The season turned on Saturday. You can feel the difference from only the day beforehand. The sun was different somehow, and even set later. Energy from the local star hitting the skin felt warm, and even produced a light sweat during exertion. Beautiful weather really. With the traditional spring lean period, it was the perfect conditions to work out which critter here will get to eat, and which won’t.
Years ago a local old timer farmer said to me that we’d turned this place into a supermarket for the forest critters. It’s true, grow edibles, and they will come. You have to be prepared for that. At nights, a rather large brush tailed possum and friend climbs through the fruit tree canopy, not all of which is deciduous. At the moment he’s enjoying the flowers and leaves on the large tree lucerne (Chamaecytisus proliferus / tagasaste). A tidy source of winter protein. Two nights ago an owl was stalking the hapless marsupial, and that is how things should be.
There are areas where forest critters are prohibited from entering, and that includes: the house; chicken enclosure; greenhouse; and other fenced areas. Outside of those, there are heaps of other opportunities to get a feed and set up house. It’s just that predators also exist in those places, like the owl stalking the possum. All part of natures balance.
Ten years ago a swarm of locusts arrived. The news media was full of apocalyptic stories. Up north of here, the air intakes of vehicles were protected by homemade mesh, which after a short drive were usually covered in a gooey insect moosh. Things went differently here. The plentiful local birds were a match for the pests, and they destroyed them. A brutal conclusion to the insect mischief. The magpies and co, enjoyed a total feast. The birds breeding cycle is far slower than locusts, so all they got out of the situation was one epic feed. There has to be checks and balances in an environment, lest any one critter takes all.
This year for some unknown reason, Australia has been having a lot of troubles with mice. Regular readers will know that months ago they broke into the house, caused a general nuisance, and ruined my sleep. That little drama took three weeks to sort out, and there are now improved defences in place. Most likely it won’t happen again. Unfortunately, the little rodents also broke into the chicken enclosure.
Once inside the chicken enclosure the mice had as much feed as they could eat, fresh water, and most importantly, protection from predators. Outdoors, the owls, foxes, rats and dogs hunt them relentlessly, and so most of the time the tiny super fast rodents are there, but nervous and in the background. I can’t say with any certainty, how long they’d even been in the chicken enclosure, but there were little mouse babies running around, so it was a problem.
Chickens are notoriously dopey at night. The birds look awake, but they’re sound asleep at the wheel. Years ago in the former chicken enclosure, rats were swarming all over the surfaces, so no wonder the rooster used to crow all night long. Unfortunately for the male bird, I’d not understood what was irritating him, and err, finished him off due to constantly waking me up. Not my finest hour. But once we knew what was going on, we abandoned the existing construction, and built the newer supposedly rodent proof chicken enclosure.
All good things come to an end, and the rats eventually discovered the weak points, and broke into the enclosure many long years ago. Dame Plum and I killed most of those rats. During that process we learned the ways of the rat, and sealed up every little access point, or so we thought. This year, mice discovered one of the tunnels we’d overlooked, and broke in. Then partied. A lot.
Every morning, the chickens would wake up and turn the entire hen house and run upside down so as to hunt the mice. It was a mess most days, and the rodents were consuming an additional 50% extra chicken feed. Not cheap.
Sometimes necessity can be a bit hands on. I killed a few mice over the past few weeks. Others, I sealed up in their hiding places, which is the same thing as killing them, but slower. Last week deep trenches were dug around the outside of the hen house, then backfilled with cement. The mice inside the chicken enclosure had no way of getting out, and were a bit stressed to say the least. Their options were dwindling in a slow grinding war of attrition.
This week I discovered the final hiding place for the mice, and it was a tunnel the rats had dug years ago, which provided safety underneath the concrete slab. The hole had gone unnoticed because the chickens were turning the place upside down every morning hunting rodents. It had been covered over. I spotted the hole at night when the birds were asleep. There is only one way to deal with this situation, dig a deep trench, and back fill it with cement. It’s not a nice end for the mice to be sealed in, but it was an end to the mischief.
It’s not easy to tell, but the trench is about two foot deep, and if you look really carefully, in the centre of the photo, you can see the tunnel. Observant readers will also notice a bird with curiosity issues on the left hand side of the tunnel. She is the lowest in the pecking order, and was the most harassed by the mice and clearly wanted revenge. At night the poor bird had to tuck her head under a wing in order to stop rodents from sampling facial feathers. Some had even been plucked, and I guess it’s a useful source of protein.
Here is a close up of the tunnel entrance, which was quite the little rodent super highway:
What I’ve observed with rats and mice, is that they can tunnel downwards, but it has to be on a gentle incline. I’m yet to see them create a vertical drop like a mineshaft, but they’re clever beasties, so who knows? I stuffed fresh cement deep into that hole, then backfilled the entire trench.
It’s been seven nights now, with no signs of mice activity. I feel bad about sealing the mice in the tunnel with no exits, but on the other hand, they took their chances breaking into the chicken enclosure and have enjoyed a complete party time for a couple of months. The thing is, I get to set the limits and boundaries here, not the rodents. And that is how things roll on a farm.
The weather has been really nice this week, although most mornings have enjoyed a light frost. Way down below in the valley, it was a whole lot colder.
A nearby farm has a view looking south towards the city of Melbourne, and the morning fog has been impressive.
Did I mention that the rats had broken into the greenhouse? Last week we dug a trench below a door, then backfilled it with cement. This week, we tackled the door on the other side of the greenhouse and used the same technique.
A 25mm / 1″ water pipe has to travel through that trench, so the pipe is encased in 32mm conduit, which itself sits inside a 40mm / 1.6″ PVC pipe.
If ever the pipe needs to be replaced, I can simply pull it through the cemented in PVC pipe.
The garden tap was reattached to the pipe, then the trench was backfilled with cement. The rodents may break in to the greenhouse another way, but they’re not getting through concrete!
The weather has been ideal to do a bit of forest clean up work, so two days were spent doing just that. It’s hard work.
There are a huge number of dead saplings in the forest. They can’t compete with the much larger trees for light, minerals or water, and so they die. During a forest fire, those dead dry trees act like wicks lifting the fire into the canopy, which is really bad for the old trees. Fortunately most of the time, the roots are rotten, and you can push the small trees over. They make good firewood too.
An upside down tree stump the loggers had left, was extracted from the ground and rolled down to the bonfire.
It’s physically very demanding work, and so we took a break for a day, and then went back and did some more. Rotten wet tree logs in that area of the forest were also cut up and rolled onto the fire.
Why do we do this work? It’s good for the forest but it’s also noticeable here that a more open forest supports a far greater diversity of life. Plus, there are practical considerations. A lot of this material laying on the ground would fuel a very nasty and hot bushfire. If things aren’t cleaned up and fire sweeps through, then there’ll be so much heat, that everything in that area will die. Even the soil gets sterilised which takes decades to recover. It’s not an ideal outcome. The other practical reality is that sooner or later house insurance is going to be a problem, so it’s probably not a bad idea to reduce the fire risk long before that moment.
As well as firewood, we also gain a very important resource out of this work: Rocks. Lots and lots of them, in all shapes and sizes. A very useful resource for many of the projects around here. Further exploration of the surrounding area, is the one way we avoid the dreaded: Peak Rocks.
In breaking produce news:
Now this is early, very early. A few Asparagus spears have begun pushing out of the soil:
Whilst not produce, for some reason known only to themselves, the local King Parrots at times, follow me around the property. I swear that they’re trying to tell me something. Most likely it’s probably: Look at us, we’re so pretty!
Onto the flowers:
The temperature outside now at about 10am is 8’C (43’F). So far for this year there has been 736.6mm (29.0 inches) which is up from last weeks total of 726.6mm (28.6 inches)
Comments
50 responses to “Always the Sun”
Chris,
Nice. Seal in the mice. They made a choice. Then they learned consequences. That does remind me of a short story by Edgar Allan Poe, “The Cask of Amontillado”.
Okay, the fire update. It has grown to over 60,000 acres, the largest this season in California, Oregon and Washington. So far. While still active, it has slowed down near the Colville Tribal Agency and near the town of Nespelem. The main highway was opened this evening from Nespelem southbound.
Several homes have been verified as destroyed as well as other structures. Our relatives are all okay. Some may have lost their house. Another friend was on oxygen. The power was out there for 12 hours, and there was no battery backup. He didn’t make it. I also think that the cemetery where a lot of rellies are buried was burned near the Agency. Northwest of Nespelem is another cemetery that was also probably overrun.
From the official reports, it appears as if the firefighters are slowly gaining the upper hand. The Tribe does a lot of understory cleanup. That and the strategic backburning at places by the firefighters has helped. Smoke from that fire and another one somewhat east (6,000 acres “only”) is drifting into Spokane. I started the air cleaning fan this evening.
Both the 60,000 acre fire and the 6,000 acre fire, as well as a smaller 280 acre fire on the Rez, were started by lightning strikes in that storm system mentioned by Mr. Mass. One home was also struck by lightning in Spokane during that same storm system. The ensuing fire totally destroyed it.
Meanwhile, we did get some rain near the end of the week. Several small thunderstorms rolled through for about 36 hours. How much rain did we get? A few drops. Officially, a “Trace”. Nothing measurable, and the street didn’t even get completely wet. And that is likely to be ALL of the rain for July.
The language program I use online has a version that is paid for, or a free version that includes a lot of ads. I use the free version. A lot of languages are available. However, the most popular are the big ones like English, Spanish French, Russian and other major languages. Minor ones like Welsh and Navaho don’t get a lot of learners. The money for the company is in the big languages with a lot of learners. So, their resources are concentrated mostly on the popular languages.
You asked a very astute question “I suppose different languages have an impact upon a persons wiring?” I’ve read that you can’t really understand another culture until you speak that culture’s language. My experience bears this out. When I spoke nearly fluent German, my thought process was different when thinking in German. I see a little bit of the same thing in Welsh. The words just roll off the tongue differently. The syntax is different. The thought process differs.
Historically, this was understood by the colonizers in North America. Both Canada and The USA had dreaded “boarding schools” for Native children. When taken from their homes and dropped at these dread schools, the first thing that happened was that their Native clothes were taken from them. Then the boys had their hair cropped short. The third thing was that corporal punishment was used on any and all students who spoke their Native languages. “Get rid of the language and you will get rid of the culture” was actually an actively promoted (and written) principle at these “schools”.
Good job with the forest cleanup. I always knew why you work so hard at that. It can literally be the difference between life and death. The side benefit is what you mentioned – both flora and fauna diversification. Another benefit is the friends you’ve made with some of the critters, especially birds.
DJSpo
Yo, Chris – Vast panorama of nature. “Nature, red in tooth and claw.” (Alfred, Lord Tennyson.) Keeps everything in balance.
Sealed in alive! The Romans did the same, to naughty Vestal Virgins. Poe’s story, “The Tell-Tale Heart.” On moonless nights, when you go out to the chicken fortress, you’re liable to hear a very soft thump-thump. Thump-thump. 🙂
I wondered why the rats hadn’t reconquered the hen house. I see. They’re busy down at the greenhouse. I see you installed more of those nice pavers. They’re really a nice finishing touch.
Your forest is looking more and more parklike. “The Biggest Estate in the World.” 🙂 I get it. If fire rips through there, it will leave the big trees, relatively unscathed.
Can’t find it now, but maybe you need to add rocks, to that graph that shows peak this and that. 🙂
Has something been nibbling on the ends of your asparagus?
The King Parrot is probably listening to Triple J, through his feet. The vibrations, at least.
The roses are quite pretty. We have roses. Fewer, all the time. The deer find them quit tasty. Lew
Hi DJ,
It was not a nice act on my part, but once they broke in to the chicken enclosure and refused to leave, it was game over for the mice. When I was attempting to scare them out of the enclosure, I’d leave the door wide open, and only one mouse took that route. The rest hid, and each night I reduced the number of hiding places. There would be some ugly scenes in that tunnel. Dehydration will end them reasonably quickly.
Yes, Poe had a certain sensitivity to the dark side of human nature, and beware of offers from hyper malicious folks who may hold a grudge.
Oh my goodness, with no further rain forecast, one can only hope with those fires that the winds calm. Fingers crossed, and reading articles on the unfolding situation, major resources are being brought in.
The reports were saying that the fire is very close to the town of Nespelem and the Colville Tribal Agency, and what I observed from volunteer fire fighting was that there aren’t a whole lot of resources, so they tend to focus on what down here is called ‘asset protection’, which in less bureaucratic language means towns – although if a fire is bad enough the crews can become over whelmed. Outside of a town, people are on their own.
That’s great news about your relatives being OK. Houses can be rebuilt, but lives can be snuffed out, sorry to say. Sorry for the loss of your friend, and may he rest in peace.
Man, you wouldn’t think that there’d be much to burn in a cemetery other than the fencing. That’s awful, and when the rains eventually return, it will green up again.
Good to hear your report, because the news was saying that the fire was 0% contained, although they did fail to mention which fire was which.
There is no alternative to understory clean up, and respect to the tribes for getting on with that work. It is a thankless task, until there is a large fire like these ones. The indigenous folks down here have a stated belief that if the land is not properly cared for, their very souls are in peril. And I absolutely agree with that.
Down here, the weather was so nice today, that I pushed today’s paid work to Thursday, and continued on with the forest clean up. The loggers used bulldozers way back in the day, and in some locations this has created mounds where they turned with nearby depressions, which are both impossible to clean up. So cutting the Gordian knot, I flattened one of the mounds today and spread the soil. No bones were found in case you were wondering, but I scored heaps of rocks. This sort of work is best done whilst there is the energy and lack of necessity to do so.
