About an hour before sitting down at the computer keyboard banging out this week’s blog, the sky filled with bushfire smoke. It’s such a memorably acrid stink, which can at other times be quite aromatic. The fire was presumably close to the city in grasslands, because that’s where the wind was blowing from. By midnight the smoke had blown somewhere else. Tomorrow (Monday) is forecast to reach 42’C / 108’F in the shade, with wind (in the, dare I say it?) big smoke! It’s no day for any fires. In fact, what happens in this state on such days is that the authorities declare that all fires in the open air are to be extinguished at Sunday midnight – a legal declaration of a Total Fire Ban is thus put in place.
Despite the impending weather forecast, only a few days ago the authorities were showing that Monday was not a ‘Total Fire Ban’. That seemed odd to me, especially as the forecast was almost as bad as it gets and Monday is a public holiday. It’s a long weekend. Always nice to have city people up enjoying the bush. Plenty of people will have headed off camping, and they’re probably blithely unaware of the restrictions. Everyone loves a camp fire, but those things are notoriously difficult to extinguish. The ground under the core of the fire heats up – a lot. We’ll just have to see how things play out tomorrow.
The stupid thing about the wording of the total fire ban declaration, is that it doesn’t really convey that there are heaps of other activities also banned on those days. Yup, there’s plenty of great ways to end up as a registered arsonist – like say, mowing. Mowers are awesome machines, but those fast spinning steel blades hitting a rock can ignite a fire. Their use is banned on such days. Steel and flint is how the old timers used to start fires, and a mower can do the same trick, but far more quickly and easily.
It’s hard to know what to do here on such hot days. The house is very well insulated, but even so, those sorts of air temperatures in the shade are challenging. In the direct sun, the experience can feel 15’C hotter again. We don’t have an air conditioner either. The off grid power system could run one, but I dunno, just like having no garbage service, we’ve lived without for so long that we’ve sort of reached a state of acceptance.
Anyway, what to do on a brain meltingly hot day? Well, we made the decision to construct another steel rock gabion cage – as you do. Did you know that using an angle grinder on a total fire ban day will have serious legal consequences. Those machines are banned too. They’re like super sparklers as they shoot out tiny chunks of molten metal at high speed. However, one aspect of making a rock gabion cage requires cutting up the large welded steel mesh sheets into the correct sizes – and that needs an angle grinder. What to do? Cut the sheet on Sunday, the day beforehand when it’s cooler. Winning!
So there I was as the sun set on a Sunday evening, enjoying the acrid fragrance of smoky burnt vegetation and wielding the battery powered angle grinder. For the record, writing is a more pleasant activity. However, fifteen minutes of work, a second battery, and the steel cutting job was done. It’s was funny though, the work and conditions got the old brain matter fired up. Memories are way long around here. Back in 1983, at about this same time of the year, a worker at a nearby water treatment plant was allegedly using an angle grinder in long dry summer grass, and let’s just say that the fire got away from him. A huge chunk of the mountain range was burned in the weeks afterwards.
But that’s when the story got disastrously weird. A few weeks after that angle grinder fire escaped into the wilds, an even bigger fire began about half an hours drive west of the mountain range, near to the very rural area of Trentham East. The strong hot winds pushed the fire towards here at a furious pace, and over the course of a single day, the new bigger fire wiped out much of the fashionable western end of the mountain range. It was terrible, but fortunately the bigger fire stopped when it hit the already burned area from the several weeks earlier angle grinder fire. Fires stop when there is nothing left to burn or when the rains return.
So yeah, unattended camp fires, angle grinders and mowers on a super hot windy day – a couple of very bad ideas. About a decade ago I overheard a conversation between two old timers recounting the events of those days. The general conclusion the local notables arrived at, was that the angle grinder guy was equal parts idiot and hero. Idiot for starting one fire, and a hero for inadvertently creating a massive fire break. Such extreme judgements are candidly a bit nerve wracking to the sensitive person, and nobody in their right mind wants to be the most hated person in the mountain range. So best to be careful, because they will still be talking about you in decades to come, and not in a good way.
Anyway, this summer hasn’t been too bad weather wise, so far. We’ve experienced hotter and drier summers before. But it’s really hard to know what the weather in two weeks time will be like, let alone for the rest of the season. Earlier in the week I topped up the house water tanks using up about a third of the reserves. The reserve water tank is 33,500L / 8,800 gallons, and it’s now down to about a third of it’s total capacity. Will the rains return soon? Doesn’t look like it in the forecast, but who really knows? Summer still has a ways to go.
Hopefully the remaining weeks and months of summer remain uneventful. But you never know, and just like the water reserves, you’ve got to plan for the worst conditions, not the best, or even the average, but the worst. And if the rains return over the next few weeks, that’s a great thing. They do say that it is better to be prepared and not require the preparations, than be completely unprepared, and need them – hardly an enviable estate.
We’d run out of projects from which we could extract excess soil. There’s a need for extra soil on the new rock wall below the long line of water tanks. What to do? Create a project which will deliver excess soil as a useful by-product. So, we’ve decided to widen the path running from the driveway to up above the house. Unfortunately, that widening project requires large rocks too, which are also in short supply. Oh well, whatever, a person should not expect life to be easy… The path widening job was commenced this week. Here’s the path before work commenced.
The first step in the project was widening the entrance from the driveway and then onto the path. That improvement makes it now easier to turn into, or off the path in any direction. Over the next few weeks and months, the path will get wider, soil will be extracted, and we’ll have to create more larger rocks.
A full power wheelbarrow load of soil was removed during the work, and the machine was driven downhill. The soil is useful fill on the new rock wall for the long line of water tanks. The two projects will be done in tandem.
Regular readers will recall that a few months ago a new concrete staircase project had commenced. The stairs lead from the sunny orchard and up into the courtyard behind the house. They’ll be very useful. At about the halfway mark, the staircase encounters a path. We had to work out how the stairs and path will interface, and today decided upon a solution.
Rocks were used to define the edges of the path, and a new stair tread was poured. Basically a person can walk straight from the path and onto the staircase in either direction. The video this week shows some of the rock work and our personal quarry. Everyone should have a personal quarry at least once in their life!
An overly warm day earlier in the week was spent supplying soil feed to about half of the fruit trees on the property. I mixed up a trailer load of compost-ish stuff with several bags of soil mineral additives, and then drove the contents around the farm in a power wheelbarrow. Towards the end of the day (it was hot), the clutch on the machine felt a bit funny and a small amount of smoke was coming from the transmission. That’s a bad thing, and so I immediately switched the machine off and let it cool down. Fixing it is a job for the future. Another power wheelbarrow was then used to do the remaining soil feed work.
Sometimes I do wonder about the economics of all this soil feeding, but then I recall a conversation a long time ago with a local farmer. He was lamenting the small size of the local blackberries these days. Well, the blackberries grown here are huge – that’s what good soil feeding looks like. And they’ve received no watering this season.
It’s apple harvest time, and the trees have produced very well. Barely making a dent in the crop, we harvested almost three boxes worth.
The apples probably wouldn’t win any prizes, but who cares? But what to do with so many apples? Make cider, that’s what! I spent hours cutting and then blitzing apples so as to produce a mash. The mash was then fed into an old fashioned fruit press.
When pressing fruit, it’s a good idea to re-press the already squooshed fruit mash. You’ll extract another maybe 20% extra juice – just a tip for the newbies. With about 17kg / 38 pounds of fruit, we produced about 8L / 2 gallons of juice. There are now 3 demijohns of apple cider fermenting away. They now join the other 5 demijohns of blackberry wine which was made a few weeks ago. It’s a busy time of year.
A few weeks ago we restored the large garden beds where the Globe Artichokes once grew. For those who were concerned, the very roughly divided up and then relocated Globe Artichokes have all taken in their new home. But back to the restored garden bed. Many seeds for winter crops were sown there, and quite a few have germinated in the warm fertile soil.
In breaking produce news:
Earlier in the season, several Japanese maple seedlings were pulled from the ground and potted up. They’re doing quite well and have grown fast in only a few months. The plan is to use these trees as a hardy small shade tree in some areas of the property. They’re a bit weedy here, but what a great weed to have.
One of the last fruit tree crops of the summer growing season are the Persimmons (citrus produce in the winter months). The parrots recently showed an interest in the unripe fruit, but have since left them alone. Fingers crossed this avian state of affairs continues.
It is possible the parrots gave up on the Persimmons because the Elderberries are fast becoming ripe. All the birds here love Elderberries, and we also feed them to the chickens.
Tomatoes continue to ripen on their vines. And each day we’ve been able to harvest some very tasty fruit. Cut them in half. Sprinkle a dash of salt and pepper. Add finely cut garden fresh chives. A slice of tasty cheese. Slap the lot on a chunk of oven fresh bread. That’s what I call living. Yum!
The bean pods are beginning to fill out. And interestingly, those are another crop which we have not watered at all this year. The super fertile deep soil made a big difference to plant resiliency.
I thought readers might enjoy some of the interactions we have with the copious wildlife here. The family of magpies are one of the few forest critters who’s interests are aligned with ours. The birds will even seek me out when they are having troubles with something, like a fox, or Ruby.
The deer on the other hand, have been a nuisance this year. They’ve even begun eating the flowers of the Agapanthus, which usually provide plenty of feed for the honeyeaters.
On a brighter note, the other day Sandra discovered a large stick insect on the side of the house. They’re very cool insects.
Onto the flowers:
The temperature outside now at about 9am is 25’C (77’F). So far for last year there has been 42.2mm (1.7 inches) which is up from last weeks total of 41.8mm (1.6 inches)
cutting gabion cages- have you considered hefty bolt cutters? Not sure how many more gabions you plan on, but bolt cutters can get through some pretty large diameter rod. 4 gage, or 5.2 mm dia. is what I cut through when making things from cattle panels.
No electricity required.
(do you have trouble with spell check insisting I’m referring to baboons?)
Yo, Chris – That was pretty interesting, about hour fire bans, but how you have to dig a little deep, to get all the information. Here, they often close whole sections of the forest, when things get hot and dry. Logging is suspended. Entering a national forest, or passing a ranger station, you often see these …
https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fseprd646166.pdf
The arrow is movable, so it can be up or down graded, as need be. Looking into our fire restrictions, I also noticed that at times, off road vehicles are banned. As is “recreational shooting.” Target practice.
You’d think people would just be more aware, and thoughtful. But, people being people …
So, are your fire sprinklers hooked up to the house water tanks, or the reserve water tanks? Inquiring Minds Want to Know! 🙂
That’s an ambitious path widening project. The entrance to the path will be a lot easier to negotiate, now.
So, where does this new flight of stairs, lead?
That was a good video, showing the source and results of your rocks. Now you need a video of the process, of busting up the rocks and hauling them. You had pictures, at the end, but moving pictures are worth ten thousand words. 🙂 You can chuck in a little banter about the Romans.
Wow. Those are some blackberries. It wouldn’t take many of those, to make a meal. Or, a desert. Apples to cider. Who knew?
I keep meaning to go look and see if our Japanese maples are producing any volunteers. Might be nice for the Master Gardener’s sale.
I wouldn’t say persimmons are a commonly found fruit in our veg stores. What can be done with them?
Are you going to set by, a bit of Elderberry syrup? For purely medicinal purposes, of course. 🙂
The stick insects are always fascinating. I’m curious as to what they eat, and do we have any here. Down the rabbit hole, I go!
The Geraniums and Roses are just knock outs. Lew
Hi Steve,
That’s a great suggestion, but I don’t have such a heavy duty manual cutting tool. The angle grinder cuts a lot of steel pretty fast (and I have three of them), and frankly if bulk packs of 125mm cutting discs were no longer available at the hardware store, I suspect that we’d all have bigger problems to deal with! 🙂 Electricity for me is more or less paid for, and finding new uses for the energy source when the sun is shining strongly during the summer months is the main difficulty.
Just in case you were worried, I do have a hacksaw which will perform equally sharp work, but slower. I’m reluctant to take on new tools mostly because they require additional maintenance from yours truly. Bolt cutters would require the cutting edges to be kept sharp, and we cut a lot of steel.
Despite the crazy hot weather today, we worked outside. Another step was poured and the smaller steel rock gabion cage was sewn together. If a person waited for the perfect day here, they’d not get much done! Kind of reminds me of my experience with riding motor bikes in that it was good about 25% of the time.
