Archive for October 2024
No Fix
It’s official. The splice in the power wire to the barn was not the point of failure. Where does that leave things? Right where I didn’t want them. The electricians were unable to tell me where the break in the buried wire might be occurring.
For the time being, I have chosen to continue to rely on one “hot” line providing 120VAC to all the circuits in the barn. That is the way we have been operating since the problem initially occurred in January, and it has proved to be sufficient.
Since we haven’t been able to come up with an explanation for the failure of the one line, I’m concerned about the potential risk of the other line suffering the same fate, which would leave us with no power at all in the barn. The guys said they see this kind of thing with a surprising regularity.
Apparently, there is a lot more going on underground than I realized. The causes they’ve seen include tree roots, burrowing critters, and rocks pushing their way into the wires.
My plan, at this point, is to live with the risk. If the remaining power line suddenly fails, we will run an above-ground extension cord until we can get scheduled to have new wires bored beneath the driveway. I asked for a quote for the expense of this work and learned that although it wouldn’t be cheap, it would be less than I anticipated.
We will be saving up for that eventuality. Hopefully, we’ll have years to tuck away the funds.
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Authorized Destruction
Elysa gave Asher a new toy a while back that quickly became his absolute favorite. It was an interactive “Tearrible” stuffed creature with limbs attached by Velcro strips.
He starts right away with the frantic “kill shake” that often immediately dismembers one or more of the Velcroed appendages. Then he stomps a paw on the body and emphatically rips the remaining arm/leg/tail/ears loose and spits them out to the side. This is all perfectly by design and is as rewarding for him to do as it is for us to observe.
Once he gets down to just the body, Asher runs around with it like a prize, usually pushing it up against one of us in hopes of instigating a tug-of-war game over the now-damp stuffed toy.
It is at this point that he begins to take the dissecting a little too far. If we don’t take it away, his next favorite thing to do is chew vigorously at the edges of the Velcro strips and eventually shred the fabric enough to start pulling the stuffing out of it.
Cyndie has sewn up the wounds countless times and worked hard to salvage the body despite the dwindling functionality of attaching limbs after the shape has become distorted and the Velcro less functional. Since Asher loves the toy so much, Cyndie has replaced worn-out ones with brand-new purchases several times.
A little while ago, she decided to write to the company and share her experiences with trying to keep the toy functional. Cyndie offered a suggestion they try making the body out of a tougher fabric for dogs like ours that like to play extra rough.
She received a wonderful response thanking her for the information and was invited to sign up for announcements of their occasional fire hose version that always sells out right away. The company also asked about the size versions we have and offered to replace the bodies at no charge, after confirming that all the detachable pieces are still good.
Boy, did that make Asher happy! And a happy dog makes for happy owners.
It’s hard to describe how much fun it is to watch Asher having such a good time getting the Velcro to come apart with that rewarding riiiiipping sound and the way he loses no time in tossing the freed piece to the side and instantly chomping down on the next rippable limb.
He definitely has the predator gene driving his instincts when it comes to plush toy play. Is it weird that he seems to develop a smile whenever we give him a chance to “kill” his toy?
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More Digging
What’d you do yesterday? I dug through dry, packed gravel that was as hard as concrete to uncover even more of the AC power wires to the barn. With Cyndie’s participation, we worked together from two ends and met in the middle.
The owner of the Electric/Plumbing company we use for service stopped by in the morning to assess the situation. He was concerned there could be an additional splice and convinced me to dig up the rest of the lines all the way to the barn.
That was easy for him to say and a heck of a lot of work for us to do. At least we now know there are no other splices, at least not in that direction. I have very high confidence the patchwork that was done over ten years ago did not involve any more than the bare minimum repair to solve (and bury) the problem they had created.
What still remains unanswered for now is whether or not the splice is where power is actually being lost. I have notified the company that the cables are exposed all the way to the barn, allowing them to schedule an electrician to (hopefully) verify the splice is the problem and then redo all three splices with a much higher-quality up-to-date process.
