Oh deer!

Heat waves been freakin’ me out! The past week has been hot and dry, and for someone who lives surrounded by tall eucalyptus forest, that weather produces an alarmed mind bending effect. Fires are part of the landscape here, and looking around at the trees, the burn scars from the 1983 Ash Wednesday fires can still be seen on the oldest of them. And it’s here at this point that the more pragmatically wired part of my brain steps in and takes over the entire conversation:

Dude! Are you listening to me? What the f#$% is wrong with you? The last big fires were in January 1983, and sure it was dry that month at only 25mm / 1 inch of recorded rain. But man, that rainfall came on the back of a very dry 1982 where the annual rainfall was way below average at 489mm / 19.2 inches. And you got how much rain last year? Oh that’s right 934.4mm / 36.8 inches. Get it together, and stop whingeing bro’!

Phew! Not to say that even now a fire is out of the realms of possibility, but glad the old mind has a solid grasp on the abstract art of statistics. Sadly, having attended a hippy dippy school for under privileged kids in years seven and eight, then sitting next to the school bully in year nine at the more English than the English grammar school, my grasp of the deeper lore of mathematics never fully recovered. Statistics was different. I first encountered that side branch of maths at University, and it kind of made sense. Truthfully though, there’s no way my brain could ever originate those abstract equations. Using them is however, an entirely different matter. The equations are clearly tools to be used for specific applications.

People of course have widely diverging opinions in this matter, and sadly a few years ago, some rando on the interweb advised me that statistics is: Maths for dummies! Thanks for the thoughtful feedback, yeah.

It’s funny how a person learns as they go through life. As a child with a feeble grasp of the abstract art of mathematics, I’d be sent off each Sunday morning to help my grandfather with his extensive vegetable patch. Despite his own humble beginnings, the old bloke survived World War II as a bomber pilot, returned home and applied himself to the abstract world of big business. By the time I knew him, he was well financed, but not without his foibles. However, having grown up on a farm, he did have a large vegetable patch which was all laid out in nice rows upon what was once a tennis court. My mother probably played tennis with her sisters and friends on that court. But when I knew that land, there was only ever a good steady supply of home grown vegetables.

As a kid the old guy loomed larger than life. In the garden I recall he wore a raffish looking terry towelling hat. Terrycloth being a cotton looped sort of material which can absorb large amounts of water. The hat was white, and a bit grotty from memory. The rim sported a band of seasoned sweat. Probably needed a wash. Hmm.

Anyway, a week or two ago, Sandra and I were enjoying gourmet pies (lamb and rosemary to be precise) in a beer garden at a small country pub about forty minutes drive north of here. They do good pies, and conditions were idyllic. It was a quiet day, and there were only a few other customers enjoying the surrounds.

One of the customers was wearing a blue floppy terry towelling hat with a wide brim which hung down low over his face. The dudes solid build suggested a person who worked with his hands for a living. The face was wide, the eyes peering out at the world from just below the rim of blue cotton twinkled, whilst the mouth was set in a smile. Blond curls hung out from each side. He had the look of a surfer more used to reclining on the beach enjoying a beer than being out among the sharks. He was the trickster. And the set of the face suggested satisfaction with the gourmet bakery products.

Sandra and I reclined at out leisure after having consumed our pies. The day was warm, and there was no need to hurry away from the well watered green lawn surrounded by an otherwise dry landscape. They do say that hubris is a problem, and it maybe so, for at that very moment, on an otherwise still day, a rogue wind gust lifted both of our plates off the table and slammed them into our faces. Well that was a surprise. Seeing this, Mr blond curls had a look of mirth upon his face. In the spirit of the moment, we both laughed at the misfortune. Everyone seemed pleased with the outcome. The bloke promptly left, and the air became still again.

Anyway, heading back home again I mentioned to Sandra that I’ve got to get me one of those terry towelling hats. A bit of searching around, and they’re still made, even for my extra extra large head size (note the Editor added the additional ‘extra’ to that sentence). Cool. Two blue hats are now on their way. I look forward to getting them so I can have style like yo granddad, but perhaps without the err, foibles he was burdened with, the cheeky old scamp.

As a sort of postscript: we’re in the middle of a four day heatwave. It’s been extraordinarily hot and will continue to be so over the next few days. Strangely, about half an hour ago a monsoonal thunderstorm storm lit the sky up with lightning and the rain fell heavily for many hours. We’re not out of the proverbial woods yet in terms of summer dry weather, but at least some of the more dry sensitive fruit trees will have had a decent drink of water.

I’d intended this evening to write about the deer which have been so problematic this season. Yet mysteriously, the trickster with the blue hat sort of jumped into my writing consciousness instead. Sometimes life works out like that. Yesterday morning as we were recording the video on the many concrete staircases here, I could hear one of the neighbours shooting deer on their property. It’s hard to maintain one’s train of thought in front of a camera whilst not too far away large calibre rifles are being used – but the show must go on! Anyway, the deer are a problem here this year, and other than humans, they have no local predators. Soon, I too have to step into that role. It distresses me, because unlike every other forest critter, we’ve all seemed to manage some sort of rough balance with the produce on the farm. The deer are unlike all the rest, but we’ll see. Makes me wonder what the guy with the blue hat would do, the trickster seemed pretty cool, but I failed to ask him the question.

Landscaping concrete stairs in the garden on sloping ground ep 36

Yeah, it’s been hot this week so making additional concrete steps is a good way to spend an hour or so. Then you can retreat back into the house where it’s sort of cooler. We don’t have any air conditioning, mostly due to environmental concerns. Everyone is different, and that is a line we’ve drawn in the sand. We save our energy hogging badness for things like visits to nearby pubs to grab a gourmet pie. Anyway, earlier in the week, a cement step was poured.

A cement step was poured this week

The steps usually take about a day for the surface to dry, and probably a week to properly cure. With a dry surface, we can make another step, so that works out to be about a step per day. Then another step was made this week.

Looks the same, but there is another step there!

There are three distinct orchards here, and the sunny orchard has really dried up this week. Only a few weeks ago, the grass looked lush and green.

Only a few weeks ago, the grass looked lush and green

The shady orchard has a more solid tree canopy with the fruit trees being at least five years older. Plus I believe the soil there has received far more feed over the many years. The difference does make me wonder if there is a need to feed the soil far more heavily in that sunny orchard.

The shady orchard is looking more resilient to the ongoing heat and dry

Even the dogs, who were bred to work in the hot Australian conditions rounding up sheep and cattle, are themselves looking hot and bothered.

Two hot Kelpies

Still, nothing lasts forever and storm clouds are gathering over the horizon.

Storm clouds build over the central highlands of Victoria

Another job we’re able to do in super hot weather is construct steel rock gabion cages. Earlier in the week, we sewed together a slightly shorter cage. And on the hot day, we hugged the shade whilst dodging the skin burning sunlight.

The author and dog hide from the extreme UV from the sun

Once the weather cooled for a day or two about mid-week, we were able to place the steel rock gabion cage in it’s position on the second line of cages.

The new steel rock gabion cage was placed in position

The plan at this stage is to complete a second row of steel rock gabion cages in that location. This will require a further four cages to be constructed and filled.

In breaking produce news:

With the very hot weather this week, the chilli’s in the greenhouse have begun to ripen. We use a lot of chilli in cooking, and the fruits dry really easily and well. The plants in the greenhouse are perennials too, and are meant to keep producing for about six years.

How feisty do these look?

Tomatoes have also begun to ripen rapidly in the heat. The earliest variety to ripen are always the yellow tomatoes. They also seem to have the best taste.

Mid sized yellow cherry tomatoes ripen on the vine

The red variety of tomatoes are a bit larger than the yellow, and so they need a bit longer to ripen. But the earliest are doing just that. We tend to save seed from the earliest and best tasting varieties.

Yum! The earliest of the larger red tomato varieties

Turmeric tubers are now in their third season in the greenhouse, and this year they’ve grown better than any earlier year.

Tasty turmeric tubers enjoying the hot weather

The various plants sometimes surprise me, and the other day we spotted several self seeded silverbeet plants growing in a garden bed – as you do in hot and dry weather with no additional watering. They really have had no watering and/or care and attention. The leaves they produced were excellent tasting and the plants will recover and grow right through the winter months.

Two happy self seeded Silverbeet plants in a garden bed

Onto the flowers:

The Agapanthus flowers not consumed by the deer look spectacular
Geraniums can shrug off very hot and dry weather, and still look great
This climbing rose looks great in the courtyard behind the house

The temperature outside now at about 11am is 30’C (86’F). So far for last year there has been 88.4mm (3.5 inches) which is up from last weeks total of 42.2mm (1.7 inches)

45 thoughts on “Oh deer!”

  1. Chris,
    Could you do video of tying the gabon cages? Also, have you ever done angled sides on the cages for where two walls meet, or to make a curve? (I have a project…) Here in PA the deer and groundhogs are a menace. We are not allowed to electrify a fence, and they can not be taller than four feet. So there are seven foot plus “trellises” against the fence. And critterwire going down 18”.
    Gerry

  2. Yo, Chris – I think it’s the more primitive parts of our brain, that keep us keyed up with existential threats. It’s the more hip and with it, modern parts, that are the voice of reason, and tell us to calm down. And provide us with facts. It’s a theory.

    I was made to feel the same way about geometry. As I found out, a couple of years ago, when I was toying with the idea of finishing off a degree. Unlike the old days, when statistics and geometry could satisfy the maths requirements. “Let’s just make that gate a little higher.” Never mind that maths have absolutely nothing to do with a number of degrees.

    Oh, a new chapeau! How exciting. Be sure and show it off. Might get one, myself. My Gimme Gardening Hat is beyond redemption. I could probably scrape it, and fill a salt shaker.

    The video was quit good, and the only off comment I have, is maybe a bit more show, and less tell. The pictures at the end (too fast), are the show. Maybe more footage, and less static pictures? So, how many stairways are there around your place? Maybe a tour of the stairways would be interesting.

    I’m glad you got a good bit of rain. I noticed in the photo captioned “…only a few weeks ago” (with Ollie), that there are a couple of green areas, off to the upper left. Are they swales, that retain more water?

    The Great Wall of Gabion is really striking. Not only are they highly functional but they are also very handsome.

    I might have to think about growing chilies inside. It would free up some space in the garden. Those tomatoes made my mouth water. We won’t see the like, for several months.

    Your Agapanthus is really a striking blue. We have several colors of Hydrangea, around, but one or two are exactly that color. They’re my favorite.

    I hope your neighbors aim is good, and that he puts the deer down. And not just scare them off. Onto your place. If you both clear out some deer, you might not have problems for a couple of years. Lew

  3. Hi Gerry,

    There was a video on the general aspects of the steel rock gabion cages, but I kind of avoid adding in the serious details which you are asking for. utub is a truly odd format from my perspective, and people seem to want a narrative – and gargle wants mad cash for promotions. Hmm.

    So, I’ll tell you how it’s done instead. We use 1.57mm (0.061 inch) galvanised wire to sew up the edges and internal baffles. Heavier gauge wire is hard to sew with, and thinner gauge wire may not last the distance. Man, the wire is simply looped about three times across each two inch panel, then another wire does exactly the same looping – so there is redundancy should one wire fail.

    An 8 foot long cage has 3 internal baffles and 2 external panels which are the same size as the baffles. The welded mesh is two inch by two inch, with 26 inches vertically and 22 inches across the base and top. Easy.

    Do they rust, well a bit on the sections which are in contact with the soil. But the rocks settle into place regardless – even if the steel is no longer there – and I’m yet to experience a cage failing – although like every system, failure is a possibility. The steel facing the air has shown no signs of rust.

    In civil works, they usually use heavier gauge wire for the cages and connectors, but err, money no object etc. Often they don’t sew them like we do, but use a heavy duty loop which resembles a coiled steel spring but with gaps. Presumably it’s wound into place – and the approach seems to last.

    Can you make a curve? Absolutely. The cage can be shaped however you like it, although I’d avoid an exact curve and use straight edges over varying angles to replicate a curve. But you could easily make a curve, the edges may not hold together as well. Often with curved cages, I’ve noticed that the lids overlap from one cage to the next, and that may be a requirement to stop the cages from settling? Dunno.

    Hope that all helps, and please do send a photo.

    Groundhogs! Yikes! What a vegetable menace they’d be, and yeah, when there are stupid regulations, there are work arounds. I’m going to have to lift the height of the fence around the citrus enclosure because of the deer. Pesky critters, but at least there’s no season on them, and they’re basically unprotected.

    Cheers

    Chris

  4. Hi Lewis,

    You’re not wrong about the more primitive parts of our brains sensing existential threats before our more rationale parts even comprehend them. When we had the forced mask wearing business – even if not ill – my peripheral vision was limited and it deeply affected me. I’m being serious too, I kept having this unnerving sense that a predator could sneak up behind me and I’d be caught all unawares. That was a hard feeling to shake. It’s a strong theory you’ve proposed.

    Dude, speaking of existential threats, today was again hot. At about 9pm it’s 28’C / 82’F both inside and outside the house. Insulation can only do so much, and if the air doesn’t cool down overnight, that’s when a building design promoting cross ventilation works best – which is what we’re doing right now. Having a better understanding of this, I’d design and build the house slightly differently if that became necessary. The changes would work well too in the conditions.

    Anyway, we don’t muck around. In the crazy hot weather, we poured another cement step. Afterwards we constructed a new full length steel rock gabion cage. Then put the cage into position. Actually it was the last bit of work positioning the cage – done in the hot sun by late afternoon – which was the knock out activity. Sat in a cold bath for a while and cooled off. Then crashed out on the couch for about half an hour. Feeling refreshed, but hot… And waiting for a cool change, but no, tomorrow will again be a scorcher.

