“Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.” – Albert Einstein
Tuesday, May 18, 2004
Moose Everywhere!
Last Friday evening we took a short drive around Sand Creek Park to see if we could spot any wild animals. We occasionally see some deer or elk, and once in a while, moose.
We saw 4 different moose on that short drive. All were within about a mile of the cabin. Click “more” for photos.
Posted under: Cabin News • by Rick on 05/18/2004 at 12:18 PM
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Monday, May 17, 2004
Great Weekend at the Cabin
We had a great and productive weekend at the cabin this past weekend. We went up on Thursday evening. It had been snowing on Wednesday and Thursday (and continue into Friday morning). There was probably 6” of new wet snow on the ground. It was a “winter wonderland”. On Friday, the sun came out and melted the snow and it warmed up to be a nice day.
Friday night we took a late afternoon drive around the area and saw 4 moose! We saw a cow that is probably 3 years old very near the cabin. We think she has been visiting the salt lick at the cabin. A little later we saw the “twins”—a cow and bull probably 2 years old. They were along the main county road. Then, we drove down to Sand Creek and saw another cow there! Four moose, all within about 45 minutes and all within a mile of the cabin!
On Saturday, Ted Hanlon and a helper, Simon, brought 8 new Kyocera PV panels up and installed them. They work! For the first time in two years I am able to charge my batteries from the PV panels! In fact, they were performing beyond their specifications, each 24 volt string was providing about 8 amps of charging current, for a total charging current of 32 amps! Combine that with what comes from the wind generator, and we are in great shape. I am so happy this ordeal is finally over.
On Sunday, we cut some wood. I’ve been dragging dead logs from the forest out to the road and we cut one of those piles into logs small enough to fit in the wood stove and fireplace. I still need to do some splitting, but we have a good invetory of wood now.
Posted under: Cabin News • by Rick on 05/17/2004 at 10:37 AM
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Tuesday, May 11, 2004
Is My Solar Electric System Problem Solved?
After two years of total frustration, I think we may finally have solved the problem behind my inability to get electricity from my PV system…the PV panels are likely bad! We will know more this weekend. For the scoop, read this post on the Sand Creek Park Forums site.
Posted under: Cabin News • by Rick on 05/11/2004 at 10:16 PM
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Sunday, September 07, 2003
A Really Big Moose!
This weekend we hosted some good friends and fellow Bernese dog-lovers at our cabin. On Saturday evening we went for a drive to see if we could see some elk. Well, no elk, but we saw the biggest moose any of us has ever seen. Here is his photo:
We might be able to show you an even better photo when we get film developed. Lynne had a powerful telephoto lens on her film camera. (This image is from our digital camera and is digitally zoomed.)
Posted under: Cabin News • by Rick on 09/07/2003 at 06:35 PM
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Wednesday, September 03, 2003
I Held a Hummingbird in my Hand
We’ve been up at the cabin for a few days. Yesterday, Lynne called me out to the front of the cabin and showed me a hummingbird on the ground. It was flapping away, but could not fly. It looked like its right wing was hurt.
Not wanting the dogs to find it, I trapped it in my hand and carried it into the woods where I let it go.
It weighed nothing! Okay, it had to weigh something, but I could not detect weight in my hand. It was soft, and when it wriggled I could feel it. But, when it was still, I could not feel it in my hand.
We get lots of hummingbirds in the summer. They are always fighting each other off, but don’t seem to do any harm. So, maybe it hit the window?
They migrate all the way to South America in our winter, and back north again for summer. It just amazes me that something that small, that weighs nothing, travels thousands of miles every year (on purpose).
Posted under: Cabin News • by Rick on 09/03/2003 at 07:11 PM
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