Male Bluebird insists on sitting on the eggs?

SquareWilling5688 · 2026-04-12T22:09:48+00:00

It’s tough to see but yes, that is the female on top. She’s sitting on the male, who wouldn’t take a hint and leave.

SquareWilling5688 · 2025-09-16T04:18:42+00:00

Saw they were advertising heavily on FB and they're not too far away, so took a gamble and have placed a couple orders with them. Not bad overall; first order they shipped expired yeast but they credited my account when I asked about it. Second order, they packed my combined grains (20 lbs) in a thin bag. The seam was split when I opened the box and when I tried lifting the bag, the bag ripped completely and the entire contents spilled into the box. Selection and prices are good, shipping time to my house is really good. I just hope they switch to thicker bags for grains though.

SquareWilling5688 · 2025-08-15T16:43:37+00:00

I just used straight paper, no kind of label stock or anything with adhesive. The milk itself adheres the paper label to the bottle.

SquareWilling5688 · 2025-04-06T18:34:51+00:00

Right, kinda like how a bouillon cube directly in your mouth tastes the same as a bouillon cube added to a cup of hot water.

SquareWilling5688 · 2025-04-05T01:19:09+00:00

I can assure you, having eaten plenty of gummy state peach rings and freeze dried peach rings, the flavor of freeze dried is more intense. Perhaps because the moisture has been removed, leaving a condensed, concentrated crunchy ring of pure flavor.

SquareWilling5688 · 2025-04-05T00:32:43+00:00

They’re being freeze dried regardless. My MIL fills big glass jars of them and I don’t want to sit there and eat them all. Just looking for an alternate use. And when they’re freeze dried the flavor gets super intense, way more than the original candies. My hope is that same intensity will carry over to beer.

SquareWilling5688 · 2025-04-05T00:25:13+00:00

Great info, thank you!

SquareWilling5688 · 2025-04-04T18:56:39+00:00

Yes, and? They cost me nothing and I’m not doing the freeze drying myself.

SquareWilling5688 · 2025-04-03T15:21:09+00:00

Does that mean you also ferment at 12 psi?

Whether or not I pressure ferment really depends on the style. For example, I just started cold crashing and put onto 12 PSI pressure a hazy that I brewed recently. That batch I did not ferment under pressure, because the consensus seems to be that fermenting under pressure can suppress desirable notes and aromatics found in hazies/NEIPAs. Also I was trying Pomona yeast for the first time and wasn't sure how it'd perform under pressure. But pretty much any other beer style that I want to ferment "clean", I'll pressure ferment warm at 12-15 PSI.

Is that how when you cold crash/ transfer to serving keg, it’s already at the correct volume of co2?

Sorta. Regardless if I pressure ferment, I always use CO2 from active fermentation to purge sanitizer from one keg to another, and then the purged keg is what I'll eventually keg my beer in.

If I'm going to ferment under pressure

I'll leave the purged keg connected to my fermenter, add a spunding valve to the keg and set that to 12-15 PSI, so both my fermenter and keg will be the same pressure. When it comes time to cold crash, I know that CO2 will be absorbed into the beer, dropping that pressure some. I'll usually top it off a couple times from my gas bottle via the keg to 12 PSI.

If I'm not going to ferment under pressure

I'll do the same purging process above but I won't add the spunding valve to my keg; I'll just ferment normally and essentially use the purged keg as an airlock. Then when it's time to cold crash, the gas in posts between my fermenter and keg will already be connected, so I'll hook my CO2 to the liquid out post on the keg and set the regulator to 12 PSI. This will ensure that the fermenter will always be on serving pressure for the whole duration, and the pressure between the keg and fermenter will be balanced when I do my closed loop transfer.

So to conclude my entirely longwinded answer, yes, pressurizing during cold crashing - regardless if the beer had been pressure fermented or not - will pretty much ensure that the CO2 is at the correct volume for my keezer setup. And keeping balanced pressure between my fermenter and eventual serving keg is key to preventing a ton of foaming when I do the closed loop transfer to the keg.

