The act of studying has never felt natural to me. A person spends hours of their life absorbing spoken, visual and/or written material, for a brief time at least. In my case, some of it may have stuck, maybe. Other chunks fell through the gaps and other orifices. At University my goal was to pass a subject with good grades, what happened to the knowledge after that, is anyone’s guess. Then onto the next subject. Rinse and repeat. Two subjects per semester, twice a year. It was a slog after a days full time work.
My first year doing part time higher education at night was 1989. It was a good year. As a young bloke I enjoyed the benefits of a full time wage, and was finally legally able to enjoy a drink with my work mates on a Friday night. That was the culture back then, and at times it was companionably messy. In something of a drunken haze around 9pm on those evenings, I’d take the train back home to the share house and try and slip in the front door without being noticed. Dinner was a couple of hot dogs scarfed down at the pub, and they never sat well in the guts when mixed with cheap beer. The feed was better than nothing.
My housemates had other plans. They were less encumbered by responsibilities, and had wisely avoided the cheap beer. The night hours would wear on, and due to economic circumstances, they’d drink cheap plonk at home prior to heading out. A taxi would arrive, and it is a truth universally acknowledged that five people in one vehicle dilutes exorbitant transport costs. The clubs had dark lighting, loud music, and remarkably expensive drinks. When the am hours rolled around, bed seemed like a good option. My dance floor moves concentrated on strategies as to how best to get home again, as soon as possible.
Saturday mornings were quiet in the household, despite the number of people. Recovery time is a thing. The sun moved across the sky, the colour and noise of the day rose again, like that legend of the Phoenix. Saturday was my day off. Being young meant bouncing back for more. Sunday was study, tutorial work and assignment day. Domestic circumstances on those days were not necessarily quiet.
There weren’t many people my age doing part time study at night. As fate would have it, I once ended up in a group assignment with a girl who went to the sister all-girls school of the more English than the English grammar mob. We got along pretty well, but there was no spark, and so I never asked her out on a date. And there was that time when re-enrolling, the University administrators slapped a star on her forms. Nobody wants that star, and she apparently had a bit of explaining to do. In those days education was perhaps less of a business.
Then there was the guy who was in the same year I was at High School. Despite never having spoken there, we casually chatted for a few years afterwards. I never quite understood why he was in the part time stream at night, and failed to ask. His parents had died in unexplained (to me anyway) circumstances, so he was loaded. Eventually he bought a caravan park up on the northern coast of New South Wales, mostly because he liked surfing. His girlfriend apparently hated on the lifestyle, and they broke up. With land prices up that way nowadays, with high end actors and stuff, he probably made a motza, and his lady at the time failed to play the long game.
It’s funny thinking back on those years. The government had just introduced course fees and student loans. I was too tired and busy to protest. Sandra took to the streets with her full time student friends. We all eventually coughed over the mad cash, and I’ve observed that nowadays my lady has a results based view of such activism. In the late 1970’s, my single mother enjoyed a University degree free of charge. Those were the days!
As a kid, if I’d promised to sit quietly and read a book, my mum would take me to the computer labs on a Saturday afternoon. This was no hardship for an early bookworm. The brightly lit room was place of industrious noise and wonder. Disk drives looked like top loader washing machines, and were they actually gold platters, or not? Punch cards were still in use. All were fed into hungry slots. The printers chattered away, spewing out the results. Many activities probably could have been done more easily on paper, but what the heck, it was free! And exciting. There was a lot to like about it all.
Yup, the years rolled on, and 1989 was the year that the community collectively decided to make higher level students pay for an education. The thing is a barrier to entry, for employers suddenly began to demand an education. And yet what I learned was that my education suddenly became all very expensive and stuff. Hey, I can learn! The deeper lesson revealed though, was that a door can get slammed in your face by the people ahead of you! At that moment of realisation, I was glad not to be on the Titanic as it went under.
Our politicians probably have enjoyed an education too, some of which was free. They sure must have learned some stuff. The world is changing. There is a bit of unhappiness across the land. Being alert to the possibility of losing their jobs at the next election, the pollies have been fiddling around at the edges with changes to the tax system. They say the initiatives are aimed at addressing inter generational inequality. It’s a big call. As someone who works with the tax laws, I’d have to suggest that grandfathering the existing arrangements for those already at the feed trough, then slamming the door in the face of the kids opportunities, is not a good look. Poor optics as the kids would say, and they’re even beginning to notice the disparity.
The opposition political party, well, the few that remain, seem a bit clueless and out of touch to me. And that leaves the decades old but now revitalised new-ish populist party, which is rising in the polls. They even managed to win a seat in a recent by-election, which is unprecedented. For anyone who care to see, the disaffection seething across the land is hard to miss. It shows up strongest in rural and outer urban areas. I’d guess that costs of current policies are spread differently to the benefits, and this in itself is inherent in the very definition of inequality. Strange days. Mostly, our leaders are paid to solve problems. What they’re doing is fiddling around at the edges and mouthing platitudes. Unfortunately, what we may eventually get from this path, is radical change. And that sure will be an educational moment for everyone.
The week has been cool and mostly dry. This morning, patches of grass were covered in ice. The dogs frolicked, even doing a speedy fly-by of the big mister gangle-chunks Ollie.
All but a few of the deciduous fruit trees have now lost their leaves.
It’s been of interest to me that since the deer have been mostly eradicated from this part of the mountain range, the Loquat trees have begun to finally grow.
We purchased the above Loquat trees as $2 seedlings over a decade ago, and the deer don’t play well with these fruit trees. Oh deer!
There are a lot of projects on the go which need large rocks in order to complete. We’d run out of this most useful forest resources. Sadly Peak Rocks is real. Being the canny and resourceful types that we are, two half days were spent this week, drilling and splitting boulders so as to create large rocks.
We use the exact same process that the ancient Roman’s did, our tools are however, much more powerful. Holes get drilled into boulders. Then an electric jackhammer is used to split the boulder apart. Voilà, we now have large rocks, until the resource runs out all over again.
As an older fella, it is easier to move large rocks compared to boulders, but even so, they’re still heavy items to handle.
A couple of piles of large rocks were created down on the forest edge.
Some of the above lot were even brought back up the hill. They were installed on the new path which sits below the house. Here is what the area looked like earlier in the week:
The big yellow power wheelbarrow makes moving large rocks back uphill easy. Fossil fuels are wonderful thing, sad about Peak Oil though isn’t it? Hope our civilisation doesn’t waste the stuff.
It’s difficult from the photos to get an idea as to how sizeable the boulders were before being split. But when the resultant large rocks fall out of the yellow bucket, you know that they weren’t small.
A long piece of steel is used to ensure that the rocks each get positioned carefully so that they provide a pleasing visual effect. The rocks also serve many important purposes and have withstood some astounding storms which would wash away lesser constructions.
With all this rock work, there is no need to go to a gym I can assure you! I push, roll and generally wangle the large rocks into place. Fine adjustments can be done using a six foot steel house wrecking bar.
About a third of the new rock wall is now installed. Fortunately there remain a few large rocks to recover way down below at the forest edge.
A minor rock wall was also completed this week.
The garden continues to supply heaps of fresh greens. Silverbeet / Swiss Chard, is a firm favourite.
The round raised garden beds also supply plenty of fresh greens.
An interesting and super spicy leafy green, are the Vietnamese mint. The plant has naturalised to the conditions in the garden beds.
Rhubarb is plentiful, some of which has self seeded. We use the stalks as the basis for a very mild country wine.
There are a number of Carob pods on the self fertile tree. I’m waiting until we have more solar derived electricity before dehydrating them. The last lot I processed ended up burnt because I rushed the process, but they did promise great taste.
The citrus orchard is doing quite well after it’s recent feed and plentiful rainfall. The trees shrug off light frosts and minor snowfalls.
If you ever wonder why I planted so many varieties of citrus trees, check out the Meyer Lemon:
The mild frosts are a sign. A sign to harvest what remains of the kiwi fruit that is! The rats, King Parrots and possums have been doing their own harvesting. Two large trays of the tasty fruit are slowly softening in the house.
Onto the flowers:
The temperature outside now at about 10am is 8’C (46’F). So far for this year there has been 568.8mm (22.4 inches) which is up from last weeks total of 567.6mm (22.3 inches)
Comments
37 responses to “Gone Away”
I love seeing the fruits of your labors — I wonder how many calories you burn on an average rock-moving, wall-building day? You need more than leafy greens to supply the muscle power for that work, for sure 😉
Stay cozy this winter, and enjoy your toast and jam.
Yo, Chris – It’s been said time and again, that education … well, most of it you learn on the job. You might get a specific vocabulary, but as far as the nuts and bolts go, it’s learn by doing.
Not too much higher education was free, in the US. Maybe, California for awhile. There were a few scholarships. But way back when, often, a summer job yielded enough money to support one through a school year. With maybe a small, part-time job on the side, during the school year. Maybe, on campus.
Gone are the days.
Me, I never finished my “higher” education. There were just too many, to me, bogus classes, that had absolutely nothing to do with my goals. You got it. Gate keeping.
Those were interesting stories, about the classmates who were slightly known to you. And, you’ve occasionally regaled us with “Tales of the Share House.” 🙂 I lived in a few of those shared accommodations. Always … interesting. 🙂
Well, we’re seeing the rise of populist sentiment, here. Who knows how it will all turn out.
So, you got a bit of frost. Your fluffy collective seems excited by the novelty.
Gosh, rocks. A lot of back-breaking work, never mind the power wheel barrow. But the results? Stellar. Rocks are one of those things that form the bones of a landscape.
My Swiss chard is about to the stage of yours. I haven’t tried any yet. Strawberry jam …
Your rhubarb looks really good. Ours, languishes. And the Master Gardeners can’t quit figure out why. It did fine when it was in a raised bed. Then they moved it to some big plastic tubs, and it is not doing well.
Carob. Which-doesn’t-taste-like-chocolate. I wonder which hippie fever dream that idea came out of? I do see that it it quit nutritious.
Your Meyer lemons are quit impressive. But some of them seem to have an orange cast to them. What’s with that?
I’m glad to hear you beat the wildlife, to at least some of your kiwi. The snow drops are very pretty. And, I bet the citrus blossoms smell nice.
I watched the Wilson Forest Lands videos. As one of the commenters noted, “A wit as dry as old toast.” “Dirt is heavy!” Make stumps go away? It’s more out-of-sight-out-of-mind. There’s also an explanation for that old cable you uncovered. I enjoyed the videos, but must say, the guy would probably wear on me, after awhile. Can you imagine working with him full time? Or, being married to him? 🙂
I don’t know if you heard, but Clarkson, of “Clarkson’s Farm,” has cancer. But, he’s in remission, and there will be a season six. Unfortunately, not something my library carries. Lew
Hi Gretchen Joanna,
Thank you, and the rock lined paths are just the thing for steep-ish land. Hmm, that is a most excellent question, and the answer can only be the calories contained in a small chunk of cheesecake, and maybe an Anzac biscuit or two, depending. 🙂
🙂 True, the leafy greens will leave a person feeling hungry, but then they have such other most useful properties. For your interest, most of my protein comes from legumes and dairy. Incidentally, I had to take the car in for a service this morning, and forgot to make another batch of yoghurt. Oh well, this matter will be addressed tomorrow. It happens.
Hope you are enjoying the growing season, and are getting some regular rainfall?
🙂 The jam on fresh oven baked bread is superb!
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
Yeah, barrier to entry is what happened to An Education, and if I may say so, when for example there is an over supply of graduates, such as apparently there is with journalism, the cynical mind wonders whether this is a feature, or bug? But yup, learning on the job seems to be the way of things. I tend to favour the apprenticeship model as it would give old duffers like me an ability to step back and away from the fray, and then the younger bucks can test their mettle whilst enjoying guidance. It’ll be another dozen years before I can retire.
Graduate places weren’t free for very long down here, roughly from around the early 1970’s to 1988. In some ways it shifted the cost burden of training from employers, to initially government, but then to the employees themselves. Want a job? You have to pay for that privilege, and we’ll provide you with a loan to cover the costs. It’s also something of a subsidy for employers.
You betcha, those days are gone. I had to work a full time job. The other joke is that my mother’s employer gave her paid time off to study. By the late 80’s and early 90’s finding time to study was my problem, thus the night classes. Fortunately the Editor taught me how to study as efficiently as possible, and answering the exact question asked, was pretty useful advice. You’d think it’d have been obvious, but no. There were no resources available in those days as to how to go about studying, and everyone kind of figured their own methods out. I presume the same situation still applies today.
Gate keeping was how it rolled, and still does.