Often the free software is almost as good as the subscription stuff, so I get that about the language programs. It’s the tech bros way, until of course they attempt a system which has far more costs than revenue e.g. arty-fish-al programs, looking at that lot in particular. To me it looks like a major business disaster to which everyone is pretending it isn’t. In life, war, business, every strategy has diminishing returns. There are loose reports that the bosses of those things are converting their stocks to cash, and what does that tell you? But yeah, the language business needs paying customers.
Interesting! The Editor used to have a friend who also spoke fluent German, and described the experience like speaking with a square mouth when English had produced a round orifice. I never knew what to make of that but clearly thought patterns were different.
I’m really sorry to say it, but the same thing occurred down here, with the indigenous folks. The language also connected culture to the land itself, so forced relocations were a thing for that very reason. Out right abductions of children also happened, and not just for indigenous folks. The Editor’s cousin married an indigenous bloke that had happened too. I’ve known several people born to catholic single parents who were whisked away at birth. If I may, English culture is remarkably insecure, but it was/is a war, and they won the day. But historically, they then in turn were smashed by the Roman’s, Anglo-Saxons, Vikings etc. Man, I could point to the highland clearances which sent my lot down under, which in turn displaced indigenous folks. It’s horrid, and trauma builds. Perhaps when there is absolutely nothing left to economically extract from an area, peace will prevail – but it won’t look like things do today.
The quandary I raised in relation to the mice and chickens, was a far larger question than the mere words suggest.
Most of the birds and marsupials appreciate the work being done here, and certainly there are more of them with each passing year. The old trees have the hollows, and that is where most of the birds and tree dwelling marsupials live. All worthy of care and attention.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
The Odyssey sounds intriguing and Matt Damon is a fascinating choice for the character, but well, why not? I’m unsure whether I’d go to the cinema to see the film, but it’d be epic on the big screen and there are large monsters.
And that is another aspect of the whole situation. However, my gut feeling suggests that the present arty-fish-al over reach, will eventually under whelm, and that’s when investors will want their mad cash back. Will it be there, is the question I wonder. And that is when there may be repercussions, so yeah, they might be a target.
Always unwise to assume that violence isn’t an outcome where allegedly thefted mad cash was a plot device: Melissa Caddick dead, police confirm, after campers find her foot on NSW South Coast. A lot of sharks out there, best to not be involved.
Oh my! I’d not want to face that unhappy customer when the computer decides not to open the cash draw. Hmm. I doubt the person would be satisfied with a request to ‘come back later’. How was the situation resolved?
That’s no good about the lady with the iron lung, and she had a pretty good innings. Polio is one of those things which is tested for in the sewage system in the big smoke, and bizarrely they find traces, even today. It’s uncertain whether those are actual infections, or the vaccine. The iron lung is a very clever machine, and I can see how finding anybody to maintain or repair it would be a problem, let alone replacement parts. I’m very much into having multiple back ups of lots of things, but the treasury can only go so far. Dunno whether you recall last year when a pump on the heating system failed, in winter. Hmm.
It was a relief to get the snag onto the ground, and easy enough to do, when you have the equipment ready to hand. One of my old neighbours had an alarming situation with a tree many years ago, and we pitched in and helped out with our gear. Would I do it again based on the damage to my chainsaw? Probably not. I got the impression that the dude hadn’t learned a lesson from the experience. Dunno what to think about that.
Go the garden fresh tomatoes! Was it a yellow or red variety? Presumably if you cut the leaves out, the leaf miners did a bit of damage to them. Probably not edible, and I’ve not experienced those little critters. Yikes! See, grow and they will come… Maybe, the red chard has a different chemical composition, which the miners don’t like? I’ve observed that the red ones reproduce more reliably here.
Strawberries are a mystery to me, but yeah, they’re forest plants so would like more clay-ey presumably acidic soils. Out of curiosity, what colour was the sandy soil?
It would be awesome to see Mount St Helens with ones own eyes, and yeah, that mountain sure did blow its top. A natural amphitheatre brings a bit of protection from extreme weather.
The stainless steel tools I’ve used lack the ability to spring, and I’ve broken a garden fork that way. It’s a product of the alloy. Think of a spade, it has to have the ability to flex, but also be strong, and that involves lots of compromise. Carbon steel is usually a safe bet, but it depends, that stuff can vary wildly in its composition. I’d decide on a model of tool, and then see what user forums have to say in relation to performance and longevity. Price is a guide, but a lot of that stuff gets hyped up too. We’ve got tradie tool shops, and their hand tool stuff is usually better, but it’s also often the same stuff as sold in the big box hardware.
The lovers of a vestal virgin came to a rather nasty end as well. I note that public funds dried up for the group towards the end of the Western Roman Empire, and that was that. There was some mention that wealthy families and the plebs no longer wanted to give their daughters away for 30 years of service.
I do hope not to hear on of Poe’s nightmares!
The rats are just bigger than mice, and I’d not considered that mice would break into the house or chicken enclosure. I like the pavers too. 🙂 Infrastructure needn’t look too hard upon the eye.
Exactly. The big old trees are the ones which provide shelter for many forest critters, so they’re the most valuable of all. Few things eat or live on young eucalyptus trees, and they take a century or more to develop hollows. Did a bit more forest clean up work today. The weather was just really nice.
Ha! Very funny about the rocks. We haven’t halted the exploration budget, just sayin’!
Nope, the new asparagus spears look perfect, the old ones were cut a month or so ago with a hedge trimmer.
The music vibes are good. The parrot knows this.
Oh my! More things to dislike about deer.
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – Our Fearless Leader has become enamored with the Australian retirement system.
https://finance.yahoo.com/economy/policy/articles/trump-wants-borrow-australias-retirement-100000528.html
I noticed that nowhere in the article was Wall Street mentioned. Which would send up red flags, to some readers. The article you linked to, had a side bar. “Fears Massive U. S. Private Lending Market Sinking.” “Superannuation” appeared to be, not such a good thing. And, at least your article linked it to Wall Street.
Investors won’t get their mad cash back. It’s a bubble. Among many other bubbles. Real estate, the car loan market, etc. etc.. Two things your article mentioned.
I think I mentioned that there was quit a spate of feet in shoes, up on Puget Sound. Through the magic of DNA, most were linked to possible suicides or accident victims.
I saw a headline where Matt Damon said getting buff for the “Odyssey” part, after 50, was daunting. 🙂 I also saw an article from the Beebe, about archaeology on Ithaca. Odysseus home port. I watched a documentary, about the archaeological excavations there, a year or two ago. As with King Arthur, myth or man? 🙂
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20260717-the-cult-that-worshipped-odysseus
When the cash drawer didn’t open, the author sent the customer upstairs to accounting. Which miffed accounting. As the author observed, what was she supposed to do? Open it with a screwdriver? 🙂
It’s the yellow cherry tomatoes, that are ripening. I only have one red cherry tomato, as the second bush was felled by the wood lice. 🙁 Plenty of green tomatoes on my red bush. The sandy soil in the strawberry bed is light brown.
The Master Gardeners, were here, this morning. I saw the night manager, watering the back slope gardens, last night. She said there hadn’t been irrigation water, for a week. The Master Gardeners said some sprinkler heads had been damaged, and, controls not damaged, but fooled around with. I wonder if we’re looking at two separate incidents? I didn’t stay out long enough, to see how it’s all going to resolve itself. Tomorrow the forecast is for 90+ and the day after, we may be bumping up against 100F.
The Master Gardeners seminar on hydrangeas had a good turn out. I was sitting on the garden wall, when an older couple rolled up, a bit late. I guess their GPS had led them on a merry chase. 🙂
There were a lot of perks, to being a Vestal Virgin. I even found really good article, on the pros and cons. It was the rise of Christianity, that did them in.
https://allthingsvesta.com/blog/pros-and-cons-of-being-a-vestal-virgin
Our high yesterday was 81F (27.22C). Our overnight low was 55F (12.77C). Our forecast high for today is 88F.
I remembered which graph you should add your rocks to. The “Limits of Growth” graph. By the way, I think it was a real public service, to link to your solar power graph, over at Mr. Greer’s. Of course, there are always those “true believers,” who won’t be swayed. Those who have no hands on solar power experience. Or, have a vested interest in making it appear better than it is. But for those on the fence, solid data.
I made nachos, for dinner last night. Tuna, peas, garlic, chives, and some cherry tomatoes from the garden. Topped with Swiss cheese, and some dollops of plane yoghurt. Tasty.
I also broke out my coffee maker, cleaned it up, and made a couple of cups of coffee. Missing my occasional cuppa, at the Club.
I watched a new movie, “Lee Cronin’s The Mummy.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QYptZpqDgA
Pretty good. Although there were way too many children in it. 🙂 It had a lot of aspects of “The Exorcist.” Lew
Hi, Chris!
I agree that we are hosting a supermarket, but it’s always a smash ‘n grab; they never take time to checkout and pay. I don’t remember the locusts. Now there’s a gold star for your birds, something they don’t often earn. That’s a fine King Parrot, picking up a tune out of the air, I daresay.
What an absolutely hideous thing that the mice were plucking chicken faces. Do you think that’s why they were bothering you in the night, maybe you hadn’t shaved . . . ? Maybe you have down pillows? Are these woodland mice that normally live out in the woods, like our wood mice? I don’t see how a mouse could tunnel straight down – where would they put the dirt that they are suppose to be removing? Which group seems the worst – rats or mice?
What a bucolic scene, “Looking south across a nearby farm towards the city”.
Quick thinking to put the greenhouse water pipe in conduit. Nowadays, I guess you always keep a supply of concrete on hand, kind of like toilet paper.
That’s one fine bonfire. Where’s the holiday that goes with it? The rocks will come in handy, too.
That does seem early for asparagus. Yum!
From last week:
We had more rain: We had the 1 inch in half an hour on Saturday and then 2 1/2 more inches in 20 minutes the next day, somewhat torrential and my son had to clear the ditch along the neighborhood road, but yay! The smoke seemed completely gone for a day, the freshest air I’ve smelled in a long time, but it is back some today.
Thank you for the beautiful roses and the charming hellebores.
Pam
Chris,
I get it. You had to get the mice out of the enclosure. Period. Then the mice chose to hide within the enclosure rather than leave it. All that was left was the concrete option. I would have preferred a more humane way of eradicating them, and I think you would have also, but twas not in the cards for you. Sentencing living creatures to death by dehydration in the dark would not make me feel good about “winning” that war.
Yup, major resources are there now, although their primary purpose today was still asset protection. The evacuation level for Nespelem and the Agency were dropped a level today. So people in those two locations may now return home. Progress. When I was talking to my brother-in-law in Nespelem on Sunday, he said that he had been enjoying watching the airplanes drop load after load of flame retardant.
The chart that Mr. Mass included about burnable’s moisture content was for a different location. Quite a ways south of Nasty Town, aka Nespelem. The general Omak through Nespelem area and further north has been in a severe drought for 2 years now.
The Princess took the friend’s death hard. He was one of the last remaining friends of her mother’s and was a pall bearer at mother’s funeral 17 years ago.
Those cemeteries have some pine trees, brush and a few people have planted dryland plants near some of the graves. Unless the brush had recently been cleared, there are enough burnables to be problematic.
Both of the larger fires up there have zero containment as of this evening.
Gotta work outdoors when the conditions are optimal. Good job scoring more rocks. How do you know that the rocks in the mounds were not bones at one time before becoming rockified?
Yes, mouth shape, throat usage, word order, syntax. All of these lead to a difference in thinking. It’s really striking when you move from one language family to a different one. German and English really aren’t that much different. But move to Welsh or Gaelic and it’s a different world.
English culture insecure? Absolutely! It could be argued that insecure is too mild a term for it.
I was having one of my more off kilter creative moments today. I suddenly realized that there should be a single word for “flea infestation”. So, I decided upon infleastation.
I was recently told by some of the other carvers at the club that my woodcarving style is clearly off kilter. Maybe I should start advertising “Off Kilter Carving Method”, write a book about it, maybe turn it into a recognized style. 😉
DJSpo
Hi Pam,
This morning over breakfast I read your concise and to the point words: ‘smash and grab’. And as I took Ollie out for a boundary patrol check, three very large sulphur crested cockatoos decamped from the radish and asparagus raised garden beds. Those rotters! They did a smash and grab, but as they departed a friendly lone Pied Currawong, who lives here permanently sent the miscreant avians packing. The last time those white birds of despair turned up, I turned the bunny buster little weapon in their direction so as to scare them off – which it did. They know it’s trouble them being here, but a nearby neighbour feeds them, and they can live for eighty or more years. Grr! Oh well, mustn’t grumble.
The King Parrot in the photo on the other hand was just bopping along to the good tunes on the national youth music broadcaster, and is a regular character (with family of another two). He’s alright that bird.
I know, I hadn’t previously mentioned the mice and that chicken’s interactions due to it being distressing and stuff. Unfortunately after lots of weeks of rodent drama, the harassed bird is now ailing and may not make the night. I can only work so fast on these matters, and have to purchase a couple, or trio of new birds every year.
Pam, they’re both bad customers, and I prefer if neither rat nor mouse had an easy time of it here – which usually they don’t. This year has been trying.
That’s a really lovely nearby farm which raises paddock fed cattle. High up on that undulating property, they have a large stand of those ‘tree lucerne’ plants which I grow here, whose leaves can provide around 17% protein, even in winter. Those trees would not like your extreme winter temperatures though. They hail from the Canary Islands I believe.
Hehe! Pam, you know all of my secrets! And yes there is a store of that most useful of materials. Like fuel though, it goes off over time.
Just between you and I, the whole toilet paper stores doesn’t bother me, although this may be a thrill seeker mindset. I never understood the hoarding process for that stuff during you-know-what. I was trying to comprehend why people were doing what they were doing, and failing. Oh well.
