A Bit of Ugly

Arachnophobes, be warned. There is a most decidedly large 8 legged picture in this post. The picture was taken so we could ID it, but then I decided it was good to be real, and post it, lest you think it's all kitties and roses at The Clean Green Homestead.

I had the day off today, and J got off early, so this evening we headed into the crawlspace to finish hooking up the last of the solar hot water system. There were 4 of those big guys obvious to us, and the picture is of one of the smallest spiders. Best I can tell, they are dolomedes tenebrosus, or fishing spiders. Feel free to correct me on that.

I've done enough plumbing with J, now, that I can anticipate his needs somewhat, which meant I got to prepare most of the parts with the pretty purple primer. We finished things up, and opened up the system. There was one small leak from the panel on the roof, which required tightening. Otherwise, it's looking good. We're looking forward to seeing what it will do with a full day's sun. Sometime over this holiday weekend, I intend to post about our system, and have some more photos to show.

Last night, I noticed things are turning towards summer here. Yesterday I worked a bit late, then ran a couple of errands. After fixing J & I a simple supper, I wandered outside at dusk, and noticed the sights, smells and sounds of summer. I noticed the frogs calling to each other and a whippoorwill in the distance, the sweet smell of milkweed blossoms, a trio of bats flitting about and fireflies blinking their messages to one another. It brought me great peace, and once again, made me thankful to call this land home.