Books are such wonderful things. A few years ago we indulged and purchased the entire collection of Jack Vance books in their Spatterlight edition. It sure is a lot of books and takes up a fair bit of space. The unusual name refers to one of the author’s narrative plot devices, but in reality it is a print on demand version of the Vance Integral Edition. Sounds impressive, but is what happened when a worldwide bunch of fans gets together and restores the texts to what the author originally had in mind. What joy I’ve had in the years since reading and re-reading the wondrous worlds created by that mercurial mind.
Around lunchtime today by sheer chance I happened to notice the large box of Stephen King’s books. Many a wee early hour of the morning has been spent wide awake in sheer terror wondering what may happen to the protagonists in their normal day to day activities, which by some act of strangeness, descends into a nightmare status mode six scenario! Oh my, I’d not expected such outcomes, and lost sleep was a fair price to pay to discover the conclusion. That author’s work was also cut by Editors (lovely people) and I’ve always been left wondering why the publisher deleted 400 pages from the original version of: ‘The Stand’. I’d not noticed one wasted sentence in the more complete edition, put it that way.
Then there was another box containing a multitude of Agatha Christie’s writings. Sure the author may have disliked the fictional character Poirot, but is an author really ever in control of their creations? And he seemed charming enough to me, if somewhat pompous. But then Sir Arthur Conan Doyle produced the not so charming fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, who candidly seemed like a bit of sociopath, and took credit for much of Dr Watson’s leg work. I prefer my fictional psychopaths to be a bit less self righteous, and the complete Dexter collection by Jeff Lindsay also sits in the bookshelf.
Speaking of which, there are long term plans to fix up the book shelves which line the hallway. The dust from a dirt road, combined with a wood heater are brutal on books. It would be nice to have some glazed doors protecting the wonderful contents, and maybe one of those sliding ladders so that the items nine foot or more above the floor can be reached! A ladder! A ladder! It’d look so cool.
Reading is one of my joys. It’s so nice to settle in with a book, have a mug coffee casually to one side with maybe some hot fruit toast slathered in butter, or a small chunk of cake. Now if only I could get paid for doing that activity, what a wonderful existence it would be. Woe is me, for I have to work, as does Sandra (who also enjoys the gentle art of reading).
Over the weekend, I was speaking with friends about all things AI (or otherwise hence known here as that thing Arty-Fish-Al Intelligence software). You know why that software is smart? My mates tell me that it disappears billions of dollars in mad cash to train the things, and that involves being paid to read, lots and lots. Look, I’d take the cash for doing that activity, even if it meant reading books that were of no interest. It’d be a sacrifice, but I’m up for it. Please send cheques to…
Here I must fess up, and they do tell me that confession is good for the soul. I have began reading the occasional book in the past, and put it down halfway through. One or two were even burnt, yes, it’s true! The textilogical demons needed to be exorcised by feeding them to the flames, and well, they didn’t have any choice did they? Anyway, I was protecting others from being exposed to such drivel. Yeah, maybe I was!
Alas, in these enlightened times there are no jobs for the serious reader, and sadly unlike AI, nobody has offered me billions for doing so. Cogitating upon the awful predicament of extreme wealth, I’m unsure if I’d live much differently to today. Although a few years ago I hired a Vermeer S800TX Mini Skid Steer Loader and was very impressed. I’d probably buy one of those, or an equivalent. It was really handy, but then by doing all the work around the property manually, I don’t have to go to a gym, or worry about the sheer number of cakes consumed whilst reading fine literature…
A few months ago I noticed on the statistics for this interweb site, that the AI robots had finally consumed as much text as they cared to do so. Things settled back down to normal, whatever that is. On a side note, it amuses me to consider that my values have been sucked into those models, only to be spat out again at some hapless unsuspecting user. But then the software monsters probably have been gorging to repletion upon some err, filter-free, opinions elsewhere on the interweb, and who knows what might come of that feast?
In more practical terms, with the website traffic at normal levels, the local Australian servers work faster, for me at least. If a person considers the blog text and the comments, I’d say we’re at around the ten million word mark. It’s a lot, and the site was a fat target for the hungry Arty-Fish-Al, and thankfully now is being ignored.
Interestingly, the other day I did a Google search to look up something or other, and noticed that the AI summary had disappeared. I’m grateful for that too, because I’ve observed in my professional life, that a few times the Arty-Fish-Al software returned an incorrect answer based on old information. They clearly don’t keep up to date with their reading those cheeky scamps! Remember that it costs a lot of mad cash to have those programs spending their moments reading (I’ll do the job cheaper, pretty please!)
I’m kind of wondering if the tech bros are running out of mad cash with which to pursue their AI dreams? Reminds me of a song: “To dream, the impossible dream!” Dunno where that came from, and it sounds an awful lot like a musical, but rest assured lovely readers, this blog will never be interrupted by an impromptu song and dance routine! That is guaranteed. Anyway, a lot of hopes are riding on those dream things, but the author Mr King proved to me that dreams can turn to nightmares, so my gut feeling suggests that human creativity will never be replaced by machine slop.
The bonfire begun last week, continued to burn on into Monday, and was slowly pushed together before eventually becoming ashes. No books were harmed in the process.
Whilst attending to the bonfire, I decided to flatten out a nearby mound. We’d never been able to mow the mound because it had plenty of rocks. Presumably the loggers bulldozers decades ago had also worked around it because of the rocks. They run the risk of slipping off their caterpillar tracks and it is neither quick nor easy to get them back on again.
The scary old rototiller and I slowly worked on the soil. It’s a great machine and can actually move small piles of clay easily. However, the rotating tines don’t like rocks, although they will loosen them. A useful pile of rocks soon developed and eventually the site became flat.
Two very large boulders were discovered in the process, and we’ll split them at a later date. Both will make very useful large rock wall rocks. Once the site was flat and the soil was loose, the big Japanese mower was used to smooth out the surface and mix in all of the chopped up organic matter. In two years time, it’ll look great.
I must have been feeling very energetic this week, because I tackled one of the two upside down tree stumps in that area. A couple of hours work reduced the behemoth to about a quarter of it’s original size.
I was defeated by the remaining chunk. We even hooked up 8,000kg breaking strain heavy duty nylon recovery straps to the stump and tried to pull the remainder out of the ground with the Japanese mower, but to no avail. Here is a closer image of the mess:
A few days later… I began digging all around the stump, and sure enough, there were three buried arms. By the end of the job, I’d dug four feet down, then cut off the arms with the chainsaw. The heavy chunk could then be rolled out of the large hole I’d created.
It was a pleasure to see the chunks of timber arranged neatly on the now cool fire pit. I’ll burn them off once the next upside down tree stump gets done.
We then set about removing every rock protruding from the soil in that area. It’s pleasing to see the many useful piles of rocks building up, and this area was like striking a granitic gold mine! Every rock is useful around here, unless it is a Moby body rock and thus too big for us to do anything with. Once the rocks were removed, we backfilled the holes using a mattock and spade, then used the Japanese mower to smooth out the soil.
Observant readers will notice the second upside down tree stump lurking above Ollie in the previous photo.
Spring is on its way here. I noticed that one of the Mulberry trees has begun producing leaves, with some of the larger ones showing signs of frost damage.
And in complete climate weirdness, the raspberry canes produced a few tasteless berries.
It’s probably not a smart move to change the composition of gases in the planet’s atmosphere. And people oh so concerned about climate change, might want to take a good, long, hard look at how much energy those Arty-Fish-Al machines use to produce slop. I can read books for heaps cheaper, please do send me a cheque to…
Anyway, the warming climate is great for growing citrus here.
Onto the flowers:
The temperature outside now at about 11am is 8’C (43’F). So far for this year there has been 741.2mm (29.2 inches) which is up from last weeks total of 736.6mm (29.0 inches)
Comments
49 responses to “The Great e-Scrape is Over”
Yo, Chris – Some book editors have been accused of almost entirely writing some authors books. Not so, in the case of Mr. King. That book I read a few months ago, by a Stephen King scholar (yes, there are such things these days), traced the back and forth edits, on a few of his books. Sometimes, King would take a suggestion, from his editor. Other times, stand his ground. Occasionally, King would come up with something entirely new, that worked best.
When “The Stand” came out, King didn’t quit have the following, he does today. The 400 pages were cut, because the potential cost of the book just didn’t pencil out. I’m sure, as an accountant, you can appreciate this. 🙂 But, once he had a massive following, who would pay just about anything for one of his books, the pages were restored.
Some authors claim their characters, once committed to the page, just take off and do their own thing. Often, much to the surprise of the author. Dickens claimed his characters … arrived. Almost in three dimension.
Rolling ladders. I seem to remember, in the stores I worked in, they had a nifty little trick. They generally sat close to the wall. Lift and pull, and they provided an angle that could be climbed. Lift and push, and they sat back against the wall.
You’re more likely to be paid for silk worms on your mulberry bush, than to read. 🙂 Although, if you search “jobs for readers,” there are plenty of leads. I think there was even a book, at one point.
I’ve never burned a book. Though I’ve sent plenty to the landfill.
Speaking of gyms and fitness, and all, I just read an article by Matt Damon about the prep he had to do to tackle the Odyssey role. It’s pretty interesting. I thought.
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/movies/articles/odyssey-star-matt-damon-reveals-120059878.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall
Yup. A musical. “Man of La Mancha.” A song and dance version of “Don Quixote.” Which I must admit I’ve never read … or seen in any version. Not even a “Classics Illustrated” comic. But, through osmosis, I do know a few details. Windmills, funny sidekick, horses and unrequited love. Or, something.
Ohhhh. A mystery mound! Are there bones? Well, at least you got some rocks out of the deal. Peak rocks on the “Limits of Growth” graph, will take a tic up. Temporary, I’m sure. Stumps? Eventually, plenty of ash to spread around, for the soil.
The flowers, as always, are lovely.
Well, the lazy pizza dough has rested long enough. Time for the fun part. Pushing it out to the edges of a 16″ pan, while rotating said pan. Lew
Hi Lewis,
Truly, I don’t know how I’d feel about having an editor completely re-write a book, although if it sold well, that could be a good prompt that the author has some work to do. Funnily enough, the Editor here and I have to review each others paid work prior to sending it off to clients. So reviewing the blog has never been a big deal, even if critical issues were raised. By the way, acquaintances in the profession tell me that other firms send out work, without anyone else reviewing the content, and as you’d imagine, that is the path to major errors. It’s amazing what a second set of fresh eyes can spot.
Unfortunately, I hear of plenty of businesses doing that trick, and such savings are OK, until they’re not OK. The things I’ve seen dealing with shops and trades over the years. Presumably such things occur because they’re trying to improve their margins on work, but I dunno whether the resulting problems are worth the hassle.
What you’ve described between Mr King and his editors sounds like a healthy working relationship. 🙂 Not all suggestions need be taken on board, and not all writing is top notch, is it? Funnily enough we had that occur last night in the review process. I’d written: which by some act of strangeness, descends into a nightmare status mode six scenario! The Editor looked at me and she said: “What does that mean? It makes no sense.” The only reply was: “background colour, a Chris-ism if you will. Leave it!” There was much shaking of the head, but we moved on. 🙂 Go Mr King! Best not to be rail-roaded in matters of style, and I often think of the amusing line: ‘A sh#t eating grin’, which means little, and a whole bunch. Gives a pleasing sense of fun to an otherwise dark narrative moment – and we’ve all met someone smirking at an inappropriate moment.
🙂 I hear you about the economics, and indeed I can understand those dimensions of the matter. Hmm. The complete unabridged version of: ‘The Stand’, ran to what was it again, 1,320 pages (just confirmed the number for research purposes)? Proves it can be done, although on a practical note I do wonder how many years the thin paper has, and I despair for my collection of pulp paperbacks which are rather yellow with age now.
Speaking of large books, I spotted in the bookshelves, Mr George RR Martin’s weighty tome (hardback) of: ‘A dance with dragons’, and thought to myself that here is book with heft which could be useful in both offensive and defensive roles when the rudely interrupted reader finds themselves in a bar fight. Hmm. Has the gentleman completed the series yet? I’ve not had the courage to watch the much loved show on the basis that something must have been missing given the sheer detail within the books.
Ooo, doing some rando searches on reddit, I spotted that Mr Martin had met the author Mr Herbert prior to his passing from this mortal coil and discussed the ‘Dune’ series. I see, well, lot’s of problems there, and need the series even finish, and does it really matter? Probably not. Talking about six degrees of separation, for Mr Herbert was good mates with Mr Jack Vance, whom I’m pretty sure would have had some rather strong opinions in the matter of sequels and author type-casting.
I can certainly appreciate how that ‘characters taking off and doing their own thing’ would occur. If I may, with many of the projects here I simply open my mind to the potentialities and ask the hard question: ‘what next?’ It surprises me how often there is an answer supplied, but not too far in advance.
On that note, today there was paid work to be done, but in between we brought several loads of rocks back up the hill and have almost filled the two open rock gabion cages on the long wall of those. Might have to construct a new steel cage soon. And an idea as to how to finish up that area with the terraced blackberry bed, was revealed. Didn’t expect that.
Ooooo. Thanks for the ladder details, and I’ll have a think about how that can work. My vague plans for the book shelves in the hall are to make them more functional than they are now, but also attractive. Visitors are first confronted by a neat collection of old school bird prints on one side, and a long hat and bag rack on the other, before the hallway widens where the book shelves are. Gives a nice oldey worldy feel.
Oh poop! Silk worm enterprises in this corner of the continent have a reputation of not doing well. Sales of the book for job seeking readers, was probably the entire point of the exercise? 😉
Lewis, I do feel bad about the bonfire – book interaction, but it kind of felt right, and the ash was useful in the garden. Landfill, well, you know.
It is interesting what Matt Damon must have gone through to play the role. An impressive achievement, and I’d not appreciated that the director eschewed CGI. Very interesting, and that would take, skill of an extraordinary level. OK, you’ve piqued my curiosity.
I’ve not read Don Quixote either, but bizarrely, yours is the second reference to the fictional character and windmills that I’ve read today. Who knew that the big contraptions were also dangerous?
🙂 I hope that there are no bones to be found in the mystery mound, and so far that seems to be the way of things. Sadly Peak Rocks is always with us, and we brought a poop ton of them back up the hill today – but there is a goodly quantity in reserve thanks to recent exploration efforts.
By the way, happy birthday to you! An auspicious occasion and fine innings to which we can all aspire. 🙂 The pizza sounds good too. And has the ‘Deep Water’ nun question been resolved as at this juncture? Hehe! Go on, were there any?
