and we have two crows that just love the stuff and to watch them try and get it out is really cute. I love crows and these two are so black and shiny and smart. One will try and hover and peck at it and when some pieces fall out they both share the bounty.

Storm is blowing in, so it must be nap time.

Love,

Virginia