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.
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.
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.
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.
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’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)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)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 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.
Stink Bug on a Mustard leaf. One of the indoor pests that try to eat the greens I am growing in my AeroGarden hydroponic farm. Focus stacked composite of fifty images taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens (ISO 640, 80 mm, f/16, 1/60 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and Helicon Focus.
Stink Bug on a Mustard Leaf. Focus stacked composite of 50 images taken with a Fuji X-T3 camera and 80 mm f/2.8 macro lens (ISO 640, 80 mm, f/16, 1/60 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and Helicon Focus. (DAVID J MATHRE)
Daily Electric Energy Used (72.8 kWh) from Sense Home Energy Monitor and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (3.2 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Cloudy all day. A deficit of 69.6 kWh.
