Change is an unfortunate constant. I don’t want to be that bloke who is whingeing about how good it all used to be. There’s better ways to spend your life. So when encountering change which looks like it will be a permanent thing, I usually go off and do something different with my time. It’s a workable strategy. What other people do in that regard, can be something of a mystery to me.
Change happens. A couple of decades ago the only yoghurt which passed my lips was the sweetened stuff which you can buy pre-made in tubs at the supermarket. It’s quite nice tasting really. But I’m guessing it contains a lot of sugar and/or artificial sweeteners, not to mention flavours of uncertain parentage. Maybe even some preservatives. Sandra preferred the natural tasting yoghurt which is more of a sour flavour. She used to make the stuff each week. It’ll only take three weeks to retrain the palate, was the assurance. Hmm, a very dubious sounding claim, which was proven correct.
To cut a long story short, the three weeks of palate changing yuk were stoically faced. A bit like developing a taste for Soylent Green I reckon, in that it’s only unpleasant at first. Now natural yoghurt tastes great to me, and undoubtedly the sweetened yoghurt would leave me with way-too-much-sugar headaches, maybe. Who knows? Anyway, I’m now reluctant to take on such a sugar challenge.
Yoghurt is really so easy to make. I’ve had earnest conversations with serious people living in apartments, who make the fatuous claim that they were unable to do ‘anything’. Sure. I’m honestly not at all certain what is meant when they say that, but it could have something to do with the realities of a small living space? Dunno. Anyway, make yoghurt, I’d tell them. Unfortunately, such talk does not win me friends, because the other parties to the conversation suddenly look all uncomfortable and stuff. Did they want to do ‘anything’, did they not want to do ‘anything’, or was it all merely an enjoyable whinge? Whatever the case may be, the conversation then gets awkward. But yoghurt really is super easy to make.
Well, that last claim is not always true. During the time of the three week switcheroo between the purchased sweet (yum!) yoghurt, and the home made natural yoghurt, Sandra was yoghurt boss. She made all the batches, week after week. This was a natural fit given her science background in biology. I’d heard the stories of industrial food microbiology, and the results from experimental plating out of chicken mince. Note to self, don’t try that and don’t even think about it.
Anyway, shifting to natural yoghurt was part of a larger change in my diet so as to combat the persistent eczema. The raw, itchy, sometimes bleeding skin, is not something you ever want to experience. The idea of going on steroid creams lacked all appeal. However, I am nothing if not flexible and if needed I can change, and so that’s exactly what I did to my diet. Changed utterly. It’s not rocket science this stuff, and there is a whole interweb of information out there on the subject. But I discovered that when you make enough changes to your diet based on what was discussed on the interweb, for me at least, the eczema went away.
All was suddenly good with the world. The skin cleared up and stayed that way. Then the months quietly passed, probably they were even years, but horror of horrors! The batches of yoghurt began consistently failing. We’d changed nothing about the production process. With the thought of returning eczema, my usually cool self, became ever so slightly more uncool as time went on. Sandra’s science background was used with the failed production process to tweak a variable here, and another variable over there. All a valid response to the repeated failure, except the batches kept failing. I don’t have a background in science, and after months of that tweaking business there was an ever increasing fear of the return of the dreaded itchy skin. I may have eventually remarked something along the lines of: “The bacteria you’re buying is probably f#$king dead, OK?” Not my finest hour.
Fortunately we had a copy of Sandor Katz’s classic tome: ‘The Art of Fermentation’. Combine that with a bit of reading, an entirely different source of bacteria, plus a brand new yoghurt slow cooker, and within a week we were back baby! We’ve been making the stuff for decades. In recent times even the original slow cooker machine broke, so that had to be replaced. Nothing seems to ever stay the same.
What I’ve taken away from the experience is that the things we purchase can decline in quality, without us even being aware of it. And nowadays you know, I’m just quietly grateful when things work. It was hard not to notice that when you’re a passive consumer, your brain is switched off. The products simply arrive for consumption, and that’s that. However, try to produce the products for yourself, and you may find yourself in a whole different world.
But heck, I don’t happen to have any answers other than just trying stuff. It’s hard to even say for sure when and where the idea popped into to start looking more deeply into the causes of eczema. Dunno why I’d never thought of it before that moment. Previously, the thought had never occurred to me. That monster skin issue had been troubling me since I was a late teenager. If it got bad, I’d go to the doctor and they’d prescribe me steroid cream. That worked, for a while. But not once did they ever suggest changing the food I ate. I don’t recall that. But that approach worked for me.
A few months ago, a friend was complaining about a persistent fungal issue. Trust me, I don’t start such conversations about people’s health matters, sometimes they just happen. So there I was listening to the blokes concerns, and he’s a man of science and was talking about the risks of the pill that he was considering taking. The risks didn’t appear to be small. At that moment, making the friendly suggestion: “Have you ever thought about changing your diet?” appeared akin to farting in church. Can’t say that we’ve caught up to talk rubbish since then. Guess some rubbish talk can be triggering for people with closed minds.
Turns out dispelling peoples belief systems is about as successful as trying to slow down product crapification. It ain’t easy. But I reckon an inability to adapt leads to becoming history’s road-kill. And who wants that?
A few years ago we had similar issues with our production of Sake (Japanese rice wine). Product crapification never sleeps…
We’re nearing the end (for this year) with the clean up work of the left over loggers mess down at the forest edge. Another day was spent cutting up downed trees into discs, which we’ll split and haul away in coming weeks.
We made the error of stacking the discs against an old downed tree. It was only after a couple of hours of that work when the idea popped into my head: “You know what Chris? These stacked discs next to the old dead tree would make perfect snake housing.” Who can argue with such wisdom, so that pile of discs will be split and hauled away sooner, rather than later.
Anyway, there is not much more cleaning up we’ll have time for this year. Other projects are calling for our attention. Here’s the last of the logs waiting to be cut into discs:
It will be nice to get onto other work.
The wombats are completely unfussed by the clean up work, and in fact it should make it easier for them to move around, not to mention eventually providing far more feed. They’re quite active in that area, and the marsupials mark their territory by leaving the oddly shaped poop on rocks.
It’s been rather windy this week. The split firewood we’ve hauled back up the hill has been visibly drying out in the wind. The colour has changed from a darker yellow to a lighter beige with shades of pink, which is how the grain usually looks when dry.
A closer photo of one of the pieces of split firewood shows how the timber is drying from the centre outwards to the edges.
Regular readers will recall that earlier in the year European wasps (yellow jackets) had been feeding on the sugars which aphids had been harvesting off a particular species of willow tree. I’d planted that tree years ago with it’s future productive uses in mind. Anyway, I see no need to make life easy for the wasps who’d been feeding on the tree for months during the summer. The tree had to go. And that’s what happened this week.
I’d not realised that willow timber was so soft. I’m used to dealing with hardwood species of trees, and the machines ate into tree effortlessly. Most of the branches were fed into the scary old wood chipper which produced a fine mulch. The larger branches will be burned off.
The stump grinder machine totally destroyed the softwood. I was amazed how quickly the cutting teeth ate up that timber. That grinding job was done in minutes. Hardwood species of trees of similar size by comparison, require so much more effort.
We made a video earlier in the week about some of the basic items we fix. Unfortunately we forgot to switch on the microphone, so that idea flopped! Anyway, the old timers used to say: Re-use, Repair, and only then recycle. In these enlightened times, people have that understanding back to front. We fixed Ruby’s broken name tag.
The name tag has a phone number on the back, so it’s kind of important. Not wanting to shell out another $25 for a new tag, we hacked the old one. A bit of farm engineering, and the job was done.
One of the other things we fixed was the Makita mitre saw. It’s a powerful beast of a timber muncher, but eventually the old saw blade blunted over time. I chucked a new blade onto the machine, and that’s when I discovered that newer blades are being manufactured slightly thinner than the older blades. It probably saves a bit of metal in the manufacturing process. The only problem was that the cutting blade would come to a stop, whilst the motor would keep on spinning. Not good, but easily fixed. I added a chunk of corrugated cardboard onto the spindle so that the excess gap was taken up. It works perfectly now, albeit with a thinner cutting blade.
The latest batch of soap had dried, but has not yet fully cured. It takes a month or two for the soap to cure properly. You know it’s ready to use when the colour changes from a yellow to a white. All the soap has to do to cure, is to simply sit and wait. You could make soap if you lived in an apartment.
We were gifted a really interesting scoby which are used to make vinegar or kombucha. Hope the thing doesn’t walk out of the kitchen.
The wind was pretty strong earlier in the week, and the leaning tree is now leaning even more. There’s a lot of timber in that tree, and when it finally hits the ground, I intend to mill up some posts out of it.
The wind also removed a laden branch off the Meyer lemon tree. We really do need to harvest much of the fruit and preserve it soon. But, that’s a job for another week.
Onto the flowers:
The temperature outside now at about 11am is 5’C (41’F). So far for last year there has been 591.0mm (23.3 inches) which is up from last weeks total of 573.8mm (22.6 inches)
@ Claire – (Comment from last week). Thanks, Claire! I was really overthinking the pizza crust. Read half a dozen books, with varying results. Finally tried a very simple recipe, that I found on the back of a bag of Bob’s Red Mill, artisanal flour. Works a charm, every time. I cut it off the bag, and it now safely resides, in my recipe box.
And, I always forget how you stack things, on a pizza. Crust, tomato sauce, cheese. Then go crazy, with the toppings. I also wrote that down on the recipe card, so I don’t have to look it up, every time. Lew
Yo, Chris – Something came up, and threw me off schedule, today. Nothing bad or complicated … all right, I confess! Take that bright light out of my eyes, and put away the rubber hose! I stayed up reading way too late, last night and slept the day, away. Mea culpa, mea culpa.
So, first to your blog post. Yes, it takes awhile for the old palate to adjust to changes. When I switched from regular milk (2%), to almond milk, it seemed rather tasteless, and thin. And to be a complete martyr to the cause, I bypassed the sweetened variety or the kind with added vanilla flavor. Now it tastes quit good to me. Great with pizza! 🙂 It was an Extra Added Attraction, when I discovered I could swap it, one for one, in most recipes requiring milk.
Yes, it’s the crapification (Chris ©) of everything. It’s a pity, but it seems like everything, these days, needs to be considered with a jaundiced eye. Everything is suspect.
I’ve mentioned it before, but as Hippocrates said, way back about 400 B.C., “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” 2,500 years, or so, of good advice, that no one pays any attention to. There’s a relatively new branch of medicine, these days called The Science of Natural Healing. And, a lot of it has to do with diet. I sometimes slip up, but I eat way more healthier, than most people I know.
LOL. My Idaho friend commented on how coincidental it was, that there was a big chunk of cake, in our food box. I hadn’t even made the connection,, to my birthday. I just took it down and put it on the swap table. Told her such highly processed food, would probably take ten years, off my life. 🙂
The Sake video, was very good. If I ever decided to brew something up, it would come in handy. All very scientific, with even a control group. I thought it good you emphasized temperature. My Dad used to make a great blackberry wine, and he swore it was so good, as the basement he made and stored it in had a steady, optimum temperature.
Looks like you about have firewood whipped, for another year. The leaning tree, reminded me of something. Here, we have a greeting card company called “Leanin’ Tree Ranch.” The cards all have a country western, farm vibe to them. Some are quit humorous.
It’s a pity about the willow tree. But, wasps or willows, hard choices have to be made. No sense encouraging the wasps. They do pretty well, on their own.
Nice repair on the dog tag. The story about the mitre saw was just another example of shrinkflation. Shrinkflation, crapification, inflation. Seems like there’s a lot of -ations, kicking around.
I had to look up what scoby is. Maybe I’m watching too much “Call the Midwife,” but it looked like afterbirth. Or maybe, “The Blob” from that old science fiction movie. Don’t let it out of the bottle! 🙂
Now, to your missive. The Gilborne story, was very interesting. Notice how people classify a newcomer, as anyone who has been there, less time than they have? 🙂 So, that’s the road to Oz … errr, Fernglade. I remember you saying the activity center was going to screw up traffic patterns, for awhile. And, a new supermarket? I wonder what flavor. That two lane blacktop, isn’t going to cut it.
I found the sidebar article, “Financial Horror Stories…” also interesting. Charging people outrageous “exit” fees, for leaving gated communities. What will they think of, next?
Yes, you’re taking your coffee, too far. 🙂 Oh, well. Might as well enjoy it, while we have it. When I started drinking coffee, my Dad advised that I learn to drink it, without sugar or cream. That there would be times, when neither were available. Wise advise.
Fleas have been a problem, from time to time. When I had the cat, I used a home made night light flea trap. When I was taking care of H, and Eleanor got all weird about the flea pills, I used a more commercial kind of flea trap night light. Now that H is on the pills, no problems.
I had heard of USB hubs, but really didn’t know what they were. From your reference, now I get it.
Rain is still in the forecast, for tomorrow. Looking at the weather radar, there’s a big green blob, moving in from the west. The bulk of it, is supposed to hit, about the time the Master Gardeners are due to show up. I wonder if they’ll get rained out? Yesterday’s sunset was quit … red. And I could smell a bit of smoke in the air. Tonight’s sunset, was a lot more normal. With that onshore breeze, we really haven’t had much smoke.
By the way, one of the big fires in either Oregon or Washington was caused by some moron, driving four miles on his wheel rim. Throwing sparks, everywhere.
Well, we’ll see if the nematodes vs pill bugs, works. From the research I’ve done, it’s one particular nematode … Steinernema carpocapsae, that targets pill bugs.
Learned wisdom. Young people occasionally get flustered, when I mention something they don’t know … especially, if it’s fairly obvious. I always point out, that when I was their age, I didn’t know, either. Until someone mentioned whatever, to me. It’s not called learnin’, for nothin’
I put the croissants, right in my refrigerator, when I got them. And when I took them down to the community room, put them in that fridge. Fresh? Maybe not. But edible? Probably. Also, probably, shot full of preservatives. Lew
Hi Lewis,
Good stuff, and pray tell what was the book which kept you up until the wee hours of the morning? 🙂 We’ve all been there.
Can’t say that I’ve ever tried almond milk, and respect for your hard core pure approach by avoiding the flavourings. Do you drink the stuff as is, or add it as a milk replacement? How do you reckon it compares to oat milk? (if you’ve tried that?)
You know, what I’m finding from that jaundiced perspective is that some cynicism is sneaking it’s way into my world view. I can understand how the Editor hung onto the idea that the purchased bacteria was OK, mostly because learning to let go is quite difficult. You’re kind of taking a hit there, and just having to regroup and move on. It really is a strange form of a loss of the recent past.
