Far out, the delightful blue sunny skies of late winter suggest that the cool season is rapidly drawing to a close. It’s nice weather now, a bloke can work outdoors in a t-shirt and not freeze. Of course occasionally having to haul heavy forest materials to a burn off that even Guy Fawkes would approve of, has been known to keep a person warm. Sandra mentioned the other day that the time for wearing warm corduroy work pants is rapidly coming to a close. The cycle of the year has swung around to a new season.
Whilst winter ruled, we’ve been busy cleaning up the old loggers mess. It’s not pretty to look at all the accumulated wasted logs and stumps which was left behind and wonder what snakes and rabbits hide there, but hey, at least the land was cheap. It’s been remarked upon elsewhere that opportunity often turns up wearing overalls and looking like hard work. All very true. Anyway, that work has been going on for two years now, AND (apologies for the use of the capitals because I’m excited!) we’re getting near to the end of that clean up project. At one point today, Sandra almost, but not quite, managed to drive the heavy duty low centre of gravity mower from one side of the mess to another. Alas, a log was in the way and halted further progress, and so there are still a few more days of work to go before the job is done.
There are some undocumented benefits for doing this work, and over the past few days a magpie has been shadowing my every move. The work exposes all sorts of grubs and insects, making for a great avian feed. Hopefully the birds would consume any deadly reptiles found, maybe. Regardless, the cold winter weather would ensure that the seriously poisonous critters were sluggish enough, maybe. Whatever, at times the bird was underfoot and at risk of having a chunk of timber splatting it, but no, the bird survived the experience just fine.
Observant readers will note that the large old tree in the above image has several vertical cuts in it. The butt end of that log is almost as large as last week’s Meg tree stump, but in this instance it has a hollow core. Termites and damp conditions have done a good job in the past four decades of consuming the guts of that tree. The Meg by contrast, was pristine timber. Here is the log after about half of it had already been cut up, removed and burnt off.
The area is cleaning up really nice. This was how it looked last week:
The chainsaw is a potent machine, but recently it has been giving me troubles. Despite it being a fourteen year old 72cc Stihl quality machine lavished with lots of care and attention, it’s working at around the upper limits of it’s capabilities. Problems are inevitable. A spring on the clutch broke today, and that put an end to the machines use. It’s an easy enough fix, but I’m left wondering, do I purchase a cheap after-market clutch, or pay far more for the Sthil original part? Dunno. Truly, it’s hard to know, and sometimes a person just has to run the experiment and see for themselves: Is it worth saving mad cash on this consumable part?
Recently the idea that the cheaper saw chains are probably not worth the hassle, had been forming in the dark corners of my mind. The more competitively priced chains seem to become blunt much faster than the factory items. But then, I discovered that the grinding disc used for sharpening tool had worn out, so who knows if that is the cause of the problem. Check this next photo out. The old disc was placed on top of the new replacement:
After a few years of wear and tear, the old grinding disc is now about 20mm / 0.75″ smaller than its new replacement. Funnily enough, being smaller, that will produce a problem with the geometry of the cutting teeth on a chain. Somehow the old disc is also no longer a perfect circle! No wonder there’d been problems with all of the chains recently. This issue was only noted because a manually hand filed chain somehow cut far better than the machine sharpened chains. Who knew? There’s a lot to know with this technology, and you never stop learning.
Prior to the saw giving up the proverbial ghost, the log had been completely cut into very large and extraordinarily heavy rounds. Those were all rolled downhill and pushed into a bonfire. The remnants of the stump will have wait to be dealt to next week when the saw has been repaired.
In between writing this essay on Sunday night, Ollie and I took a bread to head down to the forest edge to push all the chunks in the fire together so that hopefully they will all burn off. It’s also worth mentioning that the remnant tree stump is quite impressive, but fortunately this time it is hollow:
Projects around here are always difficult to know how they’ll look or work out in advance. Most of the time, we’re just winging it as we go along. Work unfolds slowly as conditions or needs dictate. The other day an idea popped into Sandra’s mind regarding a connecting path through one of the garden beds, and that will solve a few problems. But right now, the winter weather suggests to do the forest clean up work, so that’s what gets done. There really is no great planning going on for this place. We of course have a list of things we’d like to get done around here, but week to week, we’re flexible as to how things roll.
It would be a daunting task to prepare a detailed plan for this place, and I hold some doubts that many of the issues we face could be predicted long in advance. Anyway, my brain isn’t wired for such visual imagery. I have zero visual memory recollection. Close my eyes, and it’s blank in that internal space. They call it Aphantasia, which is a fancy label for what I just wrote. It would be a personal nightmare to be stuck in front of one of those people who’s jobs it is to convert peoples descriptions into facial drawings for the police. What a nightmare: I’m sure the perpetrator had a nose, just please stop asking me to describe it! It was only in recent years that I learned that most people have an innate ability to recollect visual images. Some folks can even create three dimensional models in their minds eye, and do stuff with it, whatever that is.
Nope, it’s all blank in there. Still, it took something like five decades to realise that people had different visual faculities, so clearly it’s not a big issue. The only time it is an issue is when Sandra and I are discussing how a project might turn out. Using words to describe a physical outcome is never easy, so prior to commencing work, we physically walk through how whatever it is that we’re doing, might end up working out. Most of the time things end up OK, and like all the rest of life, we’re just learning by doing.
One of the machines been a bit of a lemon from early on. Of course the machine worked long enough to get through the warranty period. It was not cheap either, and has a genuine Honda motor, as distinct from the many generic knock-off copy motors you see used these days (which are mostly quite good). It’s had issues with the ignition system. There are times you head out to use the push mower, and it flat-out refuses to start. A very pesky nuisance.
Earlier in the week, with a spare hour to hand, I dismantled the entire ignition system on the mower and had a good look at all the parts to see what was going on. And that was when I discovered the two bolts securing the ignition coil to the motor housing had been stripped. Must have been done very early on in the machines life. I’d never removed them before. No wonder the ignition circuit in the thing was failing. Chucked in new bolts, reset the coil spacing, and we’ll see how it goes. Recent tests have shown that it now at least starts first pull. It’s funny how something really simple can cause a complicated machine to have issues.
Thought it was worth mentioning that we’re on good terms with not only the magpies, but also the King Parrots. One of those birds will follow us around the orchards. It’s quite sweet, and possibly kiwi fruit fed.
The nights have been quite cold and clear this week. The minor amount of smoke from various burn-offs and wood heaters in the area has produced some delightful colours at sunset.
Cold and clear winter mornings can also be remarkably frosty.
At this time of year, the morning air can be crisp at this elevation, and yet lower down in the valley they’re socked in with thick fog.
Late winter is a great time for the citrus harvest, and we picked buckets of lemons for processing this week. The fruit is cut into quarters before then being pressed for the juice. That gets stored in glass jars and frozen for later use. Lemon juice is a very useful product in the kitchen.
Our first ever oranges were harvested this week (two!), and the Pomello tree is full of large grapefruit. Yum! An excellent addition to the breakfast fruit mix.
This week’s video is on how to tell how much water you have in a plastic tank:
In other farm news, the deer have become a serious nuisance. The other morning they’d somehow managed to push over an Irish Strawberry Tree. An absolute waste.
The top of an olive tree was ripped off, and the deer had removed much of the bark presumably scratching its velvet from the antlers. Not happy.
And there has been some bark lost on the surrounding forest trees.
Onto the flowers:
The temperature outside now at about 10am is 7’C (45’F). So far for this year there has been 470.6mm (18.5 inches) which is up from last weeks total of 459.4mm (18.1 inches)
Comments
46 responses to “I see, nothing…”
Yo, Chris – So what’s on the other side of the logger’s mess? Narnia? Oz? 🙂 Or, maybe as with a lot of explorers, It’s just a yen to see what’s there.
The magpie. Your new best friend.
Rocks. I see lots of rocks. Even one that I would classify as a boulder.
If I could squeeze out the mad cash, I think I’d go with original parts. And, a backup. Stihl is hard to beat. And, they won’t get any cheaper.
First the grinding disc, and then the mower. Small moving parts that cause great problems. It reminded me of a bit of doggrel, “For want of a nail a kingdom was lost.” Seems the sentiment has been kicking around for a long time. I guess the lesson is, small things matter.
https://w.wiki/EzbR
Aphantasia. That’s a new one. So how do you relate to pictures? I’m not much of a picture taker, or saver, as I always have them stored away in my brain. I’d heard of people who have no facial recognition. Can you pick the Editor out of a crowd?
LOL. The King Parrot follows you around, and observes what you eat. If you don’t fall over dead, he knows he’s in for a good nosh. 🙂 Maybe if you took a bite out of something, spit it out and ran around in circles yelling, “Ick! Ick! Ick! Maybe throw yourself on the ground and twitch for awhile. Just for added dramatic effect.
Do you use your turn screw cider press, to squeeze out the lemons?
The video on your water tanks, was very good. A bit of a complicated system, with a lot of moving parts. But pretty straightforward.
Maybe it’s time to build a deer blind. Sort of like a watchtower. Blast away. It’s either that or a lot of fencing that would begger the kingdom. Lew
Hi Lewis,
Man, there could be a spatial anomaly hiding just out of sight behind all that loggers mess. Probably where the Meg’s have been coming from. Didn’t the great Mr Holmes once say something about ‘When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.’ So, if I suddenly disappear after a day of forest clean-up work, you at least know what happened. Now you’ve gone and posed a tough question there: Narnia or Oz? Look, I’m leaning towards Oz but would hope for some other fictional world like say, Jack Vance’s Dying Earth series. Candidly my wits alone may not be sharp enough to survive there… Robert E Howard’s creations would simply crush me. 🙂
Now you may laugh about the magpie, but folks in the city are really hassled by those birds. They’re really territorial, so cordial relations stop me from being swooped any time I’m walking within their unseen boundaries. The birds particularly take a dislike to bicycle riders, and they can be a real menace.
That’s a boulder for sure, and it’s asking to be split into more usefully sized rocks. At present we are rock wealthy. You read it here first! You’ve given me a good idea for a video.
I appreciate your perspective on the parts and am very much leaning in that direction, and will do that, as well as use up the after-market spare parts which are ready to hand. And exactly, small things really do matter. The global supply chain which provides parts is a completely nuts idea from a national security perspective – all other considerations to the side.
how do you relate to pictures? and Can you pick the Editor out of a crowd? Those are kind of the same question but from different angles. Here goes: If I close my eyes and try to recollect a visual image from memory, all I get is the colour black, no matter how hard I try. It’s as if you were to switch off your computer monitor screen and demanded it reproduce a picture. The interior world is giving me nothing on a visual front. However, the eyes supply constant visual stimuli to the brain, and that somehow categorises everything, and yours would be doing no less. All those details are dealt with as objects / links / processes / concepts, at a sub conscious level. So I know intuitively that my fingers are, just for example, right now pressing upon the individual keys of a keyboard connected to a computer in a specific way so as to communicate a general idea to yourself. But if you asked me later on, when I was elsewhere, as to what the computer keyboard looked like, I’d have no idea. If you instead showed me a computer keyboard, I’d say that’s a computer keyboard. But then, if you pressed hard enough for an reply about this specific keyboard, I could supply an answer which would satisfy your question without you being any the wiser: I’d say, it’s a QWERTY mechanical keyboard which is black (and here’s the thing), I’d add a detail saying it has a ‘clicky-clacky’ sound. The addition would probably throw most people off further probing questions. My brain prioritises audio stimuli instead of visual, and I can recall music and other senses at will – thus all the stupid music puns.
If I were an artist painting landscapes for example, I’d have to have a photo beside me for reference – or, it would end up being a very strange expressionist reproduction of an emotional state, like say, The Scream. Mr Munch ain’t painting what he’s seeing is he? It’s pure abstractions laid out on canvas.
If you’re really interested, there’s a cartoon artist who can explain the entire situation far better than I ever could. I have APHANTASIA (and you may too…without realising it!)
On the scale of things, no big deal. Simply another of life’s quirks we all navigate. Thought it would be interesting more than anything else.
Very funny! The dogs would clear off the parrots, if only to get the juicy bits first. It’s a bit of a fictional trope to be consumed by one’s pets don’t you reckon? Would H hesitate? I think not. 😉
Went into the big smoke today to get the Suzuki Dirt rat serviced. Whilst we were in there waiting for the work to be done, we went and watched a film. The Editor’s choice: The Materialists. It fits the romance drama genre (if there is such a thing). I quite enjoyed it, and pointed out to the Editor that the protagonist had the infj personality type. Turns out that values are greater than cold hard mad cash. Who knew? A gourmet hamburger was harmed during the day. Very unfortunate for the burger… 😉
Yes, the vintage style screw press is very good at squeezing lemons, although they had to be cut into quarters first. No point breaking the machine.
Thanks. And gargle seems to be pushing me in the landscaping and water tank guy direction. Oh well, it’s a niche.
That’s my thoughts too regarding expense and fencing. But it would also exclude every other forest critter to their detriment. I’ve actually struggled with the ethics of the deer problem for a while, and the simplest answer is possibly the most effective response.
Ollie is always entertained by the antics of us all.
Exactly, and until you mentioned Norah Lofts, I’d never before heard of the author. And the book was excellent. Frank Herbert, Jack Vance and Poul Anderson were mates, but nowadays people would only recall Dune. I personally believe the other two authors to have penned better stories, and was a bit bored by Dune, but the public can be a fickle audience and there is an element of timing and luck to the fiction market. Having now purchased the complete set of Jack Vance books, hard work pays too, but he’s more your author’s, author, than one for mass markets. I’m sure he would have appreciated the cold hard cash, and he made a decent living from his output.
Those ancient batteries are very strange items, and they sure look like batteries to me. It’s possible that electroplating / arc welding was known about as a technique way back then (and that’s just my best guess as to their purpose). It certainly would have been useful and not requiring of complicated circuits.
Everyone believes that things can’t happen in their part of the world, until they do. It wasn’t that many years ago I had to display id and papers at armed checkpoints. The world can change, that’s for sure.
I’m sure your funny noises were very manly upon making that reptilian encounter. Hehe! They scare the daylights out of me. What do the master gardeners have to say about the newcomer to the garden?