🙂 Share houses in some respects were places where strangers filed off yours and theirs, rough social edges. Behaviours that families put up with, house mates freely called out. And strange stuff happens. There was that girl who allegedly used to use my towel. At first I thought the towel wasn’t drying properly in the well utilised bathroom. I felt so much closer to her after that prolonged episode. Then there was the other girl who used an extraordinary quantity of toilet paper. So many interesting insights into the human condition to be gleaned.
Like the old ‘Poop, Happens’ t-shirts, you could also say: ‘Populism, Happens’. Dunno about this one, but my gut feeling suggests that with enough bad politician eggs, the whole lot get spoiled upon.
The Fluffs enjoy the challenge which comes from varying conditions. Can we run at high speed on frozen grass? Let’s find out!
🙂 Thank you, your observations were like music to my ears. The rocks just work here. Incidentally, the rain commenced early this morning, and looks set to continue for the rest of the week. Dismal weather, and I’m glad that new rock wall is in place in case there is a storm. It’s very wet outside.
Hope you enjoy the Swiss Chard, and if you get some scorchers, you’ll notice how much hardier those leaves are compared to Brassica species.
Man, I’m not sure whether it is the interweb echo effect, but you hinted at the knowledge: Rhubarb demands well drained, but fertile soil. And that’s the conditions they’re planted out in here. They’ll happily set seed too. But perhaps not in barrels with poor drainage holes, and those things inevitably block up.
Hehe! Carob tastes like, err, carob. That’s funny too because it is a hippy thing. In a month or so, I’ll try and dehydrate then blitz the pods into a powder form. I dunno, I’ve had some nice carob treats over the years, and we’ll see. There are plenty of seeds in the pods, but are they fertile? Probably not.
Good pick-up! The darker coloured Lemon Meyers are the oldest fruit. They’re best processed when a vivid yellow colour.
Fingers crossed that the kiwi-fruit are good, and I may have a reciprocal fruit arrangement which may take a few. After the hail storm damage, a few locals came through with apples (and I could have had some pears too, but hadn’t known that). Nice to be part of a community of local growies, and I have to do more on that front sooner, or later.
🙂 Mr Wilson has a fine tractor and winch arrangement, and also deals with your west coast semi-hardwood trees such as Douglas Fir. I tend to believe that the guy would be from the old school style of teachers. An apprentice would get An Education, that’s for sure.
I’d seen the news regarding Mr Clarkson, and he’s an interesting bloke. I suspect that his buffoonery and bonhomie are being directed towards a very useful goal. His off-sider Caleb is a champion, and the two make a good team. You are missing out, sorry to say. Down here, it is a very respected show in farming communities.
Exactly, if I had my time all over again, I’d have chosen to be a mechanic or an electrician. Promises are one thing with the expensive education option, but ‘return on investment’ is something I talk to people about. Seems foolish to go into those institutions with eyes shut to the realities.
Yup, community groups can have a lot of intrigue. And often this gains traction during times of weak leadership.
I don’t believe that the stuff has been legalised in this state (but has in others for small scale growing and possession), but the oils can be supplied under a prescription arrangement. Everywhere seems all very different on this issue, which baffles me, but it is what it is. For the record, I don’t touch the stuff, mostly because my sister went off the rails as a teenager, and simply don’t want to find out if that’s where I’d go too. Call it the precautionary principle in action. 🙂
Yeah, it is interesting isn’t it when self checkout gets abandoned? The big box hardware store often has that service closed at various times during the day. I’m sure that there’d be a pattern, but I’ve never bothered taking the time to find out. Most other places I frequent don’t have that facility, so that tells me about the underlying costs of the systems themselves. These things have to be cheaper than a person.
Nice one with the strawberry jam, and preparing batches of the stuff is the best way to go. We get jars which don’t ping shut too. The lid and jar are examined to see which was the failure point, and then it’s discarded. Usually the seals on the lids are at fault, but sometimes the edges of the glass are slightly chipped or scored. Anyway, that failed lot is good for immediate testing purposes!
I don’t recall you making blueberry jam before, and I’ll bet it tastes good? Haven’t tried it myself. Are you seeing any flats or punnets for sale yet? Plus you’re in the mode of jam making what with all that entails.
Alas, I remain unconvinced, but neither do I burn a candle for that vote fraud issue. Ain’t got nothin’ to do with little ol’ me! 🙂 Your country’s systems on that front provide a lot of entertainment value for folks in other parts of the world, and both sides make claims (Al Gore comes to mind). It’s a boringly solid system down under with nothing fancy other than a whole bunch of paper. I dunno, not my monkey, not my circus. Have fun working it all out! 😉
Oh poop! With the website down, did the weather really happen? Maybe the numbers didn’t equate with the correct expectation? Dude, expectations of cold, wet, and down right gloomy were met here today. Crazy stuff, and we did a mix of paid work, but also had to get the car down to the nearest outer urban township for a service. It’s not around the corner, put it that way. A Bahn Mi was skewered in the process.
Yes, the Indian Ocean has a big significance on the weather and rainfall patterns at this location. The rain right now, originated from there and will continue to hang around for the remainder of the week. It baffles me that folks in other countries hear the words: El Niño, and make bold claims about the climate here, without ever having set foot on this continent.
Interesting, and I’m unsure of rolly polly habits, mostly because other critters eat them, like mice presumably. Which are in turn get munched down upon by rats, and so it goes. I see earthworms on the soil surface during prolonged rain events like this past few weeks. I try not to step upon them. Ooo, looks like soap causes rolly polly’s to drown. Never knew that, and it’s a very useful chunk of information. They’re not usually a problem here, usually. Hope your seedlings remain uneaten.
I love dry stone walls, and they have such a pleasing visual effect. There are folks who do such work around here, and hold courses.
Nice stuff! And you’d have noticed also that clubs and groups are built around stalwarts. Hope the new digs get into action sooner, rather than later.
Cheers
Chris
Hi DJ,
Hope you are doing OK and that we don’t have to send out the search party? 🙂
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – Mr. Un-mechanical, here. 🙂 My truck has stalled a couple of times, when idling. One of the guys at the Club (who detailed it out for me) put it on his computer gizmo. Everything was a-ok. Then he checked the air filter box. There was a mouse nest! Probably had been in there since I lived out in the boonies. I also had a wiper blade that was going TU. So, down to the Napa auto store I went. I lucked out. A young woman who used to work at the veg store, now works at Napa. Set me up with everything I need. Plus some sea-foam fuel additive. The fellow from the Club will install everything tonight, and, vacuum out the air box.
I guess the lesson from the share house is … live with guys. 🙂 Although I’m sure they have their problems, too. Back in the late 60’s we called them communes.
The National Weather site, came staggering back in the afternoon. I suppose they were adding new bells and whistles, that no one ever asked for. Our high yesterday was 64F (17.77C). Our overnight low was 54F (12.22C). Our forecast high for today is 66F. Cloudy and looks like rain, but no rain in the forecast.
When I was looking at the national weather map, I notice an odd color in NE Nevada. I took a look at what it was. A freeze warning and frost advisory. Odd, in that part of the country, at this time of the year.
Speaking of the net echo effect, I have some strawberry jam, left over, that’s just in the fridge. I started looking for recipes. Apparently, you can do a strawberry jam cupcake. But when I started looking at the different recipes, across several sites, they were all the same … some even used the same pictures.
So, 18 half pints of jam, either in the pantry or the fridge. I might do a batch or two of blueberry. Also, a while back, we got some bags of dried cherries, in our food box. I suppose I could reconstitute them, and make cherry jam. That sounds tasty.
Seems like there’s a lot of excitement, about that new movie, “The Odyssey.” It will hit our theaters, mid July. In the article, there’s a link to a Melbourne bookseller, who’s hosting (?) or sponsoring (?) a series of lectures. Have you got your tickets, yet? 🙂
https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/28/entertainment/odyssey-classics-homer-christopher-nolan
I saw a new word, yesterday. “Nitwittery.” Goes back to the early 1900s. I suppose it’s what nitwits, do.
We often talk about how nice it would be if there were low-cost, uncomplicated cars. Something people ARE actually asking for. Apparently, the owner of The River, might finally have a good idea.
https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/article/jeff-bezos-backed-slate-reveals-24950-starting-price-for-ev-pickup-making-it-the-cheapest-truck-in-america-120148545.html
Manual roll up windows? The horror, the horror 🙂 I don’t know how I feel about it being an ev.
I also saw an article about Australian archaeology. An ancient stone quarry.
https://phys.org/news/2026-06-evidence-ancient-aboriginal-riverland.html
If you scroll down to “Related Stories,” there’s some links to a few other articles on Australian archaeology. Lew
Chris,
I’m back. Doing better. Call off the search. Etc. Not near 100% but back to mostly normal activities. No yard work yet, though. The Princess is on her 4th week fighting this.
Hehehe. Nice photo of the fly-by. Dogs can be so funny!
Wrangling one of those big rocks into place is a complete workout. Lots of muscle groups are used. You probably move in ways that also count as “mobility exercise”. Then there are more rocks. Not to mention the breaking of the boulder and the loading of the rocks into the wheelbarrow. Walking the property with the dogs, up and down. Who needs a gym when you get better overall workouts just doing what needs to be done? And you have functional muscle, not gym muscle. And you’ve mentioned that you stretch each evening. Sounds like everything is covered and then some.
We were supposed to get some rain Friday night. Somebody forgot to tell the clouds. We had a few scattered drops. Sunday night was supposed to be between 3mm and 6mm. Nope. 1.77mm. The forecast is again for the 3mm to 6mm overnight. I’m not holding my breath. Then it is back to the heat and dry. Having had some humidity, at least, the past few days has been nice. Still dry but not arid.
The carving club had a small event at a local library Saturday. I was able to attend. Several of us were demonstrating carving. The bigger attraction was the class that one member was giving: soap carving. She had bought some clay modelling tools, so no sharp objects were used for the class. It was a fun afternoon.
Meanwhile, we’ve been eating a fair amount of chard. Nothing else is ready yet, although tomatoes and various peppers are doing well. I imagine the coming stretch of hot weather will help with that.
Dame Avalanche is happy. Both of her humans are here. She gets her walks in with me, as well as some car trips with the cooler weather. Doggy heaven.
DJSpo
Hi DJ,
That’s no good at all, and hope you both recover soon. Sending you both positive energy! 🙂 The really dry low humidity air is hard on a person’s health, and it’s not like there was a slow acclimation to your present conditions. At least you’re getting some rain now, and that is a good thing. Fingers crossed for the next two months.
Aye Aye Cap’n! The search party has been stood down, and remain at the ready, just in case. The work search crews undertake, is nothing short of epic. Coroner rules hiker’s death in Mount Canobolas bushland not suspicious, praises 12-day search . I’m pretty sure I read in the article, -4’C temperatures and wearing sandals and a blouse, is perhaps not the wisest of decisions to have made. If I hadn’t seen people in remote locations wearing similar gear and doing such activities, I’d have not believed the article. The search crew in that instance went above and beyond for the victim and are to be commended for their gumption.
Man, your rain is down here. 60mm has fallen since yesterday. To say it is damp outdoors is a mild understatement. The next couple of days promise about the same. This week is a write-off for any activities outside. Winter is the time to rest and recuperate, and that is exactly what we did today. Of course, tomorrow is the beginning of the new financial year, and no doubts accountants everywhere down under will be celebrating, or hiding under the covers.
In the early twilight this evening, Dame Plum attempted another high speed buzz of the Ollie and Chris tower, and smooshed the both of us. She then had the temerity to continue on with her run. Dogs… I guess cabin fever struck the normally high energy canine.
What a rabbit hole your paragraph created. Interesting. Turns out that there are something like 650 individual muscles in a body, and an individual has to train them, learn how to use them, and that there is a difference between immediate strength and endurance. A strongman for example, could be OK at powerlifting, but a power-lifter will never be good at strongman activities. And also that an old timer may have the advantage in knowing how to most efficiently go about doing a particular task for extended periods of time. Hmm. I’ve often thought that it would be a dangerous idea for a former office person retiring in their sixties to take up this sort of small farm lifestyle. And probably one in their thirties as well.
Did you get the 3mm to 6mm? Hope so.
Here is the forecast for the next couple of days:
Wednesday – Rain increasing Min 6° Max 10° Rainfall 5–20mm
Thursday – Showers Min 5° Max 8° Rainfall 8–20mm
Friday – Showers Min 3° Max 8° Rainfall 0–4mm
Saturday – Shower or two Min 3° Max 8° Rainfall 0–1mm
Sunday – Cloudy Min 2° Max 7° Rainfall 0–1mm
It’s the general forecast for the wider area, and this spot being up in the mountains, usually gets the extreme end of that scale, then some. The local creek which begins near the bottom of this property was at flood level today, and I noticed that in the valley below people had wisely moved their animals to higher ground. All the same, the sheep looked rather wet this afternoon.
