(Even if our local races are reaching critical mass, lol)
Instead, a summary of the home front:
First, the firewood chore is basically done. All that is left is burning off the raked up branches, leaves, and bark bits left from all the splitting. Yay! Everything is neatly stacked under the woodshed, and it's a weight off the mind knowing it's there and ready. I fired up the wood stove in the house a couple weeks ago when we had morning temps into the lower 20s. Naturally, it has since warmed up into second "Indian Summer", ha! We've had at least a week of temperatures into the 40s during the day, and above freezing at night. I'm loving it :)
Second, my silly chickens. The replacement layers have really kicked into gear the past two weeks, it's great. The past three days have provided us with 5 eggs a day-not bad for just 8 laying hens! (Having typed that, I do have to comment that I am not positive I actually own a total of eight replacement layers-it's possible I could have a roo in there, I don't know! Buff Orpingtons are supposed to be very quiet birds and indeed they are-but does that include the roos too? Who knows!) My older hens have stopped laying and one is molting. Luckily I have someone waiting to take them....their culture highly prizes free ranging type chickens. So here in a few weeks they'll be caught up and *poof*, off they'll go. My Yokohama pair I am keeping. They are pretty small birds and don't eat much and if the rooster drives me crazy due to his crowing, I can forgive him since he's blind on one side. Poor thing. The Yokohama hen is a delight, easily picked up and cuddled and a big hit with all the children that visit us.
We've pulled a bunch of panels out of the arena, to make a small round pen for winter use. This allows us to plow all the way around the perimeter over the winter, and aids greatly at breakup in the spring. I've pulled the chicken wire fence from around the garden and next year, I will use some of the extra panels I have stashed out back-that should keep errant moose from snacking on my vegetables.
A few weeks back, a good friend lost their home to a house fire. So, we ended up with some extra vehicles parked down below that could not be accommodated anywhere else. By chance, they have since moved in to the area, and it will be nice to do some visiting back and forth over the winter. It prompted me to check my own insurance coverage and thank heavens, we're okay on that.
So right now, we are in a holding pattern, waiting for the first real snow fall of the season. If we can squeak out another week, I'll be pleased-I still don't have my studded tires on yet, lol
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Monday, October 4, 2010
Summer was not quite over
The weather goddess smiled upon us here in Alaska.....we were gifted with nearly two full weeks of sunny skies-once the fog burned off, that is.
Some hay was put up, but most was wrapped for cattle, meaning another year of tight supply for horse owners. I have had to switch to round bales-something I have not done in many years, but we have mostly figured out how to cope with those. Luckily, there are several farms that managed to put up very nice rounds....nearly everyone that had the equipment, used proprionic acid (not sure this is the correct spelling) this year due to the weather.
On the home front, the greenhouse is mucked out and those items stacked and stowed. The seemingly never ending chore of firewood is continuing...one of these days it will all be done too, I hope! Moved the stock tank under the barn roof and plugged in the stock tank heater-yes, we've had some upper 20s mornings already, brrr! Today I need to pick up some OTC asthma/allergy meds for the old fart, because he has developed a nasty cough.
The chicken coop got its light onto a timer, and the insulated water bowl is in and working. They are still free to roam but when it's windy and cold, they tend to stay in the coop itself. Consequently, I am figuring out how to manage that many birds in a small space, even though two are ready for someone's stew pot. I think I need another three or four laying boxes and things should settle out okay in there.
We had a big wind storm a week or so ago, lots of people lost power. Ours was only off for a few hours over one night, but we lost at least 15 trees. Some, which were healthy, middle aged birch, literally snapped off about 15 feet up :( When the winds died down, my hub went around with the chain saw and took down the leaners and the broken ones. So that is yet more "wood chores" to deal with, hopefully before the first serious snowfall. Naturally, it's laying all over in pick up stick piles, complete with branches, ugh.
Over this past weekend, I spent my time processing. First, my in-laws had this season's salmon to smoke and can. They did the brining at their place, and then it came to us for drying and smoking. Once that was done it was a simple matter of stuffing jars and processing for the required time. 53 pints for them, and they are very pleased with the results. The last batch in the canners I just supervised and let my SIL do the work-she has been helping for years, and is now about ready to go it alone, I think.
