What’s that noise outside? Better not be the deer munching on the bitter pith of the tree fern again! That dastardly act would get me out of bed. What an outrage to have woken me when the sun has not yet stuck its nose above the horizon. The world is rarely in focus at such early hours. Still, always wise at such moments to get an idea of what was going on outside. Listening intently revealed a bit of wind, but what was that other noise? Sounds like rain, yeah what a pleasant surprise. It’s been a while since the wet stuff fell from the sky. The cold air blowing in the window was also a sure sign that the season is turning towards winter. Chucked another blanket on to ward off the chill, rolled over, then slept the remaining hours soundly thinking only happy thoughts of dodging the summer daily watering chores.
Rainfall has been a bit light during the hot summer months of February and March, but things are far worse in other southerly parts of this continent. It’s been an unusual growing season too. Daytime temperatures weren’t even close to their records (how’s 45’C / 113’F work for you?) But overall it’s been mostly hot days, and dry too. The tall forest trees with their massive root systems (which can access the deeper ground water) are enjoying the conditions and display a luxuriant canopy. Lesser trees and the other forest plants are struggling.
Surprisingly, the established fruit trees in either the shady or sunny orchard, have merely shrugged off the hot and dry conditions and appear unfazed. That result is probably due to the regular soil feeding regime they’ve been enjoying for many years. The ground cover plants in the orchard however, well, they died weeks ago. This of course probably reduces evaporation from the soil. None of those fruit trees have been watered this summer, and they’re still growing. However, the youngest trees in the large 600m2 / 6,500ft2 citrus enclosure are an entirely different story. They’ve grown well, but have required daily watering (a small bucket each per day). That’s a constant drain on our finite water storages.
We went into summer with full water tanks too. Now, three and a bit months later, the water reserves are not looking all that great. Two weeks ago the water level in the 50,000L / 13,200 gallon house water tanks was somewhere between my knee and waist level. Put it this way, the technical words to describe this is: ‘Chris is having a total freak out moment!’ There wasn’t much water left in those large tanks. The house system does have an overflow reserve tank of 33,500L / 8,800 gallons capacity, but that had been drained weeks beforehand. And all the longer term weather forecast was showing was more hot weather and no rain. Not good.
Fortunately the long line of water tanks attached to the machinery shed were about two thirds full. They hold 35,500L / 9,300 gallons of storage. Most of the water in that system had been used in the greenhouse and also applied to the young fruit trees in the citrus enclosure mentioned previously. A plan rapidly formed to supplement the house water supplies from this system.
We can move fast when required. Potentially running out of water in the house system is a fine motivator! For the past two weeks, most other farm non-harvest activities have come to a screaming halt whilst we address the immediate water issues. Regular readers will recall that a powerful new electric pump was installed last week. That machine is used to bring water from the machinery shed system back uphill into the house tanks. At least 10,000L / 2,600 gallons have since been lifted uphill using the off grid solar power of the sun. That’s a relief!
Once the immediate issue was resolved, the mind began considering the water system here, and how best to minimise future water issues. It might sound like we have a lot of storage capacity, and use a lot of water, but the reality is that the entire property (house, garden and all) survives on usage which is less than a 1,000L per day. It’s not bad given there are two people, three dogs, chickens, bees plus the sheer size and productivity of the garden. Even the local birds water needs were catered for.
A decision was made to order two additional 5,500L / 1,500 gallon water tanks. A bit of extra storage capacity can only help, plus it is always wise with natural systems to have more than you need, just in case. Variability of supply is a real issue which cannot be wished around. Incidentally, Australia is quite good at making these large plastic water tanks, and there is a ready market for them. Shame that the last polyethylene manufacturer (the raw materials used in tank production) on this continent apparently ceased operations only a few months ago.
Anyway, as part of the other envisioned changes to the water systems, a permanent water pipe was also deemed necessary. The pipe will be used to send water uphill to the house from either the machinery shed system, or the house big overflow reserve tank. A side branch of that pipe will also supply water to the sapling fenced enclosure where the pumpkins currently grow. One water pipe to rule them all! At the very least, it will be a simpler system than what is currently in place.
About half of the long uphill water pipe has now been installed. By the time that the completed line reaches the house water tanks, there’ll be about 70m / 230ft of water pipe. With the hot and dry weather, it sure has been challenging to dig the long trench using hand tools whilst exposed to the unrelenting sun. At least the electric jackhammer makes the job a bit easier. The ground has been compacted over the years in that area, and then baked hard by the summer sun. It’s like concrete that stuff.
The new pipe project is about half done now, and presently ends at the sapling fence enclosure. The pumpkins growing in that enclosure do not appreciate dry weather. Those plants love the heat, just not the dry, which suggests that they evolved in a hot area probably next to a river. That’s not the climate here, but we can at least replicate some of the conditions.
Just to geek out a bit. The water pipe is not your usual thin poly-pipe. It’s very strong UV stable stuff known down under as ‘rural green line’, and it should have a long lifespan. The connections are good enough to be buried and not thought of again for a long time. It’s my preference to not bury connections, but sometimes there is little choice in the matter.
When draining water from the machinery shed storage system, we were able to fully empty two of the water tanks and fix a couple of minor issues with those tanks. One of the tanks is smaller than all the rest and also of a different design so it needed to be slightly elevated in height. Water was occasionally oozing out the top during very heavy rain, and that’s not ideal.
With the small tank now empty, we were able to make a round pad using concrete pavers and rock crusher dust so as to increase the height above the soil level. The small particles of rock compact beautifully and because of their diminutive size are unlikely to pierce the plastic walls of the tank.
Next came the largest water tank in the long line. That one had developed a slight down hill lean. The soil compacted, plus there was a 5.9 earthquake a few years ago, and just the general and unrelenting effects of gravity caused the lean. Anyway, the downhill edge of the water tank now sits on a similar concrete paver based sturdy pad, and has been righted.
It’s worth mentioning that the large rock wall you can see in the above image, is a recent project which also supports soil far better than previously. The intention is to continue improving that large rock wall over the next few weeks and months.
And just because we hadn’t done enough work this week, on a very hot Saturday I dragged the welder out, grabbed a whole bunch of scrap steel, and made a sturdy cover for the water pump. By the end of that day, I was done. Only an icecream and some rehydration solution could resolve the cooked brain situation.
It’s been a big week, and the pump cover was installed at the last moment, because Sunday morning it finally rained. Rain is a beautiful thing.
Earlier in the week a thunderstorm rolled over the valley but mostly missed us. The sound and light show were awesome. We made a bonus video of the storm. Who doesn’t love the sound of a good thunderstorm?
This week’s usual video is of the work done on the water tanks:
The city is a cosy womb which provides some nice stuff. There are weeks where I can see the appeal, then I start thinking about weird issues that few people seem to notice. Like the lack of insect life. Then thoughts return to rural life. Even with the hot and dry weather, this place jumps with life. The birds, bees and other insects sure have appreciated the steady supply of water this summer:
Hot and dry summers do tend to produce the biggest harvests, if you have the water. Here’s what we harvested one day last week:
The thing with harvests is learning how to preserve them, and it’s no different a problem to working out how to survive as a household and farm on rainfall alone. The peaches were eaten fresh. The chilli’s are air dried and used over the year. The larger tomatoes are placed in the dehydrator and then stored as chips in olive oil. The remaining produce is eaten fresh.
The pumpkin harvest continues, and the stores are fast filling up.
The tomatoes in the greenhouse receive very little water most days, but now I’m reducing that even further so that the vines die back and spend their remaining energies ripening the unharvested fruit. The garden beds in the greenhouse need to be cleared by the end of this month so that we can start seeds for the winter crops like radishes, beetroot, mustard and kale before it gets too cold for the plants.
The chilli plants enjoy a bit more care and attention because in the greenhouse, they can live for up to six years. They do get rather unwell looking during the depths of winter, but they bounce back, mostly.
Zucchini continue to produce their huge fruit and hopefully the rain causes them to grow even faster than usual.
Excluding the citrus which supplies ripe fruit in the winter months, the very last of the summer produce are the kiwi-fruit. Despite the hot and dry summer, the vines are laden in berries. They just won’t be ripe to eat until June.
Those fruit are a little bit at risk this year from Kuato the super fat possum. I have never seen a possum bigger than this one, and now I know the mouth that a good percentage of the apple and pear crop has disappeared into. He’s more than tubby.
He’s so big now that only a Powerful owl might able to deal with him, maybe. Look at the claws! Where’s a Powerful Owl when you need one?
I have to move on – Onto the flowers!
The temperature outside now at about 9am is 6’C (43’F). So far for last year there has been 109.8mm (4.3 inches) which is up from last weeks total of 96.6mm (3.8 inches)
Yo, Chris – I’m glad you got a bit of rain. You must have done something to make Jupiter (aka Zeus), happy.
That’s quit a water campaign. Sun Tau would smile. You’ve adapted to what you have. Extended what you have with a lot of hard work and hardware. And, you’re planning for the future. I wonder if there’s something you could add, to protect the water pipe connections a bit more. You don’t have any terracotta roof tiles, lying around, do you?
The water tank looks quit stately, sitting on its pedestal. Dare I say, throne? Water needs to be cherished and, dare I say, worshipped. A lot of people, did, and do.
Those of us here, got to see the thunderstorm video before the great unwashed. Devotion to your blog has its privileges. 🙂 “Fixing a leaning water tank,” was very informative. You’re getting pretty smooth, in your delivery. Script? Teleprompter?
It’s getting pretty crowded, at the bee water bowl. Bees dance, to let their hive mates know, where there’s good tucker. I wonder if they have a water dance, to indicate the distance and direction of a water source?
That’s quit a haul of fruit and veg. A wide variety is a good thing. It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! You know what I’ve been reading. I hadn’t thought about cutting back on water, toward the end of the tomato season. To force more the the unripe fruit, to ripen. I’ll have to give it a whirl, this year. With zucchini like that, you’ll never starve. I’ve been seeing bare root, “cold weather” kiwi plants, outside some of the stores.
It’s Possum Apple Seed! I bet he’d be good in a nice, long slow oven. With an apple in his mouth. Let the punishment fit the crime. That tail would look quit dashing, streaming in the breeze, from your car aerial. Possum skin hat? With tail?
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Baby Sun Rose. Quit a pretty plant.
Pies! I think you’ve mentioned (ad nauseam), a time or two, that you’re fond of pies. Although, recently, they seem to have been supplanted by ice cream.
https://www.cnn.com/travel/best-pies-around-world-dishes
“Pie” seems to cover a multitude of sins. :-). Lew
Hi Lewis,
The soil here eats both my wealth and energy, so perhaps Jupiter is indeed happy with the results? 🙂 I’d like to posit Kuato the super fat possum as Exhibit A! It’s been a tough summer from January onwards, and despite all that, the wildlife are looking pretty healthy and resilient, so complaints on that front would be a bit churlish. Still, one must not rest on their laurels.
The water campaign continued today. It’s funny, but the blog is usually a three part word salad. This time around the work was so much last week that the story component became both the work and story itself. I’d not intended that when the first keys on the keyboard were struck. The essay had a life of its own.
Oh, work today. So I got a call that the water tanks are ready for delivery. WTF? They told me last week that there was a three to four week lead time, but apparently not. The sensitive person wonders whether they’re doing a long term customer a favour, or orders are a bit thin on the ground? Hmm.
Anywhoo, we began digging the site for the water tanks this morning, although it was a shandy day of paid work as well. Need I mention that done something bad in a past life to have to work so hard? Anyway, rarely are conditions conducive to doing as one wants. 🙂 If you happen to work out the secret to that outcome, please do let me know? The soil was used to level out the surface in the area at the top of the new set of concrete stairs. It’s looking good, but there is no way the excavations will be completed by the time the water tanks are delivered. That’ll be interesting, but we’ll manage, somehow…
Interestingly, the water pipes will be fine in a bushfire, that is if the water moves in them and carries the heat away to elsewhere – like out of a sprinkler and/or hose. Bizarrely, plastic tanks usually perform the best in a bushfire, because they slump to the water level. Concrete ones fail due to the water turning to steam in the concrete which causes cracks and failures. And the large steel ones have a plastic bladder which detaches from the roof clips then loses integrity. There’s no easy way, and I’ve seen fires burn right up to the water line in ponds (what we call farm dams).
Water is life here, and cherishing it is probably a pretty good idea. The original township was abandoned due to a lack of reliable water supply, now up here is a hamlet of interspersed houses.
Thanks! No teleprompter at all. 🙂 Nah, I’ve just got a few ideas in my head and then spin a narrative based on those. It’s usually one, maybe two takes. We’re trying to keep that process simple so that it doesn’t take up too much time. Candidly, we had to do the vids so as to prove to gargle that the blog wasn’t a robot – last year before your election, we got shadow banned by gargle possibly due to links to other more controversial blogs. It happens but also went on right across the independent blogosphere. Oh well. Public speaking is not one of my concerns, when in high school I had to report the weekly running results, and my peers were rough enough in their feedback to have rounded off any rough edges. Weren’t they nice the cheeky scamps? 😉
Yeah that’s what I reckon too, the bees do their waggle dance to indicate where the fresh water is. And the landing platform was full. Here I do feel the need to insert a relevant and amusing quote from that popular film about aircraft with the actor you know who, but will restrain myself in this instance out of respect. 😉 The bees are really clever and they’ll adapt to the varroa mite given enough time, it’s just that the outcome won’t suit us humans. All I ask from the bees is to pollinate the early fruit trees, and I’d be certain that there are enough wild hives in the surrounding forest now that one or two will make it through and adapt their life cycle, maybe. It’ll be tough for them though.
