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Sun and rain! Thunderstorms are trying to develop. Maybe they’ll amount ri something on the east side of the Sacramento Valley. #CaWx Sunlight filtering through green leaves, casting a dappled glow on a wooden fence, with tiny airborne, slightly motion blurred, rain drops illuminated in the light.

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Today, our nectarine had its first bloom #BloomScrolling A close-up of a pink nectarine blossom on a tree branch with buds and a bright blue sky in the background.

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We think this is a Loggerhead Shrike, though could also easily be a Northern Shrike. Either way, what a sharp looking bird. This is the second time we spotted them atop the same tree. #SacramentoWildlifeRefuge #Birds #Shrike #Fujifilm 🪶 A gray and black bird perched on a bare branch against a clear blue sky. The bird’s wing has a strikingly thick black leading edge.

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Black Necked Stilts at the Sacramento Refuge yesterday with the Sutter Buttes looming beyond #Birds #BirdPhotography #Fujifilm #SacramentoWildlifeRefuge Three black-necked stilts standing in shallow water with a backdrop of distant mountains and greenery.

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Northern California is in full almond bloom. Our backyard fruit trees are on the precipice of blooming. The ceanothus in the front yard is starting to bloom and the manzanitas have been in full bloom for about a week now A road stretching towards the horizon lined with blooming almond trees on both sides under a blue sky.

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Gorgeous day at the Refuge. #Fujifilm A person in a wide-brimmed hat and plaid shirt standing by a pond and looking through a camera at a landscape with distant snow-capped mountains and blue sky with wispy clouds. Slightly reflective pond surrounded by grasses and bare trees with snow-capped mountains in the background under a blue sky with wispy clouds.

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“‘Like sending bees to war’: the deadly truth behind your almond milk obsession” http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jan/07/honeybees-deaths-almonds-hives-aoe

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A Golden-crowned Sparrow 🪶 #BirdPhotography #GoldenCrownedSparrow #Fujifilm A Gold Crown Sparrow, mostly brown but with a gold stripe on its head, is perched on a bare tree branch, with green vegetation and other branches blurred in the background.

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This rainy President’s Day, I’m getting used to the Yawman Arrow Controller by flying patterns in Laminar’s C172. With an XBox controller, I never could fly the C172 well. It really sucked as yaw control was not easy. So far, the Yawman Arrow controller has been terrific #YawmanArrow #XPlane #FlightSimulation #AvGeek

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If the sun can keep breaking through the clouds today, we may see some thunderstorms in the northern Sacramento Valley… looking promising for weather nerds #CaWx A backyard with gravel ground cover, leafless shrubs, a few young trees, and a metal garden shed. In the background, there’s a house with a carport. There is also garden equipment scattered around, heavy clouds above suggesting impending rain. Puddles of rain and roofs are bright as sunshine has broken through the clouds.

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On our induction stove, just a regular silicon mat under heavy cookware is good to protect the surface. EM easily passes through the mat & still direct heats the cookware. Those mats are useful! Baking, candy, and now this. A cast iron skillet on an induction stovetop with a silicone mat underneath and a perforated stainless steel utensil holder at the side.

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Near Chico, CA, we just accumulated 2” of rain and this mockingbird has seen quite enough A western mockingbird perched on a vine-under a shelter of a white metal overhang with green vegetation and rain visibly falling in the background.

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Local Raley’s grocery has non-alcoholic beer imported from Germany. It’s good as hoped. Malty, which I prefer over hoppy. A hand holding a bottle of Clausthaler Original Non-Alcoholic beer, which contains less than 0.5% alcohol by volume. The label includes the phrases “Superior Taste,” “Crisp & Fresh,” and “The German Pioneer”

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Today, finally saw a Spotted Towhee at the Sacramento River National Wildlife Refuge - Pine Creek Unit. I’d only seen California Towhees before and they’re not nearly this fancy looking. A spotted towhee, with unique white markings on its black wings, perched on a bare branch among tangled branches with lichen growth.

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A quick storm today for the N. Sacramento Valley. I missed this in the forecast. We’ll actually start drying out for a few days tomorrow. 50°F right now, should get to 60° today. #CaWx

A Doppler radar representation of the North Sacramento Valley. Shows incoming rain just above Orland. From the RadarScope app.
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The weather has been so damp that there’s been hardly any good time to prune. Since we’re finally drying out a bit, I went ahead and pruned our cultivated native grapes.  Sunday should be the warmest day, so I will likely prune the fruit trees then.

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Turns out a 2023 model year dishwasher is quite the upgrade to a 2003 model year dishwasher. Oh the new possibilities for loading dishes when there is a 3rd rack for flatware! And tines that flatten! And it’s super quiet! 🥳 But will it last 20 years?

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I’ve never seen an installed anti-tip bracket for a slide-in oven/stove until I installed one myself. A corner behind a kitchen appliance with a wall and floor showing signs of dirt and residue. There are two metallic conduit pipe, a metal anti-tip bracket, and an installation instruction manual is partially visible on the right side.

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We’re getting a new dishwasher tomorrow. Whoever installed the old one I’m removing…. WTAF with the electric connection! Madness. The dishwasher is wired directly to an extension cord, which is plugged into an electrical cord that is wired directly into a wall box. All outside a junction box. 🤬

The dishwasher is wired directly to an extension cord, which is plugged into an electrical line that is wired into the wall. All outside a junction box. It’s dusty in here.
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Just had my first flight with the Yawman Arrow flight simulator controller. It is so nice. I’m impressed with its smooth axes operation and their sensitivity. I’m very happy with this and, on first flight, was worth the wait. #YawmanArrow #FlightSim #XPlaneE175 landing almost on center at Kona, Hawaii with a giant shield volcano in the background.