Awake: 6:11am Temp 42 sleep 6+57 overcast overnight @ Nicktown.
K & I attend 8:00 am Mass & then join the KK for about an hr; hot topic: Groundhogs again; the damage they cause, how to catch them, how to get rid of them, etc. Afterward we visit the Krumenacker Hardware store to purchase more flags to continue marking those tree stumps in our lower field.
Late morning, Zack calls from Seattle: a rather large truck had a run in with his car being driven by his girlfriend, Katie, while turning onto a narrow street. For a few yrs now, Zack has retained his up-front, passenger side, wrinkled fender; now his car is balanced with the drivers rear fender also wrinkled. Luckily KT has her own insurance & the police report has the truck driver definitely @ fault. Zack’s question to us: shouldn’t Katie & Zack’s insurance agent work for them in getting after the insured truck driver’s company for remuneration? We most definitely agreed.
Earlier @ the KK meeting, experts Bill M. & John B. released a few important tips on getting rid of Groundhogs; I decide to try one of their methods this afternoon. 1st, I carry a water hose, shovel, strike anywhere matches & about (2) gallons of diesel fuel to the suspected underground enemy area.
The enemy has (3) escape exits all within (20) ft. Keeping that in mind, I fill the (10) ft hose with diesel fuel, lay it aside; then soak (2) dried pieces of firewood, set then on fire & position them in each hole burning vigorously. Next I take the water hose, now filled with diesel fuel & having one end of the hose shut off, I maneuver the other end down into the main (most active) exit attempting to get the hose in as far as possible; then let the hose drain the diesel fuel into the groundhog’s compound as far as possible, pulling it out to leave a trail of fuel. Once out, I ignite the main exit & pour more fuel on each of the (3) holes to keep the heat on. I kept the heat on above the compound for @ least an hr….until the diesel fuel gage read empty.
When the smoke cleared, I blocked all (3) exits, made sure all fires were out, then carted my equipment back to the coach. I’ll be monitoring that area for activities as the days go forward.
Dinner: leftover tuna stoup with couscous, broccoli & bread.
Evening time: Nick calls on Skype; for whatever reason, signals were b-a-d. We were getting the cell phone ready for a backup when he managed to get the message thru that we should talk on our landline so we can both talk; dah! Good idea. We spent close to an hr on the phone while watching little Jerry on video as we talked about his 2nd birthday celebration tomorrow & his latest achievements. The package I mailed on Mon arrived in time for Jerry’s birthday. The video was choppy @ times but still reasonably good enough to watch.
Movie tonight: cancelled…due to more important entertainment watching & talking with Nick, Eriko, & Jerry.
High temp=63 Lights out: 11:32pm
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