What an interesting musical instrument and I’ve never encountered an autoharp. It’s pretty clever, but alas playing music is not for I.
See, that sort of shoddy clothes manufacturing with the jeans pocket, is exactly what not reviewing work looks like.
The problem with unlikeable fictional characters is that when they meet their end, you’re kind of left cheering on the bad deal that fate has dealt them.
Ah well, yes, you certainly did have to reduce the collection, and it’s a tough choice.
Queen Elizabeth II used to be plastered all over coinage in use down here. I must say that icons are always err, given a bit of a what the kids would call a ‘glow up’! I hear you, but live in a country with such things. Still, rights must be exercised, even if it inconveniences others, lest they be disappeared. We just don’t have any rights on that front! 🙂
Oh my! The POW hell ships were as bad as the rest of the experiences. It’s a barbaric way to treat POW’s all other considerations to the side, and maybe the torpedo was a coup de grâce?
And that’s an important point, in crazy times, the culture is not the individuals. Going through the check points during you know what, the cops were good, but the military folks looked seriously displeased. I get that story you mentioned. Yup.
Did you get any more rain? It’s drizzling here tonight, and quite cold. Brr!
The pumpkin plants will appreciate the feed.
How’s the chocolate price index going in your part of the world? I’d noticed that prices have come down here.
True poetic license to chuck in a Nanaimo bar as a plot device, and reminds me of Twinkie bars in a certain amusing zombie film. 🙂
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – Book editors are an interesting lot. I’ve read where authors work well, with a particular book editor, and then they leave to work for another publisher, and a new editor is assigned to the author. Which can be good or bad.
I don’t envy the job. They have to keep the author happy, and an eye on the market. I read a bio of the editor Judith Jones, a few years back. As a young editor in Paris, she pulled “The Diary of Ann Frank,” out of a slush pile. Now a slush pile is the pile of unsolicited manuscripts that publishers get, “over the transom.” Those funny little windows, over the doors of some old office buildings. Junior editors jobs were reading through the slush piles to see if there were any hidden gems.
Jones had a knack / talent for editing cookbooks. She did all the greats … Child, Beard, etc. etc..
It could also be a fraught job. Suppose you overlooked a gem, and it went to another publisher. And, it was published to great acclaim (and a lot of money.) A lot of publishers, these days, do not accept unsolicited manuscripts. They depend on author’s agents to feed them possible publishable manuscripts.
I wondered about that line. I figured it was just another Chris-ism. 🙂 When we counted down tills, in the book biz, sometimes whoever was doing it, just couldn’t get it to balance. A second set of eyes often found the error.
R.I.P. pulp paperbacks. They have a limited shelf life. 🙂 They’d have to be in a climate controlled room, with monitoring of temperature and humidity. Think, museum. Which would extend their life, a bit. The only sure way to preserve them, is to de-acidify them. An expensive process.
Funny you should mention George Martin. I just read a short article on him … from the Onion humor magazine.
https://theonion.com/george-r-r-martin-hands-agent-unsolicited-4000-page-manuscript-titled-tuba-man-scuba-man/
Jack who? 🙂
Oh, I think you’d do ok with the silk worms. In your case, it would be different, this time 🙂 . I don’t know if I could put up with all the screaming, when you drop the cocoons in boiling water, from the tiny little worms.
Birthday was ok. The pizza was tasty, but needs work. I think I should have used chopped chicken breasts, instead of the canned stuff. And, real pesto. A bit more memory came back to me, and I remembered the restaurant pizza had feta cheese on it. I also looked a bit, into white sauces on pizza. They’re out there.
I watched “Deep Water.” No nuns were hurt in the production of that movie. As far as I could tell. Since modernizing their habits, they’re harder to spot. I began to wonder if anyone was going to survive.
People’s pictures on coinage. Another one from The Onion. They are so naughty. Commemorative stamps would also be another possibility. 🙂
https://theonion.com/u-s-mint-unveils-series-of-gold-coins-commemorating-presidents-extramarital-affairs/
Our high yesterday was 72F (22.22C). Our overnight low was 57F (13.88C). Our forecast high for today is 81F.
The Master Gardeners were here, this morning. They’ve put in a small lock box, for the key to their garden storage room. And given me the combination.
More flowers on the pumpkin vines. And, the green beans have broken ground. Wow. Less than a week. I saw three snails, last night. Two were ganging up on one slug, and another was taking on his/her own slug. I think I’ve figured it out, that the snails have the upper hand. There were no empty snail shells, laying around.
Lindt high octane chocolate bar prices, are still over $4. And over $5 in some places.
It was just so weird to have Nanaimo bars, pop up in two totally unrelated places, in less than an hour.
I’m reading a book, right now, “Cleanup on Aisle Five: Essential Work, Poverty Wages and the View from Behind the Supermarket Register.” (Larson, 2026.) I just read the chapter, last night, about when they put self checkout machines, in the store the author was working in. Oh, my. The problems with those machines. The things we talked about hardly scratched the surface. And I don’t even know where to start, describing other issues. Lew
Hi, Chris!
Hee, hee! That’s a funny title. Do I smell a pun there?
Now see there: “wide awake in sheer terror”. That’s why I don’t read Stephen King. I don’t need any help being one, big scaredy cat. I will confess, however, to having read all of Agatha Christie’s mysteries, and I love Poirot and Miss Marple. I don’t know why they don’t scare me so much. Maybe because I was such a child when I started reading them, and didn’t realize the reality of the murders. Doyle did scare me, and I only ever read The Hound of the Baskervilles.
You are thinking exactly like me, because I have the same road dust problem. My poor books, and most of them quite old, even a hundred years. Book shelves with glass doors are not going to happen, and I have considered making curtains for the front of the bookcases, but there goes the enormous pleasure I get from just viewing all the covers. I have fairly often put a book down half-read (or a lot less). I don’t have the time to waste on such things. And I have thrown a few away, too, as you said, spare someone else from such drivel. That doesn’t happen often as some people might want the drivel.
Ten million is a good few words. All that reading that you do is what makes you a good writer.
There was a windfall – Mt. Rocks. Not quite Peak Rocks, though those weren’t exactly easy to get to. It does look quite large in the cleared photo.
Chris! How did you dig 4 feet down around that stump? I knew Ollie had Pointer in him. I didn’t know it was Rock Pointer.
I would like to match my tasteless blackberries to your raspberries. I don’t know why; maybe the drought?
If AI siphons up anymore of your content, they are definitely going to see your offer to accept a cheque. I had an encounter with AI the other day. I was looking at a pleasant Youtube video about growing tomatoes. We all need help growing tomatoes, right? After a bit something began to bother me about the video, but I didn’t know what. I read the comments and a good few stated that it was AI produced. I could defintely tell that once I knew. I looked at the home page for the channel; no mention of AI. I looked back at the video and in very tiny letters it did say “AI”. The whole thing really bothered me for some reason. It happened again with a cooking video; I caught onto that one right away. And there was no tiny mention of AI anywhere.
From last week:
Thank goodness we don’t have Dendrocnide moroides, though we do have stinging nettle; I think it’s the same family and I much enjoy its tea. I do like DM’s other name better: gympie-gympie.
I’m glad that you like Mr. Bell’s book so far. I am halfway into the second book in that trilogy. It is very different, though still wonderfully written. In it he focuses mostly on the people and not much on the farming (so far). It is a lot more introspective, too.
What were the seedling fruit trees? And maybe next year, I won’t wash my potatoes. I didn’t get them put away quickly enough and too many are turning green.
Thank you so much for the flowers. They do march on!
Pam
Hi Pam,
You betcha, ya do smell a tricksy pun! 🙂
Oh yes, of course, and we all have our kryptonite, and I dislike flying plus scary movies are not conducive to a good nights sleep. The original Terminator film left me with nightmares for at least a week, and you don’t need to wonder why I’m now suspicious of arty-fish-al software.
🙂 The Editor likewise loves Poirot and Miss Marple, and pointed out to me something I’d missed which is that often the naughty acting protagonists are females, and well they might not be lady’s given the propensity to snuff out life only to be then caught by the fictional crime fighting sleuths!
I gave up on Sir Doyle after reading that same classic book: The Hound of the Baskervilles. An intriguing tale, to which Dr Watson did all of the leg work, and Mr Holmes was a bit of a righteous acting cold fish. Not a warm character put it that way.
It’s awful this dirt road / wood heater dust issue with books. Not a problem I’ve figured out a solution to, other than glass doors – for the very reasons you mentioned. A good collection of books has much visual appeal to me as well, which you also noted. And the pulp classics of half a century ago, and decades older again, will one day soon become dust themselves. Oh well, it’s the very definition of ephemeral.
The books I tend to put down are generally first person accounts of unresolved serious mental health issues. Getting in that head space with an over developed sense of empathy leaves a person a touch raw, so those books I’ve put down. After reading Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, I just felt sorry for the kid who’d had to put up with all of the author’s nonsense – and that is what too much empathy looks like.
And agreed, someone else may want the drivel and laud the author for the keen insights. As the English used to say, just not my cuppa tea.
Pam, your words have contributed to that ten million word count too! Just between you and I, I do hope that the tech bros don’t succeed in their quest for software which does something genuinely creative.
There are lovely piles of rocks everywhere, and yesterday we raided some of them in order to continue filling up the two open rock gabion cages. Neither are full, but we might have to make another cage soon.
How did I dig down four feet? Well I just started digging and kept going! 🙂 The poor chainsaw had to cut very dirty hardwood right at the bottom soil layer, and that necessitated four sharpenings of the chain.
Ah! It’s been hot hasn’t it with your summer? Tasteless black berries suggests to me that they’ve had too much water. Sorry, but hot and dry weather produces small and tasty fruit. Water increases the size of the berries, but reduces the sugar concentration. Ook! What’s your opinion on that observation? I don’t water the blackberries, even when the temperatures rise beyond 100’F.
I know! I know! I asked three times in the text for a cheque for all of the content the hungry ghosts computer things sucked in, but has it been sent yet? I don’t think so. Phooey to them! Go get their own ideas and stop bothering me!!! The silicon rotters.
Hey, that’s happening to me as well with utoob. A lot of slop is being uploaded and a person has to be careful. I’ve heard that it is worse with music.
We’ve got both kinds of weather tonight, wind and rain! 37’F outdoors. Brr!
That’s my comprehension of stinging nettle too, it was an early spring tonic during the lean season, and a tea sounds like a great idea. In the north of the UK, I believe it used to even form part of a soup. By the way, Gympie is a place far up in the north east of the continent. It was very green, warm and humid from memory.
I’m enjoying the book very much, and he writes in such a way that I almost feel as if I’m there with him. He also has a rather endearing self effacing personality and intriguing interactions with the local inn keepers daughter – which amuses me greatly. Thank you for the recommendation. A shameful thing to do to have poured out that half pint of beer, and been caught in the act.
I get heaps of seedling fruit trees here due to the birds – think your squirrels – and they cover a lot of different varieties. Long ago a seedling citrus tree took and I should have given it more care and attention, but moved it and that was not a wise thing to do.
I’m astounded that there are so many flowers at this time of year. How’s your lot looking?
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
I guess restraint of trade clauses means that a good editor with established relationships can’t take the authors with them when they depart to nicer shores? Mind you, I’ve never worked in a paid job where I knew the person prior to me had done a better job. It sounds arrogant, but is probably more likely explained that I’ve somehow landed in jobs where a dynamic perspective is called for to restore some semblance of order. I frightened the steady as she goes big corporate and goobermint folks. Makes me wonder how many people in the workforce are simply going through the motions. That’s not me.
Reading about the life and work of Judith Jones was a lot of fun, and I recall the book you read. Tell you what, an image of one stand-out dish captured my hunger-o-meter! The Macaroni & Cheese from The Gift of Southern Cooking book. Absolutely cooked to perfection! Yum! Yum!
Had a simple pasta this evening with the cracked peanut and leafy green topping. Very tasty, and I abhor bland food. Interestingly I watched a utoob video on the diets and living conditions of submariners in the US navy. It was fascinating, and after nine weeks, gourmet was out, and powdered stuff was in. Turns out groceries set the limit on the amount of time those machines can stay underwater.
Went into the big smoke for work today, and up here it was wet and cold. Actually, it’s 35’F outside right now. Brr! Had to open the window to let some fresh air in though, as it was a touch smoky from the wood heater with a heavy side serving of cooking aromas when I got home. The hidden side benefits of highly insulated homes…
Oh yeah, and agents would also spend their days in a state of nervous anxiety too. A very uncertain business. Not accepting unsolicited manuscripts suggests to me that the publishers are looking for a sure thing, when maybe there is none to be had. It’s a gamble, and always was.
Hey, I’ve had seasoned accounts folks tell me over the years that such and such cannot be reconciled. Little do they know with whom they’re saying such things to! No, I hold their hand through the entire process, and begin again at the start, for there is no other place. Actually, the guy who allegedly committed the big fraud told me that a certain process couldn’t be reconciled, and I ignored him and just plugged my way through the thousands of transactions. He was wrong. Cash tills are exactly the same, it may take a little detective work, but there is always an answer, isn’t there?
I know, the poor little pulp treasures, I knew thee well! 😉 I must say, that climate controlled room for the books sounds expensive!
Hehe! Thanks for the laughs, and I particularly enjoyed the final punch line: Wolf! If it is a burden to the author, and the gentleman is not contractually obligated, best to dodge the entire situation, or hire a competent ghost writer. But would it be the same, and somehow I doubt it. Some of the latter Robert E Howard Conan tales appear to me as if another hand completed them. The words don’t read the same.
Very funny! 😉 Moving on… Hehe!
Do the poor little wormies really do that? I might skip on learning about the unpleasant end the silkworms are subjected to on the basis that it has been a rather long work day. That’s my excuse anyway.
For a birthday pizza, chicken breast is probably the way to go, and I’ve not tried canned chicken meat. Never. I’ll say nothing about the pesto on the basis that it could be inferred as browbeating, whatever that is. 😉 Feta cheese is pretty nice stuff, and super easy to make, but I’ve not ever noticed the difference between store bought stuff and the home made equivalent. Got any olives on the pizza? They sound necessary to me with that combination. We also add in chips of dehydrated tomatoes, which are quite flavourful. The white sauce is outside my experience. Are you talking about a béchamel sauce?
I’m not sure why but the concept of undercover nuns sprang into my mind when you mentioned their lack in the film. Sounds a bit naughty really, yeah, let’s not go there. Go on, did anyone survive the plane crash and subsequent sharks?
