Had to laugh, a few weeks ago I read an article with a sentence which resonated deeply: “It was very crazy.” And with yet another prolonged heat wave this week, those were my very thoughts. The line incidentally, was derived from an essay, penned by a young Australian lady who’d booked herself into some sort of weird Chinese fat prison. Apparently it’s a business, and people go there to lose weight. A strange concept, but then, everyone is different, and if that’s your thing… Gyms expend a person’s energy through resistance machines, which in turn generates heat. There are times I dream of utilising some of that human energy to haul large rocks back up the hill. No doubts there’d be public outrage and complaints at the idea of a long line of folks all harnessed up together, working in tandem, pulling boulders uphill.
The heatwave broke here today, and cold air blew from a southerly direction. The frozen continent way to the south of here across a vast ocean, occasionally exerts some authority on the weather in this location. It’d would have been nice if moisture arrived along with the change in conditions, but a person must be grateful for what is, and not what could be.
From time to time, the winds were redolent with the smell of carrion, and I’ve only got myself to blame for this. It’s a long story, which is worthy of recounting. Way back in the 1970’s and 1980’s, there were apparently up to four deer farms operating in this part of the mountain range. I’ve no idea what they were doing, but when much younger I recall the push for Ostrich farming. Had no idea what that lot were doing either, and have never seen a big bird product. Come to think of it, venison (deer meat) is not exactly easily available at the local supermarket.
Business ideas occasionally have the unfortunate habit of crashing, sometimes messily. Such may have been the case here with the deer farms. Local rumour has it, that the gates to the farms were allegedly left open. The big herbivores found a climate to their liking, with plenty of forest cover. Presumably one night, a large stag fell for the batting eyelashes of a beautiful doe, let’s call her Bambi, and the rest as they say is history.
A few years ago, a local farmer/s apparently employed some professional shooters to deal with the feral herd of deer consuming the cattle feed. The mob had possibly grown to over 150 Red Deer. The bush telegraph is a real thing, and the local grapevine rumour mill suggested that was around the number culled. Those animals are pretty clever, and the survivors quickly realised that their home turf was no longer a viable option. So they decamped.
About two years ago, Red Deer began making special guest appearances in the orchards and gardens here. It was not unusual to occasionally be startled by a herd of six. They’re the size of small horses, and some even have the temerity to exhibit bad attitudes. Last summer, all of the agapanthus flowers were consumed, and even the strappy leaves began disappearing. An astute person realises that if the deer eat the flowers, the local honeyeater birds go hungry. And that’s what happened.
The damage got worse though. Stags go through a time when they scrape the velvet from their antlers, and for some weird reason, apple and olives tree trunks are the plant species of choice for that behaviour. Two decade old olive trees were ring barked by the deer and have since had growth above that line die.
Plum trees are also favoured by the big herbivores, and many a branch and tree was broken and set back years. It was always my intention to live with the wildlife, and the property jumps with life, but when the deer began pulling over mature apple trees, something had to be done. Check this tree out:
How the big deer do that trick, is that they get up on their hind legs, grab a branch with their teeth, and then fall back to four feet upon the ground. If I hadn’t seen it, I wouldn’t have believed it possible. The trees have long been pruned so that the lower branches were out of reach of the local wallabies (a smaller lone forest kangaroo) at over six foot. But when a tree is made to lean on a thirty degree angle, the branches soon get stripped of both leaves and fruit. Observant readers will also notice that the bark has been damaged by the rubbing of antlers.
An apple tree can be restored, but it will be many years until it recovers and produces again. An old timer orchardist told me long ago that if the tree is not completely ring barked, it’ll be fine, and I’m inclined to believe him. The above tree will be pruned severely, and then we’ll use some heavy duty nylon towing straps attached to the big low centre of gravity mower, and pull it back upright. It might work. We’ve already had to do this to another apple tree:
Deer were introduced onto the continent in the 19th century by clueless wealthy folks for the purposes of hunting. With no natural predators (other than humans), the feral populations have exploded, and in this corner of the continent there is no season, and as a private landowner there are no restrictions other than calibre. A nearby neighbour has done the bulk of the task and expended an awful lot of ammunition, however one deer had escaped the attention, and was being a nuisance here. This week I dealt to that deer. The land cannot support the sort of damage that the species were doing, and their meals were coming at the expense of the other critters who have long lived here. A few nights ago the deer pushed the big wombat off the choicest grass, and in a pique, the marsupial kicked over the water dish in retaliation, which presumably the deer was drinking from.
It sure has been tough times lately with repeated heat waves, and food is getting scarce. The other day a mob of thirty Sulphur Crested Cockatoos performed a massive smash and grab raid on the apple trees. The birds weren’t local, and I’d not experienced such a raid before. Throwing items at the birds to clear them off was a pointless activity. Firing off a few shots, sent the birds scrambling to get away. It’s been a tough summer.
What was notable about the experiences of this week, was that once the blow-in pest birds and animals were dealt to, calm again descended over the land. It’d never occurred to me before that the long term residents had established a nice balance between their population sizes and needs. Afterwards, they all just went about doing their thing. A large percentage of our produce goes towards meeting the needs of the wildlife, but that does not imply that any critter turning up here causing a nuisance, upsetting the balance, will get a feed. They have to earn the right to live here.
Anyone who’s ever met a Kelpie dog, will know that they are active. This week the two canines have been making astounding claims about being Alpine Kelpies. They’re hot too. Half an hour of running around at high speed in the heat, and they’re done. You won’t see me running around in this sort of weather.
Hot weather comes with bushfire, and some of those have been epic in size. Despite the fires being over a hundred kilometres away, the smoke can be smelt and tasted.
Almost forgot to mention. The dogs here aren’t merely existing for their own pleasure, for they have to work. Rabbiting is on their list of things to do. Again clueless idiots brought the wild rabbit with them from Europe, and they’re a common sight on the land in these enlightened days.
One of the reasons that there is so much life here in these conditions, is because the soil is fed continually. Plants can survive harsh dry summer conditions, if the soil is good enough. Despite the hot weather, four hours were spent earlier in the week mixing up a trailer load of compost and minerals.
That load provided feed to about fifty trees, many of which are in the deer proof citrus enclosure. Citrus trees require regular feeding due to having shallow root systems, but they do grow rapidly and produce fruit in winter here, when nothing else does.
In hot weather like this, we get up early, work hard, and then finish for the day about 2pm. Often, we’ll head outdoors again around 7pm when the scorching sun is lower in the sky. This week, work on a new garden path began.
A day was spent hauling large rocks back uphill so as to create a new triangular border around the stairs in this latest path project.
Another day of hauling, almost completed the rock work in that area.
The original intention was to plant a tree fern in middle of the triangular shaped garden bed on the downhill side of the new path. After discussions today, we’ve decided to cover the whole area over with rocks, sort of like crazy paving. That work should be completed for next week.
Water stored in the house tanks was getting low at around the 40% level. Long term readers will recall that last year a fancy new set of pipelines were installed which can send water anywhere on the property. This week I put the system to the test, and after a few necessary minor modifications, about 5,000L / 1,250 gallons of water were pumped uphill.
It’s nice to see some water gushing into the tank inlet filters.
In breaking produce news:
The greenhouse is going well, and the design suits works in super hot conditions.
The tomatoes in particular are enjoying the heat.
Don’t be fooled by the name, Alpine strawberries love being well fed in the greenhouse conditions and will produce berries for over half the year.
About 40kg / 90 pounds of apples were harvested, and half of those have now been turned into cider. The plan is to get the rest of the batch done next week.
Breakfast at this time of year is superb. This next lot were plucked form the trees.
Zucchini (courgette) plants are beginning to fruit as are the cucumbers.
The pears which haven’t been eaten by the birds, are putting on size. Brown pears are some of the best tasting varieties.
Plums have only this week began putting on some colour, which tells me that they’re near ripe.
The grape vines were all pruned and weeded during the week.
Onto the flowers:
The temperature outside now at about 10am is 11’C (52’F). So far for this year there has been 13.6mm (0.5 inches) which is up from last weeks total of 12.6mm (0.5 inches)
Comments
48 responses to “It was very crazy”
Yo, Chris – “It was very crazy.” The header photo of the dogs looks like they think it’s hilarious. They may be delirious with the heat.
“Long lines of folks, pulling boulders uphill.” Well, then you could use them to haul buckets of water uphill, for the house supply. You wouldn’t have to use the pump. Your right. Someone would object. Then there’s the problem of housing. Maybe repurposed wombat burrows?
The smell of carrion. First the giant rat, and now the deer. They say things come in threes. Maybe the rabbit will suffice.
Seems like someone is always coming up with some get rich scheme, involving some poor species of animals. Ostriches, deer, llama, tea cup pigs, chinchillas. The next thing you know things don’t quit work out as promised, and a lot of animals end up with rescue outfits. If they’re lucky.
You’re right, animals keep the land in balance. Unless some interloper shows up. I guess it’s the animal version of an abuse of the commons.
“….deer proof citrus orchard …” Hubris, hubris. Quick, turn around three times and spit over your left shoulder. That ought to nullify the bad ju-ju. 🙂
Nothing quit so low maintenance as stone, once they are in place. If you change your mind, you can always pull up a few stones and plant something.
Your tomatoes look very promising. Do you ever thin the fruit? I never have, either. But I do prune out the branches that aren’t producing flowers.
The strawberries look quit delectable. As does your breakfast fruit medially.
Looks like the zucchini has put on some growth, from last week.
The onion flowers look very much like the Elephant Garlic flowers. I usually cut an odd number of the stocks, dry them, and replace the previous year’s blossoms in a vase in the apartment. I cut the stocks at different lengths, and put the in a tall vase. They make a nice cascade or stair-step arrangement. Lew
Hi Lewis,
Those two dogs were probably delirious with the heat. 🙂 I don’t want to call it prematurely, but the season has shifted, a bit. Nights are beginning earlier. Dew in the morning, cold air. The plant growth has slowed. Mind you, it’s still massively dry and tomorrow and Wednesday will be pushing 90’F, but with now cooler nights. The house will work well in those conditions, but we’ll see.
Oh, I hadn’t thought of the housing issue with the chain gang, err, paying harnessed exercise seekers, and was hoping not to be involved in such personal matters. Probably not going to fly as an idea, yeah.
Ah ha! You’re right, and such stinks do come in threes. The rabbit… 😉 The worm farm sewerage system usually smells earthy, but now it’s earthy with a touch of decomposition. I tell ya what, the forest critters are making short work of the deer, and the stench sends a very strong message. We were discussing this undocumented feature – the stink – today and have acknowledged that perhaps a system may be necessary so that the carcass can be moved deeper into the forest. From the house, it’s pretty minor, but still, the aroma is far from fresh. What the heck did they do the gallows for back in the day? Yuk!
Remember how I mentioned that the dog rawhide chews had changed to a smaller size with a different colour? The dogs refuse to chew upon them. Dunno what to make of that, because we purchased a bulk pack.
I know, it’s so true, but such animal schemes seem to be on the decline. Funnily enough, we looked into truffles almost eighteen years ago, and whilst they grow some of the largest in the world in these parts, the costs versus the income equation was very discouraging. And exactly, if the animals are lucky. Funny you mention rescue shelters, but I read a while back that they’re getting overwhelmed with animals, but will also point out how difficult they made it to adopt a new pet when last we interacted with such places. And that’s despite having a long good history with them, and being a donor. I was annoyed by that because it refuses to acknowledge a relationship, yet they want mad cash. Sure… Anywhoo, we ended up with three twelve week old puppies (Ollie, Dame Plum and Ruby) and now have dogs which are well balanced and not messed up in the head. It’s been an interesting insight that one, and has altered my perspective.
Exactly! And I’d not thought of the situation with the interlopers in the terms of an abuse of the commons, but yeah. Thanks, that’s an excellent insight, and it’s true. Hmm. I’ll cogitate further upon that insight of yours.
Hehe! Bad juju stay away, and be gone! (cue spit over the left shoulder, turn around three times and return to business as usual) Who knew expressing an opinion upon a chunk of fencing infrastructure could be such a fraught activity with divine meddling!
Yeah, the plan is to finish up the stone work before the end of the week. We also have to harvest all of the potato crop because right now, the tubers are super dry. I’ll tell you a funny story about potatoes. We’d run out due to bad storage issues, and the local farm gate, had also run out. Then there was a national potato shortage due to crazy hot and dry weather last summer (and probably this year as well). So we paid an exorbitant price for supermarket potatoes, presumably grown up north of the continent. They were a strange mob those tubers, because when roasting them, they created quite an unpleasant stink. Ordinarily I enjoy the smell of roasting potatoes, but these ones were so bad, they only got baked in the outdoor oven. It was not a good situation. Anyway, we dumped that lot in the worm farm, and today roasted up some of our own red potatoes and the smell was just beautiful. I can’t even begin to imagine what was up with those purchased potatoes, but it was not good.
Do people thin tomato fruit? I didn’t know that was a thing, and like you, have never done it. It’s been my observation that when it comes to that plant, people spend a crazy amount of time mucking around with them, for not much extra gain. I also prune branches and train them up the cords, but far out, it’s a minute or two per day for the lot. No big deal. There are gains to be made with the plants, but is it really worth the hassle?
The strawberries were fed about two weeks ago, and have responded with lots of growth and yummy berries, and I’d not realised that the plants were even hungry. Zucchini love the hot weather, as long as there is some regular water for them. Such a great plant.
