Category: Post Visit

Or not. Nothing bad happened to me nor to anyone I know. However, there was a Lunar Eclipse that could not be seen here and winning tickets for the big Powerball were sold in Missouri and Texas. The cash option for each ticket will be $410.3 million, but the “take home” will be $242 M for the Missouri winner and $258 M for the Texas ticket.
I could use some of that because the price of gasoline is over $4 per gallon in this lovely State.

Several near-big fires were started by lighting in Washington and Oregon recently. One, 20 miles east of Mt. Rainier, is called the Wildcat Fire. Smoke from there blew into North Seattle neighborhoods. Air quality deteriorated with the index peaking at over 300 micrograms per cubic meter. Sunday evening it is back to about 20. That fire is 45 miles WSW from me.
Here, most of the smoke stayed at a high elevation. It was similar to a full cloud cover. Not a big deal.
During the night we had a 10 inch rain. Draw a circle on the ground 10 inches in diameter and at least one drop of rain will hit it. And to quote Bob Seger in Night Moves:
“I woke last night to the sound of thunder
How far off I sat and wondered?”

Washington State has just transitioned to fall-like weather. Ten days ago, this area had heat alerts with bright sun and near 100°F max temperature. This coming Tuesday the high is expected to be 68° with 80% chance of ¼ inch of rain. Higher amounts of rain and snow in the mountains 60 miles west of me.
I have wood to cut and stack so a wetting rain and cooler temperature tells me it is time to find the chainsaw.

Keeping Track
on the Naneum Fan
John

Rodeo and Fair weekend (5 days) in Kittitas County is probably near the worst time to have internet connection troubles. So Saturday morning my connection dropped out and the normal fixes I can do didn’t work. I called support and that didn’t solve the problem. I had already gone through the suggestions before I called –twice. So I got put on the list for a call from the actual technical group.
I cleaned in the kitchen and did a load of dishes. Near dusk I went outside and puttered around. This morning, Sunday, I finished that gravel-moving chore and picked a few plums and watered the trees. Then, with bacon and fried potatoes in hand, I turned the computer on to read a previously stored article and – surprise – the router had risen from the dead!

This got me to thinking – Did the Router over heat?
A quick enquiry on the web found “… one of the main issues of your router not working correctly is overheating.”
One of the things I noticed yesterday was that the router has little feet (ok. I knew this) that holds it a fraction of an inch above the surface on which it sits. What does it sit on? A board. Not just any board, but a short piece of tongue & groove knotty pine, acquired during the remodeling. Meant for a wall, the board has chamfer (beveled) edges {red stars} on the outward facing sided. The importance is that the board appears wider than its smooth flat surface actually is.

The width of the board is 5.25 inches but the flat surface is only 4.5 inches. The tiny feet on the router span the width with no room to spare. At some point the feet and the board became un-wacked, or out-of-whack.

I digress. [American word usage about President Lincoln’s time had the phrase “in fine whack”, meaning something was in good condition. In the early years of the twentieth century it started to refer to mechanisms. It might be that the sense was influenced by the idea that faulty mechanisms responded to a quick thwack. From ‘worldwidewords’]

With the feet of the router not properly adjusted the unit sits on the board without airflow to the under side where a large flat surface allows for heat dissipation. About 20% of the holes are there also – most of the holes are in the ends and sides.
I suppose a design engineer at the company made the choices that keep the router in a proper temperature range. Those choices likely didn’t include a piece of wood soaking up heat and interfering with the cooling process.
When a person calls about coming to get me back on-line, I’ll ask about that possibility. And tell them to postpone a visit.

Summer isn’t over. We have a mid-90s heat watch forecast for Tuesday through Thursday this coming week. Friday we drop into the 80s.

A headline this morning reported on the declining gas prices in the USA. Washington ($4.34/gal), Hawaii ($4.50), and California ($4.58) didn’t get the message.

Now I should get back to cleaning and other tasks.