After that, I canned up a bunch of moose stew. The moose came from a family members' big bull, that we helped cut and wrap last week. They were going to toss out the neck bones, etc, and we snagged onto them and put them in the freezer instead ;) My hub took a bunch of bones out and tended to roasting them for hours. This rends out a lot of the fat, and imparts a nice, rich flavor. After that, the bones went into our two largest stock pots and they simmered for at least six hours. Then a quick chill and the next day I was able to skim off the remaining fats easily. We added the stew basics-spuds, carrots and onions and very little else. It tasted very very good before it even went into the quart jars :)
Following that, I processed some of the local spuds I had picked up to use with the stew-and still have more to get done. I think I am down to about two canner loads of spuds, plus the box of local apples I got given yesterday. Oh and let's not forget all the high bush cranberries that I need to make up into cranberry ketchup this coming weekend.....
Eventually, I will be done.
Right?
Some hay was put up, but most was wrapped for cattle, meaning another year of tight supply for horse owners. I have had to switch to round bales-something I have not done in many years, but we have mostly figured out how to cope with those. Luckily, there are several farms that managed to put up very nice rounds....nearly everyone that had the equipment, used proprionic acid (not sure this is the correct spelling) this year due to the weather.
On the home front, the greenhouse is mucked out and those items stacked and stowed. The seemingly never ending chore of firewood is continuing...one of these days it will all be done too, I hope! Moved the stock tank under the barn roof and plugged in the stock tank heater-yes, we've had some upper 20s mornings already, brrr! Today I need to pick up some OTC asthma/allergy meds for the old fart, because he has developed a nasty cough.
The chicken coop got its light onto a timer, and the insulated water bowl is in and working. They are still free to roam but when it's windy and cold, they tend to stay in the coop itself. Consequently, I am figuring out how to manage that many birds in a small space, even though two are ready for someone's stew pot. I think I need another three or four laying boxes and things should settle out okay in there.
We had a big wind storm a week or so ago, lots of people lost power. Ours was only off for a few hours over one night, but we lost at least 15 trees. Some, which were healthy, middle aged birch, literally snapped off about 15 feet up :( When the winds died down, my hub went around with the chain saw and took down the leaners and the broken ones. So that is yet more "wood chores" to deal with, hopefully before the first serious snowfall. Naturally, it's laying all over in pick up stick piles, complete with branches, ugh.
Over this past weekend, I spent my time processing. First, my in-laws had this season's salmon to smoke and can. They did the brining at their place, and then it came to us for drying and smoking. Once that was done it was a simple matter of stuffing jars and processing for the required time. 53 pints for them, and they are very pleased with the results. The last batch in the canners I just supervised and let my SIL do the work-she has been helping for years, and is now about ready to go it alone, I think.
After that, I canned up a bunch of moose stew. The moose came from a family members' big bull, that we helped cut and wrap last week. They were going to toss out the neck bones, etc, and we snagged onto them and put them in the freezer instead ;) My hub took a bunch of bones out and tended to roasting them for hours. This rends out a lot of the fat, and imparts a nice, rich flavor. After that, the bones went into our two largest stock pots and they simmered for at least six hours. Then a quick chill and the next day I was able to skim off the remaining fats easily. We added the stew basics-spuds, carrots and onions and very little else. It tasted very very good before it even went into the quart jars :)
Following that, I processed some of the local spuds I had picked up to use with the stew-and still have more to get done. I think I am down to about two canner loads of spuds, plus the box of local apples I got given yesterday. Oh and let's not forget all the high bush cranberries that I need to make up into cranberry ketchup this coming weekend.....
Eventually, I will be done.
Right?
Friday, September 17, 2010
September summer
After nearly seven weeks straight of cool, cloudy and very wet weather, Mother Nature has blessed us with a true Indian summer. Beautifully clear sunny skies during the day, down to near freezing at night. We've had plenty of fog to go along with this welcome change, and I've been fortunate that it burns off quickly at home every day. In fact, they are forecasting record breaking temperatures tomorrow, wow!
The greenhouse is mucked out so this weekend all that is left to do is to hose down the benches and floors-and then stack everything back inside. This time, I will make sure that the items I will need for next spring, are near at hand and easy to access.
