The hunt for the best bakery products is a quest which brings the hope of always discovering some previously unknown treasure hidden just out of plain sight around the corner. A few days ago we journeyed to a gold fields town we hadn’t been to for many long years. Truthfully, I hadn’t previously enjoyed the lunch options there, and so have long avoided the town.
Lunch issues aside, the place is actually quaint and very attractive, and if you squint a bit and overlook the modern vehicles and the locals attire, you could actually pretend that you were in the mid to late nineteenth century. All very appealing. One section of the main road had lots of empty shops. Another street had amenities for the locals, heaps of places to eat, and some clothes shops aimed (here I’m guessing) at cashed up older retired folks. There was also a bakery.
Back in the day, bakeries used to be called ‘Hot Bread Shops’, not that people in these enlightened times recall the sheer pleasure to be derived from spreading butter and jam onto a slice of oven fresh bread. Yummo! Nope, nowadays such businesses are described as ‘bakeries’, and with the populations knowledge of freshly baked bread on the decline, they have to sell a rather wider arrangement of products, such as small cakes and other tasty treats. Fortunately, we’re an adaptable species.
Inside such businesses, it’s hard to know what to choose when faced with an entirely new arrangement of bakery goodies. Do you try the doughnut with pink glazing? Or the one with glazing and sprinkles instead? What about the lemon slice? At uncertain moments, I chose the old faithful, a small hedgehog slice, hard to stuff those up. Whilst Sandra settled on the more questionable (only due to variability) lemon slice. A chancy option in my opinion, which this time turned out OK. They were both good and tasty treats. The visit was hailed as a success.
About an hours drive north of here (deeper inland) are a plethora of nineteenth century gold fields ruins, and they’re an instructive reminder that economics is a force which can shut down once thriving human activity.
More locally, the economy in these parts revolved around forestry, agriculture and supporting the wealthy enclave in the more fashionable end of the mountain range. Things are different to the goldfields area, but many of those historical economic activities are also no longer in existence.
Fortunately, bakeries are a universal Australian experience, and a nearby town has one of the best lamingtons and sausage rolls around. A sausage roll for people who don’t know, is a method of wrapping a sausage like filling in a long flaky pastry roll. It’s then oven baked and traditionally consumed warm with tomato sauce. Quite nice really. And a lamington is a small square sponge cake, cut in half. The halves are then glued together with a thin layer of jam (usually strawberry or raspberry) whilst the outside is smothered in chocolate goo and sprinkled liberally with finely diced coconut. You’d be amazed at how variable those two items can be made, and constant quality testing is required to sort the proverbial wheat from the chaff.
Anyway, it’s always wise to support local businesses lest they close up shop. So we regularly enjoy a sausage roll warm, smothered in the obligatory tomato sauce whilst seated on a nearby park bench under a big old elm tree. At such times we get to watch the passing traffic and wonder what everyone else is up to as they rush here and there. The lamington is enjoyed later split five ways between us and the dogs, whilst us humans get to also appreciate a properly made coffee.
The other morning we ventured into the bakery and it was quieter than usual. Staff were cleaning the floor in preparation for closing. It’s been such a lovely warm May, and that day a t-shirt and jeans were good enough for outdoors wear. We sat at the park bench and happily munched away. Seemed like a similar amount of passing traffic was going about its business. Then as the energy from the sausage roll with tomato sauce suffused through the old body, realisation hit. A new supermarket had been opened at the far end of town closer to the housing estate. Perhaps that’s why the bakery experience was quieter ?
The supermarket is big and flashy, imagine a warehouse with high ceilings. A pharmacy (drug store in US parlance), and bottle shop are also attached. Even the car park thoughtfully has nice little covers to ward off the rainy weather, when the skies eventually decide to supply that wet stuff again. Yeah, all very nice, clean and new. And busy.
Surprisingly, there was a sign on a side road near to the bakery which suggested the road was due to be closed for maybe, five weeks of reconstruction. Not great timing given the opening of the new supermarket. Years ago I knew a bloke who ran a business in the big smoke near to a street which had been commandeered for months by the state government as they replaced a very large water mains. The locals use the water, sure, but the day to day impact from those works were pretty tough from what I can recall.
The whole experience left me wondering if the town centre had now been broken in two. There’s the old part along the main road with charming strip shops, and now the new part closer to the housing estate, which has bigger buildings and a nicer car park. Dunno. It’s worth noting though that the site was always commercial, and used to be the old mower repair and water pump shop, plus there was an attached stock feed business. And maybe there was even a plant nursery. The memories are vague now, and they’re all gone.
In the mid 1990’s, we used to live in a rental house opposite a supermarket. Vacancy rates were low in those days, and we were appreciative of any house, and not to sound ungrateful, but those supermarket businesses sure do start up super early in the morning. It was a bit of a personal nightmare. Trucks arrive in the wee hours of the dark and get unloaded. Not what I’d describe as a moment of ‘quiet enjoyment’. We lasted six months.
It makes me wonder about the folks residing around the new supermarket. Will they sell up and move on? Hard to tell. Maybe they all sleep more soundly than I? Dunno. And if they do sell up, then what’s going to happen to the old part of town as more businesses move to the new activity centre. It wasn’t all that long ago that the town was a genuinely rural township. I guess the future will supply the information. At least for now, they’ve got excellent sausage rolls and lamingtons.
It’s still warm and dry here at the moment. The sunsets are reminiscent of far warmer weather. At least the nights are now cool and humid.
Regular readers will recall that we’ve been excavating a site for two new water tanks. The site for one of the water tanks has now been completed. We probably won’t move the round plastic tank to that area until both sites are fully done.
All that soil is very useful in projects about the property. Using a shovel, the soil is loaded into a power wheelbarrow, and then driven back up the hill. It’s been used to create a new area of flat land near to the front of the house.
The flat site is now sort-of-completed. There’s some further rock work to do in that location, but alas we’ve run out of spare rocks again. Peak Rocks is real enough, you heard it here first! Over the next few weeks and months, rocks will be used to create a resilient spillway which will come into use in the likely chance that the water tank system fails. It’s dry now, but at other times there have been a minor Christmas day tornado, and who can forget summer super cell storms? Too much water can create as much havoc as the worst droughts when there is too little water.
Near to the house we have a number of round raised garden beds which form the kitchen garden. Plants which are regularly used in the kitchen get planted there. Unfortunately, one of the round beds made the path narrower than it needed to be, and another two are slowly tilting downhill. Not optimal.
The round raised garden bed closest to the camera in the above image, was relocated onto the new flat land.
The next quantity of soil to be excavated from the water tank site will be used to shore up the land where those three raised beds are. Firstly though, we had to remove the wormwood plants growing there.
About a third of the wormwood plants have been removed so far. It’s a big job. The plants were hauled up into the courtyard behind the house, and then burned off green in the brazier. Given the ability of that particular variety of wormwood to burn hot and fast, we’ve decided to remove all of those plants growing near to the house. We’ll also test the other varieties for their flammability properties. It was a surprising chance experiment.
It’s hard to tell in the above photos, but that wormwood plant had also overgrown a garden path which is now in the process of being restored back to use.
Near to the front of the house we’d constructed a faux bird house over a dozen years ago. Candidly the plywood had seen better days despite being regularly painted. Sadly it had to go.
And then it’s gone (onto the burn off).
All these works are part of making the front and side of the house look attractive whilst also being productive and resilient. This week’s video was on that very much neglected subject:
And just because we hadn’t done enough work around the property this week, we also spent a day on the forest edge cleaning up the century or so of loggers mess.
There’s long been an epic sized century old or more tree which had been left on it’s side showing scorch marks from the 1983 fires. Working out how to deal with that tree has been a bit of a mental block. Regular readers will recall that last week the chainsaw was given an overhaul, so why not put the machine to the ultimate test?
The tree was so big, it had to be cut from either side. The machine worked a treat, until I became over confident and neglected to install the chocks (which were ready to hand). The bar and chain became stuck.
A bit of work with the six foot steel house wrecking bar, and the chainsaw was soon released into freedom and could continue cutting away.
Before lunch, what could become potential firewood was stacked and will be processed during the summer months. The rest was hauled away and burned off. By night time, we recalled to take a photo of what remained.
It was a right shame that the loggers felled that old tree. It most likely would have pre-dated European settlement. However, it is worth noting, that in many of the above photos, you can see that there are rusty old broken cables laying on top of the burned trunk (to the left hand side of the images). It is very likely that working with that tree caused a particularly nasty incident all those long years ago.
In breaking produce news, the first of the winter radishes are now ready to consume.
The root is used in salads, whilst a small chunk of the root with leaves still attached gets placed in a glass of water overnight. The following lunch, the radish leaves are used in a tasty pesto – all enjoyed on bread fresh from the oven. Yum!
And in one of those, just because we thought it was cool moments. Whilst enjoying a coffee at the local general store the other day, two Australian ravens were perched in the now leaf free trees above us. An eerie, but cool, sight.
Leaf change hasn’t quite finished yet, but it’s getting closer.
Onto the flowers:
The temperature outside now at about 10am is 14’C (57’F). So far for last year there has been 191.8mm (7.6 inches) which is up from last weeks total of 189.6mm (7.5 inches)
Comments
38 responses to “A power imbalance”
Yo, Chris – 50% vacancy rate seems pretty standard for historic downtowns, once the big boys move in. And that’s the ones with quaint historic kinds of structures. Or, even worse vacancy rates, if not visually historic.
That new store moving in? It will probably have sausage rolls and lamingtons. They won’t be as good, but probably will be cheaper, and that’s all some people care about.
The older sections will make futile attempts to draw people in to spend money. Festival this and exhibition that. All free, of course. So, you get a lot of people looking for free entertainment, and not spending a dime in the local businesses. Although some food vendors seem to do ok.
I had to look up what a hedgehog roll looked like. Chocolaty goodness.
I once worked in a mall, in Vancouver, Washington. It had been built in anticipation of a new freeway loop and a bridge over the Columbia River. Then those projects were delayed. It was pretty quiet around that mall. But, it managed to hang on until traffic started flowing. I was long gone, by then.
The sunset picture is calendar worthy. As is the picture of the Japanese maple.
Ravens are very cool, but also a bit ominous. I blame Stephen King’s, “The Stand,” miniseries. The first one. Flagg uses the ravens for observation and spying. Sometimes, I think he becomes a raven himself.
That was quit a big tree to tackle. But, you were up to the job. Never a doubt in my mind.
The whole creating flat area and moving dirt around, the new site for the water tanks, all covered very succinctly, in your most excellent video. Nice to get a glimpse of the tree fern, which seems to be doing well. I’m glad you can maybe access the new water tank filters, without having to clamber around on a ladder, in the middle of a storm. Always a plus.
Your spiffy blue jumper and newish chapeau lent a nice grace note. Lew
Hi Chris;
stuck chainsaws- We just talked about that! Glad you got it out. Can you believe, I just this year finally bought a wrecking bar. Didn’t have a specific need at the tine, but it’s one of those tools that when you need it, you need it. Very few trees here would sit on the ground 40 odd years and still be suitable for firewood.
fresh bread- Seems like recipes always say to let that loaf sit there and cool, but nope, we seldom do that. For just simple bread, I don’t use a recipe anymore anyway.
blooms- Took a hike yesterday at a nearby park. It was about peak spring ephemerals, lots of little plants getting their shot at sun before the canopies closed in, and getting reproduction taken care of. Also hiked our own woods, where the apple tree are already starting to lose petals. But sadly, we also have so much invasive stuff that we need to deal with.
We did some lopping as we hiked, but really will take a much more thorough and merciless effort. Once the garden and stuff near the house is under control……….
If anyone tries to import multiflora rose to your fair land, shoot them on sight. Well intentioned folks in the past did some stupid things. Glad we are past all that now 🙂
Hi Lewis,
It’s a brutal statistic 50% vacancy rates, but at the back of my mind, the thought that someone, somewhere, is losing mad cash on that property deal, is kind of hard to shake. Like, at what point is a below market rental rate with favourable terms accepted in lieu of nothing better? Few people can field a loss maker for years and years.
Agreed, the nice car park and cheaper prices will probably be enough to sway the vast majority of locals there. I tend to favour quality, but freely admit that it is a fringe concern. And your mention of ‘free entertainment’ reminds me very much of the leaf change tourist hordes. A few benefit, and everyone else carries the costs. It’s not free to pick up the rubbish afterwards, or accept the reduced amenity.
The thing with not supporting locally owned businesses, is that mad cash flows out of the community, and then what’s left?
A hedgehog slice is an intense experience. But then so was the lemon slice. Both had plenty of butter in the mix. You could tell.
It’s tough starting up in a mall with little traffic. The Editor grew up in an outer suburban estate, and way back in the day there was some vague talk of the train line being electrified. Forty years later, it’s still loose talk despite the huge volume of people living in that area. Infrastructure is notoriously expensive, and getting more so. Vancouver Washington looks like a lovely city, but very close to Mt St Helens. The view would have been epic the day the volcano went off.
Thanks! The Japanese maples are stunning small trees, yup. There are plans to plant out more of them in the near future – they do self seed here.
Oh my, you’re right! 🙂 That’s where the uncomfortable notion about being watched by the two ravens came from. Flagg was a bad dude, but then he always was.
Doubts were openly expressed here about that big old tree. And fair enough too, I was worried that the behemoth would roll onto me when cutting away on the underside. Strangely enough though, a musk daisy bush has grown up around the huge stump and cradles part of the weight. I’ll have to be very careful cutting the rest of it, and may begin the next cuts nearer to the head of the tree. Such a gigantic waste, but I suspect the tree had the last laugh that day.
