Autumn WinSol update

Note: This year has so many unpredictable moves to it and uncertainties along with record breaking trifectas that our grandchildren will be talking about 2020 - hopefully.  OR this is just the beginning.... nahhh  no fear mongering here (please!) 

June-August was not bad at WinSol. And then it was. We were smoke free until mid August which started a 2 week  record  breaking heatwave that lasted into mid-September. I recorded the highest temp ever here at 95F for several days. But the morning low of 77F was the real kicker – another new record. How can one cool a house down passively when the outdoor environment is so hot?  (answer below) The bedroom has extra polystyrene insulation and double curtains on all the windows. The homemade swamp cooler (4 computer fans blowing cold air from a small water pump) was a godsend!  

Considering all the fires around California, it was sheer luck that we didn't have

much smoke or a close-by fire.  With cell towers and internet going down occasionally, I'm getting into GMRS (modern ham radio) base station and a portable unit to monitor USFS and Cal Fire first responders and stay in touch with local radio operators - there's quite a few!   The portable one will also help on trail work projects and if nothing else, provide entertainment listening to far away stuff.

Yesterday i saw a beautiful rattlesnake - second sighting in twenty years.  Once i got over my initial reaction and realized how beneficial and 'sweet' they are - well, I made peace with it.  They are great at keeping rodents and insects down and don't want to have anything to do with humans - their rattle warning gives us plenty of time to stay away - i just need to make sure I don't put my hand or feet next to a log/rock/stuff in the mornings when they are sleeping. I remember picking strawberries at the Plymouth house many years ago and plucked a few berries right next (like 2" away) from a sleeping rattler - they are so well camouflaged. 


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The main 'new' project this year was to build a new tiled deck, cinderblock wall to enlarge parking area and a ski bench.  I'll try to post some pictures - very cool looking and functional.  

But the bigger project was to pull off the entire 3800sf green metal roof, remove all insulation, clean it up, put down borate/baking soda/ant traps and some wasp spray around the edges.  And then re-assemble all the roof panels, ready for monsoonal rains, 100+mph winds and 5+' of snow.   It's all done, and I have no injuries from 40 days of ladder climbing and roof walking.

Turns out there were little openings in the 2x6 steel perimeter joists where wasps got in and made nests.  After they abandoned them, rats squeezed in with their nests and then thousands of ants followed after the rats abandoned their nests.  The end result was three years of fine white dust raining through the inside ceilings and other areas from the ants chewing on the polystyrene insulation.

WinSol has been chemical free until now.  There's no way I want this wasp/rat/ant scenario to repeat so I'm placing ant traps and using wasp spray every spring to deter them.

Water wise it's been a good year.  I still have over 3,000 gallons left and it should start raining any day now.  I did a big 'oops' in the spring with the greenhouse 2500 gallon tank by leaving a valve open and draining the whole tank.  Luckily there was another rain storm and I got about 800 gallons in there which I gingerly used all summer.  Hot showers turned into navy showers to save water.

Vegie/Fruit wise it was not a good year except for grapes and blackberries.  The late April snow storm (4.5ft of wet, heavy snow) cracked half of the fruit trees and stripped all the blossoms.  I got twice as many grapes tho as last year - over 500 globes, and the usual incessant blackberries - delish!  Minimal vegies - just too much work in the summer, but there's quite a few autumn/winter crops ready - kale, beets, brocilli, ++.  

The learning center is still on hiatus, although an AirBnB room is ready to go whenever I feel up to it.  


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In California the Bay Area saw 11,000 dry lightning strikes in mid-August igniting over 700 fires which turned into three ‘complex’ fires one of which is still burning – the Mendocino Complex now over 1.1 million acres (giving it the first ‘giga’fire label). That on top of a COVID19 pandemic that’s keeping us socially and mentally distanced. And several counties have their power shutoff for days at a time during hi-dry-wind events.

Meanwhile life at WinSol has been pretty normal. We’ve been sitting in a sweet spot regarding fires and smoke. There were only 2 weeks of some light smoke, two days of ashes from the Creek Fire (which ignited northeast of Fresno and is still burning… 300,000 acres over the Sierra Crest and 10 miles from Mammoth Lakes now) which sent smoke plumes up over 50,000 feet – another first.

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