TCC for 5/4/08

The Caretaker's Concern 5/4/08
Lake Temp. 46.5F.
Ghetto temp. 61 F. and rising.
Island tmp. 47.5 F. Yesterday's L/H: 50/50 F.
Current conditions: Mostly clear sky, light wind from the North.

The daily text report has been suspended from May 1st, 2008 to after the weekend of May 10th/11th, 2008. However, daily photos will still be posted.

--The Caretaker

TCC for 5/3/08

The Caretaker's Concern 5/3/08
Lake Temp. 47 F.
Ghetto temp. 50 F. and dropping.
Island tmp. 49.5 F. Yesterday's L/H: 48/48 F.
Current conditions: Total cloud coverage, South wind, 5 mph, cold, damp.

The daily text report has been suspended from May 1st, 2008 to after the weekend of May 10th/11th, 2008. However, daily photos will still be posted.

--The Caretaker

TCC for 5/2/08

The Caretaker's Concern 5/2/08
Lake Temp. 47F.
Ghetto temp. 48 F. and steady.
Island tmp. 48 F. Yesterday's L/H: 38/60 F.
Current conditions: No wind, total cloud coverage, damp, wet, cold, humid, hazy.

The daily text report has been suspended from May 1st, 2008 to after the weekend of May 10th/11th, 2008. However, daily photos will still be posted.

--The Caretaker

TCC for 5/1/08

The Caretaker's Concern 5/1/08
Lake Temp. 49F.
Ghetto temp. 52 F. and dropping.
Island tmp. 54 F. Yesterday's L/H: 39.5/52 F.
Current conditions: Mostly cloudy, East wind from the Narrows, 5 to 10 mph, occasional gusts up to 15/20 mph.

The Caretaker will be suspending the daily text report from May 1st, 2008 to after the weekend of May 10th/11th, 2008. However, he will still be posting daily photos.

--The Caretaker

TCC for 4/30/08

The Caretaker's Concern 4/30/08
Lake Temp. 47 F.
Ghetto temp. 48 F. and rising.
Island tmp. 44 F. Yesterday's L/H: 48/50 F.
Current conditions: No wind, perfectly clear star filled sky, shooting star sighted.

More Spring cleaning and organizing for today. Mid-morning the Caretaker paddled over to the mainland to pickup a rail system for the milling project. There was a bit of a headwind for much of the way over, but proved to be only a mild hinderance, the Sun was out, it was a nice paddle there and back. Over on the mainland the Caretaker learned that a couple of Swans have begun to nest in Huddle Bay swamp. As per the locals this is a first, Swans usually never make it up this far North. The Caretaker can't recall ever seeing any Swans here on the Lake, nor can he remember ever seeing any Swans up in the Saranac Lake region (where he has done a considerable amount of canoeing), hopefully the wave action here on the Great Lake of George won't prove to be too much for their nesting habits. Someday the Caretaker will have to make a point to paddle over there and give them a look see. Maybe try and poke them with a stick. Then again, if they have offspring, they might have a lot of offspring, more than the Caretaker can shake a stick at. Where did that phrase come from?

Tomorrow the Caretaker is planning to take the next turn on the Green road, he is going to jury-rig a solar cooker. He would like to be able to cook as much of his food as possible this summer via "alternative energy". He has since mastered his solar shower arrangement, so now it is time to move on to the solar panel cooker, then on to the solar oven. He doesn't really have the time right now to make a proper solar panel cooker so for the time being he will utilize a few automobile window shades he has on hand. At some point in time in the near future the Caretaker hopes to have the time to acquire the needed materials to build a proper solar cooker. The only thing he is really lacking is a large enough piece of cardboard, he suspects he might be able to get it locally, if not then the next time he goes to the "big city".

The cold snap is still hanging around, the Caretaker felt the touch of its cold fingers more so tonight than during the day. The Ghetto got down to 45 degrees when the Caretaker noticed that it was cold. So he went outside and fired up the kerosene heater, while waiting for the flame to build before bringing it inside, the Caretaker turned towards the night sky to drink in the stars. The sky was full of bright points of light, after a few moments a shooting star flashed across the sky. This is the first shooting star the Caretaker has seen in a very long while. Hopefully there will be some great meteor showers this year.

--The Caretaker

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