The weather today was glorious. Stunning bright blue skies struck a nice contrast to the big old yellow sun. Not a breath of wind disturbed the scene. Wasn’t hot either, at 22’C / 72’F. We ditched earlier ideas of work, jumped in the Suzuki dirt rat Jimny, and headed over to the northern side of the mountain range. Then we went a little bit further up the road, ending up at a nearby town which has a most excellent bakery.
Long ago, the main road north to Mount Alexander, from the big smoke to the gold-fields, used to cut right through the middle of the town. Crossing the road from one side to the other was akin to taking your own life in your hands. There was a never ending stream of traffic, from the smallest of cars, to the large trucks, road trains, and everything in between.
The town’s main industry, outside of farming, was the big youth detention centre, which in less polite circles could also be described as a jail for kids. As things which such places are apt go, there were a couple of well publicised incidents where a few of the cheeky rascals escaped. Eventually the joint got shut down, presumably putting locals out of work. And to throw even more change into the mix, a few years earlier, the state Premier (Governor equivalent) had a farm much further up the road, and so the freeway upgrade project was finished earlier than projected. The little town got bypassed.
The most excellent bakery, still produces awesome yummies, but the town is whole lot quieter these days. It relies on local farming, outside incomes and the tourist trade. It’s a lovely place on the northern climactic edge of the relatively moist Victorian central highlands. Whilst we out and about there yesterday grabbing sandwiches and apple cakes to consume at a nearby nature reserve, it was of interest to observe that there were a lot of large SUV vehicles on the roads. They appeared to be hauling caravans, but in the direction of Melbourne. I’m hardly surprised people were returning home. With nearby diesel fuel advertised at AU$2.96 / Litre (or US$7.87 / Gallon), it’d be an expensive proposition to drive long distances lugging a heavy load. Not an activity for those whom are broke.
Before we go on, the words apple cake conjure images of the famous English apple tea cake. This little local treat however, is anything but. Imagine, two round halves of shortbread joined at the edges, with a flat bottom, heaped top half constraining the spiced chunky stewed apple filling. Then just for good measure, a dollop of hardened sugary glaze takes pride of place on the rounded lid. That’s an apple cake. Looking into the history of the tasty munchie, for those who are more technically inclined, it’s described as an ‘Australian school canteen style apple cake’.
As a point of cultural difference, Australian kids were, and are, not usually fed by the schools. Children took their own lunches and ate them in the play ground. That’s just how things roll, summer or winter. Nobody cares if they go hungry, and my mother’s incomprehensible white bread with cucumber, pre-packaged cheese slices and sultana sandwiches (TM) were so disgusting a combination, that plenty of lunches were skipped let me tell you. Fortunately, as a mercenary child who’d sometimes work multiple jobs, when I could afford it, I’d buy something to eat from the school canteen. They were colloquially known as a ‘tuck shop’. The derivation of that word being a reference to ‘tucker’, which is itself an old nickname for ‘food’. Thus the famous poem about ‘the dog on the tucker box’, which sadly was a foolish, and blown up, Kelpie. So apple cakes have associated memories from those early days, and whilst we’re at it, let’s not mention the: ‘Snot Block’. If you know, you know.
The bakery was rocking, and the casual observer could opine that business was cracking – it being a delightful sunny warm Sunday afternoon, and fuel is yet to be rationed, that’ll be next month after the Easter holidays, at a wild guess. Chucked the sandwiches, cakes, and maybe a hot cross bun or two for toasting and consumption later with coffee, into the back of the Suzuki dirt rat Jimny. It is worthwhile mentioning here, that with a 1.5L / 92cc motor, the Japanese Kei class vehicle may not be able to tow a caravan, but it uses very little fuel, and my gut feeling tells me that this advantage may come in handy, real soon.
Anyway, drove south from the bakery, headed back in the direction of home. Not far along the way is a nature reserve. It is a pretty much a locals only kind of place. People go there to walk their dogs, or just amble around the forest track. Over the years I’ve met some real characters, presumably living on nearby bush properties. There are no facilities other than the picnic table, fencing, and the well defined hour long loop walk through regrowth forest. The warning signs regarding black snakes were a bit alarming, but as to the advice, well, we’ve studiously followed it over the years, and left them alone. Fun fact: we have actually encountered a few of the reptiles there, and possibly for good reasons they were more afraid of us, than we were of them, and so usually slithered off.
We had the place mostly to ourselves. The walk was nice, the weather was sweet, and it was a really pleasant day’s outing. The picnic table under the shade of the big old eucalyptus tree hit the right note for a lunch spot. And that’s how we do time out, nothing too fancy, just a quiet and enjoyable day. The simple pleasures in life, are often the best. Reading the metaphorical room when it comes to energy and geopolitics, realities, I’m guessing, will soon force people to ‘get more local’. Long ago, I too was swayed by the promise of exotic sights in distant lands, but that was an aberration. Whatever, I grew up with a local outlook, have long since returned to that, and as a lifestyle choice, it’s got a lot to recommend it.
Four days of mist and low thick clouds dominated the early half of the week. During such weather, and because of the lack of solar derived electricity, it’s always fun to watch the declining state of charge with the house batteries. By Friday morning, the batteries were at around 50% full. Then, the sun burned off the dense moisture and shone strongly. The batteries refilled as the solar panels harvested around 23kWh of electricity that afternoon. A win, but you can feel the days getting shorter as we tread ever closer to winter.
Being sick last week, I felt better by Monday, but took it easier and recovered, although it was a very busy week with our business. About mid week, I was able to take a few hours and install the bird proof steel welded mesh on the new firewood shed project. If our avian friends had the opportunity to set up home in the new shed, they’d most certainly do it. Fortunately they’re easier to exclude than rodents, which is almost impossible.
The only times that birds have actually entered sheds, is when we’ve left the doors open. The parrots are some of the most likely to be found inside, and they’re always in a complete flap of stress unable to employ their small brains towards the goal of escape.
During construction of the structure, we’d used up our supplies of scrap steel 50mm x 20mm (2 inch x 1.8 inch) channels. Some of this material would be useful as a door architrave, so we rifled through the remaining materials and discovered two shelves used in the original greenhouse long ago. They had angle brackets and strong mesh welded on. It took about half an hour of grinding metal to remove all the welds, then the metal scars were painted with primer and left in the sun to dry. Four pieces of scrap channel, as good as new, almost, especially if you don’t look too closely.
A bit of metal drilling and cutting, and the steel channels make solid architraves around the outside of the doorway to the shed.
Observant readers will note that most of the corrugated steel painted sheets have been installed on the front side of the shed. The rear side of the shed has had about half of the sheets installed. It’s a nice dark grey colour, known in the trade as ‘Monument’. Sounds impressive, huh?
Standing back a little distance from the shed, the structure is beginning to form a coherent shape.
Regular readers will recall that last week we trialled a new variety of fertiliser, Seamungus, which is a fish and seaweed based material which was mixed in with the more usual stuff. Anyway, it’s hard to know if the fertiliser hit the right notes, or the misty weather was ideal, but the seedlings and transplants have grown a lot in only a few days, with no discernible transplant shock.
Maybe the plants are simply responding well to the availability of soil moisture after all the recent rain? The Globe Artichokes have produced lots of new plants from their root systems. I should thin these tasty plants for best results.
Onto the flowers:
The temperature outside now at about 9am is 20’C (68’F). So far for this year there has been 171.6mm (6.8 inches) which is up from last weeks total of 153.6mm (6.0 inches)
Comments
43 responses to “Times like these”
Yo, Chris – We have our own jail for kids, here in my town. It’s called Green Hill School. Opened in 1891, and still a going concern. Although not a month goes by, that the local paper doesn’t report some kind of a scandal, escape, or small riot. In less enlightened times (or, were they?), the boys were taught trades. I know shoe making was one.
Ah, yes. Freeway bypasses and the demise of small towns. H’s former owner, happened to be a waitress, when the freeway bypass opened here. The restaurant she worked in, was the watering hole for all the local businessmen, worthies and local movers and shakers. Up until the freeway opened, well, they didn’t think it would make any difference. A lot of open scoffing. The day the freeway opened, the main drag became very quiet. Crickets. “Progress” had arrived, and there was a lot of unhappiness.
Where you might really notice a decline in local traffic, is leaf peeper season. Isn’t it almost upon you? You’ve often mentioned that in the 1930s, your mountain got very quiet. I wonder if it will happen, again?
I looked down the rabbit hole, for “canteen style apple cake.” I found a wonderful website, “Australia’s Best Recipes.” They appear to be pretty easy to make at home. We have a commercial version, that is ghastly. Comes in many fruit flavors. Even has the glaze. They generally cost less than $1 per, and the pastry reminds one of the cardboard of cereal boxes.
I noticed the website also had a section for “Best Easter Recipes.” Besides regular hot cross buns, there was a chocolate variety.
“Snot block”, aka “phlegm cake,” aka “pus pie.” Looked pretty tasty. But, make it seem disgusting enough, and your mates will be giving pieces over to you. 🙂
Beware! The picnic table under the tree, was built by Drop Bears. A trap to lure in unsuspecting human.
I’m happy you’ve recovered your health, and it’s onward and upward with the woodshed. That was a clever reuse of the steel channels. Your door looks quite handsome. Isn’t “architraves” a lovely word?
“Monument gray” as a color, probably (might) refer to tombstones.
The flowers are quit lovely, especially the roses. I thought the Banksia was named after a semi-anonymous graffiti artist. :-). Lew
Hi Lewis,
Of course, providing an alternative path for young offenders, such as a discipline, structure, support and a useful trade so that they don’t fall back into their old habits, is probably the wisest option. There’ll always be some bad eggs though. It is of interest that your bunch is described as a school, and that may be true for some of the folks there, and it is an enlightened response (for some).
Oh my! You’ve mentioned that story before about H’s former boss, and the situation smacks of hubris. The wonderful Japanese Inn book you recommended long ago had a similar conclusion with a major freeway bypass. As I recall things, the bakery had it’s custom seriously hit hard, and so had to reinvent itself to bring in new customers, and they played the long game and survived.
Probably will get quiet again up here, especially in the less fashionable end of the mountain range, and also given high property prices and what younger folks can afford to pay. Also, 6 miles uphill from the nearest train station, is probably a step too far for most folks. That’d be a three hour walk at best guess. And yeah, the early leaf peepers are hitting the more fashionable end of the mountain range, but they’re early.
Ha! Man, I so hear you about that, and not every shortbread is of equal quality, and don’t get me started about stewed apple fillings. When it tastes like moosh, that’s not right. Apples have a tart flavour, and chuck in some tasty spices, like cinnamon, and the result should be a classic. Incidentally, long ago the Editor won the best apple cake prize at the annual apple-fest up north where the ex-premier I mentioned lives. He had judged the contest and enjoyed a second piece he liked it so much, but whoa, did we upset the local apple cart ladies, or what? The hate in the air was palpable, but she won all the same. An odd day to see the local ladies politics in action. Best not to be involved is my thinking. 😉
By the way, the hot cross buns did not have enough spices, so they were good, but more like a fruit toast. Probably won’t buy those again, but nice to try them. Hey, there are chocolate varieties down here too, but you know I’m a traditionalist with these sorts of seasonal treats. Although, a now closed bakery in the city of Bendigo used to make a very tasty dense sour dough hot cross bun. You have to try it before you knock the idea! 😉 Sadly, that business closed it’s doors three years ago after an almost fifteen year run. They cited increased rent costs, and last I noticed, the site was empty of tennants.
Dude, there’s a lot of competition down here to be awarded the title for the state’s best ‘vanilla slice’ AKA ‘snot block’, and they’re very much like the girl with the little curl, in that when they’re good, they’re really good, but… Way back in the day, they were very hmm, less than gourmet, probably made in a factory somewhere, but still alright. I’ve had the Editor offer me food with that line you mentioned too: ‘Here. Try this. It’s disgusting!’ I don’t think so after those words.
Oooo, you’re probably right with the tombstone borrowed colour. I thought that those monuments were more of a light grey colour though? Have you decided on a winning recipe to add to yours?
Oh you’re good, and I’d not considered that aspect to the flower’s and artist’s name. Hmm, might have to incorporate that idea. You know, I’m a gentleman, most of the time, and so have studiously avoided the articles lifting the mystique. Why go there? Life is better with an added element of mystery don’t you reckon?
Gate keepers are pesky nuisances who are in league with the very institutions which aim to suck all of our hard earned mad cash from under our very noses. Of course, mad cash may also be kept in pockets, or wallets rather than under the nose – those two options being super convenient too. Yeah, are the outcomes better though? That question is often rarely asked. And you hint at dark secrets too, yes, talent and qualifications are often two very different things. Hmm.
What were your thoughts regarding the ‘Testament’ film? Reading the plot, I got the impression that the power of the narrative was in how focused it was on the smaller tragedy, and mostly avoided the bigger picture altogether. Powerful stuff, and I recall those days, and who can forget ‘The Day After’? I grew up expecting to have the daylights bombed out of us.
That’s why I asked about the sugar cookies, because my thoughts and searches were drawing blanks as well. In order to resolve this, I’ll ask a friend who hails from your country. He’ll know for sure whether there is a local equivalent. Report to follow in a week or two… 🙂
Go the Spanish rice. The Editor was a bit out of sorts yesterday, so I kicked her out of the kitchen and took over the household. Party time! 🙂 Actually I may have even advised her to: ‘get the f$%k out of my kitchen!’, sometimes a strong message needs to be sent about the way the world is going to roll on a particular day! Nah, I just did everything needful, and the moons aligned with your Spanish rice biz, because I made a pasta sauce for dinner, and in a rare break from the world of veg, I got inspired and chucked in a can of salmon with chilli. Spicy, but ended up having a sort of paella overtone due to the salmon, mushrooms and red capsicum. Didn’t you get some gourmet sausages recently – those would have worked a treat in the Spanish rice dish. Yum! Have you ever had a serious proper traditional made paella? The big cast iron almost wok like sized pan, produces food genius.
It’s happening isn’t it? Look, dunno about you, but for the past half a century I’ve heard the name pronounced as: Ca-Ru-So. That’s what it sounds like and I can’t shake the thought, but it isn’t technically correct is it? But let’s just chuck that to the side. Who cares, you know what I mean, I know what you mean, and I’m a third of the way through the Caruso book. Purists be damned! 🙂 I feel very pirate right now, and undoubtedly it’s long out of copyright. Didn’t Tom Hanks do a remake of the story, less the slave trading bits…
59’F is looking up. You’re inching closer to spring, although technically you are in spring, aren’t you? 77’F here today, and after a few hours of paid work, we put up the remaining sheets on the rear of the new shed. Then installed about half of one side’s sheets. Might finish that, and do the other side tomorrow. You get into a rhythm with the work, although the drilling is very hard on the back and arms, plus I’m up a ladder a lot of the time. Ook! Oh well, nothing is meant to be easy.