I’ve got an Australian spell checker installed, and every single day there are words the thing does not know. A rather hopeless grasp of the lexicon if you ask me. People worry about AI taking their jobs, but that is not a concern of mine.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Göran,
Thanks, and despite the super hot weather today, work continued. Another concrete stair step was poured and a smaller steel rock gabion cage was assembled. You know what, you could wait for the perfect conditions to get stuff done, but then you’d be left waiting! Glad to hear that conditions are good over in your delightful corner of the world too. 🙂 Spring is fast approaching for you.
Yours and Lewis’s reviews of those cast iron bench mounted apple corers sound pretty good. And to survive a decade of use is an excellent outcome in my books. I forget, do you make cider?
Ah! I see. We’ve never dehydrated apples, and of course there is a little story there: The farm is not that far away from an area which grows the vast majority of the continents apples, so a quick visit to a cool store can provide us with better apples (all year around) than anything we could dehydrate. Yes, spoiled is the correct word. 😉 And apple trees grow really well here at this location and produce more fruit than the household requires, and that’s part of the arrangements we have with the local wildlife – they enjoy a share of the goodies.
However, a dehydrator machine is an awesome purchase and every year the tomatoes get processed that way, then stored in olive oil. Ah, you use a tray dehydrator, and those machines all work more or less the same. We use a round dehydrator machine which is called an EziDri Snackmaker FD500 digital. An impressive title, no? The reason that machine was chosen was because it utilised the existing round trays which we had from an earlier machine.
Göran, my only advice with the GMO variety is to – run! 🙂 The browning is no big deal. Hope the researchers haven’t wasted their time… Truth to tell, the weirdest food product I ever saw was a sliced tomato stored in an air tight plastic container probably pumped full of nitrogen or argon gas. Seeing that astounding manufacturing effort, I knew deep down that civilisation as we know it had a limited lifespan.
Cheers!
Chris
Hi Lewis,
Trying to shrug off a case of the chills at the link you provided. Did you know, that a few years ago after the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires which killed 173 people, the authorities changed all of the signage relating to national forest fire risk to exactly what you linked too. It’s beyond uncanny and I’m sure consultants did what they do – consult.
Shooting is always a bit risky in dry forest. If you’ve ever fired a rifle at night, what you see spewing out of the barrel is err, flames. Quite the sobering experience for a person who lives in mostly wet, but occasionally dry, tall eucalyptus forest. The number of activities banned on such days is quite astounding, and reads a bit like: if you think it’s a bad idea, the activity probably is and will land you in deep trouble! 😉
I agree with you about the human carelessness which comes from not knowing the consequences of certain activities. It only takes one error, and my belief is that the margins in this case are too thin for the realities. It would be so much cheaper and easier to manage the forest risk upfront. The forestry workers are having some sort of industrial dispute right now as there are claims that they’re in the lowest 5% of all paid goobermint workers. Hardly an encouraging prospect is it? The indigenous folks were far wiser for they believed that if the land was not properly looked after, their very souls were in peril – I tend to agree with their perspective.
🙂 Glad to gratify your curiosity, and the four fire sprinklers protecting the house surrounds are connected to the house water tanks and are ready to go at all times. Plus I regularly test them – it’s not hard to do so.
The widening of the path works much better, especially if you turn downhill off it. And there is more to come on that project. The new flight of stairs leads from the sunny orchard up into the courtyard behind the house. It has a side path which leads to the worm farm sewage system and goes in other directions from there.
Speaking of which, why let super hot weather bother you? That’s our take on the world, so this morning we poured another concrete step on the staircase and sewed up the smaller steel rock gabion cage cut up into parts very late yesterday. Candidly by 2pm it was a bit sweaty, even in the shade, and so we retreated into the house for lunch. Then some paid work got done – and then bam, the comedown was real and we crashed out for an hour. The thunder peals eventually woke me prior to the alarm, and a tiny bit of rain fell – it all adds up.
The videos are fun to make, and we’ll continue them, but yeah it’s an odd forum. Anyway breaking apart the boulders on that rock out-crop is an interesting process. You get to learn about the local geology first hand so to speak. It’s funny how the boulders just kind of rise up out of the ground, and you can even trace where the lava must have originally flowed.
Hehe! The local farmer really did say that to me about the blackberries being larger when he was younger. That’s the thing with playing out soils, it’s such a slow process that people don’t see it taking place – and every year the produce we’re all being sold is a little bit worse. I try to tell people, but do they listen? Nope.
Oh yeah, Japanese maple seedlings sell for a very good price – and here they grow like weeds.
The Editor lets the non-astringent Persimmons blet – which is another way of saying that the fruit ferments. You can tell when they’re ready to eat and the contents can be squeezed from the skins. Quite tasty, apparently.
Stick insects are hunting insects aren’t they? Did the rabbit hole reveal anything?
Oh, I didn’t know that about Oxen being castrated. Right, well they would be easier to deal with after that err, awkward cut. I’m surprised that some societies haven’t applied such knifework to certain boundary pushers. Ouch!
Speaking of being careful, yes, best not to put your fingers into one of those hand cranked meat grinders. Those machines worked and the really chuck-meat turned into mince meat which was better than anything you’d buy nowadays. Who knows what gets thrown into mincers – probably best not to know…
Just to share a little tiramisu secret, the home made lady finger biscuits and extra marsala were what lifted the dessert to the lofty heights it achieved. It was a bit cheeky even taking the dessert for a bunch of foodies to enjoy, but they say that sometimes a person has to reach for the stars! And it may be true. 🙂 Anyway, their kitchen strength is not desserts, so the overall meal was elevated by the inclusion.
Won-ton wrappers would be challenging due to their delicate nature. Did you use rice flour to make them? Hmm, the fortune cookie suggestion would make a good plot line for Fight Club! Oh yeah, super naughty-as.
Thanks for asking and the cool change finally swept through a couple of hours ago. Right now, it’s 27’C / 81’F inside the house and I’m sitting under a ceiling fan with the door open to the cooler outside air. The external temperature is now 24’C / 75’F and I’m feeling some relief. It’ll heat up again later in the week.
The Warm Bodies film is a cult classic. It was a pretty funny take on zombies. Mind you, Sean of the Dead is a classic of the genre as well.
Can’t say I reckon there would be improvements with a lobotomy and candidly I’m unwilling to trial your experiment simply to satisfy a general sense of curiosity. Of course, you could go first? Just a friendly suggestion there!!! Can you imagine the disappointment if I became the best version of myself via rough brain surgical intervention, and still disliked musicals? It’d be a let-down of the finest sort. You could stream the national youth broadcaster and also enjoy it after such brain work? No? I’m not feeling your enthusiasm here!!! 🙂
Yes, garden boundaries must be established – and maintained there, as elsewhere sad to say. I wish it were not so, but it’s an element of life best accepted.
Hope you’re feeling better today, and that my irreverent humour has at least cheered you up!
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – We are strange besties. It’s a wonder we’ve made it this far, given our inability to think things through.
Speaking of low wages for firefighters … if you look at the California fires, and see guys in orange jump suits, those are the inmates from the fire fighting prison program. Their stories has been made into a fictional TV series, “Fire Country.” It’s quit good. Any-who, there’s been a bit of chatter in the usual places, at how little they get paid.
A good job of widening that path. A wider turn and you’re less likely to tip over. I presume you observe the appropriate speed limits. 🙂
I think it was you who mentioned most fruit and veg are 40% less nutritious, than the good old days. I just try and eat more of them. But that’s a hard deficit to make up.
Well, I didn’t have much luck looking into stick insects. My pretty simple question, “Are there stick insects in Washington state,” just yielded enormous lists of every insect in Washington State. They may be here, as they are found as far north as North Dakota. They’re herbivores, by the way. I’ll keep an eye out for them.
You’d have to really work at it, to get your fingers caught in a hand cranked meat grinder. But, I’m sure it’s been done.
I made those Won-ton wrappers around 40 years ago. I was having a party, and, back in those benighted times, there were no wrappers to be found in this part of the woods. No yoghurt, either. 🙂 I doubt there was rice flour available. But, as I remember, they were a hit. Of course, deep fried cardboard would have been a hit. 🙂
Our high yesterday was 46F (7.77C). The overnight low was 23F (-5C). Forecast for today is 46F. Possible snow is showing up, way out at the end of the 7 day forecast. I’ll wait until Prof. Mass calls it, before I get excited.
“Sean of the Dead” is a classic. Might have to see if the library still has a copy. It’s been awhile, since I’ve seen it.
I’m still under the weather, but am still taking the stairs, to walk H. If I take to the elevator, I’m REALLY under the weather. The cough medicine makes life worth living. 🙂 . I was running low, so I ran down to the big inexpensive warehouse grocery, to stock up.
ALERT! Whinge ahead. I also was running low on deodorant. I prefer one brand, that is “unscented,” if you can find it. They have other flavors, which are usually in evidence. What does “Fresh” mean? It’s all stink, to me. Well, anywho, lo and behold, there was unscented on the shelf. I grabbed three tubes. So, those, and two bottles of cough syrup only came to $11. Score!
But as long as I’m whinging about stink, where I walk H outback, is where the dryer vents from the laundry room are. Dryer sheets should be banned. Some of them reek so bad, it nearly knocks my socks off. That stink can’t be good for you. Isn’t the freshness soap imparts, enough? And get off my lawn! End, whinge.
Well, I watched the movie “Rumors”, last night. I can’t say I can recommend it. There is so much that is left unexplained. So, it’s a G-7 conference where “…power players obsess over worthless nonsense.” They become aware that everyone has disappeared from the chateau, where they are meeting. Phone service, vanishes. Then there’s zombie bog bodies wandering around, and a giant brain the size of a VW Beatle, out in the woods. Oh, and maybe a rogue AI. There’s one reference, from someone who’s been “outside” that there are fires and bodies, everywhere. End of the world? Who knows.
Oh, well. Popcorn and blueberry muffins were ingested.
I’m also almost done with “The Mad Files.” I’m finding it an enjoyable read. A lot of the essays explore, or at least touch on, Mad’s post holocaust, second generation immigrant, New York Jewish humor, roots. The magazine really did have far reaching influence, in everything from Saturday Night Live to Mel Brooks movies. There’s even a riff on the origins of Alfred E. Neuman, the “What? Me worry?” mascot. Mad was sued in the 1950s, because someone had used a similar boy, back in the 30s. So, they started doing a bit of research. Alfred pops up in ads, all the way back to the 1880s. For a dentist. And usually has a bit of no worries, dialogue. He’s kind of like “Zelig.” I’m sure, sooner or later, he’ll turn up in a Pompeii wall fresco, or an Egyptian tomb painting. 🙂 Lew
Hi, Chris!
Virginia always has a fire ban season in spring, from mid- February to the end of April. That is when our winds are the highest and the humidity is usually pretty low. Contained fires are allowed, like a brazier or a metal trash can, but I don’t think any fires at all are allowed until after 4pm each day. My understanding is that is because so many of our fire departments are volunteer and by 4pm it is easier to gather up the firefighters from their regular jobs. Of course, just like you, it would have been my decision to build a rock gabion cage if the weather was supposed to be 108F. Winning! But weren’t you just a wee bit worried about becoming the next most-hated person in the mountain range?
That is a much nicer turn onto the path, and the agapanthuses in the background are breathtaking. At least they haven’t all been eaten. And I like the stair landing on the new staircase.
A smoking transmission on anything is never to be taken lightly. That could be a big fix.
That IS one big blackberry. Success!
What lovely colors the cider and wine are. An awful lot of work, though – but it’s going to be good! Fingers crossed nothing gets the persimmons. They are one of my favorite fruits. You eat like a king, Chris, except that you (and the Queen) do all the work! Maybe that’s why you have had all those knights and dames around the place.
Here, we call them Walkingsticks. They look exactly the same. They find roses delicious; watch out.
Can that already be Video Episode 35? Now, now – the truth is out: You have peak rocks, but you are not bereft of rocks. It’s just that only boulders are left. Are you sure that volcano is extinct?
From last week: It’s hard to imagine Mr. Freckles Marshmallow as a menace. We used to get lost hunting dogs at our house every hunting season. Luckily they all had tags and we just called the owners. They were all nice-tempered dogs and got along with our five dogs. Nowadays, I guess they all have tracking collars as I haven’t seen a lost hound in years.