All in the Allium family of plants :-), and Elephant Garlic is related to leeks, which are super hardy, and a bit weedy here. Nice one with the arrangement, it’s a nice touch.
Hearing is pretty important, and you’ll notice that whenever I’m working with machines in photos, hearing protection is used. I like music, and it would be awful to no longer enjoy it due to err, industrial deafness. Hey, the ladies are not exempt from that possibility either, and it can be a problem in all sorts of environments. You’d have noticed that kitchens are a very noisy place?
Go the frogs! And may they consume many a garden pest, before you’re aware of either critter. 🙂 They’ll eat spiders you know, which I’m very cool with. Your bumble bee is one early pollinator. That’s awesome news too.
There were some interesting ecology articles upon the subject of ‘false spring’, which occur here most years. Hmm. No wonder the fruit trees are slow growing at this location. I’d not appreciated the difficulties the tree has to grapple with. Candidly, at 63’F, your spring sounds kinda similar to a false spring. The temperature only reached 66’F here today – it felt rather cool.
The rain will be good for penetrating into the soil in that sort of early spring warmth. Did you escape the deluges and make it to the Club without incident? How’s the pantry going?
Had an admin / sourcing day today. Quite pleasant too, as despite an extensive list of things to do, everything was done at a relaxed pace. A Banh Mi was had for lunch, it being on the way, and more importantly, on the list! 😉
Yeah, my childhood was filled with such British comedy viewing. Your Uncle Larry was onto a good, if somewhat warped, thing.
Glad to read that you got a laugh out of the very naughty song. Parking is a problem, and dare I say it, but also can be something of an abuse of the commons. How many cars can your inmates even have? I’d have thought that it’d be a relatively fixed number, although, you may be experiencing a collector? Don’t laugh, in rural areas, there are folks who hoard old cars and machinery, and the places eventually end up looking like an industrial site, but in a random rural area. Hope the new night manager is good, and gets on top of such problems.
Honestly, if the work looks like an unidentifiable splodge, it may possibly be just that. The Fayum portraits on the other hand, are stunning. It’s a bit eerie isn’t it, that the proficiency for such work was lost for almost a millennia.
Funny stuff, and thanks for the review. Yes, that whole poster is David Bowie! 🙂 Ah, Seth Rogen, you’ve done it again.
Tuna has my vote over shrimp as well. You nailed it. Had a salad for dinner tonight, with fresh cucumber from the garden. Quite nice.
Did some watering earlier. When is it going to rain? Oh well, that’s life, isn’t it? If the journey was certain, it’d be all rather dull and stuff.
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – Today is Groundhog Day! And, the little rodent saw his shadow, so, 6 more weeks of winter.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/article/groundhog-day-2026-punxsutawney-phil-sees-his-shadow-predicting-6-more-weeks-of-winter-122739121.html
You’ve noticed your days getting shorter. I’ve noticed our days getting longer. Sunset is now 5:15. I see we’ll add another hour of daylight, on March 8th. The dreaded Daylight Savings Time. I saw the Master Gardeners, this morning. They’ll be here on March 9th, to divvy up the garden spaces.
Our high yesterday was 52F (11.11C). Our overnight low was 43F (6.11C). The forecast high for today is 50F. The Master Gardeners call “false spring.”
Medieval gallows were often out of town, at a crossroads. There was a recent archaeological dig, in France. Gallows from the 1600s. There were several mass burial pits. I guess they’d dig a pit, toss a body in, and maybe a bit of earth to keep the stink down. Ready for the next customer. You could always throw a bit of quick lime, on the deer. That would speed things along. Seems to be the preferred method of disposing of bodies, in all those mysteries I watch.
Pandemic puppies. It’s a thing. Really clogged up the shelters. When H finally shuffles off her mortal coil, I may make a trip to our local animals shelter. See how much of a song and dance it is. Or, I may just wait to see what the universe provides.
No, no, no. Spin, then spit. 🙂
I pruned my tomatoes, last year, mostly because one of the Master Gardners kept nagging me about it. I can’t say it increased yields. But, I’d guess better air circulation keeps down any random diseases.
I guess people do thin tomato fruit. “Yes, gardeners may thin tomato fruit to improve the size and quality of the remaining tomatoes, especially if they are growing for competition or want larger fruits. However, in warmer climates, thinning may not significantly affect the overall yield.
growveg.com The University of British Columbia.”
The Master Gardeners told me the bumble bee I saw is a queen. They emerge first, do a bit of speed dating, and then return to the earth to raise a brood.
The pantry shelves showed up, and they’re sitting out in the lobby. They are very dirty 🙁 I think I’ll go down this evening, with a roll of paper towels and a bottle of white vinegar and clean them up. If not me, who?
I suppose when they built this place, not as many residents came with vehicles. There are not quit enough spaces, in relation to number of Inmates. Nope, only one vehicle per customer. Why some of them are given to driving enormous hulking vehicles, I don’t know. And seem incapable of parking between the lines. We have to show proof of license and insurance. Then we get a tag to hang from our rear view mirrors.
Sounds like the last place I lived. Hoarded vehicles and farm machinery. There were a few gems mixed in, left to go to wrack and ruin. And, the blackberries. Lew
Hi, Chris!
You know, there is a Wodehouse story involving a kind of “fat prison” and a mystery, written maybe a hundred years ago. I think I’ve seen the concept in an Agatha Christie, too. I don’t think I like your idea of harnessing up (like 20 Mule Team Borax) the people to haul rocks (you won’t want me!), unless you could do that very trick and get them to pay you to do so.
Yay for the cold air!
A love story . . . Unfortunately, because of heedless and careless management in the past, you were faced with having to make a tragic decision. Your deer are massive creatures and I can see why they do not have natural predators.
I have to say it, but Ruby is a goofy girl. Just look at that face. Poor Plum.
Oh, dear – Chris had to move more rocks. He had no team to do so.
Amazing, sending that much water uphill, wherever you want it. The reason behind it – scary. It does look perfect in the greenhouse; I would have thought that it got too hot in there.
I am swooning over all that produce! All I can offer you is ice cubes – which I’ll bet you’ll take!
I plant some onions just for the flowers, ditto for the dill, and for some reason, my oregano hardly bloomed last year. Thanks for your flowers!
The pain in my shoulder is finally letting up some. Lot’s of rehab ahead!
Pam
Hi Pam,
Firstly, Yay you! So glad to hear that your shoulder is letting up a bit, and starting to recover. It’s an injury which is meant to repair over time on its own, but obviously nothing is ever as good as it was before. Alas, life is a bit like that sometimes, but such great news. Sending you some happy energy! 🙂
Who even knew such things existed a century ago, let alone now? Unfortunately my gut feeling suggests that a certain kind of bullying person might be attracted to that sort of an occupation. On the other hand, if people are paying for that service… 🙂 Hey, I’ll bet the Wodehouse story was far sillier than the murder mystery?
That’s a good point to, and I’d not considered that aspect of the harnessing idea. Sorry, but your application was rejected, and I don’t know why. Awful isn’t it? Hehe! Oh well, look it probably wouldn’t work as a get rich quick scheme, but I’ve got no doubts that we’ll all come up with some great ideas for that easy livin’ path, sooner or later. 🙂
Today was again hot, and it looks like a camp fire off in the Wombat State forest to the south west was producing a lot of smoke a few hours ago. In fact, I could see the smoke, from the Big Smoke. Ook. At least the winds are becalmed now, and we’re getting cold nights. Yay!
Those clueless idiots in the 19th century, worthy of a fine Wodehouse tale, forgot to bring in predators for the many species of deer introduced onto the continent for their gaming pleasure. Hardly fair is it? Softies, if they were serious about sport, there’d be mountain lions roaming around the forests nowadays… Actually, on that note, I believe that over a long enough period of time, the humble domestic cat will evolve to being that big down here. Sorry for the pun, but you could say that the: Cat is out of the bag? 🙂 How’s Mr Baby doing?
You called it correctly, Ruby is goofy with a sense of fun about her. Dame Plum and Ollie treat her antics with a sense of resigned acceptance of a much loved wayward friend.
Pam, I’m getting older, and am now doing all this rock work whilst it doesn’t cause too many mornings of crunchiness. I’m sure you’d understand.
The water systems are working well with so far enough in reserves, and it’s been the driest January for about 17 years. 2009 was a bad summer.
Nope, the greenhouse works perfectly, even on a 42’C / 108’F day. It ain’t your average greenhouse, and has some unique features adapted to the local conditions. A poly tunnel here would be a total nightmare on those extreme days, and the plants would surely cook. Can’t wait to construct another greenhouse, but there’s so much work to do before that moment. Deep breath. Serenity now!
Absolutely I’d take those ice cubes. Thanks for the kind offer. 🙂 Every year, there is a little bit more produce, and I reckon we’ll dig up the potatoes this week – and store them properly this year. Over half of last seasons harvest rotted. Totally my fault.
Onions produce lovely flowers, as do their friends the humble leek. Your insects would love them too. Oregano is tough as old boots, being of the mint family, but yeah, not all seasons are equal.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
Hey, did you notice the other article which mentioned that Bill Murray was bitten twice by a wild ground hog during the making of the well known film from 33 years ago? You’ve long mentioned that actors working with either children or animals is a fraught situation. I’d say rabies shots are a bad outcome for Mr Murray. Not a fan of peta and their silliness, to me they’ve caused a lot of hassle and misery for sheep down under with flies.
Alas, you’ve got six more weeks of winter to cope with, but the groundhog did score rather poorly for accuracy. One critter was 85% accurate, but is it as popular? Oh poop for you! It was hot here today, and I went into the big smoke for paid work. Interestingly, it’s now cooler tonight, so that’s something. Driving back home I noticed the smoke from a fire off to the south west of us, and took a good, long and hard look at the wind forecasts for the next week or so. It’s near a camp ground, and the mind boggles. Fortunately, it’s not too windy and that’s another thing to be grateful for. The season here has turned, and it’s different somehow from only a week ago.
How’s this though?: Southeastern Australia’s driest January in 17 years. Thought it’d been dry of late. We’d normally expect about two inches of rain for last month. Oh well, it is what it is.
Daylight savings time upsets my regular rhythms for about a week, and honestly it feels like jet lag. Lewis, we must be stoic and reach the blissful state of acceptance, or maybe not! Please feel free to have a good solid whinge when you lose your hour in the near future. 🙂
That is getting warm, and the trees will be awakening from their winter slumbers – maybe? Are you seeing anything like early blossoms on that front?
Out of curiosity, what do you reckon is the most likely reason for placing gallows at a crossroads? The burial pit is a practical response because I reckon legitimate travellers still would have had a need to use the roads, and too many victims on display may sent their business elsewhere? But don’t know really. The quicklime is a good idea, but I’m letting the forest critters just do their bit and redistribute the fertility back into the surrounding forest.Trust me, I doubt much of the carcass will go to waste at the rate it’s already disappearing. There’s an owl down there at the moment, and it’s probably hunting rats.
Allegedly a few years ago a murderer dumped a body up in the forest near to the more fashionable end of the mountain range. Caused quite a stink too, yet nobody went to investigate. Oh well, the case was eventually resolved and the alleged perp is behind jars.
You know, waiting to see what the Universe provides is not a bad strategy on that front, and one to which I’ve long subscribed. You can be pleasantly surprised, and I’ve enjoyed many a good companionship with all sorts of dogs. Obviously some will never earn a title, but they each bring something different to the table, and sometimes a champion emerges, like the most intelligent Sir Scruffy. And I reckon also that they teach us, as much as we learn from them.
Far out Lewis, I got the ritual back to front. Ook! Hopefully, a quick couple of recalibrating spins and a spit over the right shoulder doesn’t leave me feeling dizzy? Thanks for the correction, and I better get onto this act sooner, rather than later.
People can get a bit uptight about the various methods for the care for tomato plants, and like you I’m a bit dubious and instead do what is needful. If there is enough growing space, the vines will happily crawl all over the ground like a pumpkin does.
Ah, a Queen bumblebee. Makes a lot of sense, because the sighting is really early. You could cheekily point out that instead of working, the lady is out partying! Good spotting too, and I likewise tend to keep an eye out to see what is going on in the earliest stages of the new growing season. In warmer climates, people don’t have to worry about such matters. Having early blossoms and no pollinators is a real bummer of a problem.
Good luck with the cleaning, and those are some decent choices with the cleaning chemicals. Yup, sometimes a bloke just has to man up for the occasion and get on with the work. Did the cupboards clean up easily, and equally importantly, do they look good?
That’s a bugbear of mine too – why the enormous vehicles, and down under, the standard for parking spaces is probably smaller than in your country, and those things over hang their spots. Reminds me of the time I took a flight and the enormous guy next to me spilled over onto my seat. He was far from fresh too, redolent with the unwashed aroma of stale ciggies and booze. And people ask me why I loathe flying… The tag is a good idea, although I’ve heard stories of people sub letting their car parking spaces fro fun and profit.
Yeah, agreed, in amongst all of the industrial litter, there are some gems. But getting to them is problematic. Interestingly, a nearby property was like that maybe fifteen years ago, and how it got cleaned up must have been an epic tale. It was fast too, so I’d imagine a scrap metal merchant did the job, maybe. Horses run on the land now, it’s all very neat and tidy, but not all that long ago…
It’s now warm outside tonight, but very calm.
