A sort of ripping and tearing sound woke me in the dark hours of the early morning. It was a hot night. We’re in the midst of summers last hurrah of a heatwave. The windows were open letting in the warm night air. The hot wind was blowing from the centre of this arid continent. Ah-roo-gah the wind would call, telling tales of sun baked rocks where even hardy reptiles hide from the dreaded midday sun. Uncomfortable. And then there was that sound. What was it?
Groggily, I got up out of bed to have a look around in the dark. Didn’t seem to be anything to immediately worry about. Went back to bed and tried to sleep. The heat kept sleep at bay, sort of. In and then out again, I drowsed. The alarm was a shock. The dogs barked for joy at the thought of breakfast. Settle down, need coffee…
Fortified by coffee (or two). The ripping and tearing sound reoccurred, this time louder and for longer. Then came the solid thud. Breakfast of fresh plums, toasted muesli and yoghurt (both home made), was rudely interrupted. The dogs barked an alert call. Better go and have a look and see what had just happened.
Breakfast was pushed to the side. At least the coffee had kicked in. Ollie and I ventured out of the house. We walked up the driveway. There was no need for any hurry. By that time, I had a fair idea as to what may have happened. The head of a large tree had just fallen to the ground.
The chunk of tree head was not quite enough to squoosh a house, but any car hit by that monster would be permanently smooshed, never to be driven again. Certainly, it would have killed anything unlucky enough to be underneath at the time. The big old tree it fell from appears to have survived. You can see the large tree in the above image.
Just like western civilisation, even the biggest of trees eventually fall. What I’m guessing happened with the tree, was that the heavy and continuous rainfall earlier in the season had seeped into a join high up in the canopy. The growth in the tree had always looked a bit forked to me, almost as if the tree had lost it’s head long ago. Once there is an avenue of attack, termites and wood borers munch away on the moist timber. Very large black and yellow tailed Cockatoos (a native bird), also open up the timber hunting for the large wood boring insects. Then, after enough of those insults, the tree head lets go and falls to the ground. The tree has rid itself of a nuisance, but will continue to grow. At a guess, the tree is only half way through it’s long life.
The tree sure would have seen some changes over the years. It was probably already quite large when the first timber getters arrived in the mountain range during the 1850’s. The gold rush era had begun then, a mere 16 years after the arrival of the first Europeans in this part of the continent. The growing and suddenly prosperous young city of Melbourne had an insatiable appetite for timber, and at the time, this mountain range had plenty of tall trees.
By World War II, a local history mentioned that this part of the mountain range had been mostly emptied of people. I’ve heard anecdotal accounts that a bit of timber harvesting took place around here after the 1983 Ash Wednesday bushfires. That probably explains a lot of the loggers mess we find and clean up. Given the Eucalyptus Obliqua trees can live for hundreds of years, most of the trees growing around here are relative youngsters.
However, not all the trees are youngsters. Some large old trees were left untouched by the loggers. Maybe the damage to the tree heads of the oldest trees reduced the quality of the timber? Maybe access was too difficult? It’s possible that being near to the Cobb and Co coach track heading up the mountain to the Victorian era health resort way up near the ridge line, meant that the area was somehow protected. Dunno.
In a few weeks time, I’ll clean up the mess from the fallen branch. Most of it will become firewood. There will be very little waste. The area surrounding the tree will be cleaned up and restored. Life will go on.
In the midst of changing seasons though, being thrown right back into high summer, does give the sensitive person pause for thought. Bigger change feels like it is in the very air itself. Not much I can do about that, better to focus on what I can do. Given the weather is a bit extreme at the moment, it’s interesting to compare the longest established orchard to the newer plantings.
The next image shows the shady orchard. You can see signs of heat and water stress. Some of the trees are beginning to turn deciduous. The canopy is pretty solid, and the shade has meant that the grass is still quite green.
The sunnier orchard in the next image has about five or maybe six years less growth. The young fruit trees mean that the canopy is quite open to the sun, and wow in only a few days of heat, the grass died right back. Despite that, the trees there have survived on rainfall alone this summer. There’s only one tree that I’m aware of which is having troubles.
Below the greenhouse (the white shed in the above image) there is a new citrus orchard. Those trees are less than two years old, and they alone have been receiving plenty of water during the past few days. Water is a precious and limited resource here.
It’s funny how conditions which you thought were stable, can change suddenly. Fortunately, the rains and more usual cooler weather are meant to be returning Wednesday. Plenty of things are out of our control. All we can ever do is adapt, then clean up the mess left behind.
Earlier in the week when the conditions were cooler, we continued excavations for the new firewood shed. We’re now ready to install another steel rock gabion cage, which we’re yet to make.
All of the excavated clay / soil was hauled away and used as fill on the low gradient path project.
The path project still needs more large rocks, and so on the next day of work we did a massive rock scrounge about the property, and have now sadly exhausted our supply of large rocks. Peak rocks is very real! The large rocks identified in the scrounge were all brought back up the hill, then installed on the path. They’re being used to retain soil on the downhill side of the path.
There’s about 2.7m / 9ft of large rocks still required to complete the rock wall on the downhill side of the path project. We’ll just have to break apart another boulder, but that’s a job for cooler weather.
Observant readers will note that in the above image, a bit of extra soil was added as fill. The path is a genuinely massive job.
Some of the tomato vines in the greenhouse were nearing the end of their life, yet they still had plenty of unripe fruit. In order to ripen the fruit, the vines are removed from the soil. All the leaves and excess vines get stripped away. The soil from the root system is washed off. And then vines are hung upside down from a steel cable in the greenhouse. The fruit slowly ripens over the next couple of months, and still retains its taste and texture. Last year we were able to continue enjoying fresh sun ripened tomatoes well into August with this method.
The massive solar panel array in the paddock provided an excellent frame to do this work. The leaves and excess vines could simply be chucked into the paddock where they will be mowed up (once the weather cools).
Working in the greenhouse during hot weather was a special form of torture.
All of the raised garden beds in the greenhouse were turned over using a shovel. It was hot work, which thankfully only took a few minutes. Over the next week, we’ll fertilise all of the soil in there, add compost, and then bang in some seeds: Radishes; Kale; and Green Mustard. They’ll provide fresh greens through the winter months and well into early spring. We also managed to obtain another Babaco plant (an apparently cold tolerant papaya, which isn’t frost tolerant) and planted that out in the greenhouse. The fruit from the original plant, which can be seen on the left hand side of the above image, is amazingly tasty and abundant. Observant readers will also be able to spot some of the upside down tomato vines hanging from the steel cable.
Due to the recent solar power system upgrade, we haven’t been able to water any of the plants in the large sapling fenced enclosure pumpkin patch. Fortunately, it hasn’t really mattered, and the smaller ‘yellow globe squashes’ have produced a lot of fruit. The squashes have tough skin which means they keep well. We roast then eat the fruit throughout the winter months. There was so much fruit I used the smallest power wheelbarrow to bring them all back up the hill for winter storage.
There are also many of the most excellent ‘Queensland Blue Pumpkin’. The variety is a standard pumpkin down under, which I believe is sold under another name in the US. They keep very well and have a sweet flavour which is excellent roasted or boiled. If I were going to grow only one variety of pumpkin, this would be it. That variety will be ready to harvest in another couple of days or so, probably before the rain arrives.
Just prior to the current heatwave, the nights were becoming quite chilly. The zucchini plants are beginning to display signs of powdery mildew, which indicates an end of the growing season for those Triffid-esque monsters. The fruit keeps well until early spring.
It’s a weird climate here in that citrus trees are at their very margins of cool tolerance, and so we have fresh fruit from those trees into the winter months. The latest of the more usually expected cool climate crops is the Kiwi fruit. But before those are ready, there are the always the Persimmons.
The cooler nights have continued to ripen the grapes on the vines, and these are very tasty. Mostly, they’re consumed with breakfast as fresh fruit. We specifically planted out dual purpose table / wine grapes, so can be flexible about how they’re used.
Globe artichokes are a funny plant. As a thistle, you’d imagine they’d do well in poor soils with minimal watering. The truth is otherwise. They prefer a good feed and plenty of soil moisture. We’ve been unable to water them this season, and despite that the plants have produced a good crop. They’d prefer a regular drink.
Onto the flowers:
The temperature outside now at about 9am is 23’C (73’F). So far for last year there has been 213.4mm (8.4 inches) which is up from last weeks total of 211.2mm (8.3 inches)
Yo, Chris – Might be just the change of seasons, but you touched several times on change. Things end, like civilizations. Change in the air. Life goes on. I feel it to, but maybe I’m just paranoid. But, best be alert to change, and have a plan. Or, at least react fast and don’t dither. Of course, what concerns me most now is this place I live, and maybe, a possible change in national administration, this fall.
The Chicago Fire, the San Francisco earthquake. Those disasters ate up whole forests. Logging is a bit more sustainable, these days, though they tend to replant in monocultures, which maybe isn’t so great for the overall picture. There’s a hunger for redwoods, for decks and garden furniture.
Maybe, they left the trees as a screen, so people couldn’t see what the loggers were up to? Often, here, there’s a band of trees along roadways. When you see aerial pictures, behind them are miles and miles of clear cuts. Don’t want to spook the civilians.
I don’t understand people who move a place, and then don’t delve into local history. There always seem to be amateur historians, in small places, that publish about local history. Sometimes, small printings or self-published. Often, libraries will have local history sections. Often small. Often locked up. I read a lot about Lewis County, when I moved here. To get a sense of place. Then you keep your ears open, and pick up the more interesting, and unsanitized tidbits. 🙂
The picture of the shadier orchard? How do you get down that path? 🙂 The tree fern is really lovely.
That’s quit a process, with the tomatoes. Being on a much smaller scale, I just dry and eat fresh, until the first frost. I’m still throwing dried cherry tomatoes, in a lot of what I have for dinner.
Tortured? I see no restraints. Doesn’t look like you’ve been pistol whipped. 🙂
Is the color off on my computer monitor? Those “squash” look pretty orange, to me. In fact, they look like real pumpkins! A whole burrow full. You ought to see if you can save one for Halloween. Carve yourself a jack-o-lantern. It’s fun. Probably freak the dogs out. Pumpkin carving can be pretty simple, or, quit elaborate. Thank you Martha Stewart. Or, not.
The grapes look really tasty. I think one of the other gardeners has Oregano. Still booming along, never mind the cold. I’ll have to pinch off a leaf. Probably not Mint. That stand pretty upright. These sprawl across the ground, and have started other plants, a good distance away.
I thought Pomegranates grew on trees. From the picture, how do the plants, support the weight of a Pomegranate? Mysteries, mysteries. Lew
Hi Lewis,
I can feel change in the air, but then maybe I’m overly sensitive? Dunno. But, I agree life goes on. From all that I’ve read of the Great Depression and the hardships of the times, people still kept on being people. Hey, you once told me: It ain’t paranoid if it’s true! This probably applies in your instance. And I’ve taken on board the wisdom that the old hippies have to teach us. Perhaps another way of putting that is the old saying about being: Fleet of foot. Not that many now would understand what was meant by that term.
Man, that’s an unwritten problem everywhere. But I get where you are coming from. In a roundabout sort of way, I have a similar issue, but with bushfires. We can worry about such matters, but who knows how things will end up? In your case with housing, there is some massed weight behind your choices, so the momentum from that may be to your advantage.
I agree, the replantings of timber harvested forests tends to be of the monoculture variety. A more natural forest tends to have more diversity, although there is always the dominant species. However, those trees need to eat too, and the nitrogen fixing understorey often has ways to extract some advantage and work with the big boys. Forests are complicated places where trees grow on less than fertile land.
That’s exactly what I was hinting at with the thin forest screens along major (or minor) roads. Don’t upset the tourists… They do the same thing down here. I’ve spoken with some people who are most upset at viewing a timber coup, but that’s what it takes to supply a hardware store and build ever more houses. If people had to pay properly for the costs of timber sourced from properly managed forests, everyone would be broke. 🙂
Oh mate, you’d love reading the recorded oral history from this area which was written by a lady who once worked up in the health resort I mentioned. Now you have a new computer, I could send you a copy for your interest – not that you don’t have a mountain of other things to read… Let me know? There is an active local historical society which occasionally publishes books. Those are for sale at the local general store, and every time I see one of them, I nab a copy. It’s amazing what is known of the area. 🙂 There’s always unsanitised bits, like the puritan who put an end to the local kids swimming in the reservoir by stealing their clothes.