Keeping Track
On the Naneum Fan
John

Nothing new here. Early morning and just before dark are short times to be outside. Otherwise it is between 95 and 99 degrees.
The local airport reported an odd temperature yesterday. Posted high was 96° but the 5-minute numbers had a 97. (I’m 5 miles from the airport.)
I asked Mark, a contact at the University of Washington, about this.
Mark Albright to me:

“Interesting observation…at least part of the problem is the rounding of whole degrees C to F. The high was 96° F at KELN with 4 consecutive hours of 94° F at 3, 4, 5, and 6 PM PDT. In other words the 97° was really 96° when using higher precision data to tenths of a degree C.”

Monday and Tuesday will also be hot. Then days of 88 and 84. The weekend is expected to be near 80.
The Ellensburg Rodeo and Kittitas County Fair begin Friday. I’m not going this year. I went last year as a “greeter” at the Adult Activity Center’s room where we offered wit and wisdom to drop-ins. Also, cookies and cold drinks.
The City’s main water tank is on a hill 100 feet higher than the rodeo arena and 600 feet east. This is the 100th anniversary and the tank has a new mural.

Keeping Track
on the Naneum Fan
John

This has been a work week at home. The topics are displayed in the photos below.

Every few years some trees produce a glut of their fruit or nuts. There is some suggestion the excessive acorns or other fruit falls or is knocked to the ground for domestic animals (pigs) to eat. These fruits or nuts are called mast and so it’s called a mast year. Two varieties of plums have ripened and there are more than I know what to do with. A third type will be ready late this coming week. I don’t know if plums “mast” in the manner of oaks. It seems that way to me this year but others claim masting happens mostly in wind fertilized trees. Not plums then?

Plum trees have advantages for my location. While cherries sometimes do well (but not always), the birds take most of the fruit because the original trees are way too big for old humans to get to. There was one apple tree here when we bought the place but it is an unknown red type. Again, it is now big tree and fruit is hard to harvest. There was (is) a single pear tree that has stayed alive, but barely. No pollinator, either. I planted hardy peaches – I got a bunch of little ones – hard/never ripened.

So, I have plums. Lots of plums. I will give away most of the fruit.
The earliest ripener is Methley, a small dark purple fruit with red flesh. Last year I soaked a gallon of the little plums with a quart of cheap vodka to make a liqueur. It worked nicely. I still have 95% of it. I bought a bottle of sparkling (carbonated) water to make a cocktail. This is just fooling around as a curiosity.
I’m trying for crock pot jam this year. The right-most photo above is the “in progress” stage of Methley Jam. The left-most photo is a plum called Starking® Delicious™, from Stark Bros of Missouri. [The claim is that this is a “Johnson”.] It has red skin that’s slightly tart and a sweet, with deep red flesh. It is the third to ripen of my four oldest trees. {I have three newer types and will know next year where they fit into the schedule.}
Shiro, a yellow round plum is ripe and I’ve given many pounds away. More to go.
The middle photo indicates the most work this past week. I’ve moved plain old dirt onto the future “boulodrome” – – the playing surface “terrain” for Pétanque – lawn boules game with metal balls.
The site is next to the house where I wanted a non-burnable area in case of a wildfire. After leveling and covering with gravel, I had a type of material called “screening” put on. I thought it would be smaller size. Oops! I raked the larger pieces off and stockpiled that, leaving a small size beige gravel. That surface is on the right side that extends to the tree. I carried dirt and made a rectangle about 14 feet by 50 feet. Next, I need to roll or pack the surface so the balls will roll instead of going “plop” on the loose dirt surface.
When I want a less strenuous outing I cut limps out of selected trees, spread them about, and let the deer eat the leaves. Hawthorne and choke cherry have fruit; cherry and apple provide just leaves. When the deer are done, I clean up by getting rid of the small pieces and saving some of the larger stuff for the wood stove.
The deer will come with me there and it is fun to watch the interactions, especially when there is only one branch available. This spring’s young still have spots.