Filled up the dirt rat Suzuki Jimny this afternoon and blow me down. Petrol was AU$2.45 a litre (US$6.52 a Gallon) whilst Diesel was a mind bending AU$3.00 a litre (US$8.00 a Gallon). If I had to make a further prediction, people are going to be driving less, soon. And that’ll be the tip of the proverbial iceberg. It’s like a contagion, but in the early stages…
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – Here’s everything you could possibly want to know, about Green Hill School. 🙂 We have a few folks at the Club, who are past employees.
https://w.wiki/KDmR
I think sourdough hot cross buns make perfect sense. A lot of recipes call for citron, or currents. I saw some recipes that called for sultanas. One recipe I saw had dried potato flakes, mixed into the dough. Not all that “out there,” as there are baked rolls, that have a component of potato flakes, or even mashed potatoes.
LOL. The Editor is a master psychologist. 🙂 “Here, try this. It’s disgusting.” More tasty tucker, for her.
I need to arrange for my tombstone. I can have it pre-set. And I’m sure costs won’t go down. Like telegrams, cost is usually by word, or even letter count. So, I’ll be going really simple. Might not even have the month and days. Just the years. Might not even have my middle name. So, a recipe is completely off the table. I’ll take my secret recipes, to the grave. 🙂
“Testement,” and “The Day After,” were broadcast just a few weeks apart. They really had a lot of impact, at least for awhile. It was interesting to see Kevin Costner. He had more than one, small intense scenes. Of course you folks had “On the Beach,” which was just … stunning.
It was a popcorn night, last night. I watched “Blade Runner, The Final Cut.” Quit good, I thought. It did veer from the book, on quit a few points. Quit a few of the scenes were filmed in a recreation (I suspect) of the Bradbury Building, in Los Angeles. It’s an architectural marvel.
https://w.wiki/KDti
The hero’s apartment has a lot of aspects of Frank Lloyd Wright’s cast concrete block construction, which we’ve discussed, before.
I may cut up some of the sausage, for a second run at my version of Spanish rice, this evening. I use half a tin each, of diced tomatoes and black beans, reserving the other half for another go. I also use half a diced green pepper, for both servings.
That was Tom Hanks in “Cast Away.” A very fine film, as I remember.
Our high yesterday was 55F (12.77C). Our overnight low was 34F (1.11C). Our forecast high for today is 54F. Another dry day, but rain will be back in the early AM. A good thing, as I transplanted a lot of garlic, and there’s no water turned on to the gardens, yet.
As I was working in the garden bed, I noticed a tiny, blue flower. Nothing I had ever planted, or, as far as I know, had anyone else. Whence it came? The Master Gardeners were here this morning, and, using some app or another, identified it for me.
https://w.wiki/KDuD
I may see if I can propagate it, and get some more of them going. Anything blue that blooms this early, deserves encouragement. 🙂 I’ve noticed a lot of the ornamental trees around town, are blooming, and putting on quit a show. So has the forsythia. Lew
Chris:
There are so many interesting little towns around you, with so many interesting stories. One wonders how the residents continue to support themselves and it sounds like what you mentioned, tourism is a lot of it. I guess that’s better than nothing, if one wants to stay put there. At least this one has a yummy bakery!
When I looked up those apple cakes (they’re not cakes!) my first thought was of the fried apple pies we have here, though I know yours were baked. They sometimes have a glaze like that icing.
That is interesting about your school lunches. All the schools I went to served hot lunches, though you could bring a sandwich if you didn’t like the lunch, or couldn’t afford it. I can hardly imagine a more unappetizing sandwich than the one you described. You must have been a skinny young Chris. You couldn’t even trade it with somebody; sometimes we did that.
It is a fine thing to have a local outlook, and it makes it much easier if you have fine local surroundings to appreciate.
There you go – for local entertainment, you can always watch your battery power go up and down. Yee – haw!
Oh, yeah – we have some birds, you give them an inch, they’ll take a kilometer. Once I hung a bucket on the clothesline and when I came back later, there was already quite a bit of a nest in it.
That is a formidible scrap metal architrave (door frame?). I don’t think hardly a mosquito can get in that place. Maybe a skinny one.
I have finished planting my potatoes (sadly, without Seamungus). Thanks to your shortages last year, I planted almost 4 times as many this year. I think potatoes are the hardest thing to plant of all. Part of that is because my son always has some new scheme to make it easier. This year he resurrected his black plastic idea and I had to struggle with that. Ugh.
Lovely, and VERY interesting flowers. Thank you!
Last week:
What is saltbush? I assume it can withstand extremely dry weather.
We have a nearby neighbor just like that, though he’s not actually shooting anything alive at the moment as it is not hunting season for anything. But every Sunday he gets out ammunition that cost a share of Fort Knox and goes at the targets for hours.
Re: grapes – “No point growing plants which don’t work out.” That has been a hard lesson for me to learn, but I think I have finally caught on. The word “ruthless” comes back to mind.
Pam
Hi Pam,
It’s a pretty quiet area around here, so there are lots of small towns just doing their own thing. In some ways, this is an unusual area too, because I believe about a third of the residents in this particular council, live outside of town boundaries too. That’s unusual for this country where the bulk of the population are settled in a few very large coastal cities. By way of contrast, in your country, there are some enormous inland cities, and that just isn’t the case down here. Probably why the English used to do their atomic testing out in the bush – because there’s a lot of it.
And your guess is spot on, tourism and external incomes are how residents support themselves in this area. Long, long ago, the residents catered to needs of the wealthy hill station owners over in the more fashionable part of the mountain range, whereas in the middle section where I am, it’d be forestry, potatoes and berries which supplied the income. Tourism was always part of the story, being near to the main train line, but perhaps not in the same volume as occurs today.
It was warm here again today, with a late monsoonal thunderstorm. Quite tropical feeling really. We spent the earlier part of the day installing the remaining wall sheets on the new firewood shed. With the alarming news of the world, let’s just say that I’m motivated to complete the job. 🙂 Whilst doing the physical work we’re also trying to think of future necessities and placing orders, just in case.
Good point, and I agree with you, the name apple cake is confusing, but so tasty (when done well). They can be a bit bland if improperly made, like say shortbread or oh my, stewed apple filling, which tastes like cardboard. A person has to be discriminating in their purchases with this treat. Yeah, the deep fried apple pie thing was introduced down under with the golden archers (! Yes, skewering the competition) mob and I’ve not been a fan due to the greasy nature of the dessert. Apple cakes are dry to the touch, as a proper shortbread should be. Some folks use too much butter in the recipe, and again it spoils the overall composition. Pam, I’m starting to sound fussy! Surely it’s not true? 🙂
I’ve seen the big school cafeteria scenes from your country in movies and boggled at the display of plenty. Those aren’t a thing here, and the tuck shop was a hole in the wall shop inside the school run and manned by the mothers group, even at the posh more English than the English grammar school.
Pam, the sandwich was a horrid botched combination of ingredients which should never have been seen on the same dish. And thanks for your agreement in this matter. You may no longer wonder why I enthusiastically agreed to take my turn preparing family meals from the age of twelve? 🙂 I was always a skinny kid, and they do suggest that portion control has something to do with that outcome. However, I’ve a kindly view on the world and subject of food, for you know, hunger does change a person’s perspective. Between you and I, the unfolding fertiliser shortage story bothers me. People mostly don’t know what it means to be hungry.
🙂 The other kids were no fools, and wouldn’t have traded lunches. I must say you experienced an enviable social skill to learn, by the way.
Your part of the world is equally delightful, and this does make for an easier life. Not sure about you, but apartment living is not for I, I’d feel like a trapped forest critter.
🙂 The new shed roof will provide enough free space for at least a dozen additional solar panels. I’m busy scrounging around over the past few days to get the additional bits of equipment to do just that. If fuel is scarce over the next few months, then I may not be able to run the back up generator for recharging the batteries as often. And whilst 9 days without electricity is still only 1% of the year, it’s still 9 days without electricity! Far out…
Those naughty birds setting up house in your bucket. It’s quite clever really isn’t it? 🙂 Thanks for the laughs, but I see no reason to allow that lot access to the comfy dry shed, which is all quite wet this evening due to the earlier thunderstorm (the roof sheets are yet to be installed).
🙂 Thanks, and we’re using up all of the scrap which we have laying around the place. Why buy stuff, when there is useful scrap?
Your soils are probably more fertile than here on average anyway, maybe. Actually do you make compost from kitchen scraps etc? Hmm, I wish it were not so about the potatoes, but, best to have them and not need them, than want them and not have them. What the heck is a black plastic idea, and why would potatoes want to eat plastic? 😉 Not to disparage the efforts, but simple, well drained and fertile is often the best way with the tasty tubers.
🙂 Thanks about the flowers! You’ll be in flower season very soon given the recent bout of warm weather you enjoyed.
Think indestructible and productive in super harsh climates, that’s saltbush for you. Dunno how they’d like your cold winters, but some variety might, maybe? Saltbush
Yeah, like who has a monster bullet budget? When they’re $84 for a box of twenty, it’s not a cheap hobby. Things may be different in your country though? The constant noise sends the Kelpies a bit crazy, but seems to be only weekends here as well. Yes, respect the Sabbath, let’s go shoot some stuff. I can’t complain though, there is now no deer here.
Hmm. Ain’t just you there and it’s likewise taken me a long time to get to that point. The hail damaged plants for example were ripped out and replaced even though they had some ways yet to go. It’s hard to know really what to do, isn’t it?
Cheers
Chris
Hello Chris!
I am beginning to live vicariously at your place. Yesterday a carpenter’s reply to my question “can you make this shed a bit more structurally sound?” was “either bulldoze it, or next windy night tie a rope to it and pull”. True, my place is vintage. However, I am ticked off by the arrogance of tradies who think they can decide what is worth repairing and how I should spend my assets. But I can’t make them take the work.
In my recollection, rain which brings droplets of red dust is not uncommon. Nor are winds which bring sheets and veils of it. There is possibly a lot more red dust in range of NSW towns than Victorian.
You and Lew are making who-is-the-more-cultured jokes about Robinson Caruso, right? Enrico Caruso (1873-1921), the tenor, was never mentioned in my household although Crusoe (Cruise-oh) was.
Now I am curious as to how the corners of the beautiful woodshed will be sealed against ingress by critters. Do please post photos of what you do with them! Also, what is to stop rodents from digging under the walls and getting in that way? I assume you have this contingency covered.
I fear it won’t just be fuel that keeps going up and which will be rationed. A headline was seen in the grocery store today to the effect that there will be food price hikes. Do you think anyone needs to warn Australians about that? I think we would have collectively panicked anyway if we have not already. In fact I should have checked the toilet paper aisle… that was the first item to be cleaned up in 2020.
Luckily I have a few tins in the pantry. Hope I won’t need to use them.
Hi Lewis,
Yeah, I read that article yesterday regarding the school, and it’s a good idea to provide other career paths for those whom need it. The school in some ways is a bit like the Club in that there’ll be those who benefit from the program, and others who fall back into their old and comfortable known ways. It happens. And there is a small percentage of the population who will happily work harder at nefarious activities for less gain than if they went on the straight and narrow. Always a risk.
The sourdough hot cross bun was pretty good, and changed my perspective in that matter, so I appreciate your thoughts. Bakers yeast is virile and consistent in poor conditions, but does it produce a bread which tastes as good? Yes, sultanas are very much a thing down here and almost the standard dried fruit. I mean, grapes grow well down under, and sultanas used to sometimes be sold in little blue snack sized boxes. And you’ve pointed out to me previously that canny bakers extend their wheat supplies by adding all manner of food stuff like potato, you just hope they avoid the poor choice of non edible things like plaster…
🙂 Man, I fall for that trick, every time. It’s hardly an appetising invite to test some food.
Yeah, some may consider it to be macabre to pre-order a tombstone, I’d describe it as being organised. Sorry for laughing, but your description of the economic realities made me bring to mind the days of the ye olde classified advertisement where a person paid by the word count. The recipe was simply a suggestion, and nice work burying it.
I’d noted that Kevin Costner was in one of his earliest roles in that film. Proving also that an actor has to support all levels of their industry. Oh my, I’m so embarrassed to admit that I’ve not read the book, nor seen the film. I know, this is a complete cultural disgrace for which I’m shamed, maybe. Might have to do something about this lack of a proper education.
Blade Runner is a brilliant film, and glad to read that you also enjoyed it. The dark and brooding sets were something else, weren’t they? What a treat for the eyes that the Bradbury Building is. Just stunning to look at, and the detail iron work with the elevator is beautiful. All the Victorian era details were very much appreciated.
Oooo, did you add the gourmet sausage to the Spanish rice meal? Had veg moussaka for dinner this evening, and we’ve worked out that the canny chef can swap in the much easier grown zucchini (to replace the very hard to grow eggplant) if the courgette slices are first salted so they lose their excess moisture. Honestly, I can’t tell the difference between the two vegetables in the final product. I’d give it a thumbs up by serving the meal to visitors – which is the gold standard here, visitors being spoiled rotten on a food front.
That’s the film, Castaway, very little dialogue, massive amounts of tension. I’ve often thought of it as a modern take on the older form of silent film.
Did you and H dodge the forecast rain? It was warm here today, and we installed the remainder of the wall sheets on the shed. By mid afternoon, a monsoonal storm hit. It felt really tropical, humid, wet and strangely warm. About half an inch of rain fell. It’s cold now though at 59’F. Tomorrow is meant to be a repeat of today weather wise.
I’ve never watered garlic bulbs, they seem to have gotten by just fine on rainfall. Dunno. Are you seeing any difference between the transplanted bulbs and the remaining lot? A few weeks ago I stopped watering the tomatoes in the greenhouse, and the fruit began to ripen.
Never seen that plant before, and the article suggested that it naturalises well. A good and hardy plant if you ask me. Bluebells do a similar thing here, and they too move down the hill through the sunny orchard. I like them a lot in spring. Exactly, the plant is to be respected for it’s many benefits.