The tree fern is doing remarkably well despite the ongoing dry weather, although I probably should give the fern some extra water. Hmm. The videos are being kept to around five to six minutes each on the basis that attention spans are short, and there’s plenty of other stuff to watch. Your feedback was very much appreciated. The long form blog is my natural ground though. Yes, the hat and jumper were quite spiffy, and one must maintain appearances. 🙂
It was another sunny blue warmish day today, and we got into breaking up some boulders into more usefully sized rocks. Did OK, until the electric jackhammer broke. Fortunately lunch was calling at that time. That machine has worked very hard over the years and the bit release pin seized. Anyway, we had an older spare parts not-working jackhammer, and was able to take the head off that machine, modify it slightly, and replace the entire seized component. We’re back! 🙂 For now anyway… It’s probably a sign that the end is nigh for the machine.
Temperatures as high as an oven, followed by a tsunami, then descent into cold and dark for a decade, would challenge the best of us. It’s amazing that all the plant seeds weren’t consumed by the fungi during those years.
Yes, things are heating up in the Kashmir, but then the British left a mess of a situation there.
Jack Whyte restored my interest in the Arthurian saga. 🙂 Guess, time will wipe those other less favourable memories from my mind. It was my first introduction to the epic, and what a let down it was.
It does make for a good story, yes indeedy. You’d hope that the systems in place were to avoid making payments to 120 year olds. Why would your government have a ‘technical climate advisor for central Africa’? That seems like an odd use of tax payer funds, unless the description doesn’t meet the genuine reason? Things are probably as bad down under. 😉 The deficit down here for the fed folks is something like $40bn annually which is something crazy like $109 million per day – like how does anyone expect such over spending to continue with no consequences? They might know something I don’t about economics though. Always possible.
There was such a story in the news the other day about a bloke who’d been a WWII prisoner and died at the age of 106. Not a bad innings.
Fire proofing is not cheap from my experience. And will all the combined systems work? Who knows? It’s been a dry year so far. Hmm. There’s a suggestion of rain on Wednesday, but we’ll see. Incidentally, the temperatures were about the same here today. Quite nice weather to be outdoors.
Yes, that was the opinion I was left with about those two tree miscreants. Some rough justice had apparently been delivered, so the suggestion was that he was in custody for his own safety.
There were kids involved I believe. Let’s see if I can find anything in the news about the family. Hmm… … Nervous wait for Campbells Creek campers facing eviction from their own land as council promises to listen. There’s always more to such stories, and I believe that an application was made to formalise the situation – but could be wrong about that.
I’ve had Mexican food which is almost like that wrap you described. Quite nice, and unlike the usually fried stuff which is the more expected (at least down here) with that particular cuisine.
Seems like the colour of the fruit isn’t an indicator of cool climate hardiness with tomatoes. It was a theory… Probably works like what you suggest: Yellow tomatoes are more plentiful on the vine. That colour out-produces the red varieties as well here too. Barry’s crazy yellow tomato is not so known for no reason at all! 🙂
Nice one, and good to see the seed saving going on with the mustards. We have to dry the pods too if the weather has been humid. That’s a lot of soil you mixed up for the tomatoes, and they’ll appreciate the feed for sure. The flowers are a nice touch, and the pollinators will thank you later in the season. Fingers crossed that the deer listen to good advice.
Ah, we’ve got both kinds, vampires and witches! 🙂 You’ve left me wondering exactly what was meant by weird Scottish fertility rites? Presumably this refers to the land and crops? Maybe…
I do rather hope that no mothers were harmed in the fertilising of the blueberries?
Cheers
Chris
Hi Steve,
Your words were very much on my mind at that moment with the stuck chainsaw. 🙂 Yeah, it all happened so quickly.Oh well. However, the six foot steel wrecking bar was able to shift the weight and free the bar and chain. You can move some serious weight with those wrecking bars, but I always ensure that the bar is held to my side, because it’s let go a couple of times over the years and sprang back at me – and would have seriously hurt had it connected with me. Just a tip worth sharing.
That’s hardwood species for you. It was also suspended in the air with only a few points of contact with the ground – thus why I was worried it was going to roll onto me when chain-sawing on the downhill side. Also, the 1983 fires charred the outside of the trunk and acted like a preserving agent. In some parts of the world, timber weather boards for sheds, houses etc. are charred. Looks pretty cool.
It wasn’t just downed trees either, the old loggers left tree stumps, many of which have also been charred and preserved. Those are hard work to grind out. But cutting them low to the ground before stump grinding, you can’t help but blunt the saw on dirt. The common chain used down here by the way, is semi-chisel due to its ability to cope better with dirty timber before blunting. I get a lot of practice sharpening chains…
Man, I look at videos of people chainsaw milling softwood species in your country, and am jealous of the ease of the work. Acacia species are some of the worst of the lot for sheer hardness when unseasoned. Silver wattle (Acacia Dealbata) is a very common under story tree in the forest here.
🙂 Well done, and that’s what knowing a recipe back to front looks like. The bread here cools a few minutes so as not to burn us, but is consumed warm, if possible. Have you tried other types of flours, like spelt or rye?
It’s been remarked upon elsewhere that the early bird gets the worm, and so it is with those early flowering plants. It’s good for the insects to have some early feed from the flowers. I hear you about that, and does the work ever stop? You may wonder why we remove tree stumps and rocks in the paddock / surrounding forest, but it’s to make that particular maintenance work easier. But turn your back for a while, and new species of plant will colonise the fertile ground you’ve created.
What sort of loppers do you use? That little Stihl battery chainsaw with the 4″ bar in the photo, is an amazing tool.
I’ve never seen that particular type of rose, and did you notice that it has a lot of similarities to blackberry? Those canes can form impenetrable thickets down here. Mostly we cut and burn the canes, but it is impossible to get all of the roots of that plant, and they bounce back. I’ve heard of people having troubles with wild roses, for much the same reason as with blackberry.
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – We’ve got some pretty strange tax laws, here. Lots of loopholes for those who can afford people who specialize in such things. Loss makers can actually be a tax advantage. Then there’s depreciation.
Yes, cash out of the community. And pay so poor that the employees often have to resort to government subsidies, of one sort or another. Cities often provide tax breaks, and infrastructure. All in the interest of “growth” and “employment.” At least, that’s the line they’re pushing.
I saw an interesting article, yesterday. People pay a lot of lip service to “Made in America” products. So, a guy who manufactures tub shower heads ran a little experiment. Offered the Land of Stuff Version, and the Made in America version. Guess which one didn’t get a single order?
Infrastructure expense. And, ongoing maintenance expense.
I saw a raven, this morning. Although I sort of have mixed feelings about them. I’m quit fond of that native story, “Raven Steals the Sun.” I even have a cedar carved raven, and a small decorative raven mask, in brass.
I noticed the tree, holding up the stump. Bummer about the jackhammer. All this talk of megalithic rocks reminded me of an old Sci Fi, I saw at the Lombard Theatre, when I was a wee small lad. Megalith, monolith, same same, right? 🙂
https://youtu.be/uxohSwDFjxg?si=bAMCHbYt5qCoIRwK
Our high yesterday was 57F (13.88C). Our overnight low was 48F (8.88C). Forecast high for today is 63F. We had quit a few rain showers, yesterday. Enough so I didn’t have to water. We may get more, later on today.
Feminists keep the Bradley books in print, I think. It was done as a TV series here. I passed.
Climate advisor for Africa? Might be because that’s where the hurricanes that hit our east coast, are born. Might also have something to do with food relief. Until recently, we sent a lot of money to Africa, to offset famine.
Speaking of fire proofing and such, I saw an article about the insurance situation in California. By a real estate dealer, who also lost her house and is negotiating the re-building.
https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/home-burned-down-palisades-fire-120000827.html
That camping on their own land article, was really interesting. It’s a real can of worms, and there are all kinds of issues involved. Soes one really own one’s own land, or are they just kind of renting it?
When I mixed up that soil, not only did I plant the tomatoes in it, but also put it under and over the Blue Lake green beans. I was worried about my strawberries. Lots of blossoms, but no fruit that I could see. So, I checked the internet. Might be low PH. On the other hand, it might be high PH. 🙂 But I took another look this morning, and fruit is forming. I’ll be tossing on the bird netting, pretty soon.
I spent a lot of yesterday morning, angry. First, I spent a good ten or fifteen minutes, rooting around in the Master Gardener’s supply room, looking for the ammonium sulfate. There was a bag in there, two weeks ago. Couldn’t find it. Resorted to rodie food, instead. Not quit as good, but it will do. I told the Master Gardener’s, this morning, if they want me to fertilize on Father’s Day, then have the sulfate front and center. I don’t need the aggravation. Secondly, when I was fertilizing the blueberries that had been butchered … well, that just made me angrier. Very few blossoms. I better start setting money aside for blueberries. I figure they’ll be bumping up against $50 a flat, this year. Lew
Hi, Chris!
You already have the treasure among treasures of baked goods (when you make it) – tiramisu.
I love old mining towns. Colorado is filled with them and -since we always took our annual vacation there once we had children, since my parents lived there – I got to visit many of them. It brings back some wonderful memories.
I would like a sausage roll and a lamington, please.
Last year one supermarket that I go to suffered the temporary fate of having one of its two entrances closed for months due to a roundabout being built. The remaining entrance was hard to get in and out of, but I did so every so often. On those occasions it was almost like a ghost town inside and it is usually very busy. It has now recovered. Come to think of it, there is a liquor store next door to it, just the two stores, and that might have helped keep it going during the construction.
Every supermarket that I can think of here, if it is not in the middle of a commercial area, is built right next to homes, I mean they are backed up right behind it. Very convenient for the neighborhood shoppers, but surely the early morning din bothers people like it did you?
I am eating spring radishes right this minute – and planning for the winter ones, also for winter cabbage and kale (and garlic). I haven’t even finished planting for summer! How do you make radish pesto?
Nevermore!
The video was a lot of fun. I was hoping that you would plant a flag (what does the national flag of Fernglade look like?) on the new flat spot and claim it as undeveloped land forever, to be cherished for generations and made sacred flat ground. Alas, progress marches on and one’s stomach cries out for a place to cultivate more radishes for pesto.
And why aren’t there any weeds in the walkways in your videos? Does the rock dust inhibit them? What sort of place sells those metal rings? Water tank maintenance is a lot more involved than I thought, not as much as solar, but I see that you don’t just set them up and then leave them.
Interesting what you discovered about the wormwood being so flammable. That was a lucky break and that was a monstrous shrub.
That was the cutest “bird” house. What a shame.
Rain has started this evening. It is supposed to go on for three days and be quite a lot. There is a tree frog outside my window in a tree right now who is deliriously trilling he is so thrilled at the prospect.
The salvia and roses are lovely. Thank you for reminding me about salvia. I have a couple of kinds of perennial ones, but had forgotten that I usually plant some annual ones, also.
Pam
Chris:
I forgot to mention how much I laughed at your cheekiness and your stuck chainsaw. Another really big job, was Meg.
From last week: What is a shadow ban?
Pam
Hi Pam,
🙂 Cheeky and cheerful is my natural state, although I do have to interact with some very serious people, and because of my demeanour probably annoy them no end. Oh well, I ain’t changing, and neither I’m guessing are they! You see why I called the tree: ‘The Meg’? It was huge and daunting, but was ultimately defeated by a fourteen year old commercial chainsaw suffering from a very recent most excellent overhaul. The only thing which bothers me about the entire incident, was why I hadn’t reconditioned the chainsaw earlier? And Steve’s word were actually on my mind when the bar got stuck, for the old timers knew that hubris leads to nemesis – thus the wry smile on my face.
A shadow ban, is um, err, what happens when an interweb searching ehngine decides to no longer list a website considered at odds with their unstated objectives. And because I linked to other unpopular websites via the blog roll on the left hand side, truthfully prior to your election, I was punished severely. Still, the long dead philosopher Voltaire’s thoughts were apparently summed up a century after his departure from this physical world as: “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” Word on the street is that he ain’t never said that. Anywhoo, the day after your election, the restrictions were eased based on what I observed of the interweb statistics. Hmm.
Hey, I’d like to have someone in the far distant future to totally imagine some natty and useful quote so as to display some profound truth and attribute it to me, which I never said. The publicity would be awesome. 😉 And probably provide quite the chuckle of bemusement.
Tiramisu is very good, but of late I’ve had this hankering to make a proper key lime pie to test out on friends. I’ll bet you get amazing key lime pies in your part of the world?
They’re lovely places to visit aren’t they? There’s always so much to see and imagine. It worked out well that you brought your parents back from Colorado in a nick of time, but it would be such an interesting state of contrasts to visit that one. Was it old gold mining towns, or some other mineral?
Hehe! Do they even bake sausage rolls and lamingtons in your part of the world? Sponge cakes when made properly are treats of pure wonder. Of course in our travels, there have been many lamingtons which have not been prepared to the highest of standards. Sad…
Whoa, businesses physically cut off from vehicle and foot traffic by major infrastructure works, do it tough. Respect for supporting them during that time.
That’s like a personal nightmare, those delivery trucks turning up in the wee hours of the morning. You’re an early riser though so that disruption may suit you? I’m embarrassed to admit that those disruptions would make me, err, whingey. It’s not a good look.
Happy planting, and may your future harvest be bountiful. You do have to plan ahead don’t you? With pesto, you can substitute all sorts of leafy green material, but it’s a good use for radish leaves as they’re a bit furry with the texture.
