WinSol +

It's officially fall, and the weather is about to turn that way - well, actually more like early winter.  what is it with spring and fall lately?  hasn't mama nature heard that there's supposed to be 3 months of both? Let's stay on schedule big mama! why does an early winter suddenly snuff out summer?  Or a late winter snuff out an early Spring and kill all tree blossoms?    And, while I'm at it - why do we get spells of summer in mid winter sometimes?  We hardly ever get spells of winter in mid-summer?  what happened to equal opportunity mama? This week at WinSol, the temperature has dropped from morning lows in the low 70's to mid 50's.  the wind is picking up, birds are scattering and there's a storm in the air.  This is weird one since it's coming straight down from Canada over land - minimal moisture so they say for California. The Northwest - mucho snow! and ice.  Personally, I like SPRING.  Fall is OK, but it's kinda like the gri

Summertime and the livin' is easy... fish are jumpin...  well, not this summer and not for WinSol.  Yes, there are several very bright spots, but there are also some very downsides.  Let's start with the downers and then get to the uppers. Downers: August doldrums - an annual occurrence that keeps getting harder every year.  This year is less difficult than last year's doldrums (no wind, hi temps, hi humidity).  I didn't have to bring in the home-made evap cooler, i was able to cool off with cold showers and a little USB fan directly on my upper body.  Also, the extra layer of plastic window coverings on the 2nd floor seem to help.  the house has stayed cooler this summer.  AND the bedroom is even cooler - as long as I religiously open and close the windows timely.  The last couple days (sept 4-6) were the warmest mornings:  72F at 5am.  But the worse is over, it was 66F this morning with the delta & ocean breezes finally breaking down the eastern swirling mon