As a young adult, barely out of my teens, the five brave adventurers of the share house, or total dorks, take your pick, jumped on the train and headed into the big smoke of Melbourne. Some nights we’d hit the Clubs where I’d pretend to enjoy the over priced drinks, dance floor burners, industrial deafness and wonder when it would be acceptable to head home again without evincing negative comments. It was easy for my buddies to go out any night of the week really, school nights or otherwise, for they were less encumbered with responsibilities. With full time work and part time Uni, my remonstrations were blithely ignored, so in sickness and health, yours truly was dragged out of the house time, and time again.
This time however was different. It was a Saturday night, and a trip to the cinema in the city promised a reasonable bedtime, which is a small mercy to be grateful for. We were off to see the 1991 film, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. One of my favourite choices from that film franchise. The cinema was packed, and I recall the anticipation and excitement that came with watching the latest, and final instalment for that plucky old crew of the Enterprise, on the big screen. The cinema had a lovely old staircase leading up into the huge auditorium, and the place buzzed with people, excitement, and chocolate dipped ice cream, for here we all were to witness an event which couldn’t be seen at home.
Anyway, it was a pleasure to watch the narrative which was an old school whodunit mystery. I’ve been rather bored with the franchises obsession with saving the Earth, and that film flipped the story on its head by instead saving the Klingon Empire. Erstwhile enemies were forced to co-operate, and it all began with what I’d describe as a major, major industrial accident. Here’s a short clip of the opening scene:
Lot’s of fun, unless you were on the destroyed planet at the time. That would have been a very bad thing to experience, momentarily. Even to this day, almost 34 years later I can recall Commander Sulu of the USS Excelsior ordering the crew to raise the starship’s shields:“Shields. Shields!” (once may not have been enough given the crisis like circumstances).
A fun film, but alas here in this at the bottom of the planet remote location, there’s not enough energy available to travel between star systems, let alone defeat hostile alien empires, and have super cool fictional technology such as shields. They’d be handy on occasion, yeah. Alas I’m merely happy if the 8kW of installed solar panels allow us to occasionally splurge on electricity use, like that day we pushed the system to it’s limits and used 23kWh within 24 hours. We sure let loose that day, I can tell you!
Disconnect a house from all of the various supplies that a modern starship, sorry I meant to type the word, household, is accustomed to splurging upon, and people will sing an entirely different story of sadness and loss. There’s been a few big bushfires in different parts of the continent during the past week. The news has had the fire affected people with destroyed houses claiming that they were prepared, except that when the power and water was disconnected, they appeared to have no access to err, power and water. Is that prepared? I’m not really sure what they were talking about in the first place. Certainly there were no futuristic high tech shields which would have been handy, if the photos of the aftermath were any guide.
My goals here are not so lofty. The house was designed and constructed to resist fire, and whilst there is insurance, it’s seems foolish to put our lives on the line to try and do the work that nifty fictional shields would do by protecting the house. If there were no insurance however, or promises of funds with which to rebuild, that would be a very different story. Hmm. Anyway, the situation is not something I have to worry about, for now.
What has been on my mind the past week is that the farm is entering the business end of summer, and that means hot weather. The hottest weather I’ve ever experienced here was three continuous days over 40’C / 104’F, and one of those reached 45’C / 113’F in the shade. A truly revolting experience, but fortunately rare. This Thursday is forecast to reach 36’C / 97’F and that’s hot enough for me, although the garden and orchards will be fine.
The plants will enjoy the extra energy although sadly l may wilt somewhat in the heat. What can I say, I chose to live in a mostly cool climate. This spring was on the cold and damper side of things, so the heat this week will come as something of a shock. Mustn’t grumble though, as the English are wont to say. No. Why grumble when you can act? So, this week we’ve installed some shields against the sun’s energy!
We’d originally planned to install only four of the sun blinds, and were so amazed by the reduction in the sun’s energy hitting the side of the house, that another two were purchased then also installed. These old school shields work a treat! And the best thing was that we didn’t put any brain cells towards the sizing, they just bizarrely fitted the available space.
There’s a hand crank which can manually raise or lower the blinds, and that looks like a robust arrangement. We still have to anchor the blinds to the veranda so they don’t flap around so much in the wind, but that job will be done before the hot weather arrives later this week. The plastic used in the blinds is meant to be UV stable, but how they’ll look in five years time is anyone’s guess, although that is the lifespan the manufacturers claimed. Possibly if these work well, we’ll make a more longer lasting arrangement, but such things are a possible job for the future.
It’s worth mentioning that the windows in the above photo are toughened double glazed 5mm + 5mm glass (just under half an inch thick) units separated by argon gas. They’re good, but they leak energy like a sieve in extremes of weather. Observant readers will also see the stainless steel bushfire shutters which cover the windows, and we’ll use those to reduce the heat transfer from the outdoors too during really hot days. It’ll be interesting to see how the blinds and bushfire shutters work in combination, and I guess we’ll find out this week. Nice to have some shields when needed, huh? But it’s better to have them ready to go, before that moment.
It would be fair to describe this week’s weather as changeable. One day is hot. The next cold. Another is tropical with a deluge. You get the idea, there’s a lot going on with the summer climate here.
Sunday’s maximum air temperature was 16’C / 61’F and it sure felt cold to me. It was a good day to commence the job of bringing in the years firewood. A day was spent splitting and hauling some very high quality rounds I’d created from a downed tree many months ago. Firewood is simply another part of the forest clean up work here.
For those who are interested, the above timber represents about two months worth of care free firewood usage. The firewood shed is beginning to fill up, and I’m always more comfortable if the firewood shed is full. It’s like having mad cash in the bank, but better.
I forgot whether I mentioned this last week, but all of the tree protection cages in the citrus enclosure have now been removed and stored, and some damaged ones were crushed and sent for metal recycling. The smaller citrus trees in particular are responding well to no longer being surrounded by heavy gauge chicken wire. I’ve long wondered if the metal burns the leaves in both extreme hot and cold weather. The deer have been unable to get into that enclosure for a few months now, and the wombats and rabbits don’t seem to be causing any problems there. I’ve put some night sensitive trail cameras near to that enclosure so that I can get a better idea of what the various forest critters are up to in that area. Hopefully it produces some interesting video footage.
The sunny orchard is looking quite green still, which is a good outcome for the summer months.
In breaking produce news:
Tomatoes, chilli’s, cucumber, alpine strawberries, turmeric and babaco are all growing strongly in the greenhouse. Over the next week or two I’ll hang the nylon strings then begin training the tomatoes to climb up to the ceiling. Last year I trialled jute string, and that stuff broke under the sheer weight of the tomato vines. Sometimes plastic is better.
The bean seeds have germinated and are commencing their climb up the fence. Those plants receive very little additional watering other than rainfall, and seem hardy enough. They’re a white navy bean, grow strongly in ordinary soils, and both dry and store really well.
The Globe artichokes continue to amaze this year. Other than a serious soil feed (they do prefer super fertile soil) and a hard hack back, they’ve had almost no care. We’re beginning to come around to the idea of simply hacking them back hard at the end of every season and letting new plants regrow from the root systems. Boiled up with bay leaves, the inner core of the chokes are soft and nutty tasting.
Radish seeds planted out a few weeks ago are just starting to produce their bulbs. The slugs seem to snack upon the tasty edible leaves, and I can comprehend why. We use those leaves in a pesto, and it’s pretty delish!
It’s hard to believe, but last year at this time, we were making raspberry jam. In this so-far cooler growing season, the berries are yet to ripen. However, there are signs that it will be a good harvest. And the berries here receive no little watering other than the stuff which falls out of the sky.
In late spring, a 0’C / 32’F morning caused much of the apricot crop to perish, and all of the almond crop. Both trees are marginal here in the best of seasons, and this isn’t one of those. Still, the fruit which is hanging off the trees is near to ripening.
The pear and apple crop is much more reliable in this climate, and at the moment, those fruits are looking awesome.
For those who are interested in nuts, the hazelnut shrubs are looking spectacular, and despite the various climate ups and downs, they appear to be enjoying the conditions.
The horse chestnut tree has also produced a lot of buckeyes. One of the birds around here (or maybe it was Kuato the fat possum) can consume the nuts, so I’ll have to keep an eye on the tree.
The grape cage was weeded, and the ten vines are all growing strongly. Many of the vines sport clusters of developing grapes. There has been some discussion here about dehydrating some grapes, which we haven’t done before. If anyone has any experience with this task, please let us know in the comments.
And the smaller kiwi Issai vines are now in flower (as are the much larger Hayward fuzzy variety).
Onto the flowers:
The temperature outside now at about 11am is 11’C (52’F). So far for this year there has been 828.0mm (32.6 inches) which is up from last weeks total of 811.2mm (31.9 inches)
Comments
45 responses to “Old School”
Raise the shields, Capt. Chris! 🙂 Weren’t those movies just the best? For the most part. The library has a boxed DVD set, of the original 6 movies, on order. I didn’t put it on hold. I guess I’ve seen my two favorite, recently, so I don’t feel the “pull” yet, to rewatch them.
I probably shouldn’t but just have to ask. Are the shades flammable?
“…storm … from the west.” It’s raining on someone, somewhere. It’s a really nifty picture.
You answered my question. How long that amount of wood would last.
The trail cam will be really interesting. Never know what might turn up.
Looks like you’re going to have a good crop of artichokes. You’ve never mentioned, if anything has a taste for them. I hope not.
The greenhouse is really beginning to bang along. Looks like you’re going to have some pretty good different kinds of fruit crops. Encourage those owls and hawks.
“Buckeyes” reminded me that I recently saw some pictures of a candy of that name.
https://w.wiki/Gfc5
Although what I read was, they were named such because of their resemblance to the eyes of deer. Hard to beat a chocolate and peanut butter combo
The sage is putting on quit a show. I don’t think anyone grows it, here. The roses are really coming into their own. Early summer. That’s when they really kick off. Lew
Hi Göran,
Always a pleasure to chat! Yes, you read about it here first: hypocri-city, a word meaning to verbally defend one’s ideological stance, whilst physically doing anything other than that.
Good to hear that your week has gone well, as has mostly been the case here. I very much enjoyed your latest instalment and adventures. Really impressed that you gave a talk on the subject of nut cultivation at a prestigious institution. Respect.
Plus I am genuinely amazed that you’re aware of a person doing good things only 100km away from here, and yet I’ve never heard of the bloke. For your interest the area he grows trees is at the more north easterly end of that coastal mountain range. It’s something of a sweet spot in terms of the climate. Quite nice really, and a perfect place for growing trees. That particular mountain range has the wettest location in this state with an average annual rainfall of around 2,000mm. That’s far wetter than I’d enjoy.
Things are sort of the same demographic wise in this area too nowadays, although historically it was very different (like your old timer mentioned). People are mostly either retired, or commuting, and that makes for a sort of transient population. In the old days (long before you and I!) there were local industries serving the needs of the locals, wealthy hill station owners, and the occasional tourists. Those are largely, but not entirely gone now. Imagine having a creamery in the area, or orchard crops which made economic sense?
Ah, if a bot is well behaved, it will respect the limits as set out in that file. However, not all bots are well behaved, and some can blithely disregard your instructions. For your background info, the blog runs on WordPress software with a Wordfence firewall, among other protections. The firewall allows me to throttle any user whatsoever on the basis of Rate Limiting where you can set up a number of rules based on number of hits per minute etc. I’m tweaking all of those restrictions, although today I spotted the magic 55,000 number, which has since declined to 54,000. If it gets bad, I’ll ask the server folks to step in and help me out. Correcting this problem is in their interests, because it uses up their resources, but also my costs.
Thank you for the kind words, I very much appreciated reading those. Did you enjoy the photos of the many plants and their produce?
Cheers
Chris
Hello Chris,
Sunscreens are great.
There is a still active Dutch tradition to use native linden trees (Tilia cordata, Tilia platophyllus), trimmed into a flat cordon screen on the sunny side of houses.
In this PDF, there are several examples, both winter-time and summer-time photos: https://www.fieldmanager.nl/upload/artikelen/bz714leilinde.pdf
I am not sure how fire-resistant those trees are. Maybe this is a solution that will not work in your conditions?
I have built a trellis for mini-kiwis (like the Issai on this weeks flowering picture) on the south side of our place, where Marijke has her office. Slow growth yet, but next summer maybe… Our needs are humble compared to your blazing radiation, but still useful to reduce the heat buildup during the hottest weeks.
For us, bushfire risk is minute. Our main risks are flooding, drought and house-fire from electric wiring. (We replaced the fusebox of the house when we moved in, it was quite old, but there are still quite some unknown cabling in the house and in the barn and the garage. Some risks we choose to live with.
Good that you have a more sensible companion these days, who won’t force you to join every late-evening activity downtown. 😉
I have tried different gauges of jute, and only the 5+mm works for us. I also stopped re-using the strings, since they do get a lot weaker the next season and will break half-way in the season with a mess of a vine fallen to the ground, that is quite tangly to re-trellis. Last year we started to use clips, and they work really good. (https://www.lindbloms.se/odlingstillbehor/vaxtstod/clips/23mm-clips-bindklamma-i-plast-100-pack/)
What do you use?
Peace,
Göran
Hi Lewis,
Lot’s of fun, yeah. An old friend has the theory that the even numbered films are better than the odd numbered ones – which sort of works. Of course, First Contact, is arguably the best of all of the series. Out of curiosity, which was the second favourite of yours in that film franchise? Promise not to argue about the choice. 🙂
Oh yeah, those sun blinds will burn hot and fast in a bushfire. Absolutely. The question becomes, will they burn anything else? And it’s very possible that they won’t, but you never really know. Even the fascia’s the things are attached to are a 90 minute fire rated surface. The roof just above them is a 30 minute fire rated surface, and we did all of the joins carefully between the different systems. Still, we could have stuffed something up unknowingly. The house looks like a basic timber clad construction, it is anything but.
I was intending to provide some descriptions of the design of the fire rated surfaces in the blog, but ended up writing about Star Trek instead. And maybe readers would be bored by the technical details? Dunno.
Thanks, and nature is truly amazing. The storms recently have been quite powerful. It’s hard to believe, but we’re running the wood heater tonight. 8’C / 46’F is a cold evening and not far off your temperatures. We did mostly admin stuff today. Had to do a run to the nearby outer suburban area, and even managed to drop by and avail ourselves of a Bahn Mi for lunch. Very tasty. Dropped past the tip to take some metal down for recycling (we’re doing something of a clean up of unused stuff). Had an interesting chat with the guys there about the materials flowing through their systems. It’s amazing really. Also the local cherry farm is open. They of course net all of their trees. I leave those fruits for the Editor because they make me feel bloated, and who wants that?