Hehe! How do I get down the path? Well, I do have to duck under the kiwi fruit vines. Once the fruit is harvested, I’ll cut them back higher this year so that the vines form an arch at that point. Lewis, last winter I was soft and tried to reduce the damage to the vines. This year, things are different… How good is that tree fern growing? 🙂 It looks like something from the era of the dinosaurs, and probably survived that day too, which it did.
Oh well, the efforts with the tomatoes will be rewarded. In another four weeks, the growing season will be most definitely over. Already in a few days time one day is forecast for Moderate UV, and that won’t provide much energy for growing plants.
But today was again hot, hot, hot! As it is right now tonight. I cracked the sads though due to a mixture of cabin fever and stir crazy – whatever that is. I just manned up and headed outside for the day to do a major re-wiring job with one of the larger solar panel arrays. At least I was in the shade all day. Some may say that I’m gold plating the power system, but a more pragmatic person would make the observation that this is what it takes to get the renewable energy technology stuff to last under the very worst case scenarios. If things get worse than that, well I’ve done my best.
Fair enough the work in the greenhouse on the hot day was purely voluntary. I admit it and must clearly be a sucker for punishment… But I’ve gotta get the kale, radishes and other winter greens going in there soon before winter kicks in hard.
Well that’s what I thought about the squashes too. They were labelled yellow, but look orange to me as well. Shows you how much the seed merchants know… 😉 They will all be eaten over the next six months, all of them.
The grapes are tasty, and I prefer them for fresh eating. The vines live for a very long time, and in the past few years I’ve taken a lot of care with pruning them.
Mate, the winter months kill off Oregano here and most other mint plants. That’s one hardy plant if it survived the recent Arctic freeze those couple of weeks ago. Maybe it’s lemon balm? That’s cold hardy. Did you take a closer look at the plant?
It’s a mini pomegranate bush, and I doubt it gets warm enough here for the thing to ever produce any fruit. Hey, it might even be an ornamental variety? Beats me…
You read that correctly about the vines. The land of stuff put an embargo on wine trade and that crashed the market. Best not to rely on such fickle pickles, but nobody asked my opinion. I can see citrus replacing vines, but the nut crops demand a lot more water and years of growth. Water is a scarce resource down here. Citrus will produce earlier than nut trees, I reckon. They probably are talking about almonds…
Isn’t it interesting that you experience the El Niño phenomenon the same way we do down here? But yes, Prof Mass suggests that things are changing, and the same is being reported down here. That’s a potentially very wet year for us. I noticed the latest post was about your impending warmer spring weather. Nice! 🙂
I mean, sharks and crocodiles managed to survive that big killer rock, so you’d imagine that somewhere was less badly affected than closer to where the meteor hit?
Dude, I’m on friendly terms with the parrots, but just like dealing with the Elder Ones, what price would the cheeky avian’s put on their knowledge? 😉
That’s a good point about the ancient kitchen. I’m overlaying my own views of waste reduction, but the ancients may have been more worried about dead people in the kitchen.
I knew it. Those cheeky no-fun puritan scamps have been hassling all of us lesser folks for centuries. I’ll bet they’ve got something to hide, each and every one of them! 😉 You read it here first!
Oh yeah, you can go to hospital here and it won’t put you in the poor house. On the other hand, housing costs are insane, and they may lead a person astray and dump them in the poor house. Same, same, but different. I noticed that the media has begun discussing the subject of shrinkflation. It’s been researched apparently.
I agree, that outcome of an uproar seems likely. There may also be simply mass non-compliance. That will have pretty much the same effect. Ghandi recommended that strategy. But yes, there must have been a drama which caused the knee-jerk reaction. I faced exactly that circumstance following on from the 173 dead after the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires. The additional building code requirements completely trashed the treasury. And we had a good plan prior to that. Fortunately, we work hard.
Cheers
Chris
A question about the gabion setup. Do you put fabric and/or gravel on the uphill side. I’m at peak rocks so I might start filling gabions with all the rocks that are highly irregular….
Gerry
Yo, Chris – Seems to be more and more data coming in on what some call, The Wood Wide Web. 🙂 The interrelations of forest plants, and how they communicate and share resources. Send out alerts to threats. Fascinating stuff.
Timber sources and cost. There’s always recycling. Though some places forbid recycled materials, in new constructions. That may change. Small scale timber mills, like yours, may provide some wood. Already a bit of a part of the “gray” economy. The old guy that provided the wood for my fence, many a year ago, made a bit of jingle off of providing my wood. From his small timber mill. He reused wood from an old logging bridge. It was a purely cash transaction 🙂
Oh, that’s ok. I have a problem sitting down and listening to recordings. You provide a lot of information on your area, as you go along. Time yields the unsanatized bits, as people die and there’s less at stake, to get stories out into general circulation. When I first moved here, no one talked about the shoot out between the WWI Veterans and the IWW (International Workers of the World.) Sometimes called the Centralia Massacre. Now there are books about it, and there’s been loose talk, for years, about making a major motion picture. Then there’s the police chiefs wife, who ran several gambling dens and houses of ill repute. “The truth will out,” (Shakespeare), or “Murder will out.” (Chaucer.)
Speaking of prehistoric plants, I got curious about the state of your Wollemi Pines. It’s being cultivated in botanical gardens, around the world. Seedling are available, but they’re pretty pricey. Seed, however, can be had for about $25 U.S..
When I get restless, I head for the Club for a cuppa. Good place to people watch.
I tried a nibble of the mystery plant, and it’s some kind of mint. Not lemon balm. We have plenty of that growing invasively, outside the raised beds. The mystery plant has crinkled leaves. Lemon balm has more flat leaves. I discovered that both Oregano and the mint family, not only freely seed, but also send out runners. Which this plant is doing. I could ask the woman who tends that bed, but she’s rather chatty, so I tend to avoid her.
California grows a lot of Almonds, but with their past water problems, quit a few orchards were replaced with crops with fewer water demands. I’m still not seeing any canned shrimp. Haven’t seen any since before You Know What.
I hadn’t seen that post by Prof. Mass. Looks like I’ll have some nice evenings, to work in the garden. You asked about the time change. Days seem long and evenings, short. I had reset my clocks when we got all that wind, and the lights flickered. Thought I might have to reset them, again. But, no.
Puritans have a lot to hide, it seems. Always some fundamentalist tela preacher, involved in some scandal. I’ve read a couple of articles, about, er, adult entertainment web sites. They keep detailed statistics about where their heaviest users are. Surprise, surprise, heaviest users are in what is called our “Bible Belt.” Which has a high concentration of Neo-Puritans. They also do the most, um, off-beat searches. 🙂 Which I find highly amusing.
Funny, you used to see a lot of products touting “20% More!!!” You never see anything touting “20% Less!!!” I suppose they could go for, “More Convenient Size!” Shrinkflation can really screw up recipes. If a recipe calls for a 16oz. can of something, a 12 or 14oz. can isn’t going to cut it.
One of the things that crossed my mind, more than once, after our inspection was: “You will have nothing, and you will be happy.”
Craving carbs. The last couple of weeks, I didn’t pick up any soft tacos or chips. Just thought I’d cut out some more highly processed food. Well, all day yesterday, I just couldn’t shake a craving for bread. So last night I went down to the cheap grocery outlet, and picked up a loaf of sourdough. Had a couple of big fried egg sandwiches, with Swiss cheese, for dinner. Seemed to satisfy the craving. I’ll use up some of the rest of it, using up the Marmite and Vegemite. I don’t have a toaster, so, I’d have to use the broiler. But I found a pretty good method. For me. I take a slice of bread, put a pat of butter on it, and a dab of Marmite or Vegemite. Pop it in the microwave. When it starts to soften up, I spread it around. Sometimes, after my regular dinner, I want a bit of something more. A slice with the stuff, seems to hit the spot. I’m finding them more and more tasty (it’s the salt, I think), but doubt I’ll purchase any more. Maybe if it was more available, and sitting on the grocer’s shelf. But, here, it’s not.
I don’t watch the Academy Awards, but I took a look at the winners. Two of the documentaries, sounded pretty interesting, and I hope our library gets them. One was, “The ABCs of Book Banning.” About the current fad for banning books, in our country. The other was “The Last Repair Shop.” It’s about a group of people in Los Angeles, who find old crook musical instruments, repair them, and give them to school children who otherwise wouldn’t have instruments. There are trailers, for both films. Lew
Yo, Chris – Well, here’s an interesting article …
https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/11/business/vinyl-records-uk-inflation-basket
The revenge of analog? 🙂 Lew
Hi Gerard,
Between the rock gabion cage and the soil we sometimes do add small and large rocks as a gap filler, but the clay will work through the gaps in that. But I wouldn’t really bother with the geofabric (I presume this is what you meant by fabric?) between the clay and gabion cage. The steel will rust away eventually regardless as to what you do. Even the best steels will eventually fail – the acids will do their thing. What I’m guessing will happen eventually is that the due to the actions of the rain, the clay and soil will fill the gaps in between the rocks and the whole thing will settle into place.
On a long enough time scale, even the rocks will be eaten away.
Peak rocks is a real bummer. 🙂
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
The format of analogue will have it’s revenge, and if I may dare say so, it will be a platter best served cold. 😉 I was listening to a live concert earlier today of a favourite artist, and it was digitally supplied. The bit-rate of the recording was at utoob levels, and it sounded flat to me. That’s the problem with compressed music. I recall people making such claims when digital music was first delivered by CD’s, and all I can say is that since those days, things have gotten worse with compressed digital music. It does not surprise me at all to read that vinyl has made a comeback. Whatever else you can say about the format, the sound has a depth which is lost in digital streaming.
Ooo, the trees know, and perhaps discuss our activities? Best if we don’t annoy them is my thinking. It’s probably more complicated than we’ll ever know. There’s an old saying about letting sleeping dogs lie.
I realise that recycling timber is an option, and incidentally that was our original intention with the house here. The sudden changes to the building codes due to the 2009 bushfires, took that option off the table. We faced an entirely new paradigm and had to make do as best we could, which included constructing the house ourselves. As resources and energy decline, such stringent decrees will have to give way to reality, but when that happens is anyone’s guess.
Sadly, I am specifically prohibited from selling products derived from the forest. I can obtain my own needs, but nobody else’s.
Ah, I see, the history was in a written format. I enjoy the occasional podcast, and in fact was able to listen to one this morning – the recent Kunstlercast. Anyway, you’ve probably heard the more interesting bits of history from me over the years.
You’ve mentioned the Chehalis Massacre before, and yes, it is an unsanitised recollection of your areas history. Having read about the events of that fateful day, it was hard to get a clear picture of who did what to whom, although I will note that in the background were heavy hitters, a serious power imbalance and the wrong day to protest. Emotions were way off the charts that day. The two groups probably had more in common than there were differences, and I’m sure that eventually, the Great Depression would have levelled the playing field for both groups – in poverty. It’s something of an equaliser.
That plant is very expensive, but I reckon the reason they survived where they had in blissful isolation, was because that tiny little valley was sheltered from fire. I could plant one of the native pines, but eventually they’d come unstuck.
People watching is always an interesting activity, yeah. And a cuppa adds additional flavour to the experience. 🙂
Oh man, it’s finally cold and drizzling tonight. Yay! After six hot days, I went outside in the drizzle and simply appreciated feeling cold. The heat was tired me out a bit.
Any idea as to what variety of mint plant it is? They usually have a distinctive smell and a kind of squarish stem. None of them survive the winter months here, so I’m curious as to what it may be.