Hadn’t really thought about that, the pirate skull and cross bones flag would look cool, but people would probably get the wrong idea. What do you reckon would look good? There’s radish in dinner. Are you making salads from the garden produce?
The weeds get walked down, but truthfully it’s been dry these past couple of months and there are some sections with weeds popping up in the lime rich paths.
Claire also has water tanks and was mentioning some of the problems experienced with them a while ago. There is no easy way around those issues, although plenty of people will try and sell temporary solutions.
Some of the rings are from ‘get rid of this’ leaky rural water tank. Others were made by a business that specifically has a metal rolling machine. I spotted the\at business at the farm expo many years ago. Businesses which can make round metal water tanks, can probably make the raised garden beds. They’d probably be happy for the work.
Thanks about the bird house, but it was falling apart, unfortunately.
Go the rain, and makes a person wonder where the tree frogs go when it’s dry – although the Mr Baby’s water dish probably feeds a bunch of wildlife.
The annual Salvia’s look really lovely. Thanks for mentioning the plants as I was unaware of that variety.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
The same thing is true here, and did you notice that computer boy was crowing about donating 99% of his wealth? I’ve heard rumours from your country that sometimes wealthy folks dodge estate taxes by setting up charitable trusts staffed by their kids. It’s an impressive achievement. A lot of power in one persons hands, and you know what the old timers used to say about power and corruption.
The thing with loss makers is that they have to offset some other income, and at the end of the day, it’s still a loss which someone bears responsibility for. And property taxes get collected whether the property generates an income or not. A land tax operates down here so that the more combined properties owned, the higher the overall tax paid – and there are ‘look through’ provisions to stomp out the creation of legal entities to hide such ownership.
But yeah, the cries of wealth, sorry I meant to say ‘growth’ and ’employment’ are a siren song. It gets a work out down under too. Maybe it’s how my brain works, but I hear instead the Monty Python cry of ‘Bring out your dead’. Ere, he says he’s not dead yet… 🙂
Alas, gargle didn’t barf up a link to the article about the experiment with US made products. My gut feeling is that cheap will win such a battle, unless the product has some weird status symbolism attached to it.
All very true, it costs effort, resources and energy to establish infrastructure, then ongoing costs to maintain the stuff. Of course, there is a point in society where we can no longer afford to maintain infrastructure, and it won’t all be abandoned at once. It’ll work more on a stealth basis – let’s hope nobody notices (will be the line of thinking).
It’s a lovely story isn’t it? The cheeky Raven caused a great wonder to be, and also played the long game. There’s a nice circularity to the story. Is there a story behind how you obtained the small decorative brass raven mask?
The tree holding up the massive stump has grown in strange ways. It’s a very dense local hardwood species though. I might prune it back into a nicer shape once the mass has been removed. There’s another log underneath the stump which is also supporting the weight – probably how the shrub survived all these years.
It took about two hours to fix the jackhammer with the modified replacement part. Working well now though, but for how long is the question? If it cannot be repaired again, it’ll need replacing.
Oooo, from outer space, they came! Sounds ominous. And the special effects were pretty good with lots of explosions. But did the trailer show the finale of the dam burst?
It was 68’F here today, like what the? It’s not unheard of, but it’s way out there on the warmer side of things. Hope we get some rain, and soon. Your talk of rain showers, does sound quite good to me, although my priorities might be a bit warped at the moment in that matter. Saturday seems like the next chance of rain for us. Did yourself and H dodge the rain? Your use of the plural ‘showers’ suggests many brief rain storms, so your odds of dodging the rain may not be all that great.
Are you being serious? How can the undead, with all their inhuman powers, worry about gender related issues? Man, if I encountered a vampire, male or female, I’d be very deeply scared. Probably need to do like they did in the excellent book Dracula, and carry around a crucifix, communion wafers and some holy water – all of which seemed effective against the undead. And maybe a sharp stake too, you don’t find such things laying by the side of the road these days.
I’d say there are a lot of people going hungry right now because of the cuts, but it was going to happen sooner or later, sorry to say. Not all aid would have been dodgy, but I’ve mentioned to you before my theory that we have the culture of compassion that we can afford to pay for. It’s awful isn’t it? Bizarrely, when inequality is less, acts of compassion carry greater weight.
Thanks for the article on California. Wow! That’s an insight into what is going on down under too, and not just with fire, but flood as well (a much biggerer problem). Hmm. You may wonder why I break my bits working hard on cleaning up – and then keeping the place clean? For your info too, the mob we spend the mad cash with, have a decent reputation in such circumstances, but I hear of people going with cheaper suppliers. It’s an option.
Well, yeah, probably merely renting land given there are annual taxes levied, which if in serious arrears can be recovered via the sale of the same land. There are heaps of layers to property rules. The big picture zoning rules are actually quite sensible statements (I read and responded to those), but how they’re applied can be a bit err, arbitrary sometimes. Things can get weird when statutory bodies such as remote water authorities have a say in the matter, and can block purposes which the zoning statements say are OK. The process is very fraught indeed. Sometimes we can get weird overlays too, such as a koala overlay, and that can impose lots of conditions on landowners. But do the koalas give a stuff about that?
Nice one with the soil mix. Respect. 🙂 Yes, strawberries confuse my poor old brain. Fingers crossed you have more success. I reckon rats were eating unripe berries which formed. You’ve got a feral cat in the area though.
Bummer, sorry to hear of your turbulent morning. These things happen. Yes, observing those damaged plants would irritate me as well, mostly because it was all very unnecessary – and your personal budget will take a hit. Can you substitute any other berries for your winter blueberry stash? Foodflation is real. Discovered a source of seconds eggs… The chickens here are off the lay due to the short days.
Cheers
Chris
electric mini chainsaws- I’ve seen the ads for the Still version, but have not taken the plunge. So far, the bow saw and the loppers do the small stuff. If I had a solar setup as large as yours, I might well spring for one. Do you do load shifting, where you wait till the main batteries are topped up before recharging smaller batteries or doing heavy electrical work? You are getting in to the less sunny part of the year, so maybe not much “extra” energy to harvest.
This is the lopper I use- extending handles, ratchet blade make it good for reaching back to the base of thorny brush. Also, for small stuff, you can reach the base without crouching, just lop while standing.
https://garrettwade.com/product/heavy-duty-bypass-lopper
thorns- yes, we have blackberry thickets here too, but they actually produce fruit which we harvest in years when the rains are good. Yes, unless you use poison or dig up the root, you are really just doing temporary clearing. Heck, it might even be good for them.
Multiflora, however, is in another league. They produce no fruit ( well, except the seeds that birds do such a great job of spreading) and the thorns are recurved, so really grab you. A big mature one will extend canes much further than blackberry also. Nasty!
Yo, Chris – And, from the Wonderful World of Paleontology comes an article about polar dinosaurs. Australia figures in there …
https://www.alternet.org/forest-home-of-polar-dinosaurs-120-million-years-ago-in-southern-australia-recreated-in-detail-for-the-first-time/
The last time we had this much weather inequality, it was the Gilded Age. A certain politician who shall not be named, gilds everything in sight. He’s got a gilder, on staff, who he refers to as his “gold guy.” 🙂 I wonder if he’s ever considered the tale of King Midas? Probably, not.
The brass raven mask was on our swap table of things. Not to be confused with the food swap table. 🙂 Which is no longer a thing, due to inmate abuse. So, I grabbed it. It’s strictly decor. From the Land of Stuff. But, I looked it up, and it’s fairly high end decor. E-buy lists them for around $40. So, I decided to keep it. I do have a few pieces of worthless kitsch. Things that appeal to my sense of whimsy.
Well, a trailer can’t reveal too much. Spoilers, you know. I forgot to mention I watched a new documentary, the other night. “To Dye For.” About food color additives. Most of the slant of the film was that they can cause behavioral problems, in some children. Yup. Poisoned planet.
Our high yesterday was 61F (16.11C). The overnight low was 41F (5C). Forecast high for today is 65F. H and I got caught in one shower. Not too bad, but she still needed toweling down.
I’m trying to figure out why you went off on the vampire tangent. Looking at my post, and your reply, to try and figure out what triggered you, near as I can figure, it had something to do with the Bradley book. I didn’t read the book, or watch the series. Were there vampires? Don’t forget the garlic garlands around the neck, and hanging in the windows. 🙂
Nope. Never wondered why you did all the clean-up. It’s pretty obvious.
We have lift-off! A pumpkin seedling has appeared. Took about two weeks to make up its mind. No action in the asparagus bed. I looked it up. From root, it can take 2-8 (!) weeks. So, if the root was too dried out, I won’t know for sure for a couple of months. Then I’ll have to figure out what to do with that barrel.
I could mix in some blackberries, with the blueberries. But, I’ll probably just bite the bullet and pay for any extra I need. At least I noted on the calendar, exactly how many gallons I had in the freezer. Although, other than breakfast, every day, I haven’t used them for anything else. Such as, a crips, or even jam. I’ve also decided to go hard on whatever grows here, at the Institution. It’s every man and woman for themself!
I made the celery casserole, last night. Adapted from a green bean casserole recipe. I chopped up 6 cups of celery, and put them in a 3 quart bowl. I fried up a pound of lean ground beef, that we got from a food box. H got a little of the pan juice, over her kibble. I drained off the rest of the grease, and dumped the beef in the bowl. Then I melted a little butter in the frying pan, and sautéed a chopped up medium sized red onion, until I got the Maillard effect going. Into the bowl it went. Added 2 tins of cream of mushroom soup, two tsp. soy sauce. Also, pepper and a handful of crushed dry basal. 350F oven for 1/2 hour. Removed and sprinkled dehydrated onion over the top. Back in the oven for another 5 minutes. I had some over rice. Tasty. There was enough so I have four packets in the freezer, for future meals. I also took four tablespoons out of the burger, and put it in little snack bags. Also, in the freezer. Three of them. To add to whatever.
That dozen eggs we got in the commodity box? Eight of them are stuck in the carton. Must have been some breakage. I’m going to try cutting away as much as the carton as I can, and then soaking it in warm water. Maybe I can salvage some of those eight eggs. Worth a try. Lew
Yo, Chris – Here’s the article about the business owner, who tested if people would spring for costlier, American made goods.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/business-owner-tested-customers-pay-095701130.html
I also saw a recent article on our New England stone walls. But, the article was overrun with ads, and didn’t have ANY pictures. So, I didn’t bother. Lew
Chris:
Wow. The interweb is a tangled web.
Someone may well attribute a quote to you that you have actually said. You have said many relevant and witty things, Chris Voltaire (minus the curls).
Oh – Key Lime Pie! I haven’t had any in years. It’s so good!
They were gold mining towns. There’s lots of gold – still – in them thar hills.
They sell frozen sausage rolls at the supermarket. The thought makes me cringe. I daresay there is some restaurant that has them. Surely there is something like a lamington here, but I would have no standard to judge it by.
But do I want furry pesto?
I am making lots of salads because quite a few things are starting to bolt, not to mention that I am still in a war with the groundhog. We haven’t been able to catch him and he occasionally digs his way in and eats a bunch of stuff, I guess at night, as I find greens half eaten when I come in the garden in the morning. Then I go outside the garden and find where he dug in, put rolled up chicken wire in the hole (these are big holes), and place super heavy (to me) rocks over that (no peak rocks here) and cement blocks (though I have run out of those). Mr. Hog is immensely strong and can move those things, except for the wire, but he just digs around that. We do this dance every few days. Shall I name him Voltaire? Maybe I won’t be so resentful. It is not good to be resentful.
Anyway, I have a plan and I will tell you about it once I put it into effect. I can’t work on it till the rain stops.
Mr. Baby does not like water; it is a problem with him.
Sometimes I get volunteers from the annual salvia.
Pam
Chris,
Twas an eventful weekend. Hawks. Crows. Ravens. Wind. Rain. Over 15mm of rain. The timing was perfect. We got a spot of rain, then I put down the grass seed, a regional blend. Then covered it with straw pellets, which are supposed to spread out and cover the seed after getting soaked. Then we got the bulk of the rain, with enough on Monday to also be a big help to the grass seed. I added more water on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the collards and chard have all started growing. The carrots and squashes will take longer, as always. The volunteer potatoes, as well as the pepper and tomato seedlings, are growing rapidly with all the water.
We’ve watched many smaller towns wither over the decades. We’ve watched another town’s locally owned businesses somehow hold on and thrive, at least several of them. Surprisingly, the locally owned hardware store in that town does a booming business a mere kilometer away from a Mall-Wart superstore and a giant Home Despot next to the Mall-Wart.
Of course, the River online is hampering even some of the larger retail chains. The craft store chain, Joann’s, is going out of business. The local store here was always filled with people, but nationwide it was losing money. Craft and sewing supplies and sewing materials can all be bought online. Unfortunately, we know a lot of very poor people from the Rez (actually from several), who have no means to shop online and relied on Joann’s for a lot of their goods.
Monday I turned 65. Killian’s human and my younger sister are teasing me about being old now. Funny, I don’t feel any older than I did on Sunday! 😉 Due to many outside events, this was the first time in maybe 12 years that the Princess was able to be here on my birthday. She spoiled me. And it was capped off with a wonderful dinner. Then Killian’s human brought us a small homemade gluten free/sugar free chocolate cake. Very yummy.
Directly after dinner, one of our twin great nieces got in touch with us. She is breaking the mold for that side of the family: she is getting her high school diploma AND has plans for future studies after a stint in the US Navy, where she can learn some skills. The Princess and I were happy for her, and she was happy that her news was an added birthday gift for me.
