TCC for 4/29/08

The Caretaker's Concern 4/29/08
Lake Temp. 36 F.
Ghetto temp. 49.5 F. and rising.
Island tmp. 46 F. Yesterday's L/H: 49.5/50 F.
Current conditions: Mostly clear, little to no wind.

The rain continued off and on through the previous night and into the early morning. Overcast for much of the day, eventually the clouds gave way to the Sun later in the afternoon. For much of the day there was a good North wind, blowing at around 10 to 15 mph, gusting to 20/25, perfect for burning, and so the Caretaker did so into the evening and through part of the night. Come dusk the wind let up for a while, it was a lovely quiet close to the day as the color and light leaked from the sky, draining West, making room for the East to fill with stars. The recent cold snap of dry air has mopped up all the haze and humidity creating a bright night sky of stars.

The weather report calls for temperatures to go below freezing tonight, thankfully the Lake has warmed up a bit so it most likely won't go below freezing here on the Island (due to radiant heat from the Lake), but it is supposed to be on the cold side tomorrow with wind, and cold again tomorrow night, below freezing again. It was a quick Spring, nice Summer, short but nice, and Autumn went so fast the Caretaker didn't even notice it. Looks like it is time to break out the Winter gear again. Ha. Ha. Ha.

Pole walking, also known as Nordic walking, by either name it is just walking with two walking sticks, however, Nordic walkers are usually those who take it to a different level. For example: Nordic walking marathon. Casual or extreme, however one chooses to practice it, the experts say it increases the effectiveness of one's workout by 40 to 60%.

Special thanks to both N. and C. for their information on the white flowering bush mentioned in yesterday's report. The bush is locally known as a Shad Bush, and the Shad-bloom is believed to occur when the Shad (a breed of fish) begin to run North on the Hudson to spawn.

--The Caretaker

TCC for 4/28/08

The Caretaker's Concern 4/28/08
Lake Temp. 40 F.
Ghetto temp. 50 F. and dropping.
Island tmp. 49 F. Yesterday's L/H: 49.5/62 F.
Current conditions: Wind from the Narrows, up to 5 mph, total cloud coverage, off and on rain, cold.

It was an overcast morning, and overcast day, the rain came at around 10 am. The rain is needed, the rain is good; the cold, not so much. Cool rainy days are good for Earl Grey or Jasmine, so the Caretaker had a cup of both. Across the water on the Western shore the Caretaker spotted the first blooms of a white flower that shows itself on a bush of sorts, the flower only lasts for a week of so, the name of which the Caretaker cannot recall but he does know that it is highly prized by S. Hopefully it will still be in bloom come the opening of the Island for the Summer.

The Caretaker did a bit of pole walking just as the rain started, only light drips, figured it would be good to provide the lawn with more aeration. Come the afternoon the wind abated but the rain kept a steady drizzle, the Caretaker thought about going for a canoe in the rain, then thought not; thought it would be fun, then thought it wouldn't be: a touch cold for his current tastes.

C. had mentioned the use of the Strawberry infusion recipe for a Mint Julep, perhaps bourbon would work well too, then there is also the Cuban rum drink, Mohito, perhaps that would also do nicely.

--The Caretaker

TCC for 4/27/08

The Caretaker's Concern 4/27/08
Lake Temp. 42 F.
Ghetto temp. 58 F. dropping.
Island tmp. 57 F. Yesterday's L/H: 55/64 F.
Current conditions: Patchy cloud coverage, mix of dense to thin in thickness, no wind, complete calm.

Much of the morning was spent on Spring cleaning, a good start for the Caretaker but plenty more to do. In the afternoon the Caretaker did some more cutting, the chain saw is still running well, good to know that the Caretaker didn't ruin it. The saw even cut well from a variety of positions when used to cut broken limbs from out of the tangle of other tree limbs. This is the end of the chain saw work for now, there will be plenty more to come in the future, for the time being it will be mostly rake and burn.

The Caretaker noticed that the mint has begun to sprout, soon there will be mint to pick. Great that the stuff grows like a weed. Here's a page from the Caretaker's cook book:

"Strawberry Mint Infusion"

Ingredients:

Freshest strawberries to be had, amount depends on sweetness of berries and particular taste, a couple is a good start.

Freshest mint leaves to be had, same as above, 10 or so leaves, give or take.

Cleanest water to be had, about a quart.

Preparation:

Pour water into pan.
Slice strawberries, put in pan with water.
Mash mint leaves a bit, put in pan with water and strawberries.

Simmer for about 10 minutes, give or take.

Pour water with berries and mint into glass vessel, allow to cool/refrigerate.

Serve chilled, the Caretaker takes it without sugar, but by all means add some if you like. Also, can be served on the rocks as is or with your favorite alcohol, Vodka is usually a good choice and of course, Gin.