An very large cow moose helped herself to my cabbages, so I only managed to get four smaller ones put away for the winter. I made one last pass through the garden and scrounged up another half dozen zucchini's, and then we let the chickens loose. Talk about some happy birds! Oh my goodness, they are everywhere, scratching, sun bathing, making holes in the dirt and so forth. They even come when I call, the older birds knowing my call means "goodies" and the younger pullets following along. It can be quite the sight to see nearly a dozen chickens come stampeding your direction, lol! On a related note, next year we'll set up horse panels around the garden to stave off any forays by the local moose.
We've gotten the majority of the firewood cut, split, and stacked already. Still a pile to split and stack and I hope to get after that this weekend in the afternoons. In the mornings, I have been out hunting. Yep, that fat old broad on the four wheeler with a rifle in one hand, that would be me ;) My hub went hunting too, upriver at a cabin for five days....no luck at that time. He'll be back in town for the closing days and one can always hope. In the meantime, there is me. I made a huge newby mistake last weekend, though. I totally forgot I had binoculars in my pocket, and passed by an opportunity to shoot because I couldn't see details. You can be sure I won't be making that mistake again, lol I have a hunting partner and I'll be out as many times as I can manage this weekend, no matter what. Sleep can come later, right?
The biggest fall chore (aside from firewood, of course) is done as well....we have processed all the salmon, yippee! This year we made a very mild smoke, it is positively yummy. It's a three day project from beginning to end, and I think my hub gets better and better every year. All I know is folks seem to really look forward to our salmon, including the relatives down south. It's nice to see the jars in the pantry, that's for sure.....but gosh it is a lot of work.
Back to the weather.....well, with this long sunny stretch, a person would think that getting up decent hay would be easy, right? Sorry to disappoint, but that is not the case. Instead, it takes longer than the normal time, due to heavy dew and low lying fog every morning. It's been very still so there have not been any winds to help dry the hay. But I am optimistic that we'll have horse hay, instead of being in a near crisis situation. Now I am not so stressed about where I am going to find hay, whew!
Last night I managed to get some berry picking in, and have enough high bush cranberries for at least one batch. High bush cranberries are pretty much a family effort, and all the berries end up with me so that I can make cranberry ketchup for us all. Another one of those "all day long" projects but the results are marvelously tangy and flavorful.
Get out and enjoy the sunshine, everyone!
The greenhouse is mucked out so this weekend all that is left to do is to hose down the benches and floors-and then stack everything back inside. This time, I will make sure that the items I will need for next spring, are near at hand and easy to access.
An very large cow moose helped herself to my cabbages, so I only managed to get four smaller ones put away for the winter. I made one last pass through the garden and scrounged up another half dozen zucchini's, and then we let the chickens loose. Talk about some happy birds! Oh my goodness, they are everywhere, scratching, sun bathing, making holes in the dirt and so forth. They even come when I call, the older birds knowing my call means "goodies" and the younger pullets following along. It can be quite the sight to see nearly a dozen chickens come stampeding your direction, lol! On a related note, next year we'll set up horse panels around the garden to stave off any forays by the local moose.
We've gotten the majority of the firewood cut, split, and stacked already. Still a pile to split and stack and I hope to get after that this weekend in the afternoons. In the mornings, I have been out hunting. Yep, that fat old broad on the four wheeler with a rifle in one hand, that would be me ;) My hub went hunting too, upriver at a cabin for five days....no luck at that time. He'll be back in town for the closing days and one can always hope. In the meantime, there is me. I made a huge newby mistake last weekend, though. I totally forgot I had binoculars in my pocket, and passed by an opportunity to shoot because I couldn't see details. You can be sure I won't be making that mistake again, lol I have a hunting partner and I'll be out as many times as I can manage this weekend, no matter what. Sleep can come later, right?
The biggest fall chore (aside from firewood, of course) is done as well....we have processed all the salmon, yippee! This year we made a very mild smoke, it is positively yummy. It's a three day project from beginning to end, and I think my hub gets better and better every year. All I know is folks seem to really look forward to our salmon, including the relatives down south. It's nice to see the jars in the pantry, that's for sure.....but gosh it is a lot of work.
