Tag: 360 degree video

Saturday (24-August-2019) — New Jersey

Backyard Summertime Nature in New Jersey.

It was much cooler, so I spent the morning catching up on yard work. The electric fence (not charged yet) is already helping the Forsythia and Lilac shrubs we planted earlier this spring. They have new leaves that the deer haven’t nibbled. I am in the process of installing a drip hose to water both these shrubs and the daffodil patch (using rainwater collected in barrels). The grass hadn’t been mowed in two weeks, so that also had to be done. Also lots of mile-a-minute vine weeds needed to be pulled. The walkway from the front to the patio was overgrown with tall Cosmos and Sunflowers that needed to be trimmed back. Time-lapse video recorded with a Garmin VIRB-360 camera and the video processed with Photoshop CC (including the Little Planet view).

After the yard work I did my daily walkabout with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens. The deer wondered why I mowed their lawn. In addition to the last week being hot, we only got 0.42 inches of rain. The water level in the pond is way down. Kermit the Bullfrog was only partially submerged in the middle of the pond in a section that is normally a couple feet deep. I only saw one Hummingbird Clearwing moth (white legs) feeding on a Bee Balm flower. The only recent new flower is a bright red Indian Paintbrush. Finally a beat up Monarch butterfly.

Fawn and Doe. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 400, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/400 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)
Fawn and Doe. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 400, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/400 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)
Kermit the Bullfrog in the Pond. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 800, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/200 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)
Kermit the Bullfrog in the Pond. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 800, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/200 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)
Hummingbird Clearwing moth feeding on a Bee Balm flower. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 800, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/160 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)
Hummingbird Clearwing moth feeding on a Bee Balm flower. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 800, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/160 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)
Indian Paintbrush Flower. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 800, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/160 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)
Indian Paintbrush Flower. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 800, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/160 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)
Monarch Butterfly. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 400, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/1000 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)
Monarch Butterfly. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V3 camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 400, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/1000 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)

Daily Electric Energy Used (48.2 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (71.9 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Cooler outside and the sun was out most of the day for a net surplus of 23.7 kWh. Laundry used 3.7 kWh.

One note — the WaterFurnace Symphony software indicated the system used 3 kWh, however the Sense Energy monitor indicated that the geothermal heat pump used 5.4 kWh. I tend to believe the Sense numbers since they more closely the energy being recorded at the external power company (PSE&G) meters. I’ve asked the WaterFurnace folks in the past about the discrepancy, but they didn’t have a good answer. The Sense folks told me they thought that the WaterFurnace/Symphony system was only measuring one phase of the energy even though the system is powered by the 220V circuit (using two phases). I wish an electrical engineer that understands this better would correct me here.

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Thursday (08-November-2018) — New Jersey

Home Cooking: Apple – Pomegranate Crisp.

A friend told me she just made Apple Crisp, and ate the batch in one sitting. It made me hungry. I checked the kitchen, and found the ingredients. The recipe is modified from many sources: First I peeled, cored, dewormed, and sliced eight slightly bruised apples. I added the juice of one lime to prevent the apples from browning, then the seeds from one pomegranate. The apple slices and pomegranate seeds were layered into a buttered glass casserole dish (8 x 13 inch). While preparing the topping, the oven was preheated to 375° F (190° C). I prepared the topping from sprouted wheat flour (3/4 cup), rolled oats (3/4 cup), maple syrup (1/2 cup), walnut oil (1/4 cup), cinnamon powder (1 tbs), clove powder (1 tsp), ginger powder (1 tsp), and nutmeg powder (1 tsp). The topping ingredients were mixed by hand and then layered over the apple slices and pomegranate seeds. The batch was baked in the preheated 375° F oven for 45 minutes (until the topping was brown and crispy). I had a hard time waiting for it to cool down to eat.

Time-Lapse Video (Little Planet View): Preparation of Apple-Pomegranate Crisp.  Images recorded with a Garmin VIRB-360 camera.

Thanks to Chloé for the suggestion to use Maple Syrup and Walnut Oil.