Saturday, January 26, 2019: Squirrel Chronicles Part III

I had not received any movement notifications from either camera since early Friday morning. Before retiring last night, I checked the cameras. The eave camera showed nothing had changed and the boom box was still in place and functioning (it gives off audible clicks every few seconds). The attic camera however showed the trap had been tripped and rotated clockwise about 45deg. I watched the trap for a few minutes and could periodically see the reflection of an eye. So, Andy the Squirrel had finally checked in to the Attic Hotel.

This morning, I went up to see how Andy was doing and to suggest we find him a new residence in Tower Grove Park, about 1.5 miles away.

I was not surprised when he expressed displeasure with the current accommodations and my hospitality. I brought him down to the Sunroom to allow him to enjoy the warmer environment before our journey began.

We drove over to the western most end of the park and Andy was released. He didn't even say "goodbye", but zipped over to the closest oak tree.

Returning home, I rebaited the trap with another rice cracker with a dollop of peanut butter and returned it to the attic to await the next guest's arrival.

I am very hopeful that the boom box in the eave is discouraging any potential guests from moving into that trap. Time will tell.

Friday, January 25, 2019: Squirrel Chronicles and Pond Deicer II

Well, that did not work very well!

The new deicer is frozen in the ice. It did get relatively cool last night. The 1:00 am auto report I get every morning from The Weather Channel said the temperature, at that time was 13F with a wind chill of -1F. At 7:00 am, when I got down to the Sun Room, my thermometer said the outside temperature was 10F and the pond water temperature was less one degree above freezing.

I decided  to return the new deicer to Amazon and order another which is from the same company but is higher wattage (1,250 watts) and a floater. The average review is lower and, as with most of these devices, most of the negative comments involve short lifetimes. I will try to be diligent in regards to cleaning the heating element at the end of each season of use.

Afternoon update:

The ambient temperature never got above freezing, but it was a bright sunny day and I was able to extract the old/new deicer from the pond. The water temperature was still about 33F, but the heating element was cold. I brought the element inside a quickly plugged it into an outlet. The element started heating immediately. I got a work light out of the garage and plugged it into the dry-box receptacle at the pond. No light. I tripped and reset the GFCI (the indicator light went off and then came back on) and retried the light. No light!. I plugged the light into the receptacle right next to this one (the one that supports the pond pump) and the light lit. I plugged the light into the dry-box receptacle north of the chess board and the light lit. Obviously, despite the indicator light, there is no power to the dry-box receptacle at the pond. This is why the heating element did not heat, but I'm going to return it and get the floater anyway.

Squirrel Update:

Yesterday, I had put the ultrasonic boom box in the southeast eave and crackers, with peanut butter, in both traps. Very soon thereafter, I got notice of movement in the eave. For the next hour or two, I watched a squirrel try to get to the bait by various means except to actually enter the trap. The animal got so violent at one point that it knocked the boom box off the top of the trap. It seemed to give up at that point.

Awhile later, I went up to ensure the bait was still in place and to reposition the boom box back on top of the trap. I got another notification or two the remainder of the afternoon, but it was much less frequent. Last night, I got no notifications until about 8:00 am this morning when I captured a clip of a squirrel running by the camera.

Jury is still out. Undoubtedly, the squirrel was attracted by the peanut butter. Whether the boom box was responsible for the stop in the attempts to get to it or not will be found out today. The fact that I've only had one "hit" over the past 12 hours is encouraging. Yesterday, even before adding the peanut butter, I was getting movement notifications several times an hour.

Afternoon Update:

As of 2:00 pm, not a single motion "hit" since the one at 8:00 am this morning.

Thursday, January 24, 2019: Squirrel Chronicles and Pond Deicer

Two weeks ago I had some "guests" show up in the attic...squirrels. Since we cut down all but one tree that had given them access to the roof, it has been quite a long time since their last visit. At 4:30 am that morning however, it sounded like they were moving furniture in the eve just above the master bedroom. I hoped they would just be passing through, but it turned out they appeared to be moving in for the winter.