Hippocrates was right there! 🙂 Still, you’ve seen it with your friend Ron, how do you tell them that their diet is causing the very problem that they’re complaining about? Truly, my friend has been dodging me for four months now. What interests me about the conversation was that apparently it is OK for me to listen to the complaints, and somehow that was where things were meant to stop. That’s probably not me, that kind of imbalance. I keep an open mind on such matters and ask the hard question: Does this stuff work? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Like recycling being the last option, the surgeons knife is also the very last option once all other avenues are exhausted. Everyone’s different in that regard. Respect too, what you put in your mouth has a great deal to do with your overall health – known for how many millennia again? 🙂
Cake is a notoriously variable product, and can mean almost anything. It’s funny you mention that, but on the weekend my eye was tempted by a small red velvet cake. It was rubbish, and sadly I disposed of it after one bite. I do hate wasting food, but it wasn’t good. Your birthday pizza sounded better than any err, unsolicited cake. 😉
Thanks for the feedback, and you may also note that towards the end of the video the lighting improved? A powerful worklight was purchased and it really brightens up the indoor scenes. It was filmed over a few weeks. And oh yeah, temperature is everything with that brew. Not a drink to make in the summer months. By the way, I hope the sake guilds don’t come and get me for making the process so simple? Always a risk there.
Interestingly, as a related side story, I’m starting to get the impression that utoob is something of a volume business for folks whom provide content. Hmm.
We’re miles ahead this year on the firewood task, and have even worked out some innovations. Of course making a new and larger firewood shed will improve things even more. I’m waiting until the weather improves before we start on any milling for the shed timbers. It’s just way too wet outside. The weather today was filthy. Low thick cloud, persistent drizzle. Oh well, fit in around the weather is the watchword.
Yes, that’s my thinking with unwanted wildlife. Find out what they’re doing here, and arrange the environment so that things are easier elsewhere. I hated to lose that willow, but the yellow jackets sure can eat a lot of fruit in a very quick time period.
The mitre saw really surprised me when I first replaced the blade a month or two ago. Fortunately other people also seem to have encountered this err, shrinkflation. Too true! And far out, the tolerances are pretty small, so it must have been worth the manufacturers time to make the blades thinner.
Scoby’s and vinegars are in the Editors ball court. You’re probably right there, and it’s a bit eerie to think that the thing might escape from the bottle one night. At least it doesn’t have legs, that we know of! All good comparisons. Hey, about one of those horrid Alien things which stick to people’s faces in the 1980 Alien film? Nasty customers…
I hadn’t noticed that observation, but now you mention it things do seem to work that way when talk of new-comers arises. Hmm. Is there a wizard up in them thar hills? Maybe. 😉 Do you know, that article (and the very minor mention) was the first I’ve heard of this mythical new supermarket. It’s all paddocks, schools and sports facilities there. But a supermarket? Interestingly, the power lines were upgraded there about a year or so ago, but I’d thought that was for the sports facilities. Oh well, you learn something new everyday.
Hehe! Would either you or I fit into a gated community? I don’t think so man. This is one worry we hopefully don’t have to consider. Even experiencing the dark side of a home owners association would send me loopy. No thanks! Deposits with anything other than a bankster are always chancy propositions.
Well, that’s a point of view. Another point of view is that I’m not taking the coffee seriousness far enough! 🙂 With a bit of additional global warming, we might be able to grow the plant here. Although there is a frost warning for Wednesday and Thursday morning. 28’F apparently. Brr! Your dad was a smart bloke to have made that observation. Hearing the old timers saying about the land of milk and honey, gives the thoughtful person pause to consider the implications. Hmm. It reminds of what they say in the middle east about the progression from camel to mercedes, back to camel. Camels being somewhat easier to reproduce and fuel.
Those home made natural flea traps would have sold like hot cakes during the Black Plague outbreak in the middle ages. I’ve heard good things about the efficacy of those flea pills. I haven’t had a dog with fleas for maybe twenty years. Dunno why, and it’s not like it’s a problem a person can blissfully ignore. 🙂
Is the big green blob, the sometimes mentioned in serious weather circles in your part of the world: ‘The Blob’? I note that Professor Mass predicts that the record wettest driest event will cool the eastern part of your state. DJ will be sure to appreciate the cool change.
What? No way. That’s just a weird way to start a fire. You’d imagine that the car would be hard to control? In another fire in a nearby state, allegedly someone was caught pushing a car (which was on fire) down into a ravine. Bizarre behaviour, but it could possibly have been an insurance job, although that may not be possible to claim upon now. That’s the problem with getting caught… Man, I tell you truly with this stuff, you’re only as good as the weakest link. Not good.
Can you get that nematode delivered? That’s quite an impressive feat really.
Yes, that can be true about folks getting flustered. Although, despite the occasional slip up (like the fungus story this week), I’m pretty gentle with training and use variable approaches depending on the person, although I get paid for providing good advice. That’s part of what I do. The graduate program work years and years ago really rammed the idea into my head that the desired outcome was to get the graduates to learn, and learn what they needed to know quickly. I’ve observed with some folks that there’s a bit of one-upmanship to the way they teach, and too much of that sort of monkey business early on and yes, a person can get flustered when confronted by new information. I tend to be of the opinion that the education system as it stands is letting a lot of people down. And that’s right, it is learnin’ isn’t it?
Hehe! Sorry about that with the croissants. That off the cuff comment was made with my purist hat on. I’ve had some dodgy croissants over the years, and now avoid them on the basis that they’re more likely to be rubbish than good.
Worked late tonight, so I was glad it was just you and me to chew the proverbial fat so to speak. 🙂
Cheers
Chris
yoghurt- When we first moved to our home in the country, Our nearest neighbors were starting a small dairy to sell raw milk to the local folks who want that. In addition to the milk, they then also started making yoghurt, from a culture they got from a nearby supplier for all things fermented.
We bartered hay from our hayfield for their yoghurt. It was thus grass fed whole milk yoghurt, with a skim of cream on the top- quite yummy.
The effort to start up a farm from scratch, raising three kids, competing with industrial ag (and by the way, raw milk is illegal in Wisconsin) was too much for them, so they quit.
What to do? We started making our own yoghurt from the last batch we had from them, and that same culture has been starting our yoghurt for around seven years now. I have no idea which bacteria were in the start, or which ones are still in there, but it works. Am I getting all kinds of probiotics? Dunno.
Now that we have an “Instant Pot”, with a yoghurt setting, it’s so easy even I can do it.
Unfortunately, we have to use store bought milk, and I’ve scaled back to 2% milk ( I’m carrying a bit of belly fat, so cut back where I can) so not as rich and creamy, but still my day to day breakfast. A handful of blueberries and some homemade granola top it off, and I’m good.
recycling- read a book a few years ago that expanded on that. It argued for “refuse, reduce, reuse, repair, recycle”. Kind of proposing to shrink the waste stream at the front of the funnel, so to speak.
The reuse and repair steps is where I get into trouble. My workshop is getting too full of bits of wood, wire, plumbing and etc. that in theory might be used in the future for some as yet undefined project.
Occasional purges will need to be added to my project list.
Hello Chris
I have only just watched your winter food video and thought that you might like to know that I think that you have become way, way better at it.
Inge
Yo, Chris – I don’t have any books from the library, right now. So, I was deep into my Roman Britain, collection. And, suddenly, the birds were tweeting and light was creeping around my blinds.
I seldom drink almond milk, straight from the glass. But, it goes on my oatmeal and fruit, every day. Or, a glass if I have biscuits. I haven’t tried oat milk, but have been thinking about it. Another good thing about almond milk, is that it stays stable, in the fridge, for a long time. I usually keep four half gallons, rotating them as I get a new jug.
Loss of the recent past, is a good way to put it. Maybe it was Mr. Greer, or, somewhere else, where I saw the term “nostalgia for the past.” Apparently, what used to be called “quality control” has been cut out of many companies and industries. I suppose it improved the bottom line.
Modern medicine treats symptoms, not underlying causes. Excuses are, physicians are so rushed, these days, that there’s no time to spend, tracking down causes. Now that big business has taken over the medical field, doctor’s are pushed to see so many patients, a day. People want instant fixes, and reach for the pills, or go under the surgeons knife.
I think I told you how I came to be interested in food as medicine. Up until the early 80s, I often had terrible problems with leg cramps, at night. And then I saw an article, in Reader’s Digest magazine, I think, that said a banana a day could take care of the problem. So, I tried it. Never had another leg night cramp again. I still eat a banana a day. After an experience like that, I think any intelligent person would start looking at food, in a whole new way.
The cake was in an individual, plastic clam shell and was a good 5 inches high. Layer after layer of gooey frosting. I didn’t even look closely at it, to discern if it was white or chocolate. 🙂 Get behind me, Satin! 🙂
As far as the Sake goes, I think some manufacturers, make their processes seem a lot more complicated and mysterious than they really are. Might “add value,” at no additional cost.
I don’t know how exactly it works, but I’ve seen reports that some people make their entire living, posting utoob videos.
We did get our rain. When I took H out for her walk, this morning, it was somewhere between a heavy mist, and a light drizzle. Three hearty Master Gardeners showed up. The weather radar showed a break in the weather, moving in from the coast. But, by the end of the week, we’ll be bumping up against 90F, again.
The New! and Improved! mitre saw will probably take the thinner blade. 🙂
The scoby doesn’t need legs. It just needs to roll, like the original sci-fi blob. Triffids seemed to get around, o.k., without legs.
Developers play so close to the chest, until the last “i’s” are dotted and the last “t’s” are crossed. Sometimes, I think they’re like little kids. “I know something you don’t know, and I’m not going to tell you.” At least two other supermarket chains, fell through, before the new Winco finally “took.” Cities often sweeten the deal by furnishing all kinds of infrastructure … and tax breaks. But then, maybe the mention of a supermarket, in the story, was someone’s wishful thinking.
I was surprised that the article referred to the tracts as “gated communities.” Here, we’d just call them trailer parks. Although if they actually have gates, that’s an amenity you don’t see here, except in high end housing estates. I wouldn’t go near a Home Owner’s Association. There are way too many stories, of HOA overreach, that hit the news here on a regular basis.
LOL. My dad also had a still, that exploded. Something to do with potatoes …
The flea pills work like magic. When the instructions said that they worked in two or three hours, I thought they were putting me on. But they did! H is so much more comfortable.
Yes, the nematodes from Abico Organics would be delivered. You should check out their website. It’s really interesting.
Well, it’s “make oatmeal and fruit day.” I pulled the last gallon of rolled oats, and the last gallon of dried cranberries, out of the plastic storage buckets. I’ve taken care of getting more oats. After the first, I’ll go looking for the dried cranberries. I did a quick on-line survey, and there are still 25 lb. boxes, available for $125. Free delivery. Same price as last year. Someone must be asleep at the switch. :-). Lew
Hi Inge,
Thank you for taking the time to watch the videos, and also for your feedback. I’ve mentioned to you before, as I write nowadays, your advice of ‘concision’ is always there guiding the narrative.
Feedback is of course a wonderful method with which to focus the mind and efforts. To date we’ve been able to incorporate all of the feedback received.
What’s going on behind the scenes also is that we’re agreeing on the rough story board prior to switching the camera on, although I juggle the points into a coherent narrative. But also all the different bits of technology are quite complicated in their own way and take effort to learn.
The plan is to do a series of episodes with a walk around of the property, whilst providing some narration and context into what the viewers are seeing. Should be interesting. It’s a fun project.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Steve,
Whoa, dairy is an unrelenting activity, although someone was telling me recently about a robotic dairy machine. Not sure what that even is, but the thing sounded expensive to me. The bloke said something about struggles to get people to actually do paid work on the dairy farm. Anyway, dairy is a job which needs doing in sickness and in health, rain, hail or shine, not to mention the mud and snow. The cows always need attending to. Yup. It’s only consumers who believe the stuff arrives in plastic bottles. We don’t even use washable glass containers these days.
Steve, your yoghurt is the pinnacle of production. Respect! 🙂 I doubt it could get much better than that. For your info, the pampered bacterial strain we use needs a tiny bit of additional inoculant with each new batch, despite back slopping (i.e. adding a quantity to the new batch from the previous batch).
I can see that story, and how it played out. Did they leave the land, or head off to a different venture? There’s not all that much mad cash in dairy sorry to say. In my opinion, it’s something you do for your household, rather than trying to make money doing it. The odds are stacked against you from the get-go, I reckon. My friends of the big shed fame ditched the cows a few years back and went for dairy goats. Easier.
🙂 You already know the answer to the probiotic question! The batches wouldn’t work that way otherwise.
We use a Yoghurt / Cheese / Vinegar slow cooker machine as well. I note that Instant has filed for Chapter 11 something or other… Ook.
Ah, lite milk. And store bought. I hear you man, but still prefer the full fat milk. A bloke can only do so much. You got me interested in the subject and the full fat milk is 3.4%. Hey, to put it all into some amusing perspective, the tiramisu success cream was something like 45% to 50% fat, and it was seriously good stuff. It’s an interesting subject you raised, and the vast majority of the time we eat like rabbits, but very occasionally dine like Kings, and Queens (in the Editor’s case). Everything in moderation I guess, maybe. 😉
A delightful sounding breakfast. We’ll do a video on the home made toasted muesli soon, and I’ll be curious to hear how it differs to your granola. Recipes can be improved upon and refined.
Alas, in these enlightened times I’m not observing people refusing and reducing, although the advice is most excellent. Hmm. My gut feeling is that economics will resolve the matter. However, it needs re-saying, the advice you read is outstanding.
🙂 We all have to make such choices, and if you learn the answer to that conundrum, please do let me know! 🙂
Ah yes, occasional purges are required, and someone elsewhere made the observation about items sparking joy, whatever the heck that means?
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
Ah, all is now explained, and there is much depth to experience in the historic accounts of that time and place. The lessons from there have much to say to us in these enlightened times. But, tell ya what, I’m super envious that you can take a deep reading dive. It must have been good. 🙂
After your suggestion many long months ago, I watched the first episode of Clarkson’s Farm yesterday, and oh my, it’s good. The Editor is watching the first episode this evening and after twelve minutes stopped to tell me how much she is enjoying it. Jeremy Clarkson comes across as a buffoon, but honestly, he’s also rather clever if somewhat misguided, whilst also putting in the hard yards. An intriguing combination of character traits. He’s taken on an epic project. And may earn a newfound respect for the infrastructure and machines on his broad acre farm. I had the impression that some of it (like the leaky shed) was for previously for aesthetics.
