May 4 - chores

It's a windless day. I should have gone biking but I'm enjoying the great outdoors right around the place. It's not as if I need to feel guilty ! The temperature is over 60F; it's sunny; truly a gorgeous day.

So ... what have I done so far (and I don't expect to do much more):

-- burned the leaves and branches that I had hauled up to the burn pile yesterday. With no wind it was a perfect time for this. I did this first thing, even before Sandy left at 8am, thinking that it might get windy later.

-- did some more raking in front, piles are now awaiting pickup.

Oh, Sandy just called to say that she feels like crap (well, she actually said that she feels like $hit) and that she's coming home tonight rather than stay at Stef's and "share". She's had this head/chest cold developing for the last couple of days ... no, not swine flu. I'm hoping that I don't come down with whatever it is because that would sure put a damper in my biking plans. Anyway ... back to the chores ...

-- chlorinated the well -- there are what is known as "iron fixing bacteria" in the rock that over time leave the water with a very faint sulfur smell, but it's not the much strong hydrogen sulfide smell. I have a carbon filter that removes the smell and I could have simply changed the filter, but over time the inside of the well gets a fine rust-like coating and chlorinating the well dislodges this stuff and helps keep the well free-flowing. What I do is run the water for a few hours back into the well with a hose so that the chlorine circulates through the water column. Right now there is a very faint chlorine smell that will probably be gone within 24 hours. Chlorine's natural state is a gas and it evaporates from the well very quickly. I changed the filter as well, but am bypassing the filter for the next 24 hours rather than "use it up" so to speak with chlorinated water.

-- took the top off the effluent tank -- just to check that all is ok in there, and it was

-- filled the sewage sump a couple of times with the hose into the floor drain, then pumped it dry. That warning buzzer is not working properly or it's erratic. One of these days I'll have to take the cover off the sump and clean the float properly. I thought that I done a good cleaning last New Year's eve ... but I was more focused on having the pump working properly at that point rather than the warning float.

-- and ... something that I talked about doing last year -- I dug down to the top of the septic tank and took the lid off. I wanted to check on the level of "solids" to see how we are doing and whether we need it pumped out. Well, nothing, nada -- other than a little scum at the top it's all liquid. With us being away for a few months the bacteria in the septic tank have completely digested the contents. We have a tank that is huge in comparison to our needs -- basically sized for the number of bathrooms (4), sinks etc. as if there were a large family living here full time. With it being mostly just the two of us, in three years we've accumulated ... nothing ... so I don't have to worry about getting it pumped. I'll check it again in another couple of years to see how we're doing but that's it for now.

I suppose that the other thing that's a factor here is that the sewage pump macerates the solids so that they go into the tank in fine bits. I also quite regularly add septo-bac so that we don't have problems on that score. I had thought that, especially with the garburetor/food disposal unit, that we might have some accumulation of cellulose, but I guess that it all gets digested by the bacteria.

Abby and I also went for a boat ride. I wanted to checkout Caribou Creek. Jason and I used to go there this time of year -- around Victoria Day -- and we would catch suckers struggling up the shallow water of the creek to spawn. Well, there were hundreds of suckers, ranging up to a few pounds in size -- schools of them in the shallow water. I tried fishing for them but they were not interested. These are fish that we don't see all year long because they don't go for anything that we might put on a fishing line. I have no idea where they hang out and what they eat. Having said that, I think that I'll check out Wikipedia and see if they have anything on suckers.

Well, on one fishing site it said that they are good eating and you can use worms to catch. I don't think that they are feeding though. I might try again later this week.

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When is 9C = 0C ? Apparently this morning it is. The internet temperature, granted, that's in North Bay, shows at the bottom of my monitor as 9C while the thermometer is showing 0C ... well, actually 32F but that's the same thing. Regardless, it's supposed to hit 18C = 64F and I'm going to go biking. I think that I'll give my new bike a workout on these roads.

Sandy got home around 8pm with a very excited Mya. Two dogs romped , raced and played, mostly outside because the commotion inside was over the top. Without any barriers between the kitchen and great room, Mya still stops at the invisible line. She'll come over with the leash and a couple of times when invited, but if you wave her back she stays in the kitchen. That's quite convenient because in the morning Abby wants to lie down again after eating and doing her business outside. She's not ready for play quite yet.

Yes, Mya has turned out to be a very good dog. She's not much for coming when called, but sure does understand "no" and pointing. She's already gotten the idea that she is not supposed to go behind the kitchen island, something that we didn't bother with a couple of months ago. Both dogs ate out of the same dish this morning. I fed Mya first, after all, the kennel is in the laundry room, while Abby rolled around on her back over by the fireplace. Abby is used to being fed after Mya though -- that was the routine when she was here before. The only difference, of course, is that she and Mya are now eating out of the same dish.

Sandy had a rough night, mostly sleeping on her back to make it easier to breathe through the head/chest cold. Hopefully that will break in the next day and only be a 24 hour thing; hopefully I'll either get it right away and be clear for the weekend or it will wait until after the weekend.

Stef and Aaron, Kylie and Lauren leave for Philly today. Aaron has some business down there, the others are tagging along. This is their last chance to go to the U.S. by car without U.S. passports ... Aaron is the only one with a passport. They really need to do something about getting both Canadian and U.S. passports.

It's sunny and flat calm again, the same as it was all day yesterday. The only time a little breeze came up and disturbed the water surface yesterday was around 5pm for about an hour. I wish that I could move this weather to Saturday when they are calling for showers. Oh well, that's the way that it goes.

Oh -- something that I forgot to mention -- I traded emails with Isabelle Sheardown, the organizer of last Saturday's brevet, and among other things asked her about any DNF's on the ride. Apparently her husband crashed on a railway track, slippery when wet, was not hurt badly but decided to ride home from there. Another person -- Karen -- who I think was the one riding with us early on, had an ACL problem. Not knowing my body parts very well I had to google that one to see if it was in reference to a bike or body part ! It's the anterior cruciate ligament, at the front of the knee. I assume that it's a problem that she's had before and flared up ... she too decided to head home. So ... we had 11 finishers out of 13. This is the sort of thing that can do you in on a 1200 -- you don't want to suffer permanent damage by continuing, at some point.

I just exchanged emails with Pete Duesel a few minutes ago as he was confirming my intentions for Saturday. I told him yes, I have to do my review of The Cornerstone Inn. Yesterday, while I was thinking about it, I got my passports from Sandy. I could just see myself heading off and forgetting about them. Ah yes, I also did my bike clothes laundry yesterday, taking advantage of the great drying day to hang everything outside.

From his blogs I see that George is about to cross into Canada with his rig on his way to Alaska. On their way they'll see lots of sights, not really wanting to be in Alaska in early May ! That could stress their heater !

That's it for now ... I think.