Good stuff with the carving club, and that’s a great choice of venue. So clever, and soap carving is a fine introduction to the art form. What kind of designs emerged from the soap blocks? Hey, remember the soap on a rope?
The chard will do both you and your lady good, especially in your present condition. How heat hardy is that leafy green? We try to reduce the time between picking and consumption. They’re awesome additions to vege soup too. I know it’s hot, but a good pea and ham hock soup has known healing modalities! Hehe!
Even with the heat you’ve had, it’s still pretty early in the season. Tomatoes are probably a step too far. It’s something of a competitive sport to produce a ripe tomato down here by Christmas (i.e. your 25th of June), but just because someone tries to make a sport of things, doesn’t mean that you have to play along. 🙂 Next month for those tasty fruit, which is err, tomorrow (down here at least)!
Good to hear that your lady is home when feeling unwell. And I know you also have been battling yourself, but hope you slipped some chocolate in, or provided a coffee in bed, or some other such small gesture at this time? 🙂
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
Hehe! Beware the mousies and their tricksy antics in engine bays. Candidly, they’d be warm and dry places during the winter months, with occasional bouts of pure excitement for the rodents. Be very glad that they didn’t gnaw through the most expensive compressed hose in your engine bay like what happened to me. Blew the mouse up sorry to say, but cost a hefty amount to repair.
It happens, and glad that the rodent nest was found, and it really would block air flow to the engine. Hope it was all fixed easily and cleaned up, and I’ll bet you notice the difference! I’ve heard good things about that sea-foam stuff, but have not trialled it. Fuel isn’t what it used to be, and I’ve been banging-on about fuel stabilisers additives for the small engines with carburettors I use in the equipment here. Keeping them clean is what makes the stuff last longer.
To be honest, none of the house mates were too much trouble, but the weirder stuff happened with the ladies, like the excessive toilet paper usage. It’s not like I didn’t know how to clean up after myself, being toilet trained and stuff. 🙂
That’s a good point too. Fashions huh? I’d not thought of a share house as a form of commune, but it is. I can appreciate why communes tend to fail. The tragedy of the commons is all too real, and pinching my food, then offering money is not a situation you want to face after a day of full time work, then several hours of uni lectures and tutorials. The shops were usually closed by that late time of night too. Trust me, words were shared, some of them rather pointed.
Always nice when dead interweb sites arise from the ashes, or latest upgrade! And you made an amusing observation. Trust me, things could be worse: Bureau of Meteorology executive Peter Stone, who oversaw bungled website revamp, departs role. They spent a lot, and the community, especially in the rural areas which use the service, is unhappy.
Nevada is the driest state in the United States, and it hardly surprises me that they have frosts at any time of the year. They’ve got both kind of extremes there: hot and cold! 🙂 It’s not dry here at the moment. Almost two and a half inches of rain has fallen since yesterday. The soil is saturated, and late this afternoon the local creek was at the limits of it’s banks. With more rain to come, we’ll see what happens over the next couple of days. The paddocks in the valley below had standing pools of water, and animals had been moved to higher ground. It’s 50’F tonight too, so hardly even cold.
Ouch about the net echo effect. Not good. Err, jam drop biscuits are very tasty, and a good use for the strawberry jam. The biscuit is a kind of shortbread. I’ve not had a cherry jam, but they’re an expensive fruit with a short season around here. Mind you, the local cherry farm is awesome.
Sir Christopher has a solid work ethic, and produces some great stuff. I spotted the promotional poster for the film, and based on the name knew the subject matter, but the poster looked like a bunch of helmeted dudes from the Mandalorian! That book shop is great too, and they run the nearby cinema. I ordered my complete collection of Jack Vance titles from them years ago, and the sales guy was wrapped with the order.
They used to use the word ‘nitwit’ when I was a kind, but it fell out of favour for some reason. Probably confusion with head lice, which are also described as ‘nits’. Presumably a ‘nitwit’ is a pithy insect? 🙂
Whoa! OK, I’m impressed with the vehicle. It ticks a number of boxes, and did you note the promotion of the idea to DIY service and repair the machine? Intriguing. The EV thing, I hear you, but it also makes for a simpler (and thus cheaper) drive train with less parts. I get the impression that the land of stuff is off loading those batteries at cheaper than cost prices, but could equally be wrong. Maybe I was just too early with this electric stuff? Dunno. The car is a good idea.
The stone quarries are amazing places. And quite attractive too given the activities. I’ll bet they used to heat rock, then use water to fracture the stuff. But it’s the scale of the operations which show long occupation. I’d imagine that they were all over the land.
Picked up the car this morning from it’s service. They did a great job. It was so wet, we took it easy. Winter is a time for rest and recuperation, especially this sort of extreme weather.
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – At least the mice didn’t nibble on my wiring. I guess the wrap wasn’t soy based. I went down to the Club, last night, The fellow who worked on my truck dropped in the new air filter. But, he forgot to bring his cordless vac. So, I’ll give it a few days and run out to his place.
The place was a hive of activity. Pulling out the last of the fixtures and loading them on a truck. There will be one more noon meeting, today, and then it’s …the End of an Era.
By the way, the Club uses a Bunn coffee maker. You see that brand in a lot of restaurants, over here.
The one share house / commune I lived in, had a weekly meeting to address “issues.” One of the inmates had a very naughty cat. It would stand with its front feet in the litter box, and poop on the floor. Eventually, it disappeared. Or was disappeared. 🙂
That was an interesting article about your BOM. Those cost overruns were … breathtaking. Eye watering? I noticed the dude was the Executive of Business Solutions. I see the term “business solutions” in a lot of ads, for this and that. I don’t know if it has an entirely negative connotation, now. But if not, you might squeeze it into your ads. Who doesn’t like a solution? 🙂
The weird weather color disappeared from the map of Nevada. Maybe it was just a glitch in their tinkering?
It sounds like you’re getting a bit of flooding. Living at elevation is not such a bad thing. I wonder if your yabbies will be moving uphill? I see you also have something called “land crayfish.” A relative of the yabbie, who builds chimneys at their burrow openings.
Our high yesterday was 63F (17.22C). Our overnight low was 52F (11.11C). Our forecast high for today is 66F. More overcast that looks like rain, but it doesn’t rain. I watered, this morning. The deer nibbled one of my neighbors peas … and, wiped out 1/4 of my Swiss chard. I’ll be spreading more blood meal and soap, tonight.
I might try the jam drop biscuits. There are recipes in my biscuit cookbooks. My fortune is made! I gave a jar of the jam to a fellow at the Club. After trying it, he offered me $5 if I’d bring him another jar.
“…the sales guy was wrapped with the order.” Did he come with a bow? Have you put him to work busting rocks and cleaning out the chicken fortress? 🙂
I figure a nitwit is a very cleaver person who makes a lot of scarfs, gloves, socks and jumpers. 🙂
The guys at the Club were pretty chuffed about the idea of the new truck. Something a lot more inexpensive than the current models on the market. Simpler, that you could work on. Lew
Chris,
Thanks. We’re both doing somewhat better today. Gradually. Arid conditions really don’t really bother us. There is a nasty respiratory virus going around. Brother gave it to the Princess who shared it with me. Killian’s human has had it also, and it took over a month for her to shake it completely. Nasty stuff. Keeping things paced slowly.
Thanks for that article. I noticed the inappropriate attire. Blouse and sandals indeed. Then her partner left her SITTING on his jacket in freezing weather? The article also said that they had been, um, partaking of wacky tobacky before deciding to perform the hike at midnight. Not a good scenario at all. Kudos to the rescue crew for going well above and beyond expectations. Like you, I’ve seen people improperly dressed for wintry conditions. Apparently common sense isn’t common.
60mm rain in about 24 hours? Yikes! I’d be growing webs between my fingers and toes, maybe a set of gills, too. 😉 That’s wet. Your humidity has got to be over 100%, if that is possible.
I’ve had dogs do what Dame Plum just did. Rakhi the Samoyed was especially good at that. In your case, I can almost hear Dame Plum’s thought process. “There’s the Big Dog and The Boss! Let’s run by them and say hello. I’m so exuberant and full of pent-up energy. And it’s cold out. I can run forever! Zoom! Oh I crashed into them. Hi guys! Zoom! Let’s do that again. It’s soooo fun. Zoom!”
6mm? No. First 3mm needs to fall. For 3mm to fall, there needs to be rain. We got nary a drop. Nada. Zippo. There’s a high quality but unofficial weather station about a mile from here. June rainfall total there is 0.37 inches versus the “average” of 1.36 inches. Clouds are slowly dissipating, so we’re done with the rain for this month.
Oh, sounds wet. Cold. Cold and wet. Typical late autumn weather for here.
Soap on a rope was unforgettable. Several youngsters and one adult carved soap. There were a lot of animals carved. The adult had never before done any type of artistic work. She carved a wonderfully exquisite sitting cat. The work some of the youngsters did was also high quality. A different branch of the County Library system will host us in a couple of weeks. To remain open, libraries are become neighborhood gathering places with various activities.
Chard is good stuff. We’ll have more with dinner. Two nights ago dinner was beans and a ham hock. Good stuff.
Agreed, this is very early in our usual growing season. I listened to the wind, so to speak, and realized things could start early this year. It will still take time for the tomatoes to ripen. Until then the chard is going gangbusters. Hot weather? Chard likes it. Cool and drippy? Chard likes it. Great plant to grow. And it tastes so good straight out of the garden.
When we were planting seedlings, Young Neighbor and I planted two each of bell peppers, Anaheim chilis and jalapeno peppers. All are now producing. There are several bell peppers in various stages growth, at least 3 or 4 Anaheims, and it looks like maybe 3 jalapenos just got pollinated and are growing. It’s an exciting garden year.
Special coffee for the Princess? Yup. Chocolates? Of course. Special treats? Check. Those are all necessities when feeling poorly.
DJSpo
Hi, Chris!
I liked to study because it was easy for me. I still like to study, though thank goodness there are no tests! I went to college for 2 1/2 years, until I had to leave because of an illness. The classes weren’t anything that would be useful in a job, but I enjoyed them. I lived in a dorm at first, but later shared an apartment with my brother, then eventually got my own apartment. How did you do that, you may ask? My grandfather had left me a very nice trust fund for a university education. I never had to live in a share house. I am so glad!
In those days, my future husband and I were part of a group loosely called the Upper Valley Wrecking Crew. We tended to meet out in the desert. Those who know El Paso (DJSpo?) would recognize the area. We did not wreck (as far as I know), it was just a lot of hot air – and even more drinking. Ah, well. Thankfully, one grows up, if one lives so long. Here’s a popular song from that time. The Eagles 1972:
https://www.facebook.com/paul.b.leonor/videos/peaceful-easy-feeling-the-eagles-bbc-in-concert-tv-show-which-aired-apr-5-1973-t/1428668352209347/
What a beautiful frosty morning photo. See – there’s the million dollar view that I speak of.
What does a loquat taste like? It is supposed to be 102F in 2 days. I hope our fruit trees don’t end up looking like your winter trees. The insides of my cucumbers this year (same variety as last year) are dryish in their middles, with more seeds and less juicy part. I water, water, water them.
It still amazes me how you break those boulders apart, even with the jackhammer. In the rock photos, I see that your forest is about 100 times denser than ours. We have no understory and the trees are fairly fair apart; a lot of them are quite big.
Beautiful rock walls and a lot of delectable winter food! Especially carob; I hope you get it dried well this time.
Yesterday, I did my shopping at a major grocery store here, as I have been doing once a week for 15 years. When heading out the door, my shopping cart stopped dead as one of the wheels had locked. Apparently this is a sign that someone has shoplifted and a female guard, luckily very cheerful and apologetic, had to go through all my groceries and see that I had paid for them. She was not swift about doing that. My son says: “Get used to it. That’s America in the 21st century.” Later, I thought I should have demanded to see the manager, but I had been too tired at the time and just wanted to get on home. I shall not be going again to any of those particular stores here. Oh – and a friend of mine, another elderly lady, said that she had been accused of shoplifting at the self-checkout of the same store. Not a very good business model.
Thanks so much for the flowers. How on earth did you end up with a “wild” rose?
From last week:
Oh, how dandy. “Ethanol has about 33% less energy for the same volume as petrol.”
