79F in house at 9pm, skeeters are out, time 4 annual cleaning

I've had the windows open in the middle of the day but by 4 pm or so it cools off enough to close them. That's what happens in the spring when you live near the ocean. Actually we are lucky to get the windows open in April at all. That's usually a May thing or at least late April.

UpStateNY said:

Wow its hot here in the house 79F at 9pm with all the windows open. Outside and a few inside we got skeeters already. Moths are making love to the porch light. Me thinks its time to clean the pellet stove until next cold season. May even use some of the tips in the other threads here.

Other stuff I got to do this spring:

1. drain gas and put gas stabilizer in snowblower
2. change oil and filter in John Deere riding lawn mower (yeah I am bragging)
   
3. try new method of killing moles grrrrrrr
   
4. level out all the holes in backyard the dogs dug up (you got love em)
   
5. grass seed the bare spots where the crab grass grows. grrrr
   
6. I am not putting crab grass killer down this year.
   
7. I know I am forgetting something
8. Oh yeah pick up sticks and rest of black top on front lawn kicked up by the town snow plow
9. Eventually plant the garden

Ahh nice breeze blowing through house. I refuse to start the AC. Just last week I had the pellet stove going.

Its garbage night. Last week a good size black bear pushed over my garbage can out by the road. Dogs sounded the alarm and I was able to scare him away. No cubs probably a male. Good size bear over 300lbs. Yeah I live in NY about 120 miles north of New York City.

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Let me know how you make out with the moles! I have them and voles too. My grub population is low, so I don't know what to do! Good luck and enjoy the spring upstate!

I heard on a gardening show that my wife was listening to ( she is the gardener not so much me) where moles hate caster oil and if you put it down their holes and around your areas where they are in your yard, they will move out. Supposedly.

1. drain gas and put gas stabilizer in snowblower
- I put stabilizer in all my fuel. For wintertime layover I will run the engine (pressure washer, weed eater, blower, hand mower) until no gas left then park it. Starts on first or second pull the following spring.
2. change oil and filter in John Deere riding lawn mower (yeah I am bragging)
- My JD 4100 compact is full-time. Mowing/grading in warm weather; plowing 600' driveway in winter.
3. try new method of killing moles grrrrrrr
- I gave most of my 20 acres to the moles. Exception being the front of my house.
They are my only defense against the Japanese Beetle (I don't use chemicals).
4. level out all the holes in backyard the dogs dug up (you got love em)
- My 2 dogs spare my yard.
5. grass seed the bare spots where the crab grass grows. grrrr
- Yup (Front yard only).
6. I am not putting crab grass killer down this year.
- Never have. I let nature do its thing.
7. I know I am forgetting something
- I always use my memory backup -- (wife - "When are you going to ....." )
8. Oh yeah pick up sticks and rest of black top on front lawn kicked up by the town snow plow
- Lots of trees = lots of sticks & branches. No blacktop here - just gravel that loves my tractor mower blade.
9. Eventually plant the garden
- We have a small raised bed. Easy to maintain and provides a surprising amount of produce.

My spring project list...
New granite kitchen countertops...new backsplash.
New glass shower for the new MBR.
Rent skidsteer with forestry mulcher and clear about 2 acers of property I haven't been able to use. Very excited about this one..searching out a deal on a rental.
Sell motorcycle
Buy small atv for the son
Refurbish old racing atv that hasn't been started in 15-20 yrs.
Open camp...drop a huge poplar for wood for next year.
Regrade driveway (1/8mile long)

Already completed...
Insulate basement
Clean out basement (literally a ton of stuff)
Remove snowblower from atv..store and 'summerize'
Remove atv chains
Clean out garage..repair concrete floor

Good times..should have it all done by end of May.

alternativeheat said:

I heard on a gardening show that my wife was listening to ( she is the gardener not so much me) where moles hate caster oil and if you put it down their holes and around your areas where they are in your yard, they will move out. Supposedly.

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We have these things we call moles in the PNW. I have been extremely successful with two methods, the scissor traps and the shotgun. Sometimes the shot doesn't even hit them but the shockwave kills them! This guy was from a year or two ago.

UpStateNY said:

Hold on there Highbeam. I have no idea what that thing is but that can't be a mole. Moles are these little tiny things that fit in the palm of your hand. That thing in the photo is a cross between your cat and a mole. Your cat is suppose to kill the moles not have their babies.