Over the weekend, I ordered a small animal trap from Amazon.

I also sent a note to my neighbor (Morgan) thinking he might have a trap. He did and handed it to me on Sunday, January 13. I originally put his trap in the attic. I also installed one of my Cloud Cams so I could see what was going on and be notified when it sensed movement. To get a WiFi signal, I moved the Net Gear booster from the garage (where it never worked too well) into the attic. Works great with the signal strength going from one bar to four bars. For bait, I put some raisins in a Styrofoam bowl. During the first night, I was notified of movement and watched as a squirrel run past the trap without paying much notice of it.

On Monday, my new trap arrived. I baited it with raisins and put it in the attic, moving Morgan's trap to the cedar closet on the third floor behind T's desk. Why there? Because I was hearing so much noise, there was enough "stuff" in that closet I thought that's where they might be. Most of the stuff in the closet is Christmas stuff.

It did not take long before I got notified of movement. What I saw as not a squirrel, but a bat. I quickly concluded that, while interesting, this was not the source of the noise I was hearing, and this trap was not going to trap a bat, the gaps in the wire are too large to keep them in...or out. I left the trap in that closet for a couple of days just in case someone else showed up.

I got a few more notifications and clips of squirrels running by the attic trap, but they didn't seem to be very interested. After a couple of days, I decided to move Morgan's trap to the eave above the Master Bedroom.I supplemented the raisins with some dried tomatoes and some cheese. I got a lot of movement notifications and clips of squirrels running around and over the trap.

Since they did not seem to be attracted to the bait in the trap, I added some slivered blanched almonds to both the eave trap and the attic trap. I got no more notifications from the attic, but continued to get some from the eave. Finally, I got one in which a squirrel had actually entered the trap to eat the bait. The squirrel stood on top of the plate which is supposed to trip the trap door, but the trap did not trip.

I tried to adjust the trap so that it was more sensitive to a squirrel sitting on the plate and reinstalled the trap.

Early this morning, after being woken around 4:00 am by the noises in the eave, I remembered that many many years ago, we bought a ultrasonic pest repulser.

Today, I went hunting for it in the basement and, after giving up, found it. I took it up to the third floor eave along with a brown rice snap with a dollop of Jiff creamy peanut butter on it.

I put one cracker in the eave trap and the other in the attic trap. I installed the ultrasonic thing on top of the eave trap. We will see if the peanut butter is a more powerful lure for the squirrels to visit the trap or if the ultrasonic thing drives them away.

Now, for the pond deicer.

In late September 2016, I purchased (through Amazon) a K&H Thermo-Pond Perfect Climate Deluxe Pond Deicer 250W. It cost about $40 and had an average 3.2 Star rating (61% were 4/5 Star and 34% were 1/2 Star with 719 reviews). Most of the complaints were that the device did not work at all or did not work for long.

The one we bought worked well the first season but failed sometime during the 2017 season. I am not convinced we need a deicer since the pump and water fall seem to keep the pond from freezing over completely. But, as a safety matter, I have decided I want to have a backup to the waterfall. The purpose of the deicer is to keep the pond from freezing over completely. 

Today, I received the next attempt to find a good deicer. I purchased (through Amazon) a Farm Innovators Model C-500 Submergible Cast Aluminum "Around The Farm" Utility De-Icer, 500-Watt. It has an average rating of 4.0 Stars (82% with 4/5 Stars and 16% with 1/2 Stars with 141 reviews).

Unlike the previous deicer, it is not a floater. It is cast aluminum and will sink. I did an "air" test, as prescribed by the instructions. It suggested, if the ambient temperature was less than 32F, to leave the unit outside for at least an hour and then plug it in. It should start to heat immediately. The temperature this morning was less than 30F so I sat the unit outside for about two hours and then plugged it into the receptacle by the pond. It did not heat up. The instructions said an alternative was to put the unit into the freezer for a hour and then plug it in. I next tried this and when plugged it, it started heating immediately. It only has a six foot cord, which is not sufficient. 