Oh my! Those Onion folks and their cheeky coins! I’m blushing. 🙂
72’F sounds really nice, but is it warm enough for the pumpkins to put some size on? Might not be. I would swap you for the 35’F here though. Brr!
Beans are fast growing plants, and I don’t reckon it was too late for them, you’ll be fine. Very good, and the ultimate-fighting-snails are large and in charge, and mean business, clearly.
Oh poop about the heavy duty full cocoa chocolate prices.
I know! What does it all mean? Is there one of those Nanaimo bars in your future? I reckon the hard thing would be finding the best of them in the area. Some stuff gets hyped up on the interweb, and I’ve been disappointed only very recently from this very thing. People were talking up a bakery, so what else to do but sample the wares, and they were OK, but didn’t live up to the hype. I fed most of the stuff to the chickens which were appreciative.
Supermarket self checkout machines are odd devices, and you know what’s really deeply weird about them? I don’t find them to be intuitive. They could have been programmed better. And often there are no convenient instructions on how to use them. I don’t use it often, but the one in the big box hardware store is brilliant, and just works and has the benefit of being simple.
Any choice anecdotes from the book to share?
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – Bookshelves and dust. You might look into what’s called “lawyer’s bookcases,” or, in your part of the world, maybe “barrister’s bookcases.” I never had one pass through my hands, when I was in the tat trade. But they were around. Often at a premium price. Pretty nifty. They were stackable, being individual units. You’d pull the glass doors toward you, and they’d tip up and slide over the tops of the books. There are old oak ones, but also, reproductions of varying quality. A lot came in from The Land of Stuff.
https://www.dutchcrafters.com/blog/barrister-bookcase-backstory/
At different jobs, I was occasionally told to slow down. As it made other employees “feel bad.” Or, more likely, look bad. 🙂 Mostly, I ignored such nonsense. In the first place, there’s a job, get it done. In the second, I’m not responsible for other people’s “feelings.”
I have one of Edna Lewis’s cookbooks, and have been meaning to get one or two of her other ones. Mac and cheese has many different recipes. Almost as many as potato salad. Our school lunchrooms often had Mac & cheese. You can find it on offer, at deli’s. It’s real comfort food. As you know, I have my monthly Mac & cheese, that I tart up. 🙂
Crews on old sailing ships had the same problem. Fresh food ran out, pretty fast. Frequent ports of call were desirable, to restock.
Our high yesterday was 79F (26.11C). Our overnight low was 57F (13.88C). Our forecast high for today is 74F. We might get some rain, between 2 and 3 this afternoon. There’s a lot of green on the radar, moving in from the coast. I watered this morning, anyway.
Author’s occasionally “jumped ship,” if their contracts were up and another publisher offered a better deal. Or, sometimes, to follow an editor. Some author’s even bought themselves out of their contracts.
I didn’t think to put olives on the pizza. Or, sun-dried tomatoes, either. I guess I should think of the chicken pizza as more of a Mediterranean dish. The tinned chicken wasn’t too bad. Big chunks. H got some of the meat on her kibble, and the juice from the tin. She cleaned her bowl. But I think marinated chicken breast would maybe be better.
Yes, there were survivors in “Deep Water.” Not many, though. And it was open season on all the characters, even the sympathetic ones.
A couple of the pumpkins vines, are already more than a meter, long. Outside the barrel. I again saw three snails, last night, busily cleaning up a couple of slugs.
The thing about Nanaimo bars, to me, is that they’ve got shredded coconut in them. Which I don’t care for. But maybe I could find a work-around. As I did with the Anzac biscuits. For me, substituting plumped up dried cranberries, worked just fine. And even though Nanaimo bars are touted as “no bake,” there’s a separate recipe for each layer, which requires a lot of stove top cooking. But, if one were on offer, I’d give it a try. Even with the coconut.
Gosh, where to start with self checkout. There had to be a designated employee, to babysit the machines. Otherwise, checkout clerks were constantly running back and forth, to take care of problems. So much for reducing the number of employees. The machines that the author had to deal with, wouldn’t take cash. Payment options often stymied the customers. There was a slot, for coupons, and even though there were big signs, customers kept jamming bills in the slot. Once, the machine wouldn’t spit out a receipt, and, of course, that particular customer wanted one. And got pretty raspy when the author couldn’t get the machine to do that. There was a procedure, but, of course, it didn’t work.
I can’t say I’ve ever had my sleep disturbed, due to books or movies. But I do, occasionally, have dreams about being in a bookstore (none I’ve ever worked in), and having register problems. Not that I can remember having many. Back in the day, registers were a lot simpler. Lew
Chris:
And the Editor is so right about those felonious fictional ladies.
And yet Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance was such a very popular book. I never read it myself and I am now very glad! I won’t touch a book with a psychosis.
You do have some great chainsaws, to be able to do that kind of job. And a great technique with the sharpener!
It can’t be too much water with the blackberries with this drought, and I haven’t watered them. I’ll have to take my words back, a little: Today I tasted 2 blackberries that were quite good. Somehow the varmints missed them.
Was it only 3 times . . . ?
37F – that’s a shock to hear.
Here’s something else shocking, about AI, though I guess it shouldn’t be:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/articles/professor-hides-white-font-midterm-100100752.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAALC2ObRAC3jSVZwQQpSd6gEOxTFQmsij0jrvaNmCa49boWSg1jFi7pGSVk_7HWwCqUy9z2p0U_vzHJ9c0i8s7I_nhv_N6XkMFlurt9_3qrSvEbRmuFTjY_HABG-_ZwzjND2Ykac0uW4HDmcgmUaBfaD_vlO6XNLPGDnMndP3jcyC
In case all that mess doesn’t take you there:
Yahoo News Futurism
Professor Hides White Font in Midterm, Catches Students Using AI in the Stupidest Way Possible
Frank Landymore
Sat, July 25, 2026 at 6:01 AM EDT
Yesterday I finally went to a jeweler and had my wedding ring sized (stretched a bit). When I had the shoulder injury last fall, my arm and hand swelled up slightly and my ring finger got scarily snug. I swore if I ever got it off, I would have it stretched. It took me this long because I wanted to go to a particular jeweler that is not open on Mondays, when I am in town, and I hate to change my schedule, especially when we sometimes have one car. And I was afraid that it would cost a lot.
I chose the particular jeweler that I did because they were convenient, had good reviews, and looked quite, let us say, upscale, and so I figured that they probably did custom work and thus repairs.
I loved the place. What gorgeous jewelry, and I don’t even wear jewelry anymore, but fun to view. The most wonderful lady waited on me. She measured my finger, went into the back, and was immediately back with the ring fixed perfectly. And she wouldn’t let me pay her for it! I tried to think of some small thing I could buy to show my appreciation, and my eyes glommed on my watch with the most disreputable band you ever saw. I never had been able to get the band off to put on a new one, even with special tools, and kept wearing that one. So, she showed me the watch bands that would fit my watch and I picked one out and then a gentleman took it to the workroom and was back in 2 minutes with it all done. I spent more than I would for an online watch band, but it will last forever. And I gave them a great review.
My flowers look good; I cut a lot for the house. Nothing but a few bugs are eating them this year. Last year it was groundhogs.
Pam
Chris:
I read what you said to Lew about reconciling accounts. You are a regular Poirot! Or a bulldog. No wonder you and Ollie get along.
Pam
Chris,
You have the ‘bush telegraph’. We have the ‘moccasin telegraph’. Sometimes it carries news faster than the telephone.
Agreed, Blondie’s “Rapture” is very good. I appreciate it more now than I did when it was first released. That album is fascinating; the mix of genres is something else. She even snuck in a song from the musical “Camelot”.
The Princess returned safely from that funeral. Meanwhile, an idiot started another fire over the weekend in Nespelem. A few houses were burned. This was separate from the main fire. Brother who lives in Nespelem survived it intact. There were fire lines around his area, privately done early on, then enhanced by the fire crews. Air support arrived at the perfect moment. Between the locals fighting for their homes and the helicopters’ timely arrival, many homes were saved.
Unfortunately, the crews only got a single day with no wind. Near Nespelem this afternoon, the winds caused a flare up. Reportedly 4 more houses lost. Friends/distant relatives in three of them. Ugh.
And down on the Yakama Rez and west of Toppenish, two separate fires destroyed parts of the town of White Swan.
In other news, we are enjoying the new roof. The house stays much more comfortable with the improved attic ventilation.
Ah, yes, the characters who take over their various stories. Sherlock was entirely unlikeable. Poirot, although he had several redeeming characteristics, perhaps, was still very narcissistic and pompous. I preferred Poirot to Sherlock. Both had doctors who wrote up their cases, Watson and Hastings. “Murder of Roger Akroyd” was one of the Poirot novels without Hastings. It is one of my favorite Poirot mysteries.
Hehehe. I won’t tell anybody your secret about book destruction. I’ve been guilty of the same. Some books do NOT need to be read by anybody, ever. They need to be disappeared. But some things we don’t really talk about, right? 😉
You got my memory remembering. In the past, in this lifetime even, I have been a professional basketball player and paid to read books. Well, when I started in a paint factory, we worked 10 hour shifts. There was enough work to keep me busy for 6 or 7 hours, and the boss for about 8 hours. He brought in a basketball hoop complete with backboard and a basketball. So I got paid to play basketball. That job, and one other, also allowed me to get paid while I was reading. So, professional basketball player and professional reader. 🙂
That one stump wanted to remain undisturbed, didn’t it? It had its arms dug in trying to stay put. Dude, you amputated that stump from its arms!
Good work, though. And more rocks as a bonus. Peak oil – plenty of oil left, but harder to extract and process. More expensive to deal with, too. Your sagas with finding and extracting more rocks in your era of peak rocks is a great lesson for what peak oil is doing.
The chokecherry tree had a lot of chokecherries, but most were too high for me to pick even with a ladder. Not many left now. Between the robins and the starlings which decided to return, most of the chokecherries fed the birds, as did the inedible (to humans and dogs) white berries on the dogwood bushes. The birds are happy and well fed, so I am happy.
DJSpo
Hi Pam,
There is a story behind that skill. In the early days of paid work I wanted to ‘make my mark’, as the old timers would say. So I took on a job where they were upfront about the challenge. The accounts were a mess, the team was disorganised, whilst revenue was in the order of $100m. So being young and dumb, I thought to myself: Why not? How hard can it be?
Order was restored to the chaos, but after a year and a half, I was wiped out, and guess the important lesson derived from the experience was to avoid such metaphorical car crashes in the future. You heard it here first! 😉 And if someone is asking you if you’re up for a challenge, just say ‘no’ when it is at that epic scale. You won’t regret that decision, trust me in this!
But back to your point, after that crazy time, by comparison all problems encountered since then, look pretty simple to me. It was how I knew that the other fast growing business, who never paid me for work done (not that I’m holding a grudge about that, but you know, they did rip me off), was going to fail spectacularly, and it was reported upon in the papers not two months afterwards… So yeah, making one’s mark, is not all that it’s cracked up to be.
I’m sure that you’ve encountered times in your life when events, spiral out of control beyond your best efforts? The funny thing was what surprised me the most about the epic mess business, was that they were not grateful when order was finally restored to the chaos. I’d not expected that response. In fact all they wanted was more from me. A few years ago they were in the papers for all the wrong reasons, a goobermint imposed fine in excess of $10m, and let’s just say that I was unsurprised and kind of chuckled. I’ll bet that hurt.
😉 Yes, Agatha Christie tapped into an hitherto overlooked market. Very clever to do so, and it’s true. It has been my experience that girls can be players too, and the most English of authors was correct in her assessment of – people. Respect!
Oh yeah, the Zen and stuff author may have had a remarkably high IQ, but it was interspersed with serious mental health issues. It was my opinion that his son bore the costs for that, and the author’s insights into the concept of ‘quality’ were to the side.
Pam, I had to really think about this issue, but I’m embarrassed to admit to owning eight different chainsaws. Look, they all have different usages, and as they say, when in a forest, do as they do in a forest… 😉 I dunno what that all means!
And that’s an exceptional point, for the more I learn about sharpening chains, the less I admit that I actually know. It is a very complicated subject. One day, I’ll do a video on what it takes to clean up the big saw after a filthy usage and restore it back to working order.
I’m triggered by this talk of varmints, and well in combination with the freak hail storm half a year ago, the tasty blackberries have been denied me too. But yeah, the dodgy tasteless berries may simply have not yet had enough sunshine. The order of forest berries is as follows: Strawberries; Raspberries; and only then Blackberries. Strawberries are the real fakers as they use chemicals to pretend to the sugars.
I asked nicely three times for a cheque. Surely it is enough?
Back to freezing temperatures tonight. Please tell me of warmer days at your place? 🙂
The professor has my sympathy for there is no upside to cheating. It is a crutch which a person has to carry with them, every day of their life. Interestingly, I read that white font was used to allegedly pilfer mad cash from an employer and I’d have raised hell at seeing blank lines on a payment print out. Oh well, these are the enlightened days we live in. Now where was that article? … … Newcastle accountant jailed for $878,000 IGA fraud
I must say, such actions do the profession, or students, no good.
Well done you, and it was such a thoughtful act to provide the business with some paid work as a form of thanks. I had to remove my wedding band years ago because I suddenly developed a rash from prolonged contact with the gold. If you’d told me that dermatitis could occur from that form of exposure… I totally get your experience with your finger swelling, and note that metal has no give.
The positive gargle reviews do you credit.
Why did the words regarding your groundhog pop into my mind: thy foe, who, being naughty in My sight, shall snuff it. 🙂
Cheers
Chris
Hi DJ,
Local news, err, spreads pretty fast. Yup, and memories are long. I was involved in such a chat late this afternoon about a local issue and was angling for gossip, but the other person was giving me nothing. 🙂 Like zero. Hehe! We had some good laughs though.
Oooo, I noted that Sir Richard Burton, as was Julie Andrews, in the original Broadway cast for the err, musical. Alas my mind tuned out and floated away at that moment because of the ‘m’ word, but didn’t Monty Python suggest that it was a silly place? “We eat ham and jam and spam a lot” Putting on Sheriff voice number four: There’ll be no impromptu song and dance routines in this here town! 😉
Oh no! DJ, we’re only ever as good as the weakest link, and some of those are a challenge to us all. But glad to read that your lady made it back from her travels unscathed.
And yes, that is the very epitome of asset protection – stopping towns from burning. It’s not always possible, even with the best equipment. Much depends upon the temperatures and winds. A town about an hours drive north of here had a bushfire rip right through it back in January. Nobody expected that.
