Comings & Goings

There has been a lot of boat traffic this week. This is the guided missile destroyer USS McFaul heading for Eastport, Maine just in time for the 4th of July celebrations.

I discovered last night (as they celebrated Armed Services Day, July 3) that I can not only see and hear the fireworks, I can also hear the bands. So can the cats. Weirdly they find this fascinating.

My first seal visitors of the year arrived yesterday at high tide. This one came closest – but not really close enough. I stood out there (in spite of the Extreme Heat Advisory) waiting for the 15 seconds every 7 minutes she spent on the surface. I lasted through 3 cycles which, considering it meant I missed England’s goal, was a huge sacrifice.

A while later I thought she was being murdered but concluded it was more akin to puppies play fighting. I would have tried for a photo of the wrestling, however there was a shootout in progress and my dedication only goes “so far”.

Note: I did see a replay of the goal. The English Commentator said “Harry Kane has the eyes of an eagle and the feet of a ballerina.” I love World Cup.

Not all of the traffic was arriving. This freighter didn’t want to be around for all the partying and headed for open waters late yesterday.

The fourth image is of a small boat, in the twilight, heading home. It was moving verrrrry sloooooowly. I think she was listening to the concert in Eastport.

I believe I told you that I recently had a home energy inspection. This is part of the Government’s program to encourage home owners to improve their energy efficiency. Now that I’ve received the report I can buy the insulation, etc., I want to install and I’ll get a partial rebate.

The Inspector is a lovely young man who poked around at everything. Among other things he did a Blower Door Test and then took photos with an infrared camera.

To do the test, we closed all the windows and locked them. Then he sealed the back door with something I’m sure has a technical name but is essentially a giant garbage bag with a hole in the middle of it.

A large fan fits in that hole and, when turned on, sucks air out of the house. The infrared camera then captures the amount of leakage coming through walls, ceilings, windows etc.

I know I told you last winter my conclusion that there is no insulation in this house. This was a result of my experience during gale force winds and -40C windchills (also -40F). I’m sure you thought I was exaggerating.

The report came last week and I’d like to share just a couple of the infrared images. One is the southwest facing wall in the living room, the other the same facing wall plus the ceiling in the sun porch. Coincidentally this is the direction those gale force winds came from.

I’m making 2 trips to St. Stephen in the next week. The second will be to purchase the insulation/dry wall/and all related bits & pieces. Next year these photos will be very different. 🙂

“This report outlines areas where air leakage was noted using a blower door test and
a thermal camera. The thermal images show temperature difference, the dark
purple being colder and the yellow being warmer. The streaking purple that can be
seen is cold air penetration in the home, if it is warmer outside then inside this will
be streaking yellow, this is what you want to prevent.”