Ups and downs. Got my dog back, Winkler Oil Burner sensor shot

[ohland]

Long two days. Belle followed something a bit too much on Tuesday morning. Went out again Tuesday evening, was standing in a marsh until 1840. Went back this early AM, went out in marsh @ 0540, came back out at 0730. Waiting by the road, old man calls, he seen her, but she won't come. About 10 minutes later, up rolls the Nissan with a white and orange head sticking out... Old man was pulling around, and she decided to stand in the road because she was being left behind... Combed her out, fed her four hot dogs and some chicken-treat stars... Got home, made up some boiled chicken, and that went down as well. Now it is sleepy-bye time.
:awesome:

Other news, the furnace rep was back. Put in the new relay. Oil burner fires up but dies after 15 seconds or so. Looks to be the heat or light sensor that is mounted near the nozzle. Down side, any Stewart-Winkler LA-110C parts are hard to find... If anything, it would be worse the next time to find a specific part.

HVAC will be sending out someone @ Tuesday and inspect the set-up and tell us some options. :groner:

[MtGun44]

Mere money will fix the heater. You are lucky to get the dog back, no amount of money
can fix that hole in your heart if she didn't get back to you. Overall, a good day, although
not as good as if the furnace was OK.

Bill

[ohland]

You are lucky to get the dog back Bill

She has done the overnight thing twice this year. She might be learning, she was different on Thursday. She slowly went up to a grazing cow, it kept grazing, and Belle slowly walked back. Old man put a dove down at the edge of a soybean field, we went over, Belle went in a few feet, and she had the bird. Not bad for not having seen it go in.

I went out a little later, and had two squirrels barking at me. Most uncivil. Put one down, and got Belle over. After she understood she was looking for a squirrelly, it pepped her up. She looked at it, picked it up, dropped it, then looked at it. After I picked it up, she was standing on her hind feet so she could sniff it. Like a little trained bear. Not for a few seconds, but probably 20 seconds or so at a time. The squirrels in our back yard don't stay on the ground for her, so having a squirrel right there is sorta unusual....

[gray wolf]

Sounds like happy--happy--
cept for the oil burner, hope you get it fixed soon.

[ohland]

Today was a bit chill, 44 degrees with a 6mph wind from NNE, I believe. Belle got to roust the beeves first thing, and came right back. Old man and I staggered up the hill and set up. And waited. Saw maybe two doves from 0730-0900. BUT there was a young squirrel chattering behind us, sorta insult to injury. Went out and even though the approach was about 75 yards in the open, over a grazed pasture, the squirrel stayed put. The walnut tree it was in was mostly bare. Had to clean the gene pool up.

Belle had sorta followed me at a distance, and after I shot, she watched it fall, but did not come in. When I called her and told her squirrel, she came in and found it. Sniffed it and licked it, but did not pick it up. After I picked up the squirrel, she stood on her hind legs and continued to czech out the squirrel. Still have not figured out what is in her head, but this is MUCH better than flashing teethies and tufts of fur drifting in the air...

Belle had some hot dogs, cheese curds, and some VetDogs Treats (http://vetdogstreats.com/). It was quite chill out sitting in the wind. At the end, she looked up at me with questioning eyes... I have had dogs that wanted to stay and hunt more, but between no action from doves or beeves, plus the cold, Belle was pretty sure she wanted to try something else.

We got back home, and the furnace tech from 11 years ago (now a supervisor, I think) had visited, in his opinion it was the stack switch again. He is checking on compatible parts.

[ohland]

The nice furnace tech will be here Monday with the new stack sensor. Praise be to the plumbous calf that it wasn't a Winkler-specific part...

Makes snuggling with a Brittany Spaniel at night quite appealing...

PS. I know, this but merely delays the day of reckoning before something made of unobtaineum goes out. Partying like a Kennedy!

[MaryB]

Might be time to invest in a wood stove or pellet stove...

[ohland]

Might be time to invest in a wood stove or pellet stove...

Well, not just any wood stove. My next door neighbor has an outdoor woodburner, and some days it is pretty thick in my house. Thank the heavens that nobody here is an asthmatic, or things wood ;) be tense.

Belle is getting better at returning when we are hunting, just wish there were woodcock down here to give her something to look for... Swung through the west side of Beloit to top off before tomorrow, and inside a light business area, a darned rooster walked across the road @ 50 yards short of the gas station. Some days stuff happens, and you would never expect it. Mowed grounds, scattered trees, and here is this rooster with a white band WALKING across the road.

[MaryB]

Those outdoor wood stoves burn way to much wood for the heat you get plus people choke them down to smudge pots and choke out the neighborhood. I would go with one of the high efficiency wood stoves if I had a source of wood. I have better access to corn on the prairie so the corn/pellet stove made more sense.

[ohland]

I have better access to corn on the prairie so the corn/pellet stove made more sense.

Laughter through tears. With the ethanol craze and "non-inflation", the farmers have done a good job of clearing even more land for corn (and beans!). So we have some serious corn down here in southern Wisconsin, but day-um, there isn't much for the birds to eat in the farming areas. Oddly, the poor economy has also pushed some operations to shut down and there are more abandoned farms out there.

[MaryB]

Corn prices are way down, I just figured out what I need for the years and it is about $350 worth. So it will be about $50 cheaper than natural gas and a heck of a lot more comfortable with a nice even temperature in the living room instead of cold/hot I get with the furnace.

[ohland]

The RFDTV channel says the crop estimates are for a very good crop. Not the biggest yields ever, but pretty good.

Belle pointed some woodcock today (finally started to trickle into southern Wisconsin!), but I managed to miss three birds. Bet she would be so much farther along if we had birds down here like the late 70s/early 80s...