They did me a favour, yeah. The past month or so I’ve been processing upon recent events, and the results are now in. The early 1990’s recession set Sandra and I upon this path. When the Titanic was sinking, the general rule for seats on a lifeboat was women and children first. In the 1990’s recession we had to have, the same was true when the economic boat was sinking, women and children got booted off the ship first.
We were both so young back then. It was no fun being booted off the economic ship and having to scramble to keep a roof over our heads and food upon the table. Such experiences shake your confidence in the system. They also kill trust. You know what can happen, because you’ve experienced it. The old timers say that trust is hard won, and easily lost. That’s true. The recession was five years long, four of which I spent working at commercial debt collection. It was an exciting job where you get to experience the darker side of humanity, plus get lied to constantly.
Towards the end of the five years, the economic winds slowly began to improve due to super loose government fiscal policy combined with the slow jettisoning of support for local manufacturing. Eventually, I landed a more senior role. Then another, and another etc. During those years, there was something of a nagging thought as to whether the folks who employed me knew that I was always holding something back.
Once trust is gone, it’s hard to rebuild. Sure, we had no choice but to work as employees during the day to pay the bills. But at night and on weekends we also fixed up houses in order to make extra mad cash as a side hustle. It was not unusual to work all day at a complicated and stressful job, then come home and continue repairs on the house until late into the night. And the repair work wasn’t just banging in a new kitchen and bathroom. We bought absolute wrecks that nobody else wanted, but in good areas, then slowly rebuilt them. That’s how we knew we could build the house here ourselves. As a fun fact, it’s actually easier building a new house, than repairing an old one. Oh, we also studied part time as well.
It was not lost on me that during those needful years, a power imbalance had slipped into the employment equation. Not always, but sometimes that lead to exploitation. There’s a mental image of me as a puppet held by strings and you can hear the incantation of mirth: “Dance and sing for us, Chris!” Sure, I’ll dance and sing for you. A miserable experience.
By 2008 I’d had enough of working at the top end of town. We ditched the inner city, moved up to the bush, began developing a farm, and provided services to small business instead. Less hierarchy, less mucking around was my thinking. And it’s proven to be true. I enjoy what I do now and also like the people I work with.
However, a very old client which began as a small business, grew. And then grew some more. They got big, and eventually outgrew me. For the past couple of years I dealt with a revolving door of different people. It’s hard to maintain a relationship on that basis, even a very long and well established one. A person ends up being only as good as the last work you did for them. There’s no loyalty or reward in that model. It’s quite mercenary. Eventually the long relationship ended, rudely and rather abruptly.
In many ways, the conclusion of the relationship has been something of a relief. I’d known the possible outcome for a few years and it left me feeling a bit on edge when working for them. That’s not right. However, things change and the extra free time is appreciated as I can get some of the projects done around here which have long been neglected. Observant readers will have noticed that there’s been a lot more work done around the farm of late. We’re also saving mad cash by harvesting, preserving and consuming more of the produce grown here. When you’re busy earning, the harvest never waits, nor does it listen to such excuses.
The path we took to get here with some measure of independence, is probably not possible nowadays. Finding a cheap wreck of a house to restore is impossible, because no where is cheap to purchase. The median house price for metropolitan Melbourne is $909,000, and weekly rents are $550, which in less polite terms is $28,600 a year. That’s a lot of mad cash, and I am very uncomfortable with this current situation.
It’s candidly hard to know what we would have done had we not been able to head bush back in 2008. My grandfather mysteriously once remarked to me: “Chris. Those who look ahead, get ahead.” With a bit more age on my side, I’d probably add to that advice by suggesting: “Try to do differently to what everyone else is doing.”
The beginning of the week concluded the heatwave. Since then the days have been very pleasant, sunny and warm, with cooler nights. Still not much rain though.
Earlier in the week we constructed another steel rock gabion cage.
The steel cage was then put in place, retaining soil against a very steep garden bed.
In that area we intend to construct a new and larger firewood shed. Only just running out of firewood in previous years is probably cutting things a bit too fine. The site for the new shed was excavated a very long time ago, and is good enough, but not particularly flat. We were in a hurry in those days. Before any construction takes place, we’re now flattening out the site. A large water tank used to sit in the middle of the area, and this week it was emptied and then shoved to the side. That plastic thing is heavy.
The water tank sat on a mound of soil which will be excavated and used as fill on the low gradient path project. That work will take place over the next week or so. In the right hand side of the above image, you can see a shed. That shed will eventually be dismantled over the next couple of months. All the materials will be recovered and many of those will be used in the new firewood shed. The large green water tank will then sit where that shed is now located. There’s a lot still of work to do with the project and it will take about half a year of work.
Last week we’d run out of large rocks for the new low gradient path project. Because of this, we had to spend a day down in the forest edge smashing up a large boulder.
That day we produced far more large rocks than we needed. Some of those were brought up the hill. The downhill side of the rock wall on the low gradient path project is now completed.
Despite the machines, it’s still hard work hauling large rocks up the hill. Only one rock can be rolled into the bucket (usually the heaviest). The rest of them, we have to lift and drop into the bucket. Once brought up the hill, they then have to be carefully positioned so that they are stable and not prone to moving or shifting.
The uphill side of the rock wall still needs a lot of work, and the path needs more soil. But as you can see, the project is getting there.
Now that I have a bit more time for projects around the farm, I’m improving the many aspects of the off grid solar power systems. This week the fuse box for the large array of solar panels in the paddock was completely re-wired. It’s looking neat, and the fuses are all industrial grade items. All of this renewable energy stuff deteriorates over time, and so it is wise to use the best quality items that you can afford.
This coming Tuesday, the weather forecast has predicted a chance of thunderstorms and heavy rain. With that forecast in mind, and the prospect of cooler weather, we harvested the last of the seasons pumpkins. They’re the Queensland Blue variety, and we sure grew and picked quite a lot of them.
I ran all of the pumpkin vines through the even scarier old electric chipper / mulcher. A few years ago I picked up the two horsepower electric machine for $50. It’s old, easily repaired and locally made. The machine had to be modified a bit to make it work properly, and the cutting blades needed sharpening, but it’s a beast!
Despite the very cold and damp start to the growing season, we’ve grown a lot of tomatoes. There are more than we can consume fresh, so we’ve begun processing rounds of the tasty fruit through the dehydrator so as to preserve them.
There have been some areas of the property (which due to the firewood shed upgrade project), we have been unable to water this year. In those areas, well spaced seedlings growing in fertile soil have produced fruit and vegetables with almost no further attention. The pumpkins have had to survive alone on rainwater. Another case in point is this very healthy looking Bob’s Crazy Yellow cherry tomatoes in the next image.
A few beetroot plants have taken from seed, and just done their own thing.
We’ve been more adventurous with the summer leafy green varieties this year, and have grown multi-coloured Silverbeet (Swiss Chard). They taste as good as they look.
Breakfasts of home made toasted muesli and yoghurt are already good. Adding in seasonal fruit takes the meal to the whole next level.
The ten grapevines have produced very little over the past few years, other than vines. However, this year the five year old vines are now producing heaps of grape clusters. The varieties we planted out are dual purpose vines fit for either the table or wine making. Yum!
In a garden mystery, the small pomegranate bush has produced some fruit. Wonder what it tastes like?
Proving that Dame Plum’s title was well earned. Sunday morning, she got a rabbit. That is no easy feat for a dog. For obvious reasons, rabbits are both fast and have nervous dispositions.
And a rare and unusual butterfly turned up for a few days. The Imperial Jezebel is a knock out. The name says it all really.
Onto the flowers:
The temperature outside now at about 9am is 16’C (61’F). So far for last year there has been 217.8mm (8.6 inches) which is up from last weeks total of 213.4mm (8.4 inches)
Yo, Chris, I wish I would have had as much foresight, as you. Oh, well. Start from where I’m at and do the best I can.
I’m surprised gabion cages aren’t more known and widespread. So useful. And, stylish.
Those tomatoes drying, are a familiar sight. I’m still throwing a handful into whatever I’m making for dinner, most nights.
Our seasons are kind of mirroring. You’ve got fall cool weather crops, on the go. I’m beginning to think about spring cool weather crops. Beets, carrots … maybe some parsnip and turnip.
I worked in the garden, for a couple of hours, tonight. Planted the red rhubarb. Which involved a lot of digging out invasive lemon balm. I swiped a small clutch of chives, from Elinor’s bed and moved it, to mine. I told her daughter, that I wasn’t going to take care of her bed, this year. And, maybe she should give it up. After a lot of back and forth, she did. The Master Gardeners will salvage out whatever they need for their yearly plant sale. Not much of value. Some Gladiolas, Star in Summer (Summer Star? A ground cover), and some Elephant Garlic. Cleaned out the Jerusalem artichoke barrel, and added more compost and soil.
That’s quit a selection of fruit, you have. The grapes look really good. That is a spectacular butterfly. We don’t get too many, around here. Even though the Master Gardeners have a butterfly garden.
The roses are lovely. As always. With your volunteers, you might get something really interesting.
You might find this article interesting. A walk down memory lane? Given your early interaction with computers, and such.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/14/style/lan-party-online-gamers-photos
But maybe, a bit after your time. Certainly after my time. Lew
Hi Chris,
I like your advice about not doing the same as everyone else.
Do you have issues with mice and rats? I know you’ve had problems with your chooks and vermin — how about your fruit and veg? I don’t think you have a cat, but maybe your dogs hunt them?
Cheers, Gus
Hi Gus,
Thanks.
The issue of rodents is a complicated story. 🙂 You’re in an urban area, so there’s an almost unlimited food supply for rats and mice.
Things are a bit different here, because the population numbers are limited by the winter food supply. The first chicken enclosure constructed in a hurry in 2010 was a total disaster, but we learned a lot. The rodents were living off the chicken feed and water during winter, and it was dirty. Both rats and mice also learned how to get underneath the house and stay toasty warm for the winter months. We were naive, and it was a giant free for all. Incidentally, March is the time they begin testing all the barriers, everywhere, even vehicle engine bays are preferable to freezing.
The availability of winter chicken feed was luring a large population (with the commensurate snake risk during the summer months). You may recall we then constructed a supposedly rat and mouse proof chicken enclosure? That worked for a few years. The underneath of the house was also sealed up and remains so.
As things go, after a few years the rats learned how to break into the supposedly rat proof chicken enclosure. The chickens could eat the mice, so that one problem was at least eliminated.
So, Dame Plum and I went out every night rat hunting for a couple of months. The dog is good, despite the resultant worms. Can’t be helped, it’s a professional hazard of the rat hunter. Also during that time I observed the rats closely, learned all of their tricks, and then sealed up every single gap. The battle was long, there were sacrifices, and worms.
Every single day now, the dogs and I do a perimeter check to ensure that rats have not breached any of the fortifications, and so far, we’re winning that battle.
You won’t have the snake issue, but Gus, those little rotters can climb fruit trees, or vines, and they’ll eat just as much fruit as your local parrots. If I recall correctly, recently you sealed up some of your fruit trees to protect the produce from the birds? Well, rodents require a whole different level of protection. Mice can get through the tiniest of gaps. We’re talking down to centimetre scale man. It’s a problem. And you’ve effectively stopped your local owls from hunting the fruit eating rodents.
Incidentally, you may wonder why I don’t net the fruit trees? Well, owls and foxes prowl the orchard at night and eat the rodents, and not to mention the rabbits. They’re a problem too. I’m really trying hard to find some sort of rough balance which works. You know, I could simply go out at night and shoot all the rabbits. Then the fox population would die back from hunger. New rabbits would move in, and then there’d be no foxes to hunt and eat them. I’m really trying hard to avoid the boom and bust cycle which I have to continually intervene in.
