Wehner Homestead

[Baymule]

We are delighted to have you here with us. Sometimes you just need to talk and it's nice to have a group of people who think like you do. BYH is wonderful. In all my friends, who could I talk to that "gets it?" Who else understands why we go out in freezing weather to break ice so the animals can get a drink? Who else understands the pain of holding a dying animal or the joys of birth and the renewal of life? BYH'ers do!

 

[RollingAcres]

I’ve been on BYH a year today! Don’t know what I’d do without y’all! Thanks for making me one of your own!

Happy 1 year BYH Anniversary!
We are glad you are here.

 

[Rammy]

 

[farmerjan]

Happy Anniversary. You have alot on your plate. I guess you do what you have to, because no one else will/can/does..... and we all pretty much know that feeling of being overwhelmed.... but you have extra issues with your kids. Scarlet fever isn't all that common nowadays, but I did have scarlet "tina" when I was small and my mom told me that I had the rash and the itch too. Not as bad as scarlet fever. Take care of yourself because no one else can do what you do for your family. Hoping you can get some down time for a few days at least.

 

[greybeard]

Come to find out he has strep with the worst case of scarlet fever that this dr has seen in his 20+ years

Considering there are so few cases of Scarlet Fever in the USA each year, his DR's reaction is understandable. (avg about 520 cases per year nationwide in a population of over 300 million)
1 case per 1/2 million people per year. Prior to the end of 1999. there were a lot fewer than that unless you go back a lot of years.

 

[promiseacres]

Sure pray that everyone gets well very soon! This cold November sure doesn't help.

Congratulations on your anniversary.

 

[Bruce]

Happy anniversary! Younger sister had scarlet fever as a kid, probably in the mid 60's. She got to hang out in the parents' bed all day long for at least a week. Hope you DS gets better fast.

 

[CntryBoy777]

Just caught up with ya and sure hate to hear of all that has transpired while I was...am....self-absorbed. Ya sure need to take of yourself....cause those ya Love are sure depending on ya and running yourself ragged for those outside the family is a valiant thing, but only distracts ya from tending to You and lowering the stress. Tbe only way ya will get a vrip on it is to learn the use of the word No.....also tell yourself that. There isn't any need to push and add new things, when what ya already got won't fit on your plate anyway. It is really amazing the things ya get done in a days time and I've been around for almost 61 yrs now and a day is still only 24hrs long....you are neither big enough or powerful enough to stretch it out any further either.....okay, I guess that is enough of that....but, it is because I care aboht ya as a person and burning yourself out at a young age surely isn't good for those around ya...
I agree with others about the ice....it sure is pretty, but it is terrible to endure the effects of it.....in the Memphis area it isn't pop or soda.....it is coke....but that just refers to a carbonated drink....after coke is stated, then ya will be asked what kind?...........ya can always tell when a "foreigner" is ordering a drink.............our prayers are continually with ya and your family.....sure hope things work out for ya and ya can find the Joy once again accompanied with Peace.....

 

[Bruce]

Don't really need "mega battery storage" unless you want to live life in an indulgent manner. You just plan to do those things that require heavy electric use during the peak hours of sunlight. Unless you live in the middle of a nowhere that sees days after days of poor sun conditions (like our good friend @Alaskan ), aside from cooking, which can be done with fire, most everything else can "wait" till the sun comes back. There's also wind power, and water power that could factor in. Personally, I'd like it best to be able to use a mixture of all three.

Not sure I can totally agree with that. MAYBE if you have wind that happens to blow when the sun isn't shining. Examine this chart of my solar array's production last month, look specifically at the period starting on the 23rd


A friend of mine has a 14 kWh Tesla PowerWall. I think that is over $10K installed with all the auto switching for sending power to the grid and the house and batteries and allowing the house to run on the batteries when the grid is down. At a minimum you need circuits that can run the house and charge the batteries at the same time and switch to battery power when there is no solar coming in. Note that he can define the minimum charge to leave in the batteries, USUALLY one doesn't want to go below 30% as it shortens the battery life. If I had one of those and IF we used only 5 kWh per day instead of about 20:
Power on the 23rd would be enough to run the house for the day and fill the batteries. 5 kWh would be used from the array on the 24th and the rest "dumped" since the batteries would be full. Doesn't matter that I have a 6.6 kWh array (*), the batteries only hold 14 kWH. In the following days the batteries would have provided 3 kWh, 1, 5, 4.5, 3.7, 2.2. Even if I ran the batteries to zero charge, they would have been empty halfway through the 29th. Similar thing would have happened at the end of October.

I suppose one could get away with only solar and 14 kWh of battery in an area that was rarely cloudy, never snowed and they used little power. Can "everything else" wait? I suppose but one would need to be willing to return to the stone age , and watch every little watt that is used, it would be a tedious existence. Now if one has a BIG ass battery bank, not so much the case. But then one would need a big bank account as well.

* which under perfect test conditions would generate 6.6 kWh per hour. Of course nothing is perfect

 

[Wehner Homestead]

Checking in...DH spent the last weekend sick and down. He had an ear infection and sinus infection. He’s on his second antibiotic. His asthma was aggravated, making it all worse. His brother’s dtr was showing at Beef Congress so we had to take care of their farm too so I was responsible for that place, ours, taking care of the kids, meals, etc. Throw in that DD1 spent Friday night last week puking and I was up most of the night with her.

Worked Mon, trip to Louisville to get DD2’s new braces for her legs on Tues morning and DD1’s school Christmas program Tues evening. DD2 spiked a fever Wed morning. DH stayed home with her yesterday so I could work.

Need to do more streamlining. Not enough of me to go around. The increase in my antidepressant has greatly helped my anxiety. Just too much to do and not enough hours in the day.

I have 49 notifications. I’ll get caught up as I can. Miss y’all!