Oh! You don’t have to worry about oat milk, mostly because you’re pouring the almond milk on the oats, so err, that’s doubling your options right there. Interesting, I’d not known that almond milk is shelf stable in the fridge. That’s a good thing from an economic point of view and for your interest, milk is generally sold in half to quarter gallons down under (2 Litre or 1 Litre). With the coffee, yoghurt, cheese, dogs, chickens etc, we probably go through a gallon of full fat milk per week. 🙂 No calcium shortage here!
Err, maybe the phrase was ‘return to nostalgia’, not that that is a feasible objective. People find comfort in such stories don’t you reckon? Like re-establishing on shore manufacturing, unless you’re talking about 19th century levels, and even then I wonder. I’ve worked on a production line making computer floppy disks (remember those?) and quite enjoyed the work. A commercial kitchen would not be all that different, well maybe without the quality assurance overseers (yup, quality control). As a society we’re being trained to shun such manual work, and I don’t necessarily agree with that strategy. I reckon the loss of quality control is the belief that everything will be done right, first time. My experience there leads me to believe that life is otherwise.
You’re probably right there. I don’t know what to make of it all. There’s a lot of pressure in that industry, and none of it need be that way. I’m re-reading Michael Lewis’s book ‘The Big Short’, just because I really enjoy the story, and you know this is the world you get when the money supply expansion exceeds the growth in the underlying assets. Strange things then happen. Even the Roman’s debased their coinage.
Oooo, I forgot that story about the cramps and the bananas. A most excellent source of potassium. And like you, I too eat part of a banana every day in breakfast. Hey, we’ve swapped over to the more expensive Lady Finger bananas. Err, Panama fungus (not exactly sure) was becoming a problem and they were arriving greener and greener. After a while we asked the hard question: Why are we eating these? Then swapped. A lot more expensive though. Yikes! And yup, I travelled the exact same journey you did – and went further like considering the soils we grow edible plants in. Hmm.
Hehe! A wise move with the cake. It wasn’t worth it you know. 😉 A tasty cake doesn’t require the layers of gooey frosting fluffery. And that’s funny. Yes, you survived the temptation!!! The tiny red velvet cake I threw into the bin the other day was awful. Life is too short for bad cakes.
That’s my gut feeling also with the sake making process. I just hope they don’t come and get me! Years ago, we almost went commercial with the stuff in conjunction with a local distillery – we know the people there. It was a close thing, and the health subject which dares not be named intervened and the project flopped.
I’ve also heard those stories about content on utoob. We’ll see. At the moment we’re trying to build momentum through content. By the way, I appreciate any and all feedback, positive, negative or whatever. It all assists us make better product. I left sensitivity to words in the past long ago during the recession of the early 1990’s when doing commercial debt collection. I’ve heard it all, and recommend the honing experience. You’ve probably heard it all too with a stint in a commercial kitchen? I’ve heard stories about such workplaces… 🙂
Ha! Hadn’t thought about purchasing a new mitre saw. Ooo, now I’m feeling the need.
Yes, the Triffids and sci-fi Blob were rather pesky antagonists all without legs.
I dunno man, the way I see things is that the developer makes some mad cash and the community has to stump the bill for much of the extra infrastructure required to support all those new households. I do seriously wonder how the electricity grid copes with all the new demand, although manufacturing seems to be priced out – the last of the polyethylene manufacturers appears to have called it a day recently. Oh! And I hadn’t thought about the supermarket idea being wishful thinking. Truly, I have not heard of the idea being mooted other than in that article. It’s been my general observation that folks stuck in regular grid lock traffic rarely support the concept of adding drastically more people into the same situation.
Gated communities aren’t much of a thing down under, although in town nearby there is an over 55’s residential development which appears to have a very large and heavy looking gate. Are we being kept out, or are they being kept in? That’s what I wonder about. There are trailer parks, but that nearby place is full of smaller, tightly packed houses. Believe it or not, the trailers parks are very expensive and would be hard to afford on the pension and/or dole.
Hehe! It happens with liquids under pressure.
That’s been my understanding of the flea pills, when you need such things, they’re indispensable.
That is an interesting website, although I couldn’t find the nematodes. Holy carp! They sell heaps of them. OK, that’s new to me. Did you end up ordering some?
The growers may have had a good year with the cranberries? I’d imagine that the plants would appreciate wet growing seasons. Do they grow them in your part of the world?
Did paid work late again this evening. No rest for the wicked and stuff. 🙂
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – You’ve been holding out on us. Any Drop Bears, in your forest? I understand if you smear Vegemite, on your face, it repels them. 🙂
I saw an article, yesterday, about the big auction house, Sotheby’s branch in Hong Kong. Why might you find this of interest? Scroll down to the bottom and you’ll see a picture of the infamous Banksy. In case you wondered where it ended up.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/29/style/hong-kong-sothebys-new-exhibition-and-retail-space-intl-hnk
I did not giggle a bit, when I saw the headline, ‘Top Chef’ Alum Diagnosed with Tongue Cancer.” That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.
I read the book, by Kaleb Cooper, the hired man. Maybe he hasn’t made an appearance, yet. I also checked into if DVDs of the series, are available. One of those murky situations. The series is produced by The River. They’re really spotty when it comes to if or when they put their productions on DVD. I am seeing DVD sets, on the big auction site. But those could be bootleg or out of region copies. The River, at least in the American market, wants you to stream. Ah, U Tub has it, but it’s behind a paywall.
LOL. I hadn’t even made the connection, between pouring oat milk on oatmeal. Terrible things could happen. One might OD, on the oats!
I keep a lot of backup, of the almond milk, as, the discount grocery store has it … most of the time. But sometimes, they don’t.
One would like to expect things to be done right, the first time. Unfortunately, it seems like more and more, people have to resort to the courts, or media consumer advocates, to get a fair shake.
Here, so far, bananas have been mostly ok. As far as green ones go, I usually buy a fresh bunch, when I still have two or three in the cupboard, where I store them. The older ones, ripen up the newer ones. I almost bought one of those banana hangers. Glad I didn’t. If you want to see some funny pictures, check out “banana hanger fail” images.
The cake wasn’t tempting, at all. I developed a knee jerk reaction, to being offered baked goods. Which frequently happens, at the Club. My reaction is: ‘No thank you.” I don’t even think about it, anymore.
Well, their mission is accomplished. That’s what they wanted you to do. Buy a new mitre saw.
People stuck in gridlock, don’t have much say in development matters. Developers always sing the siren song of “It will bring jobs!” Which usually don’t materialize, or are part time, on call nonsense.
I really don’t remember the incident, but according to the story, they were scraping potato mash out of the basement ceiling joints, for days. Apparently, I came home from school (I must have been about five), wrinkled my nose, and announced, “Smells like dog poo.”
I’ll probably order the nematodes, toward the end of the week. After I get my checks, and settle my monthly financials. Might be an expensive month. The cranberries, dog might need a trim, and the nematodes. That will be a chunk, out of my mad cash.
Oh, yes. We have quit the cranberry industry, in this state. But I don’t know how they’re doing. It’s the Ocean Spray, collective. When I worked out that way, one of the librarian’s, husbands family, farmed cranberries. Things were not going well, due to foreign imports. But maybe tariffs kicked in? I always buy the Ocean Spray, brand.
Well, about time for me to head down to the local farmer’s market, and see if I can land some flats of blueberries.
Who knew they came in flavors? I managed to stuff up the bog, last night. Of course, a standard plumber’s helper, which I have, was of no use due to the weird configuration of our toilets. So, I had to make a trip down to our public rest room, on the first floor. Where there is a plumber’s helper, that plays nice with our plumbing. Hoping that no one had stolen it, in the meantime. Mission accomplished, and back down I went, to replace it. Next time I’m at the Big Box Hardware Store, I’ll have to pick up the appropriate one. Lew
@ Claire,
Thanks for the supportive words about the fire. This morning’s update indicated that the fire is now 45% contained. The cooler and humid system that entered the region Monday afternoon gave the firefighters the upper hand. More burning to go, but history suggests that this fire is mostly stopped and that tiny Keller, Washington, will survive unscathed.
Sorry that your air looks similar to ours. There are fires everywhere in the entire western US. A fire map of Oregon leads to the question: what is NOT on fire?
DJSpo
Chris,
As you’ve found, diet has so much to do with mental and emotional health, skin health, etc. Diet can even influence how intensely seasonal allergies can affect things. The relationship between fungal infections and diet is true also, especially if too much sugar is regularly in the diet. If people understood gut health better, and ate with enhanced gut health in mind, things like fungal infections and eczemas would be vastly improved. I’ve had to learn this the hard way myself.
Cooler weather hit before the weekend, reducing temperatures to the “normal” 30C. The Monday “cold front” reduced our high temperatures an additional 2C. We did get some light sprinkles in Spokane overnight into early Tuesday. The Keller fire area (officially Swawilla 1 Fire) did get cooler temperatures and heavier humid air. Winds also changed direction enough that they could do some back burnings. 45% containment, Keller apparently saved, some evacuation notices removed (not in Keller), a few roads opened. It could’ve been improved only if there had been heavy rains.
I’ve bought unflavored, unsweetened Greek yogurt. I’m assuming that your homemade version is similar. It’s definitely an acquired taste but is so extremely healthy to eat.
When we lived in apartments, I raised a few veggies on a balcony. The Princess did her craft work. I didn’t wood carve at the time, but some of the club members live in apartments and carve there. I’ve known people who brewed beer in an apartment. Sounds like making yogurt, rice wine, soap and candles are all possible in an apartment. Methinks your “friends” were just hoping to have a sympathetic ear for another whinge.
Hmmmm, have you thought about the relationship, if any, between product crapification and peoples’ belief systems? Purely on the surface, I would guess that there is some relationship there. Causality? Dunno. Correlation at least, I think.
Isn’t it interesting how ideas jump into your brain? Glad you had the “snake housing” idea before the snakes moved in. Important thing to be aware of.
Your split wood photos showed how much the wind dries things out. It’s not like it was warm and dry there!
We started saving water used in certain tasks in a jug. Jug fills up, water gets poured on things like thyme plants or other sensitive plants. I’m watering the entire yard for an hour a week, aka each sprinkler sector gets an hour water per week. Grass in well shaded areas is green the rest is in a zombie state. The current suggested water restrictions want about half that amount of water for my yard. However, there are exceptions made for trees and fruits/vegetables. Keeping the trees and shrubs alive for bird habitat is important. The City Powers say that the daily average water usage within the city limits is in the 98th percentile per capita nationwide. I’ve calculated what our water usage is in this house. It’s already at half of the City daily average. Does it go without saying that City parks and golf courses are exempt from any water restrictions and have lush and vibrantly green lawns?
We made another change this year. We set the air conditioner thermostat 2F higher than in past years. The electric/natural gas bill breaks things down with electric and gas separately. Also, a comparison of the billing month’s usage is compared with the same period from the prior year, as well as a comparison of both periods’ average temperatures. The July 2024 bill indicated that July 2024 was warmer than July 2023 but that our electricity usage had dropped significantly. Ditto the natural gas usage for some reason. I think maybe less cooking in the heat, more salads and sandwiches.
Good work on the Ruby tag! The repair looks good. The replacement hole will probably be more robust than the original. Keeping the “Made in Italy” was good. Are you going to etch in “Amended in Australia”?
Sunday morning was cool, air quality ok for me but a bit too smoky for Dame Avalanche to walk. It was a good day to use the electric weed eater on a few areas. The switch was goofy, and really not working. Sigh. I will have to take it apart and see if I can fix the switch. If successful, a bit of time spent on repair is better than buying a new machine.
Some of our succulents are struggling in the extreme dry and heat. However, the hens and chicks are thriving in their new location. The Princess is very happy with the hens and chicks. I see a lot more succulents in the future of our flower beds.
Warming trend starting Wednesday, an abrupt one. 37C by Thursday, 40C or higher Friday and Saturday. I tells you, after several weeks of 35C and higher temperatures, this 30C break felt nice.
DJSpo
Yo, Chris – Looks like The River, is in a bit of trouble.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/30/business/amazon-recalls-cpsc
Not only dangerous products, but also products that just don’t work. Or, as they say in the south, “It didn’t do right.” 🙂
Of course, The River will just take appeals up the judicial ladder, maybe even to the Supremes. Who are having their own problems, these days. Appeal after appeal, until they find a judge (or group of judges) who will rule in their favor. Lew
Hi DJ,
Oh man, it’s such a hard lesson to learn, and bizarrely, nobody trains you in any of this stuff. The only way to learn, is if you get curious enough about: ‘why is this thing happening to me!!!’, and then the proverbial penny drops and that’s when you begin to ask questions. And that’s only the beginning. No wonder you don’t hear such good advice.
And yup, the change in diet also assisted hayfever. Who’d have thunk it? It’s a long journey that one. Dunno about you, but I save the sugar exposure for when the experience is worth it.
DJ, I’ve had summers like that where 30’C feels like a cool relief day, and you end up being quietly grateful for the cooler air. It would have been good if the out of season heavy rains had drifted further east. Unfortunately wind changes can also radically change fire behaviour. The images from the Coleville Rez looks like it was hit by the fire. Fingers crossed that conditions improve for the region and that the worst is behind everyone.
Bizarrely by a strange act of the interweb, I can provide you with the actual bacteria used in the yoghurt formulation: streptococcus thermophilus, lactobacillus delbrueckii subs. bulgaricus, bifidobacterium lactis, lactobacillus acidophilus. I’m not entirely certain that it is exactly a Greek style yoghurt, but it may be close enough to that, and we add no extra sugar to the mixture. Of course milk does have it’s own forms of sugar. Well, you are what you eat, and I read some weird statistic which suggested that near on half the population down under had gut issues of one variety or another. So not good. My err, please forgive this unintended pun but, gut feeling is that time will sort the entire matter out.
In my younger years I too lived in an apartment, and can comprehend the realities of that. A smaller kitchen makes for a smaller household economic engine room. And it is not hard to notice that the living arrangements are such that many aspects of life get intermediated. That I’d have to suggest is a feature. And yup, that was my impression as well. I’m good with the whinge, unfortunately such verbal emotional actions sometimes receive an equal and opposite reaction, or I deftly dodge to the side. All depends on the person and the context of the whinge. 😉 I’m sure you’ve also been to such places?
I’ll have to have a think about that. But now you mention it, we do get the products we demand. And engineers are fond of saying: good; fast; and cheap, pick any two. Hmm.