    Ook! I so hear you about that. What possible use could advanced maths have for say, humanities degrees? It’d put me off too. And you’re absolutely correct, geometry is a very useful form of maths, which has practical applications such as: Is this building set out square? Let’s find out! How much water does this tank hold? etc…

    Thanks for the new, clearly French originated hat word. Yes, I’d like to believe I was a senior clerk and/or noble. Why not? 🙂 And as someone who worked in a library, you could lay claim to similar prestige and status. The hat turned up in the mail this morning, and it’s good but was packed flat and may need some time to wangle out the packing creases. Hope you enjoyed the story of encountering the trickster!

    Ah, thanks for the feedback. Sadly, you are not the average person watching utub. That average person demands short narratives, and punishes me brutally for too much detail. It’s not my natural inclination to skip details, but one must produce for the wider audience. Not to get ahead of myself, but perhaps consider the author Agatha Christie being forced to write the character Hercule Poirot whom she personally loathed! That’ll teach the author for unleashing her imagination upon the public.

    Haha! You’ve got a good eye. And those green patches you noticed are the outlets for the worm farm sewage trenches, and they stay green regardless of the climate. The mineral rich plants growing there are a magnet for the wildlife. In fact about ten minutes ago I took Ruby outside and we startled a couple of large roos feeding there. Fortunately Ruby didn’t chase them – a command not to do so stopped her mischief – and the roos bounced off and away a little bit. The marsupials will be back.

    The steel rock gabion cages are awesome for holding back soil. And yeah, they look good too. Yup!

    Near to a window inside the house, chilli’s would survive your winters easy. The plants live and produce for at least six years, although I can confirm that for sure in another couple of years time. Be prepared for them to get a bit sad looking during the winter months though. 🙂 Don’t we all?

    Hydrangea’s are really attractive flowers and super hardy plants too.

    Well, concerns about the neighbours aim was very much on my mind. Honestly though, they’re not legally allowed on, or to hunt on my property. If the deer retreat to here, that’s too bad for the neighbours – they can’t pursue across property boundaries. The sounds of shots did make me pause slightly though…

    That’s my thinking with the deer. Deal with the reality now, and get some breathing space. My understanding of the animals population and spread, is that it would be very difficult to eliminate them entirely.

    Yeah, the reports of the drones in the LA fires was in the news down here. It’s not so much of a problem in rural areas, but you never know and strange things happen. To damage a plane and hinder firefighting efforts is a serious problem. I’m amazed they allegedly got him. To fly a drone out of visual sight down here is a definite no-no. And it’s my opinion that those machines are a menace and should not be sold to the public without proper licensing.

    Looks like there’s some sort of method of converting the steam back into liquid (whatever that may be) at the generator plant, but I reckon there must be continual losses there. My experience with solar hot water is that, the stuff gets very hot when the sun is shining strongly. Winter doesn’t really produce much heating energy from the sun, and perhaps that is the case there too? Firewood is more reliable for heating water in the winter months, and it’s a local energy resource. If there were a better way…

    Sail is perhaps one of those things which are nice in theory – but experience rough seas first hand, and your opinion may vary. I dunno about you, but I don’t get sea sick, even in super rough seas. But everyone these days is in so much hurry with travel, sail would turn the trip into something of a journey. I don’t really feel that the travel experience is improved with faster forms of transit. Air travel (for me at least) feels like a miserable experience. Not a bad way to work one’s passage costs along the way, and surely it could only improve the narrative relating skills of the author? And shovelling manure can only but assist with a persons humility. 🙂 Although Moby Dick was a boring book. Very interesting in parts, but other large parts, not so good.

    Candidly, I’d swap you some of those scattered showers for the hot weather here. 🙂 Yeah, it really is lovely when there is a light dusting of snow. Hope you didn’t have to head out in that weather?

    Alas the ice cream shop was closed today. Oh well. It’s still 27’C / 81’F inside right now and not much cooler outside. Yuk! Last nights storm delivered an awesome amount of rain, for which I’m eternally grateful. Completely unexpected in the forecast, although there was a note about severe thunderstorms. The lightning show was good to see.

    Do those potentially surplus things you have in the kitchen have any attachment for you?

    Hehe! Such a fun film, and did it hold up well? The fun thing about apocalyptic thought, is that often its consistently wrong. You can see meltdowns in the media almost on a daily basis. Provides some entertainment for us lesser folks! What will be, will be.

    Cheers

    Chris

  5. Yo, Chris – Our high yesterday was 39F (3.88C). Our overnight low was a steady 34F (1.11C). Forecast high for today is 39F. Snow? Well, not to speak of. A few flurries, at night, but gone by morning. Looking at what Prof. Mass has to say, most of the action is up in the mountains, or well north of here. If you look at the last map, of his 2/1 post, it doesn’t look like we’re going to get any accumulation, in the near future. Looking at the weather radar, there’s not much moisture coming in off the ocean, directly to our west. Right now, it’s scattered clouds and a lot of blue sky.

    I see you’re having a lot of flooding up in Queensland. They’re calling it a “One-in-100-year event.” The last such event was in 2019. 🙂 Oh, and mind the crocodiles.

    Well, I’d say the trickster flipping plates into your faces … you got off lucky. We have a TV series, over here, “Loki.” Three seasons so far, so someone must like it. I watched a couple of episodes, when it first came out. It didn’t grab me. And, I found the actor’s long greasy hair, off-putting. Apparently, his personal hygiene doesn’t bother other people, as it’s going into its third season.

    I’m beginning to think the “average person,” is a moron. I do wonder if the “average person,” is a small, vocal minority. I often see in comments, the same people beating the same dead horse, over and over, again.

    I worry about plants in the apartment, getting enough light. I might have to think about a grow light, of some sort or another. I rarely open the blinds. Even in winter, it really heats up the place. Although I do have a Christmas cactus and a Swedish Ivy, that seem to do ok, in the low, ambulant light.

    Drones are another technology that got ahead of regulation.

    I think when people consider travel by sail, they always imagine nice weather. “..travel experience is improved with faster forms of transit.” I think we’re back to that “average person,” again. 🙂 .

    I think I’d have to consider unloading kitchen kit, on a case by case basis. There’s not much that has a real emotional attachment. It’s mostly what’s useful (and used), and what’s not. I have thinned out stuff, on occasion. Cookie cutters. Kept a few antique holiday ones (that I’ve never used), but when faced with five tea strainers, stood frozen for a good five minutes, before keeping them all and moving on. 🙂

    “Shaun of the Dead” holds up. I had not seen it, in a long enough time, that I had forgotten a lot of the funny bits. I might have to take another look at “The World’s End,” and “Hot Fuzz.” Looks like my library system has plenty of copies, of both.

    I got petrol, the other day. It was $3.90 per regular grade, US gallon.

    I saw a couple of interesting articles, the other day, on recycling. The first is about a young couple who met while dumpster diving. And, the business they have created out of it.

    https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2025/01/30/dumpster-diving

    If you scroll down to the bottom of the article, under “Related,” there’s a fascinating article on “deconstructing” old buildings. Lew

  6. Hi, Chris!

    Er – I can’t do statistics . . .

    You were pretty lucky, I think, to have a grandad that loved gardening. My father liked to garden, but unfortunately I didn’t pay any attention when I was young. It was only decades later that I realized what I was missing and started on that journey. The terry cloth hat makes me think of Gilligan’s Island, though I guess Gilligan’s hat was cotton duck.

    My goodness, what a pie calamity! Did you go hungry? That will teach you to bring 2 rocks next time. But wait! Can you? It’s peak rocks at your place. An XXLG hat size is because you need extra space to house that almost-overflowing brain of yours with all that intelligence and common sense. Looking forward to the hats as much as if they were my own. You actually have a very good excuse to be using energy to go into town (and maybe a pub, since you happen to be there) – you have to pick up your mail.

    That’s a tall – and graceful – staircase. Charming, too. That’s a very good job to have built all those stairs in two weeks. I liked the whole video and especially enjoyed learning about concrete, bluestone, and the form you used. Umm – Bad Old Uncle Chris: Maybe better not wear the blue terry hat in the videos. It may ruin the normally forbidding and scary image that you usually present. Or not.

    The sunny orchard grass looks pretty wretched; it’s just been so hot and dry. I hope the rain helped it. I like the shot of the house and staircase, though.

    Two hotdogs.

    The agapanthus makes me swoon; what a color. The geraniums charm me. And the roses are always just pure joy. Thanks!

    Pam

  7. Hello Chris,

    What a story, your encounter with the trickster. Maybe he was an incarnation of Loki, with the power to steer the wind gusts? We will never know.

    Is that a 12-step program staircase?
    You could paint a symbol on the sideface every step to remind you of the intentionality of each phase. Every time slogging up the stairs, you’d be reminded to let go of the delusions that industrial society programmed into your young mind, between bullying sessions.

    Not far from where we live, a couple of wolves were shot by a boar-hunting squad a couple of weeks ago. Wolves are nominally protected, but the interpretation of “self defense” can be very widely interpreted. Nobody will be fined for this.
    There is an interesting tension here. City people want all predator animals to be protected, but rural people generally don’t. The wolf is one of the few wild animals that is increasing in numbers here, currently around 500 in the whole country. For 10 million people. And 1 million dogs. Too many of whom? I guess the ones with guns decide.

    We have a mild, mild winter and I have more time this year to take care of everything on the farm. I am in a good mood starting this year. Enough graft wood in the cooler. Looking forward to the coming growing season. It is inspiring to see your orchards and the colorful chili! Thanks for the photos.

    Peace,
    Göran

  8. Hi Pam,

    Maths, huh? Can’t live with maths, pass the beer nuts… (to quote Norm from Cheers, although he may have been speaking about other matters, but it kind of works don’t you reckon?) Also, according to some rando on the interweb, because I can do statistics, I’m a dummy. If you can’t do statistics, by that same line of argument, well, you’re smarter than I. 🙂

    Regrets, well we’ve all had a few. And trust me, I do actually regret not listening more closely to the old bloke about all manner of topics. I’m sure he had many interesting things to say. I was just so young. At least you and I are both in good company, and are now left to kind of muddle through the whole learning process. It’s been fun has it not? Probably would have been a smarter move if we’d listened. Oh well. And once we know, nobody will listen to us either. And around and around it goes. 🙂

    Pam, the good news there is that the pies were finished by the time the plate splatted into the head. What a travesty of justice it would have been to lose a full pie. Truly, I’d go and order a replacement pie if such a total disaster took place.

    The new blue terry towelling hat has mojo, not quite as strong as the tricksters hat, but good enough for the likes of me. There’s an online shop which specialises in the hats: The Terry Australia. Not to be confused with the local band (whom I quite like): The Terrys – Hopscotch. All very punk and nice and stuff, it’s got a defiant tone.

    The staircases have a lovely wend to their winding way through the steeper garden beds. I’d like to think that from time to time whilst walking on the stairs that an elder one popped up from behind the cottage plants, and hopefully perform no tricks. I’ve tried to be good, but then haven’t we all. 🙂

    Tell you a funny behind the scenes fun fact: The videos do better on a number of views basis when I don’t put that scary forbidding face on the thumbnail, even when I’m smiling. Weird huh? It’s a fickle format that thing.

    More rain fell today, despite the 100’F temperatures, and the heatwave has finally gone elsewhere. Yay! It’s nice to feel cold now.

    Hehe! Aren’t they lovely those two hotdogs, but trust me in this, cheese kransky sausages properly grilled on a cast iron skillet would be far tastier. Maybe with some cheese and onions, ooo, and a touch of mustard for good measure. Yum!

    How are you going with the snow, ice and stuff?

    Cheers

    Chris

  9. Hi Göran,

    Dude, if it looks like Loki, acts like Loki, and the consequences are what you’d expect from Loki – it probably was Loki. He looked pretty happy, put it that way. 🙂 The cheeky scamp.

    Ha! Very funny, yes a twelve step staircase. Of course, how could we have not seen this? Ah, grasshopper (you may have missed the old 1972 Kung Fu / David Carradine series), one must learn to recant upon the delusions before entering into the world of reality. When one can do so, one is ready. (said in best mystical voice)

    I now reach for a chamomile tea to calm my nerves after channelling some long deceased Asian master.

    One of the interesting side effects of the bullying, just in that maths class (such abstract lore was never to be mine), and also the organised after school fights in the new school, was that the experience was incentive enough to take myself to the local Dojo and train relentlessly. And the story was good enough to get past the waiting list. The Sensei was a true master, in the old school style. A really interesting bloke.

    The school culture suggested to me why the English once controlled almost a third of the planet. And um, err, historically they were trained by Vikings. 🙂 And around and around it goes. History is a bit of a prankster.

    Ha! Can you imagine the outcry if one of those wolves (or a pack) attacked and killed one of those million dogs? It’s possible that 500 examples may not be enough to ensure genetic viability. Dunno.

    I really can’t comprehend the deer at all. And please understand that they are not local in any way, thus why there is no season on them. The deer seem to want to take everything, so they’re a really interesting boom and bust population. During the health subject which dare not be named a few years ago, the deer were spotted in the inner urban areas… Hmm. Deer seen running through inner Melbourne euthanised after being assessed by vets. Note what the nice city folk chose to do with the deer in their midst. 😉 Long after we’re all gone, the deer will remain.

    Good stuff, and that’s great news about being on top of things. Be careful not to say such things too loudly, and watch out for Loki!

    More rain fell here today. And the heatwave finally broke a few hours ago.

    Cheers

    Chris

  10. Hi Lewis,

    The high here today was about 35’C / 95’F and the five day heatwave broke with a solid thunderstorm. It’s cold here now at 18’C / 64’F, and I’m thoroughly enjoying the icy feeling. The nights are forecast to be cooler from here onwards – it’s that downhill run to winter again. At least the house is beginning to cool down.

