It wasn’t that many decades ago that a bloke couldn’t purchase a decent coffee outside a select few inner city suburbs. Only recently the word: ‘hipster’, – whatever that means – may have been used as a descriptive for there. Way before that, people alluded to bohemian goings on, in hushed whispers of course. Infamous books were penned, such as the local title: “Monkey Grip”. Yup, this old English language is forever changing, and neither lovely words get used much nowadays. A decent coffee however, has become something of a much appreciated and accessible art form.
Sandra got me into the habit of drinking coffee. The author Michael Pollan, whom writes extensively about food, may have cheekily remarked in an interview that he was much more interesting when operating under the effects of caffeine. I’d like to believe that the same is true of myself, yeah. Times sure have changed since those early days of baby steps towards coming under the influence of that plant, and you can now get a pretty decent coffee in some remote locations on this big old continent. Clearly the drink is something of a hit with the population.
Before forays into the world of caffeine, I used to order a hot chocolate, primarily so as to be social when others were consuming. Was the drink really necessary? Probably not, and sometimes the concoction was so rich that the guts felt mildly unsettled. Travelling is fun, I guess, and many folks would have detailed itineraries listing any number touristy places to visit. However, secretly I’d be wondering if the venue had adequate bathroom facilities, and until confirmed, the awful question would quietly haunt the dark crawl spaces of the mind: What if there is no toilet?
Years ago I read an observation that the wealth of a society can be determined by the number of bathroom facilities available for the use of the public. Those ancient Roman’s produced enormous bathing facilities, although we don’t really know (or maybe someone has researched the subject?) whether the streets of that ancient civilisation were littered with human excrement millennia ago. The crafty Japanese farmers were even more canny because they recognised the fertiliser potential. Back in the day, the land was dotted with privately maintained toilets for the convenience of travellers, and the farmers were paid in poop. Clearly civilisation can be defined as not having to worry.
What we do as a society with our wastes is endlessly fascinating. It’s hard to ignore the news of the monster algal bloom off the coast of the state of South Australia. Candidly, and maybe I lack a sense of adventure, but I’d avoid swimming at the capital cities beaches. Bizarrely, in the many articles I’ve read on the subject, I’m yet to read the opinion expressed that: ‘maybe what’s been done in the past with waste-water, drainage, pollution etc., can’t continue’.
It’s been such a dry year too in this southerly part of the continent, probably another reason why the oceans in that even more dry state to the west of here, are having troubles. We’ve been doing a bit of digging in recent weeks on the new path project. It’s really interesting to observe the distribution of water within the ground. It’s not all equal, and where there is long established top soil and vegetation, the ground just holds more moisture. It looks better, smells good and is still damp, despite the dry year. Where the vegetation is sparse, or non existent, the clay feels like dry cured concrete, and in fact we’ve actually been using an electric jackhammer to break up the stuff during the excavation work.
With 300 fruit trees, and limited reserves of tank water topped up by the rain, only a few lucky trees enjoy a regular drink. Those are the newest and youngest in the citrus enclosure. Most of those small fruit trees were relocated from elsewhere about the property. They’ll take a few more years before they are hardy enough to survive on rainfall alone. The rest of the orchards just have to make do, and will only enjoy a needful bucket of water if conditions get dire enough, as has happened in the past.
The local rainfall forecasts have been a bit unreliable recently. The news on that front is that the atmosphere over that big frozen continent to the south of here (Antarctica) has suddenly increased by 30’C (sudden stratospheric warming they call it), which is quite a lot of heat. Apparently the additional warmth has slowed the polar trade winds, and due to the Coriolis effect, they’re now extending northwards. Lot’s of interesting, dynamic and unusual effects which are probably very difficult to track. It has been noticeably windier of late, but that could also be my imagination. Oh well, our species treats the atmosphere like a sewer, so I have some strong doubts that people are going to change any behaviours.
Like everyone else, our resources are limited, so we can’t afford to add as much water storage as we’d like, and so have to make do with what we’ve got. The top soil however, is a great place to capture and store rainwater, and much cheaper to build. The good thing in this instance is that people continue to drink plenty of coffee, and so we’re continuing to add goodly quantities of coffee grounds to the soil, along with other minerals (and all of our other organic waste material) to balance it all out. Drink up people, I say! Sad to think the stuff would have ended up in landfill otherwise. Anyway, we’ve been at that task for eighteen years now, and hope to continue to do so long into the future. Reality, well, who really knows what may eventuate.
With a bit more free time this week, we were able to return to the previous video format. Hope you enjoy!
Hope you can see the new path in the above image. Work on that project continued this week. All of the soil for the project was sourced as excavated clay which comes from a flat site we’re creating just on the other side of that big grey water tank. Observant readers will note the dark grey plastic behemoth in the above photo. Here is the work site as it looked at the beginning of this week:
An electric (solar powered of course) jackhammer with a wide clay spade was used to break up the concrete, sorry, I meant to type the word ‘clay’. It was pretty dry digging. That work produces hard lumps of soil.
The lumps of hardened clay are casually dealt with aplomb by the scary old rototiller. Seven and a half horsepower is dangerous enough to take off your feet if a person isn’t careful. But it also turns the clumps into a nice fine dry powder. It was interesting to see that the deeper I dug into the ground, the more moisture there was.
The soil is then loaded into the large yellow power wheelbarrow and driven back uphill. For research purposes for this blog, I counted that the machine can carry a load of 60 heaped shovel full loads easily back the incline. The wide tyres (tires in US parlance) and heavy load have the added benefit of compacting the soil which had previously been dumped there.
About a dozen wheelbarrow loads were dumped on the upper half of the path this week. After a load is dumped in a big pile (the machine has a manual tipping function) a landscapers rake is used to smooth out the soil so as to provide a pleasing surface. Rain, the suns warmth and usage will further compact the path, and I reckon it’s looking super neat.
The soil work on the path is about half done now. The lower half of the path will receive maybe another two or three wheelbarrow loads of excavated material. The rest of the needed soil will come from the process of widening the path. In this case, material on the uphill side will be dug out and moved to the downhill side of the path. Easy.
Before we can move too much more soil, we have to begin installing some large rocks. The rocks will stop the job being washed away by a heavy rainfall event, if such a thing happens in the immediate future. The first rock was put in place this week, and then later relocated until it looked just right. An artless effect, takes hard work.
After a few hours of work, and much trial and error, six rocks are now installed.
The very highest rock just on the edge of the image marking out the other edge of the path, is not quite in the right spot, and will be moved until it looks just right. These rocks will define the shape of the path and entrance, and also the sloping garden bed next to the large grey water tank. In case anyone was concerned about what a barren, lifeless mess we’ve created, here’s what the garden bed on the other side of the water tank looks like:
Quite the difference, isn’t it? Also very charming in a wild kind of a way. Eventually the Japanese maple trees there will form a solid and shady garden which will have a pleasing cooling effect.
There’s been a few dramas in the citrus enclosure. Within are 36 fruit trees all happily growing. Unfortunately the wombats have dug some access holes underneath the fence. Wombats like to dig, but despite long discussion, I just can’t seem to focus their energies on the excavations I want done. Unfortunately, the cheeky wallabies (which are a smaller lone forest kangaroo) have used the access holes and damaged three plum trees. Pure vandalism.
The entrance holes were blocked up with heavy chunks of split timber. I’ve got more timber, they have persistence, we shall see who prevails!
Across the two access gates I’ve laid long treated pine poles, which should confuse the marsupials, maybe. They can be removed if a machine needs to be driven through the gates.
In breaking produce news:
If we avoid, parrot, possum and wallaby predation, late frosts, hail, snowfall, tornadoes, super cell storms, and maybe some other stuff, we might get a decent Apricot harvest this year.
Despite the loss of the bee hive, those insects are still very active here, possibly originating from wild colonies in the surrounding forest. No one else anywhere near here keeps bees any more, although a few used to way back in the day.
Onto the flowers:
The temperature outside now at about 9am is 17’C (63’F). So far for this year there has been 614.0mm (24.2 inches) which is up from last weeks total of 607.0mm (23.9 inches)
Comments
43 responses to “Turn”
A brief report from crazy central, where each day is a new sharp veering into uncharted territory.
Been a while, rather busy, but also just dazed by the continual bat**** crazy politics these days. Sorry I’ve not checked in.
warming poles- yes, both poles are warming faster than the rest of the globe, and we are getting wobbly and wider ranging of our polar vortex. Makes it hard for the weathermen, who’s forecasts are less counted on by us. Amplified Rossby waves they call it.
The Australian drought made the news here (well, in the news feeds I follow) and climate weirding will likely continue, so I get the continued addition of storage you install.
Coffee- yes, it’s a nice mild stimulant, only addictive to some. I’m old school, only drink it strong and black. Quite a part of our morning routine. Unfortunately, it’s been getting a lot more expensive. Weather where it’s grown, yes, but here, it’s the @#$^%$ tariffs as well. As I said, crazy.
Organic content of soil is the magic sponge for water. Most of our place is just doing its thing, slowly growing and creating biomass. In the garden though, I haul leaves, mulch, chicken coop bedding, other things to amp up the organic content. Our potato harvest was huge this year, biggest ever.
That and some other bumper crops ( we had a good wet early summer) have us deciding to scale back the garden size. We simply couldn’t eat all we were growing. We had dehydrated veg from four years ago we just couldn’t get to, so tossed. We hate waste, so just one garden for now.
The north garden will now transition to perennial plants. Our red raspberries were the first to get going, and did quite well this year.
Other news- The chestnut trees are finally producing. Gathered as much as I could, and will be rolling them into the menus as well. I might have lost my youngest paw paws- As mentioned, the early summer was wet, so I kind of ignored them too long. The dry later summer might have been too much for them. We’ll see this spring if they come back from the root.
This year’s hard cider fermented ok, and tastes ok. Was worried since it was nearly all from only two trees.
Yo, Chris – Pollan: “…much more interesting when operating under the effects of caffeine.” Of course, that can be said about a lot of substances. Although caffeine is at the top of the “benign” list. 🙂
Oh, the Romans had very elaborate public toilets, and plenty of places to catch piddle. To be used in the fuller trade. But, with any large populations, you get those who have no respect for the commons, and it was probably best to watch where one stepped. 🙂
As you said, more or less, if we treat the air and water like a sewer, sooner or later it’s going to come back and bite us in the bum. And, it’s shaping up to be sooner.
Your soil and swale work are wonders of water catchment. A lot of work, but the good results are apparent.
Great video. I know it’s a problem with your slope, but some of your trees do have a decided lean. Might want to keep some lumber or timbers handy, to prop them up, as the fruit weighs them down. Even when fruit is thinned out, I often see lumber propping up tree branches, so they don’t break under the largesse. You’ve probably already thought of that. Your greenhouse is just lush.
“One large rock,” photo. Yup. That rock needs to be moved a bit to the right. If you haven’t done it already. It might be the angle of the photo, but it looks like it narrows the path. Which by the way, is really shaping up to be spectacular.
Looks like your apricots might produce a good harvest. if you can avoid all the potential disasters, you mentioned. You missed an earthquake, that would shake the ripe fruit off the tree, and bruise it. 🙂
The quince does have the most beautiful flower. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one in flower, before. Iris. Always a welcome sight. Lew
Hi Steve,
Ain’t just your part of the world, things are going on down here as well. Many acts of our elites must guide us lesser folks, and here the Serenity Prayer which is nearing the century of its first birthday, provides solid guidance. Thus too shall pass the political theatre.
Not to sound dismissive, but the subject of Rossby waves introduced even more new terminology, and after a short while the cerebral effort fell short of requirements for full comprehension. So, but yeah, like you said, wobbly and wider ranging the climate shall be (spoken in best Yoda voice). Fortunately some rain fell early today, about 6mm (or a quarter inch). It’s now very humid outdoors, and my brain hurts! 😉
The dry spell here is quite serious, but not evenly distributed. Despite all that, we’re in a good all-round climate – things are less good elsewhere. But who knows what the next few months will bring? Looking at the future weather forecast for the ten days, I’d describe it as ‘variable’, whatever that means. Thanks for comprehending the overall soil strategy, and I’ll note that in recent years the local creek has not failed to flow. Honestly, I should charge the folks who dam up the flow further downstream for services rendered.
And that is a fascinating point. I can go to sleep after a coffee no dramas, although admit that it has some other stimulating effect. Keeping me awake is unfortunately not one of those. Interesting that you aver to feeling much the same.
Yup, things sure are strange, and many small machine parts now come from your country where the freight charges to this way out of the way location, are at least realistic. How can it be free to send something to here from the land of stuff? The other day I bought an ignition tester, and truly I wish I’d done so six months ago. It had increased in the landed price by 50% in only six months. A lot of freight and a bit of extra cost.
🙂 Your soil work is music to my ears of the finest sort.
And of course you raise a really interesting point. What to do with an excess of produce? Then from that point the question springs to mind: Should so much be grown in the future? Truly, I have no idea on that observation and learn and adapt from one year to the next.
Sometimes we grow more plants, simply to maintain the genetic diversity of those same plants. But yes, toss the stuff from four years ago.
Raspberries are super awesome, and glad to hear that you also enjoy these tastiest of berries. All are converted into jam here, which keeps for years. We’ve got a management routine with those plants each year. Seems to work.
Out of curiosity, are any of your kids expressing interest in what you and your lady are up to?
