coming together...

The pieces fell into place today quite nicely. Beautiful weather...finished the insulated box for the new solar oven - reached 250 degrees even without reflectors...FedEx delivered six more 1 qt. dutch ovens...and got more mirrors in the mail today and glued them down to fill out the fryer dish. And to top it off - I got a birthday present from my bro Neil in the UK (director of the Field Lab IT Dept.) an infrared thermometer - just point and push the button for the surface temperature of objects. How hot is that? Lots of cows, lots of fun, and even got some work done. 67,92,49,0,W and by the way...all you Facebook folks should become fans of the GrubShack http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jerry-and-Evas-Grub-Shack/109631915735406?ref=nf

more oven

Thanks for all the birthday greetings. Got the inside lining done on the solar oven (lined with sheet metal and one coat of paint) before the sun got too hot. Did a Study Butte run for laundry and grabbed a load of water to haul home from the Ghost Town. Benita here all day then after she left a group of about 24 cows came in at sunset including 5 new calves. Here is Carmella with her newbie. 76,98,54,0.B

what a birthday...

So today was my birthday.....but the story gets much better. Labored away half the day in the boiling sun working on the new solar oven - parts are coming together nicely. Had Benita and a few stragglers here all day. Took a much needed HOT shower then ran down to the Starlight and got my dinner bought for me by my best downtown friends, Jim and Carolyn Burr as well as a couple of free drinks from my buddy Trevor Reichman and Brady the bartender.

And now "the rest of the story". A couple of weeks ago I ran in to Dick Cain out on Agua Fria Rd. and asked him about Benita's birthday. He said she was born in the spring of 1988. I suggested to him that her birthday was the same as mine - April 5. So today I'm outside working and up comes a cowboy on horseback with a very big hat. Dick was out riding to check on his herd and stopped by to drop off a birthday card for me. I didn't open the card till after he left. We chatted about longhorns for awhile and he confirmed my suspicion that Beatrice was Benita's daughter - in fact, Beatrice was the last calf Benita birthed. I told Dick that I would like to buy the calf that Beatrice just had (he also confirmed that this is her first calf - named Benito) and have him castrate it so I will have a steer to train to ride - and he said he would do the deed and give him to me. As this old cowboy rides off to check his stock, I opened the card he gave me. Now that's what I call a birthday present! Scored two longhorns today. I sure do love Texas!! We even got a birthday shout out on KRTS Marfa Public Radio this morning. Capped off a spectacular day watching Venus and Mercury on the western horizon. 86,102,52,0,C

smell the skin burn...

Had one of those excellent high UV days....where you think you can actually smell your skin burning. Finished rigging up the heat sync for the solar fryer and it seems to be in pretty good position. Had to trick myself into getting started on the next level for the big solar oven. Since I don't know what the final design will be - I just had to begin to see where it leads (that's the worst part of the process). Got an excellent jump on it. Have to finish it up so I can demo it at the Terlingua Green Scene on Saturday. http://www.terlinguagreenscene.com/ 75,100,49,0,C

East Sunrise Equinox

Sure wish I had another day like yesterday.....but I didn't. Finally got around to installing the cooling fan and solar panel on the IP cam. Not so elegant but it works - for now. Not real confident this little combination is going to work that well in the long run though....most probably will need a more powerful fan and a bigger panel to cool the housing during the hot summer.

Had numerous neighbor/visitors and the usual bovine intrusion. Last effort of the day was to cut the bottom off a small cast iron frying pan to use as the heat sink on the solar fryer. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to chop the pan with a cutting wheel on my grinder. 72,94,38,0,B

on the ball...

9 hours on the job for a change - jumped right into it in case the winds picked up, but only a nice cool breeze all day...changed batteries in the weather station sensors and reset the recorder...built a stand for the solar fryer (more mirrors coming early next week)...routed and built a frame for the new solar oven glass ( 55" x 20" insulated glass installed)...built and hung the door for the solar shower. 66.84.49,0,B

chew this....

High winds = low work. Problem was I slacked off all morning while it was calm then the winds just kept building throughout the day. Patched the line to the IP cam and ran it through some conduit but just couldn't bring myself to dig the trench...at least it will be tougher for a longhorn to chew through for now.

Blooms are sparse this year due to lack of rain but I make an effort to take notice as they occur. This tiny flower on a small bush is one of my favorites - Feather Dalea / Dalea formosa. (thanks to Burr Williams from the Sibley Nature Center in Midland, TX for the ID.) 82,99,47,0,W