    Your mountains dominate the local weather, so that hardly surprises me. And didn’t you mention before that Professor Mass has something of a skiing hobby? He’d be enjoying the snow depths up there at elevation. Despite the occasional extreme cold overnight temperature, your winter is pretty close to what I experience here. I’d not want to live in a tropical area which doesn’t enjoy a cold winter, but neither would I like conditions to be too cold. Hard to please, but this environment is what I’m used to.

    Funnily enough, speaking of such things. After five days of very hot weather and no air conditioning, I’d sort of become adapted to the hot air. Went to a café this morning and I was the only person sitting outside enjoying my coffee and book. What was also interesting, was that people seemed to be buying take-away coffee and scuttling back to where ever they’d come from – the perils of not adapting I guess. I enquired to see if the people working there were doing alright, because it was quite warm indoors. They’re made of tough stuff, but I did hope they were taking more breaks during the day – an espresso machine is quite hot due to the boiler.

    Oh yeah, I’d say a metre of rain (3.3 feet) is a lot, and that’s a professional hazard of living in such tropical conditions. Much as snakes are a problem down here – oh, and they are a problem up there as well too. So much to go wrong and kill you dead here. Actually a friends elderly parents live near that flooding, so I might check in and see how things are going. Hang on a second… …

    That was my thinking as well that we got off lucky there with the trickster. Could have been worse, and my thinking is that it in such situations it is best not to display annoyance – which we weren’t anyway. Just one of those freak moments in life, maybe. Best not to feed the beast, lest it look for further feed. Surely the series could afford some shampoo and/or soap? Some folks go caveman so as to scare away their fellow humans – it’s a thing in some more unusual social groups. Hmm.

    The average person thing is real, but that utub format also serves another useful purpose for me which is to stop gargle from shadow banning this interweb site. Trust me, it was happening. And looking around the interweb at other independent err, places, people were losing their minds about this very matter. Basically people were getting funnelled into certain err, controlled channels. I chose differently to stick it out here, and so far so good – but I have to prove I’m a real person to the software.

    Could be artefishul intellygunce too making those comments over and over again. The interweb looks like a vast echo chamber to me, and all we can but do is try and set better ripples flowing outwards from a point. You may have noticed that one of my longer term themes is older values.

    Nothing wrong with grow lights, and some of the LED ones these days are super efficient. A good use of electricity if you ask me. 🙂 Even a window over winter might not be enough light – you can tell if that’s the case because the leaves look a bit sickly. Even so, any produce you grow will be heaps better for you than stuff picked days and days beforehand then shipped and stored for resale etc.

    The regulations down here, shove drones above a certain weight into aircraft regulation category – and people abusing the technology, have the book thrown at them. But you’re right, the technology got ahead of the regulation.

    Hehe! Oh yeah. A really big storm at sea can stomp such beliefs in moments. Man, I’ve experienced some whopper storms, and those were probably light weight episodes. The ferry between the mainland and the island state of Tasmania crosses (300km / 186 mile) a notoriously rough stretch of shallow water. They get some big waves, and I’ve woken up at night to feel those big waves slamming against the side of the ferry. I still reckon the small car ferry from Kangaroo Island to the mainland of the state of South Australia was the roughest passage over the ocean I’ve ever experienced. People were passing out, including the Editor. I was watching the passengers drop like flies, and even though the cars were anchored to the lower deck with chains, they were moving a bit. What a ride that was. I imagine that in some ship wrecks, the passengers may be in bad shape, even before the ship went under the waves.

    I get that about assessing each item on an individual basis, and do the same thing here. Tea strainers would barely take up much precious space in the kitchen, maybe. 🙂 I reckon it’s hard to know what to keep and what to let go of on that front, and also like to not dispose of too much all at once. Although your auction house would make that job easier. Dealing with the average person and a direct sale is not so easy these days. And I blame some of the cheaper interweb forums for introducing a sort of poor etiquette – such as turning up and trying to haggle further over a purchase. I have no tolerance for such things. Oh well, maybe it’s just me on that front.

    It’s a pretty film, and the actor Bill Nighy stole every scene he was in – the car radio scene was awesome. You know, I’ve never watched the film Hot Fuzz. This is bad. Very bad. What can I do here?

    Yeah, petrol is on the down here too – except we’re actually fast approaching a federal election. There’s a by election this coming weekend the party folks will be watching closely. It’s in a very safe seat, but maybe not for very much longer.

    That couple were lovely, and super clever. Yeah, it’s amazing how wasteful we are, and how smart some folks are – like the bloke wanting the super capacitors from the disposable camera. The cheeky scamp!

    Man, the deconstructing thing was how houses used to be demolished. I even recall the days of demolition yards where you could buy second hand building materials. Where are their like these days? Incidentally, I will note that building codes don’t necessarily encourage the use of second hand building materials. We’re very wasteful as a society.

    We’ve pulled apart a shed, recovered almost all of the materials, and then rebuilt it, but better. It’s not hard, it just takes labour and a bit of care. Plus it probably helps to know how the things were built in the first place – demolition and recovery being the reverse process. We can only ever be wasteful to the extent society is now, when we can all afford to do so. When we can’t afford it, we’ll do something different, and it’ll look like that article. 🙂 Cool, huh?

    Cheers

    Chris

  11. Yo, Chris – Our high yesterday was 41F (5C). Our overnight low was 28F (-2.22C). Forecast high for today is 40F. Prof. Mass has another post, where he said that the cold may hold out, for at least two more weeks. Oh, boy. No running around in the morning, for me. Yes, I do believe he’s a skier. Given our mountains, there’s a lot of skiers and snow boarders, around. Last night, I did some shopping and swung by the Club about 7:30. Just as I pulled in the parking lot, there were a few flakes coming down. Then, 5 minutes of ice pellets. And that was it for the night. Happy you made it over the heat hump, and that you got some more rain. As long as a person stays well hydrated, one can ride out the heat.

    I do not understand the ins and outs of Garble and U-Tub. And hope I never have to. 🙂

    I haven’t spent much time on the water. But, can’t remember any time it ever bothered me. On reflection, I did take the ferries, a bit, when I lived in Seattle. Sometimes, just taking the ferry across and back, as a passenger, on Puget Sound. Coming into Seattle, at night, is pretty spectacular. Long car trips, however … Those family vacations could be grueling.

    I understand that Face Plant has some kind of a market place, going. Though I’ve never checked it out. And, probably won’t.

    I bit the bullet and ordered 25 pounds of cranberries, last night. About $15 more than last year. I buy them for the dog. That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it. 🙂 Speaking of the dog, I bought her a new squeaky toy, last night. The old one was … disgusting and irredeemable. I didn’t know how she’d take to it, but she seems to like it. I’ll give it a few days, and when she’s not looking, dispose of the old one. Interesting. According to the tag(s), its a.) Made in the U.S. and b.) made out of recycled water bottles. I also bought a bit of carpeting for in front of the kitchen sink. Also American made.

    Speaking of DVDs, two weeks ago, the libraries orders of new DVDs, were pretty grim. Mostly, old Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin movies. Last week … nothing. This week, mostly old stuff that I had either seen, or wasn’t interested in. Although looking at the DVD release sight, there’s not much interesting on offer. Winter doldrums? But, all is not lost. There’s popcorn in my future. The new “Venom” movie is in transit, to me. Might pick it up, tomorrow.

    I ran across something that sounded interesting, in the library catalog. “Replicas” with Keanu Reeves. 2018. I watched it, last night. It was pretty good. A scientist loses his family of four in a car accident. Manages to a.) clone them and b.) transfer their memories into the new bodies. It was pretty good, and engrossing.

    Building codes are changing. Not that long ago, you couldn’t have composting toilets, in this state. Septic systems, city sewer or nothing. Now they’re legal, and becoming more and more common. Judging from the article, used building material is becoming more acceptable. Yes, indeed. Very cool.

    I got my yearly housing recertification paperwork, yesterday. Sigh. It won’t be such of an ordeal this year, as I’ve gotten better about being on top of “home administration.” The flurry of paperwork has made it into organized files, instead of heaps, here and there. I actually saw an article, the other day, on home administration.

    https://www.npr.org/2019/09/23/763605807/paperwork-appointments-and-repairs-managing-adult-responsibilities

    I went shopping last night, as I mentioned. I got a few things for the Club, and stuff for me. Prices, in general, seemed up. We’ll get our monthly commodities box, tomorrow.

    I need to call and make H a grooming appointment. Given the iffiness of our weather, something later in the day, than usual. Lew

  12. Chris:

    I am now good at maths because I can’t do maths. Cool.

    Why – the hat is like Gilligan’s. I would have chosen blue, too, to match my eyes . . . But The Terrys – nope, thanks anyway, but not my cup of . . . hopscotch.

    Yum! I was thinking of edible hotdogs today.

    Snow and ice all gone. It was 69F (20.5C) here today, to be 34F (1C) tonight.

    I had an interesting encounter a couple of mornings ago. It was just before dawn and I was in our upstairs bathroom. On that side of the house that puts me on the 3rd story (2nd floor to you, I think) as we are built into a hill and there is a basement door on that side with two floors above it. That’s just to show that I was up a bit and could see over the trees better. I heard a something rather like distant thunder which I thought was a train. I love trains, so I opened the window to hear it better. Heading towards me was a drone, with alternating flashing lights, zigzagging just above the treetops. It was still a good ways off from my house, but I could see it quite well in the dim light. Behind that drone appeared another one, but this one rose straight up, well above the treetops, then went straight down and disappeared. The first one turned around and went back where it came from, disappearing into the brightening day.

    I had never seen a drone before. I don’t much appreciate having seen one now. I am being extra sure to close the bathroom curtains . . .

    Pam

  13. Chris,

    Good work on the stairs. You keep adding another step, then another. Will this stairway end when the 42nd stair has been poured? inquiring minds want to know.

    Statistics is maths for dummies? What? Never heard that one before. Ever. More people understand calculus than understand rigorous statistics. Most people don’t understand statistics. At all. And even less understand probability. The person who told you that was probably jealous of your statistical abilities. 😉

    So, let’s get this correct. You were eating outdoors. You were admiring this fell’s terrycloth hat. A freak gust of wind blew your plates into your and Sandra’s faces. Terrycloth Hat Guy laughed. I might have also. If I’ve got that correct, allow me to regale you with our recent disastrous setback.

    I awoke Tuesday morning with 4cm of new snow on the ground. This is our largest snowfall this season. Meager for us, but still the largest so far, and it should stay around for a few weeks. (No, the 4cm of snow is NOT the disastrous setback.) Coincidentally, a year or so before the corvids hit, we were experiencing a similar winter. The first REAL snowfall that winter also occurred on February 4. Weird, huh?

    On to the disastrous setback. I got out the snow shovel, as 4cm isn’t worth getting Big Bertha out. Plus, neighbor got his NEW snowblower out for its first use and cleared our sidewalk for us. No, the disastrous setback had to do with Dame Avalanche. I hooked her long cable up to the fence, as I do, and the other end to her. I started moving snow. Then I noticed that she was rolling, repeatedly, in one spot. I investigated. In true husky and wolfish tradition, she had found some fresh cat pooh and rolled in it. She was a smelly mess and was whisked into the back yard. With temperatures at -3C and falling, it was too cold to bathe her outdoors.

    Later, the Princess and I had gotten organized. We rushed her into the walk-in shower where I gave her a wonderful washing. She was NOT appreciative, but at least it was with warm water in a warm house. Much toweling off and much husky shaking water away, she was mostly dry and retired to the bedroom to recover from the indignity and to complete getting dry. She actually did very well. There was no biting, snarling, growling or scratching during her bath.

    It started snowing again as I started writing. Wednesday morning should find an additional 5cm to 10cm of dry and powdery snow. Possibly a day for Big Bertha. She needs the “exercise”.

    Aren’t editors wonderful? Editors can help keep writing precise and correct. That second “extra” that the editor added to your head size is just the exactly proper amount of pithiness an excellent editor is supposed to have while making corrections. Well done, I say.

    Trickster with the blue hat, aka the Terrycloth Hat Guy, would, indeed, inhabit my thoughts when writing. Especially after said Trickster mirthfully observed the flying plates landing in unsuspecting faces. Deer? No, can’t write about them with said Blue-Toweled Trickster lurking about.

    The chilis and tomatoes are looking good. And the agapanthus. Cheery blue color.

    DJSpo

  14. Hi Pam,

    When it comes to maths abilities, there is logic, to your logic! 😉 Actually, I heard that quote on a Star Trek Voyager episode from the Vulcan character. There’s definitely some irony in the words. Maths…

    You’re so right. I’d worked late yesterday, and today. So this morning I was walking Ollie so as he could do his ablutions, and with no coffee either. That was when the thought hit me, we’d been discussing Gilligan’s Island, or more correctly, you mentioned the fun and silly show, and that’s when realisation struck. My brain had skipped over your most excellent pop culture reference. Awful, and clearly the system and processes are not what they once were! 😉

    But yeah, Gilligan did have that hat, but you said it was some other material, and I was left wondering, is it the same as terry towelling cotton? Oh, cotton duck is a totally different material, and much sturdier like an even heavier drill cotton. Right, probably just the thing for a salty sea dog like those hapless adventurers. Didn’t it always make you wonder why the characters in that show looked so clean and well fed? That’s what I wondered about. If it was me stuck on that island I’d end up looking like Tom Hanks did in the Castaway film. Minimal dialogue, but totally gripping. I’m not sure the ladies would appreciate the unkempt facial hair, just sayin… 🙂

    Well, the truth is neither you or I are the usual market for The Terry’s music. I don’t mind a bit of punk-esque music though. And wise to colour match there.

    Hope you satisfied your hunger.

    Today was about the same here warmth wise, but it will be many months before we get to experience 34’F. That’s a five blanket night in my opinion. Not to worry, tomorrow will be 34’C / 93’F. At least the recent rains have kept the many trees well watered.

