View from the farm

Welcome to my blog!

I have been documenting what it is like to live on a small farm with natural gas wells popping up all over, since last December.  At that time I thought the closest well was nine miles away.  Today I can see two wells while standing on my front porch.

I love this part of Pennsylvania, and I have tried to show the kind of activities that are available here.  Check the categories "Festivals" and "Military" for some local sights.

My special project has been to record the daily activities on the Jean Blaisure gas well site.  Check the category "Blaisure J Gas Wells" to see those pictures.  Ground was broken on April 12, 2010.  I have pictures on line of almost every single day since then.

Whenever possible, I tried to document construction of the natural gas pipeline - particularly now since they are working to connect the Blaisure site.  Check the category "Natural Gas Pipeline".

The holidays are coming, so you might like to check out some of the family recipes we put on line.  Check the category "Food and Recipes".

I hope you enjoy the pictures as they tell the story of a particular natural gas well up here in the Endless Mountains in Susquehanna county.

Please email me with your thoughts and comments at viewfromthefarm@frontier.com.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jan

 

November 21, 2010 Blaisure Gas Well Development

Day 224.

I am up on the water tank pad, but here I am looking west.

Rinsing off the wet suits of the tank cleaners.  (Yes, they knew I was taking their pictures! Can’t you tell?)

This last picture is just the night sky on the way home.

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November 20, 2010 Night Sky Pictures

Good evening…from the farm.

Here are a few night sky pictures for your entertainment.

This is the rig I can see from my porch off in the distance to the south-east.

A couple of minutes after that, this is the rig I can see off to the west.  I’m actually on the road at the bottom of my property taking the picture, but I can still see the rig from my porch.

Later.

November 20, 2010 Blaisure Gas Well Development

Day 223.

I learned an interesting piece of information from the guys who empty the waste water holding tanks.  They have to document every gallon of waste water that goes in to the tanks, and every gallon of water that comes out of the tanks.  The idea that the gas companies can “spray it on the roads to get rid of it” just isn’t possible.

Here’s a funny story from the guys who empty out and clean out the tanks.  They opened a tank recently to empty it out, and had to stop to get in the tank to catch seven or eight frogs who were more-or-less happily living in the waste water tank.  They released them on the edge of the pad and they hopped away.  (So much for the “dead frog in the waste water pit” sign!)

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November 19, 2010 Blaisure Gas Well Development

Day 222.

These last few pictures are of the natural gas pipeline being finished on the edge of the property.  I took pictures of the pipeline being constructed on the right hand side of the property facing west a few months ago.  Now they are ready to work on the pipeline on the left hand side of the road.

This is the right hand side of the road going west.  The pipeline here is finished and ready to hook up to the other side of the road.

 

Now we’re looking at the left hand side of the road, facing west.

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November 18, 2010 Blaisure Gas Well Development

Day 221.

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November 17, 2010 Blaisure Gas Well Development

Day 220.

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November 16, 2010 Blaisure Gas Well Development

Day 219.

Very wet, cold, and dreary.  The site is already starting to look empty, although lots of the equipment is still there, but on the ground.

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November 15, 2010 Blaisure Gas Well Development

Day 218.

I have been working on my barns and house to get them ready for winter, and I have gotten behind on publishing the pictures.  I am going to publish the latest pictures first, then go back to the earlier ones, until I get to November 6.

The Linde folks have been working hard on the connection to the pipeline.  I particularly enjoyed watching the steam shovel operator at work.

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November 14, 2010 Blaisure Gas Well Development

Day 217.

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November 13, 2010 Blaisure Gas Well Development

Day 216.

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