It’s with a sense of fondness for you know, general naivety, which made our journey into the world of off grid solar derived electricity actually take place. How hard can this renewable energy technology stuff be? Turns out, like a lot of other things, it’s complicated and much depends upon, something or other. Way back in 2006 when peak oil was still discussed, the thought that the sun was in the sky, so there should be heaps of energy to nab, popped into the old brain. Where the thought came from, is lost to memory, but could have been due to reading and writing for the hippy press. Certainly back in those early days, details as to how the tech all worked, weren’t to be found in sales brochures, and forget about technical literature – that was non existent.
So, a little 80W Japanese made solar panel, purchased at enormous cost, was installed onto the roof of our little bush cabin, which was delightfully named: Jabba the hut! The heavy lead acid battery was equally financially ruinous, as were the wires, fuses, lights, inverter, television etc. You read that last item correctly. Much of the Star Trek Voyager series was watched on a small 12 Volt LCD flat screen. The rain may have been feral, the winds sure could howl, but the little wood heater kept the small space perfect for trips into the Delta quadrant .
Spoiler alert: The lost plucky Starfleet crew eventually made it back to Earth on the last episode. Was it a case of a: ‘and then I woke up conclusion’, because the series had been cancelled? And is the issue even worth thinking about?
Back then, so little electricity was required in the cabin, that I never really noticed whether the batteries filled up, or otherwise. There was that one time however, when presumably a Sulphur Crested Cockatoos bit clean through the solar power cable. Guess the big bird must have been attempting to sharpen it’s beak, or some other such stupid activity. Bet it hurt though! Have you ever applied the terminals of one of those small oblong 9V batteries to your tongue? I have. The large white parrot would have enjoyed a shock, but about a hundred times stronger! They’ve never done such things again…
Sorry, I digress. But it did serve the bird right. Anyway, with the solar panel disconnected, the first I knew of problems, was when the low battery voltage light was flashing. Easily fixed and there was gratitude that the parrot damaged cables had not shorted out on the metal roof. But other than that, the solar controller was basic and provided no daily data. Didn’t matter, we weren’t at the cabin very often. The batteries were full most the time, and who knew things would ever be any different? This tech is a total lark!
By 2009, we began building the house ourselves, and did all of the work other than the earthworks, house plumbing and mains electrical wiring. With the roof metal installed onto the house timber frame, we could add eight solar panels and wire them up to the big lead acid batteries. The plumbing and electrical tradies working on the dwelling, even used the solar electricity. Everything seemed OK. We moved into an unfinished house about September 2010 (Spring down here in the Southern Hemisphere). The power worked great, and being very busy getting the house finished, I barely took any notice of the power system – other than to observe that it was working.
By about April (mid Autumn) the following year, things were not all that rosy for electricity derived from the sun. Mild panic set in and a battery charger was connected up to a small 2KVA petrol generator. At least the power didn’t go out in the house. In those days, we used gas for cooking, plus the former wood heater had an oven and nifty stove top, so we didn’t really need a lot of electricity. I loved cooking with wood heat, it was the best, but alert readers will note the use of the word ‘former’, to describe the old wood heater, but hey, that’s another horror energy story.
Our solar future was ‘so bright I have to wear shades moment’ died that first winter. If the plants aren’t growing strongly, there ain’t a whole lot of electricity to harvest from the sun either. The photovoltaic panels work really well in summer, and they still do produce electricity in winter, but about only a quarter of the warmer time of year. To put the problem in it’s most simple and concise form, it’s the planets orbit around the star, dude! Near to the winter solstice, the days are short, and the sun hangs low in the sky. Not much anyone can do about that.
The response to the sad lack of winter solar derived electricity, was to add more panels. Sandra will happily remind me that in the early days, I used to make the naive claim that with just a few more solar panels, everything would work just fine, and we would ‘never have to think about it again’. It didn’t, and I don’t make such claims in these more enlightened days! From the original eight, we’ve added another forty! It’s worth mentioning that handling that much electricity reminds me what it must be like to ride a mechanical bull. It’s an exciting and ever so slightly terrifying experience. But over the years I’ve adapted the system to run cool at every single wire, connection and fuse. Experience taught me the need for that outcome, the hard way.
Over the years, a few arm-chair theorists have advised me that in order to optimise the solar power harvesting during winter, I should install a tracker which ensures that the panels face the sun dead-on all day long, where ever it may be in the sky. It’s one of those ideas, which sounds good in theory. The costs and engineering to operate what is essentially an extraordinarily heavy sail, and then delicately control it’s movement all day and every day in whatever weather, is completely off the charts nuts. It makes no economic sense. None! And every one of those machines at a home scale I’ve ever seen, were broken. It’s the wind load on the giant heavy sails – those systems just doesn’t work for very long.
A few weeks ago we added a further dozen panels to the system, which took the grand total to 48, and I’d forgotten to mention something interesting about the system itself. Everyone knows that the sun rises sort of around about the east, and sort of sets somewhere over in the west. Solar panels produce the most output when they face the sun dead on. It’d be nice to try and track the sun as it moves across the sky, and there is a cheap way to do that: by creating a virtual solar tracker. That is, a system can have solar panels facing all sorts of different directions, so as to at least get some solid electricity generation all day long. And that’s what we’ve done:
- As the sun rises in the east, there are 6 panels facing North East;
- 16 panels face dead North (and these do the heavy lifting);
- 20 panels face North West; and
- 6 panels face South West (and these capture the last of the sunlight as the sun sets in the west)
Does the arrangement work? Well 2pm today, which is late April (and so into the second half of Autumn) we harvested 103 Amps out of a potential 125 Amps. That’s pretty good.
There is no longer a wood oven here (sigh!), and we’ve seriously reduced our reliance on LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) to an 8.5kg / 19 pound BBQ bottle every 37 days (at worst – during winter). The gas is used for boosting the hot water which is primarily heated by wood in winter, and solar hot water panels in summer. Haven’t worked out a way around that one, yet.
But for everything else in the house, we use wood for heating, and electricity for the rest.
We’re really trying to get this renewable energy technology to work, and it may, maybe… I read an article in the news the other day, that in some parts of the large city of Melbourne, people demanding this technology be installed due to environmental concerns, are discovering the limitations the environment will then impose upon them, and seem to be unhappy about the results. We’ve long known about this, and they could have all saved themselves a lot of hassle by having a quick chat and asking us whether we think that it’s all a good idea: Victorians transitioning from gas exacerbates growing problem of undervoltage.
I shouldn’t laugh, it’s a really serious issue, but if any area was going to vote for the left leaning Greens party, it’d be that part of the city. And the cynic in me does wonder whether this outcome is all a deliberate policy… Anywhoo, it’s probably due to the construction of the many new large multi-story apartment towers they’re building in that area. Those things require heaps of energy, and may not be as green as the locals would imagine.
As an old electronics geek from way back, the solar power system is a bit of a financially ruinous hobby, and why anyone else wants to jump onboard the journey, is something of an enduring mystery to me. There are some upsides, but plenty of downsides too. However, we’ve got the time and space to muck around with this stuff, most folks can’t simply bang in 16 used solar panels (picked up for $400), chuck ’em down in the paddock, and face them dead north. In the city the houses have unfortunately eaten all of the land, so there ain’t no space to do that. There’s just no easy ride with this stuff, and it’d be real nice, but sorry to say it, Star Trek dilithium crystals are pure fiction. What we’ve got as a civilisation, is probably as good as it gets, and when you’re at the top, there’s only one way to go.
The weather this past week (and the coming week) has been superb. Day after day of warm, sunny, calm autumn weather. A large high pressure system over the Tasman Sea has stalled, and we’re becalmed.
All that smoke produces some lovely sunsets:
With the new firewood shed almost completed, we began splitting and hauling seasoned firewood back up the hill.
We’ve begun filling the opposite side of the new firewood shed. Dry and well seasoned firewood is a beautiful thing.
Earlier in the week, the two large barn doors were attached to the new shed with heavy duty hinges.
It’s looking sharp.
Now the new firewood shed is nearing completion, the adjacent white cantina shed began looking like a poorer relative. This should not be!
We slapped a coat of woodland grey paint on the cantina shed, and gloss white on the two barn doors.
Then another coat of paint was applied to each:
A third coat of paint – yet to be done – should finish that work. Observant readers will note that the downhill side of the cantina shed, remains white. That side cops the worst of the winter weather, and so we’ve ordered a few sheets of grey corrugated zincalume steel to better weather protect it. Saves painting that side as well.
A lovely local lady gifted us a large bag of apples. Candidly, there were too many to eat, so we turned them into cider. We squished 2.7L / 0.71 Gallons of apple juice which with a bit of sugar water, exactly filled up a 5L demijohn.
In breaking produce news, the radishes planted in early March, are nearing ready to harvest. The leaves make a tasty pesto, and the bulbs are consumed grated in salads and enchiladas.
Despite the warmth last week, and this coming week, the lower sunlight levels determine when the many fruit trees go deciduous.
Onto the flowers:
The temperature outside now at about 11am is 14’C (57’F). So far for this year there has been 297.8mm (11.7 inches) which is up from last weeks total of 297.6mm (11.7 inches)
Comments
52 responses to “When it happens”
Yo, Chris – Naivety. If you could have seen the end result, would you have taken the plunge?
Fried cockatoo … tastes like chicken! 🙂
One has to ask. Why were you licking a 9v battery? Was it a schoolyard dare, like licking a frozen flagpole?
Oh, I remember your old wood cookstove. Nothing beats cooking with wood. Now that you know so much more about burning wood, and its properties, do you think you might revisit cooking with wood, again?
Women have much better memories, than men. As they frequently remind us. 🙂
That was quit an article about under voltage. I wonder if the young lady thought to put on a jumper? Bad, Lew!
The sunset photo is calendar worthy. We’re beginning to get some pretty sunsets, here. More pinks and lavenders.
Boy, the firewood is really piling up. And the new firewood shed and cantina look really spiffy.
Fermenting. What’s that pile of stuff, to the right?
Your roses are really spectacular. Reminds me, Portland, Oregon, the City of Roses, will be kicking off its annual Rose Festival, pretty soon. Looking back, a few fond memories, there. Lew
@ Kallianeir – In this part of the world, purple is mostly worn by old ladies. I live in senior housing, so, know from whence I speak. I’d have to give up my Dude Union card! 🙂
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/250805.Warning
Ah, here’s the whole poem.
https://lorry.org/Docs/Poems/Other/oldwoman.html
When I became an adult 🙂 I realized that I could put as much syrup on my pancakes, or catsup on my chips as I pleased. Lew
Hi Kallianeira,
I hear you about that. April is the month down under when rodents go in search of a toasty spot to over winter. They’re clever aren’t they? On my long list of things to do, is to add a cement trench around the entire house to thwart those pesky rats and mice. They can tunnel…
Whoa! I’ve never tried that, and fortunately the climate is mild enough that there are fresh greens growing all year around. Have you considered trying a substitute leaf like either rocket, perennial wall rocket or radish? They make a tasty pesto and have overlapping growing seasons.
Yes, electronics are good when they work, and nobody wants to enjoy the magic blue smoke of failed or over hot components. 🙂
Well, back in the day with the Fowlers bottling system, the tin alloy lids were cheap enough that they were, probably considered disposable. The strong acid the sugar syrup produces is pretty hard on the metal. They’ve always had the stainless steel lids that I’m aware of, but they were much more costlier.
Go further back, and they used to supply a white rubber ring, which was much more sturdy than the more usually seen red coloured rings – which they say are disposable, but I tend to reuse, whilst also having to carefully clean and store them.
Probably because stainless steel is much cheaper than it has ever been in the past – although I’d imagine the supply lines for the metal are very long indeed.
That comment of yours regarding the deer comes up time and time again. For a start, I’m a vegetarian – at home. Off the property, we eat whatever. But when a person lives on the land, one thing you regularly encounter is death. Sometimes it’s me having to deal out that end point, like it was with the Red Deer a few months ago. Or the cannibal chickens. I’m pretty easy going with the wildlife, and factor their needs into the production, but the deer took things too far, and further than all of the rest of the forest critters ever has. Destroying 15 year old fruit trees in a single night is unsustainable.
But mostly, the dead deer left in a pit on the forest edge, provides a decent feed for the ferns growing there, and all of the rest of the forest critters whom gratefully picked the carcass clean, and also munched on all of the bones other than the spinal chord. They need to eat too. The fertility from the carcass then gets randomly spread around the land.
Basically, I factor in the needs of the forest critters with the produce. And mostly things are in balance, but not always. We had an enormous brush tail possum last year which consumed most of the kiwifruit. Eventually a powerful owl came along and ate the possum. This year, the powerful owl knew to turn up earlier for a juicy possum snack, and so it goes.
Being up in the country, I rarely see guide dogs, let alone service dogs, so have no idea as to what goes on with that lot.
Cheers
Chris
Peace to you as well Göran,
It’s a funny old world we find ourselves suddenly living in. However, decline generally suggests that energy supply would diminish in the near future regardless. The question as to how that would happen, never looked in my mind like current events. Oh well…
Thanks! The new firewood shed is an important piece of infrastructure here. The original shed constructed long ago, used to hold a years supply of firewood. Then around 2020, for some reason, Sandra and I now spend more time at home, and there are costs for that. We no longer had enough firewood storage to get through a year. The new firewood shed (plus the original) will provide almost two years of supply, plus has some nice features like separating out kindling, and providing storage for basic garden tools etc.
I tell you what, it’s been a journey that shed, and costs are up for materials, easily 15% to 20% on only two months ago. The six sheets of corrugated metal we ordered a few days ago, were the old price, but they slapped on a fuel surcharge which increased the overall cost by about 15%. Hmm.
On the other hand, the higher prices means that I’m not seeing any shortages of materials. Hmm.
Mugwort / wormwood, is a very intriguing plant, and I grow a number of different varieties as hopefully you do as well? They used to be a spring tonic plant for Europeans, for good reason. A nice idea trying the plant in a beer. By the way, hops have a useful antibacterial effect in brewing, and the vines grow like weeds here. Also another highly useful plant. There is a lot to like about both of them.
That plant is unknown in this corner of the planet, although we have local fireweed species (Senecio odoratus for example) and a few other of the same Senecio family. Your plants would have been a very useful feed, and respect to you for trying them out. It’s amazing at the broader diversity of edibles – which are mostly an unknown subject for many. A general knowledge of plants is a serious advantage on many fronts.
For many years we’ve tested and reproduced leafy greens and other vegetables which are becoming better adapted to the conditions here. Many of those are actually establishing their own annual cycles too, which makes my life easier.
🙂 Enjoy your asparagus, and it is a fine vegetable those tasty spears. Dunno about you, but every year I feed the soil those plants grow in, but also give them a little bit of sea salt. You might be close enough to the ocean that this is not necessary. Presumably they’re enjoying the sodium?
Spring is my favourite time of year in the garden, and best wishes that your growing season is bountiful, and that the trees sell fast.
By the way, finished the painting of the shed and barn doors today. Another delightful autumn day, and a high pressure system has stalled over the Tasman Sea, which means that the weather itself has stalled and is on repeat day after day.
Opened a batch of pickled cucumbers today, and was pleased with the taste. Yum!
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
That’s an intriguing question, and there are so many moving parts to the story, like almost free second hand solar panels nowadays – which is crazy when the first ones cost me AU$750 each. I’d say the answer is yes, I would do it all over again with the off grid solar power journey.