Man, the snakes scare the daylights out of me. Best if they were elsewhere. Mostly they turn up here and realise the odds are stacked against them. Then they move on to richer pickings. After all, they do need to feed plus shelter from storms. But that wood pile of discs needs to be processed, and soon. Today was glorious weather wise. 13’C and sunny. If there was a nicer late winters day, I’m yet to experience it. Of course many hours were spent indoors doing paid work, but I must not grumble. 😉
Yeah, the wind really can strip away the moisture. Makes you wonder: where does the moisture then go?
When the plumber piped in the hot water main line into the house all those years ago, for some reason the kitchen sink was not the first stop. Fortunately, and here we had to pay, he was able to re-route the hot water so that the first stop was the kitchen sink. You get 2L of cold water before the hot flows out of the tap. That 2L of cold water is collected in a jug (respect to you both!) and is used where needed. Such acts don’t matter, until they matter. Water is very precious down under, and most likely in your part of the world too. The aim in Melbourne is to get down to 150L (39.5 gallons) per person per day. I recall the early century drought days when the city dam levels dropped into the mid teen percentages, and that’s some pretty ooky water. Since then a million extra souls have been added to the city. Such decisions are OK, until they’re not OK. They have added in a reverse osmosis plant during that time, but far out those plants use a lot of electricity. Dude, I saw the water usage per person in your city. 🙂 Good stuff.
Somehow the golf courses continue to get watered during such times, although they may use recycled water – which has it’s own dramas, such as contamination. Does your part of the world try to recover water from the sewage system? But parks are generally left to fend for themselves during droughts. It’s interesting though because the parks generally receive lots of woodchips for the trees all year around, so that would help a lot. The woodchips are created whenever council workers have to clean up downed branches within the greater council area. In some ways the parks are big soil mineral fertility sinks.
Yeah, that change to the air con can make a huge difference to power bills. And we also eat with the climate in mind. Man, it’s cold here tonight, so home made pizza is on the menu for dinner. Yum! But brr!
🙂 A truly fine suggestion for the tag. Thanks! And that’s my thinking as well – the metal surrounding the original hole was too thin. It’s a better design now and saves me having to fork out $25 for a replacement.
Is an electric weed eater what is also known as a line trimmer? The electric ones are pretty decent machines, and we’ve got both electric and 2 stroke machines – not to mention a scythe. Is that what is meant by the term: backwardly compatible? 🙂 Hope Dame Avalanche is feeling better from her (presumably) asthma issues? The trigger switches can be a bit finicky but may simply be corrosion. Repairing that sort of thing is a good job for a hot day. How did you go? And I agree wholeheartedly. Repairs (if economical) are better than stumping the mad cash for a replacement machine.
Cool! We grow those as well. Great plants, and yes, they can survive some tough-as conditions. Sandra is responsible for the succulent garden and picks hardy survivors. Just the thing for when the summer temperatures are off the charts.
Ook! And I hope the weather cools soon for you, your lady and Dame Avalanche.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
That’s a good saying from down south. Sums up the situation succinctly. The thing with the river is maybe it really is more than a platform? It’s generally known that when you eat many of your competitors, the next big hungry thing may go looking for an easy feed. That’s life in the big ocean. It’s funny, or not really funny, but the memory has been popping into my head of late. It was about a year ago, and I can’t mention names, but far out I spent 15 minutes on the phone with a petty beauracrat (sic) trying to sort out a two cent problem. Hmm. That lot are one big hungry monster, they can take you down badly, but are they any good? That’s what I wonder about. People can easily mistake size, clout and reach, for stupidity. It ain’t the same, and all four boxes can be ticked – with dire consequences.
Drop bears are about as likely as the Yowie, and far out, I’d run a mile to avoid either of them. They sound like bad news. Mind you, the Bunyip would destroy the lot of them, and dine on me for dessert.
Thanks for that, and yes the footage of Banksy’s “Love is in the Bin” being err, shredded at auction is fine theatre. Have you seen the short video? Rumours are that the mysterious artist was in the auction audience that day, thus the impeccable timing. It would be difficult to keep the smile off my face at such an act, thus why I don’t play poker. 🙂
Tongue cancer sounds horrendous. And the question I have for you is: Should skinny chefs be trusted? I’ve neither heard nor seen Top Chef, so have only the vaguest notions as to the source of your non-mirth.
Did Kaleb write a book? Hmm. No, he’s written three. Wow. Yes, Kaleb has made an appearance, you could say that he’s got his hands full there. I can’t believe one of the neighbours was from the band Groove Armada – as you do. A lot of English musicians have headed into the countryside, and I must say that bloke from the band Blur has been rather successful in the world of cheese. That’s what I discovered too about the show. One of the channels here streams it on their service. A very interesting show, and I’ve learned things.
Hehe! You know, it’s always possible to OD on oats, so stay safe out there. 🙂 Speaking of oats, we made up a batch of home made toasted muesli this morning. Must be something in the almond milk, err, sorry, water over the past 24 hours with all this oats business!
Actually, you got me wondering about death by competitive eating, and apparently it’s a thing, and it appears some folks from down under have succumbed. One after a lamington incident. I’m not sure I’d feel the same way about the cakes if I’d witnessed that, and fortunately this has not happened. I remember recounting to you a few weeks ago that Ollie choked on one of his raw hide chews. Turns out swallowing them prematurely is a bad idea. The Editor was asking me why I was bashing Ollie on the back and sides. He eventually hurled it up and could breathe again. It was a close thing.
Ooo! The replacement springs for the failed chainsaw clutch arrived in the mail today. I reckon they’ll take a bit of effort to get installed on the old clutch where the old spring had broken, but there’s no point throwing the part out – better to fix it.
It was a really lovely late winters day today. 55’F and sunny and not a breath of wind. Got up early and did a lot of hours of paid work. Then in the middle of the day we headed about an hours drive north and stopped off at a cold store to replenish our apple supplies. Plus the Editor wanted to get a big box of seconds apples so as to make apple cider vinegar with that monster scoby thing. Hope the thing doesn’t slime out of the kitchen before we can give it a good home in a batch of apple juice? Picked up some honey as well. Yum!
Then I got back home and had to do a few more hours of paid work. Finished up late, but it was nice to enjoy a few hours outdoors in the sunshine earlier today.
🙂 I agree, the expectation is a fine idea, reality may be otherwise there. There’s been something of a shift in the upper realms of the hierarchy in relation to that matter. A defining moment for me was trying to explain to a board that human error was always a possibility. It was honestly like I was talking a different language. Yeah, a strange moment. What I’m guessing they were doing was trying to off load their personal responsibilities, but err, no, that’s why they got the big bucks. A lot of additional layers provides some little protection. Hmm. That’s probably why things are like they are.
That’s a lovely decline response, and such good manners never go out of style.
Ha! Lewis, I’m resisting the urge to consume. But a new mitre saw could be really useful… Arghhhh! I’ll be strong, maybe. Any advice for me?
I don’t actually know whether there is the local demand for another supermarket in the nearby town. There are already four of them. How many of them does a town need? There’s probably not enough employment in the area to support the local population, so most who need to work, commute.
That’s a great observation, and I’m with you. The stink would have been quite strong. Not to mention a difficult clean. Lucky nobody was burned in the potato still incident.
Ah yes, wise to stick to budgets and match the outgoings with the incomings. Not a popular sport these days. I’ll be very interested to hear how the nematodes perform in the garden.
Did you manage to pick up any blueberry flats? And more importantly where you able to use the card thing?
I’ve never used one of those plumbers helpers tools on a toilet. On a sink drain, yes. It’s worth noting that toilets are connected to 100mm pipes, that’s 4 inches, and blocking one of those diameter pipes up is difficult to say the least. Things like hand basins are much easier to block up. The internals of plumbing pipes are a messy and oozy business. Wise to have such a tool ready to hand.
Apparently some mower spare parts are ready to pick up tomorrow. Yay for that! Not so easy to obtain locally any more. It happens.
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – Yes, the “We’re only a platform,” defense, isn’t holding much water, these days. It was a nice idea, for the Tech Bros, but more and more, they’re being called to account. Seeing Face Plant Boy, in front of a congressional committee, was fun. Lots of squirming, and was that blood mixed in with his sweat? 🙂
My Idaho friend sent me an e-mail, this morning, that had to do with shrinkflation. “……at it’s best!! We were in the $General two days ago getting kitty food. In the cereal aisle one of the clerks showed us two boxes of the same brand of Bran Flakes. One was 11.7 oz and the other was 10.3 oz. Both boxes were the same height, BUT the new box, less weight, same price, was 2 inches narrower!!!!!” I’m seeing more and more articles, that consumers are walking away from high prices. Hmmm. I wonder if they bought that cereal?
I see your Yowie, and raise you a Drop Bear.
https://www.cnn.com/travel/drop-bears-legend-australia-intl-hnk
The Yowie seems an awful lot like our Big Foot.
I’d seen the footage, when the bit of Banksy art, “performed” at auction. I thought the whole thing had been shredded. Nice to see the final product. If I ripped off one of those strips, I wonder how much I could get for it? 🙂
Must be something in the water, indeed. First, oats, and now you’re making pizza.
Dogs. I have to keep a close eye on H, as she tends to bolt anything she can put in her mouth. Water, food … her treat dental chews. You’d think by now she’d realize, no one is going to take any food away from her. She’s really quit good a self regulation. There can be food in her dish, and she doesn’t seem to have a need to eat it all, just because it’s there. But once she starts in, stand back!
Well, I haven’t had to water for two nights. But will, tonight. Sunshine, is back. 90F, by the end of the week. Ought to ripen up, the tomatoes. Maybe. One of the caregivers, told me to take some yellow crook necked squash, out of one of the Inmates gardens. I cut two, this morning. Will give me something to toss in my rice, this evening. Something, yellow.
I looked at the nematodes, again, on that web site. They have the species, I need. Application involves sprayers and such … or, lucky, beads, that you scatter, and then water. I’ll probably order them, tomorrow.
Almost forgot, I like that phrase “smaller household economic engine room.” Sure fits the bill, here. My kitchen is pretty tight, and there never seems to be enough counter space. Thank the gods for my chest freezer. Without the top of that, I’d really be hard pressed. I did think, however, that it’s easier to deal with a tight kitchen, if you live by yourself.
Sounds like you had a successful shopping expedition. So did I. I got down to the town center, at 9:30, am. Easily found a spot, across from the deli, and a block from the market. I’d forgot that they are a deli, and don’t do breakfast. Shift gears. I had half a rueben sandwich (corned beef, sauerkraut, thousand Island dressing) a small bag of potato chips (crisps?) and a cup of coffee. Total came to $10. The coffee was only .45, free refills. It’s probably also their loss leader.
My friend Scott joined me, and we had a good chin wag. Right up until the market opened at 11. I had $80 credit, on my Poverty Stricken Old People’s card. A flat and a half of blueberries, were $80. I mentioned Spooner’s was quit a bit less, this year. They didn’t get snooty, but informed me that their berries were organic. Big whoop. Humping them back to the truck wasn’t bad, as it was only a block and on the level, with the farmer’s market. I may go back to Spooners, and buy another flat or two. I got the first batch of blueberries, started this morning. Washed, spun, and in colanders, drying.
The only problem with blackberries, along roadways, is, “have they been sprayed?” But I think that will be a problem, for next year.
Always have a minion or two, to throw under the bus.
The only advice I have to offer, as far as avoiding the siren song of a new mitre saw is, “stay out of slippery places.” I’ve managed to not buy any ice cream, in over a month. I just don’t go down that frozen food aisle.
I don’t know how it will affect my digestion, but last night was a popcorn and cheese night! I think I forgot to mention, we got 6 nice peaches, in our last food box. I ate one, with yogurt before the popcorn, and one after, with prunes along the way, And plenty of water.
So, what did I watch? “Blast from the Past.” (1999), Sort of a sci-fi rom-com. A family, Brendan Fraser, Sissy Space-chick, and Christopher Walken, think there’s been a nuclear war, and hide out in a bomb shelter, for 35 years. Supplies are running low. Fraser is sent out to do a supply run. He’s quit the innocent, and the world has changed. Hilarity, ensues. Just as funny, as I remembered it. Oh, my. Fraser was so young and fit, back in the day. Hollywood is hard on some people. Lew
Hi Chris,
I make kombucha and yes the scoby looks pretty gnarly but it does the job. I used to make yogurt but that process doesn’t play well with ultra pasteurized milk which is what is mostly available now. There’s a small dairy at the farmer’s market that sells excellent plain yogurt at a reasonable price along with sour cream and buttermilk.
Back from California. The trip was so-so as it focused on my aunt and she can’t do too much. This was what I expected so didn’t have any high expectations. The weather was great though and Carla took daily 3 mile walks on Huntington Beach. We stayed at my cousin’s home who is much closer to Carla’s age as is her husband so I often didn’t relate. My aunt is living in a pretty fancy assisted living facility but is not partaking in many of the activities and trips offered. I did survive O’Hare airport. What a zoo!!
It has continued to rain so it’s like a jungle and very humid too. Just got done freezing beans and berries.
Tomorrow is the bookstore which is moving in two months but just across the hall in the small mall. Friday it’s the bluebird trail. I’ve decided not to volunteer for this next year. Between thunderstorms and unexpected commitments it’s been hard to schedule. Also it’s rained so much the plants I have to walk through are now over my head. Add the mosquitoes and it’s not been a pleasant experience. I’ve noticed quite a drop in butterflies and other pollinators this year. It’s the same at home. We have tons of milkweed but hardly any monarchs.
Margaret
Chris,
There have been a few people who “experiment” with their diet to prove a point. They get their gut biome tested. Then they eat nothing but McDonalds food for a month. Then they get their gut biome retested. Then they write an article about it and put it on the internet. The cases I remember seeing, 30 days of nothing but McDonalds totally killed the gut biome. Then the poor suckers have to rebuild it from nothing. A lot of people eat mostly Mcdonalds and similar “food” regularly. No wonder we have such unhealthy people!
Sugar. We have little sugar in the house. Special occasions dictate when the foods with sugar get purchased and consumed. We are enjoying watermelon right now. The crop from Hermiston, Oregon is on the markets. Hermiston is about 4 hours from here. Foods like the Hermiston watermelon act as our sugar fix.
Good eye. The Colville Rez has been hit hard by several huge wildfires of well over 150,000 acres each the past dozen years. A LOT of timberland on the Rez got devastated. One of the fires was purely grassland/desert brush. Another was a mix of timber and grassland. 3 others were a vast majority of timber. There have been countless other fires of 50,000 acres and less, but still nasty and damaging to trees and homes.
