New Contraption

In the midst of rain, cold and snow…my little squirrel brain began to think of new ways to cook things – I wanted a smoker (still do) but nevermind that as a novice I never even used one, not sure how to work one, have a perfectly good gas grill – and don’t want to spend a thousand-plus bucks on something made in China, let alone two grand on something made in Oklahoma.

Furthermore, in terms of Hunter-gathering (or Driving-buying), the locally convenient rotisserie chicken that we’ve been getting at the grocery store have going up in price under Binenflation, while also shrinking in size and weight – so I thought to try a gadget: a spin-burner:

Step one: Rotisserie contraption, for cookin‘ meats – not a lot of rotational clearance.

All the complaints I read about the rotisserie have had to do with the smooth notches on the spike not fitting newer grills, but fortunately all my stuff/junk/crap is old – and so it fits fine. Thing is, that you have to remove the grill grates to open enough space and fit a catch basin for drippy goo, directly on top of the “flavorizer bars” and burners, and use indirect heat – which gives me the opportunity to bring back my wood-chip smoker-box that’s pretty half-ass but might add a bit of smokey flavor…

Step two: Clearance available and Countdown to experimentation!

So in pictures today it all looks sunny and nice, but that’s just because the big clouds parted briefly, and with the Sierra now crowned in snow, and the cold runs downhill – daytime temps are in the low 50’s.

And right now in the dark night, it’s raining down pretty good. Our fabulous rescue Siberian Husky turns 11 on November 11, and born 2011 … and she loves the cold and rain, and mud – she’s our Veteran’s Day doggie!

Fall Color

We haven’t seen a morning like this in quite a while, cool and foggy. As for “Fall Color” it’s pretty monochromatic — there’s not much color really. The acorns are big and fat under the oak trees and gopher holes dot the field from one end to the other.

Meanwhile the truck holds a yard and a half of mahogany colored bark to spread.

Lucky Dog!

We went down to the dog-lawn and she rolled in clover, literally! Good thing, because she was exhibiting fear and anxiety about coming up the steep deck steps – it had become a challenge, and we wanted to ease that, so I built a ramp :

12’ Dog Ramp

After a bit of shopping at Home Depot for a couple 12’ long 2”x4”s and some traction enhancing rug material, we drove home and I got out the saw (and screw-driver/gun, and impact-drill) – and got to work. It took about an hour and a half – done by 11:00AM.

Pray for Rain.

And it did rain. Daytime temperatures fell thirty degrees, from the mid-100’s to the 70’s, and overnight temperatures plummeted from the high 70’s down to the low 50’s. Air Quality that had been in the “dangerously unhealthy” range from the Mosquito Fire got wiped away and restored to “good.” And the fire containment grew while the fire ceased advancing and did not grow. Yay! The extended heatwave is over.

Rain!

After weeks and weeks of heat, and smoky rotten air from the Mosquito Fire, and I forget how long ago one half-day of rain in early August…we awoke to some rain again. That should knock down the particulate matter and improve the air quality.

Never Forget

Twenty-one years is a long time, and easy to forget. It was the year after Grandpa died – and/but I didn’t lose anybody in the attacks. It’s been five years already since Mom and Dad died, but that seems much closer still.

Actual Heatwave

Don’t let the pretty clouds fool you. It’s 7:23PM in the evening of Labor Day, and the temperature has cooled-off to just 100-degrees, from a high of 110 earlier in the afternoon. Tonight the temps will even dip into the mid-80’s.

This whole week is going to be in that range, and has been since Saturday’s 103 and Sunday’s 105 – leading up to today – and tomorrow is supposed to be hotter. So with a cooler (by recent standards) morning, we got out to walk the dog by 6:30 sun-up while it was just in the mid-70’s…

I have a little RainBird sprinkler on a stake that you shove into the lawn, and have I set to rotate in a short arc and cool off the hot concrete at the garage-end, to keep from scorching the dog’s paws. It all helps a bit, but a dog that would more readily come when called, and get in out of the damn heat would help more!

UPDATE: 114 yesterday (Tuesday), but forecast ten-degrees cooler today at just 104. Meanwhile, a forest-fire started up in Foresthill (where we used to ride dirtbikes) last evening is being aggressively attacked – from the air – because that’s the only way to get at it, the location is so remote and difficult.

Indian Summer

The Sun is coming up later, and the days are getting shorter (by 2 minutes and 23 seconds), but this week a ridge of high pressure over Vegas and a Jet-Stream turned up into Canuckistan means it’s gonna be hot up here. Not as bad as The Valley, but I need to get more block-ice for the doggie pool.

Weird Weather

It’s 3:00PM and 102-degrees Fahrenheit, with overcast/high clouds – and just 14% humidity (and dropping). This is just weird, but better than yesterdays 105-degrees. The clouds offer some benefit I guess, they must reduce the temperature with no added humidity. It was 70-degrees when I got up at 6:00AM so it never really cooled-off overnight. Doggy doesn’t quite know what to do about it, while I add block-ice to her pool to keep things cool, and she enjoys her favorite pop-up sprinkler when it magically comes on.