For a returned laugh, I read your comment about the movies prior to today’s film outing. Thanks for the laughs. Your timing was good.
No mention of the fire in the news down here, and they’re usually onto such matters. And yeah, hopefully people take evacuation orders seriously. One must be fit, mentally prepared, and with access to lots of resources to stay and fight a fire – even then it might not be enough.
Whoa! That is one rough dream to have, and glad to hear that H is well. Dog snores are usually very pleasant sounding, kind of with a reassuring quality to the sound.
Poop. How’s the first day of 90’F feeling? Have you had to water the garden more than usual today? It was 66’F in the big smoke earlier.
Touch down! You two play nice now ya’ hear. 🙂 That’s my dad talk for the day.
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – You might find a temporal anomaly. Then you could ask the loggers why they left such a mess. Just watch out for that snapped cable! 🙂
Around Seattle, they’ve had problems with owls attacking people. Ripping out chunks of scalp, etc.. Hitchcock, “The Birds.”
Well, that was a fascinating cartoon about Aphantasia. I noticed one of the commenters (who doesn’t have Aphantasia), said he visuals stories to fall asleep. I do the same thing. World building. So, you’re neurodivergent.
🙂 . Aren’t you special. I see it’s thought that only 1-4% of the population has this. Some of the comments were heart rendering. But it seems as if the brain compensates. But if you woke up one morning, and could visualize, it might be a bit overwhelming.
Feeding the birds. One of the fellows down at the Club, brings bird seed. We have a lot of LBBs (Little Brown Birds) around, and also some pigeons. So, he was feeding the birds, last night, and at first, everyone got along. Then one pigeon started bullying the little birds. So, he put some seed in two places. I thought the pigeon was going to have a nervous breakdown. 🙂
I watched the trailer for “The Materialists”. I don’t know. Probably not something I’d watch. Something about people marrying for money. How Jane Austin. Not that women in her time had much choice. Speaking of choice, I’m reading bits and pieces of “The Age of Choice: A History of Freedom in Modern Life.” (Rosenfeld, 2025.) It’s pretty dense, and I figure I’ll be doing a lot of skimming.
Speaking of authors, in and out of favor, I was reminded of that book I read recently, “Jane Austin’s Bookshelf.” A good read, by the way. People sort of think Austin arrived full blown and innovative. But there were several women authors, before or during Austin’s time, that were as popular, or even more popular than she was. But for one reason or another, fell out of favor and off the radar. What makes a classic? LOL. You might as well ask, “What is art?”
I think the ancient “batteries” might have been used for electroplating gold, on jewelry. What happens when the king discovers that his solid gold bling, isn’t? Which is the premise of the story of the ancient Greek scientist, Archimedes, and the king who thought his crown might not be all it was claimed.
https://w.wiki/EzvJ
The Master Gardeners take on the snakes is that they’re harmless and beneficial. I heard that there was a larger, dead snake, up the hill. Mom? Someone had bashed its head in.
H has occasional nightmares. I reach out from under the covers, and give her reassuring pats, until she calms down. Then we can both get back to sleep. 🙂
Our high yesterday was 90F (32.22C). The overnight low was 59F (15C). The forecast high for today is 95F. The forecast high for tomorrow is 99F. Then it’s cooler, and maybe rain by the weekend. I’ve been still watering once a day, but giving the garden a deeper soak. Nothing looked stressed, last night. If I notice any stress this evening, I may water twice, tomorrow.
I saw an interesting article on the restaurant industry, here. Not so much the chains, as the smaller, individual family operations.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/10/business/restaurants-food-costs-consumer-spending
I did take a bit of exception to the statement that eating at home was “trading down.” As if eating at home and preparing your own meals is a bad thing. Lew
Aphantasia- never heard of that before. Many of us might have some tweak to the sensory wiring that we don’t realize is not the same as everyone else.
Bits and parts and entropy- Just this week, I was using the brush mower, walking merrily along behind it, when it just stopped cutting. The BCS was fine, no loud grinding noises, it just stopped cutting.
Well, after taking it apart, I found that one small set screw had fallen out, so the drive shaft had shifted and no longer mated with the coupling coming from the BCS. Just a tiny little part, but totally shut down the operation. Did the local hardware stores carry it? No. It was metric in a less common size. Luckily, there is an excellent BCS distributor who I call for expertise, so one is on the way, but one has to wonder, how much spare part money should I spend now, while parts are still available? Of course, any move to simplify and lower the reliance on technology means more human muscle effort. I’ll be 69 this month…..
I’ve said it before, but I just have to say it again- Venison is tasty. Plenty of youtube videos out there on how to field dress and butcher large hoofed animals. 🙂
Apple cider pressing looms quite near now. Hazelnut harvest just a couple weeks after that. Just finished collecting the first of the dry soup beans plants. We hang them in the barn to finish drying out of the rain.
Removing the beans from the pods will be a relaxing, late fall job in the living room.
Hi, Chris!
You are thinking of Schultz and Hogan and Stalag 13? Perhaps that was: “I know nothing!”.
That tree was another Meg. But it does look so much better and clearer in your woods. You must be proud that the Editor could just about drive all the way across. In your sunset photo, I could swear that I can see your Meg fire in the background. I wonder what your neighbors think about all these bonfires.
It’s interesting that there is only the lone magpie. And a lone King Parrot? He is a beautiful, regal bird. You may keep him, however.
That is a tough decision to make about your chainsaw. My first thought was to buy an original part as my son has had some unfortunate purchases in parts when he buys cheaper versions. But then you stated how old your chainsaw is and hard is the work that it has to do. So, what is your alternative? You have another chainsaw, right? Is it of the same quality? Can you still buy such quality chainsaws? At what cost?
The question with the grinding disc may be: Can you expect more than a few years of use with one?
I can see things in my mind. In fact, I can see something that I have just read in my mind for awhile. Not as long as when I was a child and could “memorize” my schoolwork for tests. That guaranteed all A’s. It really isn’t fair for some kids to have that advantage.
We have trouble with our push mower, too. I think it is from mowing the non-peak rocks.
You have grown oranges! Good job! And they said it couldn’t be done . . .
What an interesting video. That’s such a neat and simple way to tell how much is in a tank. Could we call it sonar? That is an amazing amount of water pressure at the machinery shed tanks. I am so impressed.
A question from you from last week: “when you thin trees out, due to the plants accessing more light, minerals and water, the canopy gets more dense”. They definitely do, especially in their lower areas, where they start to put out longer, fuller branches. Before the thinning, those areas got no sun.
There is that wonderful Silver Wattle. I am so glad to see it again. Thanks for the other flowers, also!
Pam
Hi Pam,
Hehe! Yeah, that was it. A good line is worth repeating.
After discovering this latest Meg monster, I took a better look around the area. Probably should have done that last time. It’s pleasing to see that clean project nearing completion – it’s been two years of hard work, and is now only mere weeks away from being declared as done.
And that observation of yours earns you the coveted Gold Elephant Stamp award. It was indeed, respect. The neighbours can’t see the bonfires, nor the smoke. Burn timber at a hot enough temperature, and it emits very little smoke. It’s hard to get anywhere near to the bonfires when they’re roaring.
There’s always an avian story when a person spots a lone bird, especially when they hail from a social bird species. It’s probably not good. A family of King Parrots are particularly swift at cleaning up a fruit tree of unnecessary fruit. All very community minded of them.
The other chainsaw machines are of lesser grunt than the big one. So, I went to see the local Stihl dealer this morning and got a quote for the clutch at $140 and chains were $56 each. After-market clutches and chains can be had for $20 each. Hmm. Had a good long think about the situation, and then contacted the mob who sold me the after-market chains. They supplied me with the specifications for sharpening their particular chains – which are different to the Stihl chains.
Then I grabbed two brand new (one an after-market and the other a Stihl) chain and actually took detailed measurements of all of the specifications. That was an interesting activity which I hadn’t thought to do before, but now I know what settings the factories use, and can replicate those.
Didn’t order the super expensive clutch (why bother?), but removed the damaged part in the chainsaw, and simply fixed it – which was easy enough to do (it was a broken spring). Then I changed the gearing of the chainsaw so as to provide more pulling power for the chain, but at a reduced speed. Sharpened up one of the old blunt after-market chains given the new knowledge. Reassembled everything. And the machine tested as working beautifully. Turns out, I didn’t know nearly enough about that beast of a machine. Put some after-market parts on order. Sometimes you can fix machines on the cheap, it just takes a lot of hours, as in this case. I have no doubts that your son would have gone through that exact same experience with some other machine repair he was doing? Oh well.
That’s the right question with the grinding disc. Turns out, they have about a two year lifespan. Who knew?
Seems fair enough to me, we all have differing skills and abilities, and I reckon it’s knowing how to make the best of those, which is the key. Candidly, it’s my opinion that it is amazing that we’ve all done as well as we have.
Pam, sorry to say, but rocks and cutting steel rarely interact well. The heavy Japanese made low centre of gravity mower has super heavy blades which can cope with a few rocks from time to time. The beast of a thing is even smoothing out the soil. However, it is far cheaper to remove those most useful of rocks from the soil – if at all possible. Some rocks resist being relocated! An outrage. 😉
The oranges are really tasty, but about two-thirds the size of store bought citrus fruit. You’ve gotta be in it, to win it. That’s what they tell me.
That’s funny, and yes, it is a form of sonar. Such water pressure can be handy for keeping fire at a discreet distance.
Your challenge, should you accept it, is to keep the forest under story open so that you can move through it without clopping your head upon a branch. You’ve just reminded me that this is a job which needs doing over the next few weeks in the orchard.
I love the flowers too. When the forest decides to bloom, the plants do so in a big way.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Steve,
We’re all rather interesting creatures with varied skills and abilities. Hey, imagine if we were all the same? No doubts the arrangement would be efficient, but would it be resilient? I think not. To be honest, for me it took over five decades of life before the matter even popped into my awareness. Who knew? Interesting, but no big deal. Mind you, Sandra and I have to be careful with each other as to how we communicate what a project around here should end up looking like, and so we generally walk through work, or just flat out admit that we have no idea and will make it up as we go along. I’m not a fan of moving super heavy rocks whilst receiving helpful advice during that process. 🙂 It’s too hard work for such randomness.
A BCS machine can work wonders with the right attachments. And your story is very much of the: ‘for want of a nail’ situation. Metric! Have to laugh, I have the exact opposite problem with a Toro machine which is full-on made using US / imperial measurements. Yes, who knew a 10mm ring spanner will round 3/8″ nuts? And the stump grinder cutting teeth are made in your country and are all 3/8″ threads. Oh well, I’ve got both metric and imperial tools, because way back in the day, that’s what you had to have down here.
Hmm, but the deeper question revealed from your BCS story is: How many spare parts do you keep? And truthfully, I have no idea. However, given a lot of these parts things are made in the land of stuff, it’s probably not a bad idea to keep more than a few spares.
I dunno whether I’ve mentioned this to you previously, but at the agricultural expo, there are often stores with all sorts of miscellaneous parts boxes, like say 600 number of random sized high tensile nuts, washers and bolts for sizes M2 to M6 (2mm to 6mm). Those boxes can be bought for a song, and are worth nabbing. And that example is the tip of the iceberg. Would have worked a treat in your BCS situation. But where does a person stop?
I really don’t know the answer to that predicament, however today I reached into the parts bins and fixed the chainsaw clutch (and have spares still). Worthwhile taking a note of what things break, or in your case, fall off. You’ll never find that part in the soil. And then order replacements.
Congrats on achieving a venerable age, and I hit 55 a few months ago. That old clock keeps on ticking away marking the minutes and hours. How was your camping trip?
Hehe! Steve, those large herbivores turn up in the wee hours of the night when they know I’m sound asleep. It’s not right and they should be more amenable to being bopped by the three oh eight at a more reasonable hour of the day. On the other hand, should the zombie apocalypse occur, there is an entirely different incentive regime in place, and the deer will be easy feed – for me at least. Rest assured that I would not let such protein go to waste.
Had a lovely cider this evening, and it’s been my experience that the best ciders are produced from a random collection of apples. That way, the flavour profile gets spread around in a pleasing fashion.
Best wishes for both your apple and hazelnut harvest. Home grown beans are one of winters pleasures. Yum! The work is that, yup. 🙂
Hey, worked out how to sharpen the after-market chains today by a combination of contacting the supplier and taking careful measurements of the factory settings. I’m only left with the thought as to why I didn’t think of doing so before? The old timers used to say, better late than never.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
That temporal would be handy to have the matter resolved once and for all. But! There could be downsides, the broken cable being one such. But I’m reminded of the saying from your land: Shoot; Shovel; and Shut up. If I’d been disappeared in the past via the actions of a temporal anomaly, I’d be upset for sure, but who’d know? Awful and I’d miss our regular chats, what with the interweb not having been invented way back then.
What? Are you being serious about the owls? The owls here are nice birds and would never think to scalp a human, that I’ve heard of. Oh no! It’s real. Far out, and you’re not wrong with the reference to the Hitchcock film. The magpies in the big smoke do exactly the same thing to less alert humans, thus why I’m pleased by the cordial avian-human relations. Basically, the angry birds are cracking the sads because they don’t have enough habitat for their hunting and rearing purposes and too many human competitors.
I’d not thought to read the comments on the cartoon video. Sometimes they can be quite enlightening, although the forum rarely encourages dialogue… … Just read a couple of dozen comments. Yup. Some of the comments it should be noted, are absolutely hysterical. If I were to do stand-up comedy, I would so rip this kind of first rate material.
Interesting that you can visualise a story prior to sleep kicking in. That would be a handy knack for constructing narratives, yup, see what you mean about the world-building aspect. Oh, I dunno whether it is a neurodivergent thing, more like a pure lack of ability. Nothing special about not being able to do something, is there? 🙂 Being an infj personality type who’s male, is probably rarer at about 0.5% of the population. You’re probably right though, the brain would explode scanners style. That would probably work out much like if other folks suddenly awoke with the sense of empathetic emotional mirroring I have to put up with everyday. Sometimes I’m uncertain whether the emotional states I’m experiencing are even mine – that can get a bit weird.
