Well..., nothing exciting to report this week. I am letting the potato skins toughen up before I start harvesting in earnest..., but I couldn't resist pulling a few Fingerlings to see how they were doing. Not much in the way of seed quality spuds..., but lots of little ones..., enough to cobble up a good week..., or more..., worth of potato salad.
This is my third Home Comfort (Heat4Less) electric heater out in my Office/Library/Computer/Music room..., still going strong.
And I finally got around to attempting to repair one of my electric heaters..., I had been planning to do that..., for close to a year now. It had started signaling that one or more of the four heating elements had quit on me with a blinking light. At that time it was close to winter and I figured I better just order up a new one..., based on the fact that a new one (the third one) would get here as fast as the parts..., and another consideration being that my mechanical repair record hovers somewhere between disaster and catastrophe. So when my second heater in the Park Model trailer started the blinking light thing this week I figured it was past time for me to attempt the repair on number one..., so I could see if I could try to improve on my repair record..., and maybe even repair number two while I was at it..., and the weather was still warm enough that I could order up a couple more if my repair record stays in tack.
Stay tuned..., the new heating elements are on the way...., wish me luck 😁
This is heater #1 that I am finally getting around to attempting to repair. I think I found just one bad element..., the brown looking thingy.
You have to turn the heater upside down and take off both side panels to service the heating elements. Luckily there is plenty of info on YouTube to help with the repair process..., and even a phone number to call for more help.
Well..., I guess it's time for your Friday Nite Music Video..., for The Others (like me)...,
Well..., no heavy lifting this week..., but I did get a little work done on The Potato Garden along with the every day chores. This year I was amazed at the difference between the Yukon Gold plants and the Fingerling plants.
The near row is half Yukons in front and half Fingerlings in the back. The far row was all Yukons and I had already cut half that row back..., until Logan said, "enough".
The Yukons are already starting to die back and never produced the green growth like the Fingerlings. Here is a shot that shows the difference a bit better.
The Fingerlings are on the left and the Yukons are on the right. They were all planted in the same row..., but the Fingerlings grew so tall that they fell over and continued to grow up again..., and are still looking like they are in their prime. Charlie Horse was supervising in the background.
If I remember correctly, I did plant the Fingerlings a week or maybe two later because that area was still very wet. I am anxious to see if all that green growth has translated to like sized potatoes.
You can see the row on the right and how it was starting to yellow up. Again..., the Fingerlings are the tall bunch in the back of the row on the left.
After I took the picture above..., I cut back the Yukon section of the mixed row.
Cutting back the green growth and leaving about six inch stalks for a week or two will allow the skins to harden up..., not so great for eating..., but they keep much better if the skins have toughened up.
Speaking of "keeping" those potatoes..., it was time to get rid of last years leftover crop..., so I planted them along with the horse manure that I clean up daily 😁
Most of them would still be edible if you cleaned the sprouts off..., but when you have new potatoes ready to harvest there is no need to do that.
Well..., I hope I haven't bored you to death with my Potato Stories..., so I will move on to your Friday Nite Music Video. I feel bad that I was thinking about my dear old Dad's birthday on the 23rd last week and spaced out Julie and I's anniversary on the 20th..., as usual..., RIP dear..., I'll always love you💔
Well..., I missed my first correspondence "deadline" for the Friday Nite Check In last week..., through no fault of my own..., but I will try my best not to miss another..., though I would much rather be out on The Front Porch drinking cold beer in the shade and the little bit of breeze that is taking the edge off the 82 degree heat today. Yeah..., the thermometer says it is 89 in my Office/Library/Music room..., but the Beer Fridge is right next to me and the two corner windows where I compose these little check ins.
This must have been winter picture..., I had the insulation posted in the windows.
I got the heavy lifting work done earlier in the week before this new heat wave started..., a couple of loads of apple tree limbs cut, loaded, and deposited over the cut bank along the south edge of The Ranch.
Here is the first load.
Logan says that's enough for the second load.
I got as much as I could from the ground with the hand held nippers.