You have such a variety of geraniums. This is the first year in decades that I don’t have at least one geranium plant dug up from the garden and brought into the house for the winter. I am going to have to buy them this spring, except for the one perennial variety that I have. Thanks for those, and the lovely roses, too.
Pam
Hi Pam,
Apologies my explanation may have given the wrong impression. From about November / December to the end of April, those sorts of fire restrictions are in place down here as well. For me to head down into the bush at that time of year and have a burn off during restriction time – even if the conditions were perfect – would require a permit. No permit = big criminal headache problems, and nobody wants those. But in my situation here, we can do as you do and light a fire in a brazier as long as certain conditions are met. The 4pm rule is very clever, and not in place here. Hmm. As you may know I volunteered for several years as a firefighter with the local brigade, and frankly speaking it became what looked to me like an unpaid job. The social side of the brigade was stomped on hard, and why else would anyone volunteer their time to put their lives at risk? And how does a person know the other members on the truck – because you have to trust them in risky situations. It’s hardly surprising that I read articles suggesting that the brigades are struggling to get and keep volunteers. Oh well, not how I’d organise things.
Sorry, as usual I digress – the total fire ban declaration is the whole next level. It truly means – do nothing that day, or else. Definitely no brazier or camp fires.
No fear of becoming the most hated person on the mountain range. When I cut up the steel with the angle grinder, the weather was cool, mild and still – and most importantly, not a declared day of total fire ban. The following day when the cage was sewn up, well that didn’t require the use of an angle grinder.
Hope that all makes sense?
The agapanthus are really lovely super hardy and reliable plants. Every year the bees and honeyeaters enjoy the stupendous number of flowers. Unfortunately this year, a deer has enjoyed the flowers. Hmm. There’s still a week or two to go before I can deal with them. It’s a bit unnerving but another and longer heatwave is now in the forecast. Oh goodie!
Agreed, but I’m totally unsure of what is going on with the machine. It may well be as simple as a lack of oil in the transmission gearbox? Maybe…
If I could only ever get one message across to everyone who reads here, it is to feed the soil. Soils in west civilisation are treated very poorly – and look at the difference feeding can make. And it’s worth noting, those blackberries have not been watered at all this summer. Not once.
Making your own plonk does take a lot of work. We’ve got a good enough system to be able to enjoy a glass per day, and that’s it. Most people would be horrified to comprehend how vast and industrial the system has to be to over indulge. It’s virtually impossible to do if you make the stuff yourself.
Persimmons are lovely fruit, and do you let yours blet as well?
Fear not poor roses (well maybe fear a little bit) for help is on the way. Hopefully the hungry, hungry deer don’t get to the roses, before I get to them. Oooo. Pam, I felt like Dirty Harry saying that. 😉
Yeah, I’d not considered that risk with the local super volcano. And there were those recent earthquakes…
Mr Freckles is a gentleman of the finest breeding and would never become a menace, mostly because he is heavily monitored. His natural inclinations would be to become a menace, but he’s a happy dog living a life of limits.
It is possible that hunters down here do things on the cheap. Those tracking and beeping collars are not cheap down under. And I have the lost hunting dog story on good authority from someone who knows about such things – and has stock losses as a result.
The many geraniums send you cheery and delightful colourful waves from their many flowers. How’s the garden looking now that you’re inching closer to spring?
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
Man, I live in a constant state of amazement that anything as complicated as this here old civilisation can work as well as it does. It is a wonder, yeah! 🙂 Man, I read about peak oil when writing for the hippy press 20 years ago now, took a bit of a deep dive, then utterly changed my life. It’s been a wild ride, and a lot of fun. It astounds me that such a basic concept, is widely ignored.
Oh yeah, you’d previously mentioned those guys in orange jump suits fighting fires, but I’d completely forgotten about them. Well, in the not too distant past, such folks were experimented upon, so getting paid, no matter how lowly, might be a step up on what used to happen. Best to avoid their situation is my thinking, as well as anyone can anyway. I put in a couple of years as a volunteer with the local fire brigade (got paid nothing and used up plenty of my own resources), and it looked like an unpaid job to me. I don’t put in 12 hour shifts for myself – far out. Mind you, with conditions changing, they probably deserve to be paid properly.
Always do so with speed limits, of course. 🙂 One day the cops will eventually get me for a speeding fine, but so far, so good on that front. Still the race is long and there are lots of risks and hazards. The turning circle off that path above the house is super smooth now.
Man, that’s a sad tale right there. Fruit and veg may look like it used to, but sadly the nutritional content is fast declining due to our civilisations lack of desire to invest in soil fertility – and has been doing so for the past century or more. It’s sad because you know, it’s not a particularly new or interesting way to derail everything. Look at the health of the people around you. Hmm. Oh well.
I’m totally cool with herbivores of that stick insect size. They run the risk of being eaten by all sorts of critters and a fine balance more or less comes into being. The deer unfortunately are not being eaten by anything other than humans. Good to hear that the stick insects are in your part of the world and to the east and north of you.
It would be a particularly stupid act to do such a thing to yourself with a hand cranked meat grinder, but truly, the world contains vast numbers of people. Surely someone, somewhere has injured themselves with such a simple tool? Oh my… Most machines appear to be powered.
Hehe! It would have been a lively party with wonton wrappers – food taken to 11, respect! There are some restaurants in the big smoke we used to go to which specialised in those delectable treats. And they’re so good. Now that you mention it, I don’t recall yoghurt being a thing when I was a young bloke. You’d only ever see it as an addition to the Souvlaki which is a Greek roast lamb and garden salad wrap. Mate, when they’re good, the meal will significantly exceed your expectations. The yoghurt of course is infused with garlic. The meat really has to be cooked over a charcoal grill for the proper taste, but that’s my bias. I’m salivating and haven’t had dinner yet.
But agreed, food was pretty basic back in the 1970’s and 80’s.
Worked in the big smoke today and got home late. The Editor is out for dinner with friends, and so I’ll have to make some food in a little while. Me getting the hungus. 🙂
23’F is very unpleasant sounding. Fortunately today cooled here, and we even had a little bit of rain this morning. There’s another heat wave coming up later in the week. Oh poop. Guess it’s that time of year.
It’s been ages here too since seeing that film. Wonder what Mr Pegg is up to these days? Are the plans for another Star Trek film?
No good, and sending you some positive energy. Hope you get better soon too. And hopefully this week H is on her very best behaviour?
Yes, some people do tend to overdo the scent, and I do wonder what their sense of smell is like? It might not be any good because that sensory perception is very much on a continuum, although I might be overly sensitive. Dunno. I’m sure that the word ‘fresh’ has some sort of 400 page legal definition. A bit the word ‘natural’ huh? Could mean anything.
There’s a lot to unpack with dryer sheets. Personally, never used them and don’t own a dryer – and for the record have clothes predominantly made from fibres and materials found in nature. What other people do is their business, but I’d not recommend that plastic high energy path. A fine whinge, and I’d never heard of the things before. We once bought a second hand couch that the previous used to clean with baby wipes – it took months for the stink to dissipate and set my nose on edge. So yeah, you have my sympathies.
The movie sounds very confused. Why would a meeting of the G-7 folks be spared? More questions than answers, although there could be a sequel?
Poor Alfred E Neumann getting dragged into the court system. Dude, that situation is the complete antithesis of ‘what me worry?’ pirate lifestyle.
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – There are a lot of speed traps, between here and the Club. I have to be vigilant and careful. Enriching the coffers of the City of Chehalis. 🙂
I was down at the moved veg store, the other day. Picked up some yoghurt. But, my veg buying is now limited to the big, inexpensive warehouse grocery. The produce there is pretty good, if you’re careful. I’m just sorry that my money isn’t going to more local vendors. But, on the other hand, the big warehouse grocery treats its employees, really well. One hears things … Once the big Winco store opens, I suppose my veg will come from there. I see they’re starting to interview employees, the end of February.
Once the Master Gardener’s wander back, I’ll get a definitive answer on the stick insects. I guess some people keep them as pets.
A powered meat grinder would be frightening. Way back when, when my mother needed input for gifts, I always asked for one kind of kitchen equipment, or another. And even back then, I was … enlightened (?) enough to specify non-electric gizmos. I’m sure my apple peeler was a Christmas or birthday gift.
Our high yesterday was 48F. (8.88C). The overnight low was 23F (-5C). The forecast for today is 46F. Still mixed rain and snow forecast for the weekend. Prof. Mass is playing close to the chest. He’ll probably have more to say, as we get closer to the weekend.
The library did have copies of Shaun of the Dead. I put one on hold. Popcorn in my future.
I think I’m on the mend. When you get yellow out of your nose, or lungs, that’s dead bacteria. So, I guess I have “just” a cold. With all the carp floating around, anything that gets in the lungs is nerve wracking.
The G-7 conference in “Rumors” was held at a chateau, way out in the woods. There was a lot of traipsing through said dark and scary woods. At night.
On the masthead of Mad magazine, was a department called “Law Suits.” 🙂 But, satire is pretty well protected in this country. The funniest story was after they did their “Star Wars” parody, the Lucas Films legal department sent them a cease and desist. Wanting them to recall all copies and destroy them. Mad magazine responded with a copy of a letter, they had gotten from George Lucas, a couple of months before, requesting some of the artwork from the parody. They never heard from them, again. 🙂
You may find this article, about some archaeology of colonial Australia, interesting.
https://archaeology.org/news/2025/01/23/foodstuffs-found-under-colonial-era-barracks-floorboards-in-australia/
Well, concerning news. Our new Fearless Leader has suspended all government grants and loans. Except for Social Security and Medicare. How that might impact my housing, I don’t know. Too early to tell. I really don’t know how this place is financed (not very transparent), but we do get money from HUD (Housing and Urban Development.) Lew
Chris:
It does make sense. Thanks.
You have gotten your soil message across to me! You were the first one I ever read that really emphasized it. Now, if only I can accomplish what I need to. I had hoped to be working in the garden, but we still have most of the snow and ice from the storm of three-plus weeks ago and I still can’t make it down to the garden without taking an undue risk, even though it was 60F (15C) today. I think tomorrow will be better. So how is the garden looking? It’s all white . . . I’ll have to be starting seeds inside fairly soon.
I do let the persimmons blet; that’s how they are best.
Oh, Chris! You are so like Dirty Harry. Make our day . . .
I was reading something the other day and it was mentioned, just by chance, that one should heat Tung Oil for furniture finishing to 40C first. Did you do that?
Pam
Chris,
Oh, thanks for that link to REM’s Losing My Religion. I’d almost forgotten about that song. Interestingly, it was released in 1991. That was the year the Princess and I met and got together. Also the year that I finally left that weird church and, well, my religion. That song was actually nearly an anthem I had back then.
Tonight I’m listening to some Blondie. Circa 1979-1981 songs, mostly from their 1980 “Autoamerican” album. This album and Linda Ronstadt’s “Heart Like a Wheel” and Jethro Tull’s “Songs from the Woods” were favorites of my deceased friend and me. Countless hours were spent listening to these.
We might get some snow Friday morning. The extended forecast is that we might have some winter weather for a week or three. Maybe. I’m not convinced of much snow falling here yet.
I looked at the picture at the start of this week’s “Adventures from Fernglade”. I quickly pointed out the stick insect to the Princess. Those are such interesting critters.
Nicely done. A path will end at the new stairway. No more stairway to heaven. Tis a stairway to a pathway. 😉 Also glad you’re going to get more soil out of the improved pathways. Perhaps you’ll strike a boulder or two that won’t need transporting uphill?
That is one BIG blackberry.
Ya know, I’d have a big smile if I was pressing fruit for future cider. Yummy stuff. I also like your highly technical instruction to “re-press the already squooshed”. Good word, squooshed, and I see that, like me, you use it in many applications.
Your tomato, chive and cheese sandwich sounds good. I used to eat a lot of tomato and jalapeno sandwiches back in the day. Those were yummy too.
Geraniums and roses. Thanks!
DJSpo
Hi Pam,
Thanks for understanding. It’s funny you know, but tonight I’m again wearing a woollen jumper after a cold but blue sky summers day with the winds originating from that big old frozen continent. Right now there’s a load of collected fallen sticks sitting in the corten steel brazier in the courtyard waiting to be converted into ash – a decent fertiliser. It would be safe to do, and falls within the rules, but having finished work today at almost 9pm, I’m pooped out. Maybe the stuff will be burnt off tomorrow night. But if it were a declared day of ‘total fire ban’, and I ignited the stuff in the brazier – things would go poorly for me.