Back to the weather.....well, with this long sunny stretch, a person would think that getting up decent hay would be easy, right? Sorry to disappoint, but that is not the case. Instead, it takes longer than the normal time, due to heavy dew and low lying fog every morning. It's been very still so there have not been any winds to help dry the hay. But I am optimistic that we'll have horse hay, instead of being in a near crisis situation. Now I am not so stressed about where I am going to find hay, whew!
Last night I managed to get some berry picking in, and have enough high bush cranberries for at least one batch. High bush cranberries are pretty much a family effort, and all the berries end up with me so that I can make cranberry ketchup for us all. Another one of those "all day long" projects but the results are marvelously tangy and flavorful.
Get out and enjoy the sunshine, everyone!
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Summer's end
Well I sure haven't been putting much up here, since the advent of Facebook in my life. Shame on me, many people shun these social networking sites-and with pretty good reason. I have been very careful with interactions there for the most part, but I am finding it rather boring lately. I persist with Farmville (nope, no reason why, other than I want to finish what I started, haha) and to see what is going on with friends and family. I don't accept every friend request, or feel any desire to go out and get them, either. I'm pretty content with my own company anyway, and real life is much more rewarding.
As I watch the birch trees turn color (sans frost) every day, I am reminded that cycles of life are their own reward. The leaves changing means bare branches, which will lead to winters' wind, snow and cold. Which will give way to pussy willows and chickadees in the spring, along with breakup's challenges. And then the green arrives and we start all over again. There is something to be said for living where there are distinct seasons.
The vegetable gardening has been, frankly, crappy. Here we are at the end of August and I am just now getting green beans. End of August! I've quit watering in the greenhouse and have begun stripping what remains. So there are some mature ears of corn, ripening tomatoes, and a few cucumbers hanging on and that's it. I have three immature pumpkins still growing, which is amazing when I think about it. And of course I have plenty of large cabbages, dill, and the green beans to go. Once the garden is stripped, I will let the chickens loose-they'll get a few weeks to clean up whatever remains and I'll lock them back up for the winter when we get the first snows.
No local hay yet this year....the rain has caused either delayed harvest, or crops lost entirely. I am pretty sure this is going to be a very tight hay year, for all of us. I am still hopeful my favorite farmer will get up some dry hay-even if its not that great, my horse loves the stuff. So, no panic on my part as yet. Just hoping for a longish streak of dry weather sometime in the next couple of weeks.
On the horse front, there are big changes for us. Reba is now with a very talented teenager, for however long they chose. It seems to have turned into a really good match, although Reba-Roo has presented some serious challenges. During this, I discovered that I have been mislead about her "training". Ouch. Oh well, stuff happens and there will always be lessons to learn.
Now that fishing is wrapping up, hunting has commenced. Thus, I have barely seen my husband as he is off chasing the elusive legal bull moose. Personally, I'd be happy with a spike fork, but whichever-I am hopeful we'll have some tasty moose in the freezer this winter. So I'll forgive him if the salmon has not been smoked and processed yet, and the big pile of firewood still needs splitting.....getting a moose is priority one for the household this year :)
But that doesn't mean I have not been busy putting up a few things myself. In addition to all the berries I processed earlier this month, I have been picking our raspberry patch every couple of days. So far, I have four or five gallons in the freezer, with easily another gallon yet to ripen. Hopefully this coming weekend I will steal a few hours and go harvest a whole bunch of high bush cranberries. Have to have six pounds for each batch of cranberry ketchup and you'd think it's made of manna the way people want it, lol
I've also made four batches of zucchini relish-two of those will be on the spicy side with the addition of jalapeno and ancho peppers-yummy! I've got cauliflower and some broccoli also safely put up, but a moose got every brussel sprout plant-bless their little hearts. We'll miss having those gems to enjoy over the winter.
So this leads us on into September. Wow, where did summer GO?
As I watch the birch trees turn color (sans frost) every day, I am reminded that cycles of life are their own reward. The leaves changing means bare branches, which will lead to winters' wind, snow and cold. Which will give way to pussy willows and chickadees in the spring, along with breakup's challenges. And then the green arrives and we start all over again. There is something to be said for living where there are distinct seasons.