DJSpo
Hi Pam,
Tech spiders weave webs to entangle all of us, but there are few if any, really new / creative moves. It reminds me of studying exotic financial instruments at Uni. The subject baffled me, and for a while there I was scratching my head, saying to myself: “How am I meant to recall all this level of detail?” Then (after a while) the proverbial penny dropped and realisation dawned that they’re all more or less the same despite the differences in name. There’s a commonality of variables with different labels to presumably confuse the unwary. The interweb is much the same, it’s a giant database used in various different ways, and nothing more than that. Although we get to have lots of fun chats.
I’ll bet Voltaire was wearing a wig! Oh, he’s so busted for doing that. Some of my friends have thick heads of hair, but as guys get older, the hair thins, and that’s life. Witty and pithy comments are independent of luscious curls, and this is a good thing. 😉
It’s hard with the key lime pie recipe to get the lemon flavour locked down in the curds, whilst not over doing the citric additions – or that’s been my take. Such a tasty dessert. What other desserts are consumed with origins from around your part of the world?
Thanks, and I’m getting mental visions of Deadwood kind of towns. There’s heaps of gold too up north here, but it’s just spread really thinly nowadays. I hear of people heading up and doing a bit of prospecting for gold.
Yeah, it’s an option to defrost and bake them, but I dunno about the quality. I’m with you, it is all a bit cringe worthy sorry to say, but in a pinch could be good. They sell frozen pies too, and who knows what they’re like? The lamington looks like it’s an Australian treat: Lamington. The origin story is interesting. It’s been modified for other parts of the world.
Ha! The use of radish leaves in pesto does not produce a furry texture mostly because the leaves are blitzed up finely. Do you make pesto of any variety? I reckon the question as to which leafy greens can be used is a bit more loose than the purists may claim.
Ah, the warmer weather is an end point for your cool season greens. Brassica species here do no good at all during the summer months – for that reason, they bolt. And the ones that don’t bolt attract cabbage moths.
Life is too short for resentment, but then continuing nuisances cannot be blithely ignored either. Hmm. What to do? Not sure really. Ground hogs sound a bit scary mostly for the ongoing escapades. Oh my, you’ve not yet reached Peak Rocks, but have encountered the almost as dreaded Peak Blocks. Good luck with the mysterious plan and I await to hear about what you’ve trialled.
Oh, Mr Baby. Drink more water, but will he listen?
The annual Salvia plants are really pretty and don’t self seeded plants make life easier?
Another warm and dry day here today. Spent the day indoors doing paid work. They tell me that it will rain on Saturday, and here’s hoping. How’s the rain going at your place?
Cheers
Chris
Hi DJ,
Twas a dark and stormy week, with Corvids! What’s not to like about that? Clever birds, and they may be smarter than us humans! 😉 Yesterday morning, the moon was looking quite full (and large) as it swept towards the horizon of thick fog. Took a photo, but who knows how that’ll turn out? Actually it was only stormy in your part of the world – here it was warm, sunny and dry.
To the west of here, the dry is not good at all. I’d be freaking out if those rainfall numbers applied to here. South Australia’s desperately dry peninsulas
Oh yeah, 15mm of rain at your season is almost perfect as it’ll be followed up by warmer weather which will really kick off the plant growth. Hope it’s looking green about your part of the world? Never used, heard or seen straw pellets, so I’ll be curious to hear how that turns out. What an interesting product. Are they breaking down fast, or slow in the rain and warmer weather?
I reckon the chard will enjoy your hot summers, they thrived in the heat down here over summer, and are only just now turning up as self seeded plants – but it’s been warm and dry, and we haven’t grown them before (Sandra hadn’t previously enjoyed the taste of the leaves) so the plants cycle is a bit of a mystery to me. Oh yeah, all those Solanum plants will be thriving in your warm and moist conditions. Pretty ideal weather for a start to the growing season.
Not everyone wants to spend up at big box stores, and the smaller stores can offer more of a personal service (not to mention being personally known over time) with customers. I get that. Being so close to behemoths would be a risky proposition I’m guessing, but if the folks there can make it work, that’s awesome. You’d probably be amazed at how quiet things are down here out in the bush, and at the small size of some of the country towns. The population is very sparse once you head out from the big smoke.
Sorry to hear about the loss of the bricks and mortar craft and sewing shops. We were talking about that very issue here today – the requirement to have an online presence and access just to do some basic stuff. Years ago we all got along just fine without such devices, and the joke is – we pay for the things ourselves. And not everyone has the mad cash and/or desire to be saddled with such tech trinkets. Truthfully, I was forced to procure and maintain a smart phone at the risk of losing my income and business. It’s optional, but then it isn’t optional either is it? There are other things required to shop online too, like banking facilities and email contact, delivery addresses etc. It’s a complicated way to purchase stuff. I’m impressed that some folks on the Rez are holding out against the demands, but they’re also paying a high price for non-involvement, although maybe gaining some other benefits, like the freedom of not being involved. Hmm.
A lot of recent life is like that loss of amenity you mentioned.
Happy birthday to you on this most auspicious of days. It’s a good number and a fine achievement. As a casual observation, you do sound the same as last week! 😉 It’s a nice thing to be spoiled on your birthday with a good feed, pleasant company and cake. Yum! Hope Dame Avalanche bounced around excitedly too and brought much joy for your day. And you got spring rains too – a person could not ask for more.
Wise to work out a path to avoid onerous student debt, whilst earning a living. A smart move. Respect.
Cheers
Chris
power imbalance- I did not comment on the title or crux of the post, but you are describing the Walmart effect.
Many small towns here had the typical downtown, with all the various shops and activity, until Walmart would buy a big chunk of land on the outskirts. ( driving distance only of course) With their low prices afforded by their formidable size and negotiating power, they would kill the local grocers and other stores.
As traffic to the new Walmart increases, other chains build, and before you know it, this car oriented commercial sprawl has sapped the downtown and nobody walks anymore……
Hi Lewis,
Thanks for the article. Had to laugh. Humour me for a second, why would anyone purchase the identical article at a higher price? That expectation makes no sense to me in terms of what I comprehend of human behaviour. I reckon nobody installing the item will ever be able to point to the product and have the product say to a casual observer (such as visitors): ‘Made in the US’. It’s probably worse, they’ll think it’s the one made in the land of stuff. 🙂 Where’s the bragging value in that? That’s what people want to pay higher prices for with identical products (I’m guessing here): bragging rights. And if those are not to be readily observed…
The article also suggested that the guy’s business purchased inventory to get him through to apparently August, or something like that. He’s got skin in that import game, even though what he’s saying is all true. A more interesting test to me, would be to raise the prices to the same level, and see which is the more purchased item. But can the market bear to pay those higher prices, or will customers head to a competitor? There’s a lot of unknowns with this stuff, I don’t believe that the situation is as simple as the guy made it appear to be. After all, what would be the case if only locally made items were available? Would people pay the higher costs then? And could the on-shore products even be supplied to the local market in enough volume to meet demand? More questions to my mind than answers.
Stone walls are lovely constructions, and you’ll see some long stone paddock fences around this part of the world, although they’re as often as not in disrepair. Short stone walls on either side of front gates though, seems pretty popular. Some quarries cut huge slabs of granite, then fracture them, mark each chunks original position, and then reassemble the pieces elsewhere, and those efforts look impressive. Probably expensive, by comparison we do rock work on the cheap. 🙂
Fascinating stuff, and it’s odd to think of the world was once hotter than it is today and without the ice capped poles, and so history suggests this is very much possible, although we might not like the outcome. Hardly apocalyptic though (as in wiping everything out), is it? Where I’m located now will probably be desert, maybe. Ook! This continent here sure is heading northwards bound. A gargle search on the ‘Eric the Red West dig site in the Otway Ranges’ which is not too far from here, produced some interesting reads on the fossil finds there.
King Midas is a fine story to remind us mere mortals to be more wary of the finer points of legal doctrine. It all comes down to the exact wording, and the King got his just desserts don’t you reckon? 🙂 But then didn’t he mess up big time and have to ask forgiveness (which was given) from Dionysus? The dude sure got lucky that time around, and may have learned to curb his naturally greedy instincts. Anyway, be careful what you wish for, you may just get it – could be the lesson of the day. The Gilded Age is more than a saying isn’t it? Didn’t the economics professor and author, John Kenneth Galbraith write a book about that topic?
What a cool find. Thanks for the clarification as I’d thought that the two tables were one. I do recall you mentioning that some folks dumped a lot of rubbish on the swap table, which is not good. Hey, any sign that the library responsibility is going to fall into your area any time soon?
It can’t all be Spartan, can it? I’m of the opinion that minimalism is a useful technique, but it can be taken too far. Space has a need for character as well.
Holy carp! I know little of that topic of food colouring, and would probably find the subject mildly disturbing. We make a lot of our food from scratch using raw materials, and do wonder if food additives are making people feel a bit more zinged up than they otherwise would be? I’ve encountered a bit of that this week, and not for any great advantage that I can ascertain. But yup, poisoned planet and stuff.
It was 68’F here today, and quite nice although I spent the day indoors doing paid work. Tomorrow looks good here too. I’ll bet H enjoyed the towel down – the dogs here seem to do so.
Sorry about that, I was riffing off the other vampire books from the author and trying to be amusing, unsuccessfully, or so it seems. 🙂 Ook! We’ve discussed before that sometimes you’re running hot, and other times, the humour is flat out with your face down on the ground, maybe in the mud. Not an ideal situation. And thanks for the reminder about the garlic garlands, those seemed pretty effective too at repelling the undead.
Go the pumpkin seedling! 🙂 Those plants love warm soil. Your growing season is really getting under way now. I know, that’s the trouble with bare rooted plants, like the asparagus crowns. You may recall the sad, but discount priced, chestnut seedling which required a bit of extra attention with regular applications of diluted seaweed solution. It got there in the end. Asparagus plants are heavy feeders.
Fair enough, sometimes in the past I recall you coming across large flats of blueberries at good prices, so until the season is done, who knows how the preserving up of you winter stash will go? 🙂 Well the institution did create the blueberry problem in the first place. They started it!
Ah, you used up the extra celery in a casserole. What is this dish? Hang on a second… … Whoa! An interesting meal. Did you consider using the traditional water chestnuts (which are quite tasty morsels, although rarely seen)? Go H! And everyone needs a kitchen helper. 🙂 We do a lot of meal prep too so that there’s always something to eat.
I’d definitely crack and sniff those eggs before adding them to any meal, although you never know. The last time someone served me (purchased) scrambled eggs which were dodgy, the flavour wasn’t quite right, but I may be overly sensitive, hard to know. I was quite ill afterwards, and have not ordered (or made) scrambled eggs since. I read somewhere about there being a middle ground with the washing of shells in that they can become porous.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Steve,
A bow saw and loppers are wonderful tools. We’ve got long handled (an extendable pole) pruning shears which works on a strong flat nylon pull cord. That’s a sharp blade, but can be unwieldy when fully extended.
Great question. 🙂 For ten months of the year, there is no need to load shift heavy electrical loads to the peak sunlight hours around midday. June and July are different. The sun is low in the sky then, and additionally there can be days and days of thick low cloud. That’s a problem. When all you enjoy is 15 minutes of peak sunlight in a day, the system itself eats all that solar derived electricity, doing not much at all.
If the batteries get near to only 20% remaining, the 3.4kVA generator is connected up to the battery charger and run. Three hours of run time can add back 15% of the battery charge. The older lead acid batteries would not even work at such a low state of charge, so that’s one thing I guess.
Yes, we’ve got one of those bypass loppers too. Good stuff, although they struggle a bit with larger diameter hardwood branches. They look the same too as yours, but are Wolf-Garten brand.
We harvest the blackberries too, although the enthusiasm with which they get sprayed with herbicide caught us out once long ago. Not a nice story, and I can only hope the rain washed some of the gunk off the berries – we weren’t the only ones eating them. Anyway, after that is when we planted out the thornless varieties. Yup, the plants always bounce back.
Man, I hope never to encounter one of those multiflora roses you speak of. The thorns sound horrendous.
And that’s kind of what I was alluding too as a possible outcome. There’s a concentration of wealth effect as well going on as mad cash flows out of the area to distant concerns. What do you do? And how does a small business compete against that sort of buying power? Slim margins as a strategy is only possible if fixed costs are low, or sales volumes are high.
I guess we’ll get to find out what happens I guess, although land is ruinously expensive down here, so things could get weird on that front. I’ll keep you posted.
It sure is dry this year. Oh well.
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – I find it amusing because the patriotic / wave the flag bunch always SAY they would buy American, even at a higher price, if given the chance. Walk the walk? No. Just hot air and lip service. Consider yourself humored. 🙂
I’m glad you liked the polar fossil article. If it’s close, maybe give the Otway Range a look. Might be a small museum, up that way. Give yourself a break from abandoned mining sites. Interesting though they are. And who knows what culinary adventures you might have along the way?
Mark Twain did a novel, in 1873 (with a co-author) titled, “The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today.” I wonder if our library has it? Galbraith (best known for “The Great Crash, 1929”) did write a book in 1958 called “The Affluent Age,” which is about the post WWII economic boom.
Like you, I eat so low on the food chain that I don’t worry much about food colorings. Or much of anything else.
Our high yesterday was 61F (16.11C) The overnight low was 48F (8.88C). Forecast high for today is 61F. Even though the forecast was for “Slight chance of rain,” there was a good shower, right before H and I went out for the morning walk. I won’t have to water, tonight. Prof. Mass predicts we’re going to have a cool, rainy period.
