It just started raining here in northern Ohio. Here are two pics of the rain as it came across the fields to the west of us.

Good night, NOSTR Friends! I’m about to turn in for the night. Ir felt like a Looooong day. Sleep well!

It has been a long wait (about 2-3 months), but I finally have my very own copy of Bitcoin Core downloaded, fully updated, and running on my local computer! My next step will be to install/convert? to a BTC Lightning node. I am so happy to have the BTC full node fully updated (starting from block 0) and running! My next "big" purchase is a spare SSD or HDD. I want to copy this current drive to a new drive so I have a spare one in case this one dies. I might grab a 2 TB drive instead of the 1 TB drive I'm currently using.

My instance of BTC Core has successfully completed downloading the blockchain. I am now going to start on installing/converting to a Lightning node.

23 Blocks until Full BTC Node!!!!

114 blocks to go! BTC Core says 108 minutes yet until fully sync'd.

276 blocks yet to download until I have a full node!

#asknostr Question: Can anyone recommend channels on YouTube that explain how to stand up Bitcoin Lightning nodes on MS Windows 11? Background info to question: I am reaching the home stretch of downloading my own complete copy of the bitcoin blockchain. Only 1,906 blocks to go! When finished, I plan to take the next steps toward standing up my own Bitcoin Lightning node, and I hope it will be finished by Friday or Saturday. Thank you for your replies!

Good night, NOSTR Friends! I hope you had a good day. We went to my niece & nephew’s birthday/swim party this afternoon and are now waiting for the two bigs to get off work so we can go watch local fireworks in a nearby community. (Last night was awful- rain, too far away…) Tonight’s weather looks much better. I spent another couple of hours on the web today looking for an answer about whether my video-editing software (Corel VideoStudio) will let me edit video and sound from files recorded on my iPhone (it won’t) and what I need to do to make it work. Apparently I needed to download & install a free video converter software. It now appears to work. I wish I would have seen the answer before spending more than 10 hours hoping to make it work. Anyway, enough about that. I hope you have a great evening! I’m going to go watch fireworks in a little while.

Good morning, NOSTR Friends! I hope you’re well. The Weather Channel says to expect it to be hot (93) and sunny today. We’ll be celebrating our niece and nephew’s birthday today, and enjoying their swimming pool this afternoon. Have a great day, friends, and keep making steps toward your freedom!

Happy 4th!

Good morning, NOSTR Friends! Happy Independence Day 2025! I hope you’re well. It is sunny and 75 this morning in northern Ohio, and our expected high temperature today is 88 degrees. I have no great plans for today, as my wife was planning to pick blueberries with her mom today, and I don’t drive. Keep working toward your freedom, friends! Any small step toward your goal is still progress, so keep stepping!

Good night, NOSTR Friends! I hope you sleep well tonight. I'm going to hit the hay in a few minutes. I had to run a couple of errands this morning, then we had a family outing to watch a movie.(How to Train your Dragon) It was fun. And I just figured out the answer to a problem I was having with software I use for editing video files. I'll shoot some video tomorrow, and try to get the pieces-parts spliced to make something watchable. Now it is time to grab a small snack and head for bed. Sleep well, Friends!

Goodnight, Friends! Rest well tonight! Here are a couple of pics from my backyard.

Good morning, NOSTR Friends! I hope you're well. The weather is beautiful (now) here in northern Ohio! The Weather Channel says it is currently 71 degrees with sunny skies. Our expected high temperate is 86. Humidity is 89%. The songbirds are singing, and I keep hearing my favorite bird - the robin - singing. They're not the prettiest bird, nor are they the best singer, but as far back as I can remember, I have always favored the robin. I find it fascinating that one bird's song can remind me of playing with worms as a boy, another bird reminds me of being at my grandparents' house in the summer, and still another takes me back to my favorite childhood home! Enough about birds... I'm going to go get breakfast now. I wish you a wonderful day (Today is "Hump Day"...It is all downhill from here! 😀 ) Have a great day, everybody! #coffeechain