Go the chestnuts! They’re so tasty roasted, and I’ve got a few trees growing here. Dunno about your part of the world, but they’re drought hardier than walnuts here. Just over the mountain ridge on the northern (and hence sunnier) side, there is a large and healthy looking chestnut orchard. In summer it’s a real pleasure to see, and the nuts are sold in a small honesty roadside stall.
Yup, those paw paws need regular water from my understanding as well. Did I ever mention that a few years ago I tracked down some seed from those trees? Stored them in the refrigerator so as to assist with germination in the spring. Managed to sprout four seeds. For various reasons, mostly relating to dry soil, three have since died. Yet one survives, and get this, I reckon it’s a North American chestnut tree instead. 🙂 I got done, but may have an interesting tree all the same. It’s looking healthy. The seed didn’t look like any chestnut I’d ever seen.
Agreed. The best cider comes from a mix of apple varieties. Hey, I’d still drink your lot, talk it up, and enjoy a convivial conversation. 🙂
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
Mate, I’m really chuffed you checked out that link, and the building oozes character. Yes, the chaise lounge has probably seen a thing or two over the years and has a pillow resplendent with the image of a winsome maiden. All very tasteful, and the epitome of bohemian, all at the same time. Would you describe the lounge as in the “French Régence” style? They may be open to offers for the furniture?
🙂 Exactly, the Dame performer is rather quotable.
That’s the thing with high, and continually rising mineral prices, old mines get a second look in. That yellow metal stuff is super expensive now, but may in fact represent a loss in value of the fiat stuff. They do miners big down here, so I’m hardly surprised that some fat mad cash could be behind it all.
The life of an artist is a precarious financial proposition at the best of times, and as you note, sometimes having some family money is an assistance. Alas, both the Editor and I were poop out of luck on that front, and have had to work. 🙂 It happens, as I’m sure you can likewise appreciate.
Tackling the planning authoritas is yes, something I have experienced much ado, for no great reason that I could discern. Still, a process is a process and such corners of our society like nothing better than such things. Here, the old adage of render unto Caesar must guide our actions and words. To be honest the numbers of completed earthships is not an encouraging prospect, but maybe things could be changing on that front? Dunno. It does have a similar aesthetic to the big shed, and yeah, I’d not noticed that. Lot’s of square edges and defined lines. The building was great in that it challenged my perceptions of what that style of building could look like. They’re often a bit err, hippy-dippy looking, sorry to say, whilst that one was quite contemporary. Should we need to reconstruct, and have the resources to do so, let’s just say that I have some ideas in mind. Always good to have a plan B.
Poop, towels are yours and H’s saviour at such damp, rainy moments. Hey, it rained here this morning. The moons have aligned, no? 😉 Good to hear that you’re feeling better today.
Truly I didn’t know whether to chuckle, or be horrified by the tales of the collectors who didn’t make it which you linked to. Essentially, the question becomes: When to sell one’s position? Timing as always is impossible to predict. What’s your thoughts on that given you’ve been in the collectors market?
All very true about many a substance. Fortunately, as you noted, caffeine seems to be in the less harmful corner of the ring.
A deep dive into the art of fulling was interesting indeed, and yes not a valuable drop would be wasted on the streets. There was some talk of a Roman tax on the stuff, which seems rather harsh. I’d seen felting using that method in a River Cottage episode from many long years ago. The Editor has some felted wool jackets. Super warm.
Agreed, the climate bite does seem to be approaching, although I honestly have no idea how it’s going to play out. The weather is all over the shop down here.
Thanks, and I liked how the vid turned out as well. It’s nice that we’re getting on top of the paid work and have more time for such activities, and the people I interact with down under seem to be happy. Can’t rest on my laurels though, can I?
Good thinking with the lumber for holding the trees vertically. The lean is courtesy of the cheeky wallabies who got to them in their early days. I’ve seen timber put to that use. Some of the leaning trees were relocated, severely pruned and righted, and they’re doing OK.
I counted three possums (or four because one had a joey on her back) in the orchard tonight. Can’t say I’m excited by this turn of events, and am now wondering where all of the owls have gone?
😉 Spot on with that large rock relocation. A job for later in the week. Thanks, and isn’t it always interesting to see the bones of a garden?
Far out, I’d forgotten about earthquake risk, and yeah, that’s another item to worry about! 🙂 Still haven’t fixed up all the hairline plaster cracks inside the house after that 5.9 jolt. That’ll teach me for being a smarty pants and trying to avoid using cornice. Oh well.
🙂 Fruiting quince trees are really beautiful, and there’s a smaller ornamental variety which is even more attractive. The fruit requires a bit of sugar and some stewing, but is then very tasty, although it may be the sugar…
That path the iris is on will be fixed up over the next few months so that the plant sits in a garden bed. They’re spreading those plants.
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – I’m sure the lounge is Victorian. Though the Victorian era was so long (Go, Vicky!), that there are several sub styles. If you do a search for “Victorian Chase Lounge?” and look at images, you’ll get an eye full. “There are several styles of Victorian furniture, including Gothic Revival, Rococo Revival, and Renaissance Revival, each characterized by unique designs and ornamentation. These styles reflect a mix of influences and are known for their elaborate details and use of rich materials like mahogany and rosewood.” I really like Gothic Revival. Though it’s a bit “heavy” for some people’s taste.
Change does come slowly, on the building permits front. At one time, composting toilets were strictly verboten, in this state. Now, they are permitted. I don’t know all the ins and outs, and I’m sure they’re regulated, but at least they are now a possibility. I think as younger people come into some of these agencies, and rise to the top (the old war horses die or retire), things change.
Our high yesterday was 59F (15C). The overnight low was 46F (7.77C). The forecast high for today is 60F. We’re still getting rain, from time to time, but it’s mostly clear. And, tomorrow is supposed to be clear.
The Master Gardeners are here, this morning. They’re taking out two or three trees. I think they’re some kind of ornamental Hawthorn. Only pretty for a week or so in the spring. And, they’re diseased. They block sunlight to some parts of the garden. Luckily, a couple of the Master Gardeners have some logging background. And, they’re salvaging out some of the wood, for firewood.
Here’s something odd. The five or so Mammoth sunflowers, around the gardens were worked over by the bees, and so were pollinated. But, unlike last year, the squirrels and blue jays have been ignoring them. Last year, the birds and squirrels ravished them. Speaking of squirrels, I noticed the library has a new book about squirrels, on order. I put it on my hold list.
We may lose our water, for a time, today. The city is doing some big project, up behind our place. There are trucks with enormous pipes, and earth movers. Goodbye frog habitat.
Tis the season … to grow giant pumpkins.
https://www.wbur.org/news/2025/10/17/giant-pumpkin-growers-topsfield-fair-new-england
I think a good rule of thumb if you’re going to invest in stuff, is, if you can double or triple your money, it’s a good time to get out. And, don’t look back. But a lot of people bought at the height of the market, expecting it to continue accelerating. A lot of collecting areas, didn’t. Sometimes tastes change, other times, the general economy (as now) is poor.
I noticed there was a model train show, at our fairgrounds, this last weekend. It used to be a big deal, taking up several buildings. Now, it’s a shadow of its former self. I never had much to do with dolls, but I was aware that the mint-in-box Barbie dolls were pretty pricey. I noticed, the last time I looked at the auction prices, realized, in Olympia, that they were going for about $20 per. I was startled.
I had a nice chat with the retired nurseryman, Carl, down at the Club, yesterday. We got talking about coffee, and I mentioned Yaupon, the only North American plant, with caffeine. He hadn’t heard of it, and got pretty excited. This may turn out to be interesting …
You’ve mentioned you have a lot of paid work, on your plate, right now. I suppose accounting (I don’t suppose, I know), is pretty cyclic. Quarterlies, yearly reports.
I watched the movie “Flow”, last night. Reviews were good. It’s animated. I thought it was a kid’s movie, but not exactly. It’s a bit of a mysterious movie. Lots of unanswered questions. The world floods (why?), and some different animals band together to survive. There are no people (where did they go?), but there are some really cool ancient looking ruins.
I saw an interesting article on world bread. There’s even an Australian one.
https://www.cnn.com/travel/best-breads-world
Here’s the challenge: bake every one of them. You go first. 🙂 Lew
Hi, Chris!
I wouldn’t know a decent cup of coffee if I met one, but I am glad that such a thing does exist someplace for enthusiasts.
“Clearly civilization can be defined as not having to worry.” Well spoken. There seem to be a multitude of public bathrooms where I live, so does that mean that this is a civilized place? In any case, I am very grateful.
So very often in the summer I hear “this beach closed” or “this river – no swimming” or “do not get in the lake!” Maybe I had better take back the “civilized” designation. It feels like we’ve gone backward 60 years or so.
I recently read that we – last week, anyway – are at the peak of a solar maximum, with sun spots and clustered solar flares. Possibly this adds to the extra heating?
Clay that feels like dry cured concrete – that describes our “back road” that goes to the fig clearing at the back of the property, at least until it is ready for gravel. And it dries strangely fast even after a rain. We did have a very dry summer, but it has been raining some this fall.
That was a very enjoyable video. Thanks for the tour. What an enormous apple tree along the path; you must have planted that early on. The new path is coming along nicely. “Super neat” is a better phrase! I liked the one, large corner rock; it seemed to be making a statement – but 6 are nice, too. What a super abundance of fruit blossoms. Good things ahead! But the broken fruit tree is rather heartbreaking. That is the sort of thing I dealt with all summer. I hope your mediation measures work out.
Feral is indeed the word for the greenhouse. It’s full up! The plants love it.
The sight of all those beautiful forget-me-nots just about makes me swoon. What a sight.The quince flowers are so elegant and the azaleas are charming. The iris is stunning.
Thanks!
From last week: Thank you for the video about the Miller’s house, but – I don’t like it. I don’t know why, but it seems to have a haunted feel to it. They didn’t mention any ghosts . . .
You know Joel Salatin, right? He lives at Polyface Farm, just over the Blue Ridge Mountains from me (about 45 min). I just came across this video (6 min or so). I think you might enjoy it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Msev3BLzJs
Pam
@ Pam,
I’d forgotten you attended UTEP. I was at NMSU in Las Cruces in 1985-1986. Las Cruces, referred to by some as “That North El Paso suburb.”
When I was there, a chap from Texas took out ads in several newspapers. He was begging for money to build a brick wall around Texas “to keep the %(^& Yankees out”. Some chap from Oklahoma quickly took out ads in several newspapers. He begged for money to build a brick wall around Texas “to keep all the $(^& Texans in.”
Yes, huskies are smart. I can watch Avalanche figuring things out or even deciding whether or not to do what I say. Smart and independent. And talkative. A husky has an opinion on nearly everything and isn’t the least bit shy about voicing that opinion.
DJSpo
Chris,
It rained again overnight Saturday. Amazingly, another 23mm fell in about 14 hours. Good to have a lot of moisture in the ground before winter arrives.
Nope, we didn’t catch anything ice fishing. Well, no fish. My feet got cold. Dad’s feet got colder. It’s not for the timid. Some gents that were already there fishing let us toss our baited hooks in the holes they’d already cut.
Reminds me of a joke that a friend of mostly Norwegian ancestry told me. Some Norwegians went ice fishing on a lake up in the mountains. Half the lake was in Norway, half in Sweden. After not catching fish after a few hours of trying, one of the guys said, “Hey, them Swedes over there are catching lotsa fish. Oly, go find out what they’re using for bait.” Oly wandered over, chatted, wandered back. “Well,” he said, “They’re using worms for bait just like we are. But they cut holes in the ice first.”
Coffee, the elixir of wakefulness. As in, “Every morning when I wake up, I stagger into the kitchen and pour myself a cup of ambition.” Very important thing, that properly brewed coffee. Strong and black is the only way some of us can drink it.
The new path is looking good. However, you seem to build a new path or two every year. They can’t all be called “New Path”, acause some of them aren’t new any longer. Do you rename the paths when a newer one is being constructed? Things like “Fern Lane” or “Gargoyle Alley” come to mind. Maybe “Orchard Loop” would fit in there too and even the “Water Tank Trail”.
Clay? When we lived in Orange County, California when I was little, our yard had a lot of clay. The roses especially resided in an area of thick clay. One summer day we went somewhere for several hours. When we got home, dad discovered that he hadn’t turned the water off when we had left. He had been watering the roses. The saturated clay was deep. He couldn’t find the end of the watering hose anywhere and had to get it out before the clay hardened. The search through the clay had begun. Tiny intrepid me, all of three years old, waded into the clay to help. Naturally, the clay sucked at me feet and I couldn’t move. Dad had to pick me up. The clay sucked the sandals off my feet. That meant dad had to find the hose AND my missing sandals. I seem to recall that he was NOT happy about that. Not one bit. But he couldn’t get too mad. The clay had sucked a shoe off his foot too. 🙂
Placing rocks. You work and work and work to get it placed just right. It’s skilled craft, that is. The unfortunate part is that you can’t tell that one is out of place until several others have been set. You’ve described the painstaking process to set them. Isn’t changing how one sits harder after its neighbors are properly placed?
See? It’s a conspiracy of the wildlife. Wombats dig an entry into the citrus orchard. The wallabies gratefully use the wombat entries so that they can get in and perform their mischief. It’s teamwork, it is.