The question is a bit like everything else really. Way back in 1997, I observed the powers that be, pumping up the housing bubble. I’d not considered the possibility that 29 years later, it would still be inflating. We ignored that speculative path much earlier, and instead chose to structurally fix up and restore cheap houses using sweat equity. From an economic perspective, we could have made heaps more by simply buying and doing nothing. But a person doing so, would miss out on developing skills by taking that more lucrative path. We can build a house, easy, but speculators probably can’t do that. Spending years mucking around with the solar tech, has left me with a deep practical knowledge of the stuff. That’s why I can say it’s good, but it’s not good enough. The hippy’s never intended for it to power a civilisation, that was a clear hijacking of an idea. Back in the early days, they used to speak of the technology as a way to keep the lights on, rather than running smelters, server farms etc…
Yes, the cockatoo probably does taste like chicken. 😉 I’ll bet that bit of mischief hurt the bird, a lot.
Well, you know, we all do stupid things from time to time, and it probably was a school yard dare. It’s an uncomfortable feeling, put it that way. As to the flagpole, it’s all fun and games, until the tongue gets stuck!
The Editor is the sticking point with a wood stove and oven. It’s not me who needs convincing. Cooking using electricity, does require some hefty energy. Heating large amounts of water with electricity, is nuts, but technically can be done.
Have you noticed that women seem to be able to find things more easily? I’m told from time to time that: “I’ve only taken a Chris look!” This is of course totally true and can’t be argued with. One must face realities…
Hehe! Very funny. Lewis, you are assuming that the young lady even owns a woollen jumper! The thing which most people forget about the mains electricity grid, is that since the dust up in the middle east, electric car sales are going off like a frog in a sock. That’s OK, until lots of people on individual area circuits try and charge their vehicles all at the same time, and in the evening peak demand. Hmm.
Spring is my favourite time of year, and hope your growing season goes well. The old timers used to quip about those sorts of sunsets you mentioned: Red sky at night, shepherd’s delight. Hope it’s true. Are you and H continuing to dodge the rain?
Thanks, and the cantina shed and barn doors scored their final coat of paint today. You know, with the dark grey paint, this is first time we’ve tried a satin finish, and I like it. Hides a multitude of joining sins that the more glossy paint illuminated. I’m interested to see how the satin finish paint holds up to the weather longer term. Nice to have tried the option and observed what effect it has on the wall surfaces. Finishing is somewhat important, and the protective coating is kind of crucial to the overall look – as you’d have likewise seen in the tat trade days?
That Rose Festival you mentioned has a stack of activities, and clearly some enjoyable memories for you! 🙂 Good stuff.
Yeah, you can get stung trying to off load last months faddish, but now out of favour item. And without, dare I say it, insider information, who can pick that market? Ms Stewart runs an enviable estate, which is also remarkably beautiful. What a life, and who wouldn’t enjoy Snoop Dog as a buddy?
The patterns aren’t right, that’s for sure! And hey, how is it possible to still be warmer here at this time of the year? Crazy stuff. Thanks for the link to the mid-west storms, and they do tornadoes like nothing I’ve seen. How could any building survive those monstrosities?
I really hope you enjoy the silverbeet, but just a gentle reminder that it is a leafy green which is cooked, like say with mixed rice and egg for example. Yum! Maybe with some of that chilli sauce splashed over it all. So good. Your soil feed sounds awesome, and yeah, use what you can get your hands on. I observed a rocket growing much larger leaves in the limed paths, and am thinking I might have to up the amount of garden lime in the raised beds. Always stuff to learn. I’ve noticed that with the silverbeet, the seeds germinate in the cooler part of the growing season. Fingers crossed.
A lot of that is the old ‘get big, or get out’ mentality don’t you reckon? Still, decline at least suggests that everything old, will be new again, so perhaps eventually the libraries will revert back to their former (and possibly far cheaper) arrangements? Dunno. And such things happened down here during The Great Depression too. Farms often provided meals, somewhere to get clean, and a place to throw a swag for itinerant farm workers in exchange for labour. Expectations these days are perhaps much higher than that, but historically the era was under a century ago.
Hmm. I don’t often come across plastic coated paper, although a lot of disposable cardboard food packaging is plastic lined! As you do… I believe that plastic comes from the lighter oils, and there are plenty of those to go around, for now. Naptha, I believe is the feedstock.
I know, about the low input agriculture concepts and respect them. But what does a dude do, if he lives in an area with mineral deficiencies, such as here? Calcium is in short supply for one, as is Phosphates, and um, no amount of green manures will bring them into existence when the background levels are already low. And I’d have to suggest that this is a problem across the entire planet. Will the green manures help, you betcha they will, and they’re an awesome idea and they’ll help make the most of what is there, but a deficiency, is a deficiency, no matter how people try and talk around the subject. And if plants are removed from that area and sold off farm, the mineral deficiencies will only ever get worse. This process has long been tested historically.
If it was possible to be truly low input, we’d have great agriculture going on everywhere, and that just isn’t the reality.
I too let many of the growing areas return to grassy and weedy plots, some of which are legumes, then turn the lot into the soil (or chop and drop the lot). But I also bring in minerals, just in case. 🙂 It’s an unfashionable idea, but it works and with all of the multitude of hungry forest critters, my soil fertility is not a closed loop, sadly. Oh well.
I’d like to be wrong about the above. History suggests otherwise.
Oh! I’d not known that the Hugo awards were so named after the creator of that magazine. Cool. Hmm. Sci-fi writer becomes prestigious speech writer. Who knew? The genre sure set in motion waves of action. Nice to see that someone has revived the concept, albeit online. Man, I like my sci-fi old school where the tech is secondary to the narrative, people and exotic locations.
What were Carl’s thoughts on the Coleman book and ideas?
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – Rats & mice. Maybe, a moat with alligators? Piranha fish? There’s a scene in the new Daryl Dixon, “Walking Dead” series. A guy is hold up in a French castle, with a moat. And the moat is filled with … you guessed it … zombies!
Too good, not to pass along 🙂 . Landlord repair cock-ups. On the other hand, possible ways to flush out a bad tenant, without all the hassle of a formal eviction. My favorite is the “new” vent.
https://www.buzzfeed.com/daves4/landlord-fails-diy-fails-fs
No argument. Ya have hard-won, mad skills. So, maybe time to write a book? “The Truth About Solar.” I noticed our library system recently ordered “Solar Power for Dummies.” I wonder how truthful it is?
“I’ve only taken a Chris look.” Brutal. 🙂 I often find myself, when looking for something, saying, “It’s only a 500 square foot apartment!” Or, ultimately finding something where I have already looked, three times. My favorite, is the recent hunt for the stuffing mix at Thanksgiving. Ultimately found in a roaster, on top the refrigerator.
I think fall is my favorite season. Who knows why. I thought it was “sailor’s delight?” Oh, well, shepherds, sailors … people who are close to the land or sea, and know to pay attention to such things.
As my Dad, a painter all his life, often said, “Paint hides a multitude of sins.” I wondered where that saying came from. As one does. 🙂 . The Bible? Really? A possible riff on “Love covers a multitude of sins.”
Yes. Rose Festival memories. Such as, sitting on Jane Russel’s lap. 🙂
I’d say, Ms. Stewart knows how to manage staff. 🙂
Our high yesterday was 70F (21.11C). Our overnight low was 45F (7.22C). Our forecast high for today is 61F.
Thanks for the reminder. One Master Gardener states, that the young leaves are tender enough for salads. I’ll probably mostly sauté, or nuke along with my rice.
The mention of itinerant farm workers reminded me of a Robert Frost poem.
https://americanliterature.com/author/robert-frost/poem/the-death-of-the-hired-man
Coleman, in his early days, had land that had been mostly Spruce forest. Thin New England soil, with few nutrients. He had to get his farm up and running, in short order. He had a nearby source of well rotted horse and chicken manure. And hauled load after trailer load. Sound familiar? 🙂 He also had access to a granite polishing outfit, so, granite dust for minerals. I’d say, once the land was up and running, the soil productive, that his methods keep things ticking along. At least that’s my thoughts on the matter.
I’ve been rethinking some of my “magic soil mix.” I think I might have overdone it a bit, with blood meal AND well rotted compost on some plants, that don’t need so much nitrogen. I think the compost might provide enough. Any-who, I’ll give that a try and see how it goes.
Last night, when H and I went out for our walk, there were the three deer, right outside the back door. I don’t know who was more startled, me or the deer. H didn’t make a sound. I chased them, up the slope, and back into the woods.
Carl made note of Coleman’s book, and, may or may not get it from the library, on his own. Time will tell.
Hallelujah! It’s a miracle! 🙂 . I noticed that the horseradish, in the half wood tub, that I thought had died, has made a comeback. So, I weeded it out, and worked in a top dressing of “good” stuff. Now, if I can just keep one of the old babes, from overwatering it Which I think is what happened. They are told, over and over again, to stick to watering their own patch, unless specifically asked. But, put a hose in their hands, and they go nuts. Lew
Hello Chris,
Solar power is amazing, but limited. When will we collectively wrap our heads around limits and embrace the seasonal variabilities?
The Dutch have a great saying: “Mill when the wind is blowing.”, to remind us that we can/should do certain jobs when the weather is right, regardless of day-of-week, or other considerations.
Same with wood.
Eliot Coleman is an american icon,of the organic movement and I have a couple of his books. My favourite is “Four Season Harvest”, with focus on season extension. I think he moved on to the farm where Helen and Scott Nearing lived The Good Life when they were retiring/slowing down.
Talking about inspiring books, I got a mail-in book from Bambra Agroforestry Farm on Friday, and I have read half of it already. “Heartwood”, by Rowan Reid. Great story of his tree/wood adventures, and I think it would be a good read for you. Most of the species of trees that he works with are Australian.
He made a glossy version earlier with lots of photos, but this is the newly released paperback version.
We have started the grafting season with chestnut trees and tomorrow will be the first batch of walnuts. A wonderful time of the year.
Peace,
Göran
Hi, Chris:
Am I to think that a certain amount of foolishness was involved in the two of you (though you may speak only for yourself) setting out on the new adventure? And was that cabin on your present property? I can certainly see how the solar was so expensive – it just was. Perhaps we might set Star Trek Voyager aside . . .
The parrot was not foolishness on your part. The mind boggles. The mind also boggles at how a 9V battery came in contact with your tongue. You were 8 years old, right?
“Just a few more solar panels” – that is so funny and I can hear you saying it. Just look at what you have now; it’s astonishing. And amazing how much you have learned.
“A system can have solar panels facing all sorts of different directions” – that is brilliant. I hadn’t even thought about that, but with all those buildings (and stand-alone panels) you are indeed tracking the sun, without moving anything.
That was a very interesting article about undervoltage. Thank you. So, what are they going to do about it? This seems to be their answer: “It means parts of the grid need to catch up.” I don’t think they lady in the cold house that they talked to is going to like that answer.
“And when you’re at the top, there’s only one way to go.” Amen, brother.
What an unusual sunset. Striking. This morning going into town I could see a lot of smoke across the valley, near the mountains. Haven’t seen anything in the news about it yet.
All that seasoned firewood is really a beautiful thing. I just can’t get over – though I know full well how long and hard the two of you have worked – how perfect the new shed has turned out. And also the cantina shed’s new coat of paint.
Here’s my chance to ask you about the pesto. I have been saving radish leaves and tonight I was ready to make up some pesto – but I had no parmesan and no fresh basil (yet). Do you use both those things?
Thank you so very much for the roses. We have one 30-year-old (in the shade) climbing rose. It is looking rather tired. I almost bought a rose bush today, but there is only one spot in the garden for it and, I don’t know, maybe I want something else there.
I found my nasturtium seeds! There were no Empress of India seeds among them. I was in 4 places selling seeds today and nobody had any. I could order some, but I have quite a few other nasturtium seeds, so I think I’ll wait till next year.
My son has collected 30 more toads (plus the previous 53) from the greenhouses spot. These got put into the garden; it must be getting crowded in there. They love to get under the black plastic since it has been cool and they trill at me when I almost squish them.
From last week: No wonder my son said he thought the riding mower race looked pretty dangerous. Till you mentioned it, I didn’t realize they could have 31hp.
Pam
Hi Chris,
One thing I’ve learnt is how much cooking can be made more efficient.
Bread baked in a bread maker requires about 0.4 – 0.6 kWh. An electric pressure cooker that has some insulation (eg. InstantPot) can cook dry beans with very little power (<0.5 kWh, depending on quantity). An air fryer or convention microwave uses very little power for small jobs (eg roasting blanched potatoes)
(You might be all over this, but it might help someone else)
Cheers, G
Greetings Chris!
Actually I was wondering whether deer, road kill or otherwise, could make good economical dog or chook food. The only “venison” I have seen in the shop was pet mince. My cat liked it. Then the shop (it’s a terribly fickle place, or reflects fickle aspects of supply chains) ceased to sell it.
Looking up the willow herb I found a nice interactive database : the Atlas of Living Australia. It shows animals and plants as well as sighting information. How about this! :
https://bie.ala.org.au/species/https://biodiversity.org.au/afd/taxa/c4e7f0cb-2ae3-4c1b-bab4-c4bd78f24469
I think perhaps one doesn’t notice plastic coated cardboard until it has been on the garden as mulch for a couple of years and the coloured surface is still suspiciously intact. Now I think any box which is not brown must have a plastic layer.
Re fresh greens growing all year… I grant you that they are versatile. However, I am a fundamentalist when it comes to pesto. If it ain’t got basil and pine nuts the stuff ain’t pesto. Pesto freezes really well so ideally only needs making once a year. Other nice fresh sauces of leaves I’d probably call salsa verde. One I like contains thistle, mallow and parsley as well as the other classic Italian sauce components (garlic, oil, lemon, seasoning).
@Lew, that is a terrible social predicament! Awful to be labelled a traitor to one’s sex for such a trivial reason. They keep trying to make pink men’s clothes fashionable here but I haven’t seen it fly. Purple has a bit of a foppish (maybe kinder to say arty) flavour but is nonetheless plentiful in men’s shirts and is positively loved by females of all ages.
But funny you mentioned old ladies… today in my art class there was indeed an octogenarian lady wearing beautiful plum coloured jersey, cardigan and trousers. Everything but her navy shoes. (Still, only one out of 15, not terribly disproportionate.) Red and purple together is supposed to be a semiotic for feminists over 50. I wonder where the notion came from and how old that poem is?
kallianeira
Mr G,
Always a pleasure to hear from you, and I note your cheeky email address and shortened name. 🙂 Respect, privacy is a thing, and hope you and your family are doing well. Sandra is probably also your personality type, and I’ve been told that I share too much! Oh well…
Those numbers look about right to me, and thanks for including them. Man, I use a Breville Smart bench top electric oven for baking in the kitchen, with a much larger dumb basic electric oven for the outdoor kitchen. Why heat up the house with an oven during summer?
Heating large amounts of water on the other hand, is an entirely different story!
One good thing about an off grid system, is that you get to see exactly how much electricity, each and every device uses. What I gleaned from the young lady’s words in the article, was that she has no idea how much electricity the split system uses when on the heating mode.
By the way, I’ve come around to the idea of using excess solar generated electricity for mechanical cooling purposes during the peak summer months. If nothing else will lower the grid voltage to more reasonable levels, those machines en masse will.
Nobody wants to experience the cascading failures due to over voltage on the user side of the substation distribution networks that Spain appears to have done.
And you may laugh, but I never thought that I’d get to that stage: Just turn the air conditioners on during the middle of the day (in order to lower the grid mains voltage).
The four solar battery charge controllers installed here manage that over voltage risk, as do the battery management systems – it may happen if multiple safety systems fail, but is very unlikely. With the grid tied inverters, I believe nobody thought to include such safety circuits, and many of them stupidly push higher voltage, into a potential mains river of already excited electrons, the pressure can only ever increase.
How’s those bananas growing you planted?