And as always I missed the best scenes before I could get the camera operational. A big Heron landed near the Little Pond and Charlie Horse took notice from about 50 yards away and began a cautious advance to investigate the new arrival. When he got about 10 yards away the Heron spread its wings and took flight..., looking way larger that its long legged appearance while just standing there..., and it spooked Charlie enough that he galloped over to the other side of the gravel driveway. The Heron made a small circle and landed again. Charlie worked up his courage and advanced again..., this time when Charlie got too close, the Heron took flight again. I cussed myself for not having the camera at hand and remedied that problem..., and Charlie Horse found other pastures to graze. But about an hour later the Heron was back..., but there was a Red-Headed Duck there this time. I doubt that you folks with dumb phones will be able to view it well..., but if you have a full size desk top monitor..., well..., it still isn't well defined.
The other evening it was pretty dark for filming but Charlie Horse either saw, or smelled or heard something in the Southeast 40 pasture and did some bucking and kicking and snorting and I had the camera at hand and caught the last little bit of the escape..., from..., whatever. Again..., it will probably be hard to see on the dumb phones.
Tomorrow would be That Good Lookin' Al Spence birthday..., and he would assure you that it would be his 29th..., yet again. He always fancied himself a mule skinning pack horse man..., so here is your Friday Nite Music Video...,
Yeah..., we suffered a power outage at 2:48 pm on Friday before I finished this post..., and it also shut down the Internet rain gauge at the Quillayute Airport down the road..., so I don't have anything but a guess to how much rain we received until about 8:00 am this morning when the power came back on..., a good guess would be close to another inch added to the 2.5 inches I noted when I drafted this post 😓
Well..., we got "a break" in our nice sunny weather and nearly drought like conditions today with a real good dose of rain. As of 2 pm this afternoon we got 2.5 inches of rain with no sign of it letting up anytime soon.
I obviously did not have the "movie" function operational for this shot from this morning.
In last Friday's entry about Charlie Horse's issues I noted, "He still isn't churning up the pastures by galloping around and causing me more time replacing divots than cleaning up horse manure..., yet..., but I firmly believe that he will soon." Would you believe that in a matter of an hour or two after I posted that..., he was doing a little galloping around..., and the day after he he was following me around and when I would get too far ahead of him he would come galloping to catch up. The day after that..., after my siesta..., I went out to clean up and I see he was a little sweaty..., so he had been working out on his own a little..., hope I can get some movies of it to post soon. Unfortunately..., I need some practice with the movie making properties of my digital camera..., here are my attempts..., along with a couple more pictures taken during the week.
Yeah..., I didn't realize that the movie was activated and I clicked it off by mistake..., so missed most of the galloping action.
..., and I was a little late getting the movie activated again..., live and learn I guess.
Here is another attempt on the day that he was putting on a little performance..., bucking and snorting and chasing Logan around..., until I got the camera out that is 😢
This is a comparison of last years Yukon Gold potato on the left and this years potato on the right. I want to leave this years crop in the ground longer to toughen the shins like last years model. The keep better with that tough skin.., as you can see this years model is already starting to turn a little green..., but they both tasted fine.
And here is your Friday Nite Music Video (on Saturday Morning) of the third cut on Cody Jinks' new disc...,
Once all those apple blossoms turned to apples..., the branches were nearly down on the ground.
Well..., I figured that the horticulturists and arborists would be screaming bloody murder at me for trimming up the apple tree at this time of year. I had always heard that you should do your trimming and pruning during the dormant faze in late winter or early spring before the growth stage begins..., but Charlie Horse developed a bad reaction to too many carrots around the Fourth of July weekend when the neighbors campground was busy and he started limping around and would barely walk.
Years ago we had experienced grass founder in an old mare and ended up having to put her down when the farrier we had moved away. The vet we had taken her too had only one recommendation..., put her down. Our farrier called bullshit and I believe that he had her well on the way to recovery..., before he moved away.