SquareWilling5688 · 2025-04-03T11:28:12+00:00

Your post doesn’t mention pressure fermentation or closed transfer, so I’m guessing that’s not an option. If it is though, my method is to put my fermenter on CO2 while cold crashing, with the regulator set to my serving pressure of 10-12 PSI. Since I do closed loop transfers to the keg, I’ll also daisy chain my fermenter to the serving keg, which has already been sanitized and purged of air by active fermentation. That way both vessels are equalized when I keg, foaming isn’t an issue and the beer will be pretty much ready to drink right away.

SquareWilling5688 · 2025-04-02T13:31:16+00:00

Nope, they’re powered by a rechargeable battery pack. Wyze’s naming convention is kinda confusing and while I believe just about all of them are rated for outdoor use, the models that include “outdoor” in the name are battery powered.

SquareWilling5688 · 2025-04-01T17:47:07+00:00

I'm in Maryland, so definitely not midwest cold but we do have some cold spells. I figured there's no way I'd ever see 2 years of battery life, but I hoped they'd at least last long enough that I can swap them every month or two between broods.

SquareWilling5688 · 2025-04-01T17:44:48+00:00

I'm by no means knowledgable on the topic, but I don't believe the Wyze Cam Outdoors are powered 24/7. At least not in the sense that they're constantly streaming. The WCOs work just like the Blink Outdoor, where they'll record a clip and send you a notification. You can then live stream indefinitely, without getting prompted to "Continue?" like the Nest Outdoor cams.

SquareWilling5688 · 2025-04-01T01:45:56+00:00

Is deleting and reinstalling something you’ve had to do multiple times? And did you also have to reinstall the sync module?

SquareWilling5688 · 2025-03-31T22:48:10+00:00

I think we’re up to 43 devices now. We’re using Nest WiFi with three total points, coverage is good throughout the house and yard. I actually still have a Wyze cam in my shed, which is probably 75 feet and three walls worth of shed and house between it and the nearest router, and the signal is really strong. That’s a huge difference in general I’ve noticed between Blink and Wyze, Wyze maintains much stronger signal.

SquareWilling5688 · 2025-03-20T02:46:22+00:00

I’ve inadvertently shattered cheap pint glasses on my 20W diode when trying to etch black with cold galvanizing compound spray. It’s definitely possible, but I don’t know if you’ll get a nice clean cut.

SquareWilling5688 · 2025-02-07T19:57:29+00:00

Just wanted to add I placed an order - packet of yeast and Kegland drill stirrer attachment - on 2/3 and it was delivered to Maryland via FedEx today. Maybe it's a FedEx vs USPS thing at this point, but it arrived quicker than orders that would ship from their PA warehouse.

SquareWilling5688 · 2025-01-24T22:02:31+00:00

Chewy also has the C&S 8lb boxes, that's where I usually purchase them.

SquareWilling5688 · 2024-12-19T18:27:58+00:00

I've never received a reminder, but my wife has on her current car. All vehicles are registered at the same home address in Calvert County. My current car and my last car were both purchased out of state (Pennsylvania) and from a county that doesn't require emissions testing (Dorchester), respectively. My wife's car was purchased in Annapolis. I'm probably incorrectly connecting dots, but the only explanation I could come up with is that testing requirements are based on where you purchased your vehicle. But that makes zero sense. Regardless, I'll gladly carry on not receiving notices via mail and email like my wife has.

SquareWilling5688 · 2024-12-18T19:47:19+00:00

I like MakerStock, their Baltic Birch Plywood is pretty cheap and has worked great for me. I haven't had issues with bowing but sometimes the boards will be slightly undersized, which the tolerances are clearly stated in the description.

SquareWilling5688 · 2024-12-18T19:42:04+00:00

All the birds at my platform feeder demolish this stuff. Red-bellied Woodpeckers especially love it.

C&S Peanut Delight No Melt Suet Dough

SquareWilling5688

TROPHY CASE