Hehe! A great experiment to run on the pigeon. The poor little dinosaur wannabes, they’ve only got tiny wee brains for coping with things like, say greed, jealousy and envy. 🙂 Man, that story reminds me of the chickens and all their social wrangling. It’s brutal in the land of bird, thus why the magpie was my shadow work buddy the other day. Hope he’s doing OK today, but it’s not a genteel story. Birds physically kick their progeny out of the nest, and he looked a tad beaten up.
Having no readership in New York City, I can say with a certain detached objectiveness that very often in film, the characters living there appear to me to express a lot of unusual behaviours which I’d probably chuck in the ‘neurotic category’ basket. Marrying for money is probably the least of the issues.
And yes, we all do build upon the shoulders of earlier greats. And that’s an awesome insight, yes, is it art? Makes you wonder, and I’ve read of an artist pushing to have his biography included under the Penguin Classics label. Seems like narcissism to me, but hey, what do I know. Probably isn’t art though… Thanks for the laughs.
Archimedes was probably just a super clever dude who wanted to run around the streets naked and see whether he’d get away with it. Probably a lot of drinking had been going on beforehand, and his mates tried to cover up with a good back story to explain everything away to the disgruntled authorities. Back in those days however, such behaviour may have been acceptable? Admittedly, from this future time, it does seem all rather odd. Nothing at all wrong with a heuristic approach to problem solving, as long as it doesn’t involves witches like that scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
On that heuristic note, earlier today I went to the local Stihl dealer to get a quote for the clutch and a chain. $140 and $56 each. Look, I wasn’t excited about those prices and decided to man-up and resolve this matter once and for all – on the cheap. With defeat hanging around my head like a bad dog stink, I took a few minutes to think through the problem and came up with an alternative solution.
Contacted the seller of the after-market chains by phone and had a discussion as to the precise various measurements recommended to sharpen them – it being something of a three dimensional problem. Then, just to be certain of the numbers, I got two new chains – a Stihl and an after-market – and just looked at them closely with a magnifying glass and took detailed measurements to see what the factory had set them both at. And they were different. Who knew?
Then because the clutch was broken, I opened up the machine and removed it. Replaced it with a spare (I keep two of the things). Then fixed the broken one with a new clutch spring so it will work again at some point in the future. Put the whole thing back together. I also changed the gearing slightly so the chains move slower, but have about 15% more grunt behind them. Sharpened the after-market chain using the new knowledge. And the machine worked beautifully. Yay! That was a relief, the genuine parts could potentially beggar the kingdom.
That old story of Adam and Eve lolling around the garden enjoying themselves has been the bane of slithery reptiles going on for several millennia now. 😉 Could even be defamatory. Can a class action of snakes be brought together before the law? Actually I’m surprised that no other critter has consumed the dead snake you mentioned.
It happens and poor H. It’s very thoughtful of you to comfort her at such times. And dogs can whimper and do all sorts of things in their sleep. They probably have a very rich and vivid inner life.
It was raining here a little while ago, and today was both cold and cloudy – a good day for fixing up the chainsaw mess.
Holy carp! That’s getting rather warm at your place. Hope that a/c unit of yours is working well at keeping the insides cool. Compared to heating with electricity, those cooling machines are very efficient. That’s a good outcome if after a 90’F day the plants are unfussed. By the time the weather here gets up into the high 90’s, some of the annual plants can look a little bit stressed mid afternoon. It’s not ideal, but water is limited. Deep watering your lot is a great idea. Are you seeing the benefits with improved plant growth?
Hey, spotted the first daffodil today. I thought another was going to beat it to that honour a few days ago, but no. And there are small developing buds on many fruit trees.
Hmm, possibly it may have taken a lot of really low wages to supply food that cheap to the public, of which both examples seemed to pitch at the once affluent middle-class. These are very much issues I too wonder about. Funnily enough I’ll be writing about such matters this Sunday based on the visit to the big smoke yesterday. That’s the plan anyway. Reality, may get strange… 🙂
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – So, I meant to ask … The wattle flowers look yellow. So why is it called a Silver wattle? So many questions to keep one awake, at night. 🙂
Your owls and possums seem so benign, compared to ours. Though our owls are usually pretty mellow, given enough space. Birds are fascinating. Chickens, particularly.
I got a bit more into the “Age of Choice” book. Actually, just the introduction. How much freedom is involved in choice? Probably, actually, not very much. Choice is bounded by all sorts of things. Status, class, peer group pressure, the fear of not making a right choice … the list goes on. Official rules, customs and social conventions, lack of funds. Bounded choices. Limited by perimeters both visible and not.
Well, it is rather warm in Greece. 🙂
Heuristic? Have you been hitting the word-a-day calendar, again?
That’s quit a tale of the chain saw parts. The hero’s journey. 🙂 You’d think they’d put that information on the packaging.
Re: Snakes and a class action lawsuit. Lawyers are getting rich enough, as it is.
Sometimes, I think H intentionally bedevils me. She’s suddenly decided she doesn’t like peanut butter, on her kibble. Her kibble, plus, whatever, is ever shrinking. We’re down to mixed veg (but no green beans) and rice, and cranberries. Also, when we’re ready to head out the door for a walk, she suddenly finds her food dish, interesting. That’s been sitting there for hours. I usually just wander off and do something else, until she satisfies her curiosity.
Our high yesterday was 93F (33.88C). The overnight low was 61F (16.11C). The forecast for today is 96F. The high tomorrow will be about 20 degrees, cooler. I can’t say I’ve noticed any improved plant growth. Things are pretty much just banging along. I noticed two more pumpkins, in the patch. So, that’s three. Though one is so small I doubt it will come to maturity. There may be more, hiding in the ground cover.
I made more funny sounds, last night. I was stung by a bee. First time since I was 4 or 5, running barefoot through grass with a lot of clover. Luckily, it wasn’t a hornet, or wasp. I think it was a European honey bee, or a close cousin. He didn’t get me, very bad. No swelling, and it didn’t hurt for long. It was just after sunset, and I was crossing the patio to turn off the water. Bee got squished. I wanted to view the body, this morning, to determine species, but it was gone.
Reality may get strange … and expensive.
I saw another article, on that castle they’re building in France. An update.
https://archaeology.org/issues/september-october-2025/features/how-to-build-a-medieval-castle/
They’re really learning a lot, as they go along. Skills that came in handy, for the rebuilding of Notre Dame. Lew
Chris,
Monday was a fun day. The Princess had a birthday. She says that she is now 35 and a half years old. Who am I to argue with a Princess? Naturally, we went out for a nice dinner.
I’m in agreement with Lew and Pam, mostly. Go with the brand name parts for the chainsaw. Also, while they are still available and not too costly, perhaps get another disk or two, also.
You asked last week if I could imagine what things would look like with warmer and wetter winters. If I conclude from that that the summers would also be continuing to be warmer and drier…I sort of know. We get those occasional wet and mild winters already. We just had one, as a matter of fact, with more than ample rainfall until the end of March. They are typically, wet, grey, dreary, grey, misty, grey, foggy, GREY. Some plants might start growing in early March or even late February. Very green until the rain spigots turn off.
Of course, this means, with the spigots turned off, that April through sometime in late October we have high desert weather, complete with winds that suck what moisture there is away. Just like this year. Even my dryland grasses are in danger of dying. Hence, I want to find and plant more succulents in the lawns, maybe some more thyme. Once established, these will be fine with minimal watering, yet the yards won’t be brown that turns to dirt or weeds with sticky poking bits. In other words, this past 18 months is a good predictor of what the future is forecasted to look like here, winter and summer.
Yes, 30km west of us is much drier, but not quite classified as desert. Yet. Moses Lake, about 130km west, is desert. The area around Pasco, Richland and Kennewick, aka the Tri-Cities, IS classified as desert. One thing the semi-desert areas have in common with the areas classified as desert is sagebrush, some cactus, and other desert plant growth.
Our rivers are mostly big, especially by your standards. The river that flows through Post Falls, which intrigued you recently, is the same river that flows through Spokane – the Spokane River. The Little Spokane River, which starts north of us, flows into the Spokane several miles downstream from here. When living in New Mexico, some of us went to Carlsbad Caverns one day, and were near the “mighty” Pecos River, which happened to be at flood stage. I laughed when I saw it. It was no bigger than the Little Spokane River! Although I’ve heard that the currents in the Pecos are more treacherous, and that there is a lot of quicksand at the bottom of the Pecos.
And yes, the heat came back. Mid 90s over the weekend, pushing 38C Monday and today. Breezy, of course, because that’s what summers have been for a few years now. And Wednesday starts the cooling trend, which means a windstorm with highs about 32C and humidity below 20% tomorrow. High fire danger. Right now it is so dry that if I sneezed wrong outside, a wildfire might start.
Thanks for the link to that cartoon. I found it to be enjoyable. My ability to visualize can vary from near zero to maybe 6 or 7. Today, for example, I’ve been near zero or 1 most of the day. After a second cuppa, I’m at about a 3. A lot has to do with how some of my other “neurodivergent” aspects are. This does explain why I can woodburn decently (following a visible model in two dimensions) or chip carve (two dimensions again), yet have trouble trying to carve anything in 3 dimensions. And visualizing in color is nearly impossible even on the best of days. But I dream in color.
My facial recognition can totally disappear, too. Once I walked right by the Princess 4 or 5 times in a grocery store and never recognized her. I find that I HAVE to remember what she is wearing before we get separated in public. I memorize what she is wearing (red shirt with Native design, blue jeans and white shoes), and can recognize that when I see it. Today, even, Dame Avalanche and I ran into Killian the Red and his human while walking. I recognized Killian by his color and movement, then I recognized his human. Fairly typical day in that regard. Yet, as I’m writing this, I can sort of see your face, and the looks of the large almost boulder in one of the pictures of your forest clean-up area. The almost boulder has a face in it.
Yes, the almost boulder in the picture captioned “Half of this big log was cut, removed and burned off”. I wouldn’t break that into smaller rocks. No sirree, not a chance. That might be an Old One, or at least something left by the Old Ones to keep an eye on things. It says “do not disturb” to me.
Meanwhile, that area IS looking rather good. The hard work is paying off, and the forest will appreciate it. As will the new growth that will come in. The birds and other critters should be happier too.
It’s always good to have the local birds following you. Like the King Parrot. I knew the magpies would be nearby, watching for their chance to swoop in and dine on some grubs.
I wonder something. If you scraped out all of the rotten parts of that hollow stump, would you be able to almost move the remainder to a burn area without cutting it up? Or maybe have to make fewer cuts, as the parts would weigh less without the middle?
DJSpo
Chris:
Thank you, but I don’t think I should accept the Gold Elephant Stamp award, an honor though it is. Years ago I clicked on something unknowingly when readin one of your posts and it caused the photos and writing on your site to greatly enlarge, that is, zoom in, and I have left it like that as it is so delightful to read big writing and to see the details of the photos. You are the one who deserves the Gold Elephant Stamp award, for providing us with such enjoyment each and every week.
This morning as I headed down to the garden, I startled a flock of very small brown and grey birds feeding in and around it. There were at least 50 of them and I have no idea what they are. I sat down in a chair and became very still and they came back down out of the trees. They were ground feeders. I couldn’t tell if they were eating seeds or bugs or maybe bits of acorns left by the squirrels. They were so funny because they would run among the weeds and grass outside the garden and then suddenly leap into the air, then land and move along and do it again. Gradually they moved off towards Mr. Baby’s nature preserve and I hope he got an eyeful. Not our everyday birds. I suspect they are already migrating south, 3 or 4 weeks early.
Goodness, you just went through an awful lot of time and effort and detective work with the chainsaw parts. It appears it was worth it since the machine is working so well once again. And it appears that one can do some things “on the cheap”, if one is careful.
Two years. That seems reasonable for a grinding disc.
I left my car at the auto repair shop to be inspected today. We have to do that yearly, to be sure there are no clunkers on the road (Yeah. Sure.). It only costs $20, so that’s okay. I figured they would need my license plate number, so I wrote it on the palm of my hand. When the lady behind the counter got to the point where she asked for my license plate number (Ah ha!) I told her that I had written it on my palm. She said: “Around here we call that an I-Palm.” I thought that was so funny. Apparently I am not the only one who uses that method.
Pam
Hi Pam,
A delightful confluence of events, if ever before observed. Thank you, and it’s a pleasure to continue such lovely conversations.
The mysterious brown and grey birds en masse consuming who knows what? Candidly, your description sounds like the stuff of a serious avian mystery. 🙂 Like you, migrating birds often stop off here for a feed, and the resident magpies send them on their way. A few days ago a band of bright green budgerigars turned up with much noise and great fanfare, only to be moved on by the ever watchful locals.
You got the old brain working as there has been a grey looking bird hanging around which I haven’t quite know what it is: Grey shrikethrush. A strange name, and the ones here look more like the Dorrigo variety (which is a long way north). I like them because they climb trees consuming large spiders. What’s not to appreciate about that?
Any idea as to what your lot were?
And that’s entirely it. Things can be done both well and on the cheap, but that’s never fast is it?
Yeah, two years and the glues holding the disc together begin breaking down. That’s what more learned people than I were suggesting. There are times when I recall futuristic sci-fi narratives when the characters are racing around using energy produced at an earlier time – and do wonder if anyone thought to put fuel stabilisers into the mixture before things went pop. I’ll bet they forgot to do so. 🙂
That’s pretty cheap for someone to give the car a once over and some sort of certification of not-awfulness. 🙂 Different states down under have that annual inspection thing in place too, although here they want the $850 registration fee instead. Same, same process, but different.
Thanks for the laughs. That’s funny, yeah. iPalm. 🙂 Cool.
Cheers
Chris
Hi DJ,
Happy birthday to your lady. And the only useful bit of advice I ever received from my mother was that whenever the discussion of a lady’s age was raised and that I was pressed for a guesstimate, take a best guess, minus ten or twenty years, and you’ll be about safe.
Oh yeah, unwise to argue. And what’s the point of that anyway? I prefer harmony as a general rule. Mind you, on that birthday note there are times that the message has to be tailored. I tried the years deduction methodology on a friend a few years ago, and he got a bit grumpy with me. Age can be complicated for some folks. Then, and far out, we’re in dangerous social territory here, last month I went with what I believed a more accurate guess only to discover that was 10% – in the wrong direction. It’s hard to sink into a table, but oh well, social faux pas are a thing. What do they call it again, foot in mouth disease? Oh well.