I’m looking forward to that work being done so we can put all that class 5 gravel and thick clay soil back where it came from.
I don’t know what today’s projects at Wintervale will be for us, but I’m going to make every effort to avoid anything that involves digging.
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Water Woes
I’m beginning to feel that water is the real “can’t live with it; can’t live without it” element in our world. It’s obvious that we need water to survive. It’s a little odd that I’m choosing to dis water during a phenomenally dry period of more than a month. This current stretch of dry weather has taken us from an unusually wet spring and summer into problematic drought conditions.
Cyndie added a water bag around the trunk of the young maple tree in the center of the labyrinth yesterday to help it cope with the water shortage.
One of the pesky water issues that triggered me yesterday has to do with the inspection of our chimney. I learned different ways water is the culprit we need to fend off constantly. The 34-year-old “crown” at the top of our chimney is flatter than it is crowned and the masonry is cracking. The rain and snow that lands on those cracks can seep in and become problematic in various ways.
One thing I didn’t consider is how condensation inside the chimney can contribute to the degradation of masonry or corrosion of the metal of the damper or firebox components.
Looking closely at the masonry around the stones on the outside of our chimney reveals a few cracks forming and has me resigned to adding a sealer to extend the life of the structure.
We just finished re-sloping the landscape around the garage foundation, and I’ve rerouted gutter downspouts, all to protect our house from water. The logs and deck have been sealed to protect them from the abuses of water. The integrity of our roof shingles is a constant concern to protect the house from water damage.
Cyndie just got home from the lake, where she spent the weekend dealing with a water leak in the basement laundry room, where signs of mold along the baseboard are already evident.
I’m anxious to find out if the potential failure of an electrical splice is somehow water-related. I uncovered the three splices yesterday and didn’t see anything obvious. I chose not to mess with it so the electrician could observe the condition they were in when uncovered.
I truly hope this old repair proves to be the problem. If not, the alternative may require burying a whole new run of wires the full distance from the circuit breaker box on the shop wall down to the barn.
That would involve a long pathway beneath the large expanse of asphalt in front of the shop garage.
Please let the fix be in the splice I’ve dug up.
Back to water problems, my brain is hurting from the ongoing news reports about the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene, and now Hurricane Milton is winding up with a scary level of intensity bearing toward Florida’s Gulf coast.
Water, water everywhere. It gives us life and it can be the bane of our existence.
For the sake of all our growing things, I sure hope it rains here pretty soon. And when it does, I also wish the water would stay out of all the places we don’t want it to go.
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Horses Good
It’s been a while since the horses got any airtime on the blog and I’m happy to report they are living large with us as retired thoroughbreds who once raced and then spent time as broodmares. They suffered varying levels of neglect before being rescued and arriving to reside with us in 2021.
Three and a half years later, it looks like they’ve figured out that the routines of their retired lives have become rather predictable and comfortable.
I spotted them napping beneath the dying willow tree in the small paddock a few days ago. This is such a beautiful thing to witness.
When they rest their snout on the ground like Mia can be seen doing in the photo at right, it occasionally results in a snore, which is chuckle-inducing.
I wasn’t hearing anything from them when I approached to take a picture, but I noticed Mix was kicking in her sleep so I switched to recording a video, hoping to catch it.
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Maybe she was dreaming. Eventually, Mix and Mia got up, which provided a good chance for viewers to see what that process looks like.
After that short mid-morning rest, they moseyed out into the hay field to get back to work munching on grass.
It’s a tough life, but they seem to have the hang of it and I’d say they are living a life of retirement luxury these days.
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Found Them
Before we left for Iceland, I was lamenting my inability to locate the buried AC power wires running from the shop to the barn. I gave it a couple of new somewhat half-hearted tries since we’ve been home, digging as time allowed without success.
As a reminder, this is the photo I’ve been using for reference from 2013 when the wires were accidentally cut by a skid steer making a driveable roadway behind the barn.
I must admit, I assumed I was searching for a single bundle of the three large wires but reality proved different.
Trenching my way deeper and deeper along the slope of the small hill finally revealed the yellow line on the cable for the ground wire.