It’s been many a year since I’ve watered the almonds, but by all accounts they are very thirsty trees. Most years the trees produce well, unless they enjoy a particularly late frost. They’re a peach you know, rather than a true nut species. The almond is actually a peach kernel without the cyanide (is it? Or something equally nasty?) Picked a Golden Queen Peach a day or so back off a young tree, and it’s a very tasty large yellow clingstone variety of peach. Yum!
Can’t say that I’ve ever knowingly consumed canned shrimp. Honestly, when canned shrimp is mentioned, I’m reminded of Tom Hanks in the Forrest Gump film, which was actually quite good. That’s a film recommendation, although if I recall correctly we have spoken about this film in the past and your reluctance to climb aboard. 😉 Have you read any plausible reason why the recent supply is low?
Some clocks are easier to adjust than others… The clocks on the solar charge controllers are a pain to adjust. That requires a deep dive into the menus. Incidentally, we got less than one hour of peak sunlight today.
What did they used to say about ‘spiritual pride’ being one of the deadly sins? Isn’t that what acting as if one is holier than though works out to be? I’m hardly surprised by what you mentioned. That’s the thing with feeding the interweb search engines, they record the odd searches for the edification of everyone else.
That’s funny, and you’re right. One product I came across a few years ago made the astounding claim that somehow consumers demanded less product. Marketing is one of the dark arts. Ooo, I’d never considered the effect shrinkflation would have on recipes. Mind you, I tend to purchase raw materials in bulk and follow the physical measurements, not the abstract representations of the measurements. Mostly, talk of a can of this, and a can of that, would simply confuse me.
Oh Lewis, serious people say such things. They just don’t understand that such spells can backfire upon themselves. If they comprehended that risk to themselves (and to even say such a thing reveals much of their inner workings), those folks wouldn’t say such stupid things.
Hang on, are you speaking about the Club taco’s, or the one’s you make for yourself? Sourdough loaves are really good, although some cheeky bakers may be tempted to chuck in a bit of bakers yeast. Big deal, it’s not like the stuff can be tasted. Whoa! Broiling you say? Isn’t that a form of chicken? I had to look up what was meant by this technique, and it sounds a lot like grilling – which would cook your sourdough slices to perfection. Yum! I agree, it is the salt, and the stuff is best consumed on warm buttered bread. I’m impressed that you gave both of them a go. Most people outside the Commonwealth countries are horrified by the taste.
Do they still ban books in your country? Oh well. Is that ‘book’ (you know the one) still banned in some parts of the country? Hehe! It’s probably a fine book. You know, I think the conversation has circled right back around to adult entertainment interweb sites and places with a propensity to ban and feel morally superior. As always there is middle ground, which is mostly ignored.
Cheers
Chris
Hi, Chris!
Coo! The tree top missed the old chook house.
I love your historical anecdotes. Would Chris maybe have been a gold miner?
Isn’t it too hot in the greenhouse – I mean, for plants? The shady orchard looks good – and so does the tree fern; it has finally overcome its enemies, with a little help from its friends. In the sunny orchard – with the brown grass – what direction does the slope face? What direction are the solar panels facing?
“We’ll just have to break apart another boulder” Ha ha! And easier said than done.
We’re still eating fall kale and mustard, and chard and collards. Now I’m planting the spring ones. Wow – nice squashes. We are still eating the butternut winter squashes.
I had to babysit Mr. Baby yesterday . . .
Thanks for the flowers. What beautiful globe artichoke flowers. I don’t grow them, but we have wild thistles so maybe they’d like it here. I’ll second that oregano is pretty much indestructible. Ours grew, or at least stayed green, all winter with a lot of well-below-freezing temperatures.
Pam
Chris- Trees;
Yeah, they are to my mind the main player in the plant kingdom, as we aspire to be in the animal kingdom. They do their best, in inscrutable ways, but we seem to stuff it up, both for them and ourselves.
I might have mentioned it before, but “Finding the Mother Tree” is the book written by Suzanne Simard, and describes her research into the symbiotic fungal networks that trees use to communicate. She’s not the greatest writer, but it’s still a good read.
Anyhoo, I was talking with my forester friend and we discussed what trees we should be planting to recover the despoiled land and return to what was here. He argued that even before Europeans came and chopped it all down, Indians were doing massive landscape alteration with burns for thousands of years, so we really don’t know what the “natural” plant community might be. Things are always in flux anyway, so he thinks we should just plant a mix of what we know likes this terrain, and let them sort it out. This would undoubtedly work, but would take hundreds of years.
He’s a bit of a misanthrope ( I don’t blame him really) but I still look for ways to find a wedge for humans to get a share, so plant more food trees than might otherwise happen with no intervention.
In seven generations, if it’s not all glowing slag, I hope that our progeny will be thankful for what I’ve done.
Peak rock- nah, you’ve been singing that tune for years. Not buying it anymore.
Seriously though, I was a bit too indolent this winter, and as the early warmth has me out and getting stuff going, the body is stiff and tires easily. It will take longer than usual to firm up.
Mulching, pruning, brush clearing, it’s all good, but my work sessions are shorter right now. Someone said that 90% of farming is just moving s**t from one place to another. I can relate.
Will try the tomato trick this year, and we always seem to still have green tomatoes as the first frost nears in the fall.
water- we are still in severe drought here, little snowfall this winter. I started pricing plastic water tanks that can be buried. Yikes!
The one I have my eye on is $4150 for 1500 gal. ( 5600 l) capacity.
That’s just for the tank. Balance of gear and hiring an excavator will add to that. I’m of the notion that all those electrons in the bank’s computers only have value because we currently agree that they do. That agreement could fade to mist in some situations, but once the tank is in place, I’m collecting rain for decades.
Wiring- what had to change on the solar setup? And why?
Maple tapping was weird as heck this year. Very early warmth and wild swings in temp. I got a gallon (4l) of syrup made, but the commercial guys had a heck of a time.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/maple-syrup-producer-concerned-earliest-start-ever-could-harm-trees-in-the-long-run/ar-BB1jzEeI
Yo, Chris – Back when I had my tat shop, I rented a corner to a fellow who dealt in vinyl records. One of my best customers for those, was a sound engineer. 🙂 I’ve noticed that some DVD discs are ok, and others seem “cheap”. Sometimes, harder to get to lode correctly.
Well, maybe not sell products for filthy lucre, but there’s always barter.
The heavy hitters in the logging industry (and, a lot of other industries) didn’t want the loggers to unionize. Loggers involved in union activity, could be black listed, among the logging camps. There’s still a wide streak of anti-union sentiment, in this county.
It’s was raining buckets, when I got up. But, seems to be easing off. By the end of the day, sunshine. And then we’re into that warm weather spell, Prof. Mass was talking about. I’ve got to get serious about getting an AC unit.
I’d say, Spearmint or Peppermint. Probably Spearmint. Yup. Looks like Spearmint, and according to The Font of All Wisdom, it’s pretty cold hardy.
Fresh peaches are lovely. I’ve done a search or two on the lack of canned shrimp. Something about during You Know What the collapse of the restaurant part of the shrimp industry, led to a pulling back of producers. If I do a search, it seems to be available. Might be just because we’re at the end of a lot of supply lines. Might not have filtered down, to us. I notice that about a lot of Halloween specialty candies. Even before. Available in larger cities, but not here.
It’s interesting, every time I open my browser (Safari) there’s a “Privacy Report.” “Prevented (insert number here) trackers from profiling you.” It’s a built in security feature.
A lot of our recipes specify the size of can of whatever, to add to a recipe. The soft tacos I made myself. I don’t worry about the once every two weeks taco, at the Club. Or the burger every two weeks.
Our ovens have a heating element in the top. And, a button that says “Broil.” It can really crank out the heat. And, you can adjust your oven rack, up or down, for a little more control. Broiling has to be closely monitored. It really heats up, fast.
Oh, yeah. Book banning is still a big thing, here. Although there’s been a bit of a movement to fight back. There’s a lot of banging on about “parental rights.” We had something a little interesting, in this State, recently. There was a hearing, in our Capitol, about a bill to insure parental rights. Hundreds of people showed up. Turns out, all the things they were asking for, were already inshrined in State law. So, the legislators, said, sure, we’ll pass the bill, if it makes you feel better. 🙂
I ran across something interesting, while reading “Subculture Vulture.” Back in the 70’s, there was a group called “The Cacophony Society”. Their goal was “Random experiences of ultimate weirdness.” Think, street theatre. Chuck Palahniuk was an early society member. And, his experiences with the group yielded “Fight Club.” The Society eventually begot, Burning Man. Lew
Hello Chris
My oregano is growing in the ground after a tub of it was poured out. It is spreading madly and is impervious to any thing that the weather can throw at it.
Had a phone call yesterday from a neighbour who could hear someone wailing in the woods. Actually I would expect someone in trouble, to be calling ‘help’ not wailing. Other neighbours had also been visited or phoned.
It turns out to be a female goat kid of Son’s. Son says that she does make an incredible noise unlike any made by the other goats.
It poured with rain again last night and I return to being in a swamp.
Inge
Hi Pam,
🙂 That’s what is technically known as a total bonus – the chook palace survived a huge tree head falling squoosh nearby incident. Hopefully the luck continues into the future… Ook!
Funny! I’d like to think that my gold is in the plants, and maybe the rocks. Yup, turning rocks into useful chunks of infrastructure since the early days here. I took a break from paid work this morning and did another big rock scrounge, and discovered a boulder which is easy to split. Those have got a kind of red colour to the stone. All that needs doing now is splitting the boulder. Easier said than done. 😉 As many things are really, don’t you reckon?
It was like winter here this morning. Truly, I went into the big smoke yesterday and whilst the heat wave had turned to more usual weather, the built up heat in all the buildings left me with something of a headache. I went to a business yesterday morning to purchase some cables for the solar power system, and they were err, surly due to the after effects of the heatwave. I tried a bit of expressing empathy for their plight, and that seemed to work. Before that though, err, surly.
Nope! The greenhouse is a design modified for this environment. It works to protect plants from the winter extreme weather. Right around the roof, the built up hot air can escape. It makes for a growing environment that is warmer than outside, but also guaranteed frost free growing environment. It’s still hot in there though. Hard work.
Far out, if those plants can survive that horrid Arctic blast you had a month or so back, and still be alive, they’re amazing. Isn’t it good to manage the succession of planting throughout the season?
Hope Mr Baby is feeling better today?
Maybe? The chokes taste pretty good to me. Compared to wild thistles (and we get wild Scotch thistles here), the Globe Artichokes are pampered plants – a good feed, and a decent drink of water. It’s raining here right now. Yay for rain!
Pam, I’m intrigued by this indestructible variety of oregano, and will keep a closer look at how the plants survive the winter months here. I suspect that they die back. We may well be growing very different varieties of the same plant?
Cheers
Chris
Hi Inge,
Oh no! It is possible that the variety of oregano growing here is not very cold adapted? On the other hand, I’ll watch the oregano plants closely as we head into winter and see what happens to them. Most of the mints like common mint and spearmint, also die back in the cooler wintry months.
Interestingly I was reading a gardening book written specifically for cooler climates in this country, and the clever bloke suggested obtaining seeds for varieties from the UK. Presumably those UK seeds would grow plants which are far more cold tolerant than the usual plants I have access to. It’s an idea.
Hehe! The thought of a wailing goat spooking a few of your neighbours sort of appeals to me. I doubt anyone would say anything about such a thing if it were here. A neighbours dog has a touch of dementia and wails, and I know the dog and owner and we’re cool. It’s more left as an unspoken thing.
Is there anything else unusual about the goat which would cause it to make such a sound? In slightly wetter country than here, there are the lyrebirds which can mimic all manner of sounds up to and including human speech.
Hopefully the weather warms for you and dries out the soil surface a bit. A high water table is very hard on plants. Anyway, the weather is cooling here, so odds are that spring will not be far away for you.
Just ate some yummy roasted home grown beetroot. Yum!
Cheers
Chris
Hi Steve,
I know what you mean, and you should see the stuff ups that the goobers of the mints do with the state forests down here. It’s a mess. Mostly from what I see of people in charge, and also the environmentalists for that matter, they all begin with the premise: Let’s pretend that we don’t use or need products derived from forests. It’s all downhill from there. And we get some shockingly big fires on a semi regular basis and have done so for 170 years. It’s an impressive effort of not letting go in the face of utter failure.