I think because I mentioned the “Mayfair Witches” series, by Anne Rice, is the root of the confusion. She also did “Interview With a Vampire” and all the vampire Lestat books. “Interview” has been turned into a TV series, and from what I read, “Mayfair Witches” will intersect with it, eventually.
Last night I watched a new Star Trek movie, “Section 31.” You may remember that Section 31 is kind of the black ops arm of Star Fleet. As one of the characters stated, “…operations where Star Fleet doesn’t want to get its hands dirty.” It just came out in January, on one of the streaming services. Now it’s on DVD. I made popcorn, and it was worth it.
Speaking of streaming services, I just saw an article that the fruit company is moaning because they have a streaming arm with original content. But it isn’t doing very well. They do these lavish, interesting productions, that go nowhere. SciFi was specifically mentioned. A bunch of series I’d never heard of. So, what’s the difference? They don’t release any of their content on DVD. Get a clue, fellas!
I now have 6 pumpkins, breaking ground. I planted six seeds. So, that’s 100% germination. I’ll probably have to cull three of them. That will be painful. I’ll hit it with some blood meal, more soap chips and maybe some slug bait, tonight. I wonder if I should use some of that seaweed solution, on the asparagus. I’ve never used it, before. I can’t say the soil isn’t rich.
Well, I can’t say I followed a celery casserole recipe. I just looked at the green bean casserole and adapted. Although if I looked long and hard enough, I’m sure I could find the identical recipe, out there, somewhere. 🙂
Here, water chestnuts are usually found, tinned, in the Asian food section of stores. I’ve had them. They’re tasty and crunchy. Good for a stir fry. Years ago (decades?) there used to be these Chop Suey meal kits, that included a small tin of water chestnuts.
I always crack my eggs into a saucer, before using. Just to check them out. After once cracking a bad egg, into the frying pan. 🙁
And, in News of the World … I see the CEO of United Health Care has stepped down. For “Personal reasons.” That’s the company whose last CEO was shot down in the street. I figure he either didn’t want a target on his back, or, maybe he grew a conscious? Naaaaw. A new Post Master General has been named. He’s on the board of one of the major other carriers. Conflict of interest? Naaaaaw. Four fellows in Turkey were stealing a Roman mosaic. Live streaming it, and crowing on social media. All four have been arrested. Kind of reminded me of the doofuses who cut down the tree on Hadrian’s Wall. A couple of years ago, a bunch of guys in our county were killing many animals out of season. And posting their exploits, on-line. Arrested and charged humongous fines. I think it all boils down to a lack of knowledge as to how the net works. Lew
Chris:
It’s clever of you to figure this out, as per financial systems, and also the internet: “There’s a commonality of variables with different labels to presumably confuse the unwary. ” I think I already had an inkling of that.
What I want to know, Voltaire, is how – how! – guys let themselves be drawn into such an absurd fashion as long curly wigs. Then I thought of this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1970s_in_fashion
You don’t want lemon flavor in a Key Lime Pie . . . Where I grew up pecan pie comes to mind as a favorite, a custard type of pie. It is probably the food with the most calories in the whole world. And chocolate meringue pie was another favorite of my youth. I did favor the pies.
American lamington? If you knew what they actually taste like, you would do more than cringe.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/HOSTESS-SNOBALLS-Coconut-Covered-Chocolate-Cake-Creamy-Filling-6-Count-10-5-oz/42679329
I make pesto from walnuts and fresh basil, olive oil, fresh garlic, and salt and some lemon juice.
Peak Blocks – ha, ha!
We had 6 inches (15.24cm) of rain last night. Also 3 hours of nonstop lightning and thunder, every few seconds. Scary! I had to run out in it to take in a delivery from Amazon. And as I was trying to go to sleep – worse than living behind a supermarket – there was the loudest crash of thunder that I have heard in my life right outside my bedroom window. I thought the big old oak tree by my window had been struck by lightning; it sounded like a bomb. But I couldn’t see any damage this morning. Anyway, we are about caught up from our rain deficit, all at once.
Pam
Chris,
Oof! That drought in parts of Australia is nasty. Very nasty. Supremely arid deserts come to mind for those amounts of rain, or lack thereof.
More rain showers today. Yes! The straw pellets are slowly spreading with all the wet they’ve gotten. Supposed to keep the grass seed from drying out. The directions said to have one pellet per square inch. As if anybody is going to sit there on the ground for days making sure that all the pellets are one inch apart! So the pellets are about 1 per square inch on average.
I’ve grown chard and collards here before. They do very well in the containers. Some get eaten fresh, most are dried and added to whatever – omelets, breads, etc.
I prefer the locally owned stores where possible. I’ve gotten better advice on projects from the local hardware stores than the big box ones. The prices aren’t that much different for many items. Unfortunately, some items are available only at the big chain stores.
For many on the Rez it is not a choice to not have internet access. Many of these remote areas don’t have broadband coverage, just the old and slow phone lines. Heck, the family home on the Rez finally got a phone line about 15 years ago. Cell service is spotty there, too. And simple economics speaks. Visit any Indian Reservation in this country and you’re looking at some of the most economically depressed regions in this country. Unemployment at 50% and higher on any Rez isn’t uncommon.
Thanks. I was hoping that a few days and a birthday didn’t suddenly make me sound older! Young neighbor just giggled when I told her my age, then remarked I seem younger than that because of how active I am. I hope it’s the amount of activity and a reasonable attitude, rather than entering my second childhood. 🙂
The chokecherries are blooming. White. Some thyme plants have blossoms, too. The hawthorn trees are loaded with their pink flowers. They are spectacular, especially after last year’s dearth of blooms.
DJSpo
Hi DJ,
It’s dry here, but I’d have to suggest that things are far more dire over to the west. On the other hand, there’s no need to wonder at why we put in a hard days work on continued forest clean up today? Still, it’s early in the wintry season and the rains may yet return. Saturday’s forecast looks very wet here, so we’ll see.
Yay for rain for you! 🙂 I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, you’re off to an awesome start to the growing season. Ah, so the straw pellets break down into finer material? Yes, there are a lot of recommendations like that – reality, well, it’s different. I would do what you clearly did, take my best guess, and candidly one pellet per square inch doesn’t sound enough to me. Also, such advice never really stipulates the climate the instructions apply to. Years ago I read of someone making seed balls and chucking them around a drier forested environment than here. All very nice, hippy and stuff – yet it didn’t rain and the seed balls ended up looking much like they originally did. Pellets can be like that.
On that note, I used to buy fertiliser in pellet form, and discovered that this was too easy for the dogs to consume, so now use the more expensive finer material. The dogs see the pellets as chocolates…
Ah, very interesting and thanks for mentioning the dehydrating process with leafy greens. Until that activity was mentioned here recently, it’d never occurred to me. Probably a good food preservation response to your super cold winters. Dehydrated tomatoes get added that way to food here. Yum! A splash of summer in the depths of winter.
That’s also been my experience with the local hardware store and I dunno, it’s a less bureaucratic process overall by comparison. 🙂 Ook! But yeah, sometimes only the big box stores carry some component that the project needs. What do you do?
Hmm. Thanks for the explanation as to the complicated inner workings. I see, cell coverage is profit driven in your country, and if no profit is foreseen, then no service is provided. I’d forgotten that aspect. Here there are service obligations imposed on telcos (as well as licensing fees) for use of those radio frequencies, thus how I get 5G out in the middle of nowhere.
Such high unemployment, and I believe there are similar issues down under. Man, many years ago I really thought deeply about economic disconnection and social connections and what it all means, and how far all that can be taken. Turns out, it’s not far at all – the disconnecting bit at least. Hmm. I’m genuinely curious, does anyone have any idea what the community on the Rez actually really wants in relation to the economic disadvantage? There are costs, but so are there benefits to having a lot of free time, but from a western cultural perspective that’s generally frowned upon probably due to crazy work ethics, but I don’t necessarily believe this is an appropriate response and it seems ideologically based. Dunno. We received no inheritance, have little in the way of safety net, and have no choice but to work. People can navigate their lives in all sorts of different ways. Makes you wonder what the Rez would look like if unemployment was 20%? It’s not lost on me that reserves were pushed towards the worst of the available land, which can hardly benefit the people placed there, could it?
🙂 Dude, I’ll know you’ve suddenly gotten older when you sound perpetually grumpy! Trust me in this, I’ll freely share my opinion on this subject. Activity and a reasonable attitude are a truly wonderful thing. Hobbies and a sense of purpose are good as well.
All that rain you are receiving has to be doing good stuff for the plants. You grow lawn thyme don’t you?
Gotta head out in the dark soon to push the fire together. Note to self – wear the correct work boots with the fire resistant soles.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Pam,
All those things initially confused the daylights out of me. Turns out the names are the differenter things, and realising that saved me some student headaches. The rest is much the same, but dressed up differently. Glad to hear that you’ve had similar insights.
Ha! I lost my ponytail in about 1995. 🙂 Hot pants and flairs, who can forget once seen? The guy in the first photo looks a bit like Joe Cocker did back in the Woodstock clip. How cool was the blue suit photo? A old friend of mine used to get his suits tailored and one of them was purple, it was cool and the tailor nicknamed the style: Big Mike. And we went from Glam Rock to Western suits. Had to laugh about the traditionally awkward Prom photo because in the background is a young girl doing what looks like smoking a cigarette – as you do at a school dance. Debbie Harrie of Blondie was wearing about the only clothes which would be acceptable today. Thanks for the trip, it was fun. Hope you enjoyed the time warp too?
Guess it was all acceptable in the 70’s!
Pecan nuts are rarely seen in this corner of the world, sorry to say and so I’ve never consumed that particular treat. Some foods are like that. Probably nothing found in nature, maybe. I’m sure they’re great.
Ah, your version of pesto would be very nice indeed, and walnuts taste far better than pine nuts. We substitute peanuts, and I tend to avoid the garlic, but we do add chili. Gives the mix a little kick.
It’s true, Peak Blocks is real, you read it here first.
Did a day of forest cleaning today, and just came back from pushing in the fire. It’ll still be burning tomorrow I’m guessing. The walk downhill was interesting because I accidentally dropped a log chunk I’d cut into a round disc on my foot. Oh well, not much I can do about it. The work day was good, and it’s nice to continue cleaning up the old loggers mess. We’re discovering lots of rocks. Always handy.
Go the rain, although it would be nice if the 6 inches of rain was spread out evenly over the entire month. Do you get super cell storms in your part of the world – that experience sounds like one. That’d make me jump for sure such a close lightning strike. Glad to hear that there was no damage from the strike. Did you come across any damage today? I’d imagine that some tree branches fell in those conditions. Hey, sometimes I can see damage to trees from lightning strikes on the bark, but I’m not really sure that’s what caused the marks.
The garden will turn into a jungle shortly with all that rain. 🙂 Great stuff. How did the seedlings cope with the weather?
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
It’s all a lot of talk, yes. They do say that talk doesn’t cook the rice, but if the two identical products were placed side by side and at the same price indicating a different origin for each, things would be different again. It just won’t work that way. Incidentally, this whole discussion reminded me of a story about some guy I vaguely knew who long ago apparently quipped that he’d happily pay 5% more for energy to redress climate change damage from the purchase. Hmm. Me thinks the cost will be higher than that addition, but you know, what do I know?
Thank you, and I was humoured! 😉
It’s about a three hour drive away which is probably too far for my tastes, and the site is actually pretty rugged with no museum that I’m aware of. Here’s an interesting article about someone who actually goes to the dig site – which looks remarkably like it’s on the beach. Dinosaurs in the Otways. It’s pretty remote that part of the state and also not far from the wettest location in the state. The Otways is actually a series of low but rather steep mountain ranges, quite spectacular.
When we used to travel to the beach, that’s the area we headed to.
Hey, they do a pretty decent scallop seafood pie in the township of Apollo Bay, or at least they did when we travelled there.
Exactly. If the food dyes are a potential problem, take them out of the meal equation. Yours and mine are the wisest path anyway when it comes to food, or at least that is what I believe. Did a day of forest clean up today of some of the old loggers mess. I tackle a small area each time, and eventually the job will be done. Found lots of rocks, so that was good. Accidentally dropped a heavy piece of timber on my foot, oh well, moving on with a slight limp. I’m pleased with the work, and it’s great to see the area cleaning up. We’ve had just under 8 inches of rain so far this year, and that ain’t enough. I’d say I’m motivated. 😉
The weather was much the same here today, except cloudy and very calm. No breeze at all. Good to hear that yourself and H dodged the rain. The cool will slow down your growing season, but your rain is a true bonus for the garden.
That was what confused me, the ‘Interview with a vampire’ the film of which had the actor, oops! Have to stop right there. 😉 Hehe! I read that the series will be somehow joined, but if I was going to put witches and vampires in a cage fight, my mad cash would definitely be on the vampires.
Very good to hear about the Star Trek film, and it’s nice seeing the franchise expand into new territory. Hmm, might see if I can track down the film.
Interestingly on that note, I was reading a preface to a Jack Vance book and the author was noted as saying that the freelance author must write to make a living. It was an interesting introduction. Yes, yes, I’m still going through the complete set of the authors books – he wrote a lot in over fifty something years. But am getting near to the end, except some were missed in the original order for some reason, and those will turn up early next month. Given it’s print on demand, you’d reckon that there’d be no order troubles, maybe…
Oh back to fruit business, well if people ain’t buying, what do the people want to buy? They’re buying something. I get the impression that streaming folks stay in their lane. Think about the resurgence of vinyl, people want something which is visceral. CD’s and DVD’s are easily reproduced, which means that they may have a perceived lower value. Dunno. I sold my turntable and record collection in about 2008.