I’m looking forward to what the trail camera illuminates in the dark of night. The last of the big Red Deer seems to be pulling over an apple tree, and given this is the second tree this has happened to, I’m rather annoyed. But I want to see how the deer is doing that trick so as to prevent it.
Nothing seems to eat the Globe Artichokes, although they are in a fenced off area, so they’ve not been put to the ultimate forest critter taste test. Some folks tend to harvest the flowers too late, and they’re very spiky an inedible, also in poor soils they have a more bitter flavour. I really like the taste of them but they are grown in very fertile soil.
Those are very different buckeyes, and probably far less toxic! Although your comment sent me on a rabbit hole, and it turns out the Japanese have a traditional process of neutralising and leaching the toxins to make them edible – a long and involved process. They are used in laundry, but again have to be processed. Some of the birds, or even possums eat them. The chocolate version, sounds way tastier.
There are a heap of different opinions on the winter hardiness of sage, and I tend to agree with the one which suggested that rosemary is the more cold hardier of the two plants. Some claims were made for the plant to be OK down to 15’F, which is mind bendingly cold. I can’t vouch for that though. Here the plant stays in leaf all year around but does no growing in the winter months.
Speaking of cold weather, I spotted this article on a familiar topic, earlier today. Thought you might be intrigued: After tragedies and rescues, Tasmanian bushwalkers urged to ‘be prepared’ for all conditions this summer. Some of the stories are horrendous, and I’ve seen such things happening all whilst completely kitted out and comfortable in the suddenly freezing conditions. Makes a person wonder what the folks were thinking heading out into remote areas mostly unprepared?
The temperature here was about the same. It’s cold. Brr! And Thursday is meant to be 36’C / 97’F. My brain officially hurts. 🙂
Speaking of rich folks, I’m very much thinking of Vortigern today given the news. He was no Sun Tzu.
Hehe! Did you write: ‘lighted tractor parade’? It is a very rural concept, oh yeah, and would make for some slow moving agricultural traffic. Sounds awful that sort of hurrying to get home again traffic. Hope the nerves have soothed today?
Comfort food, man, we’ve all been there. 😉 Although I will say that you gourmeted up the basic Mac and Cheese meal was probably tasty. Was it? Harry Wild sounds like a lot of fun, and did you know that there is a genre for ‘cosy mysteries’? Series four suggests success for the show. Good to see that retired Literary Professors have an outlet for their talents.
Maybe it is just me, but serving the Royales (!) would be a difficult day to day proposition, and Mr Churchill was probably better adapted to such work than probably either you or I. 🙂 Talk about having to navigate your job whilst dealing with demanding characters. Far out.
I’ve been reading about those things you mentioned, and I do wonder at what point peoples dietary intake of various minerals, proteins etc. will begin to impact upon their overall health? I mean if a body has a calcium shortage just for one example that comes to mind, I believe that any lack is made up by stealing the mineral from existing bones. That’s a possible problem right there. I have some strong reservations and possibly there is truth in the old timey saying that: There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch. Still, in time we’ll get to see this one play out so I’ll sit on the fence and not be involved. Body image is an issue which is of course crucial to many folks self esteem, but it’s something that is not even on my radar. I’m me, and am happy enough with that. The alternative condition is somewhat dark, although few have returned from beyond to recount the gory details.
Might do some more firewood work tomorrow. That CBF needs to be replenished with fresh deposits. 😉
Very funny, but yeah, maybe I should look there behind the couch! 🙂 Oh poop, that intriguing film you mentioned is not on at the cinemas nearby. Looks good, and an original idea. Good cast too. Did you notice that the next instalment of the 28 days later franchise is due to be released next month?
Yeah, not all fruit and veg are good for dogs, so it’s worth checking each variety to see what people have to say about it. And have erred in the past. Oops. Oh well, the dogs lived a long and healthy life. We work bananas into the dogs breakfast mix and biscuits, but not much as they’re expensive nowadays. H has sent you a strong message there about the herb. 🙂 Dogs hate having their meals changed and are always suspicious. Are you going to try again? Maybe mashed might work better for H?
Hope the club visit was pleasant and enjoyable, and Carl’s redwood cuttings finally produced some roots. Forgot to mention that one of the Douglas Fir trees here produced an enormous number of cones. Probably weedy!
Cheers
Chris
Hi Göran,
Man, I would so love to plant big shady deciduous trees surrounding this house, and absolutely they would cool the internals and surrounding area. The fire risk is too great, sorry. The photos of the espaliered trees in the document were impressive.
Also large trees occasionally fall over here, or lose limbs, and those things can squash houses and be fatal if caught underneath at the time. Some of the trees here are over 50m tall.
For your interest, I am planting a very wide barrier of English oak trees between the house, garden and orchards, and the most likely (but not guaranteed) direction a fire would travel from. They’re all grown from locally collected acorns, and some of those large oak trees would easily be 150 years old. After the 2009 bushfires you could observe that the fire facing half of the oak tree had burned, and yet the other side was fine, and they’ve long since completely recovered. An impressive tree, and feat.
It’s interesting that has been your experience with the Issai kiwi fruit vines, because they are very slow growing here as well. Makes you wonder how old that vine in the café is where you gleaned some fruit? Your lady will appreciate the shade from the summer sun with that vine, and the growth looks very thick to me, which is what you want for that purpose.
Bizarrely, it’s been my experience that flooding and water logged soils is much harder upon plants, than drought, although neither extreme is good. Fire is just bad. Full stop. At least with new fuses, those protection mechanisms have a higher probability of working. Presumably the new fuse board included a ‘residual current device’? They’re handy bits of kit to detect imbalance faults to earth.
Sandra didn’t much enjoy clubbing either, and we met during the recession of the early 1990’s sharing similar early adult experiences. Big night outs were never our thing. Glad you enjoyed the story! 🙂 I’d imagine your experience in the Land of the Bear during their fall impacted upon your outlook upon life?
5mm jute is epic, and I so hear you about breaking half way through the growing season (although yours were in the second year of life). You may have to prepare yourself for some disappointment in me! 🙂 Today I bought a 60m roll of UV stable Camo/Army cord which is a 3mm completely synthetic material with 100kg breaking strength. I’ll let you know how the product works at the end of the season.
The clips are a great idea, but I’ve simply wound the tomato vines around the vertical strings in the past, and the plant happily grows to the ceiling of the greenhouse. Whether the plant clings to this synthetic cord is a question to which I’ll find out the answer. It’s also worth mentioning that the cord is attached to a super strong stainless steel woven cable which runs above each of the three garden beds, but just underneath the roof timbers in the greenhouse.
Happy to include some photos of the arrangement when the cord gets strung up in maybe a fortnights time. The brand of the cord is: Grunt, with the by-line: Nothing’s tougher. We’ll test that. 😉
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – Just dropped a couple of f-bombs. I was getting down to the last couple of lines on a reply, when, due to wind, I lost power for just a few seconds. But it was enough to wipe out the comment I was working on. 🙁 I’ll try again later. Lew
Hi Chris,
Yesterday our high temperature was 18F and the low was 5F. And that was without snow on the ground (the air would have been colder had it snowed, but the ground under the snow would have been warmer). The high is at least above freezing today and will be warmer yet tomorrow. I just hope the polar vortex moves back north where it belongs for a few weeks!
One of the things some people do here to reduce the amount of sun that gets into windows is to grow annual vines up a trellis in front of the window. Gourds have long vines and work well for the purpose. I haven’t needed to do that because the front porch, which faces sunward, is deep enough to keep the sun out of the house in summer, and the front yard has trees that provide good shade. We don’t have as much risk of fire as you do, but the risk isn’t zero. On the other hand, the fire department is within walking distance of us, which helps.
Where the shades would help us is in front of large east and west facing windows, which do get considerable sun exposure in summer. I will check into what is available here in that regard.
Our trail camera was what clued us in to the deer eating from our vegetable garden. They work – as long as you turn them on. Ask me how I know. 😉
Claire
Hi Lewis,
Sorry to hear about the loss of power. It happens. I was chatting with a local farmer yesterday at a farm gate stall. The power there is being cut off on Wednesday or Thursday, and it’ll be 36’C in the shade. The cool stores are not going to like that one bit, with heaps of the early harvest stored in there. Hmm. Apparently the power goes off in that location quite a bit. Who knew?
Cheers
Chris
Hi, Chris!
My, that Star Trek film clip was a lot of fun. Thanks. I wish I had seen the whole thing, in a theater. I never saw any of the Star Trek movies, though I enjoyed the show. It seems that, instead of having a Starfleet, the future on this planet might resemble that of Praxis. Or maybe not; we won’t be around to find out. One wonders who would come to the rescue, though.
23 kWh – Whoo hoo! I know that is a lot for you guys to use, but I wonder how it compares to the “average” household’s usage of mains power. However, there is no denying that you produced it yourselves. Good job!
I am sorry to hear about the bushfires. I have never come across anyone better prepared for a bushfire than you and the Editor (so far as we can tell . . .).
Hello from 15F (-9.4C)! But 36C (97F) is WAY more than hot enough. I love the shade blinds. That’s a great idea.
I have wondered myself if chicken wire, or the wire cattle fence panels that I use for trellises, affect the plants because they get hot. I especially wonder about something like peas.
The vegetables are all coming along wonderfully, especially the artichokes. Did you grow them from seed? I am sorry to hear about the apricots and almonds. Years ago I tried growing a couple of apricot trees, but they were nothing but trouble. They must be very picky.
The purple-flowered sage must be different from mine. The flowers on mine are not so vivid. We have a pineapple sage with bright red flowers, like flames. Thanks for that, and the gorgeous roses!
Pam
Chris:
Are the Christmas lights appearing in your area?
Pam
Chris,
Those are wonderful UV blocking blinds. Good job on those. They make a big difference. You will be a lot happier in the heat.
I see that you have started the firewood gathering. It’s never too early to start, especially once the weather gets warmer. It’s funny how the belly of the woodshed takes a long time to fill up, yet it gets empty rather rapidly once cold weather sets in.
Hmmmm, Desautel. Really hasn’t changed much. However, the family home is 4 miles up the highway, almost exactly halfway between the community of Desautel and Desautel Pass. What HAS changed is the forests near there…too many fires the past 11 years, so a lot of the trees are gone, mostly westerly of the Desautel community.
Fur of Flying. I had to find it and watch it. Fun stuff. Old physics rule: Toast always falls with the buttered side down. Old Looney Tunes rule: Rocks always fall coyote side down. Same principle.
We were watching an old Perry Mason program today. One of the baddies looked familiar. A few years younger, but I nailed him: William Campbell, from the Star Trek “Squire of Gothos” episode. That was our Star Trek moment of the day. Well, until I watched Praxis exploding this evening. Thanks for that.
As you are entering your hot season, we are still enjoying very warm weather. And rain. And wind. I was able to get out with the Dame for some walks on sunny and relatively wind-free days, another of which hit 14.5C. This has got to be our warmest December on record. Wind was nasty today, but Tuesday night into Wednesday could be worse than the last two big windstorms. I’ve got flashlights, candles and matches already set out just in case. At least it shouldn’t be cold. They are suggesting that the plains just west of Spokane could experience wind gusts between 60 and 70 mph. I’ll let you know later this week what really happens.
The weather patterns the past few days have allowed the sun to shine under the clouds near sunset. Spectacularly colorful sunsets have resulted, visible this time of year form the kitchen. I’ve been enjoying them. Taking time out for that kind of beauty is a must, in my opinion.
With our exceptionally warm weather, the grass is still green. No flowers have tried to grow, however. Meanwhile, you’ve got the start of good fruit and veggie crops. And the flowers, as always, look great.
DJSpo
Hi Claire,
🙂 This is remarkable. Today was a maximum of 18’C and a minimum of 5’C here – i.e. a cold but sunny summers day. Swap those Fahrenheit’s of yours for Metric, and your temperatures wouldn’t sound quite so horrendously freezing. Hope you are staying warm? Seriously, that’s a good day to sit near to the heater whilst enjoying a cuppa and a good book.
It being cold here today, we worked our backsides off, getting the next lot of firewood for splitting ready. There were a couple of downed trees which I cut into discs. All of the leaves and smaller branches (two inches or less) were fed into the scary old wood chipper, and the woody mulch was fed to the many happy ferns. Thursday is meant to be 37’C, so that will come as something of a shock to Sandra and I, as well as the happy ferns. Plus late this evening, I weeded the large potato patch and finished up as the sun set around 9:15pm. A long, but fruitful day.
Yes, I noticed that the Arctic has had a sudden stratospheric warming, similar to what occurred over the big frozen continent Antarctica. Yes, and cold weather has pushed both south in your case, and north in mine. Hmm. This growing season has been challenging to say the least. After the three day run of mid to high 30’C temperatures, it’s back down to the low 20’C-ish again. My brain hurts! 😉 Not really, the place is adapted to all manner of seasons. Expect the unexpected is the motto here.
The local fire station here is 2km away, so not far at all. Here’s the thing, when I joined up as a volunteer for the local fire brigade, an old timer took me aside and bluntly told me that in a big fire, we were on our own. Now interestingly, an average fire truck carries about 2kL of water, and some of that is kept in reserve in forest fire fighting in case there is a burn over – i.e. the tanker is subject to direct flames and the crew needs protection. A big fire went through the nations capital city of Canberra in 2003, and it was apparently mayhem. Being close to a station is a comfort (as a place to retreat when all other options are not good), but having some usable water reserves is a better strategy if fire is a serious risk.
Grape vines would be really nice, or the beautiful wisteria, but alas, the fire risk…
Truly, you’ll be impressed with the shades. Way back in the 1970’s there used to be awnings which were retractable and shaded windows. They’re a bit fancier nowadays with aluminium extendable arms etc. Old school stuff works. 😉
Ha! Claire, I did the same thing with one of the trail cameras… Hehe! Oh yeah, best not to be distracted with those devices. The deer was here again this afternoon.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Pam,
Strangely enough, this year has been a bit light on (please excuse the dodgy pun) for Christmas lights. I’d have to suggest that right now, there’s not much of a festive mood in the Kingdom due to recent events. Still, I expect the Christmas lights to make an appearance soon.
How are the lights looking in your part of the world?
