Earlier in the week three quarters of an hour was spent clearing the spring flush of weeds out from one of the rose garden beds. There’s a lot of plant growth this month, but not a whole bunch of produce to consume. Even some of the stored stuff has reached beyond the time when it needs to get back in the ground. Anyone who has ever put their finger into a large winter stored zucchini (courgette) and experienced a sudden gush of water, will know what I mean. Even stoic thick skinned pumpkins will sprout furry looking moulds. Probably inedible. Potatoes start shrivelling and produce weird looking eyes. Basically, in traditional times, October (or April in the upside down northern hemisphere) would be the month you’d starve to death, or as I say about broody hens: lose a lot of condition.
Thank Gawd for the shops and produce brought in from far distant warmer lands! So despite the lack of edible stuff growing here, starving is not a risk at least this year. However, the thought got the old brain wondering about the cycles of the food which we grow here. What better way to present it all, than a natty Gantt chart. Here it is:
I’ve probably forgotten some edibles, like kale, leeks and chives, and oh my, the kiwi fruit and tree nut crops. The forest critter predation on those last two is unrelenting and probably deserves a bullet or four, although sadly I’m not allowed to do so. I’m sure the almonds, chestnuts and hazelnuts they’ve enjoyed to date were superb. Also, we grow all sorts of herbs which are too numerous to mention. It’s funny though, my lunch today was in synch with the chart because it included: Green Mustard + Rocket + Herbs + A couple of fried eggs + Tasty Cheddar Cheese. Stodge was provided by way of some freshly baked chunks of oven warm bread slathered with peanut butter and homemade jam. Yes, the meal of champions, and I was in need of the energy refresh because I’d been jack hammering away at a large boulder for hours beforehand. By the late lunch hour of 2:00pm, I was a tad hungry.
Having been at this growing business for almost two decades, you learn a thing or two. The climate here is just a little bit too cold for bread wheat, which is a bit of a bummer because I actually enjoy home made fresh loaves. Oh well, quality high protein flour can at least be purchased in decent quantities at a reasonable price. The plan this summer is to try some buckwheat. And maybe oats in future years.
You have to be onto a lot of stuff though. Being a canny and resourceful bloke I know that buckwheat seeds have to adapt to the day length, so I sourced them from the island state way to the south of here. Hopefully they’re cold adapted too, but we’ll find out. For all of the other plants, we produce plenty of our own seeds, and some of these edibles have possibly become a bit weedy – which is a good thing in my books. Working out how to do all this stuff year in and year out, is not as simple as the average dilettante may believe.
We’re learning all of the time, and then refining the systems to incorporate the new knowledge. Right now when we’d otherwise be going hungry, many of the garden beds are being prepared for the summer growing season. Then the inevitable weeding keeps two people more than in need of a decent feed. But when you get systems right, it’s a thing of beauty. A few weeks ago radish seeds were started in the greenhouse, and they’re looking good and now ready to harvest:
The spicy bulbs get chucked into fresh garden salads, and the leaves make an awesome pesto. Few plants germinate then grow fast in cool soil like radish, which surprises me that it is not more widely consumed. Interestingly, that entire long raised garden bed enjoys only 10L / 2.6 Gallons of water per day. Doesn’t need any more than that. People love intensive gardening and all power to them and stuff, but look at the decent spacing between each plant in the above photo. Nice if you have the room, but more spacing does tend to grow less stressed out plants which are simply hardier and less demanding. I wouldn’t have believed that claim two decades ago, but the experiment has been run, and the results are in.
Trying to get new plants from old is not as simple as people would believe either, and it’s different for every species. We’ve recently been creating two large garden beds close to the house so as to grow edible plants and let them naturally form seed which we can collect. You need a lot of room to do that activity, and sadly those same plants have to be rotated to new soil each year as well. Crop rotation being a real thing. It’s all a bit of a challenge for the brain, but we’re up for that.
Another way to get new plants is to clone them. One of my favourite fruits is the sub-tropical Babaco, which can only survive the winter here in the unheated greenhouse, and even then by early spring, it looks very ill. It’s probably the only sub-tropical plant which can over-winter here, although a few of the chilli’s are also struggling through. Anyway, the fruit is awesome but the seeds are sterile so it has to be grown from cuttings. Some plants are easy to do that, others, not so much. We took some decent looking shoots off the Babaco, and banged them in the ground – and they seem to be growing!
It’s a good thing thing that they’re growing too, because the originating plant from whence they came, may not fruit beyond this year. We’ve also begun several cuttings of the best producing grape vine. The grape enclosure has about ten different varieties of multi purpose table and wine grapes, and a few of them suffer from a fungus, probably because they’ve been grown out of their usual climate zone. Unsurprisingly the best performing variety was sourced from a local garden where it was brought to the country from Italy (presumably the northern hillier country) almost a century and half a go. A good gardener has to develop some ruthlessness and pull out the non-performing plants and replace them with something that does work, and if those fun-guy ridden vines don’t recover, they’re out.
Fortunately we’re not subsistence farming at this location as we can purchase extra food grown elsewhere! But, if in this lean month when possibly facing future grim realities, those pesky kiwi fruit and nut crop munching forest critters would be starting to look like a meal. And given what they’re eating, they’d probably taste pretty good too. Fortunately for them that there are markets, shops and wholesale suppliers of food!
This week the terrace with the Globe artichokes was prepared for the summer growing season. Over winter I’d let the soil become a bit weedy so as to assist with the still yet to be fully sorted out matter of: crop rotation cycles.
We both estimated that it would take twenty minutes to weed those two long rows. Turned out that it was closer to two or three hours of work. We’d discovered heaps of seedling vegetables (Russian kale, Silverbeet and Green mustard) and had to move all of those.
A trailer load of compost + something from the sea + garden lime + gypsum + blood and bone meal, was mixed up and chucked onto the garden beds:
The garden beds look pretty neat and ready for whatever the growing season brings. The Globe artichokes need to be moved out of that bed, but they apparently transplant quite easily.
