Fire Update

Fall is making it's gradual transition to winter, but we have yet to
receive any significant rain and this at a time when firefighters
have been battling epic wildfires both in northern and southern
California.  As we have now seen, wildfires are now an ever present
danger not only to rural communities, but also to suburbia as we saw
in the Sonoma fires last year.  To add insult to injury, (so to
speak) it appears the Woolsey fire in SoCal May Have Ejected
"Incredibly Dangerous" Radioactive Particles Into The Atmosphere.
Sigh...


https://tinyurl.com/ybxd2gd4


Cal Fire recommends 100' of defensible space around the dwelling and
I intend to hold firm to that recommendation.  In addition, it would
probably be wise to install a fire hose connection to the tank drain
valve so fire trucks can fill up if required.  Although we do not
have any trees over hanging the house, it is always wise to prune
away the low hanging branches up to around 8-10'.  As for the brush
that invariably grows during the rainy season, the venerable scythe
is the tool of choice.

https://tinyurl.com/y7honrdc

Most of the clearing will have to wait for the spring, but the
scythe really works it's magic when the grass is wet.  Consequently,
during the pauses between rain showers, I can cut the grass and
weeds down low and hopefully catch them before they start seeding.

Rodent Update

It appears our rodent abatement program has generated some results.
Unfortunately the result has most likely expired in one of the walls
or under the floor....pretty ripe. :-|

Well Update

Thus far the deep well is producing okay and keeping the tank full,
but we continue to be cautious about our water use.  As I had
mentioned in the last post, I turned off the the tank inlet valve
from the shallow well, so it has had about a week to recover.