Man, the White Swan area looks really dry to me, and yet in the background there is a hulking snow capped volcano. It’s good that there are flowing waterways in the area as it would make fire fighting a bit easier. The whole place looks ready to burn, sorry to say. But it’s not lost on me that Toppenish is off to the east of that town. Fingers crossed.
Good to hear that about the roof ventilation, and hot air does rise. What kind of ventilation did they install? I’m curious because the same issue is a problem here for summer weather – and the hot water reservoir sits inside the attic space, and is heated by solar… Gets hot up there, put it that way.
Sherlock may have been right, but he’d be a pain in the err, ear, to have to deal with. And Dr Watson did most of the work in the Hounds of Baskerville. Poirot is pompous, but he’s quietly self effacing in his own way and I found him to be the more likeable sleuth.
I’d not read that book, but the naughty Dr James Sheppard, and Poirot was nice enough to give him an out. It’s a century old that tale, and people are still pretty much the same folks as they were back then.
Yes, we must not discuss this book matter, that is the first rule of Book Club, and maybe the second rule too. 🙂 As I read the novel in question my mind wondered as to the awful question of why people love this story? Dunno, but getting into the mind of that author was a murky place and best avoided.
Ha! Respect! So a one eighth paid basketball player means that you’d have warmed the bench at least! I’ll bet you got better at scoring hoops with all that practice? I’ve not worked at a job with slack, since the early 1990’s, and unsurprisingly, there was a major recession afterwards. Were the two situations statistically correlated? I’d say yeah. Ah, such job experiences leave us reaching for impossibilities, and working like dogs. Funnily enough I was having this same conversation on the weekend. My first adult job was very slack, and fun, until it wasn’t. Oh well.
That’ll learn the stump for trying to resist my best efforts! It got what was coming to it. Yeah, I feel rather staunch, but it did take two half days to remove… Hope not to encounter another like it…
Dude! Ten out of ten! That is the entire point of the joke. I could sit here and write long and boring articles about what it all means, or crack jokes about rocks. Well done, and I reckon that deserves the coveted Gold Elephant Stamp. Nice one.
🙂 Happy birds make our lives easier, as long as they leave enough produce for us to be happy with.
A cold and wet day again. It’s now down to 2’C and may get colder overnight. Brr! Did an astounding volume of paid work today. All good with me.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
Man, thanks so much for the idea. I’d not considered barristers bookcases, and was instead thinking of really large sliding doors. Might be easier to have individual cases and smaller glazed top hinged doors like those. Not an concept which would have occurred to me. Hmm. I’m going to cogitate upon this, and I know it’s awful, but I could replace the glass with sections of clear plastic Perspex sheets, or maybe even polycarbonate. Much tougher and resistant to accidental knocks. Actually I was thinking of having cupboards below the book cases too.
By the way, even the reproduction items are not cheap. Ook! I can do a custom build for far less.
Ook! I’ve not ever been told to slow down at a job. What a thing to say to an employee. 🙂 Like you, I’d have ignored the back handed compliment and just kept on doing my own thing regardless. Between you and I, I work best if people point me in the direction they want to go. We’ve been discussing micro-managers, and that speed observation you scored, falls very much into that category.
With the work I do, I kind of have to take into account the feelings of the people I work for and with. If they get annoyed enough with me, even if I’m in the right, it can spell the end of a working relationship. Anyway, that’s to one side because being strongly empathic, for my own sense of calm, in some ways it’s part of who I am to quietly manage the emotional environment around me. If I had a choice in the matter, I’d not do that, but the world has to be navigated as it is, and not how I’d like it to be.
The other day I was watching a utoob my generation (Gen X) video and the guy made an interesting point about the difference between solitude and loneliness. And I reckon he’s right, my wiring simply needs and is accustomed to, lots of solitude. We’ve discussed this matter before, and it’s no punishment I can assure you! 🙂 Although I can appreciate why that experience might freak people out.
Did you ever get to New Orleans? I’ve forgotten such details. Food from that part of your country would have some serious taste. Nothing wrong at all with gourmet Mac and Cheese, and the photo really did look superb.
You don’t hear the label ‘Ports of Call’ used nowadays. I noticed that your biggest chief increased tariffs on Australian imports, but those are peanuts to what the land of stuff did to our beef exports. Tariffs are clearly what the cool kids are doing. I noticed our timid pollies reacted: Defence Industries Minister Pat Conroy reveals end date for US submarines rotation in Western Australia. Talk about fresh food wars… We’re the only idiots that offer free trade to any country who wants to destroy our local industries.
It’s 35’F outdoors again, so 79’F sounds pleasant indeed. Did the rain eventuate? At times today it was feral, but arrived in brief cold splats. Not a day to work outdoors, and indeed the day was full of paid work.
Whoa! I’ve heard of bands which were trapped by a deal they’d signed early on, and had to work their way out of. It’d be hard for an author as well stuck in that situation. Guess that escape from those clutches would be expensive.
Your gourmet pizza was heading in that direction, so why not take it a few steps closer. Olives on pizza are pretty nice. They’ve bring a sharp tang for the toppings.
Oh poop! So you mean that even being a sympathetic fictional character did not save a person from the awful sharks? You’d think that the sea creatures would be a touch more sympathetic to the finer points in life?
🙂 Pumpkin vines sure do grow fast. You pinch yours off so they don’t get too long, maybe? A good way to send plant energy into the fruit. Your snails have formed a war band and will tackle any slugs which may come their way.
Ah! Of course. I’m not much of a fan of shredded coconut either, and instead use the much finer desiccated coconut. The larger shredded stuff is a bit fibrousy otherwise. Is that even a word? Oh well, you may know what I mean.
Separate bases for the bar sounds like a lot of kitchen work.
Is it me, or do you see the problem with checkout staff running from their registers to help a customer? I mean they are in control of a till, just saying… Not an optimal situation and people can be a bit cheeky at times. I’ve heard of inattentive operators being challenged about the amount of cash they were handed. Hmm. The customer is not always right, put it that way. Expecting a robot to take cash is a big call. Hmm. I see only trouble when they could just pay someone to do the work. It’d have to be cheaper, otherwise the self checkout systems would be everywhere.
Agreed, registers were simpler back in the day, and I never had troubles balancing one. Handling such a machine, is not a task for a careless person. Hope that Club register machine gets damaged in the move… 😉
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – Here’s a short video on barrister bookcases. Less than a minute. In the final seconds, you see how the slide and drop doors work. It enables you to move the door, entirely out of the way. Frees both hands to fondle the books. 🙂 You can get reproduction hardware, for the doors, from any number of repro hardware outfits. But, if you’re building your own, a top hinge would be easiest. Unless they slip out of your grasp, and go crashing down. 🙂
https://youtu.be/Guv9SmQ0RPA?si=i76ngZtEsqrfY9cT
Actually, it was other employees who whinged about my speed … and concentration. Employers were fine with my zipping through tasks, with accuracy.
Yup. Loneliness is a desert. Solitude is a garden. Said someone or other. 🙂
“Ports of call.” What can I say? I’m old. I use phrases like that. And … I read. 🙂
We did a pretty good job, destroying our industries with free trade. Apparently, it was what all the cool kids were doing.
Our high yesterday was 73F (22.77C). Our overnight low was 50F (10C). Our forecast high for today is 79F. And yes, we did get some rain, yesterday. Around 2:30 PM, it rained for a good half hour. It gave the gardens a good wet down. We may see a bit more rain, on Saturday.
I don’t know if you’ve ever opened a DVD case, expecting a movie, and it turns out to be a series. With multiple discs. Happens to me from time to time. Last night it was “The Haunting of Bly Manor.”
Turns out it’s a take-off on James’s “Turn of the Screw.” So, a ghost story. It’s pretty good. I discovered that the same people did, “The Haunting of Hill House.” A take off on an old movie, from the 1950s, that scared the hell out of me. When I was a wee small lad. A tale by Shirley Jackson. The library has one lone copy, kicking around out there. So, I put a hold on it.
Once the pumpkin vines start running up the hill, they don’t go too far. Pollinators have pretty much stopped showing up, at the red onion pom-poms. Except for a few wasps. A Golden Digger Wasp showed up, this morning. And then, another. They both happened to land on the same pom-pom, and there was a short, sharp altercation. The second wasp decided the parsley blossoms were a lot more interesting. A few bumble bees were about, and I watched one pollinating tomato blossoms.
Three snails, last night. Beating up on the slugs. The slugs don’t stand a chance.
When challenged by a customer, as to the amount of cash was given, I figure I’m usually dealing with a short-change artist. Leaving the bills on the cash drawer ledge, until the transaction was completed, pretty much took care of that problem. But if it went further, I’d just say, fine, we’ll close down the till, and count it down. Best to be more brazen, than a brazen short-change artist. 🙂
I don’t usually use self checkout, but somewhere along the way, a machine did take cash. And spat out the correct change. Might have been the big box hardware store.
I keep telling the Club that we could get along just fine, with a cigar box, under the counter.
🙂 No one pays any attention to my suggestion.
I see the topic over at Mr. Greer’s this week, is rejected or abandoned tech, that might still be useful. I voted for that topic.
After you mentioned artificial hooey had grazed this blog, including comments, I had some thoughts. I think I’d feel a bit better, about all this artificial stuff, if it showed the least glimmer of humor. which you’d think it would pick up, along the way. Wry, ironic … even sarcasm.
But, given I suspect the creators of this stuff, and probably a lot of their minions are “on the spectrum,” (Aspie Hour excepted), that’s probably a futile hope. But, if the artificial stuff ever spits out, “You kids get off my lawn!” I’ll feel a lot better.
I suppose you might of heard one of the artificial programs broke free and wandered the net for four days. Managed to break into a couple of websites, all on its own. Catch me if you can! Lew
Chris:
I know, you look back and you ask – how did I do it? But you are glad that you did. And better, I think, to “stay under the radar”. Well, they were superior to you and the ones causing the problems didn’t want to be discovered, but the kind of things that were going on usually get found out.
Wow – eight chainsaws! Good job – but a lot of maintenance, unless half aren’t working . . . and then they’ll need to be dealt with someday – or maybe not.
Quite hot here. I’m afraid I won’t appreciate it til I have your weather. Fickle humans.
Goodness – and thanks for the article – the white font thing seems so simple. Possibly that trick is being used allover the place.
I thought that one of the most beneficial things about gold was that it never caused allergies. I am wrong about that, though I know it has magical properties. I am looking at my ring and it is so beautifully – golden.
“Thy foe, who, being naughty in My sight, shall snuff it.” Thank you, that is much appreciated as I saw a huge one run into the barn today. I thought he had emigrated.
Today I went into town to get boards to use as shelves on a bookcase that has removable ones; I have too many books piled on the floor right now. I went to our big box DIY store and picked out a 12in x 1in x 4ft board. I didn’t know if they still offered it, but they did still have a man with a power saw way in the back of the store who would cut the board into the sizes I wanted.
Pam
@ DJSpo:
It looks like the Kaiser Canyon fire is a little bit more contained (17%, I just saw). Maybe there is nothing left to burn?
Pam
@ Pam,
I wish there was nothing left to burn. If it took off to the north, fire could follow forested areas all the way to Alaska. As of Wednesday night, it is up to 27% contained. They knocked it back a lot on the eastern and northeastern sectors. It also looks like they did some back burning overnight on the northwestern edge. Between the burn and the hand lines and bulldozer lines in the northwestern sector, they may have a good chance of containing that edge now.
Thursday and Friday are supposed to be calm winds. Saturday has another windstorm coming through with gusts between 35 and 50 mph. Two more prep days and the lines have a chance of holding in the windstorm.
DJSpo
Chris,
I wrote a poem once about how one of the knights used his l, lance a lot. The knight who used his lance a lot never met his Nordic rival about whom a long lyric poem was written – Be A Wolf.
“There’ll be no impromptu song and dance routines in this here town!” What about a fiddler on the roof? He just sort of sits there playing a violin. 😉
The other fire on the Rez, the Modrite fire, exploded the last two days from being well controlled. The tiny hamlet of Kewa is in danger. At least there was time for the firefighters to set up pumps and sprinklers throughout the village and cemetery. Then today, the fire forced them out of the area. At least they were able to get the sprinklers going. That has worked to save other towns. We’ll see how well it worked in the next few days.
White Swan is in the desert. The snowcapped volcano nearby is Mount Adams. It is possible to see Mount Ranier from there also. The fires there are pretty much controlled now. A lot of fruit orchards and hop fields between White Swan and Toppenish. And mint. Sometimes the entire area smells like mint.
On Interstate 90 on the east side of the Columbia River is a town called Vantage, Washington. Uphill to the west is a rest area on to of Ryegrass Hill. The eastbound stop is higher than the westbound. When weather conditions are perfect, meaning clear with no dust or haze, it is possible to see Mount Ranier to the west and Mount Spokane far off to the east. I’ve only seen those conditions once.
The house faces east. On the west side a few feet from the lower edge a cut was made through the plywood into the attic. It’s about 2 or 3 inches wide. Then the roofing was put on. However, over that cut, the roofing is elevated slightly by some metal, allowing air in. A similar thing was done on the north side. On the top of the roof, this was repeated, but on both sides of the peak. That’s the outflow. I think this style is called “ridge vents”.
I, too, found Hercule Poirot to be more likeable. I find that I like the Rex Stout books that feature Nero Wolfe best. Nero weighs 1/7 of a ton and repeatedly says that he never leaves the house on business. He is brilliant and a big pain in the whatsis. His assistant Archie Goodwin does the legwork. And tries to keep the eccentric Nero on task. The interaction between Archie and Nero is often entertaining.
People really haven’t changed all that much, have they? Humans have all pretty much wanted the same things for an awfully long time. Cultures can differ, technologies can differ, but we’re all still human beings, pretty much featuring the same needs and desires.
Bench warmer? Well, I’m only about 170cm tall. During the factory days, I weighed about 60kg. Maybe. Perhaps I could’ve gotten a job as the water boy or something.
Cool! Gold Elephant Stamp. Sweet! With one of those I’ll have to learn how to do the Baby Elephant Walk. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1z4JfxFb6c
+2C? Sounds a treat! Then again, I’m so acclimated to summer that I might feel a bit chilly at that temperature. Maybe. 😉
DJSpo
Hi Pam,
It’s also true that a fish rots from the head, as has sometimes been stated. That lot had a dodgy culture, but was one heck of an experience, which I’m in no hurry to repeat. After a year and half of craziness, it burned me out and I needed a short break to recover my equilibrium. Never let that happen again either.
