Minutes before commencing the weekly blog essay, Ollie and I headed outdoors so he could do his ablutions. It’s a particularly dark and clear evening, which makes for good star gazing. There’s something out there in the inky blackness of the orchard. The big dog is pulling on his lead and that’s communication in its simplest form. Usually the Bull Arab is a pleasure to walk, unlike his two ratbag friends, love ’em. An LED torch provides handy illumination. Shines a light on all manner of things. And what do we have here? A mid-sized wombat glaring back at the two of us, with a surly expression which can only convey the idea: “What!”
Except for a few choice crops like the grapes, berries and citrus, the place is open wide to the wildlife. Possibly an unwise invitation. Earlier in the year, the hugest Brush tail possum I’d ever seen (who can forget Kuato?), munched his way through several hundred kiwi fruit. Basically the entire crop. It took him a while to achieve that feat. As winter arrived, tree cover declined, and the owls finally took the pesky critter out, and simply ate the greedy possum. Can’t say that I shed a tear for the sturdy marsupial.
The owls have more or less been hanging around the orchards and garden all winter. Rats are nervous. Rabbits have disappeared. The other evening I spotted a much smaller ring tail possum, who was observed climbing through a still deciduous fruit tree. Probably consuming the buds, the cheeky scamp. The critter looked nervous as well it should be, because nearby a Powerful Owl was performing a staccato hooting sound nearby. The average person would have better odds for survival against fast moving zombies, than that exposed marsupial.
It’s always interesting to learn what eats what here. Over many long years, we’re attempting to work out some sort of rough balance. That means food for us, as well as all of the other critters here. That sweet spot is always changing, so it’s hard to get a fix upon. The complicated aspect is that as the soils become more fertile and the volume of edible produce increases, we enjoy the company of a more diverse collection of wildlife. I guess not much land around here has had 18 years of coffee grounds, plus all the rest, applied to the soils. The feeding is good.
Occasionally strange events do occur. Inexplicable things. For some reason the bee colony appears to have died during the winter. The colony was doing well last summer, but I’ve seen no activity with them for almost two weeks now. They went in to the cold season with plenty of honey stores. However, they are all now deader than a dead dingoes bits, as I’ve heard said long ago. A real mystery there. That’ll be it for me with bees, and baring a miracle, the hive will soon be burned off. No point living surrounded by a cemetery of failed projects.
About two, or maybe three years ago now, some numpty imported honey bees carrying the varroa mite into Australia. They would have known of the inherent risks of that act, but still they did it. The mites clearly spread, although I don’t know whether that is the case with our hive. It might be, although there are plenty of other possible reasons. The thing is, the treatment for mites involves applying miticides (mite poison) to hives is not my thing, so I’ll wait this episode out on the sidelines. I believe the chemicals are either formic acid, or oxalic acid, both of which are some nasty customers. Based on what I’ve read, smaller colonies of bees which swarm more regularly, are about the best natural solution to the mites as it breaks the life cycle of the pests, and that sounds to me like small wild colonies of bees.
Earlier today in the warm-ish spring sunshine, I headed down into the orchard just to take a look and see what is pollinating early blossoms. After all, it’s a good food source for insects and we’re still very much in the early part of the growing season. Usually there aren’t that many insects around. Here’s what I observed in only a few minutes.
The greatest number of insects were by far the European honey bees, but it’s heartening that they weren’t alone. Other insects were also out and about enjoying the spring flower food bounty. Even the tiny little red bodied native bees were harvesting from the blossoms as well. They’re just super hard to take photographs of because they move too fast from one flower to the next, flitting about the various plants offerings.
Longer term, the wild colonies of bees will also have troubles with the mites for sure, and that may already be happening. But the ones which make it through that challenge and adapt through sheer good luck, they’ll be the survivors. And the early spring plants here, well, after having walked around today just observing the flowers, I’m now less troubled about what is going to pollinate the fruit trees once the bees eventually succumb.
Every year, and around this time, vast numbers of hives are trucked around the country so as to pollinate massive commercial mono culture orchards and fields. Honey, which I really enjoy, is a by-product of those efforts. Even with the mite risk, I’ve no doubts that the bee-keepers will valiantly struggle on. That’s been the case in other parts of the world for decades now. A lot of big agriculture depends upon that humble insect and their keepers.
However, when great risks are faced, having a plan B is not a bad idea. The other insects observed here today are there because of the deliberate planting of diverse plants and habitat. Commercial orchards and fields don’t look like that. But it’s not all fun and easy times for me though. Sometimes the strategy doesn’t work, like when Kuato the super chunky brush tail possum ate all the kiwi fruit. The thing is, nobody really knows the future, and maybe the bee-keepers may even win the war against the mites. Given the uncertainty of the situation, it’s probably not a bad idea to have a tested plan B, just in case.
Earlier the week was quite wet and cold. One afternoon, we constructed a new steel rock gabion cage. It’s a good job to do when you only have a couple of hours break from one rain event to the next. Weather radars are an awesome technology for timing the arrival of storms.
The steel cage was placed in a long double height row of gabions. Completing that second row now only requires two more. That’s a job for the future.
Those cages are a good use of all the smaller and oddly shaped rocks we’re finding about the property. However, other projects around here require larger and sturdier rocks, and those have to be split from boulders. We broke apart a few boulders this week which produced about ten usefully sized large rocks. Unfortunately, the Makita rotary hammer drill decided to die. Smoke oozing from within the motor casing is probably a bad thing. There are a couple of repair videos found on the interweb, and when I have nothing else to occupy a few hours, I’ll dismantle the machine and see whether it can be fixed – and at what cost. In the meantime, we splashed some mad cash for a replacement drill.
One project which will require lots of large rocks, is the extension of the path up above the house overflow water tank. Previously the path ended up at a dead end with heaps of thick woody Echium plants in the way. The water pipes were all dangerously exposed and at risk of being broken. The plan is to both widen and extend the path, whilst creating a proper spillway on the off chance that the inlet filter on the water tank fails during a big storm, which can happen. Here’s what the project looked like last week:
A day was spent removing the many Agapanthus plants which can be seen in the above image to Ollie’s left hand side. About 20ft of plants were dug up, and that required the electric jackhammer.
The path extension will end up connecting to the large path where the large yellow power wheelbarrow can be seen positioned in the above photo. An enormous quantity of material was removed that day, and it was all used as organic matter to fill up two large holes discovered in the loggers mess area. Presumably the holes were created when bulldozers pulled out trees, roots and all, leaving behind deep depressions in the soil.
By the end of the day, a long line of Agapanthus had been dug up.
In order to extend the path which runs along the top side of the water tank, and also to fix a few issues in that large garden bed, we needed soil from somewhere. The intention is to dig up a large flat site next to the water tank, and those excavations will provide all the soil we need. An old timer earth moving bloke once said to me: “You always have less soil than you think you do!” Wise words. A couple of hours were spent digging and moving soil up the hill so that the pipes can eventually be buried and the path widened. It’s a start on the project.
The shape of the path, garden bed and the spillway, are slowly beginning to reveal themselves.
Some of the storms earlier in the week were feral windy. At one point during a particularly strong gust loud crack, rip and the smoosh sounds were heard. Didn’t see where the incident occurred, and it would be foolish to venture out in those conditions merely to satisfy one’s curiosity. Wouldn’t have wanted to be underneath that large tree when it crashed back to Earth.
This week’s video is on the subject as to why it is a bad idea to camp underneath Eucalyptus trees.
In my spare time (which is rare), I take the chainsaw out and slowly convert such fallen trees into firewood discs. They’ll slowly dry off in that condition – even if left out in the weather – and eventually we’ll split them into firewood logs. Depending on where the location of the cutting, the discs may have to be moved to a sunnier location. The sun does all of the drying work. The most recent processing of a downed tree was in a shady spot, which is no good for drying purposes, and so all of the discs will have to be laboriously moved.
In breaking produce news:
The many trees in the sunnier orchard are beginning to break their dormancy. Many of them have produced blossoms. Hope the windy conditions recently don’t blow the blossoms onto the ground.
Onto the flowers:
The temperature outside now at about 10am is 14’C (57’F). So far for this year there has been 575.6mm (22.7 inches) which is up from last weeks total of 568.6mm (22.4 inches)
Comments
40 responses to “Reckless”
Yo, Chris – So, what was the wombat, about? You introduce him as a character, and then he just disappears. 🙂 I’ll lose sleep, wondering about that wombat.
I suppose they’re doing well on their own, but I’d encourage the Powerful Owls. Keep the varmints nervous.
As you’ve seen a lot of European Honey bees around, I wonder if your lot, swarmed when you weren’t looking. Up sticks for more rustic digs? If you don’t have other hives within 6 miles, there must be some feral bee colonies, out there, somewhere. Like you, I am cheered and heartened by the variety of other pollinators that we have. We’re at the end of our growing season, and I can say there were very few European Honey bees around, but plenty of other pollinators
What kind of butterflies do you have? Do you have a good field guide? Those can generally be picked up, cheap, second hand.
The rock gabion cages are so genius. And so beautiful when filled.
So the old Makita hammer drill has been put out to pasture. But may be recalled to service, again.
So, if you fill in the holes in the logger’s mess with Agapanthus organic material? Are you likely to end up with two large patches of Agapanthus, where the logger’s mess was? Is this a good thing?
The video was very good. Not only a lesson in healthy respect for trees, but also a good overview of where firewood comes from. And the labor involved in getting it in.
The flowers, as always, are lovely. Lew
Hi Lewis,
Aren’t the wombats lovely? Ollie of course has other ideas, and he’s deeply flawed being an Australian pig hunting dog bred to pin boars to the ground, and the wombats here being around the sort of same size – he gets confused. Rest assured that the canine is never provided with the opportunity to put his skills to the test. The wombats in turn thumb their twitchy little noses at him with impunity. Sorry I digress, so what happened to the wombat? The marsupial simply kept going about its business without a care in the world. I trust that your relaxed general disposition has been restored by that answer? 😉
The wombats do it tough, because most of the best maintained ground cover plants are alongside roads, and more fashionable areas fence them out, but here they have all that, plus the run of the place.
The Powerful Owls do it tough too, but it’s a different problem. People poison their rodents, or other varmints such as rabbits, with baits without a second thought, and those chemicals enter the owls food supplies. Long ago a neighbour once sprayed herbicides on the roadside blackberries we’d been harvesting, without informing anyone in the area. Hmm. We weren’t the only folks picking those berries.
🙂 That’s exactly my thoughts in the bee matter. We’ve populated the surrounding forest with colonies, now it is up to them to survive. Occasionally I can smell the aroma of honey on hot summer days in the surrounding forest coming from who knows where. Overall, I truly believe that the bees will be fine after a very rough road. Us humans however, may no longer enjoy the harvest the insects now provide. It is a good to appreciate that there are other pollinating insects out there doing their thing! Nature is made of some super tough stuff that will survive the worst that our species can do.
There’s some unintended irony in your suggestion with the field guide to butterflies. The guide is authored by a Mr Ross Field, and it is listed on the Museum of Victoria website.
Thanks! The forecast weather for the next few days could best be described as ‘patchy’, although tonight it is warm at 65’F, so another rock gabion cage may be constructed. Today was lovely, and I did a mix of paid work and some stuff around the place. Managed to fix up the irrigation system to all of the round raised garden beds (think your stock tanks), but still need to muck around and reduce the water flow rate for each of the sprinklers. The original plans to get the potatoes and peas into the ground were ditched due to the feral winds. They only calmed down a bit as the sun settled below the horizon.
It’s possible the deceased Makita drill will be restored to working order. One of those jobs I need a spare half a day to complete. Oh well.
I’ve trialled the dump of agapanthus into a hole idea before, and it works a treat. Once the soil is flat, any plants which are foolish enough to poke their Triffid like brains out of the dirt, they’re easy to mow down. Weeds aren’t much of an issue here, probably because the tall Eucalyptus trees in the surrounding forest have some extraordinary methods to indulge their hobby of Allelopathy – or as known in less polite company, plant chemical warfare.
Thanks! The videos are fun and easy to make. One of them has had over 20,000 views, and truly I don’t know that many people…
The Frank Lloyd Wright house is really something special. Dunno about you, but the façade reminds me of one of those desert houses cut into the side of a sand stone cliff. And the carpentry looked amazing. Those long beams, probably Douglas Fir (at a wild guess), or what we call Oregon timber, must have been from very large trees. To be honest, the bones looked in good condition and I certainly didn’t see anything (on that brief view), which would worry me. You’d imagine that there would be all sorts of interested parties peering over your shoulder with such renovation works?
The URL is err, extensive. 🙂
Have there been any further sightings of the bear in your area? I’d imagine that the large critter wouldn’t want to hang around your urban area during the daylight hours, maybe?
Yeah, aquarium fish can still be purchased that old school way in a bricks and mortar shop. I bought sacks of chicken food from a shop the other day which was selling tropical fish. Dogs and cats don’t seem to be sold through those stores nowadays, and yes, that song is a real ear worm. Thanks. 🙂 Funnily enough, you don’t really see many strays these days, but when I was a kid stray dogs and cats were quite common. Interesting, and I’ve never been to an exotic pet store either. I often wonder whether conservation efforts would be improved by expanding the variety of ‘pets’ available to the public without all sorts of onerous licenses. Dunno, is it really worse than extinction?