If I may suggest, aviary welded mesh might keep out the rats, and if it’s small enough, it’ll at least make things harder for the mice. Bunnings is your friend with rolls of this stuff… 🙂
You know, the thing is, if you produce tasty edibles, every critter for miles around will find out about it sooner or later. The other evening I startled a couple of fruit bats in the orchard. Dude, I can’t even imagine how far they must have travelled to end up here. Fortunately it was a rare interaction, but who knows, they may tell their friends.
It’s a hard school that one. Having a cat would help, but felines can be picky about when and what they wish to hunt. Of the dogs here, only Dame Plum displays any enthusiasm for this task.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
As I type this reply, I can hear a Boobok owl calling to its mates alerting both friend and foe to their presence. I like the owls and encourage them, all of them.
Man, we’re all doing the best we can. In my reply to Gus above, I had to acknowledge the absolute balls-up that was the original chicken enclosure, along with the initial rodent proof replacement chicken enclosure. Nothing, but nothing, hones skills like being tested by nature. Incidentally, after excluding all of the rodents, we’ve saved heaps of mad cash on chicken feed. Who knew that rats could consume so much tasty seed? They looked so glossy and healthy the rats, it was such a shame to set Dame Plum onto them. I got two of them myself, but the dog scored more than ten times that number. Sometimes you have know where your skills are. 🙂
The steel rock gabion cages are pretty useful items. Today was hot, but we got up early and began excavating the site where the water tank previously sat. Did I mention how hot it was? Removed about three quarters of the soil there, and placed it all on the low gradient ramp project. The soil part of that ramp project is now done. We had a super late lunch, well past 3pm. But it’s looking good.
After another hot day, it’s meant to storm here tomorrow, but we’ll see.
Yum! Dehydrated tomatoes lift any dinner. A great addition to your dinner if I may say so, and you can eat them like chips if a person was so inclined.
They’re sort of the same crops at this time of year. After much reading, I’m nervously direct sowing the seed in the greenhouse, and can only hope that the weather is hot enough that they’ll all germinate and grow in time. The greenhouse is closed tight and is rather hot. We’ll see, it’s an experiment. Hey, I liked the turnips we grew, but the Editor favours potatoes which can be used similarly. Man, I’d really be uncomfortable relying on potatoes as a staple here. So I keep introducing new varieties of vegetables, which you also seem to be doing.
Cool, so you scored a red rhubarb? You won’t be disappointed, and those plants are very hardy to hot and dry weather. Ah yes, lemon balm – seemed like a good idea at the time. At least the stuff can be cut down easily. I’m thinking of removing all of the Echiums. Rabbits are living under the protection of the mess of vegetation. It’s tougher than say, geraniums or mints, and so is harder for the dogs to ferret them out.
That’s the basic question isn’t it? How much energy can you throw at something? From all that you’ve told me, and I’m really sorry to say, but it is possible that Elinor is not coming back. Sorry, again. I do hope that there are no issues for you with H.
Butterflies do it tough, probably because people are very free and easy with err, sprays of this and that. Man, it’s quite the shock to me to head into the big smoke and see the gardens, marvel at the plant life and notice the complete absence of insects and birds. Dude, nobody seems to notice the lack. The butterfly was meant to be flying around in spring, or at least that is what the official advice was. I got onto an err, special interest interweb site, to alert the folks that the species is way out of season. It is possible given that I’m experiencing a late summer, the butterflies know what they are doing?
One of the side benefits of having more free time, is that we can harvest and consume a lot more of the produce. That work was taking over my life, and I didn’t sign up for that. It pains me to say that I was too busy to harvest the apple crop. There are limits.
I’m hoping that we get some interesting rose varieties popping up. We’re also expanding the growing area for roses. Lovely plants.
Thanks for the article on lan-gaming. There was a real human and fun element to the experience, given everyone was in the same room. Back in the day getting all the computers to connect up was a real nightmare. Wasted a lot of time, but then that was part of the experience as well. The photos were a hoot! I’d played some of those games mentioned. When it all hit the interweb, and people were physically separated, I didn’t want anything to do with that. The experience could be better than it is now, and did you notice that the concluding sentence suggested the same thing?
I’m sure you would have enjoyed the experience. It was a bit like the Dungeons and Dragons groups. Same, same, but different.
Blueberries grow really well here, and in fact up the road a bit is a large blueberry farm. However, the parrots are unrelenting here and they love the berries. The plants produce well, and the birds take them all. If they didn’t do so, I could tell you whether they were any good or not. A bit like the cherries, the birds are unrelenting.
The plants will eventually move themselves, if given the chance. It’s a worthy activity though, but far out, I’ll bet the scientists are encountering the: This plant is not native, crowd! The true believers may be surprised at how adaptable plants really are, and how changeable local conditions may be over a long enough period of time.
Maybe not the snow bit, but the rest, yeah I did that. But with shoes, of course. I couldn’t ride my push bike in those days, because someone had stolen it.
That’s what I’d noticed as well about falling space junk. It’s slower and biggerer than your more usual meteor. Makes you wonder how big the splash will be when that big space station falls back to Earth – as it will sooner or later.
You can buy bagels, but they’re not popular and certainly not easy to find. I actually don’t mind the taste, but dislike the texture of the bread. And the fillings are not what I’d prefer in my usual bread roll. A lot of cream cheese and for your interest, they’re usually savoury. What you do find in bakeries at this time of year are hot cross buns, and the quality can vary greatly. Toasted with butter is how I like these tasty treats! Yum! Are hot cross buns a thing in your part of the world? I’d imagine that the puritans hated on them. 🙂
Nice score with the cheeseburgers, despite the lack of beetroot. It’s in short supply down here too due to an apparent business closure, although the plant seems to grow easily enough. Interesting about the pantry. There’ll be a pattern to when the goods move.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Inge,
Goat is a lovely meat, and I’m quite partial to a goat curry. Yum! Dairy goats would be an unrelenting task, although candidly many of the tasks around here are like that.
I assume that your son is similar to me in that he does not immediately rush his animals off to the veterinarian without first considering the matter? I’ve been reading about some inquiry in your country investigating that service. Inge, people get pet insurance. It’s a thing apparently. I’d never heard of it until recently. Basic conditions I tend to treat firstly. It astounded me to discover that other people don’t do this assessment.
I’m of the opinion that just like the situation with waste, people spend freely, when they can spend freely. It is not lost on me that animal shelters are rapidly filling up. That’s economics for you.
I could use some of your rain! 🙂 The summer may dry up, it’s hard to know what the future holds in store. The forecast is suggesting the possibility of a severe thunderstorm tomorrow. We’ll see. I’ve recently drained the reserve house water tank due to the prolonged dry spell. Although, as you may note, a little bit of rain has fallen most weeks. It’s useful, but not enough though to refill the soil with moisture.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Chris;
building new- boy, you’ve got that right. Being a homeowner of places that were slapped together in a subdivision built during the boom ’70s was no fun for maintenance. Even well built homes are no fun to fix/replace certain elements that are hard to get at. At one point when I was toying with the idea of building our own home, I swore that all plumbing and electrical would be in raceways an chases that would enable complete access. Would likely have looked horrid, but then, engineers are less troubled by esthetics. Function over form!, I say.
Probably a good thing we ended up buying our current home, I did not have the prior hands on experience you acquired doing the recession that had to happen.
trust- while trust takes a long time to be regained, it never rises to that full, naive level of youth. Wisdom is hard earned s well.
Jezebel- Very nice- insects are so much fewer in the midwest U.S., where agriculture chemicals have been drifting over the land for decades now. Not sure when the tipping point will happen, when the trophic cascade collapse the whole pyramid and pollination ends.
Planted the brassicas and some of the peppers in trays in the sunroom this week. The onion seeds have all sprouted, but those guys always look wonky and limp to start out. Winter is giving a parting shot this coming week, but after that, I’ll be putting the seedlings outside during the day to get some breeze and a longer dose of sunshine. Danger of frost goes well into May, so we bring them in at night till things are safe.
Yo, Chris – Owls are so cool. Seldom seen, though. I can hear them, up in the woods, but have never seen one. I think they keep our squirrel population, in check. I saw a squirrel sitting on a branch, the other day. I don’t know what he was up to. He was gyrating his tail at a fierce rate. Round and round it went. Some kind of mating behavior? Shake a tail feather?
But was it hot? 🙂
We’ll have one more nice day, and then it’s back to the rain. Prof. Mass has an interesting post. He tested out AI to write his blog. The results were not up to his standards.
I think if you grow a good mix of root crops, you’re less likely to starve. In considering what I want to grow, this year, I’m beginning to think more in terms of yield. Given the small amount of space, I have.
The Master Gardeners showed up, this morning. The leaders will stick around for our divvying up the garden spots. They’ll be coming every Monday, from here on out.
I dug a couple of clumps of Lemon Balm, out of the Rhubarb patch. They’ll be back. There’s some Grape Hyacinth growing in there. That, I pretty much leave. It’s not too invasive, and is so pretty. There’s even some on the mulched paths. Fennel is making an appearance, here and there.
The butterfly I usually see here, is Tiger Swallowtail. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Monarch, but other people have. Saw a Cinnabar Moth, once. Lots of Cabbage Moths. The pests!
Yes, it seems like something always comes up, during harvest season.
I’m glad you liked the article on LAN Gaming. It’s so …. “Young Sheldon.”
You’d probably be surprised at our grocery store baked goods sections. Besides a plethora of bread, there’s bagels and English Muffins, in a variety of flavors. Pastries and biscuits of every variety. And, these days, all very expensive. Can’t say much about the quality. Hot Cross Buns will make an appearance, but other than the frosted cross on the top, have very little resemblance to the real thing.
Speaking of bread, I’m reading an interesting book, right now. “In Search of the Perfect Loaf: A Home Baker’s Odyssey.” (Fromartz, 2014). I’m also reading “Remembering Peasants: A Personal History of a Vanished World.” (Joyce, 2024). More on that, later, as I want to quote from it, a bit.
Well, I bit the bullet and ordered an AC unit on line, last night. About $250. It was confusing, and I had to set up a damned Home Depot (the local big box hardware store) account. Which means a landslide of carp in my inbox. Also, the listing offered delivery, and, when checking out, I couldn’t find it anywhere as an option. So, I guess I’ll have to go to the store, and pick it up. There was also a point where I had to get a code, to continue. Of course, they texted it to me … which didn’t work. But then there was an option for a phone call. That worked, I got the magic code, and continued. I should be able to pick it up, Friday or Saturday. Lew
Hi Chris,
Happy autumn equinox!
I’d wondered what was going on last month when you wrote a post about being done wrong to. Looks like you are coming out on top with more time for both home projects and the occasional visit to nearby historical sites. Excellent work!
That’s a flower from one of your citrus trees that the butterfly is perched in, is it not? My potted lemon and lime trees, which are safely housed on the glassed-in front porch until the risk of frost passes, will be flowering soon.
We had a hard freeze this morning, a low of 25F. The apricot trees had already flowered and the flowers fallen off. There is a short period of time after the flowers fall off and before the fruit begins to swell when freezes do not kill the fruit. With luck, today’s freeze happened in that window, as will the freeze tomorrow morning. Temperatures should go above freezing for the rest of week. We could still get a freeze until almost the end of April, however.
Claire
Yo, Chris – So … the book “Remembering Peasants.” I’m just getting into it, but there’s some pretty interesting quotes, so far. The author (Joyce) said it will be a look at peasants, in NW Ireland, Central Poland and Southern Italy.
“What the skeleton is to anatomy, the peasant is to history, its essential hidden support.”