The biggest issue is that it is not a floater and, while the whole pond will probably never completely freeze solid, I need something to ensure the surface does not freeze over. This is important for the health of the fish in the pond. The description claims this device will work for containers up to 50 gallons. Our pond is closer to 300 gallons. Being able to float is also important since the water level is variable. If the level gets too low and exposes the heating element, it could damage it. The reviews on Amazon says that short term exposure to air has not demonstrated any damage, but the manufacturer does not recommend operating it "dry".

I thought I might be able to remove the heating element from the old floating deicer and insert the new element. I in fact did that successfully. Unfortunately, the new element is so much heavier that the original one, the floater sank in the pond.

Therefore, before I make any significant alterations to the new deicer, like lengthening the cord, I need to ensure I am satisfied I can use it properly.

When I pulled the old deicer out of the pond this morning, I checked to see if the GFCI had been tripped. I had not, i.e., the indicator light was still on. I unplugged the old deicer and brought it inside to thaw and for me to disassemble. This afternoon, I started thinking about harvesting the cord off the old deicer. First however, I decided to do an "air" check on the old deicer, as I had done with the new one. I stuck the old heating element in the freezer for over a hour and then plugged it in to the kitchen wall plug. It immediately shorted the kitchen GFCI. Hence, the old unit was defective somewhere. I could not find any obvious breaks or faults in the cord, so I cut the cord off for future use.

I needed a female plug for the cord if I was going to use it as an extension to the cord on the new deicer. In searching through my electrical stuff, I found a five foot appliance extension cord, so I used this to reach the pond receptacle. the extension cord is a 3-wire and, while not marked, appears to be an 18 gauge. The deicer cord is also 18 gauge. Extended, I had enough length of cord to be able to sit the new deicer element on a stone ledge just a few inches below the pond water surface. I use electrical tape to insulate the deicer to extension cord connection. It is now in service...we'll see what happens. 

Monday, November 5, 2018: Fall Harvest

In preparation for the first hard freeze later this week, I harvested peppers, carrots and beets. The beets were really disappointing.

I stemmed and washed the peppadew and ended up with four pounds. I gave one to Joyce, who said she was going to stuff them. The other three pounds are in my refrigerator. I will decide whether to freeze them or something else.

One pound bag of peppers

The carrots, after removal of the greens, washing, peeling and slicing totaled 1.5 pounds.

I cooked them using the Instant Pot. It took a little water, some butter, honey, parsley and 15 minutes. They are delicious!

Sunday, November 4, 2018: Winterizing, new security lights

Yesterday I decided it was time to do my winterizing. Looking at the weather forecast, it seems that next Thursday they are predicting freezing temperatures. One of the largest tasks is to shutdown and blow out the backyard irrigation system.

I shut off the water, disassembled the back flow preventer and installed the blow out fittings. I was all set, so I got the air compressor out of the garage and set it up. As soon as I started the compressor, I knew something was wrong. Turned out that the pressure regulator was no longer functioning. I could not regulate the outlet pressure, it just matched the tank pressure.

So started my information gathering on the Porter Cable 1 HP, 6 gallon, Model C2002 Type 5 pancake compressor. I've had this machine for several years and they have come out with Types 6,7,8 and 9 since I bought this one at Lowe's. To make a long story short (too late), I ordered a regulator repair kit through Amazon which should arrive on Tuesday. I don't know for sure if it is the correct kit. There seems to be a China version and a Taiwan version. My regulator has a "Made in China" label and the one pictured on Amazon shows it is from Taiwan. We will see. I decided I had nothing to loose, so I started taking the regulator apart. The most difficult part of the disassembly was getting the cosmetic face plate off the regulator. I ended up destroying it. I got the regulator apart and quickly determined the problem, a corroded piston. That was enough for the day.