I’m in agreement as well, but the parts crossed the too-costly mark. $140 for a clutch is too rich for my tastes, and an after-market part can be had from between $20 – $40. I’ve tested them, they’re more than a quarter as good. There’s no contest.
Hehe! Grey, cloudy, damp, cold miserable weather – yeah I get that. It happens. Sadly, that big old spigot in the sky has a lot to say about the plants which can grow in an area.
Wind does strip a lot of moisture from an area. It will be interested to see if the dryland grasses bounce back once the rains and cooler weather returns. That’s kind of how they roll here, although if that occurs too late, then frosty low sunlight winter weather doesn’t really bring them back to life.
Interesting that the drier areas are west of you. I’d have imagined that they were east of you, and thus further inland. Presumably your local geography has much to say about that difference? We get rain shadows from this mountain range, and the south east is one of those places (the north west rain bands get blocked), and they can grow grains there presumably, but it’s a lot drier.
Yeah, comparatively big is an understatement! 🙂 Did you get the cooler change? By the end of the hot months, 32’C feels much nicer, but that’s a relative experience. Beat’s 40’C+ by a significant margin.
Ah, coffee fuelled, very good indeed. And we’re probably all more interesting thanks to caffeine, don’t you reckon? Interesting, and yeah, that’s my understanding of it all as well. We’ve all got different capabilities, and three dimensional imagery is right up there – as the cartoon suggested as well. Beyond me, even two dimensional images aren’t there. My thinking processes are more about concepts, flows, processes, linkages etc. Colours are of interest in particular because I can attach the name of a colour to a memory association. One of the intriguing things about the works of the author Jack Vance (yes, yes), is that he also attaches colours to almost every description.
Dreams are formed from a different set of brain processes apparently, and I too have vivid dreams. It’s interesting this stuff.
Hehe! That’s funny, and yeah out of context recognition can be an issue. Some people play with that matter, and a very old friend (now departed), let’s call him Mike, spotted the Editor and I at a restaurant one day, and so he decides to impersonate a waiter except say nothing. Because the interaction was so out of context, it took me a while to register that it was Mike. He thought it was the funniest thing ever, but, here’s the kicker, he intuitively knew he’d get that reaction. Makes a person wonder what they’re missing out on perceiving?
Far out, I’ll have a closer look at that boulder. Hmm. You were right about the tree all those years ago. It was uncanny how I missed that.
Exactly, there was no feed or shelter in that mess for the forest critters other than plants, plants and more plants. It was an unbalanced artificial collation that would never have occurred otherwise.
The local birds know more about my business than I do. At least they’ll come to me for help when needed.
Fewer cuts, but that stump is heavy. At 750kg/m3 ordinarily, the base of a tree is only heavier and denser.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
You know, after a warm sunny day now, open the door, step outside, and I can smell the flowers from the surrounding forest trees. It’s called Silver Wattle because the bark is a light grey colour, presumably. It’s official Latin name is Acacia Dealbata. Fun fact: in Japan, allegedly being the first plant to bloom in the aftermath of the Hiroshima atomic bomb in August 1945.
Spotted this in the paper today: Hiroshima atomic bomb survivor reflects on tragedy and new life in Australia. Thought you might enjoy the article. It’s impressive what disasters a few people have survived. I often think of that baker from the Titanic, and wonder how he did it, when so many perished.
The local owls and possums are lovely, although Powerful Owls have this awful habit of consuming the heads of possums. Sometimes you’ll come across the remains and wonder what went on. A bit zombie like if you ask me.
And yeah, birds need space, or they crack the sads. Long ago I inadvertently over stocked the chicken enclosure through sheer naivety. The birds sorted out the issues, and balance was restored. Not a pretty story.
Actually, on that note. Dunno why, but for the past few months I’ve been encountering people who are in a high state of emotion and am having to develop new strategies to deal with them. Decided to read some books on the subject. If they’ve got one good idea, I’m ahead. Are you noticing that people seem more stressed of late? Anyway, got any advice for me as to where to progress the journey?
The Age of Choice book sounds a bit academically dense for my tastes, although I could well be wrong in that belief? Dunno. Some books could be better and more accessible to the reader, although the writing of the thing may be the authors primary goal. Hard to tell really.
Oh man, the smoke alarm just went off. It was complaining about a discharged battery. Those things would send me loopy if a bushfire ripped through here. Might get smashed in the heat of the moment… I use special rechargeable batteries for the devices because I hate the waste of use-once batteries.
True. Word on the street agrees with your take on the summer climate Greece. Too hot for my tastes.
No. Surely you’ve read authors who enjoy nothing more than grabbing a thesaurus and dictionary and bamboozling their readers with the use of little known words? I have, and do wonder who the people are writing for. There was a link to Archimedes pragmatic style of problem solving, and you mentioned the ancient thinker. Got me thinking. 🙂 See, there’s always a reason…
Well, it would make things easier if the packages were properly labelled with full specifications, but no, they only provide some of them. The others you have to work out, and it wasn’t on their website either. Truth to tell, it’s one of those subjects which could be described as a hot-button topic. True. utoob videos about this, are often peppered with disclaimers and requests that the haters take things elsewhere. Who knew? Some of the presenters actually looked nervous.
Drats, that’s our latest get rich quick plan foiled.
Of course H bedevils you. The Kelpie breeder suggested that his lot has the emotional manipulative skills of an average five year old – his words. After that, I started looking at the dogs a bit differently… 🙂 Two words – good luck!
Of my that’s hot, and glad to hear that it cooled down today for you. Maybe? Fair enough, and this is your time of year for strong plant growth. You never know with pumpkins, they’re like zucchini and can put on size rapidly. Their tentacles are spreading! Sounds like a horror story.
How are you feeling today? Any swelling from the sting site? And to think that you haven’t seen too many bees recently. The trick is removing the stinger in a way which doesn’t squirt in more goodies from the poison sack. Plus it has to be removed. Bummer that you couldn’t identify the insect. Probably eaten.
Hehe! You are so not wrong there. Yup. I wish it were not so.
That treadmill and crane arrangement is amazing. What a great idea, and the castle is looking amazing. A true modern achievement.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis cont…
As to the castle, the Editor and I were marvelling at the castle, and were wondering: Yes, but has it been built to code?
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – With a name like that, the Shrikethrush must have an interesting call. I also noticed that the Latin name ends in “harmonica, harmonica.”
That was an interesting article about the Hiroshima survivor. War brides, in general, are an interesting lot. I had an aunt who was a German war bride.
Japan must be in the air. 🙂 Last night, I watched “Memoir of a Geisha.” I had read the book when it first came out, and also saw the movie, on release. But, it had been years. It pretty much covers the years between the late 1920s, to just after WWII. Both book and movie are very good.
Well, if the Powerful Owls start hooting, “Brains! Brains!” your in trouble.
I think, in general, society has really changed. It began to pivot, about 9/11. The housing crisis in 2008 … pandemic … general political situations … bad news constantly being thrust at us, 24/7. Yeah, people are stressed and on edge. They had an interesting trick, they taught us at the library, when dealing with a patron who was coming unglued. Their voice might rise, higher and higher, but we should resist the urge to follow it up. Keep a well modulated voice, and, even speak, softer and softer. As their voice (and, hopefully emotions) would follow your lead, down. It does work. It’s mostly not buying into the emotional meltdown.
I know what you mean about the fire alarms. When they go off here, it drives every thought out of your head. It becomes a struggle just to get my pants and shoes on.
Funny how odd words pop up and get used, again and again. A few years ago, I was reading something and the word “funicular” popped up. I had to look it up. A tram that usually travels up a mountain side. Suddenly, I was seeing the word, everywhere.
I think I mentioned that when trying to buy stove drip pans, not even the measurements were on the package. They were encrypted in that weird little square, that you’re supposed to scan with your dumb phone. Great if you’re packing one. The Master Gardeners have started posting those weird squares, to identify plants.
Yes, I’d say H has the manipulative skills of a five year old. And also that certain slyness that that age can display.
Our high yesterday was 95F (35C). It started cooling off around midnight, and the overnight low was 61F( 16.11C). Our forecast high for today is 76F. With a breeze. Yesterday, I felt generally just stunned by the heat. Sat in front of the A/C, drank lots of water, walked the dog, and watered the garden. That was about all I was up to. It’s supposed to start raining, late tomorrow night. With a bit of a breeze. Autumn rains are here.
This morning I put the first batch of tomatoes, in the dehydrator. My cherry tomatoes, which have been in the refrigerator for awhile,, were just fine. They filled 2 2/3 of my four trays. I filled in the rest with three tomatoes I swiped from a neighboring garden (species unknown … round, red …) space, that I water every night. I figure I’m owed 🙂 . And, two Roma tomatoes from the store.
The Institution is having its 30th anniversary, on the 3d of September. I guess there will be “doings.” All sorts of dignitaries, who I have never heard of, and whose job titles tell you nothing. I think they’re all Providence people. In her memo, Little Mary Sunshine made a point of saying that no HUD people would be here. Interesting.
We’re going to have four vacancies. Two are leaving under their own power, and two are being evicted.
The sting has not bothered me, at all. I think I brushed it off and smashed it, before it could pump stuff in. As it was just after sunset, it might have been on the sluggish side.
I hesitated to link to the article on the castle. I thought it might give the Editor and you … ideas. :-). Lew
Chris:
Ooh – budgies! A long, long time ago I had a budgie. Did you ever hear of budgie smugglers? I think the term came from either Australia or Canada. I thought there were really people that were smuggling budgies. In fact, I’ll bet that has happened at one time or another. How else would they have gotten them in the pet shops?
I like that shrikethrush. Is it really a thrush? I love the thrushes; we have several kinds. Our Wood Thrush has one of the most beautiful songs that there is. I haven’t even taken the time to look the migrators up in one of my bird books yet. I asked Mr. Baby since he must have seen them. He said: “Let me taste one and I’ll tell you.”
We have to pay a yearly registration fee, too; that’s separate. It’s still only $35. Boy, I hope the public servants here don’t find out what the ones over there are getting away with.
Yeah – you spelled it right. I didn’t. iPalm.
I am gathering kindling for the winter. I usually wait for a hurricane and then save all the sticks that I have to clean up. We haven’t had a hurricane yet this year, so I’d better get hopping. We did have a torrential rain for awhile this afternoon. Yay!
I read this Amish quote today: “What you do shows who you are.”
Pam
Chris,
I hear you about deducting years when talking about a woman’s age. Yet…Often I am thanked for being kind. Then there are the odd times when the person is offended and exclaims something along the lines of “You’re trying too hard to be nice. You’re such a fake.” And that after I was asked to guess the age. Cain’t win for losing sometimes.
Okay, so the new clutch is $140. You can get an after market clutch for average $30. The after market is 25% as good as the new one. And you can get 5 for about the price of a new one. That is about 125% of a new one for the same price? I know, slightly weird maths, but I totally see your point. I might do much the same.
So Tuesday topped out at 38.5C at my house, with some breeze. Today is “cooler” 36C, but the humidity is even lower at 15% with steady winds at 30km per hour, gusting to 55 km per hour. It sucked away the water I applied to the vegetables and some of the worst grass this morning. It’s dusty and very smoky. A big fire started south of here early this afternoon in mixed grass, sagebrush and wheat. And higher winds than here. The fire is north of the Snake River and south of a tiny hamlet called Dusty, Washington. I’ve been through there several times. It IS dusty in Dusty.
The rain shadow is east of the Cascade Mountains. Here near the Idaho border, the elevation is increasing from the low desert as we near the Selkirk Mountains. So Spokane gets some benefit from the Selkirk Mountains causing some rainfall. Go east 45km into Idaho and they get significantly more annual rainfall than does Spokane. Elevation comparisons: Richland, Washington (deep desert) 123 meters, 184.5mm of annual rainfall. Moses Lake, Washington (desert) 323 meters, 198mm. Downtown Spokane: about 560 meters, 418mm. Couer d’Alene, Idaho (at feet of the mountains) 685 meters, 644mm. With most storms moving from west to east, the elevation and proximity to the Selkirks and distance from the rain shadow causing Cascades makes a huge difference.
“My thinking processes are more about concepts, flows, processes, linkages etc. Colours are of interest in particular because I can attach the name of a colour to a memory association.” I totally understand that. My brain acts similarly – patterns, linkages, concepts, FLOWS. Being able to quickly put those things together and voila! You have a prediction and the Cassandra complex enters life. Again. Also, I can somewhat visualize things while reading, sometimes vividly, but the moment I stop reading and try to visualize the same things? Hmmm, back to the very low end of the visualization scale. Yet, when asked to spell a word, I am actually seeing the word as I verbally spell it. This stuff is weirdly interesting. Or is it interestingly weird?
Ahhh, maybe some of us miss some visual perceptions, but perhaps we make up for it with the other senses, overall “situational awareness”, and the ability to think in patterns and linkages and whatnot.
Yes, I see, fewer cuts. 750kg/m3 is dense. Subtract any rotted material, add in the extra density for being the base of the tree. More cuts, less trying to muscle it. Unless, and here’s the cheeky part of me that my mother appreciated because it “shows imagination”: design harnesses for the Fluffy Collective. Hitch them up to the tree. They pull, you push and perhaps it gets dragged away without needing to be cut. Probably not. But you could film it and if it worked, you could call that video “Australian dogsledding.” 😉
DJSpo
Hi Pam,
Hehe! Did you know that down under, the term ‘budgie smuglers’ refers to male swimwear? One of our former Prime ministers (don’t worry, we have plenty more of those) was quite sporty and was photographed leaving the water after a competitive swim, and um, yeah, wearing budgie smuglers. Nobody wants to see that and some press photographer thought it would be a good idea. I’d post a photo, but some things you can’t un-see!
I had no idea that budgies were called parakeets in your country. Who knew? When that big inland Lake fills up, as it has this year (Lake Eyre), the bird life there is meant to be amazing. What I wonder is how all the birds know the inland lake has filled?