Hehe! All very true, and yes, if the economy was tight, like what the Klingon’s were experiencing in that film, then corners may be cut. Hopefully we’re not involved! That would be a bad thing. Mind you, no corners were cut this evening. No. Just before sundown I weeded the potato patch, and was embarrassed to note how many weeds had sprung up in between the tasty tubers. Forgot to take a before photo, so the evidence has now been err, disappeared!
It was cold here today, but with sunny blue calm skies. A really nice day for working outdoors. Got the big chainsaw out and disc’d up two downed trees. The next firewood day, we’ll split those discs into nice sized firewood err, is it billets? I forget the technical language, but chunks of a right size which can be chucked into the wood heater, would say much the same thing.
Pam, 15’F is scaring me. I’m summer soft… As I noted to Claire, such weather can only be good for a nice repose in a comfy chair near to heater with a cuppa and a good book. No day to be outdoors. Did the poly tunnels get sealed in time for this bout of cold weather? Over wintering attic figs are pampered, truly! Some of the fig trees here have quite large fruits on them now, and my favourite is the purple variety. Did your son dodge your fig sensitivity?
You’ve got a keen mind! 😉 Respect. The average electricity usage here is 8kWh per day, which equates to about 1 peak hour of sun. Of course some days will use more, and others less. Electricity is used for cooking too, but not hot water heating. That is a combination of LPG and solar hot water. For your info, we’ve been working at reducing gas usage too, so 19 pounds of LPG is consumed every 37 days. That works out to be a dollar per day.
🙂 Fingers crossed that we dodge the fire risk for a few more years and can get the place even better prepared. Much of the winter is spent doing that work.
The shade blinds work a treat, and tomorrow (in between paid work) the plan is to install the rope anchors to stop the sun blinds flapping around in the wind. They’re like giant sails, and hopefully the house doesn’t get blown away by the winds….
Hmm. It’s a good question that about the chicken wire and plants. There’s also the shading aspect as well. Dunno really, but what I’ve observed is that plants grow better out of their protection, except that without the protection, the forest critters will do their worst. All the same, beans and peas will always grow upon chicken wire here, but a more natural mesh material like jute, would probably be better at a wild guess. Seriously don’t know though. I reckon the cold is equally a problem too because some winter the chicken wire burns leaves.
I can’t remember whether the Globe Artichokes were started from seed, but given they’re variable, that was possibly what happened. Yes, apricot trees are hard work, and marginal at best for they demand perfect growing conditions (as do almonds). But! When they produce, the fruit is amazing. Your experience sounds much like what I’m enjoying with those trees. From an economic perspective, they’re probably not worth the hassle here.
I’ve spotted the lone deer twice today in the sunny orchard. Not happy, and the forest critter must respect the big dog Ollie more. Still, I stay my hand from finalising the matter, and I really don’t know why I feel that way. Something tells me it is the least worst option, but time will tell.
Pineapple sage is a really lovely plant, but it’s not the common sage (which has some good properties). Beautiful flowers, and super hardy aren’t they? Worthwhile tracking some down if you can. Your winters will knock the plant back hard, but it just may recover.
Cheers
Chris
Hi DJ,
Sun blinds are such an old school technology aren’t they? We’re in for a run of three days over 30’C, with Thursday now forecast for 37’C, so the sun blinds will be lowered tomorrow and put to the test. Sounds like I should know some sort of nautical sounding command for this process. “Lower the sun blinds! Aye, aye, captain!
In between paid work tomorrow, I’ll install the cleats and rope anchors for the blinds, and hopefully that stops them flapping around in the breeze. Not looking forward to the hot days, but your perspective may be different in this matter – it being winter and stuff for you. 🙂
That’s so true about firewood. Outside of June to August, the need for firewood is pretty light, but during those wintry months, it takes a lot of fuel to keep a house warm. Certainly warming the house at that time of year would not be possible with solar derived electricity. There’s just not enough sunlight for that.
Many long hours today were spent wielding the trusty old big chainsaw. I was cutting a downed tree into discs which can be split into firewood chunks on the next day of that work. It’s a funny old machine that one. 15 minutes of cutting is followed by 20 minutes of cleaning, refuelling and maintaining the machine. Perhaps I give the machine the gold standard treatment, but still I do want the thing to just work. It’d be nice to have an apprentice to send the machine off to be sorted out! But would such a person do a good job? Hmm.
Out of curiosity, is there any reason why the trees are gone? The town was originally a logging community, although some resources can be strip mined and take a long time to recover. Our culture is really weird about forest management, and we seem to go from one extreme, to another. I’ve never really understood why that happens, but it’s consistent.
Oh poor ol’ Willie E Coyote. But I sure can bring that ‘beep, beep!’ sound to awareness from memory. Yes, I imagine in our dotage we’ll make no sense whatsoever, and then suddenly go: beep, beep! It’ll give everyone else around us a mystery to ponder, and if they’re younger, they’ll have no idea what the heck we’re going on about. See, we’ll be brightening up their days with an unanticipated community service. Cue – Beep, beep! Were did that noise come from!
Ooo, a fine episode. I’ve got the original three series on DVD, and perhaps the time has come to re-watch them all. The episode ranks pretty highly, although my favourite for comedic effect was Trouble with Tribbles. My pleasure with the Praxis scene, and it’s a goodie.
Man, 14.5’C would be quite warm here for a winters day here, and it only topped today at 18’C although the sun was fierce. Must be something in the water? Glad to hear that you and Dame Avalanche are getting some breaks from the rain. Was it a record December day? Batten down the hatches, and ensure that Dame Avalanche has access to a string i.e. dog lead. I’d imagine the canine would be annoyed by the wind, maybe? The dogs here get freaked out by it, mostly because of the forest scents coming from every direction, and the over stimulation from lots of movement around them.
I’d not want to experience a 70m/h wind gust. Not good, and stay safe (and warm). Good to hear that you’ve got some matches and candles. You’d be amazed that not everyone does.
🙂 Absolutely. Take time out to smell the roses as the old timers used to quip.
Thanks, it’s a pleasure to share the flowers and other photos with you.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
Today’s unsolicited advice: Don’t let the tech bugs bite. Not really sure what it means, but the words have a nice ring to them, and may be sort of applicable to your experience. Losing the power sucks – and you’ll see the note I left you about one of the local farmers I was talking to yesterday. I mentioned that we were off-grid, but wasn’t bragging, although from hindsight that may have been how it came across.
I did discuss generators with the person, but alas, such monsters simply add costs to already thin margins. The clever local birds were getting into their netting, so it wasn’t an uplifting conversation, put it that way.
How are you doing today?
It was cool, sunny and calm today. About 64’F and just beautiful. We worked and I chainsawed for many hours cutting up a fallen tree into discs which can be split into firewood at a later date. Ran a whole bunch of material through the scary old wood chipper, and all that stuff will get used as soil feed for the many ferns growing about the place. Finished up late for lunch, had a long break, and then I got back into weeding the potato enclosure. Man, it was feral in there with weeds, and how’d they grow so fast in only two weeks? Oh well, I chucked them into the walkways, then hit them hard with the mower. That’ll teach them.
And, whilst we were having a break late this afternoon, the lone deer turned up again and was munching trees in the sunny orchard, particularly the apples. It’s all a bit of a nuisance, yet still I can’t bring myself to shoot the forest critter. Dunno why, maybe I’m soft.
It’s going to be hot here tomorrow, for three days, then cool again. Thursday sounds unpleasant at 99’F in the shade. The sun blinds will be put to the ultimate test. I better get the rope anchors installed tomorrow.
Never a dull moment. Are you and H continuing to dodge the rain?
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – One more into the breach! Hmmm. Let me consult my notes, here …
I saw an interesting article about prescribed burns, yesterday. I thought you might find it interesting.
https://chronline.com/stories/bureau-of-land-management-prescribed-burns-protect-local-communities-restore-ecosystems,392752
That was interesting about the, I presume, planned power cuts. After what happened in Paradise, California, power companies are perhaps a bit skitsy about wildfire liability. But how long will they remember?
That was interesting that even the cherry farms netting, can’t keep the birds off. As they said in Jurassic Park, “Nature finds a way.”
Maybe you hesitate over dealing with the deer, due to the “Bambie Effect.” 🙂 Or, a feeling that he’s a lone deer. The last deer?
“Hypocricity:” Talkin’ the talk, but not walkin’ the walk. Do as I say, not as I do. Do these people not think it, well, glaring?
My second favorite Star Trek movie, after “First Contact” is the one with the whales.
Your fire ratings seem a bit low. But then, brush fires move fast.
You’ve figured out the sweet spot, with the globe artichokes. Between under ripe and over ripe.
Buckeyes fall into that plant area along with acorns. Can be eaten, with a lot of processing. Our venerable old rosemary, which grows in a large container, seems to ride out anything the weather can throw at it. Now if I can just convince the Inmates, not to overwater it.
That was quit an article about bush walkers getting into trouble. I saw an article a few days ago, about a Belgium (maybe) woman who got lost a few years ago, in Tasmania (maybe). They’ve relaunched a search for her, as they recently found her phone.
I was talking to the postie, about that article. He and his wife are always trapsing off on some wilderness hike. They go snow camping! For fun! 🙂 He said, when he was a young fellow, he and his brother were at Yosemite, and took a short walk. And then the weather turned, and it was a narrow thing. But, after that, he always makes sure he’s properly kitted out. He mentioned the deadliest trail in our state, and that the reason it’s so deadly, is because a mountain blocks a view of incoming weather. Sunny one minute, white out, the next.
I didn’t get the Votigern reference. Did I miss something in the news? Has someone hired a bunch of Saxon mercenaries? 🙂
The Mac and cheese was very tasty. I also sprinkled the top with nutritional yeast, and dollops of plane yoghurt. Extra creamy. Nice “mouth feel” as they say in the biz.
I’ve heard the phrase “Cozy Mysteries.” I’ve almost finished season four of “Harry Wild.” I see season five is in production. I guess I’m not the only person who likes it. A few years ago, our library got a very tongue in cheek book. “Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village.” (2021, Johnson & Cooper.). Quit amusing, as I recall.
Churchill was a solid monarchist, but also a true believer in constitutional guard rails. Although they and he often bent them, a bit. When a new monarch came along, they were often off to a rocky start. But, once they “got” that he had their best interests at heart, his relationships with the monarchs, often mellowed into real friendships.
You mentioned “whip thin women,” a few posts ago. “You can never be too rich or too thin.” A quip often attributed to, the Duchess of Windsor (aka: …that woman.) 🙂 See: Dowager’s Hump.
I had not heard that, about the “28 Years Later,” part two. I see it’s to be released here, mid January.
It’s a no go, for H and apples. 🙁 She ate everything in her food dish … except the four pieces of apple I trialed.
Our high yesterday was 61F (16.11C). Our overnight low was 50F (10C). The forecast high for today is 56F. H and I have been lucky. When we took our midnight walk, it just started raining as we headed in. This morning, not clear, but dry.
On my way to looking at the local forecast, I see a map of the whole US. There are high wind warnings from eastern Washington state, all the way to the Great Lakes. The whole northern tier of states. Prof. Mass had a post about high winds, east of our mountains.
I saw an interesting article, about the Revenge of Analog, as decor. 🙂
https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/14/business/vinyl-collectible-gen-z
And, a local article about the lighted tractor parade. My, I remember when it was just a few tractors. Now it looks like “quit a deal.”
https://chronline.com/stories/in-focus-lighted-tractor-parade-thrills-in-downtown-centralia,392735
I’ll be tackling the Velveeta fudge, tonight. The most tedious part is sifting 7 cups of powdered sugar, through a sieve. LOL. One must suffer for one’s art. Or, so I’ve been told. Lew
Chris:
I don’t know how the Christmas lights are looking around here. I never go out after dark.
I have put down so much cardboard, with leaves under it, that come spring those weeds are going to have a pretty hard time getting started. But I’m sure they’ll figure out some way to get through or around it.
Wow, you already had so many discs cut up. You’re making plenty of work for the future. Billets are what the army does when they don’t have any place to stay.
Well, I did have a comfy chair and a good book and a cuppa.
Yes, and I helped my son a bit with the poly tunnels. No, my son is sensitive to figs, too. He didn’t find that out until his business was well started. Actually, he may have suddenly become allergic; it happens. He often wears gloves when handling them, though if there is no sap with what he is handling, he’s okay. It hasn’t daunted him.
That is an excellent amount of LPG; you are doing well, and with all the rest, too. I don’t see how you could improve the set-up, but I’m sure you’ll try!
I assume the wind can actually blow through the blinds somewhat? I mean, they are mesh like window screens?
Nature may take care of Mr. Big Deer so you won’t have to. Let’s hope so. Work harder, Ollie!
I do have some common sage; it likes it here fine. They just don’t have the bright purple flowers yours does; it’s a pale shade.
I was taking showers with the bathroom unheated. I noticed that I stayed under the hot water way too long because I didn’t want to get out, so I temporarily move the little electric space heater that I have in my room into the bathroom. I am doing much better!
Pam
Chris,
Hmmm, so I read your reply to me. Immediately after it was the first sentence of your reply to Lewis, which included, “Don’t let the tech bugs bite.” I’ve been laughing about that one all day.
Once upon a year, when I was young and my sister was younger, dad’s parents were visiting us. Tiny sister said, “Good night, grandmother.” Grandmother cheerily replied, “Good night, dear, don’t let the BED bugs bite”. Yes, little siter was horrified at the thought that there might be bugs in her bed that could bite her!
The next night, I went first and said, “Good night grandmother.” Naturally, she replied with, “Good night, dear. Don’t let the bedbugs bite.” I quickly quipped, “I’ll bite ’em back and eat ’em for a midnight snack!” Little sister was even more horrified.
Back to Disautel and the trees. Or the missing trees. There were several wildfires through the area between about 2013 and 2020. Westerly and downhill, mostly the sagebrush got burned, a few trees. The most recent one destroyed a lot of trees that hadn’t been touched in prior fires, as well as destroying trees in areas that hadn’t burned in previous wildfires. Driving along the highway between the Disautel community and Omak is hard even yet, due to the missing trees along the highway. Disautel was in extreme danger in that one, compared with the very high danger in the previous wildfires.
To keep your Star Trek VI thing going with your new UV blinds, well, umm, maybe perhaps the correct thing to say loudly would be “Blinds! Blinds!” But if the Editor is completely tuned into the idea, then even “Shields! Shields!” would work.
Trouble with Tribbles was always a fun one. I also liked Amok Time, the episode in which Spock went berserk over some Vulcan mating thing. Interestingly, the actress who played female Vulcan involved also had several guest appearances on Hogan’s Heroes.
It was cooler today, spits of rain, some wind. We got out for a long walk before any of that started. The major winds are supposed to hit overnight tonight.