Who can forget the Great Pumpkin? Thanks for the insight with the Peanuts cartoon, and that’s a great message to subtly convey. I’d always loved the Peanuts series.
Cutting off the water to the tomato vines is an experiment based on nothing but gut feeling. In past years I’d continued the watering regime and the vines keep growing, but eventually fungal diseases take them out once the weather cools and then you’re left with a lot of green fruit. I’m trying something different with this change, and fingers crossed it works. Some of the yellow cherry tomatoes growing outdoors have not been watered at all this year, and they’re amazing plants, but grow in super fertile soil with a good distance to the next plant. You get better at this stuff over time, I just wished I listened to my grandfather more when I was very young and irresponsible. 🙂
Are you tempted to grow kiwi fruit? They need a male and female plant, and get big.
Nice one, and yeah Kuato would be one tasty critter. 🙂 Possum fur is one of the finest, warmest and softest materials you come across. The indigenous folks used to use the skins and fur down this way for winter coats. Who can ever forget the foxtail hanging from the car antenna craze? 🙂 Imagine the outrage such a thing would create these days? Way back in the day people used to repair the broken antennas using coat hanger wire, and from time to time, some cheeky wag would construct a stylised map of Australia using coat hanger wire as a car radio antenna. It’s a good look.
Succulent plants grow very well here in the local soils. And baby sun rose is a great ground cover plant.
Ha! A good point and this lack of pies must be remedied. On a pragmatic note, the icecream shop is much closer.
What an article. Yum, thanks for that. Tonight’s dinner is salad, but the article has triggered a desire for pies. Your quote is most appreciated, and the humble pie takes on many forms, both savoury and sweet. You know, I’ve never seen a cherry pie down under.
The rain derived from the Indian Ocean way up in the north west of the continent. Tropical cyclone Alfred (north east) didn’t make its way this far south, despite the forecast suggesting that some rain would eventuate. A total no-show here. It was interesting digging today because no sign of damp soil was found.
Ah, Professor Mass appears to be tearing his hair out over a lack of communication with the snow forecast over mountain passes. Perhaps that is where your rain river went?
Were the strawberries perkier for having lost their runners do you reckon, or perhaps the rain they received?
Respect. Connecting with the audience that deeply is a serious skill and achievement. Apologies, I’m somewhat having to exist in the land of the trolls and this skews my perspective. 🙂 Agreed, deportment and a concern for a persons public face was a thing in those earlier days, although my memories begin in the 70’s.
Enjoy the DVD series, and I really have fond memories of the earlier version.
What? No way. Far out! There are collectors for all sorts of stuff. I too recall those colourful envelopes, but wonder if the collector knows whether the contents are complete? Hmm. Thanks for the heads up as I’d missed that sub-discussion. Such businesses are probably doing things tough.
Hey, had a small win today. I’d been keeping a look out for sturdy metal fuse boxes and finally came across a small supply of new ones which were slightly scratched and so much cheaper. Winning! There are two jobs I have to do with them up on the roof with the solar panels before winter kicks in. A good find. Sometimes nature, err, provides!
It’s cold here tonight and we’re running the wood heater (although not much). Hard to fathom that two days ago it was 95’F. Ook!
Cheers
Chris
pumpkins and cucurbits in general- Kinda weird how they just keep blossoming even late into the season. I’m always telling them- quit that, just put your energy into the fruit that has set, can’t you see winter coming?
water pipe- what exactly are the connection for the rural green line? And what material? A good choice here is HDPE material, but it requires heat fused joints to be done right. Compression fittings exist, but make me worry about leaks.
water tanks- As it happens, the company I retied from specialized in building tanks (steel, and VERY large sometimes) so am quite aware that they put enormous pressure on soil, and can be difficult to get soil compactions that will remain stable. Not surprised that you had some movement. Earthquakes are bad news for tanks also. Slosh can really cause damage if the lateral movements are big enough. Hopefully your tanks are small enough that they’ll be ok.
https://www.cbi.com/markets-served/
Have been pruning fruit trees, clearing brush from the hazelnuts. Need to fire up the chipper.
Sap run was rather poor, the weather just didn’t behave well, and I also wonder if last year’s dry summer caused less stored energy in the roots? I need to talk to the “real” syrup producers in the area to see how they fared.
Have started filling the new raised beds with dirt, compost. I might have made them too big! So much soil to move by hand inside the greenhouse.
Yo, Chris – Sometimes, writing just flows. You’re in the zone 🙂 I know, back when I was writing book reviews it was … just a different head space. Many fiction writers have said that often their characters take on a life of their own. They don’t know what their characters may do, or where they might end up. That’s authors from Dickens to King.
LOL. Some businesses under estimate in order that the customer may be pleasantly surprised. It’s probably not often that, as in your case, the customer is horrified by early delivery. Make plans. The gods laugh.
In past, social media has been rather … constrained. Hundreds of content moderators. Real human beings. Looking for stuff like human trafficking, explosive making, hate speech, etc. etc.. Sometimes, it was partially left to algorithms, and we know how accurate they are 🙂 . But, since the change in administration, most constraints are off, and it’s the Wild West, out there.
Well, if the early bees in the heather was any indication, it might be a good year for bees, here. I noticed a tree, down the hill, has burst into a pile of pink blooms. Probably some kind of ornamental. Do you think any of your European honey bees established hives, out in your woods?
I sat next to my pumpkin patch (barrel), last Halloween. The Great Pumpkin did not appear. 🙁 Maybe I wasn’t earnest enough? 🙂
Master Gardeners were here, this morning. I ran your tomato theory, past one, who knows a lot about tomatoes. She’s the one who tipped me off to tomato pruning. She thought your theory makes perfect sense. I think the strawberries, maybe look perkier, due to all the good soil I put in. I’ve also buried some kitchen scraps in that bed. Side dressed with bone meal. Coffee grounds. I just hope I haven’t over fertilized. But all that rain helped, too. I’ve also been picking worms up, off the sidewalk, and pitching them in that bed.
The weird plant I was asked to cut all the leaves off of, but leave the flowers, has been identified. It’s Hellebore (aka Lenten Rose.) The blossoms are kind of a greenish color. Not anything I’d plant on my own. I might try a kiwi … if I had the space. Which I don’t.
That’s an interesting and artistic way to dress up a coat hanger aerial replacement. I wonder if there are others? Might be able to put together “A Field Guide to Replacement Aerial Art: Eastern Australian Region.” Our fortunes would be made! Don’t laugh. There’s a field guide to abandoned shopping carts (trollies?). “The Stray Shopping Carts of Eastern North America: A Guide to Field Identification.” Then there was the field guide to garden gnomes and trolls.
No cherry pie? Australia just gets odder, and odder.
Our high yesterday was 48F (8.88C). The overnight low was 34F (1.11C). Forecast high for today is 51F. Looking at the regional radar, last night and this morning, I’d say the atmospheric river is to the south of us. Looks like it’s coming in at an angle, from the Oregon coast, pounding Portland and heading toward DJs part of the world.
Good score with the fuse boxes. Used to be, you could get quit a price reduction, on a lot of things, that were slightly scratched or dented. Price reductions on sales “floor models.” I seem to remember the Editor pulled off that trick, with a car. Lew
Hi, Chris!
You are so lucky to have had rain. We were supposed to get some of the storm that hit Claire’s area so hard, but we didn’t even have any measurable rain, just some wind. It is very dry here and I am having to water the early crops. And watching out for fires.
You have planned your water system well to have made it through such a dry summer and still have a fair amount of water. Maintenance is always ongoing, so that is not a sign of weakness. I’m so glad that you showed us a video of how you raised the tanks. I was very curious about that. Now what is a “house ring bar”, which might be a jack? That’s what the subtitles called it. Ah – the Fernhenge of the future . . . I like the still shots that you always have at the end.
It is kind of scary to have buried lines, but those look like very sturdy ones. Speaking of scary – I loved the storm video. Thanks for risking your life to film it!
I cannot see the appeal of a city except to buy your stuff and get back home to the country. But I may be crotchety in my old age?
That is a lot of delicious fresh food. Yum! But what are the long orange (pink?) and green things among the tomatoes?
Kuato is wonderful! He is hugely fat; Petey is jealous. Even Mr. Baby is jealous.
What charming little “roses” and cheery yellow pumpkin flowers. I wonder if one can eat pumpkin flowers as well as squash flowers? We have those Meyer flowers in the basement. What a scent, eh? We have lots of lemons, too.
My son just got back from inspecting an old truck in town. It’s a winner! It is to be the farm truck to replace Mr. Musty the Toyota, who is on his last legs. So, this is not a town truck (at least, not yet, as it has to be inspected) and we will still be sharing the Honda. Maybe my son will come across another Malibu. Anyway, it’s in incredible shape for a 1984 Chevrolet truck, is a manual transmission, which is always preferable, and is 4 wheel drive for the winter and rough terrain. It has 300,000 miles (Mr. Musty has 260,000) and cost $2000. His name is Brownie, because he’s brown.
Pam
Hi Steve,
The cucurbits know that winter is coming, they just don’t care! 🙂 I too wonder at their bravery in the face of a 5’C overnight temperature. Truth to tell, I’ve known of people who tried to counter this tendency and grew the species in a greenhouse. The results – powdery mildew went everywhere and required a high pressure wash to remove from the surfaces.
The connections are super sturdy, and may be a local thing. I’ve seen them used on much higher pressure and larger pipes. Here you go, knock yourself out (I use the ‘rural fittings’ variety): Compression Fittings. Do you have anything like this in your country? Put it this way, I’ve never seen one fail.
The water tanks I tend to select are about as wide as they’re tall, so the sloshing during the 5.9 earthquake wasn’t too challenging. However those massive steel tanks you were involved in boggle my imagination. Respect, and with water supplies, if there were another way at township levels… For your interest, two of those monster tanks are being installed in a nearby township as high level pressure tanks. There’s even a massive crane needed to help out in the work. So they carved out a huge chunk of a nearby hill and I reckon part of the water tanks are sitting on fill. Hmm. Look, I’m not excited about that, but they know what they’re doing and fortunately I live nowhere near the things. Here’s an artist impression of the tanks: Boost to water security for Sunbury and Diggers Rest. They’re huge!
That job never ends when the ground cover plants are growing. 🙂 A chipper is a wonderful machine.
You’d think that the water stress last growing season reduced the flow of sap. Have you boiled the sap down yet?
Really? Is any garden bed big enough, that’s my thinking. 🙂
Cheers
Chris
Hi Pam,
Fingers crossed that you get some decent rainfall, and soon. It’s going to be 84’F here tomorrow and Thursday, then maybe a storm will hit, maybe. Some of the plants in the fern gully have sadly become desiccated.
Thanks, and adding more water storage tanks helps matters. When bringing the leaning water tank back to level, a 6ft steel house wrecking bar was used as a lever (that was the ring bar heard by the subtitle computer thingee). Then with the edge of the tank lifted off the ground, concrete pavers were shoved under the edge with the crushed rock behind them supporting the floor of the tank. It was a long and involved process. And there is still yet more work to do there.
Ah, thanks for the feedback, the still photo’s at the end can convey images that I’d have troubles explaining in the spoken language! 🙂
For your interest, we began digging the flat site for the two new water tanks on Monday, which may be arriving soon (two weeks early – yikes!)
I’m not too worried about the buried pipes, it’s more the buried joins which bother me. Anyway, they’re super hardy connections and maybe we’re worrying too much, maybe… Dunno until the things fail, but they are very commonly used down under in rural areas.
And no fluffy was harmed in the filming of the storm video. 😉 Hardly any rain fell from that storm. Pam, I was left reaching for the distant rain, and only scored the lightning and a light smattering of drizzle. Those sorts of storms are a problem and one blew up a modem years ago (nowadays I avoid using external aerials for the things). On the other hand, if a nearby lightning strike blew up my carefully refurbished Yamaha T-80 FM radio tuner, there’d be tears… Some things are not easily or readily replaced.
Well that makes two of us! I’d believe less crotchety, and we’re instead more aware of the beauty of nature kind of folks.
Those are super weird tomatoes. Truly! I got them as a gift from a person who collects unusual varieties of tomatoes and chilli plants. So they ripen from the inside out. Inside the tomato is red, whilst the outside is green. But they’re like little logs which you can slice thinly for the purposes of dehydrating. The taste is good too.
I may have eaten pumpkin flowers and survived to tell the tale, for now anyway. Stuffed zucchini flowers is a very tasty meal. My friends of the big shed fame introduced me to this yummy feed. Meyer Lemons are a truly wonderful tree, and the aroma is amazing – better than basement smells. And the fruits are quite useful. We squeeze them and then freeze the juice which can be added to cooking at a later date.
Greetings to Charlie Brown the venerable truck. Being that age would make for easier repairs and hopefully plentiful parts! Well done, and may the noble steed enjoy double that lifespan.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
Being a regular writing exercise I find that my mind gets into that ‘narrative zone’ kind of space every Sunday night. Interesting that you felt that as well, and of course having to pen a regular review is a very similar process. Did you ever worry much about how your readers of the reviews would perceive your views? A few years ago the Editor remarked that I’d become a bit preachy, so I took that on board, but otherwise really just write what is on my mind that week.
That makes a lot of sense as to why the fictional characters would take on a life of their own. Hmm. Early on I’d begun over thinking the process, and that’s probably not a good head space. In fact, if I recall correctly, you may have mentioned this aspect as well. It was good advice. Best to let the words flow. It is possible that too much introspection could kill the flow. I do sometimes wonder about George RR Martin and his epic (and unfinished) tomes and whether it had become a burden? The act of writing has to come first, that’s what the editing and reviewing process is for.