Checked out the hive again today, nothing was moving there. Oh well. The other local pollinators will eventually pick up any slack, they just won’t be as easily managed and controlled as the bees. Food sources (like blossoms) rarely go uneaten. I’d really like a few colonies of the stingless Sugarbag native bees, but the winters are just slightly too cold for them. Eventually they’ll move further south.
The weather here is fast catching up to your conditions, and the equinox is not far away at all now. My the wind is feral today. Looks like a major climate driver is set to deliver above average spring rainfall. Negative Indian Ocean Dipole underway – here’s what it means for Australia.
The water tanks are now almost full. Here’s a laugh, I noticed that the overflow connection on the large water tank near to where we have been digging, is now also leaking. Again, not happy about how the pipe connection was installed. Should be an easy-ish fix.
That Dewey bloke had a vision for an enterprise, and wasn’t afraid to profit from it. Hey, I recall the card systems, and they mostly worked, unless some nefarious person thiefed off with the book. I’m getting the impression that you writing out all those cards was a lot like me manually filing chainsaw chains for a decade, before upgrading to the big electric grinding machine purpose built for that task (but still super complicated to set up and use). Hang with me for a second, a person has to know the underlying stories of a cataloguing system before they can effectively use more advanced arrangements – like electronic catalogue databases. There’s a real loss of that underlying knowledge in our society, and this is a subject which is close to me because as well as attending uni, I also rose up through the ranks and did every dirty accounts job along the way. There’s a lot to be learned by undertaking an old school apprenticeship. I read once long ago that the potty mouthed celebrity chef was put to the task of making club sandwiches for three years in his apprenticeship. I bet he hated those things, but he would also have learned really fascinating deep knowledge of them. Stuff you could never get from a book. 🙂
I hear you man, but you’ve also lead an interesting life.
The article was interesting, and good to see that people are waking up to the idea that they don’t know all that much. That’s the first step in being willing to learn. Absolutely, it’s a good idea.
Naughty H. Possibly bored, or worms, maybe both? 🙂
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – So I take it the wombats just graze the orchard, and don’t hurt the trees? Unless they get an itch, I suppose. 🙂
Our high yesterday was 68F (20C). And there it is, our overnight low was 48F (8.88C). I thought it was chilly, when I took H out for a walk, late. I wished I would have had on my heavier coat. Our forecast high for today is 72F. We’re under a “fire weather watch,” for the next couple of days. Tomorrow, the temp is zooming back into the 80s. There will be wind, with gusts as high as 30mph. An east wind. There will be a low, relative humidity of 25-30%. That was an interesting article about your Indian Ocean Dipole.
Allelopathy. Reminds me of a movie from director N. Night Shyamalan. “The Happening.” I’ve had a hankering to rewatch it, but the library has no more copies.
So, what topic has 20,000 views? Just out of curiosity.
The long beams in the formed concrete Wright houses, might have even been redwood. Back then, people weren’t quit so touchy about the use of redwood. After the San Francisco earthquake, a lot of small refugee houses were built, of redwood. A few of them are still around. They were made of redwood. I noticed a couple of big green pottery urns. They were probably commissioned, for the house, by Wright.
Before Wright there were the architects Greene and Greene.
https://w.wiki/FLYq
They also did a lot of “whole house” construction, with furnishings. I noticed something interesting. Their D. L. James house, in Carmel, CA, was based on Tintagel Castle in Cornwell. Where “you know who” was born.
Haven’t seen the bear. From the third floor stairwell landing, I can get a good view of his stomping grounds. I always give it a gander, before descending. 🙂
The folks that own the independent feed and nursery have always been concerned with animal welfare. Particularly, cats. I think that’s why they always have a few litters, on offer. They’re very into “fixing” the animals. Even feral cats.
Oh, I typed all those catalog cards. And then there was the thrilling, officious moment of “dropping the cards.” 🙂 Those long drawers in the oak catalog cabinets, had a metal rod that ran from front to back. It screwed into the back to keep the cards secure. Us minions would file the cards, and they would stick up slightly, as they were resting on the rod. A licensed and certified librarian 🙂 would then check our work. If everything was in the correct order, the rod was unscrewed, pulled out, the cards dropped and the rod was reinserted. I think champagne was served, and there may have been fireworks. 🙂
Cataloguers used to gather, periodically, for their own little conventions. New classifications were hashed out, as new topics in the world, came up. A book was published, periodically, with all the Dewey classifications. I had to buy a copy, when I was taking cataloguing. I can’t remember the name.
Now that cataloging is done mostly by OCLC, to me, it seems pretty fast and loose. And, at times, not very accurate. And there seems to be a lot of “sprawl.” Subject headings seem to be abandoned, and morph into something else. Might be a relic of that database “migration” we’ve talked about.
H did another cover pull, about three hours before bed. I don’t think it’s worms. She doesn’t do the scooting her tushy, across the floor.
Well, here’s something interesting. I had one of those “Is that….” moments, while watching “Dark Winds.” People wonder what George R. R. Martin is doing, other than not finishing his book series. There was a brief scene, of two old guys sitting in a jail cell, playing chess. It was Robert Redford and … Martin. They’re both executive producers. I watched some of the “extras” on the DVDs. There’s a train scene, and it was commented on that Martin, owns the train. Why fool around with a model railroad, when you can have the real thing? Lew
Hi, Chris!
I would almost swear your wombat is in my garden. Something big walks around and bends, breaks, and smushes things. There are no holes into the garden. Anyway, I don’t know that I think nice thoughts of wombats. Certainly not “lovely”, but maybe cute. Do owls eat wombats?
Has it already been 18 years? It seems like only yesterday. That’s an awful lot of good soil now.
Another mystery, your bees. Is there a place that does post mortems? I guess it doesn’t matter now, if you are done with bees. Do you have a lot of wild European honey bees? At least he doesn’t look sick, though you never know. No wonder you have bees, butterflies, and wasps – you feed them so well! Do you have a Plan Bee?
You make such nice gabion cages. That is not easy.
Some years ago I planted a couple of agapanthus roots. Or are they tubers? They just kind of drooped around, never bloomed, and eventually they died. I think I am glad. That is a very good start on the project in that area. It is going to be an immense improvement.
Those big, dead trees are chilling. We still have a few around here. Eventually they’ll be removed, but it always makes me kind of sad because there are usually animals inside them. A good few of Charlene the White Squirrel’s many-greats grandchildren live in them. While you were standing under the one in the video I was almost afraid to look in case you might become “a part of nature” – the part that gets composted.
I worry a bit about termites, especially with a log house. So far – for 33 years – we have had no trouble. I do not remember if the stain that was used on the logs, when my son reapplied it a few years back, has any repellent in it. We do have a good bit of trouble with carpenter bees.
Gorgeous hellebores. I have never seen, or smelled, daphnes. Is it a shrub? How pretty the daffodils in the paddock are.
Thanks for mentioning the Equinox. I had forgotten it and it is almost upon us.
Pam
Hi Chris,
Yes, I’m still here though not online nearly as much.
Too bad about your bees. That’s been the main cause of Doug’s losses for quite some time.
After the dry spring, then a wet summer it’s now quite dry again but at least we caught up some. We’ve got some Asian pears for the first time on the trees we planted after we moved here. The raspberries are about done and there were very few Japanese beetles this year.
It seems like the flowers are drying up faster this year than usual. We had one week of quite below normal temperatures and now it’s back to summer.
Marty and his new girlfriend, Jan, are quite a topic at the facility where he resides. He hasn’t gold Gwen yet as he knows she’ll be upset. We just found out today that Jan may have to be moved to a nursing home as she falls a lot so he’ll keep Gwen as his girlfriend. Got all his bases covered, yep. He continues to do well and finally got out fishing. My sister and her son took him and then they had a fishing outing from the facility as well.
My youngest sister, Kathleen, is now in Hospice after suffering with Crohn’s disease for decades. Nothing is immanent but she’s declined a lot recently and is mostly homebound. Hospice provides her and her husband with extra services and support. At any rate we’re all spending quite a bit of time with her.
I stayed at my daughter Carla’s house to watch her dog and cat while she and her husband were out of town week before last. While she’s in a nice neighborhood on the northern edge of Chicago it’s sooo noisy. She’s very close to a major expressway and O’hare airport. you can also hear the elevated train which runs along the expressway. Her dog gets 4 meals a day – all different as she has reflux. I was glad to get home to the country to be sure.
Doug got a terrible case of poison ivy a couple weeks ago. After more than three weeks he’s finally over it. I had told him I had been finding a lot and there was a big plant at one corner of the property though much of it was on the neighbors property on our fence line. I had also sent him a plant ID app so he could be sure what he was pulling out wasn’t in fact poison ivy. Well I guess he didn’t remember and he never downloaded the app and one day wanted to fix something on the fence so just started pulling the plant out while dressed in shorts and a short sleeve shirt which he never does while working outside. He learned the hard way as his arms had to be bandaged up for a day or two and he’s been on steroids to control the itching. And yes, he did download the app and I showed him how to use it. If anyone is interested the app is “Seek” through iNaturalist and also identifies insects. I’ve found it to be quite accurate. I’m not fond of too many apps but this one has been very useful.
I see the work continues as always at Fernglade. I hope you and Sandra take days off more often.
Margaret
Chris,
Wow. A lot happened the past several days.
First, there is The Case of the Disappearing Wombat. Or at least the wombat that got written out of the story. Now, the fact that he appeared but briefly in your story bothered me not at all. I simply assumed that he had joined the rest of the group of wombats to sing about bringing a lemon to a knife fight.
Second, and more importantly, we got rain on Sunday. It was supposed to be the typical “less than a tenth of an inch”. Well, the midday storm dropped a mere 1.25mm. However, late afternoon into the later evening hours brought a more substantial storm, one that hadn’t been previously in the forecast. The official weather station received about 8mm for the day. I think we got more like 10mm here. Nice long rain, everything soaked, followed by a cool and cloudy Monday. Dame Avalanche enjoyed the rain and wandering in the soaked shrubs near the fences. It was almost as good as a bath for her. She looks so clean now. And, starting Tuesday…temps back to the 80s. But we got a good rain that scrubbed the air clean.
Some of the regional wildfires for rain for two days. This has allowed the firefighters to gain the upper hand and then some.
And then there is the word “Chihuahua”. Well, the way I understand it, the word is an ancient Native American word describing a region. The region it referred to grew into a large state in northern Mexico and a large chunk of what is now the southwestern USA. The desert was named for the parent region of Chihuahua. The Spanish conquistadors noted that the Aztecs used the tiny dogs as food, a delicacy, but that the tiny dogs were most prevalent in the Chihuahua region. The dog was named after the region in which it was prevalent.
The Princess has stared into the brink of the abyss a few times. So have I. And both of us together for awhile. My getting hired as a permanent employee at the County got us off of that economic edge. I am still in contact with the guy who hired me and am very grateful for his confidence in me. I’m also happy that we had to struggle financially, too. Makes us wiser with how we do things, as well as not taking for granted what we’ve got.
Okay, Dark Winds. The Princess and I have watched some episodes and did have the opportunity to watch one complete season, I believe Season 1. Before I say anything else, understand that she had read the books the program is loosely based on that were in print prior to 1992. I’ve read all of the Tony Hillerman books multiple times.
So, the telly series we both had various problems with. That said, if one wants to watch a telly series that has some action and mystery in an unique geographical area, it is pretty good. On the other side of the coin, even though the Natives who are producers and directors of the series should know better, the series also has George R R Martin involved in production. So it got the “Hollywood” treatment in casting and how the characters are portrayed. Also, when rituals are depicted on the screen, it is either a bare mention (even when the ritual has a central part to some of the story) or else misrepresented as something that it isn’t. So, being immersed in the books, we both find the telly series to be lacking.
Then, if you were to read the series, it would be best to read them in publication order. The Navajo cultural beliefs and attitudes build somewhat, especially in the first third to half of the Tony Hillerman books. The personal aspects of the main characters also build in approximate series order. The additions to his series written by his daughter, Anne? Those aren’t useful for anything other than as fire starting material or to line bird cages with. https://www.bookseriesinorder.com/tony-hillerman/
Early in our time together, the Princess suggested that I start reading the series of books. While the creation stories and other traditional stories differ between tribes, there is a large overlap in basic attitudes and beliefs. She figured that I needed to learn some of her culture’s important underpinnings: acceptance of people and animals and objects for who they are, think logically when possible, because in the human realm, there is a cause for every action. Relating to other living beings is important. Relationships are more important than status. In contrast, having been brought up in a male dominated authoritarian religious setting in which your worth will be apparent by your accomplishments, well, I needed to see the other way of viewing the world.
DJSpo
Hi Pam,
Unfortunately I’d get into heaps of trouble for loaning you a wombat, merely for comparative purposes. Sad. Sounds like wombat damage, and what could possibly be doing that? Hopefully not a bear. Ook! Owls have zero chance of eating a live wombat, they’re like little armoured vehicles and can happily smoosh through fences with aplomb.