    Pam, that’s truly awful. And yes, your first thoughts equal my own. Back in the day, such folks were described as Peeping Toms, but I’ve known some decent Thomas’s over the years who’d never do such a thing. Not sure how the phrase came to be, but it’s no good. You know your own business, but may I suggest a Shanghai? With practice your aim can only but improve. Down under they are known as Slingshots.

    With some nuisances, once is a pattern.

    Cheers

    Chris

  15. Hi DJ,

    Oh my, 42 stairs would take, err 42 days to create. And that’s when the problems begin. What’s more important, 42 stairs, or 42 days? What a conundrum we have here. Fortunately, I’m estimating that the top staircase requires 11 steps, and so no portal into the unknown realms will be created. That sort of thing is reserved for those with basements leading into the underworld… Probably 42 steps there too.

    Yeah, the dude was pretty rude about the comment. What do you do? And I absolutely agree with you, probability is very poorly understood – why else would the crazy things be going on all around us? My thinking in the matter, and please correct me if your opinion differs, but a general rule of thumb applies in relation to probabilities: If it seems like a bad idea, it most likely is.

    DJ, you’d know better than most, that the trickster walks among us. And hopefully us humans avoid coming to the attention of such a force – it never ends well, does it? My thinking here is that it is wise to laugh in such a circumstance in much the same way that I’ve read in fictional narratives that if ever tortured (and let’s hope this never happens), but the trick is to make lot’s of noise so as to reduce the exertions of the miscreant. To be stoic at such a moment is to escalate the circumstances.

    Thanks for avoiding the word which has so far not ever been used here, not even once. That’s why it is unmentionable. A person must draw a line in the sand at times, even if to others the concern appears abstract.

    DJ, I’m told by reputable and knowledgeable folks that thermal inertia is a very real thing, so the more extreme weather is enjoyed (if that is the correct word) after the solstice.

    Dame Avalanche! You naughty smelly girl. Cat poop is nasty as. Young lady (and here I am directing my words to the now washed Husky in question), in order to be socially acceptable, you must choose less stinky perfume. Nobody wants to date a Husky redolent in fragrant abominations that even the local dung beetles would turn their noses up at! No. You crossed the line there…

    Hope the pep talk went over well with the Dame, but dogs have been known to do such things. I’m pretty certain the postal service would baulk at sending some wombat poop in the mail for the dog to perform a comparison test. 🙂

    Smart idea putting the dog in the shower. I hose them down outside summer and/or winter, then soap the fur for good measure. But alas that’s a lot of snow your dealing with. Did Big Bertha benefit from the exercise?

    Just between you and I, the additional ‘extra’ was totally unnecessary, and she mercilessly teased me about it whilst typing and adding the unnecessary additional word. There was even a smirk. One must be the better person sometimes, and revenge will be mine. 😉 Actually Sandra was a bit out of sorts this morning after enduring a five day heatwave. So I kind of rearranged the day a bit and dragged her out for a coffee this morning which she quite enjoyed in the now cooler air.

    Thanks! And the harvest continues to roll on in.

    Thanks for the link too and I’ll check it out over the next few days. 🙂

    Cheers

    Chris

  16. Hi Lewis,

    For night owls such as you and I, the winter months are the perfect camouflage to fall into natural habits. On those cold mornings you’re experiencing right now, you have the perfect excuse for a late start to the days activities. I’d really like to attend, but the roads are a bit icy at that time of the morning (etc…) Truly, you’re now in your natural element. So, come the summer months when that big fusion reactor in the sky decides to intrude upon a persons sleep in the let’s say 5am-ish timeslot, well it’s a totally different experience for sure.

    The air continued to cool down overnight and the cooler wind roared through the window, the sound of which was candidly waking me up. It was not a friendly activity on the part of the wind to do so, but one must not grumble for at least it was a cooler morning. Anyway, this morning had so much weather related noise, the window had to be shut in order to go back to sleep and awaken at a more respectable time. 🙂

    The few flakes would have been fun to see. Enough to enjoy, but not enough to be inconvenienced. It sure sounds cold though.

    Thanks, and yeah it’s been hot here. It was nice to have a cooler day today. The Editor was a bit out-of-sorts this morning after five days of hot days and nights. It’s the hot over-nights that bother me. Hopefully the weather will begin to cool from here onwards, or at least have cooler nights.

    It was quite smoke hazy here today, and there are a lot of fires in this corner of the world: Satellite images show fires burning across Vic, Tas and SA.

    That’s good advice too, and staying hydrated is a very wise thing to do in hot weather. It surprises me when people don’t comprehend when they’re dehydrated and suffering. Dunno. I picked up the habit of listening to internal body signals from the distance running, of course the downside is that you can learn to ignore those same messages.

    Lucky you! And I do hope that your wish to avoid garble and utub comes true.

    Getting motion sick in a car is a problem, but in some ways the travel experience (especially with goal focused drivers) is that dehydration can add to the unpleasantness of the overall situation. Can you imagine what may have eventuated if every couple of minutes you kicked the back of your dads car seat and asked the poignant question: “Are we there yet?” Probably cause an accident, or maybe worse…Being broke meant that family holidays never really happened. See, there are upsides.

    Yeah, I sort of had that faceplant thing in mind. We may have discussed this matter before, but the lack of accountability for the conclusion of the transaction kind of breeds a lowest common denominator mindset. Never used the thing, but far out I’ve heard some shocker stories. People love it though, beats me why. There’s cheap, and then there is too cheap.

    That’s quite the inflation with the dried cranberries. We bought some olive oil this morning 3L (about 0.78 of a gallon) for about $60, and it was on sale. Hmm. I like your story about the dog and cranberries, and well if you believe it to be so, then it must be true. I heard otherwise though… 😉 Not revealing my sources.

    Oh yeah, dogs like to chew, and that old toy sounds manky-as. Some things are beyond repair, like the irredeemable toy. Great word choice too. Nice style with the bait and switch dog chew toy replacement technique! Hey, you’ll probably be seeing a lot more of those tags in times to come. As a former manufacturing accountant, such labels are music to my is it eyes, or ears? 🙂 My trade and knowledge has become something of a lost art down under. At one time long ago they told us that jettisoning such dirty work would make us the ‘clever country’, although it didn’t seem too smart to me.

    Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin films just didn’t work for my brain. The characters always seemed a bit predictable and one dimensional, but maybe I’m being too harsh with the critique there? Dunno. May the Xenophages get their just deserves, or is it just desserts? Why would anyone want to feed aliens with tasty treats? Hope the film was good.

    Don’t recall seeing The Replica’s film, but the plot reads like a moral and ethical swamp. I much preferred the simpler Pet Semetary take on bringing the dead back to life, as in, there’s gonna be some serious costs involved. It is an intriguing narrative, but I reckon most people would bring ’em back if offered the choice. Have you ever read sci-fi (or other genre) stories where there is an element of the eternal? You’d get bored sooner or later on that length time scale.

    Thanks for the link to the article on ‘life admin’. It does seem rather burdensome, for no real reason other than maybe: just because. Hope the annual paperwork goes through smoothly.

    Later in the day, I so hear you. 🙂

    Cheers

    Chris

  17. Chris,
    Thanks for the description. Nobody in the Pittsburgh area sells the actual cages, although I could mail order them. But everyone thinks somebody else around here sells them in a bizarre circle of referral. Note that groundhogs can climb-they’re basically rather fat squirrels. They prefer not to, but the allure of Brussel sprouts right against the fence was too enticing. Some of the younger ones got in last year and I had to add loose chicken wire (without gaps-tricky, especially around the gate…) As they climb the wire it wobbles AND turns them upside-down. They don’t like that. Now if racoons cause trouble, I’ll have to install trail cams to see how they find the weak spots of the wobble wire…. Everyone, especially the rabbits, tries to dig in under the wire. Apparently the Owsla lore is missing the fact that digging 20 inches in one place is better than digging 6 inches in 20 places.
    Gerry

  18. Yo, Chris – Well, without taking a deep dive down the rabbit hole, from memory, this is what I remember about Peeping Thomas. When Lady Godiva took her famous ride through Coventry, all the townspeople shut themselves away. Out of respect, as, said ride was taken to reduce their onerous taxes, that the Lady’s husband had laid on. Well, only one fellow couldn’t resist taking a peek. And, was struck blind.

    As I often comment to H, when we hit the sack, “We can sleep til we wake up!” If there’s nothing on the agenda for the morning. She seems to appreciate the extra shut-eye. Sometimes, when I have to get up, she just stays abed, sawing logs. It’s a dog’s life. 🙂

    Our high yesterday was 43F (6.11C). Our overnight low was 32F (-0-C). Forecast high for today is 40F. When I took H for her walk, around midnight, it was rather warmish, and dry. Before I went to bed, about 2, I checked again. Big flakes coming down. But, on getting up, not a flake to be seen. We got pretty wet, on our morning walk, and the rain was a bit “chunky”. Right now, it’s rain mixed with a bit of snow. I do hope I can do what need to be done, today. I expect it may keep trying to snow, but the roads will be fine. That’s about the last place it “sticks” due to the warmer pavement.

    That was an interesting article about your fires. Looks like there’s some action, around Melbourne. Here’s wishing that they stay well away from you. The rainfall decline map was also of interest. A dry summer, for you, so far.

    Re: Gargle and U-Tub: that’s not to say I don’t appreciate the time, effort and expense you put out, to keep this blog, and the videos going.

    No, it’s true! 🙂 Every other night, H gets a little something extra, with her kibble. Mixed veg, chopped egg (as last night), or yoghurt. But sometimes, a small handful of reconstituted cranberries. She really likes them, and I figure (based on no research whatsoever) that they help keep her urinary tract ticking along. I go easy on the eggs and yoghurt. Although there’s been no reoccurrence of any kind of allergic scratching.

    I can’t say I was ever a big fan of Lewis & Martin. Although I must say, most comedians leave me pretty cold. For some reason, the French really took to Lewis. Practically a cult.

    Yup. “Replica” was a moral and ethical swamp. As an example, he’s got the wife and three kids. But only three pods for cloning. What to do? One of the kids, has to go. How to decide? Put the names in a hat. Then, he has to wipe the memories of the missing kid, from the wife’s and surviving kids memories. And that’s not the half of it. And there are bad guys and a car chase or two.

    We should get a food box, this morning. It’s the commodities box. So, maybe a bit of fruit or veg? Eggs? Time will tell.

    You may have heard the new administration wants to establish a US “sovereign fund.” I don’t quit understand the ins and outs, but I’m sure someone will make a lot of money … and it won’t be me. 🙂 I also had an odd thought, yesterday. What if the powers that be, decided to pay out the retirements in bit coin? I suppose there would be some mechanism, for turning it into “real” money. For a small transaction fee, of course. Lew

  19. Chris:

    Gilligan’s Island was the absolute fantasy; even as a child I understood that. Another world, a place to escape to. And they thought no-one would ever watch it . . .

    I used to have a slingshot; I was a terrible shot. One had better not cause any harm to a drone, there are laws against that, on top of which, purportedly law enforcement uses them to look for lost people, etc., so you might be messing with the wrong side.

    Pam

  20. Chris,

    Ok. So you’ve got a staircase to the path. Then an upper staircase that will take 11 steps. Combined less than 42, perhaps, say 25? If these are considered to be one long staircase just going up, then you could build one even longer going down, with 42 steps. Adapted from the song “If I Were a Rich Man”, from, well, groan, a musical. Sorry, perhaps. 🙂

    I like your general rule of thumb. Worded differently, if it seems too good to be true, it likely isn’t true. It has been interesting watching the probabilities given by Nate Silver in each of the last 3
    USA Presidential elections. People who don’t understand probability say that he failed in all 3, especially the 2016. However, if there is a 60% chance that I will win, and a 40% chance that you will win, the fact that you won does NOT mean the probabilistic prediction was incorrect. 40% is a significantly large chance of winning. 2 times in 5.

    We sell raffle tickets each of our club meetings. 2 tickets for a dollar. Half of the money goes to the winning ticket, the other half to the club. Most people spend between 1 dollar and 3 dollars. One day, a young guy decided he was going to win, so he paid 20 dollars for 40 tickets. I explained that that didn’t guarantee anything, but he wouldn’t listen. He didn’t win. There were about 90 tickets in total that day, 40 being his. A 4 in 9 chance of winning. 44.44%. Best chance of anybody, but not a guarantee. Probability. Somebody who had spent a dollar won, buying 2 tickets. A 1 in 45 chance of winning. 2.22% Probability.

    Laughing at oneself when those quirky twists of misfortune hits is always healthy. Hard to be very angry when you’re laughing. And if the misfortunate twist was purposely brought about by a tease or a trickster, getting mad about it makes things worse: said trickster will continue to tease and arrange misfortunate events until you learn to laugh about it and accept it and continue on. Yes, it took me decades to learn that.

    It was obvious about that word from the start. But it is a rather interesting situation about that word now. It almost sounds cryptic, or like a Zen Koan or something. “Your next goal, grasshopper, is to answer the following question. What is the unmentionable word?” Which would lead me to think that if said grasshopper did discern what the unmentionable word is, would he be able to mention the word to his teacher? Would he fail if he mentioned the unmentionable word?

    Very good. Thermal inertia. Extreme temperatures nearly always fall after the solstices. Very true. Dad taught me that when I was 9 or 10. Cooling your house in summer evenings runs into the same principle, yes? Occasionally, I’ve seen the extreme highs or lows of the season occur before the solstice, but not often. Rogue air masses do that, but all else being equal, the thermal inertia idea holds true.