Oh, and an update on the little friendly magpie. He was again following me around all day, but now looks much healthier. That latest Meg tree stump (hope to not find any more of those) was dealt to, and the bird was assisting by gobbling up all of the bull-ants (yes, those scary ones) and all sorts of grubs. Found a tiny reptile and wasn’t sure whether it was a snake or a skink, so fed it to the happy bird.
I don’t believe the local birds are closely related to thrushes in your country, they’re a distinct local variety, but same, same. Lovely singers too, and I for one very much appreciate their efforts climbing trees and eating huntsman spiders. The wood thrush song is beautiful and would be a real treat to sit back and enjoy.
Mr Baby would have loved the dead kangaroo foot that I discovered hanging out of Dame Plum’s mouth today. At least she respected the command ‘Drop it!’ I’m not sure what might have killed a kangaroo – we don’t have wild dogs / dingoes in this mountain range, that I’m aware of. The Kelpies found it on the edge of the forest.
Coming to a state near you, ‘spensive bureaucracy! 🙂 Honestly, there are days I feel as if the authoritas see the average citizen as if they were a walking ATM.
Hehe! What’s in a spelling?
Yay for the torrential rain for you, and the trees could only but appreciate the drink.
What a great quote, and yes, observe peoples actions and ye shall know the colour of their soul.
Cheers
Chris
Hi DJ,
Well yeah exactly. There are times when the odds are stacked against you, and then it becomes how badly do you lose? I learned long ago that there are people whom are uncomfortable with compliments, and without a shadow of a doubt the most gracious response is always: Thank you. Discomfited folks might not be able to get there… Have to laugh, sometimes I have no idea how to reply to people and will just utter a single useful word: Cool. That word punches well above its weight class.
The weird maths work out in this instance. Buying an original clutch makes no financial sense whatsoever. Even the original chains are now looking unaffordable based on the advantages they provide. Just not worth it.
The latest Meg was dealt with today. I’m tired, the chainsaw worked beyond hard and now needs serious attending too. The jackhammer removed an inordinate quantity of compacted clay. And the belt on the stump grinder decided to self destruct. Not your average day working the forest… I had a very good look, and that appears to be the last of the Meg’s. And the peasants rejoiced! 🙂
The name of that town says it all: Dusty… Sets the expectations and then manages them nicely. Sorry to hear about the fire south of you, and hope it is extinguished soon. Your weather is not nice and the low humidity sucks the very moisture from your sinuses causing all manner of irritations. It was 15’C here today, sunny and not a breath of wind. Tomorrow is different in that ‘damaging winds about the ranges’ combined with a storm about 2pm. Nice. Might get off to an early start before things get bad.
Thank you so much for the detailed explanation as to the topography of your region. I’d not appreciated that it would get wetter to the east of you, but yes, mountains can have that local effect. We’re at about 680m here and the highest elevations of the mountain range are around 1,020m. As you can imagine, up there, things are much cooler again and wetter. The forecast for Saturday was snow down to 600m, but we’ll see. The temperatures look too warm to me for that.
I’d suggest that the continuum is more of the ‘interestingly weird’ variety! When reading a fictional story, my brain processes what’s going on with the various characters and settings, but seeing a visual representation is a step too far. Words are of course abstract and generally agreed upon concepts.
Yup, I reckon you totally nailed that explanation. A dude may have limitations in one area, but strengths in another. Truly, it is difficult for people to comprehend patterns, flows and linkages. I see that limitation all the time.
Haha! It’s a good idea to harness up all the canine energy, but then I’ve gotta worry about the dogs sniffing who knows what scents in that location. Easier for the Editor and I to roll the chunks of Meg into the fire pit. 😉
On that note, Ollie and I will now head way down below to the forest edge in the dark and push the timber chunks in to the fire. It’s not ideal, but will save a lot of work tomorrow. And yes, I better remember to wear the boots with the heat resistant soles.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
It’s all in a name isn’t it? The grey strike-thrush has a delightful voice, plus they climb trees to eat huntsman spiders, and for this service I’m eternally grateful. Most of the birds down here have interesting songs and calls.
Speaking of birds, the little lost magpie from last week followed me around all day, and was generally underfoot. It forced me to keep a sharp eye out for where it was when dealing with the latest Meg. And on that note, I believe the last Meg has now been dealt to. Man, it took five hours of digging, cutting, breaking and hauling, but I was determined to burn that monster off. At one point massive inch long angry bull-ants swarmed out from some section of the stump, but the little bird friend got in an ate all of them. He’s looking much healthier this week, candidly I was a bit worried about the orphaned avian last week.
Those Meg’s are about the upper limit of what I can deal with using the machines available. Looking around there doesn’t seem to be any more of them – that I’m aware of. Have to add in the caveat, less the forest spirits decide that hubris has become the order of the day. It ain’t.
The chainsaw is pooped out. The drive belt broke on the stump grinder machine. And all of the machines – and myself – need some TLC after today’s epic work. 🙂 Me tired tonight. Had a good chat with a neighbour earlier today about life and things, and another neighbour appears to have sold up and moved out.
That’s the thing with losing a war, there may not be all that much manpower left. Plenty of war brides went from Australia to the US after WWII.
Just read the plot of the Geisha film, and it’s certainly a web of intrigue and complicated relationships. Sounds like a great film.
Hehe! Zombie owls would be a problem. I reckon the bigger issue are the fruit bats with their small potential of contracting rabies. Not something that anyone wants.
That sounds right to me with those societal changes. Hmm. People do seem to be stressed out and a bit on edge. Thanks for the advice, and agreed, people doing such things are looking for an outlet – in the form of a fight. Hmm. Not engaging at that energy level and slowly winding them out. I’ll try that. Thanks for mentioning it.
Standing near to the top of a ladder and having the smoke alarm thing screeching at me, is not a relaxing experience. I get why the things screech if the batteries go flat (mine are also mains wired) otherwise they’d be ignored. And that’s a nice way of putting the experience: Driving all other thoughts from your mind. I dread to see what will happen to those devices during a bushfire.
Fun is a rope? Thanks for the funicular word, and that’s a new one for me. Can’t say that I’ve ever seen nor travelled upon one of those steep tramways. How about you? I’ve read that the original tramways in Melbourne were powered by a rope and pulley system, some of which is still under the roads.
Haha! I don’t do those QR codes either “the funny little squares”, you mentioned, unless there is no choice in the matter. What’s wrong with labels that have the plant’s name? Back in the day people used to use timber ice cream sticks, or cut up aluminium cans and write on those (more of an indent into the soft metal). Go further back, and people simply had to remember.
A certain slyness = rat cunning! 🙂 Go H! Dame Plum and Ruby were running around like crazy dogs today in the nice sunshine, and suddenly became interested in something at the forest edge. Turns out it was dead Kangaroo hoof (with fur), and then Dame Plum is running around proud-as due to the chance find with the dead chunk stuck in her jaws. I don’t think so, and made her drop it. Dunno what happened to bring down a ‘roo. Wild dogs could do that, or hunters.
Hope the weather cooled for you today? It was 15’C / 59’F and sunny. A pleasant day to be outdoors, although I could think of many more enjoyable activities than the work which took place today. On the other hand, it’s great to have that second Meg dealt to, so as the English are want to say: Mustn’t Grumble. Hope you get some rain, and that it heads east over towards DJ’s.
Watering taxes? Bet the dehydrator smelled nice.
Happy birthday to the institute, an auspicious occasion and notable achievement. I’d imagine that budget cuts would be impacting upon the HUD, just like the rest of the departments?
That’s a lot in a short period of time. Possibly none of those stories are good? People don’t tend to make the decision to move lightly. Of course it is an entirely different situation for someone else to enforce a decision to do so. I hate moving. As a kid we moved around heaps, a year here, and a year there, and I’m done with that (if I have my way).
Stings are good if the stinger is sort of flicked out, as distinct from pushed in further. And your reactions were clearly good. On that note, I can’t believe I dodged the many angry bull-ants today. Those things are vicious little warriors.
Hehe! The treadmill crane really caught my attention, but the stone work in the castle is superb. It’s a real credit to all of those artisans.
Cheers
Chris
Chris:
Yes, that was my point – a certain type of male swimwear. No, no, no! And thank you so much for not including a photo of one of the Prime Ministers out of your herd in budgie smugglers.
I think the inland birds smell it, or feel the extra humidity coming from there. Or notice the water fowl that they usually do not see.
I should expect that your new friend Maggie is by now having some trouble at lift off time. Grubs and reptiles and, I guess even ants, probably add some weight. How can anything eat ants? For that matter, how can anything eat huntsman spiders?
There is another mystery for you: The Case of the Missing Roo. Probably wiped out by the mob. Does anyone shoot them? Mr. Baby would have been interested in the kangaroo foot, but I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t have been fresh enough to tempt him to eat it. He is very picky.
Pam
Yo, Chris – Our high yesterday was 79F (26.11C). Our overnight low was 57F (13.88C). The forecast high for today is 72F. It should start raining, after 5pm, today. I see some clouds on the radar, off the coast. I got out and picked another round of tomatoes, so they don’t split in the rain. Also harvested some sweet basil. To dry on a plate. Here’s our hydrologic outlook from our National Weather Service.
“A frontal system will move across the area Friday into Saturday
across western Washington. Through Saturday afternoon, 3-5 inches of
rain are expected across the mountains, with 0.5-1.5 inches expected
through the lowlands.
Very dry antecedent conditions has left the area soils dry and hard.
This amount of rainfall in one storm will not have much time to soak
into the very dry soil, which will result in heavy surface runoff.
Impacts are uncertain due to how much moisture will be able to be
absorbed by the soil. Several different threats are expected with
this storm, which are detailed below.
*Urban and urban-like flooding will be possible in flat areas and
roadways.
*Some small streams and creeks may become swollen due to rapid
runoff while others may remain lower if the channel bed is able to
absorb the water efficiently.
*Rivers will not flood, but will undergo rapid rises to unusually
high levels for this time of year, some of which may reach daily
record crests. This will pose a threat to those engaged in
recreational activities in and along river channels.
*Burn scars will have the potential to undergo impacts, but the
probability is low. Impacts may include flash flooding, debris
flows, rock falls, and other falling debris.
*Those engaging in recreational activities in the mountains may face
challenges to where high water may make forest roads and trails
difficult to traverse.”
Sounds like the little magpie is your new best friend. 🙂 You’ll have to think of a cool name for him (or, her?).
That was an epic struggle with the last Med. Hopefully, they are extinct, now. 🙂 Boy, they really took the Mickey out of your equipment. And, you.
Yes, “Memoir of a Geisha” was a really good movie. I was surprised that Michelle Yeoh was in it. Must have been an early, major role for her. Last night, I watched the documentary, “When We All Went Mad.” It was very good. The whole history of the magazine, told through interviews with the artists and writers. The shots of the actual pages were a bit rushed … but it’s a lot to cover. Interesting fact. Irving Berlin, the song writer, sued MAD for copyright infringement, when they parodied one of his songs. They fought it all the way up to the Supreme Court. Berlin, lost. Satire and parody were protected. They had a bit with Weird Al, who said he wouldn’t have a career if they hadn’t done that. Many celebrities who made the cover of MAD, said it was the high point of their careers. 🙂 It’s going to be a popcorn night. I also picked up “Accountant 2”, at the library.
Speaking of bats, in weird wildlife news …
https://www.newsweek.com/bat-mouth-tourist-arizona-health-insurance-2107952
And, in weirder wildlife news, bunnies with horns and tentacles around their mouths. Here’s a link to several stories, and pictures.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/colorado-residents-alarmed-rabbits-black-151411404.html
One wonders what’s wandering your woods, that could rip a foot of a kangaroo. Are you sure you want to go out there, in the dark?
We have two types of smoke alarms, in our apartments. The building wide ones, and the individual apartment alarms. The individual one’s are battery operated. Mine went off, for no apparent reason, a couple of months ago. Little Mary Sunshine informed me that you can take a broom, push a button, and it stops. Who knew? I certainly didn’t. Are your alarms on a circuit breaker, that could be shut off?
I have ridden the cable trams in San Francisco. Very exciting to leap on and off them, when they’re moving. I landed in a German ladies, lap. We laughed and howled all the way to Fisherman’s Wharf.
When I was outside walking H, this morning, an Inmate was trundling back, with groceries. A block away. H started barking. The night manager happened to be out, and said he’d never heard her bark, before. It’s an Inmate I don’t care for. Hmmm.
One thing about all these people moving out, it will free up at least three garden spaces, for next year.
I found out more about the anniversary. No HUD people will be there. It will all be people who run the Providence Senior Housing. I don’t know how many complexes there are, but there are quit a few. Even one down in Portland. I don’t quit understand the relationship between HUD and Providence Housing. I guess we get government money, as long as they follow the HUD guidelines. Lew
Chris:
The last of the Megs! Hallelujah! And what a day it was, too.
Pam
Chris,
Yeah, weird maths. The Princess and I were watching some show tonight on the telly. There was some weird question that needed maths logic to solve. I had the answer in 5 seconds. I blurted it out. The Princess said that that was one of the 4 possible answers on the program. Then I explained how I’d got the answer. She enjoyed the reasoning. Its logic falls under what most people would call “weird maths”, yet it is pragmatic. We often discussed such oddities in physics classes to make us learn to think.
Oh, the question. In the USA there are 9 judges on the Federal Supreme Court. If all 9 of the judges shake hands with each of the other judges, how many total handshakes are there? Answer at the end.
Congrats on the probable Last Meg. It’s always good for the peasants to rejoice.
Peasant 1: I see a Meg.
Peasant 2: Help! Help! I’m being repressed!
This, dear readers, is repeated for years. Finally, one day:
Peasant 1: That was the Last Meg.
Peasant 2: Rejoice peasants, rejoice!
Multiple Peasants, in unison: We’re too bleeping tired from breaking up Megs to rejoice you ninny!
The fire near Dusty reached a little over 6,000 acres. It appears that they have its progress stopped. 12 miles northwest of here there is another fire that is over 700 acres. Near the Spokane River and Little Falls Dam. I think they are making headway in fighting this one. At least it was 4C cooler today with less vigorous winds than yesterday.
