Sunday, August 11, 2013

Fall, soon.


It's a quiet Sunday morning here in Maine, where the fall climate is just starting to kick in, and very welcome it is too, after a long humid, hot summer. Here the sheep are enjoying apple 'drops" from the Macintosh-type apple tree in our dooryard.  I say Macintosh-type because that's what they look like, but we don't really know, the tree being perhaps 100 years old. The apples are big and red this year, and they make the sheep very happy.

Last night I went out to walk the dogs and was surprised by how cold it was. Although I couldn't see Orion yet, the stars were bright and the Milky Way clearly visible. I didn't see any Perseids, but the night before I saw three! And the nice cool night! Probably it was only around 50 F, but that's definitely chilly when for several weeks now it hasn't dropped below 60.

I'm looking forward to First Frost. After that it gets much easier to do yard, garden and sheep work, because the bugs are then long gone and the humidity drops away. Snow will be here soon enough, and there's plenty to do to get ready, so I wouldn't be upset if we had an early frost. We're starting to get tomatoes, so that's the main worry -- a frost before we get tomatoes -- over and done with.

Our average First Frost is August 27th, but we've seen one as early as August 22nd.


Our barn cleanings were steaming in the cool weather yesterday morning, while the garden has the distinct look of early fall, with the onion tops already fallen over and the potato vines dying back.


While the extension project continues apace, now we've gotten in a supply of new materials for me to work with.

We'll need to take a brief hiatus from drywalling today to get some plumbing done. The pipes need to be rerouted, since I plan to get our on-demand hot water heater out of the basement and into the extension today if I can. Some of the pipes need to go under some drywall, and then we'll need a partial plumbing inspection, before we go back and finish up the drywall.


This heater will last several years longer, I'm sure, if I get it out of the damp basement and into the new "laundry room."

This space, about four by seven feet, carved out of the new bathroom, is really a laundry closet, not a room. We got the idea from Aimee;s mum and dad's home, which has such a closet. It will have louver doors and shelves for towels and wotnot. It also has an exterior wall very suitable for the vent/air intake to the propane fired hot water heater. Not only will the unit last longer, but we'll also solve the problem of the snow covering the vent. Last winter I had to "suit up" in my insulated coveralls, go out back and shovel the snow away on several occasions, all before my morning shower.

Not very sensible.

I guess I'd better get on with it, then.

Wittering away on the Internet is not very productive, especially when the weather is cool and dry enough to get a lot of work done today..

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Welcome to our Farm Blog.
The purpose of this blog is for Aimee and I to communicate with friends and family, with those of our students, and other folks in general who are interested in homesteading and farming activities.

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