We like to keep the place super neat by picking up all of these fallen branches, and the trees do keep supplying them. It’s like the trees are asking for trouble shedding the branches. Another heat wave is due to hit here on Saturday and run for four days. Oh goodie!
Respect for taking in the message regarding soil, and truly, Claire begun this entire story in this here reading location. Pam, truthfully I’m working on my friend Simon who needs to get the soil message too. Hope he doesn’t crack the sads. Ook! Well, as the Beatles wisely sang, we all do what we can, and with your own soil, there’s no perfect and you’d already know that sometimes you have to work with the local conditions.
Yup, why take risks for cheap points? Although now I’ve said that it sounds like computer gaming advice, which kind of fits your icy ground story. Plenty of time to feed the soil when conditions are more suitable.
Pam, Sandra gets the blet Persimmon fruit and simply squeezes the orange guts of the fruit out. Super tasty, but visually the fruit smoosh is very visually unappealing don’t you reckon? Like, would you use say, I dunno, but just for example: Orange toothpaste? ‘Tes not natural, like blue gel toothpaste – nothing in nature looks like that stuff.
🙂 Like to believe that you’ve at least been entertained! Are we entertained yet? Hehe! For some weird reason, and the utub algaerythm is so weird, but people have begun watching the rock one. Go figure.
Nope with the Tung Oil. Ook! I wasn’t aware that the product required pre-heating, and it kind of speeds the polymerisation process up – from what I was reading. What’s interested me about the finish, is that after sixteen years (which is pretty good) the olive oil soap can sometimes slowly lift the oil. Those areas I’ll sand back, and may start that job this week although I’m a bit nervous about doing so.
Cheers
Chris
Hi DJ,
Whoa! My brain is now exploding. Hang on a second, I have to stop the important chunks from oozing out the ears – always important. All this talk of REM, and that was a great song too, got me wondering when did they play at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne. Turns out, it was almost 30 years ago a few days ago. Far freakin’ out! My visual memory recollection is not good, but I can still sort of see images of that day, and Sandra and I had only been ‘going out’ as they used to say, for less than a year.
Yeah, that song was a soundtrack alright, and my how young we all were back then! Glad you made it out too, sometimes events and circumstances push a person in a certain direction. Then that’s where you end up. Events would suggest this is a sound philosophy don’t you reckon?
Rapture is a pretty strong song from that album, and Blondie still tours I believe. A great album. I quite like Atomic. Nice to have friends who share their music, and that’s how I got into REM with their Green album. And yeah, as the years go on, you do kind of associate people you’ve known with memories, times and objects.
Well, the forecast may change before the snow hits, but you’d know your local weather pretty well. There’s about a four or five day heatwave in the near future, great. Yeah. Might have to splurge some water on trees which look a bit stressed out.
Do you get stick insects in your part of the world? Glad that your lady was intrigued by the down under insect. Outside the house, the place jumps with life – sometimes a bit too much.
Hehe! Poured another step today, and hopefully will get another done tomorrow. Had to squeeze that job in between paid work, and so didn’t finish until about 9pm. Me tired. The stairway is progressing, and we need to change the angle of the treads as it climbs the slope.
The blackberry tells me how soils used to be. They’re huge this year, and I have not watered the canes once all summer.
It’s such a fun word, and glad to hear that you also use it. You can substitute in the word ‘smooshed’ as well and it more or less means the same thing. This year, we’ve cracked the secret to making tasty cider. A lot of dodgy batches getting to this point of knowledge.
Oh yummo! Tomato and jalapeno sounds so good! Enough zing, but not too much zang brain pain. Nobody wants that, well, now that I think about it – what’s your take on super hot chilli’s? Ever tried one of those Carolina Reapers? I’m not entirely certain why people would grow them, but used to have a neighbour who organised someone to grow them for him. He was a fun neighbour, and we used to go around for dinner and just talk rubbish.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
Out of curiosity, what exactly is a speed trap? Here, they have both mobile and fixed speed cameras. So if you drive past one, and are speeding, you’ll get a fine (and photograph) in the mail. Plus we seem to now have these weird Dalek looking things on the sides of freeways at various points. The Editor tells me that they’re data collecting devices and so apparently they read your number plates presumably and track your movements. I drive past them wondering if I’ll hear the cry: “You will be exterminated!” before the laser beam does the nasty final job, or not. Then there are high up cameras which look down into the car, and those are apparently meant to be checking to see if people are using their phones whilst driving – another fine of course. But there are privacy issues there with peering into the cabins of vehicles, and I’ve read that there are some concerns about whether they should be seeing what they’re allegedly seeing – some people of course make interesting lifestyle entertainment choices in vehicles. Then some intersections have red light cameras, so if you go through on the red, well photo and fine. Talk about unhappy snaps! So many ways to be caught and fined, and I’ve been pulled over for no reason that I can comprehend. Plus from time to time, they’ll do a random blitz and remove unregistered vehicles, unlicensed drivers from the roads etc. Plus there are booze buses, which are less fun than they sound. You drive up to a random stop and have your blood alcohol content measured – if over 0.05%, that’s an immediate loss of license. It’s perilous out there, but yeah enriching the coffers of the man.
At least you got the good yoghurt. Was the relocated and downsized business busy? It’s not hard to notice when employers are not good with their employees – and banning toilet breaks is always a bad thing to do. Hope the new Winco store turns out well for you, and the people who work there.
Yes, some people do keep stick insects as pets, and there was that comedy festival show the Editor and I went to a few years ago with a lady who was a talented animal trainer and stick insect owner. She was really lovely and funny.
That’s what I think too about such a powered machine. The thing about powered machines, is that accidents happen biggerer and fasterer. Hmm. The Editor made dinner this evening and used my paring knife and sliced her finger – no real drama. To make her feel better as slapped on a band-aid, I was making jokes about having to clean up the blood with vinegar lest the crime scene team turn their luminol and black light onto the spots. The knife gets sharpened every day, but a person must careful with it. Maybe six or seven years ago the concept of maintaining and repairing all this stuff was new, and tool sharpening is the proverbial low hanging fruit. Man, I’d hate to think how few people know how to keep a knife sharp these days. Probably chuck them out and get another one…
Worked late tonight and finished paid work around 9pm. A big day, but we did manage to squeeze in pouring another cement step earlier today.
It interested me that the local general store was a bit quieter this morning. I’ve heard it said elsewhere that people get back from summer holidays with their minds made up and plans. Some of those plans may involve cutting back on expenditures.
There’s a federal election coming up, so the official news is that inflation is down, and so interest rates may also be reduced. Hmm. A bit like gasoline prices in your country, huh? I find it hard to believe that people could fall for such short term trinkets.
Your mum was pretty clever to ask you for what you wanted. Saves a lot of disappointment. Were you allowed to run riot in the kitchen? And were there rules about cleaning up?
Oh my, that’s a cold overnight. How’s H taking the cooler night time temperatures? Glad to hear that you’re feeling better, and ejecting the unpleasant stuff.
It was a cool but sunny day here today. 68’F. Tomorrow looks much the same, but an extended heat wave is coming later in the week. Ook! It’s the time of year for temperature extremes.
Good stuff and I hope the Simon Pegg and Nick Frost cult classic arrive soon. The film has a great cast of actors, and they give it a 100%. Who can forget the grumpy housemate with a headache?
How much was the masthead? Just spent a minor deviant, or is it deviation, reading about some of the pranks on the masthead. Even the ‘law suits’ (very funny) itself got pranked for a couple of magazines. That’s a lovely story too of bureaucratic over-reach, and nicely swatted aside too. Satire is very much protected down under as well – thankfully. Sometimes the court jester can say things aloud that the aristocracy don’t have the cojones to say.
Those were some not very local foodstuffs which the ladies clearly hoarded under the floorboards. Some of them are quite exotic, even today.
Fingers crossed that your personal circumstances remain unaffected.
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – The REM song, mentioned, was a favorite, of mine. And the music video was just wild. I also quit liked “Radio Days.”
Speaking of peppers, every year the McCormick’s spice people do a lot of research and declare a “flavor of the year.” Up this year, is one no-one will be able to pronounce, except the foodie in crowd. 🙂
https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/28/food/mccormick-flavor-of-the-year-2025
A speed trap is when a police car lurks behind things (billboards, corners) and then swoops out to nail a speeding offender. Sometimes, they work in pairs. One clocks the car, the other nails it. They go way back. You often see them, in old cartoons.
I don’t know how the veg store is doing. When I dropped in, the other day, I was the lone customer. Although that occasionally happened when they were at the “much more convenient” for shoppers, location.
As with Bob’s Red Mill, Winco is employee owned. Bunch of commies! 🙂 They are also open 24/7. Which will make for convenient shopping, for me.
I really need to get on the knife sharpening, routine. I need a new paring knife, and have been talking to Mike the Chef, about best brands.
I got my renters and auto insurance, the other day. After a long time of no increases, both bumped up a bit. But not much. I’ll just have to throw $80 in the insurance savings hole, per month, instead of $75.
When my brother and I were both safely in school, my mother went to waitressing. Dad often had side jobs, in the evenings. So, it was up to me to get dinner on the table. Usually, it was tinned stuff, all laid out. As I remember. After all, it was 60 years ago. 🙂 I don’t remember how the clean up was handled, but everything was kept pretty ship shape in the kitchen. But I don’t think I was doing any major innovation, in the kitchen.
Our high yesterday was 46F (7.77C). The overnight low was 23F (-5C). Forecast for today is 48F. This will be our last cold night. Tomorrow night it’s well above freezing. So far, the forecast for the weekend and into next week is for mixed rain and snow. We’ll see.
H is due for a trip to the groomer’s, next month. She’s getting pretty shaggy. I still slap a coat on her, mornings and nights. She doesn’t seem to suffer from the cold.
I thought I was well enough, to skip the cough medicine, before bed. Nope. An hour after going to bed, I was up and hitting the bottle, again. 🙂 I heard this morning that there’s a lot of colds and bronchitis in the building.
I’m reading an interesting book. “Somewhere Toward Freedom: Sherman’s March and the Story of America’s Largest Emancipation.” (Parten, 2025). General Sherman and his “march to the sea,” was a major event during our Civil War.
https://w.wiki/Cszq
After capturing and burning Atlanta (See: “Gone with the Wind”, book or movie 🙂 , Gen. Sherman struck out across Georgia, to capture the port of Savannah.
“Shaun of the Dead,” is in transit to me. I’ll either pick it up, today or Saturday. Lew
Chris:
I forget that you are relatively close to Antarctica. Yes, ash is a good thing to have on hand. That’s one thing that we always have plenty of, though we just used up a goodly amount on our walkways and driveway after the snow and ice. Speaking of Antarctica, today I finally was able to get down to the garden. I followed a route with my little wagon where there were some spots where leaves were showing through the ice, mostly along where trees were. I had to walk on the beds once inside – no problem as the ground is well frozen – because the pathways in the garden are still all ice. The beds had thawed a bit because of the dead plants in them. All I was able to do was to clean up the trellises that the beans were on; too frozen to pull up any dead plants. But it was a warm day, with a high, warm wind, so things should be better tomorrow. I also made a diagram of the garden and its beds inside the 8 foot (2 1/2m)
fence. I used to always do that for planning out what to plant, but haven’t in awhile.
I also came across some advice about planting potatoes, that the more eyes on the cut pieces that you plant, the smaller your potatoes will be, but you’ll get more of them. As my potatoes always turn out small anyway, I need to aim for the biggest possible, I think.
“A study at the University of Idaho College of Agriculture states:
“For Russet Burbank, an average of 2.5 to 3.5 stems per plant is considered optimum for maximum performance in commercial plantings. The number of eyes per seed piece influences stem numbers per plant.”
If you want BIG POTATOES for baking, etc. then you want your whole potato or cut piece to have 2-4 eyes facing towards the sky. If you already have stems sprouting from the eyes you want to get 2-4 stems per piece or per plant. This is going to give each stem plenty of room to produce large potatoes.