We’re not 100% sure what we’ll grow in the wider of the two beds, and it may be a mix of corn and buckwheat. The narrower bed received all of the volunteer self seeded vegetables, most of which have survived the relocation process.
The new path below the house project continued this week. The path surface received four trailer loads of crushed rock with lime.
Alert readers will realise that the lime placed upon the many paths and surfaces around the land, go a long way towards fertilising the entire property, albeit on a very slow basis.
A few weeks ago a goodly load of large rocks were brought uphill and dumped at the other end of this new path.
But firstly the area between the two large house water tanks needed to be fixed up. Whenever there is a very large storm, which can exceed four inches of rain in an hour, or involve stupendous amounts of ice from crazy hail storms (hope never to see that again), the soil between the two tanks gets washed away.
A strong rock wall was created at the bottom with three successive points of failure. It is after all a steep emergency water spillway. A spoon drain was dug into the path to direct water away from the tanks. And cement was added between the water tanks where the erosion is always the worst. Will it all be enough? We’ll find out sooner or later. But it is better than what was there.
Once completed, the rock wall on the downhill side of that emergency spillway, was strengthened with larger rocks which should further reduce the impact of the water.
Eventually three more trailer loads of crushed rock with lime were placed on the path surface. There’s probably another two loads to chuck down, and that will be the entire project completed!
Observant readers may ask the hard question, what is the grey metal rounded thing on the left hand side of the above photo. That is the fire protection screen for the house water pump. The purpose is to shield the electric water pump from radiant heat, and there are two layers of metal protection. It’s probably ideal if the water pump continues to stay cool and operate during a bushfire so best if it doesn’t overheat and cut out.
Looking at path from the other end, you can see the sloping garden beds where we’ll do the seed production for edible plants.
And because not enough work was done this week, I began breaking apart a boulder into very large rocks.
Three hours of hard work produced seven large rocks which will be useful in a yet to be begun new path project up above the house.
Turns out, the boulder was much bigger than it appeared at about three foot thick.
The apricots continue to swell in size, and hopefully it is a good year for the fruit.
Alarmed readers need not fear, the many parrots living on the farm will happily thin the trees – for free!
With the warmth this week, and the rain the previous one, the fern fronds are positively jumping out of the ground!
Oh yeah, on Saturday whilst heading down to the supplier to pick up another load of crushed rock with lime, I noticed a steam train at the local station. It was quite the juxtaposition to see both new and old vehicles side by side.
Onto the flowers:
The temperature outside now at about 11am is 16’C (61’F). So far for this year there has been 1,009.6mm (39.7 inches) which is up from last weeks total of 1,009.0mm (39.7 inches)
Comments
34 responses to “The lean month”
Yo, Chris – I suppose, back in Ye Olde Days, during the “starving month,” there would be generations of knowledge as to what could be foraged. But, as we discussed, forage food might keep you alive, but taste? Flavor? Often leaves much to be desired. But the stuff will get you over the hump.
That is an interesting chart. The Old Farmer’s Almanac calendar, and, a chart from the nursery I usually patronize, have similar charts. The nursery is south of Portland, down in the Willamette Valley. So the seed and growing seasons are very similar, to here.
Learned a new word. “Stodge.” I guess you could call it the “stick to your ribs” foods. 🙂
Buckwheat and oats. As I’m sure you know, neither have gluten. But, there’s always baking powder or soda. Or, some wheat flour to help things along. Nothing wrong with flat breads or crackers, either.
Seed saving and rotation. It’s all a complicated dance. Go, Babaco. Looks like it’s off to a good start. I’m sure you’ve thought of it, but, tossing some mustard seed, into the grape enclosure, might knock back some of the fungus. LOL. Just remember to turn it under, before it goes to seed. it can be a bit invasive.
Tasks. Always seem longer than estimated. Maybe it’s because we’re an over optimistic species?
Your “ceremonial ways” are looking really good. What with the recently busted up rock for edging, and crushed rock and lime for pavement.
Your spillway is genius. Breaks up possible flow, as much as possible.
Yes, the house water pump is a critical piece of infrastructure. Might there be more reflective material, to add? Maybe even a water jacket?
I thought, that’s not a steam train. and then I realized, it’s hiding a bit, off to the left. I read our Amtrak train system has spiffy new passenger cars. I haven’t seen any rip through, yet.
The flowers, as always, are lovely. Lew
Hi Lewis,
That’s very true, and the old timers must have known and done something during the lean month, otherwise none of us would be here today. Agreed, would possum meat be tasty? Oh poop, seems like in New Zealand where the introduced marsupials are an invasive pest, brush tail possums have a risk of Bovine Tuberculosis. Probably wouldn’t want that. Apparently tastes pretty gamey too (yep, you called it with the yuk factor!) based on what I read. But if it was that or starvation, kangaroo would probably be easier, and tastier. But very lean which could be an issue too. Ah, so many ways to come unstuck.
Well yeah, I’ve also noticed that between your part of the world and here, in that there are a lot of similarities in the growing seasons. Like it was 61’F today, and will cool later tonight. Which is about what you’re experiencing at this time of year. 🙂
One of the interesting things about this area, is that over in the northern part of the mountain range, it’s warmer on average, and they’re about a couple of weeks ahead in terms of the growing season. But we can grow stuff here that they struggle with and vice versa. Another simple answer to the lean month is to trade. 🙂 I’ve probably got more firewood than I can ever use.
The old timers used to say that about food ‘sticking to your ribs’, but you don’t hear that said any more, and certainly the useful word ‘stodge’ has likewise fallen out of favour. Well, I guess the language evolves.
The flat breads I’ve had over the years were usually pretty tasty. Injera is superb and made from the teff grain. Yum! You sent me on a rabbit hole as to grains in general and it is a complex and wide subject. And one for the future.
