XM Radio

I received an early Christmas present from my husband - satellite radio!

We decided to go with XM Radio rather than Sirius for the selection of channels. I installed a unit like the one pictured above in the Jetta, a Delphi XM SkyFi2. So far it's been working pretty well. Reception isn't that different from what you would expect with a GPS in the car. Tall buildings or trees will interrupt the signal briefly, but it works fine 99% of the time. I cheated and didn't install the antenna outside of the car, but velcroed it to the dashboard. This will make my commute to western PA next season much more enjoyable.

I experimented and bought a boombox for the satellite radio, the Delphi SkyFi Audio System. Unfortunately it came with a faulty antenna, and I brought it back to the store. The quality of the boombox wasn't impressive, the satellite unit was difficult to remove, and I wouldn't recommend it. I instead opted for a home antenna which allows the satellite radio to patch into any stereo. The antenna works well, and didn't even require placement outdoors.

Well, I'll be happy for awhile! Anyone who knows me knows what a music junkie I am, and having a few hundred channels of commercial-free music is pretty nice...

A garage update: the "man door" is installed, and much of the trim has been applied.

View from the road - the doors are finished, except for locks and some trimwork. 

A recent photo of Sitka and Tasha. I don't think they are done growing yet... 

What does an archaeologist do on their vacation? Volunteer on someone else's archaeological excavation! On Sunday I drove to the Watchung Reservation in New Jersey to help out with the ongoing Feltville Archaeology Project. Excavations have been undertaken here for several years as part of a university field school and public archaeology project. This site lies within the Deserted Village of Feltville/Glenside Park, a National Register district.

This particular site had a foundation of a structure dating back to the 1700s. Other extant buildings within the park include other residences, a general store/post office, church, and barn. This area has been inhabited for over 300 years and had served as a farming community, a quasi-utopian mill town, and a summer resort. Today the village is protected as part of Union County's 2,000 acre Watchung Reservation.

What may be the foundation for an "el" addition is exposed in the middle of the photo, and what is likely a retaining wall lies in the foreground. These shallow units will remain open for a time so the public can witness the ongoing archaeological excavations. 

These excavated units show two courses of cut sandstone (likely quarried locally), which served as the foundation of the original part of the house. 

The garage now has sides and a roof! Some work still remains. A newly dug drainage trench can be seen in this photo. We thought this was necessary after having 8" of rain dumped on us over the last few days. While digging the trench I found several slabs of old slate sidewalk as well as various historic artifacts. Sherds of terra cotta flower pots attest to a greenhouse having been located here in past decades. I'm sure we'll liven up the archaeological record with various bits from working on our stable of British automobiles in years to come...

Putting on the last of the roofing panels. Finishing the trim and installing the doors remain. 

The 109, 88 and MG are now under cover... 

And plenty of room to park the other three vehicles. This garage is huge!

My commute just got a little easier to take...

NPR has finally offered podcasts of many of its programs:

http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast/podcast_directory.php

Another garage update... This weekend I helped my husband put on the last of the steel sheathing... 

Brad trims the steel cladding in preparation for the roof...

Our neighbor's son (and his friend) took me on an adventure this weekend to find a site that is locally known as "Indian Chair" (Bryan poses here in one of at least 4 "chairs"). This site is an extensive outcrop of chert that was prehistorically used by Native Americans for the making of tools. The surface here is still littered with evidence of quarrying activities. I didn't know that that there were so many archaeological sites so close to home!

The darker spots represent high-quality chert

Bands of dark gray/black chert quarried out of the hillside...

A garage construction update... 

A closer look at the trusses 

Over the weekend, I was able to salvage some porch pillars from a house in town being renovated. These likely date from the early 20th century. Sometimes it's nice to have a Rover with a roof rack.

A closer shot of the pillars... 

And here's an update on our garage construction. My husband has been doing all of this himself, including putting up the trusses! 

We haven't been able to visit our property in Canada lately, but luckily a few geocachers have posted some pics. Apparently the road has been improved so much that someone was able to drive a car to our lot. This is a far cry from the condition the road was in during our last visit. 

View across the valley, looking south 

Earlier this week, we recorded a historic fire lookout tower. This was a lot of fun! 

This was initially constructed as a 60' tower in 1921, extended to 86' in 1933, and served as the primary fire lookout tower for the region.

It's difficult to see the tower from the road, as some of the trees have grown up around it.