🙂 Some sensitive folks may describe the soil mineral additions as an investment. But yeah, 18 years. There’s a whole bunch of coffee grounds waiting to be mixed in with compost when it comes time to planting out the potatoes (which should happen very soon).
It doesn’t matter, is my thoughts as well. For all I know, some nefarious person could have sprayed insecticide inside the hive. Oh well. Pam, that’s so lovely, and yes, the wild colonies in the forest are the plan bee! They always were the main game.
Peak Rocks is real, but there is a huge supply of free rocks right now. The gabions would very much appreciate an introduction to the rocks. Bringing them all back up the hill is the hard bit.
Go with your gut feel in relation to the agapanthus, but it is possible that your deer ate them based on what I’m observing here. I dunno whether they’re technically described as tubers, but they are a mass of very thick spaghetti like roots. Strange plants, but they’ll flower during hot and dry conditions, and there’s a lot to like about that. The honey eater birds in particular enjoy the nectar.
Charlene the white squirrel and her progeny lead a charmed life, excluding the occasional tree disaster. Didn’t you hear that on the Mount of Olives, the Big J said: Blessed are those with a nervous disposition, for they are fleet of foot. I take nothing for granted with the trees, but even then, that might not be enough and I could get caught out. You’d run similar risks.
Yeah, wise to be wary of termites and their activities – although down here those insects only chomp upon wet timber. Dry timber defeats them. Oh wow, your carpenter bees are an important part of the ecosystem. Handy critters to have around, unless you disturb their nests.
Daphne flowers have an amazing aroma, truly one of the best around. I’d describe the plant as a shrub, yeah.
Where ever has the growing season gotten too? Before too long it will be winter in your part of the world, and high summer here. Much wailing and gnashing of teeth should the maximum exceed 100’F, which it is likely to do.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Margaret,
Always a pleasure to have your company, and I thought you’d be interested in the fate of the bees. When the mite landed on the continent two or three years ago, I thought that was it. Respect to Doug for continuing on, and please extend my best wishes for that endeavour.
Oooo, Asian pears are really tasty and much juicier than their European equivalents. Glad to hear that the trees have finally borne some fruit. Hope you had a chance (in your free time!) to make some raspberry jam?
Every year is so different here, that I’ve simply got no baseline. And it’s hard to say, but every plant produces flowers differently here. Some get smooshed by the heat and dry, and others thrive in those conditions. Generally speaking, if the flowers are drying faster this year, then that sort of suggests something in relation to the ground water. But dunno really. Are your neighbours seeing similar things?
Oh Marty, you cheeky scamp, keeping two lady friends. Well I never! And yup, got all his ducks lined up and bases covered (a lovely way to put the situation). It’s so great to hear that Marty has settled into his new digs, and more importantly, is enjoying himself. Truly, I’m astounded that the fishing expedition took place, that’s what I’d describe as an expression of his willpower, and luck.
Wise to spend time with your sister for the moments are always fleeting. Hope her stay is comfortable and you all enjoy many a long and enjoyable chat.
Margaret, you and Doug live in the bush. 🙂 Things are noisy there, but in a different way to the big smoke. You know, I’ve heard of dogs in the city which have food related issues like the one you described. Hmm. It is not for me to provide unsolicited advice, but I reckon that there is a story there.
Oh far out! Whoa! That’s horrific and glad to hear that Doug is on the mend, and has learned from the experience. Coming into contact with that plant sounds like a nightmare, and the photos looked awful.
Thanks. And will do. Have you got the chickens / pork back yet?
Cheers
Chris
Hi DJ,
Oh you’re super cheeky. And I believe that lot is actually in the country now, and may do just as you noted with the singing. 🙂
Well done with the rain, and hope you and Dame Avalanche were (or at least the dog was) jumping around in the sudden bout of wet stuff falling from the sky? I was wondering about the smoke, and rain is so good to wash the particulates out of the atmosphere, probably giving the soil a nice feed too. 80’F-ish is pretty nice weather.
Sometimes persistent rain is the only thing (next to a lack of fuel) which will put out the really big fires.
Well I hadn’t expected that answer, but plenty of cultures consume dog meat. The diminutively sized canines would be all bones, like rabbit, or that roast guinea pig I saw when in Peru (but didn’t partake of, or have anything to do with the order). The thought of Robert Falcon Scott on his fateful Antarctic expedition and their use of the pack dogs, sprung to mind. The final line: “I am just going outside and may be some time” tells things as they were in -40’C weather.
I’ve heard it said somewhere (or maybe even just made it up): the finest way to learn prudence is to experience hardship. You learn not to over extend yourself in future, yup, and yeah, take comfort in good grace.
Thank you so much for the review. If I had to sum up the core theme of your ideas, it might sound something like: The books are awesome, the series, not so much. Please correct me if I’ve misunderstood? Ritual is a funny thing (and I don’t refer to that word in the humour mode), because in order for an outsider to comprehend the act, or collection of acts, and its consequences, they probably have to be an initiate. The usual viewers (or producers) of the series might not fall into that category, sorry to say.
People’s lives are full of ritual, although they may not see things that way. Like say, going to work on a Monday morning, is an affirmation that things will continue on as before. I’d read of some folks heading to work in the wake of the fall of the Soviet empire, even though there was no economic benefit for having done so.
If the author on the other hand, slowly lead readers through the Navajo cultural beliefs and attitudes, that’s I’m guessing, an individual initiation of sorts. You both see the deeper, whilst the folks-in-charge may have merely wanted the outlines of a story. To be fair to them, it’s hard to compress a book into a film or series – probably why I never watched Game of Thrones.
And thanks for the warning! 🙂
I very much believe that what you have described, will be the future, for it was also once long ago, the past. Relationships are very important, and status is a game which seeks to usurp the will. Is that wisdom? 🙂 Wisdom may in fact be taking a lemon to a knife fight!
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
Wombats have a strong bite, by all accounts. After the 2009 bushfires, a hungry wombat (due to forage loss) attacked a bloke who’d allegedly made the unfortunate error of standing on the marsupial, which bit and mauled him pretty hard. Wombat mauls bushfire survivor.
They’re usually mild mannered, albeit in a grumpy sort of way, just like the old bloke enjoying his coffee and book at the café who’d trained for many years with a potent martial artist. Best left alone. 😉
You’ve got me wondering about tree damage, and I’d never heard of any. However, over in the more fashionable (and possibly better fenced) western end of the mountain range, the wombats there do have some mange and could well be itchy.
Man, it’s gonna get chillier soon for you two. It was 6’C / 43’F outside a few minutes ago. Took the dogs outside to do their business and they were loitering around sniffing things and generally taking their time. Hurry up and get on with it! That was the command, because I was getting cold. Put the sheepskin boots on after that adventure.
Ouch, and that sounds like fire weather to me too. Hope nothing eventuates.
How did I miss that film? It’s dark, and the director has some other great titles. Any plans to nab a copy of the film? Or is it like the proverbial wombat itch that cannot be scratched?
Full disclosure, I have no idea why that one video has had so many views. Here’s the link which you can paste: https://youtu.be/bMJcmVgRej8 Any insights why?
Ah redwood, of course. They’re like the ultimate tiny-home. What a great idea: The Earthshaking History of San Francisco’s Quake Shacks Thought you might enjoy the story, and the photo of the horse drawn relocating house is impressive. Plus the rent to own side of things was good policy in getting people back on their feet (and land).
Greene and Greene sure designed some impressive “ultimate bungalows”. I liked the expansive cliff top stone cottage particularly. It really fit the site like a glove. Always nice to see a nod to myth being played out. I’ll bet the heating was better than Tintagel Castle.
The wombat bite incident mentioned above has a lot to say about your excellent habit of taking in the lay of the land prior to stepping out. I do that as well so as not to encounter a large kangaroo. They don’t mind a bit of biffo.
Probably not a bad idea to get cats fixed up, I’ve known of some male cats who’d happily mark their territory inside the house. It’s a potent stench. There are people with pet skunks. What the heck?
Very good to hear that rank was pulled at an appropriate time, and thanks for the laughs although you don’t sound like you’re joking around. Can you imagine the uproar should the catalogue stake fail to clear all of the cards? Surely not the fault of the over-men! 🙂
I’d not previously heard of the OCLC before. You’d hope that they don’t stuff up the job.
Naughty H, and well, that’s one possible option ruled out at least. Do you reckon she might be bored?
I’ve gotta say, owning a train is the whole next level for the enthusiast. 🙂 Forgot to mention, but we went past a volunteer group who were maintaining a branch line to a tourist town, which runs off the Melbourne to Bendigo country line (which is pretty busy). It was a weekday (the day we headed north to talk to the lady about the chickens) and we were at the far end of the line so we were able have a walk around and enjoy. They’ve tricked out the station too as if it were over half a century ago too. Here goes: Maldon Railway Station.
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – That was quit some story about the wombat attack. I guess the moral is, “Watch where you step.” No more bear sightings.
Our high yesterday was 73F (22.77C). Our overnight low was 52F (11.11C). The forecast high for today is 87F. They’ve ratcheted up the fire danger a notch, to “Red Flag Warning.” Prof. Mass is calling it a “flash heatwave.” Not quit 48 hours and done.
Yeah, every once in awhile, H goes on one of her “sniff and smell tours.” I never know if she has business to do, or is just larking about. She’d test the patience of a saint, so, I guess I’m up for canonization. 🙂
The next time I do an e-buy order, I might toss on a copy of “The Happening.” There are copies available, with shipping (or, free shipping) for less than $10. Some, less than $5.
I’d say your video is so popular, as it has to do with water. What’s the big three for survival? Water, shelter, food. I notice other videos about water also have high viewer numbers.
Thanks for the article on the quake shacks. That was really interesting. And, the thought crossed my mind, “Well, there’s the solution to our homeless situation.” It would take that kind of an effort. I bet, in San Francisco, in 1906, there wasn’t much red tape to cut through. 🙂 . I do hear about small clusters of tiny houses, for the homeless, from time to time.
Besides Greene and Greene, a lot of other architects did some really interesting things in Carmel, California. I saw a big picture book once, of all the interesting houses. It started out as an art colony, so, concepts were on the daring side. I suppose you saw that Robert Redford has died. He was mayor of Carmel, for quit awhile. I drove through Carmel, once. I wanted to stop and look around, but even back then, the parking fees were so horrendous, I couldn’t afford it.
Keeps the riff-raff out, I suppose. 🙂
I hesitate to get a cat, as, I’ve had cats in the past. And, I figure some of my stuff might still carry undetectable scent, to me. But a cat, might detect it. And, mark territory. I’d never get a male cat, as they tend to do that more than the females. Some people that have skunks for pets, take them to a vet and have the scent glands, removed. I think you can even buy them, already ‘fixed.”
If one of the minions got a card in the wrong place, it was corrected. And as I remember, it wasn’t a “put down” situation, but a learning situation. At least in the libraries I worked in.
I’m not very impressed with OCLC. I’ve known people who have worked for them, and have heard stories … Also, there’s their “rate of error.” Which libraries seem to accept, these days.
I have a very low tolerance for man, or beast, who claim boredom. As I’ve said before, it shows a decided lack of imagination. 🙂
Oh, the Maldon Railroad is quit interesting. Did you notice one of the train cars had a stained glass transom, over a door? And, those old brick stations were really beautiful. Both Centralia and Chehalis have one, though the one in Chehalis is now the Lewis County Historic Museum. We have a steam train company, here. They’re the folks who lost one of their trestles to arson. It’s called the “Chehalis Centralia Railroad.”
https://w.wiki/FMAv
I found an interesting article, about George R. R. Martin’s trains. From his blog, no less.
https://georgerrmartin.com/notablog/2021/11/20/opening-the-sky/
Now, there’s a busy man. I bet he’s never bored. :-). Lew
Correction!!!: It was Clint Eastwood who was mayor of Carmel. 🙂
Lew
Chris:
Yes, except that carpenter bees eat log houses. Somewhere I printed out something about how to keep them away. I think it came from Mr. Greer’s Frugal Fridays. I love that post.
Are O rings the same thing as washers? I am thinking not. My son fixed one of my hoses with a washer, which I could have done, but I was being lazy.
This time of the year (autumn) I get an almost uncontrollable urge to knit. My neighbor says the same thing happens to her. I am not much of a knitter. I could only ever do hats, scarves, and mittens. I don’t need any of those things, so I decided to make a pot scrubber, you know – for scrubbing dirty dishes with. I have a lot of white cotton string that I used to use quite a bit of in the garden, but don’t anymore. It works great, so now I don’t need the nylon scrubbies, though the thought occurs that if one had nylon string, one could knit them. Am I wrong in thinking that the Editor knits?
@ Margaret:
Hi, Margaret!
Pam
Hi Pam,
Ook! Spare us all from such insect mischief. I’m 100% with you there. Protection in this instance is cheaper than a cure. You got me interested in the matter, and turns out that they’re not eating the cellulose in the log walls, somehow they’re boring through them to make nests. The handy sawdust gets recycled as partitions between the bee cells. What a total nuisance, and may they practice their nest building, elsewhere!