Cheers
Chris
Hi Pam,
The author Mr Twain, once observed that his fictional protagonist Tom, and best friend (of dubious background) were all too happy to head off on an adventure. Those who flocked to the new world way back in the day, were possibly infected with that same spirit!
The nice folks in the local goobermint ordered me to demolish Jabba as part of the permit process, which we did. All of the materials were carefully recovered, and then reapplied when a different set of rules suddenly applied. A lot of work, but a person must bend with the wind lest they get broken.
Tell ya a funny story about the sadly missed Sir Poopy (and thinking of Mr Baby who’d appreciate this tactic). I’d tell the big fluffy dog to get out of the kitchen, and he’d do it straight away. Then immediately turn around and come straight back in again with a look on his face which suggested: I did what you said boss! Truly it was hard to be grumpy with such crafty behaviour.
That’s the thing with school yard dares, they’re mostly stupid, and the best we can hope for is that the young uns learn a solid lesson without being seriously injured. And that was about the age, yeah. Later in life I learned that some folks pay for electro-shock therapy. Probably a very unpleasant experience, if that 9V battery on tongue trick taught me anything.
Exactly! Pam, it’s never the end point which teaches lessons, but the journey itself which is rich with meaning. By the way, on that note, the mice are really (saying my actual thoughts would break the code of conduct for commenting) annoying me. Waking me up a dozen times last night has earned the rodents a very sharp rebuke – which will take a lot of work on my part. Oh well…
Yup! Tracking the sun, from fixed and sturdy positions. The more gradual approach to harvesting the suns potential energy is also easier on the electronics within the off grid solar power system itself. And reduces the impact of say, and super cloudy earlier part of the day. Imagine if you could have garden beds, which are positioned differently so that you can take advantage of the sunlight at different parts of the year? It’s the same thing. It’s not efficient, but is resilient.
Who knows what they will do about the under voltage problem, but the expert cited in the article may have made the suggestion that it all doesn’t matter. Certainly sounded that way to me, but I’d be interested to hear his thoughts if that under voltage issue was occurring in his own home!
Hehe! It’s a good old timey saying that one about being at the top of your game, and what the future possibilities will look like.
Did you discover anything about where the local smoke is coming from? Sometimes fires hundreds of kilometres away can send their smoke here. Remember those Canadian fires up north of you a few years back, and all the smoke? Far out. Actually, it is smoky here today as well – but there is a state election later in the year, and the goobermint fears losing the rural areas, so they’re trying to catch up with back burning I’m guessing.
Thank you so much for saying that. It’s been a journey getting that shed up and going. Dry and season firewood is a beautiful thing. Ooo, the paint colour and texture worked out a treat. Who knew satin finish paint could work so well? We’ve always gone for the gloss finish, and may have to rethink that choice.
There are many varieties of the plant described as basil, and we only harvest leaves from the sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum). The rest are a bit dubious from my perspective. Anywhoo, yes to the parmesan cheese and I prefer the use of rocket, perennial wall rocket or radish leaves. Proper basil has a short harvest period of maybe three months. Incidentally, that plant is grown here in the shade of the asparagus, and seems to do OK with the association.
What’s your heart tell you about which plant to grow in that spot?
Go the nasturtiums, and may they sprawl across your garden beds soaking up the warm summer energy.
Say, that’s a lot of toads! And such a very thoughtful thing to do with the sheltering critters. I hear you, frogs and toads can get a bit antsy if us humans get too close. The tree frogs here sound like squeaky toys when irritated.
It is very dangerous that many horsepower on a narrow platform. I did notice that many of the competitors had widened the axles so that they were more stable. You’d need to.
Cheers
Chris
Peace to you as well Göran,
Exactly! Solar renewable energy technology is amazing (photovoltaic and thermal), but it’s simply not as good as fossil fuels. It’s better than nothing though, 🙂 I’ve read that electricity as an energy source, probably only accounts at best for around 20% of all energy used in our civilisation, and few people talk about that.
You’ll notice that in the photos of the firewood hauling that three of the machines use petrol. At 9kWh a Litre, it’s potent stuff. By the way, I can do a lot of those tasks with electricity, and hand tools, but most certainly would not use as much firewood as now.
Thanks for the great saying, and I absolutely agree with the sentiment. Same with farming too. The arrangements can produce a consistent output like a factory does, but the diminishing returns, and black swans, arrive early and speedily to put a stop to that relentless production.
Ah, moving onto that particular farm would have been quite the advantage for Mr Coleman, although a person on the land, never rests on their laurels. Thanks for the book referral, and extending the growing season is a subject of considerable interest to me.
Funny to think that the Agroforestry bloke is not all that far away from here. It is an area of the state I know quite well, and almost bought land in, but ended up here by the sheerest of chances. Hmm. I’ll have a look into the book, and very appreciate that a paperback edition is available. Books are remarkably expensive in this country.
Best of luck with the grafting and as usual I’m always envious of the walnut trees. 🙂 Spring is awesome, yup!
I’ll have to get onto the mouse problem tomorrow. Last night was bad and not a situation I’d want to repeat. Oh well, report to follow!
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
Ha! That’s funny, and a moat chock full of zombies would scare the daylights out of me, and be just cause to get rid of foolish dreams of a proper castle siege! Still, it is perhaps a good use of the undead – as long as they keep away from the drawbridge. Presumably the rotting folks are not able to climb out of the moat?
Hey, a moat of cats might stop the mice, but I’m thinking cement. Tomorrow I’ll climb under the floor and take a good look around to see where they’ve tunnelled in from. We also messed up with the large rocks around the firewall of the house. Sure, the rats can’t get past the rocks, but turns out the mice can. Something has to change, for the rodents woke me up about half a dozen times last night. Not happy. I spotted one too, and they’re fast.
Anyway, during the middle of the night, what with the carry-on, we ensured that the dried goods weren’t at risk from the rodents, and did a big clean up. Not my preferred activity, and the mice pushed me too far this time. They shouldn’t even be able to get into the house, and sorting that out, is the first step.
Whoa! Thanks for the link. All very hands on, and kind of mad solutions to problems nobody even knew they had. The decorative vent was mad. 🙂
I’d be happy to write such a book on the realities of renewable energy technology, but is there a market for the text? There are such strong fixed opinions from arm chair theorists when it comes to this subject, I doubt the wider public would believe me. It’s my belief that one day, after enough exposure, people will change their minds on this subject and begin demanding to burn more coal again.
And just between you and I, nobody has trolled me yet! 😉
It’s pretty funny that comment of the Editors, and yet there is a half truth to the witty observation. And what you wrote happens to me as well, although mostly when an item is misplaced and enjoys new surroundings for which it never should have seen. The old timers used to have a saying: A place for everything, and everything in its place. Sound advice, but it demands a certain level of organisation in the first place, and then further total care and attention to commit to such a process. And sometimes, I just stuff things up! We all do that. I could take the title, Mostly Neat. 🙂
Small space can have many spots to misplace otherwise important stuff, like that stuffing mix! Perhaps the mix was attempting to inject some mystery into your otherwise calm day? Think of the incident in that light perhaps not as a nuisance, but as a gift.
Well, the shepherd saying probably has greater sticking power down here due to the history with the sheep culture. Actually, I’d never heard the sailor version, but it means more or less the same thing, although I’m dubious as to the reliability of the claim.
Fall is a lovely season too, and that’s usually the harvest time for many crops. It also is just before the rest and recuperation colder months of the season.
I’d heard that saying as well from a friends dad who was an electrician. He had a lot of useful and insightful sayings. With those words he’d usually refer to builders bog, which is an all-round filler product.
Well done you with the lap work, and sometimes a person is on a winning streak! A stunningly beautiful lady.
Better financing does come with those sorts of managing other folks perquisites. All the same, I like doing the actual work around here.
Went into the big smoke today for work, and it was warmer there. Still, I reckon next week, is your sun’s time to shine, maybe.
Ooo, I’d probably not consume silverbeet leaves that way, mostly because they’d have an earthy taste. Your suggestion is how we cook up the leaves. In fact, had that exact dinner this evening, but with two eggs fried up, then added for good measure. I prefer runny eggs, but everyone is different in that regard.
I’m crashing due to lack of sleep last night, so the finer intricacies of the poem are a bit lost on the tired brain. I’ll check it out tomorrow.
Yes, that process sounds very similar but also familiar, I know thee soil techniques well. And granite dust, has a little bit of everything – it’s good. Agreed, get the soil up to condition, and then try not to lose what you’ve created. Entropy is of course difficult to manage, and in the deep time sense of that soil fertilisation story, it’ll probably revert to the areas average.
Yeah, bone meal is probably needed more than the blood meal. One is phosphate rich, the other nitrogen, which you probably get a bit of from the kitchen scraps you bury. And that’s the thing, not all plants enjoy super rich soil, far from that actually. Beans and peas like growing on depleted soil from what I’m observing, and yet other plants enjoy a bit of balance. They don’t all eat the same things. It’s complicated… 🙂
I’d be startled by the three deer, and well done you and H scaring the critters off.
Hope Carl is intrigued, and you can ever do, is sow the seed of an idea. Long ago in my misbegotten youth, I was more forceful – and it never ended well that option. Oh well, we live and learn and try not to make the same mistake twice, and look forward to the possibility of new and more interesting mistakes.
I have never watered horseradish. They don’t need the water in this sort of climate, and yeah you have a problem on your hands, but don’t we all from time to time? Life was rarely meant to be smooth.
Cheers
Chris
Hi kallianeira,
Sorry, I’m crashing out and have to get some sleep. Blame the mice last night which woke me up half a dozen times. The rodents have guaranteed that they’ll experience my displeasure, but I do have to figure out tomorrow how they’re getting into under the house. Don’t tell anyone, but it’s mildly embarrassing to be outwitted by mice. 🙂
Will reply tomorrow. It’s been a very long day.
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – “…a few more solar panels…” For awhile I’ve had a thought, that I keep forgetting to put down. You’ve mentioned that due to, mostly, factory farming (and, plant breeding), that nutritional value in veg and fruit have fallen. Which is true. LOL. I just keep thinking, you only have to eat more of the stuff. 🙂
I saw an article, yesterday, about an old Brit guy growing old varieties of wheat. Let’s see, where is it …
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj60lex8y82o
Last night was a popcorn night. I can stick another pin in my map of the zombie apocalypse. 🙂 “We Bury the Dead.” A movie. Set in Tasmania. Some US military experimental weapon is a cock-up, and every one on the island is killed. Except some “come back.” Not all, just some. Maybe 10%? And it doesn’t seem to spread, from zombie to persons. Due to it being some kind of a brain restructuring, rather than a virus or fungus. So, it varies from the usual zombie narrative, in a few places. But it’s all good. Worth taking a look at. Well worth a bowl of popcorn.
The French moat is deep, and has very steep sides. Although as we saw in WWZ, pile up enough zombies and …
Maybe cement the cracks between the rocks? The mice might be doing you a back-handed favor. If a mouse can get in, so might an ember? I think mice can smell cats. The last place I lived, mice never came into the house proper, where my cat roamed. Also, I had cats in the building I was in, down on Tower. I never had a problem with mice, or rats for that matter. They seemed to steer clear, and look for less perilous digs.
The things that sticks in my mind about my close encounter with Jane Russel, is that she wore no make-up, yet looked just as she did on the silver screen. A true, natural beauty.
I’m doing a lot more searches, these days. “Do (insert plant name) like (insert possible soil additive.)” It’s pretty informative.
It’s pretty much what I do. Throw spaghetti at the wall, and see what sticks. 🙂 Books, movies, ways of doing things. But I don’t have a big emotional investment as to if people follow up on my “suggestions.”
Our high yesterday was 57F (13.88C). Our overnight low was 46F (7.77C). Our forecast high for today is 61F. There are wildfires in our state of Georgia. Not all that far from where Pam lives. That might be where her smoke is coming from. Maybe. Lew
Chris:
“But a person must bend with the wind lest they get broken”: That is the way to prosper in certain situations, most notably those involving the authorities over one.
Sir Poopy, bless his little heart, had no respect for the authorities.
Do you have Havahart traps in Australia? Actually, though they work well, I am not recommending them. We caught so many mice with them and let them loose outdoors, only to meet them again inside the house. We know they were the same mice because after a certain point (do we really have 32 mice in the house?) we starting marking each one, with different colors, with some paint on the end of a brush before we let them loose. After seeing so many various colored mice back inside, we knew that mountains must be moved to find their entryway. It was the flashing around the chimney. They went into the attic and then they were able to move around through spaces in the walls. Flashing was fixed, never had another one until someone left the basement door and one came in, and Mr. Baby took care of it. P.S. You can catch them and drive them miles away . . .
https://www.zoro.com/havahart-havahart-medium-live-catch-cage-trap-for-rabbits-and-skunks-1-pk-1078/i/G8666851/
The smoke is gone; I had a general idea of where it was coming from. We’ve had two .25 inch rains since then. Possibly that helped. We had a bright red sunrise this morning and it made me wonder.
Your catch-up burn-offs are like our gas prices. They are still going up 20 cents one week, then down 20 cents the next week, and repeat. It’s kind of comic. Ditto for an election later in the year.
Satin finish, eh? I’ve always gone for gloss, too.
That’s my planting problem. I have a fickle heart.
Pam
Chris,
I am curious as to what the mice were doing that woke you. It hasn’t happened to me. The cat chasing things in the house, yes. My father had a strange awakening once to find a mouse biting off his hair. (It’s very soft. Presumably good nest material.)
Did they not get in last year but have found a way this time? Tricky.
HI kallianeira,
You’re right, all those sources of cheap meat would make for great dog food. I just don’t have any skills or experience when it comes to butchering an animal. And also lack the preserving technologies like a chest freezer, or walk in freezer. I do comprehend the basics of the task, and if hungry enough I’d learn on the job so to speak.
At this point in time, I can head to the nearby outer urban town and pick up an 18kg bag of dog food (kibbles in US parlance) at a reasonable price which has 18% protein, maybe more (a fresh cut of venison would only be slightly higher % of protein, but with less fat). The dogs also get in their feed, coconut oil, a vegetable and nut based brekkie mix which we make from scratch with home made yoghurt. Plus we bake their dog biscuits. Dogs are pretty similar to humans in some ways in that they can eat most, but not all things.
Long ago a good friend had a major freak out because I was joking around and made what I thought was an amusing suggestion that the dogs would be good candidates for a vegetarian diet. What a lot of drama ensued! Won’t make that mistake again, but truthfully, if an owner was thoughtful, dogs could thrive on a vegetarian diet easy, especially if it included eggs, dairy and cheese.
Kallianeira, I like properly cooked kangaroo (neither over done, nor under done, but just right). It’s a good meat. But peoples palates are trained nowadays to eat cattle. When I was a kid, I was raised on lamb chops, which I reckon were probably mutton, but who cares? Sheep is a sweet meat and can survive on poorer soils than their larger domesticated herbivores because they can also eat plant root systems.
We’ll – as a larger society – go back to basics with food, when necessity dictates that outcome.
The local critters are wising up to the dreaded cane toad. Two decades ago I recall that Portuguese millipedes were an horrific invasive species. We’d be collecting brush pans full of the stinky things and turfing them outdoors. But then, a local nematode adapted to consume the slithery things, and now they’ve dropped into the background.
Incidentally, at the local sand and soil supplier this afternoon, I purchased a bagged up bale of sugar cane mulch, and a local tree frog was lurking under it! Interestingly too, the rain in March was so feral, that the sugar cane now has a strong fermenting aroma.
I’ve never used cardboard as mulch, and mostly burn the stuff off, then spread the ash. I believe that cardboard is a useful source of boron, which all plants need. Hey, remember the older style wax lined cardboard boxes?
