Technology - David Mathre Photography

Friday (05-November-2021) — New Jersey

Autumn Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

Birds of the day viewed at the birdfeeder and in the backyard: Black-capped Chickadee, House Finch, Dark-eyed Junco.

Birds of the day. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Time-lapse videos working outdoors and using Red Rover. 1) Switching front loader on Red Rover to pallet forks, filling Red Rover with diesel (5 gallons after 12 hours of use), moving the pallet of wood delivered by Home Depot. The pallet was too heavy for Red Rover to lift. I had to transfer four sheets of 4′ by 8′ of plywood to a different pallet, then move the pallet. The remaining eight sheets of 4′ by 8′ of plywood were transferred on Red Rover’s forks to the plywood pallet. The remaining 4″ by 4″ and 2″ by 4″ posts remained to be moved on another day. 2) Building Storage Logic (10′ x 10′) storage shed 2. This time was faster and easier than the first storage shed. Experience, and no wind. Still it took longer that the 2 hours for 2 people to assemble the shed…

Daily Electric Energy Used (57.7 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (28.3 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Mostly sunny. The Geothermal furnace is now on to heat the house. Indoor temperature set to 64° F. Deficit of 29.4 kWh.

Wednesday (03-November-2021) — New Jersey

Autumn Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

Time-lapse videos using Red Rover, my new Massey Ferguson GC1725M Compact Garden Tractor from the local dealer Belle Mead Garage. So much easier moving the black mulch. It would have taken me two plus weeks to move it manually. Wish I got a compact tractor 30 years ago…

Daily Electric Energy Used (54.6 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (29.6 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Mostly sunny. The Geothermal furnace is now on to heat the house. Indoor temperature set to 64° F. Deficit of 25.0 kWh.

Thursday (28-October-2021) — New Jersey

Autumn Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

As you can see in the pictures, the autumn leaves are falling. Red Rover, my new Massey Ferguson GC1725M compact garden tractor was delivered. In addition to the front loader, mid-powered mower, and backhoe I got the powered front blade, post-hole auger, rototiller, and forklift blades. The fork lift blades would have been helpful yesterday for moving the Deer Fence pallets closer to the house. But still would not have been able to handle the 8 foot wide 2000+ pound pallets.

Red Rover (Massey Ferguson GC1725M Compact Garden Tractor) Delivery. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Before the new tractor arrived a Little Planet time-lapse video of moving deer fence pipes.

Then a Little Planet time-lapse video of the tractor arrival, getting orientated on how to operate the tractor, some practice moving pallets, and removing the Back Hoe attachment.

Daily Electric Energy Used (42.2 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (30.0kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Sunny most of the day. Deficit of 12.2 kWh.

Wednesday (27-October-2021) — New Jersey

Autumn Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

As you can see in the pictures, the autumn leaves are falling. I’ve ordered the materials to install a deer fence around the property. Everything shipped last Thursday from Pennsylvania and arrived early Friday morning at a Carteret, NJ. Even though the tracking info indicated delivery Friday by 5 PM, nothing was delivered. Finally, on Tuesday I got a phone call that the delivery would be between 1 and 4 PM on Wednesday. The UPS LTL (less than truckload) truck arrived, but there was a problem. The 4 pallets were very heavy, and two were 8 feet wide. The driver did his best, but some of the steel poles had to be manually unloaded from the truck. A bit later, another truck arrived to deliver a DR Power half-ton tow-behind trailer. That was easier to unload. Some assembly required.

Deer Fence Delivery. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Daily Electric Energy Used (41.9 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (9.2 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Cloudy most of the day. Deficit of 20.7 kWh.

Friday (16-April-2021) — New Jersey

Springtime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

Visitors backyard and the patio birdfeeder: Turkey Vulture, Song Sparrow, Northern Cardinal. The Turkey Vultures were back on the patio. Initially, trying to get the apple in the “Havahart” trap. Fortunately, they are too big to fit in the trap. One of them roosted a while on the sensor for my new WS-5000 backyard personal weather station. Unlike my previous weather station, the combination sensor for this weather station has no moving parts. It uses an array of ultrasonic sensors to determine wind direction and velocity. Since there are no moving parts, the vendor provides metal spikes to install on the sensor to repel birds. The Turkey Vulture didn’t read the manual. The vendor now recommends finding a commercial odorant that repels Vultures. Fortunately, the weather station is still working — and can be accessed via Weather Underground.

Daily backyard visitors. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Turkey Vulture (portrait mode). Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Turkey Vulture (landscape mode). Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Early spring flowers blooming: White fruit tree (cherry, pear, crabapple???)

Early Spring Flowers. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Late planting starter seeds in the indoor AeroGarden Farm for the outdoor GrowTowers (Part 1). Seeds planted this year include Arugula, Butter Head Lettuce, Black Seed Simpson Lettuce, Collard Greens, Kale, Mustard, Spinach, Swiss Chard, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Cucumber, Summer Squash (Saffron), Zucchini (Black Beauty, Emerald Delight).

Daily Electric Energy Used (43.7 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (43.3 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Sun and clouds. GeoThermal HVAC still on to heat the house. A deficit of 0.4 kWh.