    I read your pep talk to Dame Avalanche. She looked away and yawned. Oh well, I appreciate your attempted assistance. 😉

    Well, Wednesday I awoke to a new snowfall of 5cm. Very light and fluffy, so I didn’t use Big Bertha. Again the neighbor got out early and did several sidewalks with his new toy. I did start Big Bertha and ran her for a few minutes though. We already have a heavy dusting tonight, with snow showers forecast sporadically until Friday night. A decent sized storm is forecast for Saturday into Saturday night. Between now and Sunday noon, we could get another 15cm of snow to add to the 8cm currently on the ground. I’m sure Big Bertha will be pressed into service if we get that much snow. I think Big Bertha, when conditions warrant her use, will get plenty of exercise. Young neighbor, who is a mere 1.52m tall and maybe 45kg dripping wet said that she would enjoy it if I used Big Bertha on her sidewalks during deep/heavy snowfalls. I told her that’s what neighbors and friends are for. Big Bertha won’t mind the extra work either.

    I’m sure there was a smirk involved with the addition of the extra word. The extra extra, as it were. Good that you realized the heat was getting to her and that you then pampered her. Very important stuff, pampering her. The Princess, reading over my shoulder as I write this, is nodding in complete agreement.

    Meanwhile, Dame Avalanche was in full primal mode during this afternoon’s walk. It was -4C with a light breeze and snow everywhere. I walked about 2km. She, however, continually ran to the end of the leash, then turned and ran behind me to the end of the leash, then forwards to the end of the leash…she may have run and walked 4km or more. She also got to make 2 new friends. A toddler was walking with his mother. Toddler was enamored of Dame Avalanche, so he and his mother got to meet the husky. Who was held down by me to keep from jumping and knocking over the toddler or his mum.

    Oh, and starting Monday night, we should have 3 or 4 consecutive nights with lows approaching -15C. I’m happy with the -9C lows we’ve been having. I’m used to them now. I will concede that -15C will be cold.

    DJSpo

  21. Hi Pam,

    Such a fun show, and your words about no-one ever watching it, took me on a interweb rabbit hole in relation to the shows eventual cancellation. What a dog act was that series cancellation, although it should be pointed out that dogs are more loyal. Ook! Such things happen, and I recall similar events when manufacturing was shut down here in the early to mid 1990’s. Lot’s of promises, then zip. Words to the contrary, and then out of a job. I’d not want to be working in your federal bureaucracy nowadays.

    Fair enough. But practice does make perfect, still, upon reflection best not to feed the beast – ensure there is no gain from you for the operators of those machines. They’ll get bored and go away. Actually, thinking about it further, taking them down may escalate the situation with who knows what consequences.

    Things are different down here, and the drone operators doing that trick for no good reason, would be in trouble.

    It’s hot here again today. I’m getting used to the hot weather though. Made another step in the staircase earlier and then lined on side of the stairs with large rocks. The rocks stop soil washing down onto the stairs. It’s a nice touch.

    Might make another step tomorrow. It’s nice we got the rain late last week and earlier this week. The trees are growing well as a result. The citrus enclosure has to be further protected from the deer by adding in a couple of higher strands of wire. I think you suggested that? Maybe?

    Cheers

    Chris

  22. Hi DJ,

    Ah, your maths skill is way beyond mine. Respect. You estimated the final step number to exactly what we’re thinking. 13 + 12 = 25 🙂 Although, right now, it’s hard to tell whether 25 will be needed. Of course a person could employ a level and measuring tape and gain a precise insight into the possibilities, but there is also some art to the construction process – as in, what will look better, 24 steps, or 25 steps? Plus the landing at the top of the stairs can be modified, depending on the aesthetic outcome. But your guess is as good as ours.

    Poured another step today. Did I mention that it was hot? 34’C in the shade, and weirdly I’m getting used to working outdoors in such hot weather. The best aspect of this week is that the nights will be cooler, around the mid to high teens Celsius (which probably sounds really nice to you given the snow and Arctic air and stuff). The house design works best when the cooler night time air can be captured like one of those ice camping fridges people used to use. By the way, that was the inspiration for the house design. Yup, that thermal inertia thing again! 😉

    Like Dame Avalanche, I did note your cheeky reference to the very catchy musical ear worm, and yawned whilst looking anywhere else and doing my best to think of any other melodies. Da, da, da, da…… Argggggh! Noooooo….

    Oh man, Nate. 🙂 Why does Moneyball keep popping up in my awareness, and why have I not read this book? Michael Lewis being a super awesome author who penned one of my favourite books: The Big Short. Anyway, back to Nate. He’s from Chicago, right? Well, the thing with statistical analysis, like genuinely looking at the cold hard numbers, it’s hard to shake off statistical bias when it comes to analysis. So there’s always a story, and many years ago with a work football tipping competition – a sport I know very little about – I gathered in all the statistics I could find. Set up a matrix (as you do!) and then started picking the weekly results based on the outcome of the matrix. I was miles out front in the competition early on. Except about half way through the season, me and a mate who was using the picks in his own workplace competition, started listening to some guy who also gave thoughtful analysis – except he was consistently wrong. But the arguments the bloke gave were solid, but just plain old wrong. And so I began wavering under the pressure and ended up slowly losing the gains. It happens. Didn’t win either because of that analytical interpretation of the results (otherwise known as ignoring them and choosing differently!)

    Politics is interesting, but it’s my considered opinion that the many problems currently being faced are not really resolvable in any meaningful sense. Politics of course will impact all of our lives regardless. The thing is, with polls over the past couple of your elections, our elections, Brexit, the Voice referendum, the polls were so consistently wrong that I can only put it down to statistical bias creeping in. The media clearly has far less influence than it once did. And the pollsters should take a good hard look at themselves – this is not a footy tipping competition being played here. I’d suggest they need to get out of their comfort zones, and go to places where the people don’t agree with them, and just have a chat. It’s not hard to do. People love to talk.

    Hehe! That’s funny about the club raffle. If such a thing were possible, anyone could do the same thing with the bigger paying lotto games. Respect for taking the time to explain to the young bloke about his actual probability of winning. A good lesson for him to learn though. One of the things I really took away from statistics, is that in such games of chance, the house usually wins. As a result I don’t gamble.

    Exactly, the trickster is looking for a certain response – and may escalate. Yup, we are in total agreement here.

    I doff my hat to you good Sir for your use of logic wrapping of the many knots. 🙂 That is an unresolvable problem with the unmentionable word, although I can think of ways of employing the so called Gordian Knot solution. But such acts are not in the spirit of the problem are they?

    Your dad was a smart bloke, and I didn’t learn the thermal inertia explanation until about maybe six or seven years ago now. Funnily enough the friend who told me that explanation began ghosting me about a year ago. A bit sad really, he’s very well educated in the sciences and I heard some rumour that he has troubles that my opinions differ from his in one or two matters. Didn’t seem a big deal to me. But as I recall saying to someone years ago during you-know-what, I don’t have enough friends to be so stupid about hanging onto beliefs. Some of the most interesting people I know, hold vastly different opinions to my own, and you know what? I could be wrong about many things. In fact there’s probably more things I’m wrong about, than have correct! They tell me that’s the beginnings of wisdom, but I dunno, I might just be wrong there! 😉

    Dogs keep their own counsel, especially dogs who can think for themselves. And Husky’s are known to be independently minded creatures.

    It’s good practice just to regularly start up small engines and let them get up to operating temperature. I do that every second month with all of the machines. Fuel is sadly not the product it once was, and I avoid the stuff with ethanol, even though it is slightly cheaper. Do they label that stuff in your country? Here it is labelled as a 10% blend mix, or none at all.

    Nice to help out your neighbours.

    🙂 Sandra really improved as the day wore on. It’d been five hot days and four hot nights in a row. With a similar heatwave the previous week.

    You’d not be enjoying the hot smoky air which is dominating the local atmosphere for the past few days. The fires are in the west of this state, and also the island state of Tasmania which is to the south of the mainland.

    Go Dame Avalanche, and good to see that the Husky is on her best behaviour when meeting new people.

    Holy carp! -15’C is extraordinarily cold. Brr! Stay warm. And know that I quail in fright at the thought of such cold air.

    Cheers

    Chris

  23. Hi Lewis,

    Far out, the historians went feral over that story of Lady Godiva. I’d not been aware of the full extent of the story, or the naughty Tom, and how the narrative flexes and weaves over the years with societal concerns and of course, good old moral rectitude. I guess if a local author or academic was seeking fame or fortune, the story was made more or less racy depending upon the intended desires of the audience. And there were some mentions that the hapless Tom was dealt to by the locals. Everyone knew him for a ‘ner do well and he got what was coming to him, or so the story went during certain historical periods.

    Now that’s proper living. And yes, it’s a luxury to set one’s own time standards. It baffles me that there is so little flexibility in societal arrangements. One of the most horrendous work practices in my opinion is that of the rotating shift. That’s where a person works morning shift one week, afternoon shift the next, and night shift the following. Then back to the beginning again. I don’t believe that people’s systems work that way.

    Your winter weather is pretty good comparatively. 🙂 And not that much different from what happens here. Stay warm though! It was 34’C / 93’F today and felt OK, although the overnight temperatures are cooler (which is a relief). Poured another cement step today and used rocks to line one side of the staircase. The rocks stop soil from the garden washing down onto the concrete step surface. Quite neat really.

    Went down to the nearby town late this afternoon to pick up another load of sand, gravel and cement so that we have enough materials to finish the staircase. Finishing that part of the job will be done in another week or so. The stairs will be very useful.

    It’s smoky here today. The origins of the fire are from the island state of Tasmania which is to the south of the mainland. It’s not good for some of those fires: Bushfire in Tasmania’s Takayna/Tarkine burns within metres of ancient stand of Huon pine. Those are some ancient trees.

    Did you avoid heading out today in those conditions?

    Ah, the rainfall map was showing dry in some nearby areas, but about average rainfall here – and that reflects what I’m experiencing. The summer has been more about prolonged heat, rather than extreme temperatures. Not a good sign for future years, but one must adapt – and maybe add a few extra water tanks into the system.

    Totally get where you are at with gargle and utub. Man, if I didn’t have to engage with the likes of them, I wouldn’t. 🙂 But they kind of backed me into a corner. I guess they want their slice of the action, or else. So I feed them slowly and as cheaply as possible.

    Go H! And that sort of feeding regime would be really good for her. I do wonder about the wisdom of feeding pets the same meal of purchased product over and over again ad-nauseum. Doesn’t hurt to chuck some extra stuff in like what you’re doing, well at least that’s what I reckon. That’s what I hear about cranberries as well. Good to hear that the scratchies have subsided. What a nightmare that would have been for her.

    Really? Well no accounting for taste. I’ve seen one or two of those duo’s films and they just didn’t gel. Dunno.

    If brought back from the dead, as in the storyline in that film – and I have a concern whether I’d be the same person (how would you even know? And would it matter?) – but the situation is so miraculous that it’d probably be a bit greedy to demand that little Zoe was brought back as well. I think the fictional family could handle the bad news. 🙂 The movie would have been deeply ironic too if the bad guys and car chase sent the family back to the, err, earlier circumstances.

    I read a sci-fi a few years ago where people had their memories recorded and they could be reanimated in a new body. Maybe I’m over thinking the whole issue and it doesn’t matter, but possibly nobody would notice the difference.

    Oh well. It’s cooling down now, and I might take the dogs out for a walk. Had a good chat with a neighbour yesterday whilst walking around.

    What did the food box end up like? Hopefully there’s some eggs in there and other fresh produce.

    Hmm. Interesting. We’ve got a Future Fund in operation down here. Looks like it holds about $200bn-ish in assets. I think the same federal folks have debt of $1,000bn-ish. Well, it’s probably a good idea to have some funds ready to employ, just in case. I’ll tell you a funny story about that sort of thinking. When the Editor and I first got together, I had a small student debt which I was slowly paying down. I also had some savings, but they weren’t nearly as large as the student debt. Yeah, so the Editor pointed out to me, quite bluntly, that having savings on one hand, and debt on the other is idiotic. She was right too. Weirdly enough, I’ve seen plenty of people over the years making the same error I did in those early days. And the sovereign fund looks a bit like that to me. You know, such things might be in place as a form of I dunno, rapid response plunge protection mechanism. The market events leading up to the Great Depression may not have been forgotten… That does in no way mean that the goobermints have thought of everything. Hmm. Oh well. It’s an exciting time in your country, lot’s of moving parts are getting shuffled around.

    Cheers

    Chris

  24. Yo, Chris – No wonder Godiva’s husband slapped taxes on everything. All that land and bling they donated to the Church. 🙂 Interesting that she managed to, apparently, hold onto land through the Norman Conquest. Might have picked the right winner, early on. Speaking of the Norman Conquest, something new from the Wonderful World of Archaeology.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/articles/cwyj71j2wjqo

    Oh, I know about rotating shifts. Years ago, I had a friend in Portland, who worked rotating shifts, for years. While raising two teenage boys (single father) and running a tavern (which he acquired by default.) He died on the youngish side.

    Our high yesterday was 41F (5C). The overnight low was 34F. Oddly, it never got below freezing. Forecast for today is 41F. There was scattered showers, yesterday, with a bit of chunk in them. But nothing to speak of. We really haven’t seen any snow, so far.

    I noticed the side rocks, on the steps. Gives them a nice finished look.

    That was an interesting article on the Huon pines. I remember the article from a couple of years ago, about the heroic efforts to save another variety of rare, prehistoric tree in your country. Down in California, they have the Bristlecone pine. Some of those are over 4,000 years old.

    I had quit the busy day, yesterday. Keeping an eye on the weather, and hoping for the best. Just as I was leaving to take H to the groomer, at 1, the food boxes showed up (more on those later). Stopped by the library, dropped off the dog, and headed up to Centralia to shop at the regular grocery store, for a couple of things I couldn’t find, elsewhere. Hit the Club on the way back, for a cuppa and a chin wag. Swung by the new location of the veg store, to get local yoghurt. And, of course, just as I got back home, I got a call to pick up H. So, back downtown. Home to play a few rounds of keep away, and a long nap.