Nice work with the pumpkin seedlings. And that is an excellent germination rate. You were sceptical if I recall correctly? 😉 Lewis, culling good seedlings pains me as well. Plants do grow better with more space though. I’d use the seaweed solution on the asparagus crowns if they’re not breaking dormancy. It’s worth a try and you use the stuff diluted (if you bought the concentrate stuff rather than the pre-mixed).
Who can forget those tasty meals. Lot’s of salt though from what I remember. What is it with ramen type meals that people feel the need to chuck in so much salt? A true mystery. Makes my head and sinuses pound, in a bad way. The water chestnuts were very tasty and crunchy.
We’ve all been there. 🙂 Why is this egg content blackened, and then the stink hits you hard. I used to crack the eggs on the rim of a fry pan, but once bitten. I feel your pain at that memory. Incidentally, we’re now cleaning non-stick fry-pans (skillet?) the same way as the carbon steel fry-pan seasoned method, and they work better. Hmm. Probably last a whole lot longer as well. The things you learn.
Hehe! Who knows? Hey, maybe the guy earned enough in the brief time he filled the role and is now eyeing off retirement? Probably not, but it’s a good story.
Alas, there does appear to be a conflict of interest there, and in such cases, perception carries some weight.
Seems like a dumb thing to do. Maybe they wanted to get caught? The other thing which those folks might not comprehend, is that such devices track users – and record the movements. Hmm. Best not to have one on you if you’re up to mischief.
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – I saw a film a few years back, and one scene stuck in my memory. It was called “Outsourced” about a guy to has to go to India, and train his own replacement. Quit a good movie, as I recall. I see it was also done as a TV series. Hmmm. Never saw it. Must have been a Fruit Company product. 🙂 I found the scene. Less than 2 minutes.
https://youtu.be/tiRPjinfFPo?si=-OLTLmEOkS4jnTBj
Ohhh. That fossil site looks really interesting. I’d be there … I loved what the dig team called itself. “Dinosaur Dreaming.” Gives it a real Australian twist.
Yikes! Sorry about the toe. Didn’t those fire proof boots have steel toes? Years ago, I dropped a box of books on my toes. I’m sure a doctor would consider the nail on my big toe, as badly ingrown. But, I just cut the nail, straight across. I doesn’t hurt, I don’t have any problem walking. So why run off to the doctor? I’m sure surgery would be recommended, rehab, blah, blah, blah. I approach most of my aches and pains in a similar manner. If it still works, and the discomfort isn’t over the top, why bother?
Speaking of stones, here’s an interesting article from The Wonderful World of Archaeology. Anything look familiar?
https://archaeology.org/news/2025/05/12/2000-year-old-stonemasons-tools-discovered-in-romanian-quarry/
Our high yesterday was 57F (13.88C). The overnight low was 45F (7.22C). Forecast high for today is 57F. Looks like we’re going to have similar temperatures, and rain on and off, for the next week. I don’t know why, but my apartment felt chilly, last night. I kicked on my little space heater, for a couple of hours, and that did the trick.
You can probably only see “Section 31” on Paramount streaming, or o DVD. I picked up three books and 8 DVDs from the library, yesterday. Last night, I watched two documentaries. Nova science specials. One on some newly discovered Egyptian tombs, and the other on Pompeii. “Pompeii’s Secret Underworld.” Recent discoveries, but told from an angle of slaves, poor people and wealth inequality. As with all things Pompeii, pretty interesting.
Dinner was black beans, rice, garlic, a couple of tomatoes, mushrooms and corn. Garnished with a bit of catsup and hot sauce. I also put in one of those packets of hamburger I saved. Just 3 or 4 tablespoons of cooked beef. More the Asian idea of a garnish. It added a bit of flavor and texture.
Last night I sprinkled a bit of blood meal and slug bait, around the pumpkins. Also some Irish Spring soap slivers. Until they get their secondary leaves, they’re pretty vulnerable.
I saw an interesting article about the Land of Stuff and solar power inverters.
https://tech.yahoo.com/cybersecurity/articles/ghost-machine-rogue-communication-devices-050547857.html
Thought you might find it interesting. You wouldn’t want your system bricked, remotely. Lew
Hi Lewis,
Just watched the trailer for the ‘Outsourced’ film and was immediately and deeply intrigued. I’ve mentioned that we’ve travelled in the northern half of India late last century, and the scene of the American dude being mobbed by well meaning locals trying to sell some stuff, was empathised with. The country can be quite confronting, and I never let Sandra out of my sight in public due to the mobs. But then the entire place just kind of mysteriously worked, and there was light and vibrant colour and not to forget, sound everywhere. It’s not a quiet country, and every minute of the day in public spaces the senses were subjected to Hindi music, and after a week or two the brain adjusted to the subtleties of rhythm, melody and sharp stringed instruments.
Arriving back home again, the up and coming inner suburban gritty former industrial area we lived in was sullied by the grey and accompanied by an utter lack of noise. The contrast was mind bending. They do say that travel broadens ones horizon’s and it’s true.
The scene you linked to was pretty much what we were talking about yesterday. People are cool with purchasing locally made, if the difference in price is not all that great. Otherwise…
Doesn’t the monster fruit co offshore production? 😉
Was I reading the other day that computer boys co is intending to shed a portion of staff across all locations, maybe? The support and patches for my version of the operating system is due to cease later this year. Apparently the patches stop what they call ‘zero day exploits’, but the gist of the change is that you have to sign up for a monthly subscription service, or upgrade the old computer I use – which works perfectly well.
On an entirely different note, up north east of this continent, a truck carrying chunks of a wind turbine has somehow become stuck under a bridge. Truck carrying wind turbine gets stuck under Mount Crosby Bridge closing Warrego Highway . Not something you see everyday, and the article mentioned something about the bridge being propped – although I’m unsure what that exactly means. They probably don’t know either at this stage with the monster machine stuck underneath. You do see that sort of thing happening from time to time although not on that scale. And long ago I’d seen the top of a truck peeled back like a can opener had ripped it off due to hitting a bridge.
Hehe! The fossil folks had a great sense of enjoyment of the activity with the discoveries. I like the chuck bone fossil description, for chuck it over your shoulder (possibly meaning to discard it).
When the chunk of timber fell onto my work boot, I was wearing the soft leather work boots. The fire resistant ones have the steel cap instead. Oh well, the toe is a bit swollen and sore today, but the show must go on! 🙂 My approach as well, if it’s serious I’ll head to the doctor, but if it’s a day to day thing, no big deal just keep an eye on it.
People have been generally stressing me out this week, however today I did of mixed paid work which all went speedily and most importantly, delightfully. Because I had an unexpected hour or so spare, I went down below and got the chainsaw into action and cleaned up a bit more. Got the fire going. It was a really lovely day.
It’s going to rain all day tomorrow (apparently), so I zipped out late this afternoon and picked up a bale of sugar cane mulch for the chickens. Filled up petrol (and a 5 gallon container), and stopped off for a coffee. So as I’m heading in the door of the business to purchase the coffee, I stand to the side to let people exit which is a respectful act. Then an old bloke (we know what my grandfather would call him) whom I’ve never seen before, stands in the doorway and says: “The business is closed, you can’t come in”. There are moments when people try my patience, but I just looked at him and replied: “I don’t think so man” and was preparing to roughly push on past, when he backed down.
The general conclusion to be drawn is perhaps my mojo is not operating well this week! 🙂 What’s your take on that incident? I’ve never encountered anyone doing that before (but it has been an odd week), but perhaps the book in my hand made me look somehow weak? Dunno. People can get a bit weirded out by acts of reading in public spaces.
Hehe! All those stone working tools are known 🙂 , although it is nice to have access to electrically powered drills and jackhammers. You can’t extract more than around 3 horsepower from a standard mains electrical outlet down here, but that’s still a lot of grunt when compared to hand tools.
Oooo, today was exactly the same weather here, and the wood heater is being run after dark now, so no wonder your space heater was also kicked off. It’s not yet cold enough during the daylight hours here to run the wood heater, but it may get there in the next few weeks. The solar power system didn’t make full charge today either, and I may connect up six temporary extra solar panels. It won’t add a lot of extra power, but when the sun shines it will help a bit.
Ah Lewis, I’ve heard people say that where there is a will, there’s a way! 🙂 We’ll see.
Out of curiosity, do you wonder if the slaves and lower classes of Pompeii were actively stopped from fleeing for their lives on that fateful day? If the master was an idiot, then presumably the slaves also paid a high price?
Hot sauce does add a touch of mystery to a meal. Speaking of Asian flavours, I’m quite fond of soy sauce, fish sauce, sesame oil, all of which impart an exotic edge to basic meals. Sounds like a fine meal.
Fingers crossed the dreaded slugs stay away from your pumpkin seedlings. The cool weather you’re having this week might slow the growth in the adult leaves.
The article on inverters introduced a lot of mysterious intelligence, without specifying any confirmed details. Well, well, well. Seems it allegedly was an issue. Without knowing the design and installation, it’s hard to know if the voltage output could be remotely increased, the frequency changed, or the safety ‘do not supply’ circuit was bypassed. Suddenly remotely bricking (switching off and shutting out) the devices would most likely cause a rapid imbalance in the supply and demand of a local distribution circuit. Fascinating. Now, my lot is all locally made equipment and has no connection to the interweb – or need for software updates. Even the batteries were assembled locally.
Ha! Maybe a strong EM (electro-magnetic) pulse would knock out the system. 🙂 If I recall correctly, land of stuff cameras were installed in meeting rooms for very senior bureaucrats down here – the sort of rooms where lip reading skills would come in handy. Whatever were they thinking?
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – I’ve watched a few Bollywood movies, and have quit enjoyed them. I’ve also watched a few more straight forward movies filmed in India, and have also found them fascinating. But, I don’t think I could handle the noise. I generally distance myself, here at the Institution, and down at the Club when the noise levels get out of hand. Might be why I’ve managed to reach this age, and still have pretty sharp hearing. Unlike half the people that live in my building.
Yup. That’s what we were talking about, and why I posted that film clip. 🙂 I really wondered if I could a.) find the name of the film and b.) if anyone had bothered to post that particular clip. Only took me a couple of minutes. I guess I still got it. 🙂
My Fruit Co. computer was made to order, in the Land of Stuff. I saw an article, yesterday, that Fearless Leader is a bit miffed at the head of the Fruit Co., as, they’ve moved some operations to Bollywood Nation, and not back to the U.S.. Because Bollywood Nation has lower tariffs, than the Land of Stuff. And much cheaper labor costs, than here.
Computer Boy’s company goes through frequent lay-offs. No news there. As, it seems, most of the tech companies tend to do. Quit a few years ago, I knew a couple of fellows, who worked for a contracted arm of that company. So, they weren’t “real” employees. One morning they showed up for work, and their key cards didn’t work. The whole division had been laid off, with no notice. I guess the lesson here is, don’t dress up your cubicle with family pictures or struggling houseplants. You might not get them back.
I had to look up what “zero day exploits” are. Ah, patches to thwart hackers. So, they’re going to start charging for those. Sort of like when my old computer’s hardware was just fine, but it wouldn’t play nice with the software upgrades. Really, that’s how they keep churn going. Keep squeezing money out of the consumer by any means they can. I saw an article the other day, that quit a few young folk are opting out of their dumb phones. Or, at least ditching all the social media. Many are returning to flip phones, and maybe only using the dumb phones, when there’s no other option.
That was an interesting article, about the wind turbine and the overpass. Happens here, from time to time. Usually, semi trucks that get a haircut. I found the sidebar article about the same situation, with railroad bridges, also interesting.
English is a wonderfully flexible language. “Chuck bones.” Sort of the same linguistic idea as “spitter apples.” 🙂
Our high yesterday was 57F (13.88C). The overnight low was 45F (7.22C). Forecast high for today is 57F. I walk H three times a day. Yesterday, we got pretty wet on one of those walks. One out of three isn’t bad … Just dodged a rain shower, this morning. I forgot to mention, I got petrol, the other day. $4.50 a US gallon, for regular grade. I also stopped by the expensive, independent grocery store, and, they had Swiss cheese! Not too bad a price.
As far as the old bloke d—h–d, it is a full moon. Or, there’s a wide- spread breed of old bloke who think they’re a laugh a minute and humorously cute. When all around them just find them odious. You always could have smacked him about the ears, with your book. 🙂 Little do these duffuses know, your martial arts trained, and your hands are probably registered with the police, as lethal weapons.
It was discussed as to why Roman slaves didn’t run off. Well, there was that incident with Spartacus where 6,000 of his defeated followers were crucified along the Appian Way, all the way from Capua to Rome. I wouldn’t want that clean up job. Probably done by other slaves. Eventual freedom was also dangled. And, it was pretty common to free slaves. Runaway slaves who were recaptured were dealt with pretty harshly. Everything from beating, branding or outright killing. But in the case of Pompeii, who knows? I suppose some slaves legged it, while their owners dithered.
The hot sauce I use is Mexican. Tapatio is the brand I use. According to the book I read, “Taco U.S.A.,” that’s the brand you’re likely to find in Mexican households. I’ve noticed when I ask for hot sauce, in Mexican restaurants, that’s what shows up at the table.