Stevens Pass, one of the major passes between Spokane and Puget Sound, is still closed due to the highway suffering severe water damage from the flooding. Apparently it will be closed indefinitely. This week’s storm system, starting tonight, is supposed to dump several FEET of snow on most of the passes in Washington state. For example, White Pass is expected to get between 89cm and 150cm of snow between Wednesday morning and Friday night. That is basically the range of expected TOTAL seasonal snowfall in Spokane.
Have another pyrography project I want to do. Now to find the right wood for it. Something of a Christmas present if I can get it done in time.
DJSpo
Hi Pam,
Come to think of it, nowadays I rarely head out at night either, so it ain’t just you there. We used head to the pub for dinner, but economic circumstances put an end to that, mostly because Sandra’s friends began catching up at night. So in some ways it was a natural conclusion to that part of my life. But! I’ll whisper this next bit: The blog here is a lot of fun, and the evenings are when I reply.
Weeds are tricksy plants, and um, err, limiting their excesses is a job that never seems finished… At least the winter months slow their growth. Hope the cardboard works, and I’ve heard nothing but good stories about it.
The discs are the only way I can lift those big tree rounds onto the splitter machine, and yeah, there are a lot of them. It was hot today, and will be tomorrow and Friday, so firewood processing will have to wait until it cools down a bit. The house is open to the cool evening air, and the ceiling fans are all running smoothly. But so much watering… Just went outside and did an hour of that work. Oh well. Ollie and Ruby enjoyed the running around.
Oh yes, thanks for the correction. My mind was in the completely wrong century: Billet 🙂 It happens…
Nice work, and your cold weather with a book experience sounds delightful. Hope the book was engaging? Read a bit this afternoon over a mug of coffee and a fine book. I’ve been re-reading my favourite author a bit of late which is a comfort.
I’ve never put up a poly tunnel, so can only vaguely imagine the difficulties of that task. Hopefully the figs are snuggly warm in your winter chill. Oh poop, about the fig sensitivity, but what do you do when the business is up and running. Your son is stoic, respect. It’s the latex in the sap, isn’t it which causes the reaction?
Just heading outside to take a break and pick some raspberries. The heat has ripened heaps of them today. … … They’re all being frozen and when there’s enough, a batch of jam will be made. Yum!
🙂 I’m thinking about the hot water system, and maybe next year I’ll pay the plumber to have a think about whether it is the best way to go. The system will work without the gas, but some days, the hot water will feel like the story you mentioned, except in reverse. The bathroom will be warm, and the water will be cold. Brr!
I so hear you about not wanting to get out and into the cold room. Double Brr! 🙂 Spare a thought for your hot water system which has to cope with super cold water to begin with given the outdoor wintry temperatures. The space heater is a good idea. Candidly I’ve no idea how those monks and nuns in the middle ages survived their ascetic existence.
Yeah, the wind can get through the sun blinds a bit, but they still act like sails. I’d not want to have them lowered on a super windy day. Hmm. There were plans to install the cleats and tie down ropes today, then reality intervened and paid work took over. In small business, one must put their own needs aside, and do the needful. Maybe tomorrow I’ll get them done, the 99’F forecast is let’s just say, motivating…
Isn’t that interesting about your sage. I wonder if there are different varieties? Hmm. There are! Right, well, that’s explained then. Interesting that there are long usage of the plant in the culinary and herbal remedy spheres, and yet there are recent warnings as well. Hmm.
Fingers crossed with the lonesome deer, and it was elsewhere today.
Cheers
Chris
Hi DJ,
It made me laugh too. 🙂 The original was such a fun old phrase which you don’t really hear used these days. Probably meant to scare us in our younger selves, just like your sister discovered. Fun stuff. Of course, I’ve never encountered such insects, although I’ve heard that in many countries they are rife and some of those are surprising. Hope you’ve dodged them as well? I’d imagine that the Princess from the old Grimm tale: The Princess and the Pea, would have something to say about such insect biting indignities. The lady was all too eager to complain.
You got your sister a goodie with that line, and amped up the anxiety levels for sure. 🙂 My older sisters had a gift for such moments as well. Yes, the advantage of age and experience, right there!
Presumably by the term sage bush, you were referring to the plant: Artemisia tridentata? Interestingly, they’re quite long lived at apparently over a century, and then some. Hmm. Just like the drought tolerant Eucalyptus species, there’s a heap of volatile oils in those plants. No wonder they would require a very carefully maintained ecosystem, which western culture is mostly incapable of delivering. Trees take decades to grow, and can be lost in but a moment. I see, and many thanks for the description of the area and recent events. It’s not good.
You know we do that same management work, but use mechanical means? The burn techniques would be easier, but the neighbours and authoritas probably would lose their minds. Best not to go there. 😉
Hehe! So busted… When the sun blinds are lowered half way, shields are at 50%. The Editor very much enjoyed the Voyager series, and has not seen the others.
DJ! Lead me not into temptation, well, maybe a little bit. 🙂 This loose talk of the early Star Trek episodes is wetting the viewing appetite for more. Bored is the person who has perfect memory recall, for they can only enjoy a narrative, but once. It’s been a long while since I’ve watched that series. The actress was beautiful and a very talented master of that field. To have received the moniker: The Chameleon, is very suggestive for a character actor of wide breadth.
Far out! How were the winds over night? Hope they weren’t too bad. It was hot, sunny and calm here today. Spent a lot of time watering this morning, and earlier this evening, but most of the day was spent indoors doing paid work. Some of which was mind bendingly complicated, and I was reviewing the Editors work. We have to review each others work.
I’ve already written ‘far out’, so a duplication would be superfluous, but I could add the word ‘freakin’ to express the horrendous thought of several feet of snow. The name ‘White Pass’ is perhaps a dead give away for white-out conditions, or just lot’s and lot’s of snow. Hopefully you have no reason to venture into or near such areas? Wow, it doesn’t just snow in your part of the world, it dumps. It’s meant to be 37’C here tomorrow…
Very good to hear of your plans for the pyrography project, although the sentence was rather short on detail. However, being a Christmas pressie, that may be a needful thing to do. Hope it is well received and gifts which are hand made are some of the best.
Cheers
Chris
HI Lewis,
Hope you enjoyed your venture back into the literary trenches here! 🙂 You were missed, but were kept abreast of current events all the same. I’ve visited countries which have scheduled ‘brown outs’ and naively the brain couldn’t quite comprehend how electricity was not available 24 hours per day, it being so useful and stuff. A very early introduction to the subject of limits, so I can understand why people have the beliefs they do about energy, they’re sadly just wrong. Oh well.
Thanks for the article on controlled burns in your area, and those folks are onto something. To the real die hard believers of the ‘do nothing’ approach which I occasionally encounter, I’ll casually drop in a mention that if a big and super hot fire sweeps through an area, the whole lot dies, soil, trees, critters – everything. Gives a moments pause for further thought on the matter. It’s not like there isn’t almost 190 continuous years of records of failure to point to.
Exactly, the cost of the potential litigation for those companies, tends to cause them to switch the energy off. Best to have a backup plan, just in case. There are some nifty battery / inverter combination boxes which can power all sorts of small devices these days. Jackery is a brand that comes to mind, although I’ve never used one, or seen the thing dismantled, but have seen people using them. They take a lot of the guess work out of that sort of arrangement.
Hard to know how long memories are. Must we re-learn old lessons as a society and civilisation? The answer is probably, yeah, we do have to.
Man, the parrots here learn to chew through bird netting, and they can teach their friends and family the trick. You may wonder why I haven’t bothered with bird netting, and that’s part of the story. I reckon, and have heard anecdotal accounts, that a person will get about five years grace with a non metal fruit cage. Even with wire, I’ve seen wallabies and wombats pushing the stuff backwards and forwards until it breaks. Sir Poopy showed me it was possible with the old chicken wire enclosure, and so I chose super strong mesh when building the current enclosure.
Possibly it is the last deer, most certainly I’ve only seen the animal by itself, since the big shoot out. I still don’t know who did that. Nobody has fessed up, which is annoying.
Ha! I doubt people worry about ‘glaring’ disparities between words and actions. A person can be rewarded in this day and age based upon an expression,or display of belief, so it’s probably a step too far to expect such folks to be self aware.
That was err, film four with the whales, and I very much enjoyed that one as well. It was fun, and also you may notice the even number?
The external surfaces have better fire ratings than an apartment block, put it that way. I had some experience with such barriers when fixing up old houses in the big smoke, which was fortunate because otherwise the new bushfire building codes would have flummoxed my brain. The fire fronts usually pass in a quarter hour, that’s what needs to be sheltered from. The rest is preparation and aftermath.
Globe artichokes take a bit of skill in the kitchen to prepare properly as well. You have to understand the vegetable and all of it’s parts. Have you ever cooked, or consumed them? They’re not common, and usually quite expensive in shops, or at least that is the case down here.
It always amuses me to read that your inmates are watering the rosemary bush. Truly, the plant doesn’t need it in your environment. 🙂 We watered a bit of the property today due to the hot weather, but mostly the plants do fine on minimal water – we simply don’t have access to huge reserves, so each drop has to count, and even today it wasn’t much.
Yeah, that’s an intriguing case isn’t it? There’s a lot of remote inaccessible bush in that part of the country. A person could literally disappear never to be found again. The phone find was interesting, and I’ve no doubts it will be unlocked. Things are different down here with that sort of issue.
Ha! Very funny. Do you reckon Vortigern was a real historical commander, or an object lesson made up afterwards? Presumably a lot of history from those tumultuous years was part myth. Sun Tzu mentioned a philosopher king who was over run, so such tales have a purpose.
Yum! Yum! The meal sounded tasty. Had a salad for dinner this evening.
That book title is very amusing. A classic, and there does seem like a lot of trouble is brewing in those small towns, if the cozy mysteries are anything guide to go by! 🙂 Incidentally, we spell the word cozy with an ‘s’ in place of the ‘z’, but same, same.
That’s the thing, sometimes those leaders come in with big plans, and need a touch of reality, and courage to bring the flaws to their attention. Churchill probably had the runs on the board to do just that.
Or osteoporosis is another way to describe that. Man, I see people with phone posture all the time. The wider world is far more interesting, and probably needs paying attention to, just my twenty cents view.
Do you reckon H would like apple better if it were blitzed?
Another day you and H dodged the rain, and that was a close call.
Have to laugh at Professor Mass’s polite turn of phrase: Inconsistent with reality. Says it all really, and that story doesn’t make any sense to me either.
Oh yeah, vinyl is back and in demand. Isn’t it pleasing to see people enjoying the format again. I always enjoyed audio recorded on vinyl, but, not all was good. I reckon nowadays though things have improved on that front. In fact a year or two back I bought a CD where the audio sounded flat to me. It was quite disappointing and it wasn’t a cheap knock-off either. Broken from the factory. The displays invoke a certain cool style don’t you reckon?
That is a lot of trucks and tractors. I’ve seen trucks in India bedazzled and dressed up in that fashion.
Cheers
Chris
Hi everyone,
56,000 tonight, and I’m not winning against the bots. Oh well, back to the drawing board.
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – Not so fast … More news on the coal to gas conversion, of our local plant.
https://chronline.com/stories/federal-order-will-keep-transalta-burning-coal-through-the-winter,392919
Some people thump on about “state’s right’s. Until it gets in the way of their goals. Sounds like a lot of lawyers will get rich off this kerfuffle.
There’s lots of ads, running about those battery / inverter set ups. Usually, it’s a family, settled in to watch movie on their entertainment center, when the lights go out! Never fear. The battery / inverter kicks in, and they can go back to their movie, and popcorn. There’s always popcorn. 🙂
Besides parrots, I suppose the rats and possums also get the knack of defeating the bird netting. It sounds like the wallabies and wombats take a personal affront to metal wire.
The trailer is out for a new Spielberg movie. Another alien invasion film. It was noted that it is his fourth. It’s titled “Disclosure Day.” It looks pretty interesting.
Supposedly, the fire rating between the apartments, here at the Institution is three or four hours. And, it’s concrete slabs between the floors. I take that all with a pound of salt. Like nature, fire will find a way.
I’ve had artichokes, rarely. Usually with a lot of butter, as I remember. This will probably give pizza purists the fantods, but I had a memorable pizza that was topped with pickled artichoke hearts and chunks of chicken.
I don’t know. Vortigern just seems a bit more “solid” than will-of-the-wisp King Arthur. But, we will never probably will know for sure. In either case.
I’m just not a blitzing kind of a guy. 🙂 Even though I think I have some of those machines, tucked under the kitchen counter. So H may have to do without.
Well, our weather sure is getting “interesting.” Our high yesterday was 57F (13.88C.) Our overnight low was 41F (5C.) Our forecast high for today is 48F. The whole of the Cascade Range, is under a blizzard warning. It extends into the eastern part of our county. DJ mentioned a pass being close, up north. This storm may knock out White Pass, which is on the highway from our county to Yakima.
And, the local forecast, from the National Weather Service states “Chance rain / snow,” for the next WEEK. Although the forecast temperatures just don’t look low enough, to me.
H and my luck ran out, last night. It was bucketing down. After she had done her business, I tucked her under my arm and we made a run for it. Not that that helped, much. We both got soaked.
Now, this morning, we hit a dry patch. I made the Velveeta fudge, last night. So, I took some down to the Club for a friend of mind. Stopped by the library, on the way back, and dropped off their fudge. On the street back to the Institution, I was quit surprised to see an enormous tree had fallen over. Luckily, it landed between the parking strip and a house. It didn’t look like it had done any damage, but the postie won’t be able to deliver to that house, today.
I’m in a bit of a quandary, about my asparagus. I’ve been waiting for a good frost, to turn it brown or yellow, so I can cut it back. It’s still as green as green can be. I wonder if I should cut it back, and give it a good feed? Thoughts? Lew
Chris:
The evenings are also when I read your blog and reply. Something to look forward to.
How about that – a billet is a log. Look at the neat things that you can make from a billet if ye lived in merry old times:
https://lifeisfeudal.fandom.com/wiki/Hardwood_billet
It’s the ficin in the latex, same difference. What we have never experimented on is whether it can be cooked out. So far, most fig fruits are sacrificed to making cuttings, and some other things that I don’t know about.
It makes me think of the wineberries that I love so much, but we only have wild ones left, which the deer eat, no room for them and their thorns elsewhere right now. A lot of thornless blackberries were planted inside the garden fence, though.