Hmm, o-rings and washers, kind of work the same-ish. Glad to hear that the hose issue has been sorted out although I’m unclear how the washer assisted, and down here the sun destroys the lesser hoses. It’s brutal out there.
Always nice to take some time out to enjoy the roses.
The Editor is pretty handy with the sewing machine, but has shown no inclination to take up the art of knitting. And respect to you for having done so. Your cleaning innovation is outstanding, and probably avoids the dark side of microplastics, as long as synthetic materials are avoided. 🙂 Pam, recently we’ve discovered the ‘Scrub Daddy’ scourer, and it’s awesome, but is probably dumping lots of tiny particles of plastic in the worm farm sewerage system. The stuff is possibly not going nowhere.
As some food for thought, knitting is an activity which to me looks akin to fishing. Provides some nice down-time for the brain, whilst doing something which is ostensibly productive. My mum used to be able to knit chunky cable knit woollen jumpers, to which I have an inordinate fondness for, even today. And truly, I have no idea what was involved with that effort.
It was another cold-ish day here, and so the wood fire was lit early and um, err, paid work got done. They say the sun will shine tomorrow with some early winter warmth, and it may even be true. Might plant the peas then.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
🙂 Very true, and I have a hunch that a sleeping bear would react even worse to being trod upon. Talk about undertaking a risky endeavour! Sorry about the undertaker pun.
Hope the flash heatwave is over and done with no wildfires. The Professor noted the low humidity levels, and those are a real risk for forest and grassland fuel loads. I didn’t quite understand how the warm air holds more water vapour, but then measured humidity drops, but may have misread that. The winter months are often the most humid here, so my perspective could be different to many other parts of the planet.
It’s 5’C / 41’F outside tonight! Feels cold. Today was sort of cloudy and on the cooler side of the expected temperatures for this time of year. Spent the day doing paid work.
That’s funny, yup, ‘sniff and smell tours’. Nice one. It’s hard to tell what’s going on within their canine minds, but I dunno, if it goes on too long, the lead gets tugged in the direction I wish to go. Leads being useful items. 😉 If the Kelpie’s are running around, off-lead, the command to bring them back from that fascinatedly nose twitchy place, has to have a sharper edge to it.
Always an option, and purchasing the DVD second hand is great re-use. The old timers used to quip: Re-use, Repair, or Recycle. The order of the options is very revealing as to the underlying practical hippy philosophy. And it’s right too, although you may have other notions in mind?
Thanks for your thoughts as to the video, because I’d wondered about matter. Hmm. Interesting. Can’t say that I’ve watched any utoob vids on the subject of water, mostly because I didn’t need to. Man, I hope nobody ever says to me that water comes from a tap, in much the same manner that kids say that mad cash comes from a hole in the wall. 🙂 Far out. How the big smoke will cope when the next drought years arrive, will be surprising to many I guess. It’s a matter of when based on the history of such things happening.
🙂 There’s a lot of vested interests whom are unhappy with the whole tiny-home movement. Many authorities go out of their way to make life difficult for people making that choice, which you’ve noted before as being about the protection of property prices. You’re not wrong too, back in 1906 it would have been a case of: Let’s do this. That would have been after a bit of grumbling, some business opportunity inserted into the arrangement, such as the rent to own model, and then the shacks would have been constructed in double quick time.
Down here, the authoritas seem to really have it in for tiny homes. Perhaps if the economy takes a nose dive, things will change fast. That’s the flip side of a crisis, in that new previously un-thought of opportunities are introduced.
There was long ago (I believe) an artist colony over in the more fashionable western end of the mountain range. It was almost two decades ago, and we visited the property when it was up for sale. It was interesting in that it had (from memory) about four or five small houses (artist studios) on it, and even a paddock for a diary cow – the paddock was named after a lady (and I sensed a story there, which I could not discover). Not your usual property in that part of the range! It’s all be renovated now, and much information has disappeared, which is a thing that wealth can purchase.
🙂 Yes, but the riff-raff often have more fun. Parking is a problem in a lot of areas now. Yup.
Oh yeah, cats will do that for sure, and their memories are long indeed, whilst the revenge would be potent and aromatic. Agreed, lovely creatures, but they can get a touch stroppy from time to time.
Lewis, that’s about the best way there is to learn. Too many insecure people go for the ‘put-down’ public humiliation option first up. I’ve been occasionally on the receiving end of those, and candidly the bosses made a poor impression – and were sometimes wrong. I wouldn’t speak to a dog that way, and for sure the canines wouldn’t trust me again if I did so. I’ll be interested to read what Mr Greer writes in his next essay. The thought: A fish rots from the head, comes to mind.
Acceptable rate of error, suggests to me that economics has perhaps chosen the course to navigate through the old timey predicament of: Good, fast, cheap – pick any two! Man, I see that story playing out all over the place.
Vale Mr Redford, may you enjoy a well earned rest and reflect upon the acting heights you proved were possible.
Oh yes, the old timers (and my mum) used to quip: Only boring people, are bored. And a young fella learned quickly that this lead to lots of work – a fast way to cure boredom. Agreed, it is reflective of a lack of imagination, and also the missing character trait of gumption for that matter.
The red timber carriages are beautifully made, and thanks for pointing out the stained glass upper windows as I’d missed that. Just to geek out a bit, the carriage proclaimed ‘The Overland’, and there’s a photo of that carriage in use with a steam locomotive on the wikipudding page (3rd photo): The Overland. The prices for the journey seem OK, although I’d aim for first or premium due to the greater space and leg-room.
That’s a dog act, and trestles are not easily replaced. Can you imagine the skills the folks running that steam train company would have? They’d be handy.
Mr Martin has a nautical air hovering about him, like an old salt would. Absolutely, busy is spot on, but also, so is the word: accomplished. There’s a lot to like there in all those lovely words. PS: The murals look awesome, and I’d imagine that the nice unsurance folks down here would have a right and proper melt down over the open carriage. 🙂
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – I talked to one of the Inmates, this morning, whose apartment is on the park / woods side of the building. The bear has been seen twice, over the last two weeks. But not in about a week. Usually, very late at night.
Our high yesterday was 91F (32.77C). The overnight low was 50F (10C). The forecast high for today is 75F. I haven’t heard of any wildfires that started. It’s sunny this morning, and the air is clear.
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.” Turns out that was a riff on something President Coolidge (Keep Cooler with Cal!) said. He was the president, 1923 to 1929.
https://www.offthegridnews.com/how-to/use-it-up-wear-it-out-make-it-do-or-do-without/
I give H a gentle tug on her lead, to keep her on task. Also, at night, to keep her in a lit area, so I can deploy the poop bag, if necessary. Although I always carry a small flashlight. New regime at Casa Lew. H pulled the blankets off the bed twice, yesterday. Training her brought this scene, to mind.
https://youtu.be/9uheykreqCo?si=eSiQkv1msgRruhuh
From here on out, the bed is only accessible when we take our afternoon nap, and at bedtime.
I thought mad cash grew on trees? 🙂
Artists studios, guest cottages, mother-in-law houses. The Amish have a Dawdy Haus for the old folks. Writer’s retreats. The last place is lived in S. California was Long Beach. Behind the “big house,” was a tiny little duplex. Maybe built in the teens. It was a little jewel. A very “arts and crafts” feel to it, with a lot of oak built-ins.
Trains have been through some real changes, over the years. I saw an article, the other day, about changes to our national rail service. Lovingly called, Anthrax. 🙂 . A new train is to be launched, mostly on the east coast, called NextGen Acela. Capable of speeds up to 160mph. Not that we have track that can take those speeds, anywhere in the U.S.. I see there’s also going to be changes, to our trains out west.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/amtrak-cascades-one-most-scenic-140000588.html
That open car of Martin’s train, plays a major roll in the climactic closing scenes of “Dark Winds,” season three. 🙂 It’s a real nail biter.
I slaughtered my pumpkins, last night. I thought I only had three, but I found a fourth, hiding under a rose bush. They’re pie pumpkins, so not all that large. The three largest are slightly smaller than a soccer ball. I figured I better get them harvested, as, someone stole “the” ear of corn from our night managers garden plot.
He only planted about four stocks of corn, and had one ear that was a day from harvesting. Someone stole it. Boy, was he ticked! I thought it might be an animal, but it was neatly cut off. We have two suspects, but, as those things go, it could be someone entirely unsuspected. There’s talk of putting up a trail cam, next year. My pumpkins are full orange, though one should probably spend a couple of days in a sunny window. Lew
Chris,
Twas a hot one today. 32C. “Average” is about 23C. Two more days like today then the cooling starts. No more rain in sight, but it will be cooler next week. Good outdoor working temperatures expected then.
Meanwhile, the smoke has crept back in with the current high pressure system. This time it has brought some of the typical September dust with it.
Ah yes, dog meat. Big joke on the Rez, most any Rez, is that if your dog is fat, it is ready for dog stew and frybread. And if the dog misbehaves too much, the dog gets told, “Calm down or dog stew is for dinner.” The Princess says that if we get two more dogs, they will be called Dog Stew and Frybread.
Hmmmm. Frybread. That reminds me. I need to experiment with making some of that. Improve the technique.
You got the jist of my review. I would add a bit to your conclusion. Just a bit. If you are very familiar with the books, the books are awesome, the series not so much. If you’re not familiar with the books, then the series is probably pretty good.
Hehehe. Good call on lives being filled with rituals. I’ve said similar things to some people, gotten blank stares in return. One person got mad, dunno why. Rituals are a big part of who we are. Humans have rituals. Dogs have rituals. Everything has rituals. Some people just don’t look at it that way, I guess.
Wisdom? Sometimes I think wisdom is knowing yourself and your limitations, then figuring out how to live life without playing their game. Whoever “they” are. Taking a lemon to a knife fight could fit that. Peel the lemon, squeeze some of the juice into the eyes of a guy with a knife, then run away.
I mowed the front today before it got too hot. I found several places where the succulent is growing, the one with the nasty smelling blooms. I can transplant those to where I want them. The recent rains revived the same species in the alley. That will be a big batch that I can transplant to where I want them to start. There are also a lot of hens and chicks that I can move into a flower bed. Those will be a good addition to the wildflowers, forget-me-nots and irises in that flower bed.
Glad to hear that your pollinators are hard at work. That’s always a good thing.
Good work with the gabions and the rocks. Filling the cages will keep you busy for some time. I can see you now, on a new television series: Peak Rocks Is Real. Season One, In Search of Moby Rocks.
That’s a lot of agapanthus you dug up. Hard work, I bet. What do the Fluffies think about that area without the plants? Have they tried digging in that area at all?
Dame Avalanche started more excavation work on her big hole. She was busy extending its length to the north. She may have gotten inspiration from a pair of dogs we often see when on our walks. They dug a huge den underneath a concrete patio. Must be nice and cool under there in the summer.
DJSpo
Hi DJ,
Oooo, this is so weird, and maybehaps an indication of climate synchronicity (whatever that means), but it was exactly half your maximum temperature today (in Celsius). 16’C / 61’F. Must be something in the sun, or at some unsubstantiated point way beyond? 🙂 Hope it cools for you and yours soon (and two days is not far away at all). In another five days here, we’re up to a UV rating of High. You as a person with a better grasp of the arcane laws of maths than I, you’ll appreciate that the climate sine wave spends more time at each extremity, than in the more pleasant in-between states. Or at least that’s the impression I get. It won’t be long at all before UV here is rated at Very High, before then hanging around for months at the dreaded Extreme rating.
Yup, nice to be outdoors working when it’s cooler. We planted about 80 potatoes and over 110 pea seeds today. The soil in the sapling fenced enclosure was a real pleasure to work with and feed – and that’s where the seed potatoes ended up this year.
Bummer about the smoke, and hope you get some rain soon to wash clean the skies. And yes, I hear you about the dust storms. When it gets really baking hot in the centre of this arid continent, the land there will release red dust into the air, which inevitably blows to the south east (here) and then red dust covers all sorts of things, like cars, washing, solar panels etc. Mustn’t grumble though, because the red dust is a free form of fertiliser.
🙂 That’s quite amusing, although I’m uncertain our canine friends would see the humour in those err, threats. Mind you, it would most certainly improve their behaviour.
You sent me on a rabbit hole as to what the heck is frybread? What I’ve learned is that our former English masters had very poor concepts of a balanced diet. Down here, a similar bread was a staple of the early settlers and for the folks who roamed far from the settlements. Damper (food), which differs very little to frybread, other than the animals down here are notoriously lean so there was less lard available. Kangaroo meat is quite tasty if not over cooked, but it’s a lean meat. Traditional bush breads on the other hand, contained more proteins and were a far healthier option (usually involving millet and other local seeds), but some of the seeds had to be processed in certain ways so as to remove toxins and harmful enzymes. A lot of expert knowledge is required to avoid dying in the land of plenty.
Have you made frybread? There was a reference to Indian taco’s, and they looked really good to me. Absolutely full of vegetable matter.