The vegetable gardening has been, frankly, crappy. Here we are at the end of August and I am just now getting green beans. End of August! I've quit watering in the greenhouse and have begun stripping what remains. So there are some mature ears of corn, ripening tomatoes, and a few cucumbers hanging on and that's it. I have three immature pumpkins still growing, which is amazing when I think about it. And of course I have plenty of large cabbages, dill, and the green beans to go. Once the garden is stripped, I will let the chickens loose-they'll get a few weeks to clean up whatever remains and I'll lock them back up for the winter when we get the first snows.
No local hay yet this year....the rain has caused either delayed harvest, or crops lost entirely. I am pretty sure this is going to be a very tight hay year, for all of us. I am still hopeful my favorite farmer will get up some dry hay-even if its not that great, my horse loves the stuff. So, no panic on my part as yet. Just hoping for a longish streak of dry weather sometime in the next couple of weeks.
On the horse front, there are big changes for us. Reba is now with a very talented teenager, for however long they chose. It seems to have turned into a really good match, although Reba-Roo has presented some serious challenges. During this, I discovered that I have been mislead about her "training". Ouch. Oh well, stuff happens and there will always be lessons to learn.
Now that fishing is wrapping up, hunting has commenced. Thus, I have barely seen my husband as he is off chasing the elusive legal bull moose. Personally, I'd be happy with a spike fork, but whichever-I am hopeful we'll have some tasty moose in the freezer this winter. So I'll forgive him if the salmon has not been smoked and processed yet, and the big pile of firewood still needs splitting.....getting a moose is priority one for the household this year :)
But that doesn't mean I have not been busy putting up a few things myself. In addition to all the berries I processed earlier this month, I have been picking our raspberry patch every couple of days. So far, I have four or five gallons in the freezer, with easily another gallon yet to ripen. Hopefully this coming weekend I will steal a few hours and go harvest a whole bunch of high bush cranberries. Have to have six pounds for each batch of cranberry ketchup and you'd think it's made of manna the way people want it, lol
I've also made four batches of zucchini relish-two of those will be on the spicy side with the addition of jalapeno and ancho peppers-yummy! I've got cauliflower and some broccoli also safely put up, but a moose got every brussel sprout plant-bless their little hearts. We'll miss having those gems to enjoy over the winter.
So this leads us on into September. Wow, where did summer GO?
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
For the science geeks!
Once you visit this link, you will want to bookmark it!
SolarIMG
http://solarimg.org/files/realtime/
This is a collection of real time images of our world: Sun, Earth, magnetosphere, particles, GOES satellite images of clouds and IR, and so on. The page refreshes every fifteen minutes. It even includes sea surface temperatures and jet stream forecasts too!
Wowza, my hats are off to the guys who put this together-you guys rock!
SolarIMG
http://solarimg.org/files/realtime/
This is a collection of real time images of our world: Sun, Earth, magnetosphere, particles, GOES satellite images of clouds and IR, and so on. The page refreshes every fifteen minutes. It even includes sea surface temperatures and jet stream forecasts too!
Wowza, my hats are off to the guys who put this together-you guys rock!
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
It's summer?
I find it slightly ironic that today is the first day in about a month, that it is not actually raining. Or misting. Or just quit raining, or is sprinkling, coming down in buckets, or has low scud, fog and/or thick clouds.
This past month has just flat......sucked. The past week, the highs have been maybe 54 degrees at my place. A few days ago, I had a whopping 40 degrees overnight. Yes, just 40 degrees! What in heck has happened to summer here?
I mean, I know we do get the occasional summer season where it does tend to stay wet, but this is ridiculous! Last Sunday it rained so hard it stripped flowers off my hanging baskets, left huge puddles in low spots, and sent creeklets running down the driveway. Last night I had puddles in the sand at the arena, and not even the big dog would run and play in that slop. I have not had to refill the stock tanks for a couple weeks now-due to run off from the roof of the barn.
The greenhouse is suffering. The garden is suffering. And heaven knows my mood is suffering too. Bah humbug.
Dozens of green tomatoes, nothing ripe. The corn has stalled for about three weeks now, it needs heat to finish. I have had blossoms on the green beans in their too, for at least two weeks-again, no fruits. I've had aphid attacks on a couple peppers (first time!) despite keeping a fan going for good air circulation. I do have a pretty good crop of cucumbers, despite the lack of sun. None of the specialty melons are going to fruit, darn it. Way too late now, just not enough sun and heat.