During that last spell of super cold weather, I noticed that the water in from the cold water tap (well, its all one tap now; you know what I mean) was way colder than its usual 56F. I did not measure it, but I could really feel it.
Remember when all we had were two taps at a sink or bathtub, not one for both hot and cold?
99F might motivate me to lie in a plastic wading pool, not having natural water on the property to swim in.
Do y’all have an electric slow cooker (crockpot)? I bought one a couple of years ago at a charity shop, but have rarely used it. The other day I made some very tasty beans in it. I forgot to measure the killerswatts while it was on, but I imagine that on LOW it doesn’t use too much electricity. Of course, it is left on a long time or it wouldn’t be “slow”.
Pam
Chris,
Sorry to hear about the continued bot problem. Naturally, I immediately thought of botulism. Then couldn’t decide if botulism is 1) what your website is afflicted with, or 2) the best way to get rid of the bots by infecting them with it.
Then there’s always the old song many learned when young. I think it went something like “Row, row, row your bots, gently down the stream”. 😉
Yes, the sagebrush is very oily. Served us well on one camping trip in the desert. Even though it was rainy and everything was wet, the sagebrush still readily caught fire and produced a very hot flame.
Nice one. Shields at 50%with half lowered blinds. Nicely done.
Vortigern. Hmmm, that was so far back in the mists of time, and there are no records from the Romans that attest to him as they were long gone from Britain by that time. However, his name apparently appears in the Anglo-Saxon chronicle. Last mention of him therein was in 455, although it was not collated until the time of Alfred the Great in the late 800s. Further, the old Welsh kingdom of Powys has the tradition that Vortigern was the progenitor of the kings of Powys. He had allegedly married the daughter of Magnus Maximus, the Spaniard who was a Roman army general stationed in Britain and an eventual claimant to the title of Roman Emperor. Vortigern’s alleged great great grandson, Pasgen, was recorded on the stone Pillar of Eliseg. Some traditions say Pasgen was a son of Vortigern.
So, there are some probable records of Vortigern, both Saxon and Welsh. Also a lot of tradition that he existed and founded one of the main Welsh kingdoms. That’s more records than exist for Arthur.
The winds. Well, they were nasty. Power stayed on in my neighborhood. Not a lot of trees down in the neighborhood, either. However, there were a lot of downed trees and limbs and power lines throughout town and the entire region. Many school districts were closed due to power outages; others were on a 2-hour delay. White Pass was closed soon after the winds hit, as there were too many trees blown down and blocking the highway. Power appears to have gone out at the tops of both of the other major passes, Stevens and Snoqualmie. Much of Lew’s side of the state had severe power outages. Winds are now “calm” at 15mph with gusts a mere 22 mph.
Yes, the winds are comparatively light now but will continue at this level through at least Friday night. The college town of Pullman, 90 minutes south, had reported winds of 84 mph. Spokane airport, hit 75mph gusts. Some of the higher gusts sounded like thunderclaps hitting the side of our house. There was at least one recorded gust in the Cascades of 112mph. Glad I wasn’t there.
Yes, White Pass normally gets a lot of snow. However, according to wickedpedia, “It was named after Charles A. White, a surveying engineer who led the party that discovered it for the Northern Pacific Railroad in 1878.” Your theory is better, for sure, and has a pleasant poetic aesthetic.
On that note, there were whiteout and blizzard conditions on White Pass this morning. I have no reason to venture into such atrocities. The current weather forecast is for rains and continued wind, maybe some snow at times, through Friday night. The Princess and her brother are staying in his local area at least until Friday, not even travelling in the lowlands below snow levels. No desire on their part to tempt the snow gods and wind deities. 😉
Meanwhile, today was another indoor day for the Dame and myself. I read a book most of the day. Avalanche sacked out on the sofa much of that time. Coffee (lots of it, extra strong) and a good book were made for days such as today.
DJSpo
Hi Pam,
Thus proving that the evenings are a delightful time for all. 🙂 It was hot here today at around 98’F, and I worked outdoors until about lunchtime. Installed the cleats for all of the sun blinds and then created the ropes to anchor them to the veranda. A good thing too, because the wind really picked up this afternoon, and the sun blinds did their work. After lunch I did crash out a bit, and perhaps it was some sort of heat exhaustion. Later in the day, more watering, and ta da! Created a sliding door exhaust outlet using pine for the portable air conditioner. The machine works a treat for the back of the house, I’m now scratching my head wondering what all the negative reviews were about. I bit the bullet about two weeks ago, and just bought a cheapie from the big box hardware store. Alas my street cred has now evaporated, but whatever. 🙂
Have to laugh, but that billet link is from a wiki for a game. That’s my life, right there in digital format! For your interest, the local trees have a slightly higher density than oak. The many oak trees planted got a nice watering this evening as well. It’s meant to rain heavily on Sunday, whatever that means…
Ah, well time will tell with those figgy fruit / flowers. They baffle me as well, and in years gone by we’ve bought at markets boxes of ripe figs for jam making, and Pam, that stuff is so good. That’s the plan anyway, and most of the fig trees, like much of the orchards, are still too young to bear heavily.
Interesting about the wineberries. I’ve never seen those plants, but, there are native raspberries on every continent, except that big frozen one to the south of me. There’s even local varieties of raspberries, but oh well, they’re a bit light on for fruit. We picked more sun ripened raspberries this evening, and over half a cup of alpine strawberries – both of which are revelling in the hot weather.
🙂 Hehe! That water comes from outdoors, just sayin’! Brr! The same thing happens with the water from the tanks in winter, the mass lowers to the average temperature. Fortunately there is enough thermal inertia that the water tanks don’t heat up in summer, although those three consecutive days over 104’F pushed the boundaries and the water from the tap was tepid.
I remember those simpler plumbing days. And the mixer cartridges used now are not of a standard one size fits all, so that the tap itself can potentially become recycled metal. I faced that issue very recently, and was appalled by the waste, yet moved on.
Ah yes, like flat land, us hill dwellers must occasionally also dream of running streams with which to cool off on hot days. The creek at the bottom of the property often runs underground in the summer months.
Just prior to purchasing this land we were out bid on a flat land of similar size, and it had a running natural spring… Ook.
No, but I recall those slow cooker machines with a fondness for the way they took cheap cuts of meat, and made them tender and juicy. Yum! Although, I’d not cook meat at home being a stay at home vegetarian. I wouldn’t worry about the electricity usage of such machines, it’s minuscule. About the same as a yoghurt maker really. We cook beans in the rice cooker, after soaking them beforehand – sometimes overnight.
I still mourn the loss of the old wood oven because it slow cooked everything. So good. Oh well.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Chris,
I can’t see any responses about dehydrating grapes, so I’ll chip in. I have done this using an electric dehydrator and the final results were good, but it took a looong time. There’s a lot of moisture in a grape. Also, I had to puncture every individual grape so the water could get out, because the skin is too impermeable. I wouldn’t do it again with an electric machine because it took too much power. Maybe if I had a passive solar dryer, but puncturing every grape is tedious. I wonder how it’s done commercially? Maybe you could do a trial of just squishing a bunch of grapes to burst the skins. I might try that myself this autumn!
Did you ever try pickling your own olives?
Always enjoy your posts, have a good Christmas,
Stephen E
Hi DJ,
Clostridium is present everywhere in these enlightened days, and people have forgotten the lesson of tragedy with Mr Wells tale of the Martians antics. The things I’ve seen, and it ain’t just younger folks. Germ theory won’t survive.
The pesky bots have been knocked back to 55,000 today. Yay, we can notch that up as a win for the fluffies! 🙂 I’d reach for a tame parrot on the shoulder, all pirate like and stuff, but I have to confess to having a nice chunk of timber instead ready to throw on the veranda at the family of Gang Gang Cockatoos who turned up this morning to consume lots of unripe apples. Not on.
That rhyme is something of an ear worm, which I’ll now do my best to blot out. Life may be a dream for some, but I’m dealing with lots of forest critters hungry for an easy feed. No time for mucking around with watery ceremonies, is there?
It was hot here today at 37’C and I worked outdoors until a late lunch. The sun is not too bad until about 2pm, and then it is a horrid experience. Had lunch, then my brain shut down… 🙂 Installed the cleats for the sun blinds, and then used that camo rope stuff to create tie-downs for the blinds. The wind picked up and put them all to the test, and it was good.
And! Confession is meant to be good for the soul, by late this afternoon I got the portable air conditioner machine up and working. Cut a chunk of pine to sit in the sliding door and put a 150mm hole in for the exhaust vent. It works well, and chews up very little electricity – the meter displays 25A at about 54V which equals 1,350W. Not bad at all, and the machine was a gamble which may not have played out. I’d been thinking about the device for a while since wondering what to do with all of the wasted electricity in the summer months. The thought kept coming back to: How bad could it be? Turns out the nay sayers were expecting perfection, when good enough is fine for me.
Oh yeah, knowing the properties of plants was once a requirement for staying alive. Oh, what sad times are these when passing ruffians can say ‘Ni!’ at will to old peasants such as err, myself, and yourself who comprehend the value of plants! 😉 Knowing about plants properties is simply not respected in these latter days. But look at the use you put the sage brush too.
Shields were at 100% today, and this was needful. I’m sitting under the ceiling fan right now, and it’s warm. At 10:30pm it’s 21’C outside and 26’C inside. Warm.
Thanks for the thoughtful analysis of what is known of Vortigern, and I’d love to visit the Pillar of Eliseg in person. Oh well, this journey is alas not for I. It’s of interest to me that the inscriptions were in Latin, which was a surprise. The monks of that nearby Abbey would have had something to do with the creation for sure. The south west and west of those islands would have been troublesome for invaders… Much like the north.
Arthur is a difficult fellow to get a fix upon, yeah, but am more than happy to live with myth. It serves much the same purpose as history. None of us were there, so complete objectivity is impossible.
Whoa! Compared to what you have endured, and may continue to do so, the winds here this afternoon were no more than a stiff breeze. It’s amazing that the power could be restored so quickly in your part of the world given the conditions. Dude, 35km/h wind gusts here would be a notable event, although they do happen.
Airports are notoriously windy spots, being devoid of the calming influence of trees. Nobody wants a downed tree over a runaway. Glad to hear that your house was undamaged in those strong winds, and yeah the buffeting is pretty serious. Sometimes it’s loud enough here at night to wake me up.
Man, White Pass has an elevation of 1,372m above sea level. That’s no place to spend time in winter, unless fully prepared for every eventuality. Oh no, a highway does traverse the pass. My brain hurts thinking about that err, short-cut in winter, and on that note, again brain hurt stuff, was the nearby Goat Rocks named after a Mr Goat, and what profession would he have been doing? 🙂 So many mysteries…
Agreed, you called that correctly. Why head into such difficult passes during the winter, combined with extreme weather?
Your lady and her brother made a sound call there. Why push matters? There’ll be nice weather coming up for sure, sooner or later. We all know that hubris turns into nemesis.
Ooo! A lovely day and I’m envious of the relaxed pace. Might have slightly cooked my head today, but no matter, maybe. 😉 Hey, it’s meant to rain here heavily on Sunday, like what the heck is going on with the weather? Can’t we have some nice stuff for a while?
Hope you and the Dame continue to enjoy the book and well deserved winter rest, and watch out for the yellow snow. You were warned… 😉
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
Must be all the rage these days. One of the biggest coal fired plants in this country had it’s life extended for two years at enormous cost to the public. I’m not mucking around, cheap and reliable electricity looks like coal, sorry to say. For all of the ideological noise, few people want to disconnect from the grid like what we did. If they talk such a big game, they might learn more than they care to know about home life off grid. It worries me that the engineers are being ignored in relation to this issue.
Years ago I read a crime reporter commenting upon some potential Royal Commission which are probably pretty lucrative for the legal profession. Anyway, the cheeky scamp may have written something like: “The brave abalone divers”, referring to the expensive sea food which would be suddenly affordable to the well paid professionals. Hmm. An administrative system which is best never to be entangled with lest it send a person broke.
Oh, forgot to mention. If the coal fired power stations are being shut down, they’re probably near the end of their economic life anyway, which is something around forty or fifty years. It’s a pretty harsh environment, and they’re only super big machines really. People forget that those things were never made to be started and stopped a lot, no.
Sounds exciting to have a machine do all of our thinking, but I’m not entirely convinced that many battery systems are ever a set and forget type arrangement. And the AC changeover devices have to be err, just so, perfect. The inverter has to instantaneously match the waveform of the grid supply as it is failing, then cut it off, and that is not a simple task. Probably too much detail… Ook!
I cooked my brain a bit today by installing the cleats for the sun blind rope anchors before lunch. It was hot outdoors, but you kind of get used to it. But, I kept a much slower work pace than usual which seemed to work. After lunch, the brain shut down for about an hour and a half. What happened to the afternoon? Anywhoo, I hadn’t mentioned it, but I’ve been back and forward about the portable air conditioner idea, and eventually just bought a cheapie from the big box hardware store. The online reviews were interesting, and had initially put me off. This afternoon I cut an exhaust outlet in timber which can be installed in a sliding door. Easy. The machine works a treat, although I only ran it for an hour. Doesn’t use much electricity at all, and that potential stuff would have gone to waste anyway. The inside of the house is now 77’F and outdoors at almost 11pm is 68’F. It’s been hot today…
Yeah, exactly, bird netting has to accommodate the wiles of every single forest critter. And it just can’t. This morning a large family of Gang Gang Cockatoos turned up out of nowhere, so I grabbed a handy chunk of throwing timber and cleared them off. There’s a pair of those birds which are regular visitors, but these lot were free loaders from who knows where.
The deer in the trailer for the film was a bit triggering! 😉 Nah, not really, I couldn’t quite work out what was going on in the trailer. Looked epic, but what was going on with the narrative?
Concrete slabs don’t tend to burn, but you may have different fire rating testing regimes in your country. Probably the case. Sometimes the cladding, windows, doors and interiors can be the weak link in a building for fires so yeah, nature does find its way. Hard to know really until things are under the ultimate test. If I’ve got insurance, it’s not worth the risk.
Agreed, none of us will ever know exactly what went on in those years after the Romans departed. To be honest, I’m happy living with myth.
Fair enough, there’s plenty of other food items that dogs like. Have you ever tried whether she likes yoghurt?
Far out, your winter has suddenly gotten quite extreme. Seems like not all that long ago things were pleasant. I’m scratching my head trying to wrap the ol’ brain around a highway pass which traverses such elevations above sea level during the winter months. It’d probably get cut off regularly I’d imagine?