Every field knows its owner, the Earth is indignant at every crime committed on its face. The moon watches and prayers are still said to it. The stars answer a woman or man who knows the right way to ask them. Nothing bad should be said near water. The wind listens and talks … While animals do not know as much as man they know things he does not,m the properties of plants and substances for instance, which are shown to men bye animals. Some animals understand and condemn the immoral acts of man, the bee will never stay with the thief, the stork and the swallow leave a farm when an evil deed has been committed there…”
“Peasants were, after all, right to distrust progress. We may all have to learn to before too long now to be survivors, and peasants, the class of survivors, have things to teach us. They face extinction just as we may do. -Peasants come from a world that in essence is not capitalist, although they have coexisted with capitalism for centuries.
They do not conceive of a world of unlimited increase, the world of progress that is, for they know things are finite. Capitalism lives for unlimited increase, which it sees only by looking to the future, upon which it depends. In its nature capitalism must erase theist to realize this future. Peasants hope for the future but do not forget the past.”
These are just from the introduction. If the author keeps it up, I think this will be an interesting read. Lew
Hi Chris,
You’re right about netting being a shelter for the mice and rats – but we have to net the trees, or we get nothing at all. We have hundreds of rainbow lorikeets living in the area, and they clean out a tree in a day or two if unprotected…
I remember reading about the problem with the chook enclosure. Rats are very canny…
The other thing I’ve realised at my place: while it’s good and handy to store building materials “just in case” it also provides habitat for vermin… 😉
Having said all this, we’ve probably lost more of our fruit harvest to mould than to rats… Maybe I should focus more on the processing
Cheers Gus
Hi Gus,
Man, I’m so feeling your pain. It’s all something of a compromise isn’t it? You might be interested to know that the very smallest of the birds here, the blue wrens and red breasted robins, can get into and out of the grape enclosure. They like grapes, but fortunately there are not enough of those birds to make too much of a difference.
Yes, a few weeks ago I spotted rainbow lorikeets consuming some of the apples in the shady orchard, and knew true fear. Simon who writes the blog in the blog roll has those birds at his place in the big smoke, and has written about his experience with his fruit trees.
I’ve gone head to head with the rats, and we each acknowledge the others tenacity, but truly, they’re like zombies! As the zombie hordes crest the fortifications, you’ll eventually run out of ammo. I encourage the enemies of my enemies, the owls and foxes. Plus there is Dame Plum.
Yes, exactly. Stored building materials are most excellent sheltered nesting places for our rodent friends.
Hmm. Haven’t seen moulds on the fruit grown here. Mind you, the apples had a bit of black spot on them because of the wet weather. But nothing was rendered inedible.
Processing takes time. The one thing we’re all short of.
Picked a couple of ripe tasty Golden Queen Peaches two days ago. Yum. The fruit trees take a lot of feeding.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Claire,
Yeah, well, what do they say about time healing all wounds? Truthfully, I’d genuinely believed that providing services by employing the: Good + Fast + Cheap, strategy was a winner. Turns out I was wrong there. Even that strategy can become derailed because I had not counted on being perceived as a threat, despite sending repeated signals that I’m no threat. Sometimes you can find yourself reporting to people whom are far younger, and possibly feel threatened by the sheer weight of experience they face, although I’m only guessing there. It happens.
On a more positive note, a happy spring equinox to you too!
There’s something about the gold field ruins which draws me back. Such industrious activity, which was supported by a one-time gain. It’s awesome to consider the sustained effort required to dig and rock line a 150m deep shaft in the ground following an ancient quartz seem.
Let’s just say that the gods have decreed that my time is best spent developing the place here. They sent a strong message, and candidly, I’ve only ever felt as if I’m one step ahead. I’m trying hard not to trip up. You may be interested to know that a few days ago I began re-reading the book: ‘The Intelligent Gardener’. Thank you for the introduction. 🙂
I do hope that you are enjoying the early stages of spring in your garden.
Yes, the flowers were from the Meyer Lemon. For your interest, the many other citrus varieties are enjoying the present warmer and drier conditions. Hope you dodge a late frost.
Your description exactly matches my experience half a year ago. Claire, for a moment there, it looked as though we were going to enjoy an epic stone fruit season. Alas, the weather had other plans. We got some, but purchased way more from some lovely folks I know an hours drive north where it is warmer. Good luck!
Cheers
Chris
Hi Steve,
🙂 Those who know, well, they know! I’m of the opinion that it would be easier again to restore a house constructed over a century ago, than one made only half a century ago. You’ve got your work cut out for you there. Respect.
Man, when we built this house, one of the things at the back of my mind was repairability. You can crawl around underneath the house, or get into the roof cavity. But wiring still has to travel through timber stud walls, and oh yeah, that’s a pain to repair. Most houses constructed nowadays would not even be that accessible. Yup, it’s a problem. And your place would be better than what is constructed nowadays.
Can you imagine the horror of new house purchasers: “I looked into the corner of that wall and spotted cable and pipe conduit, and that both offended me, and sprained my eyes. I want compensation!!!! Or words to that affect? Function over form works when the poop hits the fan. 😉
Exactly, the trust never fully returns, and I agree wisdom is hard won, usually at great cost. It would be nice to hand on those lessons, don’t you reckon?
That’s one of the side benefits of living in an out of the way remote area. On the other hand, there are a lot of hungry critters here looking for a slice of the food action. But then, a friend of mine who lives in the big smoke hand pollinates his tomato vines. There’s pluses and minuses where ever you are, and that spraying can only be done for so long. Even that activity is subject to limits.
Spring is such an exciting prospect. Those sound like great seeds to get started. Today was meant to be hot, then stormy, and it ended up being neither. And I watered the seeds in the greenhouse this morning. I’m regretting that now as it would have cooled the soil. Oh well. This stuff is hard, but you get better at it. I just wish that I’d listened to my grandfather more way back in the day. Too late now! It’s a good metaphor for the wider decline…
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
Hmm, my discretionary budget has been whittled by the brutal forces of economic winds, but that does sound like a most excellent book. And I’m a sucker for a good book recommendation. 🙂 Have to laugh, but you do know that when everyone was heading city-wards, we headed outwards? Look for the forgotten, or in this particular case, the much derided and feared niche, then seek the neglected gap. At least that is the plan anyway.
It’s funny really, but looking at the fruit I chucked into this mornings breakfast, most of it had been grown here. With more free time this year, we’ve been able to harvest more of the Chilean guavas. They’ll never be available commercially because they take so much labour to pick relative to the volume of fruit collected. But they taste very good indeed. And are a super hardy plant.
Thank you so much for the quote too. Yes, most of the folks who turn up and read and contribute here, understand and accept limits. Things are finite.
I hear the owls all of the time. The ones that scream here, I think that they are the barking owls, raise the hairs on your arms. Super creepy. But seeing them is a whole different matter. Sometimes I get to spot them, and as a general observation, the birds always look super annoyed and ready to take their vengeance on the pesky torch wielding humans. One night the Editor was lining up an owl for a photo opportunity, when she got the distinct impression that the owl was about to crack the sads. Back away, slowly…
I’m also thinking that the owls would eat the squirrels. It’s tough out there for a squirrel, or possum in my case. There are possums in this area, but the owls really keep them in check. I’d hate to think what sort of damage possums would do to the orchard trees.
Oooo, is that what shake a tail feather means? No wonder the folks in the Blues Brothers / Stevie Wonder film clip look so happy. That song has some zing to it! As you’d say, a real toe-tapper.
Lewis, I almost spat chamomile tea all over the keyboard and screen laughing at that comment of yours. Guess I brought that one on myself for occasionally asking you about things: Yes, but is it art? Thanks for the laughs.
And for the record. It was hot. Today was meant to be likewise hot and stormy, and proved to be neither. The storm travelled to the east of here. A bit of a bummer because we would have appreciated the rainfall. As you’d imagine, up north it’s cyclone season, and more remote parts of the Northern Territory (not quite a state, but certainly large enough for one) is copping a drenching. The outback will appreciate the drink of water, although personal experiences of that weather event may be disconcerting.
It never even occurred to me that AF (for the acronym: Artificial Foolishness. Maybe… 🙂 ) could write blog essays. I read the words with amusement. The first was way too verbose and flowery. Wasn’t even close. The second essay was admittedly closer. And the third and fourth just displayed programmed bias.
Did you get any rain today?
Hmm. I’m aware of the root crops issue, and am slowly introducing it. A person must plant diverse root crops, lest they fall into historical experiments which went awry. I know enough about ecology and history to want to avoid that massive root crop error. No doubts I’ll make new and interesting ones. It would be nice if more locals were interested in such matters. I’m getting closer to the point where I’ll reach out, but there is yet much to do.
For your interest, since getting the new toy, I’ve been listening and reading of peoples experience with using green lumber in construction. Turns out, kiln drying lumber is a fairly recent practice, and I can see the benefits, but as you’d imagine, there are also costs to that process. As usual, I’ve been thinking about how things on that front used to be. Always stuff to learn. And I have a plan. Yup. A bloke’s gotta have a plan.
Yields are an important consideration. I can only grow pumpkins and squashes on such a scale because we have the room to do so. Those vines trail all over the place. The Editor and I are also experimenting with plant spacing, which is also an issue with limited gardening space. A second greenhouse is really on the cards.
Did you get your two plots? And did Elinor let go of her garden plot?
That’s my best guess as well. Lemon balm is super tough, but it does tend to leave the soil in good loose condition. Did you get your red rhubarb in the ground? I actually like the taste of fennel leaves, but have never tried consuming the bulb. I get the impression that it may be an intense experience. The bees and other insects love the flowers of those plants, as in dill as well.
The Eastern tiger swallowtail butterfly is a little ripper. Very attractive. The monarch butterflies are present here. Quite wide spread across the planet, although if numbers were a guide to a race result, the Cabbage moths would win hands down. They’re everywhere. They were even consuming the pollen on the Eucalyptus trees. You could see clouds of the insects hovering high up around the tree canopy in the forest. I’d have to suggest that they’re not fussy eaters…
Hehe! Yup, Young Sheldon would most certainly have hung-out at a LAN party. They were fun, sort of like Dungeons and Dragons were. What’s not to like about hanging out with friends talking rubbish and playing games?
Your supermarkets would probably surprise me full stop. If you saw the ones here, you’d probably think that you’d stepped back in time a decade or two. 🙂 I’ve actually had that exact feeling when travelling around the planet. Definitely a nostalgia kind of vibe.
Good to see that the bread book was prior to people getting their sourdough-on during you-know-what.
That’s pretty good value for such a machine. Oh no, they tried to two-factor-authenticate you as the tech bros might call it. So do you have to pick it up, or will they deliver it to you? I’ll be interested to hear what your impressions are of the machine are. Relative to heating, cooling can use one-fifth the electricity. Works on compressing gas which doesn’t take too much energy. Now heating is a whole different matter.
The nice telco people advised me that my phone will continue to work, but, I’ll be unable to make emergency calls. Aren’t they nice? Said sarcastically. Last time I was there, they said I had enough reward points to do an upgrade, but the Editor has to have hers upgraded as well. I’m surprised it was the nice telco who got us. Honestly, I’d thought that the goobers-of-the-mint would have got us first with a software upgrade the phone couldn’t handle. We are unable to earn a living without one of those things each.
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – I read some more of the peasant book, last night. There were a lot of statistics, from countries world-wide, as to the decline in numbers of peasants (ie: farmers). After 1950 the decline was precipitous. There was quit a bit on different gradations, of peasants / farmers. Who owns land, who works there own land, “5 o’clock farmers,” who work out to bring in income, and only manage to get on the land evenings and week-ends. Some farmers scathingly refer to themselves as “hobby farmers.” Although he didn’t come right out and say it, there seems to be a lot of hierarchy, with landless, for hire laborers, at the bottom of the heap. Then there was a lot of talk about what people call peasants, in slang, world-wide. Both derogatory and not.