Did you just write the suggestion: Grow what works in the specific area? And maybe also chuck in some random fruit and nut trees? 🙂 I agree with both of you, and you know what – there’s more than enough room for both perspectives. Now that we’re on this topic, I suspect one reason we have very few plant diseases down here compared to what you face, is a result of the efforts of the Indigenous folks managing the land over tens of millennia. All that repeated burning has to have killed off plenty of soil pathogens you’d reckon.
Thankful is most likely what they’ll be. What do they say about planting trees for the future generations? It’s true. Hey, recently I nabbed some hazelnut seeds grown in a climate similar to this area, and may get them started. I thought going with some random genetics may assist with the nut set on the bushes. Could be wrong there…
What? Hehe! Trust me, peak rocks is real. There are plenty of rocks down below the paddocks, but I have to split the boulders and haul the resulting large rocks back up the hill. I don’t reckon I could haul that large rock in the photo back up the hill on my own steam in a more usual wheelbarrow. 7hp and some low gearing can do wonderful things. 🙂
Steve, man I’m feeling your pain there. Yep. Hope you limber up to the growing season physical challenges soon.
It’s a true saying, regardless. The funny thing about most of the machines we use, they either move or cut stuff. It’s really that simple.
I’m coming to acceptance with regards to a short growing season. It happens, and you find yourself where you are – whatever that means. But green tomatoes are a dead cert in a short growing season, and the trick works.
The worm farm sewage system is for your interest a buried underground 3,000L water tank. Certainly the side walls are much thicker than an above ground water tank. Other than that, I’ve never buried a water tank, although I can see many advantages of doing so, especially some areas of your country can get a bit weirded-out by the things. Water being a very scarce resource here, water tanks are as common as muck, or ubiquitous. Larger polyethylene water tanks are frightening things to handle just due to the sheer size, but 5,500L is easy enough on a slope. And I realise you’re looking at an underground tank, but that sized above ground tank here would be under a grand delivered. And made to order in the big smoke too.
I’m of a similar mindset. And like your thinking, longevity is one of the reasons I’m revisiting all of the solar power systems. There’s potential losses at every single connection, which translates to heat – think a fan heater electric element. Best to give the systems a health check most years. And I’ve learned some rather esoteric facts about the systems, especially fuses. I’ve seen what happens if they fail. Not good. They’re something which has to work under the worst case scenario, not the best, or even the average. That’s why it’s industrial all the way now. Hmm.
Err, that’s not good about the maple trees response. I’ve got a couple of them growing here, but you know, it might not be cold enough for the sap to produce sugar. Anywhoo, it’s 2% sugar by volume, and I’m intending to trial sugar beets which are 20% sugar by volume. It’ll be easier here.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
Now why doesn’t that surprise me about the sound engineer reaching for the vinyl’s? 🙂 They are noisier and damage more easily than a CD, but the depth of sound is just better. And streaming services from my perspective make CD’s sound amazing. Compressed music is convenient for sure, but something has to give to reduce the size of the data recorded.
Have you ever noticed with the old vinyl LP’s that a minor scratch is annoying, but rarely a show stopper. With digital stuff, a minor scratch becomes a major headache. Like being attacked by a rabid raccoon, or scratched or bitten by one of those fruit bats… Ook! Makes you wonder if anyone has ever survived? Turns out a bit over a handful have done so. Those are not good odds.
Possible, but the authoritas would take a very dim view of such things. Barter may indeed be what is known as a ‘deemed payment’.
It’s weird how we’re culturally different on the issues of unions. Down here, they’re treated as no big deal, and are part of the whole process. I’m guessing many of those groups have bought into the retirement funds system, and so are establishment as.
Dude, it’s not a bad idea to nab such a machine prior to any surge in demand for them. No point buying one when everyone else is also trying to do so. I must say, the recent run of very hot nights has left me feeling a bit tired. Still, mustn’t grumble, and earlier today we constructed a new steel rock gabion cage. Went on a bit of a rock scrounge too, albeit briefly. Had to do a lot of paid work too, so it’s not all fun and games here. Finished up late tonight.
It rained here quite heavily a little while ago, which is a good thing. It’s been rather dry of late, and the plants will appreciate the drink of water. I’m not sure how much water other gardeners use, but we’re really restricted on that front, but still do OK.
Ooo, spearmint leaves crushed up have such a lovely scent. Good to settle your guts too, if that’s needed. All this talk of winter hardy mint makes me think that I’ll have to up my game, and take a closer look at how the mint family of plants are growing this winter.
Hmm, you should try living in a remote area, in a distant country at the bottom of the planet. There are times I’m grateful to be able to purchase some needed out of the ordinary item. And it will be slow getting here, mind you, today the mill turned up in the mail! Yay!
That’s an exciting thing to hear, but is Safari tracking you? Such things are pretty common on the interweb, and I pay a company to monitor such matters. My thinking there is that the company has a vested interest (i.e. my continued subscription) to ensure that they protect against such horrors. Now, I’ve heard some loose talk that the free stuff (like what you are seeing in that report) is pretty good too, and that may be the case, but I’m running a business, and this blog, and so have to be a little bit more careful than most. You’d be amazed at the weird security stuff I have to think about, and I’m not even sure I understand all of it.
A wise strategy not to worry about such things when you’re at the Club. I don’t really hang out with fussy eaters, but also eat veg at home so that the stuff consumed elsewhere is an enjoyment. I do wonder if those puritan folks know what the word enjoyment means? Although, hey, they may see it as a bad thing? That could be their definition. Yikes! What a thought… 🙂
Interesting. I’ll keep an eye out for a broil function, but candidly speaking, I’ve never seen such a thing.
What the heck is a parental right? Hehe! Oh dude, what a minefield that search popped back up with. Good luck to them all, and may the best parent win, or perhaps the noisiest or most demanding! Thanks for the laughs, but I guess it may be funny to me, but maybe not for everyone else.
Cool name for a book. Ah, those folks. It’s always interesting to see where ideas convert into actions. Those burning folks have a reputation, you may have heard about it?
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – People just didn’t seem to “get” that CDs and DVDs needed to be handled with the same care, as vinyl. When I get a DVD from the library, that has been in circulation, I bounce a bit of light off the surface, to see how grungy (a highly technical and scientific term) it is. Some, pretty grungy. So, I rub them down with a tissue soaked in alcohol, and then immediately dry them with another tissue. I let it sit for a few minutes, until I make sure all the alcohol has evaporated. DVDs go back to the library, cleaner than what I got them. But, luckily, since I watch the new list like a hawk, I get DVDs that haven’t been circulated. But I must say it’s rare to get a DVD that is so damaged, that it is unplayable. When I do, I return it with a note.
Seems like people here, as far as unions go, fall pretty reliably one oe side of a divide, or another, Depending on their politics. Of course, it all goes back to the robber barons, busting unions. Unions here fell to a very low point in the 80s. Thank you Ronnie Raygun. But, workers seem to have more clout, these days, and they’re making a come back. It depends on your background, too. I come from a long line of union people, on both sides, so, you know where my sympathies lay. LOL. Libraries are too polite (or, politically astute) to call some of their organizations “unions.” They call them “Employee associations.”
Well, I had an unexpected windfall, laid on me. I think I’ll go down to the big box hardware store, tonight, and see what they have in the way of AC units.
It started clearing off, yesterday afternoon, and we’ll have nice weather for at least a week Daytime temperatures in the low 70s.
Clear usually means cold nights, but I see nights will be in the low 40s. Warm for this time of year. I’ll be getting out in the garden. Mostly, soil prep and a bit more general clean up.
I’m glad your lumber mill arrived safely. Through the mail, you say? We’ll expect pictures 🙂 .
Computer security is pretty complicated. But, reading through the “For Dummies…” book, it really depends on your situation. Or, how you use your computer. Given your employment, I can understand how layers of arcane security, would be very necessary.
Well, that’s what passed for enjoyment, among the Puritans. Power and control, and a “holier than thou,” take on life. Saturday Night Live used to have an ongoing sketch, “The Church Lady.” Her catch phrase was, “Isn’t that special?” There are several of the sketches on U – Tub. Somewhere along the way, I read the phrase about Church Ladies, “…with their thin, blue lips.” It’s stuck in my head.
Well, you’ve probably never got on your hands and knees, and checked out the roof of an oven. 🙂 You might ask your Big Shed Friends, about oven broilers. They seem to know a lot about “all things kitchen.”
Cooler heads have prevailed in some places, and a well organized response is afoot. Basically, it’s “be careful who you vote onto your school board.” Parental rights people can get pretty crazed. A lot of them send their kids to religious schools, or home school.
Oh, I’ve followed the antics at “Burning Man,” for a good deal of time. But had never read anything by someone who worked on the inside. For a long period of time.
Speaking of crazy, I saw this yesterday in our newspapers “Sirens.” Formally called the “Police Blotter.”
“• A man who was “talking to his reflection and pretending to be Captain Jack Sparrow” was trespassed from a property in the 1100 block of Harrison Avenue just after 1:35 p.m. on March 8.”
Maybe if he had a parrot, and an eye patch, he could have pulled it off.
That was followed by a report about a woman in a tin foil hat, yelling at customers in a local business. Then she barricaded herself in the bathroom. Lew
Hello Chris
Son has no idea as to why that goat is so incredibly noisy, though she does like attention.
Inge
Chris,
Sounds/looks like you’ve gotten a lot done. Go pumpkin crop! Those look just the right size, too. And grapes! The Princess really likes grapes.
Aren’t you glad that tree limb didn’t land on you, your car, the house, the chook shed, the greenhouse, etc.? At least you’ll get some firewood out of it.
Too bad you ran out of rocks just when the path was nearly completed. Is it time to play “Hunting for Boulders” so you can smash them up? Then the game changes to “Carting the Rocks”. Hunting for Boulders sounds easier. Smashing up boulders can be fun. Carting the rocks is just work. 😉
The carving club lost an icon the end of last week. There are 2 founding members still living. Then there were 2 remaining members of the next wave of members. One of this latter group died Friday. She and her friend (the 2nd member of the second wave) adopted me when I started at the club. The Princess is sad, too, as she spent a lot of time with the late member.
Meanwhile, we’ve been busy going through a lot of family paperwork. Or, rather, the Princess goes through it and I shred it. We have to bag up the shredded paper before it can be picked up by the city’s waste services. Our large garbage barrel was filled to the gills with nothing but bags of shredded paper. Going through that stuff has also been rather emotional – lots of memories.
Spring has definitely begun. The forget me nots have started growing. Birds are starting their springtime antics. Avalanche’s spring allergies have hit. As a result, we’re having to dose her once or twice a day with her asthma inhalant to minimize the allergy symptoms. She does NOT like this but has so far been tolerating the humans reasonably well. In other words, no humans have been bitten or scratched.
I had a dental exam today, just a cleaning and check-up. Afterwards, the Princess and I went to the library. We bought 4 of their discarded books for $1 each and checked out about 15 other books and some books on disc. The Princess will listen to those on her road trips.
My car, the Subaru Forester, is in the shop. Turns out my last mechanic hadn’t been doing a few things. The Honda dealership where I take the Princess Honda will work on the Subaru. So they did an inspection…There are some items recommended by Subaru due to mileage that need to be done. And a few other things. And more various and sundry items, also. Twill be expensive, but it will cost much less than buying a new car or even a used one and getting it repaired. Ugg. At least once these repairs are done, they said to expect another 125,000 miles of life for the Forester. Or double what is already on it.
They gave us a “loaner” until I get the Forester back. It’s a new Honda pickup truck. Hmmmm, the Princess and I like the heated seats. Otherwise, we prefer her Honda and my Subaru.