If you want small potatoes you want more eyes per whole potato or cut piece of seed. This of course will produce more stems. You want 5-8 stems per plant, all facing towards the sky. This is going to produce more potatoes per plant but they will all be smaller.” University of Idaho
And this:
“Nora Olsen, Ph.D., extension potato specialist at the University of Idaho Kimberly Research and Extension Center and president of the Potato Association of America tells rodalesorganiclife.com:
“We do not recommend planting a seed piece or whole tuber smaller than 1.5 ounces,” “If you plant a whole seed or seed piece below this size, the resulting plant may not be as vigorous and large as desired and may yield fewer and smaller tubers.”
“This basically tells you all you need to know. The seed (whether whole or cut) needs to be over 1.5 ounces. Many times it is stated between 1.5-3 ounces, but it can be over 3 ounces as long as it has the number of stems you are looking for.”
I do remember all the wonderful information that Claire put on her blog about soil enrichment. She knows so much!
We are always entertained.
Pam
Chris,
That philosophy sounds familiar, yes. 😉 It’s nicely practical and deals with reality, not a bunch of “what if” scenarios.
Rapture is a great song. Very interesting and a bit ahead of its time in some ways. Generally, I found it to be an album that was put together well, although not in the league of the Eagles’ Desperado album. My favorite song from Blondie’s Autoamerica album is “Here’s Looking at You”.
It’s always good to get water on the stressed trees before it gets drastic. Trees are good to have.
If we get stick insects, it’s rare. Can’t remember seeing them. There is often a large praying mantis population in late summer and early fall. They are always interesting to watch. Avalanche has caught one or two. She lets them go, as they tend to pinch her nose until she releases them. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantis
Summer. Concrete work moves faster. It’s always good seeing work progress rapidly.
The secret to good cider? And you’ve cracked the code? Good work! That is exciting. There are so many things that are crafts to learn with an artistry to getting it correct.
Squooshed, smooshed. Very descriptive words both. Very technical jargon, too. I wonder how long the list is to which these words apply? 42 maybe?
I can’t eat those super hot chilis. Nope no sirree. One of my cousins sent some hot chilis home with us from New Mexico last April. The first meal I had with some of them was barely edible. Cousin later said that he can only eat tiny amounts of them in a meal. I keep forgetting to try his idea. His wife just shakes her head and laughs. She eats them like candy. I might dehydrate them, which will make it easier for me to use tiny amounts.
DJSpo
Hi Pam,
Yeah, there’s nothing between that big frozen continent and here other than ocean, and when the winds blow in from the south – as they regularly do, it can get cold here one day, and super hot the next. It’s very difficult to acclimate to the conditions. Sunday through Tuesday are forecast to reach 100’F all with warm nights. That’ll be exciting, and require a lot of the water reserves. Yet, today was a cool sunny summer’s day – almost perfect conditions. They do say that four seasons in one day can apply here.
To put 37′ latitude south into perspective in your country, if in the north, it’d be the Kansas / Oklahoma border.
An excellent use for the ash, and probably better for the soil than using salt. Nice one navigating the frozen path – what a total nightmare and it’d be slippery as. Glad to hear that you traversed the frozen ground intact and unharmed.
Pam, respect for drawing up the garden plan for the coming year. Have all the seeds arrived? With it being cold right now, do you start them a bit later? I have to sort of keep an eye on the conditions and am wary of warm Augusts (your February), which suddenly plummet into a cold September (your March).
It’s nice to have less responsibilities, and also be able to take more time and care with the things you choose to do with your life. It’s an enviable experience. I’d be interested to hear your thoughts in the matter, but I’m of the opinion that it’s a lovely thing to be able to pick and choose how you spend your time. Not everyone gets to enjoy that freedom, and you’ve had a lot on your plate for years.
Thanks for the information on the potatoes, and we’re all continually learning as we go! It makes sense though to select the correct seed potatoes, although I’d not consciously thought about it – especially in terms of the number of eyes produced.
It being dry here at the moment, the soil is receding away from the potato vines which are beginning to die – the deer have not assisted matters. If I spot any tubers poking out of the soil they get lifted and brought into the kitchen. Picked two large red varieties which were from the ones which had grown here for many years. Surprisingly they were larger than the purchased virus free seed potatoes. Go figure. They’re in dinner tonight on the vague basis that there will be more in the ground to harvest, maybe. Fingers crossed anyway.
You know, I always planted potatoes with the eyes facing upwards, but had not really thought of the consequences of that action. Hmm. Always learning. Don’t you reckon with plants and their cycles, it’s kind of like getting to deeply comprehend a story?
Claire’s work was most excellent, yeah. And without the lady’s good advice, I’d still be struggling with the fruit trees in the orchards. Everything begins with the soil. 🙂
Took today off work. It just didn’t feel right this morning, despite the weather being perfect. Went for a walk in a nearby garden instead and restocked some of the bulk goods purchased at cool stores. Of course there was a tasty lunch! Yum!
Cheers
Chris
Hi DJ,
There’s a lot to be said for the philosophy of stoicism when a person finds themselves in challenging times. 🙂 It works… I’m very careful when interacting with people whom espouse abstract models of the world which differ from the lived experience. Long ago on the interweb, the guy who suggested that when the solar power systems actual data differed from his model, that the system itself was at fault, really intrigued me. As they say, there’s a lot to unpack there.
I’ll have a listen to the song after replying, and appreciate the recommendation.
Took the day off work today, conditions not feeling quite right this morning. Portents. Omens. The usual stuff. Headed north instead to visit the cold store and replenish some other food stocks. A very pleasant and relaxing day was had. Feeling much better this evening, and a tasty lunch probably assisted matters. One of the few benefits of small business nowadays is having some flexibility in your schedule.
Trees are good. Ook! Sunday through Tuesday are all forecast around the 38’C with warm nights. Oh well, like an exam for an unpleasant subject, it’s something to be gotten through. I might chuck some water on the trees tomorrow night (Friday). How’s the snow, cold and ice going in your part of the world?
Oh yeah, we get large praying mantises as well and don’t they do great work in the garden? Always good to have such predators around lest things get out of hand. Hey, we had a locust plague sweep through the mountain range many years ago. The local birds totally destroyed them. I recall watching the insects bouncing around in the sunshine here, for a little while. Balance is a good thing, and hard to achieve – and easily disturbed.
Dame Avalanche is brave to release the insect, and now retains her nose as a bonus! 🙂 Dogs can be pretty silly sometimes.
Thanks! Actually, the winter months aren’t all that great for concrete work here, but the stuff can eventually set. It’s a peculiar product our species casually uses. The best curing at this time of year requires water to be splashed onto the surface in the days following on from the initial set. Oh well, nothing’s perfect.
Exactly! Brewing is artistry in that even knowing that the time of year makes a difference. Many long years ago a friend worked at a sourdough bakery, and he told me that their dirty little secret was that over winter – they added commercial bakers yeast. I recounted that story to another foodie friend who was horrified, but had wondered why they were not allowed in to see the details of the baking process at a different sourdough bakery. Hmm.
Ooo, 42 is a good guess. But DJ, will we ever comprehend the meaning of the answer? And how can we make some mad cash out of this? 😉
Far out! I’ve never observed a person eating such super hot chilli’s like candy. That’s one tough-as constitution. Dude, we’re not worthy! 🙂 Even dehydrated the chilli’s are still hot. Some of the one’s in the greenhouse have just begun turning red over the recent heatwave.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
The food in Peru was excellent, if a touch meat heavy, but it was also notable for being one of the few countries we’d travelled in where I didn’t pick up a stomach bug of any description. They do say what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger, but it’s no fun holiday to feel deeply ill in a foreign country. Sorry, I digress, but the food was pretty good there, and so the spice dudes might be onto something with that choice.
REM put on such a good live show, and I recall Michael Stipe throwing the music sheets out into the crowd after each page was completed. I guess some of the lyrics were quite abstract and would have been hard to recall. Plus how many song lyrics and melodies can a single brain hold? After a while a band probably would stop taking requests on the basis that they might stuff the randomly chosen song up if not constantly practised.
Oh! Well, that’s an intriguing tag team practice. Down here is a bit more hands-off. There’s still the lurking behind a whatever, but the speed is recorded by a radar with a photograph taken – so you never really know whether you’ve been caught, until you have been. You know when the fine is received in the mail. Fines have a scary way of escalating if ignored – is that the case in your country? Doing nothing with those bits of paper, is probably a very bad decision. It’s not a system which works well for people with mental health issues.
It is hard to know how shops are doing, but with enough exposure to them in various conditions, you can sort of guess.
Dude, they’s socialists! 🙂 Hehe! Who cares? But that’s long been known as a problem thing in your country. Such folks pop their heads up down here for a while, then quietly disappear. Every year I see posters in the uber-cool inner urban big smoke suburbs for marxism conferences. I’m not suggesting they use the same artwork each year, but there is a certain theme going on which I’ve noticed. Very presentable, yet angry young lady with her fist pounded in the air seems to be the major theme. Lovely artwork, but I’d not be at all that happy with the young lady when the anger is proven to be a documented feature of her personality. Life is a bit short for such heavy emotions. What, can’t they find a more even tempered representation of a marxist? 🙂
Looking after one’s tools becomes second nature, although your kitchen knife may have been super sharp in the first place? I’ve noticed that the mildly serrated edges stay pretty sharp over a very long time. Back in the day houses would have a leather strop hanging off the back of a door for such purposes. How leather can sharpen steel is a concept which is beyond my understanding, but it works.
Those fires way off to the south and west of you will cast a long shadow over all of our insurance premiums. The underwriters (sounds like undertakers, doesn’t it?) might not be all that keen to take on losses – and do they even maintain prudent reserves? Hard to know really.
Well done you, and for much the same reasons, I too was pushed into the kitchen. I’ll tell you a funny story there, it was not until I moved into share houses and experienced a few different girlfriends until I realised that most kids were sheltered from the workings of the kitchen. In many ways it kind of made them dependent on the arrangement. You I probably knew what bad food was, and could point out why it was thus!
That makes total sense to me, and there was little innovation for me either at young age. Get in, do what needs doing, clean up, then get out again. You’d have noticed that too, the enjoyment of the activity increases over time, plus you learn what ingredients work with what. Some people I’ve met are very incurious about food, which I find baffling. Other people have a very complicated relationship to food and see it as the enemy. Far out.
I always had to do the clean up after cooking, and as a result am a very neat and tidy person in the kitchen. It’s self defeating to make a big mess, and man, in sharehouses I’ve seen that happen. People walking away from kitchen messes that they’ve made, bothered me deeply. But all the same, it happened.
Oh my! So cold. Brr! That’d be a seven blanket night for me, or at least several blankets and three H’s! 🙂 A three H night, huh?
We’ve got three days around 100’F from Sunday to Tuesday. Yay for us!
H’s double thick fur would assist her avoiding the worst of the cold weather. The dogs here have short fur, and they blow their coats in the summer months – lot’s of dust bunnies to vacuum up.
A professional hazard there with your cough, and hope you get back on the wagon soon. 😉 It’s going around that’s for sure.
The Union had better manufacturing facilities than the confederates, and that was an awful war that one. I’ll have a look at the book after. I’ve never seen Gone with the wind. I know, education these days…
Go Simon Pegg, and may he entertain us all! Did you pick the film up?
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – Did you eat any guinea pigs, while you were in Peru? 🙂 Or llama or alpaca? Hmmm. Guinea pigs stuffed with (mild) peppers. Yum!
Here, if you ignore traffic tickets, not only does the price escalate, but A warrant for arrest is issued, and you might end up spending a night in the slammer.
“Propaganda posters.” Some people collect them. I must say, they are earnest. I quit like some of them. Bold colors, interesting graphics and tractors. Lots of tractors.
I think I picked up the paring knife I use, at an op-shop for about twenty-five cents. Has a small hook on the point, just to make things interesting. I’ve had it for years. Yup, I think it’s time for a new one, and something with a bit more quality.
I think kids nowadays, are a bit more hip and with it, when it comes to food and cooking. But, there was a generation or two that seemed to miss out on any school instruction. Now, many schools (as we’ve discussed) have food gardens and some high schools even have culinary programs.