Expected rain. Well, looking at Cliff Mass’s website, the forecast is for over 6mm here. The forecasters I trust are forecasting less than 2.5mm throughout the non-mountainous areas east of the Cascades. Perhaps up to 10mm in the eastern Washington mountains. While any rainfall will be nice, if these forecasters I trust are correct, this storm system will do little to break the drought or lower the fire danger. We need about 75mm over a 3 week time frame.
I’m glad you found the topography discussion helpful. It makes some of our weather patterns make a bit more sense, I hope.
Thank you. “Interestingly weird” is what I think too, usually. Interestingly, “interestingly weird” is how I’ve been described by many people. 🙂
Okay, the answer. Unfortunately, the number of judicial handshakes is NOT 42. It is 36. The first of the 9 judges shakes hands with 8 judges. Judge 2 then shakes hands with 7 judges other than Judge 1. and so forth. 8+7+6+5+4+3+2+1=36. Ascertaining that sequence very rapidly, it was easiest for me to add the numbers by 8+1=9, 7+2=9, 6+3=9, 5+4=9. That is four 9s or 36.
Hope that’s fairly clear.
DJSpo
Hi Pam,
🙂 Hopefully it is the last of the Meg’s. Candidly speaking, they’re hard work. Did a bit more clean up today, and the rain began about 2pm (as per the forecast). Worked until 3pm, and got quite damp. Oh well, the burn off pile was good for getting warm again – and rapidly dry.
Ah, I see. You know, I wasn’t entirely certain you knew that local phrase. Is it used in your country as well (and please no pictures! Some things you can’t un-see)? My pleasure to exclude that photo – it was all over the papers at the time and sometimes the media should take a good long hard look at themselves. There are boundaries for good taste, and that image was in very poor taste. I reckon they crossed a line there. The old Golden rule of ‘do unto others’ applies to them as equally as to everybody else.
Thanks. Ah, those ideas about the birds would not have occurred to me. Yeah, makes a whole lot of sense.
The little lone magpie was again following me around today, and scored some juicy grubs and other miscellaneous insects. You wait and see just how close the bird is getting to me. I’ll post of photo in next week’s blog. Magpies are super clever birds being of the Corvidae family. Hopefully he didn’t over do it with the feed, but now you mention it, he was hanging around on the ground a lot.
There are Echidna’s which look like spiny ant-eaters, and they totally destroy bull-ant nests. Their scratchings are funny because the critters leave a hole and in the middle is a thin round snout shaped depression. I don’t know how they shrug off those dastardly bull-ants, but clearly they do. Spines probably help. The tree frogs can consume huntsman spiders as well. It’s brutal out there…
The forest is pretty thick, and from time to time I do wonder if people are trespassing way down below from what I hear of gunshots – and then who knows what they’re up to? One of the reasons there is only one other person who I allow to hunt here, is because some rando might get bored and start shooting forest critters other than deer. How much do you trust an unknown person is a big question – and the answer is usually: not much.
Mr Baby is a gentleman of the finest pedigree (street smarts perhaps?) and would never care to chew upon less than fresh meat. Kelpie’s are less discerning. You’ve known plenty a dog over the years and can possibly vouch for that difference?
Cheers
Chris
Hi DJ,
Weird maths is much like weird science. Are black holes connected by worm holes? Who knows, but the contents falling into them ain’t going nowhere, are they? Some things our brains are probably not good enough to comprehend.
Your example exemplified a proper use for a solid comprehension of higher mathematics. Respect, and such esoteric knowledge is beyond my ken. Like your lady, I’d simply stand back and be impressed. Learning how to think though, is equally of use to the average caveman. Stop laughing, I’m serious here. 🙂 And there is always a story…
So the belt drive on the stump grinder machine broke yesterday. Totally my fault, and upon closer disassembly and inspection this morning, a bolt holding a cover onto the side of the genuine Honda GX-390 motor had come loose and randomly squooshed between the rubber (is it really?) drive belt and pulley – then the whole lot got smooshed apart badly. Produced some smoke even.
Here’s the caveman thinkering bit. Before the heavy duty, expensive but basic Toro machine was purchased, I’d had a cheapie knock off tester machine as a: ‘is this machine a useful bit of equipment’. That old cheapie machine has long since moved on to a bloke who could economically replace the original motor. But I kept a spare belt from it – and the thing was perfect fit for the damaged one today. The Toro machine was back up and running today in short order. However, those drive belts are seriously pricey, and another couple of spares are now on their way. Always hard to know what spares to keep. And finding replacement parts is seriously difficult. Spent an hour on that matter tonight. Oh well.
It’s the least considered and minor spare parts which will bring down civilisation. Years ago I mentioned to Inge that civilisation will ultimately fail due to a lack of food preserving equipment. I’m still backing that theory. 🙂 Hope Inge is doing well.
I totally defer to your maths expertise in that hand shaking question, and basically admit to knowing nothing about the rules of such an august institution. That’s my dodge and I’m sticking to it. 😉
Hehe! Respect, for you totally understood the reference. So many warped comedic acts completely and utterly messed up our collective sense of humour. Society is clearly to blame for this.
Good to hear that the winds have eased off and the temperatures are slightly cooler. Perfect conditions for fighting a fire. Of course, it would be far easier to manage the conditions so that the conflagration needn’t be fought in the first place? 😉 On that note, we continued the forest clean-up work today after fixing the stump grinder and chainsaw. Even got up early. Rain was forecast for 2pm, and sure enough, finishing up for lunch at 3pm meant getting rather wet. Still, the clean-up work is going well. We’ll get onto other projects next month, but whilst the conditions are favourable for such forest work – why not continue?
Agreed, three inches of rain right now for you will make a massive difference, but nature has her own ideas. At least the rain you do get will dampen the soil a bit. Tomorrow here, they’re forecasting snow down to 700m, but the temperatures look too warm to me for that. And in a few days time, the overnight minimum is set to reach -1’C. Brr!
The discussion of your topography made a great deal of sense to me.
Hehe! Takes one to know one, is what the old timers used to say. Always glad to entertain you, as you do in return.
Given how wet and cold tomorrow will be, might take a break from working around here and stay indoors. The Fluffy Collective will surely suffer from some cabin fever. Too bad, so sad, for them. A good book, a warm fire and a happy Ollie dog on the couch is enough for me.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
Man, the Milky Way is really bright tonight in the crispy cold winter air. The forecast for the area suggests minimum overnight temperatures just slightly below freezing on Monday and Tuesday. Ook. Oh well.
Ollie and I just inadvertently disturbed three wallabies and an owl. All the dog wanted to do was go to the toilet. It’s feral out there with critters tonight.
The forecast for today accurately predicted rain around 2pm, and sure enough it did just that. 🙂 Didn’t finish outdoor work until around 3pm, so ended up getting rather wet. Knowing the forecast, we got up early this morning and continued the forest clean-up work. Managed to even fix up the stump grinder machine using a belt from the stash of parts – which amazed me. The original drive belt had failed because a bolt had come loose and just destroyed the rubber. Now I know to keep an eye on those bolts. An expensive way to learn, especially because the replacement drive belts are $150 each. Beggaring the kingdom, one machine spare part at a time! 🙂
Did it begin to rain after 5pm at your place? Or was it purely aspirational? Wise to pick the tomatoes prior to the rain. The skins do split if the rain is heavy enough. Yours is the best approach. One advantage of growing them in the greenhouse is that the moisture can be evened out across the growing season.
That’s a rather extensive and posh weather forecast. Down here, the soil moisture is rarely if ever mentioned. And it’s pleasing to see that the advice was very much of the: ‘it depends’ variety – because that is the truth of it all. It does depend on how much water can be absorbed into the soil. The advice is extensive, but will it be heeded? Plenty of people I know whom live in the city, don’t even consider the weather advice before heading out into the unknown. I seriously pour over the forecast as if it is an act of tea-leaves reading. Better to know, and be wrong, than not know, and be caught up in wrongness. Was the rain as bad as predicted?
The forecast is for snow down to this elevation tomorrow. We’ll see. I have some doubts.
A good idea about the name for the little lonely magpie. What about ‘Burt’, is that a bit close to the word Bird? He was hanging around underfoot this morning and cleaning up all manner of grubs and insects.
The two Meg’s were a pain in the err, ear. 😉 Still, nice to be able to use a past tense in a sentence to describe their current whereabouts. Another couple of days, and that job will be done for the season. The plan is to wrap it up by the end of this month. Other projects need doing. It’s hard on the equipment this work, but I’m keeping on top of things – just.
That must have been an early role for Michelle Yeoh, yeah. There would have been a massive amount of ground to cover with the documentary of Mad Magazine so no wonder they flashed past the pages. Interesting too. Irving Berlin was a talented bloke, no getting around it, and reading about the subject, his published went super hard against the magazine all the way to the highest court. Ultimately they failed, and unanimously so as well. I’d not heard of this case before, and truthfully, the King’s court jester should always have protection.
The trailer for the film looked great. A bro-autist-film, with lot’s of explosions and stuff. Was it good? What can I say, but Ben Affleck is lifting the prestige of the profession. 🙂
Ozzy Osbourne apparently also had a bat in mouth situation. Which I believe lead to a similar outcome, maybe with less insurance hassles. Seriously, waiting periods are there for that very reason with such businesses. It’s like taking out home insurance when the building is already burning down. Note to self: 1) Don’t have mouth open in the presence of bats; and 2) When travelling to the US, don’t require medical attention due to potential economic repercussions. Seems simple enough, maybe.
The rabbits are awful looking, but apparently surviving the infection. That’s an unwanted growth you’d want to drop off. Makes me wonder how the rabbits are feeding. Haven’t heard of that virus, and it may not even be down under.
I’m not fussed about the dark – the forest critters should be fussed about me instead. Still don’t know how the kangaroo paw got there. The Editor suggested that it may have been a wallaby because there was a touch of brown to the fur. Dunno. A mystery, although the marsupials don’t live forever, but they have no predators here other than humans presumably.
When one smoke alarm clearly is not enough… Actually there are two in this house, and they are hard wired into the mains power, with a back up battery, just in case the power goes out. You can take a broom handle, but the one’s here have two buttons: Reset and Test. If the mains power was shut off, the batteries would continue to provide plenty of nuisance factor in a bushfire.
Hehe! That’s funny, and presumably the internal angles are less than flat? The photos of those cable trams in San Francisco show steep streets.
Dogs know things. In the Terminator series of films, canines were used as sniffer dogs against the robots. But by and large, they can also pick up their humans vibe. Hope you score some more garden plots next year.
Ah, hud is a fed thing, right. Probably wise to follow all the guidelines, and my casual observation from this discreet remote distance is always to answer the questions asked by that lot in charge. Not hard to do is it?
Cheers
Chris
Hello Chris
I do pop in every now and then! So glad that I did because of your mention of Aphantasia. I have it and have never met anyone else with it, though i suspect (from something that my mother said) that my father had it. I believe that it has only just been recognised as a condition.
I understand that in the worst cases, people don’t have visual dreams, not me thank goodness. I love my dreams which are beautifully visual.
However, back to living with the condition. I am unable to recognise people and this is a nightmare in town when someone bounces up to me and chats. I have to make very non-commitable conversation while I hope for a clue as to whom I am with. So far I have survived but only just. A whole family accosted me in a carpark and I hadn’t a clue. My son was parked within view and when I got back to him he told me who they were. Previous neighbours to whom I had sold their home!. It is really that bad! It would probably be assumed that I had dementia now if I gave my ignorance of someone away.
We are sweltering and have a hosepipe ban.
All the best
Inge
Yo, Chris – The difference between wet and damp. H and I got wet when we took our midnight walk. We got damp, on our walk, this morning. 🙂 Yes, the rain held off until around 6PM, last night. As long as I keep an eye on the radar, we should do ok. Not so much bands of rain coming in, as one big green blob after another. It will clear up, day after tomorrow.
Our high yesterday was 77F (25C). Our overnight low was 61F (16.11C). Our forecast high for today is 69F. We just started getting a bit of wind, and gusts are 20+mph. The very thorough forecast from the National Weather Service mentioned urban street flooding. Maybe not so much. The trees haven’t started turning color, yet, and dropping their leaves. That’s when we see drains getting clogged and backed up. You may wake up to a winter wonderland, tomorrow morning. You may not be able to build a castle, but you might build a snow fort. 🙂 .
Bert sounds like a good name for a bird. I’d go with Bert, as it’s a contraction of Albert. I know. Picky, picky, picky.
The Meg. Gone, but not forgotten. And really not much missed. 🙂 Let’s hope no one gets the wild idea, to genetically reconstruct the Meg and release it back into its “natural” habitat.
You do stay on top of your machines, and really puzzle out the reasons for equipment failure. He’s missed, but maybe your machine repair dude really did you a favor, by shuffling off his mortal coil.
The “Accountant 2” movie was great! Less accounting this time, and more shoot ’em up and punch them out. The story had mysteries, twists and turns. More! I want more! I see they’re kicking around the idea of an “Accountant 3.” I’m all for turning it into a franchise.
As with keeping an eye on the weather, tourists coming to the US are strongly advised to insurance up, before setting foot on our shores. But as with the weather, do people listen? The wise ones do.
The rabbits are bizarre looking. Reminds me of something out of Lovecraft.
Ah, I see how your smoke detectors work. Our building alarms, also have a flashing light. Bright enough to burn out your retinas. As a good number of the Inmates are hearing impaired, I suppose it’s a good idea. Set off enough of those alarms, and we’ll all be hearing impaired. And blind, to boot.
Is San Francisco hilly, Oh, my, yes. Check out Lombard Street, in this article. It also has a lot of stairways.
https://www.sfgate.com/local/article/san-francisco-hills-17700185.php
You like dogs. You like language. Here’s the perfect mashup.
https://www.npr.org/2025/08/13/nx-s1-5500476/dog-history-etymology-origin
Yes, garden plots will be freed up. But, whoever moves in to replace the people leaving may also want to garden. Though the casualties between the lip and the trowel, are high. 🙂
And, finally, another article on the temporary resettling of Pompeii. it’s got a lot more detail.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/14/science/pompeii-reoccupation-after-eruption
It must have been eerie, to live in those haunted ruins. And the Romans were a pretty superstitious bunch. It kind of reminds me of the Anglo-Saxons and the ruins of Roman London. They pretty much steered clear, and build their settlements outside the walls. Lew
Chris:
I certainly do know about those hunters that won’t follow the rules. We weren’t letting anyone hunt on our 5 acres, but a neighbor talked us into letting the friend of a friend do so. I don’t think he knew the guy very well. This hunter did not respect our rules, but started a big argument about why he should still be allowed to hunt – on our property! – and he was quickly shown the door. There was a bit of nastiness for awhile since he kept coming back for things he forgot. So, we will never let anyone do so again.