Holidays, what are these things? Instead I seek balance among competing activities which produces a more enduring state of contentment. Long ago in what seems now almost another life, holidays bothered me due to their requirement to outlay large quantities of scarce mad cash resources. I don’t know, but am guessing you may be able to relate to that story. The last time you went away (from memory) was to retrieve your folks from Colorado.
So, apologies for the diversion, but no holidays for the bonfire, the thing just is a forest dwellers lifestyle choice. 🙂
Oh my gawd! Pam, down here they have a saying that: It never rains, but it pours! That’s what two and half inches of rain in twenty minutes feels like, and you have my complete understanding of what went on. Your son did a fine community service there. Respect.
Cheers
Chris
Hi DJ,
Yeah, you hit the nail right on the head. Some wins don’t feel great, and this was one of those. If I’d trapped them somehow, and managed to relocate the mice, the chances of survival at this wintry time of year would be not great either – they’d be competing for food and shelter against the established order, but sealing them in is an end. I’d just had enough of the mischief, and it looks like the pecked chicken may cark it tonight.
Good to hear that the folks in Nespelem are now able to return home, and presumably the fire has burned everything it could, and probably produced a decent fire break. Oh! Well, the flame retardant drops are colourful, but much depends upon the chemicals used. I’d prefer it if such stuff wasn’t dropped here, but I may be of an distrusting disposition.
Long term droughts are awful, and two years with below average rainfall is pretty hard. Maps are generally indicative, but they aren’t the territory. I have the same issue here with forecast rainfall maps, in that it can indicate potential, but what happens on the day, is only known afterwards.
It’s always hard losing loved ones and connections to the past. And each loss is different how it touches the heart, and the inescapable conclusion is that your life is flowing through a queue headed in that direction. I read a good quote a few months ago, which was: I don’t fear death, I just don’t think I’m going to like it very much. Apologies for the gallows humour, but us who remain live on, and hope we can but live up to the greats now in the past.
Oh poop. Generally cemeteries down here don’t have trees for those very reasons, and I agree with you, such quiet contemplative spaces require maintenance.
Double poop! Sometimes all that puts out those big fires, are either running out of stuff to burn, or a change in the weather. I have an odd notion that the particulates released high into the atmosphere eventually produce clouds and rain, but much later. Record wet years tend to follow big fire years down here, and you’d hope we’d put our brains to figuring out a more balanced approach.
At least you and the Dame are getting some outdoors time.
Very funny, I’ve got a good grasp on what the local rocks look like, and there are about three different types, none of which resemble bones. 🙂 Most of the mounds are for a reason, like there is a hidden Moby rock, or former large tree stump etc.
🙂 I respect your skills with maths and other languages. My brain is sadly full up to its tippy-top with esoteric information regarding machines, plants and soil etc. I can see why Zaphod had an artificial second brain, a wise option.
Agreed, insecure is probably an understatement if anything. In fact much of European culture, but not all, relies upon the strategy of expansion so as to avoid looking in the mirror and dealing with what was found there.
Hehe! Thanks for the laughs, and yeah, why not indeed? The word has a tidy weight to it, and isn’t something you’d want to deal with.
Ha! Sometimes man, we travel our own paths, and who knows what is to be found there. The word ‘kilter’ sounds remarkably Scottish to my reading ears.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
Oh yeah, the gentleman in question actually requested some of the funds for use within the US, and I believe that our fearless leaders were compliant. I have very mixed feelings about that system, but it is what it is. In some ways it is nifty redirection of excess funds which would otherwise be sloshing around the economy of goods and services causing inflation. Instead the stuff pumps asset prices. You know, all strategies are subject to diminishing returns.
The summary in the article pretty much sums up how the system works. And you can run your own self managed fund, which is what we do – an advantage of the professional status, but there are obligations and reporting requirements etc. etc.
Well, yeah, the shadow banking sector ain’t called that for nothing. I read in Michael Lewis’s book: ‘The Big Short’, that apparently one way to make impoverished folks feel better economically, is to provide them with easy finance. The shadow banking system takes care of that, but being unregulated and stuff, what goes on, or has gone on there, is a mystery. When the dust settles, it’ll make for a great future read!
Man, I really wish I didn’t hear claims made that: “This time will be different!” And maybe that’s true, but there are some fundamental business concepts which appear to be quietly ignored these days. Small inconvenient things, like making enough profit so that the capital and recurrent expenditure outlays sort of look sensible. It’s not much to ask, is it?
People tend to need their feet, as a thing. There is some weird science behind why the feet wash up a little further north up the coast in your part of the world. It’s pretty amazing that the feet can be matched to a missing human.
It’d be a tough regimen for Matt Damon, who has a background in action films – the Bourne Identity for a start. But as an older fella, it would not be easy. I’m a bit bothered by the advertising for the film. I spotted a massive poster billboard for the cinematic experience today, and the first words (before the title) were: A Christopher Nolan film. Please forgive me for some sacrilege here, but shouldn’t the story stand head and shoulders above the director? If you ask the general public who are the people buying tickets, they’d not know who the bloke is, and it’s unnecessary to add that bit of additional information. But you know, what do I know about marketing?
Myth is part of our history, and the stories display our species at the extremities for all sorts of purposes. I’m not overly fussed about that academic carving knife applied to this particular discussion. I like the idea of a world where once there was ‘King Arthur’! Makes us all look a bit more interesting don’t you reckon?
Oh, that’s a clever response to send the disgruntled customer up to the accounting department, to hold them to account. I’ve been thinking about my bad experiences with self checkout at the supermarket which I usually don’t venture into, and also Pam’s alarming incident with the trolley, and that lot should have an obligation to provide us wrongly maligned folks with free stuff, if their systems make a mistake. It used to be that way with pricing, and the systems nowadays rely on public humiliation, which I’m deeply uncomfortable about because there seems to be no consequences for the store. Dunno, it’s an idea though.
Still, whilst not the traditional red tomato colour, yellow ones have better flavour. And poop, I’d forgotten about the pesky wood lice. Interesting that the soil is sandy and light brown. Your idea for more kitchen scraps is a goodie, and it should eventually turn a darker shade.
You need one of those ladies who reside in small English villages with high body counts to come in and sort out the investigation. Hey, what if there were three separate incidents? I wouldn’t have hung around in that heat either. Stay cool, and keep up your fluids etc. And hope H does OK too.
Dude, the older couple might just be late, permanently as a lifestyle choice. I’m old school enough to value punctuality, although it is on the decline these days. Pah, maps are the ultimate low tech GPS device! 😉
I read that yesterday about how vestal virgins had a lot of perquisites, during and after their period of service.The pros certainly outweighed the cons, although being unfairly blamed would have been difficult to refute. I did like the quote: sure, tending a fire can be tiresome, but it isn’t exactly hard labor and had a mighty good chuckle. You’d imagine that over the centuries some incidents would have been hushed up. Naughty Zoot let the sacred flame go out, we must do something, and fast!
88’F is getting up there man. How did you cope in the heat? It was cool and cloudy here today. The forecast says rain for tomorrow. We’ll see.
You know, years ago I use to argue out such things endlessly, and it didn’t make one zip of a difference. None, whatsoever. I noted that people were hyping up sodium batteries, and well, down under had a supposedly amazing new battery technology too: Redflow was the great hope of Australian manufacturing. Its collapse left customers with broken batteries. A guy I follow on utoob who tests batteries for fun and profit, put some sodium batteries to tests, and the results were underwhelming.
Go the nachos. Yum! Worked in the big smoke today and had a basic pasta meal for dinner. Nothing too fancy.
Bummer about the Club, any updates on the new digs? But I hear you, a dude’s gotta do, what a dude’s gotta do. And I’d miss the coffees and chats too.
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – I guess I’ll just wait and see what happens, with our retirement system. I doubt anyone will ask me for input. 🙂 If there are changes, I’m sure anything the gooberment puts out, will be incomprehensible. But other sources will cut through the blather, and make things clearer.
There was a sidebar article, to the battery report. “Australian Job Seeker System Fails…” You think by now, outsourcing to private equity firms is, maybe, not such a smart idea.
Well, don’t be so bothered about minor issues, that you end up not seeing “The Odyssey.” Judging from the reviews, it sounds like a really good entertainment. And, it’s perhaps on its way to being a classic.
“Australia,” arrived yesterday. I watched it, last night. I think the library had it, years ago. I quit liked it. English Lady ends up on an outback cattle station, so, there’s a lot of comedic “fish out of water” bits. The villains are evilly evil. 🙂 The scenery is spectacular. The bombing of Darwin is spectacle. Drove me to look up the background, on the web.
You were worried that your patriotism, might be called into question, as you have not seen it. Or, at least read the book (Neville Shute.) I think you make and eat enough Anzac biscuits, to wave the flag. However, if you have not seen or read “A Town Like Alice” (Shute, again), you’ll have to double your output and input. 🙂 It was a 1981 miniseries. As with “Australia” our library had it at one point, but no longer. Hmmm. Might have to purchase that one, too.
The yellow cherry tomatoes yield better, than the red ones, anyway. I have a lot of green tomatoes, on my red bush. But I noticed that they are quit a bit larger, than usual. They are close to other tomatoes, that are large, and there may have been some cross pollination.
The irrigation has been repaired. The landscaping company did the repairs. They also set the timers, and I hope they set them with enough watering times. I took a walk around, this morning, and everything looks pretty damp. The Master Gardeners tipped me off that the Japanese plums are getting ripe. I’ve got a few on my counter. I don’t get down to that end of the property, often. We also have two yellow plume trees, out on a parking strip, near the street. They don’t get much water, but do produce a pretty good crop.
Our high yesterday was 86F (30C). Our overnight low was 59F (15C). The forecast high for today is 95F. Oh, I cope pretty well. My attitude is, “This too shall pass.” By Thursday, we’ll be back in the low 80s. Low 70s by the weekend. I stay hydrated and move slow.
The battery article was interesting. As with that book I read on software, they just shove product out there, without testing in the real world. And think they can fix any problems, later.
Last night, for dinner, I had beans, rice, green pepper, etc.. With cheddar on top. I want to make that chicken and pickled artichoke heart pizza, this weekend. I picked up a can of tomato paste, for the sauce. But then thought, “This isn’t right.” I’m trying to duplicate what I had at a restaurant, years ago. So, I did a little research. The sauce I should use is … pesto. I’m making a trip to the Winco, tonight, and I hope I can find some, there.
No fresh news, from the Club. But, I keep an eye on the website.
I saw an interesting article, on the survivors of Pompeii, yesterday.
https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/20/science/pompeii-survivors-docuseries
I hope our library gets the documentary, and book. Lew
Chris:
I think it’s absolutely fair to grumble about 80 year old birds who are going to be rotters to the end. Think how many children they might have during that time. And will any of them ever do you a good turn? Heck, with any luck, the ones you just chased away will outlive you by a long time. I am happy that King is an amiable bird.
Is that paddock fed beef cattle, or are they dairy cattle? We always have lots of beef cattle being raised in paddocks around us but, try as I might, I have not been able to find in a store here any dairy products from paddock-raised dairy cattle that were produced in the USA. It’s so bad that I have been buying a cheddar (delightful) imported from a farm in England.
That Colorado trip was no holiday! I don’think I’ve ever worked so hard in my life, and for 6 weeks. But worth it to get the dear ones here.
I did something yesterday that I said I would never do again, and that is to go into the grocery store where they had assumed I was a shoplifter because my shopping cart wheels locked up as I headed out the first door. I did this for two reasons: I thought it might be better for me to “get back in the saddle” as it were and not be afraid to go in there. And they are the only ones who carry a certain food item that my son loves and because he is too thin, to my mind, and I wanted to keep him eating a particular recipe. I know – he’s not a baby, so don’t tell him. Anyway, I ran into no problems, though I was going to bite anyone that bothered me. And I did not use a shopping cart!
Pam
@ DJSpo:
“Both of the larger fires up there have zero containment as of this evening.” So the fires are still raging? I am so sorry.
Pam
@ Lew:
I missed something somewhere: Did the deal on the new club digs not work out?
Pam
@ Pam
Thanks. Yes, they are still going, unfortunately. The smaller one is nearly 8,000 acres now. The one of more interest to me is over 72,000 acres. Ugh. That larger one, Kaiser Canyon Fire, is spreading on the southwest and northwest edges. Firefighters have been doing controlled burns in those areas ahead of the fire hoping that will stop its progress.
DJSpo
Chris,
That’s sad about the pecked chicken.
I mentioned to Pam that the fires are still growing. The firefighters are working hard to get an upper hand before the winds return on Thursday. Wednesday is supposed to be 100F here and hotter where the fires are.
I like that quote. Sums it up well. I can see the gladiators now, publicly proclaiming to the crowd “We who are about to die salute you!” Then, quietly to themselves, “I don’t fear death, I just don’t think I’m going to like it very much.”
A few months ago I read something and then told several women in the club and other friends of mine about it. The context of where I read it was about how women daily have to face things that men don’t. “So, you are going to be stranded in the woods. You will have one companion: a bear or a strange man you’ve never seen before. Which do you choose?” All but two of the women I mentioned this to quickly chose the bear. The other two both thought that they could outwit the man. One woman chose the bear before I even finished the question, then quietly said, “The worst the bear can do is kill you, then you’re only dead.” Which I completely understood and then mentioned that I, too, would choose the bear.
The Dame was rather subdued today. The roofing job eventually got to her, so she spent most of the morning yesterday with Killian the Red. She got her normal walking distance in and a lot of vigorous play. On this morning’s shortened walk (heat and air quality) she was walking slowly. She slept most of the day. Yup, big day with Killian wore her out.