Ah, the good old leather strop. Often used for disciplining children. Maybe it should make a come back? 🙂
Our high yesterday was 52F (11.11C). The overnight low was 28F (-2.22C). The forecast for today is 44F. Prof. Mass finally bit the bullet and is talking about the upcoming changes in our weather. Although he hedges by saying …”substantial uncertainty.” Tonight, we may get some rain. I see on the radar a substantial dark area, moving in from the NW. Mixed rain and snow, starting tomorrow night, into next week. We’ll get some wind, too. Gusts into the low 20s mph. We’ll have a couple of nights of over freezing temps, and then it’s back into the deep freeze, again.
No problem staying warm. A blanket and a sheet, are sufficient. I usually have been running my little space heater, just a couple of hours in the evening. Meets my needs.
I continue to get better, I think. Only had to hit the cough syrup bottle, once, yesterday.
“Shaun of the Dead” didn’t show up, yesterday, though a lot of other DVDs, did. It might show up by Saturday.
Haven’t seen (or read) “Gone with the Wind?” It is a rip snorter of a good story, and a great romance. The Editor might like it. It’s got some great quotable lines. A landmark in Cultural Literacy. And, film history. The comedian Carol Burnett did a great send up, on her TV comedy show.
https://youtu.be/OSV-fFE45Tc?si=4ca5CPwwn5ELcZj5
Ah, humor was simpler then. Lew
Chris:
Kansas – right smack in the middle of my country. Interestingly, where we are looking for land in the once and future distance is in Arkansas, where you head south from Kansas, turn left once you’re in Oklahoma, and head east for a bit. Mountains again! But I think we will insist on some flat land, too.
I thought all the seeds had arrived, but couldn’t find some crucial ones from one particular seed company. I’m sure they got here . . . Anyway, I ordered them again as one thing I am planting for a friend and another one I am really anxious to try as I love cooking with it. The first are Roma II bush beans, an Italian sort of green bean and the friend, of Italian background, tells me they are the cat’s meow in Italy. The second is the Aleppo pepper, from the Middle East, a mild, flavorful pepper. I first bought some dried ones to put in my hummus. Now I use it for lots of things.
I am so lucky to have some time now for just doing what I want. I even have time to read The Archdruid – I mean Mr. Greer – again.
Good for you, taking time off. You are lucky, also, that you can do that sometimes. We are two lucky folks!
Pam
Chris,
Abstract models can be fun to think about. Only for a short time, however, at least for me, lest they turn into rabbit holes. The danger, as you’ve experienced, is when the theory becomes more important than what is actually occurring. Keeping things simple and in agreement with observable reality is much easier on the nerves and is rewarding in how to cope with change and randomness. So, agreed. A somewhat stoic attitude works.
Good on you, taking a day away from working. An outing is often a good idea. And a good lunch during the outing is a bonus.
Cold? Nights are still cold. Snow and ice? None. The big storm Lew has been talking about should hit us overnight tonight. Perhaps 1 to 3 cm of snow before it turns to rain. Then rain most of Friday into Saturday. Then temperatures back to what we’ve been having – cold nights and days near +2C. Doesn’t sound very severe to me.
Predators will follow a good food source, although sometimes it’s not immediate. Glad the birds were directly behind that locust infestation. The mantises are always a joy to watch, no matter what they are doing. Dame Avalanche’s curiosity often leads her to play with inappropriate insects. Fortunately, no harm has been done to her, although the mantises came close. Watching her play with grasshoppers always provides mirthful moments. She has yet to figure out that they jump.
Concrete work here is difficult past early October. I like doing concrete projects in August, actually. Although I will have to do some concrete repairs in May probably. One of my porch repairs from 3 years ago is failing. Sigh.
Adding baker’s yeast to sourdough would be horrifying to other sourdough bakers. That added boost in cooler weather was probably necessary. My beer and ale fermentation always took longer in the winter than in the summer. The fermentation room is chilly in the winter. We don’t heat the rooms at that end of the house in the winter, as one room isn’t used much, and the other is our sleeping quarters. We both sleep better in a cool room.
Isn’t knowing the answer enough? Now you want to understand what the answer means? The fact that the answer is NOT understandable is precisely what provides the opportunities to make money off of the answer. It’s sort of like quantum mechanics. It appears to work but nobody really truly understands it, much less HOW it works. 42 just is. Remember, it is an impossibility to know both the actual question and the answer simultaneously in any given universe. 😉
New Mexico is famous for its Hatch chilis. The green ones are much hotter than the riper red ones. If the green ones are harvested at the right time, they can be fiercely hot. Apparently, that is what happened with the chilis cousin gave me. Harvesting a week or two later may have diminished the heat to the point I could eat them.
DJSpo
Hi Pam,
Oooo, that’d be the Ozarks I’m guessing? Maybe? In that state, I’d tend to steer clear of the major cities, if a person can. Always difficult though! 🙂 And flat land, what is this thing? I’ve heard stories, but the reality is probably to easy for it to be cheap…
Well, a different perspective is that sometimes none of us gardeners ever get around to planting every crop that we wish. Take corn for example, I’d completely neglected to plant any seeds this year – which we had to hand. Oh well. Or, the cucumbers which never germinated – probably the soil was too cold at the time. Or maybe the seeds were rubbish, it wouldn’t be the first season when that has happened with cucumbers.
Whoa! Those Roma II bush beans look really interesting, and we’ve only ever grown climbing beans. Hope you get some of those seeds, and then get them into the ground. And also that the deer stay away. The Aleppo pepper look like a great choice too – and we pick chilli’s when red and then let them dry, but those peppers sound perfect for drying and turning into a powder (or flakes). Pam, I’m so with you, hot, but not too hot. One need not experience the Carolina reaper chilli to know true pain.
It’s so nice having some free moments in the day to spend as you will. 🙂 Alas my day today was snatched away from me with paid work, but a person must endure these things stoically if they want the lights to stay on an keep food upon the table! I’ve not yet had the chance to read Mr Greer this week, and must remedy this serious lack on my part. Was the essay good?
Most of the time, the winds of fate blow us here and there, and it is up to us to snatch the tiny bits of moments to exercise our free will where we can. If that makes sense? 😉
Cheers
Chris
Hi DJ,
🙂 Man, I so hear you there. And yes, it’s a dark rabbit hole to fall into. There’s a weird tendency with our civilisation to extrapolate pleasing futures from models, and I don’t believe that is a very mentally healthy activity. The other day I spotted an article which alerted readers to the fact that: On November 6 last year, renewables provided three-quarters of all the power in the grid for a half-hour period for the first time.
Solar power hits new highs but evening price spikes highlight vulnerability. It’s nice to have reached the achievement for half an hour on one day, but the pragmatic engineering part of my brain wonders what about the other 23.5 hours of the day? And I know enough about the practical applications of the technology to realise that such a monster output would have caused some serious possible meltdown issues within the grid. The reporting is sort of suggesting that more renewables will resolve the issues, but nope, I don’t think so. There is a serious lack of comprehension of expectations versus reality.
Did I mention that from time to time I check auction sites to see if el-cheapo locally made solar power equipment comes up for purchase? The stuff is good because it operates in the local ambient extreme air temperatures, which is not always easy on electronics. Anyway, the other day I got a bargain purchase of three locally made solar charge controllers, and began testing the first today. It works perfectly, and in fact produces very little electro magnetic radiation, which is a sign of decent quality electronics and design. If the other two have issues I can get the local mob to repair them.
Speaking of such matters, how’s the new TV working out?
Thanks, and yesterday morning I was pooped out. During the week I’d given many pep talks, which is interesting in and of itself. But I’m not wired for giving over such energy, and the activities drained me. A day off was very much needed yesterday. Alas, I’d had plans for today to split a large boulder, but did paid work instead. One must compromise and do the needful for relaxing time to feel relaxed.
Holy carp! Did you get much snow? We’re headed tomorrow into a four day heatwave. Yuk!
Hehe! Good luck to Dame Avalanche and her surprising insects adventures – may she survive them with her nose untweaked. The Elder ones of the forest used to get up to such nose pinching mischief.
Oh bummer. Hey, I remember when you did that porch repair. Out of curiosity, what was the weak point with the repair? And cement work is not much good here June through to early August. Those are the coldest months. You can do the work, but the drying and curing time takes so long – and must be protected from the rain.
I’ve never made sourdough bread, and probably wouldn’t. The bakers yeast makes a fine loaf, and if I couldn’t purchase that stuff, there’d be problems with flour supplies too. Ah! A fermentation room – I like your style. 😉 I’m with you both, sleep is easier and deeper when the room temperature is cooler. Why hotels over heat their rooms (or pre-heat them ) is a subject which baffles me and stops me wanting to stay at such places. The last time we stayed in the big smoke I lied and said that I had a medical condition and would appreciate if the room wasn’t heated – and sure enough the room was pleasant. But I’m uncomfortable with having to take such a drastic action.
No, not really. It’s not enough to simply know the answer. Here you and I must delve into the deeper mystical dimensions and come up with all sorts of unintelligible rubbish and act as if we know what we’re talking about – if that makes sense. And candidly quantum mechanics is beyond my brains capacity for comprehension. Does it have something to do with really small torque wrenches? It might you know! Who’s to say it doesn’t?
Oh what? Now you’ve brought in the question of multi dimensional universes! The pain, the pain! My brain hurts. Look, what if the word ‘cat’, really referred to dogs?
Haha! I don’t think so man. Such chilli’s are way beyond my competency levels to time the correct harvesting and eating thereof. 🙂 Basically, I’d stuff it up, and pay the ultimate price, twice. You know what I mean. Such heady foodstuffs are for experienced experts only, and not us lesser folks!
Some of the chilli’s we grow here occasionally produce super hot fruit. Hmm.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
Man, I was a bit timid really and avoided eating the guniea pigs. Look, I’d had one as a pet when I was a kid, and eating pets is a very difficult psychological barrier to overcome. Generally these days I don’t name any livestock, and it’s been years since I’ve named a chicken, although the Editor is yet to come around to this perspective – and so I end up dealing with dead chickens (one passed away over night). Every year a chicken or three will die, and that’s life.
Back to the guinea pig, I did observe someone ordering one, and the meat was like rabbit in that it’s super bony. The taste was apparently pretty good (a bit like chicken? No? 😉 ) On the other hand I’ve had an alpaca steak and it was good. If you ever get the chance, I’d recommend trying one.
🙂 Hehe! It happens with fines, but interestingly, that paying them off by spending a night in the slammer is somewhat discouraged down here. Guess the message there is that they wants the mad cash, the precious! the precious!
Agreed, yeah the posters are super earnest, and I’d seriously like to put all that energy to work, but alas, them socialists are busy doing other things. Haven’t seen the tractor meme down here, but it’s usually an inner urban concern, and so it is possible that the folks might be unaware what a tractor even is. It’s my observation that they do know what an attractive, yet angry young lady looks like, if the annual posters are any guide. The colours are bold too, and the art work is always hand drawn – quite well done too. It’s my opinion, that if they wanted to attract the folks in the rural areas, a tractor or three on the posters wouldn’t hurt.
One of the more intriguing experiences I’ve had living in the country was the initial err, interviews by the notable old timers. They were quite straight to the point: “You aren’t one of them greenies are you? Maturity is not telling them that I did used to vote for the Greens. 🙂 Wouldn’t vote for that lot nowadays though. Their policies are really city focused, and particularly inner city focused too – which is where they’re elected.
Youch, the hook on the point with your paring knife would make things occasionally interesting. A good kitchen knife is a handy bit of kit, but finding them for sale is not always that easy. There’s a store near to the big smoke which specialises in such things, and the Japanese made kitchen knifes are beyond my competency, which makes them more than perfect for work. One of the best ideas with those super sharp chunks of steel are the additional sleeves covering the edge which stop you from accidentally cutting your hand open.
It’s interesting you say that about the kids and food nowadays. Hmm. Progress works out to be mathematically represented as an inverted bell shaped curve. Peak rubbish food would be of course at the very top of the curve, but once on the downside, maybe food gets simpler, but of better quality? Dunno. I’d imagine that with the cost of living crisis, people are beginning to cook at home again – and that takes many different skills from growing or purchasing the raw materials, to knowing what to do with the stuff.
Oh! The Editor was at a fresh food market today and picked up a big box of lovely tasting plums. 10kg / 22 pounds of the stuff. We’ll do a run of bottling (canning) over the next few hot days. Yuk. Heatwaves… There may be whinging!
Alas, as a society we tend to go from one extreme to other in relation to disciplining where there is always a middle ground. I’m of the opinion that a lack of boundaries is a very poor technique to instil in kids. Sets them up for future disasters.