I’m really trying to work out the crop rotation business, and you can see the difference with plants grown in never before used garden beds. Despite the manky and inadequately fertilised soil, many of those plants grown are much larger than their cosseted siblings. I wish it were not so, but on a balance of probabilities, crop rotation is an issue.
Yeah, funnily enough a bit of mustard did grow in the grape enclosure, and all of those plants, plus their weedy brethren, were mulched up fine and fed back to the soil. I’m aware of the effect that mustard species are meant to have, and letting garden beds go fallow, has a similar but not as fast acting effect, I believe. Thus why they’re let run to weeds over the winter months. But is it ever enough? Probably not and I’m guessing those beds need a few years of that to reset.
The crushed rock with lime added to the soils of the grape enclosure, will have a pretty good effect on the soil as well, and hopefully wipe out the fungus. That worked a treat with a well established lemon tree, but I simply don’t know and am running the experiment. But, have taken cuttings which will get chucked in if the existing vines don’t get their act together.
Hehe! Probably. And also maybe we just hope that the really hard tasks, are done quicker than they actually take to complete. 🙂 And also sometimes I simply have no idea how long a task will require and that matter is raised here beforehand lest expectations become unrealistic. Actually we do the same thing when it comes to a task which is not fully understood before it has commenced. Best to be honest about this stuff.
Man, I’m getting better at splitting boulders, and had an idea to make that job slightly easier. Always worth trialling. We use short 18mm (0.7 inch) drill bits to bore the holes, but what if we do that, and then drill further and deeper but with narrower holes of 16mm (0.63 inch)? The reduced width will be easier on the drill, and the deeper holes should make fracturing the boulders easier. Dunno, at this stage it is a theory which will be put to the test. Anyway, hope the future archaeologists are utterly mystified with all of the rock work. It’ll provide plenty of scope for papers and maybe a symposium or three! 🙂
Thanks! And 18 years of lessons went into that spillway. You can’t see it in the photograph, but the water will hit at least three rock failure points and then a channel, before it all goes kaput. Hopefully that is enough, but I truly don’t know. When the system fails in a big storm, the volume of water collected and concentrated from the house roof, can be staggering.
Well, that’s a good idea, but the house water pump is protected by two layers of sheet metal, and if that doesn’t work, I’ve got bigger problems to deal with. The sprinklers are fixed in place to protect against a situation where you’ve got no other options. In super dry years, we just don’t have enough water to leave them running for hours and hours. One of the things that the fire monks had in their favour was a running creek to draw water from with their big pump. My water supply is limited, as is everyone else’s around here.
🙂 Yeah, I was in the car and that was the best photo I could get of the steam train. It was really lovely to see so many people out, both young and old, to watch the old engine doing it’s thing. Oh yeah, your Amtrak Cascades trains look pretty spiffy, and not too dissimilar to the country train in the photo. Pretty flash stuff, and I would pay extra for the business class seats. I know… I know… 🙂 They run a ‘quiet carriage’ on the local country trains which is an enviable position if you ask me.
I recall when the phone book mob was sold off, and sort of then somehow lost its way. Things were simpler back then. And the ‘garbage in, garbage out’ is as true today, as it was when first uttered.
Dude, with the dodgy calendar, it wasn’t just a messed up leap year, it was almost as if an alien was asked to produce such a document and hadn’t quite figured out all of the different months. Truly one of the strangest bits of marketing I’d ever seen. And they also did the stale chocolate gift… And diaries have the same issue in ending up as dead stock. I still buy them (early) and keep a hand written diary of what I did for clients each day, and have never suffered from a billing query. The old school tech just works.
I’d not thought about zombie companies that way, but yeah… Oh yeah… That’s where the dead go to rest.
There is KFC, but I’m unaware of people preparing chicken at home using that methodology but need to check up what it actually means. OK, grab the snorkel, we’re going down, what actually does it involve… … Oh my! So it really is deep fried? Oh well, not something I could bring myself to do. When I was a kid, one of my mothers boyfriends (whom she later married) used to love the deep fryer. Admittedly the chips were good, but both him and her made it to about the age of 71 and no further. I sampled a bit, and then went off and did something else with my time, which became a major household issue and one of the reasons we departed company as early as possible. I was disinterested in their opinions. Look, I was doing a lot of distance running and riding, and other physical activity and just couldn’t eat the stuff. Didn’t sit right.
Exactly, the stuff would sure taste good, but consuming it all of the time could be an issue. To my mind, it’s a celebratory meal.
How things are different. Interest rates are on the up here. As far as I can comprehend matters, nobody in the establishment wants to see such outcomes in your country. It’d be a problem, but is also on its way. They may discover that their hopes and dreams come to naught as they crash against economic realities. And you might get a better rate on your CD’s?
Funnily enough I did a super deep dive into the local deposit guarantee scheme today, and probably read deeper than is good for a person’s health. It’s maybe a similar system in your country, but oh my, the potential to disappear excess mad cash is right there. Ouch, and a fascinating future possibility presents itself. Oh well, nobody asked my opinion.
Well, the convict system had had years of on the ground testing in your country leading up to events down here. It’d be a very random outcome for the transported ladies. Did you know that not a single convict transport ship was lost at sea? On the other hand, some crews held back on rations so that they could sell them to settlers upon arrival and up their profit, and that would have been a rough passage starving the whole way.
It’s a similar thing down here, and I’ve no idea what the retail opening laws are meant to be. Mind you, there isn’t all that much which opens late these days, and I kind of enjoyed the old Borders stores which closed at maybe 10pm. As a night owl, this worked for my brain and I never walked away empty handed.
In town people don’t help out with such matters as the fallen tree. And far out, the one time I cleaned up saw logs left on the road after a tree had fallen, put it this way, it didn’t end well.