I was getting a little bored with veg and rice, so, while I was shopping at my alternative grocery store, I found a can of shrimp! Major brand too. First I’ve seen in a couple of year. A bit pricy. $6 for 6oz. So, I had shrimp nachos for dinner. Dried tomatoes and basil from my garden. Garlic, a few chunks of broccoli and topped the whole thing with Swiss cheese. Sooo tasty. But, overall, expensive for one meal. To me. I watched the new “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” movie, called “Wonka.” Kind of a prequel. I didn’t realize it was a musical. Not a single memorable song, so, I fast forwarded through those parts. 🙂 But, otherwise, an ok story.
Owls have attacked joggers, and such, up around Seattle. They got too close to the nests. Pictures of some rather nasty head gouges.
There are several books out there, on green lumber construction. Don’t know if one is better than another, but they’re there. Just for poops and giggles, search “green lumber church steeples.” Random musical reference: Twisted Sister. 🙂
I’ll have to remember to pick up a packet of pumpkin seeds, to give to the Master Gardeners. Just to give them a nudge to find a place to plant them. I got my usual spaces. The meeting was the usual “herding cats, addlepated dozen or so old ladies. Elinor did give up her space, as did another “Garden Goddess.” Good thing. I think all spaces are in use, except for save, maybe, one. Then we took a walk around the gardens. I had to interact with a lot of people I’d rather not interact with, and, of course, now they think I’m their new best friend. There will be a lot of slapping down, and back. Leave me alone to garden in peace! 🙂
Yes, I got the red rhubarb planted. I planted them in places where I had dug out the Lemon Balm. And, the soil looked very rich. Gave them a good water, and with the rain coming, they ought to do ok. We’ll see.
Fennel seed is also very tasty. Licorice flavor. But I have to remember to throw the seed heads in the freezer, for a few days. They always seem to bring in bugs.
I wouldn’t mind an uncomplicated nostalgic grocery store. I think we’ve talked about how many more items, grocery stores carry these days.
The bread book is very good. A lot clearer than some of the other bread books, I’ve read. And the author speaks highly of Bob’s Red Mill flours. 🙂
Another sunny day, bumping 70F. That’s about 4 days in a row. But, tomorrow, there will be rain, or, at least overcast with cooler temperatures.
I got an e-mail, this morning, that my A/C unit should be ready for pick up, at the local big box hardware store, on Friday. They’ll e-mail me when it’s in. Should be ok, if I can round up a sales clerk to help me load it in the back of the truck.
The Goobers in the Mint must be slipping up, if they didn’t throw a software upgrade on you, before your phone had to be upgraded. 🙂 Slackers. Lew
Hi Lewis,
It baffles me that as a civilisation we could allow food to be produced by less than 2% of the population. The risk of pursuing that strategy is way off the charts. Makes no sense whatsoever. And the risk pops up in all sorts of weird and wonderful ways – so, say I begin to save seeds from a particular variety of heritage vegetable. The question becomes: Am I growing enough of the plants to reduce the risk of in-breeding? I mean, if all my neighbours were also engaged in this activity, there’d be no problem because the available genetic pool would be massive. But it ain’t. And that’s a problem.
There is a bit of hierarchy for sure, but these days so few are involved in that activity that I doubt anyone outside a limited pool of people would seek status from that differential. What I’ve actually encountered is sophisticated people living in the city telling me to my face that people in the country are somehow stupid. My only reply was: Tell me what you really think! I dunno man, like I said to the greener peace chugger dude all those years ago: How much of this stuff is actually sustainable?
It’s probably unwise for people living close to the land to focus on the things which separate, like hierarchy and status. Better to get on with the job at hand.
Nice find with the can of shrimp. I see that the Tom Hanks film has inspired a chain, as you’d expect. Had to do a metric brain twist for your 6oz which works out to 170gm, which is the equivalent of two small tins. A fine dinner! Yum. Drying the basil was a good idea. Just mentioned to the Editor that you dry your basil, and who knows, we may do the same as a winter / early spring taste treat.
My mind just floated away there. It was that word beginning with the letter ‘m’ and finishing with the letter ‘l’. You know the one… Good to hear that the prequel was sort of OK.
Yes, I recall you mentioning owl attacks. I’ve never heard of one in this part of the world – although that alone does not rule out the possibility. It’s a bit like the bat bites, probably nobody put two and two together, what with observation (especially given symptoms can take years to develop), generalist knowledge and a larger perspective being a skill and all. What were people doing jogging around the forests near to Seattle at times when the owls were hunting anyway? That’s what I want to know.
Oh my! So many laughs about those church spires constructed using green timber. Proving that pithy observations are never out of fashion, some cheeky wag suggested as to the twisted steeple of The Church of St Mary and All Saints in Chesterfield that: “The local legend is that it twisted in surprise to see when a virgin was married.” I’m not equal to such comedic insights. Of course there were many serious persons who suggested that the weight of lead and lack of cross bracing were the cause of the dramas. And oh yes, we’re not going to take it, no. 😉 My plan is to seal up the sides and ends of the green timber with repeated coatings of linseed oil. The stuff is cheap enough, and will slow the moisture loss. Then the stuff will be braced. That’s the plan anyway. Will it work? Let’s find out!
It kind of reminds me of the time I faced down the cadre of renewable energy geeks who told me not to install a wind turbine. Turns out, they knew what they were talking about. Hopefully this experiment is different, mostly because a century ago, this green timber stuff is all people had. And I’ve worked with buildings that old, and they were fine, but you could see the implications. I was cool with them then, so will be more than happy if that is the worst of it now.
The master gardener nudge is a good idea. It’s probably too early to plant out pumpkins for you anyway. Well done on the score with the usual spaces. Ah, sorry to hear that about the Garden Goddess stepping back from active duty in the field. You’d mentioned her troubles. Well aren’t you their new best garden friend? 🙂 That’s how this social thing ‘ere works. Of course, they may now expect benefits… 😉 Like using the tray of the Ranger to haul compost. Hope you find your peace there, and know that there will be a high drop out rate. You should have seen that work during part time Uni at night subjects. The first lecture you could barely find a seat. By the tenth lecture, let’s just say that there’d been a lot of thinning.
Rhubarb is a plant I rarely worry about. They’ll laugh at hot and dry conditions. Hopefully you’ll be impressed. The rain didn’t eventuate, and candidly it’s looking quite dry here, which from a soil mineral leaching perspective is not too bad. If this extended dry period goes on for another month, we may have to cut back on water usage. The reserve water tank is now mostly drained.
Thanks for mentioning the fennel seeds, and I’ll give them a go too. They’re probably packed full of goodies being seeds.
Over the years I’ve had a bit of experience with businesses with massive numbers of stock items, and managing that many numbers of stock items is a real headache. You may find that sooner or later, a market niche will open for a more basic business. They’ll be better stocked, with far less range, but just enough to bring in the punters.
Nice stuff! You’re lucky to have access to such a business, and I’m also careful about where I purchase bulk supplies of grain products. The grain stuff is not the same everywhere, and like most natural products – they’re a highly variable item. Definitely something to think about, not that most people do.
Lucky you, and your weather sounds lovely. It was cold, but sunny today. Mostly did paid work, but went down to the nice telco shop to speak to the nice people about why it should be that my phone will soon not be able to make emergency calls. What a surprise, they were busy. Very busy. Made an appointment, which later in the day got cancelled. Made another appointment for another day. Hmm. It annoys me deeply to have to replace a perfectly working chunk of technology due to some arbitrary system change. Ah well, what did Rage Against the Machine once sing?: Despite all my rage, I’m still but a rat in a cage Just kidding, I’m philosophical about such matters and recall the words of the Big J about render unto Caesar. The bloke was right.
Yeah, they’ll probably get you to park around the back of the store and someone will help you load the box into the tray. At the other end, you might want a trolley. Maybe?
You’re not wrong about the goobers in the mint and their upgradable software aspirations. Since you mentioned it, I looked into the matter and they prefer that I have version 12. The new thing I’m getting is only version 11. I’ll have to deal, and preferences are not minimum requirements. The current thing is version 8, and the software works fine. Ah, they are very free with my time and mad cash, but I must not grumble.
Whilst I was in the nearby town sorting out this phone stuff, I picked up another metal box which will be used as another fuse box for the solar panels. Easy.
It’s cold tonight and I’m wearing the woollen jumper. Brr!
Cheers
Chris
Hi everyone,
Credit to an unnamed source (you know who you are!!!)… Let’s call the person, err, Mr Beer-a-mid. 😉 Respect. It’s a long story.
Birds Eat Poop A Lot, And Scientists Are Still Trying to Figure Out Why
I’ve been saying this has gone on for years. People are nuts about this subject and have looked upon me with abject horror, but the dogs are so well fed that the parrots follow their movements about the farm. You could say that the birds are dirty for the stuff.
It’s not hard to understand why the birds are doing this behaviour.
Credit to the person who alerted me to this find.
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – I wonder about that 2% figure. Is it just owners of mega farms? Or does it include the farm laborers? How about the folks that make my yogurt, that are local. And, I buy at my veg store.
Hierarchy. Tis the nature of the beast. (Humans.) It takes a great deal of spine, to resist hierarchy. Peeking order.
Rather than firing up my dehydrator, I just lay the basil leaves, out on plates. In a few days, they’re nice and crispy, and can go right into a canister.
The owl attacks were during daylight. It was a situation of people getting too close to their nests … in the owl’s estimation. 🙂
There’s lots of jokes about virgins and volcanoes. And how they’re sometimes hard to hunt up.
The Garden Goddess didn’t go quietly into the night. From what I hear, she was dragged kicking and screaming, to the hospital. The police were involved. She’s been gone a long time, and I doubt she’ll be back. Suzanne, our parking lot Nazi (who flew around on her motorized chair, like the Wicked Witch of the West … and always had a better idea), had a stroke. She’s also probably gone for good. Elinor? Still hanging in the balance.
When we had our little garden get-together, Little Mary Sunshine, our building manager mentioned that last year, there were no abandoned beds. Of course, not every one plants food. There’s quit a few beds that are just all flowers.
When I water, I usually water the communal beds, at the same time. Including the rhubarb. Remember to chill the fennel seeds. There are bugs …
I worked in the garden, about two hours, last night. Feels like I didn’t get much done. A lot of weeding and moved a few things around. It was blissfully quiet.
Here’s a pretty good overview of the state of our grocery chains, in this country.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/discount-grocers-smell-opportunity-amid-125632042.html?
You may find it interesting that the Germans are making advances, here. I wonder if we’ll get one, eventually. I’m just happy to have the employee owned Winco coming.
It’s cooler and overcast, today. Nice. The rain will be back, soon.
Did I tell you about my computer? My old computer that was perfectly fine, but couldn’t keep up with all the software changes? Go ahead and grumble. Have a good whinge. I certainly do, any time I think about it.
That was an interesting article about birds and poop. Who knew baby birds popped out pre-wrapped packets? Just like Christmas! Still so many questions and mysteries. Let a thousand dissertations bloom! 🙂
I also saw an interesting article titled “Congrats, you just got a “dry promotion” – No Raise Included.” A fancy new title, more responsibility. No corner office or key to the executive wash room. We’ve all been there, or, have heard about such muck. But, it’s good it’s finally got a catchy name, and the meme is out there.