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – Poor Bill Murray. Rabies shots are very painful. Right in the old gut. You think they’d come up with another method of medicine delivery.
Introduced deer, rabbits … and the infamous cane toad. I knew about those, and saw an article just this morning. But before I could pin it down, it disappeared into the ether. 🙁
That’s concerning about the nearby fire. I think you’ve mentioned going hiking there. I saw something interesting on the library new list. I think I mentioned a series, for children, “I Survived (insert well known disaster, here.) The title is, “I Survived the California Wildfires, 2018.” It’s probably about the fire that wiped out Paradise, California. I wasn’t interested enough to put it on my hold list (which is getting tight), but I may, later.
That was an interesting weather article. But would it pass the Prof. Mass smell test? 🙂 Probably. Your media seems to take weather more seriously, down there.
Our high yesterday was 52F (11.11C). Our overnight low was 41F (5C). Our forecast high for today is 58F. There isn’t much sun in our forecast for the next five days, but at least there’s no rain. I haven’t seen anything flowering, but there are plenty of buds.
“Why are gallows at crossroads.” That was an interesting search. They wanted a good crowd, so people came from all directions. Vendors also wanted a good crowd. They provided all kinds of things on offer. Wasn’t there a Python sketch about a good hanging? Tiny toy gallows for the kiddies. Suicides were buried at crossroads. They were also thought to be magical places. The devil transacted a lot of business, at crossroads.
“Alleged perp is behind jars?” 🙂 I imagine walls of bottled preserves … all past their use dates and going moldy. Cruel and unusual punishment!
Well, I went down to the Club armed with paper towels and vinegar spray, to clean the pantry. shelving. And someone had already cleaned it! What a pleasant surprise. I don’t know who did it, but it’s appreciated.
I moved what was still on the pass through counter, to the shelves. Not much left. So, I ran down to the $+ store, and picked up a couple of bags of groceries. And, we’re getting a food box, tomorrow.
So, in the last week I’ve spent about $65 on the Club pantry. Seed money. I think when it gets rolling, I’ll probably pick up some money donations. And, people that brought in food, before, may do the same again.
I don’t know if I was corresponding with you back then, but once, the last place I lived, a personable young man and buddy showed up, wanting to buy some of the car hulks, littering the place. He collected a couple of brands. I introduced him to Don (a bit of a delicate negotiation), and he ended up hauling away 12-15 hulks. Not that it made much difference.
I watched an interesting, older movie, last night. “Midnight Special.” Sci-fi, reminiscent of King’s “Fire Starter.”
https://youtu.be/1zuQTmVCEn4?si=3dT5uZeq4VFRn2QX
Besides government baddies pursuing a kid with gifts and skills, toss in a weird religious cult. It was engrossing and entertaining. Lew
Chris:
Happy energy received, thus instanter healing in the works. Thanks!
Have you ever read anything Wodehouse that wasn’t silly?
What is crazy is how your temps dropped 50 Fahrenheit degrees. A person might feel a bit dizzy.
Mr. Baby queries: “What cat? What bag?” He wants to be sure that you are not lurking around the corner AND he wishes you to know that, if you are, there is an unhumble domestic cat that is big time big and if you are around that corner just look out and see him. He’s white with big, black spots.
I am also reporting, as proof of the above, that today Mr. Baby caught a vole under the front porch, brought him out and plopped him on the ice, patted him on the tummy a couple of times, and then tossed him back under the porch. What was that all about?
I don’t even see how your potatoes are alive in that weather. I was thinking just today of planting potatoes, and if I have enough on hand in a couple of months to plant out. Definitely not.
Pam
Yo, Chris – It disappeared, it reappears. Mysteries of the internet.
https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/articles/pest-control-plague-rise-australia-153200397.html
Ugly suckers, aren’t they? Lew
Chris,
So you put your home-made cider in those wonderful Grolsch bottles? Those were my favorites to use when I brewed my own beer and ale. Perfect size and easy to use.
Mountain ash tree, Yes, sorbus americana as you surmised. The berries are pretty and feed the birds. I remember about age 10 in Spokane, there were several mountain ash trees in the neighborhood. Several neighbors had several pyracantha also. All were laden, heavily, with orange berries. Well, somehow a berry fight began with the berries from the trees and bushes. The streets turned orange. Some were smooshed by passing cars. It was a big mess. Naturally, only two of the 8 families involved made their kids pick up as much of the mess as was possible. Yup, my parents and the parents two doors down. Another kid was making fun of us. Neighbor girl was my age, Teasing Boy about 5. The two of us got a large bucket filled with berries, whole and smooshed, then I caught Teasing Boy and Neighbor Girl filled his shirt with the bucket of berries. Then we smooshed them up real good in his shirt. That ended the cleanup operation.
Glad to hear that you are getting somewhat cooler weather. I bet that feels good. More than welcome after the heat.
I just checked our rainfall total for January at the official weather station. “Average” since 1991 is 5.00cm. This year we got 3.07cm. Of that, a mere .36cm fell after January 7, falling on the 28th and 30th. An additional 0.05cm so far in February, with nothing of note in the forecast through at least the 22nd. There is no snowpack to speak of for the Spokane River watersheds. Grass is already starting to grow, as is rhubarb and roses. Global weirding in progress.
With special thanks to Pam for providing the first two lines…
Chris had to move more rocks:
He had no team to do so.
Even with a motored cart
His muscles had a rough go.
Electric machine to pick up rocks,
More machines for their placement;
He’d surely find more work to do
Perhaps hand dig a basement.
Actually, that is a large haul of rocks you moved. (Oops, a pun snuck in.)
At least the water pumps saved you from also hauling gazillions of litres to the household tanks. It’s good to know that that pump and pipe system works.
Ya know, that was very fast work on that new pathway. And the rock placement. Impressive. A lot got done when it wasn’t so hot. And it looks good. Was it smoky the entire time you worked on that? That picture of the smoke, well, it’s no wonder you can taste the smoke. UGG.
Hooray for the produce! Hooray for the flowers! I might have to grow oregano just for their blooms.
Killian’s human reminded me this afternoon “It’s time to plant potatoes when the snow is gone from Micah Peak”. Erm, there has hardly been any snow on Micah Peak this year, and what there was melted over 2 weeks ago. It’s much too early to think about planting potatoes. While not frozen, the ground is far from warm. Too foggy and cloudy to warm up the ground. I’ve seen enough winters like this one to expect another cold snap that will completely confuse the plants that have begun to grow. When? “Beware the Ides of March”.
DJSpo
Chris,
A message from The Princess after she looked at the pictures of your new path project.
“WOW! He got a lot done!”
DJSpo
Hi Pam,
Nice, and may your shoulder heal well so that once again you’re able to pit your wits against the groundhog. Although, candidly speaking, given Punxsutawney Phil’s recent predictions, nature is urging you both to rest up and recover over the next month and a half.
Now that you mention it, no I haven’t read any non-fiction Wodehouse. Does this mystical book even exist?
I know! I know! Brain, hurt, ugg! Note the lack of a capital letter when the word ‘ugg’ was used? And that also gives you a good indication of the underlying wear and tear this season is causing for the ol’ grey matter. Hope you have a more stable growing season.
Thanks for the warning. I’d not want to startle Mr Baby, who’s exploits are celebrated, both far and wide. Now, I heard he was something of an expert in the ancient feline martial art form: Kung Sleep. Lest, we not disturb his – so called – repose, and he takes swift retribution upon us all, sharp claws, toothy teeth and all, then returns again to a nice warm spot for a bit of well deserved shut eye. 🙂 Had a cat just like his colours, but long ago.
Voles are about the size of mice, aren’t they? Mr Baby has left us with a mystery there, and maybe he was feeling kind spirited? A bit like people who go recreational fishing, and throw back their catch. Has he done such things before?
Pam, oh no! It’s so much more. The potato vines have mostly died now, and the tubers are beautifully preserved in the dry soil. They’re magnificent looking, and the plan is to harvest them all over the next week before any rains return. Is that how your potatoes usually roll?
Cheers
Chris
Hi DJ,
Please extend my appreciation to your lady for her kind words of appreciation. Man, just between you and I, the hot days were tackled by spending time outdoors until 2pm, when the sun became unbearable. Heading indoors at that time produces a wonderful appreciation for the cooler internal house conditions, even when it’d be otherwise be way too hot.
Yup, those are not the exact bottles, but the closest approximation, and the caps are good for many a re-use. Good to hear that you’ve used them in the past too. Clever folks can also flip the rubber gaskets upside down and get even more uses from them. Hey, a measured amount of sugar prior to closure of the caps, and the result when opened is a tidy fizz! We’ve got a measuring cup which makes knowing exactly how much sugar to drop in (it ain’t much) almost idiot proof. I like idiot proof systems. 🙂 Ever thought of taking up the brewing hobby again?
Ha! That’s funny, and despite the forced clean-up, would have been a whole bunch of fun for you young rapscallions. What an interesting plant you mentioned too, the firethorn or pyracantha. Talk about enough berries to cause some serious damage. Never seen one of those shrubs. A similar plant here is the Elderberry, and the birds love those shrubs.
Yes, the cooler nights are making the hot days more bearable now. A comment stuck with me from my time volunteering for the local brigade, and it was of a new fire after the disastrous 2009 Black Saturday fires (46’C + low humidity + high winds) – which in my opinion could never have been stopped. Someone mentioned to me regarding the later fire which came with cooler nights, that at least the fire fighting efforts made a difference.
The January average is about 5cm here as well. But as you can see… 🙂 Oh well, the rain is what the rain is. 31mm is pretty good all things considered, and your area really lives or dies based on the snow pack up in the much taller Rocky Mountains way to the east of you.Those rivers in your part of the world astound me at their size and volume. Agreed, climate weirding will challenge all of us.
Thanks for the laughs with the poem, and I’ve no intentions at this stage to hand dig a basement! Oh my goodness, but how good would a proper cool store be in this environment? Sadly the winter soil temperatures are way above the magic 4’C number which is the optimal temperature for a cool store.
Very funny! 🙂 Yeah, with not much rain in the immediate forecast, those new water pipe systems will get a decent work out.
It’s quite warm down here, so that path project is going to continue for February, before other more pressing jobs demand to be attended to. And yeah, it was smoky outdoors when we were doing most of the work, but what do you do? Sometimes the smoke stench got into the house, and down under can be a rough place to reside.
Oregano is beautiful, and a herb which thrives in hot and dry weather. It also dies off in the winter, only to reappear the following growing season. You’ll love it.
I’m with you in relation to planting out the potatoes, and it is best to wait until the soil is warmer. Hashtag, the corn crop never germinated this season – of any variety – just sayin’. The Ides of March is a far better time. What are the tubers going to do in the freezing soil anyway? 🙂 Patience is hard to learn.
Have done heaps of paid work this work. In fact, I’m getting smashed, so hopefully something gets done around here. I do need a day of rocks to clear my head, but that won’t be tomorrow! 🙂 Mustn’t sound like I’m grumbling, because I’m not.
Has Dame Avalanche done anything noteworthily silly today?
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
Unless it rains a whole bunch more here regularly, cane toads have zero chance of survival at this southerly latitude. It’s possible that sooner or later, the native wildlife up north will adapt to consuming the pests, and that is happening. And two decades ago, Portuguese millipedes were thick on the ground here, but eventually a local nematode learned how to eat them, and survive, and the rest is history. The millipedes are still there, but in mere background numbers. Species which are too successful, eventually eat themselves out of house and home.
But yes, those cane toads are revolting critters.
Are you serious? Far out. Diving into an interweb rabbit hole… … The treatment sounds nasty and painful, still, it’s better than the alternative which candidly seems far worse.
Yes, we’ve got both kinds of imported nuisances here: deer and rabbits. Interestingly, I observed the magpie family catching a mouse the other day. The birds play catch, because without teeth, they’re unable to chomp up the critter, so they tear rodents apart. It being dry and stuff, things are a bit tough right now for the local birds and animals. Hopefully the big wombat appreciates having the deer gone. Last night I spotted the marsupial having a drink from the dogs water bowl (which is really there for the wombats), and then just sitting down enjoying a quiet moment. With the water digested, the big critter trundled off. We’re like an oasis which they all descend upon. The thornless blackberries are being taken by the local parrots faster than we can harvest the tasty berries. Might not be able to make blackberry jam this year.
At least the season appears to have turned towards cooler weather.
Yes, long ago I camped near to that area where the fire is/was – not sure how it is going and can no longer see any smoke. The winds have been much reduced today, and it’s possible the fire was extinguished.
Alas for a limited number of spots on your library hold list. Has the extreme weather over in the east impacted any of your recent deliveries?
🙂 Weather is serious business down here, with occasional dire consequences. You’d hope that we get the tick of approval from Professor Mass, but at the very least the reality for Australians is that hyperbole causes public outrage, and there the matter rests.
58’F = brr! 🙂 You’re going to laugh, but it’s 18’C / 64’F at around 10pm (outdoors, but a bit warmer indoors), and I’m freezing with the cold air flowing into the house. Had to put on a woollen jumper! Far out…
Good to see that buds will be swelling in your area, but that no blossoms have yet struggled forth in the weak sunshine. They’ll be in for a surprise if they do, because I reckon the chance of a 32’F over night is not done for you.
