Good Morning All, from Animal Kingdom central. Partly cloudy and a cooler 71° this morning. While it is still going to be in the 90's for the next few months, we're in for overnight lows in the upper 60's for a few days. Had to run the A/C at night for the past three days. Of course the NWS has been notoriously wrong on their high temperature forecast for at least a week, it has actually been cooler than predicted; yesterday was 88° instead of the 93° that was in the forecast. That 5° really made a difference.
I am continuing the task of mulching the garden and erecting tomato cages. It's not going as quickly as I would like.
I did pick a nice head of Romaine Lettuce yesterday. The picture doesn't do it justice.
It is actually 14" tall but that picture didn't turn out well.
So another critter that appeared yesterday that was slowly making its way across the yard near the wildflower meadow.
A big juicy crayfish. I have had their "chimneys" bend lawnmower blades in the past when I ran over them. I am more careful now.
Thanks to all who liked or responded yesterday;
James, Karl, Guy, Tom O, Steve J, Joe, Sherrel, Patrick, Hughie, Dave B, Louis, Jaz, Curt, IB Ken, Rick, Gary, Mikey.
Out in the train shed yesterday, I set the rehab structure to one side to dry and decided to start a new structure, DPM's 1 st National Bank.
All that I did yesterday was remove all of those tabs and file all adjoining walls and bases flat. If you have built one of their structures before, you know what I mean.
OB Ken - What kind of wasps are you having trouble with. Other than Yellow Jackets, sometimes known as Paper Wasps, most wasps do not attack or sting humans. At least not the ones that populate my area. Bees can react differently.
Todd - Where I am at, the property tax appraiser have been both lax and quick to notice stuff. I don't need any permits for either building or installing stuff, so it's all visual. When I initially moved on to this property in 1981, I did all of the right stuff at the tax office which included the deeds for the house and land. For the first seven years, I was only taxed at $91/year. Then one day the appraiser knocked on my door, quite surprised that there was a house here. We talked and I showed him my deed with the county clerk's signature and seal on it, as well as my approved homestead exemption. He admitted that it was their fault that I was only paying taxes on 15 acres of agricultural land! He said that my taxes would go up now that he knew that there was a house there, but they couldn't go back for past due taxes. In the end, they went up to nearly $600/yr. They are now $798/yr for a four bedroom house, 15 acres, barn and the train shed. They caught the train shed when they used Google Maps. They initially charged it as a residence and I had her (tax appraiser) come out and verify that there was no plumbing so it didn't qualify as a residence. She reluctantly fixed it. Meanwhile even though I never needed any inspections or permits, all of my electrical and most of my plumbing meets all standard codes. My septic does not, but has worked for 41 years. All were installed by me.
Ken (D&J) - Income plays no role in senior exemption from property taxes here in Texas. Since we have no state income tax, they wouldn't know anyway.
My experience is that a raccoon in a trap wants no part of you when released. They immediately RUN out and away. As smart as they are, they don't associate you with the trap that they have been in; in my case it was probably 8 or more hours.
Guy - I'm seeing temperatures in the 90's, running the A/C, and getting ready to open the pool, and you are posting pictures of snow in the yard!!!
Tom O - There was enough tax protest in our county, that we had a rollback election that passed in 2010.
Joe - I have another of these Victorian houses that while needing detailing, doesn't require the repairs, quite minor actually. I'll be rehabbing the other one soon, but another project first.
Mike - Get well soon.
Hughie - You're a braver man than me, grabbing a raccoon!
Jeff - That's interesting that you have laws against relocating raccoons. Where are you?
Gary - Like
Todd posted, it does take the chickens time to get used to new surroundings, and they have to be mature enough to lay eggs.
Todd - I didn't bother with plucking the chickens or ducks, I just ripped the skin off and the feathers came with it.
Interesting about the hearing aid battery. I no longer use the ones that use the 312 batteries, but the 13's that I use look the same.
Everybody have a wonderful day.