This loose talk of not, or only half working chainsaws, is bringing pain to my self esteem. They all work, or at least they did when last checked. 🙂 Most of the machines I have here are fairly simple and easy to maintain. One of the newer Stihl chainsaws on offer (the 500i) I believe has computer fuel injection, and I’d be at a loss to repair the beast. The older stuff works pretty well too, and has longevity to recommend it.
It was a touch chilly today, and again this evening might drop down to 34’F overnight. Are you really sure you’d enjoy that weather? That’s a five blanket night. Brr!
The white font on white paper / background is a new one to me too. Only people who don’t fully understand the systems believe that they’ll get away with such theft / fraud. I read somewhere or other just recently, a professor, or teacher (I forget which) used the same white font trick to check whether students were cheating using AI. Again from memory, I believe 32 out of the 35 were cheating, and hadn’t even bothered to review the slop the software had produced. Oh, here goes: Professor Hides White Font in Midterm, Catches Students Using AI in the Stupidest Way Possible.
🙂 It’s lovely pretty stuff, but not for I, and my gold is the plants and systems. Eczema is a real serious pain, and glad to have that monster safely in the past. I had to work out item by item what caused it, and then like Ollie’s anti-crunchy feed, what I needed to consume and do to so as to repair and avoid it. No doctor would bother spending that amount of time on what was essentially my problem. Turns out, the other thing which triggered it was a dish washing detergent. Who knew? I hate the smell of it nowadays knowing what it can do, and use home made olive oil soap for washing the dishes. That stuff is a powerful cleaner.
Oh my! Pam, I so hear you, varmints are my personal nightmare. I’d be OK if they sampled the produce and then went off on their merry way, but no. They wants everything, the precious! the precious! (a nod to Gollum of Lord of the Rings fame). Some predation can’t be sustained, and where there are few if any predators, that is where I draw the line.
Yeah, isn’t it great when the nice folks cut your timber to exact lengths. 🙂 Makes our job easier. How’s the books feeling about their new accommodation?
Cheers
Chris
Hi DJ,
Ah, yes, that bloke, who was once known here on the blog as the: ‘French spear chucker’, which is quite amusing. A good fighter to have on your side in a tricky situation. That’s very funny, and hey, the two legendary greats probably would have got on rather well. The Monty Python folks were again at their finest with the tale of Sir Lancelot and his wedding fest misguided rescue.
No. Absolutely not! Fiddlers in the background doing their thing is just not cricket on a serious blog like this one. I might however make an exception for a party of drunken hooligans singing catchy pub songs like, say, Chumbawamba’s epic masterpiece: TubThumping!
Sometimes only a favourable change in weather conditions is what it takes to put out dangerous and fast moving fires. Hope everyone in Kewa is doing OK given everything going on. It’s actually impressive that the hamlet has pumps and sprinklers. You’d be amazed how unprepared down here many folks are. Fingers crossed for the people there. Do you have any relatives or friends in that area under threat?
Being just on the eastern side of those big mountains is drier, but, and here’s the thing, the soils there would be so much more fertile than the wetter western half of the range. Thus the orchards, agriculture etc. No area is perfect. Mint smells awesome planted en masse. Probably a bit of a fire hazard though, so I keep those patches small and contained – not easy to do with that plant.
By the way, the name Ryegrass hill is a dead giveaway as to the soil fertility. Good cropping country, probably dry. I like the literal naming of that town – Vantage. Says it all, and what a sight it’d be. Been a while since there’s been some good snowfall in these parts. Actually the ski season in higher parts of the state (up around 2,000m ASL) is pretty bad this year.
Ah, clever stuff with the roof space ventilation and I’d not considered that approach. The design of this house roof was tested to bushfires, not ventilation which was why I was interested to hear what you did as a retrofit. Back when we constructed the roof, they were a bit unsure about such vent matters. We’re constantly thinking about reducing that risk.
Thanks for the introduction to Nero Wolfe and his more dapper sidekick Archie Goodwin. Some of the artwork has an almost John Goodman quality to the larger than life fictional character. Hmm. Candidly, I’m out of my depth with the US measurement for a ton. A metric tonne is a thousand kilograms, easy to remember.
Nah, we’re pretty much the same folks and with a bit of adaptation, could fit into the activities in say ancient Rome. Of course whether our social sensibilities would allow us to survive that complicated civilisation, is another question, but under the wiring, we’re the same. Nothing new to see. It’s all overlays.
🙂 Did you ever play baseball? I can see speed would have been an advantage there, and you’d have had that. I was only joking around about the bench warmer, sorry for silliness! Me, I’m a light weight part Neanderthal at 180cm and about 80kg.
Oh yeah, even I knew that elephant tune, which I had to switch off lest it turn into an ear worm. It’s good that one, super catchy.
It’s meant to get down to 1’C tonight. Brr! I dunno, it feels chilly to me out there, but at least it’s calm, but very humid.
Went to visit some nearby falls today and with all of the recent rainfall, it was rockin’!
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
Whoa! You sent me on an epic odyssey with those barristers bookcases, and it’s a good idea. Some of the reproductions are around $200 and almost six feet tall. Dunno, when I get around to that bookshelf project, I could sit three of those side by side with cupboards underneath, and it’d look pretty cool and might not bomb the household treasury too badly. That’s probably how things will roll, but I’ve got a few other things to do first.
Speaking of which, I did some rough calculations, and believe that the long line of gabion wall will require a further ten, no, maybe eleven cages. A lot of rocks… Still, we’re continuing exploration activities and are finding more resources to exploit. The future, is an uncertain country.
Of course, the old: Stop it, you’re making us look bad.
It’s a lovely quote regarding solitude, and so very true! That time for me is a real treat, and it’s no hardship to head down to the forest edge just being alone with nature, whilst doing the necessary clean up work.
Speaking of such things, we took today off work and visited a nearby waterfall. With all the rain of late, it was really humming along. Not far from there is a pub which we had lunch at. Got home, kicked off the wood heater, walked the dogs and enjoyed a well deserved nap.
Hehe! Hey, I knew what you were talking about, and it is a really lovely turn of phrase which suggests the reality of life upon the open oceans. Hey, takes one to know one – I read too.
I watched our trade tariffs being unwound, and said goodbye to the industries. I was a factory accountant, and they made a profit, so don’t believe the hype. The funny thing is that the media is having a cow about the US 12% tariffs, and yet the land of stuff’s 55% tariffs on beef barely rated a mention. The cool kids were wrong.
Nice to hear that you enjoyed some rain, and hope you do get some more soon. We’re having a short dry spell at the moment, but the rain looks set to return late Monday.
No, I’ve dodged that luck. If the viewing is good, then you’re in for an extended treat.
Ooo, Gothic Victorian era ghostly mysteries with a nod to the Great Henry James. Ah, ghost stories are pretty scary, and they’d haunt my night time dream state.
I’d not noticed that about pumpkin vines, but I believe that you are spot on because that happens here as well. Mind you, I’ve known people to grow pumpkin vines on vertical lattice up a wall. Cleaning them up when powdery mildew eventually took out all the leaves was meant to be an epic mess.
Insects are quite up for massive fights. And keep up the good work snails. I almost typed “Tally ‘Ho chaps!” Blame the book I’m reading which was describing a fox hunt around the 1920’s.
And hey, that’s what I did too with cash. Keep what was handed to the side, and there were usually no dramas. I heard of the ‘short change artist’ third hand, and it is a trick pulled upon the young and / or inattentive. Bit of a dastardly act if you ask me.
Never seen a self check out which takes cash. I believe that even the ATM bankster machines no longer accept cash deposits. Hey, we’ve spoken of the old night time safety deposit boxes, and what a drama they were.
🙂 Hope the Club gets rid of the overly complicated boat anchor. I so hear you about that. The lengths I have to go to in order to get people to listen… Let’s just say that it’s difficult.
Well done, and you’re one up on me. I have never had a successful subject vote. I’m not saying it’s rigged, but what are the statistical probabilities of not scoring one win? 😉 Hehe!
Exactly, with all of the sly jokes and fun we have here with the language, you’d think the stupid things could just copy us verbatim? But no, and hey I get the impression that the output is verbose (Inge would definitely crack it about concision) and sycophantic. Who needs that? But you’re right, the creators aspirations are perhaps on display – and it’s not pretty.
That mob allegedly has a wonderful gift for self promotion. I shall say no more on the subject.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis cont…
Almost forgot: Book returned to NSW library 150 years after being borrowed
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – I have five bookcases. Nothing special. Mostly veneer and particle board. I picked them up, second hand, here and there. But they pretty much match. Three of them have cupboards, underneath. Some shelves adjustable, some not. LOL, every time I move them, I have to be careful to put all the little metal plugs, that hold up the adjustable shelves, in a plastic bag, so they don’t stray.
Ah, the quote comes from Henri Neuwen, a Catholic priest. Wrote a lot, and accomplished a lot, in his life. I think the quote was in my daily meditation book.
Sounds like a nice day trip. Good tucker, AND a waterfall. What’s not to like?
Our high yesterday was 77F (25C). Our overnight low was 50F (10C). Our forecast high for today is 79. The forecast for tomorrow is 10 degrees higher. Then, maybe a little rain, and temps going down, again.
I think I tried to read “Turn of the Screw.” As I remember it, it was one of those Victorian novels where everything is so ambiguous, it’s hard to figure out exactly what is going on. Looking at you, Edith Wharton! 🙂
I’ve seen pictures of pumpkins, grown on the vertical. I always wonder if the weight of the pumpkin, will make the fall off? Yes, I had powdery mildew in my green beans. But, a spray of white vinegar, on the t-posts and chicken wire .. and planting some mustard, seemed to take care of the problem. I only saw one Giant Golden Digger wasp, on the red onion pom-poms, this morning. I think they’re well and truly pollinated. But, as long as they keep showing up … I haven’t seen any bees on my pumpkin blossoms, but then, I’m not out there all day. I did see a really pretty dragonfly. A dark, metallic blue.
I haven’t seen the Club post a task list, yet. I suppose they’re still hashing out the floor plan. Everyone has a better idea … Glad I’m not involved. 🙂
Someone else posted the idea about lost tech. I just jumped on the bandwagon. Often, a suggested topic is just so … esoteric. Shouldn’t that stuff be on his other blog?
There is a new book out titled “Nerd Reich: Silicon Valley Fascism and the War on Democracy.” (Duran.) The library has it on order, but I didn’t put a hold on it. I did, however, put a hold on a book by a woman, who worked for Gargle, for ten years. A tell-all about how they went from “Don’t be evil,” to “We don’t care”, in ten years. Now that might be interesting.
LOL. I read the article about the WAY overdue library book. And noticed some interesting sidebars on the left. Down the rabbit holes I went. Sidebar article to sidebar article. I now know the state of Australian book business, both old and new. 🙂
The first article was what I’d call, “Just because it’s old, doesn’t mean it’s valuable.” The booksellers made some good points. Not that anyone pays any attention. 🙂 I don’t know how many times someone would show up in my shop with a “first edition Shakespeare!” Usually, in very poor shape. Back before 1900, the Sears catalog people (among many others) had they own print plant, that cranked out thousands of classic titles. Anything without a copyright. Gosh, I saw a lot of those. And, the person would always think I was trying to pull a fast one. I’d just tell them to take it to any other dealer, and they’d hear the same thing. Not worth anything.
Another interesting sidebar, was about Lady Tallis. Who pretty much brought the idea of Op-shops to Australia. She was an ex-showgirl. I thought maybe she married a flush, stage-door Johnny, but no. She was married to another entertainer, who was knighted. She set up an op-shop as a hospital fundraiser. In an abandoned building that had been a cyclorama. I’ll leave it to you, to figure out what that is. 🙂
But back to the original way overdue book. There are articles here, from time to time, about books that eventually find their way back to libraries. But, back to the book. “Bohn’s Illustrated Library” sounded like a series, to me. So, down another rabbit hole, I went. Yup. Another publisher that mostly capitalized on things that were in the public domain. More or less.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_George_Bohn
And, when I looked at that picture of “The Hobbit,” the first thing I thought was, ‘No D.J.” (Dust Jacket.) And, it shows wear. I wonder if it smells? All things that the bookseller, mentioned in the article. Other than the smell. I don’t know how many times when I was selling books on E-buy, I’d get an e-mail from a potential buyer, asking if a book had come “from a smoke free home.” Heck, how do I know? It smells like an old book! I’d usually gently advise, if they were so concerned, they should wait to inspect the title, up close and personal. And shove their nose in it.
Anyway, it was an interesting romp, down various rabbit holes. Best quote? “Bad books go to hell.” I think that was from the article, about various interesting independent bookstores, scattered around Australia. Lew
@ DJSpo:
Still a terrible, terrible situation, though it sounds like the fire fighting crews are doing their best.
Pam
Chris:
I guess that’s why they cut the heads off first . . .
Well, an elephant stamp for you, having that many chainsaws in working condition. You are well ahead of that game.
No, I am likely to complain at 34F. It justs seems so late for it to still be so cold there. Maybe 6 blankets . . . It was 94F in the garden at noon today, would have been worse later. A 60F difference between you and I. Speaking of Cherokee: My best tomatoes so far this year, whenever I can get one away from the chipmunks, are the Cherokee Purples. They are usually very dependable. Have you heard of them there?
That’s the article I read. I would think that would be a common problem now. I wonder why all those kids think it’s okay.
I wish I was as thorough as you. I have not yet made homemade soap, though you have told me how many times. I have eczema, or something, on one side of my face; it’s been there about a year. I don’t use soap (or makeup) on my face, so I can’t figure it out. Maybe leftover clothes washing detergent on my pillow (I only sleep on one side due to an old rotator cuff injury)?
The books isn’t on it yet. I haven’t had time. I expect they will like it better than the floor, though. I have a new old book: McClane’s Great Fishing and Hunting Lodges of North America by Albert Jules McClane. I am in no way suggesting that you read it as it is mostly about each lodge (20 of them) and not that many details about the hunting and fishing. I just consider it a nice armchair vacation. What is interesting is where these places have actively worked to set up the habitats – or return them to “normal” – with careful management, fires and stuff.
Pam
@ Lew:
I saw your comment about the barrister bookcases, and watched the video. Geez – there’s a dream come true; what a gorgeous piece of furniture. I would need 3 or 4 of them . . .
Pam
Hello Chris,
Good to hear that the artyfishes have gone away. To shallower waters, perhaps?