Another early walk tomorrow. Not really going to get cool tonight, so need to be out early. And the team that will install the new gutters will be here no later than 9 am and perhaps as early as 7. Early start.
Oh. No rocks shaped like bones. Pity. That means no unsolvable mysteries. I’d pout, but the Princess says I don’t know how.
Esoteric information. I grok that. Want to know the starting lineup and main reserves for the 1971-1972 Los Angeles Lakers basketball team? It’s stuck in my brain. How about the starting lineup and batting order for the 1965 Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team. Or their 1966 lineup? Or their lineup in 1977 and 1978?
Quite useless knowledge but it is ingrained deeply into my brain. Which occasionally irritates the Princess, who will then say, “You know all this sports trivia nonsense. But where did you take me on our first date and what was I wearing?”
Compared with many other cultures, European cultures are all relatively young. Young, insecure, and completely mistrusting anything that they didn’t think of themselves. And they all consider themselves to be the successors of Rome, complete with the Roman necessity to continue to conquer the known world.
UGG. Kilter. Scottish. Off kilter had me moving, thanks to your suggestions, to “off kilt” carving. NOT a pretty thought, that. 😉 I had to watch some music videos on youtub lest I get scarred for life!
I found out today that there are 2 or 3 types of prickly pear cactus that are native to the desert portions of our state. I should be able to grow them here, especially in our sandy soil. I found the fruit to be wonderful whenever I ate some.
DJSpo
Hi Pam,
When it comes to friends, not all the birds here fit into that category, and the ‘sulphur crested cockatoos’ fail that test. If those big white avians with their silly yellow caps could speak English, and some have been trained to do so, they’d say:Gimme! I’m not into that, and the resident bird population does their best to attack them, but sometimes the miscreants turn up in a big flock and are worse than defending the gates of Rome from a horde of Visigoths. They do have numbers on their side.
The King Parrots have a sweet nature, and I don’t begrudge them their fair share of fruit. And most importantly, they don’t try the smash and grab style of fruit thiefing tricks.
Pam, I’m so with you. Reading a history of this area, there used to be a local creamery way back in the day. How good would that be? Ah, sorry to hear that about the local dairy herds and yes the push for grain fed stalled milking cows is probably too much temptation. And your winters would not be easy on cattle used to warmer climes and fresh herbage. My understanding down here is that most dairy is derived from grass fed animals, but of course that is not all dairy, is it?
Apologies, yes of course it was not a holiday, nor would it have been an easy journey either there or back. It was a poor choice of words, sorry. I’d meant to express or infer more the general idea of heading further away from home. Having moved around a lot as a young fella, I’m very much enjoying being house bound in these more enlightened days and have little desire for locational novelty.
Respect! And that is absolutely what I would have done too. Those carts were stupid, and wrong, plus I’d have blushed with embarrassment, which is the entire purpose of the things. I like your style, and hey, that store down this way with the weird vibe and self checkout has my favourite cheese, so can’t be blithely ignored.
Agreed, once they’ve gotten us by surprise, well we can be prepared for the next bout. And then they’ll rue the day! 🙂
There are no prizes for being one’s lowest liveable weight, and as a sticky chicken myself, it’s probably wise to have some reserves lest a person’s body is tested by some illness or other. Still, everyone runs their own race, and all we can do is provide support when choices are tested and lessons are learned.
Cheers
Chris
Hi DJ,
Yeah, the chicken died overnight. The Editor asked me this morning about how the bird was going and I replied: Well, it’s upside down in a bucket at the moment! She was not amused. But I try not to name the chooks, or become too attached to them. The Editor has a softer heart, and yet it’s expected that I do the necessary things. Oh well.
Oh my, I do hope that the crews do what it takes to put in some containment lines, but seriously man, high winds and hot temperatures are a nasty combination. Fingers crossed, how are the crews on the Rez holding up, if you’ve heard? Down here, a volunteer crew puts in a 12 hour shift, and that’s a lot for a person in those conditions. Mistakes can happen due to fatigue, and I heard about some decisions made way back in the day, which seemed unnecessary and I didn’t agree with, as did some of the folks on the truck.
By the way, that is a great quote from a legendary local band. 200 million album sales, can’t be wrong. And hey, I recall as a young bloke when the vinyl album: ‘Back in Black’ was released. An immense watershed for rock music. For those who are about to rock… Yeah! And truly, that’s my take on the end life point, which I ripped off a book because it resonated. None of us have any choice in the matter, and to pretend otherwise is unhealthy.
Hmm, dunno, I’m protective of females due to that sort of nonsense, and a dude hears stories. In essence the subtext of that question is about ‘power and control’. But there is also another issue at play: Why were the pair and bear in that situation in the first place? If a person wants to head into the wilds, there are dangers to be found there. Better to be prepared to respond to such things, although that is an unfashionable perspective.
A Husky has to know her limits, and there was an article in the news about a family Husky fighting off a bear which was about to attack a kid. One tough breed. I was wondering how your dog would cope with the noise. How’s the new roof starting to look?
How your gutters cope with the occasional heavy snow load is a total mystery to me. 🙂 No doubts the locals have their ways to anchor the steel firmly to the roof frame.
Ha! I dare not disregard your lady’s beliefs in this matter, but if you know the word ‘pout’ and can use it in context, well, you might have produced an attempted solid example of the type. Or at least gotten close to doing so. Just sayin’!
Man, I so hear you about that. A person has to be super careful as to what they expose the early versions of their brains to. In my case, I can recall the lyrics and melodies from songs I’d heard so often when young, and didn’t even like.
Ha! Your lady has so busted you there. That’s genuinely funny, and super clever. Although, I will state for the record that you didn’t provide an acknowledgement as to whether you could answer the question, or otherwise. My memory for visual recall is basically non existent, so that question would be a killer one to face.
Agreed, Rome allowed some of the elites to live large, and way beyond the resource base. Once the trick was known, it’s been tried and tried again, and is doomed to the same outcome, for much the same reasons. What was it that the smart Einstein bloke was meant to have said about doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result?
Ha! Oh yeah, well I’d not quite thought of the word that way, but yeah the literal interpretation kind of suggests that maybe some Scottish folks were once, dare I say it, streakers. Thus the off-kilt. Who knew? And wise to delete that thought. Err, what were we talking about again? 🙂
Yes, the fruit down here tastes like watermelon, but the hair / prickles are a nightmare. Could be a regret that one.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
Nobody bothered asking for my thoughts in these most important matters either. In fact, in a recent example of the idocracy-species, the Greens party down here apparently introduced an amendment to close the loophole which had emerged many years ago for borrowing within a superannuation fund. The initial system was set up to ban that activity, so there’d never be fears of leveraged buying activities. Anywhoo, time changes and clever people do what they do, and some folks borrowed in those funds using some complicated arrangements. And already despite the new ban on borrowing, there are work arounds already being offered that the amendments hadn’t allegedly specifically ruled out. A stupid total waste of opportunity for change. I fear for the intelligence of our elected muppets. However, it is possible that that lot actually got what they wanted – a lot of noise, and very little change.
Whoa! AU$5.5bn is a lot of mad cash, and say that is spread over the 671.3k people unemployed, that’s $8,200 each. Might be cheaper just to mail the unemployed folks a cheque?
The reviews of the Odyssey film are reading well, and it’s apparently killing it at the box office. The Editor watched the trailer and based on what was said, I might have a bit of trouble dragging her along to a screening! 🙂 It probably will be a classic.
Awful isn’t it about the lack of patriotism on display, but a dude has to go with his gut feeling – to be honest the film had the whiff of the musical about it. Reading the plot, it was hard to ignore that the accountant copped it. Oh well. Baz makes a big film though, and it’s got an epic and enviable cast of greats. Might have to do something about this poor education.
Stop it! Hehe! 🙂 Far out, and no I have not read Neville Shute’s classic tale from a small town in the centre of this country. By the way, my grandfather went visiting some mines in that part of the country when I was about fourteen. He was pretty easy going with rules, so I was wondering around Alice Springs at night, and got set upon by about ten indigenous kids around my own age. They roughed me up a bit, but not too badly – I reckon they knew I had zero chance against their superior numbers, felt sorry for me, and let me go. Anyway, it was that moment and the rough and tumble culture of the more English than the English grammar school with their less spontaneous, yet same outcome organised fights, that made up my mind to join the local dojo. People pretend things are otherwise, but we live in a rather violent culture and the best we can hope for is to know how to de-escalate situations, not be a target and avoid trouble.
How’s the library new purchases looking? Are any budget cuts showing up there?
That’s my impression as well with the yellow cherry tomatoes – they’re prolific. Interesting, and I wonder if all of the soil feeding you’ve been doing is beginning to produce larger fruit? But yeah, it could have been cross pollination too.
The repairs to the irrigation system seem to have been done pretty quickly, but who knows what programs were changed before, during, or after the fix up?
Hope the Japanese Plums are tasty? And down here, plums are some of the better dry adapted stone fruit trees. In fact, I reckon the taste is better if the plants aren’t over-watered, but that does reduce the size of the fruit. I’ve grown to appreciate the humble plum over the years, and thus the dog’s name.
Oh heat poop advisory ahead! 🙂 95’F is not enjoyable and respect for the ‘just get through it’ mindset. Cloudy with sunny breaks today, but the air was cold. Spent all day indoors doing paid work. I noticed the first blossoms on the Manchurian Pear Tree.
I’d forgotten about that whole ‘shoving product out there’ approach, but it isn’t good and the folks in the article seemed to have been left with batteries which didn’t quite live up to the hype. Sadly that story will be repeated again in a different format. Wanting an outcome, is not enough to make it happen. I tend to defer to folks who put the products to the test (and aren’t on commissions) to find out how they actually work.
If I may, purchased pesto is nice, but the freshly made product is way better. I’m not sure why, but perhaps the fine chopping up of the ingredients, probably leaves a lot of surface area, and well, it might go stale quickly. What was your impression?
Hopefully the Club sorts out the new digs soon, and things get back to where it used to be.
A good idea to plot out what may have happened in the final hours of that city. Some forums suggest that the numbers of survivors has been over-stated and many areas of the ruins are yet to be dug. It’s all very eerie don’t you reckon?
Cheers
Chris
@ Pam – No, far as I know, things are still on track. But it’s going to take awhile. Instead of just renting / leasing a building, an anonymous benefactor / patron is buying a building, for us to use. So, there’s escrow and all that stuff. There’s a website that keeps us posted.
“Design and planning is underway. We have begun working through the layout, the floor plan, and how the space will serve our meetings, our counter, and our community events. We expect to have a working layout and a rough cost estimate soon, and we will share the picture with the fellowship as it comes into focus.”
And, of course, there are all kinds of permits to acquire. Lew
Yo, Chris – There are several situations, where just mailing folks a check, for this or that, would make more economical sense. But then, some of the “undeserving” poor,, might get a bit of the largesse. There are people who lay awake at night, worrying about that. And, one must keep the lenocracy, employed! 🙂
Well, if the Editor isn’t inclined to go see “The Odyssey,” maybe a Green Wizards expedition is in order? There’s a lot of magic in that, there tale.
A musical? Well, there’s a bit of harmonica riff, from time to time. Mostly referencing one little tune from “The Wizard of Oz.” And, there’s a bit of indigenous chanting. But that’s about it. The drunken accountant comes off as quit a heroic figure, in the end. First, he tips off the English Lady, that the station’s books have been fiddled, to allow the evil cattle Barron to steal her land. And, he dies a heroic death.
Library purchases seem to be keeping up, at least where DVDs are concerned. “Deep Water” is in transit, to me. I do think they order way too many children’s books, and anime. Lots and lots of anime, both books and DVDs. A couple of times, there’s been new adult non-fiction that looks interesting. But on closer investigation, it turns out to be an e-book. Which, in my understanding, are a lot more expensive than a “real” book.
Our high yesterday was 95F (35C). Our overnight low was 61F (16.11C). Our National Weather Service has revised the forecast high for today, down. From 100F to 99F. Big whoop. 🙂 Tomorrow will be 20F degrees cooler. And, we have a 50% chance of rain, in the early AM.
There was absolutely no wind, late evening / midnight. Now this morning, we’re getting a little, refreshing breeze. I had a couple of little things to do in the garden, last night. Still worked up quit a sweat. I staked the pumpkins, so they run up the hill, and not across the lawn. As the landscapers were showing up this AM to mow, it was pressing.
And, late I know, but I planted Blue Lake green beans, next to the trellis. They’re a bush bean, but sure act like a runner. I saved seed, from last year. Soaked them, for awhile. The night before, I soaked the area, in what we’ll politely call urea. 🙂 Then I worked in a mix of chicken and mushroom compost. Also, some bone meal and stove ash. I think they’ll do ok. Two months til harvest, and that’s the end of September. Well before any frosts we’ve had. I’ll have to put bird netting, on either side of the trellis. To keep the deer off. I also caught the right phase of the moon. 🙂
I waited until sundown, to go to Winco. Which is around 9PM, these days. I don’t like the sun glaring in my eyes, when I drive. And I thought it might be cooler. Ha! They had pesto, in little jars. Not very expensive. I don’t know how it tastes, yet. Not my monthly shopping trip, but, there were a few things I was running low on.
Pompeii and Vindolanda. The gifts that keep on giving. 🙂 . They keep finding bodies, outside the walls. In country villas, etc.. And who knows how many fell in uncharted places? I’m reminded of the geologist, Johnson, who died at Mt. St. Helens. They still haven’t found him.