🙂 They got me with that early delivery. I’m not ready, but will accept life on life’s terms in this matter. Yup, the gods have a very cheeky sense of humour and also the absurd. We must not rail… Or things could get worse.
Things are different down here. Down under social media is not a place to let loose with unsubstantiated claims. Hmm. Not a smart move that, especially against the well heeled – a financially ruinous prospect. The darker stuff gets regularly picked up with alarming regularity. Not something you’d want to be involved in. In many ways, giving people enough rope is a much cheaper and more effective approach. It’s a public forum, and I keep things nice here.
If you’re seeing bees already, that’s a great sign because they’ve over wintered! Happy days! Is the pink blooming tree a horse chestnut? And absolutely. The bees here would have proliferated in the immediate forest in convenient hollows. Sometimes I can smell honey when walking around, so they’re there. The hope is that they live in a hollow small enough to force the hive to swarm often, whilst large enough that the hive has plenty of resources to survive lean times. Those will be the bees that make it.
Lewis, you’ll definitely have to put more work in if you want to be visited by The Great Pumpkin. I heard some stories, but it would be ungentlemanly of me to recount them here… At least Krampus didn’t visit instead! 🙂
Thanks so much for asking the master gardeners, and I’m observing the vines here to see how they respond to the end of season treatment. That’s encouraging news. Those hybrid strawberry plants on the other hand, are a mystery to me. And that is my fear with the plants as well. The soil may be too good and they produce runners instead of berries. Dunno.
Ah, Hellebore’s are lovely plants, and we grow the black flowering varieties (as well as other colours here). They grow very well in the shade. And seem very dry adapted as well. The plants do self seed.
Oh no! Someone has already gotten onto the biz idea, so drats foiled again. On the other hand, the photos are fascinating:
Car Aerial Made From A Coathanger. There’s even a photo of the iconic home made Australia map car antenna.
On this I’m certain, never seen a cherry pie down under. That’s not to say there are none available, I’ve just not come across one in my ongoing bakery adventures.
Your weather sounds very cold, but nice to my summer weary reading ears. It’ll be 84’F tomorrow and Thursday, before turning cooler with hopefully some rain. Did some of the atmospheric river reach where you are?
🙂 The Editor is canny when it comes to big ticket items, and so I hand those problems onto her. A guy has to know his limitations. But yeah, we’ve never shied away from scratch and dent stuff. Interestingly, I agree with your observation – such things have been relegated to the past. Now I believe the goods are returned for a credit. Guess that is what an over supply of stuff looks like. My friend Simon has a theory that over production is a worldwide economic problem, and I tend to agree.
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – I never really worried about what the readers thought. I don’t know if there were any outraged or appreciative “letters to the editor.” I must have been doing something right. Even though I ignored the word count limits (right from the get go), and, said occasionally outrageous things ( … what the horse left behind), They never cut a single line or word. What I believed then, and which has grown stronger, with age is: “What other people think of me is none of my business.” 🙂
Besides characters taking on a life of their own, there’s the whole concept of the Muses.
https://w.wiki/9Yja
These days, the influence of a muse can be connected to almost any creative endeavor. And, besides an actual goddess, can be referred to as an actual influential person, in a creative person’s life.
From what little I’ve read about Martin, I think his fans and followers are more of a burden, than the actual writing. 🙂
Well, we’ve got this First Amendment thing, that people often hide behind. To say the most outrageous things, and disseminate the most wild disinformation. Although, there are limits. According to a Supreme Court case, you can’t shout “fire”, when there is none, in a crowded theatre. Or, they say something was a joke, or satire. Of course, we’re getting into situations now where “I have freedom of speech, but you don’t.” Lawyers will get even wealthier.
The pink or white blossom trees, are usually either ornamental cherry or plum. They’re all over the place. Pretty, but when we’re all starving to death, won’t provide much sustenance. Although, they do give the pollinators quit a boost.
I think I mentioned that Krampus made quite an appearance, in that recent movie, “The Red One.” As Santa’s estranged (adopted) brother. He was suspected of having a hand in kidnapping Santa. 🙂
Ah, I remember you posted a picture of the black Hellebore. Which I thought quit striking. Even though I prefer blue or white when it comes to iris, I’d make room for an almost black one. It’s called “Queen of the Night.”
Wow. That was a great blog post, about car ariels. Very amusing, but also made some interesting points about how people used to be more … adaptable when it came to repairs or funky work-arounds. Right from junk laying around the house. I need to get back to that blog, again. Looks like there are other interesting articles. But all is not lost. It’s a blog, not a field guide that you can tuck in your pocket or knapsack.
Our high yesterday was 50F (10C). Our overnight low was 32F (-0-C), for a good three hours. Should I call it as maybe being our last frost? Didn’t see any signs of frost, around. Probably due to cold air settling into the bottom of the valley. Where there is the weather station. We may have caught just the edge of the atmospheric river. There was some on and off wild weather, yesterday. Intense rain, and some hail. Then sunshine and blue skies. When I was going to take H out for her afternoon walk, rain and hail slammed down. I told her we should wait awhile. 20 minutes later, it was blue skies.
I did my seed order, last night. To Nichols Garden Nursery. I first went through their funky little catalog. Printed on newsprint, with no pictures to speak of. With an eye toward seed I have saved. Should be here by the end of the week. There wasn’t anything I wanted that was out-of-stock.
I went to the Club, last night, and had two cheeseburgers (with lettuce, tomato and onions.) And a big pile of home made potato salad. Quite tasty, and the turnout was good.
I picked up three more bags of good garden soil, this morning. And, a bag of composted chicken poop. Too early to plant much of anything, yet. But I can do some soil prep.
Hmm. Overproduction. Wasn’t that a feature of the Great Depression? Lew
Hello Chris,
Great hat.
In the storm video, there was a raindrop sound, like rain on a roof. How much water could you collect? You wrote that the storm kind of went past you.
The produce looks great. I am happy for you to enjoy fresh tomatoes.
Here, we have plenty of fresh potatoes and apples left in the cool storage, but we have been eating canned tomatoes for three months. The tomato seedlings just started to sprout, so it will take another three months before we can enjoy juicy, warm tomatoes off the vine.
Water is life. Good that you can add more tanks. More tanks is more storage. Like your firewood shed.
We have plenty of ground water here, and very seldom a couple of months with no rain. Our main risk is that we could get too much water in parts of our garden and in our cellar/basement. Maybe on long term, we will abandon our cellar, fill it with sand or gravel or something. (Last year we needed a pump intermittently for three months. This year, the pump has been silent. Still, it is a vulnerability.)
Peace,
Göran
Chris:
Yes, but what was the power behind the wrecking bar lever?
We had a TV and a VCR blown up by lightning once upon a time. After that, we made sure that the house was better grounded. Can’t remember if we were set up to be online yet.
They look like tomatoes, but I didn’t see how they could be. I wonder where they originated. Mother Nature, or interference with her?
Charlie Brown – I like that! Now Mr. Musty can have a rest.
I have planted: Beets, carrots, regular radishes, and Daikon radishes (for kimchee/kkakdugi), mustard greens, spinach, and turnips, with lots of other things started inside or on the cold front porch. Kale was the only thing that I planted in the fall and it is doing very well. Potatoes and peas are next!
Pam
Chris,
The Tesla coil was deliciously noisy. Basically, it is a transformer. Meaning that the power input equals the power output. Thus, with input of 220 volts and 15 amps, or 3,300 watts, the output must be 3,300 watts. As we could ideally hit 1 million volts, there would be a current of about 0.00333 amps. That low a current would travel on the skin and not be any risk to internal organs. For liability reasons, we were NOT allowed inside the Faraday cage with the Tesla coil when it was operating. We did, however, have a shelf inside the cage. When the coil was operating, we could slide a fluorescent tube into the cage onto the shelf. It would light up nicely due to the changing electric field surrounding the Tesla coil.
The Van de Graaff generator was another fun toy. My dad had one in his physics lab. He would have the person with the longest hair put both hands on the van de Graaff generator, then he would turn it on. The hair would lazily wave around the person’s head, no harm being done to anybody. Then a college administrator happened to step into the lab when that was happening and that was the end of that fun demonstration. Fortunately, I was present for such a demonstration twice. Once as a student, once when my sister was about 14 years old and had extremely long hair, the demonstration involving my sister one evening when dad took us to his lab just to demonstrate the van de Graaff generator. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_de_Graaff_generator
We’ve had weather since Friday. Nothing even remotely approaching what Claire has had. Typical March weather for Spokane. Windy, rain, snow, hail, graupel, sun, frost. We were in a library Monday when a thunderstorm hit, complete with thick hail. No huge hailstones, but it was noisy, from both the thunder and the hailstones. Hail lasted over 20 minutes to a depth of a half inch. Fun stuff.
Jings! That’s one big possum. With a glorious tail! That tail would look good attached to my floppy leather hat and hanging down my back.
Enjoyed your water discussion. Looking at the amount of water you use, it’s obvious that you have developed wonderful soil. We are spoiled with how ginormous our aquifer is.
The revisions to your water tanks look good. I can appreciate how much work that took to change their pads and level and raise them. That’s not easy work regardless of the weather conditions. I remember assisting my dad with similar projects, albeit with significantly smaller tanks.
Congrats on the rain. That was a nice picture of the thunderstorm blowing by. Our sky looked similar Monday when the thunderstorm was approaching with its hail.
I met my match (for today) with your “hive of activity” quip. It was begging to be said. Well done.
Pumpkins and tomatoes and chilis and zucchini? Looking good. Sounds similar to what I want to grow this year. Carrots instead of pumpkins, and probably collards and chard for some greens in addition to tomatoes and zucchini and chilis.
DJSpo
Chris,
I enjoyed watching your thunderstorm video. Dame Avalanche perked up and paid close attention to the sound until the video ended.
DJSpo
Hi Pam,
The wrecking bar is one human powered machine. That human would be me. Smarter brains than mine could calculate the lifting force a six foot steel wrecking bar could bring to bear on any lifting problem, but alas sitting next to the school bully in year nine maths precludes such number crunching efforts from taking fruition in this corner. It’s a good tool that wrecking bar, as long as the human is careful not to jar themselves should the bar slip to the side. Not good.
Oh my goodness, yes a deeply buried earth rod on mains AC wiring is a thing of excellence when all else goes wrong. Hmm. I even use those things on the solar power system which is extra low voltage DC wiring. Can’t be too safe, but then I learn from mistakes and system failures too.
Dame Plum is badgering me to take Ollie’s rawhide chew away from him and give it to her. Pam, the dog has pester power, but I’m not caving into such demands. What she does is nudge my leg with her nose and then pull a fast retreat. Ollie is looking at me with a face which suggests that his chew (which Dame Plum very much wants) has mojo. The thing looks icky and wet to me though. Dogs…
Mr Baby would never stoop to such antics with his friend Petey the Possum.
Ah, a minor correction. Those long tomatoes aren’t good fresh eating, however they’re perfect for dehydrating. To be honest, every time I look at the things I get a vague notion that whoever bred the fruit had seen those weird egg roll things they have in fast food kitchens. Possibly nothing found in nature in those things. Never seen a chicken lay an egg log.
Mr Musty is probably breathing a sigh of relief at having to be the responsible one for a change. Hope Charlie Brown recognises that its in a good home.
Oooo! Lovely stuff! It’s always exciting heading into the growing season. It’s past time we planted out radishes, silverbeet (rainbow chard) green mustards and kale for winter. Not much else will cope with the cold conditions.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Göran,
Well made hats never go out of style. 🙂 My grandfather used to have a terry towelling cotton hat for the summer months, and he was onto something good with that choice. Unfortunately I was too young and missed most of the useful stuff he may have told me, now who knows else what he may have said? It’s a total mystery. What’s the Swedish hat of choice for garden / farm work?
Ah, a fine question. So installed water storage capacity is 129kL. This morning two tanks were delivered but it will take a few weeks until they’re installed (the site has to be dug and levelled). Those will take the total capacity to 140kL over three systems. Having the water in three systems allows for some resiliency should one system have a complete failure. However, I’m able to move water between all of the systems and that is what the recent new water pipe project is all about.
At a rough guess the systems collect 300L for each 1mm of rain received. So 140kL / 300L = 466mm of rain to completely fill the stores. Of course things are never that simple in reality because a household and farm uses water at the same time that it falls from the sky. It’s complicated relying on rainfall alone for water.
Thanks! We’ve recently reduced the water to the tomato vines in the greenhouse (although not much was used in high summer anyway – maybe 60L per day for the greenhouse for the hottest part of the year). The plan is that the vines die back from lack of water and force the ripening of the fruit and avoid the end of season fungal issues, but who knows? It’s an experiment.
Hmm. Do you dehydrate tomatoes and/or make passata (a tomato based sauce)? Techniques for preserving the harvest are very much on my mind. Well done with the apples and potatoes. Winters here aren’t cold enough to store apples well, but the citrus make up for that lack.
And exactly! Couldn’t have put it better. Every single system here revolves around how to store what nature provides so that it can be used later when nature doesn’t provide – even the solar power system works that way.
Man, I hear you about too much rain. One year 1,435mm fell here and that was crazy and made for very difficult growing conditions. I’d never experienced so much water before – there was a minor landslide. The smaller annual plants with shallow root systems do not like such weather, although the grass stays greener so there is less predation from the forest critters.
There’s not much a person can do, even if they dig drainage ditches. It all depends on how high the water table has become.
Extreme weather of any kind is usually not a welcome experience.
And yeah, they sometimes specify pits and pumps for storm water down here and what you are suggesting is how I see that world – risky. It all depends on a reliable power supply. Of course such things are getting cheaper nowadays. Hmm. My friends also ask me about what to do if the electricity goes out for extended periods. It happens, and work arounds can be cheap or expensive, but are probably needful.