Plugging the holes with wood sounds like a decent solution. Unless, well, do you have critters there than can rapidly gnaw through the wood? Maybe like a horde of your worst enemy, the rats? I can see both the wombats and the wallabies enlisting the aid of the rats, who are properly aching for a chance of revenge ever since you got the upper hand with the chicken coop. Eventually, the Wildlife Conspiracy will only get beaten back by proper implementation of the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch. Don’t forget how to count. 😉
Despite the rain, it really isn’t that cold. I really like this weather. Not hot, not cold, and we don’t need to heat or cool the house. It’s just perfectly comfortable. Sadly, this usually lasts for only few weeks in the fall and a few weeks in the spring.
DJSpo
Hi Pam,
The good thing is that the search for the perfect coffee need not trouble enthusiasts, mostly because the average is pretty darned good these days. Ook! Might get some hate mail for that opinion… 😉
Well that is interesting indeed, and clearly human care is better in rural areas (respects to your lovely part of the world), for there are many a facility to do one’s necessary business in this area as well. I tell you truly though, in the big smoke it’s a whole different story, so a touch of planning and prior knowledge is required with visits, just in case. And then I’ve encountered some facilities which have the look of a crime scene, and promptly walked out again.
Yeah, when I was a kid camping out in the bush with my grandfather and his WWII drinking buddies, I always drank water straight from the river and was never ill. Dunno these days. Maybe people forget how good it all was for a brief time?
Alas, it is my belief that there is no silver bullet with the planet’s ecosystem, and perhaps we should tread more warily when making changes. Prudence is often rewarded when dealing with complicated systems. On that note, late today I jumped on the littler low centre of gravity mower and zipped up all the grass in the citrus enclosure. The wallabies find the plants in there way too tempting, and cheekily it could be suggested that the Gordian Grass was thus cut! 😉
Clay is a funny material, and not everywhere the same, like that stuff you mentioned at the back of your property. Dunno, but I’ve been experimenting with such material over the years and now chuck a thin layer of wood ash, coffee grounds and coffee bean husks onto it, and eventually the soil comes good and will support plant life. On other properties, I’ve trialled chucking piles of grass clippings onto the hard baked surface, and that works as well. Still, if you’re intending it as an access path, it might be best left as a hard surface? Dunno. That stuff cracks too if it gets dry enough. Have you seen that at your place?
Thanks for the lovely words and taking time to watch the video. 🙂
The forget me nots are really pretty, yeah. All the flowers are delightful, and hope they survive the storm predicted for tomorrow. We’re a long way inland, but nearer to the coast rumour has it that the air pressure will drop down to category two cyclone levels, whatever that means. Hope the thing is a fizzer.
Pam, we all know that there would be ghosts there. How could there not be ghosts lurking around? It’s been my experience that the un-dead make for poor company. You may have preferred the link I put in the reply to Lewis of the contemporary Earthship house?
I don’t know Joel Salatin, but have met him and had a brief chat when he visited a nearby farm many years ago. If I may say so, he is a really lovely bloke who spoke from the heart. I’d not realised (or forgotten) that he was in your part of the world. I’ll check out the video later tonight, and many thanks as I’m looking forward to watching it.
Went to the dentist this morning for a check up and clean. Always exciting, and a bit stressful.
Cheers
Chris
Hi DJ,
So much rain getting into the soil is always good news, especially with your winter freezes. Things are about to get very strange down here weather wise: Destructive winds, storms and record heat to blast south-east Australia in wild weather.
Already the air pressure is dropping, but we’ll see how it goes. Won’t be hot here at least. The worst is meant to batter the coastline, with the heat way further north than here, and we’re a fair way inland.
Are we talking frostbite cold conditions with the ice fishing? I’ve never seen frostbite, and would want to avoid it.
Oh my! There’s a lot of subtext in that joke, and much border stirring, the cheeky scamps. A bit of that goes on down under, but it’s usually very friendly and good natured. Interestingly, in these days of politically correct speech, you rarely hear such talk. It was much more common in the past. Without the friendly humour, interestingly I’ve observed that the same talk has become meaner, almost contemptuous, which is a sad development.
Coffee good, Ugg! This is known. Caveman need elixir of wakefulness! I spotted a 1kg brick of vacuum sealed ground coffee for $50 today at the supermarket. Double Ugg!
What a lovely idea, and I’d not viewed the paths from that perspective. How about Shady Apple Lane? Kind of works, don’t you reckon? And the stairs leading to the worm farm could be Poop Steps? Next there’ll be signs. 🙂
Man, that sure is some clay, and what we call gumboots, and may be described as ‘wellingtons, or wellies’ elsewhere, are just the thing for such sticky mess. They’ll still get stuck, but the footwear materials are perhaps easier to clean. Sounds a bit like quick-clay as in quicksand. You know, I’ve never encountered clay quite that sticky. Your area now is more sandy (or have I misremembered that fact?) isn’t it?
Agreed, changes to rock placement when already installed as part of a series, no matter how minor, is so much more painful. Upsets the overall composition / desired effect. Better to get it right the first time around.
Oh no! The marsupials are in league against us all! Man, I’ve blocked up the access points, and then decided late this afternoon to cut the proverbial Gordian grass. If them pesky (but usually lovely and charming) forest critters want the grass specifically inside the citrus enclosure, well it’s all mown now, so too bad so sad for them. Chopping and dropping the organic matter will no doubts assist with growing more grass, faster. Maybe the wallabies will simply get bored?
I like how your brain works, and yes, without a doubt, the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch will resolve the matter for the moment at least. And of course doing the proper count is always worthwhile. Who’s to say that Arthur didn’t get it right for the rabbit?: being naughty in my sight, shall snuff it – or so the words proclaimed.
Yup, such weather is good for a brief period of the year.
Fixed up the hose connector on the low centre of gravity ride on mower’s deck washer port today. Despite serious hose clamps, the original one broke and fell off, somewhere… Must have got stuck in some vegetation. Oh well, it was a cheap fix up.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
Ah, there is more to this story than meets the eye, and yet again etymology provides some fascinating insights to the item of furniture. I’d not realised that the word was originally French, as in ‘Chaise longue’. When the item was imported into England (thus my previous thoughts that it had a French style), ‘longue’ was flipped around into the local English vernacular as ‘lounge’ and thus a new item of furniture came to be in the English speaking world.
Out of curiosity, is Gothic Revival in the late Victorian era the preceding stage for the Arts and Crafts movement? There’s a lot of nods from the latter to the former.
Funnily enough, in the big smoke when I was a kid, water tanks were frowned upon, if not outlawed altogether. Nowadays, a lot of houses in urban areas have small water tanks (usually for the garden) which store rainwater falling upon the roof. In rural areas, they’ve always been available and used. Compost toilets are a bit like that too, and a lot depends upon where a person lives. I have great respect for those systems, and why waste, our wastes? 🙂 But agree, economic and environmental needs, and moving on of the old timers with their hobby horses, sometimes does have to happen. Although, the bloke at the local council appeared very unhappy with the worm farm sewage treatment system, whilst sharing some candid opinions. A young bloke too, so I dunno what was going on there. The system had been tested and certified for use at the state level, and that is no cheap process, which was reflected in the price tag. I’ve got nothing but good words to say about that sewage system.
Forgot to mention that I saw a bright shooting star last night. Almost hit the ground too. Could have been space junk, although it was moving pretty fast, and I believe that we are in the middle of the Orionid meteor shower right now.
It was a bit warmer here today, but not by much. Got up early, very early actually, and went to the dentist for the annual check up and clean. Had a pleasant nap this afternoon so as to make up for the lost sleep. It was an easier day today, and late this afternoon the smaller ride on was kicked into action and blitzed up the grass in the citrus enclosure. The wallabies wanted in there so badly, that it was easier to take away temptation by cutting the Gordian Grass. Sorry for the bad pun… 🙂
Hawthorn has wicked thorns too, probably why it was used as natural fences way back in the day. Far out, there are so many species from the Crataegus family of plants. Good to hear that some of the wood will be salvaged.
Man, I’ve struggled with sunflowers of any variety, so who knows what may be causing the lack of interest. It’s hard to know why some plants get hit hard by the wildlife one year, and then nothing the next. But the preferences do change, and it makes me wonder if the plants respond somehow to the predation? Dunno.
Was the water off for long today? And yup, sorry to say, big machines and frogs, are rarely on friendly terms.
The big pumpkin growers are totally awesome, and the text did suggest that having a lot of time to dedicate to the task at hand was a valuable thing when it came to claiming the glory.
Ooo, yeah, you’re right, getting out of a market does mean letting go of the belief that you could still do better. And a very long time ago I used to know people who had model trains, and the interesting thing about them as a hobby, is that they require a lot of physical space and stability in a persons dwelling circumstances. Gardens are pretty similar on that front with the need for available land. With houses being so large these days relative to the land size, I do wonder if kitchen gardens will ever be a thing again in the future?
We spoke about that subject years ago, when I mentioned selling off some old newspapers I’d picked up as a newspaper delivery boy when dramatic events occurred, like the shuttle disaster. Despite the decades, I didn’t get much more than a couple of bucks for them.
The Yaupon is a great idea, and did I mention I went to the supermarket today? Anywhoo 2.2 pounds of a coffee brick (vacuum packed ground for an espresso machine) was $50. Not a cheap habit.
It’s the annual cycle right now. Might struggle to get much done around here this week, but we’ll see. Need a proper day off work too, although today was quieter, but going to the dentist is rarely a fun experience.
Might be in for some weather tomorrow (as you’d say): Destructive winds, storms and record heat to blast south-east Australia in wild weather. What the heck? Looks like the wind will peak around 4pm, but words such as ‘destructive’ and ‘winds equal in strength to a category 2 tropical cyclone’ (not here, hopefully, maybe) are a bit err, alarming. Time will tell. Looks like it will be brief and serious.
Candidly I’m in favour of French baguettes, and they are an integral part of the Bahn Mi (or Vietnamese roast pork belly roll). So tasty. Damper’s are also tasty treats. I’m a mostly vegetarian, but since the film Chef, I’ve been intrigued by the concept of the Cuban sandwich. I reckon it would be fine indeed, if properly made. Gre up eating crumpets, but they’re not much seen nowadays. Quite tasty too if hot slathered in butter and jam. Yum! So much goodness in one article.
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – Hmm. The history of furniture. Styles often had a nodding acquaintance with other styles. But Gothic to Arts and Crafts? Gothic was pretty “pointy.” Arts and Crafts, not so much. Also, Arts and Crafts had a “lighter” look to it. Of course, the big change in furniture making, during the Victorian era, was a move to partially, or wholly machine made furniture.
The lounge I fell in love with, when a wee small lad was pretty simple. A serpentine half back, but not over the top. A search for “Simple Victorian Chaise Lounge”, and the images, is closer to what I remember. Another piece of furniture that sticks in my mind, was a place I lived in Seattle. It had a three legged, Danish Modern chair, that I was quit fond of. I’ve never seen another one. Well, what do you know. They’re out there. Although the one I remember had a slightly deeper back.
https://www.1stdibs.com/furniture/seating/chairs/danish-modern-chair-design-hans-olsen-frem-rojle/id-f_27290882/
Water tanks were also verboten, in this state, for a long time. Due to a law that stated that every drop of water that fell out of the sky, belonged to the state. That is no longer the case. I wonder about the government people who pushed septic systems. Did they have a relative, or friend, in the septic system business? Were there even, perhaps, under the table kickbacks? Bribes, graft and corruption is pretty common.
You might have seen some flaming space junk.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/mysterious-debris-found-australian-outback-102715203.html
I think the Hawthorn trees they took out, were some kind of thornless variety. One that went had entirely died. I think there are plans afoot, to replace some of them with “better” trees.
I didn’t notice any lack of water, yesterday. Nor any air in the pipes, which is usually a side effect.
Those pumpkins will make mighty fine boats. I thought about how the pumpkin boats, are similar to coracle boats. They probably handle in a similar way. And, of course, coracles made me think of St. Brenden the Bold. 🙂
https://w.wiki/FmLS
Define “kitchen garden.” 🙂 It seems, people are a lot more interested, these days, in growing things. And, there’s a lot of information kicking around about more intensive vegetable gardening, in small spaces. See the book, “Square Foot Gardening.”
Coffee purveyors are doing it tough, these days. I just saw an article, yesterday …
https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/19/business/trumps-tariffs-local-coffee-roasters
Our high yesterday was 59F (15C). Our overnight low was 39F (3.88C). Our forecast high for today is 63F. A glorious sunny day, though it looks like the rain will be back, tomorrow afternoon. I hope the worst of your weather will pass you by. But, best you batten down the hatches. An interesting phrase. Nautical. First recorded in 1867, according to some sources. More firewood for the bank?
The thing is, people stash startling newspaper events away, by the millions. Once, I got a box of stuff from England, that was wrapped in old newspapers. I started looking at them. They were reports of three of Jack the Rippers victims (with gruesome illustrations.) I very carefully untangled them, and then ironed them out flat. Mounted them on some board with a plastic covering. Even something like that, only brought about $35 – $45 per. How many newspaper accounts of the Titanic, do you think are floating around. Probably hundreds of thousands. Just for poops and giggles, I took a look a “completed sales” on E-Buy. For “Vintage Newspaper Titanic.” Prices are all over the place, and there appears to be a lot of reproductions. But some originals are very cheap.