Dawg has been very naughty. It’s time for her three month flea pill, and, it’s the usual struggle. Last night, I hid it with fried egg, under and on top of the pill. She loves fried egg. Emptied the whole dish … leaving the pill sitting solitary on the bottom. I’ll try slathering it with peanut butter, tonight. Bad dog! Lew
@ DJSpo:
I guess controlled burns are all that they can do, so thank goodness for that.
Pam
Chris:
We learn this of the sulphur-crested: “One cockatoo called Fred was still alive at 100 years of age in 2014.[25] Cocky Bennett of Tom Ugly’s Point in Sydney was a celebrated sulphur-crested cockatoo who reached an age of 100 years or more. He had lost his feathers and was naked for much of his life, and died in the early years of the twentieth century. His body was stuffed and preserved after death.” I wonder who now has the stuffed, bald body. My, a large flock of those birds is a dreadful thought; they are quite large birds, too.
I knew that you knew it wasn’t a holiday; no worries. I, too, am now grateful to be house bound. In fact, I haven’t left this county since I got back from that Colorado trip (Spring of 2021) except for one trip two counties over when I went with my son when he was considering buying the used car to replace his wrecked one. There are a great deal of things to see and do just in our little area. As one elderly lady at the assisted living said to me recently: “I am grateful for the days where nothing eventful happens.”
We do have struggles with cheese, don’t we?
I shall not let on to my son that he is a “sticky chicken”.
I finally got to eat a tomato the other day. I have been sleuthing around and looking for ones that have any bit of color at all and taking them inside before a rodent gets to them. This one, however, was almost ripe and still on the vine, but had toothmarks on one side. But it was as big as a big apple, so I just ate it like an apple while outside, without getting near the toothmarks. Even though not ripe, it was one of the best tomatoes I’ve ever had.
Pam
@ Pam,
The Columbia River is right there and is over a mile wide at many places. They have airplanes that can skim the surface and scoop water into huge buckets. They dump these on hot spots on the fire perimeter. Other planes drop fire retardant ahead of the fire. Also, there is fire line construction.
Unfortunately with the windy conditions there today, and the increased winds and “red flag warnings” for the remainder of the week, they may be getting further behind. They do have contingency crews for use with new flare ups and for home protection.
DJSpo
Chris,
You didn’t! Oh no! “It’s upside down in a bucket now.” Really. And you lived to tell us about it? At least you didn’t put a tune to that and sing it. If I were to say that in a similar situation, I would be one giant bruise for a long time.
The Kaiser fire is now over 81,000 acres. The other one is over 9,000. Both are managed and mostly manned by outside crews. Professionals. The Rez crews are helping too, I’m sure, but I’m not sure with exactly what. Unfortunately, the entire region is going to be windy tomorrow and has a “red flag warning”, meaning that the fire danger is very high or worse, and that, well, you know what high winds can do with a spark at the wrong place insuch hot and dry conditions.
Exactly. We all succumb sooner or later. It’s part of life. Might as well make peace with it rather than be afraid of it.
The gutters were installed today. The roofers also installed black flashing to replace the old white stuff. It looks sharp with the roof. The gutters match the flashing. It looks good. Very good. The entire project has been completed. Dame Avalanche didn’t mind the gutter installation at all. It was much quieter than the roof installation.
And yes, the gutters get attached securely to the roof frame.
At least where I saw that question, the point was to get it across to most men that women think differently and rightly so. I grew up in that horrid authoritarian church with a father who had been authoritarian before joining that church. I saw first hand some of the abuses that occur. And the women were not equal partners…So the point is that being with an unpredictable bear is preferable to being with a strange man who might actually be one of those who causes traumas that are worse than death. At least that’s what I got from it.
I saw the video of that husky fighting off the bear. It was impressive.
I can come up with attempts at pouting. She just laughs at them. Of course, she is a champion pouter when she puts her mind to it. I’m simply an amateur in comparison. 😉
Me too. Song lyrics get stuck in the brain cells. Even the ones I never liked. There are few things worse than the lyrics and tune to a long forgotten disliked song suddenly coming back and turning into an ear worm. UGG!
Okay, so there were two questions. Where did we go on our first date, and what did I wear? I knew one of the two. She absolutely refuses to tell me what she wore and continues to use that when she wants some special amusement. And you know what’s worse? I took her to an Italian restaurant, only to find out later that she dislikes Italian food. I get an earful about that, too, rightfully so, because I didn’t ask her about her food likes/dislikes before just taking her there.
So I’ll mix quotes from different guys. He who continues doing the same thing while expecting a different outcome refuses to learn from history.
I needed to get supplies from the grocery store after the contractor left. 100F out, so the Dame had to stay home. When I got back to the car after some 45 minutes in the store, there was a dead mouse near the car. I think it had literally got cooked to death on the asphalt in the sun.
My experiences with prickly pear have been fine. Peel the skin from the fruit and the spines come off with the skin IF the fruit is ripe. If it’s less than ripe, those spines are uncooperative. Also, and I got this from observation, take the fruit out of the peeled skin. Do NOT eat the fruit from the skin. I watched someone get “spiny mouth” that way. He was not happy.
DJSpo
Chris,
This just in. The big fire just blitzed through the lines on the western edges. New “leave now” evacuations ensued. The wind changed directions and increased…
DJSpo
Hi Pam,
No doubts those two ancient birds were grumpy as, due to a serious case of the major crunchies! Of course Cocky Bennett had the ignoble side benefit of having lost all his feathers, which didn’t seem to effect longevity. By the way, it turns out that Tom Ugly’s Point in Sydney is actually a real place name, even today. I had a quick look into why the point was so named, but there was equal myth to that of legend, and yet everyone clearly agreed, that was the name of the spit of land. Hard to argue with the weight of public opinion.
Taxidermy is still done today, I read about a lady who does such work. Now where was the article… … Oh! Here goes: Ethical taxidermist Robyn Austin turns birds and foxes into life-like art. There was even a sulphur crested cockatoo in the article!
Confronting the flock taking apples one after the other earlier this year was kind of confronting. The boom stick was good enough to scare them off, but those birds know about this place and are alert for opportunity. It was a pleasure to see the lonely Pied Currawong (a large, usually social and very clever bird) clear off three of the cockatoos. I’ve noticed of late that the family magpies and lone currawong have come to some sort of compromise.
Pam, I so hear you about that, and have enjoyed way too much over stimulation and alarums for one life time as well. A quiet day where nothing much happens, is a moment to be celebrated! Let the unsettled folks find for themselves the edge of the cliff, which my now deceased friend once described. He said to me long ago, and I’ll not forget the unsolicited advice, that only those who’ve fallen from the cliff, know exactly where the edge lays. Here’s for quiet times of pure boredom!
Yes, the nice local family owned independent supermarket used to stock the quality cheese, but one day it stopped being supplied, and I really did like the stuff. Truth to tell, I’m often troubled by the thought: Must I make this item as well? For how many things can a person do? One day I’ll get into cheddar cheese making, but today, like your experience, involves heading into the other supermarket. The vibe is very weird there, and it would not surprise me if one day…
Do you know, when travelling around the continent, we stopped by a dusty town in outback South Australia, known as Snowtown? Fun fact: Snow would be unlikely there due to heat and stuff. Anyway, we walked around the outback town and noticed some solid old buildings. Turns out nefarious acts were going on at that very time: Snowtown murders. Eerie stuff.
🙂 It’s a silly name isn’t it? As a mid to late teenager I used to do middle distance running, and was OK at that sport. My grandfather who never bothered with other peoples feelings, but did have a heart, towards the end of his life he struggled with his weight – like it made a difference. Anyway, one day out of the blue he calls me ’emaciated’, and by that time I was inured to his odd talk, but as an older fella I now know he was speaking of his own fears. Nowadays I could have discussed the comment from that perspective, but decades ago I was young, and the moment slipped away. Anywhoo, I’m serious too, a little bit of reserves is a good idea, just in case of unexpected illness. People mix up the idea of skinny and healthy, when they’re entirely different concepts. So yeah, feed sounds like a good idea to me too! 🙂
Yum! Lovely stuff, and I envy you your fresh tomatoes. So nice. And home grown are the best, yup!
Did mostly paid work today, and I’m treading carefully for Sandra seems a touch uncharacteristically moody. Oh well, life is rarely smooth.
Cheers
Chris
Hi DJ,
Well, I was trying to put on my best version of inscrutable peasant dealing with dead chicken mode number five, and basically didn’t want to talk about it any more. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and you knew how it turned out, and it would have been easier to simply just say: “The chicken’s dead”, and left it at that. Alas, I didn’t do that. Oh well.
The news updates on the latest on the fire front are behind paywalls, and your words are alarming. Ouch! The initial description sounded hopeful, but the winds are what drive these things, so your update said it all. Sometimes there could be a thousand fire tankers there fighting the front, and it’ll still get away sorry to say. Agreed, nature will do what she does.
Exactly. Why worry about an inevitability, when there is living to be done, so yeah, making peace is a sensible path.
The re-roofing job was done at an impressive speed and respect to the folks who did so. I’ll bet they started early in the day with the hot weather you’ve been having? And thanks for satisfying my curiosity about the guttering and snow loads.
You’d have seen some troubling things there, and agreed abuses do go on sometimes just out of plain sight. Some folks thrive on ‘power and control’ sorry to say. It’s only in the mind of an elite or an economist which could believe that men and women are the same. There are notable differences, and why that should surprise people, is beyond my understanding. I’m of the opinion that we’d do well to celebrate and respect the differences. Look, as far as I can comprehend the situation, the elites in our society pursue strategies which over supply labour in order to drive down costs for them. It really looks that crass to me, and if those policies keep people off balance and fighting among themselves, all the better. It’s really ugly, so I got what you were talking about with the bear, and just side stepped the entire mess, and am protective of females for their hard won gains are under assault. We live in a very strange society. What do you do?
Go the Husky, the friendly wolf-let!
Ha! My mum used to tell me not to pull stupid faces because if the wind changed, the face would be permanently set. I must say though, she did have a point in that some folks can express continuous displeasure, without uttering a single word. I’d hate to consider the swampy morass of their internal brain workings.
I know! Spare us all from the catchy, but disliked ear worm. Ugg indeed!
Oh, well, mistakes happen and given you two have been together for so long, the Italian meal was not a deal breaker. 🙂 Dunno about you, but after 32 years I’m still being surprised. Here I feel I must share a bloke secret, and please ask your fine lady to tune out now. Right! I keep a little stash of the Editor’s favourite Lindt ball chocolates so as to err, buy off her good graces when things have gone off the rails somewhat (think of it as the special amusement you referred to). Despite good intentions, no communication is perfect, and people have off days, which seems to be the case today with the Editor! 🙂 Oh well, might try a surprise choccie and see what eventuates? Worth a shot! Hehe!
Oh that’s a good mixed quote.We could have fun with this technique. How’s this one: A choccie in the hand, is worth more than a pout? Bad Chris…
The Dame may not have survived being stuck in the car in those temperatures, so wise to leave her at home for that particular trip. Dogs love cars, but there are limits.
Makes me wonder if the roofers upset a rodent hiding place? Dunno. Usually down here they tunnel underground where it is cooler.
Respect! I’ve not mastered this fruit feat and can only marvel at your skills.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
Agreed, the system is also designed and managed to be an unappealing option. A person is made to work hard for their benefits as a perverse incentive to get back into the workforce.The sad soul laying awake at night you wrote about, who’s worrying about other folks rorting benefits that barely cover an average weekly rental, probably aren’t tired enough from having done an honest day’s work themselves. But yeah, there are such people, as much as there are folks rorting the systems. The process and outcome is unappealing. I’d not be able to work within such a system.
🙂 I like your idea, and may mention that to the crew. Speaking of the Editor, she’s a bit off her game today, and fair enough too, we all have days where things aren’t so great. We started paid work early this morning and finished about 2pm. Thought I’d perk her up a bit and so we went off to grab a Bahn Mi for lunch, and restock the chook and dog feed stores. Chucked a bit of energy into the situation. Even slipped her a Lindt choccie a few minutes ago. Hid it too, and unfortunately for Ruby, the tasty treat when found – due to extenuating circumstances – flew through the air and bopped the dog in the head. Finally, through this slapstick action, normality has been restored! It’s unusual, but these things happen.
I was perhaps speaking in metaphors when I mentioned musicals and the film, mostly because Baz produces highly theatrical content such as the Red Curtain Trilogy of films. They were clearly brilliant and successful, but just weren’t to my taste. To be honest, I’d rather watch a film about an autistic accountant, who despite personal troubles, dealt to baddies with some authority. 🙂
Deep Water would keep me on the edge of my seat, with a side serving of an attack of the vapours! Talk about fantods. Another film about aircraft crashing into the ocean and people surviving, and the sharks… Can’t wait to hear what you have to say about the film. I’m a very calm person, but there’s something about deep oceans, submarines and aircraft which really unsettles me. No way I’d have gone on that Titanic dive, and I believe the final few moments of the crew were released. Not nice, but quick.
I just don’t do e-books, regardless of cost. There’s something really nice about the heft and feel of a book which adds to the reading enjoyment. And I hear stories about distributors deleting content, like that’s a good thing to do to purchasers… They can’t delete a physical book! I’ve never used an e-reader either, how about you?
And with the kids stuff, it’s a lure to get the kids to read. Probably not a bad idea, especially with the direction that literacy rates are headed.
Ah a massive drop in temperature, but hey, you went from triple digits to only double digits, so surely it felt cooler? 🙂 Man, it was sunny and cold today with a breeze. At one point the outside air temperature was 36’F, with a feels like 32’F. Brr! No frost though this morning, probably the breeze, maybe. A good day to work indoors, despite the sunshine.