What? Were the executions a sort of mini-festival? Tiny toy gallows for the kiddies indeed! Ah, the Monty Python folks sure did put their expensive history lessons to proper use. Man, I’m still impressed to know that clerics made killer rabbits a real thing. Actually, I’ve read that elsewhere about the darker side of crossroads. Hmm. Thanks for looking that all up.
I’ve had a lot of paid work to do this week, and happy to work when it’s there and needed to be done. Actually, you may have noticed that I had a very long and well deserved break for most of December and January. It’s been a lot of years since I’ve been able to switch off that part of my brain.
Ha! I’d not thought of the sentence regarding the perp from that perspective, and it’s pretty amusing. Actually, the bloke involved in that incident had the strength to say nothing at all, and such a course of action incurs longer sentencing at a guess. If in such a circumstance (an unlikely possibility), I’d crumble within seconds and start the story at the very beginning and omit no details large or small. Of course, being chatty makes it difficult to doing anything else, and the laconic person has a distinct advantage. Although, I do wonder if such people have anything of interest to say? They might not, you know. 😉
Hey, that’s awesome news to hear that someone else cleaned up the cupboards for the new pantry. Impressive, and do I sense some change in the air with the Club? It is indeed the stuff which pleasant surprises are made of.
Yeah, hopefully the other folks who used to donate, will do so again for the pantry. Cost of living pressures are very real, and official interest rates went up yesterday in this country. A lot of pain given the average mortgage for the nation (most are on variable rates) is something around $694,000. Yes, you read that number correctly. It’s way too big for my tastes, and I wonder how people intend to pay them down? It’d mess with my sleep that sort of worry.
No, I can’t recall that, but it’s not a bad idea. There are often unofficial signs attached to trees on the outskirts of rural areas offering cash for scrap cars. Man, the place I mentioned had seriously big equipment, but none was stored well, and all of it was wasted. That property is astoundingly clean and orderly nowadays.
Both the film trailer, and the book bring on the goosebumps. How did I miss this film? Oh well, one does what they can.
Cheers
Chris
@ Pam – Maybe the vole had something caught in its throat, and Mr. Baby was performing the vole Heimlich maneuver? Or maybe setting himself up as a vole massage therapist? Maybe the vole wasn’t ripe yet? Lew
Yo, Chris – I saw an article, this morning, about some explorations in a New Zealand cave. Which has added eons of information on the fauna of NZ.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/scientists-explored-island-cave-found-150000674.html
The mention of nematodes reminds me, it’s almost time to think about ordering in some, to thwart the willy sow bugs, aka rolls-pollies. They weren’t near the problem, last year, as in past. But, I think I’ll apply them, again. Maybe skip next year.
The wombat sounds like the hermit in your garden.
🙂 Well, at least they’re local parrots, going after your blackberries. Takes some of the sting out … a bit.
Our high yesterday was 52F (11.11C). Our overnight low was 45F (7.22C). Our forecast high for today is 61F. Sunny. I think my internal thermostat must run a bit high. Often at the Club, when in the outside seating area, people complain of the cold. When I’m quit comfortable.
Well, since you asked … Whinge alert! Yesterday was an irritating day, all way around. I started looking into those two missing seed deliveries, both from different places. First I had to struggle with my e-mail accounts, to get the tracking numbers. I have two accounts, and one has decided that I need dual authentication, every time I sign in. And, it never works the first time, and I’ve got to do it twice.
One seed shipment made it to Seattle, on the 24th of January, and was sent on “In Transit to Next Facility.” And after that has fallen into a postal black hole. The other one had no tracking, and I took another look at the original listing. There’s a small banner, that I may have overlooked. “Delayed delivery: Closed til 2/13.”
I’m also a bit miffed at the local library. I put a book on hold, that was sitting on the shelf at the branch. I expected it would be pulled, and put on the local hold shelf. Nope. It’s “In Transit.” To me. I have a sneaking suspicion that now, when they pull holds, it gets tossed in a box, to go to Central Sorting. And then back again. Makes about as much sense as mailing a letter from Chehalis to Centralia, which goes via a sorting center up north.
And, I got the pile of paperwork, shoved through my door, for my yearly recertification on my apartment. Also nagging at the back of my mind is that I got a statement of the changes in my truck insurance … but not the bill. That’s due by the 9th. I think I can just call in to robo man and pay the thing.
So, with all that, I just made fish stick muffins and onion rings for dinner (comfort food) and settled in and watched TWO Sci-fi movies. “Attack of the 50 Foot Woman” (feminist Sci-fi?) and “Children of Men.” Both were quit good, each in their own way. I don’t know how I missed “Midnight Special” either. I just happened to stumble across it, as a trailer, on another old movie. Sometimes, the library still has copies.
Not much entertainment back in Medieval times. Yes, there was rather a festive air, about executions. A little something out of the ordinary to break up the daily routines. 🙂
Oh, you mentioned you were taking a bit of a break from paid work. You sure got a lot of big projects done, and a few tasty excursions into the outside world.
The perp may have kept his mouth shut, as he was protecting someone. For which he’ll be well rewarded. Happens, from time to time, in organized crime circles.
Yes, there is a bit more lightness, about the Club. It will take a little while, for word to spread.
We should get a food box, today. Commodities, so there may be produce. I’ll probably have two or three bags of groceries, to take to the Club, when I go down and visit Jane, late this afternoon. There’s deep cuts on the horizon, for supplemental food programs. Lew
@ Lew:
Lew! You’re killing me!
Pam
@ DJSpo:
Oh, lordy – I forgot the Ides of March were coming. They probably start with the blasted time change.
Pam
@ DJSpo:
I just caught your poem. It’s one of your best (glad to help . . .).
Pam
Chris:
As far as I know, every jot of Mr. Wodehouse’s writing is pure fiction.
Kung Sleep – you’ve got it. Though sometimes Mr. Baby is just pretending to be asleep . . .
Mr. Baby has a new best friend. It is a kiwi – no, not of the New Zealander kind. Yesterday a potted fig plant was delivered to my son. That would be a fig in a pot, with soil. It was placed on the living room floor and there it has to stay until Mr. Baby falls out of love with it. He was rubbing his sturdy self all over it: Tree, pot, soil, plastic bag that came off and lay on the floor beside it.
This went on all evening until I went to bed and saw no more. I did a bit of research about what else besides catnip attracts cats. I was pretty sure it wasn’t figs, he never fell for one yet. Didn’t come up with anything plausible.
This morning he was sleeping on the plastic by his BF’s side. My son and I were talking and he mentioned that what the fellow grew besides the fig that he had sent was kiwis. Ha! I thought I had seen a picture of a kiwi in one of the articles I had glanced at the night before. Sure enough, some cats go crazy over kiwi plants (not fruit) and the pot, and maybe the soil, must have hosted a kiwi before. Mystery solved, and Mr. B’s affection is beginning to wane a bit.
Voles look like half-tailed mice, but smaller. I don’t think they are as smart as mice. I have met some very smart mice. Lew had the best suggestions for Mr. B’s behavior:”Maybe the vole had something caught in its throat, and Mr. Baby was performing the vole Heimlich maneuver? Or maybe setting himself up as a vole massage therapist? Maybe the vole wasn’t ripe yet? Lew”. I’d never seen Mr. Baby do that before. I think the vole might very well have escaped if he wasn’t too nauseous.
No – I do not grow “magnificent” potatoes, but I see that all I need is a bunch of days of 108F temperatures. We have been lacking that.
My pruning book came yesterday. I love it; it looks so simple. Thanks so much to you and Claire.
Pam
@ Pam,
Thanks for the comments about the poem!
We lose an hour of sleep March 8. A week before the Ides. They need to change the date of the time change to coincide with the Ides of March. Things would then make more sense.
DJSpo
Hello Chris,
I realised it’s not possible to reply to a comment once you put up a new post. So this is a continuation from last week’s discussion.
The day I read your “Plans” essay was one of the very hot days here west of the mountains. Here it is a bit elevated, near a range, so nights usually cool down somewhat. Some time ago the local weather station broke and there are no readings from nearby available. It would have been another of a run of about 6 days over 40º, and you had been talking about operating home aircon units in such weather to save excess voltage going out to wreak havoc in the grid.
I went to turn on my aircon during the afternoon as I have grid tied solar panels (no option here in town) – and the grid input seemed indeed to have been turned off remotely. Strange low power readings on the interface such as I hadn’t seen before and did not accord with the conditions.
There had been a brief piezo beep from the stove which means the mains power has dropped out. The display was still on though, which meant it was back.
Without those alerts I’d have been pulling kilowatts out of the grid and not knowing it under the delusion of providing a social service! Perhaps it would have been a social service but not a personal one.
“For your interest, about every two weeks such a soil mixture is made up, and spread around.”
That is a lot of input of material. Do you foresee it being necessary forever?
Thanks for the recipe.
I have been at this place for under 4 years and soil remediation – soil creation, really – is critical but hasn’t come very far. There is not much soil to speak of – topsoil eroded long ago, and what is left is stony and largely sandy with patches of clay. The national soil map calls it – and maybe everything in a town – “anthroposol”.
My garden presently shows up which plants deal better with heat and those that don’t and probably which soil is less bad. The watermelon and zucchini seedlings out in full sun in the vegie bed are growing well. The grapes drop a few burnt leaves but abide. Mostly everything else is parched and scorched.
“Two rivers intersect in Bacchus Marsh and have for countless millennia accumulated minerals there…
“Once long ago it was an area of market gardens and orchards. Now, there is an enormous sand mine, and on the other side of the township anthracite was discovered, and that’s a big mine too.”
As with so much of our scarce naturally good soil we found something else to do with it than grow food! The story of our species.
Cheers
Chris,
Ah yes, the wee amount of sugar added during bottling and the wonderful fizz when the properly aged brew is opened. I remember that. Nope, no plans to start brewing again. Supply chain issues and we just don’t drink much alcohol at all now.
We had pyracantha in California. I was surprised to see it in Spokane. It’s a nice shrubbery. Ni!
I’ve noticed with the wildfires here that when the nights get cooler, it does help the firefighters. I’ve seen a few instances of a brief storm system comes in, cooler temps for 36+ hours, and2mm or 3mm of rain is all it takes for the firefighters to gain the upper hand. The fires might smolder for many more months, but at least the continued spread can be halted.
I looked at the current snow depths at several of the regional ski areas I used to frequent. Total seasonal snowfall is good. However, current depths at the tops of the ski resorts are roughly 25% to 30% of what they should be in February. And it’s melting daily. Three of these feed the Spokane River eventually. Lookout Pass drains into the Clark Fork River, which then enters Lake Pend Oreille, enhancing our aquifer. UGG
Glad you liked the poem. I don’t blame you about not wanting to dig a basement by hand. It’s hard work. I watched somebody do that once. I was too young to dig without getting stuck in the hole.
Ick. Smoke in the house. Not good. That’s why I have that filter lash up. Gotta be able to eat up that smoke and have a place that the air is relatively good.
Exactly, the soil has to be warm enough and there is a huge chance of cold and thick frosts yet. There’s no hurry as far as I’m concerned.
Dame Avalanche? No, she has been very well behaved and just hanging out. Clouds and foggy again, so that slows her down for some reason. She was more energetic today after the sun came out.
DJSpo
Hi Pam,
I’m also yet to encounter a Wodehouse non-fiction book. The author may have spared us all some misery and penned a ‘how to write, or styles thereof’ book, but he’s kept us all in suspense. And now may be permanently quiet on the issue. Sadly his minor under duress indiscretion during WWII caused him many difficulties, and it was good that your country dealt more graciously with the author than his home country.
We should all walk carefully around companion animals, lest they bring to bear awful ancient techniques. Just the other day, Ollie almost tripped me up. Stay alert Pam, for danger surrounds the supposedly sleeping Mr Baby.
Those naughty moggies acting playfully after interactions with potent chemicals. Who knew? Great detective work on your part, and hopefully the fig survived the random feline antics?
You’d hope that Mr Baby has done his worst to the newly delivered fig tree? Far out, there’s always something more to learn, isn’t there?
Frankly speaking, I’d have a great deal of problems differentiating between a mouse and a vole in the heat of the moment. Mice are survivors, and I so hear you about how clever they are. Hmm. And those rodents can squish through gaps that the more humble rat, would never attempt. Who is truly to know the mind of a cat? At times they are deeply loving creatures, then there are other moments when they appear to have their own thoughts and plans, which may have nothing at all to do with us.
Truly, I’d not wish 108’F days upon you. The plan is to pull all of the potato tubers from the ground over the next day or so. Right now, the tubers and sugar cane mulch are super dry. Nature has a funny way of telling us to get on with the job at hand. The soil the potatoes were grown in was very heavily fertilised. Those tubers may provide a balanced feed, but they themselves demand equally as good a soil chow.
Ooooo! So great to hear, and I love that book. It takes the guesswork out for so many species. Glad to hear that you are enjoying it, and Claire did us both a solid there.
Nothing much to report today, other than more paid work, which is all good.
Cheers
Chris
Hello kallianeira,
It’s true, and old posts are deliberately locked for new comments. The reason for this, is that my life is thereby made easier. 🙂 The comment section here is very much a go-with-the-flow environment, subject to the Code of Conduct, of course, which is designed to bounce troublemakers. Sadly, such folks are at large on this here interweb.
Ah, west of the mountains, but in an elevated locale. Got it. Thanks. 🙂 And yes, cooler nights tend to make the days more bearable don’t you reckon? You have my sympathy for six days over 40’C, and during Black Summer 2019-2020 about ten occurred. Rotten stuff.