Pam
Hi Pam,
I salute your natural ability to study, and am in a bit of awe. Part time study after a full day of work, was a hard slog and took the joy away. Like you, I too was a good student, and it didn’t stop for me at the graduate level because the profession demanded post graduate studies. Did it all spark joy? No, and the vast majority of the people I encountered in part time wanted nothing more than to get home again. A trust fund is a wonderful thing and would remove a whole bunch of worry. My grandfather helped me out too with the final few years of high school education, and weren’t they wonderful the old folks?
Thank you for the delightful story, and that is a beautiful song. A billion stars all ’round. 🙂 Unfortunately, my lot was to stand on the ground.
Ah, yes, the views are wonderful indeed. Also changeable. It was another wet and gloomy day today. That’s winter for ya. Went to a nearby pub for lunch to celebrate a significant milestone. A burger in a dark rye bun with fries was consumed. The pint of ginger beer was very good too, although it is not in my nature to have a big splash up lunch, one must occasionally make an exception.
With all of the rain, I doubt much work will get done this week. And mice have somehow broken into the chicken enclosure, and are now sealed inside there. An unwise decision on the part of the rodents.
You know, I’ve never tasted a loquat fruit, and had to improve the protection against the deer. I spotted three of the herbivores nearby this afternoon in a neighbouring paddock. Not a fan. A former boss dog, ‘The Fat’ once scavenged a lot of loquats when we were in the big smoke. We were attending a public auction of an impressive old house, and in a quiet moment during the proceedings, the canine decided to barf up the barely digested fruit.
I assume the loquat fruit is tasty, but I need more of the trees to grow bigger so that they can cross pollinate.
Ouch! Yes, the dry cores of the cucumbers probably has something to do with watering. Mind you, it is possible that with less water, the fruit will be smaller but not as dry. Might be worth doing some experiments with that.
The rain here right now, is feral.
Yeah, there are a whole bunch of understorey plants, some of which are of ancient lineage, and can be found in rainforests. But the eucalyptus trees are growing so close together, and that strategy works in wet years, but dry years it is a very intense fire hazard. I’ve asked the trees the hard question: Can you lot moderate your behaviour? And got no answer, so I’ll have to deal with them the hard way. The older trees here are quite big as well.
Thank you, and trust me, I’ll be very careful with the carob pods this time. Just have to wait until there is some more sunshine.
Pam, I’m so with you. It’s unforgivable to make honest shoppers feel uncomfortable. That was my reaction as well, a yellow carton is not a banana, and just because your computer says so, doesn’t make it true. I now avoid such places.
Roses produce seed here, and you get new and interesting plants. 🙂 They flower really nicely too.
Well, yeah, sorry to say that about ethanol, but oil may be as energy dense as it gets.
Cheers
Chris
Hi DJ,
Glad to hear that you are both feeling somewhat better. Sharing such bugs is an unfortunate fact of life, and all any of us can but hope for is a speedy recovery.
Hypothermia, and the other extreme heat exhaustion, can make people’s minds think strange thoughts, often far from rationality. We’ll never know what happened, but I’m guessing that her extremities were beyond cold, and that’s when the core of a body needs protection. I too noticed the reference to sitting on the jacket, and wondered about it. A misadventure.
The rain is belting down on the roof tonight. Far out. This has been one seriously wet week. I doubt much will get done outdoors, and maybe it’s a sign from above to rest up and recuperate.
We celebrated a significant milestone today. Headed off to a nearby pub for lunch. It’s an old fertile farming area, and the pub is the only commercial business around. It’s at a crossroads too. Had a nice burger in a dark rye bun with fries. And a pint of ginger beer. Not my usual style to head out for a big lunch, but a person must make exceptions for some moments in life.
It’s now beyond wet outside… With more to arrive over the next few days.
Rahki the Samoyed was like Dame Plum, not quite situationally aware. Makes you wonder if our canine friends create maps in their heads as to where everything is, because I’ve observed that if something is out of place, they may be surprised by the unexpected turn of events? A Samoyed crash incident would hurt! 🙂 They do rapidly recover and push on with their canine silliness. No time for apologies, huh?
0.37 inches of rain for last month isn’t much, and presumably July will be drier in your part of the world? Summer can be unforgiving. And those sorts of dry months at that time of year can happen here as well. There is a season for worry about fires, and that’s one of them.
Oh yeah, soap is a great idea to get people interested in carving. Sharp tools need not apply, thus eliminating a whole bunch of potential problems. That’s what I find when meeting up with my friends in that there is a lack of the err, third spaces, especially in the big smoke. Libraries are ideal to fill in that void. Sadly the local library branch mostly sticks to work hours, and most of the time I have to work, so it’s just too hard. I remember as a kid that the libraries in the area I grew up in opened all weekend, and may have had one late night to 9pm.
No way! Cool. Ham hock boiled up with some beans makes a person feel better. Probably all the liquid, fats, and proteins, which people need. It tastes good too, even for mostly vegetarians! 🙂
You know it’s a hot growing season when there are developing bell peppers by the end of June. That would never happen here (December), or maybe only in the rarest of extreme seasons. It is indeed an exciting time of the year.
Man, there’ll be possible flooding in the valley, what with the noise on the roof right now. Fortunately I’ve no plans to head anywhere over the next few days.
🙂 Well done you, and it’s the little things in life which sometimes make the biggest impacts.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
Thanks for the info on soy based wiring insulators. Well, who knew? 🙂 The rodents obviously appreciate the treats, which have been around for about three decades now. And caused me some issues with the old dirt rat Suzuki wiring in the engine bay. Why they couldn’t have sampled an easier to repair wire is beyond me! Not a fan. And two mice are trapped in the chicken enclosure, and I’m dealing with those. I can’t bait them either for obvious reasons and with so much food in there, they might not eat the stuff anyway. Oh well.
Nice to have some connections to help you out with the air filter. Those cordless vacs are pretty nifty, and would be better than a blower, which might send some chunks of mouse stuff deeper into the motor. Not ideal. From March to September, we check the car engine bays every week for signs of rodent activity. If there were an easier way… 🙂
Man, the rain is pounding on the roof. We’ll easily have another inch of the stuff today. It’s the whole next level of wet outdoors. All arriving from the Indian Ocean, so it’s warm too. 48’F right now.
The end of an era, but then hopefully you’ll have the next chapter beginning soon with the new digs (fingers crossed for that). Glad they used a truck to move the stuff, and didn’t lean too hard on members with say, Rangers. 🙂
I’ve not seen a Bunn coffee maker before, and they’re made in your country, which is good to support local manufacturing. As something of a coffee snob, apologies, I note that the images of the brews produce, lack the essential Coffee Crema, which is the emulsified oils forced out of the beans which float to the top of the dark liquid. I know! Too much information? Ook! Hehe! Absolutely would I drink a cup made from one of those machines, if I’d missed the regular caffeine intake.
A weekly meeting to discuss issues is an impressive level of organisation. Mostly the cheeky scamps I knew did their level best to dodge the consequences! But that cat, not nice behaviour for the feline. Yes, well, a person can wonder what eventually happened. There was a house mates cat who used to jump up onto the wallpapered walls, then fall back to the ground whilst embedding the claws. Shredded the paper, and we sure all lost our rental bond on that house. The explosion of that collective, was like the breaking up of a popular band, and the emotions at the end were quite err, strong. Oh well, all part of the greater learning experience which is life.
Dunno. A mystery. The weather radar here a few days ago, I believe, was weird looking with stripes radiating out from the tower. Very strange, and ineffective.
That’s my thinking as well. The paddocks down below in the valley already looked swampy today in places. A bit of slope to land does allow the soil to dry out more quickly. We’ve got a few more days of this rain to go. Fortunately I have nowhere urgent to be, and have made no immediate travel plans.
We did however take today mostly off work. I can’t entirely dodge such activities, which I’m cool with. Had our 31st wedding anniversary, which also begins with the first day of the new financial year down under. An auspicious day, no? 🙂 There is a weird irony to the date, but we did have to fit the day in between the uni semester break – which is quite short.
Had lunch at a nearby pub, which sits surrounded by farms. It’s quite fertile soil there, so has produced potatoes since the mid to late 19th century. A bucolic setting. Had a cheeseburger which was a bit fancy because it was served in a dark rye bun. Very nice and the side serving of fries was tasty. The Editor had an Irish style chicken parma, so the schnitzel had a layer of mashed potatoes with a jus sauce. Us mostly vegetarians, know how to enjoy a proper meat meal! Fun stuff, but upon returning home, I had a subsequent food coma and crashed out for an hour. A nice way to spend the day, the Editor enjoyed coffee in bed with a book and Lindt chocolate. There may be nicer ways to spend a day, but I dunno…
Interesting, and I’ve spotted such burrow entrances. The state museum has some images of the land crayfish and the mud chimneys: Engaeus Erichson, 1846, Burrowing Crayfish. I’ll keep a closer eye out for such critters in future, and will be interested to note any patterns to the distribution.
Spotted three deer in a nearby paddock this afternoon. A deer did a smash raid on two of the Loquat trees last night. In the rain earlier this evening I had to install more protective chicken wire around the remaining trees. Not a fan.
Oh! It’s suddenly cooled down in your part of the world. That’s not ideal, but I so get that happening during the growing season. Not much you can do about it. Eee Gaks! You know my thoughts on the deer, but it’s not an option for your situation, and is frankly too wet here right now for that possibility as well. Man, those herbivores know the rules, and yet, and yet! They flagrantly flout them. Wise to chuck down more blood meal and soap. You could spray some chilli oil on the chard leaves – they won’t like that one bit. I’ve heard that the same technique works with obstreperous folks.
Heard a good dad joke: What’s the difference between cats and dogs? Cats have never worked for the cops. Hehe!
That’s a pretty good price for home made jam. Well done.
Ha! Very funny, but yeah, that’s a good idea. 🙂 Nah, the book order was placed during you-know-what, and so it was gratefully received by the sales guy.
Good one, yeah, I like it. Yes, Knitting-wit.
I reckon that truck idea is a goodie, and has a lot of good going for it. Sooner or later, that simpler phase of tech will become a thing. It’s one way out of the maze.
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – The chickens may take care of the mice. Being descended from carnivorous dinosaurs. I saw some chickens, strip a frog and eat it. I suppose you’ll be on the hunt for point-of-entry.
Sounds like you’ve got a case of the sloppy-wets. 🙂 Isn’t their an Australian concept of “the wet?” Our high yesterday was 61F (16.11C). Our overnight low was 52F (11.11C). Our forecast high for today is 67F. Mid 60s for the rest of the week. We may be back to the low 80s, by next Monday. It still looks like rain, but no rain. Prof. Mass has a post on wind and wildfires.
I’m rather at loose ends, with the Club being closed. Throws my whole schedule off. I drink coffee at the Club, and tea at home. I may have to break out my old coffee maker, for the occasional cup. Nothing fancy, just a drip through machine with paper filters. Well, I’ll have grounds for the garden, closer to home.
That’s a fine cat joke. I’ll have to remember it for when the Club reopens. Speaking of cats, Dawg and I went down to the library, to drop off and pick up some things. They have a neighborhood cat, who hangs out at the library. They probably give it treats. They’re always trying to foist treats on Dawg. Which we politely refuse … allergies, you know. (Actually, I don’t want people giving Dawg junk food.) Any-who, Dawg went wild, when she spotted the cat, sitting on the pass through counter, and my open window. She didn’t bark, but did her “I’m curious whine.” And wanted to get a closer inspection. I had a hard time keeping her in the truck cab. LOL. She was wound up, all the way home.
Congratulations on your anniversary! And a fine way to celebrate it. LOL. On one hand, I’ve been sober longer than you’ve been married. On the other, one of the young ladies at the library said she was celebrating her first anniversary, this weekend. Time is a funny thing.
My, the burrowing crayfish sure look … feisty. I wonder if they’re tasty? If you’ve any about, those burrows ought to be easy to spot.
I worked in the garden, for a couple of hours, last night. Mostly weeding. And, I scattered around more soap chips and blood meal. Also, on our midnight walk, I splashed about some urea. No worries about the source of supply 🙂
Saturday is the 4th of July. The Inmates are having a barbecue on the patio. I wonder if they’ll set off the fire alarms, again? H quit likes the fireworks, and I think she thinks they’re in her honor. Usually, they’re at our fair grounds, which we can’t quit see from here. But, there’s plenty to watch, in the neighborhood, and cities to the south. But this year, the big municipal show is going to be at Stan Hedwall Park, which is on the other side of the freeway and slightly south of here. We should get a good view.
I think it’s going to be a popcorn night. I picked up the latest Jason Statham movie, “Shelter.” LOL. The plots are getting a little predictable. A young girl / woman is in peril from Bad People, maybe kidnapped, or on the run. Statham dispatches said Bad People in many inventive ways. 🙂 Lew
Chris:
I didn’t have the full-day work; I just worked part time in a bookstore. For some reason, I hadn’t caught on that you did post graduate studies, at least at uni. Or were they at a different school? My grandparents were the best ever; I still miss them so much. My mother was adopted, but she got the world’s best deal when they took her home.