Bread, as a foodstuff, sure is interesting. And, tasty. Lew
Chris:
We used to drink water out of the streams in the Rocky Mountains, way up high. It seems like that would be safer, but I was always told: “You don’t know what is up above you!”, which is too true. But I never got sick either. I have gotten altitude sickness, though. That is a horrible experience.
Gordian Grass – that’s funny!
When we have a really hot dry summer, I have seen cracks like the Grand Canyon in some of our clay. What I don’t like is that it is exposing the soil further down to the heat and dryness.
I hope it’s a fizzer, too. We get those things this far inland, also.
I did remember that at least you had met Mr. Salatin.
You are to be highly commended for keeping up with your tooth care! In fact, that deserves an Elephant Stamp.
I couldn’t find a link to a contemporary Earthship house nowhere, no how.
Just like at your place, some buck has been going around rubbing his antlers on trees and damaged a poor little fig tree pretty badly.
We don’t have any back stairs right now. No, a buck didn’t knock them down, but they were as old as the house (33 years) and were really getting to look like something from a haunted house (I guess that is an appropriate theme with Halloween coming up). They run up from the ground, make a turn on a landing, then run up to the second story back porch, which opens onto the kitchen. They needed to come down also because a giganticus tree 2 feet from the house has to come down and there is a chance it could hit the stairs anyway.
Pam
@ DJSpo:
I remember that you went to college in Las Cruces. Lord, I loved the La Posta restaurant there. Sopapillas! I went to UTEP from 1975 to 1978, then became really sick and had to drop out, which I didn’t care about as I was only there because my boyfriend/future husband was going there. And who could forget La Tuna prison? What on earth does that mean in Spanish? We used to go hiking in the Organ Mountains. Really neat; there were caves and artifacts.
That’s funny about the ads, but it sounds just like Texas – and just like Oklahoma.
Pam
@ Pam,
La tuna can translate either as, well tuna fish or as prickly pear.
In Las Cruces, my guess would be the restaurant meant prickly pear. Very tasty and refreshing fruit when it’s ripe.
My friends and I could often be found at the El Sombrero. It was a tiny little hole in the wall. Their chiles rellenos were unique and weren’t overly smothered in cheese. They were excellent. The green enchildas sauce was made from Hatch chilis. Much better than the usual tomatilla sauce.
I didn’t get to spend much time in the Organ Mountains. A friend and I spend a few hours in Aguirre Springs in the Organs a few times. I enjoyed it. It was the only place anywhere near Las Cruces that had evergreen trees, the very things I missed the most when I lived there.
DJSpo
Chris,
Hopefully you survived the Big Blow. Category 2 cyclone winds? I mean, isn’t that what lifts houses from Kansas and drops them on wicked witches in Oz or something? Best if that turned into nothingness for you. Maybe some rain, but not a Big Blow.
I guess people can get frostbitten toes ice fishing. I’ve never suffered from frostbite. I know from experience that any outdoor activity in the winter really requires you to have proper footgear. Once your feet get cold, the jig is up. The original winter pack boots that I had just weren’t up to the job during late season hunting. Sometimes one must be still for long periods when hunting, and if the feet get cold, no matter how warm the rest of you stays, well, it’s just miserable. Better boots, better socks made a difference.
The bigger risk of frostbite is when it is -15C or colder with a lot of wind. That wind chill is nasty stuff at those and colder temperatures. Can’t have any exposed skin and it’s even better to have an outer layer that is wind resistant. I did get a touch of frostnip , not quite frostbite, on my face in Fairbanks. It was -34C, clear and sunny. I was walking to university and had to stop for a train at the railroad crossing. I didn’t have the hood of my parka cinched completely tight, and the wind from the passing train caused me a bit of discomfort for a few days. That spot took about 8 months to return to normal. Frostnip.
In eastern Montana, they tell North Dakota and South Dakota jokes. In the Dakotas, they tell Montana jokes. It all used to be harmless fun. Some of the jokes were wildly funny. Politically incorrect or some such term now. But I still keep a few old Swen and Oly jokes up my sleeve to relieve sudden bouts of people being overly serious.
$50 for 1 kg of coffee? Ouch! That hurts. So far, the bulk of our coffee price increases are said to have been due to a bad growing season. But we’re nowhere near your hideous price. The dread tariffs should be hitting soon and driving the prices up further. Time will tell. However, being one of those who is prone to spending days wandering around in a somnambulant state when without coffee…
Ohhh, nice path names. And would the actual worm farm be renamed the Poop Deck, just adding a slight nautical pun to what lies at the bottom of the Poop Steps?
Yup, we needed gumboots in that clay that day. Gumboots, wellies, good terms for that useful footwear. Not needed on the sandy soil in this part of town, what we call Shadle Park Sand, as this is the Shadle Park neighborhood. And it IS sand, as opposed to “sandy loam”, which is also plentiful in parts of the region.
Cutting the Gordian grass? Had a good chuckle at that brilliant turn of phrase. 🙂
Dude, we hit +20C today! With full sun. I took full advantage on a long walk with Dame Avalanche. Also had to enjoy a rare second mug of coffee outdoors, too. Gotta enjoy that weather and sunshine while it is here.
DJSpo
Hi Pam,
Drinking water straight from the river would have been in the (from memory) mid 1980’s to early 1990’s. Like you, I never once got sick, and back then nobody even suggested that it was a possibility. Of course, a lot of travellers bring with them exotic diseases (err, Giardia) or I knew someone who encountered bed bugs in a hotel in the big smoke a year or two back, but that’s so rare. Passengers on incoming flights I believe, get sprayed with something, towards the end of the journey.
Wow, never experienced altitude sickness, but have been in a group where that occurred. The fellow travellers looked in a bad way. The bus took us from 2,500m / 8,250ft to 3,900m / 12,870ft above sea level in a single day. The cocoa leaves we chewed upon were unpleasant tasting, but of valuable assistance. Out of curiosity, where were you when you came face to face with that monster?
🙂 Glad to entertain you, and it was pretty funny. The wallabies were testing all of the new fortifications last night, but I can’t tell if there was an intruder alert, or not. Actually, some cheeky deer trekked up the new path and left hoof prints in the soil. Not happy, but must accept, and then counter.
Yeah, it’s a worry those cracks for that reason. And it’s hard on trees which live close to the worst of it. Someone told me long ago though, that when it eventually rains, the water seeps into the subsoil much quicker. There’s probably no good option. Half an inch of rain fell here earlier, and Hoo-Whee, it’s sure been windy today.
The worst of today’s weather impacted the coast, and the winds in the big smoke were far worse than here. Looking at the interweb emergency services map, you could see where the monster storm hit hardest.
I watched the video you linked to, and as usual Mr Salatin is a calm voice in the storm of opinions. Have you ever thought about heading over and checking out his farm if he does an open day (or farm shop)?
Thanks, and truly, it sounds odd, but I go to the dentist for an annual check up and clean because the alternatives are worse (from my perspective). And I very much appreciate the Elephant stamp. 🙂 It was a bit it shock yesterday morning, but soon recovered and got on with the day’s activities. Been busy with paid work all day, which was a good thing given how poor the weather was outdoors. How’s your fall going? Are you managing to harvest and preserve some stuff from the garden?
Oh my! In a wall of text, finding exactly one’s needs is a difficult proposition, but here goes: Matt and Kate built an earthship house with recycled bottles and the help of strangers.
Them young bucks are causin’ some troubles and may be in for a brusin’. Far out, sorry to hear that, and I had a decade old olive tree ring barked by a stag – was not happy, put it that way.
Oh well, such things and choices happen. Best of luck, and it’s been remarked upon elsewhere that trees and houses are an uncomfortable mix. I had to track down a champion axeman over fifteen years ago for a job like that.
Cheers
Chris
Hi DJ,
Thar she blows! Winds of 120km/h were recorded closer to the coast and way off to the South West of here. Fingers crossed, we’re far enough inland that we’ve escaped some pretty nasty conditions. Even the big smoke of Melbourne (adjacent to the coast) was smacked pretty hard by the strong winds. Sadly two folks appear to have been swept into Port Phillip Bay (which is an immense body of water): Two dead as severe weather across Victoria downs trees, cuts power and postpones Geelong Cup .
Decided to stay home and do paid work today. It’s no day to head off on a casual adventure (without the chainsaw and protective equipment, and even then…) It is still windy this evening and 12mm fell here this morning before the wind picked up. I’m not sure that the rainfall gauge I’ve got, will record the combination of wind and rain this evening. Dunno. I’ve recorded stronger winds here in the past, but all the same put the bushfire shutters up over the windows. Doesn’t hurt.
All I know is that the Kelpie’s went outside ran around, then headed back indoors.
Yeah, so true and glad to hear that you’ve dodged that issue. Says a lot about how prepared you were for if, and when things went wrong. The extremities of the body must be protected in those cold conditions. My reading in between the lines of the many folks who seem to be perishing of late in the Australian wilderness, is that they just don’t appear to be taking the appropriate equipment with them for the worst case scenario conditions. Most of the time, it’s really lovely, but then it can turn suddenly, and help is a long ways away.
A long time ago I met a tourist who was in this state and wanting to drive to the other side of the continent in a couple of days, and it is like 4,000km away. People don’t seem to get it how variable the continent can be. Whilst it was freezing cold and windy here today, the city of Sydney broke it’s October heat record (I believe) at 39’C. Things can be different, and you can get to Sydney from here in about maybe nine or ten hours of driving, depending on how many breaks you take. Too far for my tastes, although I’d consider taking the train with a sleeper cabin.
🙂 Those location jokes were a thing down here too. And yeah, suddenly everyone seems to have lost their sense of fun and banter. Oh well.
Hey, caffeine withdrawal is a real thing. Hmm. The price was as high as I’d seen it for a brick of vacuum packed pre-ground coffee. It wasn’t that many years ago the same product could be had for $20. On a serious note, that state of being you mentioned might serve you well in a zombie attack! You never know… 😉
Ah, respect for growing a garden on sand. Sandy loam would be nice to have, and would probably work a treat with vegetables. Alas, perfection is something for other folks, maybe. Tell ya what, the wind today was bad for blossoms, but the rain itself was well received. Looks like there’ll be some more of that wet stuff falling from the sky over the weekend.
Hehe! It was pretty funny, yeah, and thanks. Dame Plum suggested the cheeky turn of phrase! 😉 As I’m sure Dame Avalanche suggests pithy verse regarding the antics of the local birds.
Sounds like a lovely day, and a second coffee could only but assist enjoyment matters.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
The winds were bad enough today that I put the bushfire shutters over the windows, so your quip about battening the hatches was more true than you know. At times the house was buffeted by particularly strong gusts, but we’d experienced worse in the past and so far it seems that all is OK outdoors, with half an inch of rain recorded. Closer to the coast was where the really strong winds hit, like the big smoke. Some of the weather readings from there during the day would have surprised the many folks living in that city, yeah.
Further north on the continent, the weather was crazy hot. Hot weather records broken across parts of Sydney and NSW, with damaging winds forecast. Seriously bad fire weather for them up there.
Ah, many thanks for the correction in relation to the styles, and yes I very much see your perspective about Gothic being more pointy, and also far more elaborate. The Arts and Crafts movement produced a more err, homely look. Had to line up images of the two side by side, and who doesn’t love a good gargoyle? Especially when it is being used as the head of a drain pipe.
You know, I’ve never encountered one of those Danish three legged chairs either. With the way the seat was produced, it most certainly would be stable, although I do wonder about comfort given the idea didn’t catch on. Presumably you were able to put the design to the ultimate test of usage?
I’ve never really understood that ban on water tanks in your country, or the rationale behind it, but it’s good to hear that the winds are changing on that front. They’re really quite handy storage devices. Water is a funny issue which can ruffle feathers that’s for sure. Farm dams (or ponds in your lingo) can be quite problematic for those down stream, and over the years I’ve read of a few which were at, or close to failure. Not something you’d want to experience.
I’d seen the news about the space junk, and was wondering if what I saw was part of the larger debris field? Dunno really and finding if and where it hit the ground around here would be like a needle in a haystack kind of a problem. Did you notice on the lead photo in the article you linked too, it looks to me like smoke is issuing off the left hand side of the space junk? It’s surprising that it wasn’t a crater, and that some of this stuff hasn’t hit a house, city, drone, or something like that.
Trees with thorns are a nightmare, and in the past I’d removed some Gorse, and that stuff is like hundreds of seriously sharp needles. Burns super hot too. Hope the new trees enjoy their home.
Yup getting air out of pipes is something of a skill. 🙂 Glad to hear that the works went smoothly, and hope the frogs got a chance to relocate – and that there was somewhere for them to go.
Whatever else has been written about Saint Brendan, he sure got around and kept busy. And yes, the accounts of hitting the open ocean in a leather clad boat is a bit hair raising.
🙂 I know what I mean by the term kitchen garden, but agreed, there are plenty of definitions floating around. I do know that it seems common that in the hill station gardens I’ve visited, that such plots were kept out of sight. Probably need to get out more.
Coffee is expensive, no getting around it. 63’F is a pretty nice day, and hope you and H get out for a walk and catch some rays in the garden. So far the trees have remained upright. Elsewhere many have toppled, and one hit a tram. Unfortunately, it looks like a couple of people were swept into the bay. Two dead as severe weather across Victoria downs trees, cuts power and postpones Geelong Cup . Probably didn’t know how to swim, and those conditions are treacherous looking.
