February, 2020 - David Mathre Photography

Tuesday (18-February-2020) — New Jersey

Backyard Nighttime Winter Nature in New Jersey.

Opossum showed up on the patio.

Daily Electric Energy Used (66.8 kWh) from Sense Home Energy Monitor and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (19.2 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Mostly cloudy all day. A deficit of 47.6 kWh.

Current Weather Conditions

Monday (17-February-2020) — New Jersey

Outdoor Wintertime Nature in New Jersey. Signs of Spring.

When I woke up this morning, one of the “Images of the Day” that came up on my Echo Show was of a Purple Crocus flower. I went online to check the date, and found that the image was posted eight years ago 17-February-2012. After the sun came up, and it was warmer outside I went searching and found the Purple Crocuses had bloomed overnight. I didn’t see them the day before.

Early Purple Crocus Flower. Image taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 lens + 1.4x TCE (ISO 320, 112 mm, f/8, 1/280 sec). Copyright © 2020 David J. Mathre

Early Purple Crocus Flowers. Image taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 lens + 1.4x TCE (ISO 320, 112 mm, f/8, 1/250 sec). Copyright © 2020 David J. Mathre

Daily Electric Energy Used (67.7 kWh) from Sense Home Energy Monitor and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (49.4 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. More sun and warmer so the Geothermal HVAC didn’t have to work as hard. Still a deficit of 18.3 kWh.

Current Weather Conditions

Sunday (16-February-2020) — New Jersey

Indoor Wintertime Nature in New Jersey.

A Red Poppy flower opened this morning. The seed was planted 113 days ago in one of my indoor AeroGarden hydroponic gardens. I have been watching the bud for the last several day wondering when it would finally open — each day setting up a camera to record a time-lapse video.

Daily Electric Energy Used (78.4 kWh) from Sense Home Energy Monitor and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (32.5 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Not as much sun, but warmer so the Geothermal HVAC didn’t have to work as hard. Still a deficit of 45.9 kWh.

Weekly Electric Energy Used (536 kWh) from Sense Home Energy Monitor and Weekly Solar Electric Energy Produced (181 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Total deficit of 355 kWh. Usage should be going down now that the Server/Storage upgrade is complete. On days that the sky is clear more power is being generated as the sun gets higher above the horizon.

Current Weather Conditions

Saturday (15-February-2020) — New Jersey

Backyard Wintertime Nature in New Jersey.

Winter birds (Blue Jay, Northern Cardinal, Tufted Titmouse, and Mourning Dove) at and around the feeder on a cold morning. They all left when a couple of Turkey Vultures landed in a nearby tree to warm in the morning sun.

Daily Electric Energy Used (96.1 kWh) from Sense Home Energy Monitor and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (51.0 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Sunny most of the day. Another high for the most solar energy produced this winter. Still not enough to completely power everything in the house especially since was really cold out and the Geothermal HVAC system was running almost continuously. A deficit of 45.1 kWh.

Current Weather Conditions

Friday (14-February-2020) — New Jersey

Valentine’s Day Special

German Chocolate, Strawberries, and Hot Peppers. The Strawberries were grown in my indoor AeroGarden hydroponic farm. Also the flowers (Dianthus, Snapdragon, Coreopsis, Zinnia) are growing in the hydroponic farm. The Red Poppy flower didn’t quite open in time.

Valentine Special -- Chocolate, Strawberries, and Hot Peppers. Image taken with a Leica TL2 camera and 35 mm f/2 lens (ISO 1250, 35 mm, f/16, 1/320 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE) — Valentine’s Day Special — Chocolate, Strawberries, and Hot Peppers. Image taken with a Leica TL2 camera and 35 mm f/2 lens (ISO 1250, 35 mm, f/16, 1/320 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)

Click on the above image to access my PhotoShelter Gallery with the individual images in the following slideshow.

Images from Valentine’s Day Past

Turkey Vulture. Image taken with a Nikon D5 Camera and 600 mm f/4 VR lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)

Sunrise Breakfast Club. Photographer looking into the sun for birds. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 23 mm f/2 lens (ISO 200, 23 mm, f/16, 1/125 sec) (David J Mathre)

Sunrise Breakfast Club. Silhouette sunrise portrait. MV World Odyssey At Sea. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 23 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 200, 23 mm, f/10, 1/4000 sec) (David J Mathre)

Reflections of the Sunrise Breakfast Club. MV World Odyssey At Sea. Image taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 23 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 200, 23 mm, f/16, 1/15 sec) (David J Mathre)

Lonely Trees on Balsfjorden Near Tromsø. Image taken with a Leica X2 camera (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/8, 1/100 sec). In camera B&W. (David J. Mathre)

Northern Lights in Norway. Image taken with a Nikon D800 and 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 3200, 16 mm, f/2.8, 2 sec).. (David J Mathre) — Northern Lights in Norway. Image taken with a Nikon D800 camera and 16 mm f/2.8 fisheye lens (ISO 3200, 16 mm, f/2.8, 2 sec).. (David J Mathre)

Daily Electric Energy Used (77.4 kWh) from Sense Home Energy Monitor and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (45.5 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Lots of sun, but much colder outside. A deficit of 31.9 kWh.

Current Weather Conditions