The above is one of the many recipes that the Caretaker has in his book of things to do when you've got nothing but to make it up, for example, the ever favorite: Condiment Sandwich. Perhaps someday the Caretaker will share this one too.

By nightfall there wasn't a breath of wind, the Lake was flat calm, the Caretaker decided to dig out his small craft running lights to make sure that they functioned properly. He attached them to the bow and stern of the canoe and headed off into the night. The water was such that if the moon was out the Caretaker probably would have gone for a paddle around Dome Island if not all the way over to the East shore, great flat water paddling.

Many water fowl making many noises, occasionally flying around. It was a rather dark night to be flying around, at least by the Caretaker's estimation, these birds must do plenty to upset each other to go fly off with little to no light to see by. Wonder if the landing is often like stepping down stairs in the dark coming up sharp on the bottom step we think is there but isn't?

--The Caretaker

TCC for 4/26/08

The Caretaker's Concern 4/26/08
Lake Temp. 46F.
Ghetto temp. 60.5 F. and dropping.
Island tmp. 58 F. Yesterday's L/H: 53.5/73 F.
Current conditions: Mostly cloud covered, wind from the South, 5 to 10 mph.

Quite a bit of color in the sky this morning, the Caretaker almost missed it. After a bit of breakfast the Caretaker paddled in to town to post some letters and pickup some things from the hardware store. On his way to the mainland the Caretaker noticed that the mountain sides have begun to cover themselves with the Spring bloom of baby green. The Lake was mostly flat, just an occasional breath of wind. While paddling the Caretaker's attention was drawn to the reflection of the sky on the water, he found it rather mesmerizing, watching the clouds pass below, almost as if riding atop them in a canoe.

After posting his letter the Caretaker had to wait for the hardware store to open, to fill his time he went for a walk about town. Early on his walk he saw K. and said hello, they chatted for a few moments and then parted ways. Town proper is not exactly large, so the Caretaker was able to see most all of it just in time for the hardware store to open. Curious to see what people have and have not down with their homes, great to see the various flowers that have started to smile.

The wind had begun to pick up a bit when the Caretaker started his paddle back to the Island, coming from the South it provided a headwind most all of the way. Every once in a while the Caretaker would come across a patch of water that was agitated by the wind but not being directly hit by it, this resulted in the water forming constantly moving bumps but not waves. This action of the water distorted the reflection of the sky, it looked sort of like a broad, horizontal lava lamp, it also reminded the Caretaker of a fun-house mirror, except this one was constantly changing its distortion effect. 

The Caretaker spent much of the rest of his day working with a chain saw cutting up more branches. However, before he could do so he had to "fix" the chain saw, to make a boring story short the chain saw worked quite well the last time he used it, cut wood, consumed fuel, made noise, the usual. The next time he went to use it he filled the tanks, fuel and bar oil, and then went to start it. It wouldn't start, he pulled it over a number of times with choke and without to no avail. After trying all that he could think of he decided it would require a professional, that was sometime last week. Today, over the phone, the Caretaker located a local professional who would be able to take a look at the machine. The Caretaker's plan was to bring it in sometime during the coming week. Since the Caretaker had filled both tanks full he decided it would be wise to drain off some of the fluids to reduce the chances of them leaking during transit. He opened up the fuel tank and within an instant he saw what the problem was, when filling the tanks the last time, he had switched them up, putting bar oil in the fuel tank and fuel in the bar oil tank. Stupid Caretaker.

The Caretaker promptly drained both tanks, cleaned them out, refilled them properly, started the chain saw and had a merry day of cutting and noise making.

Come nightfall, the wind, having blown from the South at around 5 miles per hour for much of the day, continued to do so through the night at an increased speed. The Caretaker decided to take advantage of the opportunity to further rid the Island of pine needles, branches, tree bark, etc. It was a late night for the Caretaker, when he finally did turn in, he slept well.

--The Caretaker

TCC for 4/25/08

The Caretaker's Concern 4/25/08
Lake Temp. 50.5 F.
Ghetto temp. 62 F. and dropping.
Island tmp. 64 F. Yesterday's L/H: 60/64.5 F.
Current conditions: Total cloud coverage, wind from the Narrows, 5 to 10 mph.