Ooo, spring is here for you! 🙂
On a fuel front: Victorian service stations run out of fuel as Middle East war spikes demand
Cheers
Chris
Hi Kallianeira,
🙂 Thanks, and well, when times are good, tradespeople get to pick and choose the jobs they want to take on. Sometimes restoration work is the hardest of all to do, and I used to fix up old Victorian era buildings and have a great appreciation for them, but they are hard work.
Always difficult to second guess such folks, but it is my belief that if the underlying structure is no longer sound, the materials can be recovered, and then used to produce something equally pleasing upon the eye. New sheds have a distinctly cheap look about them.
Agreed, NSW west of the divide is more likely to experience dust storms than this southerly locale. You’d probably hear us screaming that the world is ending, or some such nonsense.
Never met the bloke, but by all accounts he had vast talent and the misfortune to be lethally injured by a set prop. Can’t trust some crew… There’s the American actor Tom Cruise…
Ah, of course, steel edge capping seals the corners, eventually. Although an old school version is to wrap the steel around the corner edges, and I’ve done that on other sheds. The wall sheets are now all installed. I’ve got a plan against the digging rodents. They’re amazing tunnellers, and I’m unsurprised by the name of the legendary Rats of Tobruk.
Sadly, I agree with you regarding prices. It’ll happen for sure. Although I never really understood the toilet paper craze and used to make jokes that the appropriate number to hold was 42 rolls. No more, not less. Probably not a bad idea to keep some stores.
Cheers
Chris
@ Kallianeira & Chris – I’m getting a t-shirt. “I Survived the Great Toilet Paper Panic of 2026.” 🙂 I saw this article, this morning …
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/great-toilet-paper-panic-back-192951341.html
I better pick up another pack. I’m down to 43 rolls. And, as all prudent people know, 42 is the answer to Life, the Universe, and everything.
Interesting factoid for the next pub quiz: Enrico Caruso survived the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Lew
Chris:
I don’t think your country could support any size city in the middle of your country. Even towns seem iffy. The first atomic bomb ever tested in the world was at White Sands Missile Range, which was very near to where I lived in El Paso, Texas. Of course, I hadn’t been born yet.
I think yesterday, or the day before, I saw something about a cyclone in your country. Did you hear of that?
World news does keep me hopping. Today was the kind of day I like: I was able to tell myself a number of times “Do one more thing.” after I was ready to quit. It doesn’t always happen, but it was a nice, brisk sunny day.
Yes, I think you might be fussy. But if it’s about food, that’s okay, because that is one of the great joys in this world. And it’s okay to be fussy about firewood sheds, too. These are important things.
I, too, am wondering about the fertilizer dilemma, though I haven’t seen evidence of it yet. I am glad that my son had already ordered his fertilizer supplies for the next year. Maybe he ought to get some extra, though it was a huge ordeal getting that and the 22,000 pounds of potting soil(maybe it wasn’t that much, but it was seven 7 foot (2 m) tall pallets) to our house. There were issues about getting a big truck up the very winding narrow road we live on. Finally, an extremely nice guy who would truck it on a smaller truck was found. There was a conflict with the original trucking company, who refused to bring the stuff, but wanted to be paid anyway.
I not only couldn’t live in an apartment, I couldn’t even live in a house in a town. I don’t really breathe easy until I get back home from my town visits. It’s okay for doing what I have to do and I’m glad it’s there, but I’m just not that comfortable with it.
Oh, yeah – you are heading into winter. Good luck setting up the new solar panels.
I wish potatoes ate black plastic. Last year my son had an idea on how to keep the weeds down. We grow fine, big, abundant weeds here; no problem. Vegetables, that’s another matter. Anyway, supposedly, encasing a raised bed in black plastic, then just burning a hole or a line big enough for the seeds/plants is what you do. He set up 3 beds that way last year. The plants in them did reasonably well, but it is a chore to plant and water and feed stuff. And planting the potatoes that way was torture. And that black plastic gets so hot! The whole garden stays 10F, or more, degrees warmer than the air outside of it. Therefore, I am not pleased. But it does, mostly, keep the weeds out.
How about that – there is a western saltbush (that one I guessed) in the U.S. and an eastern saltbush in U.S. coastal areas. Both can stand a great deal of cold.
The rowdy gunslinger here shoots one or two deer in the short season we have, but it hardly puts a dent when they are knee deep at our mailboxes. I forgot to mention the noise comes from the property behind us that was up for sale for $10 million, now at the bargain price of $8 million. It’s not the owner, he’s too old. Maybe his son, or the farm manager.
Pam
Yo, Chris – I have fond memories, of the school lunchroom. 🙂 And, the Lunch Room Ladies. Usually, a memo was sent out, outlining the menu for the week. Or was it month? If the plan didn’t appeal, one could pack one’s own lunch. There are cookbooks out there, that have the Lunch Room Ladies recipes.
I heard an interesting story about Green Hill School. Of course, the shoes made, were also for the inmates. And, there was a certain configuration of nails on the soles. To easier track escapees. 🙂
I finally bit the bullet, and looked up the difference between raisins, and sultanas. It’s in the variety of the grape. Looking down the rabbit hole, sultanas are usually made from seedless green grapes, or white grapes. We also get raisins in little boxes. Or, now, individual servings in plastic packets.
“…non-edible things.” Then there was the ever popular sawdust. 🙂 In Britain, during WWII, there was the “National Loaf.” Doesn’t sound too bad.
I guess I’m well organized. Or, pragmatic. I think I told you about acquiring my cemetery plot. Probably the only bit of land I’ll ever own. And, arranging for my “no-frills” funeral. No sense leaving my executors, in the lurch, as to my “wishes.”
Yes, you’d better remedy your gap in Australian culture. They’re libel to revoke your citizenship and deport you. 🙂 I seem to remember the sound track had a lot of “Waltzing Matilda.” It was also remade. Stick with the original. Stellar cast.
I’m taking a break from movies, and watching season five of “Shakespeare & Hathaway.” Another Brit mystery series. This time the small English village is Stratford-upon-Avon. It’s a fine balance between comedy and a murder or two. There was an interesting episode, last night. One of the majors had been on vacation (to Australia), and returned home to discover her house had been sold out from under her, and someone else was living in it. I’ve seen articles. It happens. There is to be a season six.
The only thing that bothered me about “Blade Runner,” were the constant light flares. I’m glad I read the book, before hand. It explained a lot of the background, that was lightly touched on, in the movie.
Yes, I chopped up the sausage, and added it to my version of Spanish rice. Added a bit of flavor. You are a canny cook. Besides zucchini being easier to grow, if you had to buy ingredients, they would be less expensive than eggplant.
Our high yesterday was 52F (11.11C). Our overnight low was 43F (6.11C). Our forecast high for today is 54F. The rain did begin in the early AM. H and I got slightly damp, on our morning walk. It was pretty windy, 20mph+. Felt on the warm side, to me. That tropical air from Hawaii. I suppose you’ve heard about their flooding. We’ll have a nice weekend, after a few days of rain.
Too early to tell with the garlic. It looked ok, this morning.
That was an interesting article, about fuel, or the lack of it, in Australia. Also, the sidebar article, “Reducing ‘just in case’ purchases.”
I’m engrossed in an interesting new book. When people travel, I often ask them what it’s like, “out there.” I usually get a blank look. This book has pretty much answered my question. “Greyhound: A Memoir.” (Pocock, 2025). She’s a Canadian, who moved to England. But, in 2006 she rode the bus, across America. From Detroit to Los Angeles. Recording her thoughts and taking photographs, along the way. Well, in 2023, she repeated the trek.
The Greyhound bus company has been pretty much gutted, by a string of private equity firms. And, America has become the Land of Apps, often wonky. Once again, I’m staying up, much too late, reading. Lew
Chris and Lew:
I just saw this “Victorian service stations run out of fuel as Middle East war spikes demand” in your comment to Lew. Can it already be here? And Lew: The Japanese toilet paper. Luckily, I still have 42 rolls.
Pam
Hi Chris,
Yes, times like these indeed. Gasoline is up to $3.79 per gallon, cheaper than most people pay, but it’s now a full US dollar higher than before the latest “adventure.”
Meanwhile, the weather roller coaster continues. Last week the heat bubble made it this far east. We set two more daily record high temperatures, 90F on the 22nd and 88F on the 20th. After the high on the 22nd, the morning low on the 23rd was 37F, and 38F this morning. But by the 26th the high is supposed to be around 90F again. The record monthly high temperature for March is in some danger of being tied or broken on the 26th (92F). Then by the 28th the low is forecast to be 32F. Stop the roller coaster, the plants are getting motion sickness! 😉
The bird mesh looks like what we call hardware cloth. I’ve made tree guards from it to keep rabbits from eating tree seedlings and saplings until they grow large enough in diameter that rabbits can no longer feed on them. We’ve also blocked openings in our shed that squirrels used to get inside and make a nest and the opening that raccoons used to get into the attic of our house. It’s very handy stuff.
More trees are blooming. Will the flowers freeze off before danger of frost ends? I’ll keep you posted.
Claire
Chris,
Your shed is looking good. Great work repurposing the metal for the door frame.
We did get some breaks from the wind over the weekend. It is returning tonight and tomorrow, blowing out the low pressure system that gave us light rain and mist all day today.
Meanwhile, we still have on hand more than the minimum number of 42 rolls of t.p. Very important to keep enough on hand lest another panic develops. And if one has the 42 rolls stored up, then one will easily adhere to the advice on the cover of that great Hitchhikers Guide: Don’t Panic.
I read a timely article over the weekend, unfortunately losing the link to it. Some blokes at a UK university have rethought the lead into the Battle of Hastings and have the idea that Harold Godwinson did NOT have a forced march north then another one south to his demise. They based this on actually reading the Anglo Saxon Chronicle and ignoring whatever propaganda the victors had written.
So, I reread that part of the Chronicle. And let it soak in. Then repeated the process. So, here it is. Harold had an army AND a navy to make a landing difficult for William of Normandy. The winds prevented William from invading. Time came for all the soldiers called up to go get in their crops. The fleet retired to London, the soldiers returned to their districts.
Then came word of Harald of Norway’s invasion. Harold of England’s royal troops, the housecarls, were with him, about 3,000 strong. He and the housecarls rapidly marched north to York, gathering more troops as they went. The fleet, eventually getting manned again, met them at Tadcaster near Leeds about the time Harold and Harald fought it out. The Chronicle plainly states that the English surprised the Norwegians, who apparently had no scouts out after defeating the northern English army.
Harold of England then had truces to make with the survivors of the Norse army. He had to tend to his wounded. Also, he had to make sure his northern earls had a handle on things and were recovering from their battle against the Norse and able to gather more troops. A day or three had to have gone by AFTER the Battle of Stamford Bridge.
THEN word came from the south that William had invaded, built fortifications. Per the Chronicle, Harold AND THE FLEET then sailed to London. Thus, he had to march his troops from York to Tadcaster before sailing. My guess is that he took the remaining housecarls with him, the remainder of his battered army to hasten overland and meet him in the south.
Harold, after arriving in London, then sent word out for more troops to gather at an appointed place, the fleet to follow. He was hoping to surprise William and get him bottled up. The Chronicle then states that William surprised Harold, whose entire army had not yet gathered. Nevertheless, Harold put up a stout fight, got killed along with his brothers, and William became king.
In other words, if the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is correct, Harold of England was guilty of the exact thing Harald of Norway was guilty of a week or more earlier – he didn’t have proper scouts set out. Also, he had lost housecarls at Stamford Bridge, and those who sailed south with him were banged up, some had injuries of varying degrees. Nor had all of the other troops he had called for gathered completely either. So due do various major gaffs, Harold was surprised by a more experienced general, being forced to fight on ground NOT of his own choosing with a weakened core of his army, with other troops trickling onto the battlefield as the day progressed.
That’s what I got out of reading the Anglo Saxon Chronicle for those events again. I think the “new” theory holds water. The Norman version of events made assumptions about what Harold had been doing but has long been accepted as the true account.
Anyhow, that was my day, revisiting our recent discussion after reading a different and recent point of view.
DJSpo
Hi Pam,
Respect for holding the necessary, and dare I say it? but crucial number of supplies: 42 rolls, which as everyone knows is the answer. Candidly I’ve spent much of the past two weeks on such problems, and may have sorted out the last of them today, although we’ll believe it all when it arrives. I’d not been aware of the Japanese history with this issue, but yeah, contagion sucks. 😉
Water is the crucial issue in that matter of inland living on this country, as is poor soil fertility right across the entire continent. The land is old and flat, and the most recent ice age barely ground up any rocks, and so all manner of soil minerals are in short supply everywhere – phosphates being the most notable. There’s a reason I grab 33 pound sacks of blood and bone meal with 5% phosphate and spread it around. Even then the rain leaches the goodies away, but! Some sticks around, and some is better than none. Plus everything which once barely squawked ends up in the soils here.
Exactly, iffy is the word. I read an article recently which suggested that in the next decade or so, the big town north of here, Bendigo, is likely to run short of water. And the population isn’t all that big.
That’s true too, the British exposed a lot of active servicemen to the atomic blasts down under, and the question always arises: Did they know what they were doing? The earliest blasts can be forgiven for their ignorance, but after a while, knowledge of consequences accumulates. Hmm. Down under has a long history of anti-nukes, mostly because the British bombed us, and there is only the single reactor on the continent for the production of medical isotopes. Now all is changed and we look to be buying nuke subs from your country, and paying for another production line too. The times they’re a changing.
Indeedy yes, that weird cyclone is maybe tracking south with the potential of hitting the big city of Perth on the west coast. Nobody is really sure yet, but it’s made a lot of landfall. Cyclone Narelle’s trajectory puts Western Australia on hit list
🙂 Yay for the sun for you! Whoa! A thunderstorm is running both north and south of the mountain range. Lots of thunder out there.
Just had to have a break as a quarter inch of rain fell in minutes. A warm day followed by a late thunderstorm is monsoon season… 🙂 It’s wet out there.
Lovely stuff and so good to hear that you’re feeling better too. Sunshine and fresh air does wonderful things to the mind and body.
Thanks! Fuss about good coffee is a worthy topic too, although you may enjoy other beverages. Actually, do you like green tea?
Fertiliser down here is definitely in short supply mostly because urea comes from natural gas conversion in the middle east. Not sure what the farmers will end up doing, and they won’t follow my path because it is uneconomic. Your country probably has industrial plants which convert natural gas to urea. The potting soil purchase was very wise indeed.
Deliveries are sometimes challenging here as well for much the same reasons. The crane on the steel delivery truck actually broke down in a nearby town, which delayed arrival and probably cost the supplier heaps.
I so hear you about that, and likewise feel better once out in the bush.
