Fasting BG 2021

[walkerwally1]

99 this morning.  We got to 84° yesterday and now it will get a bit cooler but still in the high 70s so still no jacket needed here yet.
I do believe that masks are effective if the proper type and worn correctly.  I don't see a need to wear one outside but I do when indoors where there are a large number of people.  I don't wear one for myself so much as I am fully vaccinated but I believe the people working in places like the grocery store deserve as much protection as possible.  I don't find wearing a mask inhibits my breathing much but it does cause my eyeglasses to fog up. 

[skb]

While shopping online I found a textile company, Wittmann Textiles, that is made in India.  I bought one of their cotton nightshirts and it is a very soft material and extremely well made. I am a little confused though because it states on the website that the goods are made in the US, but my garment states it is made in India.  If anyone might want to look at what they sell, the link is:

https://www.wittmanntextiles.com/nightshirts.html

Maybe the clothing fabric is made in India and is tailored there.

 

[bigskygal]

120 this cold sunny morning.

48° was the high yesterday.It was 20° when I got up a bit after 8AM it is only 25° now just after 10AM. Today's forecast is 46°/21° will have to do winter freeze precautions tonight.

[skb]

Today's forecast is 46°/21° will have to do winter freeze precautions tonight.

And what are these precautions ?

[bigskygal]

Open all the cupboards where there are water pipes. Keep the inside heat 60-70°. Open one faucet and run a pencil thick thread of cold water to keep the line open. I usually don't go this far until we are at the teens or lower, but in my old age I don't want any problems. I have to call my pump guy and get new heaters in my pump house... I am on well water and when things freeze it can be very bad for a long time..

[Grammabear]

90 this cold morning.

We are also on well water and have to do the same types of things Barbara mentions when the weather gets very cold.  Mostly we have to do it when the temperatures gets close to the single digits or at zero or below.  Barbara - have you considered talking to your pump guy about using "heat tapes" on the pipes in your home?  My Auntie used to do that when she lived in the country like we do.  This is a link to an article on the Bob Vila website:

https://www.bobvila.com/articles/heat-tape-freeze-protection/

[walkerwally1]

95 this morning.  It does get cold here but usually not until January and February.  It can get below freezing at times but we are pretty well set as far as freeze protection.  We do need to "winterize" some things like the swamp cooler and disconnect the water but mostly all is OK.  When we lived up on the mountain it got colder and we also were on a well.  We built a new pump shed and it was insulated well and never had to heat it and the house was all replumbed with PEX which handles freezing well.  Outdoor faucets and plumbing had to be insulated but did just fine. 
I upgraded my MacBook to the new Monterey OS and I really don't see any major change but I haven't really used it much yet.  It is stated that it will not install on MacBooks earlier then 2016.  I was confused that the only to know what model you have is by the year it was made.  I used the model number on mine and found that it was a 2017 model.  You would think they would use the model number to distinguish one from the other but they, for some reason, go by the year.  There is nowhere on the device that says what year it is, you have to get the model number and research it.  It seems pretty cryptic to me.   

[bigskygal]

118 this cold morning.

47° was the high yesterday, today's forecast is 48°/31°. It was all of 18° when I got up just after 8AM, slowly warming up but is still frosty outside.

I do have heat tape both in the pump house and under the house but have frozen  even with it, so I do the precautions and they seem to work. I also run two milk barn heaters in the pump house during Winter. There is a large snake living in there so I rely on the pump guy to turn them on and off. Never turned them off this year so I expect they are both dead by now...

[skb]

That seems like a lot of hard work in prepping for winter. Do you guys use a filtration plant if you use well water. At our farm we were relying on well water but for drinking we used bottled water.

A snake in the pump house, sounds like my house. What type of snake? Hope it is non venomous.

[bigskygal]

I use a Brita Filter pitcher for drinking water though I think the water from my well is safe to drink. The snake is a garter snake, harmless, but too scary for me!! One of my yard tigers brought a tiny maybe 2.5" baby one on the deck and placed it on the mat for me to see...so proud but I was not impressed that there are babies out there already!! Tiger killed it tossing it around, but where there is one there are more!! As long as they stay outside I can live with them...

Winters in MT can be very harsh, Jan and Feb and even March we can have temps in the minus single digits, sometimes even minus double digits with feet of snow. Some Winters are worse than others and I always hope for a mild one...

[Grammabear]

98 this morning.

It is cold at 30 deg F this morning. It is partly sunny, so maybe it will be a halfway decent day weatherwise.  We also use the Brita water filter pitcher for drinking water.  We do have our well tested periodically for safety reasons.  Our last test was very good for which we are grateful.

I understand about being afraid of snakes.  My DH does not like snakes either.  We have an occasional garter snake that manages to sliter into the garage.  The County agriculture agent told us that tall grasses are a favorite place for snakes to hide.  As a result, we try to keep all the grasses around our place cut down to a reasonable level to discourage hiding places.  Plus we have resident owls and hawks that come looking for their "lunch" here.  Sometimes they also lunch on wild birds which distresses me.

[walkerwally1]

85 this morning.  We are enjoying some pretty nice weather here right now and it will be in the high 70s to the low 80s for the next few days.  I would really welcome stormy weather but it doesn't look like anything is in sight.
I am not afraid of snakes and most snakes like gopher snakes are welcome as they help keep the rodent population down.  Rattle snakes are the only venomous snakes around here  and I avoid them but they are not aggressive.  I don't like them in my yard though.

[bigskygal]

122 this cloudy morning.

45° was the high yesterday, today's forecast is 50°/27° with a chance of showers.

With all the yard tigers, my rodent control is well taken care of!! They are all great hunters!

[Grammabear]

You guys that have yard tigers and gopher snakes are just plain lucky.  It is that time of year when the rodents around here are looking for warmer quarters like in the house.  I am deathly afraid of mice and I'm lucky my hubby takes care of setting traps, emptying traps and the like.  When we had a cat, she used to patrol the perimeter of the yard and the garage.  If she caught something, she always left in on the back step because she was so proud of herself.  I was glad she caught them, but not super happy to have to "dispose" of them. 

[skb]

I live in a once forested area of the city. My house abuts a plot (on 3 sides) of 110 acres which was owned by Ciba Geigy who ran a research center there for a number of years, and this had hardly any built up facility. Now a very very large housing complex is coming up here with towers of 67 storeys. Naturally a lot of digging and earth work is going on. Beyond this plot, is a narrow by-lane, and beyond that 3500 acres of grasslands, forests etc as a Dairy Complex. Beyond this a 100 sq. km Wild Life Reserve.

Over the years we have had a number of animals and birds straying into our house, the largest being a panther. Snakes have been a common sight, but mostly they were non-venomous rat snakes who kept themselves to the shrubberies. Occasionally, a kite or a crow or our dogs would catch them. Lately more of the dangerous and poisonous Cobras are showing up, and our dog was a victim a few days ago. There are 2 reasons for them showing up lately (1) the digging going all around us (2) Our approach road has 2 feet wide open rain water drains on either side. These have been covered up with flower beds where all owners have flowering plants and shrubs. These offer splendid housing for mice (large and small) and snakes just love to make a meal out of these mice. I have figured out what I need to do to stop them from coming into our yard. I just need to do it some day.