In the veggie garden, things aren't much better. The cabbages and cauliflower are going great guns-and I do have some zucchini. In the other side I have green beans which have hardly any buds on them. The broccoli has sat at one size of head for about three weeks now and the brussel sprouts have stalled out also. Sigh. Big disappointment, for all my high hopes. A few days back I managed to get a hoop rigged up for the beans, but its been raining too hard to even try to get visqueen up and over it.
In the barn, the chickens are not flooded out-yet. They too, would appreciate some sun. I do give them a big armful of greens every day. The horses' feet are soft, and the pens are a mess with manure that's been very difficult to get picked up. It's pretty hard to talk yourself into mucking manure when the wheelbarrow sinks deeply into soft slay and mud.
Because of this awful weather pattern, very little hay has been put up locally. Its actually been a very good hay year due to the rain-we just haven't had four or five days in a row of dry weather for the process. I've been waiting on one hay farmer whose hay my horses do very well on....he called the other day, to let me know he hasn't been able to get anything up. I knew that, his weather has been no better than mine. A couple weeks ago I basically ran out of hay, and purchased a local round bale for the horses. It turned out to be very very bad in the center and was moldy enough it set the ponies to coughing something awful. This past week, I found a clean round bale, and they are very happy horses now-whinnying for meals.
On the up side of that, I can use the round bale for composting, now that I have a place picked out for that. Yes, it will mean some work, but in the end, having good compost will be a marvelous benefit for my continually growing gardens. But until then, may I say:
BRING ON THE SUN!!!
This past month has just flat......sucked. The past week, the highs have been maybe 54 degrees at my place. A few days ago, I had a whopping 40 degrees overnight. Yes, just 40 degrees! What in heck has happened to summer here?
I mean, I know we do get the occasional summer season where it does tend to stay wet, but this is ridiculous! Last Sunday it rained so hard it stripped flowers off my hanging baskets, left huge puddles in low spots, and sent creeklets running down the driveway. Last night I had puddles in the sand at the arena, and not even the big dog would run and play in that slop. I have not had to refill the stock tanks for a couple weeks now-due to run off from the roof of the barn.
The greenhouse is suffering. The garden is suffering. And heaven knows my mood is suffering too. Bah humbug.
Dozens of green tomatoes, nothing ripe. The corn has stalled for about three weeks now, it needs heat to finish. I have had blossoms on the green beans in their too, for at least two weeks-again, no fruits. I've had aphid attacks on a couple peppers (first time!) despite keeping a fan going for good air circulation. I do have a pretty good crop of cucumbers, despite the lack of sun. None of the specialty melons are going to fruit, darn it. Way too late now, just not enough sun and heat.
In the veggie garden, things aren't much better. The cabbages and cauliflower are going great guns-and I do have some zucchini. In the other side I have green beans which have hardly any buds on them. The broccoli has sat at one size of head for about three weeks now and the brussel sprouts have stalled out also. Sigh. Big disappointment, for all my high hopes. A few days back I managed to get a hoop rigged up for the beans, but its been raining too hard to even try to get visqueen up and over it.
In the barn, the chickens are not flooded out-yet. They too, would appreciate some sun. I do give them a big armful of greens every day. The horses' feet are soft, and the pens are a mess with manure that's been very difficult to get picked up. It's pretty hard to talk yourself into mucking manure when the wheelbarrow sinks deeply into soft slay and mud.
Because of this awful weather pattern, very little hay has been put up locally. Its actually been a very good hay year due to the rain-we just haven't had four or five days in a row of dry weather for the process. I've been waiting on one hay farmer whose hay my horses do very well on....he called the other day, to let me know he hasn't been able to get anything up. I knew that, his weather has been no better than mine. A couple weeks ago I basically ran out of hay, and purchased a local round bale for the horses. It turned out to be very very bad in the center and was moldy enough it set the ponies to coughing something awful. This past week, I found a clean round bale, and they are very happy horses now-whinnying for meals.
On the up side of that, I can use the round bale for composting, now that I have a place picked out for that. Yes, it will mean some work, but in the end, having good compost will be a marvelous benefit for my continually growing gardens. But until then, may I say:
BRING ON THE SUN!!!
Monday, July 19, 2010
The big news
Continues to be the tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico. I have done so much reading, so much digging into various websites and technical data...I am overwhelmed with the knowledge I have gained.