Now that’s something interesting about this new computer. With the old one, if I wanted to share an article, the URL was clearly displayed at the top of the page. Select > cut > paste. Now, I have to hunt around for a “share” button, on an article. Which automatically cuts and pastes a URL onto a clipboard. A lot of articles don’t have them. Lew
Yo, Chris – Here’s some folks that had pretty good luck with green timber …
https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/20/europe/must-farm-bronze-age-britain-pompeii-scn
I wonder if they rebuilt, were killed, or carried off into slavery? Lew
Chris,
I’m sort of shell-shocked right now. Today the services for my carving friend were held. There was a small crowd there, about half from the club. Friendly gathering, nice Roman Catholic service. Which is vastly different from the Roman Catholic services held at the church on the Rez.
Meanwhile, my mom’s cousin on her dad’s side, my last living relative from my parents’ generation, passed on Sunday. We were close. I’m especially close to his youngest.
Meanwhile, winter is over. We broke +22C Monday and Tuesday. Record highs for those dates. Obviously, that means that we’ll be back to rain and mixed rain/snow by Friday night through Sunday. Variety is a good thing.
Those are sure colorful butterflies! Thanks for the photo.
“Try to do differently to what everyone else is doing.” Brilliant.
DJSpo
Hi Lewis,
It does make you wonder, doesn’t it? I would have thought that any war party would have tried to save the fattened lambs, after all, they themselves could only carry so much food. And slaves have to be fed. It would be quite the challenge to attack and forage all at the same time if only because the inhabitants of the village would have perhaps been alerted to the presence of a raiding party, maybe. There would have possibly been only some cleared areas where the deer would eat and drink in the surrounding forests. The dig is an astounding find. The quality of the linen was pretty good.
Down here, the number is sadly less than 2%. I can look out the window now towards the setting sun and see regrowth forest stretching from here to the horizon. Once a person leaves the confines of the capital cities, there are a handful of inland cities of no great size, but overall it’s pretty quiet away from the coast. There just isn’t the water resource on this dry continent to support a huge population, let alone the fertile soils. It’s an old worn down continent. Right now, I’ve got a friend who seems hell bent on disproving Peak Oil, and I’m cool with that. The thing is, from my perspective, that theory is only one of a number of problems facing our civilisation, and we don’t really have the gumption to rise to the challenge and do our very best in the face of overall decline. Nope, everyone is hanging on too tight to their perquisites.
I agree. Those who can walk away, may end up winning the race. My grandfather was wont to say: “Those who look ahead, get ahead.” Of course he said such things whilst driving a car and so I thought he was talking about navigating traffic. It’s possible he was discussing larger matters.
We’ll try that drying technique with the basil leaves. The season is turning towards winter here, and whatever can be preserved, probably should be preserved.
It was 71’F today and very pleasant. There are two large olive trees in the courtyard and they’d grown quite large and were shading about eight of the house solar PV panels. Can’t have that, so I trimmed them – or what I could manage (holy carp, they’d gotten big). All the cuttings were fed into the scary old wood chipper, then that organic matter was chucked down onto a new garden bed. Then late in the afternoon, I began the process of upgrading the fuse box for those eight solar PV panels. Me tired, and a bit brain cooked from the sun. The air temperature was cool, but the sun still has some bite.
Oh my! Daylight hours. Well, best to ask the owls for permission before passing their nests. Like those fabled bridge trolls of yore – don’t annoy them. The magpies are known to swoop people during nesting season, for much the same reasons. You see bike riders with cable ties sticking up out of their helmets as a form of protection.
Possibly, economics explains the lack thereof? 😉
Ook! That’s not good about the forced exit of the garden Goddess. Candidly I reminded of a scene from the old film, Soylent Green. The people going into the truck never seemed happy at the outcome. Out of curiosity, was it Suzanne who solved your recent car park mystery / dramas? Sorry to hear that, but it is possible that her final act may have been beneficial. Lewis, I’m sorry to say this, but change is a constant companion on this here journey of life.
Flowers are cool. Be glad that nobody decided to plant a forest in one of those beds. You never know man.
Yes, note to self, dodge the fennel seed bugs. The dreaded European wasps seem to have discovered the grapes today. Rest assured, we picked them all, then pressed them for the juice. The chickens scored the seed cake. The Editor mentioned something about turning the juice into wine.
A bit of quiet time is a worthy experience. 🙂
Thanks for the article on the grocery chains. What the heck is a limited liability partnership? Apparently if you’re big enough you can get things changed. Hmm. Yeah, you know with that store, I can’t quite put a finger on it, but there’s something which I believe to be a bit cult like. You wait and see, my friends who shop there get this strange far away look and then they all seem to say: “You just get so much for so little” I dunno man, I don’t understand it, and the stuff doesn’t taste the same to me, but possibly I’m overly sensitive.
Glad to hear that the weather there is nice, and we’re handing over the weather batten to you! The past month has been dry, but this coming weeks forecast looks quite stable. Warm-ish and pleasant. They’re doing a planned burn right up on the mountain ridge, and the air smells of burnt vegetation.
Hehe! Of course I recall your computer woes, and know your pain. Oh yeah, they got me too. Dude, it’s the exact same thing with my phone. The hardware works perfectly for what it does. The network instituted the changes. The rate of change with all this stuff is unsustainable. And trust me, I looked into every possible work around. I explained the Big J story to the Editor about render unto Caesar, and she just looked at me funny like. As far as I can comprehend the matter, they don’t want you saving, they want you to be just like them: Spendthrifts. Back in the day that trait was looked down upon. Now, things are different. Yes, feel free to whinge, it’s good to get such matters off your chest. 🙂
I doubt anyone will do the research. Who’d fund it? On that note though, I did mention to the person who alerted me to the article, the intriguing rock and roll and poop story: Boy & Bear spent 4 years on hiatus. Thanks to a ‘poo roadie’, they’re back Your comment made me laugh, and reminded me of a rather outspoken politician from far up north of the continent. Interestingly, the bloke had a lot to say about the aftermath of disasters and retaining physical cash as a medium of exchange. He’s right too.
Just say no to that increase in responsibilities without additional pay. 😉 I’ve done that, and things have gone badly from there, but they paid. What do you mean we can’t exploit you?, seems to be the way of things. I’m not much interested in status, and so such loose talk doesn’t make any great impression. And to be frank, what I learned recently is that it is difficult for an individual to have a relationship with an organisation. After all, you deal with a revolving door of people higher up the food chain and there is a power imbalance, so what does that relationship actually mean? I dunno, doesn’t make any sense to me. If all they understand is money, then demand it. I don’t seek to work at those levels any more. But yeah, it is good to see the ideas getting out there and people discussing the subject and working out how best to respond.
You can ditch Safari (or whatever it is called) and use Firefox instead. That’s what I’d do. It’s probably part of the great dumbing down?
Cheers
Chris
Hi DJ,
Oh no, hope you are and the group are doing OK? Was there a wake afterwards? I quite like the concept of the wake where you and all the people who knew the deceased get together and trade stories. But then, every tradition is different. Seriously, how are you holding up?
Your reference piqued my curiosity. How do the services differ? I’ve been to a Roman Catholic funeral service. It was a bit awkward really, because the priest got the name wrong. There was a bit of discomfiture, you could feel it in the air, but like a seasoned professional, everyone moved on from the gaffe.
That’s not good. Man, some weeks, you just hope not to repeat. Please accept my condolences for your loss. And remember to take things easy on yourself and your lady over the next few weeks.
DJ, it was the same temperature here today. 22’C and quite pleasant, as I’m sure you are likewise finding that in your part of the world. You wouldn’t like the smoke stink here though. The goobers are doing a planned burn high up on the mountain ridge, as they should. It’s a good week of weather for such activities, and they have been very slack in the past couple of years.
Hope you get some time out to get into the spring sunshine with the super worthy companion, Dame Avalanche? Any seedlings coming up? I noticed that the radish and some of the kale seeds planted out in the greenhouse the other day are popping up. (Oops, almost typed pooping up, here we must blame the birds for putting such errors into my mind…) We’re also clearing some of the summer vegetables from the garden beds, and making way for cooler weather crops. A certain ruthlessness needs to be achieved in order to grow a productive food garden.
Thanks, and glad you enjoyed the photo. It is a pleasure to share the place with you.
🙂 One can only but do their best!
Man, I slept in this morning. Must have needed it. Hope you get some rest for your brain for every grief is a trauma.
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – I think there was a palisade, around the village. Could have been against people, or, just as likely, wandering animals. At that time, Britain had a good supply of bear, wolves and boars running about. Never mind the deer. And we know what a pain they can be.
Yes, change. I’m reading a book right now, “The Next Civil War: Dispatches from the American Future.” (Marche, 2022). There are five scenarios, that speculate on the maybe fall of the government. And they really don’t have all that much to do with politics. The scenario I read last night had to do with an economic collapse, drought, and New York City being overwhelmed by a tidal surge and storm.
Suzanne had been going downhill, for about a year. So she had a lot less interaction with the parking lot. Things loosened up when they hauled a couple of cars out of here.
LLCs aren’t very transparent, and are largely unregulated. It’s hard to find out who exactly is behind them. I read a book about them, around a year ago. They buy companies, or, obtain a controlling share of the stock, and then loot the retirement funds, sell off the real estate, and then declare bankruptcy. Nasty pieces of work.
There seems to be cult like followings around some grocery stores, here. Trader Joes … Whole Foods. Mostly big city / yuppie kind of stores. And, expensive.
Pass the baton? Or is batten an Australian thing? 🙂 Last night was a steady drizzle, and more of the same, on and off, today. I just got an e-mail that my A/C unit is waiting at the local big box hardware store. I might pick it up, tonight.
Maybe the Editor is worried you’re becoming a religious nutter? 🙂
Cosmic! Synchronicity! My Idaho friend has been having … digestive problems, and not that long ago, I mentioned she might have to go the fecal implant route. I sent the article you linked to, onto her.
I’ve looked into Firefox, and it’s beyond … way beyond my computer capabilities.
Yesterday, I stopped into one of our locally owned garden / feed stores. I picked up a packet of pumpkin seeds (to nudge the Master Gardeners) and Kentucky Wonder Green Beans. Territorial Seed. I saved some seed, from last year, but like to do a mix. And, the seed company I prefer to use, doesn’t have Kentucky Wonder. But they don’t gouge on the shipping. But I did go to Territorial, last night and ordered some seed tapes and discs. I’ve used them before. Easy to plant, and not near as much thinning involved. I got radish, carrot, spinach and sweet basil. The shipping on, basically, four packets of seeds is $9. Lew
Chris,
The group is ok, thanks. There was a meal afterwards. Then people went their own ways. No wake. I’ve been to wakes on the Rez. They can be very good for the mourning family.
The differences in services? Hmmm. Start with the buildings. The church at St. Mary’s Mission is quite old. It has the old Roman Catholic symbolism indoors, the entire Stations of the Cross, fountains with holy water. The services yesterday were in a building built in 1986. It looked and felt just like any Protestant church I’ve been in. Very little symbolism, and what was there was very modern. No fountains, no holy water, modern architecture and seating layout.
The actual service was different, also. Vastly different songs. All of the words spoken by the priests of the two churches were different, also. Put everything together, and it’s almost as though the differences were denominational rather than different parts of the same tradition.
Thanks. The Princess is with her brother this week. I’m spending significantly extra time outdoors. Nature is healing. Also, spending other time taking care of myself. I was very out of sorts Wednesday. After arriving home from the services, I spent a lot of time outside, listening to the birds, enjoying the sun, drinking tea, and thinking. And then taking care of myself further.
Our weather change. The late winter/early spring storm systems are blowing in. Very windy and much cooler. Dame Avalanche is more energetic again with the cooler weather.
I might get on national television this weekend. This is the time of year that is called March Madness. Major college basketball tournaments, men’s and women’s, are under way. The Spokane Arena is hosting 8 men’s teams, all the games being televised. No, I am NOT going to those. Far too expensive.