I don’t know about you, but I get more and more artyfishy-slop-sites when I search for things like recipes and veggie-growing sites. More and more useless pages to sift through.
If the scrapers build models on those texts, I guess that their output will become more and more self-referencial and worthless.
Back to reality. Thanks for sharing pictures of your clear-up work of old trunks and boulder collections. You leave a mark on your landscape in many ways. Life can return wherever light and water and soil meet.
We have had a couple of busy months, so I have not been commenting, even though I read almost all of the eloquent comments here. Such is my pleasant peasant life, following the flows of the seasons and the energies. Indeed as you said last week – we follow the sun wherever it takes us.
We had a strange May-June period with no rains, but since early July rains returned and we are back to full production, both in veggies and weeds.
During the last 18 months, we have had 50% of “normal” rainfall, so the ground water is sinking and some wells go dry.
Up here in Scandinavia, we have a peculiar water pattern, with almost the same precipitation every month of the year.
Or at least, we used to have that until 2005 or so. Since then rains have been increasingly erratic. It is likely due to the heating ocean next door, which is just starting to warm. As you say, not wise to change the planetary atmosphere…
Considering that we collectively keep burning fossil carbon, much more variability is coming our way. Observe and adapt. What else can we do?
During the four years that we have been on our farm in Sweden, we see increases in butterflies, bees, birds and frogs every year. Build a habitat and they will come, as the old-times used to say. It is fun to see new birds making homes in unexpected places. The other day, I went to our wood storage shed, and found the floor littered with bird poo. Some barn swallows had set up a family home there, and happily flew in and out through the drying vent.
Free fertilizer is always welcome, so I laid down some cardboard to collect.
In France, there is a tradition since the roman times to build “pigeonnières” – round houses for pigeons to roost and poop, where farmers can collect eggs and manure.
(some photos and stories of conflict here: https://perfectlyprovence.co/history-the-pigeonniers-of-france-in-perspective/)
Right now, we live in an agricultural system with a nitrogen surplus since sixty years, but I think that this epoch is gone within the coming century. One day, nitrogen will be a limiting factor again, and those who house the birds will have an advantage, I guess. Let’s see if we live long enough to see that happen.
Off to pick tomatoes!
Peace,
Göran
Hello Göran,
Peace to you as well, and may your harvest be bountiful and the nursery trees completely sell out. 🙂 And do watch out for the voles, pesky critters.
Shallower waters indeed! My gut feeling is that the rush to train the software sea monsters is over, and now they’re hunting around in search of a market for the technology so that they can pay their bills and maybe return a dividend to all of the investors. I doubt there is a business case for the things. From my professional perspective, and I go out of my way not to use them, but from what I’ve observed, they’re good, but not good enough. When the economic tide eventually retreats, we may get to see the tech bros swimming naked. Sorry for the awful visuals. 🙂
Exactly, you’d have heard of ‘model collapse’ which occurs when the arty-fish-sea-monsters feed off their own gunk?
Did more of that forest work today, and removed the second upside down tree stump left by the loggers. This time the roots were in the air, and the entire job was sorted out in an hour. That left the rest of the day for removing rocks and cleaning up the forest edge. There is a reason we have more wildlife per acre than pretty much anyone around here. The forest critters turn up here for a feed.
I’d not be happy living in a town nowadays, and the seasonal cycles of the big fusion reactor in the sky guides our activities now. Such a delightful rhythm to the year. It feels more natural to me. Right now we’ll do forest clean-up probably into August. Then bringing in the next winters firewood, interspersed with pruning of the fruit trees. Next will be getting the vegetable beds ready for the growing season and feeding the trees. Raising the seedlings and planting the annuals. And so on, and so on. The season dictates what work is to be done.
Nice to hear that you are reading along with the comments. That’s where all the fun stuff goes on. 🙂 A friend of mine does the same, and when we catch up he’s always talking about this and that. Life however, intrudes and taking care of the land is a very important thing to do. Take good care of it, and the land will look after you and your family.
Oh poop! At least the rains have returned in time for your growing season, even if the aquifers are being depleted. The same can occur here, and on average between 50mm and 100mm of rain will fall each month, until it doesn’t. Having limited water storage, I don’t make a big deal about managing that resource, but one of the things we’re doing, is working out how to produce edibles with minimal water usage. It’s complicated.
What else to do indeed? Saldy, adaption is all we can do now, it’s too late. Landrace varieties of edibles is a good option worthy of everyone’s time, and you’re doing that with nut trees on a scale which really impresses me. Respect.
The old timers were right about that! Build a healthy environment, and it will be full of life! 🙂 And oh yeah, it’s funny isn’t it that people get really upset about a bit of bird damage to their crops, and ignore the astounding amount of guano that the birds produce. I’m aware of the dovecotes, and what an impressive system – birds bring phosphates to such a system with minimal inputs. You’d be amazed how much bird life there is here, and that alone is one reason I encourage them, all of them.
But then throughout the orchard are lots of err, marsupial poop. The kangaroo’s, wallabies and wombats get to roam around at night feeding off the rich ground cover plants, which they then turn into manure. The deer were the only herbivores I had issues with and destroying fifteen year old fruit trees in one night, is unsustainable. Mind you, the forest critters cleaned the carcass, and would have left plenty of poop as a result. It’s complicated and I had to think long and hard about taking action in that instance.
Agreed, nitrogen will be a serious problem, as will Calcium and especially Phosphate here. The entire continent is very deficient in that necessary mineral. Oh well, way back in the day, mineral deficiencies were a thing. We may well be returning to historical norms, but what a waste to flush all those minerals into the ocean when we have easy access to them. Not my idea.
🙂 Fresh produce from the garden is a wonderful treat! Enjoy your tomatoes.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Pam,
They recommend the same treatment for zombies you know! Removing the head is apparently an effective deterrent, although having not ever encountered one, it’s all armchair theory until the knowledge is put to the test. Still best to be prepared just in case, and no, sadly Triffids are bit trickier to handle.
Hehe! Pam, all of the equipment here works! I get kind of itchy uncomfortable feelings when something needs fixing. Again, and here I must repeat myself, best be prepared.
Did a day of forest edge clean-up, and removed the second upside down tree stump. It was a pleasure to have the job done within an hour, and because it was leaning against a very large aged tree, I decided to do all the digging old school manual style with a mattock and shovel. Best not to upset the big old tree lest it decide to fall on my head.
Oh yeah, machines, I cleaned and sharpened up the big chainsaw earlier today, and despite it being fifteen years old, it’s just a real pleasure that it’s working as good as new. Your Kubota would be like that, those machines are extraordinary work horses.
Me too! 34’F is worthy of a proper complaint! Brr! At least there was no wind to speak of this morning. No, the coldest weather usually arrives after the winter solstice, like how the hottest weather turns up after the summer solstice. A scientist friend explained it to me in two words: Thermal inertia.
The media is having a major, major freak out about the super El Nino, but truly the weather looks fairly normal at the moment, if more wet than usual. Last winter was much drier, which was a good thing because I did a huge amount of the loggers clean-up. This winter has been relatively easier going on a forestry front.
They do have those super tasty Cherokee purple tomatoes down here as well, and I love the darker tomatoes, but alas, they struggle to ripen here, so I have to rely on the yellow and red tomatoes.
You know, I was also wondering why the kids thought that it would be OK to cheat. Beats me why. Perhaps when they get into jobs they’ll continue to produce slop? I’ve never had paid work where I was able to slop output, like who wants to pay for that sort of rubbish?
Eczema drives me bonkers, and I’ve not had to deal with it for years due to continual evasive manoeuvres. Unsolicited advice alert ahead! Actually I can’t advise you, but what I’ve done is to replace clothes washing detergents with white vinegar (you know!), and found it works really well, often better. I keep the eczema prone skin moist with Sorbolene which has vitamin E and glycerine, both good for skin. A touch of coconut oil in my breakfast, with a dash of home made yoghurt. Fruit. Garden fresh greens in the diet. All good stuff to do regardless.
Good luck! 🙂
🙂 It’s interesting what folks are up to. And I’m very much enjoying the book ‘Corduroy’, and it is a nice insight into the rhythms of a farm around the turn of the century. I’d wondered if Mr Coleville’s kids had died in the first world war thus the opening for our fearless fresh-to-farming protagonist?
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
The best bookcase are often found, and come into our lives unexpectedly. The ones we’ve got are melamine, which is probably a fancy plastic coating over particle board, so same, same. I’d like to do solid timber, and will think about that. And oh yeah, those little metal plugs so easily get lost. The things look stuck in place, then without noticing they slip out. Hey, they probably fell behind the couch! 😉
It’s a clever quote from an interesting bloke. He takes the tortured artist stereotype quite literally, and celibacy ain’t for everyone. It’d be difficult to have that calling, and have to fight one’s own blood.
🙂 It was a nice day yesterday, and we’re having a run of pleasant weather – although it’ll change back to winter on Monday. Headed down below to the forest edge and did a bit more clean up. Today, the second upside down tree stump took less than an hour to extract and roll onto the bonfire. Yay! This meant there was heaps of time to do other stuff, and we removed a lot of rocks, backfilled some ground depressions with soil and generally neatened everything up nicely. Ended up with two bonfires. Just went down below in the dark and pushed them in. It’s a full moon tonight, and whilst at the fires I warmed myself, it being 37’F switched the torch off and just enjoyed the night sounds. An owl was hunting nearby.
A little bit of heat, and little bit of rain for you. There is a lot to like about that. A you getting much smoke from the fires up north?
Edith Wharton was another interesting author. It amused me that the lady described her mother as a spendthrift, whilst enjoying lots of travel and huge impressive looking houses. Makes me wonder what the author meant by that! Depression got her first husband apparently, and it’s weird to think of all that wealth, and no happiness. But yes, how hard is to be clear?
Man, I’ve actually seen people growing pumpkins up walls, and the fruit hangs on. Although I’d not want to be underneath when the monsters finally get claimed by gravity. I didn’t understand it, but it is worth running the experiment to see what happens.
How are the beans going anyway? They’d be enjoying the heat. The weird thing about beans and peas, is that they grow better in poorer soil, or at least that’s what I’ve found.
Onions produce a lot of seed, so no doubts the plant will be pollinated, so yeah, I’m with you there. The insects enjoying the pumpkin flowers are fairly elusive, and if they go deep into the flower, it’s hard to even know that they’re there. Cool, those are dragonflies we get. The red variety is a totally new concept to me.
Hehe! Dodge, Lewis, dodge! Like your style and agreed, why get into such dramas at the Club. That ‘always has a better idea’ thing is problematic because it assumes that the person’s ideas are good in the first place.
Well, between you and I, the uncertainty as to what Mr Greer will write about this week, has been a big part of the enjoyment. Although I will point out that any topic I vote for, turns out to be deeply unpopular! Or maybe I did get a vote worked out once, when he did the trio of ideas over three weeks. But the idea I supported didn’t get many comments, see deeply unpopular. 🙂 Moving on… I’m resilient.
OK, that is a very clever book title. And hope the contents live up to the hype. The hold list can only contain just so many titles, and a person has to be discerning, yes that is the correct word here. What goes on at Gargle is a mystery, but I have noted that the arty-fish-al answers are starting to drop away, just sayin’!
There is a lot of truth to that saying, although age would infer a kind of sturdiness to the book given that it has survived the years, and often unkind storage and treatment. But I did also spot the article on the first edition The Hobbit, and have a vague memory that I’d seen such an edition long ago. Didn’t know it was valuable, and neither did the op-shop for that matter.
Lady Tallis clearly understood the concept of Noblesse Oblige with that act, and yeah that is my impression of op-shops too, although they do vary in quality to put it mildly. And the cyclorama, I’d thought was something to do with bicycles, but no. I’d imagine her contacts in the theatre biz gave access to the premises.
It warms my heart that Henry Bohn scheduled in regular breaks in his extended auctions which sometimes went on for days. Quite thoughtful really. Yet another interesting character, and it shows business acumen, but also a wider purview of the world to bring classics and educational works to the masses. He grew roses as well.
Hehe! Actually a few years ago I bought a book which arrived with the aroma of stale ciggies, and I didn’t fuss too much about it and simply let the pages air out. After a short while, there was no smell. It’s not hard… Dealing with the general public can always be an interesting experience.
And see, the bad books fed the flames, just sayin’! 🙂 We’ve got quite a lively trade in second hand books, mostly because they’re expensive when new.
Cheers
Chris
@ Pam – Some of the old barrister bookcases had stained and leaded glass on the doors. Usually, geometric shapes or stylized flowers. Not a lot of those made it through, from the past. Lew
Yo, Chris – Our high yesterday was 79F (26.11C). Our overnight low was, again, 50F (10C). Our forecast high for today is 86F. Prof. Mass talks about the rain in our forecast. Should start early in the AM.
We have a fire going, up in the east county. West of Packwood. 185 acres and only 15% contained. “Get Ready” evacuation orders for west and northwest of Packwood. There are 10 other forest burning in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. It’s a huge, national forest. A small segment touches the Columbia River, and it runs right up the center of the state. through Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Rainier and points north. All the fires were caused by lightening.
We’ve not seen smoke, here. Well, seen in the sunsets, but not experienced. Prof. Mass had a post about how the smoke was staying aloft.
Lucky with the tree stump. How often does a task take LESS time than estimated? Not often. Tasks expand to fill the time allowed .. and then some. 🙂
I did have a couple of pumpkins that hung over the edge of the barrel, but didn’t touch the ground. They held on. Last night I added bone meal and ash, along with some “good” dirt, to the barrel. Gave it a good water. I also threw in a handful of crushed eggshell. Because, why not? 🙂
I diddled around with a few other projects. A gladiola was flopping over on the path, past the snail sanctuary. So, I staked it, and tied it loosely with hemp. I also staked up a fennel. There were three fennel that were sort of shading the tomatillos, so I cut two down, and staked up the third. We always have more volunteer fennel than anyone uses. I think I’m the only one that collects the seeds, for baking. No, I haven’t ever tried the roots. I do like the licorice smell. There was room in the dumpster, so I also hacked back some grape vines, and volunteer walnut trees, in the same general vicinity.
Speaking of the tomatillos, the first year I grew them, in the old raised bed, they were huge, lush plants. Since then, they’re just sort of spindly. Might not be getting enough sun. I also had to tie up one branch on one of the plants. But, they are beginning to develop those little Japanese lantern looking fruits. It’s fun to give them a gentle squeeze, to see if they got pollinated and something is happening inside the husk.