Despite my confusion about how far to one side or the other I needed to be searching, the find finally came at the most likely spot.
With the wires uncovered, I’m a little surprised about the angled direction they are routed at this spot. Now I have plenty of methodical hand digging to do to reach the location of the patch that was made when they were cut. That is the most likely spot that would cause the loss of continuity in one of the power lines.
I’ll be calling the electricians tomorrow to schedule their services and find out how soon I need to finish the rest of the digging. At least I know where to work and won’t be wasting any time on fruitless searching.
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Reality Returns
We now return you to regularly scheduled programming. While reliving the wonders of our time in Iceland and recovering from post-travel illnesses, real life has resumed with a landscape update project around the front of our house.
We had to wait all summer for my favorite concrete lifting company to fit us into their schedule, which put our re-landscaping of the front walkway on hold. As soon as they finished their work, Cyndie and I dug into finishing what we could of the project while coughing our lungs out.
With the concrete slabs returned to their original level with a positive slope away from the foundation, we added some gravel and set about replacing the stone slabs of the rustic entry walkway that won us over when we bought the place.
The finishing touch of a fresh fill of new river rock is awaiting another contractor who happily promises but fails to act in a timely fashion. We are relying on our patience to maintain that relationship with a guy who has helped us many times over the years. He eventually gets around to showing up.
I am feeling back to my old self and am surprised that my lungs seem back to usual (which has never been that great) faster than expected after pneumonia.
This weekend, I am home alone with the animals while Cyndie is with friends up at the lake. The horses are doing great. Asher is whining at me incessantly.
Yes, reality has returned in all its glory.
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Quick Reykjavik
On our last full day in Iceland, we started with an almost 2-hour drive toward Reykjavik. This included a trip through the 5,770-meter-long Hvalfjörður Tunnel under the fjord, making the crossing in 7 minutes from what otherwise takes about an hour to drive around.
It was hard to tell if we’d arrived at typical Sunday morning activity in Reykjavik, but parking on the street was a little hard to find in the vicinity of the tall church, Hallgrímskirkja.
Our visit to Reykjavik was a quick one, exploring some streets and perusing a few shops, sometimes feeling swarmed by crowds of tourists and sometimes passing areas where Sunday morning appeared to be too early for commerce.
After more than a week of overwhelming natural phenomena in the countryside, city life just didn’t compare. Of course, I admit to being biased toward rural life.
The highlight of the day was a visit to the Perlan Museum. This place was fantastic and well worth the price of admission. We watched films about the Northern Lights, volcanic lava flows, and glacier melting, and toured an ice cave.
Each exhibition was top-notch, offering valuable information in interesting and entertaining ways.
For lunch, we visited the rotating restaurant on the upper level under a glass dome for some excellent food.
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We decided to pose with our shared dessert.
When we had exhausted ourselves of all the offerings at the museum, it was time to find our hotel near the airport and return the rental car.
We got a tip that there was a sports bar in walking distance that might show NFL games. Indeed, we were able to catch the Vikings vs. San Francisco 49rs game while having dinner. It was as if we were almost home.
All that was left to do was get up at 5 a.m. for a ride to the airport and navigate security and a couple of jet flights home. Retrieving all our luggage without complication was the cherry on top of an absolutely fabulous adventure vacation.
I was definitely ready to be home, but there is no denying the incredible experiences we enjoyed in Iceland were worth the burdens of travel that I loath. Those hassles I can forget. They have already been overshadowed by all the great memories that I’ve chronicled in the posts published here.
Thanks for following along on our 2024 adventures in Iceland!
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Snæfellsnes Peninsula
It’s impossible to pick, but this 9th day of our Iceland adventure rivals the best of the others for me because of the depth and breadth of rock formations we saw in rapid succession. Right out of the hotel car park, we decided to check out an enticing picnic spot by a modest waterfall with basalt columns.
We were the first and only ones there! Our first site without other tourists left and right. But this wasn’t even on our agenda. We were headed to see the Rauðfeldsgjá Gorge.