I’ve never used fish sauce or sesame oil. If I ever run across a recipe that requires them, I’ll give them a whirl. The yuppie, discount, warehouse grocery, usually has quit a selection of what I consider “exotic” oils. Usually pricey, to my eye. I just stick with the olive oil, the best I can find. Also, pricey. LOL, this morning I made rice, and I put a bit of olive oil in, before cooking. As I was replacing the cap on the spring loaded pouring spout, it shot the cap across the kitchen! I could have lost an eye! 🙂
Last night’s dinner was pretty much a repeat of the night before. Beans, rice, garlic, corn and half a green pepper. While I was waiting for dinner to cool, I tackled that egg carton with the 8 stuck eggs. I cut away as much of the pressed paper carton as I could, and then soaked the whole thing in warm water. With a bit of care, I managed to get out 7 eggs, intact. I think the eighth was the one that originally broke. Luckily, the carton was pressed paper. Occasionally, you run across one that is a kind of pressed styrofoam. Might not have been as easy to deal with.
I forgot to mention, that book I got from the library, several months ago? “Seed Detective” by Adam Alexander. I decided I really wanted to peruse it, at my leisure. So, I bought a copy and am savoring a chapter a night. He’s the Welsh guy, who swaps seed with other seed savers, and travels the world, looking for what he calls “Granny Growers.” Usually, cranky, short, elderly ladies who have little stalls in far flung corners of foreign markets. That’s where he finds the vegetable treasures.
The first chapter was a brief history of agriculture and domestication of plants. The state of modern agriculture (bad). Big seed companies vs seed savers and the value of seed banks. Chapter two kicks off with how the Romans globalized their world, with plants traveling to the far corners of the Empire. Early ancient writers about agriculture. How the printing press invention really kicked off the examination of plants for both eating and medicine. Printed botanicals with wood cuts of plants. They sold like hot cakes. Or, sausage rolls if you like. 🙂 Then he launched into an examination of … peas. Apparently, in the 19th century, it was quit a craze to develop new strains of peas. In both America and Europe. Bigger, more productive, tastier. But some seed sellers were a bit … underhanded. They might take an old variety, slap an “improved” label on it, in an effort sell more of that variety. Or, in a marketing ploy, change the name entirely. One was renamed after a derby horse winner. So, untangling the ancestry of different kinds of peas can be complicated.
When I was a wee small lad, peas were twice the size they are now, and a bright, almost electric green color. And, tasty. Haven’t seen them since. I wonder if they’re still kicking around out there, as an heirloom or heritage breed? Lew
Chris,
If I lived similarly to how you do, I’d be cleaning stuff up too. The less brush and fallen limbs available for fires to spread, the better. Then in the dry years like you’re having, I’d do even more work. Getting rid of the wormwood was a good idea.
After a bit more rain and my adding water, the straw pellets have spread about as much as they will. I’m surprised with how good their coverage is. It started raining at 6:00 a.m. today and is still drizzling in the early afternoon. Perfect timing for planting the grass seed. Oh, and more rain expected Saturday night.
The grass seed is allegedly specialized for the Spokane area. The straw pellets were also locally sourced, so hopefully the local climate was accounted for with that. However, as the straw pellets look like rabbit feed, they are easy to munch on. I had to keep Dame Avalanche away from them.
When the only available place is the big chain stores, I guess it’s buy from there or else improvise. We clean our woodburning tips by putting a small amount of aluminum oxide on a leather strop, then rubbing the tip on it to get rid of built up carbon. A few of the carvers use that method to sharpen knives also. The local and regional people quit selling it. I had to buy it in bulk from the River online. I bought enough to supply everybody for 2 or 3 lifetimes.
There WAS a Federal government program in place that required that ALL areas get supplied with fast speed broadband internet coverage. As most of the areas getting this were very rural, Indian Reservations, or other extremely low income areas, well, the current government decreed that the program wasn’t fair (for reasons that are best not published on your website) and ended it.
Economics on the Rez…I don’t know that anybody truly knows what is truly needed and what people want while still maintaining traditional culture. The culture, of course, is disappearing as the elders die, anyhow. In some circles, there are also some roadblocks from non-Natives. What I pick up from listening to people on the Rez talk is that the Natives would prefer to implement solutions rather than have unworkable solutions foisted on them from the outside.
Ah, good. Perpetual grumpiness is very low on the list of things I want to accumulate. 😉 Then again, were I to hold a shop door open for some customers then be prevented from entering “because we’re closed”, I’m not certain that my response would’ve been as diplomatic as yours.
One camping trip when I was about 15, I had some very high-quality shoes. A huge thunderstorm with heavy winds ripped through our first night. The shoes got soaked. Everything was soaked, in fact. Dad eventually got a fire going underneath tarps and he placed our wet shoes near the fire. Well, the coals were so hot that by morning, the rubber soles had separated from the leather uppers on my shoes. Ooops! Dad was not amused, but mom reminded him that he had put the shoes there himself.
DJSpo
Hi DJ,
After not quite two centuries of neglect and misuse, the surrounding forest here is in poor condition, and needs some help. It’s hard, but also rewarding work. The video this week will show some more images of what we’re doing. That particular species of wormwood however, was a complete surprise as to how flammable it was when green. They do say that flame height is usually half to double as high again as the tallest point of ignition. Not good.
8mm of rain fell here today, and was gratefully received. 🙂 You’ve got the grass seed down at almost a perfect time. From here, the plants will either enjoy more water and/or heat, and I reckon they’ll do well. Sometimes the growing season is perfect, and those are wonderful years.
It’s a big call about the seed, but the old timers used to say that the ‘proof is in the pudding’. Seeds can be mightily variable from my observations, but if they survive and thrive, will get even better adapted over time. The dogs here would be all over that straw stuff, and Dame Avalanche is clearly of a similar mindset. 😉 More feed.
Man, I’m no purist, what’s the point in that stance? If the local shops don’t have what you need, then there are other sources. I’d not realised that aluminium oxide was added to blades sharpened on a strop (not something I’ve got, but have been considering obtaining one and trialling a proper razor for shaving – candidly nervous!) Hmm… … Just wondering, does the aluminium oxide assist in the sharpening process in the same way that a sharpening stone does?
Far out, that’s not good about the cell phone coverage. But then at least the folks avoid further economic burdens, such as regular bills for the usage of the service. The other unpleasant side of the coin though, is that areas with coverage are enjoying benefits and avoiding increased costs for themselves by restricting access to areas where the service is economically viable. One of the benefits of this particular area is that there are very few if any services other than roads and mobile phones. Plenty of bills are rising fast.
The state government recently increased the emergency services levy paid with the local council property taxes (which we call rates). Emergency services tax bill becomes law after late-night sitting of Victorian parliament. I used to volunteer for the CFA for about three years, but it seemed a bit like an unpaid job to me, and it interests me that other people are now saying this – and everyone is getting slugged for extra taxes. When cash is pulled out of a rural or remote community and sent to the big smoke, then it further reduces the overall economic viability of the area. The Rez would face that story too. To live in the middle of nowhere, is meant to be a cheap experience.
Culture imposed from external sources has strange effects, such as what you mentioned. And I’ve read of similar concerns down under. I’m of the belief that in the longer term, only grass roots actions to fix local problems have much chance of success, but then the question arises, is the culture free to form as a distinct energy from that of the mainstream? Probably not. And I reckon that is at the crux of the matter.
Very good to hear, and over the years I can’t recall you ever getting grumpy. Respect. Emotional control is not something which is promoted as being a virtue in our society, but they’d be wrong. The guy was weird and foolish, no getting around it. The author Robert E Howard penned his fictional character, Conan, as having said: “Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split.”
Ha! It happens, with leather uppers disconnecting from the sole due to excessive heat. Good to hear that your mother called out your father there. People can indulge such responses until it becomes a habit. That door guy is one to watch, there’s a darkness to him.
10mm of rain now, and 5’C outside. Brr! Winter is here, except the forecast suggests next weekend will reach 21’C again. What?
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
The weather was filthy here today, right from the get-go. It’s great to have some rain, and a bit under half an inch fell through the at times grey mist. It’s cold too now, at 41’F. The descent into winter has begun! 🙂 Not a day to spend outdoors, and the dogs agreed. Did paid work instead all day on a project I’d intended to do later in the week.
Haven’t had a day off work this week yet, which is the difficult bit, so there were plans for tomorrow, but the brain suggests to rest up. Might just do that. Nice to have some flexibility to the schedule. Truthfully, too much work stifles the more creative parts of the brain, like the bit that produces these words, and more. Dunno. 🙂
Absolutely, it’s a colourful and noisy country. Never a dull moment there. Like you, my brain requires quiet moments and yeah, drawing away is a good way to recharge the social batteries. 😉 Hey, you wouldn’t need to conduct a detailed survey to confirm the results of your hearing hypothesis – just walk around and take note of the really loud televisions and other audible noise makers! Man, sometimes when the winds are still here, the quiet itself can be heard, or felt as an absence of pressure. And I get that desire of yours.
A commendable effort on your part, plus the clip was very instructive and exactly what we were saying. That’s how the equation works, and presumably we’ll all get to find that out sooner or later on a more personal level as global trade slows, which it was going to do sooner or later anyway. Presumably all those now lost contracts in your country from big boss spending cuts were funding a whole bunch of peoples lifestyles?
Speaking of cutting back, we’re almost in the solar danger zone again – that three weeks for either side of the winter solstice. Might have a play around with the house battery charging program with that in mind. There’s always more to learn with this stuff. Hmm. The plan was to connect up six spare solar panels to the system tomorrow, just to give everything a little boost, but the brain needs a day off. It won’t be a quick job that.
Yeah, that’s what it takes to manufacture cheap stuff. And the tariffs are a geopolitical tool as well, so there is that element to the story.
I was unaware of the regular lay offs with computer boys biz. Hmm. Would not make for a comfortable existence with that threat hanging over your head. Might be the point. Dunno where I read it, but someone was suggesting that lot use code produced by computers for some of their software. Given the inverter story we were discussing the other day (and the Editor also brought to my attention today), you’d hope someone peers through the code produced and double and triple checks what’s in there?
It’s the exact same situation as your old computer, because my computer is pretty decent, but apparently now not good enough. I already pay for a decent firewall and all round anti-mischief software. Guess I’ve got to pay for more. And there’s only so much which can be squeezed from the community, before alternatives like those dumb flip phones start looking attractive.
Oh yeah, bridges have to deal with some rough handling from time to time. I saw that article too. The height restrictions are usually advertised in advance, but a lot of arrangements begin with the idea: let’s assume that nothing wrong will happen. It’s all downhill from there. I remember when this rail / bridge disaster happened: Granville rail disaster.
Spitter apples is a goodie and produces a strong mental image.
Man, I’m crashing out and will reply tomorrow morning.
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – Rust never sleeps, but occasionally, it takes a long nap. 🙂
https://www.cnn.com/travel/new-delhi-iron-pillar-india-intl-hnk
Our high yesterday was 59F (15C). The overnight low was 52F (11.11C). The forecast high for today is 62F. I usually take H out around midnight, for a walk. It was pouring. I looked at the weather radar and it looked like a clearing spot was coming up. I waited til 1am, and we didn’t get wet. I see the little clutches of Bachelor Buttons (aka Corn Flowers), that I planted, are beginning to come up. I haven’t had to water. I think, maybe, rain water is better, for plants, than what comes out of the tap. Just a theory. Minimally better, but enough to notice.
I sure do like flexibility in my schedule. Makes for a more relaxed life. Very little artificial urgency.
Oh, I’m sure there were some b—s–t jobs that hit the hooper. But a scalpel rather than a chainsaw would have been preferable. Some of those necessary agencies are having a hard time functioning, and there’s been some hiring back to fill sensitive spots.
Yup. You’re heading into your dark season. But you’re prepared.
Oh, I don’t think they check code much, once written. Because it’s perfect, right? 🙂 Or, at least 95% perfect … or, even 90%. People can live with that, right? That was the attitude when the library outsourced their cataloging. Old school cataloguers wouldn’t have tolerated that kind of error rate.
I noticed a new non-fiction book in the “on-order” list from the library, yesterday. “Unplug! How to Break Up With Your Phone.” Interesting, but not something I need to worry about 🙂 .
The Grandville Rail Disaster sounds horrendous. There you are, commuting to work, just like any other day. And then the ceiling falls in. Literally. It kind of reminded me of the 1989 earthquake that caused the collapse of a double deck section of freeway in California.
https://w.wiki/EBQA
About 1/3 of the bridges in the US need to be repaired or replaced. 36% or 222,000 bridges.
I watched a good sci-fi, last night. Popcorn was had. “Mickey 17.”
https://youtu.be/osYpGSz_0i4?si=GjcweVixc2jR__r6
Well worth a look. Lew
Chris:
Thursday we didn’t have the interweb at our house and most of Friday my laptop didn’t work, but Friday night I tried to send you a comment via my phone. Ha! That never works. C’est la vie.
Yesterday evening Mr. Baby caught a young rat in the garden and ate it. What I need to know is if this sets him on the path to knighthood. It’s not much, but if we tot up all the mice and chipmunks he has caught, they might equal a few rats. I am assuming that he must catch a full-grown rat to really set him on the track to Sir Baby.
What I’d really like for him to do is catch that blasted groundhog, but I don’t think even Dame Plum – or Ollie – could catch that one. He’s big and mean. My son saw him fighting with another groundhog. It could not be told if much blood was shed. I think my son and I have foiled him for now as we have laid down heavy landscaping black plastic around the outside edge of the garden, on the ground 4 feet (1.2m) out from the base of the fence and then 2 feet (.61m) up the fence. The fabric is 6 ft (1.8m) wide and comes in a 300 foot (91m) roll. There already was fence wire that runs outside the fence on the ground at the base, but only for 1 (foot (.3m). He was getting under that. I think the fact that there is so much of this fabric, and that it won’t be easy to chew (I don’t know if GHs chew much, though they can dig like badgers – or wombats), might stymie him. “You ain’t nothin’ but a groundhog, cryin’ all the time . . .”