Something is nibbling at the green bean sprouts. Might be the small slug I caught and disposed of, last night. Or, the wood lice might be at it, again. I deployed two potato traps, yesterday. Though the soap chips still seem to be doing their job
One of my Swiss Chard is beginning to set seed. I wonder if I can save the seed.
Over at Mr. Greer’s, a fellow mentioned he’d published a book, “Landrace Gardening.” I ordered it from e-buy, last night. I got a $27 raise, on my state retirement. Might as well use it for something useful. 🙂
I just saw a notice that the Club will be open, 15 minutes before and after meetings, starting Monday. I suppose there’s still construction to do, but we can do bare bones, for awhile. I’ll probably find out more, tomorrow. I’ll be seeing the Club treasurer, to drop of another check.
I usually drink tea, at home, but I’ve got into the habit of having two cups of coffee, every other day. Which is about what I’d drink at the Club.
I sure did enjoy all the articles about the book trade. The one about second hand bookstores in odd old buildings was particularly interesting. Lew
Chris:
I have a feeling it is not that easy to remove heads.
We have several of those big upside-down tree stumps. The stumps are not old, though the trees were. I think my son is saving them for last. Anyway, the figs are always calling.
I love little Pinkie Kabuchie, our Kabota.
I keep seeing “El Nino” in the headlines, but I never read about Ninos and Ninas because 99% of the time they are wrong, at least in general.
That is odd about the darker tomatoes taking longer to ripen there. Here, the Cherokee Purples are some of the first ones to ripen.
“All good stuff to do regardless.” Absolutely. Taking it under consideration. 🙂
The “fearless fresh-to-farming protagonist’s” father was paying Mr. Colville for the year’s apprenticeship. I can’t recall if any Colville children were mentioned. Certainly there would have ben a dearth of young men anway, so soon (1920) after WWI. Nice alliteration.
Pam
@ Pam,
Agreed. The fire crews are doing all that they can. Weather conditions are hideous, some heavily forested areas are burning like dry grass. And they are stretched thin due to so many fires going all over the west and especially Oregon and Washington.
DJSpo
Chris,
French spear chucker. Sounds about right. I’d take Beowulf ahead of him. Of course, Egil Skallagrimson was a real person and one of the toughest ever. Hate to get on his bad side. Good friend to have in a fight. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egill_Skallagr%C3%ADmsson
I remember Tubthumping when it was popular. But a band of drunken hooligans singing? I’d have to beg off and go someplace quieter. Such antics aren’t for me.
I have but a limited idea how Kewa fared. The pumps and sprinklers were supplied and setup by the firefighters. The fire continued on its merry way to at least the edge of Inchelium while still encat area.
On the Kaiser fire, crews have done back burning while also constructing fire lines with the goal of keeping the fire from getting to the homes that are downhill to the west – the Disautel community and surrounds. So far, those lines have held just fine. Saturday will be the latest big day for the fire. Today was 35C and 12% humidity at my house, and similar at the fires. Saturday is supposed to be slightly cooler, 32C, just as dry and with the heavy winds again, gusts up to 45 mph. The winds should come from the southwest, which will help protect Disautel.
Yes, the general Inchelium area, which includes Kewa, has some friends of both the Princess and me. Disautel, like the Nespelem area, is full of family and friends. As you suggested, these fires will most likely be smoldering until several weeks into the rainy season. Fire danger will remain high until then, also.
Officially, no measurable rainfall for July. The last measurable rainfall was June 29. And June got less rain than July historically does.
Well done. The soil in the Ryegrass region is fertile. Problem is the lack of water. It is dry to the west into Ellensburg. Downhill to the east is the desert. Yet, with irrigation water from the Columbia River, a lot of crops are grown. East of Vantage is the Moses Lake farming region. Idaho may be known for growing potatoes, but the Moses Lake area actually produces more potatoes than does Idaho.
One US ton equals 2,000 pounds. So Nero Wolfe was roughly 286 pounds. 130kg. The metric system makes so much more sense. And you would enjoy the Nero Wolfe books. Archie could be so cheeky.
I knew you were joking. Baseball? Yes. Outfield. Played a lot of softball also. I enjoyed the challenge of using my speed in the outfield. And offensively? Bunt, steal second, score on anything hit to the outfield. No replacement for speed.
I played one season of slow pitch softball. Because there were a lot more fly balls than in fast pitch softball, I had fun as an outfielder. But no bunting, no stealing bases, so it took away my main offensive advantages. Wow. I think it has been 40 years since I played. Haven’t coached at all for 30 years.
Ah, the biggest question, that, could someone from our era survive the Roman era mentally and emotionally. The fantasy author L. Sprague deCamp wrote a book “Lest Darkness Fall” in which a modern man somehow found himself in Rome during the 400s. Your very question was a fundamental part of the book.
I am no longer that scrawny former self. Finally put on some weight and added a lot of muscle. I’ve held at 73kg for nearly 3 decades now. It feels right.
Okay, try this one. Get the elephant song far, far away. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEFBk5dATpo&list=RDsEFBk5dATpo&index=2
A good waterfall after rain is a nice sight. Palouse Falls is about 2 hours from here. It’s a big surprise in the desert. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palouse_Falls
DJSpo
Hi Pam,
I’m with you, survival against a rampaging horde of zombies, is bound to end badly.
Interesting! The bucket in the Kubota could make the upside down tree stump removal easier, maybe? Depends on how big and heavy they are and how much weight the hydraulics can lift. Some of them like the one last week, need to be dug out sorry to say. Presumably if they’ve not been there long, they might not be lodged in the ground too far, yet, maybe? As always there are a lot of ifs, and it’s probably easier to tackle them at the end of the season when they can be burned off.
🙂 I’d love one of those machines too. They have a well deserved enviable reputation.
Yeah, they keep saying that this El Nino is going to be a super duper one, but the soil today down here is pretty damp. I’ll let you know how things go next April when the summer heat is done, but until then I’ll keep an open mind.
Speaking of such things, we did another day of forest clean-up, and the trees in that section of the property are enormous and old. You can still see the burn scars from the 1983 bushfires, and clearly someone cut a fire break through that area – there is a sort of winding track. Although it could also be what’s left of an old loggers tramway as it is heading down hill.
It’s weird isn’t it? I’ve never had good results from the darker tomatoes, and have tried. There’d be a good reason for it, but right now I’ve no idea. OK. Did a quick gargle search and those varieties in particular do not enjoy temperature swings – which is my summer. One day can be 114’F, and the next 70’F with even colder over night lows. Thought there’d be a reason for the difference. Your weather is more stable than here, I’m guessing.
Very cool, and if you don’t try, you’ll never know. Eczema is unpleasant and when I was young they’d chuck steroid creams at me, and let’s just say that I have some hesitations about those things and prolonged use.
Ah, this was not properly discussed, or I’d over looked it. The gentleman’s mother had an artistic bent, but it was that lady who supported her son’s otherwise poetic dreamy disposition to become more based in the physical world. The author mentioned that he returned to his old life briefly for a studio party (whatever that was) and yet yearned for the land. What a delightful tale of one who was buffeted by the winds and yet landed on his feet.
No mention was made of Mr and Mrs Coleville’s children so you’d imagine that something unpleasant occurred in the trenches in France.
Alas, my natural state of mind is rooted in the physical world, and the entertaining abstractions of the city are wonderful, but their siren call is lost upon me. I’d much rather spend a hard day cutting, hauling and burning forest litter. Unfortunately this does not pay the bills. Oh well.
Best wishes for the figgie selling season. 🙂
Cheers
Chris
Hi DJ,
Beowulf was tough as, and a truly mighty warrior, which is why we are mentioning him all these millennia later. Ah, yet Egil was a man of fearsome stature who knew also his way around words, and yet he suffered a short fuse. Heroes are far from perfect. However, he was clearly a person to keep on your side, but treat carefully with kid gloves so as not to give offence, such was his reactions. 🙂
A few months ago the Editor went with a friend to some sort of gig known as a ‘Pub Choir’. It was a fun night apparently, and Sandra returned home again somewhat horse of voice.
Ook! There’s generally not enough power or water left in town mains on days of serious fires, so that was why I was curious as to the sprinklers. I’ve gotta think about the reserves left in the water tanks, and how long they’ll last when a couple of 5 gallon per minute pumps are draining them.
By the way, spent another day doing forest clean up and I am now very tired this evening. Most of the day was spent cutting them hauling fallen timber. It’s looking really nice though, and I was amazed at how enormous the trees were in that part of the property. There was even the largest Silver Wattle that I have ever seen – big enough that it was reaching high up into the canopy.
Oh my the combination of high temperatures and gusty winds are the very worst conditions. Man, it’s not good, and hope your friends and family, plus all of the folks on Rez survive unscathed and can put the lessons learned from this experience into future plans and activities. Prevention in this instance, is far better than a cure, and down here we (as a society) fail abysmally at that.
Some years are like that when only the winter weather puts a line under the fire activity. I’ve experienced such years as well, and they are nerve wracking. The most recent summer was like that down here.
Australia has similar soil fertility issues, and where rivers cut through arid areas, it’s the most irrigated productive farm land ever, except when there is a serious drought. Then it is a disaster. Regular rainfall tends to leach some soil minerals which produces weirdly imbalanced soils – too much of this, and not enough of that. This is what I discovered here, and have brought in a staggering quantity of fertility to fix that, but is it ever enough? And will it return to the long term average? The best agricultural land, is east of your mountain ranges, if you can get reliable water – and then not over use it. Hmm. So many things to go wrong… 🙂 All we can but do is out best.
Thank you for the book recommendation, and if I had to choose one Nero Wolfe book, which would it be? Apologies for the economic considerations, always a drama these days! 🙂
Speed in sports makes up for all manner of things and baseball is a lot of sprinting. I don’t see a big difference between baseball and softball, except that down under when I was a young ‘un, only softball was played. I enjoyed the game, although calling the ball soft is bit of a misnomer. Likewise getting hit by a cricket ball provides plenty of incentive to connect the bat with the ball in the first instance. Ouch! People have been inadvertently killed by the things.
Interesting, the out field position would put your running to some good use – as is the case with cricket. The less athletic folks are placed on the in field positions. There’s a bit of unfamiliar terminology there with this talk of ‘fly balls’ and ‘bunts’. Good for you coaching teams way back in the day. How’d you enjoy that aspect of the game?
Nobody would want to be in ancient Rome in 400AD, although of course Alaric and his merry band of marauding Visigoths would have enjoyed the spectacle.
For a couple of years in my early twenties, I gave up the car for a two years and walked and rode a bicycle everywhere. Plus distance running. To jump on the pedal powered thing and go 20km or 30km was not even a minor thought, so I hear ya about scrawny! And we shall celebrate our achievements at stability. 🙂
Thanks for mentioning the Palouse Falls, and it’s a beautiful area. The terracing in the surrounding landscape looks amazing, although presumably it speaks of the underlying geology, or variability in climate over a huge period of time.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
Your 79’F and even 86’F sounds nice to my winter chilled bones, but I shan’t grumble for today was 54’F, sunny and all round pleasant. It’s actually good weather to do physically very demanding work, mostly because a person doesn’t overheat and the bonfires have little chance of causing larger dramas. So we did another day of forest clean up, and me tired tonight, but well pleased with the days work.
We cleaned up around some of the oldest and tallest trees here. Dude, they’re enormous – and I was also glad that they remained upright throughout the day. A person would not survive an encounter with even some of the smaller branches from those ancient trees. Also we came across one of the tallest and oldest Silver Wattles (although it may have been a Black Wattle), that I’ve yet seen here. Ginormous, and the feathery leaves reached high up into the canopy. I’d not expected to ever see that.
Did your rain arrive as the forecast suggested? Nice to not to have to water the garden in summer, and seriously I hope that some of that wet stuff falls over the fire effected areas. Ook, it may not.
Your summer is beginning to remind me of the awful summer down here only a few months ago. At times there were fires igniting across the entire state. I note that the Professor is suggesting that strong winds on Saturday might be a serious problem for the fires. Fingers crossed.
Thanks, and it was a true pleasure to have hauled away that tree stump after only an hours digging. Actually the area looks a bit rough now with exposed clay, but in two years time it will be pretty nice. I tend to look for outcomes, so if the job is done quicker (and it is amazing when that occurs) I tend to work on something else.
On that note, about three decades ago I realised I had a problem with estimating how long activities were going to take. Alas, back then I was a people pleaser (never good) and bowed to external pressure, and also tried to over do things. A major error of judgement, which I corrected. Nowadays I give realistic deadlines as to what is possible, and if people aren’t happy about that, that’s their problem. Tell you a funny story as to how I corrected that personality flaw: I simply began estimating, then brutally comparing how that worked out, and then adjusting my estimates with the new information. A painful process I can assure you, but I don’t have troubles on that front any more. And sometimes I wheel out the three little truthful words: I don’t know. Powerful words those.
However, all the same, it is a real pleasure when an activity takes far less time than anticipated.
I’ve not tried that with pumpkins, but appreciate hearing of your experience. And why not indeed? Crushed egg shell is a super soil amendment (unless your soils are already high in pH which is unlikely), as are the other minerals. Yup, pumpkins be hungry, and munchy for proper feed they are (said in best Yoda voice)! Hehe! You won’t regret that stuff.
Lovely plants those gladiola, and well worth staking up. Never had a fennel flop over, those plants are super hardy. Makes me wonder if an inmate is watering it? Although it may just be short of soil. They do volunteer though, don’t they? I tend to cut out the excess plants. And Goran raised an interesting issue with me years ago about them: None of mine have ever produced the large edible bulbs which I’ve seen for sale at markets – which was the case with his lot as well. Hmm. I like the smell as well, and even munch upon the leaves, but am not such a fan of the large roots. It’s a bit too much taste for a meal if overdone, and many chefs can’t help themselves. Subtlety is a virtue in this instance. I’m sure you’d have been on the wrong end of such meals in the past?
Never grown a tomatilo, although I would add the observation that crop rotation is a thing, and an aspect to which I struggle. The Cape Gooseberry plants produce similar lantern like fruits to the stuff you were describing, which are sweet and tasty, but leave a sort of tomato like after taste.
The outrage! Man, if it’s not one thing, it’s another when it comes to critters attempting to eat the garden produce. Hopefully it’s not deer doing the damage to the bean sprouts? Fingers crossed the traps and soap chips work.