Thanks, and I was trying to get to the core of your words. Series good, Books better. 🙂 The Editor is very much enjoying the series, and I’ll use that as a springboard to get her to read the books at a later date – which I’ll also do afterwards without ever having watched the series. That’s the plan at this stage. 😉 Is there a flaw there? Maybe…
DJ, now you know all of my secrets! And yes, I would absolutely use the lemon that way in a knife fight. Probably work better than that bear spray stuff given what happened to the couple at err, Bear Lake. 😉
Good stuff with the mowing, and plants have evolved to be hacked back – in the long distant past (before us humans ate them all), megafauna would have done exactly the same thing as your mower. The forget-me-nots have only just begun sprouting here, and soon will produce clumps of light duck egg blue flowers, which the insects will enjoy. Your garden will be a real haven for such critters. Feed them, and they will come. Are you observing more insects and other critters this summer compared to previous years?
Yeah, over the next week or so, we’ll construct another steel rock gabion cage. The plan for tomorrow is to bring some rocks back up the hill for the gabions, but also plant out a whole bunch of Japanese maple seedlings which were potted out last year. They all need to get into the ground soon. There’s only so much which can be done in a day.
Moby Rocks scare me, and they’d probably scare Leonard Nimoy as well, but he’d lead on us an intriguing journey into the unknown to explore their more intriguing uses. I like the thought of a world which has a Loch Ness monster.
The Fluffies are enjoying the de-jungled garden beds. Gives them more room to run around in, and they do like to run unhindered by thick vegetation. The scents of rabbits and rats hiding out in impenetrable chunks of plants, only serves to upset their high speed dashes. Dame Avalanche would no doubts understand.
Ah! Yup, dogs sure do enjoy digging holes, but I do my best to put a stop to such mischief because they can go pretty deep and that runs the risk of disturbing infrastructure. Now, I told them to phone the Dial before you dig hotline and find out what is under the ground before commencing excavations, but do they listen? The den probably is very cool, but may impact upon structural integrity for the patio – Shields at 10%! What are we going to do Captain boss human?
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
Hope you and H continue to avoid the bear, although the critter may be more afraid of you, than you are of it. However, a bear wouldn’t risk a run into an urban area unless the rewards were worth it. It must be eating something, and hope your bins are locked up.
The Editor just showed me a utoob clip where someone had mashed up various clips from the dark thriller (book) film ‘Silence of the Lambs’, and made a trailer for a rom-com between the two protagonists. It worked… Although, if a person followed the story line, the narrative kind of ended up as a somewhat dark and macabre romance tale anyway. Some folks have an edgy sense of humour.
Whoa! It was exactly half your maximum temperature here today (if measured using the Celsius scale) at 16’C or 61’F. The sun shone through brilliant cobalt blue skies and there was not even the vaguest hint of wind. There’s a bit of rain forecast for each of the next few days, so we planted out about 110 pea seeds, and another 80 seedling potatoes, some new, and others from last year. Fertilised the garden rows too. A big day of work, but at least the weather was nice. After lunch we chipped up two seedling 10ft fruit trees which had grown from suckers and were just crowding out the parent trees.
Oh! And we soaked the pea seeds overnight and discovered that only a single pea was unviable. Not a bad outcome at all given they were from last summers crop. Hope the seeds all get off to a good start in the slowly warming early spring soil.
Man, that’s a great mantra: “Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.” Hope it gets another run in the sun soon before resource depletion makes it too difficult a proposition. Thanks for the article and the line: The frugality of World War I now became about survival and not about patriotism. which reminded me of my own experience during the recession in the early 1990’s. And my grandfather grew up on a farm during the drought / Great Depression years, fought in WWII and despite being well remunerated at the top end of town, he always maintained a large vegetable garden. I do really wonder how people who’ve never experienced hard times will cope in the future if and when they ever reoccur?
I too carry torches when walking the dogs at night. There’s just way too much wildlife out there, and not all of them are friendly shaped – to quote the amusing interweb meme. Good to hear that you do so as well. Your words just reminded me to charge the batteries in the torch. 🙂
Ah yes, you and H are testing each other’s mettle, and sometimes that is the way of things. The water scene was intense, and very full of emotional content. Boundaries are sometimes best set and then enforced. If there were another way…
Hehe! What do you mean the stuff doesn’t grow on trees? Oh, that’s right – they use plastic these days.
Down here a Dawdy House would be described as a Granny Flat, and those are making in-roads, although there is often I believe a really deeply weird legal requirement to have them demolished once Grandma passes on. Which is so wasteful that I have trouble comprehending it. Strangely, the planning laws for the zoning I’m in allow for the construction of a ‘bed and breakfast’ outbuilding, which is something we’ll consider as a future maybe project. Man, I love those Arts and Crafts cottages as they have such a pleasant vibe to them and really beautiful detailing. They’re not all that common in this part of the country due to the economic circumstances in those days.
Very funny! You’d hope that availing oneself of the train services didn’t result in such an odious infection! 🙂 The new trains for the PNW look pretty flash, and hope they enjoy strong patronage.
🙂 The Editor is very much enjoying the Dark Winds series, and we’ll have to do something about obtaining the books. Who doesn’t love a cliff hanger ending?
Take that dread pumpkin, and may ye no longer tempt wandering passer-by’s with such saucy overtones of orange. Oh yeah, pumpkin vines travel places, so I’m unsurprised you discovered one fruit hiding under the roses. I’d probably not ever grow one of those super-huge varieties, mostly because they’re inedible. Garden space, and my own time is too limited for such awesome displays of massiveness!
Youch, always a risk with a communal garden arrangement. I’ve observed that a portion of the community has boundary issues. Hmm. At least the garden politics aren’t too dire from your descriptions over the years.
Hey, it’s like down here with the recent intruder alert. I’ve got suspects in mind too, but nothing can be proven unless I stump the mad cash to send the bread chunk off for DNA testing. Trail cameras are a useful deterrent, but then in your case the economic cost exceeds the benefit.
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – There’s an indigenous woman, who occasionally shows up at our Club potlucks. With a hot plate. Fresh frybread, right out of the pan. She usually brings a few different kinds of homemade jams. Another one of those meals that sticks in memory.
The bears are mostly after apples. Tis the season 🙂 . There are wild apple trees, in the forest / park. Last year, there were bear up behind the Safeway, about 1/2 mile south of here. There was a small, abandoned orchard on the hillside. We haven’t had a deer problem, in awhile, as I think they are also going for the apples.
It’s pretty bright, around the Institution, at night. Lights on the building and also street lights. I mostly carry the torch for if H does her business in a dark spot. And, the sidewalk next to the snail sanctuary has dark areas. I don’t want to step on Sam! 🙂
“Silence of the Lambs” was just one of those books and movies that didn’t appeal to me. Who knows why. But I steer clear. There’s a lot of chatter, over here, about a new movie based on a Stephen King book. “The Long Walk.” Also one that doesn’t appeal. Yeah, I can’t quit get behind gunning down 40+ young men.
Our high yesterday was 77F (50C). Our overnight low was 50F (10C). How’s that for round numbers 🙂 . The forecast high for today is 75F. Something odd in tonights forecast. “Areas of smoke between 8pm and 10pm. Clear, with a low around 47. North wind around 6 mph becoming calm after midnight.” I wonder where the smoke is coming from? Maybe, from the fires up on the Olympic Peninsula.
That’s a lot of seed to plant. “As ye sow, so shall thee reap.” In a good way. 🙂
Well, H doesn’t seem to bothered by the limited access to the bed. She has three or four other nap areas, on the floor. I did notice that she doesn’t seem to be sleeping so much, in the day. Here’s another odd thing, among her many peculiarities. She used to sit, and nap on “my chair” quit a bit. A few months ago, she stopped doing that. She likes to come up on the chair, when I’m in it. To sit in my lap while I’m reading or watching a DVD. But otherwise, no. And she was so attached to that chair, for quit awhile …
The little house in Long Beach was purpose built as a duplex. Now, it’s been a long time, but I seem to remember it was for “staff” of the two big houses at the front of the lot. I also saw an interesting article about some houses set for demolishment, in Laurel Canyon in LA. That’s a pretty pricy area. A lot of celebrities live there.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/five-illegal-laurel-canyon-homes-232402415.html
I do wish the train service went, where I want to go. 🙂 . I’d like to visit my friends in Idaho, but the train doesn’t go there. Except way up north. You’d think it would go to Boise, the state capitol. Probably did, in the old days.
Pumpkins the size for carving jack-o-lanterns, are pretty tasty. They can be used for pumpkin baked goods. But the enormous ones that are just grown for size? Taste like ca-ca.
Now someone has swiped a couple of tomatoes, out of Chad’s patch. The cameras were put in to actually, monitor the parking lot, for car damage. But, they cover the gardens, too.
Last night was a popcorn night. Besides the popcorn and cheese, I also chopped up some green onions, to go under the cheese. Tasty +. So, I had a lot to choose from, for a popcorn move. Even the new “Jurassic Park” movie. But I picked “Army of Darkness.” 🙂 What a hoot! Thanks for the recommendation. It was sort of a mashup, between “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” and (had it. It’s gone.) The skeleton army was straight out of Ray Harryhausen’s special effects in “Jason and the Argonauts.” And the magic incantation, for the book? “Klaatu barada nikto.” Was directly ripped off from “The Day the Earth Stood Still” (1951.) It’s a wonder the actors could make it through that line, without laughing.
I also started watching a documentary, “Bugs That Rule the World.” Turns out, it’s four episodes, on two discs. I watched the first one, last night. “Insect Apocalypse.” What I found interesting was that Denmark and Germany have taken insect census, twenty years apart. They discovered a decline of 75-80%. Denmark was particularly interesting. They got volunteers (150 of them), to put a net scoop on top of their cars. Then they drove predetermined routes, at different times of the day. The scoops were taken back to the lab, and the bugs were counted. The news was not good.
If things go according to plan, I’m going to hit the Winco grocer, tonight. I thought I could get away with a trip a month, but it looks more like two. I have a list … Of course, I had a list last time, but left walnuts off of it. I’m running low. Dried prunes, too. Lew
Yo, Chris – I remembered. A mash-up between Python and “Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court.” All marbles accounted for. 🙂 Lew
Chris:
Our internet was out for two days and, for some reason, I am never able to “Post Comment” from my phone.
You are exactly right about the carpenter bees, and they make multiple separate nesting holes in a season. That lets moisture get into the logs, besides the hole itself.
The hose was quite a fountain where the fitting was screwed into the tap. I thought it was a goner; luckily not, as good 100 foot (30.5m) hoses are not cheap.
“Scrub Daddy” – that’s funny. I bet they sell a lot of them just because of the name.
That’s one reason I like to knit – it is a portable soother. And you could indeed knit a fish net if you wanted. You might like this; scroll way down and you will see fishnet.
https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/1940s-knitting-patterns?srsltid=AfmBOoqrL6RHJVbVCs0FrqeHDp4hPP27hLvKewivAlcN6Wrd6pP4YOR2
Yay! Plant the peas! Plant the peas! We have been coolish. It warmed back up again quite a bit today. I am finishing up my seed-saving for this year. Not a lot reached maturity.
Pam
Chris,
Hmmm, clear skies again today. Equally as hot as yesterday. UV rating “moderate”. I like moderate UV. Sunburns don’t happen to me with moderate UV.
80 potatoes and 110 peas sounds like a song waiting to be written. Maybe a blues tune and lyrics.
The smoke is as it is this time of year. At least it hasn’t been as thick as sometimes. And it started later in the year than usual too. Rain? What’s that? A mild/slim chance of rain Sunday night. Then, I kid you not, back to the mid to upper 80s temperatures again. Way too late in September for this.
I used that dog stew and frybread idea on Thordog. He seemed to get it and it sometimes calmed him down. Cheyenne the Finnish Spitz? Just like Dame Avalanche – not much reaction. Just a cold, hard stare as if to say “Hey Food Guy, you try anything and I’ll bite the hand that feeds me.”
The southwestern USA is filled with sharp and pointy things. Yucca leaves, cactus spines, rattlesnakes, rocks, etc. It sounds like Australia is filled with toxic things like spiders and snakes and seeds and the platypus and, well, you know better than I do. Dang it, now I’ve got another blues song started in the brain. The first line is “I ate me some toxic bread and I’m feelin’ worse than dead.” Gotta know how to treat those seeds proper like.
Sister-in-law was a master at making frybread. She fixed a lot of it for us when she lived with us. She gave me some lessons, so my frybread actually tastes pretty good usually. And Indian tacos? Yummy! Killian the Red’s human and I are meeting for lunch tomorrow. Dunno where we’re going, but there is a place in the Gonzaga University district that makes really good Indian tacos. Native owned and operated. Maybe we’ll go there.
Another gargantuan meal found at powwows and the local Indian taco restaurant is the “Powwow Burger”, aka “Frybread Burger”. The giant piece of frybread has 3 or 4 hamburger patties and all the hamburger fixings on it, then is folded over and served. I think one of those would feed me for three days.
Yup, you’ve got it about Dark Winds. Sounds as if you have a good plan. A very good plan. A flaw is possible because nothing is perfect. Oh well. 😉
Yeah, citrus juice squooze* directly into the eye should work as bear repellant as well as repellant of other attacking critters including the odd feral human. And with a bear, maybe even toss the lemon at the bear and the bear will stop to eat it.