This morning I got the piston and started cleaning it up. I got it to the point it seemed to be working properly. I reassembled the regulator and did not have any parts left over. I started the compressor and it seemed to work fine.

I restarted my work on the irrigation system and got all the zones blown free of water. This took about two hours.

I also installed the deicer on the pond (not sure it still works or not) and pulled out the three okra plants who had retired for the season.

I found the missing ear of T's March Hare. He must have lost it when he fell over at some point. I think I can glue it back on.

Morgan came over and we installed the new security light on the southeast corner of the garage. Morgan has had issues with people siphoning gasoline out of his vehicles. Hopefully this will help scare them off, or at least make it easier for them to see what they are doing. The light is motion activated with a dusk-to-dawn feature.

I still have several more winterizing items to accomplish over the next few days. I need to:

• Shut off and drain all the hose bibs
• Drain and bring inside all the garden hoses
• Bring in the sensitive plants
• Install the foam insulation on the sunroom ventilation system
• Harvest the peppadew
• Clean the sunroom heat pump screens
• Patch the limestone window sill where the bricks from the chimney hit

I also need to finalize the plans on getting a cap on the chimney this coming week.

Friday, November 2, 2018: Chimney Progress

I received the proposal from Gary at Holy Smoke Chimney Services yesterday. He included his recommended replacement cap design. He said it is cast iron. He said he assumed the existing chimney is just open ended and that he could have the new cap prefabricated and get it installed with just one man-lift lift. If the top row of bricks is loose, he would either remove it or re-secure it.

The cost he quoted was very realistic and about the same as that quoted by Mirelli to just reinstall the old cap. Gary said he would use a man-lift for access and that he currently had a three backlog, but the weather might make the schedule change. I told him I might be out of town, but I thought we could coordinate successfully. I asked him for his T&C, insurance and warranty information. He had his insurance company send me a copy of his insurance certificate (general liability expires on November 19). With respect to my other questions, he responded:

Payment is due upon completion.

There is no guarantee because a storm can blow off a chimney cover at any time and the roof. However, we have installed over 2000 caps over 40 year period and have only lost three.

I told him I was expecting another bid this week but would be making a decision by early next week. If we move forward, I will check with Morgan to see if he plans to be in town while the installation is going on to oversee and if necessary, hand Gary the payment upon successful completion. 

Thursday, November 1, 2018: Beech, boxwood; Pond Float

Ten weeks ago (August 17) John (landscaping) came by to look at my dead beech and the boxwoods along the west fence line. He said he could replace the beech and said he had another client that might take the boxwoods that are still alive and we could replace them with yews.

I sent John an email on Tuesday asking for a status. I got a response last night saying he has not found a replacement beech yet...10 weeks he has been looking?!? Anyway, he said he would look again and asked if I wanted to do something about the boxwood. I responded to his email with a reminder that HE had suggested a plan on the boxwood.

Obviously, he is busy and we are not high on his priority list.

I got the replacement float for the Hudson pond water valve today. I was very interested in seeing what changes they had made to prevent the "sticking" or "hanging up" that led to my pond overflowing. I compared the new float to the previous one that came with the new valve.

New float on left, previous float on right

If you cannot see a difference, it is not due to poor eye sight. Leslie, from Hudson, told me that "It was a height issue and it has been resolved". I could not tell any difference between the new float and the previous one except the new one was a slightly darker color. To avoid confusion, I marked the new float on the bottom. Then I got out my Craftsman micrometer and did a series of measurements. The overall height of the new float was 3.412" compared to the height of the previous float of 3.406". A difference of 0.006" (6 mils)! I could find no other measurement differences between the two. Was this change enough to keep the new float from sticking? Stay tuned.