Respect for your pesto standards, but I’m no purist in these matters and will substitute ingredients, the thought of which could possibly make your blood boil! 🙂 Absolutely I prefer peanuts over pine nuts, any day! Hehe!
The mice were sending me loopy! Squeaking. Rustling. Crunching. They’d gotten into the house and were exploring the dry food bulk goods area. Now most of the stuff they were unable to get into, and I’ve put those possibly-iffy items today into sturdy large plastic containers. Said in best pirate voice: Take no rodent prisoners!
In that storage area are the bags of dog feed, and occasionally a kibble or two would fall to the ground and roll under the shelving where I couldn’t get it. The mice could get them, and in the middle of the night we emptied out the storage area and cleaned that lot up. No easy feed for them now.
Anyhoo, earlier in the day I crawled under the floor of the entire perimeter of the house and discovered exactly where and how the little rodents had tunnelled under the house fire wall. Now I know. Armed with that information, the breaches were temporarily sealed off and baits laid. In a day or two I’ll create concrete trenches in that area – and no more mice incursions, although we may get to experience decomposition smell, but hopefully not.
Rodent droppings can contain some pretty nasty diseases, which will mostly be OK, until it’s not. During the NSW mouse and rat plague a few years ago, one or two grain growers exposed to the droppings ended up with a form of encephalitis – which sounded pretty nasty. A person can be unlucky.
Oh yeah, tricky is the word. Good luck! And they’re now on my list of things to do! 😉 They have 24/7, 365 days to consider how to get into your house.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Pam,
Yeah, exactly and as you rightly note, especially so with that authorita lot! They wants, what they wants, and it is easier to give them something so they go away, until the next time, that is. Dunno about you, but I live out of town for a good reason, and there’s more wildlife here than when we bought the place over two decades ago. Authoritas on the other hand tend to treat land like a fixed thing, when it is very dynamic and changeable instead. Oh well.
Sir Poopy had his own mind, and did his own thing, that’s for sure. But when a farm dog job needed doing, he was 100% competent and trustworthy. Chasing off the feral deer, even large stags, was hard wired into the breed. He’d correctly attack from the rear, and knew exactly where the forest boundary was. The deer have only been a problem since Sir Poopy, and the even more clever, Sir Scruffy departed this mortal life. Those two used to sort out the deer, and also rabbits for that matter. The current trio of canines are good, but not as effective.
I’m deeply sorry to admit that I have zero tolerance for rodents within the house – or chicken enclosure. Outside, the twitchy nosed little critters can do what they want, but getting past the house firewall is a step too far. It’s a sad tale though, because many years ago rats tunnelled under the house firewall and then got into the walls and attic space. So we fixed that issue back then, but the mice, who are much smaller, eventually broke through the outer rat defences. Now it all has to be changed, again.
With that task in mind, this morning, I crawled around under the house floor, and discovered where the mice had broken in. Now I know their rodenty secrets, I’ll pour some concrete trenches and stop the mischief in its tracks. That’s the plan anyway.
Go Mr Baby, and his most excellent rodent work – which is what earned him his meals, but also he probably could pull the super cute cuddle number four routine. Cats have been known to perfect that trick. 😉
By the way, I know someone who lived near to where the local snake catcher released the reptiles. Say, why are there so many snakes in the area nowadays! 🙂 Anyway, that problem was apparently sorted out using some strong words and threatening gestures! Hmm.
Hope the rain picks up from here for you, but even so, a half inch of rain is a useful amount. Does the place smell nicer following on from the rain? And are the flowers blooming?
Yeah, that kind of sunrise was meant to portend dodgy wet weather, which might be just the sort your garden needs? Did the signs work out for rain as advertised by the old timey saying?
It is kind of comic, oh yeah, I hear you about that. I too wonder why the price for that energy jumps around a lot. Same, same, and perhaps the authoritas think we won’t notice?
Actually the satin paint finish is pretty nice and more forgiving than gloss coats, but I’ll reserve judgement until I’ve seen how it handles the wet and cold winter months. Dunno. But first impressions are good.
Hehe! Pam, truthfully, I often leave annual plants in the ground for too long, and then regret the decision to not pull them out before planting the next crop. I’ve observed that the best vegetable growers have staunch hard hearts well adapted to ruthless actions in the garden. I expect I won’t ever rise to such heady heights, but a good enough outcome is fine with me, and hopefully also with you? 🙂
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
I like you’re thinking there with the ‘just consume more solution’ to resolve mineral deficiencies. And not being able to access affordable soil testing, I actually apply that strategy for the soils. But I do have to observe outcomes and adjust proportions of this and that for the next soil feed. There is an old proverb about not letting the perfect get in the way of the good enough. And I aim for the good enough outcome. Anyway, the soils and climate here will never be good for growing perfect vegetables and other edibles. But, I’ll get something.
What other people experience with that continuing reduced mineral content of their food, is probably not all that great. Videos of the population from 50 years ago (when I was still in nappy’s) shows a remarkably different group of people. Food and lifestyle choice changes over the in-between years have a lot to say about that difference.
I’m of the opinion that if plant materials have naturally derived taste, they’ve probably got some good minerals and other nutritional goodies in them. Bland stuff, maybe not so much! The old bloke growing the heritage grains, is onto something. And it’s a fine hobby. Country’s tend to have collections of such old seed stock, but it needs to be germinated and reproduced from time to time. Here is a link to the local mob: Australian Grains Genebank.
Sorting out a large patch of grains, is a job for the future for sure. Here are some bakers in the state to the west and north of here growing their own heritage grains: Bakers revive ancient grains and wheat from Australian genebank to produce better bread
Oh yeah! I watched the trailer for that zombie film, which you mentioned being on your hold list a few weeks ago. Looked like fun and thanks for the review. It’s a beautiful part of the world too, and some of it was filmed I believe, in the southern most parts of the state of Western Australia. An interesting take on zombies, who were once human.
Well, that WWZ scene was very much on my mind when you used the sentence: Moat full of zombies. Yup, it’s all cool, until the undead clamber over one another to get at the brains. I wonder if zombies stuck in a moat would have to be fed from time to time? Not quite the cute cuddly pets are they? More like sharing a swimming pool with over large crocodiles / alligators! 🙂
That cement work is sort of what I was planning to do on Friday, with the details being to dig long deep trenches, then mix cement into the crushed rock with lime. That’ll set pretty hard and stop the mice and rats from further burrowing. Longer term, we will have to get a cat or two, but until then…
With that cementing project on the cards, I got under the house this morning, and crawled around the entire outer edges of the building. I could see the weak points where mice got in. It was obvious, with a side serving of huge amounts of cobwebs. The Editor used the electric blower on me to clean off much of the webs and dirt, then all those clothes went into the laundry. A dirty job, but someone had to do it, just like the old song by the alternative band ‘Faith No More’ sang! 🙂
It’s funny, but years ago we created a system which stopped the rats getting under the house, and that seems to have mostly worked, yet the speedy Gonzales mice, are so much smaller. The systems have to adapt to the realities. Oh well, more work.
Yeah, the actress is stunningly beautiful, and the problem you experienced there is that you peaked at such a young age! Awful ain’t it? Still, you’ve known the heady distant stars, and few can make such claims.
That’s my thinking as well with the search monsters. They have to work for our benefit, not the other way around. The results are informative absolutely, and I tend to take a handful of advice and see what the common elements are to get a rough idea as to what outcome may be expected. The advice isn’t always correct, like what we were discussing a while back regarding the potatoes and garden lime, mostly because it depends on what the soil is like that the tubers are being planted into. General advice, is you know, general in nature. 🙂
There’s a lot to be said regarding the err, how did you put the strategy again, oh that’s right: the spaghetti wall approach! A fine turn of phrase too. 🙂 And exactly, once the idea is floated, it’s someone else’s problem. Helping people out is a very fraught process. The old timers used to have a saying about: You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink! So very true too.
Still warmer here today, and sunny plus it was calm. If there was a finer day… 72’F What’s going on with your spring weather? Has it like Elvis, left the building?
Funnily enough speaking of dead rock stars, there’s a film on the life of Michael Jackson. The word ‘hagiography’ tends to bounce into my mind, or maybe a bit of a clean and polish routine… Oh well, apparently Elvis made more mad cash in the afterlife. An impressive achievement, although of limited practicality for the dead.
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – I saw an interesting article, this morning, on shopping at Costco. That’s one of those big membership, warehouse mega-stores. We have one up in Olympia, but, since I haven’t been out of the county, in years …. I did tag along with friends, years ago. A great place is you need a 50 gallon barrel of mayo. 🙂
https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/articles/problem-shopping-costco-mad-max-090649350.html
You find the same problems in even smaller stores. People parked in the middle of an aisle, staring off into space. Reminiscent of “Dawn of the Dead.” Winco’s not too bad. Of course, I go at off times. But mostly, their aisles are really wide. And, I push my cart the same way I drive. Situationally aware, and head on a swivel. 🙂
That was a really interesting article about the Australian gene bank. I see you can “Make a seed request.” What a cool service. Besides the grains, I just had to check out the industrial hemp section. Oh, my. The licensing and fees! Looks like the Lenocracy at work. I also checked out medicinal hemp, and poppies. Interesting, and appears to be about as regulated as here.
Even more interesting was the article on the bakers. Hmmm. I wonder if the place in Centralia, that carried old style grains, is still in business. I’ll have to check into that.
I have a couple of zombie movies, I missed, to pick up from the library, today. Reviews to follow. I might watch the second part of “28 Years Later.” Instead of popcorn, I might tackle that pizza we go in our last food box.
I mentioned I’ve been watching “Eli Roth’s History of Horror.” It was a two season program, back around 2018. Each episode covers different aspects of horror. The zombie one, of course, and things like ghosts and vampires. In movies and on TV. There are lots of film clips and “talking heads.” Actors, directors, writers. Two frequent guests are Stephen King … and, his son the author Joe Hill.
Inspired by my zombie subject search, in our library catalog, I did a search for “vampires.” Oh, my. Lots of stuff I haven’t seen. Or would like to see, again. And, I wonder if it’s time to rewatch the series, “True Blood.” All seven seasons. The library has them all.
So, you made another trip into the Underworld. 🙂 Take that! bad mice. Not a job for the faint of heart, but what is one to do? I’ve done my fair share of crawl space crawling. Not what I’d call a fun time.
When I do internet searches, I try for multiple sources. While keeping an eye out for the “echo effect,” and now, a I . I was thinking about gardening, and how a lot of it is “rule of thumb.” Hmm. Wonder where that phrase comes from? Oh, dear. Not quit what I was looking for, but once you get past all the wife beating stuff, you’ll get the gist of what I’m trying to convey, with that phrase.
https://w.wiki/8Aao
Our high yesterday was 55F (12.77C). Our overnight low was 39F (3.88C). Our forecast high for today is 67F. If the forecast holds, we may see 80+F, on Sunday.
My Ozette potatoes broke ground, yesterday! Looks like something munched a bit, on one. I got on line, last night and ordered in the nematodes. To knock back the woodlice. AKA Rolly-pollies, AKA Sow bugs.
I finished watching Ken Burn’s “American Revolution,” last night. As this year is our 250th anniversary, I see the library is ordering in quit a few books on different aspects of our revolution. I’ll take a look at a few of them. Lew
Chris:
Hmmm – I wonder if you need a couple of small dogs, especially with terrier blood? Didn’t Sir Scruffy have terrier blood? It was Toothy that was the Dachshund?
Thank goodness you found the mice entryway. That couldn’t have been easy for you.
What an appalling thought, that someone might be relocating snakes (probably venomous) near one’s house. It boggles the mind. So many things do. Maybe I am just a sissy.
What flowers I have so far are blooming (still busy planting flower seeds). It does smell wonderful when it rains and also the dusty roads are dampened. That is a big bonus. It didn’t rain the day of the red sunrise, but did rain a bit the day after. Maybe that counts as a lazy sign.
Well, I have been taking ruthless lessons and have gotten a bit better – until I’m not, and go around rescuing all sorts of plants that have no business being planted anywhere at all. But you never know . . .
Pam
@ Lew:
Poor Georgia. I didn’t know about Georgia’s troubles, but I do keep hearing that South Carolina is super dry. Also Florida, I think. Maybe a hurricane will come along.
I just loved Jane Russell.
Pam
Chris,
Monday was a weird day. Slept off and on all day. Tuesday was appointments and errands all day, eventually ending after 7 pm. At least the Princess and I did stop for a good dinner together.
During our wanderings, she was noticing and pointing out the various houses with solar panels on their rooftops. Due to the orientation of many of the houses, the panels were mostly aimed to the east. I explained to her about proper orientation. Then you come along and talk about it in depth. Also, many of those houses with panels facing east have large trees across the street immediately east of them. I wonder how much solar energy is actually getting supplied even near the summer solstice. I’m figuring that these houses will soon have more panels. It is well known internationally that “with just a few more solar panels everything will work out just fine.” 😉
A tracker to move the panels throughout the day for peak orientation sounds wonderful. Naturally, my first thought about that is “what energy source will be used to keep turning the panels on a rainy day near the winter solstice?” Or one can do what you’ve done.
An interesting thing about transitioning from natural gas. Remember the days of lock down during that virus that shall not be named? Satellite photos of large cities taken BEFORE lockdown showed a lot of air pollution. Then after a few months of most people staying home, requiring more people to be using natural gas and electricity (much of this generated by natural gas), satellite photos of those same cities showed that the air pollution had mostly cleared away. Use of natural gas wasn’t the problem, massive automobile use was the biggest cause. So maybe transitioning completely away from natural gas is a stupid idea.
I know what happens when you’re at the top. Some troll will appear and start asking questions, such as “What’s your favorite color?” Wrong answers get you thrown from the top. Everyone will eventually give a wrong answer. It’s one of the rules of that game.
One of our stops Tuesday was at the library. I sat in a comfortable chair, started to doze. Then it got very noisy: a thunder squall rolled in and dumped heavy rain for a few minutes. No lightning and thunder, but the rain pounding on the roof interrupted my siesta. Apparently, there were several of these intense and very localized cells over the region. My neighborhood got nary a drop.
Winter and early spring appear to be over. Yup, cold and wet, then cold and frosty mornings are behind us. Supposed to hit 30C by early next week. After clouds and rain and wind, today’s 23C felt hot. Dame Avalanche needed to have a water break on today’s walk.
Nicely done. New shed completed. Doors painted now. Cantina shed getting an overhaul. More firewood getting stacked in the new shed. Functionality AND it looks good.
Thanks for the roses. It’s too early for ours to bloom. A few of the wildflowers that have volunteered are now blooming. Tiny little blue flowers. I think most people would call them weeds, but I like them.
Dug the weeds and unwanted grasses out of a flower bed over the weekend. Then I transplanted a bunch of hens and chicks into the newly cleared bed. Another succulent was thriving in thin dirt in the alley. That got transplanted into places where the grass is thin in the front yard. A neighbor has a lot of succulents she wants to give away. I’ll grab some of these soon and plant them with the newly transplanted hens and chicks.
Meanwhile, Thursday late afternoon, Young Neighbor and I will work on getting containers filled with dirt with a thick layer of potting soil on top. Then move these into an area of the back that will now become another vegetable area, this time with the containers. Decorative blocks will be used to build rings around the containers. Friday will likely be the day for planting potatoes and zucchini in the currently existing garden area. Containers to get seeded Sunday or next week.
DJSpo
@ Pam,
On the LED issue again. Yes, at least in the past I was able to find “yellower” lights. I do okay with those. However, they aren’t bright enough for me to do my wood carving or burning without the brighter white ones added. For some reason, the combination of the nasty bright white and the yellower lights is also okay for me. I’m not sure if they still make those yellower bulbs or not. They, at least, have lasted a long time.