Cheers
Chris
Hi DJ,
Glad to have entertained both of you with the storm video. Such things are fun to make, and the soundtrack was what I recorded with the microphone in my room here inside the house. Outside the sound was louder again. I’d been waiting to record the audio of thunderstorm for a while, and that was a goodie, but delivered very little rain. There was no time to take the laptop outside, but I was well pleased with the audio the microphone captured. Dogs can be so variable as to how they react when encountering a thunderstorm.
Sandra was showing me some random video the other night of dogs in veterinarian clinics having a freak out, and I’d not realised that dogs could pass out from stress. Who knew? Never seen that happen.
Right, I can see that about the Tesla coil, and will accept your maths at face value. That is some very high voltage there. A friend who is an electrical engineer mentioned long ago that some networks in the world were attempting to distribute electricity at such high voltages 1MV, although the mains lines down under are not all that exciting. They seem to have an upper limit of around 500kV, which all the same, is pretty feral.
I’ve read that in damp weather, people can stand with fluorescent tubes near to those high voltage transmission lines, get a similar effect. Lot’s of loss there.
Years ago, I wrote an interweb essay about how with off grid solar power if the sunlight derived electricity can’t be immediately used and/or stored in the batteries, the potential is simply lost. So a troll went off tap and started saying stupid things about how wasteful the system is and I should be exporting that electricity so others could use it etc. Blah, blah, blah. Well, anywhoo, fast forward a lot of years, and there are now so many rooftop solar power systems installed in the east coast grid down under, that it’s reaching failure point, and the middle of the day potential is simply lost. It’s the same problem I face every single day, but with far less hassles due to more appropriate technology – oh yeah. Exported electricity is paid virtually nothing nowadays due to over supply during the middle of the day and people are cracking the sads.
The grid needs the big fossil fuel generators so as to stabilise the voltage and frequency. In order to shift (or bump probably more correctly?) electrons from one point to another along a wire, you have to send high voltage to low voltage. The little grid tied inverters are stupid machines because all they can do is push out higher voltage electricity so as to move the electrons into the grid. We all hope that these independent machines can match the grid frequency. Hmm. The problem however is that the small network on the distribution side (i.e. household side of a transformer / sub station) faces ever increasing voltage during the middle of the day as all of the grid tied inverters push their electrons into the local circuit. This causes instability at a household voltage level and I’m guessing eventually that with enough solar and ideal conditions, grid circuits will shut down due to over voltage, but then where do the really big generators send their output? – it’s not like those machines can be quickly switched off. I doubt the implications of these choices have been thought through.
The hair experiment with those machines is pretty cool. Sadly the administrators took a dim view and probably squooshed many a precocious child’s interest in such machines.
That’s some weather you’re having. I’ve experienced a thin layer of hail with small particles, but not half an inch thick. Nearer to the big smoke, occasionally chunks of hail derived ice can be as large as golf balls. Those are smashers in the most literal sense of that word. Destroys cars and all sorts of stuff.
🙂 Kuato the fat possum for sure would like to hang onto his tail, but I’m thinking thoughts along your lines too. An intriguing thought.
Hmm, the thing with using water from an aquifer, is that you never really know what level the thing is at. And even when the level is known, people tend to momentarily look concerned then head off and think about something else. Guess it’s hard to jump off the carousel.
How good is a serious thunderstorm? There’s something quite elemental about witnessing one of those. And Dame Avalanche clearly agrees. 🙂
Well done and that clever observation and it wins you today’s coveted fluffy elephant stamp. It was pretty funny, yeah!
Never grown carrots, so I’ll be very interested to hear what your experiences with the plant works out to be.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
Nice work with the reviews, and very glad to hear that you dodged the poisoned pen ‘letters to the editor’! The local gardening club has a ‘letters to the editor’ page in their magazine. You’d be amazed at how upset some people get about the most insignificant of issues. A few tanties even get chucked from time to time. And with a hissy fit which would make any two year old proud, the letter writer promises to cancel their membership. Why even bother to write in and waste everyone’s time? I tell ya what, one of the most hot button topics of all in the gardening letters page is the whole native plant versus exotic plant. It’s completely crazy that discussion, and nobody seems to notice, well outside us more enlightened folks. 😉 Take a long enough perspective of time, and all plants are exotic colonisers of new biomes. Makes me feel like writing a letter to the editor of the magazine! 🙂 Hehe! I doubt anyone’s opinion has ever altered based on the contents of a ‘letter to the editor’.
Respect, your phrase / observation is quite workable in the real world.
Did mostly paid work today, and finished late, as usual for a Wednesday. I did manage to take the dogs for a walk for about an hour before the sun set, and that was nice. Oh! And I woke up in the 6am’s this morning because the two water tanks were delivered early. The delivery driver was great and even more importantly, he knew what he was doing with unloading the tanks off the truck. Someone was killed a while ago during such a delivery process. Plastic tanks can weigh a lot.
That Apollo kept some fine company. Interestingly, Polyhymnia was one of the nine muses but had roles in sacred hymns and agriculture. A touch of the practical and impractical all in the same personage.
Oh my! Nobody wants troublesome fans, and I’d not known that about Mr Martin. The author wrote a fun story in a book which was a series of short stories written by other authors as an ode to Jack Vance: Songs of the Dying Earth. Some of the stories were really excellent.
Good to hear that there are some limits to the First Amendment because it is commonly misunderstood that freedom is not license. There is a marked difference, as your example points out. Sometimes I read what is written in your country and blush in fear at the possible torts if said down here. Still, freedoms must be exercised lest they be taken away, even if it inconveniences others.
We have some ornamental cherry trees, and they’re lovely to see when in flower, and probably give early insects and honeyeaters a decent feed. But yeah, the fruiting varieties are more productive. A lovely local orchardist recounted an amusing tale about bird predation in this corner of the planet. Her family was back in Europe and she remarked to them that birds weren’t a problem with fruit trees, because the local population were in the habit of eating the birds.
Oh you did mention Krampus in that amusing Christmas film. Just another entity not to annoy – man, the list is getting long. Far out!
I’d never seen a Queen of the night Iris, and it’s a very attractive flower. Yes, not quite blue though, how cool would that be?
I liked that point too about how the aerials were fashioned out of commonly available household items – and making do and repairing was a normal practice. My only worry on that score is that people revel in the belief of a lack of abilities to do stuff these days. How incompetence ever became a thing to be celebrated is a total mystery to me. I still recall that horrific English show when I was a kid: Some mothers do ‘ave ’em. I loathed and hated that show, and for some weird reason all the adults I encountered loved the series. It just wasn’t funny, it was deeply disturbing. Maybe it’s just me? I dunno. That blog did have some other interesting essays.
It got to 90’F today, and will be the same tomorrow. Being inside the house doing paid work, I felt cold. My brain hurts due to being adapted to the hot weather. On the other hand, it’s meant to storm tomorrow night. Well done to you and H with timing the walk perfectly. 🙂 At almost 11pm, it’s still warm outside. This weather will pass…
Far out! You get a guarantee with the Nichols Garden Nursery seeds. Impressive. Have you bought from them for long? You know, I reckon retail gardening has been one of those industries which are getting hit by the ‘cost of living pressures’ AKA ‘inflation’. During you-know-what, demand was through the roof for products such as seed, but now, who knows?
Yum! Yum! A fine meal and always a pleasure to have a delightful chat with people you know. We had a made up meal using some noodles that were in the cupboard just asking to be eaten. A couple of fried eggs. Some veg. A bit of fish sauce to give the dish an Asian flavour, cook it all up on the fry-pan, and it was OK.
You betcha it was a problem. Who ever said that the problem went away?
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – Yes, the whole native plant vs introductions is just nuts. I’ve been on the lookout for any more Poison Hemlock. I thought I saw some, but one of the Master Gardeners said it was native Bleeding Heart. With a great deal of fondness. What’s funny is, she has a real antipathy for the native geranium. It pops up, here and there. I can’t say it’s really invasive, but for some reason, she takes against it. Not blue, but I think it’s rather pretty. And, it has some medicinal uses. Oh, well. I guess we all have our foibles and hobby horses. They’re also all in a tizzy, because we’ve got some grape hyacinths growing in among the rhubarb. “They look like chives, and they’re poisonous, and someone might eat them!” Some moron might also eat the rhubarb leaves, which are also poisonous.
I stopped down to the Club last night, to visit with Jane. Cancer treatments went well, and are just about winding up. And, walked into chaos and crisis. I didn’t sleep very well, last night. Mr. Bill, our Club manager and Jennifer, who manages the counter and volunteers have quit. I don’t know all the details, yet, but we have this new Club president. Where did this woman come from? Any-who, in short, she wants to professionalize a volunteer organization. Not the first time I’ve seen that. Ends up benefiting a few, at the expense of the many. Sort of like gentrification. Eventually the organization, dies.
“The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world that he didn’t exist.” Baudelaire (more or less.)
I’m glad to hear the tanks were safely delivered. Now they are there, you can more or less work at your own speed, to bring them on-line.
Interestingly, I saw an article yesterday that involves a First Amendment case. Ignore the greenie politics.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/18/climate/greenpeace-lawsuit-first-amendment
There are some tasty recipes, for parrot. 🙂
Our local congress critter (Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez) has been pushing for “right to repair” laws, back in D.C.. She’s having some success, getting it into law.
Our high yesterday was 50F (10C). The overnight low was 41F (5C). Forecast high for today is 53F. Gloomy, overcast, with rain on and off.
Oh, I’ve been aware of Nichols for 25 or 30 years. I do remember ordering some basil and saffron bulbs, years ago. But, as I didn’t really take gardening seriously, until I moved in here …
I had three English muffins, with Swiss cheese, a fried egg, garlic and yogurt / hot mustard for dinner. Not the healthiest. I’ll make up for it, tonight. My friends in Idaho has been experimenting with all kinds of recipes involving tater tots. Casseroles, Sloppy Joes, etc. etc.. I told her this morning, that she could MAKE her own tater tots. DIY! 🙂 I await her response.
Hmm. Over production also yields sales, clearances, and wholesale outlets.
I started reading “The Dig,” last night. Well written, and engrossing. Lew
Hi Chris,
Happy autumn equinox to you! (although it sounds like your temperatures recently haven’t gotten the memo about the equinox …)
As I type, we received a bit of rain, but not enough to reduce the fire danger. We are under what is called a red flag warning for critical fire weather conditions. Fortunately it is only supposed to last for another 5 hours. A cold front is on the way … high of 84F which set a new daily record yesterday, some snow predicted for tomorrow morning.
I’m enjoying the daffodil, magnolia, forsythia, and other flowers that are in bloom. A few days ago we hit 26F for a low, with the two apricot trees in the front yard in full bloom. Interestingly, the flowers don’t seem to have been affected by the freeze. But we could get a frost or freeze anytime within the next month or so, so even if the flowers survived that freeze, it does not mean we can count on apricots this year. Apricots are a once in several years treat.
Where are you keeping the new empty water tanks while you are creating the pad on which they will sit? You don’t have an excess of flat land where they can rest before being put into use – and as you noted, you don’t want the tanks to take a notion to move on their own.
It’s been determined that one of the tornadoes from last Friday came within several miles of us. That’s closer than I’d like, but far enough to not be a problem. I hope our weather is less dramatic for awhile!
Claire
Chris:
I thought you were going to say that because I know what Archimedes said about a lever and moving the world and a water tank is not the world, but I am thinking of your back.
I wouldn’t think anyone could take anything away from Ollie. Dogs are such drama.
Mr. Baby is in no position to bargain with his friend Petey the Possum as Mr. B had a bath last night and now smells to high heaven of something strong and flowery. It seems to have triggered his natural pugnacity to the extent that he hunted a wood rat in the garden, though did not get it when it hid in the toolshed and then later I was running the huge magnet on wheels across the front yard to pick up roofing nails and came across somebody’s freshly rendered guts, which my daughter-in-law thinks were from one of the giant voles around here. So, if Petey comes around tonight, he had better watch out.
We had a dumpster delivered today to collect all of this roof debris in. You wouldn’t believe how much comes off of a roof, especially when there is also siding from two dormers in the front and one long shed dormer in the back, and all the plywood and tarpaper that was on there, besides the 2 tons of shingles. My son said he would have to make 72 visits to the dump (I think he exaggerates) and it would finally do Mr. Musty in, not to mention himself and gas costs. We have rented it for 5 days. He has also placed in it the old water heater that he replaced a few weeks ago.
Pam
Chris,
Well, the thunderstorm audio was fine just as it was. The first dog I remember, dad’s toy collie mix, would go crazy with fear during thunderstorms. Cheyenne the Finnish Spitz was scared of them but was okay if I kept a hand on her until the storm passed. Thor was scared of all loud noises except thunder. Avalanche seems to ignore the thunder. Meaning, she knows it’s there, gets in the same room with me and is okay. Then there was Rakhi the Samoyed. Thunder irritated her. During thunderstorms she would trot around the yard, barking at each flash of lightning and snarling at the thunder. Meanwhile I was outside yelling, “Yeah Thor, Go Tesla!”
Any living creature can pass out or even die from stress. I’ve seen a few birds die that way.
Electricity is funny stuff. Not surprised that the electrical engineers are finding limits in how much voltage they can push. They can build thicker cables that could “haul” more, but the cables could be heavy enough to require heftier and more frequent support poles and towers. There’s always tradeoffs and limits.
