Month: October 2021

Sunday (31-October-2021) — New Jersey

Autumn Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

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


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

Time-lapse video continuing the inventory of the Deer Fence supplies from Benner Deer Fence. The supplies were organized into storage containers, then the cardboard cut up for recycling.

Daily Electric Energy Used (41.8 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (22.0 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Sun and clouds. Deficit of 19.8 kWh.

Weekly Electric Energy Used (292 kWh) from Sense. Weekly Solar Electric Energy Produced (142 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Deficit of 150 kWh.

Monthly Electric Energy Used (1322 kWh) from Sense. Monthly Solar Electric Energy Produced (775 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Deficit of 547 kWh.

Saturday (30-October-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.


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

During the rain and wind storm last night the two of the tie-down stakes holding the storage shed I assembled yesterday pulled out of the ground. According to my weather station, the wind gusted to nearly 30 mph during the night. I should have tied the shed to the pallet with a ton of steel pipes for the deer fence.

Storage Shed off base. (David J Mathre)
Storage Shed blown off base. Image taken with a Leica CL camera and 23 mm f/2 lens. (David J Mathre)

In addition to resetting the Storage Shed, projects for the day included assembling two workbenches and moving/inventorying the steel pipe for the deer fence.

Daily Electric Energy Used (43.6 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (23.4 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Sun and clouds. Deficit of 20.2 kWh.

Friday (29-October-2021) — New Jersey

Autumn Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

Birds of the day viewed at the birdfeeder and in the backyard: Downy Woodpecker, Black-capped Chickadee, House Finch.


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

Images of a new solar-powered water fountain in the birdbath at different exposures/shutter speeds (1/100, 1/30, 1/13, 1/8 sec).


Water Fountain in a Birdbath. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Today I figured out how to attach a rear weight and tool box to the 3-point connection on the rear of Red Rover. It took a while to figure things out, and I can see I need to get a variety of pins to hold the connectors. Also, I couldn’t adjust the turnbuckle on the 3-point hitch stabilizer chains. The jam bolt was “jammed” too tight. Will probably need to take it off and put the turnbuckle onto a vice. Job for another day. Then moved the last of the deer fence pipes from the metal pallet.

Assembling the Shelter Logic “Shed in a Box” Storage Shed on a windy day. The first thing the hieroglyphic assembly instructions show is two people, and that it can be completed in 2 hours. By myself, it took a lot longer…

Daily Electric Energy Used (39.2 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (12.5 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Cloudy most of the day. Deficit of 26.7 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.