Hey, that happens here too when the forecast suggests snow down to this elevation, and yet the temperatures just aren’t cold enough. It’d gotta be down to at least 35’F or less for snow here. I don’t know why this forecasting trend has occurred in recent years. It never was the case many years ago. Maybe the wording has changed?
Oh poop, the rain bandits finally got ya both. Hope you and H could dry and warm up afterwards? I’d send you some excess heat, we’ve got plenty of that to spare down here at the moment.
The fudge is a really nice thing to do, spreading a bit of home made kitchen treat cheer. Yum! How did you go sifting out the powdered sugar? An epic job.
Oh my, and glad you were nowhere near the tree when it toppled. The electric cables are a serious risk to life in those situations. And who has a chainsaw in an urban area when one is needed?
I’d cut the asparagus back. The green fronds won’t get much in the way of sunshine now. The reduced light tends to turn them yellow, but I dunno, maybe it is because they’re in their first year?
I’ve gotta put some fresh soil over the potatoes tomorrow, and yup, it’s gonna be hot again. Oh well.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Stephen,
Welcome back, and it’s been a while. 🙂
Ah, my dehydrator is likewise electric and hails from your part of the world (at a wild guess). It’s pretty good actually, and is a serious step up on the old Fowlers Vacola unit which sadly couldn’t be repaired.
Thanks for the words of warning in relation to the tedious process, and well the idea in my head was of creating lots of tasty sultanas. Turns out, I may not be growing the right variety of vine, although they’re all table / wine grapes. So, commercially it looks like they’re dried on the vine, sprayed with something to speed the process up, and it’s just not hot enough for that here. Far out. Ook! 🙂
By the time they’re full developed on the vine here, the autumn is well under way, and the days are getting shorter.
Yes, we have brined olives before, and I highly recommend the process. It’s simple and the taste is awesome, but a bit more salty than what commercial olives taste like. Presumably chemicals are involved in that process so as to reduce the salt? Dunno.
I reckon the number one crop we use the dehydrator for is tomatoes. You can generally get the process done in a day, and those machines use so little electricity, even at 65’C.
Hope things are easier where you are this growing season. It’s about two, maybe three weeks later than usual.
Thanks, and wishing you a good Christmas too!
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – Reading between the lines, some lawsuits are intentionally launched, with the intent of bankrupting adversaries. Or, just for the nuisance value and notoriety.
Well, if you’ve got power to burn, so to speak, I don’t see why not kick on an A/C unit from time to time. Sure, some purists might run around with their hair on fire, but we don’t dine out with those folks, do we? 🙂
Spielberg is playing pretty close to the chest, about the narrative. Not much information on Wiki-poopia. I’ll keep an eye on that source. Between now and the June release date, details will leak out. And sooner or later on the aforementioned source an entry for “plot” will appear.
Maybe this other sci-fi film will make you feel not so triggered about the deer. It was called “Knowing.” Skip to minute 6.
https://youtu.be/v5teuKOP_BQ?si=Jh83IEQ-eM3KNL8Z
I’ll give yogurt a try, with a bit of H’s food. She’s having a lay in, this morning, so we haven’t taken our walk yet. As it’s bucketing down, outside, that’s fine with me.
Our high yesterday was 48F (8.88C). Our overnight low was 39F (3.88C). Our forecast high for today is 53F. Snow has fallen out of the forecast. I suppose we’ll play peek-a-boo for the next few months. Our passes are mostly kept open, due to huge snow plows. Also, often, passes are closed unless you have tire chains. Or, have “snow tires” mounted on your vehicle.
Another point of interest, not too far from White Pass is Ape Canyon and Ape Cave. Supposed stomping grounds of Big Foot. 🙂
https://w.wiki/H36K
I have a small (2 cups?) metal sieve with a handle. I’d fill it, with the powdered sugar. Then tap it until all the sugar passed through the sieve, into a large bowl.
Being a rural area, there are a number of chain saws, kicking about. One time, not that far out of town, I came around a corner, and there was a downed tree, across the road. A few vehicles backed up on either side of the obstacle. Guys on either side jumped out of their pick-up trucks, grabbed chainsaws out of the back, cut the log into movable pieces, and we were on our way!
Thanks for your thoughts on the asparagus. The next time we have a clear day, I’ll cut them back.
Well, the rain doesn’t seem to be slacking off, so I guess I need to rouse H and bite the bullet. Lew
Chris:
You are having some miserable heat, but knowing that place, give it a day or two and you’ll need your wooly drawers. That is very interesting about the cleats and the ropes; I hope to see a picture. Would this – “a sliding door exhaust outlet” – be in a window? It sounds very clever. Don’t sweat it: Your reputation is safe with us. After all, an air conditioner is just an appliance, one that is very useful in many circumstances for purposes of good health.
Some kind of computer game? That is a whole ‘nother world to me. I’ll bet that those are real items from medieval times. Say “Ni!”
I used to eat Fig Newtons. I suspect there is not a whole lot of fig in them, but I found them tasty.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newtons_(cookie)
I hadn’t thought about your water temperature varying a lot with the weather. When we rented a house in a suburb here while we were building our log house, the tap water would get downright warm in the summer. I think it was stored in a big gigantic municiple water tank (metal).
“Just prior to purchasing this land we were out bid on a flat land of similar size, and it had a running natural spring… Ook.” Ook, indeed. That must have hurt. But there are good things about mountainsides, too. Just ask your legs.
I love my rice cooker, but it is very tiny, brought back from a Taiwan visit by my daughter-in-law’s father. It wouldn’t be worth trying to cook beans in it. All the instructions are, I think, in some form of Mandarin, but not to worry – what is simpler than a rice cooker?
I wish our little wood stove was like your old one. We were just talking about modifying the living room fireplace so that we could put a wood stove in it. It’s a big job (we sort of tried before) and there are so many projects still in the works right now that I hope nobody gets the bright idea of doing that right now. Do you know of a place online where I might view the type of wood stove you used to have?
Pam
Hi Pam,
Another warm day here. 86’F but cloudy and very oppressive feeling, if you know what I mean. By the way it was 82’F already at 7am. Ook. The next few days are meant to be cooler, yay! Thanks, and I like trying different systems here to see what works. Interestingly, the portable air con machine is only a little beast, and isn’t grunty enough to lower the temperature, but the thing was run all day, and it more importantly maintained the internal house temperature, which started at 75’F and is still at that even now as the sun sets (outdoors as well). I’d say that is a win. Shielding against the external heat is a six layer process.
Yeah, the device is meant to exhaust through a window, however we can’t do that due to the stainless steel mesh bushfire shutters over the window. The high air pressure the exhaust would create if stifled by the shutters would damage the machine. I made up an 8ft timber insert for the sliding door instead. Works a treat. I’ll paint the timber over the next few weeks and install some insulation on either side of the timber so as to reduce minute gaps – more for making it hard for spiders and other insects to enter the house, than air flow from outdoors.
By the way, I’d rate the machine as excellent, if only a person could accept a good enough outcome, which is fine by me. We’ve gone fifteen years without the mechanical assistance, so expectations are low in the first place. Have to laugh, it reminds me of the moment I got the professional chainsaw sharpener machine after having hand filed chains for over a decade. Experience the harder side of life over a long enough period of time, and a small gain can feel like a momentous achievement.
Pam, you’re lovely and I’d dare not say ‘Ni!’ out loud in your presence, but since you requested it… 😉 Here goes: Ni! Hope that wasn’t too triggering?
The large family of Gang Gang Cockatoos turned up this morning and dropped dozens of unripe apples from one heavily laden tree. They ignored the thrown firewood chunk, so I turned the hose on them. A strong jet of water has some avian authority, for the blow-in birds left. As they should, the local parrots and magpies rejoiced at their departure.
One does wonder about such claims, but I too also enjoyed the Fig Newtons as a kid. Haven’t seen them for a very long while. What’s not to like about shortbread with a fig, err, sort-of filling? Jam made from sun ripened figs is the whole next level. Yum!
As the sun set today, I mowed around many of the fig trees because heavy rain is forecast for Sunday. And earlier today the potato patch soil was hilled up with my special combo soil additive mixture. The job was completed by 2pm for lunch, and sweat was pouring from the brow. Not a nice day to be outdoors and working. Even the Kelpies looked pooped out and wanted back indoors. Ollie is cleverer for he sat on the veranda in the shade over seeing all of the activities.
Whoa, well, those municipal water tanks slowly fill 24/7, then get depleted at peak times, so the temperature depends upon the mass of water held in the system. Always variable, which is a touch unpleasant, as you discovered. The only time the summer energy was enough to warm the water stored in the tanks here was during that three consecutive days over 104’F. A revolting moment in time, but, if it’s happened once, then once may be a pattern for the potential future. Hmm. Your well couldn’t get hotter than the average soil temperature at the time of year. That’s just like how caves work.
🙂 True, this living upon a hillside keeps a person fit. It’s always interesting to see how visitors physically cope with the incline.
Rice cookers are good and simple machines, yup. Fortunately the instructions probably aren’t necessary. 🙂 They don’t have many buttons.
I’d not recommend the former wood heater. It was a contraption which tried to be everything to everyone, and was not good at any particular thing. However, I would recommend a much better manufactured device (which is made locally): Nectre Big Bakers Oven. That lot made my replacement wood heater, the Nectre Mega, and I’ve only good things to say about it.
The cicadas have just kicked off their night time chorus.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
There’s been quite a well reported upon recent case which apparently ended up in bankruptcy for both the husband, and wife. In such cases, I believe a trustee takes over financial control of a person/s for a set period of years and there are all sorts of hard limits imposed. The thing I was left wondering about was say, if the person/s bankrupted can’t pay the legal fees of the other party, regardless of where the court allocated those, would the person bringing the case, even if vindicated, have to stump the mad cash for the fees? The defamation case I was thinking about has bills apparently in the seven figure range. It’s worth observing that nobody can work for free, for long. And notoriety is a poor excuse for publicity, but yeah, it happens, I hear you about that.
Last I checked, purists don’t tend to comment here. 🙂 Far out, spare us all from the braying of the purist, for they bore and more, with every word. That sentence kind of rhymes. Today was a corker for heat. At 7am, it was already 82’F outside (and indoors for that matter). Talk about an uncomfortable nights sleep. Anyway, I cranked on the machine, and the house did not cool, but neither did it warm so it could just maintain the temperature in the rear half of the house. I’d call that a win, yeah, and it’s still 82’F outside right now just past 9pm.
Anywhoo, despite the heat I worked outdoors for most of the day. The potato patch was hilled up with almost half a cubic metre (0.7 cubic yards) of my special soil combo mix. I was a bit worried that after weeding the enclosure, some tubers could be seen exposed to the sunlight, and that makes taters toxic. Not good. I’d have preferred to do the job on a cooler day, but the Rolling Stones had something to say about that: You can’t always get what you want…
Crashed out after a late 2pm lunch, then mowed up the fast growing grass (and other ground cover plants) in the citrus enclosure as the sun set. A long day of work.
Who knew? Some enthusiasts have installed standing stones in the rural township of Glen Innes in the state of New South Wales. I’ve travelled through that part of the country and was favourably impressed by the coffee we nabbed. Celtic standing stones can only enhance the appeal. 🙂
Ah, I see. Unfortunately the film trailer looked beautiful in every way, but made absolutely no sense to me whatsoever. This kicks the ol’ brain into gear and got me wondering – what is the purpose of a film trailer? Turns out, I don’t really know. What’s your take on that film proposition? It’s hardly the equivalent of the Readers Digest, but I’m guessing the brief content should pique interest. If you hadn’t told me that the film was about aliens, I’d have thought that it was instead reaching into the super natural world.
If the comments are any judge of the quality of a film, then the film ‘Knowing’ is perhaps the entire next level up. How did I miss this film? Probably leave me with nightmares, thanks for that, but when narrative is presented perfectly, then we are in the embrace of a masterpiece.
How did H respond to the yoghurt? Dame Plum was suspicious of this milk product early on, but now loves the stuff. Just between you and I, the dog had less trouble with ice cream… You’re having some seriously stormy weather. Has the rain eased off today?
It’s starting to cool down here, and is now only 22’C / 72’F outdoors. My head hurts.
Your temperatures are now beginning to sound more winter like. You wouldn’t catch me driving over those mountain passes when the weather deteriorates. Too much trouble.
A shame that the goobermint debunked the century old miners Sasquatch tale, and makes me wonder what they’re trying to hide! Hehe! 😉 And so it goes… The world would be a more interesting place if there were things like the Loch Ness Monster, etc. I loved that stuff when I was a kid, and the In Search Of books and series introduced me to it all. Fun stuff.
Forgot to mention, not last night, but the night before the night skies were super clear and dark. I reckon we could only just see the ghostly Aurora and two very bright shooting stars fell over towards the base of the more fashionable end of the mountain range.
Yeah, that’s how we sieve out powdered sugar as well. Presumably humidity binds some of the powder over time. It happens.
Plenty of chainsaws up in this part of the mountain range too, and some folks even know how to use and maintain them. I helped a local out a long time ago with their chainsaw, and they swore it had just been sharpened, but au contraire. After a short while I told them I wasn’t going to use their machine, and lot’s of huffing, puffing and outrage ensued. It still didn’t mean the thing was sharp. Never helped them out again.
Yeah, it happens from time to time when the authoritas get overwhelmed. Pitch in and help out with downed tree removal. Did that once a long time ago for the volunteer fire brigade, only to be heckled by a guy in the car telling me how much of a hurry he was in. Dunno. Probably wasn’t a local. It wasn’t a good look.
With such work, you have to keep an eye out for vehicles travelling at high speeds and not expecting downed trees over the road. Accidents and serious injuries can sometimes happen.
Your growing season is just about done, so I’d hack them back. Remember to feed the soil, and sprinkle some sea salt in the asparagus bed before the spring. 🙂 And have fun.
Ooo! Hope you didn’t get too wet during the ongoing deluge? It’s meant to rain here again overnight, but we’ll see. A bit of rain fell at 5pm, cooled the area down, then it slowly heated up again. Oh well.
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – I’d say maintaining the indoor temperature was a win. I saw what you said to Pam, about running off the parrots. Maybe you should construct a water cannon! 🙂 Might come in handy in all kinds of situations.
I keep meaning to pick up an indoor therm-o-meter. See how warm or cool this apartment gets, from time to time. Or do I really want to know?
Our high yesterday was 52F (11.11C). Our overnight low was 37F (2.77C). Our forecast high for today is 44F. When I took H out for her walk, this morning, it was sunny. I didn’t even put her coat on her. By the time we headed back in, it was spitting down, a bit. It’s now pouring, again.