However, Killian’s human wants to go to the women’s event. The local university is hosting 4 teams for the opening 2 rounds. We were able to score tickets for those. Games are also probably televised – the cameras often pan the crowd. If you never hear from me again, it means that I was on national television, and “they” found out where I was. 😉 We’ll have a fun time.
Ick, smoke, ugg. At least it means the prescribed burns are happening.
No sprouts or seedlings yet. Too early to plant anything unless it’s planted indoors or in a greenhouse. I had to let Killian out at noon today and noticed that their rhubarb is growing.
Had to run an errand today. I was across the street from a place called “The Man Shop”. Killian’s owner wants me to try to find her a man from there. It’s our running joke. In reality, I didn’t enter the place – it was actually the corporate headquarters. My FICTIONAL encounter went something like this.
The Man Shop (TMS): Can we help you?
DJ: Yeah, I’m trying to find a man for my cousin. She’s very picky and heard that this is the best place to shop for a man.
TMS: Huh?
DJ: A man. On sale. For my cousin. Or at least various spare man parts. She can put them together into her ideal man.
TMS: Uh, we sell MEN’S CLOTHING!!!
DJ: You mean, no men for sale. Any spare parts? Leftover parts? Even a catalog of available men?
TMS: You are very offensive sir! We’re calling the police if you don’t leave immediately. Heck, we already called the police.
DJ headed for the door and ran other errands.
So the rest of the day will be a mix. Watch basketball on television. Do some work on my current pyrography project. Read. Should be a relaxing afternoon/evening.
DJSpo
Hi DJ,
A shared meal afterwards is to my mind, a different form of wake. Been to a few of those over the years. Sometimes life is an experience of attrition where sooner or later your own lucky number gets selected. Whilst we’re able to breathe and also catch some rays man, we partake in the great circle of life. Hope you are doing OK today?
Of course, your day did not begin at the friendly local telco shop did it? A lovely young lady assisted me spend some mad cash in a phone upgrade. Turns out that at the end of June, the nice telco is switching off the 3G network, and my perfectly good working phone is not compatible with such progress. It’s not the lovely folks at the shop’s fault that this is happening, so I put on my best impression of absent minded professor somewhat on the spectrum number five persona, and they got me in and then out again in no time at all, and it was a very polite experience. Winning! Somehow with the telco I’d accumulated an embarrassing amount of reward points, whatever they are, and the upgrade ended up being $140. Spare a moments thought for Sandra who had to fork over about $440 for the same device. One must know and play the system. But we’re a team, Team Fluffy, and somehow the nice telco ferreted out $580 out of the household treasury. That’s what I’d call a direct hit.
Ah yes, the older traditions of spirituality may have been quietly ignored in the rush to social progressivism (whatever that means). Thought you might be interested, but this is the one they sent me too. It’s an intriguing place: St Andrew’s Church, Brighton. Lot’s of photos, and history. There is even a symbolic tree of life.
Good to hear that you’re getting outside. The spring sunshine, and of course Dame Avalanche’s hijinks, are an excellent prescription. 🙂 Yeah, take it easy. As an absolute hypocrite, and 100% ignoring my own advice to you, I was perched on a steep roof today re-wiring one of the solar panel arrays. The wiring had been in place for almost 14 years, and was working, but all the same it needed an upgrade. Of course, this evening I’m feeling a bit crunchy as you may expect. Incidentally, working out how not to fall off the steep-ish roof was my first priority of the day. Had some inspiration in the middle of the night as to how to achieve that feat.
Go Dame Avalanche. Flipping George RR Martin on his head, we could say: Summer is coming! 😉 The coming week of weather is very stable and warm-ish, but nothing alarming.
That sounds like a fun idea heading to those games with Killian’s human. Hope you get on TV. How cool would that be? 🙂 Of course I trust that you know not to be caught scratching your nose, shifting around uncomfortably on your seat, making rude gestures, yawning – basically expectations are that you’ll be on your best behaviour if caught inadvertently in the public eye?
And that’s exactly it, that facial recognition tech is a real bummer. Surely you can write letters from the can? 🙂 I’m not going to visit you though, don’t expect this. Oh, and remember to leave a return postal address. Look, you can catch up on sleep in solitary. You’ll be fine, maybe. 😉 Ten years will be over before you know it.
I guess the soil is still too cold? It would be too cold here too if the seasons were flipped upside down. Most of the seeds planted the other day have germinated in the greenhouse. I doubt I can repeat that feat in the raised beds next to the house. Those will be a bit colder.
That’s some funny dialogue, and thanks for the laughs. Good hunting wishes to your cousin, and may she find that which she seeks.
Hmm. What I want to know about the pyrography project is, did you work a wombat in there?
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
I was wondering about the palisade as well. What exactly was the fence protecting the inhabitants against? And also did you notice the oblique inference in the article that the green timber must have been treated somehow because no evidence of wood borers was found. It is possible that wood boring insects were not in the area at the time, but I find that to be an unlikely proposition. Yup, deer can be a pain. The wombats have worked out how to get into the new large 6,500ft2 enclosure. Those marsupials are like little armoured tanks, but I’m more worried about the wallabies and deer getting in there.
It’s pretty dry outside now. In another week or so, we may get some decent rain again. I don’t know whether to water the fruit trees or not, and am basically unsure whether the dry spell affects them all that much. Dunno. They mostly appear to be doing well, despite their usual watering from the sky requirements.
Looks like the majority of seeds planted out in the greenhouse have now germinated. I might even have to thin the seedlings. Oh well, R is for ruthless, they tell me. I’m feeding them a seaweed foliar watering most days so that they all grow fast before winter hits in earnest. The other night was a five blanket night. It sure was cold. Brr! I’m summer soft and haven’t yet braced myself for the cooler weather.
Did a major re-wire of another one of the solar panel arrays today. The roof was quite steep, and so yesterday my mind was churning around all these different ideas to get the job done safely. Inspiration hit me in the middle of the night (better than being bitten by a bat in the middle of the night, huh?) Anywhoo, I had some spare solar panel railing, and installed a line of that on the other side of the steep roof. Falling off being something of a problem. I could brace my feet against the railing and do all of the rewiring work with the panels. Finished the job about 7pm this evening. Fortunately there was a bit of sun left in the sky then, and I was able to test the work I’d done.
There’s another three of those rewiring jobs left to do, but I may call it quits for this season on the work. Do the remaining work next spring. There’s no hurry that I’m aware of.
Oh, and I was at the telco shop at 9am this morning and sorted out a replacement phone. Somehow I had some sort of accumulated loyalty points with them and that took about $300 off the bill, so the phone ended up being $140. It still galls my soul to replace a perfectly working phone, as no doubt you felt much the same with your recent fruit upgrade.
Interestingly, we were going to get the Editors replacement phone (the same device) from the river, but at the last minute noticed some weird note that the thing was coming from Germany and may not have the same specifications as the local devices. Whoa! It would probably be OK, but do I want to find out the hard way? The Editor had no loyalty points with the nice telco, and so we had to pay full price for the thing from a local electronics supplier. The telco only had one of the phones I wanted and that’s why we had to go elsewhere. The device is beyond durable. There were some stock shortages apparently.
Sounds like an intriguing book. Is it good enough to keep you up at night? A crucial litmus test if you ask me. I must say that there was a line in the wikipudding page on the book with the helpful suggestion: “citizens could not tolerate economic or social inequalities” Is the author really sure about that? You guys, and us for that matter, have some inequalities. Well, not all pigs were created the same, where they? I’m an equal opportunist and are just as suspicious of the left, as the right. Bad eggs rarely smell nice.
Ah, I’d not appreciate Suzanne’s journey over the past year. Rather unfortunate. Have you had any update on her present condition? Hey, I said that there might be some cars parked in that lot which weren’t registered, or dumped. Anyway, whatever, glad to hear that that problem is at least resolved, for the moment.
Yeah, I recall you mentioning that book about private equity buy out firms. I ain’t arguing with you, and saw the demise of some local manufacturing. A truly pained experience, and once it’s gone… A lot of hassle to kick off such enterprises again. What did Chief Seattle say about discovering the difficulty of eating money?
Hehe! We don’t have those high status supermarket chains, that I’m aware of. I probably wouldn’t shop at such a place either. Oddly, it’s the cheaper ones that provoke such, err, is fervour the right word?
No, you’re correct, and that was my error. Yes, it is pass the baton. A batten instead being part of a roof timber frame. It’s the bit which holds the corrugated metal sheeting to the rest of the roof. Note to self, don’t make roofs so steep in future.
You won’t regret the A/C unit on those stonking hot nights given you’re on the third floor. It’ll take the edge off the worst of the heat. That heat by the way in your building is called the ‘chimney effect’, although I’ve probably banged on about that enough. Did you end up picking it up? And did anyone help you load the box?
Hehe! Maybe… 🙂 It’s a good story all the same. And a good plan!
Apparently for the people the treatment works for, it works well. But it doesn’t work for everyone. Between you and I, to get to the place where that is needed, there’s a long road beforehand of imbalance. It’s no different to mucking up the balance of minerals in a soil in that there will eventually be consequences.
Ah fair enough, just a helpful suggestion.
Good shot with the pumpkin seed nudging. Do you reckon they’ll take the hint? It’s still early to be planting such warmth happy plants. I reckon I killed the melons started earlier in the season when the weather turned cold and rainy. It’s funny you mention Territorial, but I’m currently re-reading the founding dude’s book: The Intelligent Gardener. Look, it’s a big call, and I don’t want to get a big head re-reading the book and becoming suddenly super-intelligent (always a risk I guess 😉 ), but this stuff is complex.
That’s about how much you’d expect to pay for shipping down here for that amount of seeds. Hey, I spotted petrol at $2.30/L or that’s $8.74/gallon. Whoo Whee! Took a photo for the blog. A bit under 7 gallons cost me $60 to fill up the tank. You wonder why I drive small vehicles?
Cheers
Chris
Hi, Chris!
I haven’t even had time to read all of your post this week and now it looks like I may have to go up to New York to help my sister, who has just gone to the ER. So, I’ll talk to you when I talk to you.
Pam
@ DJ – You’re having a rough go of it. I’m sorry for the Princess’s and your losses. Lew
Yo, Chris – Parts of St. Andrew’s Church, are lovely. I thought part of it was built out of formed concrete, but I did a bit of research and it’s ironstone. Now I’m thinking the formed concrete blocks were to mimic ironstone … at a much lower cost.
I got the impression that the green timber construction was so new, that the wood borers hadn’t got a foothold, yet.
Maybe the Wombats are the advanced shock troops for the Wallabies and Deer? 🙂 Might want to look into a bit of solar electric fencing.
It rained yesterday, is raining today, and will rain on and off for the next week. I keep switching between my winter coat and my summer coat. My rain hat and my Sunday-go-to-meeting hat.
So, given a choice, which work space would you prefer? Roof or crawlspace? 🙂 Always best to observe professional roofers or painters, for a bit. See how they do the safety. You’ll be glad for the pitched roof, when you get six feet of snow.
Yes, I read more of the civil war book, last night. Things here are really simmering. There will be outbreaks of violence. But where, and what form they will take is the unknown. After that, I took a break and am watching season four of “All Things Great and Small.” Savoring it. Only one episode a night.
The problem with the parking lot was, old people who didn’t drive anymore, but were holding onto their cars. It’s one of those major life decisions, that, eventually, come to us all.
Yes, yes. Chimney Effect. AKA heat rises. 🙂 I ran down and picked up my A/C unit, last night. Went late, when it was quiet. Managed to hit it, between incoming rain bands. The box is about 14″ x 14″, and three feet tall. Very heavy. A nice young man loaded it in the back of my truck. When I got home I managed to get it on the sidewalk, and deployed a two wheel dolly, to get it up to my apartment. I may, or may not unbox it, tonight. I usually go down to the Club on Friday nights. And I’ve got stuff for the pantry, to take down.