Alas, if you have a smart meter, the connection can be switched off remotely so as to maintain grid stability. Low voltage readings generally suggest to me, that the demand exceeds supply on your local circuit. Out of curiosity, could you tell from your display whether the grid tied system was sending any electricity into your local grid?
You’d be amazed to learn how difficult a task it is to balance out the supply and demand within the large electricity grid which extends up and down the east coast, and also into South Australia. I’m as green as they come, but truly, for stability of that massive system, I can comprehend why the Eraring Power Station has been handed an extension lifeline. If more engineers were involved in the decision, possibly a new plant would even be constructed. Still, what will happen, will happen – and you can quote me on that, when it happens.
With the soil inputs, I’ll continue on as long as I’m able to. Phosphates in particular are deficient at most points on this ancient continent, and we do have some opportunities to address that. This place has become an oasis for the wildlife in what is an otherwise dry area (at the moment). But think of the sheer waste of soil minerals heading into the ocean every single moment of each day, from our large cities! And nobody seems to notice, or even comment upon that bizarre outcome. When you think about the situation a bit more, you realise that all those same minerals are required to be put back on the land so as to grow food for people in the same cities. Crazy stuff…
Agreed, it is soil creation. It would have been nice to begin the process with super fertile soil here as well, but most of it was gone when I arrived. Think of a hard sun baked clay pan, and that’s what it looked like to me.
Anthroposol is a great term, but we’ve still gotta deal with the good works (!) our species have done to the stuff which keeps us all alive.
Nice one, and yeah, you sure do learn as you go. I’m envious of your watermelon for they really enjoy hot weather – and regular watering. Home grown watermelons are super tasty. Is this your first year with them? The soil with the grapes here has been built up for many years, but even so, tonight I used some precious water upon the plants.
Some of the plants here are looking crispy too.
Yup! Alas for Bacchus Marsh. A decade or two ago, you used to be able to purchase locally grown produce at roadside stalls there along the Avenue of Honour. Haven’t been there for many years now. Woe is our species, but the Earth itself is as tough as old boots, and will be just fine.
Cheers
Chris
Hi DJ,
Oh poop! The nuker just crapped itself. Mustn’t grumble though, because I can recall purchasing the machine 30 years ago. Let’s just say that I have some doubts that the replacement device will last as long. 🙂 Magnatrons are apparently no longer what they once were.
The fizz upon opening a bottle is a nice surprising event, every single time. Fair enough, and like every other home activities, brewing is work. I enjoy a single drink each day, and that works for me. Gives a nice pleasant buzz, without any ill feelings.
‘Tis a dark day when passing commenter ruffians, say Ni! at fellow journeymen on this ‘ere thing known as life. 😉 Jolly good shot. The world of plants is far larger than our immediate surrounds suggests. There’s a road sort-of around these parts called: Cabbage Tree lane, and I’m wondering if there is indeed a cabbage tree growing in that area? They tend to grow in the more easterly parts of the state.
Yeah, that’s sort of how it works with some bushfires. A cool change is both a serious risk if it’s accompanied by strong winds blowing from a new direction, but also a blessing. Wearing all that equipment is tiring on a super hot day.
The nearby fire is not contained yet, but fortunately there are few if any windy days in the near future, and maybe even some rain on Sunday. We’ll see.
Reduced snow packs does not make for pleasant reading. Still, you never know how a season rolls, until it’s done and dusted. Over the past few days, it feels as if we’re in a new season. Does your area extract much water from the aquifer?
Ha! Well, at least you gave it a go helping out on the dig. It’s hard to use a digging equipment when you’re very young. I hear you about that. Working out a cool store room, is certainly a project which is not out of the question for some point in the future. We could even use rocks and mortar to produce a very beautiful construction.
Smoke has been on and off for many weeks now, and it does work strange things upon a person’s sinuses. But what do you do? I know you run a filter, which is probably a really good idea given asthma concerns, but we can simply endure the torment.
Yeah, as Alfred E Nueman would perhaps say: What? Me Hurry? 🙂 The plants will grow at their own pace anyway. I’ve been involved with groups who are super competitive with growing the earliest tomatoes, and it’s not my thing. I’d much prefer harmony.
Go Dame Avalanche, and may she bask and revel in the brief winter sunshine.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
The two long islands on the other side of the Tasman Sea from this continent, are not quiet places. The Earth there is rather active. The new finds do not surprise me, and in a million years, a lot can change. One of the fossils was a relative of a bird found in this area: The Australian bronzewing pigeon. Quite common in open areas, not so much in the forests.
It is getting closer to that time of the year when the land wakes up, and life will get hectic. 🙂 I’m really impressed with your nematode solution. Those pill bugs are here too, and one of the reasons I tend to avoid using too much woody mulch these days. I reckon they can consume the bark from young fruit trees, those critters. They’re not also called wood lice for nothing.
The big wombat is lovely, and very much appreciates the local amenities. Can’t out compete deer though, and I discovered new scats this morning, so I’m a bit dubious about the benefits of the stink. Oh well, it may have been here for a drink because I noticed that the local creek has just about stopped flowing.
Exactly, the critters here, mostly reside in the area all year long, and have to take the good with the bad. They tend to scare off newcomers, but are occasionally overwhelmed and then require human assistance. Like with that horde of cockatoos which were the stuff of nightmares.
24’C / 75’F here today, and very pleasant indeed. I got to look at the outdoors from the wrong side of the window! Mustn’t grumble, because paid work has been remarkably interesting this week. 61’F is a solid nice day, no getting around it. Hope you and H nab some of those rays from our nearby star?
Ouch! Sadly duel (!) authentication is becoming standard practice, and it always assumes connectivity. The only reason I had to pony up for a smart phone was because the authoritas basically left me with no option. Get it, or lose your income. Nice. Real friendly that. Have you noticed that some wait times for that authentication code can be rather long? I had one the other day, which never sent me the thing. Like, what is that kind of system? Lewis, I’m so hearing your frustration, and sending you my sympathy for the rotten situation. A fine whinge too. Respect.
Ooo, I’ve never had the postal service lose something. Yes, items have travelled from nearby to half way across the country, then back again, but disappeared? Nope. Sometimes ‘in transit’ in the system down here can also mean the same thing as ‘delivered’. Do you know the folks at the local post office, and will they even assist with the matter?
At least there is a good explanation for the other missing package. That’s a relief, two would be a stroke of very bad luck.
Before we get to the library, man, the nuker popped itself this evening. Alas, poor 30 year old microwave oven, I knew thee well. 🙂 I’ll bet they don’t make them like that one any more? It stinks too. At first I thought that some metal from the butter packaging was missed in the meal, but no – the stink is coming from the rear of the machine. Most probably the patient won’t make it. Oh well, these things happen. I’ve read that the magnatrons used in the latest machines have no more than a ten year lifespan nowadays. Reassuringly, many of the warranties on replacements are 12 and 24 months. Yay us, he says sarcastically! 🙂
Back to the library… Central sorting would probably keep a lot of people in jobs? Dunno man, that description of yours sounds highly likely as a process. Back in the day, didn’t one library arrange such loans directly with another library? People tend to assume processes are efficient, when that is not necessarily the case.
You’ve always mentioned that particular chunk of paperwork with a sense of dread, and hope that it is easier this year? Yikes, not paying a policy is usually one tried and true way of reneging upon the thing should a situation arise. Good luck with roboman. And watch out if you hear: “You have twenty seconds to comply!”
That sci-fi film has a classic poster. Even I’ve seen it. My advice is not to annoy the lady, in any way, shape, or form. Things could go badly if say, the worst happened. The Children of Men film is dark. Clive Owen has done some good acting work for sure.
I’d never thought of executions from that perspective, but then people in the Middle Ages would no doubts wonder about some of our own concerns.
I’m stoic about the whole work thing. They lifted the pension age a few years ago, and it’s a long, long way from today. I don’t actually know how people who do physically demanding jobs five days per week, work until their late 60’s. Beats me, that one. However, if work is what is required, work shall be done. Back into it this week, and worked again today.
That’s possible about the perp going quiet for that reason. It’s not common for a person to simply say nothing through that entire process. As an a person who considers stories regarding mad cash, I heard something about the lead up to the err, situation, and wondered at the trigger. Still, unacceptable. One must nip problems in the bud, before they spin out of control, but people aren’t much good at doing that.
Yay for the recent changes at the Club. Sounds positive to me. Agreed, it will take a while to rebuild the goodwill which evaporated.
Was the food box any good this time around? And hope Jane is feeling better. Dude, there’s deep cuts on the horizon for everything.
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – We have doves around the neighborhood. I often hear them cooing away. We also have eagles, hawks and ravens, which I think keep their numbers down. Around the Club, there are pigeons. They make a mess on the sidewalk, in a couple of places.
Oh, dear, more deer? 🙂 Not a laughing matter, though. Although … I saw a trailer for a new movie, coming in April. “Bambi: The Reckoning.” I doubt the library will get it. Although they did get the one about the killer unicorns. But not the one about the zombie kangaroo.
https://youtu.be/45Q5L9zqeK0?si=zyS8mYbtKRDeQ3m5
Our high yesterday was 66F (18.88C). Our overnight low was 41F (5C). Our forecast high for today is 58F. No rain today or tomorrow. It will be back, at the weekend.
And, from the Wonderful World of Computers, a social network for AIs. So they can get to gather and chat with each other. Seemed like a good idea. What could possibly go wrong?
https://www.cnn.com/2026/02/03/tech/moltbook-explainer-scli-intl
I’ll have to check the postal service site, and see if there’s a function for following up on strayed packages. If not, I’ll have to make a trip to my local branch. It was probably a small envelope. They need to shake out those canvas bags, more thoroughly. 🙂
From what I understand, the library central sorting is a machine. Didn’t used to be.
Last night was a popcorn night. I watched “Primative War,” the movie about the Viet Nam war and dinosaurs. Look out “Jurassic Park,” there’s a new dinosaur franchise in town. I thought it was quit good, and for some reason, the dinosaurs looked more “real” than the JP dinosaurs. I wondered if there’d be a sequel. Depends on how it does on the streaming services. And, it mentioned that when it was released on streaming, in Australia, it far exceeded their expectations.
So, we got a food box, yesterday. There were some things from that well known, big coffee shop company. Two plastic clam shells with a couple of boiled eggs, sliced apple, grapes, and a tiny piece of muesli bread. Also, two individually wrapped grilled cheese sandwiches. We can’t put stuff on what used to be the swap table, but nothing was said about the refrigerator, in the community room. So, down they went, last night. So, what else did we get?
5 small apples and five large potatoes. And a good sized squash of some type. That was it for fresh produce. And all I kept for myself, out of the boxes.
Two boxes of generic shredded wheat cereal, and two quarts of shelf stable milk. The usual two pound brick of “cheese.” One two pound bag of white rice and two one pound bags of same. 2 individual packets of raisins. A 2 quart jug of grape juice and a jar of peanut butter.
Tinned stuff. Two each of spaghetti sauce, chili with beans, green beans, corn, pears, black beans, apple sauce pinto beans and peas. One tin each of fruit mix, chicken, tomato sauce and mixed veg.
Hmmm. No eggs or frozen meat. And just that one can of chicken. Although we can’t put things on what was the swap table, I noticed someone had put a box UNDER the table. I pulled a few things out, last night, to take to the Club pantry. I think I might pull more, as tinned stuff gets depleted. Mostly, veg.
H is going to the groomer, at noon. After I dump her off, I’ll come home and dig up some elephant garlic. Someone at the Club would like some. I’ll share the wealth. Lew
Chris:
I didn’t know that Mr. Wodehouse had been indiscrete, and had rather not have details. I knew that he had had troubles during WWII, but who didn’t, especially the British? I think that he liked America just as much – if not more – than England, having already lived over here, going back and forth, before the war, so it would have been little hardship to domicile here. I’m not so sure that he didn’t have dual citizenship.
I guess Mr. Baby’s new fig companion will be okay. There is an awful lot of soil missing fron the pot now, though. Hmm, what’s this: “At times they are deeply loving creatures”? Perhaps in Australia the cats are not all about me, me, me. Personally, I think that that purr is suspect, it has such an instant on-off switch.
Paid work is GOOD!
Here’s a thought: Do you need a microwave? With 2 people it probably does make your life a lot easier, just feeding me, not so much, but remember the days before them?
Pam
Chris,
The last time our nuker crashed, I said stronger and more vile things than “poop”. I think I may have repeated some of those same words after this morning’s 8 am phone call. An uncle of the Princess had been seriously ill for some time. He passed this morning. Princess is on her way to her brother then places north for the proceedings. Fortunately, this morning’s dense fog burned off about 10 minutes before she left. It’s foggy again this evening.
Dame Avalanche got so excited by the sunshine after the fog lifted that she attempted to drag me around on our walk. Didn’t work, but she burned off a lot of energy.
Thank you for the ruffian comment. I will wear it like a badge of honor. It fits in with some of the things my father used to call me: “Family throwback. Cave man. Family barbarian.” Now I can add Fernglade Ruffian. 🙂
I’m tired tonight. Yet, the start of an idea keeps peeking at my consciousness. Something to do with magnetrons, cabbage trees, ruffians and gargoyles.