For much of the day the Lake was mostly calm. Late morning the Caretaker saw someone going down the Lake on a jet-ski, the Lake is certainly warming up but the Caretaker is of the opinion that it is probably too cold to be out on a jet-ski, perhaps the Lake will get lucky and this person will get pneumonia from their jet-ski ride and they'll be kept out of commission for the rest of the Summer. Historically the Caretaker has been on the anti-jet-ski side, however since the powers that be have banned people from driving them without either a license or a hired guide they have become much less of a nuisance. In addition, now that most of the Jet-skis on the Lake are 4 stroke and not 2 stroke their noise is a lot more tolerable. Overall the Caretaker is of the opinion that everyone has a right to enjoy the Lake as they see fit, but no one has a right to be a general nuisance. On average, the typical jet-ski operator knows nothing about the rules of the water, nor do they seem to care, unfortunately this also seems to apply to many of the power-boaters. The Caretaker thinks that operating licenses should be required, and a strong knowledge of the rules of way on the water should be mandatory before a license will be issued.

Currently on the Caretaker's radio: China Radio International, a guy is singing in Chinese. The Caretaker has grown a bit tired of NPR and so has pressed his short-wave radio into service again, the previous hour it was Radio Netherlands. Next hour he will probably tune in Radio Havana Cuba. Now CRI is playing a guy rapping in Chinese, funny, other than the language difference, it sounds pretty much the same as most all other rap music. Talk about the beating of a dead horse of a music genre, the same goes for new country too. The Caretaker can't say he is waiting around for innovation in either of these two music genres because he has long since stopped listening.

The Caretaker spent a bit of time today working on a pulley system for his outdoor-shower setup, if this posting had a title it would probably be called "The Caretaker's Cockamamy Concern". The pulley system he has set up does make for a "cleaner" looking arrangement, and it does a great job of getting the shower bag up to the proper height, however, it's portability and ease of set up does not really compare to that of the Caretaker's ladder and 2x4 arrangement. Then again, the initial set-up of this new system may have taken a while, but perhaps further set-ups will go quicker, either way, the Caretaker will be sure to keep you posted on this oh-so important issue. For the record, there was a nice view of Black Mt. from his shower this early evening.

--The Caretaker

TCC for 4/24/08

The Caretaker's Concern 4/24/08
Lake Temp. 49F.
Ghetto temp. 60 F. and dropping.
Island tmp. 59 F. Yesterday's L/H: 54/76 F.
Current conditions: Little to no wind, mostly clear sky, a few wisps of clouds here and there.

The wind was blowing from the Narrows today, and blowing pretty good, perhaps the strongest day time wind since ice-out. The Caretaker found his "Beaufort-ometer" and went down to Cocktail Point to get a reading, it showed a sustained wind of 15 miles per hour, gusting up to 20. It would have been a great day for sailing, a good heavy, steady wind. Too bad the wind was not from the South or North, then the Caretaker could have had the big burn-off, unless of course there is a burn ban, there seems to be burn bans in all the area counties but the Caretaker has yet to hear about Warren county. He could call and find out, but since he can't do any burning anyway he won't bother. There is talk of rain for the weekend, the Caretaker hopes it does rain so he can get some burning done.

The strong wind from the Narrows prompted the Caretaker to move his shower set-up again, the view isn't so hot in comparison to the previous spots but it still "ain't" bad, it sure beats the view from the washtub in the Ghetto.

A tinge of read is starting to appear upon the Mountains of the East shore, the buds of the trees are starting to come out. Hippity-Hoppity Spring is on its way!

--The Caretaker

TCC for 4/23/08

The Caretaker's Concern 4/23/08
Lake Temp. 49F.
Ghetto temp. 67 F. and dropping.
Island tmp. 67 F. Yesterday's L/H: 53/74 F.
Current conditions: Partly clear sky, little to no wind.

The Channel markers were installed today, which means that now the boaters have something to ignore, not that it matters with the current Lake height, but as time goes on and the Lake level drops, the shallow spots as marked by rock buoys will begin to take out the props of the less mindful boaters out on the water. Ha-Ha on them, stupid boaters.

There was a strong wind mostly from the South East then switching to the North, it was the first in a long while for day time wind. It was a good thing that it came, there has been a bit of a build up of a film upon the Lake's surface, thankfully the wind came and moved it away. Today's photo looking South down the Lake is to show the total cloud coverage of the sky, this is also a first in quite a while.

The fuel pumps at the Marina were a bit off in their pricing, they pumped at .36 cents a gallon, too bad that wasn't the actual price, if it were the Caretaker would have figured out a way to float his car over to the pump to gas up.

In the evening, there was such a large May fly hatch that the buzzing could be heard throughout much of the Island. Were they actually "May" flies? The Caretaker doesn't know, to be honest he is not even sure what a May fly is, but he uses the term loosely to refer to any non-biting fly that seems to hatch from the water only to return to the water often times via the mouth and belly of a fish.

Later at night, when the Caretaker went out to check the temperature of the Lake he could hear the sound of "peepers" from over on Clay Island. Spring is definitely afoot here on this Great Lake of George.

--The Caretaker