    Spoilers! Zoe makes it back to the land of the living. I put “Hot Fuzz” and “End of the World” on hold. They’re in transit, to me. I ran across something interesting. Along with “Shaun” they’re considered a trilogy. Speaking of waffle cones …

    https://w.wiki/CyDU

    I’d also include “Run, Fat Boy, Run.” It has the same “feel” as the other three. The library doesn’t have that one, though they did when if first came out. In these more sensitive times, I suppose it’s been offloaded, due to PC concerns. 🙂

    The food box was pretty good. We got potatoes, oranges, and apples. No eggs. Oddly, also two pounds of almonds, two pounds of pistachios and a pound of hazelnuts (aka filberts.) Those I break down into smaller “snack” bags. There was also a six pack of “Hebrew National, 100% Kosher Beef Franks.” A lot of companies angle for that Kosher label, as, there’s a general belief that the products are purer than normal. Might be true, as a wisdom (that’s the collective noun) of rabbis can descend at any time, to check things out. The rest of the stuff was the usual suspects. A couple of boxes of cereal (some kind of wheat bran stuff) and a couple of quarts of shelf stable milk. A two pound brick of cheese “product.” A gallon of some kind of fruit drink. Spaghetti pasta. A jar of peanut butter. One tin of salmon. And, other tins of veg. No fruit except for more of the tasteless apricots. One tin of applesauce. I took three bags of food, down to the Club, last night. I’ll probably take down two more, this morning.

    Yup. Things are getting “interesting” back east. Gaza! The 51st state! (Or, Panama. Or, Greenland. Or, Canada.) Lew

  25. Chris:

    Yes, I did mention putting the two strands over the fence, but we used white rope (not very attractive) so that the deer can see it and not crash into it and get fatally injured, as happened twice here with deer and fences.

    Lining the stairs with rocks is such a nice touch, especially for holding back soil. I was down near the neighbors’ pond behind us today and it looks like quite a bit of the orange clay dirt from up the hill where the greenhouses are has washed down into the pond after the hard rain we had last night and this morning. I hope it looks worse than it is since the soil is lying on top of the frozen pond. There obviously wasn’t enough grass seed planted last year on that slope.

    Ooh! It’s about dark and I just looked out the window and saw Petey the Possum – and Sweet Thing – on the front porch.

    Pam

  26. Chris,

    Ah, I counted the number of steps you’ve poured, then stared at the pictures, figured how many more steps it would take to get to the top. Luck happens with guessing sometimes.

    34C in the shade? Ouch! Back in the day, I’d get acclimated to the summer weather. Working in the heat was fine. Bicycling in the heat was normal. I was young and dumb back then, but at least I was neither a mad dog nor an Englishman. 😉 Glad you’re getting some cooler nights, which should help the house a lot.

    I liked your story. I bet you learned to listen to yourself when your way works, ignore the others? And statistical bias? Many of the polls we have are rather biased from the start, either by the small groups of people polled, or even by the way questions are asked. Where I applaud Nate Silver is that his statistical method was somewhat able to take these into account, mostly by devising a statistical model that uses multiple polls done by others. Many of his “peers” wouldn’t/couldn’t do that and made actual predications of results, rather than giving a statistical forecast. Also, I think that the days of political polls being somewhat insightful are long gone. As you said, there are groups of voters who never get contacted. Others won’t respond. As a result, the weaknesses of statistical models become apparent and the political polls become irrelevant due to inaccuracy. And even Nate’s method is off because his data based on the other polls is faulty. Garbage in, garbage out comes to mind.

    Oh yes, any gambling game is set up so the house will come out ahead in the end. Knowing that, I’m mostly with you on gambling. The difference…maybe I’ll spend a few dollars from the “recreation” budget on a machine or a game of blackjack, viewing it as entertainment. But I cannot spend very much time in the casino atmosphere. It is too noisy and there are too many flashy lights. I can get overstimulated very quickly, and that isn’t fun. Best to avoid those things.

    The Gordian Knot solution is awesome. It works. It’s simple. Somewhat outside the rules of most problems, but it works.

    Dad was sorta smart. His dad was too. I think grandfather taught dad about thermal inertia back when they lived in the California and Arizona deserts in the 1930s, the days before much air conditioning.

    I like talking to people who come from different backgrounds than mine. I can learn new things, can have a chance to learn about other ways of doing things. Without understanding how other people think, it is impossible to have a functioning society. And it is possible to be friends with people who differ from you in both political and religious beliefs. Most people prefer living in an echo chamber, I guess.

    The Princess and I came from such different backgrounds that many who knew us both never thought we’d work out. Yet here we are nearly 34 years later. Ditto the other “old timer” on our street – we came from different backgrounds but get along fine, tolerate and accept the differences. But he and I both were raised with the attitude of helping your neighbors, which we both do. He’s the guy who clears snow off many sidewalks. I take over when he doesn’t do it.

    We got another 8cm of snow Wednesday night. It was also warmer than the previous 2 storms, so the snow was heavier. I was getting ready to get outside, break out Big Bertha. The other old timer beat me to it. He even cleared the young neighbor’s sidewalk, a first, getting there before I could. Good neighborhood I live in.

    Our petrol has 10% ethanol. It is so labelled, too. It is nearly impossible to find any without ethanol.

    Five hot days, four warm nights? Ouch! No wonder Sandra was struggling. Those are the type of conditions that usually wear me down, too, and usually in about the same amount of time. Especially if it was the second week of such stuff. Glad you’re getting more relief from that heat.

    Now they’re forecasting lows Monday closer to -18C. Cold indeed. You can shiver for me, I’ll bundle up. Dame Avalanche will be happy.

    DJSpo

  27. Hi Pam,

    Not to worry on that score. There’s little worse a sight to see than a hapless kangaroo tangled up in cheap fencing. It happens, and like you, I’d have done no differently if I’d not seen the results on other properties. It’s awful and a hard way to learn.

    With that concern in mind I’m trying to decide what material would work, be seen by the deer, and also survive the elements. For example, plastic here has to be UV stabilised in order to cope with the strong summer sunlight (being closer to the sun than you are during the summer months has some downsides!)

    Ouch! Well, any changes to the soil impacts upon the flow of water, and minerals of course. It happens here too, and hey, many years ago we had a minor landslide. Talk about a wake up call and after that moment, we changed all of the systems to avoid that reoccurring.

    Yeah. It’s funny but nobody around here gave us any good advice as to how to deal with excavations and living with sloping ground. What we did, was take a good look at how the old timers managed that situation in some of the fancy hill station gardens over in the more fashionable western end of the mountain range.

    If I may say so, it is possible that grass roots aren’t deep enough to manage that particular soil loss problem. Hmm. Trees would be too much, and fall in such weather. But I’ve heard it said that what is represented above ground in terms of vegetation, is supported below ground by root systems.

    Greeting to Petey the Possum, and he’d be happy to know that a herbivorous local cousin in the form of a rather large brush tail possum is enjoying the perquisites of a big apple tree.

    Aren’t the interactions with the wildlife enjoyable?

    Cheers

    Chris

  28. Hi DJ,

    Thanks for the photos! 🙂 Such a lovely surprise on an otherwise warm summer’s day. Dame Avalanche looks as though she is in her element. Far out, it was 24’C inside the house this morning when I woke, and the warm air was blowing through the open window. 6AM has never been my friend, put it that way… 🙂

    Your step maths is strong, and as they say, on the money. In the strong sunshine, we poured another step this morning, so the project is getting. But then I was done… Retreated into the long shed, aka mead hall, and managed to fix and repair some machines. Discovered one of the power wheelbarrows has both a power-take-off lever for the transmission belt as well as a clutch. Who knew? Anyway, the clutch cable had broken, and that’s the cause of the blue magic smoke and burnt clutch stink from the other day. Got a replacement 2.1mm steel cable on order now (and a spare). Should be fun feeding that cable through the existing arrangement, but we’ll see. A lot of pottering around – out of the sun. Too hot.

    Well, your border land and Viking blood definitely rules out the whole Englishman thing, although both were raiding in that country though so you never know. 😉

    Last night sadly was hot overnight, but tonight the air is positively Antarctic and I’m enjoying feeling cold.

    Hehe! Statistical bias is always a problem. We come at those sorts of situations with our own preconceived ideas, and just hope that the data conforms to our carefully constructed (and installed) visions of the world as it is. It’s just that sometimes, the world is different! And essentially that is the core of the issue – was the data going in any good in terms of being widely applicable enough?

    One of the downsides of the sort of economic stratification which goes on nowadays as a result of the property bubble, is that the outcome is an economically stratified population over a geographical area. Your income and assets, will determine where you live. People who are similar economically, tend to live within the same geographical area – and they might all hold the same concerns. This is not a bright idea for all sorts of reasons, but it seems to be what people want. It’s a problem bigger than you or I, and you see it in the results of polls.

    Well, truth to tell back in my way younger days, spent a lot of mad cash on video games. Anywhoo, I’ve heard it said that the occasional flutter can be a way of purchasing entertainment. It’s just nobody really ever knows whether they will be a recreational enjoyer of such services, or a habitual user. Hard to know in advance that. And yes, casino’s freak out my senses too. It’s that caveman thing again… 🙂 Or probably over stimulation like you said, I’ve ventured into such places maybe three or four times in my life, and just wanted out again.

    Smart is an odd description, and I noted your use of a qualitative descriptor. Yeah, I hear you. It’s genuinely hard to know what the word means, although I believe that society suggests that it is a person who can achieve good results in specific testing environments. Having known a few smart people over the years, it’s hard to ignore the more often than not, they’re also generally difficult people. It takes sustained effort to balance all of the many things required of a person, like being a warm person and sociable.

    🙂 Lovely, and respect to you and your lady. And why wouldn’t it work out? You need complimentary skills in a relationship for sure. Sandra and I got together in 1994, and we’re quite different people in many ways. She’s an INTJ and some folks find that personality type to be a bit scary.

    Good stuff with the snow shovelling neighbour. That effort has sort of set the bar really! And I’d never seen a snow shovel before. Truly.

    Looks like there’ll be some hot night next week, and I’m already yawning. Oh well…

    Far out that is so cold as to be unfathomable, although things usually go badly when people go in those submersible sub things to unfathomable depths. Best we’re not involved, although finances probably preclude that risk from eventuating!

    Cheers

    Chris

  29. Hi Lewis,

    It’s a bit poor form on my part, but secretly I was thinking to myself that if Saint Boniface was working in Lady Godiva’s area, him and his crew would have satisfied the robbers with proper gold instead of scriptures. Sorry, it’s how my brain works sometimes… Anyway, the high taxation of the locals whilst the lords of the land were promoting their personal general goodness was part of the story which was not lost on me.

    And I noticed that Lady Godiva was one of the few surviving aristocrats following on from the Norman conquest. Always interesting to note the successful strategies of those who’d survived hard times.

    Thanks for the article on Harold and his ancient toilet. The stonework for that wall was very pleasing to my eye. The article was a bit light on for details and I was left wondering what was this 11th century trendy toilet they spoke of. An intriguing tale.

    Speaking of rock work, we poured another cement step earlier today in the hot sun. After the step work was done, I retreated into the mead hall to service and repair some of the machines. Despite feeling overly warm, I had a lot of success in that work. Not always the case I can assure you. Man, we got up way too early this morning due to the hot air blowing through the window. Thankfully, it’s cold now with Antarctic breezes blowing into the house, and that’s a good thing in my books.

    Oh, and tested another of the second hand solar charge controllers, and it’s working perfectly. A bit of a bargain, and makes up for the $2 I netted on the sale of the rare radio tuner. One must take the good with the bad in this here life.

    Looks like tomorrow will be cooler too. Yay! And the peasants rejoiced whilst looking forward to a comfortable nights sleep. Yawn.

    Sorry to hear that about your friend in Portland. A person who used to comment here long ago (Damian) who I knew quite well, began rotating shift work in remote locations. Can’t say I’ve heard from him much since that time. From my perspective, the mad cash ain’t worth it.

    Thanks for the laughs as to the highly technical weather terminology: A bit of chunk! But I knew exactly what you meant. Fun stuff.

    Thanks, and the staircase is coming along nicely. There’s other work I want to do, but it’s a bit hot for such activities right now. A person must be appropriate.

    Amazing trees, and super hardy. There’s something about those sorts of environments which produce really long lived tree species, and also super tall trees – which aren’t as prevalent on your east coast. The trees are very tall around here too, maybe the tallest on the planet depending on who you ask. 🙂

    You’ve been everywhere yesterday! Hope H enjoyed the game of keep away? Dogs have such a sense of fun about them. I read somewhere, I forget where, but the alpha of a pack chucks in an element of fun into the packs interactions – it’s not all serious leading and stuff.

    What? I thought there were only three re-animator pods and Zoe didn’t make the cut. 😉 That’ll teach her to be the naughty one.

    That’s pretty funny about the Three Flavours Cornetto. I’d try one for sure. Tasty things. They remind me of trips to the cinema.

    Hehe! If the title is deprecatingly self described, but yeah people can be a bit weird about the whole PC thing. Hmm. Oh well. Was it a good film though? I’ve not seen that, but would probably watch Hot Fuzz first. What a decision we have to make here!

    Oh well, when taxation does not fill the coffers, they probably have to find other forms of income, like blessing food. It’s not a bad idea, and sure beats working. But yes, the snap inspections would be part of the deal, one cannot rest on their laurels.

    The Club pantry would appreciate the donation of food.

    🙂 Dude, the events have got true entertainment value. And it’s not like they didn’t poke him hard. What did they all expect would happen? The golden rule of do unto others applies here equally.

