Saturday, November 14, 2020

Not Much Going On......

 Except it's been pretty windy here. We've had sustained winds of 25~30MPH with a few gusts hitting 40+ since last night. Our tree guy/arborist was supposed to come by today and trim the trees, but when he saw the winds today, he called and said he didn't think it was a good idea.

One thing he mentioned when he came out to give us a quote was that the 18' tall "stump" from cottonwood tree we had cut down needs some attention. Since we didn't get it carved, it's basically a big, DEAD tree in the backyard, and Mother Nature has started "reclaiming" it. He said there's now a colony of Carpenter Bees in it, and they need to be exterminated. or they'll bore out the tree enough to seriously weaken it. He says they can also attract termites, which will spread into the house. So, we have some chemical warfare to wage here, and then the stump has to be "sealed" to prevent further degradation. No estimate on the cost yet. If we have to get rid of the entire thing, though, it's going to cost some $$, and I'll lose my center antenna support.

On Veteran's Day we went down to the Candlelight Dinner Playhouse to see "The Denver Dolls", a female trio who perform 40's/50's/60's music. They put on a good show, with Veterans and active-duty people being admitted free. There was a 97 year old WWII vet in the audience, and he got quite a round of applause when he was asked to stand up.

A nice evening, and relaxing break from all the political turmoil going on.



8 comments:

  1. I'm a small participant in the Weld County, WY movement. The wind today is giving me second thoughts.

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    Replies
    1. I didn't fully understand the joke about using a logging chain for a windsock until we moved here.

      Delete
  2. Amen to that, drjim. A nice post.
    Good luck with the tree and God bless you all.

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  3. That's why I think that I need to buy a power pole (treated pine, soaked in creosote) for an antenna pole for that fancy radio. The power company does sell them. Then I'll need to figure out how to get the post hole deep enough. There are always details.

    We get wind up here too, DRJIM. I'm on the lee side of the ridge and there are a lot of wind breaks, but yes, it does blow.

    Using a logging chain for a windsock...GREAT IDEA!

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    Replies
    1. If you go with the Active Vertical from DX Engineering, all you'd need is a post of some sort solidly mounted in the soil, with about 5 or 6 feet sticking up. The phone pole would be nice if you wanted a wire antenna, but for general purpose RECEIVE ONLY, their active verticals are hard to beat.

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  4. When we moved into our new house 4 1/2 yrs ago, we found a logging chain around the base of a tree near the house. The windsock idea came to mind, but it's at ground level. (Turns out he secured a trailer full of snowmachines with it - not nearly as exciting.) Good luck with the dead tree/warfare/preservation.

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    Replies
    1. If you arranged things so it looked like the chain was to secure a Very Large Dog (big water bowl and feed dish) you could probably use it as a "Keep Out" warning....

      There's a guy down the street who does wood carving on big logs, and sells them as yard ornaments. He came by yesterday to look at our stump as he's never carved one, and would very much like the opportunity to do ours, as it's something he wants to branch out (no pun) into. He also knows about sealing/preserving them so they don't rot away.

      And he's aware of the importance of "that steel pipe sticking out of the top" for my radio hobby.

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Keep it civil, please....

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