Environment – Page 2 – Fine Country Living

July 24, 2018

FCL :: Day in the Life :: 23-24 Jul, 2018

For anybody interested in the RSOE website I feature at the beginning of this video, see RSOE EDIS.

I observed the drake (male duck) mating with one of the black ducks (female) … which bodes well for some baby ducklings perhaps later in the season. I haven’t researched duck procreation details yet (e.g. nesting habits, gestation cycles, etc.), so I better get off my butt and do so.

Drives me absolutely NUTS that $%^&* ticks figure out a way to climb into my rabbit cages and parasitically prey upon my bunnies. If I could wave a magic wand and make three species immediately go extinct … ticks would be on my list.

More deer. More rain. No specific correlation, except maybe the Muscatine grapes they plunder from Hooey’s horde. 😉

July 22, 2018

FCL :: Day in the Life :: Jul 22, 2018

Big thunderstorm last night (3.3 inches of rain). A few showers during the day, and another major T-Storm in the evening hours.

Saved a turtle from getting squashed by my tractor.

Setup a ‘play date’ for my baby bunnies to visit the 18 new baby chickens in their brooder for a bit. Very cute.

June 23, 2018

FCL :: Day in the Life :: June 23, 2018 (No, not more shooting video …)

Granted, I did quite a bit of shooting on the ol’ “shooting range” over the last day or so, and shared a few segments on this channel.

However, today was also a day of absolutely beautiful weather … at least to look upon and marvel at. Still hot and humid as hell (almost literally!), but at least the sky was blue, the clouds where billowy, and at times scary dark.

I’ve got three rifles to strip down and deep clean tomorrow … so I hope it rains all day.

June 22, 2018

FCL :: Day in the Life :: June 22, 2018 (Part One)

We had a pretty powerful thunderstorm pass through late last night, so Hunter didn’t get much sleep, and neither did I (because of her). When I rolled into the kitchen to make some coffee, she was on the couch with ‘that look’ on her face … she knew she was barking, pacing and panting too much last night because of the weather. BUT, at least she was cute about it. 😉

I ran around the perimeter trail to check on things, and found 3 or 4 trees down in one spot, likely because of recent weather. Nothing like starting one’s day with a little chainsaw exercise.

June 17, 2018

FCL :: Day in the Life :: June 16, 2018

All the young ones (rabbits, chickens) are doing well.

We planted 320 veggie / melon seeds in the new soil block mini-greenhouse.

Added a new Springfield Armory M1A chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor to the inventory. Can never have too many M1As.

That young doe seems to be visiting us every day now, and getting progressively closer to the house. I think she likes baiting Hooey into the chase (SCUD-mode).

Hunter was kind enough to share her rotisserie chicken with me.

It is supposed to be oppressively hot & humid for the next few days … so we’re looking for indoor projects to tackle. 😉

June 14, 2018June 14, 2018

Creepy Bacteria Behavior … Caught on Camera!

Check out this Live Science video of a microscopic, single-cell bacterium ‘harpooning,’ consuming (eating) and integrating pieces of DNA from its surroundings in order to genetically evolve.

There are SO many mysterious entities, processes and behaviors in nature, both in the microscopic and macroscopic realms.

Who would have ever thought a single-cell organism can exhibit this sort of complex behavior?

Just … fascinating!

May 25, 2018

Pond Draining: Cyclonic Trash Pump

Kinda hard to excavate a pond when the damn thing keeps filling up with water! I guess it’s eventually going to be a good thing that a single day of heavy thunderstorms fills the pond. But NOT NOW!!! 😉

I was using a small 12V water pump to drain the pond, but it took too long (e.g. more than one fully charged car battery).

Did some research and designed a PVC siphon system, but it didn’t work because there is insufficient “head space” between the water intake (pond bottom) and water output.

So, I sucked it up and bought a Tsurumi Cast Iron Submersible Trash Water Pump — 3000 GPH, 1/2 HP, 2in., Model# HS2.4S-62.

Took about 1.5 hours to drain the pond. NICE.

Since we have the first hurricane of the season expected to work its way up from FL this weekend, and therefore another week of rain in the wx forecast, I expect to be putting the new pump to good use again, and again, and again …

May 21, 2018

Another Day … Another $%^ Storm

I think we’ve now had 5 consecutive days of thunderstorms. Over the years, Hunter has gotten progressively more sensitive to thunder. As soon as she hears the first BOOOOOM … she’s done, just runs up on the covered 2nd floor deck, if not straight into the house.

We just went out to lock up the flock for the night and feed everyone … and this (pic) is what it looked like out there. Beautiful, if a little dark and ominous. Severe thunderstorm warning up for the county for about 30-45 more minutes.