Grain Run n Empty, PARAGLIDING PARKER'S photo dump, Fire, Grilling, Shitty Sports Teams - Saturday

WHAT A FUCKING BLAST OF A DAY!!!!

So things started out normally with a trip to town to pickup grain. It was a4 barrel load and I left the bed liner on the trailer just for this.

IMG_20240224_050838.jpg

It took about 15 minutes to get all 4 barrels shoveled out into the liner and the steaming pile was good and heavy. Again I was a bit concerned about the whole contraption shifting in transit but at that point I had no choice but to go.

IMG_20240224_051850.jpg

I stopped to top off gas on the way home since I was to go flying.

IMG_20240224_053514.jpg

I was home in more than enough time to watch the waste of time Man Utd match. They are such shit and at this point it is coming down to ETH and his decisions. I don't see him making it another year as the head. They of course lost in the last minutes of the game. Just relegate them already.

IMG_20240224_074455.jpg

After the atrocious match was over I went out to shovel out the trailer. I managed to spread the vast majority of the grain out into the two gardens. Most went to the main garden for a second coating by the greenhouse.

IMG_20240224_091928.jpg

Then I finished covering the pole garden.

IMG_20240224_092644.jpg

Which just left a small amount in the liner that I dumped out into the sheep pen.

IMG_20240224_092906.jpg

It wasn't much but at least a bit of fresh grain for them.

IMG_20240224_093002.jpg

Around 11am I was on the road north to Chewelah. I got to Inkler's and eventually the rest of the group all showed up. I had zero desire to fly Inkler's as I am NOT a fan of the launch. It is the highest point in the middle there and it is essentially a cliff launch. The group got up top and Manuel was the only one to fly, but he is also very experienced. The winds shifted weird and everyone else came down after a few attempts. I spent my time kiting my wing around in the LZ so I could feel it again since it was months since my last flight.

IMG_20240224_115306.jpg

That was when we all drove over to the LZ for Parker's, gathered into 3 vehicles and drove to the launch. When we got there the wind was PERFECT but then the gusts picked up while we all setup.

IMG_20240224_132510.jpg

Arron was the first to launch and he got plucked straight up. Then James launched and ended up hanging out with Arron for a while as Levi got in the air. I sat on the ground with my wing in my lap and just watched them fly and waited for the winds to cycle.

IMG_20240224_133424.jpg

I had to wait about 10 minutes before a long enough lull between gusts happened.

IMG_20240224_133427.jpg

flight 68.JPG

I got my wing laid out and everything ready then in a very nice mellow lull of the wind got my wing in the air very evenly and smoothly.

vlcsnap-2024-02-24-19h18m00s845.jpg

Made my turn and ran.

vlcsnap-2024-02-24-19h18m02s894.jpg

About 5 steps and I was in the air. My first flight since November 3rd last year.

vlcsnap-2024-02-24-19h18m07s052.jpg

For the first minute or so of the flight I was catching some lift off the hill but the wind was blowing strong enough that my wing wasn't able to go forward, I was only able to side slip to my right the whole time.

vlcsnap-2024-02-24-19h18m12s866.jpg
vlcsnap-2024-02-24-19h18m13s945.jpg
vlcsnap-2024-02-24-19h18m19s696.jpg
vlcsnap-2024-02-24-19h18m30s966.jpg
vlcsnap-2024-02-24-19h18m37s390.jpg
vlcsnap-2024-02-24-19h19m34s249.jpg
vlcsnap-2024-02-24-19h19m43s296.jpg

I made it over the rock ridge which gave me a little boost of altitude but once past it I was on full glide to the lz.

vlcsnap-2024-02-24-19h19m51s397.jpg
vlcsnap-2024-02-24-19h20m28s545.jpg
vlcsnap-2024-02-24-19h20m47s558.jpg
vlcsnap-2024-02-24-19h21m09s982.jpg
vlcsnap-2024-02-24-19h22m25s680.jpg

The real LZ is to the left a ways but the wind was pushing me north but thankfully the fields are all open and not full of crops.

vlcsnap-2024-02-24-19h22m56s847.jpg

At this point I got a sudden partial collapse of my right wing which made my butthole pucker. I looked up to see the tip flapping and I gave the brake a solid tug and it popped back out.

vlcsnap-2024-02-24-19h23m04s348.jpg
vlcsnap-2024-02-24-19h23m28s344.jpg

I chose my landing area of the field and made sure to get over and past the power lines.

vlcsnap-2024-02-24-19h23m41s259.jpg

I had to shift a little farther from the lines and then try to get down. I had to stand on my speed bar and feather my brakes and I began to lower out of the sky, STRAIGHT DOWN. It was like riding a slow elevator down.

vlcsnap-2024-02-24-19h24m02s028.jpg
vlcsnap-2024-02-24-19h25m05s918.jpg
vlcsnap-2024-02-24-19h25m18s844.jpg
vlcsnap-2024-02-24-19h25m25s358.jpg

It was so wild the feeling of slowly lowering vertically down without side to side movement. As I got close to the ground I tied to let of the speed bar but got lifted again so had to jump on it again to lower the last 4 feet to the ground.