That was a fine lunch. Yum! Is Happy Birthday in order?
Rodents never give up; you have to give them credit for that. We have caught in our humane trap 9 squirrels and 1 chipmunk and exiled them. They have eaten 70 or 80 green tomatoes so far and also a deer found a weak point in a new fence in the new annex to the garden and pulled up 300 strawberry plants and ate some of the best small persimmon trees. I thought your deer were gone?
It is right at this moment 100F (38C) and it is supposed to be that for the next several days at least. Cooler at night, of course, but not enough. I try to get out there by 6:30am, but I also have a lot of kitchen work to do early before my daughter-in-law gets up. Today I canned more sweet pickle relish and should have canned more green beans, but I had to fix the fence.
Do they allow dogs at auctions?
We used to have a fairly dense understory, with huckleberries, and wild blackberries on the edges, and an amazing number of different wild herbs, even ginseng. All gone thanks to deer.
I’ve dealt with the yellow carton/banana kind of issue many times; that’s how I made so many friends among the self-checkout attendents. But this last thing, loudly and in front of everybody and blocking the door, was beyond the pale. Phooey on them.
Next year I’ll see if I can save some rosehips from my one rose. Things eat them . . . I have grown several different kinds of roses from cuttings, I just don’t have those bushes anymore.
Pam
Chris:
I see! Wedding anniversary! Best not to dodge that . . .
May you and Sandra have many, many more.
Pam
Chris,
Happy Anniversary. Glad you got out to celebrate. Ours is later this month. 35 years together. 20 years of wedded bliss. The Princess says, “We have to be together for 80 years total before you get your freedom. Only 95 more to go.” Princess math. 😉
There is definitely a time to sit back, relax and enjoy an extra cuppa. Or two. Rain thundering on the roof is an obvious clue. Hope you enjoy some down time. And dodge Dame Plum during her zoomies.
I had one Samoyed crash incident. I was chasing her around a cedar tree. I changed directions. She came around the tree, head down, crashed her head into my kneecap. Rakhi yelped. I lay lunch inside me. The knee really HURT. Within seconds, the erstwhile canine was licking my ears, licking my face, nearly shouting “Boss! Are you okay? I didn’t mean to hit you. Are you okay? Huh? Huh? Boss, say something!” Lick lick lick. The pain soon subsided with no damage or lasting ill effects. My lunch stayed where it belonged. I needed a shower after 5 minutes of constant slobber on my face.
The “normal” expectation is for a half inch of rain in July. Ditto August. Maybe 2/3 inch in September. I’m expecting maybe a half inch total for July and August combined if we’re lucky. Last year was bad. July and August combined for 0.19 inches. Add June and those 3 months totaled 0.40 inches versus the “average” of 2.36 inches. Summers can be below meager for rainfall here. Hopefully this year has a bit more rain.
Ham hocks and beans are awesome. Regular part of our diet. Packed full of wonderful nutrients. Tasty. Filling.
Yes, I’m very pleasantly surprised at such an early development of chilis and peppers and tomatoes. The carrots are also doing well. Could be my best year ever in the garden.
Yup, the little things. Very important.
The front has some long grasses, the ones that have gone to seed. I’ve entitled this year’s watering schedule “Princess Bride Watering.” You know, Wesley, Dread Pirate Roberts, Inigo Montoya, “as you wish” and all that. And “mostly dead”. But “mostly dead” can be revived. 😉
DJSpo
Hi Pam,
Thank you. Mid winter is a tough time to tie the knot with an outdoor ceremony, and fortunately we’d booked the Victorian era band rotunda in a park and too many people were sheltering there from the rain that day long ago in 1995. It was mayhem, but kind of fun, and once the rain ceased, the rando hangers on got unceremoniously kicked out. We paid the local council for the use of the structure.
I had to do half of a masters degree to gain professional certification, and the whole thing just annoyed me because it was yet another hoop to jump.
Your journey through life has been blessed from one perspective, and then travail on the other hand. I don’t really know, but it’s been my observation that we all take the good with the bad. And it was nice to have interested elders who can provide useful guidance when necessary. I wish I’d listened to my grandfather more, but I was so young. Maybe the younger folks will listen more closely to you and I? 🙂
I’d presumed that rats were the big rodent drama here, and dealt with them in previous years. The big critters are still around but lesser in number. And that was when I realised that the rats hunted and ate the mice. It’s been the mice this year which have been a nuisance. The house seems clear now, but they broke into the chicken enclosure recently. Just went outside then in the dark and discovered their tunnels and scared the daylights out of them.
Oh my! Tomato plants produce a lot of fruit, but clearly squirrels and chipmunks are as hungry as the rodents. This talk of deer is leaving me feeling a bit twitchy!!! Pam, they test the fencing and tree protection here as well, and you know my thoughts about their presence.
I’m real sorry to hear about the persimmon trees, and that lot destroyed a fifteen year old olive tree in a single night a few months ago. That was when I cracked the poops and sent a strong message, which they seem to have now forgotten.
That’s quite warm, but glad to hear that the nights are cooler. The soil temperatures would be quite high I’d imagine, which will speed plant growth (if they have the water). Fingers crossed that the weather cuts you some slack. We all need a bit of slack. Almost five inches of rain has fallen here since Monday. So wet outdoors that I can see how tarns form.
Fix the fence first, the beans can wait. It’s hard isn’t it working out what jobs to prioritise?
Ah, well my thoughts on the deer subject are that… A forest has to have some under storey, and not be too thick with trees. You and I are coming at the same problem, but from opposite ends of the spectrum. Deer are a classic boom and bust species.
Ha! The house auctions are held on the street, so it is very much a public spectacle. Tell ya what, a person has to have nerves of steel to bid at such an event. One dude cost me $30k in a few minutes almost a quarter of a century ago, and that is a very decent hourly rate for the property owners.
You’d imagine that there should be a system in place where if the big tech supermarkets get things wrong with their stupid systems, they have to have to fork over some free stuff as compensation. I’d be good with that. But what you endured (and me as well) is known as public humiliation, and I avoid such places now. And there was no cost for them to do that to you.
We’re both dealing with a plethora of hungry critters whom have no concern for our sensibilities. It’s not nice is it?
Cheers
Chris
Hi DJ,
A mid winter wedding is a very rare thing, due to rain, cold weather and stuff. 🙂 We were hardier than that, and chanced on having a garden ceremony in an old Victorian era bandstand rotunda. Then headed off to a booked restaurant. Sandra’s mum was so nervous driving us on the way to the ceremony, that she almost killed the three of us in a car accident. We yelled ‘STOP!’, which fortunately happened. 🙂 But then she may not have been feeling all that well, for she died unexpectedly a few months later.
Your lady’s maths skills are superb, and working through the equations I started to feel confused and nervous, which was probably my general vibe in relation to that tricksy arithmetic subject. Respect to you for your superior skills, and clearly there must be something in the water in Spokane to produce this general level of computational excellence! 😉
You got me laughing. A friend’s dad used to say to me in relation to marriage, that people got less time for murder. He had a very dry sense of humour.
More rain today, so we did paid work all day long. It’s filthy outside and the property now has several creeks and tarns where none previously existed. Almost 112mm has fallen since Monday, and it is surprisingly damp outside.
Ruby just stole Ollie’s rawhide chew. Those Kelpies are quite mean to the big dog.
We’re battling mice again, but this time in the chicken enclosure. The tricksy tiny rodents have burrowed under the concrete slab for the hen house. There are deep concrete trenches around the chicken run already, but it never occurred to me that they’d do what they are clearly doing. I just went outside and gave the wily critters all a proper ‘what for’ massive fright. Might have to dig some trenches around the slab. Oh well.
Youch! The dog clobber on the knee was bad, the slobber was worse. Dogs get into an excited zone when they hit peak zoomy. You got lucky the knee was not seriously injured. When a person hears ringing in their ears, feels woozy and gets the sweats, things are bad indeed. Fortunately you recovered.
Fingers crossed that you get some more rain this month and the next. An average number really conveys a possibility, and has some use, but conditions can vary. Some January months (your July), the sky gives nothing. Those are tough years.
But also super productive years, if you have the water. The soil heats up enough to grow plants which may otherwise not be possible in cooler years, such as err, melons. They need a hot summer.
Enchiladas for dinner this evening, veg of course. 🙂
You’d hope that the fictional work: Buttercup’s Baby allegedly by the author Mr King, would read like the nod to the book: Rosemary’s Baby, would suggest. Buttercup was a lot of trouble, and clearly Mr Goldman was possessed by something during the creative process. Or maybe he just set out to recount a fun tale to his daughters?
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
The mice clearly comprehend the risk they run with the once-we-were-dinosaur crew. And I’ve watched the birds destroy a mouse nest. Take no prisoners! The rodents keep a low profile during the day, and scamper around with abandon at night when the chickens are asleep. Fortunately, the pesky critters showed me their exit points, which I’ve now blocked up. We’ve got some work to do with the chicken enclosure.
It had never occurred to me that the mice would tunnel under the hen house concrete slab, and thus avoid the deep concrete trenches of the chicken run. I can learn. I’ll dig some trenches around the slab, and backfill them with cement mix. Easy, and the problem goes away, until the next trick…
Not really! 🙂 Hey, this is meant to be the driest inhabited continent on the planet, we don’t have phrases for this sort of damp thing! This week alone, a bit under five inches of rain has fallen over the property. And closer to the centre of the continent, Lake Eyre hasn’t been this full since 1974. Here there are streams running and puddles, which is not what you’d expect to see on sloping land. Too wet to do anything outside.
With the car service this week, we discovered that one of the wheels is buckled, and I had this confirmed by the local tyre (tire) place. The state goobermint has reduced expenditure on repairing the roads, and my costs have gone the other way, up due to car repairs. It’s not a simple thing to get a new wheel. Far out! Oh well, that’s decline for ya!
I agree with the Professor’s observations regarding wildfire. Spot on, and the explanation applies equally well down here. That’s how it works.
It’s not good when part of your social life disappears for a bit. Of course, another suggestion may be that the universe is forcing you to road test your backup coffee plan. I hear your ‘nothing fancy’ claim, but am curious: is the caffeinated result any good? And I do so enjoy an Anzac biscuit with a coffee, but truly it would be no hardship to swap in a jam drop. Dunno why that last suggestion popped into the consciousness.
Hehe! Go H the feisty little scamp! And who knew she had that level of fighting spirit in her? Like your allergy excuse (and have noted and filed it for future use). Dogs can’t consume everything that a human can, so I tend to put a stop on such treat activities too.
Time sure does keep on slippin’. Actually, I thought that the Steve Miller band was singing the word ‘trippin’. Candidly the sentence makes more sense with the word ‘slippin’, don’t you reckon? The additional years probably adds more wisdom, and hey, that’s what I’m telling myself anyway. It may even be true.
A young lady was instructing me to use faceplant marketplace to look something up this morning. Then she gave me this sort of quizzical look and asked whether I even use faceplant. To which I replied: I don’t use that. I’m old! Scored a laugh. But see, there are some benefits to this age stuff. 😉 Are we irascible though? I don’t think so.
With all of the rain this week, the entrance to those burrows should be easy to spot. Absolutely 100%, those critters will be around here. I’ll bet that the claws are useful in fighting off inquisitive rodents.
Actually, the urea is a good idea as it marks your territory in the mind of a deer. They too mark their spots with piles of poop – which should be gotten rid of if found in your area. I cover them with ashes, which disguises the smell and helps the soil. It baffles me that so much urea is produced in our civilisation, much of which goes to waste. They’re having to build a new plant for the stuff way up on the north east coast of the continent. There’s more gas up there. Interestingly, it’s not for fertiliser, but apparently for Ad Blue – the nitrogen additive for diesel engines.
Good stuff, and hope the fireworks display is good. I’d dodge the BBQ. 🙂
What a film! Was it good? The trailer went off. He’s the Beekeeper film dude. Cool. I see that Bill Nighy was in the film as well.
More rain tomorrow, so more paid work.
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – I hope your deer don’t start tunneling. 🙂 Maybe they’re taking lessons, from the mice, rats … and wombats.
Living way down in the south, you may not have heard the term, “the wet.” It refers to the monsoon season, up in north/central Australia. And then there’s the early 1950s book, by Neville Shute, “In the Wet.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_the_Wet
Could be worse. Might have broke an axel. Here, the side streets are a mess. Not kind to an old man’s bladder 🙂 . I see they finally threw a little asphalt on the street between The Institution and the old hospital (now a treatment center), across the street. Apparently, it’s not an official city street. The treatment center and us, must have finally pounded out a deal.