First, the bestest website for real data, interpreted by oil industry professionals:
www.theoildrum.com
Just about anything you want to know about the Macondo 252 and Deepwater Horizon is there, plus detailed information about Q4000 and the many vessels and support operations in the GOM. Through the many discussions there, numerous wild claims have been patiently debunked, or proven true as the case may be. If you chose, you could pick up quite the layman's education in the technical aspects of fluid dynamics, mudding, casings, cements, and so on. It's a great site, their main focus is, of course, the slow slide down after Peak Oil.
In the first week, I caught a news report that cited that the well had a gas content of around 40%. I thought that was very high...and sure enough, it is. Usually content is in the 5% range for oil wells.
Since then, I have watched (along with just about everyone in America and millions more around the world) as events have unfolded. I have tried to reassure online friends who live along the Gulf that eventually Mother Nature will recover. I point out what happened up here in 89 with the Exxon Valdez as an example. It does not help one bit of course, to people whose entire lives are being wiped out a little more each day.
Weeks ago, I saw video showing oil seeping/leaking from the sea floor-not at the actual well head or BOP. Now of course, that has been admitted publicly. Here is where I think a couple of the real dangers lie, given what I have been able to ferret out from various sources:
First and foremost, the methane. Right now, the majority of that gas is held against the sea floor by the cold temperatures and pressures. How much is warmed enough to percolate through the ocean to the surface? No one knows for sure, but reports are alarming to say the least. There's been talk of a "methane explosion" for many weeks now, and I suppose it could happen. The oil and gas mixture, and the Corexit dispersant have surely created a toxic soup of nasties....many many people are sick. And of course, press is being shut out of this part of the story. Rather like their carefully planned photo ops with the press when a politician arrives with fanfare: The beaches are immaculately cleaned just prior to their arrival.
Secondly, the BOP is not maintaining the pressure that they had hoped for. This could mean several things, but the most likely reason is that the bore itself, or the drill stem, has been compromised. When they capped it, it will eventually find another outlet.....it could be the newly reported seeps, or another place. Some geologists have speculated that there could actually be a sea floor collapse, given the composition of the strata. The void created by the escaping gas/oil could create a "cavity" down hole for that scenario. Or the hydrocarbons could migrate to another area altogether, and work its way to the sea floor miles away. No one really knows.
I have heard some pretty wild numbers when it comes to the pressures down hole there, most of them bunk. Around 11,900 psi is the real number. Since I am curious sort, I asked my hub about well pressures up at Prudhoe Bay. I was surprised to discover that a number of the wells up there run in the 10 to 14,000 range. Very very dangerous pressures....even five pounds of pressure can kill someone, if you are in the wrong place at the wrong moment. I am suitably amazed at the technical expertise shown in coping with these pressures, and particularly the skill of the ROV operators.
Along with all of this, we have the Alaska situation, growing more grim by the day. You've been living under a rock if you don't think our economy is tanking here. Our Gov. Parnell shot himself in the foot last week when he refused to divulge the results of the open season for AGIA until after the elections. For, ahem, "logistical" reasons. Yeah sure, Sean, yew betcha. *choke gag*. What a load of hooey, it is our money at risk here, he should darn well release the information as soon as the season closes-about another two weeks.
Former Gov Palin's ACES plan continues to crimp development of our natural resources, and the Salazar moratorium on off shore drilling isn't helping matters. Did you know, a couple years ago that over a dozen exploratory wells were drilled up there? Last year, one. This year: None. Zero, zip, zilch, nada. Since our idiot comissioner Tom Irwin choses not to allow permits, Shell's plans to go forward with exploration has been halted as well. It's not a good situation when you take into consideration that the amount of oil being shipped down the TAPS is dropping by four to six percent a year, every single year.
Also, BP is about to be pillaged. Most people think they have it coming, and they should pay and pay and pay. I don't necessarily disagree with those sentiments. They are planning on selling off some of their North Slope assets to Apache, another oil field company. BP has already laid off many many people up north (which is not making the local press of course) and their contracts are expiring without being renewed. This means, 100s of idle Slope workers just in time for the winter, which is seriously not good. If they sell off everything, the hats will change but I am still optomistic that operations will continue up there, regardless.