Keeping Track
on the Naneum Fan
John

I failed to post anything last weekend. I realized Sunday night and Monday morning I went through the familiar routine of toast and news, medicines, and out to do a bit of work before the heat started. Oh well.

During the past two weeks my early ripening plum – Methley – has turned color and a few have fallen. I need to get them off the tree before a big wind comes.

In 2013, I ordered 5 varieties via mail-order for a total cost of $105.97. Today, they want about $85 per tree, some 10$ less, some 10$ more.
Last year, from a place in Yakima, I got four more plum trees when the place {Roots Nursery} had a half-price sale.
I have miss-identified this tree for years. I planted the 5 trees in a row, from early to late ripening. The late one was called Damson and after a few years I mentally switched it and the Methley. The Damson was least protected from the wind (and not well shaped). It split and died without ever bearing plums – at least I don’t recall a harvest.
I have now figured out from searches on the web that the tree in the photo is a Methley – ripens early and has red flesh. The Damson ripens late and has yellow-green flesh. Settled science. Saturday morning I cut a few branches from the tree and took them over to Megan’s for her and daughter Lindie to complete the picking.
The background tree in the above photo is a Shiro that produces bright yellow fruit. They will be ripe in a week.
Daily, I’ve been cutting limps from Hawthorn trees. Even though they have long sharp thorns, the deer clean off the leaves and the clusters of berries.

The fruit is high in Vitamin C and can be used to make jams, jellies, and even wine. In addition, the leaves can be used as an herbal tea. I have never heard of anyone using the plant in these ways. I suspect the natives did and maybe still do. I’ll have to ask.
All I know is the deer browse around the thorns if I provide the opportunity.

Keeping Track
On the Naneum Fan
John

Wind speed picked up today at about 10 AM. Gusts have been to 40 mph, enough that the weather folks post a “Red Flag” warning – fast moving fires are a threat. So, it is a warning to not ignite anything. This will go on until early Sunday. Over the next 2 weeks the highest forecast temperature is 90° F. August is unknown at this time.

After the miserable experience with the Ford supplied scissor jack, I cleaned up another I had and put it in a box in the truck bed along with a few various sized wood blocks. Meanwhile, I was awaiting delivery of a floor jack that seems to have been warehoused in a facility in Bloomington, CA., about 50 miles east of LA. The next reports: Troutdale, OR. And Union Gap, WA. It was delivered here at 6:13 PM. I paid $109 with a deal – it is now listed at $144.

The yellow sticker says “team lift” and shows 2 people. Note the plastic straps. FedEx driver lifted it without help and then I put it in the garden cart. Claimed product weight is 66.1 pounds. I’ll make a ramp and add it to the truck.
I ordered a load of “screenings” from a local rock & gravel quarry. As the quarry proceeds to separate larger rocks from smaller and various sizes of gravel there are bits of rock and dirt that don’t fill many needs. The mixture gets its own category: screenings. The quarry is 15 miles away, so while this is an inexpensive material, the delivery charge is a hefty part of the total. I paid $289.38 for 15.49 tons (30,980 pounds; 93.4¢ per pound).

It is the brown material, not the gray pile in the distance. I work in the shade and move around as it does. I’ve spread about 1/3 of it and hope to finish it by Tuesday Noon, when I head to the Costco Store and a meeting with Suzy and Bob.
The least crowded times to shop at Costco are typically on weekdays, especially Tuesday and Thursday afternoons between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. We’ll meet about 1:45 for lunch and then I’ll get a few things before heading home.

The doe and her fawn will eat leaves of the cherry and apple trees. For about a week I’ve, daily, cut a branch for them. If they are nearby, they will come with me still there. There were a dozen deer in the Alfalfa field across Naneum Road today but we didn’t let them know about the cherry leaf treat. People driving on the road will slow and sometimes stop to view the deer and I can hear and see the action there if I’m out that way.

Keeping Track
on the Naneum Fan
John

I managed to remember to put the Flag out by the County highway. With imagination and squinting it soon looked like this!