Nice one with the pumpkin vines, and I redirect the ones which grow here as well. They mustn’t cross the paths (thinking of Ghostbuster’s and the amusing crossing the streams joke). But on a serious note, the vines are feral and can take over. Sometimes I trim them so as to stop expansion.
You never know about the beans, and it is hot, and your preparation work sounded spot on to me. It won’t get too cold until probably late October for you, so they might produce well. And wise to use what-cha-got! I do the same and hope not to be sprung by the occasional car going past. Why waste the resource? Cleaned some of the ash out of the wood box this morning and spread it around. A good fertiliser.
The bird netting should deter the deer. And yeah, I’ve only heard good things about moon planting.
Very clever to take advantage of the cooling. I hear you, and those trips are inevitable. Hope the pesto is good, but I reckon you could make a better one with walnuts or those pistachios you scored. Think of the purchased stuff as a taster?
Oh yeah, I’d forgotten about that particular geologist and he had a ringside view on that day. I poured over the National Geographic from that eruption. The production of the magazine was epic and filled me with a sense of awe.
That’s outrageous H behaviour! Actually Ollie takes his herbal additions in his breakfast and eats them all up. The Kelpies are a bit difficult so I’ve begun adding rose hip powder to their brekkies, and they’ve been hiding the capsules and/or refusing to eat them. Now I open the capsule, spread the powder and mix milk into it.
Pills can be crushed up between two spoons, then added to the fried egg, that’s how I’d do it. The Editor simply stuffs the pill down their throats like the vet’s and vet nurses do. They’re taking their medicine one way or another.
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – Relationships can be hard work. Or, not. Once again, it all boils down to maintenance. 🙂 Well lubricated with chocolate!
I’m looking forward to “Deep Water.” I hope there’s a couple of nuns. Can’t have a good disaster flick, without nuns on board. 🙂 I stumbled across something interesting, last night. I did a search on U – Tub for “Disaster Movies.” Oh, my. Enough there to keep me busy, until I shuffle off my mortal coil. 🙂 Any kind of disaster you can imagine, there it is.
I have never even touched an e-reader. Work of the devil. I just think some of the library ordering, in particular subject areas, is a bit over the top. I wonder … back when I was in the book biz, well, the way it works is, the more you order from a particular publisher, the better the discount. Back then, if you ordered 25 copies of even mixed titles, you’d get the “standard” 40% discount. Order more, and the discount rate went up. But, suppose you only really wanted five copies of one title from a publisher. Might you not be tempted to pad out the order, with other titles? Maybe take a flyer? I think kid’s books and say, cookbook ordering is a bit over the top. We’re back to, “Did anyone even ask for this stuff?”
Our high yesterday was 95F (35C). The overnight low was 61F (16.11C). Our forecast high for today is 82F. Yesterdays weather was … unexpected. We were supposed to get rain, early this AM. Well .. Dawg and I were going to run down to the library, to pick up some things, about 5PM. And, it started raining. Hard! Rained on and off all evening and night. And, I spoke too soon. There was some thunder and lightening. Not much, but the occasional boomer. At first, the air was very … muggy. But that freshened up, as the evening went on and the temperatures fell. And a bit of a breeze sprung up. I didn’t have to water, last night or this morning.
I noticed this morning, that a potato was pushing out of the soil. So, I covered it up. I have one potato plant, that is dying back. I might dig it up, next Monday. I only mounded up one plant, with soil and straw. And that’s the one that’s first through the gate. The others, I cut off the blossoms, and they’re just beginning to show end of season signs.
Sure, I could do all kinds of pesto-like things. The pistachios are long gone. Maybe, parsley, walnuts (or peanuts) and parmesan cheese. But, other things are pressing, and I just didn’t want to deal with it. Besides, I didn’t get any basil in the ground, this year. I think about it, every time I get near the Big Box hardware (which has nice plants). But didn’t pull the trigger.
I spent a couple of hours, last night, on “household administration.” Going through the mail and sorting out the wheat from the chaff. Some things as simple as getting my new driver’s license, into my wallet. Other’s as complicated as figuring out who to vote for, in our primary election. Cut a check for a politician I want to support. Another check for the next year’s almanac, gardening wall calendar. Made a quick trip this morning, to drop off the ballot in a drop box, and swing by the post office to mail the checks.
Dawg and I aren’t speaking, this morning. I decided to go with tuna fish, last night. She likes tuna. And, I put a bit of the tin juice, over her kibble. She always cleans the bowl. As she did, last night. All except for the flea pill. 🙁 Sigh. I’ll try peanut butter, tonight. Lew
@ Lew:
Why, that is wonderful – your own building! A whole lot of work and trouble up front, but you will always have a place.
Pam
@ DJSpo:
Still, it’s darn handy to have a river nearby; not everybody has that.
Pam
@ DJSpo:
Oh, dear – I just saw the “leave now”. I’m so sorry.
Pam
Chris:
I kind of wondered about poor, old ugly Tom myself.
That was a very interesting taxidermy article, and I did see the cockatoo, bless his little stuffed heart.
One day – what? Anyway, don’t use the shopping carts.
I couldn’t read much of the Snowtown murders. Ook. I did find this out about its name:
“The government became interested in the area around 1869. They planned to create new towns and divide the land into smaller farms. Snowtown officially became a government town on December 19, 1878. Governor William Jervois named the town after Thomas Snow. Thomas Snow was a cousin of the Governor and worked as his assistant in South Australia.”
He is in no way emaciated, just slender (but muscular) and I daresay as life goes by will accrue some “reserves”.
Now, now – let her have her “moody” day. Perhaps she needs some banh mi . . .
Maybe I could use some banh mi . . . I am waiting to see if a Bad Bollocky Black Blister Beetle Bug is going to cause me to break out in blisters. That is, 50 of the bugs, because I spied them eating tomato leaves today, I had never seen this insect before, and so I squashed, in my usual way, 50 of them with my bare hands. Later, wondering what they were, I finally found their picture and they are Black Blister Beetles (they come in all sorts of colors). I did rinse my hands off with the hose afterwards, maybe that will help, but supposedly in 24 to 48 hours I may have blisters pretty much anywhere my hands came in contact with my skin (rather like poison ivy).
Pam
@ Pam,
Thanks. It is getting nastier up there tonight.
DJSpo
Chris,
The Princess got home from her latest Toppenish trip this morning. I told her what you said about the chicken. She said, “No! Really? And he’s still alive?”
Okay. Here’s what I use to track the fires. It’s called Watch Duty. https://app.watchduty.org/ It covers the entire USA. Zoom in. You’re looking for the Kaiser Canyon fire in north central Washington. Click on the fire symbol. That will give a list of all of the updates, most current near the top. Using the “layers” tab will allow you to see where hot spots currently are, wind directions. There will also be links to a map of the evacuation zones.
This might get you directly to the Kaiser Canyon fire. https://app.watchduty.org/i/108797
The high winds and temperatures around 40C hit the fire area today. It was 39.5C at my house. The fire is spreading rapidly and doing a lot of jumping. State highway 155 is themain road directly between Nespelem and Omak. The fire is near the top of the pass near the highway. Also, further west, the fire might spread to highway 155 downhill from the community of Disautel. So, the entire Kartar Valley has now been evacuated. This is the same area that was evacuated a month ago due to the arsonist caused fire. All of highway 155, even north of the road, has also been evacuated to within about 6 miles of Omak.
Youngest brother and his clan live 4 miles downhill from Disautel Pass on the highway. His wife was just telling ius that the authorities said tat the danger is getting the caught between the two parts of the fire that are threatening the highway and having no way out. So they are leaving. They have property in Omak.
We have a lot of family and friends evacuating tonight. The gentleman who died when his power went out last week has funeral services tomorrow. The Princess will be there for that, come home maybe Sunday. She’s also taking care packages for her youngest brother’s family.
Sorry, that’s all I’ve got tonight. We turn into the family fire data center and information coordinators when things start threatening the Disautel area. That will be my job from here while the Princess is at the funeral.
DJSpo
Hi Pam,
With a name like that point, there was bound to be a story behind it all. Maybe Tom in the 19th century was a really good looking guy, and the other locals used to stir him up about that out of jealousy, and so he took on an amusing nickname to defuse the contention and bring back harmony? Stranger things have happened, and who knows maybe aliens were involved somehow? 🙂
The stuff cockatoo gave me an attack of the vapours, and I had to rush to find some smelling salts, whatever they are! By the way, I began the Corduroy book late this afternoon. Unfortunately the son had penned such a long introduction to the edition, that I’ve not yet gotten into the text. It sounds lovely though, and the author clearly has the heart of a poet, who had to earn a living on the land the old way. I get that story, for in these enlightened days, writing does not pay and big new machines be ‘spensive!
It’s a theory anyway, but yeah I’d not use one of those tricksy shopping carts either. I doubt the baskets could pull that public humiliation trick? And I’m not a fan of such dastardly acts – and they should pay when they get it wrong, which would keep them honest. Honestly, the computer systems are so advanced that it thought that a yellow container of olive oil was a banana. Monkeys could do better than that.
Oh yeah, the old English Governors plastered their names to anything and everything. Must have been insecure? The most prolific of the lot was Governor Macquarie, who’s name is attached to all sorts of places. Actually, he was something of a reformer and arrived after the rum rebellion (a military coup) which ousted the hapless Governor Bligh (him of mutiny of the Bounty fame). You’d imagine that being deposed by his subordinates twice, would result in some hard questions being asked, but no, he was promoted to the Admiralty – thus probably why the British Empire declined and failed.
Thanks, and that was the plan, although between you and I, it didn’t work out all that well. Oh well, life is complicated.
Oh my gawds, Pam, that’s awful. I had a look around at the effect of Cantharidin, and it sort of works like you suggested. What interested me was that one suggested remedy was ibuprofen which is an anti-inflammatory, but that did make me wonder if other anti-histamines would also help with any blisters? Dunno. But I’d try things, but that is me. The bull ants here are revolting little insectoid warriors which produce blisters, when bitten and chemically sprayed, it hurts, a lot. How are you doing today?
On that note, I was digging up an upside down tree stump today left by the loggers and if a person is going to encounter humongous ants, it’ll be then. But I dodged those rotters, and it helped that it was so cold today.
Cheers and thinking of you,
Chris
Hi DJ,
What can I say, I’m a thrill seeker! Look, it wasn’t my smoothest move, but I’m working hard at effecting the façade of an amusing, if somewhat canny peasant. It’s a worthwhile role which can deliver a smarty-pants line when so required. I actively encourage people to under estimate me.
Thanks for the update map, and it looks like Washington state and Oregon are doing it tough right now. The whole area is lit up, particularly east of the mountain range. Shame the map doesn’t show the topography, as combined with the wind speed and direction, you’d be able to get an idea as to how fast the spread will be in any particular direction.
DJ, man, those weather conditions are so dangerous. And absolutely, often freeways and highways aren’t wide enough to form an effective fire break – embers get blown over the dead vehicle zone, and the air preheats anything left to burn on the other side.
Incidentally, the Editor and I had the disagreement about our winter activities, and that started the drama. To be honest, I was looking at the super El Nino forecast and pressing on with forest edge clean up, and she wanted to get back into the rock paths, which are largely unfinished. I dunno, one day insurance is going to be a problem, and I’m an old fella now and the work is physically demanding, so better to do the hard stuff now. In the end we compromised, but I was back into the cleanup work today on an upside down tree stump.
Sorry to hear that about the family, and hope they make it out without incident – which is the general point of leaving early. My thoughts go to all of your affected family and friends, and may the weather soon turn in their favour.
Thinking of you as well, and please accept my condolences, and hope the funeral service provides some catharsis to the grief which is losing a friend.
Hope the folks in Disautel don’t lose access to your contact and the online updates. Those things are really useful in these sorts of emergencies. What a time.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
The chocolate and other stuff, mostly worked. I’m very much into maintaining an harmonious home environment, but wishes are one thing, and reality can occasionally be another. Oh well, these things happen.
I worked off a bit of frustration on an upside down tree stump today. There are two of them in the latest area to be cleaned up, and the first is now only a sixth the size of what it once was, but I ran out of time to complete the job. This morning was more paid work, and that’s been feral these past few weeks. Mustn’t grumble, it’ll quieten down.
Ha! I didn’t notice any errant nuns in the plot line, but I’d bet they’d be capable of dealing to feral sharks with their secretly razor sharp crucifixes! I did like the bit in the plot line where the helicopter… OK, no spoilers, Lot’s of destruction and unexpected err, toothy munchings. And yeah, clearly there is a market for disaster films. Hey, remember Towering Inferno?
Me neither, the idea of an e-reader kind of puts me off. I like books, although I can appreciate that an e-reader would be handy for those who travel, which doesn’t describe either of us.
Now you’re getting into the dark arts of book purchasing decisions. Makes me wonder if holidays and/or other enticements are offered? You’d imagine that people wouldn’t necessarily borrow cook books from a library, especially given how much information is provided online. And do people genuinely plan their meals that far ahead? Dunno, but I can appreciate how having a decent personal collection of cook books would work and be there ready to hand when inspiration strikes.
Agreed, the discount thing is very real, and was on offer when I bought the complete collection of Jack Vance books in the Spatterlight edition. It ended up being a few boxes, and years of fun.
Ha! You knew, and it is never wise to tempt the thunder gods of ancient Norse derivation. They seem a bit grumpy and will do such things like heavy rain. And please do not recite my patented and tested weather incantation out loud. Once, you might get away with doing so, but multiple times just builds up the response.
The potatoes do that here as well, so you have to keep an eye on the plants knowing that green taters are no good. I reckon that would be about the right timing, and fingers crossed you get eight to ten tasty tubers. Digging them up is always a bit difficult, and I cook the damaged ones first.
Has your library got Clarkson’s farm yet? Well worth watching.