Not knowing for sure what the cause of the founder/laminitis problem was..., I ordered a grazing muzzle and fixed Charlie up a makeshift stall in our carport with plenty of hay for soft footing and laying down and keeping him off the grass in case the grass was the problem. After a couple days he improved enough that I let him out for exercise purposes but the grazing muzzle hadn't arrived so I monitored his grazing time closely and increased it daily. It didn't take long to realize that he was doing better every day no matter how much grass intake he had.
I knew that the neighbors and their children had been feeding him a few carrots but it hadn't bothered him any that I had noticed prior to this..., but as he improved enough to make his way over to that pasture area I kept watch and managed to catch the neighbors in the act. I explained to them what was happening and the older gal knew about equine metabolic syndrome and voiced a promise to quit the carrot feeding immediately and forever more. But a couple days later I caught one of their campground guests stopping..., and Charlie expecting a treat going to meet them at the fence. When I got there they had their hatchback opened up..., and though they denied feeding him..., I am pretty sure what their intentions were and why Charlie had went to greet them. Another day or so later a woman was walking her dog and Charlie went to greet her..., she didn't have anything to feed him but said she was glad I warned her because she had planned to return to the campground in September and had planned to bring Charlie some carrots upon her return. I have signs posted along the fence line now.
Charlie Horse had a bad relapse shortly after..., it being so bad that he would try to take all his weight off his front feet and place his hind feet so far under him that I thought he was going to fall backwards on his butt. Back into the carport stall with plenty of bedding for a couple of days and the same slow return to exercise and grazing. I was pretty confident that I didn't need to employ the grazing mask..., and that has held up now that he is in recovery mode again. Today he was bucking and snorting and chasing Logan around.
But I am worried that too many apples could cause the same effects that the carrots did..., I have four apple trees and for the three years we have had Charlie it hasn't been a problem..., but I tried to keep him from getting too many by keeping them picked up off the ground..., but those trees are getting a bit overgrown and he can eat apples right off the trees..., so I did some tree trimming this week.
The old Toyota Tundra is load with brush.., and little apples..., once again.
There really isn't much a vet can do about founder/laminitis..., no magic cure..., they can recommend the things I have already done and some things like only letting him out of the stall in a sterile area for exercise..., or soaking his hay in water for an hour..., and buying special hay..., and taking x-rays and telling you that you just as well put him down..., so save your recommendations about consulting a vet please. Earlier this week Charlie was able to stand long enough for our new farrier to trim up his hooves and I think that has helped as well..., as I mentioned..., he is chasing Logan around now. He still isn't churning up the pastures by galloping around and causing me more time replacing divots than cleaning up horse manure..., yet..., but I firmly believe that he will soon.
I have been calling these "crab apples" but Google Images doesn't show them as oblong like these and they don't get much bigger than these. That is a quarter for comparison.
That's about it for now..., oh..., Google says:
Key Benefits of Summer Pruning
Improved Fruit Quality: By increasing light and air penetration, summer pruning can lead to better fruit color, size, and overall quality.
Size Control: Summer pruning can help manage the tree's size and shape, preventing it from becoming too large and unwieldy.
Reduced Vigorous Growth: Removing excess shoots in the summer can redirect the tree's energy towards fruit production rather than vegetative growth.
Encouraging Fruiting Spurs: Summer pruning can stimulate the development of fruiting spurs, which are short, stubby branches that produce flowers and fruit.
Preventing Overcrowding: Removing crowded shoots improves air circulation, reducing the risk of disease and pest problems.
I couldn't resist digging a few spuds for supper tonight..., they aren't seed potato quality..., but I am sure they will taste just as good.
Except for your Friday Nite Music Video..., the second cut from Cody Jinks "In My Blood" CD...,
Well..., not much action to report this week..., the weather was warm and dry and basic chores taken care of. I did get a couple of new CD's..., James McMurtry's "The Black Dog and The Wandering Boy" and Cody Jinks' "In My Blood". It goes without saying that they are both good..., but I am having a hard time getting past Cody's lead song on the disk, "Better Than the Bottle" for a number of reasons..., I gave up the hard liquor many years ago..., and just several years ago managed to kick the cigarette habit for good. But back in my younger days it was pretty much full bore pedal to the metal and who gives a damn, full speed ahead...,
Yeah..., the little tree limbs were starting to hang a little low along the driveway.