This year’s “carver’s challenge” at the club will get announced at our meeting Saturday. It will start with a human caricature. One month to do that portion of the project. Add an inanimate object the following month, then another living thing, then another inanimate and so on until 6 things have been worked on in 6 months. That werewolf and killer rabbit that I wood burned was the result of one of these. Maybe, just maybe, magnetrons and cabbage trees, etc., will feature in this year’s installment.
It used to be that about a quarter million people used the aquifer. Now it’s about triple that, plus more businesses and industry. So the aquifer does get pulled down some every year, gets replenished by the winter snowmelt and spring rains. We have some water restrictions in the City of Spokane, but that is only a third of the people who use the aquifer. The other 2/3 have no usage restrictions. City property, like parks and golf courses, is exempt from the restrictions. The restrictions, which are mostly voluntary, limit times of day and how much water is used on lawns. Those who have trees and shrubs and vegetable gardens have some exemptions, although water rates increase based on how much water gets used. Hence, add more succulents to the lawns and more dryland grasses.
You are fortunate that you’ve been able to put up with the smoke. I know several people here who can do whatever they want in the smoke, to a point, but I sure have to curtail my outdoor activity earlier than many. Fact of life.
Exactly, old Alfred E had it right. And being in harmony with the seasons is better. I’ve known people who have pushed the limits in years similar to this one, then had to listen to them complain when their vegetables got ruined by a thick frost in April, which is not uncommon. The year we had a killer frost on July 4, now, that was weird. I was about 11. Never experienced that since.
DJSpo
Hi Pam,
To be honest, I couldn’t quite comprehend what the author had done in WWII which annoyed the British so much. He was caught behind enemy lines, foolishly as I may add, and subsequently imprisoned. What did everyone expect would happen is my thoughts on the matter. Incidentally, the getting caught bit could have formed the plot of one of his many novels – truly it was silly. Exactly, that whole arena of the planet was one vast bunch of trouble.
After WWII, I’d have left Europe for America as well. 🙂 In some ways, it was like down here, only the very northern part of this continent was bombed by the Japanese, and most people lived in the southerly parts anyway. There just wouldn’t have been much industry or urban areas destroyed, put it that way.
Good to hear that the felinely dismantled fig tree will survive its ordeal. Yup, cats… Free and independent thinkers are our furry friends, and all us humans can hope for is that their plans sort of line up with ours. 🙂
The Kelpies and Ollie are knocked out tonight. They ran around all day in the 86’F heat, whilst we harvested the potato crop. Seemed only wise to dig and store the tasty tubers from the soil when it’s dry. The forecast suggests rain on Sunday, but we’ll see how it goes. Then a couple of hours was spent cutting and smooshing about 50 pounds of apples so as to begin another batch of cider. Candidly speaking, I too am knocked out tonight!
Paid work is good, and this week a lot was done.
Yeah, that’s a good question about the microwave, and whilst the machine is not used all that much, it would have made lunch today faster. A chunk of vegetarian Moussaka was reheated. So yeah, makes life easier, and this place is about getting systems right. Right now, such machines are cheap due to over production problems in the land of stuff. This may not always be the case.
Yeah, I could live without the machine though, and remember the days when the things were described with horror as ‘science ovens’!
Cheers
Chris
Hi DJ,
Yeah, the nuker is a bummer, but can be sorted out next week,with the added bonus of a Bahn Mi lunch. If we’re in the area, then why not? That is awful news, and sorry for the loss of your lady’s uncle. Please extend my condolences. What do you do? The older I get, the faster that big old fusion reactor in the sky seems to move, and blink for but a moment, and somehow the season has changed. It’s genuinely amazing that us humans get to experience as many seasons as we do. Hope the journey was uneventful and that the life of the departed are celebrated in proper style.
Ha! Dame Avalanche took you on a long walk! 🙂 Fun stuff, and we’ll have to put it down to youthful canine exuberance. Ollie never pulls when he’s on the lead, and most of the time, he’ll happily walk next to me, even when off lead. But those two Kelpies treat the lead like a personal affront. Both have been relentlessly trained for about two years now, and like what you did with the Husky, we’d also get in early next time. Is this your first Husky?
Takes one to know one! 😉 Ruffians of the world, unite! And Ugg right back at ya, brother DJ! I joke to Sandra that I’d never do one of those DNA ancestry tests lest it come back and confirm the Neanderthal heavy genetics. We all know it’s there… Ugg!
Ain’t just you, I’m tired tonight as well. Dug up two very long rows of potatoes and recovered an enormous number of tubers. And because I may not have thought the problem through properly, I used the garden hoe blade to break up the clay beneath the rows. Hard work. And it was 30’C as well. Then an hour or two ago, we cut, blitzed and smooshed well over 20kg of apples. Three demijohns of cider are now bubbling away.
Oh, the dogs ran around all day in the heat, and are now fast asleep.
You know a cabbage tree is a real plant? There is a New Zealand variety (Cordyline australis) which would probably grow really well here, and there is the Australian variety (Livistona australis). Who knew? I’m intrigued by your latest project.
The carvers challenge sounds like a lot of fun, and human caricature’s are always interesting. Yes, take the most prominent features, and then play and distort those, but keep the shapes familiar enough. Cartoonists do that, and hey, Alfred E Nueman, just sayin!
Yikes. Oh well, you know I’ve not lived in an area which relies upon aquifers, and so they’re kind of outside my experience. But will freely admit that the idea makes me nervous. Who’s to know what is exactly going on beneath the ground? Some areas of this continent use them extensively, and I’m biased from encountering, and reading about the problems there with ground water. A few locals around here have water bores, and I’ve been told that they can run dry rather rapidly. Due to the dry, the local creek has slowed to a trickle. Average water usage is low in the nearby city per capita, but still, you add in more people, and demand goes up. Mind you, water storages there are at 71.5% today, which isn’t bad, but I’ll bet that desalination plant is cranking.
Here’s an interesting article on the subject: How the garden sprinkler conquered Australia
Thanks, and the smoke doesn’t bother me too much, and I’m very careful on those days to always breathe through the nose. It still irritates the air passageways, but what do you do? I have sympathy for your experience with the smoke, as when I was a young bloke I had to get my nasal passages opened wider due to breathing difficulties. Ouch. We all have our limits.
Hehe! It happens down here as well. Hey, I heard the old timers suggesting that ‘patience is a virtue’, and who are we to argue with such wisdom?
Rocks tomorrow. It’ll be a repeat of today, at 30’C.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
Doves do make that distinctive coo-ing call, but they’re only found here in inner city areas. Even then, there’s not much bird life in the inner urban areas of the big smoke. Yes, ecological balance is more important than most people would consider, if they’re even aware of the issue at all. Birds do produce valuable guano, which is something, although I reckon that pack of Sulphur Crested Cockatoos spotted the car travelling today, near to the bloke who feeds them, and truly, they took about six dumps on the car – at speed. All direct hits. An impressive achievement, and when I got home, the gunk was all hosed off. Talk about the unforgiven! I get the distinct impression that those birds don’t like me.
You’d think that other deer would smell the aroma, and take themselves elsewhere? Heard some gunshots a while back. Hmm. Interestingly, the stink today now has the scent of blood and bone meal, so there is something in what you say about using that as a deer deterent. The ferns there will probably appreciate the feed – as are the many other forest critters.
Ah, I’d not want to encounter that particular violently toothy Bambi. The big critter seems rather annoyed, and out for blood. Best avoided, if at all possible. I must see that Death of a Unicorn film, and it is on the to-watch list. Alas, much work is stacked up before me.
On that note.. Dug up all of the potato crop today, and it was an impressive collection. This year we sun dried the sugar cane mulch, the tubers are bone dry, and hopefully they keep well until spring. We also put aside the best of the best tubers as seed potatoes for next years crop.
When digging today, which was an enormous job done by hoe, I took the opportunity to deepen the trenches by breaking up the clay underneath the nice soil. Then mixed the clay into the soil. Presumably deeper soil will produce more tubers? The plan is to run them there again next summer, give the rows a massive soil feed, then rotate the crop to somewhere else. Not ideal, but one must be realistic.
The dogs were out with us all day too in the 86’F heat, and they’re sound asleep right now. The canines had a blast.
Made up another batch of cider earlier this evening, and cutting up 50 pounds of apples for the blitz machine was no easy task either. Oh well…
66’F sounds pretty pleasant to my reading ears, and hope you and H enjoyed the sunshine on a walk? It’ll be a repeat of today, tomorrow, again at 86’F. The nights are cool to cold now. Brr! Looks like there might be some rain on Sunday, that’d be nice. I’m preparing my potent storm challenge, which may be necessary if the wet stuff falling from the sky is meagre.
Do the arty-fish-al things actually have new ideas? Not from what I’ve heard. The article was interesting, and mentioned major potential vulnerabilities. Never felt the need to use one of those services.
At least the package has some sort of tracking, so you know it left the business, and went – who knows where? Was there an online option for queries? I’ll bet that there wasn’t.
Really? A machine for the sorting and distributing. Wow, no wonder that even the books from your local library go through that process. It’s quite centralised, and I’m amazed it could do the job cheaper than people.
The trailer for the Vietnam / dinosaur movie was intense. You knew that the body count was going to be high, and it wouldn’t have been on the dinosaurs side of that story. No way. Good to hear that it was entertaining. And it’s a different take on dinosaurs.
I’m mildly dubious about the clam shell items, and I’d have sent them to the land of elsewhere too. Quick thinking there, and yes, rules should perhaps be more comprehensive… 😉
Now, it’s funny you mention potatoes, but I’ve completely forgotten whether I recounted this recent story, but. National potato shortage… The local farm gate didn’t have them either. So we bought some at the supermarket, and when baking them, the smell was not nice, which surprised me. That task was relegated to the outdoor oven, due to the stink. However, the other day we baked our own potatoes, and the smell was amazing. I’ll probably never know what was up with those purchased potatoes, but it wasn’t good.
That’s a good score with the apples, taters and squash (which I may describe as a pumpkin). About what I’d have kept from the lot as well.
Another useful adaption to the loss of the swap table. Well, if it wasn’t specifically banned…
Out of curiosity, does the table serve any other purpose, or has it become a reminder of what once was?
Might get onto doing some rock work tomorrow.
Hope H’s new ‘do agrees with the young lady’s expectations? Ooo, how much fun is that? I love sharing the plants and produce. Fellow gardeners are a generous lot.
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – Apparently, the bloke who feeds the cockatoos isn’t feeding them enough, to keep them home. Yup, birds have long memories. Lots of neurons packed in those little noggins.
Seems like hilling up, produces more potato tubers. At least that’s the conventional wisdom. I can think of a couple of reasons, why your commercial potatoes might have smelled. They’re often dusted with anti-fungals. And, sometimes chemicals to retard sprouting.
Our high yesterday was 50F (10C). The overnight low was 32F (-0-C). But not for very long. The rain will be back, early in the AM. The forecast high for today is 57F.
Cutting up 50 pounds of apples? Sounds very zen. 🙂 I had my phone on yesterday, due to H’s grooming appointment. My buddy Scott happened to call. He’s been “into” Buddhism, for a very long time. He was telling me about a book he’s reading, something like “Buddha and the 12 Steps” (of AA.). I told him that would make a good name for a rock band. 🙂
Another article on social media for bots. Yes, they take on the characteristics of their creators. But do they take it to extremes?
https://www.npr.org/2026/02/04/nx-s1-5697392/moltbook-social-media-ai-agents
There is a tracking lost shipments, on the PO web site. I checked the tracking again, and it left Seattle on the 28th. So, I’ll give it a few more days.
I also did battle with Robo Man, this morning, to pay my vehicle insurance. Got it on the first try. Again, he wanted to send me some kind of code, either by text to my computer or the dumb phone I don’t have. I told him that wasn’t going to happen, and he figured out a work around.
Well, last night I watched part one of “Wicked.” Part two is in my stack. Not a single memorable song in the bunch. Thank the gods for fast forward buttons. The sets and costumes were lavish, and I would have liked to linger on them more. But the speed of the camera work, precludes that. Gave me a touch of vertigo, and had me reaching for the Dramamine. Oh, well. all in the service of being marginally pop culturally literate. 🙂
LOL. No, no, no. With more comprehensive rules, I couldn’t find loopholes. Oh, there’s plenty of room for the swap table. They use it for potlucks, and such. Also, plenty of counter space. But the reasoning to do away with it is 1.) there’s always stuff left that no one wants. It piles up. No one is willing to take it to a mission. And, 2.) whenever we have a HUD inspection, Little Mary Sunshine wants everything looking neat and tidy.
H took to her grooming, with aplomb, as she always does. I will have to go with earlier appointments, than noon. Parking is tight, both then, and when I pick her up around three. And traffic is heavy. I do wish they wouldn’t put those stupid ribbons or bows on her. Yesterday, it was two ear bows with glitter stars. Of course, they come right out, as soon as we get home. Lew
Chris:
I found this very interesting article about Wodehouse and WWII, but don’t feel that you have to read it if you don’t want to know all the details. It was a very complicated situation.
https://southwestreview.com/a-grave-moral-mistake-the-tragedy-of-p-g-wodehouses-berlin-broadcasts/
86F sounds relatively cool compared to what it has been there.
Good job getting the potatoes dug. I can’t even imagine 50 pounds of apples. Then again, I never thought I’d see 100 pounds (45kg, grown by someone else) of persimmons.