Yes, steel mesh would be very hard to break through. Were they worried about groundhogs or something like that?
Cheers
Chris
Hi, Chris!
This is how we shall survive.
Moving a bookstore:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8e9rxFICGTs
Talk to you later.
Pam
Yo, Chris – Our high yesterday was 59F (15C). The overnight low was 36F (2.22C). Our forecast high for today is 66F. Sure enough, no frost in town, but, according to the Master Gardeners, plenty outside of town. But, for at least the next week, the weather will be really nice. With overnight lows, well above freezing, in the mid 40sF.
I’ve been thinking more about crop rotation, since you mentioned it. I might do some swapping around, between my two plots.
I thought that might be mustard, in your grape enclosure. That bright yellow is hard to miss.
It sounds like you’re fine tuning your splitting technique, when it comes to rocks. Whatever works, to speed the job along.
Gee, you could put a waterwheel, on your spillway. Generate a bit of electricity. 🙂 Maybe set up a textile mill or grain mill.
Here’s a good article on our new passenger trains.
https://amtrakcascades.com/about/new-amtrak-cascades-trains-arrive-in-2026/
I saw a few articles that they’re also looking into new long distance car designs. Rail isn’t dead, yet!
Speaking of aliens, a couple nights ago, I watched a new movie, “Signal One.”
https://youtu.be/1yMCW2RzJUo?si=AqAm9SL2EuKpdw90
It was pretty interesting, no aliens in sight, but, explores a lot of the philosophical questions. It was pretty engrossing.
Two of the three restaurants I worked in had deep fryers. They were used for frozen French fries, onion rings, fish and chicken. Luckily, I worked in places where they were cleaned, frequently. In some places, the oil can get pretty raunchy. People here do a lot of deep frying, as far as I can see. I don’t. But there are all kinds of kitchen gadgets, for at home deep frying. I don’t, because too much fried food can clog the ol’ arteries. And, in general, it’s a mess and I don’t like to have to clean up after it.
Yes, The Lady Juliana. I read a book about that voyage, a few years back. It was actually one of the better run expeditions. Most of the women made it to Australia, in pretty good shape.
Well, last night I watched “Bambie: The Reckoning.” Would have been a popcorn movie, but, I had popcorn recently, so, had nachos, instead. With plenty of veg piled on. Tuna, peas, garlic, tomatoes and mushrooms. Swiss cheese. Some of the tuna went to Dawg, to get her flea pill down her. It worked out pretty well.
The movie was pretty good. Your standard horror movie. The forest creatures have been turned into ravenous beasts, due to toxic dumping. There’s a dysfunctional family, and, a gang of bad guys, who have been hired to cover up the toxic spill, by killing all the animals. Besides the deer, the rabbit from Python’s “Holy Grail,” makes an appearance. 🙂 You know, your deer, besides rubbing off their velvet on your trees, are actually sharpening them. After the movie, I took H for our midnight walk, and was glad I didn’t see any deer. 🙂
Turns out, the ground cover on the slope, is some kind of canvas like material. You have to cut through it, with box cutters, or, industrial shears. But, I managed with a sharp trowel. They use it to keep down the weeds. And, even though the Master Gardeners use a lot of different kinds of ground covers, they do a LOT of weeding.
Family is cleaning out the apartment, next door. And, wonder of wonders … they’re taking stuff to the landfill. Lew
Chris:
Hey – how can the northern hemisphere be upside down when you are standing on your head? I know about yucky vegetables. Right now, though, I have some wonderful winter squash (pumpkins) that I grew, though chipmunks got 75% of them. They are Koginuts and might be the sweetest vegetable I’ve eaten. It is a hybrid and I have saved seeds anyway, but probably won’t plant them as I don’t have room to experiment.
I am no less thankful than you are for the shops. It’s amazing how little I actually produce – or get to eat – hard though I work. That’s a wonderful chart and actually shows quite an abundance and a lot of variety. A delicious lunch, too. Didn’t one of your dogs used to dig up the peanuts (which are not on the chart)?
When I have grown buckwheat, they have never been cold hardy, but they have time to produce grain. I grew oats long ago as an experiment and they did well (wheat also seemed to do okay), but I never did eat either of them.
Those are the most beautiful radishes I have ever seen. My fall radish harvest is in: 2. You can cook radishes, too. I put them in soup, though not my harvest of 2. “More spacing does tend to grow less stressed out plants which are simply hardier and less demanding.” That is really, really interesting and I am taking it to heart.
Babaco success! Good job, that and the grapes.
What a difference in the artichoke bed! Did you transplant your volunteer greens seedlings elsewhere? Would that be maize corn or general grain corn?
Speaking of 4 inches of rain in an hour, yesterday we had 4 1/2 inches of rain over the day. I am glad of it as I am sure we still need to fill up more groundwater after that drought. I think your – spoon drain? – is going to work well. So the corregated metal will keep fire from actually getting up to the water pump? That, and the gravel path?
There is always time to break apart another boulder! Is that your original jackhammer? It sure gets a workout.
I am rooting for a big apricot year. Yum!
That is so exciting about the steam train (and thanks for the photo). I love trains so much. I am lucky that I can hear them off and on on a track about a mile as the crow flies north of us and another track about a half mile to the east of us. I only get to see them if I am in town, though.
Ooh! The flowers are better than ever. Thanks!
Pam
Hi Pam,
Oh poop! The video was blocked for my region, but just before that happened a screen flashed up a long line of folks assisting moving in a conga line dance. It’s genius!
Well, who is standing on their heads is a subject debated by philosophers for millennia, and to be honest I never understood a single word of any of it. However, I can agree that you’re upright, as am I, and only Dame Plum attempts to view the world upside down for any length of time. It is possible the Kelpie is cleverer than all of us.
Those naughty chipmunks, and the rats down here attempted to scratch through the tough skins of the famed: Queensland Blue Pumpkin. Fun fact: It’s actually a grey colour, and please do keep your chipmunks in your part of the world. I am scared of additional new forest critters.