The wildfire that was a mix of timber and grass/brush burned about 1/3 of Pateros, Washington. It nearly burned Brewster, Washington, but the largest orchard owner built fire breaks with his tractor before the firefighters could get there. Yup, extreme winds spread the fire over many, many miles. The town of Malott, between Brewster and Omak, was devastated. We have cousins there…that family’s matriarch was in the middle of 3 adjacent houses, 2 of her children in the other 2. The children’s houses burned to the ground. Matriarch’s home wasn’t even charred. Yes, part of the fire was not on the Colville Rez, but some of it was.
Completely off Rez, the Twisp area, west of Omak, has also had 2 large fires, at least, during that same time frame. Nearly all timber. One of them killed several firefighters. Country that I camped in several times has been devastated.
An additional nasty fire on the Rez was in 2021. It burned nearly 100,000 acres, engulfed 150 buildings or so, and was about to rip through Nespelem, Washington. The wind shifted when the fire was on the edge of town, stopping the fire’s advance. Gobs of family live in that area, 2 or 3 cousins losing their homes.
As we’ve discussed before, timber management practices in this country are lacking.
Sounds like a grand bacteria mix that you use. Very gut-health friendly, for sure. Hostess brand used to have a lot of junk food treats. Twinkies and Ding Dongs were two of them. You are what you eat…I know people who ate a lot of Hostess and the adage is true. 😉
Oh, yeah, been there. I can usually tell if the person needs to whinge to a good friend or is a chronic whiner. Responses to the latter usually fall into the blank look category as I walk away. Sometimes I say, “You’re whining again. Is it helping, or are you just trying to make everyone depressed?” A relative likes to say “Are you going to lie there bleeding, or are you going to cowboy up?”
“Makes you wonder: where does the moisture then go?” I know where it goes. It goes to another planet, condensing to form swamps and marshes. The swamps and marshes are inhabited by all of the missing ball point pens and socks that go missing in the laundry.
Thanks. Your plumbing thing and the 2 liters of water before the hot water hits gave me another idea for reducing water usage. Experimented with that very thing today and it will probably double the water we save and use on plants. It’s amazing how much these little things can add up.
Water isn’t necessarily in short supply here. Yet. But why waste it if you don’t have to??? The Princess and I have been very close to that 39.6 gallons per day per person idea for the colder 6 or 7 months of the year for several years. Summers? We are using much less than we used to, but significantly more than 40 gallons per day per person.
I grew up a wee bit downstream from the sewage plant. The water after treatment is supposedly extremely clean and gets added back to the Spokane River. The problem forever had been when big storms hit, the stormwater would overwhelm the sewage treatment system – raw sewage would get dumped in the river. Maybe a dozen gigantic holding ponds have been constructed to house the excess stormwater so raw sewage doesn’t get into the river. These have been constructed at strategic places throughout the city and seem to be doing the job.
Yes, line trimmer. Repairs during this coming hot spell will be attempted.
Avalanche had one rough day during the worst of the smoke a week or so ago. Otherwise, her asthma inhaler thingy is working.
She caught another sparrow yesterday. The first clue was when she came indoors for her evening treats. I noticed several spots of red on her fur. Yup, in true wolf fashion, she had killed the bird then rolled on it several times. I found and disposed of the bird, cleaned up
Avalanche. She was not happy with me.
DJSpo
Hi DJ,
Oh man, we don’t really have free speech down here, defamation being a serious thing down here, so I can’t really say anything about that food topic. On the other hand I did go to the cinema to watch the Super Size Me film, and was horrified. I don’t eat at such establishments, but that is mere personal preference.
The vast majority of the time, Sandra and I eat like rabbits and are vegetarians at home. Most of the food we eat is made from scratch using raw materials. As you’d imagine, we grow a lot of what we eat. And the soils are heavily re-mineralised. What other folks do, is their business. 😉 The main issue anyone has who isn’t on the land, or has access to growing space, is that they’re consuming food that was produced by some remote third party, and then: who knows what the heck it is which is on the plate?
We use a bit of sugar for brews, and some goes into the Anzac biscuits, then a tiny bit also ends up in the focaccia/pizza base mix. And that’s it. It’s a bit like salt in that in these enlightened times, it’s not impossible to be short on salt, it’s just kind of really hard to achieve.
Oh my! Hermiston Oregon is one dry part of the world. But then there is that big river snaking through the area. The combination of hot dry summers with high daytime temperatures which do not cool considerably overnight, is watermelon climate. Due to the very low annual precipitation, they’d have some amazing soils. Had to laugh, the only melons we can grow here are tiny by comparison. 🙂
Not good about the fires on the Coleville Rez. Given the sheer frequency, is anyone there considering changing land management practices?
Fire breaks work, but I read accounts that the 1983 fires here were intense enough that they jumped a rather large main road (Black Forest Drive). The road was so named because originally the forest canopy was so thick and complete that the sun rarely reached ground level. In really big fires, bulldozers and graders are pressed into service to create bare earth lines to slow the progress of the fire. Still, embers travel with the wind and go where they will.
Out of curiosity, are any clean up and revegetation projects under way on those Rez? Could be a chance to arrange the forests and grasslands in more workable ways.
Sorry for the loss of of your relatives houses. Hope that the families were able to regroup in the matriarchs house. And it’s dangerous work fighting fires. The shifts are long too, at twelve hours, and honestly I don’t work that hard for myself. And they won’t turn up here if conditions get bad.
If I may err, interject with some hard won observations, you know, an area needs annual precipitation of at least (and hopefully far more than) 500mm+ to sustain a forest. Sure, you can get all sorts of trees growing in environments with less rain that that, but tip the climate a little bit in this direction, or even that direction over there, and things quickly get super hard for the trees. The trick in all cases is to manage the land in such a way that it thrives in the worst conditions, not the best, or even the average. So yeah, I don’t believe that as a society we’ve yet reached the stage when land management practices pre-emptively respond to the risk. It’s a problem.
That’s a funny line, and it’s hard knowing when to engage with a person whom is whingeing. Generally people don’t whinge at me, but then the flipside is that help and assistance is often minimal. It’s possible the two are related somehow, and it’s been something I’ve been cogitating upon for a while. Basically, I just don’t know.
Ah so true, and we can but only hope that the ballpoint and sock lifeforms live out life to their best nature, and of course survive the travel through the wormhole? Always risky those things. Thanks for the laughs.
🙂 My pleasure. Sometimes good water just slips on down the drain. One of the great hopes for the future is that there is simply so much waste at the moment, that using up the waste will cushion many an otherwise nasty future blow.
Water is a scarce resource down under, and you know that there are times I believe our leaders have entirely forgotten that matter. You’re very lucky you have access to the river systems running out of those very large rain capturing mountains. I like to go into summer with full reserves of water, but it’s really hard to know how much you can use, and when will the weather cool and the rains return. Like firefighters are constantly told down here, keep some water in reserve on the tanker just in case there is a burn over. Hmm. A nasty and life threatening situation. We have to do the exact same with the sprinklers around the house. It’s complicated.
Ook! Man, the same thing happens here with the treatment plants in the nearby towns. Being located next to a creek or river, is a feature of such facilities I reckon. Even the stormwater is full of all sorts of nasty chemicals and animal poop. It’s a heady mixture of risk for the critters depending upon the river water.
Hope the repairs work out well. My best guess is corrosion of the contacts, or a break in the wire – somewhere. Not much else to go wrong there really.
That’s not too bad with Dame Avalanche. Thick bushfire smoke does my head in too, and it’s not easy. And it’s not like you can explain things to the husky.
Ah dogs, don’t they have most intriguing sense as to what smells good? Soap is your friend here, but not necessarily Dame Avalanche’s friend. She knows though. Dogs! 🙂 The sparrows will no doubt adapt to local conditions.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
My gut feeling is that the ‘only a platform’ defence works if you’re small fry. But if you’re a monster behemoth of a target, well, the authorities will take pot shots. That’s really the problem with success, sometimes reaching that hallowed state can be something of a fraught proposition. It’s like being number one at anything, well, the only way from there is down. Having not ever achieved number one status in anything which mattered (or was noticed!) I’ve not had to grapple with the existential crisis arising from a downwards trajectory. Basically, happy to just be around and kicking!
Well, Face Plant boy is a big target and has to live with the consequences of that. In ye olde days of the remote past, such magnates tended to forge alliances and err, obligations with the folks in charge. Saves a lot of trouble, like having to sweat it out in front of a congressional committee. Dunno about you, but I’d wilt under the pressure, and probably share some candid opinions. Then everyone would get upset.
Sounds like an approximately, or around a 10% drop in product quantity. I was wondering that too. Did your friend buy the cereal? And at what point will that household begin making their own using raw materials? Might do a video on the toasted muesli soon. It’s good stuff.
I loved the fictional photographs of drop bears in action. It was hard not to note that the clever bears had chosen the right person in the group to take out first. The others could then be dealt with at leisure. And how cool was the yellow warning stylised sign? It might help keep tourists out of trouble, so maybe the stories are performing a public service? There are a lot of risks out there in the bush. I noticed the other week that another experienced climber had died at Federation Peak. The photos of the terrain are stunning: What makes Tasmania’s Federation Peak so challenging for climbers? That mountain is very remote and you can’t drive there. The only way to get there is walk in and then out again.
Have you ever wondered if some of the Neanderthals hung around into more recent history, and have been retained in cultural memories such as Big Foot and/or the Yowie stories?
You’d have to be fast to nab one of the Banksy strips, and of course hiring that art thief bloke we spoke of several years ago would certainly up our chances of success. What if the strip you ended up with had no art work on it? Like it was a blank white strip. Who’d believe you? And would the gallery simply make the repairs, stay mum, and nobody would be the wiser? The join could even be hidden under the frame. It is possible that we’ve been foiled again in the eternal quest to strike it rich. Drats! Maybe we could simply send Banksy a polite letter? Stranger things have happened.
It is an odd food coincidence. We’re reducing the pumpkin intake for a few days. Too much fibre there. 😉 Had sliders for dinner this evening, although the patty was purely vegetarian (and home made, of course). Lunch on the other hand was an entirely different matter. A 24 hour slow cook pulled pork and coleslaw roll. It was very good as well. Drove an hour to the west to pick up the mower parts. Had a very good and long chat with the owner of the store. He knew something of the local farm machine repair dudes situation. Of course he’d picked up some of the work from this area as well because of the death. After years and years of discussions I’d heard plenty of war stories from the industry, and the owner and I today had a great chat for almost an hour. Turns out, people in that part of the state are the same. 🙂 What a surprise! But you know, I kind of enjoyed the country vibe of that business. There’s one machine we have that I can’t get the parts for it other than at a dealer, and he’s it. Told me he’d had a serious heart issue recently, and he’s well over ten years younger than I. Hmm. A really nice bloke, and his wife works there too which is a good thing.
Dogs are unfathomable in relation to food. We tend to not leave food out for the dogs, but that is because there are three of them, and as you’d imagine, there’s always a story. Years ago we used to feed the dogs communally and one dog was starving out another. And the dog on the wrong end of that deal, was really lovely and did not deserve such treatment. The other dog was a bit mischievous. Anyway, once we were alerted to the goings on, we fed them separately and just alter their portions if needed.
Out of curiosity, does H eat at roughly the same time each day?
I note that Professor Mass is perplexed by a recent warm day with no easterly wind flow. Oh yeah, the 90’F will be excellent for the tomatoes, and I’ll be interested to hear how that day impacted upon them?
We had an overnight frost, and this morning the grass was quite icy. Poked my head into the greenhouse and noticed the chilli plants were showing signs of powdery mildew. Removed all of the leaves from two chilli plants, and we’ll see how it goes. They didn’t much like last either, but did bounce back – and produced very early in the season.
Today was a glorious late winter day. Sun shining, no wind and 57’F. The sun even felt mildly warm. Nice.
I’d use the beads, as we’re not really set up for sprayers. Which nematode application method are you favouring?
🙂 Thanks! And yes, you do put your kitchen to good work. I’ve noticed that as well about chest freezers in that the lids make great extra bench tops. I know what you mean there.
Go the Reuben sandwich. Was the sauerkraut tasty? Yum! We tend to call them potato chips, and you’d rarely if ever hear the word ‘crisps’ used. Even fries can be called chips. Too many of those free refills and I might wet myself!!! 🙂 Ook!
Dude it’s free money. Doesn’t get any cheaper than that in my books. Dunno about you, but I reckon it’s always hard to know how much produce to preserve for later in the season.
Hmm. Sometimes your neighbour can possibly spray the blackberries along the road, and forget to tell you. I’d hate to imagine what herbicides we consumed.
Extensive hierarchies are only affordable when they are. And when they’re unaffordable, the folks at the top are more exposed.
Lewis, I will heed your advice, and good example.
There’s a lot of fibre there. A lot. And consumption of fruit does keep one regular and err, loose.
You’d mentioned the film. Oh my, life can be complicated not to mention occasionally very expensive.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Margaret,
You know, I’ve never tried kombucha, but it seems pretty popular. Gnarly is such a fun way to describe a scoby. 🙂 Thanks for that. Do you add any flavourings to your kombucha?
Yeah, that’s a really lovely thing to do supporting the small time local dairy. It’s really a tough industry, so they’d appreciate your support.
You know what? You got me wondering about the ultra pasteurised milk issue, which is an intriguing problem. If I’d had to make yoghurt from that source, I’d add dried milk powder to the milk and then heaps of inoculant. It’d work at a guess, but it’s probably cheaper (and better) to support your local dairy supplier. And buttermilk is very tasty stuff. Yum!
Everyone is different on that front with such group activities. And maybe your aunt needs more time there? Maybe not though. Dunno about you, but I’d be bored and the activities would provide some interest and companionship. Still, everyone’s different.
Whoa! The aerial photos of Huntington Beach are awesome. I’ll bet Carla loved those walks? A good opportunity for people watching too if I may say so. 🙂
Hehe! Margaret, sorry, but that’s funny. I’m not at all sure that I’d relate to them either, despite being around the same age. 🙂 Had to drive an hours west of here today to pick up some mower parts I’d had on order. I’d never been to that business before, and so spent an hour just chatting with the owner. Quite a country experience, huh? Not sure I could ever go back to the city. So I dunno, a person relates as best they may.
What’s with O’Hare airport? Oh my. Oh no! That’s like every person on this continent going through that airport three times every year. My brain now hurts, and glad to hear that you survived the ordeal.