Sorry, of course, how much can any of us actually do? It’s a more important question than it first seems, and a day goes by pretty quickly. I don’t add basil to pesto, and like you, some years I forget to plant sweet basil. No big loss, there are better edibles to grow.
Ha! The dreaded household administration got you too! Wise to get onto all of it. I thought that they’d banned mail in voting! 😉 Hope your new boss is not the same as the old boss, whatever that means. I see that the UK folks have chosen another Prime Muppet. That happened down here years ago, and it made for a fun joke: Don’t worry about them, we’ve got plenty more where they came from! Incidentally, after a decade of that revolving door nonsense, the parties decided to cut it out – mostly because the public started lodging protest votes which could no longer be ignored. That’ll happen in the UK, you wait and see.
Naughty H! To quote Pink Floyd, If you don’t eat your medicine, how can you have any pudding? I crush the stuff up between two spoons and then add the powder to the meal, and then said dog has to consume the stuff.
Dog’s are onto our business though! 🙂
It’s turned windy here tonight.
Cheers
Chris
@ Pam – Sort of our own building. But not really. We could lose it at some future date. The owner could hit a rough patch, and have to sell it. He could die, and his heirs decide to go for the money. I hope I’m dead and gone, before something like that happens. 🙂 Lew
Yo, Chris – Who can forget “Towering Inferno?” 🙂 I think there were nuns, in that one, too. 🙂
Oh, I can’t say there were big enticements, in the book biz. Maybe some swag … posters, store displays … maybe a coffee mug. However, when I was managing a store in S. California, before the holidays, a big local book wholesaler would have an open house, for all the store managers. So we could maybe order local supplies of “hot” titles. We also got to meet authors.
Our high yesterday was 79F (26.11C). Our overnight low was 57F (13.88C). Our forecast high for today is 84F. 10 degrees cooler, tomorrow.
When we got that bit of rain, I noticed four snails, on the sidewalk, next to the snail sanctuary! A record. If they get out of hand, I can always relocate some to the woods , across the street. Or … I could make escargot. 🙂 Really. I looked it up. Yup, US garden snails are edible. Lots of articles telling you how to prepare them.
My pumpkins have flower buds. I’ll have to figure out how to cut out the male blossoms. Some of them, at least. It may be the variety (small sugar pumpkins), but the “knob” underneath the blossom isn’t very pronounced. Hard to tell the boys from the girls.
The past few days, I haven’t seen many bees on the red onion pom-poms. I think they’re pretty played out. Beginning to turn color. There are a few wasps, but they don’t bother the few bees that show up. I did see a spectacular wasp, this morning. I managed to identify it. I’m glad it’s not aggressive, as it was about 2 inches long. The Great Golden Digger wasp.
https://waspworld.com/great-golden-digger-wasp/
Our library doesn’t have Clarkson’s Farm. It is available on DVD, in the US. But I noticed most sellers were out of stock. Even, the River. E-buy seems to have some for sale. Just have to be careful it’s the right region.
Trying to get mail in ballots, banned. Or, at least, not accepting any ballots after Election Day, that are mailed. Some places accept late ballots, as long as they are postmarked no later than election day. There are all sorts of efforts to make voting difficult. But so far, mostly ineffectual.
I was surprised, when I got my new driver’s license that there was a big notice, that since I didn’t have the “enhanced” (and pricey) license, I would not be able to use it as ID for domestic flights. In my case, not a problem 🙂 .
The third time’s the charm. I managed to get the pill down H. Using a bit of yoghurt and peanut butter, for camouflage. There are instructions not to split or crush the flea pills.
You might find this article about a possible stock bubble, “interesting.”
https://www.alternet.org/a-2-trillion-time-bomb-is-about-to-blow-up-the-us-economy/
The author, Robert Reich is a pretty interesting fellow. I’ve seen quit a few of his DVDs and read several of his articles. He’s always pretty clear. Doesn’t get too esoteric. But, as Mr. Greer pointed out last week, prediction is hard. :-). Lew
@ DJSpo:
I just read the update that you gave Chris, and I saw the direct link. I’ll look at that.
Pam
Chris:
Thanks for thinking of me. It appears that I am unscathed, unless the blisters sneak up on me. But it has been well over 24 hours, which is mostly when the delayed reaction hits. I can’t figure out why I didn’t react, unless it’s like poison ivy. For years I could handle poison ivy with my bare hands, until one day – wham! – I was allergic to it.
Do you mean that those ants can actually spray at you? Better be wearing goggles!
I’ll bet you are right about ol’ Handsome Tom.
When you finally get into the book, I think you’ll enjoy it.
Well, now, I don’t know about monkeys doing better. By the time the manager got to the checkout to sort things out, the banana would, er, be gone.
“he was promoted to the Admiralty – thus probably why the British Empire declined and failed.” Thus proving once again – in a big way! – that Captain, I mean, Admiral – Bligh was bad luck.
Yesterday was mostly a weed pulling day (I was in town today) and there is a funny phenomenon in my garden: In the oddest places one finds small persimmon and pawpaw trees. There are so many that they could even be considered weeds, though I hate it when I have to pull them up. They exist because of two things. First, squirrels dug up the seeds from their original planting beds and planted them all over. Secondly, as my son has discarded some that he didn’t want, there were places where the small pots were dumped out within the garden and the little plants took root. I want to leave some of them that are out of the way, but it probably isn’t practical as these are rootstock plants and won’t have good fruits like the varieties that would be grafted on them.
Before you store them, do you wash the potatoes you grow? I have been because, for one thing, it’s the best way to find the damaged ones and set them aside to use right away, but I wonder if I am damaging the skin any. This year mine are all yellow potatoes and they have thin skins.
Pam
Chris,
Getting underestimated is something I’ve tried to cultivate for years. I’ve got one favorite method, acting like I’m not paying attention. Then later, perhaps even months or years later, I demonstrate that I was paying attention and more. My second favorite I call the Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott Method: When asked, always grossly overestimate how long a project will take. Then complete it, but sit on it for a bit, then present the finished project still well in advance of your grossly overestimated finish date. Worked every time.
Glad that app works for you. Indeed, eastern Oregon and eastern Washington are getting gobsmacked this year. Ah you quickly discovered the missing feature that I’ve wished was included – even some basic topography. What I can say in this particular fire is that along Highway 155, it appears to have crested Desautel Pass and burned slightly downhill from there. At least according to the “hot spots” I viewed. The “Get Ready” zone for evacuations was updated this afternoon and covers a huge swathe of territory.
Saturday is the big challenge day. We have forecast winds with gusts up to 35mph here. Forecast is much the same, maybe a bit higher, on the fire zone. A bit cooler tomorrow, but still hot and humidity expected in the teens through the afternoon. Dangerous conditions indeed.
“In the end we compromised,” Good idea. I’ve discovered that most of what I think is important really isn’t. And most of what IS important might be worth a brief discussion but isn’t worth a fight. That way, on the rare occasions that I actually dig in and get my stubborn on, the Princess knows to slow down so we can have a proper discussion. Glad you two made a compromise. Viewing from afar, like from the other side of the planet, you are BOTH correct. The pathways DO need to be completed. Yet, with summer coming on with the probable oddister conditions this year, the continued forest cleanup is ALSO required. Some compromise and figuring out how to work on both is a good solution to my eyes.
I think my displaced family has found where the credible information sources are in their exile. I know that the information networks get reformed eventually. Usually “eventually” is fast on the Rez, but so is the “unfounded rumor” chain.
A comment of yours from the other day got me to thinking. Yes, having the proper chocolates on hand is a good thing. We typically indulge with some chocolate with our midday meal. An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure or something. Or maybe an ounce of prevention is better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.
Today had the most surreal feel to it, at least for me. The air quality has improved, but the smoke is still here to some degree, and it is very hazy. This evening the moon was visible through the smoke, giving it an eerie look. I think, too, that some of the “feel” is that I lived in the high desert for a year, and the past few months the weather has been very similar. So, with the surreal feel, I’m listening to Blondie’s “Autoamerican” album. It fits the mood.
The Dame and I got out for a short walk this morning. It was hot early. We got out again at sunset and walked some. Still hot, but we got in our normal distance, albeit in two shifts. She enjoyed the extra outing.
DJSpo
Hi Pam,
That’s a relief and also great news about those horrid insects interaction with you. How’s it going today? Fingers crossed you dodged a rash, or worse. Fortunately the plants in this area will only kill a person by bushfire, but did you know some folks up north grow poison ivy as an ornamental garden plant – apparently it has never escaped into the wilds. English ivy, which is a different plant, is quite common, but becoming less so.
Fortunately the ants can’t spray the very nasty formic acid far, unless they’re walking around unnoticed on your skin. They’ll sting you, inject the acid into the wound, and then spray the general area just for good measure. As you’d imagine, those bullants and I are not fans. Although, I’ve had the opposite effect to you, and my body seems to be adapting to the rotters and their dratted chemical warfare. My initial reactions were pretty bad, so maybe there is something in that?
What I know, is that the bullants don’t like humic acid, which is associated with top soil, and so, I build top soil as a preventative. But they still go wandering away from their nests in disturbed areas, and a person (or dog) can get rather unlucky. Poor little Dame Scritchy (may she rest in peace after years of fluff service) used to blow up like a puffer fish when stung. Easily fixed, but painful.
Up north of the continent, doesn’t just have sharks and monster salt water crocodiles, they also have: Dendrocnide moroides – stinging tree. Escape poison ivy, and the stinger tree will get you!
The first page was poetic, and then the alert author buckled down into recounting a charming tale of English country life of a bygone era. It’s a pleasure to read, and thank you for the recommendation. Economic considerations have increased my resistance to sneaky book recommendations – I am weak, say no more – and so they have to count. And this lovely tale is doing so. 🙂
Ha! Yes, of course the monkey would have been able to determine a banana from a container of oil, unlike the computer, and then done what the simian does best – eaten it. Bananas are very tasty, and I wholeheartedly agree with the choice.
One mutiny suggests the possibility of homesick crew temptations in far away Polynesian islands with winsome young ladies. Twice, and this time over rum rations, with probably half starving pasty English convicts, suggests that the gentleman was a martinet of the worst sort who was completely unable to read the room. Yeah, bad luck indeed – for the people who had to deal with him. 🙂
That makes two of us, for I was in town today as well. Oh Pam, I get seedling fruit trees too, and know that if I were to suddenly disappear, the fruit trees would carry on – but might be somewhat different than those of today. Actually it’s almost impossible to know if the seedling produces a useful cultivar. I mean, the famous Granny Smith apple was a chance seedling grown in Mrs Smith’s garden.
I never wash potatoes before storing them. Mind you, I’ve never run the experiment to see which would last longer. Next year I’m going to not use the sugar cane mulch to store them in because it seems to be able to suck moisture out of the very air. We’ve spoken of the need for an old school root cellar, and nothing has changed on that front.
With damaged potatoes, I can see which is which when they’re pulled from the soil. A garden fork lifts them easily, but sometimes the tines damage the skin on the tubers. I always cook up the potatoes with their skins, but some folks peel them, although I have no idea why. Dunno.
Cheers
Chris
Hi DJ,
An eminently fine strategy, except sadly I subscribe to Geordi La Forge’s general policy, which is perhaps somewhat more exacting as to time estimations! The Universe has changed and captains are not all that tolerant these days… 😉
But before we move on:
“Give the word, admiral!”
“Mr. Scott, the word is given.”
“Aye, sir!” 🙂
Hehe! I always liked Scotty.
It’s pretty feral looking on the map east of those big rain blocking coastal mountain ranges of yours. And the value of having the topography included on the maps is extraordinary because you can see where the wind will blow the fires. I won’t mention that the local Vic Emergency website has exactly that topographical detail for the entire state down to street level. It doesn’t have the winds on the map though, so there is no one perfect system.
It takes a lot of heat and winds to get a fire to move in a downhill direction. So that is not a good sign in my books. Uphill, and the flames barely need any encouragement, but that’s different isn’t it?
Man, high temperatures and 35mph wind gusts are not good. Some seasons, all any of us can do is hope for the best, and wait for the rain to return and cooler weather to prevail. If a person is unprepared, over confident, reliant on mains water and power, I reckon they need to get out early if under threat.
We’re working out the details of the compromise, yet the risk remains – the fire threat never goes away, except that year when 55 inches of rain fell, and that produced other dire problems of a different sort. I guess a person could say that life is full of problems with no guaranteed work arounds. Truly, I’m less sure about far more things than stuff I’m sure about.
Well, yeah, we call the rumour mill, the ‘bush telegraph’ down here, but same, same. The state’s emergency website is pretty awesome, but it took the 2009 Black Saturday fires with 173 deaths, to get to that point. So at least everybody knows what the state and local incident controllers know in real time.
And the memories sure do remain. Years ago I overheard two old blokes talking about the young bloke working at the water works who allegedly set off a fire in 1983. Turned out eventually to have been a good thing, but before that moment, the bloke was the most hated person in the mountain range.
Yes, please do not inflict a stick upon your eye, and maintain a batch of special treats, just in case. 😉 Man, always wise for a dude to have a strategy.
On those days down here, the moon runs an orange-ish blood red colour. It’s an alarming sight isn’t it?
The song ‘Rapture’ is nothing short of a masterpiece. I remember when it was released. My mother who was always a bit ‘off’ mentally, had some unpleasant things to say about the talented lead singer, none of which were deserved. A truly great album, and what a voice.