DJSpo
Hi Inge,
The goat may be expressing some kind of natural variability within the species? Oh my! Double oh my! So, curiosity took me, and bear in mind I know little of these animals. However, the responses on an interweb search as to why a goat would make such a sound are, well, let’s just say there are many explanations. My best guess though: The goat may have become isolated from its peers + the protein content of the plants which said goat set out to feed upon, are at a seasonal low in your part of the world. To put it bluntly, it is possible that the goat is practising the gentle art of sooking!
In the early months of spring when plant proteins are at their lowest, I tend to slip the chickens some mince meat. And Inge, The dozen chickens almost swarm me like a pack of fast zombies when they see that food bucket coming. The birds are spoiled rotten anyway because they consume a diet rich in varied seeds and those have a pretty good nutritional content. Egg production is at its lowest at that time of year.
Almost forgot to mention: People have forgotten that this is the lean time of the year.
Cheers
Chris
Hi DJ,
It’s really good to finally have the time to get some of the long neglected projects done around here. The need for the solar power system upgrades have been lurking at the back of my consciousness for quite a while now, plus all the parts were just sitting there taunting me. That upgrade took three days although I didn’t make a big deal about it, and I’m not mucking around with doing this stuff to the nth degree in terms of quality. The other large solar array re-wiring took another day’s work out in the hot Indian summer sun. It has only been since the err, recent, err, sacking client who grew beyond me situation, that I’ve had the free time to do some of the things which have long been needed to do. Until that fateful event, I’ve not had more than a week and half off paid work for more than about six or seven years. Me tired. Truthfully, the fear that grips me in the wee hours of the night producing distress and sweat, is that they contact me and say they just need a bit more assistance. 🙂 I’d prefer not to hear from them again, ever.
Did some paid work this morning, and then went out and smooshed up a boulder. Take that ya pesky product of some long distant volcanic incident! We’d identified that the boulder had the red hue which indicates it is of a softer stone than the bonkers hard quartz. You know, I reckon the quartz rocks were brought in from the nearby Mount Alexander quarries when they built the roads. With such talk of Macedon and Alexander, you’d already know that the original surveyor in the 19th century was something of a history buff?
The other half of the pumpkin harvest will probably be brought in on Tuesday before the rains return the following day. There’s a lot to store, plus dare I mention the zucchini’s?
Grapes are amazing, and your lady clearly has a most excellent palate appreciating such fine fruit. One of the best tasting of the ten vines was a variety purchased from a bloke at a farmers market and obviously the vine comes with a story. Apparently the cutting was taken from his grandfathers vine. I’m sceptical of such talk, but it’s the best tasting grape variety. It’s taken about five years to produce such nice bunches of grapes, and yes, they are being harmed by the mere fact of consumption in breakfast.
Me extra tired tonight, because the smooshed up rocks were also hauled up the hill (as you surmised) and have now been placed on the downhill side of that new path. That downhill rock wall is now complete, and we now need to add soil to the path. The uphill rock wall will be done over the next few weeks.
Ah man, so sorry to hear that, and hope you, your lady, and the club are not hurting. It’s a tough loss for the club, and it’s also hard losing a friend. Please accept my condolences. One day man, you wake up and find that you fill the role of the Elder, and may have to carry more responsibility.
Do I sense a certain reluctance to engage with that task? It’s an odd task isn’t it, going through old paperwork? Spare a moments thought, but we’re faced with a bushfire risk, and face this very paperwork issue regularly. Shame you can’t burn the paper off because the ash would provide some fertility to your soils.
Well I never knew. So dogs can get hayfever and plant allergies? Hmm, seems to be the case. If the dogs here get itchy skin, I tend to increase their regular quantity of coconut oil in their breakfast feed for a short while. Seems to work. I kind of treat them on the same basis that I’d treat myself. And I may have mentioned that we make about two thirds of what they eat from raw materials and garden produce? Maybe? Many long years ago, the one argument I had with my old friend Mike who died during you-know-what, was that dogs can consume a reasonable quantity of vegetables and plant materials in their diet. A strange argument which I wasn’t much invested in, and just kept feeding the dogs their usual stuff. Respect to Dame Avalanche for not taking umbrage at the treatment. Nobody wants to be bitten by a Husky!
Like your style. We also go to the dentist annually for a check up and clean also, mostly because I don’t wish to go for worse treatment. The old timers used to say that: “an apple a day, keeps the doctor away”. I’ve long since felt that the implication was that going to the doctor was a bad thing. 😉 As far as I can comprehend the health situation, nobody but yourself and your lady will care more about your ongoing good health than yourselves. That’s my take on the world and it guides choices.
An audio book sure makes a trip go faster. 🙂 Top score.
Foresters are a noble steed, and I actually quite like their practicality and go anywhere abilities, plus the horrid winter conditions you experience are suitable for such vehicles. And they’re also not massive, which is a good thing. There’s a lot to like about them. I can’t really speak for Subaru, but my experience with vehicles in relation to longevity does not agree with the claims made to you. However, you may prove me wrong, and I’d like to hope so.
Hehe! The loaner may be a sales pitch! 😉 I’ve never experienced a heated seat, but such things are unnecessary with the sort of mild winters we experience. And just to make my head truly spin Exorcist style, after last weeks heatwave, it barely reached 16’C here today. My head hurts… 🙂
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
I agree, but originally there are some vague memories suggesting that digital discs like CD’s were actually hardier than vinyl LP’s. My experience matches what you do and see with them. The things have to be treated with kid gloves, or they stop working. I’m sure you’ve heard the dreaded clunk, clunk, clunk, whirr sounds that the reader machines make when they’re trying to make sense of a damaged section of a disc? It is rare that they’re unplayable though and may skip the damaged sector. You’ve got me curious – I do wonder what their lifespan is? … … What a deep dive. Turns out that there are claims as to longevity, there are plausible suggestions for each of the different kinds of optical digital media, and then there are the unknowables.
It may be a situation just like the old NASA Viking data tapes meticulously kept from the 1970’s. Did anyone think to maintain a tape reader in good working order? 😉 At the very least, in a centuries time the CD’s will look great hanging in fruit trees from twine whilst being used as bird scarers.
That makes sense, and there is a need for unions. The river warehouse in the south of the big smoke allegedly had routines for pick and pack staff so tight that they apparently didn’t have enough time to go to the toilet. Like what kind of system is that? How much mad cash does that bloke and his lady need? Ronnie set your culture on its current trajectory, but you know what, the people got what they voted for. We did more or less the same as well at the time down here, although it was the left leaning politicians which ushered in the neo-liberal agenda. I was too young to be voting in those days. The Prime Muppet of the time was quite the character, and had a union background. In the Guiness Book of records as well. True: Bob Hawke: Australia’s beer drinking legend. Eleven seconds is kind of a scary record.
We have a professional association, but truly I do really wonder who’s interests they represent.
Did you make a decision on the AC? The building you’re in has a sort of chimney effect due to the principle of hot air rising. And being near to the top, means that on hot days, it’s probably hotter where you are located than the lower floors. There’s only usually two handfuls of days each year here where I do wonder about my hesitance in the matter of AC. Those are super hot nights. What was weird about the recent heatwave, was that I began slowly acclimatising to the heat, then it was a shock to the system when the cooler weather returned.
Ha! Low 70’s is warmer than it was here today… A good day for smooshing up a large boulder. The Editor did the drilling and took that in an entirely different direction than I thought. I did the later jack hammering of the boulder. The boulder was like an oblong and the Editor ran the drill holes right down the middle. I wasn’t sure I could then split the boulder, but sure enough after about 15 minutes of being all-shook-up (!), the thing split in half. A huge boulder too, which we then set to making it smaller again. Obtained enough large rocks to complete the rock wall on the downhill side of the low gradient path. Have to add more soil to it, and there is the need for a lot of rocks on the uphill side. But the project is getting there.
Did you get to do the soil prep for the growing season? What does that involve for you?
I’ll get around to the photos of the mill after I’ve mastered the use of the thing. At this stage I might wait until after burn off season is allowed. Being such a dry later part of summer, this area is setting that date at the 1st May.
That’s exactly spot on about computer security. It’s not my preference to want to know about such things, it’s more of a necessity. I don’t keep any such data on the cloud, but people love the ease of that thing. This interweb site is paid for, it ain’t free but I run the thing on the smell of an oily rag – as they used to say. But with that free cloud storage services people so like, I do wonder if the nice companies providing the service, don’t also trawl through the data. I mean, how can it be free? It’s like people getting super excited about supposedly thinkin’ computers and how cheap they are. I suspect the whole thing is a typical bait and switch operation by that industry. How long the stuff stays cheap, remains to be seen. And I wonder at what point they simply run out of mad cash, and have to earn a livin’, or live within their means like the rest of us? Beats me when.
Didn’t Dante put spiritual pride at terrace number one, and force them to carry heavy rocks. Was he talking about the work I’m doing here? 😉 I’d like the chance to put those proud penitents to that work, and maybe hitch some puritans up to a rock lifting harnessed crew as well. Teach them humility and not to get involved in others biz, or maybe at least wear them out so that they stopped hassling us all. It’s a good plan don’t you reckon?
I will ask my friends about the broiler function. It might not be a thing down here. It sounds a lot like what we call the grill function, but the claims suggest that it is different somehow.
School boards are one of those things which nobody really thinks about, until the board goes off in funny directions. I’ve noticed over the past decade or so that some unusual folks with funny opinions are sneaking into such teams in various groups. During you-know-what, an animal charity became very pro-life, and I may have indeed written about my unusual experiences with them. Fair enough, if they can make the ideological stance work. Nowadays, they’re being swamped apparently due to back to work and cost of living pressures, and as always there is the neglected middle ground. I always felt it to be a bit weird that they ignored my previous interactions with them. Hmm.
Interesting indeed. I dunno, I just hear oblique references to that crowd which pricked up my ears. Have you learned anything interesting about them?
Oh, perhaps these are examples of better living through modern chemistry? Too bad if you needed to use the bathroom badly. It’s one of my concerns with travel to unknown destinations: What if there is no toilet? But it’d never occurred to me that there’d be a toilet, except that it was occupied by a person having a very bad day.
Speaking of fast food drama stories, some bloke up north had been allegedly partying too much, for too long with certain pills, and had an incident at a drive through. The dude probably should have gone to hospital instead. I feel for the folks working at fast food places who have to be exposed to such things. They’re not paid enough for that. It was reported on widely.
Cheers
Chris
Hello Chris
A visitor has just expressed astonishment at the noise made by the goat. Son has a number of goats, this one does not have a different diet from the others. Curiously, I still haven’t heard it.
Still raining here.
Inge
Yo, Chris – Well, you can trash all those solar panels …
https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/14/climate/drinking-bird-energy-power-gadgets-climate-intl
Just set up 10 or 20 giant drinking birds, in the paddock. It will become another roadside attraction. Charge an entry fee? Of course, you’ll still have all the batteries, cables, fuses, and who knows what else. 🙂
I see some Australian billionaire wants to build a Titanic II. I wonder if it will have enough lifeboats …
Oh, sure, you can skip over the damage on a DVD, but I always feel like I’ve lost some vital plot point.
Years ago, I mentioned a book called “Silicon Snake Oil.” Not just the NASA Viking data. Census records, military records, etc.. Still on some form of data, or another. But the machines to read the data? Gone.
I recently saw a documentary on preserving old films. They’ve digitalized a lot of them, but are already having problems migrating them from on format, to another. We’ve talked about migration of data, before.
Bob Hawke sounds like one of those “larger than life” public figures. Who also have a large entertainment value. I suppose you train yourself to just open up your throat, and pour it in. Like pouring beer down a hole.
Well, the Big Box Hardware store didn’t have any A/C units. But I can probably order one from them, on-line. To be delivered. I wasn’t too crazy about the idea of loading it on a cart, loading it in the back of my truck, unloading it onto another cart, and getting it into my apartment. They can be on the heavy side.
They’re getting their garden stuff in. So, I took a look. Found some Rhubarb root I had been looking for. We have green, here at the Institution, but I wanted some red, too. I also noticed they had starts of “hardy” Kiwi, Fig, and Pomegranate. I don’t have room for any of those, but will mention it to the Master Gardeners. See if they pick up the ball and run with it. Monday, they’re coming and we’re diving up the garden spaces.