Oh, see? You’re onto their game. Make us use the lights that give us headaches. Make these lights more expensive. Degrade our medical care. Then tell us that this is all better for us.
DJSpo
Hi Pam,
Dry weather is a relative concept, and last month was super wet, whilst this month has been remarkably dry and warm. Makes it hard to really know what ‘normal’ even is in these enlightened days. If you find out, please do let me know? 😉
You’re not wrong, and terriers have a reputation for tenacity, and not giving up on prey. Sir Scruffy, was of a terrier breed, but his parentage is not a discussion which would ordinarily be considered a discussion to be had in polite company! Basically, I’ve got no idea what what breed he was, but the mid sized dog was the smartest canine I’ve yet encountered. He’d learn fast, in fact, being told once was enough for the dog.
You know, Toothy was a lovely pooch, but dachshunds can be a touch aggressive from time to time. He’d sometimes get into the red zone, but not often, although I was not a fan of that behaviour and put the squelch on it.
Pam, there wasn’t much option, and crawling around under the house was the only way to see where the little rodents had broken in. Those entrances have been temporarily sealed up, and I was hoping to put in place a more permanent solution tomorrow. Alas the firewood job today proved to be much bigger than first anticipated, and with rain in the forecast for next week – the firewood gets the higher priority. The mice, well they are on my list of things to do.
The snake relocating thing was near to where a bloke I know farms, and caused all manner of trouble. Relocating is a good option, but many environmental niches, already have plenty of hungry mouths, so it is hard on the new comers to make their way and find shelter.
Nah, not a sissy at all, I’ve a soft heart as well, otherwise this place would be fenced up to its eyeballs. There’d be no forest critters, and more produce for us. There’s balance in all of this stuff. It’s like casual suggestions to butcher up dead deer or road kill, I’ve no skills in (or a taste for) that area. Thus why we eat a vegetarian diet when at home.
🙂 Only those on dirt roads know of the dust which comes with the dry. Hmm. Cleaning cars is for other people, put it that way! Summer dust, winter mud, although you had glaciers this past winter. Ook! Glad to hear that conditions have dampened in your part of the world.
Yeah, I’d call the red sky a sign regardless and opt for the mystical explanation. Which reminds me, the mice woke me multiple times on Monday night into Tuesday morning, but this does come with some benefits. Spotted two meteorites falling nearby at about 5am Tuesday morning, and that was seriously cool.
Hehe! We’re all like that, and are learning as we go. Wouldn’t it be nice if those plants you mentioned survived and thrived? Sometimes I take a random option as a sign, and see where it leads. Most of the time here, I only get to know what’s next to be done by maybe one or two steps ahead. If we were completely ruthless, failure would perhaps be felt as a crushing emotion, whereas for me it’s just another step on the road to ‘better’. 🙂
Cheers
Chris
Hi DJ,
One’s internal batteries occasionally need recharging, and hey, I do low key days as well. Best to listen to what the body suggests in that instance. And life admin takes a lot of work, and funny you mention the Tuesday experience, but I do wonder how other households where two adults work full time handle such things? A mystery! But good dinners are the stuff of fun times, and may include enchiladas?
Yeah, that’s a great observation, and urban roofs face certain directions for aesthetic and practical reasons such as fronting the road, rather than for best solar gain. It happens, a lot! And so has only so much capacity for solar energy harvesting. Many years ago, friends installed a grid tied system and placed it on the side roof which could not be seen from the road, and wasn’t the best aspect. But apparently seeing the panels from the front of the house (which had the best direction for solar) was a poor look. Hmm.
It is possible that the powers that be, also have that thought in their heads about ‘just a few more solar panels, and it’ll all be fine’. But that looks like a starting point for a journey, rather than a properly thought out engineering based destination. 😉
Yeah, some days in winter, the system components themselves, consume all of the electricity generated. That conversion of electricity into heat business at all points due to resistance, is a real thing. And the components have to do their work regardless, even when the sun isn’t shining.
Your country luckily has a lot of natural gas being extracted and in reserve. Down under is likewise well endowed with gas, but we do have to sell the stuff overseas so as to purchase oil, which we are rather short of. It happens. Sadly in this little corner of the continent, demand for gas has recently outstripped supply, and I am wondering how the electricity system will hold up over the winter months. Dunno. Since a month or two ago for some reason, people have gotten dirty for electric vehicles and the sales have boomed. There are limits to what the grid can supply, thus the under voltage article. A foretaste of the future me thinks.
Green, no blue! Arggggghhhhhhh! 🙂 Thanks for the laughs, what a fun film that was. An important lesson too, don’t prevaricate!
Awful isn’t it to have one’s sleep disturbed? You should try putting up with raiding mice squeaking and carrying on all night. They’ve begun to experience my extreme displeasure, but anywhoo, I don’t reckon you or I are up for taking on Thor. Nope, so rude awakenings of thunder claps and heavy rain, may have to be met with good grace knowing that the old ones came down to Spokane, and you knew you’d been beat! 🙂
Thunder storms can be rather localised and very hard to predict in advance. Makes for an exciting weather system! Sunday may rain here a lot, or maybe not much, it depends. 🙂
Dude, 30’C in your part of the world soon, and get this, 26’C in the big smoke tomorrow. It’s much cooler up here in the mountains, but I’d describe the past fortnight as unseasonably warm. Just between you and I, it was pretty nice. Brought more firewood back up the hill today, but still have to go back to that work tomorrow. I’d like to get onto the mouse problem, but the weather dictates the tasks needing to be done.
Thanks! That whole area of the property is getting a fix up, much like how we spent months of work on the low gradient path which finished early last year. Little baby steps, but a fine end point.
Your early insects will like the flowers too. 🙂 We get a lot of ‘forget me nots’ which flower in very early spring. Nice stuff too. The wildflowers often do the heavy lifting with nectar and pollen for the local insects.
Go the succulents, and hey, those plants will survive super dry weather, and yet retain moisture. There’s a lot to like about them. Hope the garden thrives and grows!
You won’t regret the raised beds, and potatoes and zucchini are a great idea for such soil.
More firewood tomorrow, but next week’s forecast looks really wet, maybe… I’ll tell you just how wet, once the week is done. 🙂
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
Ha! Well I never, and they do say that over stimulation is a real thing! I’ve never set foot in the store, although there are a few of them in the big smoke now. Dude, people love them, but err, I don’t need or want the over stimulation of shopping cart wars, ever! And the bloke suggesting the shopper code of conduct, seemed well intentioned, but in certain situations chaos cannot be controlled (which sounds a bit like the ‘Get Smart’ series, but I was being serious). If I may suggest, sometimes a built environment, produces a certain outcome. And such places sound so large to me, that it would be difficult for the human senses to take it all in, thus the distracted behaviour.
Ha! That’s funny, and you’re not wrong, Dawn of the Dead, the John Carpenter version (fast zombie alert and scary-as!) began in an abandoned shopping mall. Man, I so hear you about that, and likewise shop at quiet times. Thanks for the laughs, and you’ve started the brain thinking about The Exorcist with that loose talk of head swivelling.
It’s a pretty good service isn’t it with that gene bank. I grew a patch of bread wheat flour years ago, and the plants turned out a bit leggy, and the birds systematically ate some of the seeds. Honestly, it may not be warm enough here for those plants, but hey, makes you wonder if there is an old timey variety which thrives in cooler climates? Dunno. Grains are on the to-do list, but sadly that particular item is not anywhere near the top, yet.
For some reason, earlier this evening I was reading about B-17 Bombers used in WWII, and what with the attrition rates, my grandfather was either lucky, or more likely, a later entrant to that war. Anywhoo, I was intrigued by a reference to the Fulton surface-to-air recovery system. You’d have to have nerves of steel for that thing, and I see it was used in a James Bond film – Thunderball. Did I correctly hear theme music for a new Bond film by Lana Del Rey? Ah, I see that perhaps Daniel Craig is stepping down from the role. Just between you and I, I don’t really go out of my way to watch a Bond film, mostly because the conclusion is known in advance, and the bad guys always lose. The Mad Magazine cartoon strip versions of the films interested me way more!
Any sign of the old school bakery in Centralia?
Whoa! That’s a venerable zombie film franchise the 28 days later biz. Did the popcorn go well with the latest instalment? Or did you cave, and actually go with the pizza option. I must say, the tomato sauce may hide signs of zombie brain splatter better! 🙂 And was there a proper resolution to this second part, because I thought that the first part didn’t conclude decisively.
Interesting, and the series might be worth a look to get a deeper insight into the genre. An enviable guest list too, and I noted that Quentin Tarantino likewise scored an interview. Doing some further reading on the subject turned up an interesting titbit, in that purportedly, Eli Roth earlier had an exhibition in Seattle on this subject, and the program sprang out of that. Apparently they had the 1980 Alien film creature which attached to the guys face. Left me with nightmares for weeks afterwards that film! 🙂 A very fun and super scary film.
Yeah, I really liked the first few seasons of True Blood, and it was enormously popular. But then it kind of descended into soap opera featuring creatures of the night, and that’s when I stopped watching the series.
Nice one, and you called it correctly. An horrific task, crawling under the house what with all the spiders webs, and their denizens. Hmm. Man, now every time I head under the floor, all I’m going to think about is the Amityville horror, what with the stairs leading down into the Underworld. I see you’ve likewise done your bit of crawl space crawling, and know what it’s like. Horrid isn’t it?
I see the echo effect a lot with interweb sites, and they’re like parrots singing the same song, from the same tree. Oh my, what a thing to say, although the legalist may not have done so, but probably did. And interestingly, one suspects that the Scottish preacher James Durham, who is attributed with one of the earliest uses of the phrase, possibly wasn’t a fan of Gnosticism! 🙂 Ah, spare us all the indignity of encountering a purist.
The Sunday 80’F forecast will feel like a knock out for you given the cool weeks leading up to that moment. Stay cool. A day to water the plants, that’s for sure. It’s still warm here for maybe another three days, then it will turn. It’s been an unseasonably dry and warm week, again. Brought more firewood up the hill today. The Editor wanted to return to that work after a late lunch, but my vote was a ‘no’. As it was we started very early this morning, and finished up around 2;30pm. I was done by then.
Go the Ozette potatoes, and may the plants produce at least eight to ten tubers, maybe more. Yeah, some of the forest critters here can munch on potato leaves, which are rather toxic apparently. Yup, woodlice can be a nuisance, especially when there is mulch nearby. They love hiding in and eating that stuff.
Happy 250th. 🙂 This history was not taught down under, or only ever briefly mentioned, and more from the English perspective. Mind you, things may have changed since those days in history classes. I’ll be curious to hear interesting aspects from those days which you pick-up during the reading.
Cheers
Chris
@ DJSpo:
I wear a headlamp – which has, of course, nasty bright lights – when doing close work like sewing. I sew in my bedroom and the light bulbs – even a precious incandescent one – are quite dim, on purpose.
Pam
Chris:
Sir Scruffy’s mother was “a popular local belle”; I think that’s from a Wodehouse dog character.
This is the first house I’ve had with a basement (and it’s a full, walk-in basement). It is wonderful not to have that crawl space under us.
Meteorites – neat!
Aye – “just another step on the road to ‘better’.”
“If you hold a cat by the tail you learn things you cannot learn any other way.”
Mark Twain
Pam
@ Lew:
AKA Pill bugs.
Pam
Yo, Chris – My Idaho friend calls it “combat shopping.” 🙂 Due to current events, I’m doing a bit of extra stocking up. But in stealth mode. I don’t want to spook the mob, and cause a stampede. 🙂 My next trip to Winco, I think I’ll pick up an extra bag of Dawg’s kibble.
Being snatched up by the Fulton System would probably be a bone shaking experience. But, given the choice of that, or death, well …
I can’t say I was over intrigued by any of the Bonds. For some reason, all the Cold War spy books and movies, just didn’t grab my imagination. Other than “Get Smart.” And, of course, Boris and Natasha in “Mad” magazine. 🙂
It looks like the grain and flour mill, is still in business. Here’s a few pictures, and, the comments are interesting. I’ll have to make it up there, sooner or later.
https://www.yelp.com/biz/grist-urban-stone-mill-centralia
There must be some cool weather wheat varieties, available. I know they used to get bumper crops, up in the east part of our county. Which is definitely a cool weather area.
Speaking of plants, I saw an article yesterday about a sort of miracle plant.
https://www.cnn.com/2026/04/29/climate/moringa-miracle-tree-microplastics-filter-tap-water
Looking at the wiki post, more of a useful tree than the article lets on. My, look at all the uses.
https://w.wiki/3p4U
Yup, I sat down to watch the second half of “28 Years Later.” Parts of it were pretty gruesome, but one can look away, or fast forward. Other than that, the story hung together pretty well. And, all the loose ends were tied up. While still leaving a bit of possible open-endless, if anyone wants to do a sequel.
I went with the pizza, from our last food box. Thought I’d better, as, it wasn’t frozen, just refrigerated. It was a ground sausage and pepperoni pizza, with cheese and tomato sauce. Of course, I tarted it up, to make it a bit healthier. Plenty of diced garlic, broccoli and peas. More cheese to hold it all together. It was pretty tasty, and, there’s enough left over for tonight’s dinner.
I looked up Eli Roth, and the fellow is a moving target, as far as keeping himself employed. The series was good, but I did skip the two episodes on “slashers.” I might put season two on order, as the library carries it. I did bite the bullet, and ordered in season one of “True Blood.” 🙂
The crawl space experience that sticks in my mind, was the little 500 square foot house I had, in Centralia. It needed any insulation help I could give it. That’s the one where I hung the bamboo blinds from the eves. Any-who, I decided to first put down a ground cloth. Did it cheap and dirty, just using the big blue tarps. Cut to size, and started unfolding it from entry to crawlspace to back wall. Well, what did I run into but the mummified body of a cat? I just rolled the tarp over it, and kept on going. Once the tarp was down, I was able to pretty cleanly lay on my back, and place insulation bats, between the joists, held in place by tension wires. What was that crunchy bit, under my shoulder, as I moved around the tarp? 🙂
Our high yesterday was 70F (21.11C). Our overnight low was 43F (6.11C). Our forecast high for today is 75F. Our forecast is now calling for 80+F on Sunday AND Monday. At least the overnight lows will be in the 50s. So, a good cool down, at night.
I forgot to mention, that night before last, I took a good look around the garden, for bad actors. Two small slugs got the good old Woody Harrelson double tap. There were a few woodlice about. I should really put down the potato traps, and just take a bit of a census. Before the nematodes (aka land sharks) arrive. I didn’t see any slugs, last night, but will have to be vigilant.
I asked Ben more about his speaker adventure. He keeps an eye on e-buy and face-plant marketplace, looking for premium speakers that are undervalued or maybe need a bit of work that he can tackle. Then he sells them on, mostly on face-plant, I think. He’s got one, now, that was beyond him, and has had to send to a local, that does good work. Apparently, somehow, someone spilled a beverage (beer?) on the inside. And, totally cocked up a solder, by not removing a board, but attempted to do it in place, resulting in … drips. Ben is pretty aware of which speaker systems are high end, and might be undervalued. He mentioned Alpine.
One interesting character from the revolution, that I did a bit of look up on, was our most infamous traitor, Benedict Arnold. His name is often invoked, to describe a traitor of any stripe.
https://w.wiki/3iwU
I sort of forget about the extensive spy networks, deployed by both sides. Now, that’s espionage I find interesting. Of course, spies on the winning side are heroes, and spies on the loosing side are villains. 🙂
See: Nathan Hale. “I regret I have but one life to lose for my country.” Lew
@ Pam,
The headlamp makes so much sense. And I’ve got one that was a gift and it works well. I’ll give that a try.