Lewis, after first hand experience, I absolutely 100% agree with you. Enjoy the old notable news clippings for their own sake, and not as an investment. Yup.
With the weather, we did paid work until late. My brain is a bit worn out tonight! Bizarrely, tomorrow and Friday’s weather is cool, calm and sunny. An enviable trio of achievements that we can all aim towards!
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – Our high yesterday was 61F (16.11C). Our overnight low was 39F (3.88C). Our forecast high for today is 64F. Boy, you’re really having some weather over there. A wild ocean just seems to draw people. Often, to their doom. I wonder if selfies were involved? It seems in windstorms, it’s trees that kill the most people. Those on the tram and in cars, were very lucky. I did a quick conversion, and 130kpm would equal 80mph, here. According to Prof. Mass, we’re going to get some atmospheric rivers, coming in. Looks like our turn will come over the weekend.
Just to make things interesting … 🙂 arts and crafts furniture is often referred to as “mission furniture.” I’ve even seen the two terms conflated, on one piece of furniture. One difference is that arts and crafts furniture is often handmade, while mission furniture is machine made. At least according to one source. Although factories cranked out a lot of arts and crafts furniture often sold by Sears, in the teens and 1920s.
Gothic furniture was often seen in church settings. Ecclesiastical furniture. Cathedrals and parsonages. Makes sense. Gothic architecture, gothic style furniture.
That three legged chair was at my kitchen table, where I spent a lot of time. As I remember, it was quit comfy.
Water rights can be quit fraught and complicated. Cases make the news, from time to time. I’m sure we’ll see more and more of that.
So far, space junk hasn’t caused a lot of damage. The space junk I saw, came down in a farm field, in eastern Washington. Though a piece of it fell close to a caravan. I wonder when something terrible does happen, how blame and compensation will be sorted. I see expensive court cases, that will drag on for years. I also wonder, as they come in hot, if some will cause wildfires.
I think it’s interesting that St. Brenden was probably a real person. Who traveled around a good bit. Some of his supposed voyages are a bit of a stretch, but around Britain, probably doable. It’s interesting that he lived not that long after the Romans left Britain. Not that far off the Age of Arthur. The same goes for St. Patrick.
I picked the green beans, that had dried in the pod, last night. I figure there’s enough to save for seed, and probably enough to do a big pot of bean soup. Along with other veg. I’ll probably freeze some up.
I’m reading an interesting book, right now. “The Secret Life of a Cemetery: The Wild Nature and Enchanting Lore of Pere-Lachaise.”
(Gallot, English translation, 2025.) That’s the enormous cemetery in Paris, where lots of famous people are buried. It’s written by the fellow who runs the whole shooting match. 🙂 It’s still a working cemetery, but the author has to contend not only with ongoing burial arrangements, but also hoards of tourists. And, citizens of Paris who view it as a kind of public park. What’s interesting is, not that long ago, Paris banned pesticides. The cemetery has sort of been re-wilding. Even foxes have taken up residence, in the grounds. And have become an internet sensation. 🙂
And, just for fun … aliens! You saw a lot of this area, in Simon Pegg’s and Nick Frost’s “Paul.”
https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/20/travel/extraterrestrial-highway-nevada
“The Truth is Out There.” :-). We even have a yearly UFO convention, here in Chehalis. Lew
Chris:
That is one of the reasons you will never see me in Australia: No-one is going to spray me with anything.
When I had altitude sickness I was in Ft. Collins, Colorado, visiting my parents. It happened because I flew in from basically sea level to over a mile high, over only about two hours, and ran straight to the hospital because my mother had fallen when their Husky (hi, DJSpo) had jumped towards another dog that had poked its head under a fence, and she broke an elbow and a knee. The sickness hit me pretty quickly, but I was in the hospital building and a blessed doctor gave me some anti-nausea medicine that worked super quick. I had been vomiting all over the place.
Uh, oh – deer again. It’s a game of chess, isn’t it?
Very windy today here, too. I was attending to one of my hobbies, which was watching the dead branches fall.
I have thought many times about visiting Polyface Farm. Maybe someday . . .
It is nice when paid work days coincide with bad weather. Weatherwise, it has been a wonderful fall here. Warm, sunny days, and chilly nights. Some nights are a 3-blanket night, but that’s just because I don’t want to put on my heavier winter jammies yet.
I am harvesting radishes and a bit of kale. It’s a little early for the kale to be very big. Oh, and picking endive. I like endive a lot. There’s a bit of cilantro, but it is growing quite slowly. The garlic has sprouted up quite a bit, which worries me. I have mulched some of it, but I can’t decide if that is a good idea. It has to be in the ground for the next 8 months. I am eating a lot of my favorite weeds: Chickweed and hairy bittercress. They are both full of vitamins and minerals, and the chickweed is medicinal as well. I like them best raw.
Ah – Grand Designs. I should have guessed. Thanks for finding it. How great are those rock gabions? I like the house, and isn’t that a great view? But is all that glass a good idea? I remembered Hobart was in Tasmania because of their AR football team. Whom I have now forgotten, of course.
Pam
@ DJSpo:
What a shame I never came across El Sombrero. I am partial to a nice relleno.
Pam
Chris:
It’s a funny coincidence, but when I was sitting outside today watching the dead branches fall, I was aways back from the house and I was thinking that wooden shutters would be nice, though they might not look right on a log house. I would want them for keeping out cold, but we can manage that with weatherstripping and other indoor measures (like people talk about on Mr. Greer’s blog and forums).
Your shutters are metal, aren’t they?
Pam
Hi Pam,
Yeah, they’re handy those shutters, and glad to hear that the stairs remain intact from falling branches, or at least that is my best guess. Took the shutters back down today, and turns out they weren’t needed. But it’s better to not have to worry during yesterdays storm. They’re a really strong woven stainless steel wire mesh. Much stronger than the usual fly and insect screen stuff, and they can take some direct hits without damage. If you made them yourself, they’d be a pretty cheap form of insurance for the windows.
Pam, I have no idea what is in those sprays. Ooo, might be some sort of insecticide. Given I’ve heard of very occasional incidences of bed bugs, it’s probably not strong enough. 🙂
That anti-nausea stuff works, yup, very quickly. Husky’s are lovely, but they can be occasionally a bit mischievous, what with having their own thoughts and stuff, them being a bit on the wilder side of dogness. What a totally stressful situation you flew into as well with your mum. A mate of mine is having similar issues with his parents and he is also remote from them, it happens. You did really well bringing them both back to live with you towards the end.
Unfortunately, the deer seem to have less on their plate than I do, and so I can’t give them the attention they need. Anywhoo, I fixed up that rock today and excavated the last of the soil from the new flat site. Nice to get onto the next stage of the path project with all of the rock work. The weather was truly superb, cool, calm and sunny.
🙂 Ook! I thought the branches falling was a deliberate and intentional act, but no, it’s free firewood courtesy of the wind. Hope nothing was squooshed by the windfalls?
Doesn’t get much better than your description of the fall weather. Four blanket nights here :-), but then I let the wood heater run out of fuel rather than burning it on low. The flue stays cleaner that way. However, if I had your more extreme winter weather, I’d definitely get up in the middle of the night and re-load the wood heater.
Yum! Yum! Radishes are the best, and even the leaves are edible. Yeah, the kale tends to eek out the winter months, and then begins to grow here right now, as in spring. Beats me about the garlic, but I’ve only ever grown it in heavily mulched soils, so have no idea whether that was the right thing to do, or not. You’ll find out next year how it worked out. Those two plants have a lot to offer, and like you I appreciate a diet with as wide a variety of plants as possible.
You know, the extensive glazing was not to my tastes, mostly because it leaks energy like a sieve in both summer and winter (and we have very thick panes of double glazing). But I got the impression that section was for a greenhouse which is attached to the house. Me being me, I’d wonder about the many critters decamping from the greenhouse and setting up residence inside the house during the winter and summer months with that sort of arrangement, but have absolutely no experience on that front. Might not be a problem. But the place looked amazing.
Cygnet is a town a bit inland and SW of Hobart. Quite nice from memory, although that state may be much busier than when I was last there.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
The overnight here was a bit warmer, but your daytime temperature surpassed the 14’C / 57’F late this afternoon. After yesterday’s feralness, the weather was calm and sunny, but obviously having derived from Antarctica. Quite nice really. A bit more of the story was released on the two unfortunate folks who met their end in the bay yesterday: Frankston drowning victims were inexperienced surfer and friend who tried to rescue him, police say. Not good, and best not to jump in and attempt a rescue if you’re not a super strong swimmer, despite the later guilt. All very sad and unfortunate.
Whoa! The half inch of rain early yesterday was well received, and the wind was not blowing hard at that time. Friday will be the one to watch for your area. That’s some impressive streams of atmospheric moisture based on what Professor Mass was showing on the blog. Far out, looks like you’ll get heaps of rain, and maybe even some flooding. Probably not great weather to head out on an adventure. Sunday here also looks rather damp. Tis the time of year for storms.
Ah the router just decided it, well nay, demanded an update to the firmware. Be afraid, be very afraid. And I was!
Actually, the weather was so nice today that we finished the excavations on the new flat area, and even managed to correct that large rock so that it sits better relative to the path entrance and lower rock wall. It’s all looking quite good, and sadly tomorrow is a repeat of today’s delightful conditions but there’s work to be done. It happens…
Alas the interweb is down (during the update process for both router and now the modem! Yay me!) otherwise I’d be curious as to why the word ‘mission’ was used. It brings to mind memories of the 1970’s when everything timber was stained with mission brown oil. Interestingly, some Californian bungalows (which were constructed down under as well at the time and are quite common just on the edge of the Victorian and Edwardian era cottage areas) were listed as Arts and Crafts style. They were actually quite well made houses and used good materials.
And yes, I noticed that about the Gothic style of furniture being associated with cathedrals. Back in the day, I recall that really nice timber church pews were sold for not much cash at all, sometimes less than a $100. Sadly they’d often end up on the front veranda of share houses out in the weather.
This tech stuff is great, when it works. But need it take over my otherwise pleasant Thursday evening? It’s not much to ask for it to just work, is it. A purely rhetorical question, of course. Truly, I’m onto this sort of stuff, but I do wonder how other households cope when the tech simply cracks a wobbly demanding updates – which a person has to then manually administer. Oh well, life wasn’t meant to be simple. You know it requires attention when the devices bizarrely become intermittent. I can’t be certain, but it seems like a deliberate strategy to me.
Interesting about the chair. And thanks for the review.
You don’t really hear about water rights issues down here until there is a drought, and then one state is fighting against another in the media – although it may all be for theatrics. The folks at the end of the waterway often end up with the raw end of that deal. And sometimes the rivers don’t make it to the ocean.
Poop, you know I hadn’t considered space junk causing a fire, but there’s no reason why it wouldn’t, yeah. Interestingly, the object would be fairly easy to find because it would be at the ignition point, and investigators usually discover those. But yeah, who would pay given down under at least, it’s usually a foreign national which caused the local problem? Probably nobody would want to be in that test case.
Agreed, St Brendan was most likely an historical person, and those times would have been hectic. A lot of history was in the making in those days, and people would have been looking for leadership in a time of crisis. Wonder how fast the population of England declined once the Romans left?
Aren’t beans easier to shell from sun dried pods (although you may have brought them indoors to dry)? Quite satisfying to do that activity. Were you pleased with the bean plants you’d chosen this growing season? Beans do really well here too, probably better than peas which are a bit earlier in the season when it is colder. The potato crop is doing quite well. Haven’t had to do much with them other than a bit of weeding today. Still haven’t worked out how to store the tubers properly so they’ll survive the winter.
Did I read that correctly? A nude performance artist in a Parisian cemetery? An intriguing tale. Sounds like a delightful read, and maybe one to chuck onto the much shrunked to-read list. Economics has a say here, sorry to say. Awful isn’t it? 🙂
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – That was quit the tale of the surfer and friend. But really. Darwin Award?
Our high yesterday was 63F (17.22C). Our overnight low was 54F (12.22C). The forecast high for today is 64F. Yup, the next three days the forecast if for 100% rain. I’m glad to hear the storm wasn’t too bad, around your place.
Well, computers. I suppose you saw that a large chunk of “The Cloud” crashed to earth. I also saw a review of Doctorow’s book. A review so good, I took the book of my library hold list.
https://www.npr.org/sections/planet-money/2025/10/21/g-s1-94264/a-theory-why-the-internet-is-going-down-the-toilet
And, this …
https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/22/tech/aws-internet-outage-ai-risks
We’re doomed, doomed I tell you! 🙂 Yeah, computer upgrades. I never quit know when the process is finished. Sometimes, the screen goes dark. Is it finished? Or just taking a breather? I go do other things while it flails about.