    Cheers

    Chris

  30. Yo, Chris – Yes, how did Lady Godiva manage to be a surviving Anglo-Saxon aristocrat? Something we’ll probably never know. I read somewhere that quit a few Normans married into the Ango-Saxon aristocracy. Gave them a bit of authenticity. Who knows, maybe she was married to a Norman, before the Conquest.

    I thought you’d like that bit of stonework. LOL. I wonder if someone looked at some really nice stonework, thought, “This is nice. Let’s build a cathedral!”

    I suppose working on your machines could be considered some of that “household maintenance.” Sometimes, it extends beyond paper. I did a couple of loads of laundry, the other night.

    Our high yesterday was 43F (6.11C). The overnight low was 30F (-1.11C) Forecast high for today is 42F. Yesterday was all blue skies and sunshine. Today is overcast, and they’re forecasting mixed rain and snow tonight. I hear there’s been some snow, outside of town. But in town, no.

    I think of Damian, from time to time. Interesting fellow.

    I’m sure my neighbors think I torture H, every day around 5. When we come in from our walk, I sit on the edge of the bed, and we play three rounds of keep away. She goes nuts, and it’s about the only time she really barks.

    More spoilers. The parting shot in “Replica” is Zoe and her Dad walking down a beach. So, apparently, something was worked out.

    Well, I watched “Run, Fat Boy, Run,” about 20 years ago, so, if I can still remember it, it must have been pretty good. Trivia for the next pub quiz. George Romero was so impressed with “Shaun of the Dead,” that he asked Simon Pegg to be a zombie extra, in his “Land of the Dead.” Poor zombie Simon, chained to a wall. 🙂

    Must be something in the air. The past two mornings I’ve woken up at about 6am. One of those events, where you know you can’t get back to sleep, and might as well get up. Might be depression. Might just be my weird sleeping routines. I did go to bed earlier than usual, last night. I was just really tired. LOL. An early night for me is 1am.

    Night before last, I made some of my “Spanish” rice. Beans, rice, tomatoes, corn, etc.. I also put in two of my dried Cayenne peppers. There was enough for a repeat, last night. Although I added parsley and mustard, from the garden. And, you heard it here first, Lew Eats Meat! I chopped up two of those franks, and mixed it in. H got a little bit of the meat. Can’t say it added a lot of flavor, but, it did add a bit of subtle flavor. Lew

  31. Chris:

    “Aren’t the interactions with the wildlife enjoyable?”

    Well, now . . . Mr. Dumpy doesn’t think so. They are using him for a hotel and it is not doing his insides any good. Last night my son saw a mouse under Mr. D’s hood and so set a Have-A-Heart trap and caught him. So my son took Mousie and trap and put them in my car to drive down the road to a different hotel. Somehow, Mousie got loose inside the car and that was that for last night. Mr. Baby was called in. Apparently he does not work inside cars (it’s not in his contract) so the trap was reset and left till this morning where I found Mousie in the trap in my car, gave him some breakfast, and on my way into town drove him down the road to a spot with a hedgerow (and some cows) where I hope he still is.

    But wait! While I was in town, minus Mousie, my poor son discovered that somehow a squirrel had also gotten under the hood and stuffed 600 (the exact number, I am told) dry leaves into some intake pipe or duct, or something, connected to a fan and he spent all day taking things apart and consequently breaking the computer. And my son knows exactly which squirrel it is (I hope Squirrely has life insurance) because the whole time he was working a squirrel was running up and down the big tree next to Mr. Dumpy carrying dry leaves to build a new home before the next bad weather (tomorrow).

    A used 4-wheel drive pickup truck was inspected yesterday and found quite wanting, so we still just have the one car.

    Pam

  32. Chris,

    Glad you enjoyed the photos. Dame Avalanche is completely enjoying this weather. Amazingly, while your temp in the morning was 24C, out late morning temperature when those pictures were taken was 24F.

    Blue magic smoke? Bad. Clutch stink? Badder still. Both together? Even the primordial “UGG” isn’t enough to describe that. That combination requires “Shostakovich, Fibonacci, Toccata and Fugue!” Hopefully the new cable will be easy to insert.

    When moving back to Spokane from New Mexico, my sister was with me. No AC in the old Datsun 510. It was partly cloudy and +30F driving from St. George, Utah north. My sister was melting in that, whereas I was enjoying the respite from the 37C heat I was used to. Two days later, we hit rain and 15C in Butte, Montana. Sister was bundled up in a blanket, the heater was blasting, and I was ridiculously enjoying the cold air and rain blowing in my open window while driving. It felt so good.

    Very astute observations about the polls and economics, etc. I’ve come to similar conclusions.

    I’ve noticed a couple things about smart people. (Having been in that group once upon a time I also speak from experience.) I view the brain like a bucket. It can be filled with a mix of educational smarts and common sense. After a certain point, different for everyone, the more educational smarts that get stuffed into the brain, the more common sense gets forced out. There is a reason why, when I do something that defies common sense, the Princess asks, “Honey, does it hurt to have an education?” A similar relationship often exists between educational smarts and interpersonal skills. Of course, other things can also influence one’s social skills, things like being an introvert, overstimulation issues such as we discussed with casinos, etc.

    Of course, a subset of the introversion scale is INTJ, persons of which are often viewed as very scary and intimidating. I quite feel Sandra’s “issues” with this, as I fall into INTJ myself when I take one of those tests. What I have fun with is that I can look as if I’m not paying much attention to my surroundings or to other people, later say something that shows that I was not only paying attention but was actually thinking a lot about the topic.

    I have a rather long snow shovel. Most are more squarish than my wide rectangular scoop. But this allows me to push snow or scoop up and throw snow, whichever is more efficient at the moment.

    A bit more snow forecast for Saturday, then the deep freeze is supposed to hit. Now perhaps as low as -19C. Followed by a good sized snowstorm Thursday the 13th as warmer air moves back in. I’m sure I’ll give updates. 😉

    DJSpo

  33. Hi Pam,

    That’s lovely about the night parrot continuing. This land is vast, and the human population hugs a few big cities. But step outside those bubbles, and it’s quiet. You’d probably be quite surprised at how quiet it can be even here most of the time. On the other hand, due to inappropriate land management practices which can often be do-nothing, we’ve got more than our fair share of extinctions down here. Mind you, there’s a lot of life bouncing, biting, chomping and munching out there, so we may have started from a higher basis of species diversity. It’s often where climates are harsh, but stable long term, that some of the greatest diversity of species arises. The nearby Brisbane Ranges is pretty arid comparatively, but it also has some of the largest diversity of wild-flowers in the state.

    A couple of blocks away is a blueberry farm, and I dropped in this morning, but it was a pick your own arrangement – and we had other plans in store for the day, so soon left. It was good to see families out picking the tasty berries. Had a nice chat with the owners too.

    Oh poor Mr Dumpy to suffer the ignominy of becoming housing for the local rodents and / or squirrels. Sorry to hear about your cars computer disaster but on a brighter note, the 600 leaves will make for a fine addition to the compost or garden beds. The squirrel may have picked the wrong person to annoy there, and every late March / early April the rats decide that under the house or in a vehicle engine bay would make for a toasty comfortable winter residence.

    Look, I’m not a fan of such activities. I’ve remonstrated with them time and time again, but do they listen? No. The good thing about the dogs is that they will immediately inform me if rodents have been testing the vehicles for their winter housing.

    Pam, I’ve not mentioned this, but the dogs have informed me that some critter has moved into the long machinery shed. And I don’t know what kind of critter it is. Could be startlingly deadly. Oh well, nobody said life was meant to be easy! 🙂

    Yeah, the used car market down here appears somewhat over inflated in relation to prices at the moment. I’d have to suggest that the demand on that market is artificially being pumped right now. What do you do though?

    Oh, went to a nearby cidery and shared a nacho grazing box for lunch. My system is not quite adapted to such rich food.

    Cheers

    Chris

  34. Hi DJ,

    The photos were excellent, and Sandra was particularly taken with the photogenic Dame Avalanche who blended into her background of snow beautifully. 🙂 It looked as if the dog were in her natural environment and was intelligently searching around for the nearest weakest reindeer to take down and dine upon with her pack mates. Reindeer burgers anyone? They’re probably quite tasty.

    Your weather is extreme, and about to get more so from what I’d been reading elsewhere. Stay warm, and avoid heading out, if you can. 🙂 Not always easy, we headed out today to enjoy lunch at a local cidery. A pint and a shared nacho box was demolished. The ice cream on the way home probably was what brought on the food coma, maybe. Anyway, here’s what the locals are saying about your weather. The words ‘dynamic’ are probably not what you want to hear: U.S. facing very active weather pattern for the next two weeks

    It’s an exciting time of year for weather, and we look set to enjoy another heatwave this week. Wednesday night into Thursday morning looks unpleasant in the forecast. Oh well, been there and done that only last week.

    Hehe! The stink from the burning clutch made the air in the machinery shed quite unpalatable in a very unpleasant way. Reminded me of the smell from some old trains way back in the day. Anyway, I worked out what was going wrong with the machine and ordered the replacement parts (and a spare) online and will get them over the next week or so. Of course getting the non factory parts to fit will be challenging as you noted.

    Dude, the Datsun 510 was an awesome car, notwithstanding the lack of air conditioning. I used to own one of those venerable machines too, although down here it was known as the Datsun 1600. Not to tease you, but mine was a 5 speed manual version. 😉 Well, they did have air conditioning of a sort, you just wound the windows down and let the crazy hot moving air do what it does. Everyone is different in that regard, and like your good example I try to acclimate as much as possible.

    Those cars were awesome in both their design and construction.

    As to the polls, if there were another possibility, I’d be open to hearing it. My gut feeling suggests that the media will get better with time. Right now, they have a rough patch ahead of them, but they’ll be fine, eventually – and maybe learn to avoid the worst excesses of the recent past.

    Nod of respect to your lady for that delightfully grounding line of hers. 🙂 Quite the enjoyable belly laugh, although with an element of discomfiture. Man, I don’t know what to say there. I’ve topped a uni subject, graduated with honours plus earned a distinction average, but found the experience to be unfulfilling and so took it no further, although under professional duress there were another five subjects to complete. Your bucket explanation matches my world-view because it makes perfect sense. There are limits to everything, including where we choose to employ our brainpower. And, I’ll whisper this, everyone reaches a point of diminishing returns when choosing to be narrowly focused. Hmm! Much better to be a polymath and pursue a range of interests, it’ll certainly make for easier relationships and more interesting discussions don’t you reckon? 😉

    Ah, it may interest you to know that many of my friends also fall into the INTJ category of personality types. I quite enjoy the company of such folks for their insights and abilities to discuss matters like abstract concepts with a level of dispassion. Such dialogue is very rare these days I can assure you.

    It’s true what you say about that aspect, but what I like the most is that here in you is a personality type which may be stubborn, but can learn. I respect that because it is an uncommon trait. I’m a bit different again being of the INFJ type, and you may have noticed that I’m on a constant quest for self improvement – not to mention that this includes the surroundings. This drive can be quite confronting for many people. Oh well…

    Dude, I hope to avoid the necessity of having to own one of those snow shovels, but can enjoy your stories vicariously. 🙂 With so much snow as you’re seeing, we’d hunker down and wait it out. Plus probably have a freak out about the solar derived electricity and battery capacity. Solar panels rarely work when covered by snow.

    Stay warm in those extremes. Brr!

    Cheers

    Chris

  35. Hi Lewis,

    It is very possible that with the Lady’s notable aesthetically pleasing appearance, she may just as easily have married a Norman after the conquest. As you’ve noted, such local matches would have made for a smoother transition of power with the peasant population. By all accounts, the peasants were handy with long bows and that would have made for a nervous experience for their new French overlords.

    What troubles me about the more scholarly discussions of the Lady Godiva myth, is that such loose talk about the possible degree of nudity, kind of hinders the work of serious sculptors. When we lived in the big smoke, I used to live opposite a very well known sculptor, and he was a really fun neighbour. He’d even let me use his workshop to fabricate items like the traditional looking cast iron front fence. I could hazard a solid guess as to his opinion on the matter, and he created some beautiful work. What’s wrong with celebrating beauty?

    Man, the photos of the centuries old stonework was like catnip to me. Sooner or later, we probably should make a small stone building. Could be handy for our version of a root cellar. I haven’t mentioned this matter before on the blog, but this subject has already been broached with the Editor. It’s not cold enough here to have a proper root cellar like are found in your country, but a stone shed sighted out of the sunshine, would be quite temperate. Hmm. Something for the future.

    Hehe! They probably did look at all that existing stonework and think that very thought. Am I recalling correctly that ancient cathedrals in the UK were often constructed upon existing sites of worship?

    Keeping the machines all in working order is a bit of a job actually now that you mention it. 🙂 And yeah, it is very much of the same order as vacuuming the house and doing the laundry. All has to be done, although I do the vacuuming whilst the Editor does the laundry. Here is where our varying interests are revealed, as you know, the Editor is very much interested in fabrics and clothes, so laundering is a natural extension of that. On the other hand, too much dust bothers my sinuses, so why not take charge of getting rid of dust? Everyone ends up happy. 🙂

    That’s some cold temperatures, and our media is suggesting that your country is in for some decently extreme winter weather over the next fortnight. We’ve got a three day heatwave next week, and Wednesday night will be particularly unpleasant. Oh well, it’s that time of year for such things.

    Today here was quite cold (relatively speaking). We took advantage of the cold day and headed to a nearby cidery to enjoy a pint of their brew and share a box of nachos. All very nice and you get to sit at an outdoors table which overlooks the orchard. The tables were all very well spaced too – plenty of land there. On the way back we stopped off to get an ice cream, and I was saying yes to things which from hindsight a different answer would have perhaps have been better. I got a massive two scoop waffle cone ice cream, which looked closer to four scoops to my eyes. Got back home again and crashed out for about an hour and half on the couch courtesy of a food coma. I don’t normally eat such rich food, but it was so tasty… Yum! A fun day, and little of note took place. It’s good to take a day off work every week.

