Skip to content

DennisDerrick

Sol Farms Weather

    The weather geek in me decided to invest in personal weather station. I’ve been fascinated with weather since I was in grade school in the 60’s. So in my 60’s now I decided to get my own station. Ended up getting a Ecowitt system with rain gauge, anmometer, indoor and outdoor humidity and temp, and barametric pressure. Photos below. Online I’ve hooked up to the Weather Underground and our station information shows up here: https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/pws/KINAVON48 There are other options available so I might be adding… Read More »Sol Farms Weather

    The Old Back Tree

      One of the features of our old house is the trees, some that were there when I purchased the home, many I’ve planted over the past 20+ years. One tree, a hardwood maple, that stood out because it nicely shaded the back porch. In the summer of 2000 it was damaged in a storm (I wasn’t home so I missed the excitement). Matt’s Tree Service trimmed it the best he could and it hung in there for many more years. Slowly the damaged area slowly… Read More »The Old Back Tree

      Spring Flower Show

        Some spring beauty from around the homestead in 2019. The peonies have been growing in front of the home for many years. They were there in 1996 when I purchased the home. I’ve been told previous owners planted them many years ago. But each year they come up and bloom around Labor Day. The decorative bird houses I made with scrap wood and added this year. The daffodils I planted not long after I moved in the 90’s and have always been the first to… Read More »Spring Flower Show

        Smoked Meatloaf

          After a few years of smoking various meats on my Weber Smokey Mountain smoker I decided to try a simple (low cost) option and smoked meatloaf; 3 parts ground beef and 1 part ground pork. A few seasonings and customized BBQ sauce and it was delicious! Definately will be tweaking this receipe for future smokes! Previous Next Home Page

          In The Year 1949

            What a time to be alive! 4 years aftre the end of WWW II everything was looking rosy to this young couple, my mom & dad. They were still dating at the time as they didn’t get married until 1950. Maybe they went to a dance and heard the then popular songs: A Little Bird Told Me by Evelyn Night, That Lucky Old Sun by Frankie Laine and Riders in the Sky by Vaughn Monroe. Or went to see one of the new movies in the day: Samson and Delilah, On The… Read More »In The Year 1949

            New Hobby ~ Hydroponics

              I’ve been growing gardens for years and have narrowed down my crops based on what we like to eat. Mostly tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, various salid lettuces and herbs. Now I’ve decided to see about growing year around and taking a stab at hydroponics. Just started harvesting the first batch of lettuce as we are about to get our first hard freeze (ending the remaining crops in the garden). The lettuce was great on Taco Tuesday! Lots of info on the Internet and YouTube videos so… Read More »New Hobby ~ Hydroponics

              Installed our own Bathouse!

                Made with scrap wood I had in the workshop. Based on some plans I found on the Internet. 3 chambers/levels could hold up to 30 bats. We’ll see.

                Making The House Bird Friendly

                  Over the years I’ve piddled around in my workshop during cold weather and found making birdhouses from mostly scrap wood to be fun. In my latest version I also made them a decorative addition to This Old Dump on both the front and back porches. I think they turned out pretty cool and birds actually like and use them as well which surprised me. Of course I had to paint them to match the house.

                  Our GSD vs. A Pillow

                    Playing around with some new video software and made this from some security video I had. Guess who wins..