Naturally, the first thing I did after reading about your head lamp…Palm plant to the forehead followed by, “Why didn’t I think of that!” 😉
DJSpo
Chris,
Alas! No enchiladas this week with the Princess. Went to a different place. She ordered breakfast for dinner. I ordered similar.
Hmmm. Faced with a choice between functionality and looks, I always choose functionality. I’ve known some people who didn’t want their solar panels visible from the front, which happened to be the best side for them. Never understood that mentality.
The powers that be. AKA “politicos”. Often the mentality is “bigger is better” and “there’s never enough”. UGG
Resistance. Heat. Entropy. Change. Thermodynamics always wins eventually.
Electric cars and data centers. Limited water and more people. Inadequate electric grid. What could possibly go wrong?
That was always my favorite scene in that movie. Well, and the peasant at the beginning yelling, “Help! Help! I’m being repressed!”
Raiding mice at night? No thanks. I don’t need to listen to them. They would get Dame Avalanche riled up, too. Raiding Vikings, on the other hand, might be enough to get me enthused enough to join them. 😉
The new neighbors have a Rottweiler mix puppy. Cute and friendly little thing. Dame Avalanche has been wanting to spend more time outdoors since they moved in. Some of that is the improving weather, but she and the puppy play through the fence. They also have an aging cat that gets into staring contests with the Dame. And the humans are very nice people.
Got the raised bed prepared for planting this afternoon. Young neighbor had something come up and postponed our joint gardening effort until Friday. There are at least a half dozen volunteer potato plants already growing. I found several more potatoes that I missed last year, many of these approaching volunteer plant status. Maybehaps Friday we will plant the seed potatoes I bought.
I had to mow the back yard three times in April, the front twice. That is a record. Part of the front is already beginning to dry out. As I put some of the succulents there, I will have to add a bit of water this weekend so they have a chance to “take”. It’s awfully early to have to water lawns.
DJSpo
Hi Pam,
Sir Scruffy would have been chuffed at the lovely Southern turn of phrase. I can almost hear the words spoken accompanied by the pleasant accent. The big scruffy terrier was perhaps cleverer than myself, and to this day, I still have no idea how he managed to wangle three separate comfy bed spots. No other dog has enjoyed such benefits before, or since. Hmm.
Wodehouse has such a charming way with words, and sets the gold standard for characters whom are acting badly, enjoy their just desserts, whilst nothing bad ever really truly happens. A lovely fictional world to inhabit.
It’s a wonderful thing to be able to walk around underneath a house, and you may laugh, but I’ve never seen a basement. Yesterday I was subjected to the electric leaf blower which removed 99% of the cobwebs.
Truth to tell, the two meteorites falling in quick succession, took my mind of the dratted hour or so of wee-dark-hours-of-the-morning mouse activity clean up. I was a bit iffy about the box the peanuts were stored in, so the next day two large 2.5 gallon heavy duty plastic containers were purchased, and the contents of the box now are protected by thick plastic. Take that, me rodent hearties! 🙂
We live and learn, don’t we? After completing the firewood work today, and with a spare hour on my hands, the biggy chainsaw was fixed. I replaced the fuel tank vent, and the machine went back into: Beast Mode. I dunno, but I felt less of a man when the largest chainsaw was not feeling so well. Fortunately, conditions have improved on that front, and who knew that fuel tank vents could reduce the horsepower?
Hehe! Thanks for the laughs, and Mark Twain’s quote hit the mark. Yes, find out for yourself what may happen by doing just that!
Cheers
Chris
Hi DJ,
Your words sound to me like a puzzle, just waiting to be resolved. Hmm! Breakfast for dinner. That’s like the long running brekkie pizza in-joke discussion, but flipped on its head! So given the lack of details, my best guess is that you and your lovely lady, enjoyed pancakes for dinner. Maybe?
There is a quirky restaurant chain in the big smoke which specialises in pancakes, and they’re actually pretty good whilst open late. I’ve fond memories of way into the dark evening pancake meals slathered with golden syrup (genuine maple syrup being very rare down under). When I was a young kid, adults would sometimes fry up home made very flat pancakes, then once cooked, raw sugar was added to the surface with fresh lemon juice splashed over which gave quite a tart taste.
Form and function are often two tension points, and I’m with you. The primary purpose is the function, however form can be incorporated to produce a pleasing outcome. They both have to be in unison or balance. And yeah, why have the panels, if they are facing the wrong direction, or are over shadowed by large trees? The old Norse gods were never satisfied with talk and displays alone, that lot wanted results!
The more hat than cows lot won’t learn how to appreciate a steady state, ever. I’d not look to them for the future, for they are rooted in the immediate past. It’ll be in the wreckage that a more adaptable leadership emerges. Faust put usurious folks in the lowest levels for a good reason, and that is just the beginning.
Speaking of such electrical physical realities, the new second hand amplifier finally turned up in the mail, and at first glance, it looks pretty good, and far better than it’s four decades of existence would suggest. A cursory look did not uncover any bulging electrolytic capacitors either, although I’ll replace the lot regardless.
That limits thing bothers me too, and down under, water is the number one issue, then low soil fertility. We’re on the driest populated continent after all. And man, I recall the millennium drought where the city dams fell to the low teen percentages. It was scary, but they’ve added another million people since then. Beats me what their plans are when that happens again. And about a decade ago the grain export terminals had to be reconfigured to receive imported grains. Not a good look. The soils here are old and worn out, right across most of the continent. The population will never be large.
🙂 How do you know he’s the King? He’s not got shit all over him! Such a fun film.
Ha! I’d send you some raiding mice just for fun, if I could catch the fast pesky little scamps. Blocked up another hole this morning. This fight, they’ll not win. There will be sacrifices!
People can get a bit freaked out by Rottweiler’s, but I’ve always approached them calm and they’ve been super friendly, to me at least, dogs. Glad that Dame Avalanche is enjoying some more canine social time, and the cat knows who the boss is in that contest. Lovely neighbours make life easier and more pleasant. 🙂
Hope you get the seed potatoes in the ground? The last lot I bought had multiple eyes and had to be treated very gently – although in the end, they all seemed tough as old boots. And like you, I’ve got dozens of volunteer potato plants growing now, and am very curious to see how they produce.
Whoa! That’s a lot of mowing for a single month. For your interest, the most I’ve ever done was four times during an entire growing season! Those grass leaves you cut would have been chock full of protein.
Dude, I so hear you about that, and it being the 1st of May today with 26’C in the big smoke, and 21’C here, I turned the sprinklers onto the dozen raised garden beds this morning. That’s a first.
But forget about all that, for I fixed the big chainsaw late this afternoon! Happy days are here again… 🙂
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
In exciting news today, the state broke many long held May weather records for maximum temperatures, and possibly also for the minimums too. It’s 16’C / 61’F at about 10pm, which is crazy warm for this time of year. Oh well, people treat the atmosphere like a sewer, and the planet is way OK with being hotter. Whether we like that outcome, is another story.
May temperature records fall across Victoria as unseasonably warm weather continues
Anywhoo, the long run of warm and dry weather has allowed us to bring in all of last seasons cut firewood. We split and hauled the last of it this morning, and it feels good to have that job done. The new firewood shed has way more timber stored right now, than I’d ever imagined. We’ve in effect done some of next summers work already!
With some free time on my hands this afternoon, we pressure washed about half of the walls of the house. Using quality paint, and having about six coats, means it looks all fresh.
And there was even some time to finally get around to fixing the biggie chainsaw. It’d been low on power, which was a fuel issue, and I’d either replaced all of the components, or reconditioned them, like the carburettor. Anywhoo, it was the fuel tank vent which was causing the problems, and the thing was gunked up. Removed the probably fifteen year old vent, and replaced it. The machine is back to beast mode! That’s a relief.
A crazy day of work, I did some paid stuff this morning, and then late this evening. I’ll guess rest will happen when I’m dead! 🙂 Far out.
Enjoyed enchiladas for dinner, and I’m rapidly coming around to the benefits of carbon steel skillets (what we’d call fry pans). Those non stick fry pans with aluminium alloy bases are a bit, not good. What’s your professional opinion on carbon steel cookware?
Always wise to stock up at such moments. Man, I believe that we won’t run out this time around, no, we’ll start running short of things, or you can buy them, but they’ll be super expensive. When I’m discovering new consumable parts for the various machines, one and a spare has become the mantra. My best guess is that things will still be had cheap, a person will just be forced to wait for their arrival.
Funnily enough, I haven’t seen any shortages of chook, or dog feed. How’s it looking in your part of the world? And combat shopping is not for I either. I’ve got better things to do with my life! But yeah, I get that point about not yelling ‘fire’ and causing a stampede. It could also be that peoples budgets are maxed out?
Agreed, if it was that Fulton system or dying, well, as the old timers used to say: Better that, than nothing.
I get that, and the Bond films never really called to me either. When the conclusion is known at the outset of the film, there is a certain boredom to the narrative spectacle. Oh, I’d forgotten about the Mad Magazine Spy V Spy cartoon, and of course you referenced the highly amusing Rocky and Bullwinkle show with those two. Such a breath of fresh air that crazy series of cartoons.
The comments attached to the grain and flour store piqued my interest, and one of them even mentioned injera bread. It’ll be an intriguing visit, and I noticed that they have some really old world varieties as well like Einkorn. Hmm. Mountainous growing areas. Tolerates drier soils. Interesting, and I must re-read the many grain plant books in the shelves. Oh well, rest later…
Alas, the Moringa oleifera tree does not appear to tolerate freezing, or frosts. They grow the plant here in the more northerly (your southerly) parts of the continent.
Hehe! The fast forward button is useful for skipping over the more gruesome scenes! And hey, those are the images which trouble my dreams. Good to hear that the director / screen writer / and producers sorted out the loose ends with the franchise. The plot reads well, and the box office takings seem pretty healthy. By the way, I’ve seen one of those towers of human skulls when visiting the killing fields of Cambodia. That was a deeply disturbing day, but I can also appreciate the need for remembrance.
The pizza was a fine choice, and I’d have done that over the popcorn too. Oh, I’d not realised that the pizza wasn’t frozen, and that’s a good sign. You made it very gourmet with plentiful toppings, which is how a proper pizza should be. Some cultures aim for minimal toppings, and I’m not into that.
Yeah, the first season or three of True Blood was pretty good viewing. I’ll be curious to hear how you are enjoying it, when it turns up. Slasher films don’t do it for me either.
Some lumps encountered under tarps, well, you kind of know what they are. Cats can be unusual like that where they seek quiet places off on their own to meet their end. Man, I came across a few mummified rats in crawl spaces, and not all of them seem to create a big decomp stink, but some do. Nice idea with the insulation under the floor, and we’ve done that here as well. It works!
Truly, it’s hard to imagine that it was warmer here today, but that happened. Another day or two of this, and then winter will arrive. As will summer in your part of the world!
It’s a great saying that one: The Woody patented double tap! 🙂 Fingers crossed the land sharks arrive soon.
Thanks for asking Ben, and there’s a market for that stuff. Interesting. But yes, people do strange things like spilling beer on expensive bits of electronics. Drips on the speaker cones is a problem, and also proves that not everyone is careful.
Ah Benedict, there’s perhaps no fool, like an old fool, and I’m guessing Peggy was no accident. What an intriguing story.
And exactly, history is penned by the victors. 🙂
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – That was quit an article about your weather. I believe the term is “unseasonable.” I don’t know how our weather stacks up, as far as records and averages. Prof. Mass might have something to say, but, it won’t apply to this area.
Our high yesterday was 77F (25C). Our overnight low was 46F (7.77C). Our forecast high for today is 74F. It will get progressively hotter, over the next few days. No foreseeable rain, in our forecast.
A good feeling of accomplishment. All that firewood cut, and safely under cover. Yes, you want Biggie Chainsaw in good working order, in case the Evil Dead show up. 🙂
You know, I really don’t know if I’ve cooked on carbon steel, or not. Most of my frying is done in the vernarable old cast iron frying pan. I have a couple of roasters, one is aluminum and one enameled. I have a couple of copper bottomed pots. Stell, or aluminum? Got me. They do the job. And a big stock pot, that’s probably aluminum.
Payday came a bit early. Both my checks landed in my checking account, yesterday. So, I went down to the credit union, to shake the money tree. Always a bit fraught, as I’m always afraid that there won’t be cash, in the ATM. Not that it’s happened all that often, but, it has happened. And then I’ve got to change my plans. But, no worry. Got my months walking around money.
Then I hit the Dollar + store, and the Yuppie Discount store. Mostly, shopping for the Club pantry. I took in three bags, this morning. For the second week in a row, the dollar store didn’t have any dawg poop bags. Made me nervous enough, so that when I got home, I hit E-Buy and ordered in a couple hundred rolls. About as cheap as the dollar store.
Also, I’ve been buying my monthly box of Mac & cheese, at Winco. A good brand, but it’s pushing $5 a box. Well … at the dollar store, I found a different brand, same size, Gouda cheese. I’ll give it a whirl, as it was only $1.50. Made in the US, Minnesota! 🙂
LOL. I also did some higher maths. I usually get dried apricots, from the yuppie store. But, it’s pushing $7 for 12oz. So, I figured out a pound would be about $9.33. Next time I’m at Winco, I’ll see if the bulk bins are less. Dawg food doesn’t seem to be in short supply, but I think the price is up.
While I was mucking around at the E-buy site, I ordered in a copy of the King version of “The Shinning.” Not very expensive, and free shipping. As I finished off the pizza, last night I watched an absolutely mad, newish movie, “Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die.” Sci-fi. Sort of. Soon to be a cult classic. 🙂
https://youtu.be/Nm4WbapDzDQ?si=xyXdMMHJndP0v0hI
Well, at least after my DIY stab at insulating, my little house, ice stopped forming in the bog. 🙂
My land sharks (nematodes) showed up, today. They’re resting in the fridge. I’ll scatter the first batch, and water them, just before sunset, tonight. Hit them with water, again tomorrow morning. Something odd. I may have a small burrow, in my garden plot. Although it might just be a bit where I buried the kitchen scraps, that collapsed. I hope. I don’t see any fresh dirt, around the entrance. Anyway. Bares watching. Maybe a wandering wombat, has taken up residence?
I gave the old double tap, to a slug last night. Another small one. I also saw Sam the Snail, for the first time this year. Going about his business, in the Snail Sanctuary.
Arnold’s wife, Peggy, was quit the little actress. I don’t know if you ran across it, but when Washington showed up at West Point, and Arnold was nowhere to be found, Peggy pulled out all the stops and appeared to be quit demented. According to reports, really threw herself into it. Distracted everyone long enough for Arnold to make his escape. Lew
@ DJSpo:
We latched onto headlamps years ago when we had to live with so many power outages. So much easier than carrying around flashlights.
Pam
Chris:
Happy May Day, though I’m afraid I’m too late.
Hmm – bed spot stealer. He got away with it because he was a “Sir”.
It has been 12 years since we had the dreadful mouse invasion, but I am still careful about putting perishables in plastic bins with lids and making sure that all the doors and drawers of storage places are always closed. It gives me a fright when some one leaves them open.
Cobwebs – wow! I need to bring the leaf blower in the house. Do you think it would work on dust, too? A log house interior is ideal for cobwebs (no need to put up Halloween decorations) and right this moment there are 2 woodpeckers pecking on the outside of the house. All very natural.
“Fuel tank vents could reduce the horsepower” – so what does one do to them?
