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| Our crystallized snow |
Wednesday 12/3. I love my slow mornings. Slow retirement mornings. And, even better, slow mornings with a newspaper to read while sipping my eggnog-laced coffee.
After breakfast I cut JB's hair and then he left for Down There to get some parts for the generator connections. Still cannot get it going.
The girls gave us an egg on Monday and another on this morning! Probably because I have finally stopped trying to introduce new food into their diet, like alfalfa pellets and flax seed. They seem to be a lot like JB - Change is fine as long as nothing is different.
The sky was overcast by mid afternoon and our high was 29. I kept busy while JB was gone doing what seemed like a zillion little things inside and out. Not the least of which was cleaning out the girls' pen of frozen poop, and dragging out two large branches that were blown down in the grove during our last big wind storm. Took them over to the wood cradle. Seems like every time I was ready to stop, I found something else to do.
And, speaking of the wood cradle, we never did get the new one built this past summer. I look at our to-do list and see several items not yet crossed out. It is so easy to sit by a warm stove in the winter and make a long list of things to do in warmer weather. Just as it is easy to make a list in the summer of little things that can be done inside in the winter. Of course the budget is often the naysayer for warm-weather projects, like the shed/garage for the tractor, MAX, and Miss Kitty.
When JB returned home, he was still unable to get the generator started. He called the Onan center in Yakima and they wanted to know if we wanted someone to come out. They only charge $3.50 per mile and Yakima is about 100 miles from us. Instead, they e-mailed a list of things for JB to check. The local dealer they recommended doesn't do house calls.
On his way back, JB had stopped by Larry and Elsie's to pick up a digital volt meter that Larry left out for him. He also let the dogs out for a romp and put some more wood in their two stoves.
So no power tonight. The batteries are fine during the day when the panels are bringing in power, but they are quickly sucked low when no energy is coming in. Looks like our whole system may need replacing. The Universe is really going to have a job coming through on this situation. It is always fascinating to watch the solution unfold. That being said, I am still learning patience and working on my faith in these matters. I tend to initially get very irritable, and even downright bitchy. But I am pleased to say that I am learning to temper my outbursts and offer apologies. So very many lessons to learn. . .
Thursday 12/4. This morning was 24 and overcast with an air stagnation warning in effect through Saturday. Don't know what happened to the snow we were supposed to get. And the bitch disappeared with a good night's sleep.
If we have many more evenings without electricity, I may be writing reams with each posting. But depending up how this all goes, I may not be posting on a regular basis. We will just have to see.
Today JB tested the batteries with Larry's volt meter and we found that the replacement battery isn't up to snuff. He also worked on the generator with the list of suggestions that was emailed to him. He was able to get it started and running, but the power light is blinking. So tomorrow he will take take the cover off to do some more checking and be sure there isn't some little critter nesting inside.
With the batteries working during the day, even though we didn't have much sunshine, we turned the power on to see if we could get the bare minimum done: fill the water containers; wash my hair; wash two days' worth of dishes. The inverter let us know that the power was waning just as I was rinsing out the dish pan. Talk about Universal timing. . .
In checking the batteries, JB had found a frayed end on one of the cables which he fixed. Even though one of the batteries is a bit low, this cable could be the main problem. I guess we will see.
Just before we were done, a short squall of sleet-snow-rain moved through. Fog tried several time to climb up to Rose Camp but was never quite successful. Our high for the day was 30.
We kept the power on this evening and had no problems watching a movie, Red2. Absolutely hilarious! So very well done. And, since we did have power, maybe we can limp through for a while longer, until we can replace our battery bank with a different kind of battery.
Tomorrow we will plug the washing machine into the shop generator in order to do the laundry.
Friday 12/5. Once again the morning is 24 and overcast. A very thick, low overcast that has cut the mountains down low.
Thought for the day: My life has been full of many troubles, most of which never happened. Unknown
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