Thanks about the panels, and nabbed the orders for the extra stuff needed to install them all. With loose talk in the news of petrol rationing, to be, or not to be, means that running the little generator during winter could be a problem. Best to get more panels installed, despite that also being a problem. Oh well.
🙂 Weeds, err, happen! Hehe! Here too. Yeah, the soil would get quite hot with that black plastic, although it would provide an insulating advantage at night time. Sometimes maximum productivity in a garden isn’t worth the effort, I dunno. That’s an issue which is very much on my mind not wanting to create a major burden, but still get produce, and I muck around with systems too.
Possibly a very useful plant?
Ha! One or two, yup, that’s not even close to many. Whoa! The rain is pounding on the roof. Prices have long since made no sense to me.
Gotta run, have to check the drains. Sorry. Holy carp!!!!
Cheers
Chris
Hi Claire,
If it looks like a monsoon out there right now, is super wet like one, it probably is a monsoon. Far out. Crazy weather. The rain is drumming heavily on the roof. Hang on, I better go and check the drains again…
I’m a bit wet now. Oh well. 20mm of rain fell and it was feral out there. Heavy rain is a nightmare of destruction.
Still pretty affordable, and not that it is a competition, but today I spotted locally unleaded petrol for AU$2.54 / Litre (US$6.75 / Gallon) and diesel was a whopping AU$3.08 / Litre (US$8.20 / Gallon). If prices keep going the way they’re going, we won’t have to ration the stuff.
My perspective on the outcomes of the adventure, is that it looks like a controlled demolition job, this was always going to happen sooner or later due to resource depletion, and err, take it from me, things could be worse! 😉
Whoa! 32’C would be the whole next level hot for here in September, and not good that the heat is record breaking. Hope the climate stabilises for your summer. Thanks for the gallows humour, and a stable climate is a thing of beauty, when it eventuates. Your plants won’t like that temperature drop at all, and fingers crossed that there is no frost.
That’s the stuff, although we don’t use that name down here. It’s pretty handy for all those reasons. It’s hard to know when rabbits stop sampling tree bark, and it can be a nuisance and kill trees. They love citrus, so I’d watch out, although your lot are probably old enough now, maybe. The deer do a similar ring barking trick on fifteen year old olive and apple trees really seriously annoyed me. They seem to have met a bad end out in the forest, and it’s been a while since they’ve shown up.
Fingers crossed with the late frost, and you have my sympathy and understanding if it eventuates.
Cheers
Chris
Hi DJ,
It was surprising to observe the decent quality of the metal when grinding away into the welds for those scrap metal channels. Didn’t expect that.
Man, this week has been monsoonal, and 20mm of rain fell in the past hour. I’m now a bit damp having had to head outdoors and clean the water tank inlet filters. We ordered some materials today to fix up the drainage channel in front of the house – it looks like a seasonal creek tonight. 🙂
The fifty shades of Spokane grey have struck again with that mist but the rain would be much appreciated. It’s been nice to have some more sunshine this week down here, but with super heavy late storms. Crazy weather. A little bit of middle ground would be nice.
Don’t Panic! Sounds good in theory, reality may be otherwise. 🙂 Nice to hear that you’re onto the err, magic number of rolls to hand. I’m a thrill seeker with that stuff, and hope not to live to regret that. Actually, my mind has been on securing other supplies for the various projects and activities here. It’s been a very big effort the past couple of weeks.
Yes, why not read the other source documents to see what they have to say about the matter. Do you have a link to the article? To be honest, the forced march north, then winning battle, then forced march south, seems like a remarkably stupid strategy. Being a canny and resourceful bloke, I’d not have directly engaged the Normans, and simply harassed them constantly and burned everything they could possibly eat whilst keeping the main force at a goodly distance whilst it built in numbers. The invaders would soon be worn out and make a massive blunder, and that’s when I’d strike hard, but that’s me.
The new theory rings true and in many ways matches the handed down accounts. At the point he was surprised, he’d have best chosen to retreat and regroup, but it’s easy to say from an armchair.
Thanks for taking the time to re-read the Chronicles and construct a fitting narrative of the fateful events.
It’s hard to imagine that the survivors of the Great Heathen Army, fell to the Norman’s but that’s history for you. Maybe they’d lost their edge?
Took today, mostly off work and went to the films to see the Editor’s choice of Wuthering Heights. You know, the film was very loosely based on the story, the actress Margot Robbie is very pretty, and I simply felt no empathy at all for the character she played as the protagonist, Cathy. Spoiler alert, when the character died, I felt that overall the circumstances of the remaining characters would improve. Oh well, the Bahn Mi for lunch was well worth the day.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
Thanks for the article on the monetary adventurism in the middle east. No wonder they went looking for a distraction common enemy, the cheeky scamps. There’s no excuse for a five million, then ten million bank note. Nobody trusts such outcomes. Hey, the article below it about the Japanese toilet paper panic answered a few questions I’d had about the subject too. Hmm. Intriguing, and there was some talk of contagion over in the western most state capital city of this continent, and that material. Hmm. That city relies on desalination for 90% of it’s water supplies. That looks like a problem in the making to me. Oh well, nobody asked for my opinion. 🙂
Far out, the weather is crazy here today. It was warm earlier 75’F and a monsoon thunderstorm hit here again tonight and four-fifths of an inch fell in not much time at all. It’s very wet outside, and I’m a bit damp too having to head out there and clean up drains and water tank filters. Mustn’t grumble, could be worse.
We had today mostly off work, and went to the cinema to see the film Wuthering Heights (Editor’s choice), the latest adaption of the story. To be honest, it didn’t really follow the book where Cathy was somewhat less feisty and not hard work at all and hamstrung by familial concerns. This depiction was different. And it was like the screen writers had read the original text, discarded about 90% of the pages, maybe more, as being way too complicated a narrative (which it was), and instead grabbed some pages from the DH Lawrence novel, Lady Chatterly’s Lover, and kind of just randomly blended the two together. Did I enjoy the film, sure it recounted an interesting tale. Did I however empathise with the leading lady (as played by the stunning Margot Robbie)? Not at all. Ten minutes with the protagonist, even if say certain favours were on offer, would be far too long. I wasn’t even sad when she died. In the book, Heathcliff was a psychopath hell bent on revenge, not some love struck mooncalf who all he can think about is getting his jiggy on. Like it was an enjoyable film, but I was just left scratching my head at the goings on. What kind of tragedy is it, when you seriously dislike the protagonist? I guess it’s a new twist on an old plot?
Anywhoo, the tasty Bahn Mi afterwards was very good indeed.
The rest of the day I’ve spent scrambling with various suppliers to ensure that orders are filled for stuff. Oh well, ’tis the days to be fleet of foot.
The school lunch room systems in your country are amazing. Before seeing them depicted in films, the thought that such things went on, never even crossed my mind. Awesome, there was a menu, as you do. Nice one.
Oh that’s clever, and such things happen. The laundering system in India boggled my imagination and somehow all of the items sent, were returned and the scale of that system is remarkable. Some sort of secret marking on the clothes, apparently. It was late last century and the folks were still referred to as Dhobi wallah’s, although I don’t know whether that term is used nowadays and if it has any negative connotations.
Thanks, as I’d not known what the difference was either. I’d actually believed that raisins were from an entirely different plant variety. I haven’t seen either the small cardboard boxes for many a long year, nor the serving size packets at all. The boxes (or plastic bags) sold usually contain about 0.5kg, or around 1 pound of the dried fruit
What? No way. Sawdust in bread? Oh poop, that’s not edible. National Loaf sounds like a super dense wholemeal bread. I don’t mind wholemeal breads at all, but the Editor baulks at the use of the extra parts of the grain. Everything but the squeak, in some circumstances. Actually, just between you and I, getting some grains established here is on the list of things to do.
Respect for your pragmatism, and it makes no sense leaving folks in any doubt, and they might act contrary to your wishes in the absence of explicit instructions. Not like there’s much you could do about it. I’m a no frill kind of guy too, and just cremate me at the end.
We’re pretty good at deporting people, but alas having citizenship does make that act kind of difficult in my circumstances. Still, no point putting one’s head up as a target, is there? Thanks for your recommendation as to which version to see.
What the heck? For that to happen down here, the vacation would have had to stretch beyond fifteen years. Although I have read of incidents where legul folks went rogue and did some rotten dirty deeds, which bizarrely the system was reluctant to undo, even though it was an alleged misuse of the system. Strange things can happen, that’s for sure. What was the deal with that particular story? Those quaint English villages are very dangerous places. 😉
I don’t recall the light flares in the film, but the sets were dark and brooding, and yeah I guess they were punctuated by bursts of strong lighting, yeah. I’d not thought of them as flares.
Gourmet rice! Nice work. And yeah, years ago we reduced the variety of plants and made the decision to grow what we eat, and eat what we grow. Thanks too, it is canny, and I doubt people would notice. I’m going to try that dish on the next visitors.
Oh my! The Hawaiian floods are awful, and puts the little monsoon here a while back into some perspective. Too much rain troubles me far more, than too little. Whoa!
Man, gotta go, I’m crashing.
Here’s the situation in Asia: Shorter showers, reduced flights and no street lights among measures to address Asia’s energy crisis. Much of our fuel, comes from that part of the world.
Cheers
Chris
@ Chris & DJ – Here’s an article I saw yesterday, about another look at 1066 and the Battle of Hastings.
https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/23/science/battle-hastings-harold-new-research
Always good to be skeptical of the “official” story. Lew
Yo, Chris – Sounds like you’re having a bit of weather. Well, that ought to top up your water tanks. Our high yesterday was 55F (12.77C). Our overnight low was 37F (2.77C.) Tonight it’s supposed to be down near -0- C. We’ll see. The forecast high for today is 50F. When H and I sent out, it was dry, with sunshine. Looks like our nice run of days has arrived early.
Thanks for watching “Wuthering Heights” so I don’t have to. 🙂 Think I’ll give it a pass, if the library orders it. Does the new version have Nell in it? Namesake of my lamented cat. Compare and contrast … now watch the 1939 version.
Often, studios keep fiddling with scripts, and they get passed around among many screenwriters. Everyone has a “better” idea. Often, the final product is a real dog’s lunch.
Here’s what I found about 1950s school lunches.
“School lunches in the 1950s typically included hearty, homemade meals like meatloaf, spaghetti, and casseroles, often served with canned vegetables. Milk was the standard beverage, and meals were prepared fresh daily to meet nutritional guidelines.
ingeniouscc.com retrohousewifegoesgreen.com” Notice that “homemade.” I remember how good the cornbread was. With a honey glaze. Usually served with chili. A version of pizza was popular.
On reflection, the school sent home a monthly calendar. Which had the main dish of the lunch, and any school events or holiday closures.
The mystery of the house sale turned out to be a collusion between a lawyer, travel agent and estate agent.
That was quit an article about fuel shortages in Asia. I might hit the gas station, tonight, just to top up a bit and see how the land lays. Lew
Chris:
When did the British bomb you?
I am glad that you have been getting some rain. We haven’t had any lately, so I am watering my little sprouts in the garden and planting consecutive crops of the same things.
I never did like coffee, but I do love green tea. It’s on the No list because of the caffeine. I wonder when I am going to give in to that? I do suspect that kombucha (used to make it) has very little caffeine left in it, but I haven’t been able to find the numbers on it.
I forgot to answer yesterday about if I make compost. I always have, off and on. Right now is off. When Mr. Baby was around I had a pile way far away from the house so as not to attract things that might also eat cats. It was a chore carrying stuff over there. My favorite method is just to bury the scraps and stuff in a garden bed that is not being used, rotating the beds each year. That is not going to work with the black plastic.
Years ago my husband turned a 55 gallon plastic Pepsi drum into a compost bin with a hinged door. It sat sideways on 2 posts and had a handle that you could turn. That worked well until a bear came along and tore it off its moorings to get into it. That was discouraging.
Pam
@ Lew,
Thanks! That’s one of the articles I read about that researcher and his findings.
DJSpo
Chris,
Lew gave the link to one of the articles. Here are two more. They all say much the same thing with some different twists added in.
https://gizmodo.com/king-harolds-legendary-200-mile-march-never-happened-study-suggests-2000736852
https://scitechdaily.com/historians-got-it-wrong-new-findings-rewrite-the-story-of-the-battle-of-hastings/
His apparent strategy, before getting surprised by William, was a strategy he had used against the Welsh. That combined navy/army thing.
Yikes! 20mm of rain in an hour is a lot. Our recent stormy day dropped maybe 8mm in 16 hours.
Had events planned with the Princess this afternoon. Afterwards, she needed to head out to her brother, then on to Puget Sound tomorrow for a fun event. Somehow, we ended up eating chicken enchiladas with green sauce for dinner. The restaurant was RIGHT THERE and we just HAD TO! Yummy stuff.
Meanwhile, spring is definitely here. The grasses are as green as they get. Tulips and other bulbs have sprouted above the ground. Roses and trees are showing signs of growth.
In addition, there is barely any snow atop Mount Spokane. Sherman Pass, in the far north central part of the state, has no snow. Nor do any of the Washington mountains east of the Cascades with a few high elevation exceptions. This is 6 weeks or more earlier than usual to be free of snow. Snow on the east slopes of the cascades is dwindling rapidly and now mostly of high elevation. Again much earlier than usual. A hotter and dryer than normal late spring, summer and autumn are forecast. That matches with my gut intuition.
Of course, Dame Avalanche is oblivious to those things. She gets her belly rubbed/ and enjoys tasty treats. She goes on walks, naps in the sun. Her water and food bowls mysteriously have water and food in them whenever she is thirsty and hungry. Life is good.
DJSpo
Hi Pam,
The nine bombs were tested by the British in the 1950’s, and title for the land was handed back to the indigenous folks in 1985, with a sort-of clean up of radioactive material in around 1995. Maralinga. As a now deceased infamous crim, turned successful author, once quipped: Australia is a big place, and shovels are cheap.
Fun fact: The crim in question once used to have a post box at the same inner urban post office I used. So there I am one day making jokes with the staff about cropped ears (which was a trademark of the crim), and whoa! the vibe shifted faster than an audible act of flatulence by a priest conducting a Christmas service. You could feel the chill in the very air. And they warned me to keep my mouth shut because the bloke had a post box at the same post office and may enter the premises at any minute. Well talk about suddenly feeling nervous at making enemies with folks who have a proven hands-on approach to problems! Best not to become a problem in such circumstances, and I conducted myself with decorum at that post office from then onwards.