About an hour ago I went down to the garden to water. As I neared the gate – a groundhog outside it, who had had his nose right at it – ran under a pile of boards next to it. I texted my son and he jumped on the little pink Kubota tractor and came up to the garden. He started shoving the boards a bit and that hog shot out of the downhill end of the pile and ran through what’s left of some woods behind the garden, down to a pile of cut down trees in the clearing at the back of the property, with my son right behind him. It was a pretty hilarious sight. It’s also quite a distance and that groundhog was FAST.
This was a big groundhog, maybe last year’s medium-sized one grown up. My son says he is going to stay on top of him (literally) and make sure he has no place to live.
Pam
Chris,
Okay, the Princess “breakfast for dinner” was German sausage, eggs, hash browns, toast. Tea, Earl Grey, hot. Mine was the same except bacon instead of German sausage. Oh, and a beer rather than tea. It was, after all, the dinner hour.
We do French toast here every Sunday. With peanut butter instead of butter, some kind of syrup. And bacon and mixed berries on the side. And tea, Earl Grey, hot, for both of us.
The Princess is with her brother. Annual medical stuff, no disaster. Then we heard today that a friend of her brother’s died. We are awaiting word on the services. He lived near brother but might get buried up north near Nespelem, just north of Grand Coulee Dam.
Your comment about “more hat than cows” always reminds me of this old song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0woy8L3F5s
Far out! Another amplifier. You’ll have fun changing out the capacitors.
Young Neighbor came by today. We got the containers ready for seeds and seedlings. Moved some things around, too, and things look a lot better. That was enough for today. It was hot at 27C.
Dame Avalanche is actually enjoying this weather. She plays a lot with the Rottweiler puppy. They play a lot through the chain link fence. That area is shaded most of the day, so the Dame is getting more activity.
Water is getting to be an issue many places. The containers for some of the veggies are in an area that wouldn’t stay green. Too much sun and reflection off the garage. That area will no longer get watered. So, figuring out how to use less water and how to use water more efficiently.
Good that you’re gaining on the mice. First there was the Great Rat War. Now the War of the Raiding Mice. Just don’t get some mice stuck underneath the house like you did with a rat. Don’t need to repeat that stinky adventure!
I had to set some mouse traps in the garage today. Signs of recent activity. It’s getting close to time to reorganize the garage anyhow.
Sunday should be planting day. At least for the potatoes. Hopefully for seeds also. Frost season is gone.
Ohhh, look out trees! Chris has the Big Chainsaw working again. Hmm, wonder what the deer would think if you started chasing them with that chainsaw running.
DJSpo
Hi Pam,
And a Happy May Day to you as well. Being upside down, it’s not celebrated down under and so I had to look up the meaning of the day, because you know, upside down and stuff. It’s intense at the bottom of the world. Although, Dame Plum loves looking at the world whilst upside down and wiggling. I have no idea what the dog is doing, but enjoyment is certainly a factor in that activity. Dogs…
So, it appears that May Day is an old European tradition to mark the commencement of the growing season. Interesting, and there were photos of Maypoles, which looks to me like a rite of passage for young adults stepping out into society. From what you’ve said over the past few weeks, your growing season began somewhat earlier? 🙂 As it would here if the planet flipped around. Of all the images viewed on the subject, the Beltane Fire in the northern part of the British isles sat the best. I’ve never been much of a dancer, but everyone has different skills in that area.
Late? I’d suggest that the traditional date does not suit your part of the world, and best to listen to the local currents and see what they have to say.
Sir Scruffy, ruled all three of his bed spots, and never worried about interlopers. The other dogs made do with a single spot. Sometimes Ruby attempts an act of subterfuge and evicts Mr Gangle Chunks, who is a gentleman and makes no complaint. I kick the little hussy off onto her usual bed, and the patterns are restored.
Absolutely, and I so hear you about the plastic containers and mice. The box of peanuts was at risk, so they’re now all in large thick walled plastic containers. And yup, close the fricken cupboard doors properly! Grr! So much kitchen tech, like cupboards, were made to thwart rodents, and few people even realise that is what their primary function is. What intriguing times we live in, and having dry stores (which didn’t happen here due to quick responses) raided by mice or rats, is a hard lesson to learn. The droppings have to be handled carefully too, because there is a low risk of encephalitis. Nobody wants that, but it happens to the careless, or naive.
🙂 Pam, electric leaf blowers are awesome for sorting out dust. It’s not a perfect system, but it’s better than moving furniture and discovering the worlds biggest dust bunnies. I’ve got an extendable pole thing which looks like a giant toilet brush, but removes all of those hard to reach high up ceiling cobwebs, and with 12ft ceilings… A visitor long ago once remarked upon the lack of ceiling cobwebs.
Sadly the chainsaw fuel tank vent is a consumable item and doesn’t appear to be able to be cleaned. It’s held in place by an o-ring (!) and can be levered out using a small screwdriver. The trick to getting a new one in, is smearing two stroke oil on the new o-ring so that its pre-lubricated and pushes on in. The two stroke oil ends up in the fuel tank, is burned up, and all is good with the world. These things are complicated…
The cheeky groundhog! And I totally respect the new resolve to do what needs to be done. There are plenty of other places, like down the hill, that the pesky vegetable consuming critter can go. Nice work, and respect! Wild rabbits are super fast too, and can outrun the dogs.
Did a lot of small needful things today, which needed to be done. The solar panel cables on the new shed are now in conduit. Did some stump grinding and mowing, and the new shed now has door jambs. Me tired and fell asleep about 5pm and woke an hour later. The oven dinged as a batch of Anzac biscuits finished.
Cheers
Chris
Hello Chris.
In regards to pesto I can’t honestly rule out that I might like other versions if I came across them. I am definitely a fan of rocket.
When choccy coated scotch fingers appeared I was scornful: I could not conceive of a better biscuit than the plain shortbread. Once I tried them, though, I never bought plain ones again.
So your mice are not as quiet as mice. I am sure the oxymoron was no comfort at the time. As to the cost-benefit of tunnelling for rodents, are there published studies or must you make an educated guess at how deep a trench is enough?
There won’t be any rose hips this year: it has been so dry they didn’t form at all. Next year I hope will be better for them.
Hi DJ,
Man, I’m salivating reading about the details of your breakfast dinner! And there is a lot to like about German sausages, and as a mostly vegetarian, I’m a particular fan of the Bratwurst. And very good too, Jean-Luc would approve of your lady’s beverage, and perhaps indulge a pleasant cup or two with a side serving of an amiable chat? I actually also quite like Earl Grey tea as well, and you’ve reminded me that I have to do something with the bag of cold tolerant small leafed tea camellia seeds. It’d be nice – digressing into sci-fi – to have a clone, although what if we continually disagreed on minor stuff? Probably a bad idea. Respect, at dinner, I’d go for the beer as well! 😉
Yum! Yum! And a fine Sunday morning ritual. I’m quite partial to fruit toast slathered in proper butter, but it’s a once per week indulgence.
That’d be hard on your lady’s brother. Please extend my sympathy for the loss, and at least your lady is near to hand at such a difficult time.
Ha! I wonder how the Texan’s felt about the song? The cheeky scamps! Gee they looked so young in that album cover. The audio quality was amazing given it was a live recording from way back in the day.
That’s the plan with the amplifier. Looking through the grill, the circuits and components seem all rather clean, so that’s a good sign. I’m yet to test the device, been busy…
On that note, I ran some of the machines today (doing useful activities) which due to the shed construction has been a task which had been neglected of late. What was tested, started first pull which is pleasing. Put the latest solar panel wires on the new shed into conduit where they are exposed to the sun. The plastic on the cables is meant to be UV resistant, but why trust the claims? And fitted a door jamb to the new shed – which is a wrap for that project. Yay!
Rain is forecast for tomorrow, with a risk of localised thunderstorms. You’d appreciate the uncertainty of that? 🙂 Far out!
The Editor went into the big smoke today and had lunch with friends. It was 25’C in there, which is crazy warm for May and not far off what you enjoyed. Yesterday was a new May temperature record in many parts of this continent. The plants are loving the energy.
That’s really lovely to hear that the Dame has a new buddy. They’ll keep each other well entertained. Dogs are remarkably social creatures. Had the canine trio out with me today, and they were all doing their own thing, but within distance – as they’ve been trained to do.
Hmm. Having limited water resources, trying to work out how to do all this stuff, whilst using very little water, is something I rarely talk about. It’s been a long journey, and you are likewise upon it. For good reasons too. The powers that are down here, haven’t quite grasped the limits of that most precious resource. A hard way to learn for them, and I salute you.
Thanks for the laughs, and you just gave me the title of the blog I’ll write tomorrow night! 🙂 And, the ones stuck inside are poisoned, and that is how it rolls. They’ll have their stinky revenge though.
Good stuff, and not to worry about the potatoes, they can cope with an occasional late spring frost. Tough as old boots.
Ha! The deer should run the moment they spot me and Ollie, all other considerations to the side. The one which was shot, became all very casual as to the risk. And there is risk that a confident deer may attack the two smaller dogs. Best if they’re scared, very scared.
Cheers
Chris
Hi kallianeira,
🙂 I’m no traditionalist with pesto, and it’s an adaptive recipe anyway as is much Italian food culture using whatever is growing in the Orto. But as has been remarked about a human consuming the first crayfish – it was only troubling, at first!
Do you get yabbies in your part of the country? There is a creek at the bottom of my property, which is 600m away from the house through thick forest, and I’ve no doubts that those tasty critters can be found there. During the 2008-2009 summer drought, when the creek dried up, a few yabbies walked their way uphill to here so as to get access to water. Unfortunately the birds got them. Sad, because they’re quite tasty.
We’ve spent a few years trialling various plants so that there are now fresh leafy greens all year around. And the large leafed annual rocket is one of those – it’s a bit weedy actually! But for heat hardiness, nothing beats the perennial wall rocket. It’ll shrug off 45’C temperatures in the shade without bolting to seed with minimal watering.
Ha! Yes, chocolate and shortbread is a wicked combination. Nice. I bake Anzac biscuits, so that there are always some in the cupboard, ready to snack upon. Yum! The other biscuit which is usually made for visitors, is the jam-drop, which is a shortbread, but has an indent which is filled with the home made tasty jams.
The mice here are foolishly noisy, and I can track each day where they’ve been by their droppings – which is getting less each day. Did I hear correctly that Rat Sack is being taken off the market? I don’t poison rodents outdoors, but if they’ve gotten into the house, I make sure they can’t get out again, and then bait them. They know the rules! 😉
Fortunately, I’ve run the test with rodents and their pesky tunnels. Were you reading back in the day when the rat proof chicken enclosure was constructed? I reckon in the original enclosure – which was a disaster – the twenty rats were eating at least 5 to 10kg of chook feed every week or so. It was horrific to see them swarming out of a tree hollow. Like a scene from a horror film.
Nope, there is no place for rodents in either the house, or chicken enclosure here. A line has been crossed.
Fingers crossed that you get a bit of rain on Tuesday and Wednesday. The upper layers of soil are dry here as well after the past fortnight of unseasonable warmth. Crazy weather.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
Took a look to see what the Professor is suggesting is in store for your weather, and you may be in for a cooler period once you’re on the other side of the sudden spring warmth. Like here, conditions are a bit all over the shop! Still, at least you and H are not dodging the rain, for the next few days at least.
Thanks, and unseasonable is lovely way to put the record breaking May warmth. It’s been quite nice actually. 🙂 The Editor went into the big smoke to have lunch with friends today, so I spent all day pottering around doing this and that.
One of the activities was gluing the outlet pipes for the house and house overflow water tanks. I’d trialled plumbing tape on a single join so that I could inspect the connection if that was ever required, but it leaks. A good idea, which didn’t work out, now it’s all glued.
Took some of the machines out for a spin, one of which was the hand pushed utility mower. Destroyed heaps of small Echium bushes. It’s worth noting that those plants are related to Patterson’s curse, but although I used to like them, the core of the plant gets very woody, and rats and rabbits hide in there. They had to go.
What else? Oh, I covered the recently installed solar panel wires with UV stable plastic conduit. Look, all of the plastic used in that is meant to be able to cope with the sunshine, but will it really? Dunno. Best to have a couple of layers of protection, the summer sun is pretty harsh.
And, I made up door jambs for the two large barn doors in the new firewood shed. That was the last thing to be done on the project, and I felt pretty good about that.
I’d started very early this morning, and in late afternoon you could feel the air cooling, so I finished up outdoors and the dogs and I headed into the kitchen. Made up a pizza dough for dinner, then baked a batch of Anzac biscuits. By 5pm, the need to shut the eyes for a bit became all too clear, and so that’s what happened. The Editor arrived home an hour later, and I was bit groggy…
Apparently it was the same temperature in the big smoke today as your place, although the tonight here it’s still 15’C / 59’F which is crazy warm for late autumn. Oh well.
Ash from the Evil Dead knows that it’s good to be the King, and also he was probably handy with the chainsaw, at least in the first film. 😉 That third film was just funny. And the misremembered mumbled chant scene… 🙂 Hey, at least the undead will stay warm here what with all of the extra firewood!
Actually, the other day I spotted firewood for sale locally at $515 a tonne (1,000kg or 2,200 pounds). That sounds like a lot of firewood, but may not be as much as people would imagine. Man, when I think back of the earlier days here and our reserves, we were remarkably clueless. But wised up quick enough. Being cold and damaging the original wood heater, has that effect.
Oh yeah, sorry I forgot that you had that vintage cast iron frying pan. It was those discussions we had long ago which set me out on the journey, and cast iron has a good reputation for longevity. Some of those non-stick pans don’t tend to last long which always seemed wasteful to me, although of late we’ve been trialling seasoning techniques on the surface, which seems to help.
Our big stock pot is stainless steel, it’s pretty sturdy.
Nice stuff that the checks arrived early. On the other hand, it’ll be slightly longer until the next ones make their way into the system. 🙂 I get that worry, and have been to the bank and was told that they’d run short of $20 notes. Like, they’ve got just one job… Best to be prepared for such craziness.
Plastic comes from … oil! There’s been talk down here about shortages of plastic packaging. As a kid, milk was delivered or purchased in glass bottles which were returned to the store, washed and then re-used. An elegant system. To stop them heading into the rubbish, returning the bottle would earn some small change. Kids were into that task, for sure. A wise idea to nab some of the bags from elsewhere.
Bummer about the Mac and Cheese-flation. Hope the alternative stuff is good? It’d be worse if it were a short term customer baiting option, you never know. Yes, and that state has been in the news, even down here, for the wrong reasons – the cheeky scamps. 🙂 Winters there look pretty profound, in a deep snow kind of a way. Brr! Too cold for my summer softened tastes.
It’s really hard to get a grasp on what’s cheap, and what’s inflating away into the stratosphere. Did I tell you about the metal hose hanger I bought the other week on ebuy? Anywhoo, it eventually arrived from the land of stuff (a drop shipper I reckon) and is quite sturdy and good. So I went to buy another today, and did a different search, and the price has gone up about $9. Hmm. I’m now wondering if this is inflation, or it could even be possible that dynamic pricing is now an interweb thing? Now isn’t that interesting! Well I never…
Dog food seems very available and at previous prices down here. Hey, by the way, nice purchase with the mini-series, and sad that the library no longer stocks it.
The film looks awesome, and I had no idea what was going on in the trailer but mad, is the word. Crazy stuff. Hope they make a sequel. By the way, checked out the King Conan trailer, and that looked epic. Yes, what happens when the kingdom becomes soft? It’s a good question, which has been answered historically many times over.
What? Are you kidding me? Did the water in the toilet really freeze? That thought had never even occurred to me as a possibility.