Good to see your daughter is not afraid of what ever that thing is.

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These things are rat sized. There's a miniature version that's mouse sized that we call shrews but those don't cause much yard damage.

LOL! Shot guns fix many things well.

bags said:

LOL! Shot guns fix many things well.

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Very satisfying to blast a mole actually caught in the act of pushing up a mole hill. The blasts actually blow the mound of dirt away too.

Highbeam said:

Very satisfying to blast a mole actually caught in the act of pushing up a mole hill. The blasts actually blow the mound of dirt away too.

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I repaired a brick paver patio for a friend that the moles destroyed by tunneling all over under it. They had bought the place like that and the previous owner had just let the moles go. There were so many I had never seen anything like it. The entire back yard was a mole war zone. They can reek some havoc for sure.

It was a project that started off as a few repairs that wound up being a complete do-over basically. One of those where you start peeling stuff up and it just kept going. It turned out nice but she and her hubby went to war on the moles because they saw what they had torn up.

alternativeheat said:

I heard on a gardening show that my wife was listening to ( she is the gardener not so much me) where moles hate caster oil and if you put it down their holes and around your areas where they are in your yard, they will move out. Supposedly.

Click to expand...

I've tried it, trick is to get it watered in. I picked up some granules of repellent from Bonide. If it was the radio on Saturday morning, I know who your wife was listening to. He's good, but loves to push his products, including Bonide. Thanks for the input!

Highbeam said:

We have these things we call moles in the PNW. I have been extremely successful with two methods, the scissor traps and the shotgun. Sometimes the shot doesn't even hit them but the shockwave kills them! This guy was from a year or two ago.

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I've killed several with spike traps, but I can't seem to get them anymore with them.. too many neighbors for a shotgun. Even a .22. And wow! That thing is huge!

jackhammer said:

I've tried it, trick is to get it watered in. I picked up some granules of repellent from Bonide. If it was the radio on Saturday morning, I know who your wife was listening to. He's good, but loves to push his products, including Bonide. Thanks for the input!

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Ya it's the guy from Maine who pushes the Coast Of Maine products of fertilizer and stuff. He always sounds like he needs to get a good antihistamine or something, like his sinuses are all plugged up.

UpStateNY said:

(BUMP 2017 thread) - Just looked this thread up so I know when to expect to stop feeding my pellet stove. Looks like Arpil 11th last year. Let see 31 -18 = 13 + 11 = 24 more pellet heat days. I currently have 38 bags of pellets left. I should have a few left over for next year.

Never did get rid of grab grass or the moles. Oh WELL

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Pretty certain we burned into early May last year. My wife gets cold easily.

Here I'm about 8 bags from breaking into the 4th ton. Daytime highs in the 40s where the sun hits, single digits at night, so going to be burning for quite awhile. Still got 8-12" of snow on 95% of the yard. On many occasions we have had a snowstorm on Mother's day.

When it does finally go away, I got a short window while the ground is still wet and soft. I really need to straighten out these ruts (300-400 ft) left by the concrete truck when they poured the foundation for my satellite dish over a year ago. Mowing was hell last summer. Last year on the soft ground I tried a lawn roller, plus loaded it up with so many concrete blocks I bent the hitch on the tractor. Wouldn't touch it. Just need to go at it with the heavy rake I guess.

UpStateNY said:

Hey tlc1976, I am confused. Satellite dish foundation with concrete truck makes no sense to me. My Direct TV satellite dish is this little small thing that sits on our roof. When I worked for NASA years ago they had some extremely large satellite dish foundations at Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt MD that required a lot of concrete trucks. Those satellite dishes had a red warning light to stay away when they were transmitting. Rumor has it you could get a serious sun tan if you got too close and optionally grow horns. I never seen anyone with horns. Anyway, If I may ask what are your satellite dishes used to talk to? Mars maybe ?

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I love my 10 ft c-band dish. So much that I moved it from the old house to the new house. There are so many legal freebies up there that I never run out of things to watch. Not hacking pay channels, but just so many oddball shows, news, and music from all over the world (Cable internet doesn't run here so I can't just go get these things online, I'm typing this from a dialup connection). Live camera feeds from large events. Stations come and go, it's like a box of chocolates. And unlike little dishes, the large dish operates at a wavelength that cuts through storms.