Solar Crocus!
All
right, Ok, Solar Crocus is pushing it -- I’ll admit that. But I’m running out of unique solar-related
newsletter titles. At least I didn’t
call it Sunshine Superbulb?
My solar
attic has earned its worth this winter!
Many’s the day when I came home to find the air much warmer than what I
had set on my thermostat, often with the attic blower still running.
If
your solar attic isn’t functioning up to snuff, be sure that the vent and fan
system at the sides doesn’t have any louvers jammed open. Those are important in summer to exhaust the
heat outside, but should drop when the exhaust fan’s not running. Also be sure that the walls of the solar
attic are all sealed, without any openings into other attics or the chimney
stacks. Then the return air all comes
from your home, up through the opening in the bottom of the solar space, and is
much warmer.
The
bees are out! Or will be, soon. They return on the first warm sunny day
after the spring solstice. Please take
fifteen minutes right now, walk outside your house, and look carefully all
along the heavy wood fascia board from which the gutters are hung. Do you see occasional brown patches, a
little smaller than a CD, against your siding behind this board? Look carefully, because we all have them!
That’s,
ahmm, bee poop, and comes from a nest drilled – really, eaten -- into the back
of your fascia board by our little winged friends. Some of our homes have only a couple of nests, others have
literally dozens! Why the worry? Well, the little fuzzy creatures tunnel out
your wood trim, and then it drops off the house! That’s actually happened here in Solarville. And if one house is infested, they spread up
and down the block... So talk to your
neighbors about this!
How
to avoid this plague? From the county
extension service comes a tip that’s worked wonders for me. Have the painters coat that protected
backside of *all* the fascia with two layers of extra heavy paint. The bees don’t like it one bit! They can’t chew their way through the paint,
so they attack your neighbor’s house instead, lol. Of course, painters usually skip this area since it can’t be seen
from the ground – and bees love the tasty raw wood surface.
See
you at the annual business meeting on the 5th? Come and find out why the Board had to raise
the assessment to $210 a quarter. I’ll
give you a hint: trash is up,
snowplowing is up, grounds maintenance is up, and we are repaying a bank loan
we took for the new asphalt -- instead of using a special assessment to pay for
it. But we still look good compared to
other clusters, details at the meeting.
Doors
open at 7:00PM, meeting begins at 7:30 sharp.
Come early, meet your neighbors, and help me move chairs and
tables! Reston Regional Library, as
usual. Late breaking news – our
County Supervisor, Cathy Hudgins, has accepted the Board’s invitation to our
annual meeting. Think about any issues
or questions you might raise!
See
you the 5th!
Lynn