David's Images of the Day Photoblog
Daily Walkabout: I came upon a pair of Trolls that found a large Mushroom rising from the pile of black wood chip mulch.
Daily Electric Energy Used (57.2 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (69.3 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Load of laundry (4.4 kWh) adding to the total used. Daily net surplus 12.1 kWh.
Current Weather Conditions
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Daily Walkabout. Still hot and humid outside. The high was 93 °F with a heat index of 108 °F according to my personal weather station. Clouds developed and ultimately more thunderstorms (two days in a row) with 1.08 inches of rain over the two days. A large number of mushrooms popped up overnight, and I was able to get an image of the Troll mushroom farmers guarding their crop.
Daily Power Use (78.0 kWh) from Sense and Solar Production (65.6 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. The WaterFurnace geothermal HVAC system is able to maintain the indoor temperature at 74-76 °F using ~35 kWh of electricity. My previous 30 year old central A/C unit would not have been able to maintain the indoor temperature below 85 °F with outdoor temperatures above 90 °F and used significantly more electricity. Granted, I now have better insulation, an attic fan, and more efficient French doors.
Current Weather Conditions
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The extended Troll Family had its Autumn Mushroom Jamboree to celebrate a better than expected crop. They also were discussing their DNA Ancestry results: (77.2% Norwegian, 10.9% British & Irish, 10.2% Broadly Northwestern European, 0.7% German & French, 0.5% Eastern European, 0.2% Broadly European). Pretty much where the Vikings traveled.
Today was the second day in a row that the sun showed itself. Several young bucks with new antlers paraded through the yard. They appear to like to eat the acorns that have fallen onto the driveway. The ground is still very wet with mushrooms popping up every night. I caught one of the house trolls admiring the two types of mushrooms. For the last several days, I have been seeing some rather large spiders in the garden. Today, I got images of one with a funnel like web. The other one had an egg sack the size of a marble that was attached to its posterior. Finally, I still have a number of flowers and wildflowers in bloom. Behind an electric fence to keep the deer away.
Individual images from the slideshows can be viewed here.
With all of the rain we have been having, the Trolls are happy because mushrooms are starting to pop-up.
Individual images from theses slide shows can be viewed here.