What a massive difference this summer has been to your last summer. And hope the jungle tackling equipment works and that the blades are kept sharp. Also, watch out for Triffids hiding in there. 😉
Lot’s of rain is unkind to pollinating insects, except those awful mosquitoes. They seem to thrive in very wet years making a nuisance of themselves. To be honest, the bluebird trail sounds unappealing in its current state. I’d hack a path in there, but that’s me and it might not work out so well for the birds. Hidden snakes in such long meadows would scare me.
Hopefully they haven’t roped you in to help move the books from one shop to the other?
You should see how quiet the city is when it comes to insects. It’s a bit of a shock to my senses to see that. Fingers crossed that it’s just the result of a very wet year.
Cheers
Chris
@ Margaret – I lived in Huntington Beach, for a couple of years, in the early 1970s. It was pretty nice, back then. Then I moved to Long Beach, for awhile. Which I REALLY liked. Neighborhoods, an actual downtown. Lew
Yo, Chris – Tech whinge, coming up! 🙂 I was doing some on-line banking, and there was a notice that some of the drive through, automatic teller machines, were down. And, sure enough, one was Chehalis. I’d planned to get my walking around money, last night, and go to the fruit stand, and pick up two more flats of blueberries. Well, the notice is down this morning, so, I guess I’ll try it tonight and tomorrow. Flexible. Stay flexible. 🙂
I got the first batch of blueberries, from the farmer’s market, processed and bagged. Second batch is washed, spun and in the colanders. I’m pushing to get two batches, done, today.
Another tech oddity. I sent a short note to Margaret, clicked on post comment, and it just sat there. I gave it about five minutes. No dice. So, I closed your blog, and attempted to get back in. Wouldn’t load. Cleared the history, shut down the browser, and turned off the wi-fi. Reversed the process and here I am! 🙂 Tech: Great when it works!
The Tech Bros have a lot of congress critters, in their pockets. They donate huge amounts of money, to their re-election campaigns. There are ways they can do it as “dark money.” Untraceable, as to where it came from.
Of course, they bought the cereal. When will they start making their own? Never. Although I must say, in past, they’ve done things like processing 200 chickens (which I helped) and canning up a lot of stuff. Ron used to bring in some fish and game. But, I think they’ve cut back on all that, due to health issues (from what?), and age. Though I think they’re 15-20 years younger, than me.
That article on Federation Peak was interesting, and it sure is a spectacular area. From a distance. I noticed an interesting sidebar article. The tree that was cut down, up on Hadrian’s Wall, has sent up some shoots.
Your dinner sounds tasty. Someone gave me two yellow crook necked squashes, from one of the other garden plots. I cubed up one, mixed it in with rice, frozen broccoli and garlic, Etc.. Called it dinner. Also had some yogurt and dried prunes. Lots of water.
Chris made a new friend! 🙂 I hope he doesn’t go the way of the last farm machinery dude.
H eats her main meal of the day, about the same time I’m making mine. I try and time her eating, well after, or before, she’s had her twice daily dental chew.
Forecast is for 92F (33.33C), today. And the forecast for the next seven days, is a few degrees above or below 90F.
I’ll order the nematode beads. Seems like the simplest method. They have them in different quantities, to cover different square footage. There’s one that fits me, and the cost is actually a bit lower than the mix with water, stuff. Shipping might be a bit expensive, as, they’ve got to get them to you fast. And they should be refrigerated, when you get them.
The sauerkraut was quit tasty. Added a bit of zing, to the corned beef.
Doesn’t sound like your quit ready for Depend®️ incontinence briefs for men, yet. 🙂 . Neither am I, but someday … Canes, walkers … it’s all in the future.
I see the topic at Mr. Greer’s, voted on by the peeps, is something about life force. Well, that will put food on the table. 🙂
I watched an interesting documentary, last night. Hosted by Michael Pollan, the food guy. “Food, Inc. 2.” I saw the first one, a few years ago. This one is about how the pandemic, really revealed how fragile the food system is.
https://youtu.be/ToWTxhYkrKk?si=_mUDdjPf3LCEFglu
There’s a really interesting bit, where a farmer has invented a solar powered barn, with pens, that slowly moves across a field. Goats in front, pigs in back. You’ll see it in the trailer. I also really liked the US Senator. He mentioned he’s the only senator, who actually farms.
I also watched a movie, called “Abigail.” Abigail is a sweet, rich, 12 year old. She’s kidnapped, and held for ransom by bad guys. What the bad guys don’t realize (spoilers!) is that, Abigail, is a vampire. Things don’t go well, for the bad guys. It’s like “Home Alone,” on steroids.
I also picked up a book, from the library. “Fall of Civilizations: Stories of Greatness and Decline.” Paul Cooper, 2024. He’s a Brit, who has a history degree. Has a very popular series of podcasts (and U Toob channel.) Which I haven’t checked out. I took a quick look through the book, last night. Read the introduction. He examines a number of cultures, I’d never heard of. Besides the usual suspects. Climate change, wealth inequality, trade routes unraveling. Also, the usual suspects. 🙂 He has a chapter, not on Rome, but on Roman Britain.
And, speaking of Neanderthals. I saw this, yesterday.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/31/science/dna-analysis-neanderthals-disappearance
Did they contribute to the Big Foot, and other similar mythic creatures? Maybe. Maybe they evolved out of the Neanderthals, or, are a different branch of the human family tree. It’s interesting that the stories are similar, across many different cultures. Lew
Hi Lewis,
A fine tech whinge, and yes, that cashless society biz is all good, until the ATM and credit card swipee merchant machines are down. Then what do you? Such machines rarely work following on from natural disasters, and that can present a lot of dramas for people with stuff to sell, and people needing stuff to buy. A mismatch perhaps? Was the dreaded mad cash hole in the wall machine up and running today?
The mob I bank with actually removed their local ATM machine, which forced my hand into setting up another account with a different bankster which still has a local branch operating. Hopefully that continues to do so. To be honest, the branch seems pretty busy most of the time. But yeah, get flexible, and stay flexible. 🙂 One can only but do their best.
Haha! You’d be busy doing two blueberry processing runs in one day. Still, the old timers used to say make hay whilst the sun shines, and it’s true.
The sun shone beautifully today, and so with a bit of extra solar power available we got down below to the forest edge with one of the 3hp electric chainsaws and continued cutting up old logs into discs. It feels good to use the sun for such work. 🙂 Actually, the Editor used that electric saw for smaller logs about a foot and a half in diameter, whilst I got the bigger two stroke one out (5.3hp) and cut up that last big log which was on the photo in last weeks blog. The clean up is going well.
Finished up work pretty late and headed off to the general store to pick up the mail and grab a coffee plus share a small chunk of cheesecake. I’d say it was all well deserved. Yeah. Gotta keep the fuel up. I have to laugh about all the diet pills people seem to love these days – if only I could harness all that wasted combined human energy somehow and put it to some good use. Hmm, the things I could get done! 😉 Doing that much physical work, they wouldn’t need to take those diet pills.
That’s not good. I see that the comment arrived err, more or less safely. It must be the season for such tech weirdness. The nice telco sent me a text message and an email that the monthly payment had failed. At first I thought it was a scam, but no it was real. I’d not updated their systems with the replacement credit card. Bizarrely, I after updating the details, I then had manually make the payment in their systems – or face the consequences. It’d be nice to wield such power, but for some odd reason I always seem to be on the wrong side of those power imbalance stories. So yeah, tech, great when it works. So much to go wrong…
The mad cash probably came from the folks as printed the stuff. This game ain’t rocket science. So the supply of mad cash gets expanded, and your lot spend $3tn (and going up) more each year than they earn. Rat holes get filled, one of which is the equities markets. Hmm, bonds too, yeah. Anyway, couldn’t have the prices falling, could we? So the stuff always seems to be worth more than the day before, and new equities can be issued at leisure. It’s a source of funds for companies that otherwise might not turn a profit and have more normal excess mad cash flows. $3tn goes a long way. Some of those funds are used in day to day operations. Some funds go towards social experiments. And some even end up in certain pockets. The day the game can no longer be played, well, everything will then be different with less mucking around. Until then, strange things will continue. A strange time. I wonder at what point in history did the Roman coin debasing come to an abrupt halt? It probably took a long while.
Really? Breakfast cereal is not hard to make. Depends I guess on how motivated the household is to save mad cash. Everyone’s different in that respect. Absolute respect. I’ve put an end to chickens, but never processed them for food. Was it hard, or by the 200th chicken the whole process was second nature? Truth to tell, fourteen years ago when we began keeping chickens, I was a bit weirded out by eating the very first eggs, but then quickly got over that feeling. But it was a strange moment at first – do I cook and eat this egg? It’s so weird to think that you could be so detached from the source of your food in that way.
Hunting for food seems to be on the up with younger folks. There was an interesting article on the subject today in the news: On the hunt.
It’s good that the sycamore has arisen from the dead, and I’ll be curious to hear the reasons for chopping the tree down when the trial gets under way – if that story even gets aired. I dunno though, I look at photos of that surrounding area, and think that possibly all them folks with their emotional outpourings need to spend a touch more time planting a whole bunch of other trees there. The poor tree would have stood out on it’s own, like a lone sentinel. Possibly the tree was a bit hard up for a tree date on a Saturday night… A bit sad really.
Had a look at what variety of squash that was, and it turns out to be a super old heritage variety. Was it tasty? Sometimes I find the yellow squashes to be a bit watery, but those are more button like fruits. Hope the guts are feeling good?
Hehe! Yeah, probably did find a potential friend, but most likely an acquaintance given the distance away from here. But will he look after us? I think the answer is a: yes. We did have a good chat and made a decent impression, such things are remembered in the country. And hey, you’re not the only one thinking that thought. Far out.
Interesting with H and the timing of her meals. I suspect dogs (and cats for that matter, despite their general air of aloofness) appreciate their patterns when it comes to feeding. The dogs here are fed twice per day as well.
Oh my, that is one hot week you’re experiencing. I’d imagine things are hotter again further east? About the best that can be said is that the tomatoes, peppers and chilli’s will ripen. Stay cool.
That’s my thinking too with the nematodes. The beads will be easier I reckon. Ook! Is a hot week the best time to order the nematodes? A lot can go wrong in such weather.
Yum! Life really is sweet when breakfast is that good and there’s a coffee ready to hand. A person can ask for more, but will it be as satisfying?
I appreciate the words of support and of course nobody knows what’s in store for the future, but in that particular case (please excuse the pun) I’d prefer to keep my shit together. It’s not much to ask for, is it? Well man, life is a crapshoot on that front.
Hey, where’s the support for the topic of deindustrial food? Do you reckon the vote is rigged? 😉 Was the food on the table an unintended pun? It was a goodie.
Thanks for mentioning the trailer, and Michael Pollan has a good heart and brain. What do you mean, only one congress critter actually farms? How does that work? My reading of history suggests that really large scale agricultural ownership and production is a sign of serious civilisational decline. The moving barn was pretty good.
Whoa! Don’t mess with Abigail, and yeah, that bunch of losers picked the wrong ballerina to kidnap! 🙂 What a fun trailer. Home Alone on steroids. That’s funny.
Did you get a chance to read any more of the Roman history book? Is much really known about Britain immediately after the legions departed?
I find it also interesting that the stories are similar over many different civilisations and continents, surely that can’t be coincidence? The articles was very good, and those folks have contributed to our own DNA.
Cheers
Chris
Hi, Chris:
I am going to comment on what I have read of the blog so far – I have enjoyed it – but I am so pooped this week that I may not get any further. Thanks, though, and thanks for the flowers.
I gave up sweetened yoghurt myself some time ago. I mostly gave up refined sugar anyway. I don’t make my own and buy the “plain” kind. Reading about your problems with your yoghurt maker makes me think of my new electric pressure canner. It worked a treat when I was canning in the late spring, but when I moved it into the dining room to use for the first batch of passata that I canned, it shut itself off in the middle and the batch was ruined. I haven’t had time to do an experimental batch since to test it. My son thinks that happened because it was plugged into the same outlet as the window air conditioner, which pulls a lot of electricity. The circuit breaker was not tripped, however. And that’s the AC that cools the whole downstairs of the house, but it’s okay, thank goodness. It’s been one really hot and mostly rainless summer, but very humid.
I have The Art of Fermentation, too. I learned of it here.
I think alot about snake hidey places. I was cringing this morning when having to walk through some tall grass at the back of the garden, especially after we saw a rattlesnake in the back of the property a few weeks ago, for the first time in 34 years. We were unable to catch it. What a fantastic lot of firewood you have and that’s just the tip of the iceberg (maybe it’s an iceberg where you are now).
Pam
Yo, Chris – The ATM business, resolved itself, with a twist. So, the notice came down about the ATMs, so last night I headed down to get my walking around money. I generally pull out $400 a month. For gas, food, etc.. If there’s any left over, I take out less, the next month. So, I punch in that I want $400, and it tells me that it will only spit out $300. The limit used to be $500. So, I got my $300, turned right around and put in my care, again, and got another $100. Didn’t block me.
So, I’ll have the cash, to run out and pick up two more flats of blueberries, this morning. Probably stop by the Club for a cuppa, and I have three bags of groceries, to take in. I did manage to pull off two batches, yesterday. Another batch is drying in the colanders, to get me off to a good start, today. Each flat = 4, not quit full gallon bags. Just about the time I finish up with the blueberries, it will be time to start dehydrating tomatoes.
A good deal, with the wood cleanup. Do you think you’ll ever get to the point, where you have so much surplus, that you can skip a year? Or, at least, process less.
Sounds like a tasty, well deserved snack.
Yes, replacement cards must be activated, and then different accounts upgraded. Not that I have many, but it seems like I always forget one. The other day, I talked with Robot Man, and paid my truck insurance. One of the questions asked, was did I want them to save my credit card information, for easier payment. Nope. I do hope they wipe that info, after they get their filthy lucre. 🙂
That last book about Rome, I read, had a good section on Roman money. And talked about debasing coinage. It started fairly early, and had its ups and downs, through several hundred years. Occasionally, an emperor (usually, the ones who were on the ball) would restore the value of coinage. We debased our coinage, about 1966. 🙁
My friend in Idaho, always tells me what they’ve had for dinner. Something to talk about, I guess. This was the entry, from yesterday … “After I came in I put together a meatloaf for the crockpot. Elk burger and sausage with BBQ sauce instead of ketchup, an egg, chopped onion, seasoning and oatmeal as a binder. We had it for dinner but not my fav but Ron liked it. I did enjoy the boiled potatoes, gravy from another meal, and sweet peas.” Last night, I had a can of peaches, with yoghurt and some dried prunes. Lots of water.
