My grandson and I were outside a little while ago and saw 1 shooting star. As soon as he nods of to sleep, I'm going to go back out.
Edit: 1:53 a.m. - Clouds are covering the stars now.
Your sunset picture is gorgeous Keith. If you don't do a book about building your house, perhaps you could make one with all of your sunset pictures.
Barb
Barb, this meteor shower will last a total of about a week. I think we are about at the end of it now, but the fact is that there are always meteors every night, just not as many as this. The nightly ones are just random particles which we encounter.
When we get one of these showers, it means that earth is passing through an area that a comet has passed through before.
Comets leave a trail of fine particles in space as they travel. When our atmosphere collides with these particles, each particle ends its' life in this short lived fiery display.
Most just leave a quick short display. But sometimes - as when we are going through this most recent shower - there is a predominance of larger particles, many of which leave very long trails. It is these meteors that you can often see the big smoke trail from and some of them may be big enough to actually land on our planet.
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I forgot, here is a picture of the western cedar we get down this way and this is some of the better stuff. This what I put inside the little teardrop camper I built in my avatar. This is before the finish was put on.
Jim, what you have there is unquestionably from young, small trees. The colour and knots are a dead giveaway for that. A couple of years back I took out a small cedar, 140 years young if I remember, and it was the typical soft, light, knotty wood which comes from these trees.
Add to my list of things for today getting pics of some of the bigger trees here.
Plus I have to go to the other end of the island to see my fire chief. We raised just over $6,000 in pledges at our annual general meeting for fire protection equipment and I need to deliver my pledge.
And in case I run out of things to do I am now assigned the job of producing our local newsletter. In the past the secretary has just produced one issue each year covering events of the previous year on the island. I've never thought much of that, so yesterday when I was speaking with our new president I mentioned that the association can now expect several email versions throughout the summer, and just the one printed issue prior to our A.G.M.
Just sitting at the computer and looking out the window, and there is a small patch of driftwood headed this way.
In the wintertime we get long lines like this up to half a mile or so. The tides don't get high enough in the summer to get as much driftwood off the beaches.
The single log - could be a young cedar - is still about a half mile off.
That's very interesting about the meteor particles. Last night, when I first went outside, I noticed something that I thought was a meteor at first glance. But I don't think it was. It was just as bright and as far away, but it didn't shoot across the sky. It moved more like a firefly, except that it kept going in one general direction and it was a little slower, going forward a little bit and then off to the right, then straight and over to the left, etc.
I'm anxious to see what the glass looks like when it's finished.
That's very interesting about the meteor particles. Last night, when I first went outside, I noticed something that I thought was a meteor at first glance. But I don't think it was. It was just as bright and as far away, but it didn't shoot across the sky. It moved more like a firefly, except that it kept going in one general direction and it was a little slower, going forward a little bit and then off to the right, then straight and over to the left, etc.
I'm anxious to see what the glass looks like when it's finished.
Barb
Haven't hit one on the surface like that...but occasionally when they are barely submerged in rougher water we have hit them. It is much harder to see the logs when it's choppy out there.
It sounds as though you may have seen a satellite. The left to right movement is caused by your head moving a bit. They are moving at about 18,000 miles an hour and take several minutes to cross the sky.
Best seen not too long after dark when the sun is still shining on them, They aren't visible when the sun isn't on them, as there is nothing to reflect the light.
You might also see one which emits an occasional flash, called an iridium flash. This is a satellite which is tumbling in space and not presenting the same side to the sun all the time.
After the railing was sanded this morning, there was some minor fixing to do on it - I had left out some plugs on the front side which I didn't spot until I checked from below.
So that was done, then waited for the glue to set up, then sanded everything down, by which time it was way too hot to varnish. The railing itself was probably at least 100ºF, much too warm.
So I waited until after supper, and gave it a good coat. This is effectively the first coat, as I sanded a large part of the original coat off.
I got a quick chance to take a couple of pics of some nearby trees today, this one is a Cedar about 10' outside our property line.
It isn't particularly large, but it does measure 10' 4" around at about the 4' mark. The cedars don't grow tall here due to a lack of water. The big guys up in the Charlottes reach 300' on occasion, and make this look like a toothpick.
This one's a fir over by the well about 100 yards from our place. Just because there is a well there doesn't signify that there's a lot of water for the trees nearby. There is nowhere on this small island that has any groundwater at all from early summer until late fall.
Unless you are speaking of a drilled well - something entirely different.
This one is 16' 3" around at about 4' off the ground.
I'll try to get the bigger ones when all the bodies are off the island...I don't like to walk on their lots when they are around.
Second pic is taken from the main pathway going around the island.
Last edited by cocobolo; 08-15-2010 at 10:49 PM.
Reason: ...just because
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There's nothing on the island that would be able to move that beast, but you're right, I bet the wood inside is gorgeous!
There are a few really nice cedars of barely manageable proportions, all close to this fir. If I could figure out a way to get one of them into the chuck...
How in the world do you find the time to do all you do? There is never a dull moment around your home buddy, there is so much to see, hear about and do it is unreal. That log with the metal in it looks like a real hazard, that could make a nasty hole in a boat especially loaded heavy like your's is at times.
Your rail turned out absolutely gorgeous, Keith. I knew it would but it looks even better than I envisioned. The SS cables will really top off your deck.
The bark on that tree is none like I have ever seen. The cedar down this way looks nothing like that. When the cedars here get close to that size the wind usually takes them down. When I first saw some of the huge Sequoia trees on TV it blew my mind, I just couldn't grasp a tree being that huge. To see one in person must be a real treat. I can't imagine a saw mill big enough to handle one of the giant logs. Man just think to get your hands on a 2 inch thick 5 or 6 foot wide slab off one of those bad boys, man o man.
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More of your pictures posted while I was making a post. That is some awesome timber and so many are so straight. Looking at that bark made me think of cotton wood bark. Do cotton wood trees grow up your way? Some of us wood carvers carve cotton wood bark that grows up north as it is much thicker and carves so smooth, the down side is it cost us around $10 a pound here.
You live in a total different world from here, I don't see many things there that is like down here, except maybe the humming birds. I for one really do appreciate you going to the trouble to make the pictures of the trees for us. Thanks buddy.
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How in the world do you find the time to do all you do? There is never a dull moment around your home buddy, there is so much to see, hear about and do it is unreal. That log with the metal in it looks like a real hazard, that could make a nasty hole in a boat especially loaded heavy like your's is at times.
Your rail turned out absolutely gorgeous, Keith. I knew it would but it looks even better than I envisioned. The SS cables will really top off your deck.
The bark on that tree is none like I have ever seen. The cedar down this way looks nothing like that. When the cedars here get close to that size the wind usually takes them down. When I first saw some of the huge Sequoia trees on TV it blew my mind, I just couldn't grasp a tree being that huge. To see one in person must be a real treat. I can't imagine a saw mill big enough to handle one of the giant logs. Man just think to get your hands on a 2 inch thick 5 or 6 foot wide slab off one of those bad boys, man o man.
A couple of times a year, we will see a logging truck heading up the highway with a single log on board. That would make it 8' wide. I'm not sure whether they cut the big guys up with a band or circular saw.
I think the vast majority of mills switched over to bandmills years ago. Less waste that way.
There's one big fir another couple of hundred yards past that one I posted. It is noticeably bigger, and when I get a photo of it I will measure it as well.
I forgot about the fir on our lot, it's not as big, but still a decent size. I'll get that one tomorrow as well.
Hey, if you're going to get a 5 or 6 foot wide slab, might as well make it 6" thick to be worthwhile!
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