I am addicted to cribbage on line and play it constantly on Facebook. The main reason I stay on that site.
Hi Lois. I've never played cribbage, so I got curious and looked up the rules. It seems complicated and a lot different than most card games. The part I like best about playing card games online is they shuffle and deal for you.
Speaking of time-wasting online, another one is pictograph puzzles (aka, nonograms, or griddlers). You have to reconstruct a 2-D picture, made up of "black and white" squares, based only on information about the numbers of squares in the rows and columns. I've been working on this one, whenever I want to avoid doing something I should be doing, since early summer.
November 7 (yesterday) I had one job planned---just clear the road to get to the pile of trees on the fence that have been down since the wind storm in June. The theory was, next time I can just jump in the cart, whiz back there, and start cutting. First encounter was the big oak on the corner, which came down at the same time, and that the neighbor was working on. I guess he procrastinates too. He has done nothing more on his side, as far as I can tell. Had to saw several more limbs on my side just to drive by it. After that, there were just a few limbs across the road and on the fence. Took about an hour to get back there. I actually enjoy that kind of work. The pile looks smaller without any leaves. Sawed all the smaller limbs and tossed them out of the way. Just about that time, the saw stopped running. Hope it's nothing serious. The diameters of the 2 remaining trees are larger than the saw blade is long, hard, been drying in the sun all summer, and I'll have to cut each one at least twice. Not sure the little saw can handle it. BEFORE (from the other side) Decided to walk on a little farther. Around the next bend, right where the guys sawed the trees for me last January, another one down. This is only the top and will be easy. In fact this one will be fun. Kept walking and found more. Didn't get closer than this picture, but these look large also. The road bypasses this spot so it's the least important to clear, in terms of getting around. Must have hit the Bixby Button on the phone, 'cause this picture didn't turn out well at all. Next time I think I'll take the other route around the fence, clear that road, see if there are more down on that side, and work on the new tree top. Then think about what to do. The huge tree above the dam mentioned earlier. HERE So this was the beginning of one of the 4 jobs planned this winter, which has now grown to 6. Since I know I can't do the big tree, I'll do what's easy, and think about it. Came home and played dominoes with the robot.
Oh me, Nancy, you have alot of work to do! But hey, just take your time....those limbs are not going any where!
I learned a lesson from all this. Never try to fence any property in woods. Notice almost all the trees that fall belong to the neighbors. I think I'll ask at the local hardware stores if anyone would be interested in doing some clearing and fence work. Some have bulletin boards. Leave my name and number. Not hopeful. I really don't want to deal with Fence Man again if I don't have to.
November 9 (yesterday) A lot of wasted time. Got completely caught up in the LSU/Alabama game. If Georgia has to play Alabama this year, I hope The Tide "rolls over" like it did in the first half (LSU over Alabama 46- 41 ).. By the way, the two CBS announcers rarely stopped talking long enough to take a breath. The constant chatter starts to get on your nerves. Anybody else feel that way? .I Then came the Georgia/Missouri game, which was a yawner, but I watched most of it anyway, while playing dominoes. Finally got around to working on a leaky drain pipe in the kitchen sink. It was a drain kit with a loose slip joint. I tried GOOP For Plumbing. It's like flexible Super Glue. IF it sticks to PVC pipe like it sticks to your fingers, I think it will work. Supposed to wait 24 - 48 hours. Gotta love baling twine. I inherited a decades-old feather pillow which I've been using occasionally lately. Removed the pillow case, threw it in the laundry. Just before going to bed I remembered the clothes in the dryer. Apparently the pillow had developed a hole in the cover and the pillow case was full of feathers. Clothes came out with little feathers all over them. I folded them up with the feathers and went to bed. Will remove the feathers as I use them.
November 10 Sunny today, high in the 60's, and no wind. Supposed to rain, then get down to 25F (-4C) Tuesday. That will be our first hard freeze. Got most of the tree top limbs cleared out today. Ran out of daylight with just a couple of high branches left, but they don't touch the fence. I climbed in the middle of that mess (BEFORE) and got lost for a few minutes. LOL Ran across the neighbor's goats on the way back and scared them. They took off running toward the woods. I count at least 35 goats! By the time we both got to the woods, they were already used to me. Maybe I can get a better video another time. Took a better look at the next set of trees down and they are definitely too large for my little saw. There are 3 guys advertising storm damage tree removal services on Craigslist. Two with bobcats. That might be enough equipment to get the biggest one. I sent one a text message and haven't heard back. Surprise.