Oh, yeah, most of our dogs would eat anything, no matter how old.
Pam
@ DJSpo:
I liked your peasants’ Meg folk tale.
Pam
@ Pam,
Thanks
DJSpo
Chris,
Thanks. I understand things better now. Much better…The black hole is connected to the worm hole. The worm hole is connected to the rabbit hole. The rabbit hole is connected to the wolf’s den. The rabbit gets eaten and the wolf is happy. Or something like that.
Laugh? At the idea of a thinking caveman? Surely you jest. Clearly cavemen could think, and probably more clearly than industrial society man. I also recall my dad referring to me on numerous occasions as “the family barbarian”. Apparently, there is room for all of us to think, I reckon. 😉
Nice one. The cheapo machine spare belt fit the expensive machine! Good on you for keeping that spare part around. With more supply “disruptions” coming to a future near you, spending an hour thinkering about spare parts was probably a useful activity.
You mention Inge and she makes an appearance!
Yes, lack of food preserving tools/methods will bring us to our knees. Water that is safe to drink might give the food preservation a good race, however. They’re probably two different parts of the same entity.
Well, ya know, whenever I hear the word “peasant”, I immediately default to Monty Python’s Holy Grail. I also know you refer to that wonderful film often, so it wasn’t much of a leap for me to get there. The bigger question is “what’s your favorite colour?” 🙂
We shall see tonight and in the morning whether this storm system is real or another fizzle. The forecasts suddenly decided that we would see some rain showers this morning. 5 or 6 raindrops fell here. Not quite enough for a shower. The wind picked up again, but the 2 main fires had good fire lines that, while tested, held.
I kid you not. There are a lot of vehicle fires here. I’m not totally sure why, other than apparently maintenance is neglected and, well, fires happen. The large fire near Dusty, according to local law enforcement, was started by a vehicle fire. One of those large motor homes caught fire on the highway, pulled over to the shoulder and the fire spread to the dried grasses off the side of the road.
Absolutely. Gotta do forest cleanup when conditions are optimal for that task. This week I have some concrete work to do on the front steps again. Weather will be hot, but not baking, and the nights won’t get too cool. Pretty good conditions for concrete work.
An indoor day with a book and a happy dog sounds great! Today’s winds brought in a lot of allergens. The Princess and I spent most of the day indoors. The telly is showing the Little League World Series. Annual event in Pennsylvania with 10 USA teams and10 teams from other countries. 11 and 12 year old boys. This is always fun for us to watch. I got the pits out of the fresh chokecherries while watching. Froze about a half quart of fruit. Basically, enough to add to a stew. I felt productive while also lounging around watching the kids play baseball.
DJSpo
Hi Pam,
The general arc of your story was exactly at the back of my mind when those young hunters asked permission the other week. They were unfailingly polite, yet offered nothing in return for privileges, and your story said where that leads.
I fell for such an arrangement in my late teens. The incident really rocked my world-view. So what happened was that in between uni semesters I loaned a good friend my computer. In those days, computers were rare and expensive items, and he said he needed to get a job and send out resumes, it being the recession with 10% unemployment and stuff. Wanting to help out a mate, I lent him the machine, gratis for a couple of months (it was the summer break).
When another friend had an even more urgent need for the machine, which I whole heartedly agreed with, I asked for the computer back. And that’s when things got strange. Instead of appreciating his good fortune (for free), it turned into a monster set of ongoing arguments. Sound familiar?
After that incident I un-friended him, having comprehended the colour of his soul. But it took months and lots of pain to get the machine back. And my other friend who actually needed help as well, lost out on his job which was very hard in those days.
Yeah, an instructive experience. Put a price on something, or just say ‘no’. There is no other way with things the way that they are. Sorry to say.
In the past, such acts would create social credit which could be called upon at an unspecified date in the future, but in these more enlightened days, people can act and pretend otherwise. The arguing which went on seriously disturbed me, but I can learn – as no doubt you did. What do you do?
Dogs lack discernment! This is known. Dame plum barfed up her guts at my feet this morning whilst I was enjoying breakfast. I looked at her dejected self and suggested something or other about ‘timing young lady!’ I doubt she heard…
No snow today. It was too warm at 5’C / 41’F.
Cheers
Chris
Hello Inge and greetings from afar!
Always a pleasure to chat with you.
From my reading on the topic of Aphantasia, there is a family genetic element to the condition. So mentioning that your father also may have had it, does not surprise me at all. It’s a shame I’m also unable to confirm the familial experience.
Like you, I rarely meet other people with this lack of visual mental ability. In the past I have been advised to simply try harder to imagine an image (note the etymology between those two words). No matter how hard I try, it’s all blank in there. Interesting, isn’t it?
On the flip side, there are some benefits in that the mind can play around deeply with abstract concepts and see both hidden flows and linkages. Just please never put me before a forensic artist demanding words to produce a facial composite image… A personal nightmare of the direst sort. 😉
Your mention of vivid dreams matches my experience as well. They are beautifully visual spaces to inhabit, yes. For your interest, current research (i.e. beliefs as to why things are the way they are) suggests that visual recall, and visual dreaming, use distinctly different processes within the brain than recall. Usually my dreams are pleasant, but sometimes there are nightmares, and other times the departed visit. But always that space is rich with meaning.
Ah, yes, well, that can be difficult. Out of context interactions get me too, especially if there is not a strongly reinforced relationship. I may have mentioned a similar incident to yours in a reply to DJ when encountering a very good friend unexpectedly at a restaurant many long years ago. It was embarrassing. But Inge, he knew my reaction, and how he knew, has remained a mystery (he’s since passed on). He was well pleased with himself that day. Oh well.
One plays the hand they’ve been dealt, don’t you reckon?
Whoa! Do you know, the media down here does not seem to have reported on the drought / below average rainfall in your part of the world? The hosepipe ban is a sensible response, lest reservoir levels become too low, although it will be difficult on gardens. I’ve lived through such times in Melbourne, and they’ve added a million or more souls to the city since those days. Not at all certain what the future holds in store on that front, but I take water as a resource, seriously.
There was a possibility of snow today, but as they say, no cigar.
Lovely to hear from you and very appreciate your perspective on this subject.
Cheers
Chris
Hi DJ,
Ya, vee haz dis harpy woolf. Is juz diz canine, u kno man. 😉 Thanks for the laughs. At first I thought you were going to go down the ‘lady who swallowed a fly’ route, but as you note: something like that! Presumably solar systems would be peanuts compared to a black hole.
True, when unworkable abstractions regarding the perceived friendliness of Sabre Tooth Tigers overlays the gritty reality, well, you know how that works out. The alert caveman is onto such matters. Anyway, to quote the author Robert E Howard again (and probably will do so at some unspecified, but equally useful, time in the future): Civilization is unnatural. It is a whim of circumstance. And barbarism must always ultimately triumph. History suggests that this is so.
Ordered two replacement belts. Actually, it was my fault that the belt self destructed. I’d missed loosening, and then re-tightening two bolts when last I tensioned the drive-belt, thus why one popped out and got caught in the mechanism. Oh well, a hard way to learn, but it could have been worse – and lesson learned. Decided to check out Stihl chain prices at other dealers, and $56 for a single chain seems to be the way of things, although this time around I was offered a three for two deal, so that is $37.33 each (hopefully the maths are good). Things be getting ‘spensive.
I know, it’s amazing and much enjoyed. 🙂
Agreed, having good quality water for use in food preservation – and comprehending the need for sterilisation at 100’C, would be a good start. But I have some doubts about germ theory surviving. The other day I observed a gentleman older than myself exiting a public toilet cubicle where people take dumps, without washing his hands. It’s an option, I guess. People also seem to be very lax nowadays about cleaning wounds. I’ve known folks who have had those wounds turn septic, quickly. Hmm. Basic steps will be lost.
Blue, no green, arrrrggghhh! 🙂 So much fun those two films. Just a whole entire bunch of wrongness, but so good. And the word peasants always reminds me fondly of the day I mentioned that organised anarchy was a contradiction in terms (in reference to an organised anarchists march in Germany from memory), and began an interweb flame war. 🙂 It’s so easy to do these things, without consciously setting out to do so. Beats me. I thought it was funny, like how do you know he’s the King? 😉
At least the fire containment lines held with the increased wind. Did the rain eventuate later, or the next day? The snow here was a no-go. When the brief storm hit, there was icy hail, but it was 5’C and that is too warm for the flaky stuff. Had a nice lamington today instead with coffee, and paid the hefty canine lamington tax.
Nooooo! Interesting. Most vehicle fires down here that I read about, or observe on the side of the road, seem to be of the stolen (?) and torched variety. The police tape sets off the charred remains nicely. Far out though, you’re only as good as the weakest link. What the heck about that fire? Didn’t that happen last year as well? Hmm. Oh well. Last century we’d planned to stay at the remote town of Corinna in Tasmania. Truly, it’s a long way from anywhere, and they get on average 74 inches of rain annually. It’s wet, but can also be dry. So we got to the town, and were immediately evacuated because some idiot had had car troubles the previous night further north of the town and managed to set fire to the ancient forests – as you do. The fire was heading south towards the town. Yup.
Good luck with the concreting work, and hope you get off to an early start. They tell me the trick with curing concrete is to remember to water it in the days following the pour and initial set. Makes an interesting hissing sound.
It was a pretty relaxed day here, yeah. Happy and warm pooches. It’ll get down near freezing tonight. Brr!
Hope the baseball went well for the kids. I’d imagine they’d be very serious about the game.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
A fine distinction to make, and of course you and H have now tested the difference thoroughly. Hopefully you avoid similar experiments in the future, especially during the winter months, although that’s what towels are for. Yup, weather radars are handy bits of kit, and I too keep an eye on what the device is displaying. Did you both dodge the rain today? By the way, the snow was a no-show here today, although this mountain range was mentioned in the news as being a chance for the white flaky stuff to fall from the sky. Icy rain is not the same thing at all. 41’F is too warm for snow, although it’ll get near to freezing tonight, and possibly for the next few days.
Other than the occasional thick rain band today, it was blue sunny skies. At one point it was both sunny and raining, which was weird. Took some photos of the approaching storms because they looked ominous.
I see, yeah the fall leaves do block up drains in heavy rainfall, and that happens here too. Would a snow fort be cold? Sounds that way to me, but I still wonder about how those medieval castles were kept warm. I wonder if the folks building that 13th century replica have had to deal with temperature issues over the winter months?
In further gas-saving (the gas, not petrol), we cooked with two electric induction cookers running simultaneously this evening. The spare unit has now been pressed into kitchen service. Some dishes require the use of two hot plates…
Ooo, and a trip to a local bakery nabbed a delightful lamington, which incidentally was scoffed down with coffee late this afternoon. Had a relaxed day, the weather wasn’t nearly as dire as the forecast suggested. We’ll see how tomorrow turns out before deciding what to do.
Not picky at all, and in fact I was wondering the derivation of the name. Candidly after yesterday’s work, the old brain wasn’t the sharp tool it generally is, maybe… 🙂 But Albert, of course. So obvious now you’ve mentioned the etymology. Words are powerful tools and symbols.
Well, you’d hope not, but a large enough excavator machine could reproduce another Meg, although it would be a travesty. Diesel is a wonderfully grunty energy source.
Thanks for the insight as to the machine repairs, and I’ve been cogitating on that perspective since reading your words this morning. There is much in what you’ve said, and it saves the hassle of being served up shoddy work. The belt destroying itself, may have been due to my error. Oh well, I know better now. Managed to track down two replacement belts, just in case. Better to have the spares and not need them, than need them, and not be able to get them.
Candidly, the other aspect to your observation, was that in the past when the farm machine repair dude handled all this stuff, I was clueless as to part supply and quality issues. Now, I know.
I always travelled overseas with insurance. It’s pretty awful ending up sick overseas, and that’s happened to me. Nothing too out of the ordinary though, like that bat story which sounded horrific.
The rabbits were bad, and to be honest at first I thought it was some sort of computer generated image. Rabbits are nervous here, as they well should be.
Ah, yes flashing light for the hearing impaired folks. Makes a lot of sense, and bright strobes are equally hard to ignore. Not quite the discotheque ambience is it? Yeah, industrial deafness is always a risk, but then they are designed to wake you up. Hey, with the smoke alarms here, I have to be up a ladder when replacing the batteries, and pressing the ‘test’ button produces an epic screech – like what a seriously demented and angry 10ft tall flightless bird would sound like.
The architecture of SF was really quite pleasing on the eye, although I’m sure people only photograph the nicer older areas. The meandering terraced gardens in Lombard Street were a knock out. I’m genuinely impressed.
On that note, a dog trainer suggested that dogs can learn about 30 to 40 words, before then adding the extra line: “Make them count”. Guess it was a bad idea to teach the dogs the word ‘cheese’. Look, I’ve only got myself to blame there. 🙂 Exactly, a ‘dog act’ is not a nice thing… I’d not known that the roots of the word was so unknown. Oh yeah, I don’t know anyone who speaks this way, but if someone said to me: Hey dog, what’s up? I’d know it was intended as a friendly ‘hello’.
Hehe! Drop outs are always exceed initial expectations. This is known, and I saw it play out at night time Uni courses. The first week or two lectures were squished in, then the numbers crashed. By the end of the semester, you could kick a football in the hall and not hit anyone. Of course the lack of attendance may be due to dull content? Hard to know. Some folks do uni entirely online nowadays…
It would be truly bizarre living in an ash desert ex-city. Whoa!
Cheers
Chris
Hi Chris,
Well it’s been awhile. I can’t quite figure out why life is so busy lately. Maybe as I get older everything just takes longer.
