If you told me I was going to die tomorrow…

…and you also told me I could create my last day as I wished, that day would look pretty much like this particular winter Sunday. The snow from a couple days ago was still, light, fluffy, and on the trees. The sun was shining brightly. The air temperature was close enough to zero to be able to work outside in a heavy sweater, “no jacket required”. The birds were chirping happily as they unloaded the feeder behind the wood shed. And the best part of all: a couple hours of splitting logs…

Magical Mindful Moments

Chickadee about to land on feeder perch.

Some “real” winter has finally returned to the area the last couple days and, with about 6 inches of snow on the ground, that’s pretty much the most so far this winter! It sure is the talk of the town what an “easy” winter it’s been so far. Along with the snow, it was on the cold side today so I went out to replenish the bird feeders. Chickadees (you will know either from your own experience or from reading previous posts on this blog) are brazen and tough little birds with a lot of gumption. I had barely rehung the feeder on the stand when they were starting to stage themselves in a nearby tree to start what seems like a tag-team effort at emptying the seed. I set down the seed bucket and stood motionless watching them, standing just 2 or 3 feet from the feeders. At first they flew close to the feeder then backed off, then flittered about closer still, and then figured it was safe enough to land on the perch and grab a seed. It was a wonderful sight and, even moreso, a magical sound to hear  their wings fluttering against the still silence of a winter afternoon.

AOV: Animals Only Video

I continue to get great value and enjoyment from my TrailCam. Sometimes I set it up where I have seen tracks. It sure is a fun way to take stock of the wildlife I rarely see, even if they often see me. Most recently, I tried experimenting with the video option in a small clearing at the end of the red trail by the creek. I was rewarded with four videos! My favourite is below. It has recorded quite a few deer so far. Next, I’m going to work at capturing images of other animals by experimenting with different locations and mounting positions. (There’s more than one deer… watch the background too.)

 

Bottom Line: Weather Calls the Shots

You've heard of Chimney Sweeps; how about Solar Panel Sweeps?

It was a cold night, down to -20°C (not factoring in wind-chill). The early morning brought only slight improvement but the sky was clear (one of the reasons behind the cold night since dense clouds hold in some “heat”) so, fortified with coffee, I suited up and climbed the ladder to clear the rooftop solar panels of snow. I had already removed snow from them a couple times during yesterday’s snow squalls, leaving just a light coating remaining. With direct sun, eventually the snow would have melted off on its own as the dark panels absorbed today’s sun rays.  So why do a task that would have been taken care of on its own?

Christmas Greetings from Peacock Forest

Wishing Blog Readers a Merry Christmas and Happy, Peaceful New Year

Your Electricity Meter Maid

The "price" of heat: woodstove blower fan sucking 78 watts... like turning on 7 compact flourescent lamps

For the next week, if you go to your local Crappy Tire store you can buy your very own energy meter on sale for less than $20, including taxes! I first used one of these several months ago when I was shopping for a television. The basic deal with this gadget is that you plug it into the wall outlet, then plug anything that uses electricity into the meter and it will tell you how much power it uses, in amps or watts. I recall walking around the local big-box electronics store, reaching behind TVs so I could plug in the meter to get a reading. The sales guy was a little suspicious (read: worried) at first. But then I explained what it was and might even have impressed him when I demonstrated how adjusting the TV settings affects power consumption. In the end I did also buy a TV… a Toshiba 32” with LED backlight that, with adjustments to brightness and backlighting, sipped a mere 27 watts… not even as much as 3 compact fluorescent bulbs or only half as much as an old-school 50 watt incandescent bulb.

Night Moves in the Forest

  

I continue to enjoy my TrailCam—I think I’m going to get great value from this gadget, which is certainly more than I can say for some of the electronics I’ve bought over the years. The pictures above are from its mounting location over the past week, which has been at the corner of the yellow trail leading from the barn foundation down the “pine tunnel” and over to the orange trail. Not the best pics, but my very first night pics so I thought I would post them! The infrared “flash” does a good job of illuminating what is there without actually making a bright white flash (it’s just 20 LEDs that glow red). Click on any photo to enlarge. My best guess about the one on the left is a deer snout… what do you think?? If you have a suggestion or clever caption, post it as a comment.

Oh deer, you caught me!

On trail between house and guest cabin

A little while back, as a birthday indulgence, I bought myself a Trail Camera. These things are mainly used by hunters to help them find places that wildlife hang out. My purpose is to place it in different areas of the property to help take stock of the animals. I’ve always had a feeling that deer and coyotes see (or hear, or smell) me a lot more often than I do them. You attach the TrailCam to a tree and when it senses both heat and movement for a specified period of time it snaps off a picture. It works day or night. At night it uses an infrared “flash” so they are not spooked by a blast of white light. It also date/time stamps the picture. It can also take video clips. I finally got around to setting it up last week and here is my first “capture”. This thing is going to be fun! Trespassers beware

Snow’n'Beans

First snow of 2011/12 season

Perhaps no big excitement as a blog post but each year I seem to like making official note of the first substantial (i.e., sticking around on the ground) snowfall of the season, so here it is. Over the course of the day on Friday, November 11th, about 3-4 inches fell… certainly more than just a dusting! It stuck around all day Saturday, which made for a luminous evening walk thanks to a full moon.

The World Without Us

For the most part, this blog is an account of my experiences in and around this small patch of nature I call PeacockForest, and the off-grid living that happens within its boundaries. Sometimes I have the need to post something only tangentially related, and this is one of them. I just finished up the last page of Alan Weisman’s The World Without Us. The book—an “eco-thriller” as New York Times Book Review referred to it—is an exploration of what the world