Yup, things are getting better in the digestion department. As an extra added attraction, I got on the scale, the other day, and I’m a shade under 200. Haven’t seen that, in a long time. 🙂
The article on hunting, was quit good. I took to heart the warning that there may be “disturbing images.” Well, the snowflakes have been warned. I thought the young lady was quit smart, to also take along a paper map. Interesting, the Sunbird’s store, has a pretty massive sporting and hunting bit of kit. But I asked if they had paper maps, and they didn’t. There’s a big sporting goods store, down in the complex that has the thrifty grocery stores, and I keep meaning to stick my head in there, and see if they have maps.
The young fellow, who hunts, the only weak link I could see was refrigeration. And the Chinese (?) guy? Well, those folks have a history, of preparing for bad times. They’ve certainly been through enough of them.
It’s promising, I think, that a lot of the books and such, that have to do with wild plant foraging, are created by young people. Not just forest foraging, but also urban foraging.
Yes, I’d like to also know what went through the minds of the people that cut down the sycamore tree. Why?
The squash was fairly firm. But then, I harvested them at not their optimum size. Let them really get big, and they can be a little “woody.” By the way, my pumpkins in a barrel, are beginning to develop flowers. Just buds, so far.
It was 90F, yesterday, and is forecast to be 89F, today.
Enjoy your coffee, while you can …
https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/01/business/your-coffees-about-to-get-more-expensive-heres-why
I read the Roman Britain section, of the book on civilizations collapsing. And then the section on the Mayas. LOL. Ate my desert, before my dinner. The Roman Britain section, was quit good. Yes, Britain never “penciled out” as far as the economics of the situation were concerned. And it was a hotbed of rebellion, both by the natives, and any general who got a wild idea. It took four legions, to garrison Britain. Which gave any rebellious general, a real leg up. So, they’d pull the legions and head for the continent. Leaving Britain undefended. And the raiders swooped in. Happened, more than once. Lew
Chris,
Americans tend to have more sugar in their foods than many people. Rather, corn syrup. Subsidized by the government, probably. Allegedly, sugar and corn syrup are dealt with identically by the body. In reality? Well, since the change from sugar to corn syrup in many foods and especially in soft drinks, well, American obesity has gone from a problem to an epidemic. There is some evidence that PERHAPS, corn syrup and sugar are handled differently by the body. I try to avoid either when possible.
We were watching the Summer Olympics. The event we were watching ended and the next event started. Surfing in Tahiti. Yes, part of the Summer Olympics in Paris is in Tahiti. Our national news often reports about shark attacks at popular beaches. The Princess asked if there were sharks in Tahiti, and if so, why they weren’t attacking the surfers. I responded that sharks prefer to eat the fat and overly sweetened Americans. 😉
Dad tried growing cantaloupes several times. He got some good ones, but never when it was the hottest season. And he had to cover them to keep them from frosting before they were ripe. The growing season was too short 45 years ago. I grew watermelons once. I got a few. They got ripe in August. Each of them fit in the palm of my hand. By the time they were eating them, the Princess and I shared the 6 teaspoons of watermelon that resulted. Not worth the effort.
Yes, I think that land management practices are changing on the Colville Rez. There is active thinning of trees in some places. Also there is an active program to remove downfalls and some of the understory at other locations. Areas like the current fire will eventually remove all of the trees and brush that the fire killed. The program is active, but like many places, it is limited to manpower and budget. I do NOT know what is replanted, if anything, in the burnt areas.
We had a 25 acre fire about 5 or 6 miles from here 2 weeks ago. It was hot and windy, of course. The wind blew ash and embers into a few parts of town. We were missed. Most of the embers were cool when they landed. A HUGE fire that started on the edge of Omak and burned over 100,000 acres of brush and grass a few years ago was nasty in that regard. That was the same day that Maldon, Washington burned down south of us, the wind storm event from the northeast that prompted Cliff Mass to say that the wind never blows from that direction on the east side of the state. Anyhow, the fire rapidly spread south all the way to the Columbia River at Chief Joseph Dam and near the town of Bridgeport. The river canyon there is about 3 km wide. Embers and sparks flew across the 3km and the fire took off on the south side of the Columbia. Bridgeport, being IN the canyon, was completely spared, the embers flying OVER the town.
Hmmmm, 50cm annual precipitation for forests to sustain themselves. Our region, squooshed between the desert and mountains with fir and spruce and tamarack, gets about 42cm per year. Which has historically for thousands of years supported the Ponderosa pine forests. Close enough to your 50cm. 🙂 However, the rainfall even in my lifetime was spread throughout the transitional months of October/November and March through June, with thunderstorms prevalent still in July and August. The trend for a decade has been for the transitional months to dump the entire month of “average” precipitation in a 7 to 10 day time frame then go dry. February has done that some, too. So we get the normal amount of rainfall then turn arid for 3 weeks. Late June through the end of September have become mostly rainless too. These weather patterns are NOT good for the pine forests. Add in the intense arid heat we seem to get now…
Laughs are good. I’m just glad I was able to put the evaporating water together with something Douglas Adams said about pens and socks.
Even though Spokane is water-rich, what happens if the City wells go on the fritz or something? Just like having some food staples and things like 42 rolls of toilet paper on hand, even here I think it is prudent to have a small store of water just in case.
Hotter than a whatever today. When it hit 38C I took Dame Avalanche outdoors and gave her a bath. She did NOT enjoy it, but she looks a lot better. It was 40C when we were done a half hour later. UGG.
I notice Lew was talking about Neanderthals. I saw one this morning when I looked in the mirror. That’s right, those of us of Eurasian ancestry have up with my paternal DNA of Haplogroup I1, which originated with the so-called Cro-Magnon people, well, dad was right. I AM a throwback, a barbarian, a cave man. 😉
The sparrows have had a tough week. I’ve seen a few dead ones when walking. Heat? Corvids attacks? Dunno. The birds are usually attentive enough to avoid Dame Avalanche.
DJSpo
Hi Lewis,
The machinations of the banksters are always surprising, and often unexpected. Best not be involved, except we both are. Hmm. You know what, things are cheaper in your country because I believe the daily ATM limits are up around $800 or $1,000. Incidentally, they apparently don’t like people taking out that much more money per day at branches. Perhaps they’ve forgotten who’s money it is? I must add that I get more out of the big short book with each subsequent reading.
Hehe! Yes, that’s a neat mad cash trick. 🙂 Well done.
How much did the flats of blueberries cost this time around? Did H join you for the Club cuppa and general chin-wag? It never stops during the growing season, especially after the half way mark has been reached. 🙂 Sometimes the kitchen here can be a mad house with all the different things going on. Incidentally, I decided to consume the bottled apricots and plums a bit quicker this year. No point them going slightly stale.
Did more forest clean up work today. But first we had to fix the heavy duty beast of a Japanese low centre of gravity mower. One of the two blades err, disappeared about a fortnight ago. Hard to explain, but it happened. Then I had to go over the dozen or so grease nipples on the machine, and err, well some of them had seized. What a nuisance and grease was everywhere. Oh well, mustn’t grumble. All up, about three hours of work that, but the machine is running really well now. That was the only machine I wanted to get serviced and repaired elsewhere, but you know hopes are one thing, reality is another – and so I bloked up and did the work. It wasn’t that hard…
Oh, and the forest, well I’m disc-ing up those old loggers downed trees and will split them in a few weeks time. Will we run out? Maybe, eventually, but for all sorts of reasons, we’re doing two years worth over these couple of months. When you see the new firewood shed take shape, all will make sense. But there’s a huge amount of work to do to get to that point. So the answer to your question is that this year is exceptional.
Finished really late tonight, and sat around the bonfire having a chat. The Editor is having what can only be described as an existential crisis. When her dad died a year or two back, he left everything to his new Asian wife who appeared to be fifty years younger. The Editor is a bit miffed, but has to get over it and face having to continue working. Economics bite, huh? And if I may amusingly point out, it puts a whole different spin on ‘spending the kids inheritance’. Honestly, worse things can happen than that situation.
Yeah, I’d forgotten that the nice telco had access to the old card too. It happens and hope they don’t get hacked… I hear you about that too. Like how hard is it to delete information no longer required? Half the reason all the hacks you hear about are so bad, is because the amount of data stored exceeds needs by several iterations. Now if directors were made personally liable for the security of customers data, the problem would go away in minutes.
Ooo. I’m interested. What happened in 1966 to cause that? Debasing currency means people need more mad cash for less stuff. It’s never a pretty story, and rarely ends well.
Oh, well, not to cast judgement on the fine meal, but far out, I am a vegetarian at home you know! 😉 I get excited about the concept of French lentils and silverbeet. Sure, I could be wrong there. And try to eat a lot from the garden, although Elk steak could be harvested in the garden. It’s possible. Honestly, that meal you described would make me feel very uncomfortable in the guts and it would seriously impact upon my sleep. Man, I’m not tough enough to eat that meal.
On the other hand. Good to hear that your guts are on the improve. Nice. Out of curiosity, is your more simple diet having any impact on your sleep? Sorry to ask, but getting a good nights sleep is an interest of mine. I’ve learned all sorts of things about sleep in the past year or two.
Were there disturbing images in the article? I didn’t see any. Hmm. The young lady looked focused on the end goal, and you’d be amazed how many folks can’t read a map these days. I rarely use a GPS device as I’d prefer to know where I am. Interesting that maps seem to be on the decline. There used to be a shop in the big smoke which sold maps, and I bought several from them of this area. Nice to know the topography, and a good map shows that well.
Hehe! Yeah, refrigeration is a risk out in the bush for sure. I actually thought the Chinese guy is someone I’d get along well with. I can respect such competency. He looks like he’d survive the apocalypse and thrive in the ensuing mayhem!
That’s true and I hadn’t considered that aspect of the foragers, but I believe that’s a spot on observation. Yeah. Hmm. Good one. I’ve got a few books on foraging, and the plant ones are always handy – and applicable as here as in the big smoke.
If they’re found guilty, a good long stint of tree planting in that area wouldn’t necessarily be a bad idea.
Ah, some plants are like that, and woody squashes are OK. You can always cut out the woody parts, there’d still be something to eat – hopefully?
We purchase the Lavazza coffee, and not ever good to see that name and rising prices used in the same sentence. Oh well, I can adapt.
Ate my dessert with the Maya, is that some sort of chocolate reference? Or a clever play on the dessert / desert words? Four legions would not be cheap to maintain.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Pam,
Thanks, and well, I appreciate you taking the time to drop by and say hello. And glad that you likewise enjoy the flowers. 🙂 The native wattle is beginning to flower it’s bright yellow understory forest colours. All the really hardy stuff here flowers at this cold time of the year.
Yes, if I recall, you also are troubled by excess sugar in your food. Thus why you reduced your intake (if my memory serves me correctly?)
Oh, that’s so not good. What exactly is an electric pressure canner? … … I’d never seen such a machine, fascinating – and you’d hope the thing doesn’t explode. Were you able to recover any of the passata? At least it wasn’t the air con which shut down, always possible. Being off grid with electricity, we have to be super careful about how many appliances get run at once. Funnily enough the neighbours on their single wire earth return systems have similar max power capacity to us (around 5KVA apparently), although they can draw big power loads at night when the sun isn’t shining which I’d never do.
Hope the rain arrives soon.
Have you found the book to be useful? It’s an epic tome. I tend to dip into the book as needed, kind of just like a cookbook.
Oh my gawd! A rattlesnake. Far out! Dunno about you, but I’d be mowing that long grass. You’ll note that long grass is something which is rarely seen here. Hmm. What? Pam, I’m soft and would leave that job for the local snake catcher. Money well spent if you ask me. 😉
It was frozen outside the other day, but today the sun shone and it was glorious at 57’F.
Cheers
Chris
Hi DJ,
I’m so sorry but I have to call the dreaded mid-week hiatus and will reply tomorrow. Worked late tonight and then stood around the bonfire whilst Sandra had something of an existential crisis which frankly I had a great deal of trouble relating to. Sure it was a bad situation, but to be honest, worse things can happen, such as err, land dispossession and err, cultural destruction.
You know, there’s a lot of good things going on here, so hmm. Not happy, but it’s a predicament and not at all a problem which something can be done about.
Anyway, I think the dude made his choice and Sandra has to move on, and work. Will speak tomorrow. Hope your household is doing well, and it’s not too hot there?
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – My Idaho friends have complained a few times, about the song and dance they have to go through, to take large quantities of cash, out of their bank. Sometimes, they have to notify the bank, days in advance. And sometimes, questions are asked that are no one else’s business, but theirs. On the other hand, we had a case, here, several years ago. An old couple were kidnapped, and one of them was forced to withdraw a large amount of money. The bad guys then killed them both.
What I think is weird, is I end up with a chunk of coin, sometimes. When I get home, quarters (for laundry) go in one mug, and other coin in another. When it gets full, I take it to the bank, because they have a coin counter. It spits out a receipt, and I can either get cash, or deposit it to my account. It’s usually only around $20, so I ask for cash. The weird part is, it’s deposited in my account, and then taken out as cash. I suppose, so there’s a paper trail.
I picked up 2 flats of blueberries. They were $35 per. I stopped by the club and had a cuppa, but didn’t take H along. What with the flats of blueberries, and juggling bags of groceries, for the Club pantry. This morning, I need to go to the library, and pick up a few things. Think I’ll swing by the Club, and have a cuppa. I’ll take her along, this time.
I got three batches of blueberries, processed, yesterday. It was a bit of a push. I think 2 batches a day, is enough.
The low gravity mower, missing blade. Did you check behind the couch? 🙂 Good work doing the repairs, yourself. As with so many projects, hard to get a start, so satisfying once it’s done.
Well, I know how the Editor feels, on a much smaller scale. I think my brother did me out of, maybe, a sizable chunk of my Dad’s inheritance. In the first place, he had to put up with the old guy, living in the same town, and I didn’t. But, when I start running that aggrieved tape in my head, I just push it away, and think of something else. But it took awhile to get there.
Why did they debase the coinage, in 1996? Got me. I asked the question, “Why did the U.S. debase its coinage, in 1996,” and got no clear answer. At least, anything I wanted to spend a lot of time on. There was this, however: “By debasing their currencies, governments believe they can meet their financial obligations more easily or have more money to spend on infrastructure and domestic spending projects to spur the economy. Such methods, however, eventually lead to a crash.”
As far as diet and sleep go, I’ve noticed, lately, that I’m waking up awfully darned early. You know. You wake up, and have that feeling that you won’t be able to get back to sleep. Might be diet. Early waking can also be a sign of depression. Or, maybe I just feel like so many things are pressing … processing food, HUD inspection in October, and getting prepared to send stuff to the auction. Which I haven’t even begun, yet. Also, stuff to do in the garden. The list goes on.
