August 29, 2014 Ice Cream & Gasification

Debris in the grove from squirrels & chipmunks
eating seeds from fir cones - getting ready for winter.

Wednesday 8/27.  Off to help Elsie at their store this morning.  Left in plenty of time to get a latte.  Turned out to be the perfect day to be inside enjoying the air conditioning as our high temperature at Rose Camp was 92, and it was at least five degrees higher than that Down There.

Picked up the mail along with my camera and the fire safe on the way home.  Left the 139 lb safe in the Jeep to unload in the morning.

Thursday 8/28.  Another warm day with a few clouds and a high of 86.  Got the safe in the house and moved into it's place.  Just a little bigger and heavier than I thought it would be, but actually even better.  And offering a little peace of mind.

JB was chipping his first load of branches when a visitor arrived.  A neighbor just to the west of our property who lives in town and spends many a day in the canyon.  He was doing an experiment in preparation to attending our BBQ by bringing up ice cream in a small cooler with ice and salt.  He wanted to see if he could get it up here without it getting soft.  He brought up two pints of Ben & Jerry's, and they were at least as hard as they had been when he left.  Of course he left them with us and I suggested that he really should try it a couple of more times just to be sure. . .  He stayed for a couple hours and we had a very interesting visit.  He brought up the idea of wood gasification.  It is something he has done a lot of research on and it sounds fantastic.  Basically it is using the gases from burning wood to run engines, including cars and generators.  It seems that during WWII, there were more cars in Europe running on wood gasification than gasoline because the army was using all the gasoline.  We are definitely going to look into this, especially for the generator.

I took Miss Kitty on a short drive after dinner to some neighbors, but they weren't there, so I dropped off a catalog I thought they would be interested in.  On the way back I noticed that there was a lot of smoke to the north, so there must be another fire.

Regarding the comment from a few days ago about using dryer sheets to deter mice, I have heard that and also using Irish Spring soap.  Personally, I think these myths are perpetrated by the manufacturers of whatever product is making the claim.  As far as pack rats go, I really believe that the only things that deter them are a steel trap or poison.

Friday 8/29. It is 57 and clear this morning.  JB is going Down There to run some errands and get our gas cans filled.  I may just sit on the porch with my coffee for a little longer. . .

Thought for the day: God is bigger than all of us, beyond all of us.  When I pray, I don't really pray for anything, I just try to understand God's will and do the best I can.  Harry Connick, Jr.