Oh, I’ll fiddle in the garden over a number of days. But as far as soil goes, give it a good turn over, where I put the leaves and straw. Maybe dig in some bone meal / blood meal / and a bit of lime.
Not exactly security, but I’ve been in conversation, with our library. The catalog has a Browse > New Titles > On Order > and then you filter by format. DVD, book, whatever. Fiction, non-fiction, language, etc.. All the filtered formats have disappeared. Nothing beyond >On Order. Based on no information whatever, I’d guess someone added listings to the formats, and forgot to turn them back on, again. It’s a theory.
Be careful what you mention, in this case, Puritans. Someone left a religious pamphlet, on my door, yesterday. Just my door. Didn’t seem to be any particular flavor of religious crazy. But I intend to complain to the office about it. And, if I catch them, I’ll frog march them down to Little Mary Sunshine. It feels a low level harassment / invasive kind of a thing. But I’ll play it to the hilt. Histrionics make a point.
Broiling is an electric or gas heat source, usually from above. Grilling is over an open flame from below. So says the Font of All Wisdom. 🙂
A lot of our lower level people running for election are supposedly non-partisan (claim no particular party) positions. Yeah, sure. They generally make statements, and might have background on education and previous job history. Judges, school boards, etc.. Sometimes, it’s like reading tea leaves. But, if they’ve got 12 kids and home school, they’re probably pretty conservative. One guy was running for sheriff, and his only claim to expertise was that he carried around a copy of the Constitution, in his pocket. He didn’t win, but it was rather frightening how many votes he got.
I’ve followed Burning Man, over the years. In a random kind of a way. Some of the art installations are interesting. And it’s rather a spectacle, when thousands of people Let Their Freak Flags Fly. 🙂 But, it’s been rather gentrified, lately. Tickets are very expensive, and the Tech Bros have moved in, with exclusive areas and enormous compounds for their enormous RVs.
I feel for anyone who works with the public, these days. The increase in the minimum wage? Combat pay. Lew
Chris,
Bleeping bleep of a bleep! I’m tired. We had a long but productive afternoon, culminating in a pint and a feed. Chicken enchiladas in green sauce, refired beans, rice. Our favorite meal. Yummy.
Anyhow, I had a reply to you nearly completed, hit the wrong button, and poof! it was gone! UGG!
Highlights, aka what I can remember having written…
“Smooshed up a boulder” is an extremely advanced technical term. Glad to see you know how to use it. Gladder that you know its practical use. In fact, it looks like you use this as a means to achieve enlightenment: Smoosh a boulder, build a wall. Well done!
When I lived in Las Cruces, which is near El Paso, Texas, there were 3 newspapers available on campus. All 3 of these, and others in states surrounding Texas, were running ads from some guy in Texas asking for donations so he could “Build a wall around Texas to keep the @$^$& Yankees out”. In response, some guy from Oklahoma began running ads in the same newspapers begging for money to “Build a wall around Texas to keep the $@#^$$^ Texans in!” Twas my second taste of how parts of the country actually viewed Texans. The first was something that cannot be discussed here.
Dame Avalanche was rescued from Houston, Texas. She is in one of her typical March snits, amplified by the fact that we ran errands without her 2 days in a row. She “punishes” us by keeping away from us and pouting. When she deigned to join us indoors this evening, I quipped, “There’s my little Texan!” She glared at me. She’s not stupid and obviously picked up on the insult.
Macedon. Alexander. Isn’t there a Cherokee Ridge or something nearby?
Yes, in one of our discussions of canine diets, you sent me a list of the ingredients you use. When Dame Avalanche gets in one of her snits, sometimes she has trouble eating. That’s when I bake a batch of bread with blueberries and vegetables in it. Break some of it up and serve with a lightly fried egg mixed into it. Being offered “human food” makes her feel good and she eats it.
DJSpo
Hi Inge,
The goat wailing noise is a mystery! My friends of the big shed fame raise goats, so next time I see them, I shall ask if they’ve had a goat make such a noise. For your interest, they raise the goats for their milk. They used to raise cows for milk, but the output and trouble far exceeded their needs. Goats are actually easier, and they have very cheeky personalities.
For your interest, my friends raise an old UK breed of goat, the Anglo Nubian, which has origins of goat genetics derived from throughout the old Empire. It’s a dual purpose goat so there is a meat and milk produce. Did you know they used to be loaded aboard ships so as to provide milk and meat products whilst on the journey? Thus the breed has been spread throughout the world.
From the little I’ve observed of animal husbandry, goats are easier to raise than cattle.
Your spring is beginning to sound like the very wet spring and early summer I experienced. Such weather is hard on both the plants and livestock. Hope things dry out for you soon. It is not lost on me that the very best harvest year here was also a drought year. The inference being that too much rain is perhaps worse than too little. Still, we continue to learn and adapt, as I’m guessing both you and your son also do.
Cheers
Chris
Hi DJ,
Today was a special day for Sandra, so we took the day off any and all work (unlike your good selves) and headed to a nearby cidery which we’d not previously visited. Ambience of the place was very beautiful and we sat outside on ubiquitous timber benches and tables under an umbrella (shading from the sun) and enjoyed the cool greens of the grass and exotic trees. Surprisingly the orchard was commercially netted (Ooooo! Such great heights…) and also out of sight of the outdoor dining area and tavern. Curious minds took a peek from a respectable distance! Brick walls and thick timber doors sung to my blood, giving an occasional medieval nod, as no doubt it would have likewise done for your blood. A tasting paddle of their seasonal produce was sampled and a pepperoni pizza was shared and destroyed. The meat was locally produced at a nearby abattoir and small goods producer. Will we go back? Absolutely. A person may ask for more, but will they get more? Me thinks not.
Enchiladas in green sauce sounds like heaven to my taste buds and has got me salivating. Yum! Presumably the green sauce is a little bit spicy like green tabasco sauce is? A fine meal, which in my opinion, is too good for Kings.
Mate, we’ve all been there… Imagine if James Bond 007 hit the wrong button at an inopportune time? Oops… Thanks for the highlights reel. 😉
The boulders are asking, nay demanding, to be repurposed in the rock walls. Spare a moments thought for the over worked Makita rotary hammer drill and 22mm bits, which does most of the work. The machine runs hot nowadays, and sooner or later will fail. Might clean the insides and replace the brushes, couldn’t hurt.
You’ve learned a wonderful experience there about your country. It’s no different to down here in that the predominant local environment subtly alters the prevailing culture. Isn’t it interesting that a few of the lovely people who comment regularly on this interweb site have similar climates to here such as the PNW, or the Southern part of the British Isles, or more temperate parts of the east coast of your country? Maybe there is something in the water? 🙂 It could be the food…
Given Dame Avalanche’s double coat, I’d have to suggest that now living in your part of the world would be physically easier on her. Dogs sometimes forget that when in Rome, they must do as the Romans. Now if the titled canine was however operating in a wolf pack, she could act the wolf, and also probably feel hunger from time to time when the hunt was not successful. And exposure when the March weather turns ugly. And maybe miss out on those special chew treats.
Ruby acts a bit like that too, for much the same reasons.
Ancient Greek kingdoms, Greats, or something like that. 🙂 The hamlet was so named after timber workers from your country. The east coast apparently. Thought the area looked similar to the Cherokee tribal lands. The local history ascribed the workers as having come via your west coast during the gold rush. It is possible that the workers crossed your country before set sail to these shores? Hardy folks.
Yeah, we make dog food and biscuits each week and have done so for years. The only error I made with that process early on (many long years ago) was adding in sultanas. Now those are dried grapes, and can be toxic to dogs. Despite this error, the dogs all lived to old age and so it didn’t seem to have been a drama, but it could just as easily have been a serious problem. It was a bit of horror to discover I’d inadvertently fed them toxic food stuffs. Not good.
Hope Dame Avalanche has accepted the human food with good grace and is now back to her usual ebullient self?
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
Thanks for the laughs, and hope the researchers can err, iron out the bugs with the bobbing bird generator. 🙂 Doesn’t the second law of thermodynamics suggest that there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch? It’s an intriguing design, and it was difficult not to notice that the value of 100 volts was mooted. What they didn’t report on was the value of the current produced. I doubt it’d be much more than a mouse fart. But yeah, it’s got tourist potential written all over it. Perhaps our fortunes will now be made?
That’s a good point, and would it be a truly authentic experience if it had more than enough life boats for crew and passengers? Anywhoo, I’ll believe this will happen when the thing is sitting in the water ready for embarkation.
Well, that’s the thing about damaged DVD’s – what was lost? Have you ever come across a book where some nefarious former reader removed some of the pages randomly and without warning? Evil never sleeps… Hey, the book Quite a Year for Plums turned up in the mail, and the Editor wishes to read it first. Review to follow at a later stage. She’s enjoying Bram Stokers book, Dracula at the moment. The author is apparently very good at providing descriptive detail, whilst recounting an engrossing tale.
Interesting about migrating movies to newer digital formats. You’d think that it would be easy to create backwardly compatible digital movie formats? Crazy stuff. For your interest, the compressed digital music formats have not really changed much over the past couple of decades.
For all the entertainment value, the guy clearly also had a sharp mind. For a politician, he was well liked. That record has a lot of yuk factor to it. Hey, you may laugh, but long ago in a job I used to speak with the cleaner who’d had to get a tracheotomy due to smoking issues. I tell ya what, the smokers avoided him like the plague, but he was OK that bloke and quite accepting of his circumstances. He told me that he was just happy to be around doing what he was doing.
I’d wondered about whether the big box hardware stores would have such a machine. Down here, you’d have to go to a big box white goods store instead. Your hardware stores always intrigue me with the sheer variety of stuff sold. Are you planning to order on-line and get the thing delivered? A good option if you ask me.
Had lunch today at a nearby cidery which we’d not previously been too. Last year we’d attended a cider making course taken by the bloke who owns and runs the cidery, so we wanted to see what it was like. They had their own orchard out the back (which was hard to see for the less than persistent folks 😉 ) and overall the ambience was pretty nice. Shared a tasting paddle of the various ciders they produce and also a pizza. It was pepperoni, which was made nearby at a small goods business. The weather was delightful, not too hot and not too cold, but just right. Went for some walks. May also have had a cake and coffee in the afternoon. A small chunk of red velvet cake, which was quite tasty. All up, a good day. Back to work tomorrow…
What? Green rhubarb. Haven’t heard of that before. Oh wow, the stalks look like celery sticks. Apparently they’re much the same, but I dunno. The red stemmed varieties self seed here and are super hardy plants. Those three plants are big! Maybe the little gold varieties of kiwi fruit vines are small (they seem to be here). Will you hang onto the garden beds you’ve already got? There’s always a drop out rate when it comes to actually doing something? I’m sure you see more than a few unattended garden beds?
It’s the time of year for that soil work, and I’m planning to do the same over the next few days.
The Tech Bros are known to say: Garbage In, Garbage Out. That may be true of the catalogue system you’re facing.
Ha! You perhaps need to go all CSI on the pamphlet and run it in the lab for finger prints. Those black lights and luminol sprays seem to do amazing things too. Maybe the person used the pamphlet underneath a sheet of paper which they’d handwritten something on and you can see the markings with a torch and magnifying glass. You’ve got a real mystery there on your hands. I’ve mentioned to you before that some sects turn up here very occasionally on out reach to talk to me about religious matters. They’re always nicely dressed driving a large and expensive looking vehicle.
More comparative research is needed in this matter. I can’t recall whether the grill function turns on the top or bottom element…
If they’ve got 12 kids, as a wild guess, they’re probably too busy to run for public office! I’ve never really comprehended the role of the Sheriff and why it would be up for election. Down here the police are state based and they’re all public servants whom presumably work their way up the ranks so I doubt anyone near to the top is an outsider. I’ve read a couple of books (the Joe Bain series) where the fictional Sheriff is always worrying about votes in the next election, whilst doing his job.
I’m not sure that I’d enjoy a festival with that lot.