Sprouts need water, and if I may add, one of our greatest achievements as a civilisation, is to supply water when it isn’t falling from the sky. Respect for consecutive plantings, and am impressed. I do that now with radishes, but absolutely acknowledge that it is the way to go – especially when the future climate is uncertain. Already I’m thinking of pulling the tomatoes so that the winter crops can be planted.
Your rain is down here this week, sorry to say. Two inches have fallen, and this afternoon was feral, and cold. 41’F is getting near to a record March low. Brr!
I hear you about coffee, and had to work to develop a taste for the bitter brew. Green tea is lovely, and we used to (up until recently when the batches all failed due to extreme heat) grow our own Kombucha. Ah, the mother uses tea and sugar to feed, so will have a tiny bit of caffeine in it, but it depends upon your sensitivity to the alkaloid? Dunno. It’s also mildly alcoholic due to the sugar and fermentation process, which caused a furore down under a while back. Dare I say it, but the whole lot was an err, storm in a tea cup. 😉 Kombucha is Kombucha, and is what it is. My gut feeling suggests that it ain’t much of either, but that’s hardly an accurate assessment. What’s your views on that?
Oh far out! Pam, I’d forgotten about your bears, and Mr Baby would not have stood a chance, so it was very thoughtful of you to do so with the compost. As a side story, I used to bury kitchen scraps originally, but the forest critters would dig it all up and eat the organic stuff. The worm farm here which processes such stuff is huge and a sealed big polyethylene tank at around a thousand gallons. Nothing can break into it, maybe.
Have to laugh, but your placement of the compost heap – for good reasons in your situation – was similar to the old wealthy hill station properties over in the more fashionable end of the mountain range with vegie patches in that they were far from the house and out of sight! 🙂 Can you imagine the horror of those elite folks?: I looked out over the expanse of lawn and delightful arboretum with the most pure shade of emerald, and mine eyes discerned off in the distance strange seeming and possibly even edible plants. Truly, the sight was disturbing to the utmost. Fix it Jeeves. Yes Sir! I’m already onto it.
Bears are of course forest critters not to be taken lightly, and sorry to hear that they proved that nice things, like compost tumblers (which absolutely do work) can’t be had for love nor money.
Still scrambling around sourcing materials before things get even stranger. Nabbed a goodly supply of crushed rock with lime, and also some metal racking for the additional solar panels today. I’d call that a win, and just between you and I, I’m pooped having been at this hard for a few weeks now. Spotted diesel fuel for AU$3.20 a litre which is US$8.51 a Gallon. It’s nuts out there, and nobody seems to notice… Oh well. batten down the hatches, thar’ll be a storm a comin’!
Cheers
Chris
Hi DJ,
This is surprisingly good news on that ancient battle. Upon learning about 1066, the concept of a forced march 200 miles south in 10 days only to then face battle against settled enemies sounded ludicrous to me. It’s idiotic, nobody could do such a thing. Only an academic would ever imagine such a possibility, so glad to hear that it is being debunked.
Now, I’ve done multi day walks, and when a younger bloke, the Editor and I packed our distance hiking bags and walked the: Great South West Walk. We did the inland route along the river and up and down through forests. Beautiful, lovely, with not a single other soul encountered and managed it over five days. My pack weighed 22kg (the Editors was somewhat lighter), and I reckon I dropped 2kg during the walk. And that was five days at less kilometres per day. Man, I was knackered by the end of that walk, and am reasonably fit with access to decent food and good water all along the way. The idea of 20 miles per day, presumably with baggage trains, seemed implausible to me, so the shipping of all of the surviving troops after dealing with Harald, makes a whole bunch more sense.
The idea that the landings in 1066 were not ideal, or all at once, William was on hand to meet them, the commanders failed to set back out to sea, and the leaders forces rapidly overwhelmed, makes a whole bunch more sense, strategy and outcome wise. Nothing more than plain old bad luck and poor decision making. I’d have reconnoitred the territory prior to commencing off loading of any of the ships, but err, cough, cough, Anzac cove in Turkey during WWI. That’s an old error.
The rain last night was pretty intense, but not as bad as what Cyclone Narelle on the west coast of the continent will bring over the next day or so. Might even get close to the state capital city of Perth. 8mm is a useful amount of rain, and in a variable climate, you’ll only really ever know how events unfold in your region, once the season is done and dusted. Like was this crazy wet March here predicted in advance? I don’t think so man.
Oh, it rained here again today. I’ve dropped all else, and did a lot of sourcing of stuff and managed to nab a huge pile of crush rock with lime (now a $171 a cubic metre!) and some aluminium solar panel racking for the new shed. Me tired, but then filled up the car with scrap metal to take to the nearby tip, and discovered it was closed due to the feral weather. Heavy rain and winds! Yikes, we’re in the grip on an unseasonable Antarctic blast. It’s now 5’C outside and brr!
Go the chicken enchiladas! And why not too? Did a Bahn Mi yesterday for lunch. 🙂 I hear you. Sounds like a lovely meal, and hope your lady’s journey is accompanied by fine weather and convivial company.
Lovely, and green grows the grass, as they say. Rodents of course enjoy tulips, and probably cost a fortune here and there during the great tulip mania way back in the day.
Yikes! Well, sorry to say it, but the climate is a changing. Such things happen and each season varies wildly too, although six weeks early, is err, very early indeed. We’ll see how it goes with your prediction, but local knowledge of such things is generally suggestive of the outcome.
Dame Avalanche is of noble lineage and acknowledging such trivial matters, is beneath her dignity. This is known. 😉 The dogs here are likewise unfussed, except maybe the older Ollie who in today’s cold weather snap is now a bit crunchy and I’m considering adding some Glucosamine and chondroitin additives to his brekkie, as well as the fish oil tablets he already gets.
Exactly, despite diesel fuel at AU$3.20 a litre / US$8.51 a Gallon, life is good. When all of the complicated stuff that people are used to which blinds them to the greater beauty, are stripped away, then they’ll see and reconnect, or have a complete meltdown. Most likely the meltdown, but consider the humble rose, it’s beauty and aroma… 🙂
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
Thanks for the links to the re-visit of the 1066 battle. Interesting, and who knew that the history was subject to the interpretation of but a few words which were unclear as to the exact meaning? The idea of a forced 20 mile per day march over 10 days, always sounded odd to me. It’d kill the participants, although I noticed in the reading that some folks did a recreation of the march, probably supported by food, tents, showers, toilets etc. Basically, they did it with fossil fuels, which couldn’t have been the case in 1066. 🙂
The amount of calories required for each soldier to do that march, and then be expected to fight at the end, always just made no sense to me. So having moved the majority by transport ships, and simply stuffing up the landing from many different aspects, makes a lot more sense strategy wise don’t you reckon? Good to see that a cooler head reviewed the source documents and asked some hard questions.
It’s quite astounding to appreciate that a book penned almost a thousand years ago (the Anglo Saxon chronicles), is still extant, and was deemed important enough that there is more than a single copy remaining. I doubt much of the interweb will be around in half a century’s time.
Yeah, the weather is feral here and descended into deep winter. 41’F right now, and the rain earlier this afternoon was feral. I’d packed up all of the scrap metal into the dirt rat Suzuki, and by the time I got to the nearby tip (they also collect materials for recycling as I’m almost certain the metal will be) they’d closed due to extreme weather. Oh well, it wasn’t too far to travel.
This morning before that, I went into the big smoke to visit the solar dudes, who’d moved to a new and smaller shop. They were doing well, and I had a good chat with them. Picked up some aluminium racking for the solar panels on the new shed, and then headed home again. With diesel fuel today at AU$3.20 a litre / US$8.51 a Gallon locally, I decided not to wait for freight up here. Also nabbed an order for a goodly supply of crushed rock with lime. A few of the projects around here need that stuff, as does the soil. Lime is good, and valuable when it comes to acidic soils. Man, I’m rushing around here and there, trying to figure out what materials I may need over the next few months, and this is candidly a bit of a stressful way to occupy one’s time. 🙂 Obviously I’ve missed stuff, and will discover the lack in due course. Over the past few weeks, I’ve dropped everything to sort out that mess.
Oh no! Those sure are some cold overnight lows you’re experiencing. Hope the trees in blossom do OK, and they might, it depends on whether they freeze, which isn’t always guaranteed. Did you spot any frost this morning?
Glad to be of service with the film review, and wise to not waste your time. I had the impression that it was a film aimed at a younger audience who’d grown up on a diet of plentiful porn. And whilst that may sound harsh, how many sex scenes does a film actually need to get across the idea that the characters are you know, bonking. 🙂 That aspect was overdone in my opinion and not at all mentioned in the book.
Yes, the new version had the character Nell in it, played by an Asian actress, who was essentially blamed for the entire mess having done nothing but exercise inscrutable good judgement in complicated circumstances with difficult people. Oh yeah, like your style with the cat’s name. Nice one. I’ll probably read the book next and go straight to the source document before trialling the 1939 version of the film. You could say that I’ve been burned… 😉
Youch! Man, the idea of a whole bunch of different screen writers attempting to leave their indelible (and perhaps ego driven) marks upon a story, leaves me feeling cold. The old timers used to have a useful saying in that regard, and you may have heard it? Too many cooks, spoils the broth. And it’s true too.
Ever since you mentioned the concept of a certain person, who shall remain unnamed at your place, always having a ‘better’ idea, the idea kind of leaves me feeling a bit jumpy and distressed. It reminds me of when we tried to sell up the house in the big smoke during the GFC, and failed at auction – which is quite a public display for all to see and judge. So there we are at the end of that process, standing on the road as the crowd dispersed, looking dejected and dispirited, and an old biddy from up the road took it upon herself to offer completely impractical unsolicited advice, which was clearly intended to sink the boots in when we were already a bit bewildered. Man, I never spoke to the lady again, she had a mean streak a mile wide, and wasn’t afraid to show it. Still, not one to be brought low, we had a monster brainstorming session which went all that day, and night, into the next morning. Slept, then rapidly implemented the decisions, and had the place sold within two weeks. If at first you don’t succeed… As they used to say.
Lewis, I would so enjoy those 1950 style school lunches! 🙂 The corn bread sounds wonderful, and thanks for mentioning it. I’m always amazed at how good are some of the systems in your country.
The calendar was interesting, and I’d not heard of such a thing. When I was a kid, the school rarely if ever communicated with my mother, although I believe that things are different nowadays. Some friends who worked as teachers have described how full on with tasks that role has become, and the teacher has to sort of learn which are mandatory, and which can be blithely ignored. And the system tells the teachers to do all of them, which is not physically possible. No wonder people are dropping out of that area of employment. I see in the news that they’ve requested a 17% pay rise. Nice for some.
See, the dodgy lawyer playing the system. Hmm. It happens sometimes that they go rogue. What a mess and hope none of us are ever involved.
I’m hearing that prices are up in your country, but no supply shortages. Presumably some of your supplies are now heading off shore, thus the increase in price? Down here, I’m not sanguine that supply will be maintained, and fully expect that rationing will commence after the Easter holidays. But we’ll see. How supply could return to before all the mess, is a mystery to me.
PS: I’m halfway through the Cruise-O (hope you enjoy my sense of humour!) book. Quite enjoying the read of the 17th century book, once the author backs off the repeated existential crisis bit. He doth belabour the point a tad too much me thinks.
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – I noticed you commented on Ollie getting a bit crunchy. Don’t forget maybe slipping him a baby aspirin, from time to time. It sure worked a treat on old Beau. And, if I remember correctly, did a lot to ease the final years of your dearly departed dawgs. I keep an eye on H. I figure where mobility issues will first show up is our up and down the stairs, routine. So far, so good.
Somewhere up above, you mentioned edible plants. I sometimes get exasperated that some of our Inmate’s garden plots are used exclusively for flowers. I mentioned it to the Master Gardeners, and, although they didn’t come right out and criticize anyone, they did state that the original intention of the garden plots was to grow food. Sure, I plant a few flowers, but at a minimum to draw in pollinators. Although I must say the Love-in-the-Mist and Bachelor’s Buttons have gotten a bit out of hand. 🙂
The other day, one of the Inmates I do talk to, was asking me about a stock tank that she’s taking over. Not mine. I was identifying what plants were in it, as, she thought she might keep a few. Strawberries had completely taken over, and even spilled out of the tank and are growing on the ground. But what I did find was spearmint. She doesn’t want it, so, I dug a little and moved it to my patch. Once it gets going, I’ll move it inside. That stuff can be invasive, and we have enough problem with Lemon Balm.
Historic reenactors vary in levels of authenticity. Some carry it to extremes. I’m sure there’s a lot of “I’m more authentic than thou!” 🙂 A book I read awhile back, that I really liked, was “Confederates in the Attic.”
https://w.wiki/KP3f
So many historic documents were lost, during Henry VIII’s Dissolution of the Monasteries. I read a book about it, somewhere along the way. Who knows what was lost. Occasionally, something surfaces that escaped destruction.
Our high yesterday was 54F (12.22C). Our overnight low was pretty much a steady 32F (-0-C). I didn’t see any frost, this morning, and the sun is shinning. This time of the year, clear days = cold nights. I’m sure they had frost in outlying areas. Our forecast high for today is 52F.
I know exactly how you feel, about trying to figure out supply issues. Even though I had just over a tank of gas, last night I decided to top up my tank, a bit. It was $5.50 a US gallon, for regular. With the 10% cash discount. LOL. That will leave my Idaho friends, gasping. I drive so little, that it’s really not an issue, for me.
Just for poops and giggles, I swung by the Winco to see if Toilet Paper Panic had hit here. Not that I could see. The paper aisle was in its usual bounteous condition. I picked up a 9 roll pack of the Winco brand, for $7.80. I don’t know if that’s high, or not. I don’t pay much attention to the price of TP. I just buy what’s cheap.
But I experienced what you did. There I was in Winco, but other than TP, and a pack of Swiss cheese, I couldn’t think of anything I needed to stock up on. But had the nagging feeling I needed to stock up on something. I did pick up 4 tins of tuna and 3 tins of beef Ravioli, for the Club pantry. Less than $1 per. Probably, loss leaders.
So much for authenticity. Somehow, I doubt Asian servants were thick on the ground, in British backwaters, circa 1770-1800, when the story takes place.
I’m sure once you made changes, and sold the house, the old biddy took full credit for the successful sale. 🙂 Luckily, you weren’t there to have to listen to it.
From what I gather, school lunches aren’t what they used to be. As with a lot of restaurants, food prep is outsourced. Though there are probably still some places that do more “from scratch” cooking.