*Squooze is the proper technical term when a lemon or other citrus fruit is given the big squeeze into somebody’s eye. I had it done to me once by a class bully. One time only. My eye sure felt like something had been squooze into it.
Insects about the same as in the past. Other critters? More than in the past by a bit. Although, regarding the insects, I don’t always see them. I do know there are plenty around judging by the large number of insect eating birds that frequent the place. Between the birdbath and bugs that are always readily available, the birds know that my yard is a good place for a drink and a feed. Oh, and there are more spiders than usual this year, too, so there must be plenty of insects for everyone.
Score! You caught my Nimoy reference!
Hahaha! Telling the dogs to dial “Call Before You Dig”. Funny. At least here I know where everything is buried and keep Dame Avalanche from digging at those spots. In fact, I’ve got her trained to dig at the three locations where I don’t care if she digs. A dog has got to have a place to dig with no repercussions.
DJSpo
Hi Pam,
Ook! My business is kind of forced to use the interweb, so being ‘down’ for two days would be problematic. Nice to see you back online! 🙂 Glad to hear that you could read along, and I’ll do a test on a comment via mobile phone over the next week and see what happens. A mystery. But then I don’t use the mobile phone often for surfing the web, mostly because the screen size is too small to be very useful.
Save us all from carpenter bees and their usage of construction timber. Yikes! Termites do similar things to timber. Can you treat the log walls in anyway so as to make it less attractive to the cellulose munchers. Hey, I hear that the old timers used to use a 50/50 mix of diesel and old motor oil to preserve raw timber, but that process is somewhat frowned upon these days. Charring timber can preserve it too, and that I can recommend given the awful slightly charred loggers mess which has now been mostly dealt to.
I hear you about saving the hose, and that’s the case down here as well. There are cheap hoses which don’t last too many years, and then there are the expensive sort. Sometimes the hose near to where the fittings connected needs to be trimmed back. Spare a thought for plastic left out in the harsh summer sun. Do you have to pack away your hoses for the winter months?
It is a pretty funny name, but at the same time, the scrubbers work a treat. Of course, most people have dishwasher machines, but I just don’t like the strong chemicals used by them. Such chemicals would end up in the soil here, and that’s probably not ideal in my situation.
Pam, that’s so true about the fish net, and the lady we met a month or two back who raised heritage chickens for sale, used to knit her own nets to catch chickens. The idea would never have occurred to me. Very funny too, and hey, that last item on the list should have come with a trigger warning! Given it was the 1970’s, those old folks had probably been making tea cosies for decades. 🙂
In the Battle of the Bulge during WWII, good kit and a decent feed would have made a big difference to morale. Those bedtime sock things would have made for better sleep in those horrific conditions too.
Yeah, give peas a chance. Someone said that long ago. Such a fine cool weather crop, and we might have some by Christmas, which is only twelve or thirteen weeks away, maybe longer, but not much.
You’ve had such a cool growing season, it’s remarkable really when you consider how hot and dry it was the previous season. Here, I’ve got no idea what a normal growing season looks like, but there was that one year when just everything worked. That was nice, but yeah, maybe that outcome is the abnormal season? Who knows…
Had the day off work today. The weather was just too nice. 72’F and sunny. Late this afternoon the dogs and I sat peacefully on the front veranda, and we all cooked our brains in the free solar energy. Lovely.
Cheers
Chris
Hi DJ,
Sunburn is a risk, that’s for sure. And the summer months down here, what with the wobbly planet orbit, we’re physically closer to that big fusion reactor. After 2pm, maybe 2:30pm at a pinch on an Extreme UV day, it ain’t no conditions to be running around like either a mad dog, or an Englishman.
Dunno about your part of the world, but often on those hot days I’m working physically hard, and sunscreen is useful and stuff, but it also makes me sweat, a lot. Instead I tend to cover up as best as possible – you’d have noticed the hats with brims? The greasy skin coating stuff is best avoided, if possible.
Yup, moderate UV is most enjoyable outdoor conditions. I once read of a sun advice warning in the UK for ‘moderate UV’, and that caused a double-take of ‘what did you just say again’ moment. Actually the dogs and I sat on the veranda late this afternoon and just basked in the suns warmth. The Kelpie’s have thicker coats than Ollie, who was bred for hot conditions up north. He loves the summer months, except that post late lunch couple of hours! 🙂
Hehe! That’s funny, and yeah, the line would make for a good blues tune lyric. If I had more time this evening (a late start) I’d pen some additional lines. Hopefully being blues, it wouldn’t all end badly? Would it?
Based on your descriptions of the smoke this year, you have had worse years for that, which doesn’t make it any easier. Some fire seasons are very bad indeed. The Black Summer of 2019/2020 was like that down here. Not good. It’s weird, but the previous March and April down here were remarkably and unseasonably hot and dry, although the summer months (whatever that means) of January and February were cool and damp-ish. Beats me what’s going on with the climate.
We’re making vegie enchiladas this evening. Yum! And I so much appreciated you seeding that idea, they’re awesome.
Well, obviously there is a difference between Thordog and Cheyenne. Thor, being a force of nature and related somewhat distantly to deities, would have to compromise, but err, Cheyenne, having Spitz genetics (and I’ve known those canines too ) have their own ideas and opinions about the world and stuff, and hey, why weren’t you fitting in with the dogs new-fluff concepts? 🙂
For sure there are many places where the ecosystem, and all within it, need be treated with dread, lest it leave y’all feelin’ worse than dead! 😉 And local foods, really do require local knowledge.
Always nice to recall great meals shared with kin and family. And some folks have a natural gift in the kitchen, and are usually generous enough to share it with us lesser folks. Oooo. Yum! The photos looked awesome. Did you end up testing out the Indian tacos?
Man, based on the description of the most awesome sounding ‘Powwow Burger’, I can kind of guess that I’d lack the competency to handle such a fine meal in a single sitting. Your suggestion of three days sounds about spot on to me too. Although, as an innovation (!) I’d work out a group deal where they’re served fresh, but split into more doable (for less stoic folks) portion sizes, say quarters would make for easier slicing. 😉
Well, yes, we are very much of the same mind here. Few plans survive engagement with reality.
Ha! Now that’s proper thinking. Divert the bear with what the fearsome creature really wants, food.
That’s a rough treatment, and yeah, such pesky nuisances derailed my year nine maths class. Onion juices in the eye are pretty awful too.
That’s great news about the insects, and the bird and spider population feasting upon them. It’s a really good thing that you leave the water out for the birds, especially in the dry year you’re having. I’ve heard that some animals can ‘smell’ water, and I recall finding a yabby carcass in the orchard during the super hot and dry summer of 2008/2009. In those days I used to leave plastic bags of water for the trees, which would be ever so slowly be drip watered. Often the spiders and frogs would break into them to get a drink and swim, and they all seemed to happily co-exist.
🙂 Who could ever forget the ‘In Search of series’? I read the books too. Like your style.
True, dogs do enjoy the activity of digging, and if the area has the subtle aroma of rodent, probably just adds to the canine enjoyment.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
Oh yeah, fresh frybread skilfully made with home made jam would be an awesome taste sensation. Kitchen skills are not distributed evenly in the community from what I’ve observed over the years, and when things are done perfectly, I’m so with you, it is a memorable occasion. As you know, we make our own jams. Last season we did plum, apricot, raspberry and blackberry. All good, except I’d probably prefer to bottle the apricots rather than turning them into jam. Oops, I digress, lunches do have jam slathered on freshly baked bread, and it’s a fine thing to eat.
No apple goes to waste down here either, and I can understand why the bears are availing themselves of the bounty. No fruit survives for long on the ground in the orchards, and it’s probably why there are not many pests around like fruit-fly, which is a problem in commercial orchards further north. The cycle gets broken. Even the rats will eat lemons which fall off the trees.
Deer sadly do like apples, and I’ve noticed that the stags prefer to rub their velvet off on the bark of apple trees. I’ve told them to stick the more plentiful Eucalyptus trees, but do they listen to reason?
All very thoughtful, and have you had any recent sighting of Sam, or his many progeny?
It was 22’C / 72’F today, and it was just so nice that we decided just before lunch to take the rest of the day off any and all work. We’d done paid work prior to that moment, although had vague plans to plant out the many Japanese maple seedlings we’ve grown up from the seeds here. Grabbed some lunch in a nearby bakery, and heard a lady asking if they had any gluten free product – which when you consider the request a bit, is mildly strange when asked in a business which deals primarily with gluten products. Then headed to a nature reserve to have a long walk around in the warm sunshine. All really nice. Headed home. Crashed out for a long nap, and here I blame the delightful apple cake – which is not actually how a person would so describe a cake.
I’ve not read Mr King’s book, although I believe the Editor has done so as we’ve discussed the narrative. Regular sleep is important to me. Sounds like popular Squid Games may have possibly ripped the concept. Funnily enough I watched the Hunger Games a year or two back which is a similar-ish theme, mostly because I’d been reading references to how the home rental market down here was akin to that film. Let’s just put it this way, I was not reassured by the concept. I was talking to a guy a few month ago who said it took him (if memory serves me correctly) about 12 weeks to obtain a place to rent. Please check my maths, but that’s almost a quarter of a year to obtain a lease for something you’re only going to sign up for a year. That story makes no sense to me.
The numbers are good, and the patterns are right! 😉 Thanks for the laughs.
Well, we’re not mucking around here, and each year we aim to get a few more edible plants into the ground. It’s a slow and steady way to learn the art. Mind you, it would have been much easier if I’d listened more closely and paid more attention to my grandfather who knew this stuff.
Ooo, Sir Scruffy pulled that finangling of four separate bedding areas as well, one of which was in the bedroom on the floor. H is clearly of a similar intelligence level. Hmm. As a general rule I don’t have the dogs sleeping in the bedroom, but somehow that one dog outwitted me. Watch out for those fluffy mind powers. Out of sheer curiosity, is perhaps H no longer a spring chook, and maybe now simply less flexible? Dogs get crunchy as they age.
I saw the article about the houses set to be demolished. It certainly caught my eye, and I wondered why they were declared illegal. My mind was struggling to comprehend how permits could be issued, then a few years down the track, a moratorium was ‘placed’ (the article words) afterwards requesting an environmental assessment. All I noticed in the photograph were houses to the horizon with large skyscrapers off in the distance. What kind of environment do they reckon is there?
I’m not saying it is a tourist train route, but it kind of would make for a very pleasant tourist journey. Trains are a delightful way to travel. A lot of lines have been ripped up down here since WWII.
A garden mystery.
Yum! Yum! Made some vegie enchiladas for dinner this evening. So glad you enjoyed the movie, and it was a lot of fun. Ash sure stuffed up that line and moment, and the coughing of the incantation was a nice touch. What crazy mayhem then ensued, yup everything is not cool. It’s good to be the king though! The actors did a great job of the send-up. What’s this film it was a nod to? Hmm. I’ve not seen that classic.
I’m hardly surprised by the lack of bugs. The big smoke barely has any, and nobody seems to notice the lack. Oh well. In the nature reserve earlier today there were swarms of dragon-flies flying around. I’d suggest that whomever developed the first helicopter had those insects very much in mind.
Respect to the list! Hope your journey was fruitful.
It rained only an hour or so ago. I was outside at the time with Ollie.
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – The jams I made this year, are strawberry, blueberry and current/cranberry. LOL. I’ve developed a habit for vanilla ice cream, with a bit of peanut butter and strawberry jam, on top. Very tasty. And, probably lethal. 🙂
I haven’t seen any snails, for a week, week and a half. That’s not all that unusual. The snail sanctuary is pretty solid vegetation. I only see them when they venture a bit beyond its border.
Our high yesterday was 73F (22.77C). Our overnight low was 45F (7.22C). The forecast high for today is 78F. I was out, last night, when we were supposed to get smoke. Didn’t notice any. It’s on again for tonight. I think it might be from the Bear Gulch fire, up in the Olympics. Although Prof. Mass has a post about the smoke plume headed north, it seems like when we get these alerts, the forecast is for a north wind, here.
So, the gluten free craze has arrived in Australia. Judging from anecdotal evidence, it’s the varieties of wheat and how it’s processed. People who think they are gluten sensitive, have no problems when they go to Europe, where they are sensible about their flours. 🙂
H is still pretty flexible. When I’m sitting in my chair, she has no problem jumping up on my lap. She tipped her hand, last week. We usually sit on these benches, outside at the Club. I always thought they were too high for her to jump up on. I’d usually lift her up. Someone was sitting at the other end of the bench, eating something, and she hopped right up. She does her stretching exercises, before we go for a walk. And, she rabbits up and down the stairs. When she starts getting crunchy, I’ll begin to slip her half a baby aspirin, per day.
The laws probably changed, as wildfires rip through those canyons. Or, the sense I got from the article was that the builders didn’t jump through all the permitting hoops. Environmental impact statements can take a lot of time. Maybe the builders got antsy.
I went to Winco, last night. Spent $152. I’m trying to beef up my bulk stashes. Second most expensive item was walnut pieces and halves. I have a small handful, every other day. $22.97 @ $6.38 a pound. About the same price as the yuppie discount store, when they have them. Brown rice and organic rolled oats, were pretty cheap. .88 and $1.42 a pound. But I was asleep at the switch. Something on the receipt came to $35! Turned out it was dried prunes at about $14.50 a pound. I’m going to have to look around, for a substitute. Although I only have 8 per night, with plane yoghurt, for desert.