    He is an interesting bloke, and now ghosts me. I dunno man, it’s not like I’m hard to contact.

    Hehe! What a fun game you play there with H. It’s pretty clever to get the ra-ra’s out of H so that she’ll settle down to a more sedate existence. Sometimes when I’m doing such games with the dogs, I’ll lead them to the Editor, who’ll give them an err, look. Then we’ll take the game slightly further away and they’ll zing right back up again. The Editor adds an element of overall uncertainty to the game. But the dogs know, once the game is done, that’s it. Canines do need an outlet for their energy.

    Oh no. So little Zoe was reanimated, but is she the same? Pet Semetary, just sayin…

    Ha! Take your picture with a zombie. 🙂 What a fine touch that is to see Simon Pegg in that scene. You know, I’d not realised that it was the actor performing as an extra. Did a fine job too, and Mr Pegg was positively leering as far as the chains allowed. I quite enjoyed that film, it was a good take on zombies.

    Of course, your logic is sound with the film. It’s just a film I missed, sorry to say, but education these days is not what it once was.

    Hope you’re not feeling depressed, however, that is a normal state of the mind at this time of the year when it’s the coldest and there is little sunshine. Plus, I will add in some unsolicited advice, that when you’re cold, you don’t sleep as deeply. The same goes for heat. There’s a sort of goldilocks temperature range for deep sleep. I sleep best in 18’C / 64’F temperatures, but everyone is wired differently on that front.

    Now if you could tell the birds around here to politely shut the f$%k up at ungodly hours of the morning, well my own repose would improve. Is it really necessary to sing up a storm about how nice the day will be when the sun has barely scraped past the horizon? The birds should know, I don’t do early mornings. It’s a respect thing. You see what I’m dealing with here? 😉

    I’m usually up until about midnight. It feels right, but alas society demands that I get up early. My whims and personal quirks must bend with reality.

    Well that’s it, civilisation is totally done for. 🙂 The inclusion of the franks was a nice touch to the meal. What do the Japanese call that addition of mysterious flavour?

    Cheers

    Chris

  36. Yo, Chris – Sculptors gotta sculpt. 🙂 Most of the stories about Lady Godiva say her long blond hair preserved her modesty. I guess it depends on the time period, that a representation was done. I saw lots of statues of the Lady, and some had her in a shift. The underwear of the time. Shocking enough, I guess. I got curious as to if Royal Doulton had ever done a Lady Godiva figurine. As near as I can tell, no. Although they did a few other nude figures, over the years. Might be she’s so rare, she’s just not showing up anywhere. Other high end porcelain companies, did do figures.

    Yes, the early church did co-opt pagan religious sites. Temples, groves and even wells. And, holidays. Even when the Spaniards conquered Mexico, they tore down some of the pyramids, and built churches on them.

    Have you found out what took up residence in your machine shed? I hope it’s not a snake under a dashboard. I saw an article, a couple of days ago, about a Sydney home owner who found 107 snakes in his mulch pile.

    Our high yesterday was 43F (6.11C). Our overnight low was 34F (1.11C). The forecast for today is a high of 42F. Prof. Mass has a post about “wet” snow. And something about coldest midwinter on record. When I took H out for a walk at midnight, that’s what was coming down. Wet snow, with rain. Looking out, this morning, it stuck a bit on car windshields and a few roofs. But that’s about it.

    There’s an old saying: “His eyes were bigger than his stomach.” Might apply to you and ice cream 🙂 . I assume the ice cream parlor isn’t gouging, on the price. The word you might be looking for is “Unami.”

    From our “There’s No Accounting for Taste” Department (or, maybe, “Their taste is in their mouth.”) I saw an article, yesterday, on “the world’s most dangerous cheese.”

    https://www.cnn.com/travel/casu-marzu-maggots-worlds-most-dangerous-cheese

    I think I’ll stick to pufferfish. 🙂

    But, speaking of more palatable food, last night I made some banana muffins. It’s an old recipe that I wrote down, years ago, from who knows where. Which I have adapted, here and there. I’d call them “Spicy Banana Muffins.” There’s a topping you can put on them. I usually don’t when it’s just for me. But, I’m taking some to my friend Kenna, and her chef boyfriend. You dip the tops of the baked muffins, in melted butter, Then into sugar (to which I added a little nutmeg.) Quite tasty. Worth the two eggs.

    Speaking of eggs, I was at the Club, last night, and they had the regional news on the telee. Thieves stole eggs, from a Seattle restaurant. It was caught on film. Humping crates of eggs, through the snow, to a van. The owner was amazed they just took the eggs. Didn’t even touch the liquor. It’s not the only big egg heist, recently.

    I’m still reading the book on possible apocalypses, “Everything Must Go.” It’s really a good read. It’s divided into possible catastrophes, and covers the whole history of that particular catastrophe, as portrayed in books and films. I’ve come to the conclusion, that some scientists and engineers are truly mad. Lew

  37. @Pam

    I just read about the squirrel in your car. Last spring Doug’s brake light went on in his truck and upon inspection he found a nest of baby squirrels. He was able to fix a brake line. With all the trees around here a squirrel picks the engine of a truck? It had obviously been there for some time as the babies were pretty large so they got to ride around the county.

    Margaret

  38. Hi Chris,

    A poor teacher can really mess one up in the math department. My high school freshman algebra teacher was one of those. He really soured me on math. We had to take one standardized test that year. I did very well and the teacher came to me wondering why the discrepancy between the test and my class performance. Well I think we know the answer. I only took geometry after that and found it pretty easy but was afraid to go further. In college I wasn’t required to take much math but I did have to take statistics and whizzed right through unlike quite a few others. I had to take a general math class for my psychology/elementary ed degree and had no problem when again many others did. I enjoyed teaching math better than other subjects though with my students I didn’t go higher than algebra. I always wondered if I would have gone further if not for that algebra teacher.

    Sorry you’re having so much difficulty with deer. They really can be a problem when the herd gets too large and there aren’t any predators. CWD is quite common in deer here now. As long as your not eating meat close to the spine or brain it’s supposed to be safe. I hope so because we do.

    Still no snow to speak of here and slightly colder than average temperatures. The other morning I woke up to a thing glaze of ice. I couldn’t walk down the driveway. Even the grass was slippery. Fortunately it was close to freezing and a little salt kept the roads drivable. Salve had a bit of a slide on our morning walk.

    Marty hasn’t been involved with the packing which is good as he’d just argue about everything. I have another chair being delivered tomorrow morning from the resale shop. Monday the Got Junk company is coming to haul all his “junky” furniture away. On Tuesday we have an appointment for his evaluation at the assisted living facility for an evaluation before move in. He is #2 and the emails keep saying a unit is opening up soon. I’ve asked 3 times what “soon” means and have yet to get an answer but I guess I’ll have a better idea on Tuesday.

    My respiratory virus lasted 2 1/2 weeks and I still have a bit of a cough. Hearing that a lot of people are experiencing the same thing. Marty’s roommate is in the hospital.

    Margaret

  39. @ Margaret:

    How did you get the baby squirrels out of there? At least I haven’t had to deal with that, but I may, so do tell.

    Is Marty ever going to get settled!? I hope you’re almost there.

    Pam

  40. Chris:

    That is my impression of Australia in general – variety.

    I love blueberries. I guess you do have enough berries, though. Or you could go back and pick fast . . .

    I didn’t know your nefarious rats got in your vehicles, too. Is there no end to their skullduggery?

    Yes – it could be a snake. Be careful! Or maybe it’s a cat. You would like to have a cat. Mr. Baby says nothing is better than a cat, especially big white ones with big black spots.

    Ooh! I haven’t had nachos in ages. Thanks for the thought. Tonight I made salmon patties and fried them in coconut oil. I hadn’t had anything fried in ages either.

    Pam

  41. Hi Lewis,

    Yes, I read that about the long blonde hair covering the essential modesty bits, but after long consideration the ride probably was in a shift. Agreed it would have been shocking at the time, and later story tellers probably added a touch of spice to the story once the initial ‘shock yo momma’ effect wore off and standards dare I say it, shifted. Now, if the Lady had been a ginger! 🙂 See, stories need to evolve, lest they die an unnatural early demise.

    Well, it’s a beautiful figurine and a great story. Perhaps conditions would have been easier for everyone at that time, if the donations were toned down a bit. It is possible that the lord of the land there became overly enthusiastic of buying favours from the church. Although, maybe he had some amends to make?

    I’d not been aware of the conquistadors doing that, but it sends a strong message. Saint Boniface was enthusiastically cutting down sacred trees. Fancied himself and his crew as carpenters, apparently. It wouldn’t have been easy to mill such large old trees so as to produce lumber.

    Your timing was most excellent with that question. I finally spotted the creature that Ruby had been telling me was living in the machinery shed – it was a skink, which is out local gecko equivalent. They’re all over the place here. All of the scuttling sounds in the garden well, they can be mildly unnerving at times. Anyway, I spotted the skink climbing one of the posts in the shed. The tail had been slightly munched, but they do regrow. The little fella will be in the shed eating insects, like spiders, so I’m cool with that. Unfortunately, other critters like to consume skinks, so here we go on that big wheel of food.

    Oh my! The tally was 102 red bellied black snakes which are deadly poisonous, but you might recover, maybe. You may wonder why we’re super neat? Years ago at my friends of the big shed fame, I spotted a snake diving into their compost bin. It was a moment of a complete loss of innocence. There are no compost bins here, just sayin. The worm farm is completely sealed.

    Congratulations on the enviable local weather achievement. 🙂 And Professor Mass notes something about LiFePO4 batteries which most people ignore – they hate super cold weather because they’re chemical reactors, not fuel tanks. It’s been not extreme hot here this season and I don’t recall break 40’C (and an earlier summer had 10 days in excess of that temperature), but this is on average one of the warmest summers I can recall. A strange season to be sure.

    The old saying in that instance was absolutely true. I was a greedy tyke and ordered a two flavour cone, when I should have stuck to a single flavour. The excess fat / sugar crash afterwards was very real. Fortunately I know how to deal with the likes of such food coma incidents.

    A very scary cheese, but also isn’t Sardinia one of those blue zones we’ve spoken of over the years. The photos in the article (excluding the cheese) looked idyllic. And just say no to puffer fish! 🙂 I recently read a book where a fatal meal of improperly cooked poisonous fish was a sub plot – Jack Vance, The Book of Dreams. And yes, that was a sneaky book recommendation, although it is the fifth in the series.

    Yum! Your iced and spiced banana muffins sound very tasty. How were they received? And hopefully you used real butter. I always worry about what is this thing you describe as butter substitute product.

    🙂 Here we must politely disagree. Avian flu is common AF. Every year it strikes birds. I suspect it is part of the conditioning which keeps birds as the last remaining dinosaurs, after all they survived when bigger and badder did not 65 million years ago. Anywhoo, I believe the commercial breeders and layers cull their flocks every year regardless. It’s a filthy business which I want no part of. With feed costs going up, I suspect that they’re looking for a hand out, but I may be being overly cynical here. Unfortunately, what you mentioned is an undocumented feature.

    Hehe! It happens… For all the many cries of apocalypse, we still seem to be here.

    Cheers

    Chris

  42. Yo, Chris – Lady Godiva was a ginger. But that was suppressed, as, you know. Gingers. 🙂

    Skinks are very cool. Last place I lived, the neighbor had a rock pile. There were some variety of skinks. Perky little fellows.

    Yup. Snakes like compost, because it’s warm. I have yet to see a snake, around this place. No worries. No poisonous snakes, this side of the mountains. Unless some exotic escapes.

    Our high yesterday was 41F (5C). The overnight low was 32F (-0-). Forecast high for today is 39F. I’d say, this winter, at least here, it’s been mostly cold and dry. Still no snow to speak of, in town. Actually, when I think about it, I’m glad we have some extended cold. When the first frost didn’t happen for so long, I really fretted a bit about the cold not killing enough bad bugs. No worries on that front, now.

    A glance down the rabbit hole. Yup. Sardinia is a Blue Zone. In fact, the first identified. I’ll pass on the maggoty cheese. There are so many other varieties I’d rather eat.

    I went down to the thriftier warehouse like grocery store, last night. I was looking for dried prunes. No joy. No good organic vinegar either. Or, Swiss cheese. But I did find some organic, cage free, brown chicken eggs. Only mediums, but that’s ok. $8 a dozen. The other eggs were far more.

    The muffins were joyfully received. But I won’t get a review until later in the week. Of course I used real butter. You really don’t know me, very well. 🙂 Last night, was a popcorn night. I watched the third “Venom” movie. Quiet good. Funny in the same way that The “Deadpool” movies, are funny. There’s a naive hippy dippy family, who Venom meets along the way, who provide a lot of comic relief.

    When I was watching the regional news, the other night, there was also a report that hospitals north of us, are full up of flu cases. I don’t know about our local hospital.

    Today is Super Bowl Sunday. Big whoop. The Club has plans. Raffle, foot ball pool and nibbles. I’ll steer clear. Even the Ladies, here at the Institution, have some doings. Lew

  43. Hello Chris,
    It was an interesting remark you made regarding having to be on utoo to show up in the gargling sequence.
    Did you disappear out of the search pages?
    On my searching from here today, you seem to be on the top spot.
    Blacklisting by the giants is a real thing.
    The most excellent scientist and author Ugo Bardi got his old blog blacklisted and had to start a new one, a few years back. The blog just would not show up in searches by gargel (and iirc byng too).
    Monopoly power is real. Transparency is minimal and there is no accountability for misbehaving. What could possibly go wrong?

    However, I am happy that most of my mails still arrive at their destination. There is so much spam filtering going on, also without accountability…

    Peace,
    Göran

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