Our high yesterday was 66F (18.88C). Our overnight low was 54F (12.22C). Our forecast high for today is 69F. Creeping up there. We could use some hot weather, to give the gardens a jolt. I’m getting some green cherry tomatoes. I have a lettuce plant, that’s about a meter tall, and beginning to go to flower. I’ll save seed. Although there’s usually a volunteer or two, that is easy to relocate when it sprouts. I’m still getting tasty leaves, off the lower level of the stalk. I saw a few European honey bees, this morning. Working over the red onion pom-poms.
One of my sunflowers was falling over, and I needed to buck it up with some garden soil. The almost empty bag was leaning against the side of my raised bed. And guess who was clinging to the side of the sack? Edwin the Wandering Snail. I moved him back to the snail sanctuary. Again. 🙂
With my dead taste buds, I really can’t tell a good cup of coffee, from bad. Though fresh out of the pot, I find it pretty tasty. But, if it sits on the burner for, say, an hour, it’s pretty thick. Chewy. To me, not a bad taste, just different. I can tell Kona, from other coffees. Nice stuff.
Lots of songs about time. My favorite is “Ain’t it Funny, How Time Slips Away.” Written and performed by Willie Nelson. And covered, by numerous artists.
https://youtu.be/iZaZqx9v3dU?si=1dL_vSadXDUctPnq
You don’t get to be irascible, until you get close to my age. You’ll get an invite, in the mail, to join the union. 🙂
I’d hoped the deer would leave some poop, to help fertilize the gardens. Seemed like a fair trade, to me. I hadn’t even thought about the aspect of them “marking their territory.” Yikes! If I come across some, I’ll dispose of it, and sprinkle ash, as you suggested.
I watched “Shelter” last night. It was worth a bowl of popcorn, but, sort of predictable. Jason Stratham’s character has been hiding out in an abandoned light house, for ten years. Why is revealed in the film. Due to not following instructions, a young woman manages to kill her uncle, and blow Stratham’s cover. So, they’re on the run. See? Predictable. And I kept wondering, “Where did she get that posh accent?” Lew
Chris:
I don’t know if the younger folks are listening to you and I. You have a public voice, so I hope so. A little hard to tell in my house, though sometimes I see my ideas being used as someone thinks they thought of them first . . . 🙂
Then you wiping out the rats (temporarily) has let the mouse population increase. Our wood rats don’t eat mice. I have seen no rats this summer, though some got in the greenhouse in the winter. I was thinking about the deer today and what their naturals predators are. Here, they were wolves (Wolf Trap Road is near me) and mountain lions/cougars/pumas. I would rather have to deal with the deer than worry about those dangerous critters. Our coyotes can catch a small enough fawn, but not an older deer.
It was 102F (38.9C) here today. From the University of California:
“Above 95 degrees, tomato plants will stop growing, their flowers are not able to pollinate and fruit cannot fully ripen. At high temperatures, fruit can actually suffer sunburn and plant stress can lead to increased susceptibility to pests and diseases.”
The beans did wait, but I have now picked more and canned them.
Oh, the auction is on the street; sounds like a dicey idea. How did the guy cost you $30k?
And I thought triffids were bad. Well, I guess they are; none of these critters has tried to eat me.
Something interesting is that, with these super extreme temps and almost no rain since last fall, supposedly there are zero wildfires in the state of Virginia. Hello, fourth of July.
Pam
Hi Pam,
Let’s just say that I too hold some doubts on that subject. This is a long form essay blog which isn’t the same thing at all as a quick attention grabber which the kids prefer. And ain’t that the truth? Sometimes all we can but do, is plant the seed of an idea, and hope it germinates in fertile mind soil.
That’s been my thinking on the whole ‘mouse are the IT critter, this year’. The only reason that mice have had success at this location is that they were previously able to break into the house, and also now the chicken enclosure. Such places are like endless supplies of feed – and the blighters took a third of the chicken pellets last night. This has to stop. But until then, the little mousey ones, have out-bred their larger ratty rodent cousins, who’d otherwise eat them. Fixing the rat problem meant that I’ve created a mouse problem.
Today was another dreary gloomy wet winter’s day. Spent most of it indoors on paid work. The plan is for tomorrow to dig trenches around the hen house, then back fill them with cement. The mouse problem then goes away, for a long while.
Broke a wheel on the car on a pothole. Not a fan, and an expensive fix. You’d think that a replacement from the car wreckers would be cheap, but no.
Pam, your bears are bad enough, but the thought of having to deal with wolves and/or mountain lions when on a casual walk outdoors, is just the icing on the cake. Us humans have a tendency to wipe out such predators, who’d otherwise feast on us, our pets and livestock. But then by doing so, we throw the entire ecosystem into an unbalanced state, and the deer population rejoices and booms.
Yeah, the dogs here, even big Ollie, has zero chance with a stag.
Oh poop, that’s getting up there for temperatures. July will be your hot month, I reckon. Does it ever get hotter than 102’F in your area? Hope the nights are cooler for you.
Well, that report about tomatoes depends. I’ve heard that study before, and noted that tomatoes have survived much hotter temperatures here in an unshaded greenhouse. Total poop! The ‘d’ key on the keyboard is playing up today… The report never states what variety of tomato they were growing, how much water the plants received and when. How deep and fertile was the soil they were planted in. How many hours of clear daylight the vines were subjected too. Was there any shade, etc. Yep, the results sound convincing, but what do they really mean?
There are so many different variables involved in that equation that pointing to one i.e. temperature, then claiming it as an absolute limit, makes no sense to me. Far out, summer days can get to 114’F here, and the tomato vines and fruit do not do what the report suggests.
Very good, and respect for doing the early hours canning the beans. 🙂
Yeah, all on the street and in full view of the public. The auctions are a bit of street theatre really, and usually attract a crowd. You may now appreciate why the old biddy chose that moment in the aftermath of a failed auction, to publicly stick the metaphorical knife in with the impractical suggestion.
The guy cost me $30k in minutes, because he didn’t stop bidding. I had to go head to head in a bidding war with the bloke. It was a touch nerve wracking I can tell you, because at that moment, I did not have a plan B. The century old house was a dump too, but with solid structural bones in a good street.
Hehe! The critters haven’t tried to eat you, that you are aware of!!! Truly when the mice invaded the house a few months ago, I was dreaming of them, and in that dream state could smell them. Were they in front of my face at the time, probably. Three weeks of very disturbed sleep. But yeah, do please watch out for Triffids!
Don’t they like using fireworks on that celebratory day? For those fire concerns, fireworks are generally banned down here. What could possibly go wrong?
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
Oh my! What a thought, a tunnelling deer… 🙂 Both Kangaroos and Wallabies are adept at clambering under fences, and their friends the wombats, love digging easy access holes below fences. It’s a marsupial cabal working in concert to eat everything!
Thanks for the correction, and whilst I’ve travelled in those tropical areas of the continent, it was only during ‘the dry’. I’ve heard stories as to what the build up prior to the monsoon season feels like, and the combination of humidity and heat could make a dinosaur properly psychotic. It’s too far south here for such climate effects, but, some summer afternoons you’ll experience the build up to a monster thunderstorm, which kind of looks and acts like a monsoon.
Ook! “The England of the 1983 in the story is a technically advanced country that has been abused and bled dry by Socialism.” Did Nevil Shute have a crystal ball did he? 🙂
The rural roads in this state are a mess too, and the goobermint said they are planning to reduce funding for repairs this budget year. Concerns about regional road repairs despite $1b funding in Victorian budget. It saved them some mad cash sure, but it cost me $900 today to fix the wheel situation.
The young lady at the business was really quite exuberant and demanded to know what I was up to for the weekend. I really prefer not to say, and instead mumbled something about it’d be nice if the rain held off for a bit. I just wasn’t in the right frame of mind to wheel out the A-bomb, “I’ve gotta go to a funeral” It’s not nice, but sometimes you need ammunition when dealing with extroverts!
Well yes, and that bladder concern is very real too. Not nice to be subjected to rotten roads when you’ve gotta go. It’s funny where roads are paved, and where they aren’t. In rural areas you hear rumours about such deals, and pork barrelling etc.
It’s sure turned cold where you are. 66’F for summer is just not cricket. It reached about 50’F here today, and feels much colder tonight. Rained on and off for most of the day, and was another indoors day doing paid work. Cabin fever is taking hold…
Tomorrow will hopefully be different. I want to dig the trenches around the concrete slab for the hen house. The mouse invasion must stop, for the rodents are taking our jobs and grains! Not a fan.
Last night, the pesky miceies ate a third of the contents of the chicken’s grain feeder. I can’t sustain that sort of loss.
And during the process of checking out what was going on tonight with the mice and chickens, Ollie and I startled both a ring-tail and brush-tail possum. It’s feral out there!
Yeah, your plants really do need a jolt of sunshine to get them growing again. The eastern half of your nation is doing it a bit too hot to handle. Is a heat dome, a made up chunk of weather terminology?
That’s a big lettuce plant! Hey, the leaves of that lot get super tough when they begin producing seed. Wise to save some seed given it’s decent track record. Go the bees! And they really enjoy Allium family flowers, as do many of the local pollinating insects.
Edwin the wandering snail lives up to his namesake and sure does get around! 🙂 A rather adventurous soul, but that one seems to be blessed with more than the usual dose of good luck. I’ve never grown sunflowers, and do they occasionally fall over? They seem rather gangly and top heavy… … Oh, I read a very scientific paper on the subject, and learned very little. So I like your strategy with simply mounding the stems back up again.
Fair enough, and I’m hearing you about that dead taste bud issue, and don’t mind the flavour of cucumbers nowadays. Exposure to the vegetable in the venerable Bahn Mi roll is probably assisting matters.
Oooo, the coffee on burner for an hour trick is unknown to me. I’ll take your word for that. Whoa! A Kona coffee is also unknown to my palate, but I have heard only good things about the black volcanic mineral rich soils on those big islands. The halo model, I’d have to suggest. 🙂
Willie is a great. And maybe he has the irascible card too? Probably earned the right. At the end of the song, the look on his face was pure joy – because he nailed that performance. I’ll eagerly await on the invitation letter.
It’s probably not a bad idea to get rid of any deer poop you spot. Deer use that scent like territory markers. They take a dump in piles of pellets too, so they’re not hard to find. Wood ash has many valuable uses, and that is one of them. I’ve manually applied urea to the mounds, and it isn’t as effective.
Thought you may appreciate some WWII history from down under. I’d mentioned to you previously that I came across a reference to riots during those days, but to say it was all hushed up, is an understatement. Anyway, probably a slow news day happened, and the beans got spilled: How tensions between Australian and American troops sparked the ‘Battle of Brisbane’ in WWII. All seemed good natured, before, probably during, and in the aftermath! Probably cathartic for all involved.
We’ve all been there with the not following stupid instructions business, and just look at the ensuing trouble! Some of the comments to the film trailer said much the same thing as your observation: A predictable story was what the viewers wanted all along with that character! Did you discover where the young lady developed the posh accent? Some folks work at that act until it becomes natural. I try not to alienate people, but freely admit I have the story the whole wrong way around.
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – Let’s hope Nevil Shute’s crystal ball is unreliable. He did, after all, write “On the Beach.” One of the sidebars, in the articles you linked to, was about the Northern Bear considering nuclear options.
That was quit an article, about the road repair budget. Have you ever noticed that the posh end of your mountains, the roads are in better repair? Asphalt is getting more and more pricey, being petroleum based. Rural roads will eventually all go back to gravel. And, it wouldn’t surprise me if some of the side streets, in town, will also go that route.
At least the farmers are getting some diesel fuel backup. Though one fellow estimated it was only 9 days worth. The side-bar, “Winners and Losers” (in the budget) was interesting. I noticed small business was listed as a loser.
If I break an axel, I’ll show up at a city council meeting, with the bill. I doubt I’ll get a penny out of them but it might make a bit of a media splash.
I think, but I’m not sure, that Prof. Mass has used the term “heat dome” So, I guess it’s a real thing. Our high yesterday was 70 (21.11C). Our overnight low was 59F (15C). Our forecast high for today is 75F. Much to my surprise, when I took H out for her walk, I didn’t have to water. It had rained. Not a lot, but enough to wet everything down.