Last night, I had a can of black beans, rice, cut up some more of that squash, carrots, garlic, etc.. Brussel’s sprouts on the side. Yogurt and prunes. It ended up being so much, I cut it in half, and will have the rest tonight. Maybe fry up some eggs and mix them in.
I suppose the disturbing images were of dead dear being butchered, and cooked up. Little snowflakes would rather not think about how that burger, gets in their bun. 🙂
They Maya Indians, populated the Yucatan Peninsula, way before the Aztecs took over Mexico. Their cities were a collection of city states. Due to deforestation, and drought (maybe), they abandoned their cities. A few carried on, on the northern coast. Chocolate beans were sort of a form of currency. And drinking chocolate was a highly ritualized affair, mostly involving rulers and priests. There are still Maya people, in the Yucatan.
Boy, Nick Cage is really cranking them out. Last night, I watched “Arcadians.” A rather muddled post apocalyptic tale. Bottom line, terrible beasts wander the world, but only at night. So everyone better be in by sunset. No clear answer as to where the beasts came from. Aliens? Something else?
There were also trailers for two Cage movies, I’d never heard of. “Prisoners of Ghostland,” and “Sympathy for the Devil.” The new “Longlegs” is also getting a lot of chatter. He seems to be really hitting the sci-fi and horror genres. I see occasional articles that he has financial difficulties. Ah! Can’t link to it, but it’s titled: “Nick Cage Was $6 Million in Debt – And paid it off. Here’s What We Can Learn From Him.” LOL. I think he also has a much younger, high maintenance girl friend.
DJ mentioned dead birds. Heat? Bird flu? Our night manage mentioned there was a dead blue jay, at the edge of the property. But he witnessed it being fried, on the electric pole. At least he didn’t knock out the power, as the squirrels do. :-). Lew
@Lew
I’ll bet Huntington Beach has changed a lot. Carla and I noted a fair amount of kind of run down RV’s in the parking lots. Supposedly they couldn’t park overnight but they seemed to be in the same place each day. Quite a variety of people to observe.
Margaret
Hi Chris,
Yeah, the bluebird trail has not been enjoyable this year. Then there’s the hidden grape vines snaking down low waiting to trip a person. Early on that happened so I’m pretty careful now. Yesterday was the last time I’ll go through the entire trail. Next time (which will be the last) I only need to check 3 boxes as all the others have been empty for a month. Interestingly there were no house wrens nesting in the boxes like in prior years. We’ve had quite a few in our boxes at home. They usually start nesting later than the bluebirds so there should be some at the conservation district. I can really chop trails as it’s part of the county Conservation District but I can at least cut some vines or other plants that obstruct the box entrances.
I imagine there will be some book hauling in my future but I’ll do my best to avoid most of it.
Hot and very humid here – not fun.
Margaret
Chris,
No worries. Just hope you and Sandra get through the predicament. Existential crises suck.
Cloudy and not hot…30C but humid and smoky. Survived indoors.
DJSpo
Hi Margaret,
Your words painted a rather difficult journey into and then back out again through that conservation district. And err, wetlands and mosquitoes can go hand in hand some years. Are you getting many of them at your place? Presumably the folks doing the land management there will eventually cut the tall grass back down again?
Hmm, just a wild guess, but I read that bluebirds eat insects, moths, and larvae. If the grass is really tall, I have some doubts that the birds would fly into such a dangerous (for them) environment. And the blue wrens here bounce through the open garden beds consuming insects at their leisure. They like thick shrubs to hide in, but they also need open hunting grounds. Dunno.
🙂 Go thee forth and dodge that work. Or at best minimise your exposure to it. Is the new shop bigger?
Awful weather, yup. The warmer weather is fast approaching here, and I was even buzzed by a bee today.
Cheers
Chris
Hi DJ,
Your weather sounds quite horrendous, especially the smoke, but I’m glad to hear that today was cooler. 30’C is quite nice weather really, except for the smoke. Things are slowly warming up here and I was even buzzed by a bee today. We continued on with the forest clean up work today in the cool sunshine, and I’m a bit startled at how readily the fires are taking for this time of year. Hmm.
Sugar versus High Fructose Corn Syrup, hmm. Which will win the battle? Look, probably best minimising your exposure to either, but it’s interesting to note that the two have differing chemical structures and please correct me if I’m wrong, but the corn one has two lots of the hydroxymethyl group molecules bound, compared to sugar’s one. I’m talking way outside my area of knowledge, but that kind of stood out to me. The funny thing I note is that when I look at old timey videos, the people kind of mostly have my body shape which is long and lanky. Anyway, I can’t speak for others in this regard, and seriously try hard to eat a lot of what we can grow in this environment with highly mineralised soils. When a person outsources their food, they have to accept what is produced for them.
Oh yeah, ain’t no surfing opportunities in Paris, so why not Tahiti? That’s what I reckon. 🙂 Was it good and competitive? Pah, sharks are equal opportunists and will happily take Australian surfers as readily as they will your countrymen. In a wetsuit, the shark probably think we’re seals.
Shucks! Man, I thought with your summer weather you might be on the money with growing melons. The same experience you and your lady had was about the same as what the Sandra and I achieved. And it took the Black Summer of 2019-2020 – our best harvest ever, although not good for other parts of the continent.
Interesting, and respect for the folks on the Colville Rez doing that work. And oh yeah, you know why not many folks want to do such work? It’s physically very demanding, and after so many years it’s a total mess. Honestly, I’m not fussed about it all because as time goes on, the work will get done. The energy of the people as well as the land are all tied up together. There are some really dry adapted oak trees which provide massive shade, like the Algerian Oaks, and they’d work well. My observations of the 2009 fires were that those oak trees stopped fires, and although the fire facing side of the tree was scorched, the tree bounced back just fine.
Oh my! I do hope that the weather cools and the rains return for you and soon. Big fires can also be something of a crapshoot depending on conditions and topography. But usually, if you know the winds and the topography, you can tell where it will go.
Yeah, that’s the thing with rain. If you have limited rain, it works best if the rain can soak into the soil and move into the sub soil. But if it arrives in one, or two, or even three big storms, and then washes away. Not good. I should do a video on how we deal with storm water because we set up a lot of systems to handle the worst sort of weather err, four inches of rain in an hour. Years ago we had a big wake up call in the form of a minor landslide. Nobody wants one of those.
Hehe! You did well, and far better than the fictional Hitchhikers cheeky scamp did that proposed the missing ballpoint pen and socks world.
Yes, it’s been remarked upon before that prudent behaviour and choices, never go out of style. Some fuel with added fuel stabiliser might be a good idea as well. And of course, 42 is always the correct number. That’s hard wired into our existence.
Ugg! Here’s a toast to all the cavemen (and of course, cavewomen) out there. We get stuff done. Nuff said! 🙂 Man, I so love that Robert E Howard quote about barbarism being the natural state. I’ve got the complete collection of Conan stories. The book is leather bound and printed on low acid paper. It’s hefty too and would be handy in a bar fight, or for clubbing errant sorcerers over the head. It amuses me to ponder the consequences of that book surviving way off into the future. 🙂
Probably heat and dehydration. During really hot and dry weather, there are a couple of places here where the birds can enjoy a drink and a bath. Of course such places must be out of reach of the likes of Dame Avalanche. Had the magpies following me around all day today.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
The banksters for some reason don’t seem to like mad cash, and I believe that down here all transactions over $10k are reported to a goobermint agency. What they do with the data is anyone’s guess. But cash would circumvent that. There was an issue a few years ago with allegedly bankster software issues: Commonwealth Bank: How smart ATMs and a coding error caused a massive mistake. What interests me is that the crims seemed to have worked out the issue before the banksters did. And the kidnapping is a very unfortunate incident. The banksters would stop that sort of withdrawals through administrative delays, so yeah I can see that.
I’d have to suggest that the paper trail is not for your benefit. Just going with my gut feeling there. Hmm, they probably don’t want non-customers going into those branches and using the coin machines. Coins are actually quite expensive in many ways for the banks to handle, and the looking for an edge evilly evilness never sleeps with that lot. 🙂 I tend to simplify that message when talking to people by saying: They’re not your mates. Always gets a laugh, but also drives home the crucial point.
So the flats were cheaper by about $10. Not a bad savings. Can you taste any difference between the organic ones and the recent purchase? Fair enough with H, and there are times I don’t have the dogs out with me when I’m working. It’s probably more important to watch the pointy end of a chainsaw that keep an eye on what mischief a kelpie might be up to (or into)!
Three batches! 🙂 And I thought that doing two would be a lot of work. I’ve got this saying I use nowadays: If in doubt, do less. Works for me, so yeah two sounds sustainable.
Haha! Yes, I did check behind the couch, and the missing blade wasn’t there. 😉 Plus I also went back this afternoon in the light to see whether I could find the blade. Nope. It’s gone and will probably turn up in a few years time. Interestingly the blades are stamped with the words: Heartfelt Hirosaki which is some kind of high carbon steel used in Japanese sword making. All I know is that the blades are super heavy and very hardy. It’d been used on rough ground for about two years, and the Editor cuts low with that machine so isn’t gentle with it.
Exactly. Push the aggrieved internal tape away because no good will come from it. The Editor has yet to reach the state of acceptance, and sorry to hear that your were likewise duped. My two older sisters duped me from my mothers estate if it means anything, and my father is just completely absent. I’m pretty sure I know what my grandfather would have called him, which I can’t repeat here lest I break my own house rules. Oh well. The Editor was hoping that she could retire early, but nope – back to work with you lass, is how things will roll. In many ways it’s a very good metaphor for the future we’re all handing to future generations.
Nice one, look I’m happy with 1966 being the date. It seems to fit the circumstances – and far out what happened in the early to mid 1970’s with punch ups in gas station lines? Not your everyday incident when you head out to fill up the tank. And as to the second point, yes, yes, and I’ll chuck in another ‘yes’ if it makes any difference. 🙂
Hmm. An intriguing sleep issue. I dunno, that only happens to me if I’m cold, and I can test for that (whilst being half asleep) by feeling whether my hips or shoulders are cold. If they are, chuck on another blanket and I’ll drop off back to sleep again. It’s taken a lot of observation to comprehend all the different sleep matters then counter them. Of course, is H waking you up? Her idea of breakfast may be different to yours. I didn’t know that about depression. Interesting, and it makes sense. Clearly anxiety has similar effects.
Ooo, yummo! Yes, chuck the fried eggs in. I forget, do you cook eggs solid, or prefer a runnier yolk?
Well, that had never occurred to me that it would be distressing. Oooo (note four ‘o’ letters this time – that’s progress for ya), there was another article today with a warning, and this time it was about the cannibal convict I mentioned years ago: Gruelling 170km walk in steps of cannibal convict Alexander Pearce. They eventually hung him, but far who in their right mind would escape with that bloke – as they did the second time around. It didn’t end well. Wonder how the snowflakes will deal with cannibal convicts? What an odd start this present country had.
No wonder the Mayan civilisation failed. If the rulers and priests got all the chocolate, everything is clear how utter failure came to be in my mind.
Bummer that the Arcadians film was only so-so. It’s in the films down here now, and well, that’s the thing with expensive younger girlfriends. They ain’t cheap. But the six million dollar girlfriend, you could make a show out of that title. 😉 We can rebuild her with beautiful surgery, we’ve got the technology… (a nod to the six million dollar man series). Doesn’t buy you as much these days.
That’s no good with the bird getting fried on the wire. Dunno how that works unless the bird crossed two wires. A bit like ghostbusters in that you can’t cross the streams. It’s true you know.
Cheers and better get writing! 🙂
Chris
Yo, Chris – A couple of climate articles I thought you might find interesting. The first is about Antarctica, which affects your weather, from time to time.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/03/climate/antarctica-heat-wave-sea-level-rise
The second is about some new research on the Atlantic current. Inge might be seeing icebergs, floating past.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/02/climate/atlantic-circulation-collapse-timing
Here, it was 81F, yesterday. A steady 55F, overnight. Forecast for 86F, today. Not bad, as we had a gentle west / northwest breeze, most of the day. Same overcast this morning. Clouds from the coast, but no danger of rain. We haven’t had much smoke, here. Thanks to that breeze, I think. Prof. Mass did a post on high humidity, but that also hasn’t been much of a problem, here.
That was an interesting article, on cash transactions. Judging from the fact that I could turn right around and take out another $100, I guess if there are limits, it won’t affect me. Maybe. I thought what one guy said, in the article, was interesting. That maybe we should “reconsider our reliance on technology.” Not that that’s going to happen. Not when it reduces the number of employees. Maybe, they should do a cost benefit analysis? Also, not going to happen.
I don’t pay much attention to the restrictions, on the coin counter, as I always fall under whatever limits. And, I have an account, there. But I think for non-members, it’s something like a $3 fee.
I processed two batches of blueberries, yesterday. That at least took care of the one flat I had to leave out of the refrigerator, due to lack of space. Or lack of planing for more space 🙂 . A flat and a half, left to do. And then I’ll start filling in those light gallons, with blueberries from here at the Institution. Difference between organic and non-organic blueberries? The organic one’s were slightly smaller. Taste? Can’t tell the difference. But then my old taste buds might not detect a difference. Both sources are pretty clean, this year. Not many stems or withered blossom ends. I suppose the blueberries here at the Institution, could be considered organic. As far as I know, nothing is done to them except the two times I fertilize, per year. And a bit of pruning.
A good portion of the murder mysteries I watch, seem to revolve around estate and inheritance disputes. 🙂
Well, the rule of thumb I’ve heard, for sleep disorders is, if you can’t get to sleep at might, it’s anxiety. If you wake up early, not having enough sleep, and can’t get back to sleep, it’s depression. Of course of all the possibilities in my case, Taking long naps in the afternoon might have something to do with it 🙂 H’s coming and goings I notice, less and less.
I want my eggs good and solid. Nothing moving, as I heard someone say, long ago. I’ve always felt that way. Don’t know why. Scrambled, boiled or over hard.
That was quit the article on Alexander Pearce. And, the hikers who decided to follow his path. The description of how thick the brush is, was quit extraordinary.
I guess I’ll walk the dog, and get the next round of blueberries, on the go. I picked up several DVDs, at the library, yesterday. I watched a bit of a new Star Trek series. “Star Trek: Prodigy.” Another animated one. Based on just a couple of episodes, it looks pretty good. I also picked up Gene Wilder’s “Haunted Honeymoon.” That’s the one I requested that they buy. Wow, that was fast! Lew