I installed the new float into the body of the old valve and exercised the float. No sticking, hesitancy or hanging-up could be found. I removed the new float and installed the previous float (these floats are MUCH easier to install than the previous design). The previous float readily stuck, hesitated and hung-up. I swapped the floats several times and finally convinced myself that the new float was indeed not prone to the issues surrounding the previous float.

Hurrah for Hudson. I will update my Amazon review to reflect the success.

Wednesday, October 31, 2018: Halloween; new window shade; Holy Smoke chimney inspection

The Marvin guy (Nick) showed up as scheduled to install the new shade on the sunroom french door. This was the shade that failed a month before I left town and Mike (salesman) lied to me about ordering a new one. When on was finally ordered, I was out of the country. So, Nick installed it today. We will see how long it lasts. This is the third shade in this specific location.

Gary (Holy Smoke) showed up to take a look at the chimney. He said he would be sending me an estimate. He looked at the aluminum cap that blew off and recommended not reinstalling it because it was the wrong size. He also said he would use a man lift for access.

No response from John (landscaping).

Tuesday, October 30, 2018: Chimney Update; Note to John

Before I left on my European river cruise, I had talked with a referral I had received from the chimney guy (Mirelli), Doug. Doug told me that he would come by and email me an estimate to replace the chimney cap. He said he would consult with Mirelli and get my contact information from him. I sent a note to Mirelli and was told that they would work with Doug and contact him directly if they did not hear anything from him in a day or so.

Well...six weeks later, upon my return, I still had not received anything. I thought perhaps it was lost in my junk email, but before I called Doug again, I asked Morgan if his friend Charlie was still interested in the job. Morgan had suggested Charlie as an option before I left town, but I had already hired Mirelli (who then bailed out on me).

Morgan said he was sure Charlie was interested. That was last week and he would have Charlie call me. This morning I asked Morgan if Charlie was going to call. He said he has been trying to contact Charlie without success and was at the point of concluding Charlie was not interested and I should move on to someone else.

So, this morning I called Doug again. His estimate had not been lost in my email junk mail. He apologized that my project had "fallen through the crack", but he would try to come out and take a look at the job. I gave him the location information and description of the work. He said he was very busy and that, while he would try to drop by, the work might not be worth his time or effort. Nice!!

I sent an email to Mirelli telling them that Doug was not very encouraging and asked if they had another referral. Mirelli was very apologetic and suggested contacting Owen Bricklaying and Tuckpointing. I called Owen. They said they were very busy and they could not commit to any work until sometime next year. I asked if they had any suggestions. They recommended Mirelli (thanks a lot!) and Massey Tuckpointing. I called Massey and they said they don't do that sort of work but suggested I call Holy Smoke Chimney Service and talk to Gary. I called Gary and he assured me he could do the work and would come by later this week to look at the job. I sent another email to Mirelli with an update. They also suggested I contact Porter Tuckpointing. I called them and they said they would have someone come by either today or later this week.

So, in addition to possibly Doug, I have two more companies coming out to look at the job.

I sent an email to John (Landscaping) today asking about the status of the plans he suggested three months ago. He was going to replace the dead beech and replace the boxwoods along the west fence with more yews. He said he had another client who would take the boxwoods which had not died yet.

Sunday, October 28, 2018: Hudson Valve Update

On October 25, I posted that I was having trouble with the new Hudson valve on the pond and that I determined the problem was with an apparent redesign of the internal float. I sent a note to the manufacturer and today got an email reply. It was from Leslie and simple stated:

"It was a height issue and it has been resolved.  The new float is much easier to place correctly into the body, if you like I can send a can send a corrected 1/2" float if you provide an address."

I thanked her for the response and told her that the new design was indeed easier to assemble. I also gave her my address and asked for a new float. I did not ask why they are still selling these if they are aware of the problem. I bought this through Amazon, so I will put a review on their site warning of the issue.