Pam, Mr Baby and Bob the tail-less, would never put up with the predation upon your garden, despite the cute smiles and charming mannerisms of your many forest critters. You know what may be the only way forward… Anywhoo, I’ve no answer to this question either, and send the dogs out to do what needs doing, and when they can’t, like with the big red deer. It pains me such activities, but what do you do?
And yes, the dogs weaned me off the desire to plant big red juicy hybrid strawberries, and Sir Poopy was so good as to assist with the peanut harvest, all of it. If memory serves correctly, he looked well pleased with himself.
Oh! Thanks for the correction. I meant cold hardy for here. The plan is to get them growing in the summer months. Like you, I too grew wheat and the birds consumed the crop. Back to the drawing board. Glad to read that you did well with the oat crop. Hmm.
I know, the radishes formed perfect spheres and achieved a germination rate over 90%. I’ll replant some of that seed and then collect more seed from the variety. Yes, I’m aware of cooking radishes and do add them to the baked vegetable and French lentil mix. Yummo!
Dunno about you, but I’m naturally wired to squeeze more plants into any given space, but I’m coming around to the idea that I enjoy this arrangement more than the plants do. Ook!
Thanks, and the volunteer plants were relocated to the thinner of the two garden rows. And most of taken to their new cleaned up and well fed beds with enthusiasm. They won’t be enjoying the cold weather today, or tomorrow. But it should warm up after that, maybe.
What the difference between general corn and maize corn?
Say, that’s a lot of rain in a day. Far out. Not a day to spend outdoors and you’ve got the imminent greenhouse transplants. Fingers crossed that it all turns out well.
My understanding is that electric water pumps lose heat anyway if the water keeps flowing through them. However, the controlled circuits may shut down due to warming up too much. Mind you, petrol water pumps are very difficult to start when a fire is close and the air temperature is hot because the fuel/air mixture vapourises. The two layers of sheet metal stop the radiant heat from putting the water pump out of action.
It’s the forth electric jackhammer. 🙂 One has been junked, another repaired, and there is the little one (it has a smaller motor).
Fingers crossed that the apricots produce this year. It was 5’C / 41’F this morning, which was a bit chilly. Not quite the potential frost risk though…
Trains are a lovely and civilised way to move around the land, and I enjoy my travel on them as well. We’re really lucky to have such a good country train system in this area, although it is quite busy nowadays. Is there a station in your area which you can access the system?
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
It was about the same weather here today, which felt candidly felt a bit chilly. Your pumpkins would appreciate dodging the frost, and that was the case this morning too. It’ll be cold here again tomorrow, before warming up. Brrr!
Crop rotation is hard, but probably important. And I’m not entirely sure, but it could ultimately lead to having garden beds resting up for a season or two. Presumably the old timers were less troubled by a lack of gardening space. Or, having a series of plants which get grown one after the other. It’s complicated, and I do hope that you do a bit of swapping around with the plots.
Having a nice hot green tea right now, it was a long and productive work day.
Mustard plants grow wild here, and they’re a good variety too, the crinkly leaved green mustards. Good for salads, and they’ve got a touch of kick to them. Ouch! Brain pain to follow, although nothing like hot chilli’s or horseradish.
Actually I was thinking more about putting the rotary hammer drill under less stress with the narrower diameter drill bits. Might work. Drilling into the granite is tough on everything, and I’m astounded by the efforts the ancient Romans must have gone too to cut and shape stone. It’s funny but the process hasn’t changed much over the millennia.
Very funny, I’d prefer if the water didn’t spill and went into the water tanks instead. 🙂 Still, the entire system has failed often enough over the years that it’s not a matter of if, but rather when.
Those are some fancy looking trains, and so brand new. Good stuff, and given the views I’d enjoy that journey. And agreed, rail isn’t dead yet. Far from it actually.
Oooo, the film went straight to streaming, and I see is now hit the DVD market. Might be worth a looksie, and the wikipudding entry for once didn’t do full plot spoilers. Thanks for the recommendation. Yup, small budget films have to work harder.
Oh yeah, I hear you about the over-used oil in those sorts of fryers. As someone with a discriminating palate, it’s not hard to taste that situation! Probably harder to work in a kitchen with such an aroma. My understanding is the used oil gets a second life in a few different ways. Valuable stuff, and probably can’t be dumped into the sewer. The word ‘fatberg’ comes to mind, astounding beasts that they are.
For those reasons you mentioned, I too avoid deep fried food, although am no purist and will very occasionally chow down on a purchased meal which has a properly prepared chunk of chips if circumstances demand that action. One must make sacrifices. You may have noticed that over the years I eat out less, and rarely now for dinner, because that’s actually how it rolls. The Editor does dinner more with friends, and I’m cool with that.
Ah, a very merry transit, with many a sad parting, despite the err at times goings on: “reported to be noisy and unruly, with a fondness for liquor and for fighting amongst themselves”. Sad about the lack of provisions upon arrival at the new colony. And they were only saved from starvation by the provision ships. It’s quite astounding that despite the distance, the English never lost a single transportation ship.
Things are clearly different in these enlightened days: Bed bugs ground Qantas plane in Rome. What can passengers do when bugs bite?. That would be like a flight-mare. There’d be nowhere to go, and the little blighters would bite you all the way there. You see why I dislike plane travel?
Awful, but there are only so many goodies to get up the guts before over indulging, and nacho’s sounds tasty to me. 🙂
Funnily enough, whenever I encounter deer, your comment about Bambi having a lot to answer for, does pop into my consciousness. The plot line follows the toxic avenger story, without the nice-guy Mr Toxie sub-plot. Seems from what you’ve said that they’re all bad. Go the killer rabbit, and those things are scary!