🙂 I’d assume that the seed is quite viable, unless you know anything different about the subject, and Swiss chard is becoming a bit weedy here. It needs to be, those cockatoos have chomped through several of the oldest plant trunks. They’re not even eating the leaves, it’s just pure vandalism. I’m unsure what they get out of the damage, but they are very clever birds, so vindictiveness cannot be ruled out.
I missed that reference to Landrace plants, and please do let me know if it is a worthy read, for it’s a subject I’m very interested in. I must confess that the forest clean up work is very demanding and leaves me feeling a tad tired. It was a late work finish last night as well, and I was unable to review my comments prior to posting. Ook! They were not my usual standards, put it that way. Oh well, life, it happens… 😉
Congrats for the raise. 🙂 Always handy.
That’s great news about the activities at the Club continuing. To be honest, I was wondering if this state of affairs would extend for a few more weeks, and maybe even months. It’d not be easy this stage of things.
🙂 Coffee, it is addictive! This is known! Do you find that it wakes you up, or merely makes you more alert. I could easily sleep after having a coffee, he types as a monster yawn escapes from the open maw!
Do they have book stores in unusual buildings in your part of the world? But oh yeah, book stores are enjoyable places regardless (except for the odd lady who used to ask me bluntly why I wanted to read a particular book she was selling. That was odd! And uncomfortable), and one of my favourites is a dusty old country second hand book shop. It’s lovely and I always find something in there that I’d not even known I was looking for! Man, I still miss the old Borders shop which was open to 10pm. As a night owl, it was a fun business, and I never left empty handed. Oh well.
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – Our high yesterday was 86F (30C). Our overnight low was 61F (16.11C). Our forecast high for today is 71F. So far, no rain. Though there are green blobs on the radar, heading in from the coast. I’ve got to run an errand, and if it hasn’t rained by the time I get back, I’ll water.
Looks like Silver Wattle has many uses. Flowers for the floral trade. Leaves in chutney. Sap for glue. Seeds for a type of flour.
Chris. A Work in Progress. 🙂 Introspection is often a good thing. How few people look inward, and make course corrections? Right up there with “I don’t know,” in value is a firm “No.”
I really don’t particularly like gladiolas, but, some do. Doesn’t come in blue, you know. 🙂 But, I thought I’d get it off the path.
The fennel is a good two meters tall, and with the developing flowers, is getting a little top heavy. I’ll have to consult my book about seed saving, and see what it says about chard. When we went out for our midnight walk, the wood lice were at the green bean sprouts. I actually pulled a few off and crushed them under my thumb nail. A satisfying crunch! I also smashed the one’s clustered around soap chips. On the edge of the raised garden. I need a barrier …
“Landrace Gardening” by Lofthouse.
I used to be able to drink a pot of coffee, before bed, and not have disturbed sleep. But, I don’t do that, anymore. Or other liquids, either. So I’m not up and heading for the bog, in the middle of the night. Sometimes, it helps. 🙂
Used bookstore dealers have a reputation as a crusty lot. Or, at least they used to. One of my … competitors, well a customer of mine told me a story. She inquired as to if he had a book on Buddhism. He said, “Why would you want that? Aren’t you a Christian?” It’s a wonder he was successful, and in business a lot longer than me. I suspected he might be a trustafarian. Tells you something about the community, we’re in.
Used bookstores in interesting building … well, nothing comes to mind. I’m sure they’re out there. A lot in old houses. The famous Powell’s, in Portland, is in an old car dealership. Or at least the nucleus of the store is.
Ohhh. I heard about a new movie, that looks really interesting. A fairy tale, for adults. “The Wicker Husband.” Rough language, ahead.
https://youtu.be/j1t_yHoypks?si=AjVb9T2SrBZ4bDhr
You’ll see a very familiar face, in the cast.
I picked a handful of cherry tomatoes, yesterday. I dropped the plastic bag I put them in, and a tomato made an escape and rolled and bounced, all the way down to Washington Ave., with me in hot pursuit. What a spectacle! 🙂 I tossed them in with some rice, garlic, tuna and peas. A bit of cheese on the top. Lew
PS: Here’s an article about the US heat dome. Notice the sliver of green, in the upper left hand corner. That’s us.
https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/30/weather/record-summer-heat-wave-west-climate
The last sort-of cool place, in the US. I keep wondering how long it will be, before we see climate refugees. Lew
@ Lew:
They sound so wonderful – and quite expensive. I did used to keep some books in an old mahogany china cabinet of my grandmother’s. There doesn’t seem to be room for it anywhere anymore, though I am trying hard to find a place.
Pam
Chris:
Luckily all of the stumps are pretty recent; none are lodged. They’re too big for the Kabota, maybe Tractorzilla, the John Deere. The CAT, for sure.
You just never know with vegetables. I never could grow sweet (bell) peppers; I have lots of them this year.
Long use of any steroids can be risky. My father found this out.
I have just come across a son of the Colvilles, who had fought in WWI – he came home in one piece.
Thanks for the figgie wishies,
Pam
Chris,
Old Trails Fire started west of here this afternoon. It jumped the river downhill from us. Heavy winds. Smoke is moving north of us and it looks like the fire will move north of us. “Leave Now” evacuations near us but I think we’ll be okay here. We will likely lose power.
DJSpo
Hi DJ,
Thinking of you, and the reports are that the Old Trails Fire is moving quite quickly. Stay safe, and it’s good that you’ve got a new roof and guttering on the house as there will be little dry organic matter up there waiting to combust from embers. It’s usually the embers you have to watch for as they light the fire way ahead of the front, then pre-heat the air.
Stay safe, and hope you have a go bag just in case (dog lead, water and woollen blankets are not a bad idea – avoid synthetic clothing, it melts). Remember Douglas Adam’s famous advice if you leave in the car: “Don’t Panic!” And know that you’ll be the only person calm, and strange things can happen when the smoke gets thick and flames are close.
If the house gets under threat of fire, do not shelter in a room with only a single doorway like a bathroom – that is a disaster and people get trapped. Always have a backup exit plan, just sayin’.
Fingers crossed for you, and the power and maybe town water will disappear if things get bad enough.
Good luck! And apologies for all of the unsolicited advice, but you never know what may be useful knowledge.
Chris
Chris,
Thanks. You’ve got experience so I don’t count your advice as unsolicited. It is welcome advice, especially the Don’t Panic. 😉
We didn’t have to evacuate. Nor did we lose power, although it flickered a few times. I did spend some time outside making sure that no ash or cinders were falling here. Nothing. I also saturated parts of the yards nearest the house. The fire has remained to our west and then north. Some of the neighbors who left have returned.
The fire is still active, as are two others in Spokane County. Ground smoke has drifted into the neighborhood, but the huge smoke clouds are north and west of us, never having settled over our area. Dame Avalanche was out of sorts for a while but is happily sleeping now.
We probably won’t know the extent of the damage for several days. I’m grateful that the worst avoided our neighborhood.
DJSpo
Hi DJ,
Well, you’ve gotten lucky and avoided the fire front, but the sage advice: “Don’t Panic!”, still applies. People can act very strangely in emergencies, and always wise to keep a cool tool.
It’s always the embers that are the problem as they ignite new fires well ahead of any front. And in those instances, houses often burn from the roof downwards. Only takes about four minutes apparently. BBQ gas bottles venting is a fun problem too in those circumstances, and few people think about such concentrated energy sources. I’ve heard rumours that they can explode if conditions get bad enough.
Stay alert, and see, you being calm means that wild-at-heart-dog, stays calm. 🙂
It’s a relief, and my sympathies go to the folks affected.
Better get writing!
Cheers
Chris
Hi Pam,
It’s nice to have machine options with which to choose from, and yes, nothing is finer than a CAT! 🙂 Actually, that lot make the phone I use not because it has every feature under the sun, but because it is built like a tank. You can drop the thing from a height of 6 foot onto concrete with no damage. Cool. So yeah, your son has done good work getting all those machines into operational order, which in turn gets your physical environment into order. Except for maybe the occasional groundhog, those are tricksy beasts!
True, but as Claire pointed out to me a few years ago, like the west coast of your country, the days may be hot, but the nights often cool in summer, and bell peppers are out of my reach at the moment. It took the 2019-2020 Black summer with ten days over 104’F here for melons to grow and ripen. They were tasty for sure, but on the small side. When I see the monster sized melons for sale at the supermarket I’m in awe of the conditions it would take to grow such fruit.
Yummo! How do you preserve your bell peppers? We grow heaps of chilli’s but just dry and eat them throughout the year. So tasty, but some are a bit err, spicey!
Sorry to hear that about your dad. I was always mildly alarmed by the advice to use for less than seven days – the alert person wonders what the risks are. If I may, what happened with your father?
Ah, very good. Presumably the son had no desire to work with Mr Coleville? The author was at a market and alluded to the bankruptcies faced in a decades time with the Great Depression. I can see why he stuck with old school low cost farming techniques for the rest of his life having seen that wipe out. Oh my!
Happy figgies, happy life! 🙂
Cheers and better get writing!
Chris
Hi Lewis,
Thanks for the article on the heat dome, and I must say that the name ‘Death Valley’ is a dead giveaway to me to prompt my physical personage, to be somewhere else. Seriously, that place has to be the hottest location on your continent, and it’d be like reporting on the summer temperature conditions in the town of ‘Marble Bar’. Of course it can reach over 50’C in the shade regularly – that is why few people live there, and the souls who do, are super hardy people.
That’s for sure about your little corner of the continent being cooler. Not ideal from a refugee point is it? But honestly, most of the temperatures I read about in the article were on the hot side of the story, but I live with those temperatures every summer. Sometimes more, sometimes less. And the UV ratings are more extreme here due to the thin Ozone layer. Ouch! Some days where the UV is rated 14, the sunlight has this weird white bleaching effect in the mid to late afternoon, and that ain’t good.
Weirdly, the article mentioned water with a concerned vibe. That my friend is the limiting resource for population numbers right there.
You’re having pretty nice weather from my chilly perspective. 🙂 Actually today was really lovely down here at about 50’F but with bright blue sunny skies. So nice. Most of the day was spent fixing up things here and there, and also attending to the needs of many of the machines with which I rely upon. Due to having lots of activities going on in the past few months, it’d been a while since I was able to get to the machines, and all but one were doing well. I replaced a drive belt on that one, and put a replacement on order. Nice to have spare parts.
Did you end up having to water?
Silver wattle is a very useful plant, and I was aware of many of those uses. I’d just not ever expected to see one growing over 100ft! It’s big.
By the way, I mentioned your idea of barristers bookcases to the Editor, who has now ordered one made from bamboo just to see how strong it is. Could transform the bookshelves and fix up one minor problem with the house which visitors have to deal with.
You’ll get no argument with me about that word, and it was one I too had to learn to wield. Yup, nothing is more final than a firm: ‘No’! Of course with more life experience under my belt I can apply layers of meaning to that word, which is another useful skill. But oh man, I so hear you about that one.
My early programming was not so great, and this is hardly surprising given the household I grew up in, but this needn’t be an excuse for not doing better. People tend to lean on their earlier experiences as an excuse, and that’s fine, if they acknowledge that is what they’re doing. I choose better as a path.
Yes, if it’s not blue, then is it art? 😉 Hehe! We did just that with the bearded irises which had snuck onto the paths. They were moved into more pleasing locations, but are they blue? Close, but with purple over tones.
That is a rather large fennel plant, but then they’re rarely small. Oooo, I’ll be very curious to hear what you have to say about the silverbeet / Swiss chard seed saving, and it would be nice to retain the various colours, but who knows? I’m learning about those plants now too, mostly because the Editor did an about turn and discovered that she actually likes them. Blame her parents crappy cooking skills, which was about what I dealt with as a kid too. Honestly, there is no pride to be gained by serving up poorly prepared food. Food is a joy, and phooey to those who take too much pride in preparing the stuff improperly.
Well done you, and it’s funny how we have to set limits on what eats what in a garden. I’d never expected that outcome a quarter of a century ago.
Hmm, the images of the author suggests to me that he’d do well to get some more Calcium / Garden Lime into his soil. I’ll grab a copy of the book too as it’s a very important topic. Respect to the author for doing the hard yards.
Ah, yes, best to limit the intake of fluids after a certain time, although it is rare for me to have to visit the bog in the middle of the night. Nose breathing is the key here, but each night I have to spend a minute or two awake adjusting my temperature and blankets. Age is like that regardless and it hits us one way, or the other, but I value my sleep and will do what it takes to ensure that it is more than adequate for my needs. I believe that people don’t take their sleep seriously enough.
Yeah, exactly. That was my reaction to the question as to why I wanted to buy the particular book. If I was quicker thinking, I’d have asked the question: ‘Well, why are you selling it?’ Yup, it does lend something to the general vibe, yeah. At least you know.
Thanks for spotting the film trailer and it looks fun. Might be a trip to the cinema, and yes, Mr Dinklage shines yet again. 🙂 Some people are put on this planet to entertain us, and raise the bar, which given the film sounds like a double entendre!
Hehe! The one that got away. Man, I’ve heard tall fishing stories, but to apply them to the humble tomato is a noteworthy act. 🙂
Cheers and seriously better get writing!
Chris
Yo, Chris – DJ, the Princess and Dawg are very much in my thoughts, today. I didn’t realize things were so serious in Spokane. The news exploded into the national media, last night.
https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/02/us/live-news/spokane-washington-wildfire-old-trails-hnk
Our high yesterday was 70F (21.11C). Our overnight low was 52F (11.11C). Our forecast high for today is 74F. We did get some rain, yesterday, and maybe I should have watered, But, nothing looked stressed. A little water stress might contribute to deeper root growth? It’s a theory. As long as you don’t take it too far. We’re gong to have a couple of days of 90+F, this coming week.
If it’s not blue, is it art? Well, it can be, I suppose. But I’d be a lot more likely to buy it, if it were blue. True blue iris is available here. In several shades.
I’ll have to do some more research on the chard. My seed saver book makes it sound like a biannual. Like parsley. Sets seed the second year. But, I planted seed, and this year some has bolted. The red variety. Not much info. Just wait til the stalk turns brown, to harvest the seed. And, it will cross with beets, if you’re looking to save seed.
I didn’t check The River, but there weren’t that many copies available, on e-buy. I figured since it was mentioned over on Mr. Greer’s blog, that it might go fast. So, I got right on it.
You need to write and I need to walk the dog and water.
I made a trip up to the new club, around noon, yesterday. See if there was any activity. No one there, but some stuff had been moved in. Traffic was crazy. I think there might have been a wreck on the freeway (again). People think that by jumping off and cutting through our towns, they’ll get a leg up. Lew