The year – 1990 – after moving to here the wind seemed to blow relentlessly. This year is a repeat. I only remember the year because I remember the year we moved to this location.
There other things I wish I knew the dates of. For instance, I took a photo of a doe and her fawn this week. It seems a little late in the year, but I really don’t know. Information on the internet claims birthing begins in late April to early May with peaks during the summer months.
Thus, seeing a new fawn in late June should be expected. So much for my thoughts! This is an iPhone 12 photo and not of great quality, but the attentiveness of the mother impresses me.

Golden currants are ripe and showy among all the green (when the Autumn Clematis isn’t smothering them.
https://www.pnwflowers.com/flower/ribes-aureum
On this site, if you click on “more photos” and then click on a photo it will expand with information, including the location. Photos are by Mark Turner. I took this one early this week.

Arriving soon – maybe Monday – is a SKIL table saw. Many years ago I had a very basic table saw. I loaned it to the man that was taking Brittanys for Nancy when she couldn’t go to a show. I no longer remember why he needed a saw, but it was in a shed that burned. I also do not remember if he offered to replace it. If he talked to me, I don’t remember. It was an inexpensive model and I guess that might have been when I bought the now deceased Craftsman radial arm saw. Anyway, it will be new here next week.

My weather has been benign (except for the wind) this week while the north central and eastern part of the Nation have been hot and stormy. Things change. For me, the NWS thinks Monday and Tuesday will go above 90°F. The south-center part of WA will likely go over 100 for those two days. Ouch! Summer is like this in WA.
I paid $4.46 for gasoline today. But Powerade was reduced from its regular $1.39 to 89¢. My favorite ice cream was $3.50, normally $6.95. I should mention WA’s gas tax goes up 6¢ per gallon on July 1. The fee on large Carbon Dioxide producers helps push WA’s average cost per gallon [$4.42] into the top five of the states. The lowest are Mississippi at $2.69 per gallon, followed by Louisiana at $2.79 and Texas at $2.80.

Keeping Track
on the Naneum Fan
John H.

Locally, Summer started cool and damp. This hasn’t stopped some of the plants from putting up a show. Here are two, photos Sunday by John:

Syringa is the State Flower of Idaho. It is native and fire-adapted. When completely top-killed by fires, it will re-sprout from rhizomes and root crowns afterward. A fire that burns across the root system of clematis will burn the soft rope-like root system. Sagebrush is also killed by fire as it burns down into the roots.
The Autumn Clematis is an invasive plant that can look pretty while blooming but it is our Kudzu. That one is found in Texas and across the south and to the east and north.

When I wrote the check for the water pump replacement, I screwed up and did the numerical part and the written part differently. Banks use the written line. That had One thousand and should have had One thousand seven hundred (or seventeen hundred would do). I realized this on Saturday and called Kelly and left a message. A check for $700 will get mailed on Monday.
So far in 2025, that’s my dumbest stunt.

My 40-year-old (?) Craftsman Radial-Arm saw stopped last week. Several phone conversations later, I’m convinced it is not coming back to life. Unfortunately, the service desk person at a local shop said bring it in, so I built a ramp and managed to get it slid into the bed of the pickup. At the store, the head repair guy said “Oh, that’s an electrical tool and we don’t work on that sort of thing.”
Perhaps the first full-week of Summer will be better.

Keeping Track
on the Naneum Fan
John

It is not yet here. The few days of near 100 degrees in central Washington have reverted to 77 on Sat and 84 today – Sunday. The weather gurus think the airport temps are about 3 degrees too high – investigation is underway. Anyway, I set the house for 68° and slept with a sweatshirt on. This cooler period is expected to last, at least, to the 4th of July.

We had a game of Pétanque Wednesday and dinner at Phil & Audrey’s home in Quincy on Saturday.
Not much else this week.
On Monday, the new heat pump is to be installed.

There are native plants blooming. I will have photos next week. I hope.

Keeping Track
on the Naneum Fan
John