Go the land sharks, and may they take no sluggie / pill buggie prisoners! Burrow holes generally aren’t uninhabited. We’ve got trap door spiders and funnel webs down under, which as you’d guess, are quite deadly. Plenty of spiders live in holes here, but then so to do other critters.
That’s the thing when you’re dealing with an upset actor / actress: How do you know that they’re not acting? Peggy sounded like a ball of barely repressed energy.
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – And, in News of the World … Something is stirring, under Area 51. That’s where they presumably keep crashed UFOs, and alien bodies. Featured in that great film, “Paul.” 17 quakes in one day.
May Day, and May poles. Back when I was in grade school, we’d make little baskets and flowers out of construction paper, to give to our mothers. And, they’d break out an old maypole from somewhere, and us students were coerced into some elaborate dance, to braid colored fabric, down the pole. Some of the more fundy religious groups complain, as it is a “pagan” ritual and has something to do with fertility. Those are the same folks who have enormous families. You’d think they’d be all about fertility. 🙂 Cromwell did not approve. It fell out of favor, in some quarters of this country, due to its association with Marxist celebration. Commie under the bed!
And, parrots. Mostly Australian parrots, at that.
https://www.cnn.com/2026/05/01/science/parrots-copy-friends-new-foods-study-intl-scli
Rocket. Another one of those “You call it something different in Australia.” Or, maybe we call it something different, here. Here, it’s Arugula. Though that might be a recent foodie affectation. 🙂
“Dust Bunny.” Title of a new movie, out. Horror, sort-of. It’s on my library hold list.
Mice – Or, Hanta Virus. Mostly found in our SW, but, we did have a case out in the eastern part of our county, a few years back. Killed the guy.
Well, now that I’ve got all that off my chest, weather. our high yesterday was 73F (22.77C.) Our overnight low was 50F (10C). Our forecast for today is 78F. I saw an article, this morning, that May through July will be hotter than average, coast to coast. And, it starts right here in the Pacific NW. The next two days will be 80+. There’s a heat advisory, already, from just south of Toledo, Washington (not that far south of us), into the Willamette Valley. Portland will see temps of 90+.
Plumbers tape. Seemed like a good idea. 🙂 Certainly easier than mucking about with glue. Oh, well. Worth a try. Don’t know until you try.
Well, since Ash’s hand was replaced by a chainsaw, he had to be … handy. 🙂
Also, some non-stick pans off-gas, or flake off stuff that is not good for us. Although I’ve read that if you don’t use too high of temperatures, that’s not too much of a problem.
Yup. Oil = plastics. That’s why I freaked out a bit, about the disappearance of dawgy poop bags.
Of course, I could make my own Mac & cheese, from scratch. Although I’d probably put so many “exotic” ingredients in it, it still wouldn’t be cost effective.
Minnesota was my mother’s home state. We visited once, when I was a kid. Yup. Wicked cold winters. We did the mandatory cemetery visit, and I was curious about a potato cellar like structure. Well, if you die in winter, they pop you in there, until the spring thaw. As the ground was frozen too hard to bury anyone. And who’d want to attend a grave side service at 30 below, anyway? Really tends to cut down on the mourning crowd.
Dynamic pricing. Or, bait and switch? One time, I was looking at chocolate bars, on the River. I hadn’t signed in. Found some at a really good price. So, I signed in, and they were nowhere to be found. Odd, that. 🙁
So, films. I watched the “Conan the King,” trailer. Usually not my cup of tea, but it looks pretty interesting, and will go on my hold list, once it’s out. Hmmm. Pretty political, I think.
“The Devil Wears Prada 2,” is getting mostly good reviews. Seems to have more “meat” to the plot, than the first one. A great deal about the death of print media, and the depredations of private equity firms. There’s to be a new version of “Animal Farm.” Pigs fart. 🙂 Another new one. “Deep Water” A plane goes down in the ocean, and survivors cling to the floating wreckage. Sharks circle.
Yup. Ice in the toilet. The toilet sat in its own little closet, in a corner of the house. So, two exposed exterior walls. The walls were, from the inside out, lath, 2x4s, more lath and exterior cedar shingle. I had a brainstorm. I was working in a bookstore then, and we got lots and lots of those plastic packing peanuts. So … I drilled circular holes, at the top of the walls, between each set of 2x4s. And, started dropping in the peanuts. I’d beat on the walls to keep the peanuts moving down. And once they were topping up, would keep pushing them down and compressing them. It worked. Between that, and the vapor barrier and insulation under the floor, no more ice.
Release the Kraken! Free the Land Sharks! The nematodes come in a plastic container. They look like small blue/gray beads. I used a table spoon to scatter them about. Gave them a good water, last night, and again, this morning.
https://www.arbico-organics.com/product/nemattack-beads-sc-encapsulated-nematodes/pest-solver-guide-borers
I closed up the burrow, or whatever it was, last night. It was about 6″ wide. There was no fresh dirt around it. And, it hasn’t reopened. Maybe it was subsidence from the kitchen scraps breaking down. Or, some critter (probably a rat), did a one time snatch and grab, but decided not to take up residence.
And, finally, a high-end art forgery “ring” was broken.
https://www.npr.org/2026/04/30/g-s1-119482/how-a-father-and-daughter-duped-nycs-art-world-with-fake-warhols-and-banksys
Banksy? Really? Oh, no, not Wyeth! You think people dealing in that rarified atmosphere, would do more due diligence. But then, it’s ‘only’ money. :-). Lew
Chris:
Yay! It’s Saturday! I still look forward to Saturdays as though I was a schoolgirl; it doesn’t matter if I have to work all day. Saturdays still have that aura of freedom.
There is obviously more to Dame Plum than her valor and chivalry. Wait, I think that is for Sirs. So what is a Dame known for?
Ooh – to dance around a Beltane fire. Yes, our growing season started very early, in fact it was summer, then it eventually went back to winter, which was scary. It was another perfect spring day today.
You have 12 foot ceilings? Most of our ceilings are only 7 foot now due the construction of new ceilings (tongue and groove pine boards) with a lot of insulation between the old and the new. This was done because there is nothing noisier than a log house and this is a 3 story house due to the full basement and you could hear everything going on between floors, not even mentioning the foosteps. Everything inside and out of this house is wood, except for the interior walls (just the walls that separate the rooms. The logs are also interior walls. And the roof, thank goodness, is not wood.
Thank you for the chainsaw fuel tank vent info. I have passed it on.
I love days of “small needful things”. Ya’ll must really go through the Anzac biscuits.
Pam
Hi Pam,
Go the weekends, the traditional break from the weekday work schedule. But yeah, not necessarily a break from work though, and on such days, isn’t it enjoyable to set your own schedule and take things at a relaxed pace. Just between you and I, I get more work physically done, when there are no time pressures. It’s counter intuitive don’t you reckon?
Having a super chill day and headed off to a nearby bakery to grab a sausage roll (consumed immediately whilst trying to dodge the rain and sudden cold conditions), and a lamington for later this afternoon with coffee. A warm herbal tea would substitute nicely though in your case!
How are your citrus enjoying the recent warmth?
A good question, and I may have to defer to your better knowledge of the gentle art of heraldry. A few years ago, Dame Plum and I destroyed the rats near to the chicken enclosure, although her ratio of rodent kills to mine was about 10:1. Thus the title. The canine earns her feed, put it that way. Dame Plum sounds better than the airs put on by some wandering itinerant knight!
The bonfire probably has greater spiritual significance on this continent, than a celebration for the beginning of May. With the rain today, it’s probably fine now to get into some forest clean up work.
Ouch, and yes, the early summer, then descent back into winter, is a very difficult with the plants and awful that you experienced it this season. It happens here most years, thus the difficulty with apricots and almonds. I usually get some fruit, but given the number of trees, it could be much better. You know, I get the impression that there are some parts of the world which enjoy a very stable and predictable growing season, but that is outside my experience.
Glorious weather, is a thing of pure enjoyment. 🙂
Yeah, 12 foot at the rear half of the house, and 10 foot at the front half. Honestly, 10ft is high enough and gives a nice feeling of space for small areas. So that everything feels in proportion with the high ceilings, all of the doors are a non standard 8ft high (usually 7ft in most houses in this part of the world).
Well, there are practical realities and I’d have done the same with adding the insulation presumably after the build had been completed? I’d see that in older houses which have the internal ceilings lowered which allowed for insulation and a smaller space to heat in the winter months. Very occasionally I’ve uncovered some astounding plaster work on ceilings which was otherwise hidden away by a lowered ceiling.
The snow you had during the winter would have surely put the new roof to the ultimate test.
Airlocks in fuel lines can happen, and most small two stroke machines use the tank vents.
It’s nice getting around to doing needful things, and they are enjoyable days. And I make a batch of those biscuits most weeks – some go to the dogs as a treat.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
What other reasons could the shallow earthquakes represent other than Alien experimentation? Still given it’s a testing area and fun things take place there, I wouldn’t rule out the hypersonic test option either. 17 shallow quakes, are a lot, and I believe that some underground targets right now, are probably providing puzzles for the weapons boffins to get their heads around. Still, extra terrestrials is the more exotic option.
Hehe! Yeah, it’s so true about that clamp down / abolition story. Nothing works to produce large families, like policies promoting abstinence. Man, it’s like book banning to boost sales. Hey, if I were interested in a large readership, there’s no faster way to get there than having some puritanical group trying to shout this interweb site down. It’s a great marketing plan! But yeah, it sounds like an ancient pagan fertility rite to me as well, but why anyone would be upset about that is beyond me, but then Cromwell was against fun itself! Can you hear his long dead voice: All we have to fear, is fun itself! 🙂
Oh my! The parrot article should have come with a trigger warning. Hehe! Funny, but those are the birds which a neighbour feeds (shouldn’t) and presumable one day he didn’t, and they decided to do a smash and grab raid here on the apples. I rarely see them here. Anywhoo, that was about three month ago. So, I was throwing sticks at them, before realising that they were smarter, and one would leave, and another would raid. There were thirty birds, maybe more. Like Ash in the Evil Dead, I got the little boom stick out and warned them off. No parrots were injured, and the mob decamped, but I have the Robinson Crusoe option at the back of my mind. Pays to read old books, and you knew that option as well.
Rocket sounds more down home than Arugula, which I might add has airs and pretensions. The derivation of the word rocket attached to the plant is an English thing, apparently.
Yes, beware the dreaded dust bunny, it’ll do you up a treat mate! 🙂 Man, one day in my dotage, I’ll have dementia, and yet I’ll still be able to recall that Killer Rabbit scene word by word. It’s a gift! Like in that Jack Nicholson film about the Cuckoos, someone who’s sick of the joke will grab a pillow and do the needful.
There’s a similar virus from exposure to rat and mouse poop down here. Nobody wants the Hanta virus, which kind of cooks a persons brain.
Ain’t just you, I’m prone to fits of over enthusiasm, and what’s not to like about weird things happening at Area 51?
Not sure about the 90’F+ weather, but 80’F is pretty nice-ish. Alas spare a thought for us down here who were unceremoniously dumped into winter today. Cold, wet, cloudy, and that was just the beginning. Decided to have a super chill day, and honestly didn’t do much, although a sausage roll was devoured from a nearby bakery, and I tested out the new second hand amplifier. Sounds flat to my ears, and needs a freshen up, but otherwise works perfectly, unlike the existing one, which sounds great, but needs some work.
Exactly, the plumbing tape worked for a while, then it didn’t. A more permanent solution involving PVC cement fluids was called for.
Very funny about Ash, what a hoot that third film was. Completely unexpected too, and long ago a friend dragged me to the cinema to see the film. A lot of laughs. “Klaatu barada nikto” hope I got that right?
That’s roughly what we’ve learned about the non stick stuff – it’s not good for higher cooking temperatures. And where do they go? That’s the question which bothers me.
What do people expect? Plastic packaging price pain could push up costs for shoppers on everything from milk to make-up
This was all going to happen sooner or later.
I hear you about that, and likewise, I could make pasta from scratch, but I buy stuff which is only a trifle less than that point. A dude has to be sensible – you can quote me on that point.
Ha! I’d struggle attending a funeral in those wintry conditions as well. I recall in Jack Whyte’s series that one winter was not fit for burying the dead.
Dynamic pricing is a thing, and one of the reasons I resist getting the supamarket apps. The things I hear about the future, leave me feeling cold.
King Conan has something to say, and as anyone who’s read the complete collection of stories (confession time!), it’s a most blunt message. Look, it probably needs to be heard, we’re only as good as the weakest link. The film will be a hoot.
I liked the original film for the Devil Wears Prada, and hey, the demise of the magazine publishing industry left me reeling for an outlet. It was nice to be paid for a couple of thousand words. You may have noticed that there is no lack of those here?
Orwell’s Animal Farm book was an insight taken to its logical extreme. The gentleman had come from wealth and took a snorkel and dove into the masses.
What a clever idea with the packing peanuts. Respect. There are some folks who do that service down here, except they blow the stuff into wall cavities. I’ve read they use some sort of paper waste. I’ve never even imagined that the water in a toilet could be frozen. It’s the stuff of nightmares!
Hope your Kraken do a wonderful job in the garden taming all of the pesky critters. 🙂
I’m triggered thinking of unknown burrows!! Seems to be a thing at this time of year, and hope it was nothing more than what you suspect. I’m battling mice right now, and they’re clever. I can well understand why Douglas Adams chose the species in the Hitch hikers Guide to the Galaxy.
What do the art houses earn, if they can’t detect forgeries? They’ve got just one job.
Cheers and better get writing!
Chris
Yo, Chris – A new Banksy statue has appeared in London. I didn’t even know he did statues. So, down the rabbit hole, I went. Oh, my. So that’s how he makes some of his money. I wondered. Small replicas of previous statues. And the prices are pretty reasonable. But, as I like all things miniature, this item caught my eye ….
https://www.nme.com/news/miniature-banksy-model-sells-for-1million-at-auction-3149269
I was laying in bed, last night, thinking about Banksy and his art. As one does 🙂 . It’s often described as graffiti, but I think it’s more like clip art. Are you familiar? Now most of it is on-line, but back in the day, there were books of the stuff. Usually themed. Motifs and little sketches, from the past, that were part of the public domaine. They jazzed up publications, or flyers, of one type or another.
“The truth is out there.” 🙂
So, President F. D. Roosevelt cribbed from Cromwell? 🙂
You can ship your problem parrots, here. They’re worth thousands. We’ll do an even split, minus expenses. Or, tell you what. A 60/40 split, with the larger going to you.
As long as you’re sending the parrots, also, include your weather. I’d swap yours for ours, right now. Our high yesterday was 77F (25C). Our overnight low was 48F (8.88C). Our forecast high for today is 87F.
If you didn’t get it right, we’ll be overrun by the evil dead.
That was quit the article about plastic packaging. I was thinking, “Well, what did people do before plastic packaging?” Once again, look to the past to solve present problems.
Must I? Be sensible? I must admit when I picked up the box of Gouda Mac & cheese, the thought crossed my mind, that it would be tastier if I picked up a little piece of Gouda … I tamped down that thought, right away.
When I went out to water, last night, I discovered the nematode beads, had completely disappeared. Released them into the soil, where I hope they’re chugging away.
My asparagus is doing something interesting. Last year I planted root, which didn’t do much of anything. So, I planted seed, also last year. Root and seed, two different varieties. Well, the seeded stuff is doing pretty good, for the second year. Sort of wispy and small. But one stalk has arisen from the root stock. It’s a little thicker than a pencil, and is approaching a meter tall!
No action yet, from the rocket. I’m glad the timing worked out so I got the nematodes, before the rocket broke soil. It’s the kind of thing the wood lice would have mowed down. Lew