Pam
Chris,
Oh, I get it now. You want a banh mi, so you sabotaged the nuker so you’d have to go near the banh mi place. Smart thinking. 😉
The Princess says thanks for the condolences. We still don’t know the schedule. These things used to be all done in 3 days, but there aren’t as many people who can oversee the traditional part of the ceremonies any longer, sometimes things don’t start for 3 or 4 days, then take the customary 3 days once started.
Meanwhile, the sister of a good friend of her brother died also. So the Princess and her brother are participating with that group in Toppenish until they know when uncle’s rites will begin. Rough times, but we’ll all muddle through it somehow.
We went on a longer walk today. Most days are right near 2 miles. Today was 2.6 with hills. It was high clouds after the morning fog lifted. Not sunny. not grim. Not quite gray either. Bleak, but not cold. The next two days should bring some much needed rain. if it rains per the forecast, walking might be sketchy, at least by Sunday.
Oh, yes, Dame Avalanche is my first husky. Although Rakhi the Samoyed and Cheyenne the Finnish Spitz were Northern breeds, there’s a layer of independent wildness that is in the husky, but not necessarily the other Northern breeds. And she “talks” a LOT. Between her vocal commentary and very “strongly worded” body language, you always know exactly what My Favorite Husky is thinking. She’s not the least bit shy about cluing you in. I’ve been fortunate that all the dogs that have owned me have had big personalities.
Ah, but most of us humans have some Neanderthal in us. Most of the tests like Ancestry use a model to determine what is the likely mix in your overall “autosomal” DNA, as opposed to only the Y dna from your father and his paternal ancestors and the mitochondrial from your mother and her maternal ancestors. The problem is that every dna testing company uses a different autosomal model, thus different ethnicities are either emphasized or ignored. Get autosomal testing done by 3 different companies and you’ll get 3 different results, although the one primary thing might be the same. But maybe not.
Also, the technology can only include what was there maybe 5 or 6 or 7 generations ago, although 7 is stretching it. So in my case, what to me are the interesting family lines were mostly 7 to 10 generations ago, so the Native American that is documented to be there won’t show up. Nor will the various Sephardic and Ashkenazi backgrounds, nor the Romani. There are a few others also that are too far back for the technology to reliably pick them up. Thus, one needs to know what any particular company’s fall back is for the itty bitty parts that might combine for 2% of your dna background, what they call “noise”. The company I used, well, tone fall back is “Italian”. For another company it might be “Siberian”, or “Native American”, even if none of the testee’s ancestors had been in that location for 500 years, if ever.
I’ve got 16 great great grandparents. I do NOT have exactly 1/16 of my dna makeup from each of them. It really varies. Thus, my sister could get an autosomal test from the same company I did and her ethnic results might look radically different from mine. If mine were, say 60% British Isles, 38% “Central Europe” and 2% Italian, hers might very well show up as 50% Scandinavian, 30% Central European and 20% British Isles.
Conclusion: I wouldn’t spend a penny getting an autosomal DNA test done. Besides, with your surname and known Neanderthal background, yours would say 60% Neanderthal, 35% Viking, 5% British Isles, just because the DNA would be stubborn and decide that Clan MacLeod is nearly pure Viking. 😉
And ruffian, or caveman, it’s a good place to be. My male line, the Y dna, came back as being Scandinavian. Weird for a surname like Jones, what? Explains my barbarian tendencies.
Yes, I had heard about the cabbage tree before. I’m starting to have ideas how to do what I want to do. fortunately, I can woodburn the project. There was another vague idea I had last spring but never got around to. That can actually be used as the human caricature. I’m starting to get intrigued by my idea now. Almost enthusiastic. However, I side with Marvin the Paranoid Android: “Don’t try to get up my enthusiasm. I haven’t got one.”
Thanks for that wonderfully interesting article on the water sprinklers. It said a lot. A LOT. It did mention without getting into too much depth that desalination is extremely energy intensive and expensive. Perth’s sandy soil sounds like what I’ve got in this part of town. I’m spending parts of the winter thinking about what newer things to plant that will eventually replace the bluegrass lawns and take less water, as well as contemplating better ways to water what I’ve got. The more the climate is changing, the more I think that throwing water into grass in a semi-arid climate is just plain dumb. That article helped with my thinking.
DJSpo
Hi Pam,
The more I read of the link which you provided, the more I laughed, despite the dark nature of the text. People don’t know. Spare a thought for Mr Wodehouse, he was not one brought up to face consequences of almost any sort. Think for but a moment of a hapless Baby Harp seal when a brutish seaman looking for an easy feed and a decent fur pelt carrying a heavy club interact. Are they going to be friends? You and I are of a more pragmatic sort, the author was sadly clueless, and that is how he penned the delightful tales of aristocracy doing stupid things and getting away with it – because that was also his life and world view. His one gift was to provide amusement and entertainment, and yet the fans and public expected otherwise and then some more. The narrative suggestive overtones of what we may now describe as Aspergers syndrome, that conforming to routine was a dead giveaway to me. He was ill equipped to be placed into the situation he was.
If I may suggest, the gentleman has some halfling blood of the ancient land of Faery, coursing through his veins. Truly, what else can you say when encountering a sentence: He’d been to an English private school, Dulwich College? and thrived. You know, it’s probably all true.
My view of the world is somewhat softer, and each of us brings different gifts and skills to the table. Wodehouse was no Churchill, but whilst the two gentleman could put letters to paper, I know which of the two I’d rather read.
You see this silliness at play when super famous musicians and actors get up on stage and grandstand. The thought that they could possibly be wrong, never enters their heads. They are entertainers, and we are merely being entertained. Expect no more.
Another day of 86’F, and in fact most of the week has been like that. Quite pleasant, with cool nights, and a proper summer experience. This 111’F business is just not cricket! 😉
Finished off the rock work on the triangular shaped garden bed today, then put down heaps of crushed rock with lime. The forecast suggests that maybe, just maybe, rain will fall tomorrow, at times heavily. We’ll see.
Hehe! Did you let the persimmons blet and become super squooshy and tasty? The ones we grow here are best consumed that way, and are a real early winter treat.
Cheers and many thanks for the thoughtful interview.
Chris
Hi DJ,
You know what man? It’s hard to write here day in and day out, without giving your inner workings away. You’re right too, many a folk would view a dead nuker machine with a sense of sadness and betrayal at the inadequacy of modern machinery, but no, it’s an opportunity! 😉 Thanks for the laughs.
Hmm, part of the role of the Elder is to instruct those whom are to follow in the traditions to err, get a wriggle on and begin learning. If your lady works out how to navigate that story, please do let me know, because I’m equally mystified. I’m sure my grandfather felt much the same when conveying important information and life lessons to my younger self – who was so young at the time. Vague impressions are all that remain. Still, it’s something and may be enough for the future. There’s a lesson in there, but we live in a time where the call of the other is strong.
Rarely do I speak my mind, but a little thought bubble just popped into the ol’ consciousness: Learning has to be fun, even in awful moments.
You’re not wrong, those are rough times. Again, please extend my condolences and hopes that the rites are handed on. Still, my best guess is that the spirits of the land know and will inform folks in the future if needed. It’ll be obvious what needs doing.
Good stuff with the long walk for yourself and Dame Avalanche. Walking uphill is particularly good for the body, and hope that the Husky enjoyed a quiet sleep afterwards. Fingers crossed that you get the much needed rain, and the same is meant to occur here tomorrow. 🙂 Both, very much needed.
The dogs ran around all day today enjoying the 30’C weather. We managed to finish off the rock work in the triangular shaped place between a path and two sets of concrete stairs. Then spread around a whole bunch of crushed rock with lime onto the path surface and in between the rocks. It’s looking good and hopefully the rain tomorrow will wash it in, if it turns up. As you’d imagine, the dogs are now sound asleep.
Yes, I’ve known a few of the northern Spitz breeds as well, and they most certainly have their own ideas about the world and how things should be. A Husky on the other hand is even closer to wild stock, and her trust and respect must be earned. Dame Avalanche, as you also suggest, would absolutely see you as pack.
The dogs I’ve known have also had big personalities, but they’re also welcomed into the house, and as such are hard to ignore. 🙂 I do wonder why some folks have canines and drop them into a backyard alone for days on end. Sir Scruffy came from that environment, and thus why he wanted to fit in here so strongly – he was the smartest dog I’ve ever encountered.
Thanks for both the explanation on that testing, and also for the good advice. To be honest, the thought of spending some mad cash with that lot was far from my mind. A dude knows what he knows, and if being out in the wilds is a more comfortable life experience, then like you’d have also discovered, well, the facts are very suggestive. 🙂 Of course, reality kicks us all hard in the guts, and hey, even cavemen need mad cash to get by when the tentacles of civilisation extend as far as they do today. Ugg, get to work! That’s stoicism right there. 😉
Those Vikings sure did get around, the cheeky scamps. A lot of names get Anglicised, so who knows what your surname originally was? Anywhoo, Barbarians of the world unite!
Did Marvin say that? It’s really quite witty. The depressive android is rather quotable. Your latest project appears to be taking shape. Say, if you had to choose between Marvin in the film, and Marvin in the series, which depiction would you pick?
Yeah, the number reported was 40 times something or other for desalination. Candidly, it sounded like more than a bit. An horrific tale of change and innovation, and also possibly proving that technology has little relation to ethics, virtue and morality. Interestingly, I knew someone who moved to Perth and suggested that the reports of sandy soil were true. Yours would be a difficult garden for that reason alone, and what you suggested is the exact path I’m taking here. What will work in this environment? It’s a more important question than you’d imagine, and dare I suggest, it relates right back to the start of the conversation in relation to rites. Yup.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
Those were very much my thoughts as well, and sulphur crested cockatoos can make for uncomfortable companions if not continuously well fed. Sometimes I see video footage of people in that big country to your west, or east as may be the case, where people have pet bears. They seem delightful in the videos, and always enjoying themselves, but what happens if something goes wrong… Oh, little poochie woochie beary weary is having a temper tanty, and rips said owner to bits and slowly consumes the unfortunate human. Hardly a fun video for the kids, is it?
And I’m guessing that this is how Hitchcock’s: ‘The Birds’ film, began? No doubts, those pesky avians had taken note of the Suzuki Dirt Rat vehicle, and saw their moment for revenge. One bird taking a dump, sure, but six all at once plus well timed and aimed. It’s no coincidence. Man, I may be out of my depth here.
The conventional wisdom is good with potatoes and hilling up, for that’s what happened earlier on in the growing season. I’m just deepening the trenches. For some weird reason, the underlying clay in that area is much harder than elsewhere. Dunno why that would be.
Oh far out! That’s horrid to consider, and no wonder the tubers stunk so badly when baked. We’ve been growing our own and buying from a nearby farm gate for so long, I’d not been exposed to how it is for many. And I’m mildly embarrassed to admit that I may have been in the delightful good food country of ‘bubble land’. It was an interesting wake up call, put it that way. The blokes I get the potatoes from have at least two decades on me, and thus why we ramped up production, and will continue to do so. The very best tubers were selected and carefully packed in super dry straw for planting out next season. And we grow a lot of different varieties.
Did you get much rain? None to report here today, and the sun shone, the winds were calm, and yeah another 86’F. The sun has less energy now, you can feel it. It’s meant to rain here tomorrow: Weather sees nationwide soaking as tropical humidity reaches south-east Australia. Hope Professor Mass approves of the reporting 🙂 , for it did mention probabilities and unknowns in many points throughout the article.
Yeah, everything is zen, they once told me. Although I wasn’t exactly sure what they were talking about. I do slip into the zone when it comes to such work, and it frees the mind to deal with more important matters which need attending too. How people quiet their brains is beyond me, it’s noisy in there! 😉 And I’m happy with that and see no need for change.
Interesting, and it of course lead to a precis of the book. The word mindfulness was used multiple times, and to be honest, switching my brain off would probably lead to some bad decision making, sorry to say. I’ve always equated the word mindfulness, with seeking to reproduce an empty mind, but of course, the whole thing could well be entirely lost on me. Maybe it’s me…
Thanks for the article link, and who knew such things went on? How can it be good to encourage: “look like they are trying to figure out how to hide information from people or complaining about their users or plotting world destruction.” Hey, I may not be able to visualise the ED-209 moment from the Robocop film, but let’s just say that it left an indelible impression. I don’t worry about that lot, last I checked, they can’t construct a power station, can they? Easy enough to cut the power.
That’s very organised to have a lost shipping facility. Dunno about your part of the world, but postage is now down to a few days per week. Used to be every work day, but no longer.
Hey, the big wombat was making a lot of noise out front of the house, so we went to investigate. There it was staring back situated next to the water bowl with a face which could only convey one word: What? Fun stuff. The marsupial has no doubts checked out the new rock work on the path today, as well as appreciated the goodly quantities of crushed rock with lime which were spread about the project. I used a hand brush to push the rock fines in between the many much larger rocks to give it all a nice finish – a bit like more natural crazy paving. It was kind of like what a reverse archaeologist would do with rocks, dust and brushes.
Impressive to dodge the demands of Roboman. I lack such skills. Respect.
Ha! Did you just mention a m, mmm, mmmm, musical? I can’t go there man, although it’s good that the production values were high, shame perhaps about the content. I’m not much into that sort of fast movement jerking the camera around this way and that, thing either. I reckon the worst was The Blair Witch Project, and whilst it was a super fun film, the camera work made me feel a bit queasy in the guts, so I hear you about the vertigo reaction. And it’s another reason not to watch the musical! 😉 Thanks, I’d not have thought of that one, and noting it for future usage. Respect for the cultural literacy, one mustn’t fall too far behind, lest they wonder what everyone else is talking about.