Okay, lever mathematics. Try this. It gives a diagram and a decent example. Holler if that isn’t clear. https://www.engineersedge.com/calculators/levers/page_levers_1.htm
Oh no! You’ve raised that nasty electron question again. Do the electrons flow or do they bump into one another as a long series of bumps until an electron is forced out the other end? It doesn’t matter. The maths work the same either way. Might as well ask if gravity is true or if the earth sucks. Either way, the maths and effects are the same. Then again, electrons are both particles and waves simultaneously, so our mathematical representations of reality are rather weird. 😉
That said, I think your logic about the grid and household solar is correct. The biggest part of what you said is that nobody has thought of the consequences. But who in this day and age actually does thing about consequences being anything other than the best possible outcome?
Yeah, golf ball sized hail is dangerous. Ours is usually smaller than most peas. Sometimes we do get hail bigger than that, but it’s rare. But we’re having typical March weather. Hail can happen into August, even.
I’ve always enjoyed thunderstorms, being out in snowstorms (not in blizzards!), rain coming down sorta sideways. Those elemental weather things that let you know you’re alive and definitely NOT in charge.
My experience with carrots is simple. The quality of the soil is most important. A close second is making sure that those tiny seeds aren’t too close together. The Princess thinks that nothing tastes better than a fresh carrot from the garden.
DJSpo
Hi Pam,
That Archimedes bloke seemed like a clever person, but I doubt he’d have had access to the sort of metallurgy we now all take for granted. My thinking in this matter is that the world moving lever he bragged of, would have broken, and then that would be that. A nice demonstration but the vacuum of space is no place for cheaply produced house wrecking bars made from low grade ores. Of course I could be wrong there…
Pam, I’ve never stopped being physically active from a very young age and do work in balance – basically all of the jobs get mixed up so I’m not doing the same work around here all the time which can place undue stress on the body. Plus, on a serious note, having little ability to be able to fall in a heap (there’s no plan B if I get injured) means I have to be careful. This does not preclude injuries and things have gone wrong in the past on that front, yup. But that is true for everyone. So in answer to your question about the back, despite hauling crushed rock and moving large rocks for many long hours today, I feel fine. Balance is a very hard point to find and navigate, and sometimes it’s elusive and difficult to grasp. Life’s like that don’t you reckon?
Dame Plum and Ollie are very good friends and she really looks up to the big dog. I recall when Plum and Ruby were tiny little beans of puppies, they’d hang off his jowls with their sharp little spiky puppy teeth. Probably why his jowls have stretched somewhat over the years. 🙂
Mr Baby would smell delightful after his bath, although I can only salute your fortitude because I’ve never washed a cat. How do you stop him from using those sharp claws to express his displeasure at the wet cleaning episode? But yeah, Mr Baby has now entered into the grumpy cat phase for the next day or so until he forgets about the indignities visited upon his person. Still, he’d smell nicer now and the aroma would surely deter parasites which may plague his more feral garden friends.
We call those dumpsters by the curious name of ‘skips’ down here. This is of course an entirely different thing to ‘Skippy the bush kangaroo’, one being a large bouncy marsupial in a TV series and the other a heavy duty steel err, bin. The difference is immediately obvious even to the most casual of observers. 🙂 I’d get a skip in for that job too – you can do the work, or haul the stuff to the tip, but maybe not both. The magnet idea is genius. Are you finding many nails with it? Hope the roof job gets completed before any heavy weather rolls in.
Today, almost upon the very edge of the autumn equinox, the season turned. It rained most of the day, but truly I enjoyed getting quite damp in the suddenly tropical deluge. This morning before the storm arrived I awoke to the smell of dry dust from the centre of this arid continent. You could almost taste the metallic flavour of the air. Not an experience for those who suffer from hayfever I can assure you. Glad it is now behind us for the season.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Claire,
Happy equinox to you as well. 🙂 You’re absolutely spot on, but then, today on the very edge of the autumn equinox, the season suddenly flipped and everything is now different – you can feel it. 14mm of rain fell over most of the day (we worked outside in that wet stuff, and enjoyed every moment). This morning I awoke to warm air (prior to the storm) with the smell of dry metallic dust originating from the centre of this flat continent. Candidly it was a bit trying on the sinuses. 🙂 Then over the course of the day, the season flipped. Outside now is very damp, but it will take a few weeks and months for the grass to green up again.
With the change in seasons, I plan to plant out quite a number of oak trees over the next few weeks which are fire retardant, dry adapted, and all round super hardy lovely trees. The change in seasons truly went right down to the wire. An even crazier climate than usual this year.
Oh my! The fire risk is very much on my mind as well, and hopefully your spring weather provides lots of useful rain soon for the gardens and forests in your part of the world. Nobody wants to experience red flag days, and between you and I, such weather reminds me of sitting an unpleasant exam which must be gotten through regardless of one’s preferences.
All being well down here, we might be able to get back to burning off sometime around early May. Until then, the many rock work projects are calling to be done. Placed a number of very large rocks around the recently constructed concrete staircase project today, then cleaned up the whole area so that job is now finished. But then that was when we noticed some stuff which needs doing in that area… Ook! Vision unfolds.
Did you get the snow? And your weather is becoming as variable as what I enjoy down here. The apricots may get through, but my experience with those trees is the same as yours. Expect a crop every four to five years. 26’F is probably a bit challenging for the trees when in blossom and/or fruit – but you might be surprised. When apricots are good, they’re very tasty treats, as you are also aware. 🙂 A gift from the gods those trees, but ever so slightly fickle.
Ah, an excellent question and one which we had to ponder. Where to store the water tanks until they are installed? On flat land out of sight of the road of course. 🙂 The local earthmoving guy many years ago told me horror stories of large plastic water tanks blowing away in the winds. He of course was paid to retrieve them, but the warning was well received.
That’s a bit close for comfort, and glad that you both dodged the powerful storm.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
People get so upset about that topic, and have such surprisingly fixed opinions based on, nothing substantial. I refuse to limit myself to a narrowly defined abstract collection of plants. It is an abstract concept too, and any time I encounter that hot button topic, I ask the emotionally charged person where the plants originated from in their last meal. Sure, they get annoyed, but inevitably there is verbal stammering and stumbling of the reply, then they leave me alone. It would be my preference to let such folks down gently, but they do seem rather agitated and subtlety gets lost in the heat.
Between Socrates, Plato and Aristotle and candidly I get confused as to which was the greater, we can note from the various depictions that Aristotle had the better head of hair. Although, he may have been younger than the other two? Hard to know really, it’s all so long ago. How did we get onto this subject? Ah, poison hemlock, yes a bad thing in the garden. Homalanthus populifolius is a fascinating tree, and who knew it turned up in your gardens? 😉
But yes, sentimentality is very much a part of that plant story. We get native geraniums here too, and like you I just don’t see the big deal either. I’ve never known of a geranium plant to be invasive.
Grape Hyacinth are a really lovely plant which happily meanders here through the sunny orchard. Quite cheery really, but not quite blue is it? You know, can’t say that I’d confuse that plant for chives which look entirely different to me. Once had a dog – Denver (found on a country road) – who was being starved out of the communal food bowl by The Fat (the boss dog at the time). So what alerted us to this canine travesty, was that the dog began eating rhubarb. Since that awful moment, we now feed the dogs separately so as to monitor them all. Anywhoo, the dog lived to a ripe old age.
That’s great news about Jane, and may she continue to recover and eventually glow with good health.
Oh my! My gut feeling suggests that this is not a good turn of events for your Club. My experience with the local brigade was sort of like that. The social element was stomped, and after a while I wondered why I was even turning up to what looked like an unpaid job. All I can say is that these things pass, and the positions are subject to regular elections for a good reason. My tolerance for such mischief may be lower than yours in this regard. Professionalise, wow. That was the clarion call I heard too, seemed like a poop idea to me. Oh well. And I’ll tell you a funny story about the Editor. With her and Ruby going to dog obedience school for a year, the idea has finally dropped that learning can be a fun experience. Your new Club el-Presidenta sounds humourless to me, but that is a guess at best based on not much info, so I could well be wrong. It is very possible that from time to time you’ll come across people who are very uncomfortable with small talk and they have trouble with social circumstances, and sometimes, they create drama to avoid facing their own inadequacies.
It’s a neat trick that one that the d’el pulled. He’s sly.
Yeah, it is nice to not have to work to deadlines because they add a certain pressure which is often unnecessary. Speaking of which, it rained for most of the day today. The season has most definitely turned which is as to be expected on the verge of the equinox. Anyway, we fixed up the rock wall at the top of the new concrete stair project. It’s looking good. But now that job is done, we noticed that the closest raised round garden bed (a stock tank?) needs to be moved. It no longer looks right where it is. Oh well…
Oh yeah, I read about the greenpiece verdict elsewhere. Sounds expensive and probably financially ruinous. Hmm. You know what though? When I look at the photos in the articles, how many people are using products derived from oil and gas? The shoes and some of the clothes look synthetic to me. The meals which fed them, on any side of the story, probably derive from synthetic nitrogen based fertilisers. How did they get to the protests and court action – all of them? Man, it’s so not good, any of it. The pivotal incident with the charity mugger has very much been on my mind of late.
Well if I were hungry enough, trust me, I’d happily roast up a parrot. 🙂 Mind you, the birds ability to convert plant materials into rich fertiliser and spread it around are good services too.
I’m fully on board with the right to repair. Yup. Most of the machines I’ve selected to use here are simple enough to be repaired, but they get me on parts. Best to be super gentle with all this stuff and hope for the best. Down under, cars can be taken anywhere for their regular service without voiding the manufacturers warranty.
The scratch and dent fuse boxes haven’t turned up yet, but I’m looking forward to getting them. Might do part of that work next week if the weather is good for it. Being up on the roof you don’t want to be cooked in the sun.
The day was similar here to your experience, although warmer at 68’F. It’s colder tonight though, and very humid outside.
Have a garden, and will garden! 🙂
English muffins are pretty tasty. Did you toast them first? Your meal sounds like a tasty burger-ish concoction. Had home made veg pizza for dinner.
Hehe! There’s plenty of recipes online for homemade varieties of those potato treats (although I’ve never consumed them). Did they reply to your quite pragmatic suggestion?
Yes, a lot of problems. Also over production is suggestive of poor pay for the folks doing that work, otherwise there would be no over production. Balancing a country’s internal demand versus production would be a nightmare problem.
How did the amateur bloke in the digs come across in the book? I got the impression reading between the lines that the more academically oriented side of that profession was not supportive of the guy.
Cheers
Chris
Hi DJ,
I’m so sorry but somehow your comment ended up automatically in the trash. Dunno why either. This is of course no reflection upon the content of your words, but merely a reflection of faulty software.
As I was shutting the site software down, I happened to notice the little lost comment, and retrieved it. Me, being me, keeps the trash tidy so such incidents are never lost. However, it’s now bedtime and me tired after moving heavy rocks today.
We’ll see if I can reply tomorrow morning, maybe. 🙂
Until then, apologies for the software issues.
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – Our native Bleeding Hearts don’t achieve tree status. More, bush, and small bushes at that. The Master Gardeners have a section they call the “Native Plant Garden.” Always looks a little bare, to me. The Bleeding Heart may have been an escape, from there. There are plant nurseries, that specialize in native plants. Our grape hyacinths are very blue. The forsythia is in bloom. We have one big bush, here at the Institution. There are others, scattered around the neighborhood.
I’ll take a wait and see attitude, toward the Club. I have decided not to spend anymore of my own money, as far as the pantry goes. Except for maybe condiments. Never see those in our food boxes. Speaking of food boxes, we should get one, tomorrow morning. Maybe. I also saw this article, this morning.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/usda-halts-millions-dollars-worth-205844077.html
I wonder if we’ll get our senior cards, this year ($80), to spend at the local farmer’s markets?
Our high yesterday was 54F (12.22C). The overnight low was 41 (5C). Forecast high for today is 48F. Today is our Spring Equinox. Can’t see much difference. Today’s weather is like yesterdays, and tomorrow’s weather forecast is pretty much like todays. Scattered showers, mostly.
I knew it was a mistake to link to that article. 🙂 The point being (to me), First Amendment wrangling. I suggested you ignore the greenie politics.
Speaking of vehicles, I had a surprise, yesterday. I was deep into my afternoon nap, when a knock came on the door. No one knocks on my door. It was a nice young Hispanic man, who had come to replace the air bags, in my Ranger. Ford has been harassing me, for two or three years, over the issue. I’ve been ignoring them. a.) Why didn’t they get it right in the first place? And, b.) I supposed I’d have to make a trip to Olympia, to get it fixed. Anywho, I’m not the Lone Ranger. There are still 15,000 Rangers, in Washington State, who need to have their air bags replaced. I asked him if he came all the way from Detroit. No, but he did go to Detroit for training. It took him about 25 minutes, to replace both air bags. I diddled in the garden while he did the work. He showed me his tablet. Last known location of each Ranger.
I never toast my English muffins. I mean, they’re already baked 🙂 Seems like an unnecessary extra step. Plus all the utensils, etc.. to toast them. What my Idaho friend said about DIY tater tots? “Scratch that … me ‘no’ make tater tots from scratch!! Do have my limits.” I had the last of the muffins, last night, with tuna. Swiss cheese. I did warm up that part in the nuker. Top half of the muffin was smeared with my usual smear. Plane yoghurt, some diced garlic, a shot of horseradish mustard, turmeric and a few pumpkin seeds. Tasty. H got a bit of tuna and some of the water, out of the tin.
I’m well into reading “The Dig.” Once the importance of the site was realized, the professionals swopped in, and attempted to edge Brown out. He did get recognized, for his contributions … but it came late.
https://herbpursuits.com/when-did-basil-brown-get-recognition/
I also started reading that collection of King’s short stories, “Just After Sunset.” The first story is a ghost story. Told from the point of view of the ghosts. Lew
Chris:
Hmm – now I’m seeing some space dude out there (one of those evil scientists) with a lever of the correct size, fueled by things Archimedes never imagined.