I’d never thought about the issue that way, but yeah, costs are rising and minimum wage is hard to live on. There are reports that the median weekly rent for the entire country down here is nearing $600 a week. It’s pretty eye watering, although this state is a bit cheaper but still above $500 a week. You hear stories, and they’re not good ones. Makes you wonder where it’s all headed?
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – Wailing goats! Probably, an omen! 🙂
Here’s the article about the Titanic II …
https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/13/travel/australia-clive-palmer-relaunches-titanic-two-intl-hnk
I’ve never personally, run across something I was reading, with missing pages. Sometimes, while working in various libraries, some books were found with missing pages. Mostly, photos with naughty bits.
Because you don’t have enough tat in your life …. 🙂 The Editor may be interested in https://goreystore.com Edward Gorey did the sets and costumes for a Broadway production of “Dracula.” You can get everything from mugs, to refrigerator magnets, to shower curtains. Jewelry to add a Gothic touch to your wardrobe. It’s fun to just look around the site. I’m thinking of putting some of the Christmas cards, on my door, for the holidays.
Speaking of tracheotomies, it reminded me of a stunt Michael Moore pulled off ….
https://youtu.be/i52qITyCs34?si=BAT_fWsOWso-SCOi
The Editor and you always have such interesting gastronomic adventures. I didn’t feel much like pulling out the stops, in the kitchen, and finally settled on a couple of pieces of sourdough bread with yogurt and feta cheese.
Our communal rhubarb patch is all green rhubarb. It produces seed heads, but I keep them cut off, to send more energy to the plants. I wanted some red rhubarb, as, in theory, the more colorful a plant, the more nutritious. The leaves, of course, are poisonous. Something to keep in mind 🙂 .
I’ll probably be able to hang on to my two beds. Unless there’s a lot of pressure, from potential gardeners. Or, some old biddy moaning about “Lew having two beds.” I’ll send her a nice rhubarb leaf pie.
The library catalog is back up again. Funny, I’ve been getting a lot of books off my hold list, but no DVDs. I’d guess, whoever processes those is on vacation, or sick. Or maybe, the position needs to be filled. I suppose I’ll end up with a tsunami of DVDs. Although if I see the numbers edging up to an unmanageable level, I can slap a “pause hold” on whatever hasn’t got in the pipeline, yet.
As far as the religious pamphlet goes, I think I’ll go straight to DNA analysis. 🙂
The office of county sheriff, probably is a hold over from our Wild West days. But it’s an office that goes way back. Who can forget the nefarious Sheriff of Nottingham? Always a pain in Robin Hood’s … ear. We have an … interesting movement in our county. The Sovereign Citizen.
“These groups generally do not adhere to federal, state, or local laws. Some sovereign citizens believe federal and state officials have no real authority and will only recognize the local sheriff’s department as the only legitimate government official.”
The above quote is from a PDF put out by our FBI. They make the news, a lot, usually due to some altercation of law enforcement. It never ends well for them, no matter what fantasy they entertain.
I meant to mention, there’s been a lot of articles about young people not being able to afford this or that. Often, they moan about not being able to have a child, or a second child … or even a third. I do have a lot of sympathy, for them, as far as housing and general living expenses go. But the expense of kids, is kind of optional. By the way, the average cost of birth, is about $30,000. And that’s if nothing goes wrong.
I negotiated the round-about-of-death, yesterday morning. To go to my credit union and get a couple of figures to plug into my yearly housing recertification. So, now it’s just paper, back and forth for signatures, and then I get the cost I’ll be paying, monthly, next year. I really don’t know how they figure the whole thing. Theoretically, it’s 30% of my income. But it’s always lower than what I estimate. Lew
Chris,
Happy Special Day for Sandra! Day off working, new to you cidery, good food, good company. Sounds like a wonderful day. I’m having pleasant visions of the brick walls and thick timber doors. Perfect venue for setting up a catapult and shooting a cow over the walls at the besiegers!
Yes, the green sauce has just a bit of zing to it. The red sauce is milder and sweet. The green chicken enchiladas is the best meal that place has, in my opinion. The owner’s wife agrees with us. The place I frequented in Las Cruces was a tiny hole-in-the wall restaurant, El Sombrero. Their green chicken enchiladas were the best item on that menu also. Those were much hotter on the spice scale. I don’t think I could eat those comfortably now. I was able to visit El Sombrero with the Princess when we were in that area circa 2010 for several days. Food was still excellent.
It is rather interesting how the local environment influences the local culture, isn’t it? It gets very obvious when looking at Norse mythology, including Beowulf, versus Irish mythology or the Welsh Mabinogion. I think Mr. Greer has talked about this on occasion several years ago.
Ah, poor Dame Avalanche. She was extremely agitated Thursday night. Restless, grumpy, couldn’t relax. Eventually ate her dinner and barfed it up 2 hours later. Nice noise and aroma to wake up to at 2:30 a.m. 😉 Her asthma inhaler medication has some of these things as potential side effects. However, some of her actions, well, the Princess asked if Dame Avalanche could be in heat. Although spayed, it is possible. Killian’s human wondered the same thing in March last year. It IS possible, if the surgeon who spayed her mistakenly left part of an ovary inside her. False estrus explains many of her difficulties. Cold be a combination of her meds AND false estrus. She slept in the sun most of Friday, ate a bit, drank a lot of water. She seems to be a bit better Friday evening.
I got the Forester back from the shop early Friday Afternoon. That was surprisingly early. It drives much better now. And Avalanche was visibly happy to see it pull into the driveway instead of the loaner truck. She knows that she gets to go on rides in the Forester.
There are three main Cherokee groups in the US. Two are in Oklahoma, moved there during the Trail of Tears in the 1830s. Some stayed behind and remained in western North Carolina, which would explain your local landmark. So yes, the workers who named your hamlet likely travelled across the USA before setting sail for Australia. Lots of travel, lots of adventures. Tough people, indeed.
Grapes. Chocolate. Wonderfully tasty foods, but not for dogs. Raspberries and blueberries and carrots and…those are good for all.
DJSpo
Hi DJ,
A cow randomly falling from the sky would surely lead to hard questions being asked? 🙂 But other than the cow, you surmised correctly. The cidery had a large walled garden kind of feel to it, so the invaders would never know of the cow or catapult prior to making friends with said bovine.
I’d have thought that the sauce was the other way around, with the red being the hotter sauce than the green. Asking the owners wife for an opinion on the best of the menu is seriously getting the inside scoop. Sounds tasty too, and I’m salivating thinking of such yummy food stuffs. Ah, the hole in the wall place was a reference to the hat! Not the best hat, or the biggest hat, but just ‘the hat’. That’s confidence for you, that name. I like your style, and I’m a casual food kind of guy too. That’s where the best stuff is to be found. I can do fine dining and not embarrass myself, but rarely do I feel comfortable in such venues. But a place which makes the best nachos for miles around, that’s my kind of place. Deep down, probably like you, I’m a caveman. We’ve spoken about this before, and the Neanderthal blood runs deep. Ugg! That’s the secret sound by the way… 🙂
Mr Greer was onto something with his observations as to the local environmental effects on the local culture. And I’ve also long observed this to be true. Actually the energy cost of attempts to homogenise the culture are pretty crazy, and will eventually run out of steam. Things will get very interesting after that point, and in some ways, probably better.
Dude, if I encountered a dog which was restless, grumpy and couldn’t relax at night, my initial thoughts would be … worms. Yup. Always best to eliminate the simple explanations before delving into more complicated scenarios. Anyway, ask me how I know this to be the case? Personal experience is a real bummer in this instance. 😉 Hope Dame Avalanche is feeling better today? Dame Plum caught and killed a sizeable rabbit this morning. This is why she earned her title. I noticed this afternoon that she was dragging her bottom along the ground. Here we freakin’ go again…
Dame Avalanche into the loaner truck would be a bad idea, yes. Wise. Ruby occasional barfs up her guts from anxiety when she travels in the Suzuki Jimny, but at least the thing can be hosed out. Not many cars you can do that too – it is deliberately very basic (which I like). Good to hear that the Honda dealer did a good service and fix on the Forester. A good mechanic is worth their weight in gold and I’ve had good and bad experiences over the years. I tell you, it was a bit of a gamble to take the Suzuki Swift to the clutch specialist earlier in the year, but it turned out to be a good move. I’ve never known a clutch to fail in that way before. There’s always stuff to learn isn’t there? If your current mechanic is regularly servicing the car, and things are being overlooked which make the car drive badly (and aren’t necessarily speciality repair issues like the clutch weirdness we had), then maybe it’s time to shop around? Dunno.
The Cherokee Wildlife Management Area is beautiful but also a hard land, and not nearly as bountiful as North Carolina would have been. Have you ever been in that part of the world? It’s impressive that much has been left as forested areas. Hmm. All of the people involved in that story are tough characters, and it’s also a hard story. I’m of the belief that the ‘do unto others’, has implications over the short and long term, although perhaps this is an unfashionable perspective. My lot, and yours too for much the same reasons would have been moved on. Our culture is built upon unpayable debt.
The timber getters certainly didn’t strike it rich in the gold fields…
I check every ingredient nowadays. And yes, your examples are good for all.
It was another lovely day here today. 29’C and still, but with lower UV. Finished off a re-wiring job on the large solar panel array down in the paddock. I’m going over every system with a fine tooth comb and upgrading where necessary. Also, I emptied and moved a large 8,000L water tank. That thing was heavy… The soil underneath the water tank has to be lowered.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
I’d never thought of the wailing goat as an omen, but you might be right.
The wealthy bloke appears to be rather litigious, so I’m disinclined to pooh-pooh the idea. Curses are funny things, and a person has to be careful when wading into such cold waters. I’m of the belief that it may be best to leave sleeping dogs lie with that old ship.
On another note, it seems rather unwise to brag about how much mad cash you make every year. The authoritas can read the news too, and even Al Capone was no match for the tax man.
It was the Editor who came across the book with the missing section. It was a second hand book, and quite good apparently, but the nefarious former owner had cut out a section, then fobbed off the book on a second hand dealer. We were the final chumps in that story… A low commitment error, so no big deal. But it gives a person pause for thought when scouring second hand book shops.
Ha! Surely it would be worse getting those naughty bit pages returned to the library, slightly soiled. 🙂 Ah, experiencing the full spectrum of the human condition in any public facing employment since way back! 🙂 You can quote me there!!!
Speaking of culture, I am glad to read that the notorious Saturnalia-esque down under celebrations for young country adults continues of the Batchelor and Spinster Balls (or otherwise known as a B and S ball). Apparently there’d been some insurance hassles… Return of Elmore’s rebranded Bachelors and Spinsters ball met with celebrations but also safety concerns. An interesting observation was made that somehow events with pills seem to be socially acceptable, whereas a full on country bash is not deemed acceptable. I sometimes go to the agricultural expo in that town, although the event has a very different feel from that of the Ball! 🙂
I’d never seen the Michael Moore stunt before. Did you notice the lack of eye contact? I’d call that a direct hit, yeah.
We’re casual when it comes to gastronomic adventures, and try to find places that suit. Plenty of people get excited by fine dining, but I’m just not wired for that experience. Probably something to do with enjoying good basic food, prepared well. I’m not easily bored, or impressed by status.
A fine meal.
Hey, Dame Plum took down a chunky rabbit this morning. She’s fast that dog. I did take it off her, and instead gave several beef jerky rewards, which she enjoyed. I’m a bit dubious of her getting worms again, and did see her dragging her bottom on the ground today, which is not necessarily worms. All the same, I’ll put her on a dose of crushed pepitas for the next few days. Won’t hurt.
It was a lovely day here today. I finished emptying a large water tank, and then moved it. Those things are heavy. Also finished re-wiring the solar panel array in the paddock. I’m going over all of those systems with a metaphorical fine tooth comb, and upgrading or improving where necessary. It’s a big job. Might plant out the winter kale and radishes tomorrow and clean up and fertilise the greenhouse. There’s never a dull moment…
You’re probably right about the red rhubarb having different nutrients than the green stems. I’ve only ever seen the red stemmed variety. Yes, the leaves are nasty customers. Oxalic acid apparently, which is also found in a local leafy green known as the Warrigal Spinach. Has to be prepared properly, or else… Too much hassle for my liking.