I’m well aware that the Red deer could kill the dogs, and I ensure that they know that there are easier pickings elsewhere. But it is a risk that the fluffs have to run if they’re stupid enough to take on such a big herbivore. The things are like having horses running around the orchard. So not welcome. Oh well.
Did you end up making a decision on a new flashlight?
I’ve not known of such stuff used on the ground. Guess being a sort of canvas like product, it’d eventually break down?
I get that about the weeding, and it’s a big job which gets tackled here slowly a bit at a time. I’d not want to try and do too much of an area all at once. That would send me loopy, but probably less so than bugs on a plane.
Whoa! This may be the beginning of something new. Or the nice folks may have been read the riot act about using the dumpster.
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – Pam mentioned moving a bookstore. Moving a library is pretty much the same. I was involved in moving the Chehalis Library. The city had bought a bank building, across a side street. So, temporarily while the new library was being built, it moved over there. Stuff was well labeled and packed into tote boxes. But, there was one day when students were rounded up, to form that line across the closed off street, to move a lot of stuff from one location, to the other. I wasn’t there, on that day, but, there was news coverage. The bank building is now city hall, and police station.
Our high yesterday was 63F (17.22C). Our overnight low was 41F (5C). Our forecast high for today is 63F. My two pumpkins aren’t showing orange, yet. But the surface color is beginning to change.
I am also settled in, with a cup of green tea. 🙂 It was an “interesting” morning, where things didn’t go according to plan. I walked down the hill to the chemist, to get my yearly flu and covid jab. And …. they were out of the vaccines. I’ll give it another whirl, on Thursday.
On reflection … you mentioned how one must watch where one puts one’s feet. Actually, having a small dog, who has a low sense of self preservation, I watch where I put my feet, all the time. Even when she’s not around, for one reason or another. I think I’ve only stepped on her, once. She made funny sounds. 🙂
The last cafe I worked in, we had a 50 gallon drum, back in the alley. When it was full, we’d call some guy who came and picked it up. Took it somewhere to do something. But, I don’t know what. I suppose you’ve heard of vehicles that have been adapted to run on fry oil. Reports are, the exhaust smells like French fries. 🙂
Over and over again, you hear stories about colonists near starving. Who never think to ask the native folks, “What do you eat, around here?” There were reports of native folk, observing that the white man starved, surrounded by food.
Could be worse. Snakes on a plane! 🙂 I never saw any of those movies, but it’s kind of a meme. Besides viruses circulating around planes, there’s also mosquitos, which the article mentioned. I think there was a couple of recent cases, maybe, in Germany? Of malaria that arrived via plane.
Well, last night I had beans and rice. Tomatoes, garlic, broccoli. A splash of vinegar and some cheese on top. Tasty.
I haven’t come to any decision on a flashlight. I’ll probably not decide, until I drop the 650 lumen one I just bought. 🙂 I’ve used up the flashlight budget for the year?
They still haven’t done anything about that tree, next to the Centralia library. I did a look down the rabbit hole, to see if there was any news. Nope. Other than this … note the disclaimer, at the end. And, by the way, the picture isn’t even of the Centralia library.
https://www.lewiscountytalks.com/articles/centralia-tree-relocates-without-city-approval
I see the library is keeping regular hours. And, the tree did do some damage to the building. There’s an extension, originally a garage, probably for a book mobile. Now, or at least when I worked there, it’s just used for storage. Lew
Chris:
I wonder what the Dame sees when she is performing that feat? Perhaps rabbits standing on their heads are easier to spot.
Garden patrol was indeed one of Mr. Baby’s duties. Bob, however, could not stay in one place long enough and would have complained loudly (and probably found a way out, that Houdini dog).
We have 300 hybrid strawberries, which did not produce much this, their first, year after being pulled up two separate times by a deer and replanted. So far I have potted up 86 runners, so surely there will be something next year . . . ?
We rarely eat restaurant food, but my son was mailing fig trees today at UPS and next door was a Kebob restaurant and he brought that home. Boy, was it yummy!
If I hadn’t planted so close late this summer, I would have known sooner that there was actually some spinach growing under where the bush beans had flopped over. And all of the kale that I planted a few days ago seems to have come up, so apparently it has been too hot until now, which is almost 2 months later than all the other times I planted them in fall.
Ha! I mean that there is corn, like in the UK, that means any kind of grain (or used to) or “maize” corn that originated in the Americas which is also a grain (and a vegetable). I think most grains are grasses, which maize/corn is also.
Wow – 4 jackhammers, and we still don’t have our first!
Oh, yes, we have a train station right in the middle of Charlottesville. My sister has used it to come here from New York and my daughter-in-law uses it to visit her family, also in New York. I have never used it, having only been on a train once in my life, which was the trip my class in my senior year in highschool took to Disneyland in California.
Pam
Chris,
Enjoyed the chart of what you can grow and when. It looks to me as if you can get silverbeet, radishes and citrus all year. In theory, then, you can have fresh produce grown by you any time of the year. Combined with your preservation of other items, you should be in pretty good shape.
We awoke to a heavy frost this morning. It wasn’t heavy enough to kill the tomato plants. The chilis and peppers I had moved under the patio roof near the house. They’ll get moved back into the yard in a day or so, as we are supposed to be near 20C for a few days again.
In the meantime, I heard a noise and looked outside a few nights ago. It was raining. It rained fairly hard for about 10 minutes before abruptly stopping. Officially there was 0.02 inches – a half mm. We probably got about the same here. It was just exactly the correct amount of rain to leave a light layer of mud on car windshields.
The last few days have included doses of yardwork, mostly trimming trees and shrubs. I’ve begun carving a walking stick. Well, restarted is more accurate. It started as a 2″x2″ piece of basswood. I got it mostly rounded and set it aside for a few years. Mostly rounded, as it has many knots and other imperfections. In other words, it has a lot of natural character. So far, I’ve carved two faces in it. I’m having fun with this, trying to incorporate as much of the natural character as I can.