Speaking of food, I should give you the whole Enchilada (so to speak), on my version of Spanish rice. Rather than take the secrets to my grave. 🙂 So, I laid down a layer of long grain brown rice, in a 2 1/2 quart Pyrex bowl. Sprinkled the top with sunflower and pumpkin seeds. A dusting of Turmeric. I tossed in some frozen corn. Half a tin each of diced tomatoes and black beans (drained). Half a diced up green pepper and diced three cloves of garlic. One night I added fresh parsley from the garden, Shiitake mushrooms and sliced up two of the sausages. I also put in a squirt of catsup and sprinkle on some Tapatio hot sauce. (The preferred hot sauce of a lot of Mexican families, and restaurants.)
I mixed it all up, and nuked it for 11 minutes. When it comes out of the nuker, I place squares of cheese on top (Swiss or Mozzarella), and put a plate on top of the bowl, until the cheese begins to melt. Doesn’t take long. When it’s cooled down enough to serve, I put dollops of plane yoghurt, on the cheese squares.Sometimes, before the yoghurt, I sprinkle on some cider vinegar, just for the extra zip.
The only other note I’d make is, what I do with that half tin of diced tomatoes and black beans. I have a glass tumbler, just the right size. Left over tomatoes go in first, then the drained black beans. I cover it with a bit of plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator. That way, they don’t pick up the taste of the tins. It’s ready for another go around, a couple of nights later. Along with the half a green pepper, that’s in the refrigerator veg bin. Lew
Chris:
That was interesting about Maralinga – and not surprising.
Chris – you do get yourself in some spots. At least the crim is now deceased. No worries!
Look for sun. I think your rain is coming back to me tomorrow. I hope.
My gut feeling about kombucha is the same as yours: “It ain’t much of either.”
I forgot to mention another thing about composting here. For two years we have had in the back of the garden an 8 foot (2.4m) square by 3 foot (.9m) tall “corral” made of charred boards. Any and all plant matter from the garden goes into that. There are also a lot of cuttings from pruning, and dead leaves. It is going to takes years to break down, especially since we constantly add to it, but can’t turn it. So it doesn’t really count as compost.
You could trust Jeeves to fix it. Aren’t rich people funny?
We still need a lot more gravel, and the price has gone up considerably.
Pam
Chris,
Forgot to mention. Thanks for your comments about the Wuthering Heights movie. That’s not one that the Princess and I would be interested in normally, but now we know that it probably isn’t worth our time even on free television in the future. Sad, too, because Margot Robbie is rather cute and has done some decent acting work.
I read the book in about 1982. I really didn’t enjoy it one bit. The main characters all seemed to be stupid and selfish and lacking common sense. I have no desire to revisit the book or a movie based on the book.
That Great Southwest Walk looks grand. Choices. Good scenery. But 22 kg is a heavy load to carry about. I tried to keep mine at or below 18kg when on overnight cross country skiing trips. However, that did grow to about 20kg for the trek up Mount Baker. Carrying either my 20kg or your 22 kg load in a forced march of 20 miles per day for 10 days? Sheer exhausting.
So the conclusion. Poor Harold of England had a sound defensive plan, what with a large army and a fleet protecting the coastline. Too bad for him that he had to dismiss the troops for harvest just when Harald of Norway invaded York. Also not his fault that the wind shifted in William’s favor when Harold was fighting Harald. Then a third stroke of ill luck hit when there were problems coordinating his land and naval pincer. However, completely under his control was the possibility of waiting until he had a massive army gathered. A delaying tactic would’ve made life hard for William. And Harold’s somehow getting surprised by William’s army is inexcusable. So, three strokes of bad luck combined with two tactical errors? Not good.
Ooof! Rain and high winds and 5C? That Is brutal cold. I was recently explaining cold weather ideas with Young Neighbor, whose job keeps her in the elements year around. The past several weeks have been nasty cold, mostly due to the wind never quitting. One of my observations detailed the weather that I’ve felt the coldest in. Hint #1: it was NOT in -40C weather. Hint #2: It was not in -25C weather with high winds. Nope, +2C with snow on the ground and raining is one of the worst. The other that compares is between 5C and 10C with high winds. Add rain to the wind and things are feral nasty fast. Your 5C with rain and high winds, ugh, I feel that in my bones from the other side of the world.
Today looked nice from indoors. Well, until I saw that the trees were moving. Even with an extra layer, I was chilly on the Dame’s walk today. Chilly, but not feral nasty.
We are between $4.85 and $4.99 per gallon, depending on the petrol station. That’s up over 50% in a month. Adapt, right? But that’s such a rare concept today. I agree with your prediction that there will be meltdowns galore of a high and mighty variety before people adapt.
DJSpo
Hi Pam,
Yeah, the English for some reason were reluctant to test these devices in South London, which looks like a rather swish-o neighbourhood. If the things were safe, they would have done so, but no, outback South Australia was chosen, as were the servicemen put in harms way, probably just to find out what happens. It’s a dastardly mind which could do such a thing to their fellow human.
Back to more local troubles, and yeah, that post office story a couple of decades ago frightened the daylights out of me. Fortunately the bloke departed this mortal coil, about maybe a decade ago. There’s a film about him, with the actor Eric Bana called “Chopper”. Anywhoo, on a related side story, a well known crime journalist / author befriended the crim, and when asked as to risk, the crim sized the reporter up and said something along the lines of: You’ve got $300 on you and a crappy old car – you’re not worth the effort. Ah, the symbols we cloth ourselves in are revealing. 😉 And it was the journo who mentioned that if you don’t want your car stolen, drive a manual / stick shift. It’s amazing the bits of information you pick up when travelling through life. Tell you what, I’m starting to read of fuel theft being a problem, particularly with diesel fuel. I don’t personally use diesel fuel for anything here.
No sun today, in fact it was downright horrid. Cold, wet and 100% pure winter. The light was so dim today that every time I turned my back, the kangaroos moved back into the orchards to graze the grass, which they only usually do so at night. They’re alright, I just don’t want the dogs to learn to chase them, so Ollie and I have to clear them off before the Kelpies can run free. Oh well.
Did you get the forecast rain? Yup, fingers crossed for you.
The whole Kombucha drama seemed like a storm in a tea cup to me. Sometimes these sorts of panics take hold of products and sink them. The stuff is easy enough to make if you have the proper mother. Between you and I, Kombucha smells nicer than apple cider vinegar, which is a bit sharp, but I could well be too sensitive on that front.
I must say, the use of charred boards is a great idea to preserve the timber. Nice one. But yeah, you know, branches and leaves come from trees, so it’s good tree feed. And that stuff breaks down slowly here too. Early on with planting vegies, I used way too much composted woody mulch upon the advice of supposedly more experienced folks, and it didn’t work well. Failure is a good way to learn who to listen too.
Hmm! Having performed in the role as a financial Jeeves, I tell ya what Pam, you do see some things. 😉 Working in those heady airs, made my own hair thin. Not right is it? You’d have seen some things too over the years for sure.
Took the scrap metal from the shed project down to the recycling station this morning. The pieces of steel were so small and strangely shaped that they weren’t good for much else. Better to get them back into the system. Stocked up on dog and chook food too.
Cheers
Chris
Hi DJ,
Yeah, a disappointment, but the Editor and I clearly weren’t the target market for the film which was probably aimed squarely at the lucrative teenage girl market, at a guess. Actually they’re saying the movie itself was a financial success, so maybe it’s just my take on the story? Dunno. Margot Robbie is a great actress of considerable breadth and experience, and how good was the movie ‘I, Tonya’? The mother in the film was in my opinion, a nasty bit of work. Kind of reminded me of mine actually. I was actually impressed that Tonya Harding did as well as she did given the circumstances.
Out of sheer curiosity, I might give the book a go. The Editor tells me that Heathcliff was a psychopath hell bent on wrecking everything in a stupendous bout of revenge. Hardly a romantic tale is it? But you know, the film made no bones about being merely based upon the out of copyright story. So your description of the book sounds pretty apt. Such people are best avoided, they’ll bring themselves down, but also take everyone else with them. Hmm.
I read somewhere some fleeting reference to military backpacks being almost twice as heavy again, and dunno about the wisdom of that. Sun Tzu did mention that it was a bad idea to wear the troops out on stupid stuff. I’d not be strong enough to carry a 40kg pack on a long march. Man, I struggled to get the packs to weigh less than 22kg, and could manage that with the longest day on that walk was around 30km, but that’s my upper limit and couldn’t do it nowadays. No way. I shouldered some of the Editors stuff too which made her pack lighter, but my lady’s was still no small load to bear.
Light weight gear is worth it’s err, sorry for the dodgy pun, but worth it’s weight in gold when going the longer distances. 🙂 18kg is pretty heavy too and I don’t know how you kept your balance when on skis.
Only an academic would come up with the concept of a 200 mile forced march over 10 days. It made no sense to me when there would have been no rush to engage with William, who’s army would be running short of supplies and slowly getting hungry. My best guess is that the landing was utterly stuffed up for 99 reasons, from the weather, to simple sheer bad luck. Look at the extraordinary effort which went into making the D-day WWII landings successful, Harold would have had to replicate that feat from the ocean, and it’d be hard – and he lost the field.
Getting surprised by William could have been as simple as Harold choosing the most expedient place to offload the troops? No doubts William could have read maps as easily as did Harold. And communicating a change of battle plan when out to sea, would be nigh on impossible. Agreed, none of it was good, but such turns of fate are what decides battles.
The weather is feral here today. Cold, wet and windy! We’ve got all three bouts of unpleasantness. 🙂
I’ll take your word for that, having never experienced -40’C, or -25’C air for that matter. Poor Ollie is feeling the cold in his bones, being now an older dog. I’m testing out some supplements to assist him, and we’ll see how it goes. Did a deep dive on the subject, and am in the testing phase. Already he gets fish oil, blitzed peanuts and coconut oil in his brekkie – all of which the dogs love, and that covers the Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids. But there are other supplements too. It’d be easier if he ate more fresh vegetables and leafy greens… Dogs… 🙂
By the way, had the wood heater running all day long today. And let’s just say that the Editor and I are very motivated to finish the new firewood shed project! Now that the walls are clad, we’ll have the roof on in no time, maybe. Wet and windy weather is no day to work outdoors though. Took the scrap metal down to the tip for recycling instead today.
Ah, wind, yes, it does such things to trees. Swishing here, swishing there, swishing around everywhere! Nice to hear that you and the Dame got out into the thick of it and enjoyed the walk. The sunlight is so dim today here, that the kangaroos keep bouncing back into the orchard to graze the rich grass thinking that it’s already dusk. I don’t think so marsupials, and Ollie and I have given them ‘what for’ a few times. They know, or maybe perhaps they don’t know?
Your fuel is very cheap. 🙂 Dude, the stuff is going up in price, every day here. Petrol was today AU$2.57 a litre (US$6.84 a Gallon) and Diesel was an astounding AU$3.20 a litre (US$8.51 a Gallon). Took some photos… The Editor went into the city tonight to catch up with friends for dinner and a comedy gig, and she said that for a Friday afternoon, the peak hour traffic was light. Fuel costs are possibly not as inelastic as the propeller head economic ideologues would have us believe. So yeah, people will adapt for they now have no choice in the matter. I’m seeing that play out in real time.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
Thanks for the reminder with the aspirin, and for some weird reason, they don’t call it baby aspirin down under, it’s more politely described as ‘low dosage aspirin’. I’m trialling a whole heap of supplements too, slowly, on the big dog based on the sort of treatments given, and we’ll see how it goes. It interests me greatly that many of these chemicals are found naturally in fresh fruit, vegetables, nuts, grains and plant oils. Haven’t mentioned it previously, but I’m gutted that the hail storm a few weeks ago destroyed the first good hazelnut and chestnut crop we’d grown. Oh well, both variety of nuts have been found on the ground green and in a state which is far from ripe. Onto next year! 😉
Yeah, I trialled the aspirin stuff on old Dame Scritchy who made it to a venerable nineteen years of age, which is quite impressive for a dog. I remember that with Beau, and he did alright the old dog. Actually the stairs are good exercise for H, as they are with the dogs here. Gets them to stretch their limbs and joints. I’ve upped Ollie’s exercise recently, although today was a bit hard for that, being super cold, wet and windy. No day to be outdoors, put it that way.
With no chance of outdoor work today, I did a few hours of paid work, and then took the scrap metal down to the local waste transfer station (the nearby tip was closed due to the extreme weather). Had a good chat to the bloke at the transfer station who was sheltering under cover whilst trying to stay out of the wind.
Then stocked up on chook and dog food. What else do you do in such weather? The Editor went out tonight with friends to see a comedy gig, and mentioned that the traffic in the city was much reduced – even during peak hour. Hardly surprising given the high price of fuel. My gut feeling suggests that the rate of movement of transactional mad cash within the economy has slowed down, will slow down further, and economists will be losing their minds about this. I’m hardly surprised that this has happened, and have long thought it to be a major and much neglected risk. What did those propeller head ideologues expect would happen forcing such efficiencies onto everyday life?
🙂 I so hear you about that, and way back in 2020 had a conversation with another local about edible plants, which rapidly descended into their plans for an extended native floral garden instead. I may have cheekily replied: If you think it’s a good idea. What will be, will be, and such changes can’t be forced, but sadly have to be learned the hard way. It takes a very long time to learn how to grow edible plants reliably. When the mind considers the efforts of a quarter century ago, I blush at my gardening naivety on display. Hehe! I dunno the answer to the question raised in your observations, and perhaps only hunger and necessity will sort it all out?
Both are lovely plants, and as you’ve also observed, there has to be a balance struck between edible plants and ornamentals for the sake of the insects and every other critter in a garden.
Lemon balm likewise sends me loopy, but the blue banded bees do so love the small white flowers. The plant needs to be restrained though… 😉 Spearmint and common mint also, are a handy leaf for settling the guts. It can produce quite thick clusters too! Probably has useful alkaloids in the leaves, dunno. And yeah, it’s easy enough to move to more appropriate spots.
Well I never. You learn something new everyday, and apparently during the Great Depression it was common for young ladies to marry the much older Civil War veterans presumably for the pension income, which given the general levels of unemployment at the time, would have made life somewhat easier. It’s an old story, which cuts close to home actually on the Editors side. It’s an option, I guess. The Confederates in the Attic book sounds like a fascinating account of people who hold a deep interest in the subject.