I have always heard where backs are concerned to let the legs and the arms, but mostly the legs, do as much of the work as possible. Maybe you naturally do that.
I remember the baby beans doing that, too, sort of like pierced ears with heavy earrings.
I’ve washed a good few cats as fleas were endemic in Texas. I can’t remember how I protected myself, but I think that wrapping some part of the cat in a towel while washing it was part of the experience. Sounds impossible.
Yeah, I love pushing that magnet thing around. I thought I was finding the nails, having gathered up a whole lot by hand, but this thing beats that all by heck. It also has a handle that you pull up that releases the pull of the magnet so the nails will drop into a trash can.
It is the Autumn Equinox, and happy to you! Spring is most definitely here and we got 1/4 inch of rain today. Whoopee – that makes a total of about 1/2 inch for the last 6 weeks. There is a wildfire somewhere in the area, not near us, I think, and the air smells quite smoky, not having been washed by the rain.
The roof is done except for a bit of flashing around the chimney.
Pam
Hi DJ,
🙂 There’s a lot of nature going on here, and some it is quite loud indeed. Sunny early summer mornings when the land is still green and gentle, the bird chorus is raucous – like a drunken spontaneous pub choir singing Chumbawamba’s iconic anthem ‘Tub Thumping’, but probably at the correct notes and timing.
Yeah, dogs can be variable in their reactions to the sound and feel of thunder. Of course Thor dog would never be troubled by such confirmations of his own general level of superiority – the name of the canine is a dead giveaway. Hey, some dogs own their names!
Thanks for the laughs.
I’d not known that and believed that passing out was a human only reaction. Never seen birds do that, but out of curiosity, where the birds in an environment which was also slightly stressed, like say extreme hot, wet, or dry?
Yes! Absolutely with the cables all of what you said, plus thicker cables are super expensive. Sometimes I scratch my head when people talk about the costs of solar panels coming down over time (because they’re made in the land of stuff), but they never talk about cables, fuses, connectors etc. That stuff has only ever gone up in price. And resistance whilst not being entirely futile (!), does tend to convert electricity into heat. Bury cables and sure they’re no longer visible, but they don’t lose excess heat to the atmosphere, because they’re underground – that causes the particular circuit to be de-rated, or require larger and thicker cables. And around and around it goes. People talk a big game with this stuff, and that’s why it’s all talk and not being installed.
Ah, the force of the lever is multiplied by the length differential. Makes perfect sense. Thanks.
Thanks for the explanation, as I heard about electrons bumping in a long line and my brain almost popped at the thought. This talk of waves and particles is simply beyond my understanding. Maybe there are some things we’ll never know. Doesn’t mean that electrons aren’t useful though.
Solar in many ways is a hippy technology which works best at a hippy scale, but I’m genuinely impressed to have seen the efforts to scale up the usage of the stuff. You have to admit that it’s pretty audacious! The scale never really addressed the underlying limits of the technology, and the vast majority of people mostly want an economic outcome which can’t work at such scale. The whole thing is a mystery to me, but it’s fascinating to watch the spectacle take place. It’s not like the limits weren’t known about 15 years ago. My cursory introduction to the technology at the time showed me them, and the comedown was real.
We get the pea type of hail too, and usually smaller than that. During August the water from the melting ice would be a great boon for the vegetation although the fruit skins rarely appreciate the pelting.
🙂 Control is assuredly an illusion, or so the philosophers have assured me. And are any of us assured of anything? My brain is hurting here.
Thanks for the experience, and the seeds are tiny. Hmm, your lady’s views have piqued my curiosity.
Cheers
Chris
Chris,
Thanks for the morning reply to the post the interweb trashed.
Ah, yes, the bird choruses. Umpteen species singing differing songs all at once. Very noisy, very agreeable, extremely fun. That is a sure sign of spring/early summer. And “Tub Thumping”? Thanks for the reminder. Hadn’t heard that one for a long time.
The birds I saw pass out were usually baby or mother sparrows with it hot and dry. The baby had vaulted from the nest before it could fly, landing in the sun and heat. Both mother and baby could pass out from the stress. Baby wouldn’t survive, mother might if moved into shade with a light sprinkle of water going.
Ohhh, nicely subtle Hitchhiker’s Guide resistance inclusion! I bow to your morning prowess! And you’ve hit on it… Resistance. Heat. Entropy wins again. Big limiting factor, entropy is.
Yup. Remember, Archimedes said that if you gave him a long enough lever, he could lift the Earth. I always pictured him standing on the moon with a small asteroid near Earth for a fulcrum, Archimedes reefing on his end of the lever and his feet disappearing into the moon, Earth not lifting. Either that or the lever is longer than needed with him on the moon and Earth goes flying off into the outer regions of space.
There’s a couple basic points to keep in mind. First, Observations are made. Then, maths is a language that can describe the observations and the effects of the observations. But this is no more than a model for a theory of observed effects. Some of these things we’re not even sure exist, at least not in the way we think. But for classical physics, most things have been well enough sorted out that at least the language (maths) does describe and efficiently predict various things such as levers, the flight of a thrown ball, electric circuitry, planetary motion, gravitational effects, etc.
Different models with different maths can be devised to describe the same phenomena. Hence, classical gravity and its “gravity field” was described very differently by Einstein in his General Relativity. There, the “fabric” of space-time is indented by massive objects, creating a “gravity well”, similar to the tree wells in snow we discussed some time ago.
I like that, “hippy scale”. Great description of how best to use solar. But, of course, we don’t want to admit that we have to scale things down, or acknowledge limits, or change in any significant way. But sublocal use of solar is the most efficient application.
Allegedly the only thing I can control is how I respond to events and surroundings. Sometimes I’m skeptical about even that. The only sure thing is that entropy happens, which then leads to change happening.
Stayed indoors all day. Much too windy for me today. Wingless things flying around in the air aren’t good for allergies. So I found some frozen chilis that we brought back from last year’s trip to New Mexico. I cooked up an entire frozen packet last summer and it was much too hot for me. These have a lot of zing to them. Today I made a lentil stew with two of the chilies, a lot of lentils, some cherry tomatoes and potatoes. Very tasty with a good zing.
DJSpo
Hi Pam,
Those evil space dudes need a cat. True. And the cat might need a feline space suit which hopefully is comfortable enough for said moggy, to sit on evil dudes lap. Almost makes the perfect setting for a whacky Bond film?
And thanks for the laughs. You reminded me of the original Bill and Ted film where the hapless duo went back in time to kidnap Socrates, who they called So-Crates (as you do). What does this have to do with your mention of Archimedes and mysterious fuel he’d not been aware of, well, the comment: “Like sand through the hour glass…” springs to mind. He’d have known about sand that ancient bloke, maybe? Probably just how my brain works! 😉
Yes, that’s good advice in regards to the back, but also walking is a good way to improve posture and strengthen the back. You may have noticed that poor posture has become a thing since people got hold of their phones? No? Walking is a favourite activity of mine, but it’s very unfashionable. Whilst walking today in a nearby nature reserve (the cooler weather reduces the snake risk) I encountered a real old school hippy type who lives in a shack (apparently). He had lots of worries about this and that, and my reply was to stop watching television and do something productive with his time. You can only but try in these situations.
Hehe! That’s funny about the baby beans, and what a fun thought you’ve left me with. Far from being a hassle, they’re lovely – who knew? Our culture is focused on the wrong things.
That’s a great idea about the towel – cat – bath situation, but you would have to stay sharp so as to avoid the claws. I’ve never bathed a cat, and only hose down the dogs when they’ve rolled in unpleasantly aromatic wombat poop. Other than that they smell fairly neutral, of course things are different in other parts of the world. Do those insecticide drops help with cats and dogs in your country? We haven’t experienced fleas for almost a quarter century.
The magnet idea is genius. I’ve seen such technology used on a bigger scale at landfills so as to recover high grade metals for recycling. The drop function on your machine is pretty clever.
Happy equinox to you too. Ah, your rainfall deficiency would make for some nervous moments. Hope that the air has cleared of smoke. I vacuumed half of the house this evening so as to suck up the dry airborne dust of the past few days. Today was also damp and cloudy here with a little bit of rain. I’m quietly grateful for the change in seasons.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Pam cont…,
Forgot to mention, we don’t use those insecticide drops on the dogs – they just don’t get fleas and I have no idea why this may be. It’s been a consistent story over many different households.
Now ticks (and they’re not too dangerous here) are another issue altogether, and very occasionally get onto the dogs skin.
Cheers
Chris
Hi DJ,
The software occasionally chucks comments into the trash for no reason that I can ascertain. I used to worry about it, but nowadays the bin is checked daily. Worry being a bad thing.
🙂 Those birds in your part of the world sure would be firing up their early morning songs whilst heralding in the rising of the sun. Seems like a sensible strategy despite early mornings being something of a personal struggle. Glad you enjoyed the blast from the past.
Ook! I see, the world of bird is a rough place, and kind of has to be in order to retain the ability to fly. As you’ve shown, some moments can be rougher than others. If I see bird parents encouraging their chicks to fly for the first time, the dogs get locked indoors for the day.
Entropy is always with us, and resistance converts energy into less useful forms. Yup! One of the things I look for with the solar power system, is any connections or cables which run hot. In the past that heat caused me some serious dramas. Speaking of which, I nabbed some amazing metal distribution boxes which were slightly scratched, and thus being cleared. They turned up in the mail today and are almost perfect. In a bushfire area, it is perhaps unwise to use plastic distribution boxes on a roof, even when they are UV stable materials. Two need replacing, just in case.
Yeah, poor old Archimedes would have definitely disappeared into the moon dust. His statement was perhaps intended to inspire by ignoring those pesky limit things. I have this vague mental idea that in your scenario the hapless mathematician would end up completely squooshed by the lever, which is what you were suggesting.
I’d not appreciated that about mathematics being a descriptive language. Hmm. And agreed, the ability for a model to provide useful outcomes is the more pragmatic side of the story. Still, sometimes the model itself can promote certain ways of thinking about unknowable things.
It’s funny, but you’d imagine that in all free thinking about issues is a celebrated technique, like say discussing the limits of solar power systems, but no. What I tend to see is that problems are usually presented as a challenge to be worked around. Few people seem to comprehend that our species could do quite well by say scaling down, or embracing limits as you quite rightly note. It’s almost as if they’re unallowable thoughts, but it doesn’t preclude those from being a useful response to a problem.
I’m with you there, and further are not really interested in control. And that’s insightful, yup, yourself. Agreed. 🙂 Well, a person has and can only exercise a small amount of free will. Try not paying your property taxes and see what happens… It’s what a person does with that free will which interests me. Out of curiosity, is Dame Avalanche still attending doggy obedience school? Respect for taking on a Husky because they’re notably strong willed.
Yum! Had oven fresh focaccia, potato salad, chunk of cheese and devilled eggs for dinner this evening. So tasty. Sometimes the simplest of meals are the finest don’t you reckon?
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
I couldn’t find what your native Bleeding Heart plants were. The stupid gargle nonsearch thing kept giving me the plant from up north of the continent, which as you noted is a tree and probably an entirely different species. Yeah, sometimes native gardens can look sort of like that. Most of the Australian native gardens I’ve seen are perhaps arranged to produce that result? Beats me. A neighbour once told me that instead of expanding the vegetable patch, they’d put in a native garden. It was almost said as if it were an act of virtuousnes. I didn’t get that at all and may have been mystified because of all the native forest and plants around us at the time. Some things are beyond my understanding.
What I do know is that eventually as costs for synthetic fertilisers rise – as they must, then hunger will sort a lot of such thought processes out.
Of course and thanks for the correction. I see what you mean, and grape hyacinths do look blue. We get Common Bluebells spreading in the sunny orchard too, and they’re lovely and super easy plants. Presumably they happily grow in your part of the world too?
That’s what I’d do in relation to the Club if in your position. Wait and see. A wise strategy and hopefully it all blows over in time? But if I were uncomfortable at the goings on, I’d not offer my services to the Club. Things could go badly for those whom do, or that’s been my experience. It’s a shame, but what do you do, other than taking control of the Club? And who wants that?
Maybe is the word, far out! Things are moving fast. The article was alarming and man I dunno, but the ‘r’ for recession word keeps bouncing into my head. But maybe we might get a ‘d’ instead. Hmm. Oh well, this day was always going to come due to the policies and choices of the past. Did the food box turn up?
Sorry to say it, but I think not this year. But hey, I could be wrong?
It’s ever so slowly warming up in your part of the world. 🙂 And cooling down here, thankfully. The second half of summer was err, exciting like stimulating incorrect emotions kind of a way. Anywhoo, cooler. Went and did our first bushwalk of the season today at a nearby nature reserve. It was moderately dry here, and way dry there. Many dead trees, which looked problematic to me, although the walk was delightful. Met an old hippy on the walk and had a chat. He was entertaining, but struggled having a two way conversation. He talked about a few of his worries and I made the helpful suggestion to stop watching so much news media on television. I doubt he’ll take me up on the suggestion, but you’ve gotta try sometimes. He’d been in that area for many decades and lived in a shack, as you do. An interesting encounter.
Happy equinox! 🙂 Things are suddenly different here (you’re fighting winter thermal inertia and the sun is yet weak at that time of year) and the next week is between 21’C / 70’F and 28’C / 82’F. Quite nice actually, and after all this rain, the plants will grow like a jungle.