I knew I wouldn’t be very up to make an elaborate dinner, when I got home. So, I picked up a tin of pretty good chili. Of course, I added rice, broccoli, garlic and a diced tomato.
I see there was a remake of the classic “The Day the Earth Stood Still.” With Keanu Reeves. I thought I’d like to see either one of them, but, the library has neither. I notice in the library catalog, that they’ve ordered a clutch of Robert Redford movies. As they often do when a movie star shuffles off their mortal coil.
Last night I watched the first episode of “The Brokenwood Mysteries.” Season 11 (!). It’s set in a quirky, New Zealand seaside town. Full of quirky people and quirky murders. There are quit a few comedic touches.
Well, I forgot that we were getting the local food box, today. It just arrived. Inventory to follow, tomorrow. Lew
Chris:
Very few businesses are completely unconnected to the internet. If they have cash registers, they are also connected to it. They were very clever naming it a “web”.
I usually do pack my hoses away for the winter. At the very least, all the water has to be gotten out of them before it starts to consistently freeze. That’s where a steep slope is useful. I would want to do that in anyway, in case of fire. You can’t use a frozen hose.
It’s a rare soul who would think to knit a chicken net. I didn’t notice the tea cosy till you mentioned it. Perhaps it looked better in person?
https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/local-news/give-peas-chance-story-behind-14976945
I cooked my brain, too, on purpose, though it was 82F and not 72F. But it is good for me and someday the weak winter sun will come and I’ll miss the cooking. Probably.
Pam
Chris,
I used to use sunscreen. Then one day I developed a rash from my usual brand. Tried several others, always letting the rash disappear before a new trial. Something in them doesn’t like me. Every brand I tried caused a rash wherever it was applied. That was back in about 2002. Between early May and late August, I avoid very much direct sunlight on exposed skin between 10 am and 4 pm. I always wear a big-brimmed floppy hat regardless of time of day. Also, if I must have more than a scant few minutes of sun exposure during peak UV, I wear one of those specially made sun shirts or solar shirts. They block the sun and aren’t too heavy.
I planted 80 potatoes and 110 peas,
I said planted lotsa taters and even more peas,
Planting 80 taters and 110 peas
I feel so sore in my poor knees.
The climate does what the climate does. We just have to adapt.
I noticed that the official longer forecast for the winter here is for “above average” precipitation starting now and lasting throughout fall and winter. Also, below average temperatures starting late December into middle of February.
Then there’s my prediction. Dryer than normal until sometime in November, then the spigots will open up bigtime until late March or early April. A lot of rain. There’s another Big Blob in the eastern Pacific that will likely temper the cold, so I don’t anticipate a harshly snowy and cold winter. Periods of snow, followed by cold, then snow turning to a lot of rain. You read it here first. And Big Bertha will be warmed up and ready to go just in case I’m wrong. 😉
Enchiladas. Yum. I’m glad you took that idea and are perfecting it and enjoying the enchiladas. Today we were celebrating Killian’s human’s recent birthday, and she wanted the taco plate from our favorite place, DeLeon’s. Naturally, I had the green chicken enchiladas. I also bought a premade 6 pack of them to eat over the next few days. Great food, excellent price.
Yeah, I picked up a little of that doggy new-fluff idea thingy from Cheyenne, but not a lot. She was a puppy when we got her and was trained how to be a dog by Thordog himself. She learned to be mostly obedient lest Thordog terrorize her. He was somewhat of a tyrant with her, sadly. her sweet demeanor was obedient except for one thing. She despised getting brushed. Didn’t matter what type of brush or comb we used. After brushing, she needed to blow off the tension. That meant a play fight with papa for several minutes.
Dame Avalanche, on the other hand? She is full of the tricks and stubbornness and testiness. And despises being groomed even more than Cheyenne did. Great dog, yes, but Dame Avalanche shows that feral ancestry more than did Cheyenne or even Rakhi the Samoyed. I think having all three of those at the same time would be a fun challenge.
The Princess and her brother bought a somewhat smaller version of the powwow burger at a recent powwow. It was cut in thirds for them. The Princess, not having eaten all day, ate her third. Her brother ate one of his, then wrapped the remaining third up and put it on ice. He ate it for breakfast the next day. As you suggested, that’s the best way to tackle that monstrosity.
Citrus in the eye is bad. Onion in the eye is bad as well. Never, ever, under any circumstance, NEVER cut up hot chilis and touch your eye before washing your hands. Even touching the face can hurt with some of the hotter ones, but the eyes? Painful beyond imagining I’ve been told.
I got the main part of the pyrography project completed. Next, I have a slogan to put around the edge of the plate I burned. I’ve been thinking about how to do that. Mentioned it to Killian’s human. She had some shopping to do after our lunch, so she poked around at Malwart and found some lettering stencils that were the perfect size and acceptable style. Maybe I can finish the project this weekend, between eating enchiladas.
DJSpo
Hi DJ,
Oh man, yeah, sometimes contact dermatitis strikes hard from unexpected sources. It was commercial dish washing detergent for me, and now we make our own proper soap, like actual real soap, and all the issues went away. Sorry to hear that the sunscreen got ya on that front. I tend to avoid the stuff now too, but for different reasons, and like I mentioned earlier, just cover up as best as possible. Incidentally, my understanding and belief of sunscreen is that it works like a very fine mesh, and even so, some UV will get through. Still, we need vitamin D as well. What will be, will be on that front. Never heard of a solar shirt before, and the proof will be in the pudding as the old timers used to say.
🙂 A fine blues rendition. Thanks.
Hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, how
80 potatoes
110 peas
my girl was watchin’
She sure look’d pleased.
DJ, I’ve got this vague notion that we could go on like this for weeks! 🙂
Adaption is the best we can achieve, yup. Funnily enough we were talking about that very subject this evening whilst looking at the slowly spreading lights from a new housing development off in the distance. The conclusion was that we’ll do what we can here.
Wet winters for your part of the world, makes a lot of sense. Still, wise to keep Big Bertha ready, just in case. In preparing the video for this week, we had to trawl back through old photos, and 2019 at this time of year produced an epic snowfall:
That’s Toothy ambling down the drive way! Been six years since the snow has fallen that heavily. Nowadays we’re lucky to see any snow.
Happy Birthday to Killian’s human. Yummo! Green chicken enchiladas and tacos sounds like a fine meal to me. Do they put the right amount of chili in the mix? That purchase, is an investment. 🙂 Ain’t nothing finer than a fridge full of tasty food.
Ooo, dogs are endlessly fascinating in their likes and dislikes. Not liking the brush though, suggests a very wild outlook upon life. It’s interesting that Thordog took it upon himself to rein in the wild Spitz. For your interest, Dame Plum does the same thing with Ruby, and will actually round her up when she fails to respond to the command to come. We had to dial that impulse down a bit today as the two sisters were having punch ups over it. Ruby is a delightful dog, but will never be boss dog material, whilst Dame Plum has to come to terms with this lack.
Dame Avalanche is really only one step removed from a wild dog, and probably retains ancestral memories. Like your style, and once long ago I naively said in a job interview that I was up for a challenge. Oh man, did I get that, or what? 🙂 The three of them together would be two too many for me! Be careful what you wish for there.
Still, it would be interesting to know which dog of the three would come out on top. I’m betting on Thordog, but which do you reckon it would be? Here, I’m recalling the dog Buck in ‘Call of the Wild’, who ended up out-wilding, the wild dogs.
Ah, your lady and her brother are wise to have chosen that path with the monster burger. A third sounds like a meal on its own, and it’s something of a skill to cut a burger into thirds anyway, thus my suggestion of the easier quarter option. You’d have to pick the mid-point spot on, and then work out a 120 degree cutting angle. It’s all getting complicated…
On that note, earlier today I fixed up another leaking overflow connection on a water tank. Man, I’m following the problems downhill with the rainwater collection system from start to finish. I installed a better outlet fitting which will be less likely to leak in the future. The problem however, was that the hole cut into the side of the water tank wasn’t quite large enough for the new fitting. Used a battery drill with a really large drill bit (10mm) and then ground material from the hole in order to make a larger diameter. The plastic walls were really thick, so it was slow going. And all the while water was oozing out. Oh well, it’s done now. Onto the next issue.
Planted out six Japanese maples today too we’d raised in pots from volunteer seedlings last summer. Plus ground out two tree stumps. Me tired, but pleased. 🙂
Thanks for the chili advice, and I will heed your warning.
Good luck with the pyrography project, and obtaining the stencils is a clever idea. I look forward to seeing a photo of the work.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Pam,
Agreed, the thing sure is named correctly. How’s the connection working today? Still, you and I grew up in a time before the interweb, so it’s not a big leap to recall that life goes on without the thing. Mind you, it does make ordering obscure parts for the many machines used here, much easier than it would be otherwise. I recall the days when you had to go to the parts shop and put in an order, then wait not knowing whether they’d placed the order, sat on it, or sold it to a more noisy and problematic customer. Such things happened.
That’s really clever using the sloping land to drain out the hoses for the winter freeze. Oh yeah, I’d forgotten the reality that fires also occur in the winter months. Thanks for the reminder, although hoses don’t freeze here, that I’m aware of. Now I think about it a bit, there used to be a house up the road a ways, which consistently had chimney fires every early winter. New owners now, and can’t say that they’ve had the same troubles.
Presumably the hoses have to be hauled in out of the weather for the winter months?
The lady had a lot of chickens, being a breeder of heritage varieties, and the nets would have come in handy. She told me that the commercial nets tended to break, although we did purchase a net from the pet warehouse (!) a week or two ago. The people there were really lovely. Some stores are like that experience.
By the way, the two new chickens are getting bigger, although they are still in their little cage, and maybe so for the next four weeks. It’s pretty comfy and they can move and flap around etc. They’re just a little bit too small still to be let out into the enclosure with the rest of the flock. The idea is to chuck any bullies into the little cage if they become a problem again. The old timers used to describe that process as: Cooling their heels, although I have no idea of the derivation of that phrase. It doesn’t sound flattering and nice. Still, cannibal chickens are not welcome here.
Very funny! I can assure you, no matter how good the tea cosy looked, I’m still mystified by the gift to this day. It’s not as if there was only a single incidence. 🙂
Oh that’s a great story about Give Peas A Chance. 🙂 Thanks for that. Some folks have a wicked sense of humour. One benefit of the web is that they have a ready made forum.
🙂 Happy brain cooking, and hope Mr Baby was able to enjoy the conditions as well? The fluffs send cordial tail wags. The seasons do keep on rolling on. Yup.
Planted out six Japanese maples which we’d potted up last summer from volunteer seedlings. Those trees set plenty of seed, which readily germinates here. I like those trees. Moved another four of them as well. They were planted out in poor locations. Oh well.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
🙂 Sounds like just the thing for hot weather with the cooling effect of the ice creams. Speaking of currants, we shared a Eccles cake this afternoon with the regular coffee. Quite nice heated up, although the Editor choked on the flaky pastry. Always a risk. Got her laughing which worked a treat at dislodging the chunk of pastry.
Man, we worked hard today. Ground out the stumps for the two fruit trees cut out and chipped up the other day. Fixed the latest water tank overflow leak. Hmm. Anyway, upgraded the overflow connection but that was a drama because the original hole was too small. You’d be amazed at how tough the plastic walls on the tanks are. Took a fair bit of effort to correct, and as you’d imagine, water leaked out the whole time.
Then we planted out and caged six Japanese maple trees. These were from the self seeded volunteers collected last year. They’d grown pretty fast over the past twelve months. Then moved another four Japanese maples which were planted in poor locations. The vision for the garden beds they were in, has since changed. Nobody could plan this stuff out in advance and get it 100% right.
That makes sense about the dense vegetation, and I had wondered what the snail sanctuary looked like.
Looks like some cooler damper weather is headed your way soon, according to the Professor. Talk of it extending into eastern Washington was mentioned too. Hope the rain dampens out the fires, and yes, those sorts of winds cause serious bushfire risk here too. The images of the smoke plume were impressive.
Yes, you know man, I really believe that people with Celiac disease do it tough nowadays. But then, people really might be having serious digestive issues with the varieties of bread wheat grown, given the stuff is bred for ease of harvesting, rather than say, protein and mineral content. Good, fast, cheap – pick any two. We purchase high protein flour, and also Spelt flour which gets mixed in to the crust. I hear of a lot of people whom have issues with food, and the benefits of cooking from scratch using raw materials is not lost on me. It’s just hard work and requires a degree of planning.
Always interesting to see where health issues centre around.
Go H! And please extend me apologies for even daring to suggest that she may be a touch crunchy in her more mature years. The dog sets an example that we can only but attempt to emulate.
Yeah, it was hard to tell what was going on with the properties set to be demolished. It kind of read to me like the original builders just didn’t comply with an additional request for an environmental impact statement years after the permits had been issued, but seriously I have no idea. Obviously there would be an environmental impact, as there would be from the construction of any building… Truly, it makes me wonder who the neighbours are? They may have some clout. There’s always more going on with these types of stories.
