Delmar, NY

Good morning! Happy Monday, let’s go chase that money 💵

We won’t be talking about the markets on Friday or the price of diesel. I mean I’m glad I’m not planning to sell any stocks anytime soon and that I drive a gasser.

Partly cloudy and 47 degrees in Delmar, NY. ⛅ There is a south-southeast breeze at 10 mph. 🍃. The skies will clear around 2 pm.

I see diesel prices are back up to $5.25 a gallon at the local gas station ⛽ which usually is one of the cheapest around. If you don’t think it’s a sign of inflation then I don’t know what is. Everything from tractors 🚜 to semi trucks 🚚 burn diesel and most of those costs will be passed along to everything you buy.

Not too bad of a morning 🌄 although I’m well aware of the forecast for later in the week. That said, the weekend that was wasn’t too bad and I got in over 35,000 steps 👣walking 🚶 in the neighborhood. The Albany County Rail Trail 🚂 wasn’t too crowded when I walking it but without much shade this time of year I was starting to feel heat exhaustion kick in by the time I was heading home.

Session day 👨🏻‍💼so I’m out for the morning walk 🚶 bright and early after having breakfast 🥣 and then I’ll run home, iron my shirt and pants, shower 🚿 and catch the local downtown. I’m going to try to keep my steps up even on days when I catch the local 🚍.

Friday I’m planning to head out of town ⛺ probably to the Adirondacks but I’m not hundred percent sure. 🐜 I doubt this weekend will have many black flies but it’s only a matter of time.

Good morning! Happy Sunday. ⛪

Another kind of cloudy day, cool. Not at all the nice weather they are getting out in Syracuse. But I’m sure at some point it will arrive to Albany. Winter can’t last forever with the strengthening sun angle. Indeed, that snow we got on Tuesday didn’t last for long in Albany and even the in the mountains is in quick decline. No eighty degree weather locally.

Mostly cloudy and 44 degrees in Delmar, NY. ☁ There is a northeast breeze at 5 mph. 🍃. The skies will clear around 2 pm.

Yesterday, I put the top coat of paint over the parts of Big Red 🛻 that I primed last weekend. It’s not perfect, and indeed I missed a spot but it beats that bare metal and corrosion and with some mud and dirt splattered over it all, your not going to notice that much. It’s not like my truck is ever that clean.

Spent some of the time working on some R Projects yesterday then walked out to Five Rivers. 🚶‍♀️ It did get dark pretty early with the cloudy skies but it was a nice walk and I got in 15,000 steps. 🐻 Just the usual wildlife — Ground Hog up by Meads Farm, some rapidly shedding cattle there, lots of does grazing at Five Rivers and that racoon looking down from the tree at me. Lots of red-wing blackbirds, and a pretty stunning male bluebird I saw walking out along Orchard Street.

I have to admit like most Saturdays lately I’ve not been really ambitious. 📕 Some because I like reading but also who can afford to drive anywhere these days with high gas prices? That said, I’ll probably be getting out more on Saturdays come the free electric bus service to Thacher Park from Five Rivers in June. It’s always fun to catch the bus to Thacher Park 🚌 and spend the day hiking around the park. 🏞

I am thinking about doing a hike down to the Normans Kill Falls in a bit. 🌲 I haven’t been down there and hopefully on a Sunday morning the rail trail won’t be so crowded, although now the sun is coming out, maybe that’s changing things a bit. I don’t like having to dodge bicyclist 🚴 and dog 🐶 walkers while observing nature. 🐦 Otherwise I could do a quick hike up Bennett Hill on my way out to the folks house. 🏘 My sister is feeling better, I guess the revised plan is to meet my sister and niece for dinner at Vince Anna’s, the old-fashioned Italian restaurant in Greenville. 🍕

It’s been a long time since I was last in the gorge 🏞 as I don’t like the crowds or the noise from the super highway above but I figure with the high gas prices it’s better to stay local and I like seeing the falls especially with a lot of water 💦 coming over them. Plus I kind of want to spy on the recycling ♻ facility from the rail trail 🚂and see what’s actually happening there. Sometimes you can see them loading various materials in the trucks fur recycling After spring turkey 🦃 I’ll have to do some hiking in Partridge Run then an overnight at Rennselearville State Forest.

I have this book 📙 from the library on forest management and have been watching a lot of videos 📺 about the topic on the phone 📱. It’s something I find quite fascinating especially as I think about being a forest owner in a few years and working to restore land in ways that make it both more productive for human use and wildlife and hopefully reduce the tick population. 🐜 Controlled burns to destroy invasives and ticks is an interesting opportunity. 🐽 Pigs and the ton or two of grain you run through them can do a lot to restore the soil too.

Good morning! Happy Saturday. Finally the weekend!

We survived Earth Day without getting bombed by the Russia, so that’s a good thing. The climate protestors did there thing downtown yesterday, there was no legislators in town and nobody took them seriously, because we all know we are going to cook the climate regardless, even while the snobs drive around in their Teslas knowing they are morally superior filling their recycling bins to brim each week with carefully cleaned garbage taking the long trip to the landfill.

Partly sunny and 37 degrees in Delmar, NY. ⛅ There is a north breeze at 5 mph. 🍃. Less sun then I expected but hopefully the rain will hold off until the paint dries on Big Red.

I was swamped with work yesterday, but made it home by six PM 🚍 and did an interview with Mr. Wolcott and friends. Such a busy day at work. So many committee agenda to track, 📄 it was non stop. I didn’t do my evening walk 🚶 but I still had like 13,900 steps in by bed time. 🛏 I wanted to go down to the park but the Zoom chat took most of the time.

While reviewing the agendas I listened to a bunch of videos about homesteading 🚜 and rabbit 🐰 raising. I think meat rabbits will be one of the first livestock when I own land, those chickens 🐔for meat and eggs won’t be far off. Pigs are more expensive 🐽 but all that pig manure and rooting up the dirt will be wonderful for restoring the man.

I painted Big Red this morning, covering the primer up that covered the rust I mostly sanded over and the bare metal. 🛻It’s a fight against the salt, but he looks a little better from the distance, or I tell myself. 🎨 I wash the truck regularly but that salt is tough. 🚿

I plan to stay in town today, later today I will walk out to Five Rivers and Meads Road 🐦 to look at that birdies and observe nature. The family dinner I have with my sister, niece and mom and dad were put off due to them being sick. 🤢 I am a bit bummed out about that fact, as it looks like a nice weekend and I wish I could have headed out of town, but at least Red got some paint on him this morning. 😀

I have blocked off next weekend to head out of town, and right now the long range looks good, although I’m not sure if I can get next Friday off due to the work load with all the committee meetings and the alike scheduled for next week. There is just a lot of work this time of year, it’s busy. ⛺ Maybe I can get away at least for two nights and have a good fire and do some hiking and laying back in the hammock before the black flies are out in mass..

It won’t be long before black season up north 🎪 and even with the screen tent, blsck flies are no joke. But I do like those swimming holes up north on hot May and June weekends before Mine Kill opens. Maybe I need to think about alternatives, especially with gas prices so high. ⛽ I might do the Green Mountains ⛰ for Memorial Day Weekend again this year – depends how busy I am for work or if I will need a cell phone connection to do remote work. If it’s rainy ☔ this year I won’t be a fool and will just stay home. 🏡