Naughty Lewis, you would not do so… 🙂 I’m sure you’ll retain your two beds.
Maybe the library tech bros were mucking around with the catalogue program? It’s weird the filtering search facility would come unstuck.
Ah very good, and it’s amazing what they can discover with DNA sampling these days. Hey, the trace sample on the pamphlet may link the miscreant to some major crime in another state? Such things happen you know. Personally I’d be worried that distant family members who I want nothing to do with, track me down through some online DNA registry. That also happens nowadays.
Yeah, the problem becomes when sovereign citizens tend to move beyond their tiny borders and expect that somehow the usual rules of engagement don’t apply to them. Au contraire, they do apply, probably much to the dismay of the citizen.
Ah, well, I can prove that such things happen for far less than $30,000. So the other week I went into the big smoke for work, and was late. I like to start late, but am unfailingly punctual. Turns out some protesters had blocked a major bridge with a hired truck and caused traffic mayhem – and probably a lot more than the usual amount of pollution. They were protesting about the environment. Anywhoo, some unfortunate lady was caught in traffic and unable to make it to the hospital to give birth, and so the side of the road was the scene for that. I saw photos in the media, and candidly there may have been some annoyance to be seen. It’s in the eyes, you know. Anyway, I doubt that delivery cost $30,000.
Nice work. That roundabout would give me the vapours too. There is one of them in a nearby town which is a double lane roundabout, and I don’t like the thing if turning right (your turning left).
Wise to be on top of your paperwork, and honestly I am, but it is a mystery to me how other households cope with such tasks. There’s a lot of it. Given the preference for paperwork in our civilisation, it would be very complicated to be illiterate.
Cheers
Chris
Chris:
I was just walking along the road that my son has made to the back of the property and saw something that he had recently done: A very large tree stump, with the roots, that was upside down in a hole. For me this proves why you have all those upside down tree stumps with roots. He did this with his latest acquisition – a CAT bulldozer much hugerer than Tractorzilla/Mr. Diggy. If not removed, the hole will eventually fill in with soil.
Mystery solved?
Pam
@Inge
By chance is the goat a Nubian? When our daughter at age 8 was deciding on her 4H project we went off to the county fair to check out all the different livestock options
She picked dairy goats and due to the cuteness of their floppy ears she chose the Nubian breed. Goats were a new endeavor for us as well and we were clueless. Turns out Nubians are the noisiest breed finding any opportunity to start screaming especially if it rained. We never had to look for at the first job the screaming would commence.
Margaret
Hello Chris
The wailing goat is a Boer goat but so is her mother and she isn’t so loud.
Inge
Hi Chris,
Just last week we decided to have a tree guy look at an old oak in front of our living room which has some damage at its base. As it means towards the house it’s been a cause for concern to me for awhile. Yep, he said if it was he tree he’d take it down. Really bummed about it but the damage would be pretty catastrophic.
We’ve had some rain but not enough. After quite a spell of above average temperatures it’s turning colder tomorrow for awhile with a few mentions of snow.
Margaret
@ DJ – And then, the besiegers hurl back a few plague victims. 🙂 Lew
Yo, Chris – I suppose you’ve seen an article about the Australian blueberry? 20.4 grams or 2.71 ounces. For the metrically challenged. Made the Guinness book of world records. I noticed they didn’t ask the hard question. How did it taste? 🙂 In one of those Cosmic Coincidences, the Master Gardeners are having their annual blueberry seminar this morning. Looks like a good turnout.
Always good to flip through a used book. See if some old water damage, has made the pages stick together. Does it appear to be stolen from a library. And, a sniff test is necessary. Mold? Mildew? That stuff will spread to the rest of your books. I’ve been caught out on that one, a couple of times. Nothing for it, but to bin it.
There’s a specialty dry cleaner, for that. 🙂
B & S Ball. The Australian version of Sadie Hawkins Day? All good fun, until someone gets hurt. 🙂 Escapes my memory, but some major event recently got canceled due to the cost of liability insurance. The state of Florida, goes nuts, every spring school break. Several towns have pulled in the welcome mat, due to outrageous misbehavior. Some of the sidebar stories, as always, were interesting. Pills are a lot less obvious, than booze.
Second hand clothes. A real scourge. Even here, at the Institution. We have another swap table, in our library. It’s about 3×4′. Occasionally, it’s piled high, with discarded clothes. Eventually, they’re gathered up and taken to one of the op-shops. Not that that’s the end of the problem.
Another article about more planes, coming undone, while in the air. Seems to be a lot of that, these days.
I just don’t get out and eat. So rare, for me. I hear there’s a new bagel shop in town. Real New York bagels. I suppose I should give it a whirl. Saw a headline that fast food places are declining in business. Poor folks just can’t afford them, anymore. And are eating more, at home. Well, if the stars align, $4 cheeseburgers at the Club, tonight.
I went down, to have a cuppa, with my friend Jane, last night. The food pantry was bare. So, I ran down to the Dollar + store, and the other cheap grocery place. Spent $50-60. Four bags of groceries. Ran them back to the Club. Will be interesting to see how much is left, tonight. That’s it, until next Friday, when I get another box. Or, a cash donation in the meantime.
We’re supposed to have three 70F days, in a row. Rain is coming back, maybe next Wednesday.
If I ever did a DNA test, and ended up in a data base, I’d probably have law enforcement, at my door. 🙂 What with my Dad’s 17 brothers and sisters, at least 32 first cousins, and gosh knows how many 2d and 3d cousins by now … well, statistically, there must be a bad person in the bunch. Some cold case to be solved.
As if paperwork weren’t bad enough, now it’s getting all mucked up with apps and on-line stuff. Just send me the GDed bill and I’ll send you a GDed check. Lew
Hi Pam,
Well done to your son. You know that by this work he’s giving other people hours of entertainment wondering how the heck did this tree stump get left upside down. 🙂 Has he named the bulldozer yet? They’re awesome machines, and I reckon he’ll get a lot of work done with the machine.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Inge,
Goats… They aren’t quite the docile and gentle creature that many people believe them to be. Have you managed to hear the goat wailing yet? Looks like Boer goats are bred for meat. Is it possible the very wet conditions are distressing the goats? That particular variety was bred in far warmer and drier conditions than what you’re enjoying at the moment. Dunno.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Margaret,
Sorry to say, but that sounds like money well spent to me. And if you have concerns about the tree, it’s a problem. As unpleasant a reality as it may sound, an old timer long ago remarked to me in relation to this matter: You never leave trees within falling distance of your house.
I’m not mucking around, it’s not windy here, but occasionally you’ll get a massive wind storm, like the minor tornado which hit here one Christmas day, or the unusual north easterly wind storm a couple of years ago. Then trees will topple, and I’ve seen them smash houses and worse.
If your conscience troubles you, plant and care for another dozen oaks, but this time keep them a bit further from the house.
Oh my! Hope any early fruit trees are yet to produce blossoms and leaves? They won’t like such weather – ask me how I know this!!! 🙂
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
I missed that news about the super large blueberry. In this part of the world they grow some of the biggest black truffles you’ll find grown anywhere. Ah, that particular variety of blueberry is grown under conditions I could never replicate. Err, not enough free time… Those are some cosseted fruits. The word on the street is that the fruits have retained flavour, but that is a relative argument and so you and I won’t be able to substantiate it.
On the other hand, it is good to see plant breeders pushing the envelope and developing new varieties. I tell ya, this is a task which needs to be done on a much larger scale and as things decline, it’ll happen anyway a bit by chance, and occasionally by skill.
On that note, I fertilised the soil in the greenhouse today. Four parts coffee grounds + Two parts blood and bone + One part agricultural lime. Spread the mixture onto the soil surface then raked and hoed the stuff into the soil over a foot deep. It was a pleasure to see the richness and soil structure holding moisture despite the dry latter part of summer. Dropped in radish, kale and mustard seeds for winter eating. I’ll be very curious to see how all the seeds take, and will ruthlessly thin the crop. We’re having a run of warm days, so I reckon it is best to get the winter garden growing now. Just a gut feeling thing more than anything else.
Looking at the forecast for this week, I also pulled the last of the pumpkins. Oh my, there’s enough for winter and early spring consumption – photo to come. Then mulched up all of the vines. Many years ago I purchased an old locally made electric chipper for $50 and the thing is even scarier than the petrol machine. And I modified it to work better and sharperer… Ook! A machine to be careful with. Anywhoo, I dropped all of the pumpkin vines into it and produced a nice organic mash which was spread around.
What? I’d not realised that book moulds could spread, but now that you mention it, that seems likely. Hmm. One of my long term to-do projects is rebuilding the book shelves, but with glass or plastic fronts. Reduce the dust, provide a more controlled atmosphere, then hope for the best.
I am not using such a speciality dry cleaner! 🙂
Nothing wrong with the Sadie Hawkins Day rites. I think that possibly things may get more serious than simply hurt during such social interactions! Yeah, as in Florida, up in the state of Queensland they tend to do a ‘Schoolies’ which is possibly an end of school fertility rite. In my day, I finished the last high school exam, had a week off lounging around the house, then was at a production line job a week later. That’s how things used to roll. No gap year. No lounging. Things may be different nowadays?
Well, yeah. My perspective in the matter is that if the clothes weren’t so cheap and shabby in the first place, they may not get discarded. However, even the most cursory glance in a second hand clothes shop reveals the truth: Even the best made stuff, with the finest fabrics, gets chucked. This is what an insane civilisation looks like.
There does seem to be some quality issues with those new-ish jets. Look I don’t wish to partake, but living in a flight path does make me feel kind of nervous. If any stuff falls, and we survive the incident, I’ll send them a bill for trespass. That’ll learn them! 😉
Man, we all do what we can, so no stress. If it’s not your thing, don’t worry about it. Lewis, boiled bread just seems weird to me, so I completely get your reticence. And that’s the thing isn’t it? What does Sun Tzu suggest about backing opponents into a corner. There has been an election up north of the country, and there was a strong shift to the right. The left were wiped out, well at least that is how things looked to me. Not that the politicians will change things.
Nice score with the groceries, and compared to down here, that is cheap. I’ll be very interested to hear how the pantry moved over the course of the day.
Your weather candidly reads like the forecast here! How does that work? 🙂 It was a delightful day here today, but yeah, Wednesday…
That’s exactly what I was thinking. I’m not taking the fall for those idiots despite satisfying the curiosity factor in finally proving the higher than average Neanderthal percentage. 😉 Wise to avoid such a system. Do you want to have to rely upon the ‘innocence project’? I dunno man… Odds are that there will be a bad egg in the clutch.
I so hear you. One of my regular bills, I have to log onto their system and download the bill – and they get automatically paid regardless. Not a fan.
Ook! Better get writing…
Cheers
Chris
Hello Chris
The goat’s mother is there and is also a Boer goat, she doesn’t make that noise. Yes Son’s goats are there for meat.
It is raining outside.
Inge
@ Margaret
Sorry. I missed your goat question. You have now probably seen my reply to Chris that it is a Boer goat.
Inge
Yo, Chris – Regular blueberries are pretty easy to care for. At least, the one’s here at the Institution are easy to care for. Here’s the article on the giant Australian blueberry.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/15/australia/worlds-heaviest-blueberry-scli-intl
I saw a bit of an article that scientists are moving forests, north, due to climate change. It’s called “assisted migration.”
And you walked three miles to school, each day. Barefoot, in the snow. Uphill, both ways. 🙂
I keep wondering if I’ll see any more space junk, come down. Sure was spectacular.
Don’t you have bagels, in Australia? There isn’t a bread section, in a grocery store, here, that doesn’t have a selection of bagels in their baked goods section. Plain, onion, blueberry, pumpkin spice, in the fall. The list goes on. Raisin and cinnamon.
I went to the Club, last night, and had two cheeseburgers. Pretty tasty. No beet root. The pantry still looked pretty stocked up. Lew