OK. Missions. When the Spanish owned California, they established a string of Catholic missions, up the coast. About 21of them, about a days travel apart. By the late 19th century, most of them had gone to wrack and ruin. And then … a book was published.
https://w.wiki/FnVM
It revitalized interest and restoration of the missions. And, the hand made furniture that they were furnished with. When I lived in S. California, I often stopped by Mission San Juan Capistrano, coming home from the beach.
https://w.wiki/FnVg
At least in the early 1970s, other than St. John’s Day, when the swallows come back, the place was pretty much deserted. I’d wander around and decompress, from this thing called Southern California. 🙂
https://youtu.be/TmT8S3qZnNk?si=yjBPUWR13ytLAJMT
Also, in 1898, Sunset magazine started to be published. It beat the drum for all things Californian. It’s still being published, and they also have many books, including cook books. And, The Sunset Western Garden Guide. Which is really a great resource for gardening, on our west coast.
It’s interesting how world events, can inspire decorative movements. When King Tut’s tomb was discovered, in the 1920s, Egypto-mania swept the world. Influencing furniture, fashion and a lot of other things.
It’s funny how cast off things, are very cheap, in a small window of time. Church pews, oak library card catalogs, printers trays. Those were wooden trays that the printers kept their lead letters in.
It’s interesting, and sometimes maddening, what saints hagiography can tell us, or not tell us. Of course, they’re of a religious and inspirational bent, but they tease us with little bits of information that could have told us about what the wider world was like. St. Patrick’s life probably spanned the time the Roman’s abandoned Britain. But some form of government was still functioning. “Patrick’s father, Calpurnius, is described as a decurion (senator and tax collector) of an unspecified Romano-British city, and as a deacon; his grandfather Potitus was a priest from Bonaven Tabernia.” Just as a footnote, it wasn’t until the 1100s, that Catholic priests were forbidden marriage.
Yes, the sun dried green beans are pretty easy to shell. And, of course, I return the spent pods, back to the garden.
The Paris cemetery book is really kind of delightful. The author was raised in a family, that were stone monument carvers. So, he grew up with a yard full of tombstones. He became a sort of entertainment lawyer, but found that unfulfilling. Through some odd circumstances, he ended up being a lawyer for the cemeteries, and, finally, head of Pere-Lachaise. He and his family (four children) live in an apartment, within the cemetery. He’s pragmatic and, sometimes quit funny. Sensitive not only to grieving families, but also to the needs of the hoards of tourists … within reason. 🙂
I just read a chapter on the birds that inhabit the cemetery. Wouldn’t you know, flocks of rose-ringed parakeets inhabit the place. Feral, non-native populations.
Wait awhile, and used copies of the book, probably very inexpensive, will start appearing on the market. It’s a rather small book, just 200 and some pages.
Well, I took a stroll a block and a half down the hill, this morning, to the chemist’s. I got my Covid and flu jabs. So, that’s taken care of, for this year. I want to go the the Winco, tonight, but it depends on if the vaccinations put me a bit under the weather. Sometimes, they do. Lew
Chris:
There aren’t any stairs anymore. They have been completely removed so that when the old oak tree is cut down, it won’t crush them if the aim is a bit off. They were due to be replaced after 33 years anyway (pretty good treated wood, eh?).
We haven’t lit any fires yet, or turned on any heaters. We do this every year: No-one wants to be the one to give in first. There is a children’s game like that. But what is it?
Oh – they live in a greenhouse. Sounds a bit damp.
Pam
Chris,
That was one nasty windstorm you had. Thanks for the article. Why would anybody be wandering about on a pier in those conditions? The water was roiling enough that I could hear it screaming from here. No way would you have found me anywhere near that. Of course, I tend to hunker down indoors in that kind of wind.
You put up the shutters? Wonderful idea. Nasty to have the odd branch blow off a tree and fly into a window.
The Princess brought up a good point. Often, Australia is referred to as Oz in our media. Her question: Would that mean that a house from Oz, from Australia, that got picked up by the wind, would it then land in Kansas? If so, I have a little list of people such a house could land upon. I’m sure they won’t be missed. 😉
Gotta say, the Kelpies had the correct idea not remaining outside very long in that wind. I recall one day we awoke and it was -4C outside. Thordog needed out. When I opened the door for him, he put his nose out, then backed inside and gave me the look that said, “Surely you’re joking. That is COLD out there!” I told him he could come right back indoors after he’d completed his business. He ventured out, did what needed doing and rapidly returned indoors. He didn’t have that nice double layer of wild northern breed fur that his Laphound, Finnish Spitz, husky and Samoyed cousins have such pride in.
I’ve noticed the same thing. So many people who perish in the mountains or even in a car during extreme winter conditions are not prepared. We carry plenty of water with us, several blankets, a fairly high-quality reusable “space blanket”, candles, matches and lighters, flashlights, a shovel, etc. We carry the same things with us in the summer, too, with even more water.
Ah, the next big zombie invasion, I’ll remember your suggestion. Go without coffee, might fit in and be able to make an escape. Then again, if the caffeine withdrawal got to a certain level, well, then all bets are off.
Twas another summerlike day today. Advantage of the nice conditions was taken. The rain should hit tomorrow evening. I can tell that a rather large low pressure system is moving in. The Princess has an elbow that gives us ample warning of any huge low pressure changes looming. The elbow has been giving us warnings most of the day.
Today was our Lunch Date Thursday. We went to the local sports bar. Great food there. I had my favorite “Meltdown burger”. The usual additions on the burger AND it comes covered with a very large helping of jalapenos smothered in pepper jack cheese. Not for the faint of, umm, taste buds, but I find it very tasty.
DJSpo
Hi Pam,
Well, I’d not realised that the back stairs had already been removed. Reading comprehension is a gift, they tell me! 🙂 You’re clearly cut from a similar cloth, and things can occasionally move rather quickly. Although equally, the stairs could have been in need of major repairs all other considerations to the side, and not been in use for a while. Always wise to be a tad careful when it comes to dropping large trees. The unexpected can happen. It’s not bad outcome to have gotten 33 years from the stairs, and I reckon a similar construction in metal wouldn’t have lasted much longer.
Many long years ago I welded and fabricated stairs using sheet metal, and fifteen years later, they’re still doing good, but need re-coating of quality metal paint.
Hehe! Pam, I so get that. Firewood is resource which has limits, and who wants to be the first to say goodbye to the warmth of the growing seasons sun? The game, down here it is colloquially known as: Playing Chicken. Or in more intellectual circles as the gentle art of: Brinkmanship.
Frankly speaking, I see a lot of that on display in geopolitics, and most of it appears to me to be big-talk.
If the winter sun is low in the sky, there is only so much energy on offer to the recipients. Should they make claims to the contrary, the sensitive person with much experience, often doubts their integrity.
Cheers
Chris
Hi DJ,
The wind was pretty feral, but fortunately far worse near to the coast. Whilst working (indoors) that day I had the weather readings from the big smoke up on the interweb and randomly noticed a wind gust of 72Km/h, which I believe is recorded at ground level near to the river and surrounded by parkland and trees. Not sure I’d have enjoyed the feeling of being in a tall building on that day with the winds being much stronger in elevated exposed positions.
Turns out the bloke was allegedly a surfer from another country who got into trouble and his friend may have attempted a failed rescue from the pier. Frankston drowning victims were inexperienced surfer and friend who tried to rescue him, police say. I’ve been in the ocean in those sorts of conditions (based on what I saw of the photos), and decided I no longer enjoyed such experiences, and never went back. The waves were so big that I got dumped on the sand whilst swimming still far out from shore. The word survival kept popping into my head that day. Not fun. The swim aspect of the event should have been cancelled, and I lost trust in their decision making processes.
The window shutters are there to be used, and it costs nothing to put them up during extreme weather. Thanks! 🙂 We’ve seen worse weather here, and unfortunately during the minor tornado all those long years ago, I was a bit busy to have thought to take photos and / or glance at what the weather station was saying. Regrets, that ain’t one of them! 🙂 Just happy to have survived that Christmas day. Nice pressie, hey? And the thought: That’s a funny looking cloud, really did pop into my head just prior to touchdown.
DJ, that’s so naughty of you and your lady, but yeah, I so get that, and we’ve all encountered a few people who are in that sort of a need! 🙂 Would it help them? Probably not. Would it help us? Maybe…
Yeah, on Wednesday, the dogs had this real haunted expression on their faces. Boss, there’s so much stuff moving around what with the strong winds, that we’re having a massive freak out! And so they decided that life was better reclining in front of the wood heater during such inclement weather. Thordog sounds smart to me making that decision, and Ollie would do no differently, him having been bred to run long and hard in Queensland weather.
Those double coats are amazing aren’t they? Such dogs have never felt the cold, or may have only barely noticed its presence.
Exactly, like you, both cars have blankets, towels etc. ready to go. Better to have them, and not use them, than need them, and not have them. The Editor thinks much the same about the three-oh-eight for the deer… Man, summer weather can turn pretty nasty when you’re at elevation, and it’s worse again way up in the alpine areas of this state where it can snow any day of the year. And it’s not even as high in elevation as some parts of your country, which would be feral for such risks. But I’ve experienced brief snow around Christmas way up there.
Hehe! Agreed, all bets would be off that zombie day. DJ, our commentary would most certainly degenerate: DJ, mate, you’re sounding a bit angry and agitated there bro. What’s going on? … … Coffee!!!! Argh!!! Hey, the zombies would have to worry about you in that state! 🙂
Lucky you and your lady to have weather prescience. Although admittedly there would be downsides to the experience. Did you get the rain? I see that Professor Mass has suggested that there may be some epic atmospheric rivers in play.
The weather was nice here today, although on the cooler and cloudier side of things. Worked inside all day, although took regular breaks and ran the dogs around like crazy.
Ha! That’s a great name for a burger. 🙂 Chilli’s and pepper aren’t for everyone. Respect. We’re planning a day off for Sunday, although the weather looks really feral wet with maybe another half inch to inch of rain. I’m quite partial to a Five-O burger which is an Hawaiian mostly due to the inclusion of the pineapple and grilled chicken. Yum!
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
It’s not good, and sometimes drownings can involve large numbers of family members. Mostly I believe they head in one after the other to attempt a rescue, and it doesn’t end well. Interestingly, there’s been some talk in the media about the decline in the number of people who know how to swim. When I was a kid, they’d drag you off to the local pool and teach the skill. And unfortunately, people arrive here now from other countries, and get into trouble quickly in the water. And I’m not sure schools teach the skill these days. The number of people drowning lately is on the up, no getting around it. The water down under has always been dangerous. I spotted an article the other day about a crocodile up north going for a plunge in a hotel pool, as you do.
The weather was about the same here today, except the overnight low, was lower. It’s only 44’F outside right now. Brr! Thanks for that about the storm, and hope your experience is equally as uneventful.
Yes, I saw that about the cloud crash. It’s been an interesting week on that front. The banksters are demanding that I identify myself despite using their services for four decades, and so they have made online bankstering difficult. I can’t say that this makes me feel that they have my best interests at heart. Might have to go into a branch next week, although the local one closed down a few years ago. Administering their system suddenly becomes a half a day job for me because the nearest branch is so far away. Am I earning mad cash whilst doing their work? Oh well, mustn’t grumble…
Mr Doctorow is probably correct in his assertions. What amuses me is that those same busynesses are attempting to pull the same trick with Arty-fishal computers. Except that the capital and recurrent costs are so much higher that they run the risk of running out of available mad cash. Anyway, I made the casual observation the other day that if an accountant and a forklift driver all earn the same wage, then the middle class is wiped out, we’re all working class now, but might not know it yet.
My evening last night was eaten alive by computer upgrades, oh yeah. All those troubles, and then some. 🙂 Flailing about is such a lovely turn of phrase, thanks.
Ramona sounds like an interesting read, yeah. And truly scripture may frustrate my mind as well, and little wonder it is often forcibly backed by the military. We live in calm days by comparison.
The vibe there down south of your west coast might not suit my brain either. And the dry would be too hot for my tastes.
Ha! Sorry to say, but I checked out Sunset magazine, and it was not aimed at the likes of myself. The food looked awesome though.
One of the interesting things about what used to be described as ‘the tyranny of distance’, is sometimes a local culture can flourish in the absence of greater pressures. The world is slowly becoming a much bigger place again. Where it will lead is beyond my ken. The Egypto-mania wasn’t much of an influence down under, although am I mistaken that Art Deco has some nods to that land?
Yeah, the printers trays are lovely aren’t they, and I’ve seen them long ago full of metal type, ready to form coherent sentences. Such an elegant technology, and not prone to the failures of auto-correction. Which happened here recently with a delivery address. What a carry on…
Hmm, I wonder what occurred in the 1100’s which put a stop to Catholic priests getting married? A lot of history flows over the waters of deeper time, and much of it needn’t make good sense.
Good stuff getting the bean carcasses back into the soil. Waste not, want not, as the old timers used to quip.
I’d read that the author had family links to the funeral business – tombstones in that instance. The surrounds for the apartment would be quite delightful, and back in the day, head gardeners in some of the bigger inner city gardens had houses. There’s still two houses that I’m aware of.
Beware the parrots, they may be smarter than us all!
Hope you’re feeling OK today. Those things make me feel thirsty.
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – Yes, when I was a kid, we did a couple of years of swim classes, at the local YMCA. It’s been decades since I’ve been in any kind of water. Like riding a bicycle (according to reports), I’m sure some of it would come back to me. Maybe.
Here, it’s bears that take dips in swimming pools. And, hot tubs.