It’s interesting about the standing stones. Another roadside attraction? 🙂
I think the purpose of movie trailers is to “leave them wanting more.” Here’s a trailer for a new sci-fi movie, coming soon.
https://youtu.be/3khiH5M4LLo?si=VzfWu32KlcLFJJIU
I’ve watched “Knowing” a couple of times. Nick does a fine job. 🙂 A bit of a spoiler, but, it starts off sort of supernatural. Visions, premonitions. And, then, aliens.
Last night, was a popcorn night. I watched “Battle Beyond the Stars” (aka: John Boy Walton in outer space.). I watched the extras, which were very interesting. A recent interview with Richard Thomas, and recent interviews with a lot of the tech people on the film. Roger Corman (“the stingiest man in Hollywood”) made no bones about it. He was ripping off “Star Wars” and “The Seven Samurai.”
I haven’t tried yoghurt on H, yet. I’ll get around to it.
I’ve been taking treats to the library, every Wednesday. Well, the library is going to be closed the 24th (a Wednesday). So, I think I’ll take treats tomorrow morning (Sat.) as they can enjoy them Sat. and Tues. As they are closed Sun. & Mon. I have a dozen pumpkin muffins, in the freezer. I think I’ll thaw them out, top them with the butter and sugar, and call it good.
Your grandfather would have had a choice name, for Mr. Important, the guy in a hurry. I think I would have shifted to slow-mo. 🙂
We got a food box, this morning. A two pound sliced, smoked ham. A frozen shell of mashed potatoes. Two individual cartons of milk. A loaf of French bread. Individual “Jumbo honey bun” and an unidentifiable biscuit. A dozen small cupcakes in a plastic clam shell. Two large apples and two nectarines. One individual yoghurt. A one pound box of butter product. A one pound bag of shelled hazelnuts.
There was boxed stuff. Stove top turkey flavored stuffing, Parmesan salad, Penne pasta, Mac & cheese. A packet of instant mashed potatoes and a packet of beef ramen. A one pound bag of instant oats. A jar of peanut butter and a jar of dill pickles.
Tins: Two of tuna fish and one each of cranberry sauce, cream of chicken soup, pasta sauce, spinach, green beans, garbanzo beans, corn and applesauce. I noticed a sign next to the food swap table, last night. “Do not put food here. There are not volunteers to take it to the food bank.” Didn’t look official. I’ll ask the night manager for clarification, next time I see him. I thought they took that stuff to the local mission. I don’t know what I’m going to do with all the extra stuff I get.
And interesting evening in Computer Land. There was a notice that there was a download. I thought, maybe just a security patch. Nope. The Sequoia operating system, is dead! Long live Tahoe! 🙂 So, it said the install time was about 20 minutes. I figured, why not, forgetting that there’s a download first. Well, the download “time remaining” wavered between one day (!) and two days (!!) It actually took seven hours.
But, it’s up and running, and a lot of things seem the same. But, I sent off for the book, “Mac Tahoe for Dummies,” this morning. This is the third operating system, since I got the new computer. Seems excessive. Lew
Chris:
The timber insert for the sliding glass door sounds like just what the doctor ordered.
Thank goodness for some of these simple improvements. Making life just enough easier.
I feel reckless: “Ni!” back at you!
A gang, eh? They deserve strong measures, the wretches. I have found a hose useful for things like unmannerly loose dogs. The problem is that you have to be there to catch them.
2 pm would be hitting the hottest part of the day here. Maybe everyone should pay more heed to Ollie.
I had thought you liked your former stove. The Nectre one is really neat; I like it. It appears to be steel? We’ve always had cast iron and I don’t know what my son’s opinion is about steel. I have bookmarked this one. Thanks!
I like the cicadas – and the crickets – until they get too noisy!
Pam
Chris,
Had a lengthy reply nearly completed Thursday night. However, twas another windy night with nasty gusts, albeit less than the extreme gusts we’d had. So of course, that meant that the power flickered just enough to reboot the computer and disappear my reply to you. What could I do? Well, I did the best thing I could think of. Rebooted, listened to a song about how corn likker is the cause of all problems, then I fell asleep. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pemofre-eBk&list=RDPemofre-eBk&start_radio=1
Gotta enjoy the way he plays the spoons. And Rhiannon Giddens is very good on any instrument she plays.
Got a longish walk in this morning with Dame Avalanche. Yesterday’s walk got shortened. It was nice when we left, then after a half mile, the wind and rain hit. Today was only windy. And sunny.
Yes, airports seem always to be windier than the surrounding areas. Except when it’s not windy and the fog has settled. Spokane International Airport has the dubious honor of having the thickest and most prevalent fog in the County.
The Princess and her brother ventured over to the Umatilla Reservation near Pendleton, Oregon, yesterday. Probably will be their major outing for this trip. They ended up spending the night there. The freeway eastbound was closed due to weather. The Princess and I discussed it, and even driving west to Toppenish after dark in heavy winds and rain wasn’t worth the risk.
I’m glad you found my info on Vortigern useful. With monks likely involved with the Pillar of Eliseg, I would guess that the information recorded on it was accurate to a degree. The Pillar sounds as good place as any to have a meet up, right?
Arthur? Which one? There seem to have been a lot of mythic traditions of an Arthur. A scarce amount of historical records. Unless, maybehaps the actions of several different people from the late 400s into the early 600s got mixed up together. The same basic language was spoken by the commoners over most of what are now England and Wales up to the Scottish Highlands. Similarly, at least two different “Merlin” personages got conflated into the Merlin who is familiar to us today. Scotland and northern England had several dudes named Arthur in that general time frame. Same names, a lot of activity against both Briton foes and the Saxons, traditions remembered in various dialects of the same language.
It’s also possible that the name in England/Wales was more of a nickname or title. The main researcher at the Center for the Study of Ancient Wales spent decades researching ancient Welsh pedigrees, trying to figure out what was true when there were inconsistencies and obvious impossibilities. He went so far as to say, once, that he had figured out who Arthur REALLY was, but wouldn’t reveal it publicly because he didn’t want to get publicly pilloried and mocked. Heck, he was pushing 90 when he wrote that. I’m usually of the opinion that the feats of several different people of various names were lumped together under the name of a personage from ancient myth.
Got the book finished. It was enjoyable. Back to the old Tony Hillerman series again. Old friends, sort of. 🙂
Oh, yellow snow. Well, it DID snow off and on yesterday, but nothing stuck. Can’t have yellow snow if there isn’t any snow. And really none in the forecast until at least after January 2.
Amazingly, I’m listening to some old bluegrass with the Stanley brothers right now. Then I read about how you might have heavy rain Sunday morning. I had just read that again when this song was being sung. It might be fitting for you Sunday.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HrjjRxTDwo
I just read something interesting this morning. If you’re indoors and you get cold, stand in a corner. Why? Corners are always 90 degrees. 😉
Seriously, about your cockatoo problem. Perhaps a slingshot. I have a good wrist rocket. It can shoot pebbles, small rocks, small wood chunks, etc. I use mine to shoot at various stray whatevers that don’t belong in my yard. I prefer shooting ice cubes. Hard enough to sting if it hits, and any evidence melts.
DJSpo
Hi Pam,
I’d call the first test of the device a success. Being super cloudy, but hot yesterday meant that the solar power system didn’t fill the house batteries as usual. The machine took the batteries down to 54% this morning, which is still plenty of storage. However, today the sun shone, it was cool, and the batteries were at 100% charge by mid afternoon. The timber exhaust panel will be painted over the next week, some side insulation strips will be added, and then that’s a wrap for that project.
Yeah, the systems here aren’t fixed in stone (you may have noticed? 🙂 ) and like your re-roofing job a few months ago, all reasonable upgrades and repairs are on the table here. If I’d have to suggest, it’s easier to make life easier now, than later.
On that note, sadly a recently relocated apricot tree had turned toes up. It wasn’t looking healthy. I bopped it out of the ground today and discovered the root system was not great looking and had not expanded. The tap root was still at 90 degrees to the tree. Oh well, all of the other relocated fruit trees are doing well. With an empty spot, I bought a Lemonade fruit tree and planted it out. This is the second of those trees, and the fruit is superb, and citrus is a good winter fruit crop when there is nothing else.
Also, a cunning plan was dreamt up today to create another small garden bed in the greenhouse, so after the success of the subtropical Babaco, we’ll try two different paw paws. They’re from the same family of Carica papaya, one being a ‘Red Lady’ variety, whilst the other is a ‘Yellow’. Absolutely they would be destroyed outside of the greenhouse, but inside, it’s worth a shot. Both were also purchased today, and be planted out over the next week. The fruit set is irregular, and the taste can be variable based on the growing season, but still you never know. The Lemonade is already in the soil.
Thanks, the occasional ‘Ni!’ is a useful kick in the pants, lest heads get too big! 🙂
Oh yeah, hoses are useful for that lot as well, and have you noticed the effect of washing unmentionable stinky compounds, probably poop, from their fur during the winter months creates a certain amount of hesitation for repeating that trick in the future, with our canine friends?
All we can ever but do, is hope to achieve the noble stature of a character such as Ollie. That big dog knows how to enjoy himself. You won’t catch him working out in the late afternoon summer sun.
Sorry, I didn’t explain myself very well. I liked the many functions of the older wood stove, however, the design was a compromise at every level. It did lots of things, but none of them particularly well. Because of that, it just didn’t last and cost a small fortune to replace. If I may say so, a bigger combustion chamber, is usually better, although I’d imagine that there are limits to that (outside of my experience). The original fire had to be run too hot all of the time to do the various functions, and that destroyed the sheet steel. It basically de-laminated, which was awful to experience. The replacement Nectre unit has been amazing by comparison, but I’m super careful with the unit too.
I’ve no experience with cast iron fire boxes. You got me interested in the subject of longevity with these things and people are talking about keeping the flues clean, running dry seasoned hardwood, and not over-firing the box like we did with the original unit. Is your son leaning towards a cast iron unit?
Hehe! Nature sure is noisy, and wakes way earlier than my poor brain. 🙂
Cheers
Chris
Hi DJ,
Oh no, the extreme weather knocked out your comment, which happened to Lewis as well. That’s what I’d call a big storm.
Was the hat really worth it? Old Corn Likker may have softened the impact from the fall off the wagon… 😉 The two of them look to me like they’re trying hard not to smile. A fun track.
Phwoar! That was the sound of the wind you and the Dame may have experienced out on that fateful, yet suddenly damp walk. Glad to hear that you had some sun today. That would have been pleasant, if the wind could be ignored. Dunno about you, but windy winter weather just feels colder to me.
Today was glorious and sunny, and even more importantly, cool. Yay! Back to 22’C late afternoon with a mild cool breeze. Woke up at 3:30am this morning realising that I’d cooked my head working outdoors yesterday. A re-hydration solution and some time spent outdoors cooling down, helped, and I could get back to sleep again. Took it easy today, and went to the garden club nursery to pick up a citrus lemonade tree and two paw paws we’re going to trial in the greenhouse. They might work out, or be a complete fizzer of an idea. Time will tell. The lemonade tree on the other hand, is the second of that citrus variety, and they’re good. Apparently it was a chance seedling discovered in New Zealand.
Ah, perhaps the motto for the local airport might be: We do fog properly! Takes a lot of skill to land or fly an aircraft by instruments. Not for everyone, and you had a famous crash a few years ago where that was allegedly the cause.
Hope your lady’s travel with her brother goes well and that it warms the many hearts of the people for whom they’re catching up with. Wise, to avoid such horrendous weather on the roads if it’s unnecessary. You guys do winter properly in your part of the world!
Some of the monks in those days weren’t above creating a relic, or tall tale, with which to fill the Abbey’s coffers from helpful pilgrims. There’s a crass economic element to all of that, but all the same the journey would have met a need of the pilgrims as well, so who’s to say what is, and what isn’t, from that long ago in time.
I’m seriously comfortable with the concept of myth, and have no need to separate that from what is known in these enlightened days as ‘history’. Few people take history seriously nowadays anyway, and what a horror show of path that is! History, or myth, or whatever, is a tool to guide the feet upon our paths. I mean, often outcomes are uncertain, so why not head out with an idea of where things have gone wrong in the past? So yeah, I can quite understand the reticence of the elderly scholar not wanting to stir up that pot of trouble. A canny bloke that one.
🙂 Lovely! Re-reading an enjoyable book is like hanging out with old friends.
Ah, sorry, yeah, too warm for snow, or yellow snow. Dame Avalanche is no doubts unhappy about this wintry state of affairs? Where’s the snow, boss?
Ook! Thanks for the reminder. We’re meant to get somewhere between 5mm to 30mm of rain tomorrow. Sounds rather damp, thus why I wanted to get the new fruit tree in the ground today, despite pretending to take a break from work.
Ha! Those brothers can complain about the rain just out of reach, but they sure did something to end up in that predicament!
Very funny, and thanks for the dad joke.
I’ll try and remember that about the ice cube solution. The water hose works a treat.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
I like how your brain works! A water cannon would do the trick, and no doubts the cockatoos (or as you suggested – any other miscreants) would take me more seriously next time. 😉 Actually, that family of birds was not around this morning. And so the peasants rejoiced!
As far as I can understand how that portable air conditioning machine works here, it will take the edge off the heat in the rear half of the house, but otherwise won’t lower the temperature (it’s undersized for the volume of space – which is fine with me due to it using less electricity). With no large sliding glass doors, the front part of the house stays cooler anyway. I could certainly think of a few changes to this house design for this location which would make it work better again than what we built (which is already way better than the average) – and be simpler to construct.
There is that issue of knowing with the internal temperature, because once you do, you know! Or is it better to live with a touch of mystery in our lives?
Your winter is really sounding a lot like the weather I enjoy for that cold time of year. Hopefully the rain has eased up a bit? It was sunny, but finally cooler today. Yay! 72’F felt really nice, although the sun was still fierce. Tonight is even a tad chilly. 🙂 And tomorrow’s forecast is saying something like an inch of rain may fall. Hmm, we’ll see whether that eventuates. If I’m feeling adventurous I’ll chant my well tested rain invocation: I urinate bigger than this storm! Of course, in the past this has ended up badly with crazy off-the-carts downpours, so a person has to be careful about the use of such powerful words.
There’s plenty of those attractions about the country for the pilgrims, sorry I meant to type, tourists.