Today was errands day. This included a trip to the library. We both like the library. A trip to Malwort followed. We needed to stock up on some basics before the supply chain disrupts again. (Yes, there have been some supply chain issues here.) Prices on some items took a big leap upwards, too. Ugh.
Friday should be the warmest day this week. The back needs one more lawn mowing. Probably Friday.
DJSpo
Hi Pam,
That’s a total mystery, but the Dame is viewing the world upside down often enough, that she may be either spying dust bunnies, or the Elder Ones. And truly, I’m uncertain.
Yeah, thanks for the laughs, but since that moment with utterly missing the rabbit, I’ve begun training all of the dogs to take a harder look around them. This of course involves food, but they do demand incentive to learn new tricks.
I reckon the universe will provide when it comes proper timing for a new Mr Baby. Hang on a second… … I’m channelling a message from the future. A new doggy or moggy at your place will have the name: Brad. Whoa! Where did that come from? It’s a solid name, dependable. And your cheekier forest critters probably need a bit of balance restored.
Pam, everything likes strawberries, and I so gave up on them for exactly that reason. When I found the dogs even chowing down on the juicy large hybrid berries, that was the moment of defeat. Some battles aren’t worth fighting, although I’m impressed with your continuation of the berry cause.
Hehe! Go the Kebab. Sandra has a favourite place for such tasty treats on her visit into town.
Ah well, it happens, and the beans are coming to an end and the spinach will thrive in the cooler conditions. Have you noticed that kale tastes even better after a frost? The plant survives the freezing conditions by converting some starches to sugars in the leaves and thus producing its own form of edible anti-freeze. Yum!
Yes, the climate is shifting for sure, and err, lack of snow here the past two years.
Ah, when I first heard that English word ‘corn’ used I was baffled, and then confused, almost as if someone was asking me about my experience in year nine maths classes. 🙂 Yeah, corn is like a big grass, and may have some benefits for the soil in relation to crop rotation, although I guess everything can be over done.
Sorry, technically the number is three. One went to the big recycler in the lovely land of somewhere else. Can’t say for sure what would have happened to it. And you’ve got Mr Diggy and Big Cat, and nice Mr Kubota. No need for such hands on tools.
Cool, up and down the east coast on tracks and then way out west, which would have been a fun journey. Did it take many days?
Cheers
Chris
Hi DJ,
Yeah, the main issue is that by October a lot of preserved stuff has also run short, but as you noted, there is a big difference between running short, and running out. It’s taken me near on 20 years to figure out that cycle of plants, and we really eat what we grow.
Two steps forward, one step back, so it goes, is kind of how the old timers would have described your weather. Man, it’s 3.8’C outdoors tonight, and I’m a bit worried about the frost risk. Oh well, we’ll see how it all goes tomorrow. Good stuff getting those more tender plants under some cover and out from the icy clutches.
Ha! It’s raining mud, and is over almost before it began. Doesn’t much sound like it would have been pleasant caught outdoors in that downpour. By the way, your new official measurement scale has a lot of merit for sheer understandability. 🙂
Some of the storm systems arrive here via the Indian Ocean, and whilst crossing diagonally over the continent, red mud can be picked up, and delivered here. Probably another weird way nature spreads huge amounts of minerals around the planet. But like whales taking a dump in the ocean, there’s always some clean up work afterwards if caught in the over-spray! Hehe! Sorry, I’m chuckling to myself at that last image.
Trees grow, we prune them for our own reasons, which are hopefully sufficient to appease the plants. How did you get the rather large-ish 50x50mm stick rounded? I’m assuming a drawknife, but don’t really know. I know, I know, but have you ever considered getting a wood turning lathe? Hope the walking stick ends up good, which it should given the standard of your previous work. Out of curiosity, how do you anchor the stick whilst you carve it?
There are practical reasons for the question as on my list of things to do is carving an axe handle from a slightly larger seasoned block of wood.
Hope you discovered some herbaceous plants on your visit to Malwort? And I’m mildly jealous of your library access. Worked late tonight, and the local mob clearly don’t like people like me for they open during normal business hours. Ook!
Score any good books or films?
Yes, diesel is a problem. After seeing petrol for sale at AU$2.47/Litre US$6.57/Gallon earlier this week, I’ve come around to the idea that one more abundant fuel is subsidising the other heavier one which is in shorter supply. It happens.
Always more mowing, this could be DJ’s law? Got a nice ring to it don’t you reckon?
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
It’s ingenious enlisting the local students to assist with the human chain moving all of the books to their new home. Quite clever really. And the current library building is very attractive with the columns and portico. Gives the place an air of solidity and grace to it.
Yours sounds like tomorrow’s forecast here, with the minor exception that there may be a slight frost risk in the morning. And well, as usual, I’m a bit worried about that, but one must, as they say, roll with the punches. 38’F outdoors right now, and it’s been a pretty chilly day. Had the wood heater running since early this morning. Brr!
The pumpkins might get there with a bit of colour and size. Your climate is much like here, pretty mild without great extremes in either direction. By May though, your November, things are starting to get dicey for Cucurbit plants. Powdery mildew normally gets them here, and I don’t bother fighting that. Guess a person could, for a while.
Having another green tea this evening too! Why not? 🙂 I’ve long enjoyed green tea, and it warms the bones on an otherwise chilly day. Oh poop! Well, these things happen, and to be honest I’m grateful when stuff just works, or is there available to be purchased. DJ mentioned supply issues where he is. Are you seeing any of that? Nothing around here, that I’ve noticed.
The Editor had lunch with her friends over the weekend (a busy social week for her), they went to a usually busy country tourist trap and it was pretty quiet, despite the glorious weather. I’m wondering if fuel costs and higher interest rates are beginning to bite hard into household budgets? Dunno.