@Nancy Hart That fence looks goat tight. Why the electric wire on the top? What size is your chainsaw bar length? I sold off all my big gas saws years ago and bought a Stihl battery operated. It really cuts, but it took a couple of charges to cut up an 8' long 15" branch with its 12" bar. It looks like a good medium size saw would get lots of use around your place. How many acres do you have? Shouldn't the neighbors be responsible for their trees falling on the fence? Also share in fence repairs? Also on sink drains that won't seal, I use that pipe joint compound made for gas joints. It seals tight but can be taken apart. Rector Seal soft set. On drains you can use immediately, on gas or pressure water it may need several hours to set. I find it impossible to find a drain trap either PVC or ABS that seals worth a damn unless everything is aligned to perfection and then may come loose with use. Plumbing makes me cranky but I cannot afford to hire a plumber.
Hi Faye! The property is 75 acres, odd shaped plot, lots of corners (both in and out), over a mile of fence. The top electric wire was to discourage predators from climbing over, mainly the neighbors' dogs that run loose. Even friendly household pets can be deadly with goats. They can't resist the chase, and the goats can't learn not to run. We had to put one goat down due to injuries from an attack by two dogs just a couple of years ago, so obviously it didn't work, at least not that time. It's a full time job just to keep that one electric line free of shorts 24/7/365. Most of the neighbors (there are 11 adjoining properties, last I checked) don't have animals to fence, and some don't live on the property, just an investment. I would be known as "the difficult neighbor," if I contacted them every time a tree went down. LOL. When you fence it, you can clear the trees away from your side, but not the other side. The chain saw has a 14" bar. I've cut trees twice that diameter before that were hollow, but these are solid. I could probably do it working around the edges. Would have to make at least 3 cuts each, in order to clear a path to drive. It would be good exercise, and kind of fun, but I'm going to have to hire someone to do the big tree on the hill anyway, so it's a little silly not to just get it all done at the same time. I hate anything to do with plumbing. Water is harder to contain than goats. One thing I wish I had learned how to do is soldering.
@Nancy Hart 75 acres is a lot to keep fenced goat tight. With all those trees, I would get a bigger saw that is for sure! We always had goats on the ranch for milk for feeding abandon calves and making cheese. Do you have animals? Do the neighbors help repair the fence?
Do the bigger saws require more strength to get started? . I'm lucky to get this little one started. Ha! We had 14 goats at one time, all females and wethers, just for brush clearing. They did a great job. Only one left now. He is now in a smaller fenced area around the barn. The neighbor, at the corner I mentioned earlier, said in June he was going to clean up his big tree. He cleared just enough so he could function from his side and quit. Those who have adjoining fences, don't have many trees. We had one female goat go into milk without breeding. I tried milking for a year. So much work. Gave her away to someone who wanted the milk and would take good care of her.
I just learned something. "The word bellwether is derived from the Middle English bellewether, and refers to the practice of placing a bell around the neck of a wether, a castrated male sheep (or goat), who leads a flock. Herders could listen for the bell of the wether and locate the flock before it came into sight. So the modern meaning of bellwether is something that leads or indicates a trend." I always assumed it had something to do with weather.
@Nancy Hart The breeders of expensive horses use bellwethers to help control the horses. Not sure how it works, but had a neighbor once that had a bellwether and the horses didn't spook easily. Maybe the bell is hypnotic. The once buck goat now minus his cajones has nothing better to do than peacefully graze.
Yes, they are harder to start. Some of the big ones have a compression release, but still more than my old shoulders can pull! This is why I went to electric. Stihl makes one that rivals any mid powered gas saw and with two batteries can cut all day. A bit spendy, but no pulling, no fumes, and little noise. I love my smaller Stihl. A lot safer also. I wouldn't get any battery chainsaw but Stihl. Lighter weight also. Check the big one out!