Our high yesterday was 63F (17.22C). Our overnight low was 54F (12.22C). The forecast for today is 59F. We had a dry walk, last night. But it looked like we might get wet, this morning. But, we just hit it lucky. I’m sure our luck will run out, over the next few days. It was a bit breezy. When I had H out back, I heard a frog in the flower gardens. So, I guess at least one has relocated from the ditch across the road. I saw the red frog, at the Club, last night.
My credit union (bank), has done some kind of an upgrade, to their online banking. I haven’t looked at it, yet. I figure it will need my undivided attention, so I don’t stumble into something I don’t want.
I was glad I at least experienced S. California, when I was young. But like you, I thought it was way too dry. I couldn’t wait to get back to the green and wet.
Sunset Magazine was pretty good, up until the 1950s. More of a middle class kind of publication. And, there publications were top notch. Still are. They were oversized paperbacks. Never very expensive. And they covered soooo many topics. Lots of publications on cooking. I still have quit a few in my cookbook collection. Also, lot of “how to” guides. Carpentry, plumbing, electrical. When I put the little wood stove / trash burner in my little house, I used their wood stove guide, so I wouldn’t go wrong. Every book store I ever worked in had a “spinner rack” of Sunset publications.
“Egyptomania refers to the fascination with ancient Egyptian themes in Western art, which significantly influenced the Art Deco movement in the 1920s and 30s. This influence is evident in the use of Egyptian motifs, such as hieroglyphs and pyramids, in various artistic and architectural designs during that period.” I’m sure if you really looked closely, you’d find examples around Melbourne. Maybe, even in the cemeteries. 🙂
Oh, I’m sure banning priests from marrying was all about power and control. There are several Christian sects that allow their priests to marry. And they don’t seem the worst for it. I suppose you saw the King and Queen paid a visit to the pope. An ecumenical service, no less. Although I don’t see the Anglicans rejoining the Catholic Church, any time soon. 🙂
I saw an interesting quote, the other day. Can’t remember where. “We can no longer treat soil like dirt.” 🙂
The French cemetery is the largest green space, in Paris. The author said it’s very much like living in the country.
I felt pretty good, yesterday, after the jabs. I went to Winco, last night. Spent about $150, on six sacks of groceries. I noticed the price of dried prunes had come down. Way down. By about $10. I wonder if the price I played last time, was a mistake.
I knew I didn’t want anything elaborate for dinner, and thought I’d just throw a can of chili, on some rice. But, of course, I can’t resist tarting it up. I tossed in some garlic, Roma tomatoes from the garden, broccoli. Topped it with some Swiss cheese and yoghurt.
Later on, I had a couple of hot flashes, but nothing over the top. But then, some muscle aches. And, insomnia! What’s that all about? I felt creaky enough, that H and I took the elevator, this morning. I took an aspirin, this morning, and the muscle aches, are gone. Lew
@ Lew:
“We’re doomed, doomed I tell you!” Dr. Smith? I loved that show as a child.
Pam
Chris:
I expect your metal stairs will bypass 33 years. Wonderful that you made them yourself.
I thought brinksmanship had to do with corporations.
Speaking of the sun, it does not hit the upper garden now until noon and only stays on the garden till 3pm, besides being patchy, which means I have to work in the shade in there quite a bit and that the plants are getting very little of it. Once the leaves are off the trees it will be a bit better, but will still be the weak winter sun. I would suppose that you have that problem, too, in the winter. The back of the property where the greenhouses are gets more sun.
After my son stump grinded those last big tree stumps I was able to collect and move 5 wheelbarrow loads to the garden before he smoothed out the area with the CAT. Now I don’t know what to do with my pile.
Pam
Chris,
Bleep! I had a nice reply nearly completed and my computer glitched and disappeared it and other things. Oh well.
Supposed to have a windstorm all evening. The wind finally started about 45 minutes ago, so, 9 pm. 4 hours later than forecast. No rain yet, either. It must be delayed as the wind was.
Naturally, I only knew the wind had finally arrived when I heard the gusts blowing under the eaves. In BIG windstorms, it’s eerie when I can feel the house shake during the higher gusts. I can’t imagine being in a tall building during a big windstorm. Too wobbly for me.
Dogs are smart. They know how to look woeful and pitiful even under perfect conditions. Dame Avalanche doesn’t like gusty winds. She was outside when the wind picked up. First big gust and she began her mournful, “woe is me” whining. It WAS time for her to come inside anyhow, so now she is enjoying a nice rest out of the wind.
Rakhi the Samoyed disliked being indoors during the winter. Much too warm for her. She preferred sleeping on the concrete in the shade on a windy day with the air temperature at -26C. Due to the wind, she made one concession to the cold: her tail was draped over her nose. That double coat of hers.
“Better to have them, and not use them, than need them, and not have them.” Exactly our attitude too.
The day some friends and I climbed Mount Baker in far northwest Washington. It was 100F in Seattle and very warm on Baker even at the peak of 3,288 meters. Even so, everyone in our group carried daypacks with emergency gear. Draped over them were our winter parkas, just in case. We were roped together on the glacier, ice axes in hand and crampons on our boots. We were amazed at the number of people who thought it was just a stroll through the local park: tee shirts, short pants, running shoes or even a few people wearing sandals!
Zombie who needs coffee. Sounds like maybe a fun book: “Batman and the Zombie with Caffeine Withdrawal”. The sequel could be “The Decaffeinated Zombie Meets the Werewolf”.
This set of “atmospheric rivers” isn’t supposed to dump epic amounts of rain on us like the last two storm systems did. Seriously, I simply shake my head when even a routine storm, like this one, is described as “atmospheric river”. A river it’s not when less than 8mm of rain is expected over three days.
The Five-O burger sounds good. If it is served with onion rings on the side, would it be called a “Book ’em Danno”? 😉
DJSpo
Hi Pam,
Ah thanks, and maintenance, yes, it’s very much a thing and I appreciate the lovely words of encouragemtn. I do hope that the metal stairs go the distance, and so far they seem to be doing OK. By the way, I mixed a bit of sand into the metal paint so as to give the steel checker-plate a bit of non-slip grip in wet weather. Some icy winter mornings, they’re a bit slippery, but even timber and concrete stairs suffer from that fate.
🙂 To be honest, I’d never constructed a set of steel stairs before that lot and thought to myself: Well, how hard can it be? Even used a blow torch to heat one edge of the sheet metal and then bash it down to give it a pleasing rounded edge. Necessity forced my hand in that matter, as I couldn’t find any engineering shop at the time to make the things. The universe was perhaps trying to tell me something. I’m sure you’ve also encountered such road blocks in your life?
Ah no, brinkmanship can also occur in any relationship really, and I’m not much of a fan, because it hints at ego driven behaviour, and also is a process of escalation which has no end point. Eventually someone loses that race, and then they crack the sads.
Pam, absolutely oh yeah, and I hear you about that. Slope, tick. Tall trees, tick. Far from the equator, tick. A lot of boxes were ticked just there. Yes, your description is exactly the issues with winter sun, and hey, the tall trees here are evergreen, which only adds to the dearth of winter sunlight. And yup, that’s why the greenhouse here is where it is located. Your son was spot on to put the greenhouses where he did. Respect.
Oooo! That’s the thing isn’t it? Saw dust is a useful material in the garden, and will eventually break down. But around here, it’s also a bit of a thief in that it steals a lot of nitrogen from the soil to do that trick and the plants won’t like that. I can think of many sources of nitrogen which will turn those piles into some nice stuff, like say, our err wee. Might need a bit of the stuff though. 🙂 It’s also really nice dressings for garden paths, and gives a soft surface to walk upon. Mixing coffee grounds in would help a lot with the stuff. Some ash would work wonders as well.
We used to bring up lots of woody mulch here, and overall it was a good idea, but far out it slowed down the growth of all the plants.
Cheers
Chris
Hi DJ,
Such are the mysterious ways of computers, and hey, I’m enjoying a rare praline chocolate (a super yummy gift) with a peppermint tea, and dunno about you, but such treats can make up for many a bout of software ill treatment. It’s also noteworthy that the computers can’t share such tasty morsels. 😉 Words, unfortunately yes, they do eat such things from time to time.
You’re a brave man to tempt the weather gods just so, and hope the power stayed on in your area what with all the wind. Looks to me like the worst of it will be west of the mountains, but still, it is headed in your direction. How’s it look on the ground in your part of the world? It’s meant to rain here all day tomorrow. A brief storm this afternoon dumped 6mm over the range. Yay! The trees in the surrounding forest released massive clouds of moisture afterwards.
I know what you mean and feel much the same when strong winds buffet the side of the house – you can feel and hear the impact on the house frame. It’s not hard to see how roofs would be removed during seriously strong wind loads given that way back in the day only strong nails anchored roof trusses to wall frames. Far out. Lots of steel strapping is used in this house frame in order to hold it all together. Those tall buildings though would trouble me, although they’re constructed with wind loads in mind – you just hope that nothing was skimped upon during construction. I’ve worked in one building which swayed and rumbled a lot. It’s still there. Wasn’t an enjoyable experience though.
A while back I mentioned to Lewis that at the farm expo we spoke to a Kelpie breeder who said that dogs have the emotional manipulation skills of a five year old. Hmm. Not encouraging words, and a human has to be alert for canine mischief. However, good to hear that the Dame knows when it is time to retreat indoors. We had a few walks today in between the rain, and the fluffs, who had been otherwise rather bored and not unhappy with sharing their opinions of the days activities (too bad for them) were reluctant when the wet stuff fell from the sky. And then, they too wanted back inside, after getting rather wet. Probably all seemed like a good idea at the time for them.
Samoyed’s are the next level up on Swedish Lapphunds, and I’d want my nose covered too when it was -26’C. Far out that’s cold. Sir Poopy hated 45’C summer days, which are fortunately rare occurrences.
Yup! Be prepared, and elated that the worst did not eventuate.
Interesting, and dunno about your part of the world, but around here, for every 100m in elevation climbed, the air temperature sort of drops around 1’C. Not always consistent, but mostly true. Mount Baker is stunning, and would have an almost Arctic circle like climate given the elevation. Yes, it’s all fun and games, until the weather turns ugly. If I hadn’t seen such things with my own eyes, I’d be doubtful. I tell ya what, a lot of tourists and inexperienced folks have come unstuck in some remote parts of this country over the past few months. Hasn’t always ended well either. If the weather suddenly turns, hurrying up to exit the place is a very dangerous strategy due to increased risk taking behaviour – which you’d probably seen in your travels?
Hehe! That’s funny about the werewolf. In their human form, they might drink coffee to stay awake into the dark night, what with that big old moon.
Guess the fear factor of the label atmospheric river depends very much upon where a person resides. Be careful what you wish for there, flooding is not fun. 🙂 How is the weather looking at your place? The forecast sounds feral to me.
Hehe! That theme tune is a real ear worm, but then so to is that clever saying. One day in the far distant future, our brains will be withered with hardly anything to say, and the care nurse will have denied the single chocolate treat (because it’s bad for our health), and then we’ll turn and say with renewed confidence: Book ’em Danno! 😉
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
Yeah, same here with not having been for a swim for many years. It was an activity which I was never quite sure I actively enjoyed. I reckon swimming would be one of those muscle memory activities, although remembering not to panic would help as well. Fear is the mind killer when in the water, and it can burn through all of your energy really quickly. Dunno why that would be? But a person could stay afloat for quite a while if the seas were calm.
Far out! The thought of taking a nice stroll through the forest and encountering a hungry early spring bear would trouble me deeply. Fortunately it is unlikely to occur, unless some idiot brought the creatures over here and released them. Thinking about it, they might not survive here due to the reduced feed and water overall in the environment. But then, they are down in southern California too aren’t they? Probably up in the mountains though were it is cooler, maybe. Mountain lions on the other hand! Ook!
Hey, discovered a small batch of possum fur in the orchard, or at least Ollie pointed it out to me. The owls have finally gotten on with the task at hand, although I saw a rat high up a fruit tree this evening. Oh well.
About the same weather here, even the rain. Nice work dodging the rain on the walk, and us lot pulled a similar feat down here. You gots to be in it to win it! 😉 Still, I don’t much enjoy getting rained upon during a walk either. Ollie is of a similar opinion, and the Kelpies only complain later after they are soaked through and demand a towelling. About a quarter inch fell this afternoon. Quite wet and cold really. Go the frogs, and glad to hear that some survived and relocated to safer spaces. They’ll do some good work in the garden with pest critters, although I have no idea what happens to them in the winter months. I’m amazed that you have a frog near to the club, it’s a good sign that there’s something to eat, and the environment is not too toxic.
It’s so easy to make that stumble with technology. I’m of the opinion that individually all the different demands from these things make sense, collectively however, they’re a burden. Probably too much of a burden if you ask me and the pendulum has gone too far towards the tech bro benefit program. It’ll swing back in time, I guess. Hard to pick when that will be though. Do you have any thoughts on that front? Man, I have to go into a branch, and the nearest is over half an hours drive away. Yeah, sure, I don’t have anything else to do. Makes me wonder who they think I’ve been these past four decades! 🙂 Yes, I’m an alien and have mutated into human form. I wonder what they’d do if I said that to the banksters? They might not have a sense of humour.
Yeah, you can speak about California from personal experience and know the vibe. And exactly, too hot and dry for my tastes as well. It’s funny, but we’ve had almost two feet of rain for the year to date, and I’m going: ‘yeah, it’s been dry so far this year’. A relative concept, don’t you reckon?