And with that, I will close for now.
First, the bestest website for real data, interpreted by oil industry professionals:
www.theoildrum.com
Just about anything you want to know about the Macondo 252 and Deepwater Horizon is there, plus detailed information about Q4000 and the many vessels and support operations in the GOM. Through the many discussions there, numerous wild claims have been patiently debunked, or proven true as the case may be. If you chose, you could pick up quite the layman's education in the technical aspects of fluid dynamics, mudding, casings, cements, and so on. It's a great site, their main focus is, of course, the slow slide down after Peak Oil.
In the first week, I caught a news report that cited that the well had a gas content of around 40%. I thought that was very high...and sure enough, it is. Usually content is in the 5% range for oil wells.
Since then, I have watched (along with just about everyone in America and millions more around the world) as events have unfolded. I have tried to reassure online friends who live along the Gulf that eventually Mother Nature will recover. I point out what happened up here in 89 with the Exxon Valdez as an example. It does not help one bit of course, to people whose entire lives are being wiped out a little more each day.
Weeks ago, I saw video showing oil seeping/leaking from the sea floor-not at the actual well head or BOP. Now of course, that has been admitted publicly. Here is where I think a couple of the real dangers lie, given what I have been able to ferret out from various sources:
First and foremost, the methane. Right now, the majority of that gas is held against the sea floor by the cold temperatures and pressures. How much is warmed enough to percolate through the ocean to the surface? No one knows for sure, but reports are alarming to say the least. There's been talk of a "methane explosion" for many weeks now, and I suppose it could happen. The oil and gas mixture, and the Corexit dispersant have surely created a toxic soup of nasties....many many people are sick. And of course, press is being shut out of this part of the story. Rather like their carefully planned photo ops with the press when a politician arrives with fanfare: The beaches are immaculately cleaned just prior to their arrival.
Secondly, the BOP is not maintaining the pressure that they had hoped for. This could mean several things, but the most likely reason is that the bore itself, or the drill stem, has been compromised. When they capped it, it will eventually find another outlet.....it could be the newly reported seeps, or another place. Some geologists have speculated that there could actually be a sea floor collapse, given the composition of the strata. The void created by the escaping gas/oil could create a "cavity" down hole for that scenario. Or the hydrocarbons could migrate to another area altogether, and work its way to the sea floor miles away. No one really knows.
I have heard some pretty wild numbers when it comes to the pressures down hole there, most of them bunk. Around 11,900 psi is the real number. Since I am curious sort, I asked my hub about well pressures up at Prudhoe Bay. I was surprised to discover that a number of the wells up there run in the 10 to 14,000 range. Very very dangerous pressures....even five pounds of pressure can kill someone, if you are in the wrong place at the wrong moment. I am suitably amazed at the technical expertise shown in coping with these pressures, and particularly the skill of the ROV operators.
Along with all of this, we have the Alaska situation, growing more grim by the day. You've been living under a rock if you don't think our economy is tanking here. Our Gov. Parnell shot himself in the foot last week when he refused to divulge the results of the open season for AGIA until after the elections. For, ahem, "logistical" reasons. Yeah sure, Sean, yew betcha. *choke gag*. What a load of hooey, it is our money at risk here, he should darn well release the information as soon as the season closes-about another two weeks.
Former Gov Palin's ACES plan continues to crimp development of our natural resources, and the Salazar moratorium on off shore drilling isn't helping matters. Did you know, a couple years ago that over a dozen exploratory wells were drilled up there? Last year, one. This year: None. Zero, zip, zilch, nada. Since our idiot comissioner Tom Irwin choses not to allow permits, Shell's plans to go forward with exploration has been halted as well. It's not a good situation when you take into consideration that the amount of oil being shipped down the TAPS is dropping by four to six percent a year, every single year.
Also, BP is about to be pillaged. Most people think they have it coming, and they should pay and pay and pay. I don't necessarily disagree with those sentiments. They are planning on selling off some of their North Slope assets to Apache, another oil field company. BP has already laid off many many people up north (which is not making the local press of course) and their contracts are expiring without being renewed. This means, 100s of idle Slope workers just in time for the winter, which is seriously not good. If they sell off everything, the hats will change but I am still optomistic that operations will continue up there, regardless.
And with that, I will close for now.
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