It’s been a hot and very humid summer. As Claire is further south but with similar weather it must be quite awful for her. We’ve had a decent amount of rain too. In fact in July we had 8 inches!
Two older men have taken Marty under their wing and getting him out more. Breaking news – Marty has a new lady friend. He claims they are just friends and she’s not replacing Gwen but his new friend, Larry, thinks it’s more than that. My sisters, Nora and Julie took Marty to see Gwen recently. She’s permanently in a nursing home now. She really dolled herself up for Marty’s visit. Anyway Marty’s facility is quite the hotbed of gossip and intrigue. It’s too funny. Apparently it’s the same where my aunt lives in California. My sisters and I are thinking of writing a new reality series about love in assisted living or something like that. Anyway he seems to be having the time of his life and we couldn’t be happier.
On a sad note though my youngest sister, Kathleen, is really going downhill. She’s suffered from Crohn’s disease for decades and is at the point that much more can be done for her and she’s been accepted into hospice. Nothing is immanent but she continues to decline and is in a lot of pain. She has two hernias that can’t be repaired as surgery would be too dangerous due to her very low weight and condition. I do admire her as she’s very matter of fact and recently arranged and paid for her funeral. She has a very challenging personality – quite manic but has a kind and generous heart. Visiting her can be a trip. Just yesterday I was at the ER with her at 5:30 AM as her husband had to get to work. Her hernia had popped out again and had to be pushed back.
Doug is getting a decent amount of honey this year and keeps busy with never ending projects around here. We still have the young man, Ben, come almost every week to help out outside. Even though he just reached age 15 he’s a great worker and smart too.
I hadn’t seen my granddaughters since January but have spent a fair amount of time with them the last couple of weeks before they head back to college within the next couple days. While they live in Chicago area they’re still quite far from me and were busy much of the summer with jobs.
Still at the bookstore. The sales haven’t been too great lately. I’ve also taken on organizing workdays at the library’s very large native plant garden. It’s been neglected for several years but I think I’ve got a group together that can get it back into shape and then it won’t need as much work.
Have a good crop of apples, raspberries and blackberries. Other than that I’ve only grown herbs and greens in pots. It’s a good thing I went to pots this year because the number of rabbits has been crazy. Everyone has said they can’t remember when there’s been so many. I think Salve at 12 is going into retirement. She seldom chases one. Yesterday she was lying in the driveway just watching a young rabbit about 30 feet away.
You’re never going to run out of firewood it appears. Love your birds.
Margaret
Yo, Chris – Oh, it was so good to hear from Inge! I often think of her, and wonder what she’s up to. We have also not heard anything about a drought in England. I didn’t even see anything on BBC weather.
Our high yesterday was 70F (21.11C). Our overnight low was 59F (15C). Our forecast high for today is 74F. H and I managed to stay dry, yesterday. By adjusting our walk times. It was raining at midnight, but, the forecast said it would clear by 1am. At 12:40 it stopped raining, so out we went. It was fairly dry this morning, so I think that was the last of the rain. But, ominous black clouds are moving in, and we may see some more rain, this afternoon. The rest of the week will be clear, with high temps in the mid 70s.
We often get showers, in sunshine. A good time to spot rainbows.
Snow forts. You dress for the occasion. 🙂 I was reading more about the ice hotel, up in the Arctic Circle. People sleep on slabs of bed shaped ice. On top of reindeer skins and in a very good sleeping bag. Even the glasses in the bar, are made of ice. They even built a reproduction of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. And performed McBeth, in the Sami language.
So, how did people keep warm in Medieval castles. Well, again, they dressed for it. 🙂 And, they had several techniques for staying warm. Tapestries came from the idea of cutting drafts. Then there was furniture, build with the idea of conserving heat and cutting drafts. Like the “settle.”
https://w.wiki/F3UP
It survives as our wing chairs. Curtains on beds? Conserve heat. Fireplaces could be enormous (See: Yule log), or, even fire pits in the middle of rooms. Often, the Lord’s whole retinue would bed down in the great hall. Then there was a room called a “solar.” They usually faced south.
https://w.wiki/F3Ui
If Bert survives, I wonder if he’ll eventually form his own flock? I saw Darius, the (or a) juvenile snail, twice yesterday. Once in the afternoon, and he was still hanging about, at night.
Speaking of pests, do you have mosquitoes? You’ve never mentioned them. A few times when I’ve been walking H at night, I get bit.
I visited San Francisco, twice. But, it was over half a century ago (!), so memories are a little hazy. Those colorful Victorian row houses are often called “Painted Ladies.” Usually done in pastel colors. There were a couple of books about them.
There’s a fellow at the Club, maybe, 35, who often uses “dog” as an expression of affection. I hear it, every once in awhile. Used in the same context as ‘bro” or ‘dude’ I suppose.
Ah, yes. Attrition rates. When I was taking on-line classes, in different library topics, the class size diminished as time went on. Usually, it was the younger ones who would bail out. Once they found out that working in a library is not sitting around reading books. 🙂 And that a degree wasn’t an automatic entry to a job. That maybe a bit of volunteer time, to establish a track record, might be advised. The horror, the horror. Us older ones would fill them in on the realities. And, we didn’t sugar coat it.
As far as the garden plots go, we have an early spring meeting. And some of those people can’t even be bothered to show up. But still think they “deserve” a garden plot.
I saw an interesting article, yesterday, on the fossil trade. Legitimate and black market.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/15/science/fossils-sales-online-spinosaurus
It seems like every collectible area is bedeviled by the possibility of fakes and reproductions. For those who don’t do their homework, the best advice is to “buy from a reputable dealer.” Lew
@ Inge:
It’s so good to hear from you! Don’t you worry about having trouble matching names to the faces. It is perfectly natural. I have always had that trouble, but ask me a dog’s name and I always can match dog with name. Just be cool, like you were, and remember that you have a met a lot of people in your long life!
Pam
Hi Lewis,
It is lovely to hear from Inge, who like yourself, was a very early correspondent from a far country. Fate wends through unknown paths. And the local UK news had plenty of articles on the drought, but nothing much seems to have reached the media here.
This morning was a low of 37’F and a high of 48’F with no wind to speak of. Rain at times, but little accumulated. Your weather has cooled remarkably. Those sort of temperatures would be unseasonably cool here for the month of February (your August). That’s usually the hottest month when it comes to extremes. Anyway, what is happening in your land sort of occurred last February, but by March things got hotter and drier until about late April. We’ll see how it works out in your part of the world, but 74’F is cold for summer weather. It’s warming up here, and the UV rating is consistently ‘Medium’ from tomorrow onwards.
Hehe! True, one does need rain and sunshine for rainbows to form.
What? OK, I have to check this out. Ah, an interweb site ‘The Art of Manliness’ had an article on how to build a snow fort. Lot’s of other resources suggest to wear clothes with natural fibres, like wool. The sleeping bag would want to be very good at such low temperatures. One sleeping bag inside another is a good way to go – layers.
No snow fell today, and maybe not this year.
Wing chairs and four poster beds were known, but rarely seen, when I was a kid. Lot’s of ingenuous ideas to keep warm in the winter, and those settles would have stopped drafts, but not warmed the occupants. But yeah, I recall you mentioning a fireplace large enough to accommodate a yule log. I do that sort of thing outdoors. 🙂
It does make you wonder whether Bert the magpie survives. I was down in that part of the property today and saw no sign of him. Oh well. Darius is such a fun name for a snail, and I’m left wondering if you’re referring to Dick York or Dick Sergeant as the inspiration? It’s possible that Bert will form his own family unit, but it’s tough out there and he’s competing with Kookaburra’s.
Moved a Mandarin citrus tree this afternoon. It was quite large but had been ailing of late. The soil it was planted in was quite boggy so it was preferable to move the tree to a more drained location. Had to cut it back severely, and I was surprised at how small the root system was.
I hear you about that, and no doubts the excursion to SF was at the same time fun. The colours of the terrace housing on steep streets seemed a touch garish to my eye, but I’ve travelled enough to know that the overall look of the big smoke here oozes understated. Spend a couple of weeks in India, and the local contrast was not good.
Yeah, there are mosquitoes here, but I generally don’t leave out standing pools of water, and this limits the insects breeding opportunities. Basically they’re not much of a nuisance, but! In other parts of the country they can be very bad indeed. Night time is their moment to cause itchy nuisance as you noted. Do they carry diseases in your part of the world? Further north there are some exotic diseases carried by the flying menaces: Ross River Fever, for a start.
Yeah, exactly, ‘dog’ is interchangeable with ‘bro’, ‘dude’ or ‘mate’. The first I heard it used was with hip-hop music. It’s not commonly heard down under.
Hehe! Like working at a plant nursery means dealing with customers as distinct from hanging out with and caring for plants. 🙂 Long ago I believed it may have been possible to hang out in a back office and crunch numbers, but no. That’d be described as an internship these days, and a number of professions require un-paid work before getting a look-in on the employment path. I’m not sure how I feel about that, and the health industry demands something like six months work with no pay – which appears extreme to my way of thinking. But like your example, I too never sugar coated the profession to the young assistant accountants.
Ha! Doesn’t the early bird get the worm? That suggests that there is an advantage to ‘showing up’ for the plot allocation meeting. Sometimes I just annoy people by pointing out the obvious: Folks make time for the things which are important to them. Clearly this suggests that dodging the meeting sends a strong message.
Who knew that dinosaurs and reptiles shed teeth? What a great article, and the author purchased within a grey area of the collector market for sure. I’d not realised that people were making a sort of living digging for fossils for re-sale. The article sort of suggested that fakes were rare, and repairs were the more likely problem. Did you ever come across any fossils when in the tat trade?
Cheers and better get writing!
Chris
Hi Margaret,
Thanks for the lovely comment and it’s a pleasure hearing from you. However, gotta write tonight, so will speak tomorrow.
Cheers
Chris
Hello Pam
Aphantasia is not an inability to remember names, it is an inability to recognise someone; one doesn’t have visual images. This can even be a member of ones family if one encounters them in an unexpected place. I have to keep details about them in my mind so that there are clues as to who they are if I encounter one of them in an unexpected place. It is a weird condition.
All the best to you
Inge
Yo, Chris – Our high yesterday was 70F (21.11C). Our overnight low was 59F (15C.) The forecast high for today is 75F. We’ll have a few days of highs in the mid-70sF … but if the forecast holds, by next weekend, we’ll be in the upper 80s, again.
“…if the forecast holds.” We have a big hurricane, that’s headed for our east coast. Erin. But if the forecast holds, it will be well off our eastern coast, and headed north. Although one never knows. Hurricanes are unpredictable beasts.
I’d guess settles had cushions … throws. Shawls were pretty de rigor in winter. In Victorian times (and before), there were portable foot warmers. They even took them to church. I notice in this article, that even railroad companies offered them to passengers.
https://recollections.biz/blog/staying-warm-in-the-victorian-winter/
Darius. There were a string of Persian kings, named Darius. Or, some form of that name. The Greeks picked it up, and passed it on to the Romans. A rough translation was, “holding goodness.” I didn’t see Darius, the snail, last night. But did give a couple of big slugs the ol’ double tap. They were mounting a raid across the sidewalk, into the snail sanctuary. Time to sprinkle around some slug pellets, again.
Boggy ground. Good for some plants, not so good for others. My horseradish, which was in a half barrel, has died. 🙁 . As near as I can figure, it might have been overwatered. We have a gardener, down in that area, who is a watering fool. I’ve caught her watering things I water, and have warned her off, but … special and exceptional, you know. I’ll have to figure out something else to do with that barrel. Inmates constantly want to overwater the venerable old Rosemary.
As I remember, one trip to SF was fun and one was kind of a disaster. On arriving, my car got towed. For an entire day, I didn’t know if it was stolen, or towed. It was towed. What with the fines, and all, I had to cut my vacation short. Silver lining, though. That got me back home, early, to discover they were stocking a new bookstore, not far from where I lived. The one I ended up managing. And, the rest they say, is history.
We have a lot of drains around, that often have standing water in them. I drop old cigarette butts, down them. The nicotine kills the mosquitos. That’s the theory, at least. So far, we haven’t had many diseases, spread by mosquitoes, up here. Although there was that one case of locally acquired malaria, last month.
Interesting you mentioned internships, as I saw an interesting article, yesterday, on the fate of magazines. We talk a lot about newspapers, but magazines also bit the dust.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/16/media/george-magazine-history-jfk-cec
The documentary I watched about MAD magazine also had a section where it talked about Gaines, the long time publisher. Periodically, he’d get a wild idea, and take the entire staff globetrotting to far off exotic places, for a week or two. Besides being a bonding experience, much exotic food and drink was consumed. 🙂
Unpaid internships. Early in recovery, I decided I wanted to explore being a drug and alcohol counselor. Not all that unusual, for people in early recovery. As part of getting a certificate, you had to do an astronomical amount of hours, as an unpaid volunteer, in some agency devoted to that. So, I started volunteering at a local outfit. It’s where I really got to know my buddy Scott. I mostly filed paperwork and could sit in on “sessions,” if the client didn’t mind. Well, after a few months of that, I decided it wasn’t my cup of tea. So, I told the director I was quitting. And he offered me a paid position! I told him I had thought long and hard about it, and stuck to my guns. You may also remember I volunteered a large number of hours as the Centralia Timberland library, before getting my foot in the door, as a paid employee.
Even back in early Victorian times, Mary Anning made a tidy living, selling fossils on the south coast of England. Even the Romans traded a bit in fossils.
https://archaeology.org/news/2025/07/23/rare-fossil-was-made-into-roman-jewelry/
There have been reports that the emperor Tiberius had a collection of fossils, and other oddities, at his villa on the island of Capri. Lew
There’s a lady at work who has a birthday in a few weeks. If I follow Chris’s advice in deducting 10 years from how old I think she looks I’d worry she might be offended I thought she had her son very young!
I picked some Kea Plums lately which are a local variety more like damsons, not even picked all of the two trees at my parents house but now have six jars of jam.
My parents bought the tree as this little stick which went in the ground which not only grew to a tree but started sprouting new ones via root runners. It took a while to get it to fruit well by pruning to encourage more horizontal than vertical shoots but now there are two fruiting trees.
My username should link to a music video about Kea Plums