That’s a pretty reasonable price for walnut halves and pieces, although I’d suggest they should be cheaper because they’re not whole walnuts. Brown rice and rolled oats are excellent staples, and hope you’re not sensing any impending difficulties in supply? Still, it’s a good idea to maintain stores. Far out, that’s a lot for prunes. Maybe next season you can dehydrate some plums? That’d save heaps. They’re probably really cheap right now in your part of the world.
Gourmet chili! Sounds tasty. We had a vegie pasta meal this evening, and it was good, except… The Editor trialled a cheaper variety of pasta, and it’s at such moments you realise that you’ve been spoiled. 🙂 Far out, I dread the day we have to make the stuff from scratch, but at least I know how to do it, and have the rolling and cutting machine. People get those things as wedding presents and send them off to op-shops.
Keanu is an excellent actor, and probably turns up on time and knows his lines! Thanks for that phrase too, it’s widely applicable in life. Are you intending to indulge in any of the Redford films?
The Editor has began season two of Dark Winds, although has admitted to having some difficulty with the lead sheriff, who appears to have difficulty with the concept of ‘nuance’. Not exactly sure what she meant there, but I’m guessing it is some sort of personality clash there.
Hope the food box is fruitful.
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – Sound like a busy day around Fern Glad Farm. First you put on your arborist hat, and then your plumbers hat. 🙂 Gardens are a “work in progress.”
Yes, the snail sanctuary is along the sidewalk that goes from the Inmate’s gardens (and dumpster room), toward the back of the building. The side door, then a run of garden, on the left going back. About five feet wide. There’s Japanese iris, a few ferns. Some kind of ground cover. There’s a trellis, with some kind of old flowering vine. Tucked under it is a cast iron bench with cushions. Then more flowers. Gladiola and some other kinds of flowers. It’s all very dense. On the right of the sidewalk is the hydrangea forest. 🙂
I was up early, this morning. So, I took H for her walk. I stopped on the upper landing, to check out the territory (Bear check. No bear.) Three deer shot across the upper lawn and into the forest. They came from the direction of the Inmate’s gardens, but I didn’t see any damage. After I took H home, I went back down to harvest cherry tomatoes, and a few Roma. Also, Sweet Basil (two dinner plates are drying on the window ledge). And some green beans.
I loaded up the dehydrator. Two racks of cherry tomatoes and one each of grape tomatoes and Roma, from the store. That’s the sixth batch I’ve dried, this year. There are two quarts left, from last year. So, I’ll have four more to do to have twelve quarts. The tomatoes from the garden, are petering out. So the rest will be mostly “store bought.” At least this time of the year, tomato prices are pretty reasonable.
Our high yesterday was 79F (26.11C). The overnight low was 46F (7.77C). The forecast high for today is 76F. When I went out to water the garden, about sunset, it was very smokey. I could see it, smell it, and taste it. I don’t think I’ll have to water tonight, given the forecast. Although rain was promised last weekend, and it was a no show. I saw your snow picture. Almost a proper snowfall. 🙂 I saws this article, on landslides in the LA canyons.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/19/weather/southern-california-mudslide-debris-flows-climate
I respected Robert Redford as an actor, but can’t say I was a fan. I haven’t seen any films that the library has on order, that I want to watch.
At the risk of playing into stereotypes, I’d say officer Leaphorn is stoic. 🙂
Well, the food box had a big surprise. There on the top was a 14″ deli, cheese pizza. I jazzed it up with a couple of diced Roma tomatoes, green onions, garlic, and broccoli. I added a bit more cheese, on top, to hold it all together. It was an ok pizza. I ate half of it, last night. I’ll finish it off, tonight. I also kept a bag of “Baby Gold Potatoes,” and two small tins of Jalapeño diced peppers. Another surprise was a two pound plastic clamshell of strawberries. I think I’ll make another batch of jam. If there’s not quit enough for a full batch, I’ll round it out with cranberries. Boy, they come in handy. I also got a dozen eggs, that I’ll probably take to Jane. Oh, and I kept a two pound bag of seedless red grapes. The rest of the stuff I took down to the swap table.
A loaf of bread, one each of an individual pecan pie and s’mores pie, and a very large clamshell containing a red velvet roll cake. A pound of a butter “product.” A bag of precut “asian” salad with little packets of stuff to put on it. There was boxed stuff. A 12ox box of gluten free 🙂 Rotini pasta, chicken flavored Rice a Roni, Mac and cheese. One pound bags, each of rice, quick oats and garbanzo beans. A big bag of instant mash potato flakes. A jar of peanut butter.
There was one tin each of chicken, tuna, corn, diced tomatoes, green beans, black beans, vegetable soup, cranberry sauce, peas, mixed fruit and “Manwich Sloppy Joe Sauce.” May the inmates eat it all good health. :-). Lew
Chris:
I saw the photo of the house in the snow and was shocked as I thought it had just happened there, until I realized that was Toothy. It was nice to see him.
That’s called a chicken time-out for the bullies. Don’t know if over there you call the method of making a naughty child sit in a corner or go to their room “time-out”.
Pam
Hi Pam,
It’s a cold wet day here. 🙂 Just another early spring day, whatever that means. It is lovely to see Toothy happily ambling down the driveway, he was a rapscallion of the first order that dog. Ollie was there that day as well, although he had no idea what to make of the snow and preferred to stay indoors. Funnily enough, those scenes used to be a regular once or twice per winter event. Now, the last snow fall a few weeks ago was barely worth mentioning, and certainly none of it built up on the ground. That’s global warming for ya. Things are probably different in other parts of the world, and I’d actually forgotten that the snow used to fall that heavily here. The image was a bit of a shock because of the change.
🙂 I’ve heard of that ‘time-out’ practice, but can’t speak with any authority in the matter. Still, sometimes it’s actually a nice thing to have some time-out to rest up and recuperate. On that note, plans for today were shelved and we had the day off work. Quite pleasant actually, but is it the same as sitting in the corner, or being sent to one’s bedroom? Possibly the desired effect is the same, in taking the energy level down a notch. 🙂
Hope your day went well?
Cheers
Chris
Hello Chris and the Editor and commentariat,
Happy solstice to all. Here in Sweden, most farmers are happy about a great growing season, but some grumble for the low price they get per kilo of anything.
We just loaded up 130kg grains and peas from an organic farm some 30km from here, so we are ready for the winter.
We also started to fill up the cool storage with apples and potatoes.
Harvest season is great.
We celebrate with friends, and maybe it is soon time to restart a local or regional harvest feast.
Peace,
Göran
Hi Lewis,
The garden is developing a pleasing aesthetic and is beginning to get that ‘age under it’s belt’ kind of look. The many trees are really putting on some size and the soil is getting more productive. It’s a real pleasure, and I’m musing on your description of gardens as a ‘work in progress’ – which is an astute observation. In the kitchen, I find the creation of the cake batter to be as enjoyable as feeding your mouth the results.
Thanks for the vivid description. Whoa! The Japanese do gardens like nobody else, and your hydrangea forest is clearly a nod to the Minamisawa Ajisai Mountain gardens and trails. Stunning, and not all that old. Most of the slim trees look only a decade or more old. Maybe I should plant some ferns underneath all of the Japanese maples for a pleasing effect? Hmm.
Important survival tip for the wilds – be situationally aware and check for predators. Good to see that you’re onto that stuff. But deer, here you have the upper hand, although there may be administrative problems for you arising from harvesting venison steaks from the garden. Has any damage come to light today?
Ooo, the aroma of drying sweet basil is a delightful scent.
I’m hardly surprised that the gardens are petering out with the tomato crop. Your fall weather has been simply too cold for the plants. And that’s what I find down here, decent tomatoes can be purchased at a slightly higher premium, should that be required. There are plenty of warmer growing locales than what you and I experience.
Yeah, smoky air sticks to the tongue and provides an acrid taste. Fingers crossed that the forecast rain washes clean the skies. It’s raining here, right now. It was quite a bleak day here weather wise, but we’re made of sterner stuff and headed to a nearby town in the eastern part of the range to avail ourselves of sausage rolls and a lamington which was shared with the dogs during the afternoon’s coffee. Other than that, the day may be described in some far distant future by a cheeky scholar as: Not much happened.
The mudslides were not good. However, I’ve had to create systems here which can deal with the occasional drenching of four inches in an hour! Those storms really worry me. In the photos of those houses I see little vegetation and few if any barriers like rocks walls and drainage channels. If there is nothing holding the soil together, it falls apart rapidly under worst case scenarios.
Understood about Mr Redford. 🙂
The Editor agrees with the stoic description, but probably also intended that the character appeared unable to adapt easily to circumstance.
Go the gourmed (is that actually a word reflecting the past tense of being done to gourmet?) pizza. In my inability to adapt to circumstance, I was relieved to read that the half pizza was retained for dinner, as distinct from breakfast! 😉 You retained the stuff I would also have kept. There’s a great deal of mystery to processed food stuffs. Best we’re not involved. Hope Jane appreciates the eggs, and is doing well.
Pasta quality is I believe very much a story of the decline of the west.
Well, it’s probably all better than starving isn’t it?
Cheers and better get writing!
Chris
Hi Göran,
Best wishes to you and your family for the autumn equinox. And I believe that there is to be a partial eclipse in this part of the world tomorrow morning – which we’ll miss due to a combination of geographical and planetary orbit issues.
Unfortunately that is all true and economics suggests that scarcity increases prices, whereas abundance pushes those same indicators downwards.
Nice score with the 130kg / 286 pounds supply of grains and dried peas for the winter. And all organic produce too is like the icing on the proverbial cake. No doubts your soils will eventually appreciate the inputs.
We’re getting the place ready for the growing season and planted out 110 peas the other day. Plus fertilised and got about 80 seed potatoes into the ground. You wait until you see the photos of the soil there in tomorrow’s blog. It’s good. With all that produce you are bringing back to your place, it’ll make a huge difference to the soil quality. You wait and see.
Festivals are a great way to get people together, and convert some of that plant matter into soil feed, whilst having a good time. 🙂
Cheers and better get writing!
Chris
Yo, Chris – Your gardens are developing their “bones.” Yes, ferns under the Japanese maples would look lovely. But wouldn’t that provide cover for rabbits, rats and other critters? And, all the changes in that bed were to be less hospitable to those. Maybe a fern, here and there. A few interesting rocks. Moss?
There didn’t seem to be any deer damage in the gardens. Whatever they were after might be revealed, later. It might have been the roses or grapes.
My one tomato, the yellow Sungold is still flowering. One thing I’ve noticed is that the Sungold is a bit larger than the red cherry tomato. And, it has more tomatoes on the bush. I thought about growing just Sungolds, next year. But might not want to have all my tomatoes in one basket. 🙂 So to speak.
I did a bit in the garden, last night. I mixed up a five gallon bucket of bagged garden soil, mushroom compost, blood meal, bone meal, egg shells and stove ash. I added that to the asparagus barrel. From what I see down the rabbit hole, Asparagus doesn’t need lime.
I then cleaned up the pumpkin barrel. A surprise. As I was pulling the vines off the slope, another good sized pumpkin rolled out of the ground cover. 🙂 And the small pumpkin that I thought had not developed and rotted, was fine. Both need time in a sunny window.
So, then I started topping up the pumpkin barrel, with the same soil mix I used on the asparagus. Another surprise. The squirrels have been busy. I found an acorn, and a walnut. Originally, I thought I’d let the barrel be, til next year. But I had a brain storm (sometimes dangerous). Why not put some cool weather crops, in the barrel? I’m thinking, maybe some carrots and radish. Maybe a little clutch of the Bull’s Blood beets. They have really pretty foliage. For those, I ought to add some lime to the mix.
I also staked up my two Cayenne peppers (lots of red ones, on the bush), and a fennel. I thought about pulling the fennel. It volunteered in a corner of the strawberry bed. It’s always full of pollinators, but was in the way for watering and getting to my truck. I was concerned about getting stung. But, staking it up moves it enough out of the way. I also pulled up one of my two Brussels sprouts. It was full of aphids, I think. Even though I hit it regularly with the organic bacteria powder. The other sprout bush looks a lot better. I’ve been spraying that with Capt. Jack’s organic veg spray. But, it’s getting no vertical growth. 🙁 Or, very little. A look down the rabbit hole, and I should probably hit it with the same soil mix I used ’round back.
Our high yesterday was 73F (22.77C). Our overnight low was 57F (13.88C). Our forecast high for today is 69F. I checked the weather as I was heading to bed, and the rain did materialize. Looks like we got a good wetting down. But it’s moved on, now.
I thought about having the left over pizza, for breakfast. Just to send you up 🙂 . But, oatmeal and fruit beckoned, and I knew I’d want an easy dinner, after the planned work in the garden.
When future historians begin trying to parse the reasons for the Fall of Western Civilization, as they do for the Romans, I’m sure pasta quality will be high on the list. Among the other 200 speculated reasons for The Fall. 🙂
I spoke to soon. H is back to sitting on “my” chair. On reflection, she stopped doing that when she got her stairs, and had 24/7 access to the bed. Now that that’s been denied her, it’s back to the chair. Lew