Hey, the scratch and dent distribution boxes turned up in the mail today, and they’re awesome looking. The scratches are really minor. The plan is to get the two boxes onto the roof this week. No point waiting until the roof become too damp to work on without slipping off. That’s the plan anyway…
Sorry about that with the article. Apologies, and you can’t take some people anywhere… Ook! I did read your suggestion, but things are somewhat different down here. Please allow me to explain my behaviour. We don’t have free speech down here at all, so I can’t actually say whether what happened with that company was a good or bad thing. Hmm. I believe that in theory a person is protected from such legal actions by a company, but in practice what allegedly happens is that the directors sue for reputational damage and the result is more or less the same outcome. I seek not to offend, because the consequences are quite dire. Hope my diversion of the conversation now makes sense to you, and sometimes I’m forced to put my personal feelings in a matter to the side on purely pragmatic and well founded grounds.
That’s most excellent service. Yes, I’d been aware of the faulty air bag issue for quite a long while. Never experienced what one of those devices would feel like blowing up in the face either. Probably hurt at a wild guess. At least that’s one less thing you have to worry about. 🙂 Man, truly I wonder if the devices would even work when required after so many years. I’ve spoken to reliable people who have had accidents where they didn’t go off, so who knows what will trigger the things.
Understood. No toasting, already baked. Got it! 🙂 Thanks for that. Made a focaccia for dinner this evening, let it rise for a few hours, then baked in for half an hour. So tasty, and used it to make a cheese and potato salad sandwich (the bread was still oven warm). Sounds a bit dodgy now that I’ve written it out, but trust me, it was good. Oh, and there were devilled eggs. The chickens egg output is much reduced of late now that we’re on the way to the depths of winter. May buy some new chickens soon, I’m sure chookflation will be eye-watering (report on that story to come sooner or later).
Yes, but is your horseradish hot enough to cause mild brain and sinus pain? 🙂 It’s a bit weedy that plant. Do you grow any there, I forget? Definitely a plant to constrain from meandering.
How’s the book going? Does the film compare well to the book? Sometimes the world needs self taught individuals to set wheels in motion.
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – My favorite Archimedes story is about his death ray. 🙂
https://w.wiki/DXLH
Here you go, Western Bleeding Heart. I’m pretty sure the plant has been hybridized, into some more showy commercial varieties. I vaguely remember my mother grew a few, in a hanging basket. And that she had to put weight (clothespins) on the stems, to get them to appropriately droop.
https://realgardensgrownatives.com/?p=2808
I also ran across a fascinating article, about a potato, that was brought here from Peru, by the Spanish, in the 1700s. I hadn’t heard any of this story.
https://w.wiki/DXLm
We have a few bluebells, about the place. But they don’t seem to grow in any profusion. Or, maybe, they’re so “here and gone” that I just haven’t noticed. At least, not in the parts of the gardens I am most familiar with.
I thought about taking control of the Club … for less than a hot minute. 🙂 I ran down to the Club, this morning, and all seemed fairly normal. Although the new counter / volunteer manager seems to be working a heck of a lot of shifts. That way, lies burn-out. When I got home, my seeds have arrived. And, a food box.
The food box was pretty good. Still. It even had a dozen large eggs! Wouldn’t you know, I had just bought a dozen. Medium one’s though. I’ll probably take one or the other down to the Club. Stuff to go down on the swap table. A frozen meat loaf, from a pretty good company. A pack of ramen. An individual piece of carrot cake. A couple of tins of veg, that we’re already stocked up on, down at the Club. Some dried beans. There was a pound of frozen pork loin. I haven’t decided what to do with that, yet. As far as stuff for the Club, there was a jar of peanut butter, a pound of butter “product,” various pasta, a bag of cereal that would appeal to small children, and a box of Mac and cheese. Not the good stuff. There were two tins each of tuna and a good brand of chicken noodle soup. One tin each of chicken, peaches, corn, green beans, refried beans, baked beans and tomato sauce. Oh, and there was also a loaf of “French” bread. I might keep that, and use up the last of the Vegemite and Marmite. There was also a bag of mixed fruit. Four apples, two lemons, an orange and a pear (much the worse for wear.) Overall, not a bad box. Still not seeing possible cuts.
Old hippies can be fun. I think you once mentioned him, before. A blackberry picking expedition? I once had a friend, named Rabbit, who I referred to as “The Oldest Living Hippie in the World.” 🙂
Our high yesterday was 48F (8.88C). The overnight low was 45F (7.22C). Forecast high for today is 51F. Prof. Mass says we’re going to get a lot of rain. And, another atmospheric river. Though if it follows the projected path, the brunt of it will be to the south, with us taking a bit of the fringe.
I’m glad to hear the distribution boxes arrived, and lived up to your expectations. Yes, please, don’t fall off the roof.
Your dinner sounds quit tasty. Sometimes, odd combinations can come off quit tasty. That’s what the book “Baking Yesteryear” was all about. Who knew about Velveeta and fudge? If things to according to plant, this week I’m going to give the recipe a spin, with sharp cheddar cheese. Not as highly processed. Maybe, minimally healthier?
Last night I had rice, with mustard greens, parsley and dried tomatoes from the garden. Seeds and garlic. Celery and a can of garbanzo beans. Mushrooms. Topped with a little Mozzarella cheese. Oh, and frozen broccoli. Some would turn their noses up, but I found it quit tasty.
I love deviled eggs, and any time I go to a potluck, pray that someone turns up with some. Will anyone notice how many I take?
The commercial horseradish mustard is quit tame, to my taste. I can always give it an extra “kick” with a little Coleman’s Mustard. And, yes, I do have some growing. In a tub. It can run wild. I asked the Master Gardeners if they wanted some for the sale. One MG, takes very much against it. Invasive, you know. Although she asked for a root, for her son.
I finished the book, “The Dig”, last night. The movie won’t be out on DVD until … well, that’s interesting. It was out on DVD last October. I guess the library was slow to order. Maybe the price comes down? Anyway, it’s on the “on order” list (and, my hold list.) So, it may show up any time. The book was pretty good. But it had very long chapters, that were each told from a different characters point of view. I found myself asking, “What’s character X, doing in the meantime?” But, it was a minor annoyance. I want to get on the net, and see some of the other stuff found. One always sees the helmet. I want to see the scepter. There was a scepter? Apparently, so. Lew
Chris,
Yes. Worry. Mad Magazine and the philosopher Alfred E Neuman.
The birds can start early. The song sparrows are loud but at least wait for the sun to get over the horizon. There are a few robins that start sounding off much earlier than is reasonable, as it is still pitch black out. The song is nice, but for those of us who don’t wake up all that cheerily or early, greeting the sun before there is even a glow in the eastern sky is a little harsh. Hence, the bedroom window gets closed or it has a fan blowing out the window, drowning out the earliest bird songs. Gotta have the birds!
Good job on the distribution boxes! I, too, would prefer metal to any type of plastic. And who cares if they have a few scratches when you buy them? They’ll be outside and subject to scratches anyway.
You got it. I often told students when I was teaching physics that physics is a thought process based on the language of maths. As you said, the models can aid in thinking and perhaps provide further insights and ideas.
Ugh. Some problems are unsolvable. Thus, limits. Then the workarounds to get past the limits might make things worse with their consequences which aren’t even thought about. Without voluntarily scaling back, we are often left with the resulting predicament that must be slogged through. Painfully.
Hahaha! Property taxes. My opinion is that property taxes are a lease from the local taxing authority. While there are many things I can do with the house and property, there are other things that require a permit from the local agencies. Permits and building to code, I understand their need. But do I really own the house and property if I need permits and must pay an annual fee to continue to live there?
I could go on and on about that, and the modern feudal state. I’ve been saying for 30 years that elected officials are the nobility, the local constabulary the knights and men-at-arms.
Agreed, the simple meals are great. Finished the lentil stew for breakfast. Lunch consisted of cut up potatoes, a tin of cut up mushrooms, 2 more chilies and 2 eggs, all fried together in bacon grease. That’s about as complicated as I get with cooking.
DJSpo
Hi DJ,
Good old Alfred E Nueman is as relevant today as when either of us were misspending our youth, whatever that means. ‘What me worry?’ is the exact same mindset as: ‘Don’t Panic!’ All good advice, and reminds us lesser mortals that in between the occasional distracted mood of concern, we must recall to live our lives.
Speaking of not worrying, I did a service on the biggerest chainsaw machine today. A beautifully made machine which is eminently repairable, if you can get the parts. Incidentally the machine was an updated version of a much older machine which had been around from 1980 – 1993. And when ordering the parts, you kind of just have to take your best guess because although my machine is the updated version, some of the original parts aren’t available any more. Anyway, I keep a stock of parts for this reason, but it’s the stuff you don’t think about which causes a person to come unstuck. Anywhoo, at this point the following words seems somewhat appropriate: What, me worry? 🙂 The order has been sent off and we shall see what the wind decides.
Oh my the total early morning agents of utter nuisance are at it in your part of the world too? What’s a person to do? The Kookaburra’s (a call you know) tend to celebrate the very earliest rays of sunshine heralding in the new day which seems somewhat unreasonable to me. Well, in two weeks we regain the lost hour and mornings again will be more civilised.
Thanks, and I might get the first of the two distribution boxes installed tomorrow. 22’C and still and dry is almost perfect weather for such work. Two of the eight solar panels have to be physically removed from the roof racking so as to do the re-wiring, and I only worked out how to do all that removing work without the heavy solar panels falling off the roof, about an hour ago. The ol’ brain has to cogitate on these jobs until an answer arrives. And out in the sun, wind and rain, metal is the preferable material. I’m yet to see a plastic UV stabilised box break when out in the weather, but you never know.
Sadly I never got to study physics, but truly if working on say something like a radio telescope, I’d be more interested in clambering around the machine, making repairs on the fly, fixing this and that, than trying to make sense of the data received. 🙂
I know! Some problems simply can’t be solved. Couldn’t have stated the situation any better (and am noting down your clear thoughts for later use! 🙂 ) Sometimes the systems in place make perfect economic sense, but if I had to grade the results, yeah F-. It baffles me that we use finite fossil fuels to produce synthetic fertilisers to grow edible plants, then consume the plants, and ultimately wash the minerals all out into the ocean. What an amazing lost opportunity, but probably we simply can’t afford as a civilisation to get all those minerals back into the soil. But yeah, could do better on that front, F-.
You’ve mentioned this aspect of property taxes before, and rest assured your words have haunted me, because you might be right. Hmm. Interestingly though, freedom should not be confused with license, and many of those laws were put in place for initially very good reasons, then mission creep set in and the laws are most likely now sour.
Well, it may be possible that the bureaucracy and political class has taken things too far, and now there are consequences.
🙂 Very gourmet! And dare I suggest the addition of some kale and/or silverbeet leaves to the mix. Finely chopped up for good measure? Maybe some herbs too, like finely chopped rosemary. Oooo! And a bit of pepper wouldn’t go astray! Man, my mum used to collect the drippings from cooking meat and they made such tasty food.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
What? Archimedes death ray is an awesome story, thanks for mentioning it. Whoa! The Siege of Syracuse was a costly and brutal battle for all involved. Complacency is a dangerous state of mind.
The plant has some delightful ferny foliage and the flowers they say are full of nectar. What’s not to like about those plants? The Western bumblebee is huge, do you see them in your gardens? Bumblebees have been a bit thin on the ground here this year, although plenty of other native bees made an appearance.
Those Spaniards sure did get around. I’d not realised that they’d travelled as far north on the western shores of your continent, let alone established a fort. Hmm. The potatoes and story are fascinating. They’re pretty similar looking to the Kipfler variety which has grown here for many years. Tasty too. The tribes would have known a good thing when they saw it. You’d imagine that tomatoes mentioned in the article were also grown?
Bluebells are like the grape hyacinths here in that they’re slowly spreading outwards from their original source. Hardly what I’d describe as invasive plants though! But agreed, they do tend to flourish then disappear so I have troubles even recalling where they are. In the recent excavations for the water tank site, we’ve inadvertently dug up a few bulbs, then replanted them elsewhere.
Did another day of those excavations today, but this time moved the soil downhill to the rock wall with the long line of water tanks which are below the machinery shed. The tanks are quite large and so there’s maybe another day or two of digging.
Tomorrow the plan is to jump up on the roof and wire in the new distribution box for the solar panels. Most of the known problems with that work have now been resolved and all that is left is to actually do the work. That’s the plan anyway. It’s a good plan and the day will be cool and still at 72’F. Quite nice weather for the job.
Glad you dodged that call to rise of officialdom with the Club. No harm in cogitating, is there? Yeah, see what I mean – Unpaid work. Hmm, and yes such paths do sometimes result in disillusionment and burn out. A bit of middle ground would be nice there.
Nice score with the dozen eggs in the food box. Eggs are good. Man, life works out that way doesn’t it? Sometimes you want eggs and get none, then you’ve got plenty of eggs and end up with even more. Those eggs will, please excuse the unintended pun, fly out the door. Actually the contents of the box sounded pretty decent to me, and should keep the swap table and the Club pantry in good stead. Are you noticing any increase in demand for the products in the pantry? Fingers crossed that the cuts don’t apply to your food box folks who put them together.
Nah, that’s another completely different hippy. There are a few lurking around the area, although with land prices being what they are, there’s no new blood coming into the area. This new hippy told me that I’d somehow recharged his social batteries – which I was left uncertain as to what he meant. I’ll bet Mr Rabbit the hippy new all about getting by day to day with very little. Such encounters make me wonder what the future will make of all of us? “Go get some seeds and gardening advice from the old duffer up the road” will probably be closer to reality! 🙂
That’s the plan, and all one can but do is be careful when working on a roof.