I suppose if I chop the lettuce leaves up fine, and sautée them like Swiss chard, they’d be palatable. The other night I had some sourdough muffins, with tomato, Swiss cheese and secret sauce. 🙂 I also had a layer of finally chopped chard. I had washed it, and let it droop, for a couple of hours. I nuke the muffins for a minute or so, enough to melt the cheese. I can’t say I noticed any added flavor. But I’ll settle for added vitamins and minerals. 🙂
Last night, Edwin was on the sidewalk next to the snail sanctuary. All fine and good, but he was flanked by two small slugs. Do slugs kill snails, or vis versa? Opinions down the rabbit hole vary. But, I carefully smooshed the slugs, leaving Edwin to feast, if that was his intention.
I grow the sunflowers in a corner of the strawberry patch. Next to a post with bird house, on top. Swallows are raising a brood in there. There was some sort of weird soil subsidence, in that corner, and one sunflower had toppled over. I think the soil underneath my soil mix, had settled, causing a small cave in. Any-who. What I usually do is loosely tie them to the post, when they get to be about a meter tall. With a double strand of jute. I’ve seen Mammoth sunflowers grown without support, and they seem to do just fine. But I plant with an eye to anchoring them.
Kona coffee has more caffeine, than regular coffee. It’s rich and dark. I have half a bag in the fridge, that I’ve been saving for a ‘special occasion.’ It’s been in there a long time. It’s expensive, but you ought to look for a small quantity to trial.
“…overpaid, oversexed, and over here.” The same cry was heard on the British home front. G.I.s were issued booklets on how to comport themselves, on foreign soil. To play down, or not mention at all, disparities. One has to remember that a lot of the G.I.s were 18 and 19 year old boys, who’d never been off the farm.
During the war, here in the States, disasters and such were underreported. In the interest of morale. Such as a plane crashing into the Empire State Building, or the Hartford circus fire.
No indication as to where the young ladies posh accent came from. And, she also knew how to play chess. Her “guardian” seemed to be her uncle, a trawler captain. No mention as to what happened to mum and dad. I half expected Stratham to announce that he was her father. Didn’t happen. Well, it worked for “Star Wars.” 🙂 Lew
Chris:
Oh give me a “dreary gloomy wet winter’s day”! Another 102F day again. Nights have been upper 70s, not great. I don’t know how long this has been going on. It made me nervous in town today and driving back on the 2 lane highway. What if I got stuck in a traffic jam or stopped on the 2 lane by an accident (have spent a couple of hours trapped there before). I would seriously rather drive in a snowstorm.
Wow, I don’t remember breaking a wheel, though there have been a lot of flat tires. How could a mere pothole do that? Makes me think of my ancestors (maybe) on the Sante Fe Trail.
If we only ate the deer, as had always been done by the people before us, the problem would be solved.
But I can’t help it that I am a sissy; I was raised that way.
Ah! You mean I should let my own tomato results speak for themselves? And I will, if the squirrels leave any.
What a jerk. Was that the old house that ya’ll renovated?
The City of Charlottesville is still holding their annual fireworks display and, as far as I know, people are still allowed to do them at home as there is no active burn ban in place. Say what?!
Pam
Chris,
I used to play a lot of Cribbage. I taught the Princess to play. She swears to this day that the way I totaled points was cheating. She says that her “Princess math” is based on how I counted points in Cribbage. 😉 Well, there is always “Bistromathics” and “Sofamathics” from various episodes in the Douglas Adams books.
Sofamathics came from “Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency”. Basically, moving a sofa is not a reversible process. I had just read that book when my future brother-in-law and I were moving my sister’s furniture into an apartment. The layout from the hallway into the room was wonky. We got the sofa completely jammed in the doorway. Having just read Dirk Gently, I suggested that if we tried to move the sofa back into the hallway, the process being irreversible would mean that the sofa would move IN to the apartment. Both sister and her beau shook their heads in disgust. Naturally, my idea worked.
Some years later when she was moving out of that apartment, her beau suggested that he remove a window and shove the sofa out the window. I said not to bother, that we would get the sofa stuck tightly in the doorway, try to move it back inside, and that the irreversible process meant that the sofa would slide right OUT into the hallway. “Opposite of how we moved it in,” I said. He reluctantly tried that. Naturally, my idea worked, having read Dirk gently several times, and when the sofa popped into the hallway my future in-law said some words that I dare not repeat here.
Dame Avalanche steals whatever Killian the Red is chewing. Right out of his mouth. Kelpies and huskies think they own the world.
UGG, sorry about the mice problem. I know that you’ll get this round sorted out, too. Probably proper concrete again? By the time the Mouse Battalions are vanquished, you might have to invent a better mousetrap. Fernglade’s Better Moustrap, patent pending. I bet you’d prefer an end to the Rodent Campaigns, lest they begin to compare in length to the 30 Years’ War or even (shudder) the Hundred Years’ War.
We watched a lot of World Cup matches the past two days. The Princess chooses which team to cheer for based on their jersey colors. Purple always earns her favor. Otherwise, it’s red. Egypt was wearing red jerseys, Australia their typical green and yellow. Even the Australian goalkeeper in purple wasn’t enough to gain her favor from the Egyptian team all in red.
We need a new roof. Building material costs are hideous. We got estimates today. Same company Young Neighbor used for her new roof 18 months ago. They’ve done other roofing and siding and window projects in the neighborhood. Quality materials, quality workmanship. These are better materials than what was used 25 years ago. The way the new roof will be done will provide significantly better ventilation for the house’s attic, too.
DJSpo
Hi Pam,
I used to know a local bloke who’d say to me: “Aw geez, I dunno.” And those words popped into my head at your wish for a gloomy wintry day. 🙂 I can still hear exactly how he’d say that too. Anywhoo, it’s pretty wet out there… Are you really sure about that wish?
Despite being rained on, we dealt a harsh blow to the puny rodent band of wascally webels. The evil fluff empire strikes back! Mind you, they’ve been troubling me for months now. We dug deep trenches around the hen house, and then backfilled them with cement. It’s a truth universally acknowledged that mice are unable to dig through concrete.
Pam, it’s not nice to do this sort of stuff, but there are some simple rules here the rodents have to follow: a) Keep out from under, or in the house; and b) Keep out of the chicken enclosure. They knew the rules, and took their chances. Turns out for them, it was a bad idea.
Where rodents have access to unlimited food and water, plus protection from the usual forest predators, two mice quickly turn into thirty. Best not to allow those fortuitous conditions to come within their twitchy nosed little grasp.
Hmm. An interesting thought, and I too have been caught in such stationary traffic. Did you know that vehicle engines use quite a bit of fuel just idling and doing nothing. Best to ensure that the fuel tank is kept pretty full as often as possible – and there are other geopolitical reasons that might be a good idea too. Does your vehicle have working air conditioning? By the way, a rat chewed through the pressure hose for that system in a car many years ago. A nasty end for the hose and Rattus. It happened to be the most expensive hose in the vehicle too. Not a fan of rats.
I’m hearing you about that, and you’d probably be horrified by the sort of road conditions we have to deal with down under. A big enough pothole, can destroy both tire and wheel.
Pam, I’m too soft for that with the deer as well. The one I shot a few months back, ended up being a gift to the forest critters. There is almost nothing left of the big herbivore now, and I’d not realised how thorough the forest critters would be. The ferns growing in that area, also enjoyed a good feed and are looking good. I’m not mucking around, going to the shop to buy ammo feels super naughty, as in I’m not meant to be doing this! So I hear you about that. Aren’t we thoroughly adaptable to circumstance?
Oh poop, those naughty squirrels. I read an account from a bloke who moved down under, but had his origins in the PNW a bit south of Lewis and DJ but in Oregon. Anywhoo, he recommended fencing with a hot wire on top to give the climbing critters a bit of a fright. They know the rules, and have to moderate their behaviour. Or maybe they don’t know the rules? Charlene would never have tolerated this unruly mischief!
That’s the one. It’s in a rather posh inner urban area now, but in those days still had some raffish charm, which I’d like to believe that we added too. A famous sculptor lived across the road and he was chuffed that we put our washing out to dry in the front yard on washing horses in the summer sun. The other neighbours had issues. I liked that bloke and he let me use his workshop and tools for metal fabrication and we had some good chats. Peter Corlett.
My gut feeling about the fireworks in the prevailing conditions, is not good. Fingers crossed that nothing goes wrong.
Cheers
Chris
Hi DJ,
Man, my education was so poor, that I’ve never played Cribbage. Awful isn’t it? Ah, an old game with considerable strategy and heritage. Hmm. Where are the likes of the 17th century cavalier poet Sir John Suckling, nowadays? Some folks are put on this planet to entertain us all, whilst fleecing us blindly! I’d suggest that the gentleman was good at cards, because he sent out many carefully marked packs beforehand for his err, friends and acquaintances usage. Not that he needed the mad cash in those days, did he? But probably later he did.
Well, those are arcane areas of knowledge, and the field of nonabsoluteness has for sure been tested by a group of friends at a restaurant. The relativity as to whether a $25 cocktail has the same numerical weight as a $15 pint of tap beer, is a subject which has been subject to debate for generations. My brain cannot operate at that advanced maths level, owing to the proximity of the school bully in year nine, and equal portions of the final bill are far easier to calculate.
You have the natural advantage here, but I’m tending to lean towards the alternative idea that your lady is correct in these matters.
Thanks for the laughs (and memories) in relation to Dirk Gently. That sofa stuck in the stair well played an amusing minor sub plot, which was kind of fun. We’ve all been there, and respect for resolving the problem, twice!
🙂 How do we know that Kelpies and Huskies don’t? That’s the real question here. It’s been my observation that dogs operate on the old school rule of: Possession is nine tenths of the law. Ollie is way too tolerant with those two young ladies.
All three finally got to run around outdoors today. It hadn’t stopped raining, the wet stuff was just less intense. We dug trenches around the hen house slab, then backfilled those with cement. The puny mice wesistance, has faced a savage blow from the better wesourced might of the evil fluff empire! Liquid wock is a wondaful pwoduct! 🙂 I’ve got a good friend in Wome, you know!
Sorry for the dodgy Life of Brian pun.
Oh my! 30 years, or a century of this sort of rodent silly business, would test my patience. They know the rules… Fingers crossed that this is it for them inside the house or chicken enclosure.
Ah well, having a lucky colour is a great idea, and I wish your lady’s team all the best. And it is known that red goes faster, that’s what they tell me.
Hmm. Yes, this is what I too discovered when constructing the new firewood shed. Material prices are on the up. Still, a roof performs useful functions, and the occasional snow and wind loading on yours would be challenging. Sounds good, and if you want, what sort of materials are we talking about here?
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
I kind of remember you telling me long ago that a broken clock tells the time correctly twice per day, but who knows Nevil Shute may have the last laugh on that subject, although I hope not. Is there really such a thing as a tactical nuclear strike? It was ‘experts’ making that nuclear claim too. And the fuel story in that dust up, is apparently hurting in both directions, all at once. Strange days. Victory often goes to those whom can stay on the battlefield the longest.
Ha! No I hadn’t considered that aspect of the roads, but will take a closer look next week. Report to follow. That’d be my take on asphalt as well. The stuff comes from heavy oils, which are in shorter supply worldwide. Turns out, we’re now using a different standard bitumen which may not last as long under the summer sunshine. C240, instead the more durable in Australian conditions C170. Who knew? Guess it depends on the origins of the stuff: Long-held bitumen standards waived after supply caught in Strait of Hormuz.
Agreed. Sooner or later, streets now paved will return to dirt, and the surface will be cheaper to maintain. I remember discussing this here years ago when I casually mentioned that the local council grade this dirt road I’m on, maybe once a year (whereas if memory serves me correctly, the US experience was a couple of times per year). I reckon a lack of maintenance will make that happen more than a deliberate policy.
Far out! I dealt to the mice today. Dug a trench around the hen house, then backfilled those with cement. That’ll trouble the pesky rodents. Just went out with Dame Plum and I bopped one mouse, and I reckon there are another three stuck inside the chicken enclosure now. They were living in a nest under the concrete slab that the hen house was constructed on. Now they can’t exit due to deep trenches all the way around. We’ll see what happens from here, but it’s a bit hands on…
And it rained too on and off whilst doing that work. Not fun. But better to get onto the task and put an end to the rodent mischief.
Yeah, singling small business out was a weird act on the part of the goobermint with tax reform. But then, they can print mad cash, so they’re doing OK, for now. I got the impression that basically they want more mad cash to go into the financial industry, and discovered a rich source of funds. It’d be OK if they didn’t claim to be addressing inter generational wealth inequality. It’s sort of like sacking people, and then claiming that it was because of arty-fish-al stuff, when that may not have been the case. I dunno, not how I’d organise things.
Ha! I’d like to see that! And I doubt that any funds for the vehicle repairs would be forthcoming.