I imagine tech-bros, sitting around wondering what “features” they can add, or change, to force an upgrade. To rake in some more cash.
We got a food box, this morning. The local one. Usually doesn’t have any produce, but there was one very large baking potato and a small bag with apples and Mandarin oranges. I’ll keep the baker (because I keep thinking I’ll make some hash browns) and the apples for my oatmeal. * denotes stuff I’ll take to the Club. A loaf of French Bread and a box of Mac & Cheese, that I’ll keep. To use up that Vegemite and Marmite. Might make some French toast. As we got a dozen eggs, I’ll keep. They’re a month past the best by date, so, I’d better use them up fast. And, crack them on a plate, before adding them to anything. Just in case. The Mac & Cheese I’ll keep, because about once a month, I get a craving. Of course, I dress it up with veg and garlic. So, what else did we get?
A pound of butter “product”*, a pound each of frozen ground pork and something called “chicken crumbles.”* A jar of peanut butter*, a box of 50 bags of tea (think I’ll keep that, too.) A box of elbow macaroni*, a box of cereal* and a quart of shelf stable milk*. A pound of white rice*. A box that’s supposed to make Fettuccini Alfredo*. Then there was the tinned stuff, all of which I’ll take to the Club. Two tins of chicken, and one each of beef / veg soup, beef stew, mixed veg, mixed fruit, pears and corn.
So, what’s going down to the swap table? Two packages of cup-o-noodles, a one pound bag of dried Garbanzo beans, a box of 6 pop tarts (Strawberry!), a little box with two glazed donuts in it. That’s it, I think. Lew
@ Lew,
Thanks from both of us. Sounds like Pam is going through the wringer also.
DJSpo
Chris,
Yes, ok today. Did my normal morning routine, then an extra-long walk with Dame Avalanche, followed by some work with the compost pile. Then a lazy afternoon that involved finishing a good book and taking a nap. Perfect day to have the windows open – I can hear a crow as I’m writing.
Local telco shop? Condolences. We had to upgrade phones a few years ago because of the discontinuance of 3G. Then my phone had a problem with a cracked screen, and the Princess’s phone was having issues. Our trip to the local telco was last October or so. Better phones, but not cheap. Ugg. We did get rather sturdy ones as well as very user friendly and sturdy cases. But, ugg, I feel the pain to your treasury.
Thanks for the St. Andrews link. Wonderful photos. That’s when they knew how to construct a church. The tree of life was a welcome surprise.
Jings, Chris! I figured out how to not falloff a steep roof in a few seconds: don’t get on the roof to begin with. 😉 No, I’ve spent time thinking about that problem. What was your solution?
I’
ve been on national tv before. Twas on a program streaming only on the computer. The USA curling nationals was held in nearby Cheney, Washington in early 2020before all the corvid shut downs hit. We had tickets for all sessions. The Princess got a dread migraine and stayed home the final day. She was watching the streaming program on the computer. They panned the crowd, unknown to me until she texted me that she had just seen this really handsome guy on the curling broadcast with a long white beard – “Handsome man” she said.
In the small world topic, I was sitting with a lady we met there. She and the Princess were the only non-caucasians present other than event staff. She and her husband, from the Puget Sound area, were both curlers and he had to help with scoring and statistics, so she sat with the “other minorities” in the audience. Meaning she was on tv when I was. Anyhoo, when I was with my friend in north Puget Sound area last July, as we were leaving a restaurant, that lady and her husband were arriving.
Ten years? JUST ten years? 😉 I tried punching myself in the face this morning to change the shape and only got crushed fingers from the attempt! 🙂
Yes, the soil is far too cold for most things. The Regional Rule of Thumb is “Don’t plant your potatoes until the snow is gone from Mica Peak.” Pretty much everything can be planted then, too. Mica Peak, the 3rd tallest mountain near Spokane. Thet tallest is Mt. Spokane, followed by Mica Peak, Idaho. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mica_Peak
Ahhh, you’re asking for information about an ongoing art project. No comment. 😉 Seriously, most of the project is still in my mind. However, I have worked out how to include wombats.
DJSpo
Hi Pam,
Oh Pam, I’m so sorry for you. Some years are just rough. I hope your sister endures through her present trials. And also hope that you’re doing OK and looking after yourself.
With warm wishes,
Chris
Hi DJ,
Good to hear, and respect for you and Dame Avalanche getting out and poking around the compost pile. Man, life can be rough sometimes. However, what I wanted to know was whether the compost pile was steaming in your cold spring harbor, sorry I mean early spring? Apologies for the dodgy music pun, nah, not really!!! 🙂 Caught up with friends for lunch today.
Yours sounds like a lovely day, and a good book and long walk with the dog is a delightful way to spend some quality time. Just walked the dogs here, and it’s now dark and smells of burn off smoke. The crows know their business well, but have they been warning off the ravens lately?
Thanks for that, yeah, it was a journey I’d not wanted to take. Ook? That’s not quite an Ugg, but I’d not realised that this telecommunications change had already happened in your part of the world. Ah, progress is sometimes relentless, and often not all that it’s cracked up to be. A wise choice, and there are some who consider such devices a potent symbol, or declaration to the world about themselves, I on the other hand just want the things to work and not be accidentally destroyed by my carelessness. It’s not much to ask for, is it? You seem to be of a similar mindset in this regard.
It’s a lovely building, and had a grandeur to it that is uncommon in more modern buildings, yeah. I realise it may sound mildly disrespectful, but I really enjoyed belting out the hymns there. For me, music touches the inner core, and there was always something really just joyous about that experience. Now of course, these acts were frowned upon and resulted in many an after school detention. It would be interesting in the more gnostic sense to discover what other, err, higher opinions of that hymn singing was viewed as! One of the highlights of last year for me was attending that massive stadium gig, which I likened to stepping into the other world of the faerie for the evening. The artist has been having something of a quiet time of late, and fair enough.
Said in best Forrest Gump voice: Accidents, happen… 🙂 I installed a spare set of sturdy solar panel racking rails on the other side of the roof. They were sturdy enough that I could brace my feet against them, whilst work on the wiring, and resist the pull of gravity, it being a long way down to the ground and stuff.
Thanks for the story! That would have been fun for your lady to spot you on the television screen. What is this obscure sport? Just watched ‘the most impressive curl shots in Olympic history’, talk about amazing efforts! Far out! Well, you never know where you’ll make contacts and enjoy the pleasant moments in life. And yes, it is a very small world.
Well, that was ten with parole for good behaviour. I’d expect nothing less, and Dame Avalanche put in a good word on your overall character. That’s very Fight Club, nice one! I’d seen that move in another Ed Norton film too.
No way, Mica Peak looks like the mountain range here when viewed from the elevated plains! Ah yes, and the history… Such things have been known to go on up here from time to time. Oh yeah, I can see how those peaks would have had snow in season. Did you ever go up there and cross country ski?
Sorry, yes, I crossed a line there with that question, and shall say no more on the subject, maybe. Did you work a tennis ball into the image? Sh … oot, broke my own rule there! Sorry. 🙂
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
Thanks for mentioning the stone work. You know, I’d always believed the building to be a bluestone (which is more commonly used granite in old public buildings), of the similar granitic stuff used in Stonehenge, and is quarried in some locations near to here. But now you mentioned it, you can see that the stones are red-ish in hue, thus the iron mineral content. Fascinating, and it came from a local quarry apparently. I agree with you about the lower cost block work. Economics is always having a say in such large works. I’ll bet that building has some unusual properties having been made from that stone. It’s quite rare.
Maybe, with that timber. The ancients could also have scraped off the outer living rings of the saplings, thus leaving the less appealing to the wood borers, heartwood. They would have known about such matters purely from observations. I got the impression that the researchers believed the folks moved on to new sites regularly, but it would have been a massive undertaking to construct a palisade.
The marsupials and deer do seem to be in league… On the road back home from lunch in the big smoke with friends today, a herd of deer casually strolled across. Managed to get a photo of the last deer to cross. Solar fencing may prove to be a problem for a couple of weeks around the winter solstice, so I don’t really know whether I want to rely on that option. Right now, I’m observing what the wombats do with that enclosure and learning from them. Incidentally, I checked how the new solar wiring worked today, and it’s good. Probably need to get around to the rest of that job…
Ha! I get that feeling. With such changeable weather, definitely don’t put the winter coat away just yet! There were times over summer we ran the wood heater… And now, the weather here is very dry. How does this even work? A dude’s gotta have a proper going out hat, that’s stylish. Got my grey rabbit pelt Akubra for when things get serious. Don’t have any cows, but hats, yeah!
That’s a no-brainer, the roof. 🙂 It’s harder than under the floor in the crawlspace, but you’re less like to have spiders drop on you at inopportune moments. What are they even doing under the house? Mind you, I don’t much like the idea of abseiling down the side of a tall building as a window cleaner. You’d hope that lot were paid danger money! Some dude fell out of a hot air balloon basket near to a friend’s place recently. Not good.
Hardly surprising. When there is less to go around, one way to get more is to take it from others. That’s an old story. What interests me about that was during The Great Depression, that sort of thing didn’t really happen – most people were broke then. I can’t imagine many of the devices people enjoy and expect now would be all that useful during such a time. It would be interesting to know what people would carry with them during such moments. During bushfires, it’s often notable that people carry strange items with them when fleeing in advance of the conflagration.
I’ll recommend that series to the Editor. 🙂
Brr! I’m a bit cold tonight, and may kick off the wood heater. The nights are getting cold now. The zucchini have succumbed to powdery mildew. Best to clear the raised bed soon.
That’s a tough life decision because there is a loss of independence. We’ll all face it sooner or later, yup. Don’t have a plan for that, yet. We’ll see. And given that is the case, I’m reluctant to ask you.
Aren’t the weather radars great tools when put to the purpose of dodging rain bands? I told you that they’d have someone to help you load the box into the tray. From what you said about your weather, there doesn’t seem any rush to unpack the unit. Hey, I feel that way about the new phone. Swapping to the new device is work, no getting around it. Some folks may feel a surge of pleasure when considering such work, but that ain’t me.
And my impression is that just like imperial tribute, they all want a flow. Dodging to the side is a good option, but even my swift foot work was not good enough for this change. Anywhoo, given enough extractive flows, and eventually it becomes an uneconomic proposition. Most people assume that these demands are co-ordinated, but I don’t believe it to be so.
That’s not a bad haul. And always wise to crack eggs into a cup first, then sniff before use. Before being so careful, many years ago I once cracked a bad egg into a bowl of ingredients. As you’d know, nothing can be rescued from such a kitchen disaster. I’m sure you’ve been there yourself? Doing a pasta and home made roast veg and lentil sauce + proper grated parmesan cheese for dinner tonight. Yum!
Hehe! Butter product and crumbles. Do I really want to know what these things are? 🙂 I’m sure they’ll fly out of the pantry. Look, it’s probably good, but alfredo sauce out of a box is not my thing either.
Hey, whilst in the big smoke I did buy a jam filled donught, and binned it after a few bites. It came from a reputable bakery, but we make our own jam, and so, err, spoiled… Thought it would be better than it was.
Oh well, food adventurism can be like that experience. Off to get the wood heater going and cook some feed!
Cheers
Chris
Hello Chris
Indeed, Son would only call out a vet as a very last resource. He treats most animal sickness himself.
I was fascinated by the poop eating. It reminded me of my Son complaining the other year about my disgusting behaviour when he was a child. That was spitting on a handkerchief (before the advent of tissues) and wiping his face when we out. I said that all parents did it. Now I am wondering whether it passes on useful bacteria.