I get that, and it’s hard to forget history, but back in those days it was not unusual for a person to construct their own house. So that sort of information in the magazine would have been valuable. After WWII there were massive labour shortages down under, and that’s what people did. Owner building, and we went the hands on traditional path, but for many folks that now means co-ordinating various contractors. Need I mention that cooking has gone down a similar path? How many folks know what the raw ingredients for meals are, and then what to do with them?
I have a hunch that some of the hippy magazines I used to write for around the turn of the century were aimed at the middle class. Wasn’t it Picasso who remarked that: ‘everyone wants to live like peasants, but with money’. A clever bloke.
Oooo, so that was part of the inspiration for the Art Deco movement. I’ll do that and keep my eye out when next that period’s constructions are encountered. Thanks, I very much enjoy our conversations, and always learn things. On the other hand, I’ll dodge the cemeteries, as long as possible! 😉 Look, blame the films and books of my youthful days, like Pet Semetary and Poltergeist. Both produced some decent nightmares. Actually I had a really vivid nightmare last night. I was in a lift which could go up and down the tall building, but the doors wouldn’t open. Me, being ever practical, took the lift to as low in the building as it would go (less distance to plummet…) but when it got there, the thing started spinning like a carousel ride. Tell me that didn’t leave me with a headache! I’ve been good, what the heck is with such vivid dreams? In a rare occurrence, I got up to get a drink of water and head outdoors and cool down on the veranda. It was really cold overnight too, 5’C / 41’F.
I don’t see the big deal with priests marrying, but yeah, sadly power and control is probably at the dare I say it, root, of the problem. Everyone is different on that front, and top down approaches probably lead to a lot of issues. Yes, an olive branch was proffered, but agreed, that schism will not be mended. In an unexpected move, they may join forces against a common enemy. Possibly so, such things happen.
That’s a great quote about soil, and I saw that Woody Harreleson had narrated a film about soil (maybe?) Woody is cool, nuff said.
I’d enjoy living in such a country like space within a city, and there would be much incentive to make the job work out just so.
Hard to know about prices as the supermarkets play weird games with them, but I’ve heard it from a reliable source that the $50 coffee brick only seems to be discounted to around $40 at best nowadays. A few years ago it was $20 for a brick. They force you to troll within their businesses trying to work out how the discount system works. Another way our lives are being eaten.
Yum, gourmet chili rice sounds good. Had tortilla for dinner. It was left overs from lunch today. Friends came up for a big time chat fest over a long lunch. Many an interesting discussion was enjoyed. Had a long nap after they left, thus goes the way of the introvert.
Insomnia! Yikes. Hope you are doing better today, and made up for the sad loss with a decent nap. Keep up the fluids too.
Cheers
Chris
@ Pam – Who didn’t like “Lost in Space?” Dr. Smith was just a little ray of sunshine, in any situation. :-). Lew
Yo, Chris – I’m still watching “Fire Country.” A recent episode had two firefighters trying to save a house … and they stayed to long. So, they had to go into a pool, to save themselves. And one of them couldn’t swim. Referencing your dream, another episode was a very tricky elevator rescue. I’m finding the series is getting a bit tedious. The rescues are great, but all the interpersonal dynamics are getting a bit tedious. Who cares who’s sleeping with who? 🙂 Oh, well. That’s what the fast forward button is for.
But, of course, people are moving up into the mountains. Living cheek by jowl with bears, mountain lions, wolves, etc. etc.. I saw an article this morning, about wolves in California. Reminded me of your chickens. 🙂
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/california-euthanizes-4-gray-wolves-110000589.html
Go owls! Unfortunately, it seems the rats and possums are outbreeding the owls.
Our high yesterday was 59F (15C). Our overnight low was 45F (7.22C). Our forecast high for today is 54F. I think Prof. Mass is all well and good, but tends to focus mainly on Seattle and Puget Sound. Which makes sense, as that’s where he lives and works. But I find the government site more useful for local forecasting. We have a high wind warning, from 11 this am until 11 tonight. Rain, on and off. When I took H out this morning, we were getting gusts of 25mph. They may get up to 40mph, by this afternoon. I find it invigorating. 🙂 The souls in hell are wailing in the elevator shaft. When we went out, it wasn’t raining. But, it started, when we headed back in. The long, wide grass strip, out back, where I walk H is about half flooded. Although even with all this rain, there are no flood watches or warnings. Probably, because the ground is still soaking it up. Usually, it takes a combo of melting snow (not going to happen) and rain, to get flooding. So far, H and I have avoided the worst of the rain. Except for one walk, yesterday. I’m rather a stoic, about the rain. Most native north westerners, are. And, as I remind myself, “Rain falls on the just and the unjust.” (the Bible.)
Someone told me they’ve also seen a salamander, near the Club. There are bogs and ditches, nearby. But how they get across those vast (to amphibians) parking lots, I don’t know.
I checked out my bank’s “new” website, last night. Anytime I do banking on the internet, I bring up my computer from a cold start. And, when I’m done, wipe the history and shut it down, entirely. I do the same if I’m buying anything on line. It might be computer voodoo, but I feel more secure, doing that.
The bank asked if I wanted to save my password, on my device. To eliminate the dual identification. Although, occasionally, I’d have to go through that song and dance, even so. Commercial sites often ask me the same thing. No thanks. If “something” gets into my computer, and starts running amok, I don’t want it to find any passwords. It’s also why I never sign up for any commercial sites, and always go with the guest checkout. Theoretically, they won’t have my credit card information, on file.
Otherwise, the banks website seems … functional. Although when I took a look at their legal stuff, I couldn’t get back to the previous screen, and had to sign in (dual identification and all), again.
I don’t think the tech bro benefit program will end until an apocalypse. Of one kind or another.
I hadn’t heard that Picasso quote. Too true. Too true.
I find cemeteries quit … restful (?). I used to live across the street from one, and would cross it daily. Sometimes at night. The tombstones came in handy, when I had some problems with mail theft. And the postal authorities used them to hide, and catch the guy.
Not that long ago, Queen Camilla wouldn’t have been let through the doors of the Vatican. A divorced woman? With a still living first husband? Simply not done. 🙂 That was a big sticking point, for all the kerfuffle over Mrs. Simpson.
Yes, even at the Winco I’ve discovered I need to keep my wits about me. No sleeping at the switch. 🙂 I still need to sit down and figure out if their prices for dried cranberries and tea, are better than buying on line. Complicated maths will be involved. Not my strong suit.
I had a few headaches, yesterday, but nothing aspirin didn’t cure. I think I’m pretty much back to normal. Or, as normal as I get. Lew
Hi Lewis,
That’s what I’d describe as a close call, and also proof that a person has to know when to run. Once a house is going, and there isn’t much useful water available, there’s not a lot that can be done. It would have been hard to move the water from the swimming pool to the house regardless without pumps, hoses etc… Agreed, there is a lot of obsession about such topics, and such is the stuff of soap opera.
The wolf article is an issue which is very much on my mind, except from a completely different angle: How much of the produce is acceptable to be consumed by all the wildlife? It’s a bigger issue too than it first appears to be, because even plant diseases are simply opportunists looking for an easy feed. The ranchers are probably at an economic position where no losses are acceptable. From a different perspective, I’m trying to work out an unhappy balance and curb the worst deprivations, and yet harvest what is needful. That changes from one growing season to the next, but then as the systems mature and the plants and soil become more productive, life gets easier for me. To be honest, releasing wolves was probably not ever going to end well. I’d not want to encounter a rabid wolf.
The owls -foxes – possum – rat – rabbit cycle is very much a boom and bust thing, but yeah, I’m rooting for the owls success.
It’s been very damp here and around the middle of the day a large storm dumped about half an inch. There was even some nearby thunder. Your weather is in the same ballpark as here, except it has dropped to 12’C / 54’F. Brr! Tomorrow will again be cold, and then it will slowly warm before more rain in a week’s time. Pretty typical weather for this time of year. You’ve previously mentioned Professor Mass’s weather focus is his immediate area, and those are sensible reasons. It’d be like me talking about the weather an hours drive north (and thus further inland) of here. Indicative yes, but not the same conditions at all.
That’s a lot of wind, and hope H is not blown away whilst on a walk. 🙂 Took the dogs outside to do their business (in the rain), and by the way, I’d like to think that we’re just folks, yeah. You do get to notice when rain is heavy enough that there’ll be some water related problems, and I did much the same when getting wet and checked on the water tanks and drains. Nearing full, which is an ideal circumstance.
Those little tiny reptiles are super hardy, and clearly there’s enough insects for them to be thriving near to the club. They can hide in very inconspicuous places.
Always wise to follow patterns which have worked for you. The banksters here tend to recommend starting a new web page as distinct from re-using one which had been elsewhere. Being part of a business, I pay the mad cash for a security program which has consistently good reviews. Is it enough? Dunno. Being careful, as in your processes, is another good path for sure.
🙂 Makes me wonder if that software is tested before being released? Dunno, really.
The tech bros have to recall to keep some mad cash aside for ventures which return an income…
That’s funny about cemeteries, and I see what you mean. They’re usually quiet places. What? An intriguing story. Out of curiosity, was the mail miscreant known to you?
Looks like the rain has stopped. Just heard some birds singing.
The whole marriage thing seems all very arbitrary to my way of thinking, and yes, a high price was paid indeed. The lady in question has appears to me to have sharp eyes and a set mouth, but then I’d imagine that there was a lot of pressure combined with a profoundly difficult disposition. The taste of the forbidden fruit.
We are but innocent rabbits in the headlights with those pricing issues! 🙂 But yes, staying alert is a good move, and I get done from time to time as well. Hard to be on top of your game all the time.
Good to hear, and it’s awful too, so I won’t make silly jokes about: What is normal, anyway? Probably in poor taste, and glad to hear that you are feeling better.
16mm / 0.63inch of rain fell today, all gratefully received. Rather damp outdoors, and the sun felt hot afterwards, probably due to the high humidity.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Pam,
I thought you and your son may be impressed by this article: 11yo boy from West Australia’s Wheatbelt restores FJ45 LandCruiser
The kid is a gun, and one of the reasons I don’t worry about the future. 🙂
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – A glimmer of hope! A light at the end of the tunnel (and it ain’t a train). Back when I worked retail, it was always a slog to Christmas. Somewhere along the way, I’d buy a jug of milk, and the expiration date would be past Dec. 25th. Always put a lift in my step. Well, now I drink almond milk, which has a very long shelf life. I picked up a jug the other day, and the expiration date is Dec. 26. 🙂
I see Lasie’s mom died (June Lockhart). Wow. She made it to 100. I took a look at her bio. Wow. That woman worked. Might be why Pam mentioned “Lost in Space.”
And, if the wildlife eat an unacceptable amount of produce, what to do? A glance down the rabbit hole indicates that one can build owl nesting boxes. Though I’d guess they’d have to be specific to your species of owls.
I’ve been thinking about your rocks, at the bottom of the new path. There’s this whole oriental concept of the harmony in uneven numbers. I think you need one more rock. Seven, instead of six. Just a thought.
Well, weather. The high yesterday was 55F (12.77C). It was a steady 45F (7.22C), all night long. The forecast high for today is 51F. Our highest wind gust, yesterday, was 28mph. Mostly, it was gusts of upper teens to mid 20s mph. It started slacking off, about 11PM. By the time I took H on her midnight stroll, it was entirely calm, with no rain. Though the rain and a bit of wind is back this morning. The lights flickered a few times, but we didn’t lose power. I wonder how it went, up north? There was some kind of a Halloween market place, going on up there. An oak tree came down. Killed one and injured four.
I thought I was going to have to take H to the vet. She got something stuck in her teeth. I suspect, maybe cranberries. For a couple of days, she couldn’t get it worked out. Last night, I went at her with a pair of tweezers, and then a tooth brush. I couldn’t see anything I dislodged, but she’s stopped trying to dislodge whatever it was. So, I guess that was successful. A relief, to both her and me.
I saw an article on what caused the widespread internet crash, the other day.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/25/tech/aws-outage-cause
The mail thief was unknown, to me. I was at work when they nailed him. Even though I was in-town, my neighborhood had rural mail boxes, out at the road’s edge. He had hit several boxes, in the neighborhood. Several times.
I put a new book on hold, and it’s waiting at the library, for me. “1929: Inside the Greatest Crash in Wall Street History – and How It Shattered a Nation.” (Sorkin, 2025). My, there sure are a lot of holds on it, 40+ for the book and almost as many for the e-book.
I have a recent New Zealand movie, on hold. Don’t know when it will show up. “Bellbird.” Billed as a comedy / drama. The trailer looked good.
Someone is asleep at the switch. I put through a request for the library to get more copies of the first “28 Days / Weeks” movies. It turns out, there are no legitimate copies on offer. The DVD equivalent of “out of print.” Maybe, after they release the second half, of the most recent one, they’ll put out a boxed set of all four films?
Not related to the 1929 book, about the Wall Street crash, but just because there’s a lot of articles on the tariffs, some are mentioning something called the Smoot – Hawley Tariff Act of 1930.
https://w.wiki/BDtE
I’d never heard of it. History may not repeat, but it may rhyme.
We got notice as to how much our social security cost of living, bump up, will be. 2.8%. Of course, the Medicare Part B, will also bump up, and so will eat some or all of the COLA. They haven’t decided how much that will be, yet. Lew