vlcsnap-2024-02-24-19h25m26s489.jpg
vlcsnap-2024-02-24-19h25m30s558.jpg
vlcsnap-2024-02-24-19h25m31s667.jpg
vlcsnap-2024-02-24-19h25m34s072.jpg

Not the MOST amazing flight but a damn good one none the less.

vlcsnap-2024-02-24-19h25m35s950.jpg
vlcsnap-2024-02-24-19h25m37s071.jpg
vlcsnap-2024-02-24-19h25m38s893.jpg
vlcsnap-2024-02-24-19h25m43s056.jpg

I soon had my wing packed up and James and Arron were heading back to the main lz when Brendan landed out in the field along our way back. This was his shot of us.

photo_2024-02-24_19-35-45.jpg

In all 9 of us flew from Parker's with me being the 4th one off the launch. You can barely see Manuel who of course landed right by the cars in the lz, he is a good pilot.

IMG_20240224_141450.jpg

Scout and Ralph coming in to land and they got a nice closer landing in the field close by. As Levi came in to land, he was the last one but the 3rd to launch, he was about 200 feet above the ground and took a full 50% collapse. We watched the wing collapse and him begin to spiral down when the wing slammed back open and he managed to land without a problem. MAJOR PUCKER FACTOR!!

IMG_20240224_142822.jpg

7 of us went into Chewelah for beer and food at Sporty's. This is the bar that brought us to Washington. It is the first place I had Big Sky's Moose Drool, is exactly the same as it was in 1999, and has been a main stay of the town for years.

IMG_20240224_161640.jpg

I was home by about 5pm and after unloading my truck got the fire going that J had tried to. He just didn't use enough cardboard was all.

IMG_20240224_173605.jpg

I took the fire a while to get enough coals but finally by 7pm I had the burgers on to grill.

IMG_20240224_191018.jpg

That was also when the Kraken game came on. They started the game in fast fashion with a goal after 45 seconds. But then they sprayed the rink with fetid rancid putrid so-called hockey. They lost 5-2 apparently as I turned the atrocious game off and went to soak.

IMG_20240224_191522.jpg

Got an hour soak in under the full moon that was slightly obscured by clouds.

IMG_20240224_204635.jpg

IMG_20240224_212338.jpg

We are in for a week plus of shitty weather now, it will all be rain for us but some good snows in the mountains. I'm not really sure what all I will be doing today as nothing is screaming in my face that it needs to be done right at the moment.


2024 Y/E Hive GoalsCurrent+/- Goal+/Week
HP30,00024,225+12613
HBD Savings4,0302,517/3


300x600-2
^Affiliate/Referral Link^


For more information about our farm:
Fleming Family Farm
FLEMING FAMILY FARM, LLC
Sustainable & Organic Methods | Heirloom Produce
All images are original works of Fleming Family Farm unless otherwise notated and credited.

If you find this post useful or entertaining, your support is greatly appreciated by upvoting, following, and sharing!

You can Also Find Me On:

gab-logo.sm.png nostr icon.jpg

Donations or Tips



Zap Me ⚡️ Alby Addy.JPG btc.jpg Sparrow.JPG LBTC LBTC.jpg

!

Veteran.jpg


FFF Runic.png



0
0
0.000
15 comments
avatar

A great day, the flights were a little adrenaline-inducing, but the view from the departure point alone is worth it. Greetings

0
0
0.000
avatar

Aww
It’s good to see you paraglide after a while
I love that

0
0
0.000
avatar

It's not easy to work again in winter, we see that you also work very hard to deliver things on time.

0
0
0.000
avatar

@flemingfarm I have been wondering how that miner has been going? Is it making more than the cost to run it?

0
0
0.000
avatar

It works great for the heat but probably costs me about $.50 - ~$1 a day to run but is paying for more than half power use. Better than running a standalone heater by far.

0
0
0.000
avatar

Gotcha. Thanks. Yeah, I have been thinking of getting one to use as a heater as well.

0
0
0.000
avatar

It only has till the halvening for it to pay half the power cost, it will be way less after but will be summer so I may just kill it until I need it in fall again.

0
0
0.000
avatar

I wonder how one would do in the warmer months if it were connected into a food dehydrating system, a convection oven or a laundry drier.

0
0
0.000
avatar

As long as you are pulling cooler air in it should run okay with it exhausting elsewhere. My only good option for summer time would be to pull cool air from under the house and exhaust it outside, but by then the S9 will only be making about $0.60 - $0.70 per day. I'd think that making a clothes dryer with one could be pretty nifty.

0
0
0.000
avatar

Wow a foundation blower use would be pretty cool especially in damp areas. Yeah, the drier idea is not a bad one at all. Probably a nice product line in that alone.

0
0
0.000
avatar

Oh, yeah a foundation blower... duh. The clothes dryer could be uber easy, a closet rod in a big cardboard box and hang the clothes then port the output in the side.

0
0
0.000
avatar

That would probably be way more efficient than a traditional drier also... plus it would make a little along the way. Cardboard would be a good start and if it works maybe a nice cedar box or even a hardwood wardrobe would do the trick.

0
0
0.000
avatar

My big question is if the S19 will dump the cost after the halvening, it might be worth getting one then as they are way more efficient than the S9.

0
0
0.000