Hehe! Rest assured that only a good trial lawyer would come up with comprehensive rules, and keeping them away from that creative task is probably why they’re very busy people doing other things. 😉 I now rest my case. Thanks for the laughs. Well, neat and tidy, yeah, it’s a thing. Hopefully leaving something simple for the inspectors to find is also a thing?
That’s no good about parking, and I’ve mentioned my own experiences in the big smoke with that issue. One must adapt. Ha! I’m so with you about the ribbons, and hey, it would annoy me to think that I’d just paid for them too. Glitter stars!!! Oh well, you might be dealing with persons who think a little bit differently. Man, I sometimes joke about people have remnants of fairy blood in them, but I might not be kidding around either.
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – I see the mummy portrait sold for $889,000. And a “tiny” Michelangelo sketch of a foot, went for 27 million.
Some people swear by planting potatoes in old tires. They add tires and soil until they’re stacked four and five high. There’s also the idea of planting them in plastic garbage bags. You keep adding soil til they’re full. I tried that. Really didn’t work.
That was an interesting weather article. You might get rain … or not. It might be a lot … or a little. LOL Standard weather forecasts. Our high yesterday was 59F (15C). Our overnight low was 41F (5C). Our forecast high for today is 50F. Our midnight walk was dry, but it rained pretty hard in the AM. By the time H and I were ready to take a walk, go to the library and Club, it had slacked off. A bit of rain, but not much. Of course, since H squats I the wet grass, her undercarriage gets pretty wet.
I always thought mindfulness was being aware of, or paying attention to what goes on around you. Turning off the auto pilot. As in, eating a meal, and instead of just mindlessly shoveling it down, paying attention to the textures and flavors. But, yes, meditation often stresses emptying out the brain. I think I prefer the paying attention to things.
Our postal delivery is 6 days a week. But there’s some talk of cutting back. Our postal rates just went up, and I’ve noticed that advertising mail (aka: junk mail), has fallen to nil. A temporary situation, I’m sure. 🙂
I’ve never had a problem saying “no.” Been practicing it for years. So, when I said “no” to Robo Man, there was a brief hesitation … and then a work around. Recently, I was asked to provide my email on some survey (which I wanted to take.). I typed in “youcanthaveit@ (etc. etc..) Seemed to work.
I never watch “The Blair Witch Project.” I’m not a fan of “found footage.” I think it’s lazy.
I had an interesting episode of cultural literacy (or, the lack there of,) this morning. I swung by the library to pick something up, and a young fellow I’ve chatted with before, revealed something interesting. Any-who, I was recommending the new dinosaur movie to him, and mentioned it might give Jurassic Park a run for its money. He said that he really liked the actress Laura Dern, in a couple of those movies. She is quit good. Well, I mentioned that her father Bruce Dern is also an actor. He had never heard of Bruce Dern. So, I told him to watch “Silent Running”. But that the soundtrack by Joan Baez was irritating. He’d never heard of Joan Baez. But all was not lost. He did know who Bob Dylan is. Sort of.
“…you might be dealing with persons who think a little bit differently.” Yeah, women. 🙂 (Bad Lew! Bad, bad, Lew.)
I saw an interesting article, yesterday, about a method of teaching youngsters financial literacy. Set up a real credit union, in their school.
https://www.kcur.org/education/2026-02-04/kansas-city-high-school-student-credit-union
A big day at the Club, tomorrow. Some kind of big Super Bowl football game, with the Seattle Seahawks and some other team. I could care less. There will be food sold, and there’s a betting pool going. Half the money to the Club, and the rest to the winner. Luckily, it’s in the afternoon. H and I will visit with Carl in the morning, and be well away before the madness begins. 🙂
We have a donation tin, next to the food pantry. I picked up $5 out of it, the other day. This morning, two people donated a total of $24. Enough for another shopping trip. Lew
Chris:
Those were very serious thoughts of yours about Mr. Wodehouse and I appreciate them a lot. I feel like I understand him a little better, which makes me quite happy since I have enjoyed his works since I was a teenager. To me, he’s not an idol fallen from grace, just a hapless human being caught up in something that might have happened to any of us.
“There are moments, Jeeves, when one asks oneself, ‘Do trousers matter?’”
“The mood will pass, sir.”
― P.G. Wodehouse, The Code of the Woosters
I agree that 86F is pretty darn good.
Concentrating on some rain for you. That will also be a nice test for your new path.
You bet I bletted those persimmons. I would not eat one otherwise.
Pam
Hello Chris,
Another week of adventure. I echo the praise to the incredible makers of the shortcut path. (Of course, we cannot know if you and a handful of fat-prison minions toiled for weeks and only now put the pictures in a sequence of a few days to impress us all. 😉
Regarding gallows: A kilometer to the south of where we live there is an old crossroads where the justice was spoken. The place was called a “Ting”, where freemen assembled when needed to determine the consequences for alleged misbehaviours. As far as I have understood from local sources, it was in action from some time before 1300 until 1710, when it was moved to the other side of town. On our neighbour’s land, on the way towards town, there is a marsh called “Marsh of the gallows”. I guess it contributes to the mineral richness of his pastures surrounding the now wooded marsh.
Nowadays we are more civilized, it seems, and put people in prisons instead.
I think it made sense to have the gallows outside town, to reduce risk of disease spread from the deceased.
We have a very unusual winter here. Cold for longer than in decades, according to the locals. Two weeks of -3C and no snow made the soil freeze deep. Very unusual and tough for young trees. I wonder if the garlics survive this treatment?
This week, we got some 15 cm snow on top, but that will only keep the cold in the soil longer.
We will adapt as best as we can.
Enjoy harvest season!
Peace,
Göran
Hey Chris,
Re hot day when the solar system should have been generating high PV power and was not: “could you tell from your display whether the grid tied system was sending any electricity into your local grid?”
Yes, I could tell, and No, it wasn’t, and also the panels weren’t producing any power to speak of, no more than the house was using.
This is why I think it’d been muzzled.
Do you suspect that the vast soil inputs being sent out to sea, only to require mining, transport, sales through several levels of the supply chain etc to be replaced in the ground may not be in the service of the capitalist ideology? I don’t know the writings of Slavoj Zizek at all but much of the time I feel I am channelling him.
“I’m envious of your watermelon”
What was I saying? I meant rockmelon. I know they are relatives but it would be folly to grow something so big in the space here! The first year we got a few nice rockmelons; last year the frost killed them before they were ripe. This year fingers crossed they will grow so fast they will beat the cold.
Your decomposing intruder makes me wrinkle my nose even at this distance. When I was a child there was an abattoir 5km away from our house. On slaughter days if the wind direction was right you would know what day it was. So maybe dragging a carcass a bit farther into the forest might not be worth the trouble. How close are your neighbours?
K
Hi Pam,
Mr Wodehouse’s dialogue in the Code of the Woosters, was first rate. The words were silky smooth as imagined and then penned by a master of the craft. 🙂 His actions during WWII were a small thing, amounting to very little of consequence, but there are always those out with knives sharpened laying in wait to test the keen edges upon their betters. And truly, if he’d had Asperger’s as I’m guessing he may have, there is no way he would have comprehended the fallout. When those who disparage the author, find themselves interned in an enemy camp, let them then cast judgement.
Very funny! Long ago I worked for a very wealthy gentleman, and experienced first hand the life of Jeeves (from a business financial perspective). The stories… Indeedy yes, the mood shall pass, Sir.
Another 86’F day, and some rain. A little bit anyway. It’s falling nice and slowly. I tell you what, the forest is looking rather dry, which is a serious worry. The thunder can still be heard.
Same here with persimmons. They look a bit horrid when ready to eat, but that is when their taste is at its peak.
Cheers (and better get writing). Hope all is well with you?
Chris
Hi Lewis,
But was the depiction of the foot, any good? I hear that there are those with fetishes relating to that body part, which seems all a bit weird to me, but the world is a strange place. Candidly, the 27m foot looks a bit gnarled, and the artist may have chosen a better foot model. Rumour has it, that some folks do feet paid per view over the interweb. I told you, the human condition is an odd place. There are probably better art works to display on walls near to high end dinner parties.
Hey, we also tried growing potatoes above ground in sacks and other miscellaneous containers. Agreed, it is one of those ideas which sounds good in theory, and may work somewhere… Deepen the trench, continue to hill up the soil around the vines as they grow. Crop rotation, and if there is a better arrangement, I’m all ears.
A little bit of rain fell, and continues to do so, in between peals of thunder. It’s nice to see and feel the wet stuff falling from the sky again, even if it isn’t all that much. This morning the forest was looking so dry, it was a bit of a worry.
Might get some more rain on Wednesday after a hot day, fingers crossed, but! The UV rating is falling naturally this week due to the planets orbit around our star anyway. It won’t be long until I’m whingeing about how fricken’ cold it is! At this warm point in time, that moment is looking pretty darned good.
The dogs here have similar issues in wet grass, and being gentlemen of the finest pedigrees, it’s a subject not usually spoken of in polite company. But hey, I have to towel the Kelpies down, and they love it too, the little hussies. 😉
Yeah, I’ve observed that some practitioners of the gentle art of mindfulness, appear to be less situationally aware than perhaps people such as myself, who have been wired with a survivalist minded nervous disposition. From my perspective, it’s nice being zen and stuff, but why annoy our fellow human when the consequences can be dire? I associate mindfulness with elite values. And yours is my exact point, take notice of the world in which you find yourself in – not the same thing at all as mindfulness.
Whoa! Six days per week delivery is an awesome, and dare I mention it, expensive system. Dude, we’re down to maybe three days per week, although I don’t really know what actually takes place. Physical junk mail has been on the decline here too, although the real estate agents still send brochures decrying high price for this and that property.
Ooooooo! The rain has just picked up. Yay! It was so nice we went outdoors and stood and marvelled at the majesty of nature. The early evening last rays are producing sparkling effects upon the now damp leaves in the big forest trees. And all was good with the world.
Such a great word to be wheeled out when needed: No! Good to hear that roboman was not immune to the command, and I’d not tried to wield it against such electronic circuitry. The idea hadn’t crossed my mind. And yes, email addresses are rarely checked. Ordinarily this is not a problem, until it is.
Well, I never! Turns out that Found Footage is a recent visual nod to the Epistolary novel, one of which I’d read recently: Bram Stoker’s, Dracula. A most excellent book, if some of the more verbose dialogue is skipped over. Far better than Frankenstein – the good doctor in that narrative was, not a character the reader could relate to.
Yes, we’ve discussed the soundtrack before, and I want none of that noise in my consciousness. Tell you a funny story about that cultural literacy issue, as a younger bloke, the adults tended to provide less than polite critiques of older movies and books. They were wrong, but in thrall to progress narratives. There are days I find myself recalling Jack London short stories.
Ah Lewis, you’ve had a bad run here and there in life. 🙂 My adult experiences have been different with the ladies, but then I reckon my mum had borderline personality disorder, and so I run like stink from any whiff of that familiar odour.
An interesting experiment with the credit union, and what better way to learn, than do.
I’d avoid that big day as well, and hope your earlier pre-game catch up was good? The donation tin has arisen from the grave, and may it do some good where needed.
Cheers and seriously better get writing… Yay for some rain!
Chris
Hi Göran and Kallianeira,
Thanks for the lovely comments, but alas replies will have to wait until tomorrow for the next blog is being written. Until then! 🙂
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – People’s interests are … interesting. 🙂 I divide fetishes into the socially acceptable, and the unsocially acceptable. Feet would fall into the first group. No one gets hurt. Being a family friendly blog, we won’t delve into the second group. 🙂
They figured out that the sketch was for a figure in the Sistine Chapel, at the Vatican. Which gave it an extra bit of panache. But I did wonder, given the way it far exceeded estimates, if two (or more)devotees of the aforementioned “interest” were involved in a bidding war.
I find feet … architecturally interesting. And take the same view of ears and hands. All (in my opinion) marvelous structures.
Our high yesterday was 52F (11.11C). Our overnight low was 37F (2.77C). Our forecast high for today is 49F. We may get a couple of nice days, Tuesday and Wednesday.
So far, it’s been scattered showers, and H and I have managed to dodge the worst of it. H also has her “dedicated” towel, handy to the front door.
I had no problem reading “Dracula,” though, as you observed, the Victorians had a tendency to run on. It’s been a long time, but I don’t think I could manage to get through “Frankenstein.” Which makes sense. It was written in 1818, and Jane Austen died in 1817. I can’t read her, either.
I often tie dates, to each other, in my mind. It gives me a sense of what was going on in the world at the time. Shakespeare died just a couple of years before our Pilgrims landed (1620). The artists Rubens, van Eyck, Hals and Velaszquez were all active, about then. Gives me a peg to hang a sense of time and place.
I’m glad your rain has continued, and I hope it gives your forest a good drink. H and I are headed down to the Club, to chat with Carl. We’ll get out of Dodge before the sports fans show up. Lew
Chris:
All is well.
“Long ago I worked for a very wealthy gentleman, and experienced first hand the life of Jeeves (from a business financial perspective)”. Therein must lie an interesting story.
Pam