I was so cooked today. It was hot! So I made some gingerale, like we had talked about, except that you mentioned ginger beer. It was so good. Is ginger beer real beer?
Wow – you kept that ponytail for a long time. Do you miss it?
Well, hey – a bottle of maple syrup fell off the refrigerator door onto the top of my foot and must have chipped a bone ’cause there is still a bump there 3 months later. I hope the log chunk did no permanent damage?
We had another 3 or 4 inches of rain right after the 6 inches, and the Rivanna River is high, but nowhere near flood stage, so I expect we’re sitting pretty for awhile. The garden is so happy. Jungle – yes, though a lot of that is weeds. Mushrooms everywhere, too. There were none before.
When I went to the bank Friday, the counter where the tellers are had a new fish in a little tank with a castle in it. I was told that his name (I think it’s a Beta) is Swimshady. Now is there some kind of slang involved there that I am not getting? My bank also keeps a bowl of dog biscuits on the counter; dogs are allowed in.
Pam
Hi Claire,
Hope you’re doing OK? Word in the news here is that parts of your city were smashed by a tornado. Not good. Deadly tornado and severe storms sweep across St Louis, Kentucky.
Thinking of you
Chris
Hi Pam,
All that infrastructure and technology is great, until it doesn’t work. 🙂 Was the interweb knocked out by the heat? The news down here was saying that temperatures in your part of the world have gotten quite hot over the past few days. By contrast 3/5ths of an inch of rain fell yesterday and overnight and it’s now 3’C / 36’F (meant to be 32’F tomorrow morning, and 30’F Tuesday). Brr! At least it’s sunny today and some charge will get into the house batteries. What’s good though, is the gratefully received rain.
Go Mr Baby! And I’d say that such good deeds should be rewarded, yeah, although cats do have questionable taste buds, as do our canine friends. 😉 It’s awful to consider, but there is a need to establish a rough sort of balance between all of the competing critters, and Mr Baby has a role to play there for sure. Fully grown rats are huge, and wily. It’s a big hurdle for your cat to jump, but if that’s what it takes… Hey, we found a rat nest in the engine bay of the little Suzuki dirt mouse Swift. This is where powerful electric leaf blowers are useful – we just blew the nest out of the bay. The rodent had been chomping on a fuel injector cable too. A lucky find, and the dogs told me it was there.
Dame Plum has yet to nab a fully grown rabbit – they’re fast, and Ollie has no chance. They’ve dug into burrows and gotten the kits (I think that’s what baby rabbits are called). But, they can outrun the big dog, and he’s no slouch. Groundhogs… Save us all! 🙂 Fingers crossed your barrier works, and I’m having similar issues with the rabbits and wombats, although there is a plan… Please do let me know how the system works?
Very funny, yes, Elvis has indeed left the building… Have you thought about naming your groundhog: Elvis?
Pam, that question is like asking: Yes, but is it art? 🙂 If my brain gets cooked in the heat, I tend to hold off on consuming alcohol because that makes it worse, so yeah, ginger beer is a … non alcoholic soft drink, but could be made with kick.
Nah, not really. My grandfather was as bald as an egg, and my father kept a decent head of hair (when last I encountered him, although he would have been ten years younger than my age now – it was a long time ago). I’m somewhere between the two, and the pony tail gave me headaches as it pulled on the hair. Pony tails and goatees were a thing in those days of Gordon Gecko. Stressful jobs caused me more hair loss than any other factor, and my grandfather went through WWII so that was probably even more doubly and triply stressful.
Ouch! I believe that there’s not much you can do for such an injury, other than maybe rehab – but I’m no expert. Hope your foot feels better, and did the maple syrup bottle explode? What a sticky mess that would be.
Happy garden = happy gardener. 🙂 It’s a fine time of the year for such a deluge.
Ha! That’s funny, surely your son knew the answer to the cheeky name, although then again maybe not – he might be too young? Anyway, just in case, it’s a reference to the American rapper Eminem who’s about my age. There you go. His stage nickname was Slim Shady. A clever play on words with the fish name.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
I’ve seen that pillar, and it was astounding. Only the English would decide to fire a cannonball at the historic work of excellence – a strange thing to do. It’s funny to think that as the Roman Empire had collapsed into a dark age, India was producing such metallurgical marvels. It’s also six tonnes, which may explain why nobody pinched the thing and melted it down for the ore. 😉 The new explanation sounds intriguing, and when we visited the artefact late last century, word on the street was a completely different explanation involving purity of iron ore and oxygen content or something like that. Before accepting a solution, I’d like to see the researchers reproduce their hypothesis – the hard way. 1,600 years is a testament as to durability of the construction.
The daytime temperatures here are similar, but this morning it was 2’C / 36’F. Brr. Tomorrow will be a 32’F morning, then Tuesday apparently it will reach 30’F. Might be just the thing that the kiwi fruit need – although there’s not much left on the vines now. The weather radar is a wonderful device, and glad to hear that you two dodged the downpour. Three fifths of an inch of rain fell in the past 24 hours here. Yay!
That’s something I wonder about too. What do the added minerals in town water do to plants and the soil and are they in the right proportions for plants? Dunno. Although I’d imagine that far more different kinds of salt is used on your icy roads every year. I’ve read that serious car collectors purchase old cars from down under due to the lack of salt used on roads, especially cars like old VW Kombi vans which apparently attract rust.
Artificial urgency is someone else’s issue – they need to plan ahead better. 😉
Actually the cuts remind me of the very early days when accounting reports were delivered in a massive box of paper printed elsewhere. I will add a side note that people use far more paper nowadays. Anywhoo, I got sick of the waste, and so had a guess as to what was the most useful report/s, and then decided to test the market. One day I just stopped distributing them out into the business to see who would complain about what. Turns out, only about 10% of the paper was actually needed to effectively run the business, which was about my guess. Of course, like those rehires, I then distributed only those reports. If you asked ahead of time as to what reports were important, people would say all of them, which is patently not true. That’s human nature for you.
Maybe we’re prepared? Dunno really, but I’m glad to see some sunshine outside right now, although it is very cold (from my perspective at least). If I didn’t have to earn a living, I could scale back the electricity use to a sustainable level for the next two months, but that’s not an option.
That’s my take as well – why would programmers check the code if the program is working. But it’s like that inverter problem, what Easter eggs are contained within? Anyway, once the code is written and the software published, what do they do all day? And exactly, old school card catalogues mostly worked. I’m old enough to recall paper based accounting ledger systems. They worked pretty well too.
Yeah, unplugging from my phone is not an issue for me either. The device is more of a necessary evil than absolutely necessary. Society can work with plenty of cheaper ways to do things, it’s a choice not to do so. Man you see people with their noses buried in towards a phone screen. The display is too small for me to want to use.
The photos from the freeway deck collapse are very telling especially where the pylons connect – which allegedly was the breaking point. Yup, wrong place, wrong time. A few years before that train disaster, a major section of a bridge under construction collapsed – the workers site shed was underneath, and they were having lunch. Not good. It’s an interesting question as to how good is any of this infrastructure? There are bluestone granite bridges sort of around these parts, one of which has seriously heavy daily commuter traffic use, and it seems to be holding up. But how much of this stuff was made to last, is an interesting question. Bulla Bridge – it’s probably better built than recent concrete efforts given how long its stood.
That’s a lot of bridges.
A sci-fi comedy – awesome! Thanks for mentioning it. Looks like fun, in a deranged sort of way. Yes, back in the days when space was fun again!
Back to the annoying bloke, the thought did cross my mind to take more affirmative action with his head, but of course such actions are frowned upon and would cause no end of personal and professional nuisance, so I let it go and simply disagreed with his stance. As often happens, a better and more assertive one liner popped into the brains inbox hours later (handy for next time, I guess): What are you doing? Explain yourself! Very alpha, but my brain does not naturally work at such speeds and directions, I have to have pre-record such responses. I’d like to think I’m dangerous, but candidly it’s been a few years… 🙂
Holy carp, that’s a lot of crucifixions and sends a strong message. Wonder if the extraordinarily unpleasant act caused inflation and drove up prices for building materials and labour? I mean it’s an awful lot of timber and construction work. Probably beggared the kingdom, sorry I meant to say, Roman Empire. The clean up job would have been truly disgusting. Presumably the underlying causes as to the Spartacus uprising were not addressed? The guy Crassus who commanded the Roman forces was a right piece of work. Decimation is not a glue that holds forces together.
The hot sauce sounds tasty, and even better, is the real deal. And yeah, olive oil is getting pricey here as well. You can usually purchase the more exotic stuff at Asian grocers. The yuppie suppliers may not be the real deal! 😉
A class action may be in your future with that almost eye incident. And I’ve never encountered eggs in a styrofoam package. What ever will they think of next?
The author was onto the seed trail like a proper full blooded hunting dog, although clearly there are risks, such as dealing with grumpy old timers whom surely have better things to do than provide heirloom seeds to the collector? Hey, they might even be tough negotiators?
Well, breeding new plant varieties can hardly be a cheap exercise, and some folks are a bit dodgy, so the alleged re-labelling does not surprise me one bit.
Hmm. I’ve heard a similar thing about the size of blackberries being larger in the past. It happens, and may also be a sign of how far our soils have declined in terms of fertility. On that note, I might get outside and spread the coffee grounds and husks around – it being morning.
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – I’ve been concerned about Claire, too. News from that part of the country is pretty bad.
I figure the iron pillar was built with alien technology. 🙂 I wondered if you’d seen it, during your globe trotting days.
Our high yesterday was 61F (16.11C). The overnight low was 46F (7.77). The forecast high for today is 61. We had a bit of wind, for a couple of hours yesterday afternoon. Gusts into the 20s mph. We’re still getting rain, on and off. Enough that I don’t have to water. When I took H out for her walk, this morning, the sun was shining. Raining, now.
What do coders do all day, once a program is launched? They sit around thinking up a new code, that won’t play nice with the previous code. And will make the previous code, redundant. 🙁
The Bulla bridge looks like it will last awhile. But will it last as long as this Roman engineering marvel?
https://w.wiki/ECyd
I finally sat down and watched “The Last Wave.” Just as good as I remembered, though the ending is a bit ambiguous. A pox on directors who “leave it up to the audience to decide.” Sounds lazy, to me. Without giving to much away, is he having another vision, or is it something that’s actually happening? I probably watched it, originally, on a VHS tape. Which made the scenes in the cave so murky, I really couldn’t tell what was going on. This version was a remastered, Criterion Collection disc. Things were much clearer, and I could also freeze a frame to see exactly what the character was seeing.
The French have a word for that, “I wish I would have said” moment. I like your phrase about your brains in-box.
Probably also drove up the price of slaves. I think some Roman writer mentioned that when the Romans conquered what is now Israel, there were so many slaves thrown on the market, that the price of slaves was severely depressed.
Well, I decided to have some rice, veg, and a few chopped up fried eggs, for dinner. I used some of those eggs I salvaged. I’m glad I crack them into a saucer. The first one was really … nasty. The others were just fine.
Adam Alexander relates a delightful back and forth (through an interpreter) of one of his negotiations with a Grannie Grower. In general, from Grannie’s side it was mostly, “Who is this idiot, and why is he wasting my time?” 🙂
I finally had the time (and light) to sit down and peruse the “Cotton and Thrift” book, about feed sack fabric. Fascinating stuff. And the opening line of the book, in the “Forward?” “Make do or do without; do the best with what you’ve got.” 🙂
Back before feed sacks, in the 19th century, just about everything was shipped in barrels. Which should properly be called “casks.” A few things were shipped in jute or burlap sacks (from India). The cotton industry had fell on hard times, and someone (probably several someones) got the bright idea of shipping feed and staples, in cotton cloth bags. They were easier to handle, and you could pack a lot more into a rail car. It became almost a patriotic movement, to use American grown and manufactured bags. Up until the 1920s, they were white, with company logos printed on them.
It’s interesting how responsive the cotton industry was to the consumers. At first, the white bags printing was hard to get off. Tips were printed right on the bags for removal. But even if the logo still showed, people used them for underwear or quilt backs. Then the cotton bag companies switched to easily removed paper labels.
In the 1920s, they started printing patterns on the bags. Or even, toys that could be cut out and stuffed. Quilt blocks. The Cotton Council started giving away free pamphlets, as to all the uses the fabric could be put to. Everything from clothes pin bags to aprons. And, of course, fashion. Women’s magazines had articles. There were fashion shows. The old Simplicity Pattern packets (which some people collect), not only listed yardage needed, to make a garment, but sometimes, number of sacks that would be required.
I was surprised to see that bags were printed with patterns, right up to the easy 1960s. There were some interesting personal stories. One woman made identical dresses, for her twin daughters. When they wore out, she turned the scraps into a quilt.
The book was published by Texas Tech University, and written by Marian Montgomery, the curator of clothing and textiles at the university museum. This part of the museum collection has over 33,000 items, that have to do with feed sacks. It’s interesting that awareness of feed sack fabrics, first began among quilters. Several feed sack quilts are pictured. Lew
Yo, Chris – Someone cleaned up, and reposted that article on New England stone walls.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/england-stone-walls-lie-intersection-140348589.html
Believe it or not, not near so many ads as when it was first posted. and, at least one picture of an actual stone wall! Lew