A long hike to the entrance while coping with a very stiff wind.
Well worth the effort as the gorge was really cool. It required rock hopping across the flowing water to get in. I took a video of the spot just inside the entrance.
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From there, we made our way to the Arnastappi Cliff and Hellnar viewpoints. Incredible sightseeing in every way.
The mythical half-giant, Bárður Snæfellsás!
My favorite, by far was the bending rock formations in this nook. You could see how the lava flowed. The 90° turn is striking.
We also climbed innumerable steps to the top of the Saxoll Crater.
Up here, we encountered probably the strongest steady wind of our time in Iceland. Luckily, it wasn’t that extreme on the side with the stairway. When I stepped up to the highest plateau, I could almost rest my full weight into the push of the wind.
Somewhere in this day, we snuck in a picnic lunch in the car and a visit to the Maritime Museum in Hellissandur.
Moving on, we enjoyed a great view of Kirkjufell Mountain and the waterfalls nearby.
Famed, I’m told, for its appearance in Game of Thrones, but also because it is one of Icelands’ most photographed and iconic mountains.
Finally, of all the nights with Aurora sightings, this night happened to be the most dramatic of all of them.
It was a wonderful punctuation at the end of our fabulous time on the Snæfellsnes Peninsula.
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Adventure Continues
As I shuffled toward the farm guesthouse kitchen on the morning of our 8th day, I found Mike finishing up a watercolor painting as Barb was setting out fixings for our breakfast.
We soon set off from our fantastic farm visit toward the Hraunfosser and Barnafosser waterfalls. I thought I had seen pretty much everything there is to see about waterfalls, but the spectacle of the “lava falls” wowed us beyond expectations.
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Once again, photos in no way do justice to the stupendous wonder of nature in the way the water gushed from the side of the wall of the river gorge for a surprising distance up and down the river from where we stood to view it. I think we all found ourselves involuntarily uttering random exclamations of wonder over what we were witnessing.
Just a short distance upstream, the spectacle changed dramatically into a raging turmoil of rushing water around impressive rock formations.
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At the same time, I still found myself equally amazed by the ripples of hardened lava that vividly reflected the volcanic activity shaping all this some thousand years before.
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Like I felt so many other times on this trip, we could have spent much of the day exploring the scenery right here, but this was just an “appetizer-adventure” for this day. We had an appointment at Krauma Hot Spring & Spa.
Ours was one of the first sessions of the day, so the spa wasn’t crowded yet. This plush facility offered pools of several different temperatures, including an ice-cold pool that I dipped into twice (because I could then immediately move to the 102°F infinity pool). As the pictures above show, we were graced with another blue-sky Icelandic day that made a blissful soak at this classy spa all the more sublime.
Just down the hill from the spa, we found a food trailer run by an Icelander offering tomato soup and fish & chips. I regret not learning his name or getting his picture because he was wonderfully gregarious and informative, sharing personal information and waxing eloquently about the reason he believes there are so many horses in this island country (hopeful breeding to win their national competition).
After lunch, we continued our exploration of the Snæfellsnes Peninsula with a visit to the basalt rock columns of the Gerduberg cliffs. Just another Icelandic visual extravaganza.
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I felt a need to stretch my calves, but Cyndie took a picture because it looked like I was trying to push this rock uphill.
Next stop, Yrti Tunga Beach, a hidden gem on the peninsula with golden sands and playful seals. I found two smooth stones here that traveled home with me as souvenirs for my kids.
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In the distance, a great view of the most prominent landmark on the peninsula, the glacier-capped Snæfellsjökull stratovolcano. Just plain remarkable scenery everywhere we look.
Finally, we set out to find our beds for the night. It happened to be our most expensive hotel of the trip, Hotel Budir, a real charm.
It was a great old hotel, although the bathroom in our room had been squeezed into such a small space that we could barely fit into it around the door, resulting in much laughter each time we tried.
Continuing a trend, we were given another showing of awesome Aurora at nightfall to cap off another brilliant day in Iceland.
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Relative Something 