Yes, Professor Mass has called it there, and as we’re about to head into extreme weather, so are you, for about the same period of time. It’s no time to be exposed to such weather for anyone. Is the Club pantry doing OK, it being near to the end of the month and all.
Have you seen any snow flurries yet?
Your blood is clearly adapted to far northerly climes (as is mine). I much prefer the colder weather. Looks like Monday night into Tuesday morning will be a minimum of 26’C / 79’F. That will be a very uncomfortable night, but we haven’t broken on the air conditioner purchase.
Who knew that Scarlet was such a heavy burden? Thanks for the laughs. The renovations to the mansion were charming and good to see that the back taxes were paid, in full.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Chris,
Wow! That’s hot. Scary too fire wise. We’ve actually had some fire alert days here recently and there’s been a few brush fires.
We’re out of the very cold weather and in fact have had a few warm days for this time of year.
Marty’s moved up to #2 on the waiting list and apparently there’s a unit available soon though I’m not sure what they’re definition of soon is. Cecily, my sister, Julie and a friend along with me mostly finished up packing his stuff. I still need to find a few pieces of furniture but all in all pretty good shape. Everyone at Marty’s nursing home has been confined to their rooms from time to time due to a high incidence of illness so he’s gotten a bit bored but all in all hanging in there.
I’ve been sick for the last few weeks as well. Some kind of respiratory virus with a bad cough. Finally getting over it. Luckily I was functional so could get the essentials done.
We did have a scare when Trump was going to freeze Medicaid funding as that is what pays for Marty’s nursing home and will pay for his new place as well as covering his medical expenses. Very uncertain times to put it mildly.
I have to say I don’t now how you and Sandra accomplish so much in that heat. How does the fluffy collective handle it?
Margaret
Yo, Pam – Years ago, I ran across some books on the Ozarks, by a woman named Sue Hubbell. “A Country Year.” She was an Ozark transplant … and bee keeper. Life on the ground, in the Ozarks, at least a few years back. A good read. Worth a look, maybe. I mentioned these books to Chris, years ago. Lew
Yo, Chris – Reading over your shoulder … All this talk of chili powder reminded me of what I wonder, every time I break up some of the dried tomatoes. Some are so crisp, I wondered about grinding them up into tomato powder. Now, sitting in front of the computer, my mind was nudged, again. A quick look down the rabbit hole, and, yes, tomato powder is a thing. And there are many uses. Though I’ll probably skip the Bloody Marys. 🙂 Will I get around to doing it? Time will tell. When I add dried tomatoes to whatever I’m making for dinner, I always have to remind myself that a small handful of dried tomatoes was once two large handfuls of fresh tomatoes.
Hotel staff are quit used to dealing with the foibles, of their clients … real or imagined 🙂 You were lucky the staff at least followed through. Given the quality of help, nowadays. 🙂 Although I seem to remember the hotel was pretty up-scale. Those places tend to have pretty top notch staff. They don’t tend to last long, if they’re not. Better a little white lie, or a little fib, than a hot call in the middle of the night, “Can you durn the g–d—-d heat down!”
I understand. I was once tricked into eating formerly pet ducklings. Way to traumatize a little kid! You’re right. Most farm animals should not be named. But like children, you always have your favorites. There’s a specialty meat market, north east of here that specializes in exotic meats. Alligator steaks, etc.. I had a friend once, who had to put down a llama, that had broke its leg in a gopher hole. He dressed it out, and ate it. The local llama breeders association was horrified and scandalized. 🙂
Most of the posters I’m thinking of, were a while back. When the Commies were fixated on agricultural production and Five Year Plans. Lots of tractors, but also lots of buxom farm girls.
That’s pretty funny about the old timers, giving you an interview. Let’s just hope they didn’t make snap judgements, and adopted a “wait and see” attitude.
Our high yesterday was 43F (6.11C). The overnight low was 39F (3.88C). That’s the first time it’s been over freezing, in a couple of weeks. But no worries. We’re going back in the deep freeze, again. Prof. Mass had another post on possible snow, this morning. We may even see some nights in the teens F.
We got quit a bit of rain, last night, into this morning. H and I waited it out, but I broke out my rubber boots, again. Actually, the gardens needed the rain. Don’t worry. I’ll let you know if I see snow. 🙂
The Club food pantry is running pretty low, but there’s still stuff to eat. We’ll get another food box, next Wednesday. Other people may bring in food, over the weekend. I took in a couple of boxes of cereal, last night. And some tinned peas and cranberry sauce. Lew
Chris:
The Ozarks, and the Ouachita (Wash-it-taw) Mountains. My grandmother’s family and my grandfather’s family (both on my mother’s side) were from Arkansas. They settled there right after the Civil War. We always try to steer clear of large cities; sorry to say, I hate big cities. I don’t even like small cities. In any case, farm land is what we’re after.
I don’t read all of Mr. Greer’s essays. For some reason, I am not in the mood for Carl Jung right now. Maybe later. But I’m sure that it is good!
Pam
Chris,
Thanks for that interesting article. I got the same idea you did about more renewables will fix the grid issues. I guess logic doesn’t matter nowadays. I also noticed that another proposal to fix the grid issues is to replace “unreliable coal” with nuclear. The sceptic in me turns on full sarcasm mode to say, “What could possibly go wrong?”
I knew you keep a sharp lookout for good quality used solar equipment. (Car dealers in the USA would say “pre-owned” as opposed to “used”. Waiters and waitresses are now being called “food runners”.) Back on topic…I’m glad you found more stuff you can use, and that you know how to repair the latest finds if needed. It’s actually rather exciting watching you do this.
The new telly is working well, thanks. We record a lot of programs to a DVR. One of the first DVR programs we watched, there was so much static and echo that we couldn’t watch it and deleted it. The next day, another DVR program had substantial static but was watchable. The volume also had to be turned up fairly high. After 3 days, the volume didn’t need to be cranked up. It is now set at what I would consider to be proper volume without being cranked up. And no more static issues. It’s almost like the audio needed to be “broken in”. The tech who installed the telly gave us her cell phone number. I can reach her directly if that issue returns.
Oh yeah, I totally get how you felt. Pep talks? Several over several days? Ugg, I can’t do that without undergoing serious mental repercussions. Heck, after a 2 hour woodcarvers meeting, I need to have the rest of that day dedicated to quiet. The Princess understands. Maybe even the following day. There are still days in which I really don’t want to “people”. And there are certain projects that cannot be done on those days due to potential “clumsiness”.
Snow? What snow? Seriously, we got maybe, perhaps, almost 2mm. A light dusting at 4:30 a.m. It began raining by 6 and the snow disappeared. That “nice” rain that occurs at +2C with a light wind. Today’s walk was maybe 1km. It was raw out.
The repair’s weak point is at the lowest level – ground to top of first riser. I will probably have to redo the vertical rebar piece that I used to attach the railing to the new concrete. Meaning, a longer piece of rebar stuck maybe a foot under the ground with concrete poured to hold it in place there. Then more to repair the damaged corner of the first riser.
We’ve been in some hotel rooms that were so overheated in the winter that we had to turn on the air conditioner in order to bring the temperature down to a tolerable level, then keep the heat turned off.
Ok. Unintelligible rubbish. Like the expected value of perfected amount of solar added to the grid is 42. While remembering that the expected value, mathematically, might not even occur in the reality of the system in question. And then what does that 42 mean? What units is it measured in? Perhaps it’s measured in bottles of the Old Janx Spirit, or maybe number of glasses of Pan Galactic Gargle Blasters served on the average night at the Restaurant at the End of the Universe. Is this the type of unintelligible rubbish you mean? 😉
DJSpo
Hi Margaret,
Yeah, it was an intense summer’s day, and there’s a lesser heatwave from today to the next three days. Each day will reach about 100’F, but the nights are warm too. Oh well, that’s summer for you. Some of the trees are looking a bit water stressed. The rainfall this year has been sort of average so far. I’ve seen worse, but right now outside, it’s dry.
Hope the local brush fires don’t expand far? Isn’t it winter in your part of the world?
Go Marty and may he soon reach the esteemed position of #1! His rise up the ranks has been quite fast don’t you reckon? Glad to hear that Marty’s stuff is now mostly packed up – how did he cope with all that activity?
Hope you and Doug (if he’s not yet fully recovered) feel better soon.
Yup, things have changed. What the immediate future holds, none of us really know.
🙂 We’re fine as long as we stop work outside by 2pm on such hot days. The dogs will run and run, and then sleep. Still hot here tonight.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Pam,
Thanks for the proper local pronunciation. I’d have called the mountain range in Aussie-lish: Ooo-A-Chit-A which sounds completely different to your phonetic spelling. The photos of the mountain ranges look lovely, and not dissimilar from here at all.
The big city no longer calls to me either, although I remarked to a friend today that it would be very easy for me to become lost in the forest. Best I keep my finger in the proverbial pie there, and continue to head in. If visits were too infrequent, the rapid changes would feel quite shocking – if you know what I mean?
Whenever we headed overseas, or even travel on this continent, we’ve avoided the cities. There’s a sameness to them, which is not present once outside their boundaries. Although that’s purely my opinion of the subject.
Day 1 of a four day heatwave, done. Just went outside and watered some garden beds and ran the bushfire sprinklers. The water works in a similar way to a big outdoors swamp cooler, although it is still warm right now.
Ah, fair enough. Carl Jung is perhaps asking questions where I have no need for answers.
Cheers
Chris
Hi DJ,
Yeah, what could go wrong with nuclear power, although the claim it is green may be a reference to the final colour scheme of the cooling towers? Hard to tell really. Man, they take fifteen years to build anyway, and err, the costs are out of this world for a goobermint which is already $1tn in debt. Oh well, sometimes I guess it pays to look as if you’re doing something. Troubles will arrive long before those big machines are switched on, if they ever get built.
🙂 I recall the days when those folks were described as ‘used car salesmen’, and it was not a phrase where the word integrity would be heard, unless of course someone was pointing to a lack thereof. 😉 Nowadays, the small independent car lot is rarely seen – they’re mostly attached to dealers. Presumably the cars being sold are the better quality trade-ins? So things may have turned on that front? Dunno.
That’s it too. The purchase of those items was a gamble, which so far has turned out OK. The devices are simple enough I could replace most of the components, except the LCD screens and processor chips. The other stuff, is all pretty standard components. But I’m often not too far away from the factory where they are made, so I could drop them in for repairs if needed. So far, it’s been a good buy. It’s hard to know with second hand stuff whether it will be any good or not.
Oh my goodness. I’ve never owned or used a DVR device (excluding the digital video camera) for watching films and TV. Intriguing machines, and much disliked by industry due to ad-skipping skills. Who doesn’t want those?
Hehe! Always nice to have some quiet time for us introverts. If there were another way to recharge the batteries, well, there ain’t. The thing is I like social stuff, but my brain has to balance things off. For the life of me, I cannot comprehend the experience of an extrovert. It works for both Sandra and I living out in the forest all quiet and stuff.
Just for an entirely different perspective, 2mm of snow and you’d hear excited noises from down here but where you are! 🙂 Candidly, right now I’d settle for 2mm of rain. Still warm here tonight. 24’C last I checked. I ran the bushfire sprinklers to dump some water in the immediate vicinity of the house, and it works like a kind of low-tech swamp cooler. Day 1 of the 4 day heatwave, done…
Hmm. Never used a vertical rebar before in that manner. Interesting. It’s hard to tell the arrangement you’ve got in place, but for near to ground contact, these are hard to beat: Full Stirrup Post Support Stainless. Obviously set in concrete.
Rebar is notorious for rusting out – or at least that’s been my experience with the stuff.
Yes, it’s no luxury to spend time in an overheated room, but the majority of the population may hold other opinions in that regard.
Exactly! How did you put it again? the expected value of perfected amount of solar added to the grid is 42. Couldn’t have said it better myself. And of course, this will add approximately, but you and I know the truth of the matter, 42 index units to the standardised growth equilibrium. You read it here first! 😉 And perhaps a nip of rum might be easier to cogitate the higher orders of the problem, than a brick wrapped in a lemon, or was it the other way around for that rather potent drink?
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
Thanks for mentioning this. You learn something new, every day. I’d never come across tomato powder before. Seems like people are reconstituting it (i.e. adding water) and making their own thick tomato paste. So obvious. There’s also dried tomato flakes which look a bit to me like chilli flakes. Probably quite tasty.