Oh poop! There was that 2021 Northwest heat dome you went through. Forgot about that, very unpleasant conditions. Now just enough summer rain to not have to water, that’s good, and 75’F sounds delightful. Meant to be a cold one here tomorrow, 44’F. Brr!
That’s the way to do it with tough lettuce leaves. Very funny, and sounds like a tombstone secret recipe. 🙂 Chard doesn’t have a lot of flavour, just plenty of goodness. When I was kid, they’d boil the leaves, and that’s not an ideal preparation method. Let’s just say that when the call came to cook meals at an early age, I was motivated.
Maybe Edwin was on the verge of slam-dunking the two slugs? I’d have thought that a snail could outpace a slug. Hang on a second… … Whoa! Edwin was in grave danger there, and you did him a solid. Hope he appreciates all your efforts?
Fingers crossed that the soil subsidence wasn’t due to the activity of burrowing rodents? Sorry, my mind has been considering their activities of late. 🙂 Yeah, soil does compact and settle, and you can see that in raised garden beds. I’ve seen photos of large stands of the mammoth sunflowers, and they look great, but I’ll bet plenty of them fall over. Corn sometimes does that trick as well, which can be a nuisance. I tie that lot up too, just in case.
I’ll keep my eye out for Kona coffee, as it could be pretty interesting. A special treat, is just the thing for a special occasion. 🙂 Most people I know tend to have grinders for the coffee beans, and it gives a better flavour. I’ve just never gotten that deeply into the subject and the grinding machines are finicky and require maintenance.
Hey, the local fella’s probably didn’t measure up to the G.I.’s, or that was the impression I was left with after reading the article. And exactly, they were young blokes off on an adventure. The city of Brisbane was near to the front line in the Coral Sea and the Pacific, but not under any imminent threat of Japanese attack. I got the impression too, that there’d been some drinking involved leading up to those events, and tensions were already taut.
I’d not heard of that aircraft accident. What the heck? One of the injured in the building was sent down in an elevator with damaged cables which dropped 75 floors – and the lady survived the drop with critical injuries.
I was expecting that plot device as well, but is it worse to leave that aspect of the story unresolved?
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – I didn’t know that bitumen came in “flavors” either What doesn’t, these days. Tar roads may make a comeback. I see the tar is distilled from coal or wood. I’ve read stories where kids used to chew on the tar, like gum, during hot weather. It was discontinued as it is carcinogenic, and “environmental factors.” Interesting that the councils have been advised to adjust their maintenance schedules. But will they?
Take heart, brother Chris. The mouse wars will be long, but you will be victorious! 🙂
Our high yesterday was 70F (21.11C). Our overnight low was 54F (12.22C). Our forecast high for today is 57F. I picked up a book from the library, the other day. I can manipulate my hold list, a bit, to pick what to release to me. Not many DVDs in the pipeline, so, I get more books.
I’ve read the introduction and first chapter. “The Summer of Death: The Great Heat Wave of 1936 and the Making of Modern-Day America.” (Williams, 2026). Pretty much as what’s happening, today. After a record setting cold winter, a heat wave set in. It covered the whole U.S., and the death toll was high. Went on for months.
I’ll get back to it, after I finish “American Rambler: Walking the Trail of Johnny Appleseed.” (Fitzgerald, 2026.) I’m about 50 pages in, and it’s a good read.
https://www.npr.org/2026/05/28/nx-s1-5831078/american-rambler-isaac-fitzgerald-book-review
Oh, I doubt I’d shake any money out of our council, for vehicle repair. But if there was a bit of a local media splash, it might shame them into action. At least for awhile. 🙂
Speaking of food, I saw an interesting article on the favorite foods from another corner of the Empire. Canada! Some sounds pretty tasty. Some of it sounds like “fair” food. Tis the season.
https://www.cnn.com/travel/canadian-food-best-dishes
I saw Edwin, again, last night. Pretty much in the same spot, and, once again. with a small slug trying to cozy up to him. I gave it the old double tap. I notice that Edwin cleans up the deceased slugs. No sign of them, the next morning.
The Victorian’s loved their kitchen gismos. In the tat trade, there were plenty of old coffee grinders, out there. You might search e-buy, “Antique Coffee Grinders.” Or, probably less expensive, “Reproduction antique coffee grinders.” There were plenty kicking around.
https://antiquesknowhow.com/antique-coffee-grinder/
Probably a couple of decades ago, I read a book about the plane crashing into the Empire State Building. The engine of the plane shot through the building, and crashed to the street, below. Back then, people took the weekends as a time out, more seriously. It happened on a Saturday. The building was pretty empty, which resulted in the relatively low death toll.
The cost of a Lindt, high octane chocolate bar, at the yuppie discount store is still $4+. I won’t buy any until it falls below $4. I still have a pretty good stash, in my fridge. Given I only eat 2 squares, every third day. I’ll have to remember to check the price at Winco.
Well, it’s the 4th of July. Fireworks started blasting off, early in the AM. As there will be no aerial displays, until after dark, these are just noise makers. Which irritates the heck out of me. I have never understood the urge, to make noise, just to make noise. And you kids get off my lawn! 🙂 Lew
Chris,
Just a short note. I know you need to start writing soon.
First, your puns were more than welcome. I enjoy that kind of PUNishment. 😉
Second…Prior to the match with Egypt Friday, Aussie football fans took over a Walmart in Arlington, Texas and were sort of partying. Police had to come to escort them out. The Aussies, naturally, wouldn’t go quietly. The entire group, apparently, began chanting “We’re getting deported!” https://www.foxnews.com/outkick-sports/aussie-soccer-fans-took-over-texas-walmart-chanting-were-getting-deported-police-escorted-out
DJSpo
Hi DJ,
Ha! You saw my pun, and raised me a goodie! Thanks. 🙂
Ah, all very Aussie and stuff. Yes, their chanting did the country proud, and unfortunately based on the outcome of the game, pride doth goeth before a fall.
Actually, that Walmart stuff was an inspired variation. The traditional chant was born in the hallowed grounds of the Melbourne Cricket Ground, bay 13. Years ago, that was the traditional seated area which sold beer in plastic cups – for practical reasons.
Here is the sanitised version: Why is Bay 13… BAY 13?! Full disclosure, I used to be a voting member of that Club.
The unsanitised version: Bay 13 MCG Australia Vs England. Typical summer scenes.
Now, back to the soccer folks. In a touch of Aussie cleverness, they flipped the bay 13 chant on it’s head in your US instance. You can see the cultural development here, and the previous video has some context. The cheeky louts at the cricket would chant: You’re going home in the back of a divy van!
It is a reference to the hallowed act of being escorted by the constabulary into the nearest divisional van for sobering up and being properly charged with disorderly conduct – a rite of passage for some folks. You can even see the cops in the video grinning at the prospect of escorting yet another idiot, thus improving their KPI’s for the week. He did kind of ask for that treatment, as did the walmart larrikins! If I may, the socceroos had their day in the sun, and the fans supported their warriors and wanted home again. The easiest way was through deportation. This is thinking way outside the box.
And you thought those green and gold hooligans were half asleep at the wheel!
Cheers and seriously, I better get writing!
Chris
Hi Lewis,
Without your mention of asphalt and bitumen materials, I’d never have thought of the subject, so respect! 🙂 I guess that is the main issue with oil products, few people on the street have any understanding as to the general excellence of the products they consume with the merest of second thoughts. A lovely person over at Mr Greer’s interweb site discussed the general weirdness I’d observed with gas bottles in the past few months. It felt awful to mention that not all gases supplied have the same calorific value by volume / weight, so who knows what is actually being supplied! I’m freaked out, but that may be a side effect of just considering and taking a looksie under the bonnet of things to see what is actually going on.
Well yeah, and hey in Victorian era times, they used to send orphans up into chimneys to clean out that tar, which has also been described elsewhere by the name, creosote. The young folks in those days did it super tough and lived very short lives.
I too wonder about the councils maintenance schedules, and it is much cheaper to grade and roll a dirt road, than pave it with that oil based product.
Thank you Brother Lewis, and Ollie and I went on patrol an hour ago and noted one baby mouse stuck inside the chook enclosure. It looked as distressed as I was. There maybe more. May the rodent war be over before Christmas, and yet, we both know that there will be sacrifices…
I spotted some article recently which suggested that production of physical media (i.e. DVD’s) have been halted by some distributors. Nothing will fast track the revenge of analogue quicker than that – people will shift to vinyl. It’s probably better mastered anyway giving the product is ending up with actual fans.
Books are the ultimate form of analogue! 🙂
What a delightful journey that Mr Fitzgerald took himself upon, and in finding a bigger world, he may have just peeked under his own hood. Your Club suggests that very act, if I may say so. Although Isaac seemed rather off the wagon at times based on the book review. Still, he took himself outside of his walls and discovered a much bigger world.
Ha! By comparison, the local council here might call the cops if I pulled that trick you mentioned! Truly, it would end badly with convictions, and then I’d have to explain the entire situation to the professional body and suffer their further censure. Easier to simply pay the bill for the new wheels.
Oh yeah, chips and gravy are a thing down here too, but cheese curds? Dunno about that addition. A person would probably have to grow up consuming such items. Think of it like, vegemite. Nobody in other countries understands vegemite! Oh yeah, it was a real mixed bag of fair-esque type food, and some solid local adaptions. The bison burger stood out to me. Did you spot any interesting dishes you’d want to sample?
Hmm. Do you think that perhaps rescuing Edwin from his follies, is perhaps instilling a certain recklessness and blindness to moral hazard? Or, perhaps the snail is just plain ol’ lucky!
Interesting, and thanks for the link to the coffee grinder article. I know! It’s perhaps a subject for another day. Today was equally gloomy, but I spent all day indoors doing paid work. An intriguing problem too. Anywhoo, the Editor and canines took to the outdoors and recounted tales of productive activity. The battery vacuum was used to suck cobwebs from inside the chicken enclosure, and another gabion was sewn up. Nice for some! But I mustn’t grumble, as the English are wont to say.
When doing the daily clean up of the chicken enclosure this morning, the birds discovered the mouse I’d smooshed last night. A massive game of rodent chasey took place. And yeah, they were once dinosaurs, no getting around that. It’s too late now to head over there and deal to the mice tonight. Have to write instead.
Man, that plane was like when the big earthquake struck that city far to the south and west of you, and people weren’t on the roads due to the big game. Sometimes timing is everything, and fortuitous.
Fingers crossed that your Lindt stash lasts the distance. I bought a small pack for the Editor and it was $11 for 250gm. Ah, that is 8.8oz for your reference – and it was on sale.
Oh my! Well, it’s a big year, and a big anniversary for your country. Happy birthday! The random noises might leave me feeling a bit jumpy. Hehe! That last sentence your wrote was funny, and you don’t hear that said nowadays!
Cheers and better get writing!
Chris
Yo, Chris – What is actually going on? Sometimes, what you see, you can’t unsee.
Sometimes, here, they do what they call “resurfacing.” They lay down very fine gravel, roll it, and then oil it. Maybe roll it again. I suppose it keeps the dust down, and some water off the road.
It doesn’t last too long.
I’ve noticed the quality of DVD discs, by some distributors, is going down. They don’t snap right in to my player, like other brands. I usually have to rasp out the center hole, with a rat tailed file. And then I take the end of a letter opener, that is slightly larger, and turn it round and round in the hole, applying some pressure. It works, but really? I think DVDs will be around for quit awhile, yet. Every op shop seems to have hundreds.
The Nanaimo bars looked interesting. I’d heard of them, before. And, although I’m not much of a meat eater, the meat pie Tourtiere looked tasty. Bannock bread appealed. Like fry bread, but you can bake it. Ketchup chips? I’d give them a whirl. The Poudin’s Chomeur, pudding cake looked tasty. It was the maple syrup that got me. 🙂
I’m beginning to think Edwin is a carnivore. No fresh slugs, last night, but he was out doing a clean up.
Our high yesterday was 72F (22.22C). Our overnight low was 50F (10C). Our forecast high for tomorrow is 80F. We’re heading into more warm weather.
So, the fireworks. H and I headed out about 9:30 to take a look. Well, the municipal fireworks, that I could see looked a little … tepid. I suppose everyone is having budget problems. But the recovery business, must be flush. The recovery center / old hospital across the street put on quit a show. Luckily, at the other end of their building. Still felt like we were right under them. Rocket after rocket, for a good hour. And someone down the hill, about a block down, was putting on a show to match. Dawg observed it all, with great interest. I still think she thinks they’re for her benefit. 🙂 By 12:30 it was pretty much all over, except for a few random noise makers. Well, that’s it for another year. On to New Year’s Eve. Lew