Well…, I wouldn’t want you all to think that I spend all my summer days sitting in the shade drinking cold beer…, so I figured that I better provide a little evidence that that is not the case.
The brush was taking over the wire gate.
In a moment of sheer insanity my beerer judgement let me down and I decided that the ceiling in the driveway was getting a little low and the brush was ready to engulf the wire gate…, so I fired up the Blue Badger and filled up the Toyota Tundra with brush and tree limbs.
We have been lucky here on The Ranch with the weather so far this summer. We got less than a half an inch of rain in June and about that in July so far…, but we have been spared the extreme heat usually associated with drought like conditions. We are close enough to the ocean that we get cool breezes and overcast skies that have kept the temps in the mid-60’s for the most part…, though we did have one day when we hit 92…, and yeah…, that was a sit in the shade drinking cold beer day :)
Logan was the Front Line Supervisor.
My little rebel, Che and Charlie Horse were Second Line Supervisors..., and I think that is a duck backing up Charlie :)
The pictures of the Tundra all loaded up reminded me of a Head East album cover…, so here’s your Friday Nite Music Video…,
The weather forecast for Tuesday was for the low 80’s…, but we hit 90 here on The Ranch.Luckily there as a little breeze off the ocean that took the edge off the heat…, and the cold beer in the shade lended a helping hand as well.The Garden appears to be happy about a little extra water from the sprinkler and isn’t complaining about the cooling down on Wednesday and Thursday and the overcast and heavy dew that has materialized on our Friday.
And I welcomed a link to this video via email from my friend Aaron Newman over in Idaho…, so I am using it for your Friday Nite Music Video…,
The Potato Garden was thankful for the half an inch of rain a couple days ago…, it seems to like the rain water better than the well water from the sprinkler.
I has been warm and dry for the most part this summer…, far from normal here on The Olympic Peninsula. The town for Forks has already asked residents to volunteer to conserve water and other cities have issued mandatory conservation measures. The forecast for the next week is for even warmer temps…, 80+ for a couple of days.
That sounds like a forecast for me to sit on The Front Porch and sip ice cold beer from The Saddle Bar(n).
Cheers 😀
..., and of course..., here's your Friday Nite Music Video...,
Fourth of July…, and I won’t be celebrating with any fireworks…, my dogs don’t care for them…, and that’s a bit of an understatement. I hope the neighbors don’t put on any shows either.
I already had one dog take a long hike last week. Little Bindy doesn’t usually get too far off the front porch when she goes out to do her business…, but last week the old gal was clear down at the end of the driveway where it meets the blacktop county highway. She is the last survivor of the Tessa - Smokey litter and her hearing is bad and I am not sure how good her vision is either. But I didn’t suspect that she was suffering from Alzheimer’s yet…, though it might explain why I finally had to go look for her when she didn’t show up after more than an hour.
I first walked down the driveway…, thinking that she was just over exploring the uninhabited house across the road…, but I saw a white spot beside the county road and I reluctantly walked up there to investigate…, and was relieved to find that it was just a paper plate.
I came back and got in the Tacoma and drove down the hill real slow…, watching the ditch line for sign of her. I met one black pickup coming the other way…, and as I continued on down the road about a mile I see that black pickup coming behind me so I pulled off the road to let it by…, and it stopped beside me.
“Are you looking for a dog?”…, the gal driving asked. “YES !!!”…, I exclaimed. Sure enough her male passenger was holding Bindy wrapped in a little blanket. I said I was surprised that she let him pick her up…, she doesn’t evan like me to pick her up…, let alone a stranger. He replied that she didn’t want him too…, but thankfully he managed it. They said they found her another mile down the road…, and I was amazed that she had gone that far !!!
I still have no clue what she thought she was doing or where she thought she was going…, but I have been keeping a close eye on her since then…, and will be keeping an even closer eye on her this evening with the possibility of fireworks in the offing.
Wishing you all a safe and happy Fourth of July…, here's your Friday Nite Music Video...,
