Critters Find Safety...

in my house!

How do they (red squirrels, they are--or it is) get in?

Well, first it was through the door I made for last winter--they ate their way through the bottom of the door.

I replaced the door this summer with one from ReStore and included a metal threshold:

He ate through the water line hoping to get in that way. No pictures because I had to stop water from spraying all over. So, I put a super thick sleeve over the hose that he could not chew through.

I WIN!

(not):

"Curious, what is this?" one might ask looking at the steps at the bottom of the door.

The answer can bee seen above and to the left of the door. Notice the critter foot holds under the hole. My question: How did he know that was the easiest spot to chew through?

I'm no dummy, I put a wire mesh over the hole, but what do I find in the morning:

The mesh neatly pulled aside and hung there. Not tossed aside or dropped on the floor, hung below the hole!

The squirrel is inside, so I nailed a peace of aluminum siding over the hole in such a way that he can get out, but not back in. He hasn't come out, yet.

Where's the Sun?

Burning eyes, sneezing, sore/scratchy throat...Sounds like flue season. NOT!

No filters on the camera, this is the early afternoon sun.

 Looking at it over the house at around two or three in the afternoon.

An hour or so later,

we only have a glowing marble instead of a firery basketball.

My sister's favorite spot to photograph the setting sun...but, the day before at the same time yielded...

...no sun at all. No, there isn't a cloud in the sky.

Smoke from the forest fires in Canada, is the problem. Even today, after a good south wind, the physiological effects of the smoke linger on. 

A Window with a View to the Heavens

No, really, look:

When you look through the new window, you can see through two cupola windows right on into the heavens. Besides that, where else can one stand outside and, without moving, see all five sides of this three-dimensional pentagon?

Before I could put the window in, I had to do some stucco work--not my cup of tea, if you know what I mean.

The stucco is applied over a mesh that covers the foam. It's something I've never done before. However, it's a building technique that's been around a few centuries, so it can't be that difficult. Can it?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Hah!

It probably isn't difficult once a person learns certain tricks of the trade. I just haven't learned those tricks, yet! At least I haven't learned how to do it quickly. I did finish two windows--the one we installed upstairs, plus this one which is now waiting for its window.

Then we had rain so I did some inside work: 

(First, a peak out the newly-installed window)

The yellow beam comes across from the bedroom area on the left to the kitchen on the right. Thanks to E., installing it was not a problem. Then N. came along and helped hang the first joists from the stairs to the beam to the link, where I am standing to take this picture. With this much done, I can now, with the help of my brother, lay out, cut, and install the stringers for the stairs.

Nothing to Do With Building a Dome

I understand that the minister at the funeral spoke directly to the pall bearers, the friends and fellow partiers, of the victim. He pointed out the stupidity of mixing booze and autos, and not having a designated driver. I believe he included the folly of not wearing a seat belt--the victim was thrown from the vehicle and...

http://www.inforum.com/news/accidents/3761001-21-year-old-killed-fatal-rollover-polk-county

From what I understand, he was a well-liked, successful young man from a reputable local family, and he was not known for repeated incidents of this type of behavior. 

The town and community lost a good man to a slip in judgement.

Springtime, 2015

You probably can't see, but on the far side of the water is Mamma Duck and her four or more littles swimming along behind.

Then there are the hummingbirds. Of course, they don't hang around long enough for a picture. However, this is what they check out quite frequently. These are the brackets that will hold up the second floor of the garage. I painted them bright orange so I can see them when I drive a loaded pickup in.

The hummingbirds fly up to the bright red brackets as if looking for food.

Then there is the robin's nest on a ledge over the garage door--complete with hungry mouths to feed and an angry mamma who doesn't like me hanging around. I hope to add a picture later.

I did take a picture of a broken egg and the nest it slipped out of during a storm, but neither the picture of the egg, nor of the nest turned out.

It's Not Nice to Complain About Mother Nature

I don't think Mother Nature appreciated last night's comment about her wimpy storm. At 9:30, weather forecasters predicted the storm would not reach into Minnesota. Well, bully on them!

At around midnight, I awoke to lightening so continuous that it seemed to be a spotlight flickering off now and then, not the occasional flash of light or streak across the sky one normally expects. Soon the thunder caught up, a steady drum roll, just as persistent as the lightening.

Next, the wind and rain arrived and for a half hour or so, the noise was so loud that I couldn't distinguish between thunder, rain, or wind. The bright light continued to shine from all around, still flickering, though now to the beat of the drum roll.

The county to my west, south, and eash had hail, and the county to the north received flash-flood warnings for this morning.

The rain gauge this morning seemed to chuckle, "So it was a wimpy storm?", as I emptied out the half-inch plus of water.

I looked at my check list. It doesn't say anything about how to move from my trailer, through the lightening, wind, and rain to get to the basement...

Hang On!

I just saw the following Hazardous Weather Outlook that came in this morning from

http://forecast.weather.gov/showsigwx.php?warnzone=MNZ015&warncounty=MNC119&firewxzone=MNZ015&local_place1=Fosston%20MN&product1=Hazardous+Weather+Outlook&lat=47.5713&lon=-95.7291#.VW3tfNJViko

Hmmm...What to do? What to do?...Ah-ha! Make a checklist!

___1. Park vehicles in garage and shed
___2. Early supper
___3. Camera handy
___4. Move comfy chair, table, light, and entertainment into basement
___5. Hang up checklist
___6. HOLD ON!

I suppose it would be clever to keep a cell phone handy, too

 

Hazardous Weather Outlook

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND FORKS ND
603 AM CDT TUE JUN 2 2015

MNZ001>009-013>017-022>024-027>032-040-NDZ006>008-014>016-024-
026>030-038-039-049-052>054-031200-
WEST POLK-NORMAN-CLAY-KITTSON-ROSEAU-LAKE OF THE WOODS-
WEST MARSHALL-EAST MARSHALL-NORTH BELTRAMI-PENNINGTON-RED LAKE-
EAST POLK-NORTH CLEARWATER-SOUTH BELTRAMI-MAHNOMEN-
SOUTH CLEARWATER-HUBBARD-WEST BECKER-EAST BECKER-WILKIN-
WEST OTTER TAIL-EAST OTTER TAIL-WADENA-GRANT-TOWNER-CAVALIER-
PEMBINA-BENSON-RAMSEY-EASTERN WALSH COUNTY-EDDY-NELSON-
GRAND FORKS-GRIGGS-STEELE-TRAILL-BARNES-CASS-RANSOM-SARGENT-
RICHLAND-WESTERN WALSH COUNTY-
603 AM CDT TUE JUN 2 2015

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EASTERN NORTH
DAKOTA...WEST CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

SCATTERED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE LIKELY ACROSS EASTERN NORTH
DAKOTA AND ADJACENT PORTIONS OF MINNESOTA LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND
INTO THE EVENING. THE MAIN THREATS WILL BE HAIL UP TO 2 INCHES AND
DAMAGING WIND GUSTS...AND PERHAPS AN ISOLATED TORNADO. HEAVY RAIN IN A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME IS ALSO POSSIBLE.

Later that day (9:30 p.m.)...

What a boring storm--sun is breaking through, 25-30 mph wind is now only a slight breeze, no rain. Hmmmph!

So, I check with Valley News Live and find that the storm does not seem to have enough oomph to cross out of the Dakotas into Minnesota. I guess I can go to bed and plop my head down onto my pillow.