The hawthorn wine that I am drinking, is a glorious orange colour. I queried Son as to whether this would be called a red or a white wine. He replied that red and white only applies to grape wine, all the others being called country wine. This was news to me. Do you know?
My asparagus is coming through, hurrah!
Inge
Yo, Chris – There just happened to be an article, yesterday, on church construction, post WWII. Prepare for a brutal experience. 🙂
https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/20/style/brutalist-churches-europe-jamie-mcgregor-smith
Can’t say I’m a fan, but some of it is pretty awe inspiring. Way back when, I visited Simon Fraser University, up in British Columbia. It had a certain grandeur and sweep. A temple like feel.
Speaking of molded concrete blocks, just south of the neighborhood I grew up in, in Portland, was an older neighborhood. And, the main street through it, was lined with quit a few of the textured concrete block houses. I found a good article about them, but, there’s no “share” link that I can use. Search: “Let’s have a block party! Historic rock-face block in America.” There are pictures of the machines to make the block. You could buy them from Sears. This article also pictures a house with a retaining wall, which was very much in evidence along the street I mentioned. Another article had pictures of ads for molds, for porch columns. I wonder if any of those old machines are still kicking around? I’ve never seen one. I suppose a lot of them went in scrap drives, in WWII.
And then there’s that clutch of concrete textured block houses, Frank Lloyd Wright did around Los Angeles. They had a very Mayan temple feel about them. They pop up in ads and movies, from time to time.
I bet some of the wood was debarked. That’s where bugs get a foothold. Under the bark.
Rain, on and off. Once, during the night, it rained so hard it woke me up. I want to work in the garden, early evening, but we’ll see what the weather is doing.
Speaking of hot air balloons, one crashed into power lines in Minnesota. It was all caught on a traffic cam.
Had to delete the very long URL. Got some message about unsafe content. Might be this. We’ll see.
Speaking of what we carry or save … we have a fellow who hangs out at the Club, sometimes. Homeless Mike. He’s just a little guy, but carries around a backpack and duffle bag. All things considered, I think his burdens weigh as much as he does. Gosh knows what all he keeps in there, but apparently, it all meets his needs. Some people have commented that he smells, but, au contraire. I’ve given him a lift from the library, to the Club a few times. I detected no foul odors. I think because he’s obviously homeless, people just assume he has a lack of personal hygiene. He was changing his socks, outside the Club the other day. Frankly, his feet were cleaner than mine 🙂
The original series of “All Things Great and Small” ran from 1978-90. There were 90 episodes. I think I watched an episode or two, and it didn’t interest me. But I really like the remake of the series. I’m watching the 4th season (usually, six episodes per season, with a Christmas special.) It’s been renewed for a season five and six.
LOL. Don’t be reluctant. I’m very aware I’m old and getting older. 🙂 I have my 35th AA birthday, next week. Sooner or later, I’ll have to give up the truck. I well know it’s an event that will happen sooner or later.
Yes, just switching from my old flip phone to a new one took a good two hours. But, the company offered a free one. Luckily, their customer service people are very good. Patient. They cater to the aged. 🙂
No, the box of food we got wasn’t too bad. But I was thinking about all the really good stuff, we got, not all that long ago. Things like really good honey and a good brand of sugar. Although if you buy it in the store, now, those 5 lb. bags are now 4 lb. bags. There was more tinned fruit and tinned meat. More tinned thick soups and stews. But, there’s a lot of people in a bad way, right now, and there’s more competition for what’s on offer. I’d guess, families with children get priority.
I keep a box of meat in a freezer, at the Club. Even though there’s a sign that it’s available, it doesn’t seem to move. I think I need to go through the box and check the expiration dates.
The jam in your donut was probably all artificial sweeteners, flavors and colors. You get the real stuff, so it …. lacks. I think with most people, it’s the other way around. They get the good stuff, and it’s not what they expect. What they’re used to.
Well, I had an interesting experience, last night. I needed a new brain. Not the zombie kind, the little book for all the many passwords and sign ins, one needs. My old one was falling apart, and held together with a rubber band. So, I stopped into our local big box office supply store. Not much of an inspiring collection. But, I finally found one that would do. Larger than I wanted, but at least it was blue. 🙂 $7. So, I take it up to the counter, and it rings up at $22. Sorry, not in my lifetime. I told the clerk the shelf tag said $7, and he said it must be in the wrong slot. Well, there were three other’s of the same. So, without being too raspy about it, I declined to purchase said item.
So, it was off to the River. Found a nice one, in the size I wanted. Dark blue with a stylized sun on the front. $6. Free shipping. Take that! big box kingdom. Lew
Hi Inge,
Respect. Do what you can, prior to bringing in the specialists. And I apply the same strategy to myself on the basis that no doctor is ever going to care more about my overall health than I do myself. There are times I do have to take the dogs to the vet and I’m sure your son has the same at-a-total-loss-as-to-what’s-going-on perspective, and you’ll recall when Dame Plum had her first seizure. Now what interests me about that episode was that the vet said she’ll be fine, but did not advise me to alter her diet slightly so as to reduce the incidence of future seizures. The main problem I have with this sort of journey is that there are limits to the volume of information I can absorb. I’m sure that you would also know that, it takes a village… 🙂
Yesterday I was talking with a friend about his health issues and I made the observation that he doesn’t know nearly as much about food and health as he thinks he does. And he is a very highly educated person, but breaking through tightly held belief systems is hard work. When things go wrong I generally begin with the understanding that I know very little about the subject at hand because if I did, things wouldn’t be going suddenly wrong. It’s a theory that is a work in progress!
Inge, my mother did that as well, and am of your opinion as to the benefits in this regard. Of course, my mother due to lifestyle issues ended up with Hepatitis B, and that sort of thing abruptly ended afterwards. But I share this house with three sort of wild animals, have regular contact with chickens and their excrement, and yet how are my peers health going? Do you see me complaining about health issues? People are proud of casually using hospital grade cleaners, and that just worries me deeply. It’s been remarked upon elsewhere that pride is a serious sin.
It’s funny you mention that grape issue. More to come tomorrow.
Yay for fresh asparagus! Yum. You’re near enough to the ocean that you probably don’t add salt to the garden beds those plants grow in. I’ve added rock sea salt every year and have not regretted the addition. Eventually I’ll thin the crowns.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
It’s late and there are words demanding to be expunged onto the interweb, however I looked at the photos of those brutalist churches and they were unique, but as you yourself noted, awe inspiring in their own way. As someone with leanings towards gnosticism and mysticism, I reckon a god would be happy with any efforts made in their direction. The demanding ones are probably a bit like hard work and never satisified, and there are some un-nice words for such entities.
Forget about the concrete blocks – and I’ve seen them used down here and had not realised the blocks were pressed on site, clever machines – the blog was a hoot. Thanks. Lewis, it’s almost 9pm and I’ve not yet typed a single character! The Editor was warned, it’ll be a late one this week, thus ensuring household harmony, and some err, extortions like your series recommendation for ‘All creatures great and small’, and maybe a Lindt chocolate. That’s bringing out the big guns, but a dude’s gotta do. You know my conundrum, and now Dame Plum tells me she needs to go to the toilet. Far out, the problems are building, but I got this, maybe…
That was my best guess as well, the wood used for the palisade was debarked and maybe the first couple of rings were likewise removed. Wood borers are opportunistic insects, and the folks would have known about them.
Did you get to the garden in the evening, or did the rain stop you in your tracks?
Continued doing a bit of garden clean up this morning, and then took the afternoon off work. A cider and some nachos were harmed. The weather was almost perfect today, and there was a large Indian baby shower going on at the local cidery. Made for an entertaining backdrop, and I did wonder what the kangaroos grazing on the hill sides made of all the noise and festivities?
Ook! Yeah, thanks for not posting a link. One of those hot air balloon things down here hit high voltage powerlines a few years ago and the basket caught fire. As you’d imagine things did not end well. I’d use tickets as kindling, just sayin’.
Mike probably has learned to look after himself given his circumstances. In Nepal we did an 18 day trek and not once did we have access to a bath / shower arrangement. Keeping oneself clean in such circumstances is a learned skill. From my reading and casual observations of environments, people can take that clean story to an extreme to which it should never go. I think it is a case of more is better, when it isn’t. And what a surprise, I’m observing unusual health issues with that lot. It’s a subject which has long interested me.
Dude, it ain’t just you getting older!!! 🙂 I’m happy to still be here just kicking around and doing my thang. I’m sure you know what I mean. Respect too for the milestone.
Lucky you, the nice telco folks knew so little about the phone, they processed my purchase in what must have been record time. I’ll do what needs doing sometime this week or next week. I’m not in any hurry for that job and are waiting for a wet day, which may occur in another week or so, maybe.
Oh, watched The Hunger Games 2012 film last night. I quite enjoyed it, although ecologically, the society made little sense to me. I’d kept reading references to the film whenever articles about how hard it is to rent down here were published. Nobody wants to be in one of those games.
Dude, I gotta run, sorry man. I blame society for my total lack of planning this evening, and yeah, maybe it’s true! 🙂
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – Yup. Got a couple of hours in, in the garden. Filled in some more dirt for the new rhubarb. Planted some carrots. Also, planted some grocery store garlic in the Jerusalem Artichoke barrel, and a couple of parsley discs in the Horseradish barrel. The Horseradish is coming up. Just tiny little fronds, so far. I also planed, I think, some camomile. I don’t see any coming up, this year, and didn’t have seed (thought I did). So, I took some of the dried tea blossoms and planted those. Will it work? We’ll see!
I put on some disposable rubber gloves, and finished cleaning the green bean vines, off the chicken wire. It’s the section where there was powdery mildew, last year. Hence, the gloves. Then I planted two kinds of mustard (for fumigation) in that area. I did a little research, last night, at The Font of All Wisdom. I’ll also spray the chicken wire and area with ammonia. And, vinegar.
The Master Gardeners had pruned the grapes, and, left a mess. I cleaned that up. They’ll hear about that, when they come, tomorrow. So, just as I was losing the light, and finishing up, it started to rain. Timing. It’s all in the timing. 🙂
I see your Indian baby shower and raise you … the mob planting Portland’s Queen of the Gypsies, across the cemetery road from where we were planting grandma. Circa 1962. There we were, all these restrained Lutheran folks, there they were. Men smashing bottles of booze on the tomb and women wailing and rending their garments. They looked like they were having a lot more fun than we were.
If I’m ever struck homeless, I’d want to have Mike at my side. To show me the ropes. He’s an odd little duck. He looks very young. I asked him once how old he was, and all I got was a bit of incomprehensible babble. My friend Kenna, who used to be a bartender, says he’s been around for year. He used to be one of her regulars. He said he was a bit hungry, the other night. I made sure he got that can of beef stew. Some homeless maintain gym memberships, just so they can use the showers. We have a homeless shelter, or two, and they also have showers.
I just saw an article, last night, on elders giving up the car. Approaches for worried families, etc..
I think I’ve watched all the “Hunger Game” movies. The latest is a prequel. How it all began. Yup. It’s become one of those cultural references.
Well, I was gobsmacked. When I search our library catalog, it’s Browse > New Titles > On Order > DVDs. Well, I discovered yesterday that there’s a separate section for Blue Ray. Apparently, not many other people have noticed, as the hold list numbers were very low. Among the things that I put on hold was a 1941 movie, “All That Money Can Buy.” Which has an alternative title. “The Devil and Daniel Webster.” 🙂
H and I are heading to the Club. See if I can shake the money tree, and get a donation for the pantry. There’s a week and a half before we get another box. And, I’ve already spent about $120 this month. Lew