Headed out on a journey today. Went to the garden club nursery and bought a citrus tree (Lemonade fruit (Citrus limon x reticulata)). It’ll be the second one of those trees here, and the fruit is really tasty. Imagine a lemon you could eat fresh off the tree? People with no taste buds may be able to do that feat with a more usual lemon, but they’d be the rare individual. Also bought a couple of sub tropical paw paws (which are supposedly cold tolerant) to plant out in the greenhouse. Reports on those two are highly variable, so they might be either really good, or a complete waste of space.
Anywhoo, a plan to add another small garden bed in the greenhouse was hatched. The bench seat will be relocated to elsewhere which will free up the space. We simply don’t use it enough. Perhaps one day there will be more leisure time, this is possible, but it’s not yet an actuality.
Thanks for the trailer, and yeah, that one left me wanting for more. I particularly liked the Alien film franchise joke towards the end. A film for the big screen. Hmm.
Very good, and thanks for the Knowing, spoiler. It’ll take a while to track it down, being a film from a few years ago. Hope it’s not too scary. 🙂
Far out, did you check out the budget for that film? As an investment, the returns at the box office were pretty good. Alas though, stingy can be a philosophy which is taken to extremes. I guess it depends upon a person’s motives.
We had the home made vegetarian enchiladas for dinner this evening. I can report that both Dame Plum and Ollie enjoyed the yoghurt dollops. There was a bit of resentment at having to share with the canines, but sometimes the fluff captains role is a difficult one.
Man, who does that sort of thing? Heckling emergency service workers is not cool. You’re right my grandfather would have had words. Vehicles are dangerous, and can even be weapons, best not to find out if someone is a real psycho.
And an unidentifiable biscuit. Truly, those words of yours are like total catnip. What the heck? Did the nectarines have any aroma, or flavour? Often those fruits are picked too ripe, which is sad because they are excellent. The Anzac peaches on the trees here are within a week or two of being picked. Yum!
Years ago I used to like ramen, but way too much salt. The canned stuff sounds like a decent haul. Isn’t it a bit weird that the outlets you used to have for the extra goodies are stopping? Some changes aren’t good. You have a community person visit from time to time? They’ll probably know what to do with the stuff.
Oh my! Lewis, that computer story is like my personal nightmare. I’ve done three of the computers a month or two back, and two were fine, and one was like that, except demanding constant attention for those hours. Glad to hear that you’re back up and running.
Yes, the word: ‘upgrade’, is the scariest word in the English language. Can you imagine the conversation from decades into the future looking back on this time: It was awful. There was food everywhere, more than you can eat, but for some reason you didn’t want to eat it, and then there were the ‘upgrades’. Hehe! Bad Chris…
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – When I was down to the Club, visiting Jane the other night, there was something on the TV besides a sports game. There’s a series (available on U – Tub) called “Quantum Tech.” I caught the tail end of a couple of fellows building a log cabin, and then, an incredible segment about an Asian fellow (Viet Nam?) building a floating house and farm, on a lake. If you can squeeze out an hour, you will be amazed.
https://youtu.be/AJSXVUd8190?si=qeS52-aQfo3ERvC6
Let’s hope the parrots aren’t pulling off a flanking maneuver. 🙂
Our high yesterday was 43F (6.11C). The overnight low was a steady 41F (5C), all night long. Our forecast high for today is 46F. Looks like we’ll have light rain, on and off, today.
Your weather invocation sounds similar to my dog poop poop song. Maybe we can gather such things together and put them into a song book. Our fortunes will be made.
When I started reading about your trip to the garden club nursery, I wondered if you’d get out of there with only one plant. 🙂 Rearranging the green house makes sense.
When I was looking at the trailer for “Project Hail Mary,” I noticed another post of upcoming sci-fi movie trailers in 2026. I got back to it, last night. The high points, I think, are there’s to be a sequel to “Greenland.” That’s the one where the family has to get to bunkers in Greenland, before the earth is wiped out by a meteor storm.
And, two zombie movies. Of course, the second part of “28 Years Later,” and something called “We Bury the Dead.”
Others that might be good are, “The Bride (an update on Frankenstein), “Cold Storage” (government project goes bad. Looks like a sort of comedy), “Altered” (genetic enhancement creates social disparity), “Wayfinders” (can’t remember what that’s about), “The Trail” (alien invasion), and, a new series, “Star Trek: Star Trek Academy.” I don’t know how many of those will make it to DVD.
My dinner wasn’t nearly so exciting. I got the pumpkin muffins ready to drop off at the library. Ah, those are the one’s I made from the leftover pumpkin pie mix. With pumpkin seeds and cranberries. I tried one. Tasty. Dinner was just rice with garlic, and frozen peas, broccoli and corn. A splash of vinegar on top.
I forgot to mention we also got a dozen eggs, in our food box. They were in a carton marked “large,” but I think they are “smalls”. I think they get them in bulk, and redistribute them to whatever cartons are available. I meant to say tangerines, not nectarines. I don’t know if they can be salvaged. They’re heading south, pretty fast.
I’ll be relieved when we’re past the holidays. Large crowds, cars used as weapons.
Someone left a small bag of doggie treats, on my door. I do not feed junk food, to my dog. Nor anything of unknown origin. I left them down on what may, or may not be the swap table. Sends a message. Lew
Hi everyone,
This morning was warmish at around 52’F, but calm and sort of cloudy. I better hang onto my hat, things are about to turn: Burst of severe weather over southeast on Sunday
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
Thanks for the tip off about the excellent series, and I’ll have a watch over the next week. Report to follow… 🙂 First impressions though: The trees floating on that large raft are astounding, and my goodness but the local council would have a serious attack of the vapours about those huts. Were they built to code? It’s been remarked upon before that pirates float upon the waters… 😉
Stop it! Hehe! The stormy weather today put an end to the nefarious activities of those large blow-in apple munching parrots. Not quite an inch has fallen, but it’s still raining. At 2pm, the front of the storm hit, and it was feral for a few minutes there. As the lightning flashed all around me, I was out in the rain feeling a touch exposed and clearing the inlet filters for the water tanks which had failed. The rock lined spillways got a decent work out and test, but it was all fixed up pretty quickly and most of the rainfall ended up in the water tanks. A nice summer solstice gift. The orchards and garden beds all received a decent watering, put it that way.
Other than that, we had a relaxed day. The weather kind of dictated events, and a person can’t fight such extremes. Anyway, after a hot week, it’s been pleasant to feel mildly chilly again.
You’re in that phase of the season where the temperature is fairly stable, not much up, and not much down – but cold overall. I reckon the next month or two will supply a few zingers here and there in your part of the world, and likewise here. Christmas day here looks like it will be cold at 17’C / 62’F. Brr!
Hehe! The kids would love those collected time tested weather and other useful day to day invocations, and yes our fortunes would be made. But! How about you do the book tours and interviews? I’m just not into that side of the arrangement and appreciate the quieter life. I know, I’m holding this here partnership back, so drats foiled again with our latest get rich quick scheme. Trust me, our day will come, but when? 🙂 Maybe next idea.
You totally busted me with the visit to the garden club’s nursery, and that’s exactly how it rolled. Lewis, I saw so many plants that were just asking to be trialled, but alas, a bloke must comprehend his limits. Still, the visit to their nursery and garden was enjoyable. The greenhouse space is too precious to waste on garden benches which are barely used, and seemed like a good idea at the time. Trialling exotic paw paw’s is a much better use of the real estate.
It’s an idea that, heading to Greenland to dodge a fictional meteor shower. But if a dude was to survive a nuclear winter where the skies suddenly closed to sunlight, wouldn’t it be better to head into an already super hot area instead – which suddenly moderates? Greenland would get colderer I reckon, at a wild guess. Woe is us humans the day those ice sheets on that huge frozen island slink into the oceans. It’s not like that hasn’t happened in the past. The Hail Mary film looked like it was serious, but not taking itself too seriously, which is a fine balancing act. I can relate to that…
We Bury the Dead was an intense trailer, and the repeated line: ‘Just a little further’, can clearly lead a person into serious trouble. Yeah, look maybe I’m pragmatic, but if suddenly a person finds themselves in a situation with more undead, than alive some of which are personally known, well, sentimentality has to take a back seat, you know what I’m saying? Did the awful baby in Pet Semetary look right to you? I don’t think so.
OK, Cold Storage looked like fun, and Liam Neeson is a fine actor and doing strong for his age. Lends a certain gravitas to the film, like Woody did in Zombieland. What do you mean you can’t remember what the film ‘Wayfinders’ is about? Cheeky! The Trail film didn’t call to me, lot’s of shots of the personable actress looking totally baffled. It’d be like if Cheryl Strayed was on that Pacific Crest Trail film played by the delightful Reese Witherspoon and instead of reflecting upon herself and the plight of addiction, the author encountered aliens instead. No, it’s not working for me as a narrative. Star Trek Academy looks good, and did I note the Doctor from Voyager was in there? Hmm. You might have me there.
Hope the muffins went down a treat at the library, or at least were all consumed. It’s funny, but down here, pumpkin is a savoury flavour. You know man, a dude can’t eat like it’s party time every day, this is of course not something which people want to hear. For all the yummy stuff we eat, ten times as much is basic produce cooked fresh and well from the garden. Tonight’s meal is sliders, with focaccia’s I made earlier, egg, a slice of tasty cheese, grilled asparagus and a patty of the French lentil mix with bread crumbs. It’s pretty awesome, but hardly a Wagyu Steak is it?
Ah, the eggs are a good nab from the box, but I do break each egg into a cup and sniff them prior to use, and hope you do the same. Smaller eggs probably have a better protein ratio anyway. Tangerines aren’t really seen down under, although I’ve occasionally tried one and found them to be tasty. The most common citrus seen down here for sale is the humble Orange. I’ve got a few of those trees growing, but they’re marginal for this area. And that was my observation about those citrus of yours as well, they don’t travel well. Oranges are generally grown here in the more northerly and drier parts of this state, along the Murray River system, so they’re normally a pretty good winter fruit.
Yep, sorry to hear about that, but I hear you. I’m looking forward to a few weeks off paid work. The ol’ brain needs a break, lest it turns into one of those zombie things. Always a risk, don’t you reckon?
Probably wise to not feed the stuff to H given the origins are lost to far obscurity. Still, it’s a nice gesture all the same. Far out, your swap table has become something of a complete mystery, which you’d imagine would be resolved sooner or later?
Cheers and better get writing! Pea soup here right now.
Chris
Yo, Chris – Pretty much the whole raft was made of bamboo. In various forms. Along with all kinds of other building components and furniture. I meant to ask, any bamboo on your place? Might want to look into that. It’s not all invasive running bamboo. I took a glance at other episodes in the series, and, besides new builds, there’ also a lot of renovations. Yes, apparently there isn’t as much “mom-ism” in Viet Nam. Want to build something? It’s your look out that it’s safe, and works.
Speaking of tech, news from Pompeii. Might come in handy for the next stairway you build. 🙂
https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/19/science/roman-concrete-recipe-process-pompeii
And, gut health up on Hadrian’s Wall, wasn’t all that great. 🙂
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/12/251221043221.htm
But back to tech, I saw what you posted, over at Mr. Greer’s. To slow down the bot infestation. A friend of mine, who has the same brand of dumb phone, as my computer, mentioned that all of a sudden he had an upgrade. I’d read somewhere that they’re trying to standardize icons, across many different devices. By the way, he has a really old dumb phone, and has avoided buying a new one, every time there is a change. Somehow or another, he’s found workarounds.
Yes, not much temperature variation, here. Our high yesterday was 45F (7.22C). Our overnight low was a steady 43F (6.11C.) The forecast high for today is 45F. Depending on the breeze, it can feel really cold, or not so cold. There were scattered showers, yesterday, but not too bad.
Sure, I’m willing to do the book tour. Let’s just say my schedule is a lot more flexible, than yours. 🙂 But I want it in the contract that there will be no flying. Bus or train, all the way. And accommodation for H will have to be made. 🙂
Yes, the trailers were pretty interesting. Although how many will make it to DVD? I saw another trailer for a sci-fi movie called “Afterburner.” Also looked interesting. A solar flare pretty much knocks the world back on its heels, and a guy is contracted to save (steal?) famous artworks, Mona Lisa, etc..
Well, party time will be over, in less than a week. I stoped by the Club the other night, and there were cakes (from recovery birthday parties), and cookies from one end of the counter (and it’s a long counter), to the other. And overflowed onto a side table. I don’t touch any of that stuff.
Here at the Institution, they had a holiday dinner. Catered, no less. Prime rib, etc.. I steered clear. I’ve heard of three cases of flu, in the last two days. Looked like a super spreader event, to me. Later that day, I heard someone hacking a lung out, up here on the third floor.
I always crack eggs into a saucer, before putting them into whatever. Last night I fried up some eggs, and mixed them with rice, celery, peas, garlic and broccoli. A bit of cheddar cheese, on top. Tasty.
Then I settled in to watch a couple of episodes of “Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon.” Season three. It’s the only spin off from that series that I’ve found appealing. Lew
Hello Chris,
Happy solstice!
Here we celebrate the shortest day by being out from dawn to dusk and lighting candles indoors when the sun sets. Some gluhwein may have been consumed.
Thanks for sharing your experiences with the “single-unit” AC. I guess that the exhaust pipe will send out hot air, and make the other side cooler.
However, every cubic meter of hot air you push out of your house, will leak in somewhere else.
Unfortunately, I suspect it will be hot air that is sucked into your house?
Yesterday, we visited some friends who live in a kind of energy-smart house built in the 1990s. They have underground air-ducts for incoming air. The air is sucked through a 10 meter underground pipe, something like 1 meter below ground, before entering into the different rooms of their place.
The incoming air is around +10C in the winter and +16C in the summer. (Even though outdoor temperature would be -20C in the coldest of winter and +35C in the hottest of summer.)
An added advantage of that system is that the cooling of the incoming air also dehumidifies it. When cooling the air in the underground duct, the humidity is condensed on the cool underground tube surface (and the tubes are slanted outwards).
It is a huge advantage to not get wet air into your house. (That is an advantage of a two-unit system, where only coolant is piped through the wall, not wet, hot air is brought into the house.)
I am already thinking about how to retrofit our house with conditioned-air-inlets. Our bedroom is on the first floor (one stair upstairs from ground floor) so that will be difficult. The downstairs rooms would be easier. Hmm. Another project on the long list of future improvements.
We have an unseasonably warm December. The advantage is that I could do an hour of weeding, since the ground is not frozen. I try to weed for an hour or so most days, to keep it to a non-taxing exercise, and switch hands with the digging fork.
Another thing I came to think of – I hope that the strong-string you bought is UV stable. Not all plastic is made for outdoor use, I realized…
Peace,
Göran