Oh yeah, I’d not understood that in the dissolution of the monasteries during the time of Henry VIII, that the written collections may not have been as prized as the land itself and other items of portable wealth. Makes a lot of sense, and the grab for stuff was not all that different an incident from that of the enclosures. And exactly, anything could have been lost at that point in history.
The same is true here as well with the clear days leading to very cold nights. The cloud cover at least has the decency of retaining some warmth. It was just warmer where you are today, but the rain here was driven by some pretty hectic winds. A very unpleasant day to be outdoors. It’ll slowly warm up again from Monday onwards, maybe. They still haven’t lifted the burn off restrictions, and are probably waiting until after Easter at a guess.
Yikes! Your fuel costs are nudging upwards of what we’re paying. It’s expensive, and best not wasted on frivolous journeys. Like you, I don’t use much fuel, so can cope with the increased prices. I’d imagine that other people with longer commutes and biggerer vehicles, are feeling the financial pain. Oh yeah. Go on tease me, how much do your Idaho friends pay per gallon?
I’m not over TP prices either, mostly because I’ve never been stressed about the product and don’t waste the stuff in the first place. Long ago, I used to have a house mate who used an extraordinary quantity of the stuff every week, and I cracked it about the sheer waste and the arrangement didn’t last long. Those tins probably are loss leaders, they’re impressively priced.
Ha! That was my very thought about the character Nell, who it should be said, did a great job of the role. Martin Clunes also performed admirably as the wastrel father, as you’d imagine. Reading about the film, apparently it made heaps at the box office, so perhaps was not written with my tastes in mind? I’m guessing the film was aimed squarely at the lucrative young teenage and lady market.
Your guess is very astute, and I dodged that old biddy. What kind of person sinks the boots in after such a public display of failure? The colour of her soul was very dark indeed.
Man, I’ve heard of restaurants in the big smoke which import most of the reheated only meals from the land of stuff and serve them from plastic bags. I’m not sure that I like the sound of that concept. And would pass on the opportunity to try it. Yeah, there’s a lot of variability when it comes to food.
Very good, and thanks for the details of your recipe. Respect. Interesting, and we’re also coming around to the idea of boiling fresh corn, and then freezing the kernels for later re-use. We had one or two cobs which were kept a little bit too long and the kernels become very starchy, and probably need to be nixtamalized after that point. Yours is a nice gourmet rice dish. Yum!
Nice re-use of the tomatoes and beans too. Waste not, want not, they do say. Food waste is a problem, yup. But, may not be so in the future. I reckon household budgets will be squeezed hard for the foreseeable future, but then there’s a school of thought which suggests that a lot of costs were being shouldered by other countries. Now the game has changed. Hmm. Oh well, this was all going to happen sooner or later.
Hope it warms up a bit here tomorrow. Brr! 🙂
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – I saw a couple of articles about how the lack of fertilizer is impacting our farmers.
https://www.npr.org/2026/03/26/g-s1-115240/iran-war-strait-hormuz-fertilizer-exports-farmers-planting-season
https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/23/business/fertilizer-prices-iran-war-farmers
You mentioned food waste, elsewhere. LOL. If I can bury it in the garden, to feed the worms and make compost, I don’t consider it true waste. Although maybe I’m just trying to make myself feel better.
Oh, that is tragic about your hazel nuts and chestnuts. 🙁 As in gardening and baseball, it’s said “There’s always next year.” Cold comfort, I know.
Useless trips and frivolous journeys. Thoughtful people will look at their auto errands. Heck, thoughtful people looked at their auto errands before the petrol prices started to rise. When I hear of people getting into trouble in their cars, due to wild weather, I often wonder “What was so important you needed to go out?” What couldn’t wait?
Our high yesterday was 54F (12.22C). Our overnight low was 30F (-1.11C). Our forecast high for today is 57F.
Old dudes and young women. We used to visit Montana, every other year. According to a family story, on one such trip when I was very young, I blurted out, “Is that his daughter?” A lot of ranchers, didn’t achieve financial stability, until later in life. And then started looking around for wives. Often, among the rodeo queens and their courts. It’s just a cultural thing, there. Or, was.
When I first came here to manage the B. Dalton bookstore, I had a regular customer who was a Civil War buff and reenact-or. He would often corner me, and babble on endlessly about his interests. I used to pray the phone would ring, or, a delivery man would come to the back door. 🙂
Monasteries were rich pickings for the local gentry. Lead from the roofs and smashed stained glass windows. Dressed stone (some of it, originally of Roman origin). The parchment from the libraries was used for fires, or to wrap fish. “Many monastic libraries were destroyed or dispersed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, resulting in significant cultural loss. For example, at Worcester Priory, only six out of 600 books survived, and at the Augustinian Friars’ abbey in York, only three out of 646 volumes remained.
History of Information Wikipedia”
I’ve deleted the e-mail from Idaho, that told of petrol prices, over there. I’m sure she’ll mention them, again.
Ohhh! Martin Clunes is in it? I may have to reassess. But, probably not. “Lady market?” What a character in “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil,” called “Uptown white women.” 🙂
Not that the old biddy you referenced probably spends a lot of time on self reflection. But, occasionally I wonder if people like that sit at home and wonder why they have no friends, and their families avoid them.
Shrinkflation? I picked up a tin at the Dollar + store. Same brand, but the tomatoes / okra / corn is now just tomatoes and okra. No worries. I usually keep some frozen corn in the freezer. I also added peas (legumes), rice, chopped broccoli and seeds.
If things go according to plan, I’ll be making lemon muffins with lemon glaze, this evening.
And, just for fun … the yearly, ritual Burning of the Socks.
https://www.npr.org/2026/03/26/nx-s1-5760894/sock-burning-annapolis-oysters-sailing-chesapeake-bay
I suppose people celebrate the arrival of spring, in all sorts of ways. 🙂 Lew
Chris:
I wonder if I’ve known any crims. Seems mighty likely. I mean, besides moonshiners and that sort. I have the crappy old car, not a manual as that is Mr. Musty, but I still drive him sometimes. He is probably one of the crappiest vehicles in the county. And I dress in second hand clothes. When at home and outside I look like something that got washed down the hill through a blackberry patch. You always look so nice, even at home. Is it because you are an internet celebrity?
Yes, we got the rain. Yay! But it must not be yours as you still have it. We could do with some more.
No, you are not too sensitive about apple cider vinegar. That is potent stuff. I tried taking it straight for awhile as a medicine (it didn’t help) and it deserves only to be put in dishes as a little bit of something. Kombucha smells and tastes lovely. Speaking of apples: I had a Pink Lady apple in a box in the back of the fridge that I had only cut a bit off to eat. It had been in there about 2 months. It still looked absolutely fresh and perfect. I decided to cut it up and cook it and now I have delicious stewed apples. Didn’t you say sometime that you don’t like stewed apples (or applesauce, which is mashed stewed apples)?
Hey, if I should go dark, it is because my son is setting up a new laptop for me. This old one I am using is about to give up the ghost.
Excellent! Glad you got something (or did you have to pay?) for the scrap metal. My son periodically takes to the scrap yard (they pay) the odd bits of metal he has accumulated. And also excellent is the fact that you are stocking up on feed for the furry and feathered friends. The gravel issue is bothering me because now that it has rained we have to wait until that back road dries up and each day the clock is ticking on how much it is going to go up in price. Petrol went up 20 cents per gallon since last week, which is not much, but now it is at $4.00 per gallon. Still not bad and no signs of rationing.
Pam
Chris,
Never saw I, Tonya. I do know who it was about. Poor girl didn’t stand a chance, really. Grew up poor, that mother she had, ugh. Talented skater, but because she grew up poor, she was looked down on and also had a big inferiority complex. Definitely not a poor person’s sport, especially back then. Couldn’t be herself or just skate. Then the assault thing on Nancy Kerrigan added to her complex “legacy”. Rather a sad life, unfortunately.
I think that the Editor got Heathcliff exactly right. I’ve known a few people like him. Best avoided.
Oh, the 18kg pack while on Nordic skis? Hmmmm, I dunno, the adults all had enough skiing experience that it wasn’t really an issue. Familiarity with how to balance on two boards outweighed the heavy packs. 😉 One year we had two 12 year old boys with us. Neither were experienced. That didn’t work out too well, as neither could keep balanced and upright. One simply got up and soldiered on. The other? Complained and whined the entire weekend. Learning to ski with a heavy pack on your back doesn’t work.
We had a saying about projects at the job: “Once it starts going bad, it just keeps going.” Perhaps that sums up what happened to Harold once Harald of Norway landed in the north.
Do you still make those biscuits for your dogs? If so, perhaps you could dehydrate some of your greens and other veggies, add them to the mix for the biscuits. I can hide dehydrated greens in most anything for the Princess and me to eat. Don’t even notice them as a dehydrated addition.
What? You didn’t want to work on a ladder in the wind while trying to handle sheets of wet and therefore slippery metal? Dude, I wouldn’t have tried that either. Perfect day for indoor activities.
The nice thing about the wind in the trees is the sound, the “talking” the trees are doing. Well, as long as you are somewhat sheltered from the wind and rain. I do like listening to the wind in the trees.
Maybe the kangaroos DO know and don’t care. After all, what are you going to do to them? Chase them away. Then they will return when you go back indoors. They probably know that routine.
Yes, compared with most places, our petrol is cheap. It’s the rate of increase of the price that caught my attention. But adapt to the increased price? Not most Americans. Most Americans complain. Willingly adapting and changing? Not so much.
DJSpo
Hi Pam,
Moonshiners are probably very lovely people, who most likely just want to be left alone so they can get on with their hobby. The authoritas however, have other ideas… The old timers used to have a saying about: Not judging a book by the cover. Although just between you and I, I did exactly that with the Harry Potter series. I know, hypocrisy is awful isn’t it? Well, I’ll tell you a little story about this subject. I live in an odd place in some ways, and some heavy hitters over in the more fashionable part of the mountain range don’t tend to dress up, and that in itself is a code for those who are in the know. In a weird coincidence, I was introduced to one such person – who has a very public profile – a few weeks ago. He seemed like a decent sort of chap. I’d have to suggest that their status is so exalted, a suffusion of manna hangs around them, and it may be true. Hmm. If you know, you know.
Very funny, and my status is perhaps not in such heady spaces, so I dress so that I fit within the goal posts of societal expectations, but aim to do better than average. Basically, I’ve no desire to be noticed, and the usual standard of deportment within this civilisation, is not all that great, so my goals are readily achieved.
Still, when heading to the tip yesterday, I wore my green home woollen jumper which candidly has a few glaring holes. I met the bloke working there as an equal, had a good chat, and was left to my own devices. The thing is, I then had to travel to a nearby town and pick up supplies of dog and chook food, whilst wearing the same jumper. The young lady at the feed shop was polite, but, you know, you could feel the judgement.
Clothing is like a symbol which we decorate ourselves with. Thus a message gets conveyed as to our status. And it is a very sad state of affairs the waste with clothes, so yours is a most excellent choice.
I remember going to a very formal occasion a few years ago, and after the more English than the English grammar school, I can wear a suit with a relaxed casual aplomb and feel inconspicuous. Just casting my eye over the other folks, you could pick the discomfiture of people outside their comfort zone with the clothes worn.
I’d be curious as to your perspective about all that, especially given the earlier circles in your life?
Hope to send you some more rain, especially as I’d like to complete the build and then fill up the new firewood shed. All of which will take dry weather. Oh well. Yay for your rain!
Exactly, the cider is very potent stuff, and by the way, my favourite vinegar is white vinegar, which I have zero chance of ever making. Pink Lady apples tend to stay crisp, although I’ve not tried your experiment. Any excess is fed to the chickens, who appreciate such treats. Ah, I see, the guts of an apple cake are diced stewed apples, and not mashed. It’s not that I dislike apple sauce, the combination just isn’t part of the usual down under recipes. You rarely see it, anywhere. Things are clearly different in your country.
Good luck with the new computer, and they got me a few weeks and months ago. Hope the upgrade goes smoothly.
Far out, things are good in your country. No, scrap metal this time around was dropped off for free and the revenue from the sales goes towards the local council. The lead acid batteries was an entirely different story with lead being paid for at AU$0.72/kg. Copper would also have value, but steel – nope. We export an awful lot of iron ore, so there is no market for scrap steel.
Hope you get the gravel issue sorted out. 🙂 Yup, fuel is cheap in your country, and probably nowhere else now. It happens.
Cheers
Chris
Hi DJ,
The ‘I, Tonya’ film pulled no punches, and I’d have to suggest that at such elite levels of competition, there is a mental dimension to the story, as well as the more expected physical aspects. So yeah, the lady in question did far better than her humble beginnings could have warranted, and that in itself is amazing and worthy of respect. Man, back when I worked in the big end of town, and reached into the heady heights of careerdom, that was as good as I had. There was nothing more. The lack of desire for harmony among the elites was a surprise to me, and not a situation I could deal with, and so I walked away not wanting to expose myself to the continual contention. No shame in having tested, and then learned one’s limits. A person can find themselves batting outside their league, it can happen. My desire to balance contending forces is very low, merely on the basis that it is their problem – and not mine, except it was.
The assault thing on her competitor was simply stupid, there’s no getting around that. But it does also prove that a person has to be careful with the company that they choose to keep.
Yeah, I’ll read the book next and see for myself, but I trust the Editor, if Heathclff is a piece of work, it is possible that the character could be far worse than she tells me. 🙂
Very funny, and yes, knowing how to ski would assist. And you encountered the dreaded weekend spoiling participant who was unceremoniously chucked in the deep end, and then expected to quickly learn how to swim. Yes, I’ve encountered people who have that fruitless expectation with the inexperienced. Skills must be learned the hard way, and such a path is not cool for not everyone is a quick student. Does it work, yeah, occasionally, but certainly not all of the time. And not everyone has a stoic attitude either, so yeah, not what I’d do to train someone, put it that way.
Ha! A nice saying, and suggestive that faults can indeed be cascading. For those whom have to get stuff physically done, that can be how it rolls sometimes. A few weeks back, I started what I thought would be a simple task, and everything which could go wrong, did so. Fortunately, I’d had a gut feeling that it might be the case, and so left plenty of extra time to do the simple job. Hmm.
An interesting thought about the biscuits – the dogs get two types of home made biscuits by the way. Hmm, I’ll think about that, but usually we have fresh greens. The exact supplement is Glucosamine Sulfate wth Chondroitin. Plus Omega 3 oils from fish oil, and Omega 6 oils from blitzed peanuts. Should help a lot. The hail storm a few weeks ago destroyed all of the fresh greens, and they’re only just now at the point we can start eating some again. A bit of a drama that day, let me tell you.