🙂 Yup, best to avoid the midday sun, for neither you nor the Dame fit the description of Englishmen and Mad Dog! I do much the same and retreat indoors from about 2pm on those sorts of days. Is there a need to cook one’s head? I don’t think so.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
🙂 Candidly, I’d forgotten about the nuns in the Towering Inferno, but yeah, God’s punishment and stuff. Just sayin… To which my former guitar teacher may have cheered on. Early on he showed promise with the piano, and took lessons with a nun, who’d smack the back of his hands with a cane at every incorrect note. I’m not saying the lady was a sadist, but the evidence suggests that things were not as kindly as one may have expected. Anyway, to cut a long story short, he gave up the piano and took up the guitar. I liked the guy, and he didn’t deserve the mistreatment. Few would thrive under such punishing tutelage.
Oh no! It’s all total confusion. There was a nun on board the aircraft disaster film, Airport ’75. See this is why I don’t fly! Do I really want to be seriously ill and serenaded by a folksy nun? No. The Airplane! spoof film was a far folksier song, and yet the sick kid stole the scene: Airplane! – River of Jordan. That film was just so wrong from start to finish, but very amusing and totally politically incorrect.
I must add, aircraft half a century ago looked far more comfortable. See, this is another reason I don’t fly anywhere, things were much better back in the day.
Cool. Meeting the authors would have been fun for you, but perhaps not so much for them! Do I really have to do this? I don’t want to… We’ve all been subjected to the horrors of the corporate day, and this is why I work with small business nowadays for such things don’t happen. Man, I remember being dragged off to the Australian Open to watch a finals tennis match and it was 37’C / 99’F and I hated every moment. The poor clients were probably wondering about the glowering emo-acting, super pensive bean counter with the surly attitude. What’s up with him? Hehe! Give the tickets to the fans, don’t waste them on me…
Yay for some cooling and a bit of rain, and hope it extends to the east of your state, and the one below as well. Rain and cold winter here today.
Went into the big smoke to catch up with the crew, and what a lovely day it was.
I believe that the same is true of the snails down here as well, but have never tried them. I don’t get ooked out by snails, but can see how people would. By the way for lunch I had a tasty roast pork (with crackling) roll which may have been somewhat fancy because it was described as a panini. The roll was round crusty warm sour dough with a sprinkle of flour added to the top. Yum! All the yummiest food varieties… 😉
The pumpkin err, knob, or is it the err, singular ball, under the flower usually starts off quite small so no worries there – especially with the hot weather you are having this summer. Man, we discussed this subject about the flowers last year, and I didn’t really worry. Pumpkin flowers tend to attract pollinators.
An impressive wasp for the garden, and what a good job it does of consuming pest critters. The sting site on a leg in the photo looks inflamed, but not too bad. It’s a good sign of garden health having them around.
Interesting that the suppliers are out of stock with the DVD’s, and dunno about your machine, but back in the day they used to have hacks for turning them into multi-region players. I’ve been stuck by that scenario too – the film is so close on the disc, and yet so far away from being able to be played. Still, if you don’t have to muck around with the settings on the machine, it’s probably for the best.
🙂 Good luck with that voting system. Hehe! These things happen, and you know my thoughts about how perception is as important as reality in some circumstances. Actually the other day I mentioned to someone that it is unwise to throw mud when in the wrong, lest some of it stick – at least that is what the old timers used to say. Sage advice don’t you reckon?
Yup, a big whoop! And I face similar issues with a goobermint system. See if I care. Refer to the Airport ’77 film and singing nuns above, or was it an earlier iteration in the series? What if people don’t have a drivers license?
Thanks for that explanation about the flea pills, as I’d not appreciated that might be an issue. Oh well, but respect to you for getting the job done. And despite H’s mistrust, she’ll appreciate the benefits.
Funnily enough we were discussing arty-fish-al hardware and programs today, and I get the impression that just like solar energy, it’s good, but not good enough to meet the expectations. And if I may say so, I heard a rumour that the Kimi III model is a brazen hussy! It’s a great name isn’t it? Who’s afraid of Kimi? 🙂 Apparently the land of stuff’s programs are scaled down versions of what is on offer in the west. For your interest, the scraping of data from this ‘ere interwebsite halted abruptly months ago (I forget exactly when), and wondered if the extraordinary volumes of mad cash to train the things, had finally run out? As a business model, it makes no sense to me, but then I’m not privy to the numbers, and I’m merely guessing based on what I hear people are paying and looking at the infrastructure and ongoing costs and taking a good guess. I just don’t see the benefits for the costs, but could well be wrong. My gut feeling is that we’ll find out though. And yup, to quote Yogi Berra, prediction is hard, especially when it’s about the future.
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – So, you play the gee-tar? Probably as much as I play the accordion … after 7 years of lessons. 🙂
Young viewers of “Airplane!” probably think it isn’t very authentic. As people back then dressed for the occasion and don’t anymore.
You’re lucky it wasn’t one of those corporate “team-building weekends.” Some of which, according to reports, have all the charms of the Bataan Death March. Several of the mystery series I’ve watched, have corporate week-ends as their setting. Office politics carried to extremes, and someone gets offed.
Our high yesterday was 82F (27.77C). Our overnight low was 57F (13.88C). Our forecast high for today is 72F. Rain was in our forecast for today, but only a 20% chance. And, it’s off the forecast, now. BUT, there sure is a lot of green on the radar, moving in from the coast. Sure looks like rain. But, after walking Dawg, I watered the garden, anyway. No surer chance of bringing rain, than doing that. 🙂
We have a couple of fires, up in our east county. Last report, still fairly small, but in steep and hard to access terrain.
I quit like snails. One of the bits of tat I still lust after is a Fenton glass snail. But, in the colors I’d like, the prices are out-of-sight.
I did a bit of research, and see that since buds are beginning to show, on my pumpkins, it’s perhaps time to switch up some fertilizer. Move from anything nitrogen to phosphorus and potassium. A suggested mix is bone meal and stove ash. “Sexing the Pumpkin.” Might make a good name for a band. 🙂
If you don’t have an enhanced driver’s license, you can get an enhanced ID card. Or, a passport. Which I understand come in many flavors, these days. Top-of-the-line and most expensive, is one with Fearless Leaders picture on it.
I usually go to the library on Saturdays, but not today. I went yesterday, instead. Because …
https://experiencechehalis.com/chehalisfest/
One of those spasms of civic who-who. Traffic will be a nightmare, all day long. Laying low. I did pick up “Deep Water.” I’ll probably watch it tomorrow night. With gourmet pizza, if things go according to plan. Lew
Hi Lewis,
You guessed it, and I play about as well as you do, but imagine you’d be better. What a person discovers about playing a musical instrument is that they have a head for it, or not. Alas, I’m in the latter and realised competence could be reached with a lot of work, but there were other demands upon my time. When did you play the accordion?
Oh that’s good, yes the jet set in those days dressed for the occasion. In fact, standards of deportment have slipped in these enlightened times, and on that note yesterday in the city, I noticed a young couple wearing matching tracksuits, but they didn’t look like they were off to the gym. The Editor tells me that as people lose the skills to make their own clothing, they’ve also lost the ability to comprehend what proper fit is like. The manufacturers just supply slop, few people tend to notice. I used to work in clothing manufacturing and the t-shirts made in those days were very consistent. With it all being off shored, one the recent t-shirts from the same brand, feels when worn as if it back to front, which it isn’t. Just very poorly made. Oh well.
Lewis, a corporate team building weekend sounds like my personal nightmare! 🙂 Best to not be involved, and it hardly surprises me that it would make a good background for a narrative about a psychotic episode. I reckon the original film ‘The Dry’ was relateable with it’s small town weirdness, but the sequel with it’s elite corporate retreat is a story understood only by a few. It was a good film the sequel, but a narrative let down because it is hard to empathise with the characters. I certainly didn’t like them.
And the Bataan Death March, may their souls rest in peace. Barbarity at it’s worst. The Japanese were fierce warriors, but a whatever it takes mindset, has consequences. They got what was coming to them when those last two big bombs were dropped. Imagine having to invade and subdue the Japanese Islands in latter part of WWII? The Indian, British and Australian forces who surrendered at the fall of Singapore fared equally badly as the Bataan experience. The Japanese were at the limit of their supply lines there, and could have been repulsed – at enormous cost, but look what happened afterwards. They were bluffing. War is hell.
Well, yes, watering the garden with the threat of impending rain, is a challenge to make it rain. 🙂 It was cloudy and sort of cold and dry-ish here today. I headed down below to the forest edge and finally removed one of the two upside down tree stumps. Three arms were buried at least four or five feet deep, and this was one of the hardest loggers mess stumps I’ve yet to remove – which is why it was left until now. Oh well, it’s done. One more to go in that area.
Steep terrain is the very worst place for a fire to get into. May the rain quench the flames.
Whoa! You’re not wrong about the prices for the Fenton glass snails. They’re very pretty though, and is your collection complete? 🙂 But as you may know, would you be happy completing the collection?
Oh yeah, pumpkins are heavy feeding plants. I mean look at the size of the fruit produced. 😉 Those, and a bit of wee, err, urea, are what I’d add as well. I see that you’re making good use of this information super highway thing. Or you looked it up in a gardening book? The three sisters combo of plants suggests to me that answer. The dead fish was the giveaway.
Yeah, it’s an awesome name for a band. 🙂 There is a smashing pumpkins band of course, quite famous back in the day.
Ha! I couldn’t give a toss for such iconography! 🙂 And avoiding flying saves me heaps of mad cash. What’s not to like about that?
I’d probably avoid the Kids zone due to noise concerns and stuff, but the blueberry pancakes and car show might pull me in. Sorry Lewis, I’m weak. Stay strong though, and avoid the traffic mayhem.
Cheers and better get writing!
Chris
Yo, Chris – Let’s see … I took accordion lessons, approximately ages 6-11. I think they ended, about the time I got a paper route. Might have had something to do with getting said route. 🙂 I doubt I could stagger through “The Beer Barrel Poka,” now. I was a lot better on the auto-harp. 🙂
I bought a pair of blue jeans, a few years back. one of the pockets just didn’t feel “right.” I finally figured out it had been sewn in, backwards.
I think some directors, these days, work at making their characters unlikeable.
Oh, all my Fenton is gone. Off to auction, year before last. All I have left is a jumping fish (I gave it to my Dad, and got it back after he passed) and a piece of Carnival Glass. Oh, and one butterfly. I never had any of the snails.
Slapping a living person’s visage on government things, is problematic. Open to interpretation… law vs tradition, etc..
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Can-a-Living-Person-Appear-on-US-Currency
LOL. Doesn’t seem to be a problem, for royalty. Which reminds me of a funny story, I read years ago, about the late Queen. She was having an official portrait photograph done, and the photographer asked her to smile. She said, “With teeth, or without?” 🙂 On occasion, she did have a wry, sly sense of humor.
I just read an article about the recent discover of one of the POW “hell” ships.
https://www.eastidahonews.com/2026/06/sunken-wreck-of-wwii-hell-ship-used-to-transport-pows-discovered-after-more-than-80-years/
I read a book about a year ago, about Hiroshima. Quit a few survivors of the hell ships, ended up working in mines near Hiroshima. A lot of them, survived. A guard and his wife, were smuggling them food. If they had been caught … Also, a plane went down, and the villagers turned the crew over to the civilian authorities, in Hiroshima. They were treated quit well, by the villagers, and the civilian police. The crew survived the bombing, but not the radiation sickness. The police chief even got them medical care, but it was all to naught. Generally, the civilian authorities treated POWs better. It was the military … There was a bit of a cover-up, after the war. Family was told a soldier was “lost in combat,” or “Missing in Action.” Rather than “friendly fire.”
Our high yesterday was 72F (22.22C). Our overnight low was 59F (15C). Our forecast high for today is 74F. As far as I know, we didn’t get any rain, yesterday. Though it was cloudy, all day. This morning, I walked the dog, and watered the garden. As we were heading in, a few drops came down. The radar sure does have a lot of green on it. Though there is no rain in the forecast.
I sprinkled some urea, on the pumpkin soil, about two week ago. I notice this morning, two blossoms have opened up. Last night, for dinner, I had left-overs from the Spanish rice. I added broccoli, carrots and three cherry tomatoes from the garden. I also picked (with permission) a zucchini from another patch. I cubed up some of that, and tossed it in.
I also made Velveeta fudge, last night. I think it turned out, pretty well. But, as I was mixing it, I hadn’t even got half the powdered sugar in, when it was getting too hard to stir. I wonder if the cheese product had dried out a bit in the fridge? So, a quick trip to the computer … add milk, cream or water. Well, no cream and the only milk I have is almond. And although it pretty much substitutes for regular milk, with fudge … well, I didn’t want to chance it. So, I used a bit of water, and was able to finish it. I also threw in 2 squares of 100% dark chocolate. Besides the cocoa. Why not?
Now here’s a coincidence. As I was putting away the cookbook, “Baking Yesteryear,” I wondered if it perhaps had a recipe for Nanaimo bars. Nope. But then I checked the author’s book, “Baking Across America.” Yup. There was a recipe. Even though the author pointed out, that it’s a Canadian recipe (Nanaimo is an island off the coast of British Columbia), they are found in almost every bakery, in Seattle.
But, it gets weirder. I settled in to eat dinner, and watch episode 6 of season nineteen, of “Murdoch Mysteries”. Which takes place in 1905 Toronto. A murder mystery plot point revolves around … Nanaimo bars. But that might have been an anachronism. The earliest printed recipe, is from the early 1950s. There are stories, of it being made in the 1930s. And one, out there, unconfirmed report of it being a 19th century invention.
If things go according to plan, this evening, I’ll make my gourmet pizza. Pesto, chicken, pickled artichoke hearts, etc.. And settle in to watch “Deep Water.”
So, why all this foodie largesse? Because today is my birthday. 77! How the heck did that happen? 🙂 Lew