Wise to skip the Bloody Mary’s. 🙂 The long standing joke with those were that they were for ‘hair of the dog’ moments, although behaviour for me which lead to hangovers requiring such strong responses, kind of err, dried up in my early twenties. The awful payback feeling from the night before, was never a comfortable moment. It’s funny, but on reflection I reckon I drank that heavily in those days so as to fit in with friends and somehow be more sociable. Being older and hopefully wiser, maybe, I know that I’m just not wired for spontaneity. Just not me.
How do you reckon you’ll grind the dried tomatoes? I’d try a mezzaluna knife with matching timber board, although one of those small mixers could work better. Dunno. And yes, there’s a lot of concentrating taking larger tomatoes and making smaller dehydrated tomato chips. Can you believe the spell checker software doesn’t know what a ‘mezzaluna’ is? What do they teach computers nowadays? No fear of job loss there with that sort of performance. 😉 Hope the robots don’t come and get me…
That’s a good point, things are now not what they once were on that service front. My gut feeling suggests that people have over done the demands and expectations, and now there is a general wall of apathy erected to protect workers. I’ve seen some things go on with customers cracking the sads about some minor thing at a business which makes me feel very uncomfortable. I’ve recently learned that there are some people in the community who thrive upon debating every single minor issue. I’ve met a few of those folks over the years, and have had to formulate a correct way to extract myself from their word games. Hmm. Difficult, but not impossible.
Yes, the hotel was very upscale in an old school way – which is really lovely. One of the reasons I stopped going there, was because the heater warmed a section of the building rather than individual rooms and so I was subject to the desires of everyone else. I believe Stephen King discussed such a heating system for the Overland Hotel in The Shining. It just got too hard to sleep in the overly hot rooms.
Lewis, that’s awful. Sorry to hear that, and pets are not meant to be consumed, under normal circumstances. That’s rough-as. Yeah, you do get your favourites with animals, and that’s also true about parents having favourites, although they never admit it. The actions tell you everything you need to know on that front! It’s funny the social lies which go on. Conversely, I’ve known of families where one child is the favourite, and then the parents switch which kid it is in order to manipulate all of them. Talk about Machiavellian strategies. It’s pretty feral behaviour.
Incidentally, I can confirm that crocodile does in fact taste like chicken. A large part of the farmed reptiles meals were derived from chicken. You’d hope the big critters didn’t get bored with their meals? Nah, plenty of people eat llamas. And in the centre of the continent you can buy camel meat, although I can’t recall whether we tried it or not. Probably tastes like chicken… 🙂
Nothing wrong with buxom farm girls if you ask me, however if they’re also serious marxists with strident attitudes, well it doesn’t matter how physically appealing they are. Do I really need to be lectured at about injustice, political and social ideological systems after a hard days work in the sun? Probably not. You can quote me there if ever you encounter them. 😉
The old timers really put me under the grill when we first arrived in the area. Presumably we made the grade, and I’ve heard only positive words from that corner. The more recent folks I get a bit of a mixed bag reaction from, mostly because the Editor and I do a lot of the physical work ourselves around here. Presumably that’s seen as a low status activity.
Last I checked, the outside temperature here at almost 11pm is 75’F and it’s slightly warmer inside the house. Yeah, that’s a heatwave for ya. I’ll be sure to send some of the heat to your part of the Pacific. 🙂 Oh my that’s some cold weather. Did it eventuate? How did you know I’d be interested to learn if snow fell at your place? See, no spontaneity here! 😉
It’ll be 100’F tomorrow. Might pour another cement stair step. We actually made this weeks video about that very subject this morning when the light was good for filming. Plus there’s a big box of plums to bottle (canning). Never a dull moment.
Had lunch in the city with friends today. The weather was glorious and a gourmet burger was consumed – an Hawaii Five O (that’s what it was called). I’m saying I blame you for the recent talk of pineapple on pizza’s, but why not pineapple in a chicken burger? Yum! And we had a good chat too.
You did say that was the case with the Club pantry towards the end of each month. I’m always curious as to whether such services get err, drawn down upon for all sorts of reasons. My brain sees them as a sort of economic weathervane. Hope it gets filled back up again soon.
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – I saw a couple of interesting articles on alternative energy, that might give you a giggle. A massive solar farm is to be downsized. You may be able to pick up some cheap panels “…the size of garage doors.” 🙂
https://www.yahoo.com/news/11-years-celebrated-opening-massive-000749414.html
And, an article on cargo sailing ships. I had some problems with the graphics, on this one, but maybe the bugs have been worked out.
https://www.cnn.com/travel/sailing-cargo-ship-atlantic-towt-c2e-spc
How I’d grind tomatoes into powder? Well, I do have a small mortar and pestle. I also have a small electric coffee bean grinder, that someone gave me. Packed away, somewhere. It can also be used for spices.
I had an idea what a mezzaluna (spell check here doesn’t recognize it, either), and I was right. LOL. I’d call it a double bladed rocking knife. I wonder if there’s a different name for a single blade? Nope. One, two or three blades, they’re all called mezzaluna. A bit of kitchen kit I don’t have.
I’ve noticed that as a younger crowd has moved here, into the Institution, there seems to be more complainers, in the bunch. That seems to be the night managers perception, also.
Our high yesterday was 50F. The overnight low was 32F (-0-) for a brief period. No worries, we’re headed back into the 20sF, tonight. Forecast high for today is 42F. Yesterday was all scattered rain showers. I broke out the boots, again, but H and I got lucky, on our walks. My Idaho friends mentioned they got 5″ of snow, yesterday. With more in their forecast. I do not envy your heat.
That’s an amusing name for a burger. When it comes to pizza, most places call their pineapple pizzas, “Hawaiian.”
As long as there’s something to eat in the club pantry, I’m pretty satisfied. I don’t have much sympathy for picky eaters. 🙂 I scrapped up a few things, off the swap table, here at the Institution. Not much. Maybe 5 tins of stuff. I’ll take it down, this afternoon. It looks like the Club will be moving to “The Big Yellow House.” It’s close to the river, and, there will probably be rats. I’ll be cutting back on any dried or boxed stuff. Tins and bottles will be the order of the day.
I’m still producing a lot of expectorant, but I didn’t have to hit the cough syrup, yesterday. So I guess I’m on the mend. Interesting. I was using the word “expectorant,” wrong. I thought expectorant was a fancy word for snot. Nope. It’s whatever medicine is used to dislodge snot. A quick look for more polite words yields mucus or phlegm. Once you can get past the definition of snot as an unpleasant person. 🙂
It’s going to be a popcorn night. “Shaun of the Dead” is waiting for me, at the library. Lew
Hi Lewis,
Man, that solar electric plant is a thermal device. It’s pretty awesome, all those garage door sized panels are mirrors which direct sunlight onto a tower with boilers. You wouldn’t want to be accidentally zapped by that concentrated energy. As a kid I recall other kids using magnifying glasses to concentrate sunlight – and that energy burns hard. The mirrors would be cool, but other than that, it’s be hard to know what to do with them.
Apparently the big solar generator was good, but not as good as the hype and so it’ll be shut down. Clouds are a thing, even with photovoltaic panels. Managing all those mirrors would be a nightmare job though. Allegedly the Sierra Club don’t like the thing, something to do with the birds. I just wondered how they’d get the water out into the desert for the boilers in the first place? Tell ya what, I reckon some critter would be thriving off the sheer humidity coming off the steam out in that desert.
Makes you wonder if anyone is going to be held account for the economics of that big solar power plant being shut down?
It’s a bit like the calm before the storm outside right now. Today has been very hot, and there’s a thunderstorm on the north side of the range, and hopefully headed here – we could use the rain. But right now outside is very sunny, hot and calm. Looks intense on the radar.
What a fun and elegant way to cross the Atlantic. I’d do that travel for sure – although such services will take a long time to be a thing down under. Hmm. Dunno about your opinion, but I’ve read some interesting fictional stories about sharing twin cabins with strangers on such cabin / container ship travel. One memorable story involved a tussle between two ladies, one of whom used the others towel in addition to her own. I had a girl housemate do that once for a while. At first I thought that the bathroom was simply too humid for the towel to properly dry, but no. Sometimes you just feel so much closer to your fellow human. 😉
Ah, the mortar and pestle would do a fine job. Yeah, I’d forgotten about that option. One of those feisty stick mixer machines would do a good job too – but same, same as the coffee grinder machine, maybe – depends on the cutting teeth system used I reckon.
But it sounds less fancy, doesn’t it? One does have to draw the line somewhere with additional kitchen gear – things can get a bit silly on that front. Actually since I’ve been doing most of the servicing on our machines, I’ve been very reluctant to take on new ones. Hmm.
The second hand locally made solar – battery charge controllers seem to be working a treat. What a bargain.
It is noticeably easy for a person to complain loudly – and with the force and weight of expectation to back that noise up. It is a far harder activity to actually get stuff done. Just my personal perspective on the matter. Complaining can be something of a lifestyle choice to try to get something for nothing, and that’s a step too far in my books. Your night manager would probably get the rough end of that social situation.
Ooo! Went to the local ice cream shop late this afternoon and all was good with the world. Day two of the four day heatwave, almost done.
Far out that’s some cold overnight temperatures. Brr! Stay warm, and keep those rubber boots handy – and a towel for H.
It is a pretty funny name for a burger, yeah. Tasty too. That’s a standard name for a pizza with pineapple down here. I’m no purist and they’re OK, but not my first choice of pizza. I’d much prefer a capricciosa, and wouldn’t complain about anchovies, although wars have been fought over lesser concerns.
I learned recently that folks on the autism spectrum are reputedly fussy eaters, and there is some discussion that this behaviour may produce physical and mental side effects – like with the gut flora and fauna, or even a reduced diversity of minerals, enzymes and proteins taken in with their food. Probably not all that great to be a fussy eater. We’re vegetarian here, because raising and processing livestock is a pain, so we eat what we grow – but off farm, that limit doesn’t apply.
Good to hear that the new digs for the Club is going well. Well, at least it ain’t a big yellow taxi! 🙂 Wise to adapt, although cupboards are a good rodent proof technology.
Yeah, I noticed that, but didn’t say anything because it was a small matter of little consequence. Phlegm works with me.
Lucky you with that film. A lot of laughs.
Cheers and better get writing.
Chris
Yo, Chris – And, in law enforcement news, they caught the guy who sent up the drone, that damaged the firefighting air tanker. Near as I can figure, he’s some rich game developer. Entitled tech bro?
I’ve heard stories that birds that wander into the rays of the mirrors, burst into flame. Water in the desert. Not that I know about such things, but I figure, maybe, the solar boiler system is closed? Once it’s topped up, there probably doesn’t need to be much water trucked in. Maybe.
Sail does sound like a nice way to travel. I suppose as decline progresses, we’ll see a lot more ocean going vessels. There may be trade, but a small fraction of what there is now. Tramp steamers. Often take on small numbers of paying passengers. Often seemed to be the preferred mode of travel, for early 20th century poverty stricken authors. Back in the day, one could even “work one’s way across.” I seem to remember some author working his way across on a cattle boat. Shoveling moo manure. 🙂
Our high yesterday was 43F (6.11C). The overnight low was 30F (-1.11C). The forecast for today is 40F. Yesterday was a few scattered showers. I went to bed pretty late, and nothing was happening. Woke up this morning to a very light dusting of snow. Nothing to writ home about. About the same amount as you get. Not even really measurable. But, it looks pretty.
Your trip to the ice cream shop is getting to be a habit. 🙂 Although, given your temperatures, well earned. I hope you get some rain from that incoming storm, but that it’s not too violent.
I’m careful adding anything to my kitchen kit. Given lack of space. There are probably a few things I should get rid of.
Congratulations on the solar controllers. Not a bad score.
A satisfying evening was had, with popcorn and “Shaun of the Dead.” I stayed up way too late, reading a book I picked up, from the library. “Everything Must Go: The Stories We Tell About the End of the World.” (Lynskey, 2024.) From the dust jacket: “A rich, captivating, and darkly humorous book into the evolution of apocalyptic thought, exploring how films and literature interact with developments in science, politics, and culture, and what factors drive our perennial obsession with the end of the world.” A good read. I skipped ahead to the chapter on zombies. :-). Lew