🙂 Nice one, and yes, like your lady provides you with solid instructions regarding ladders, and I found myself faced with similar talk. Hmm. A sensitive person might suggest that they are swapping notes, or it could be a female thing?
Yeah, the trees here do a lot of talking in windy conditions too. Actually, back in the late 90’s we used to live in the big smoke seaside suburb of Williamstown. It’s a lovely place, well, was back then. Anywhoo, the wind squealing through the rigging of a cold winters night with the boats at harbour sounded pleasant to me too. Nature sure is amazing, and a person never knows what messages may be conveyed.
That’s outrageous, and disrespectful to the big old dog Ollie. Of course, the marsupials know that he is on a string, and in the ultimate act of discourtesy, they slowly bound away looking miffed. He’s got a deep, but rarely used bark. The two Kelpies on the other hand, are fast, and if the kangaroos had half a brain, they’d realise Ollie and I are saving them from meeting the younger dogs who’d like nothing better than to round them up, which is not an ideal situation for any of the participants.
Strangely, I’m not hearing of complaints down here in relation to fuel prices – it’s more of a bewilderment at this stage and questions as to how long it will last. Probably that’s what adaption looks like, and hey, maybe the stuff has been too cheap, for way too long.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
Yes, the sudden decline in availability of nitrogen based fertilisers is a serious problem in the making. Your country is not as dependent upon the supplies from the Middle East, so the pain for this one will really be felt elsewhere on the planet, like down under. The local facility over on the West coast of the continent, near to where the cyclone hit, is set to open in 2027, but until then, there will be shortages of urea.
I’m not reliant on that fertiliser, and wouldn’t recommend using it continuously anyway. The soil and plants can end up like a dependent druggie addict for the stuff, and who wants that? The alternatives I prefer cost way too much to be at risk of running short, but we’ll see how that story rolls over the next year or two. The current dramas will not be resolved soon, and this is what a new world order looks like.
Man, I’m of your opinion there as well with food waste. It isn’t waste if it ends up back in the soil. 😉 You know I’ve been collecting the waste from a café in the big smoke for about 18 years? There’s a lot of nitrogen in coffee grounds, yup. And my own poop gets back into the soil too, which long term is what we’re all facing. Your kitchen scraps will help feed the worms and build top soil, and it’s an awesome thing to do. I’m often boggled by the sheer waste of our civilisation, when with a bit more cost, we could do something really interesting with the soils. Oh well, a lost opportunity.
I’m easy going about the losses, because genuinely there is always next season, unless something very dire happens. But until then… Onto next year! 🙂
I went into the big smoke today to have lunch with friends, and what a fun day it was. Had a gourmet burger, and the chat was really good. I was surprised to see the roads busy, but then I suspect people are taking the short work week off before the Easter break, and heading here, there and everywhere. With diesel at AU$3.20 a litre / US$8.51 a gallon, I was astounded to see many a caravan heading north on the roads and out of the city. Once in rural areas, those folks will be in competition for diesel with farmers, and with shortages in remote towns, possibly travel plans for folks will have to include a degree of flexibility.
Man, that happens with people crossing through flood waters and fatally coming unstuck. No amount of messaging seems to stop such actions. It’s bizarre.
About the same here today, although the overnight minimum was much warmer. It’s still drizzling outside tonight, and hope we get a break from the rain soon. The burn off restrictions are lifted from Easter Tuesday, so presumably the general public is not considered trustworthy… 🙂
Historically, that was a pretty common arrangement, especially as you noted, blokes have to spend more than a few years earning enough to pay for a family.
Dude, long ago I had a neighbour just like that, and he’d bend your ears for hours, just like that enthusiast you mentioned. Hmm. Not being in customer service, I could wheel out my line of: “Man, good seeing you, love to talk, but I’ve got to work”, and that was that. Actually, the thing was, I’d not encountered such a person before, and let’s call him, say, Graham, and it was another local who showed me the technique. Tell ya what though, the bloke never seemed to get upset hearing the conversation closer, and just come back for more at another time. A mystery… Yeah, save us! 🙂 Bliss is surely dealing with the general public! Hehe! Truly, I’m very polite to the people who serve me in such a function, and communicate with them as equals. They do it really tough, as you’d know, and expectations have become so much greater these days.
You could pen your memoirs with the title of: Tales of a peripatetic librarian, antiquarian and book seller. Got a nice ring to it…
I get the dressed stone, but far out, wrapping fish in antique parchment of uncountable value, well, such acts deserves it’s own special layer in hell, probably above money lenders, maybe. I’d not realised the places were looted.
Ha! We shall say no more on the subject of cheap fuel, for today.
Martin Clunes was seriously enjoying himself in the film, and played a dastardly villain, who’s worst attribute was that he was occasionally nice. Best not to be involved in such eccentric antics. 🙂
It makes a person wonder doesn’t it? I have a belief that such folks see themselves as the victims in the situation, mostly so that they don’t have to face themselves. Ain’t my problem to fix, and so I avoid such folks.
Yikes! Probably things will get worse on that shrinkflation front. The fertiliser issue is a serious problem, probably biggerer than the lack of fuel.
How did the lemon muffins turn out? Yum!
What a fine festival of sock burning incantations, and the skies looked nice and blue. The old timers around these parts used to quip that cold years, are dry years, so we’ll see how it rolls as the season progresses.
🙂 Hey, it’s cold here, and I’ve got the wood heater going. Brr! Fingers crossed the drizzle holds off tomorrow and I can put the roof up on the new shed.
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – All things considered, our farmers are doing it pretty rough. First there was all that tariff nonsense, with trade deals collapsing left and right. And now the fuel and fertilizer problems. Although my sympathies lie with the small farmers, rather than Big Ag.
Unfortunately, none of my poop makes it back into the soil. But, some of what we’ll politely call urea, does. 🙂 In the dead of night, so as not to upset the Inmates.
Go the gourmet burger! Along with good company. I’ve noticed a slight cutting back on traffic, but that might be more episodic than a long term trend. There were always strange blips in the local economy, where not much money seemed to be moving around. Or, traffic. I have heard people at the Cub, mention cutting back on trips. It is also the end of the month, and some run short of money.
Our high yesterday was 61F (16.11C). Getting up there. Our overnight low was 41F (5C). Our forecast high for today is 57F. Still clear.
We have a few folks around the Club who like to “bend an ear.” 🙂 I can usually steer clear of them. I always thought when I was working in the bookstore, that a device should have been invented, that you could discreetly press in your pocket, to make the phone ring. Another fortune lost! 🙂
Well, guess what was on the library’s “new, on order list,” yesterday? “Wuthering Heights.” It was about the only thing ordered last week. I did not add it to my hold list.
How did we miss this? I was talking to someone, and they mentioned a zombie movie that I had completely missed. “Juan of the Dead.” A horror movie out of Cuba, no less. It looks like I can watch it on U Tub, for free. But, the subtitles look to be a bit out of cinque.
I baked two dozen lemon muffins with lemon glaze last night. The first batch was slightly underdone (though a toothpick came out clean.) I’ll take some of them down to the Club, this morning. As it’s my B-Day. XXXVII, according to what will be on my coin.
If I had a home group, there would be a birthday meeting for whoever had a birthday during a month. And, a coin would be bestowed. As I don’t have a home group, I just go to the Club and swap my old one for a new one. They’re mostly made of brass. There are a few different designs. I always carry mine in my pocket. I’ve only lost one over the years.
https://w.wiki/9Ge3
Interesting news from The Wonderful World of Archaeology. They may have found one of the original musketeers. Not the Dizzy variety. No mouse ears.
https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/26/science/dartagnan-skeleton-maastricht-scli-intl
I see my seed order is “out for delivery.” I wonder how soon I can get my potatoes in the ground? Lew
Chris:
Moonshiners can be lovely people; I can attest to that. Just keeping on with the old, established family business.
Of course, I dress more, um, classically, in town. Considering that I was brought up in fairly high circles, I sometimes marvel at the way I have come to live. I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. Hopefully, I still remember all the good manners drilled into me. I consider those to be valuable at any class level. Though, no, I no longer remember where to place the shrimp fork when laying out the silverware. In fact, I have no shrimp fork.
I tried to sell some copper at a scrap place recently, but for some reason they don’t take it. They do at a place a county or two over.
Pam
Hi Pam,
To be successful at their trade, moonshiners have to be competent chemists, mechanics, plumbers and have a good sense of managing trade. Clever folks. Respect.
It’s worthwhile mentioning that a classic look, never goes out of style. I know what you mean too, and had to learn how to navigate in such circles. It’s not all that hard to do through observation, although mistakes inevitably get made, and anyway, the interweb is quite useful for such bits of info as to which fork goes where. 😉 Between you and I, and I’d be interested to hear your thoughts, but it’s kind of like a form of language all that maintaining decorum business, in that if a person learns it at a young enough age, it’s always there in the background and can be worn casually. Mostly, I keep the thought at the back of my mind, that most people, even those whom inhabit the rarefied airs, are people, just like everyone else.
We don’t call those tasty seafood items shrimp, they’re prawns down under. And I’ve no idea why there is a difference in the names? Total yummers! 🙂
Well, copper is a thefted item, and so there will be reporting requirements for the scrap metal merchant that they don’t see the need for. Did you know, that when I went to the merchant for the lead acid batteries, they took my ID so if they’d be pinched, Danno would have booked me (sorry for the dodgy Hawaii Five-O reference).
Cheers and I better get writing!
Chris
Hi Lewis,
The fricken ‘s’ key on the keyboard is giving me trouble tonight. I’ll have to remove it and give the thing a clean. Oh well, there’s always something else to do.
This morning looked like a continuation of the recent foggy, drizzly, cloudy weather, but by 11am, the sun burnt through the moisture, and it was a glorious day. Just the day to get a bit over half of the roof sheets installed up on the new firewood shed. To be honest, the thought of clambering around on a slippery wet roof was so not cool. The warm-ish sunshine dried the sheets off, and all was good with the world, maybe.
I’ve got a piece of non slip nothing found in nature chunk of material, which stops me sliding off the slick steel sheets – but that stuff won’t work with moisture. So glad to see the warming sun today, it’d been a while.
Farmers are doing it tough, except, this time around big-agg (aggravation? 😉 ) is now short on supplies. This was always going to happen, their day in the sun was always numbered. Funnily enough, yesterday a friend gave me some seeds for the indigenous yams which would have grown around here before the Europeans arrived, and a ten foot row was created today, wood ash mixed in, and the seeds were planted out. Nice to have a more reliable tuber than the humble potato. My sympathies lay in that direction as well.
On that note, the potato crop from two years ago, has suddenly sprouted in their old rows. Not sure what to make of that as I’d guessed that we’d lifted all of the tubers, but apparently not.
Well, yes, none of your inmates will notice the soil additives under those conditions. But if things ever get bad, you have a plan B up your sleeve. 😉
Yeah, heading into the big smoke during the week was quieter too, and I dunno either. I’m observing, but the prices for fuel must be causing some financial stress. But if the Club has food in the pantry, the trip becomes a multi-purpose venture for those on the razors edge.
Whoa! It was about the same here today, maybe a degree or two warmer. It’s weird to think that half a world away, conditions are remarkably similar. 🙂
I know, back to the drawing board for our next get rich quick scheme. There are some nefarious devices floating around to block cell phones.
You might enjoy the vast chasm of disparity between the sumptuous movie sets in the latest instalment of the film. Better to be Nell with a solid moral compass, than the other more loose characters.
That’s funny, and also proves that zombies cross cultural boundaries. I’ll check out the trailer…
Oh poop about the muffins, and it happens to the best of us, and I’d still eat them if the lemon zing flavour shone through, as it would. Happy birthday too, and it is a most excellent achievement. The universe throws all manner of challenges at us, and that’s probably for good reasons that we can speculate about, but never truly know. Well done to you.
The coin is a powerful token, and I’d carry it with me as well. You may laugh, but on the desk in front of me is a little machine known as the Miyoo Mini Plus. Hmm. Sometimes I switch it on and organise the files, tinker here and there, dabble, then switch it off again. A wonderful machine, brings back all sorts of memories, just restoring to the front of mind what was learned.
d’Artagnan was perhaps a bloke who proved that those who live by the sword, die by the same. His temperament was not one who could settle into the everyday.
Hope you get your order, and man, I’m hanging out for a few deliveries too. The times are a bit unsettling on such fronts.
Cheers and better get writing!
Chris
Yo, Chris – Our high yesterday was 59F (15C). Our overnight low was 37F (2.77C). Our forecast high for today is 49F. We may see rain before 3PM, and then clearing. The next two days are supposed to be nice.
My delivery arrived. Including the Ozette potatoes.
https://w.wiki/DXLm
I think it’s the story, that intrigued me. It turns out my postie (who just happened to deliver the package) tried to get some of those, and, the source he tried was out-of-stock. I filled him in about Nichols Garden Nursery.
LOL. You may never get rid of those potatoes. 🙂 There’s always some little nubbins that get missed. I grew some potatoes in a spot in my garden, three or four years ago. Every year, at least one plant has reappeared. I see there’s one coming up, this year. It seems like they’re always very small. But I may be doing something wrong. Probably, watering them too much.
Muffins. It’s all in the timing. 🙂 I took 14 muffins, down to the Club. Mostly, the better ones from the second batch. It turned out that the volunteer counter person, is getting ready to relocate to Arizona, and, it was her last shift. Someone brought her an enormous commercial triple chocolate cake. How can I run competition agains that? But, I stopped by, in the evening, and there was only one of my muffins left. So, I’d say they were pretty successful.
I take it back. 🙂 The traffic was insane, yesterday. I’d say the reason was because it was our first, gloriously sunny Saturday. People always seem to get out and about, doing who knows what. I think there’s a lot of showing off their vehicles. Lots of sporty numbers with their “tops down.”
Besides farmers, our truckers are also doing it rough.
https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/28/business/diesel-trucking-iran-war
I looked up what a “Mini Plus,” was. I see. Sort of a classic video arcade, in your hand. Does it make all the classic noises?
It was a popcorn night, last night. I was in a quandary. I have three popcorn worthy DVDs in my stack. I finally settled on “Anaconda.” Jack Black and Paul Rudd. It was silly, and entertaining. I watched a bit of the DVD extras. It turns out that it was filmed in the jungle, up behind your Gold Coast. With the Tweed River standing in for the Amazon.
Big day, tomorrow. HUD inspection, maybe. I’ve got a little fine tuning, to do. Nothing major. They may not even inspect my apartment. Lew