Such storms are more enjoyable when the rain is not needed and you experience only the edge of the heavy weather. It’s all a bit exciting isn’t it? Looking into the forecast here, it all seems smooth sailing on a weather front. Nice. The recent rain brought the house and machinery shed water tanks back up to about half. Not bad, but there’s a long way to go.
Dunno how you view the art of cooking but to me, it’s a bit science and a bit art. Making the occasional mistake and/or innovation is how you learn. Hmm, makes you wonder if authors of cook books can reproduce all of the meals included in said book? Maybe it is just me, but I’m not convinced about the Velveeta and fudge combination, but you go first with it! 😉 I’d go the sharp cheddar cheese route too. Probably tasty.
We had sliders with French lentil patties, tasty cheese and a fried egg for dinner. I’m working on the Editor about the concept of cleaning frypans using the same method as what I use on the carbon steel pan. She prefers to use the lighter non-stick pans, but inevitably they do stick. My only regret with that carbon steel fry-pan was that it is slightly too wide a diameter, so it is heavy to use. Oh well.
Devilled eggs are awesome! 🙂 Hehe! A fine question, and depends on how well you can execute the sleight of hand movements. As a general rule, I’d cut off your supply if you exceeded say, eight – which is a purely random number with no significant meaning. 🙂 They’re a staple with visitors, and none are ever left over.
Don’t you think that it is weird that French mustard is so mild, yet the proper English stuff will give you serious brain pain? Ah, that cheeky horseradish plant. I gave a chunk to a friend and um, well, yeah, it’s spread last I heard. There were warnings… Yes, very invasive, but can I grab one of the plant tubers? Very funny. I mow the leaves of the plants, and that knocks them back a lot. Hmm, I wonder if the rabbits are eating the leaves? Something has been digging up my sugar beets – not happy.
The scepter is amazing. There’s a high resolution photograph with the museum you can zoom in on. Not just anyone would have had such an item thrown into their grave. Non linear narratives spoken from different characters voices and perspectives can be annoying. Was there any fictional license applied to the story?
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – You may (or may not have seen) something from the Wonderful World of Australian Paleontology.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/21/science/dinosaur-footprints-fossil-australia-school
Which reminds me, I saw a trailer the other day for a new Jurassic Park movie, coming out this summer. Which also reminds me, “Dexter: Original Sin” hit our libraries “on order” list, yesterday. Safely on my hold list. However, I won’t be seeing it, for awhile. Not to be released on DVD until early June. All that being said …
Yes, those bumble bees are the ones I refer to as B-52s. I think I mentioned, they were out in force, last week. Working over the blooming heather. They’re solitary little creatures, who live in the ground. Not aggressive, at all. When I was walking H this morning, I could hear the ravens, up in the woods. Also, some doves.
Back in the 1700s, a lot of countries were trying to “plant the flag,” along our western coast. The Spaniards already had a lock (later lost) on central and Southern California. (See: California Mission Trail.) The Russians had a fort / settlement as far south as Northern California. (See: Fort Ross.) The English had established themselves at Astoria, Oregon (mouth of the Columbia River) and, at Fort Vancouver. The English chief (John McLoughlin – Hudson’s Bay Co.) at Fort Vancouver was very welcoming to the road weary folks, coming over the Oregon Trail. But, strongly encouraged any Americans to settle south of the Columbia River. It was thought, at that time, that eventually the border would be the river. Didn’t happen, as quit a few Americans made an end run, around McLoughlin, and settled in great numbers, around Puget Sound. McLoughlin later retired to Oregon City, just south of Portland. I once wrote an article about the McLoughlin House, that was published in a national magazine. LOL. They didn’t know I was only 15. 🙂
Those potatoes look like you’d give them a good scrub, and cook with the skins on? Pretty fiddly to peal. I don’t think tomatoes got established among the Native Americans. Perhaps, too … not exactly labor intensive, but, their life cycle really didn’t fit in with native society. Potatoes could be planted, and left to their own devices, for awhile. Tomatoes need more attention. And in some ways, the coastal tribes were a bit semi-nomadic. Moving in the summer, up into the mountains to harvest indigenous plants. It’s a theory, anyway.
“Jump up on the roof.” Standing jump or running start? “Leaps tall building, in a single bound.” 🙂
I ended up taking two bags of groceries, down to the Club, last night. I’ve got another two I hunted and gathered, off the swap table. I’ll take those over, this afternoon. The eggs didn’t even make it to the pantry shelf. One of our stalwart volunteers was working the counter, and I offered them to him. I can’t say the pantry shelf is getting hit, any harder than usual. There’s always something back there to eat, if you’re not too picky. Of course, the “good” stuff always goes first. And, fast. Tinned soups, stews and chili. Any tinned meat.
It sounds like you’re getting just about perfect weather, for the task at hand. Our high yesterday was 50F (10C). Our overnight low was 39F (3.88C). Forecast high for today is 52F. It was raining, when I took H out, last night. Or, I should say, it was raining when I looked out the window, but had stopped by the time we got downstairs. Clear, this morning.
I don’t know. Eight deviled eggs is “only” four eggs. Seems a bit stingy. 🙂 Lentil patties sound very good, and I may have to look into them. We do get bags of lentils, that seem to languish.
Re: Velveeta fudge. I didn’t go first, I went twice. 🙂 According to my tasting board, it was quite nice. Quite nice? They raved.
I took a look at the scepter, this morning. Wow. What a piece of workmanship. Oh, sure, there was a bit of fictional license. And, from what I’ve read about the movie, even more will be taken. The archaeologist who tried to hog all the credit, for the find, is apparently painted more odious than he was in life. I think there’s some love affair, tossed in between two young archaeologists.
What I found interesting was the markers of class distinctions. Brown bunked down with the chauffeur and his wife. Even though the manor had numerous unused bedrooms. Although given the time, everyone seemed more comfortable with the arrangement. Although the relationship between The Lady of the Manor, was very respectful between her and Brown. And, she always gave him credit, where credit was due. Nobles oblige?
I saw an interesting article, about North and South American Iguanas, that took to the seas, and ended up in your neck of the woods.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/21/science/iguanas-fiji-pacific-ocean-vegetation-rafts
Although the article didn’t mention it, I suppose it could be considered an invasive species? 🙂 Although thinking about it, I think there’s a bit of a difference between “invasive species” and “introduced species.” Where the hand of man is involved.
Even though we don’t have rattlesnakes on this side of the Cascades, every once in awhile one turns up along the lower Columbia River. They ride chunks of brush or trees that have broken loose from the banks. Happens, but, luckily, rarely. Lew
Chris:
Is it So-crates? I say Sock-ruh-tees. Though one shouldn’t judge by Bill and Ted . . . I have a one minute hourglass. I used to have a 3 minute one; that was sort of useful. I think a 10 minute one might be nice.
Oh yeah – people’s posture is worse since phones and it was bad enough already (hands up). One of the nurses where my mother was had the best posture ever. She had had scoliosis (curvature of the spine) as a child and had worn a back brace. It seemed to have worked really well. Whenever I start slouching, I just tell myself: “Walk like Chelsea” (or sit, or stand).
I guess he got his worries from television?
We did use insecticidal drops on the cats and dogs decades ago, but worried about the safety so I made a homemade powder for the fleas to put on the dogs (never had to try it on the cats), combined with a cleaning blitz in the house and then sprinkling baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) and diatomaceous earth all on the wood floors and sweeping it into the cracks, leaving that for a couple of weeks, and then vacuuming it up.
The smoke comes and goes. I heard firetrucks off and on all day, so I am worried that there is a fire somewhere fairly close. Nothing in the news about it.
Pam
Hi Pam,
Likewise the ancient philosopher is pronounced Sock-Ruh-Tees, but I kind of like Bill and Ted’s take on the name. What do you mean that the film wasn’t a documentary? 😉 A ten minute hourglass would be good for timing boiled eggs don’t you reckon? We’ve only just discovered that the induction cooker has a timer. Who knew? Machines sometimes don’t come with instruction manuals these days…
Ah, such an early disease would focus the mind wonderfully on maintaining correct posture. The phone has little interest mostly because the screen is so small, how are you meant to find anything on such a tiny picture? But yeah, I see plenty of people hunched over their devices. Mind you, I sometimes find my self slouching over the keyboard too. Ook!
You betcha he did. That box is meant to cause worry, it’s what you might describe as a feature. What, me worry? Good advice from a master philosopher.
Well done you. Hey, took the three dogs out for a long walk tonight and Dame Plum somehow got a tick on her rear leg. Have no idea how the dratted critter jumped on board for a Kelpie ride, but it was removed and squooshed. Probably the recent rain made conditions just right for the pests? Oh well, all these critters are sent to try our systems and find the weak spots.
Does your state provide an online fire map with current incidents? Any sign that the fire is near to you? Fingers crossed that the thing stays away.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
There was no sign of that dinosaur footprint find in the local media. It’s amazing what can be found laying out in plain sight. At that time, the Australian continent was still part of Gondwanaland and hanging off Antarctica. It was probably a whole colder too, maybe.
Just checked out the trailer for Dexter Original Sin, you have to admit, they’ve wheeled out an impressive cast. Yeah, seems like June it will be.
I see, your bumblebees are much bigger than the furry flying insects here, so the B-52 name makes a lot of sense. The native bees here are like that as well. Further up north they have sugarbag bees which can supply some honey, but the more southerly ones are a bit more independent and do their own thing – like your lot.
This is all news to me about European explorations up your west coast. Funny that none of them went the distance, but I can sort of see how that worked out. The east coast of your country is physically closer, but also climate wise it’s sort of comprehensible to Europeans, although it is astounding that any of the early colonies survived. The west coast is different again, and in some ways more like down here. The Pacific Ocean is a harsh mistress.
🙂 Nice work with getting the article into a national magazine at such a young age. It would have been a real thrill that achievement! The house is pretty interesting and it’s been moved to it’s current location. Looks like it is in good condition too. A fascinating history, and I note that the local culture took root in the bloke.
I always cook potatoes with the skin on, and wash off any residual soil. It was dry when we harvested the tubers so it’s not like there are clumps of clay hanging off them. 🙂 The thing about moving across a territory is that you access ground according to the season, but if they’d had potatoes, tomatoes would have been around too. The indigenous folks down here are amazing gardeners over such vast territory that our brains can’t comprehend the feat. Also plants were traded over long distances down here.
Oh my! Yes, very superman. Ah, the roof. Well I was up there all day today. Replaced the plastic box with the metal box and wired up half of the solar panels. Will have to go back to that work tomorrow. Me tired, but am taking the job slowly and carefully. The weather was perfect although I went back up onto the roof after lunch and got ever so slightly sun burned.
Hehe! Stalwarts do deserve the choicest produce, and Sun Tzu said as much. The eggs went to a good home.
🙂 Limits my friend, and even the finest of visitors are subject to those. A collation of food can only contain just so many devilled eggs, but I like your style. French lentils are the meatiest consistency of the lentils we’ve tried. But nothing is finer than a lentil and ham hock soup. Yum!
The scepter was amazing, and in such fine condition. Ah, a bit of romance, character painting and fictitious tension at the digs. Well, it will be interesting to see just how far removed from the book the film is.
Hmm, presuming above one’s station is a thing, and you can sometimes see it in play down here, if you look hard enough. No doubt it subtly swirls eddies of mortification in your country too!
Clever iguanas to have survived such a long ocean voyage. I’ll bet they were glad to finally disembark from that floating mat of vegetation. Up north during cyclone Alfred, fire ants set up rafts and survived the floodwaters. I’d not like to come across one of those. They were accidentally introduced into the country way back in 2001, although nobody is really sure.
Yikes! What a find that snake would be in your part of the world.
Better get writing.
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – Headline: “Gondwana Land Hangs Out With Antarctica!” Film at 11. “Gondwana Voted Sexiest Continent.” 🙂
I watched the first film in the director Gregg Araki’s teen apocalypse trilogy. Criterion Collection put out a DVD box with all three films. They’re all filmed in LA, and are brimming over with teenage angst and ennui. 🙂 Early 1990s. You’d probably like the soundtrack.
It was fairly clear, yesterday, and the bumble bees were back at the heather, again. Oddly, this time I saw no European Honey Bees. Might have been a bit too overcast for them. The high yesterday was 54F (12.22C). The overnight low was 45F (7.22C). Forecast high for today is 56F. 100% chance of rain today and tomorrow. We’ll see.
I also did a national article on the Thomas Newell House. That was south of the state capitol, of Salem. There used to be a town there, called Champoeg.
https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/champoeg/
There’s a hot link to “Provisional Government.” Interesting story there. But I couldn’t find a good narrative of it. There was a meeting to decide if Oregon would swing to the Brits, or the Americans. In the early 1840s. A vote was called. It was 50/50. Then, two French trappers (who didn’t care much for the English), stumbled out of the woods. They voted for the American side. If it wasn’t for them, we’d all probably be speaking English. 🙂 . There’s a mural of that climatic moment, in our state capital building.
Good going on the roof. So is the job half done, or half undone? Glass, water, etc..
Well. That’s interesting. I went down to the community room, late last night, expecting to maybe get another bag of groceries, off the swap table. There was not a tin or bag of dried beans, to be found. Usually, the stuff hangs around through the weekend. Being the weekend, it wasn’t an Institutional decision. I suppose some tenant took it on themselves to make a clean sweep. It probably all went to one of the local missions. I hope. If I see the night manager, I might get the rest of the story.
Well, it’s official. Or, if not exactly official, it’s happening. Food banks are losing their funding.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/22/politics/food-banks-usda-delivery-halt
$500 million sounds like a lot of money (and, is). But, it’s just a drop in the bucket, as far as the federal spending goes. Makes a great headline, though. Lew