Down here, trucks with big tanks and some sort of pump mechanism take the used food oils. You got me interested in the process from there. Apparently the stuff gets any water removed, and also the soiled chunks. Nobody wants them. Then presumably there is further processing and bio-diesel is one product, but there are a few different ones competing for the waste oil. Interesting huh? Economics generally dictates this sort of stuff, and in some ways, it’s kind of like the used coffee ground story – someone has to do something with the waste in order to make it useful – which always involves a cost.
Exactly! And those stories are heard down here too. Sometimes the indigenous folks tried to help the colonists / explorers, and they were shooed away. The infamous – and deaded (as in not completing their journey) explorers Burke and Wills suffered that fate. They didn’t know how to process the local edibles so as to make them more nutritious and so died. A bit like not knowing how to nixtamalise corn, and trying to survive otherwise off the unprocessed cooked kernels.
Ouch! See, another reason not to get on board one of those flying contraptions. My feet were not destined to head 30,000ft into the atmosphere.
Ah grasshopper, in between nachos and popcorn, one must look to the far horizon and see the distant goings on and at that moment wonder will overtake the soul at the hidden insights suddenly revealed, then eat rabbit food. Nuff said! Hehe! Had a moussaka for dinner this evening, and it was very tasty, and suited a night when the day’s work finished very late. It was made yesterday, and is all the better for a day of doing whatever goes on in that dish. Some meals do benefit from extra time in the refrigerator, although I’m unsure why that would be. It happens.
Say, that’s a big number and a lot of lumens. Word on the street is that, you’ve got a beast of a flashlight there. Well, yeah, budgets are limited in households that are prudent, and this is a good thing.
Thanks for the laughs, what a fun news service. I liked the side article about parents paying to have bored looking children see trees for themselves. Was that pouty face number two on display? And yeah, the building did look a bit different to the images I noted earlier, but who cares for the story was good.
Good to hear that the tree didn’t fall on the main library. A fine outcome, and thinking about the fluro-bro guy in the amusing image, reminds me that sometimes very rarely, those trees can stand back up again. Not somewhere you want to be at the time when that happens. No way, and probably fatal.
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – Yup. Our local library is sure spiffy looking. Which I was responsible for, but no one will admit. But then, who am I? 🙂
As I was zooming past your planting chart, on my way to the comments, It occurred to me that the charts I look at are general, while your chart is specific to your area. I wonder if you’ll notice any “date crawl” due to climate change. One hears things like, this or that is two weeks earlier, or this or that is two weeks later. Birds arrive earlier, leave later. But, generally, it’s pretty much all anecdotal.And, as Prof. Mass seems to prove with his endless charts, it mostly falls within the range of “normal.” Even if there are bumps and dips. So, what’s a guy to do? LOL. Take it as it comes.
Our high yesterday was 64F (17.77C). Our overnight low was 52F (11.11C). Our forecast high, for today, is 67F. We might see some rain on Monday. But, not much, and, just for the day.
Pumpkins ride out frosts. Even seems to help the ripening process. There’s a phrase, “When the frost is on the pumpkin.” Hmmm Where does that come from? Ah, a poem by James Whitcomb Riley, from the 1880s. I think he uses a lot of “country” dialect, that’s fallen out of use and become obscure. But, to his readers would have made sense. And some of the spelling is … inventive. 🙂
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/When_the_Frost_is_on_the_Punkin
I sort of have a schedule, for liquids. 🙂 On arising, there’s a mug of filtered water, waiting for me in the fridge. With a small saucer on top, so it doesn’t pick up fridge odors. While downing that, a cuppa green tea is percolating in the nuke. I can get two cups out of a bag. I drink that while checking the morning weather and seeing what’s going on down in Australia. 🙂 The second cup usually takes me through breakfast / lunch … whatever you want to call it. While making dinner, I down a second mug of water. Although it’s there, if I get thirsty at other times. Then it’s two cups of either Earl Gray or standard Lipton, in the evening. I rotate. In winter, maybe even some camomile Of course, at the Club I usually have a couple cups of coffee.
I can’t put my finger on it, but if “feels” like there’s supply issues. But, that might just be because of the chemist being out of vaccines. Although sometimes, in grocery stores, something I’m looking for is out of stock. But, that might be just because I hit their stocking schedule, and deliveries at the wrong time. Maybe. Maybe the economy is just taking a breath, before we plunge into the holiday season?
Yes, if someone can’t make money on it, in a lot of cases, recycling won’t be done. Unless someone can do it for free, as they have a use for whatever. Such as your years long coffee ground collection.
Yes, why does food sometimes taste better, for a few days after the initial cooking. Such as … pizza! 🙂 I wondered if there was a reaction, similar to the Millard Reaction, at play. So, down the rabbit hole, I went. And, there are things going on, and the Millard Reaction does play a part.
So, I asked, “Why does food sometimes taste better, the second day?” Well, a lot of stuff came up, but a lot of it was a i slop / echo chamber. But I found this one, which I think, is pretty good. And more original.
https://telectronichub.com/food/why-do-some-foods-taste-better-the-next-day-science-of-flavor
I was also impressed, that in a couple of places, they talked about food safety. Having worked in restaurants, I know the drill. It’s what the health inspectors look out for. Of course, hot foods need to be kept at high temperatures. But when it comes time to put them in the fridge, the trick is to get them down to room temperature, as quickly as possible. So they don’t linger in the temperature “danger zone,” where critters can grow in the food. Sometimes, ice baths are used.
The library put a lot of new “on order” DVDs, in the catalog, yesterday. Including, “The Odyssey.” Which will come out on DVD, in mid November. So, I may be watching it as a Thanksgiving treat. 🙂 Lew
Chris:
Brad. I, too, would like to know where that came from. Well, we shall see. What if the dmoggy is a Linda?
That’s why I like winter and early spring kale so much. It tastes better!
I always plant my garlic around October 15, so I planted it today, even though it was 90F (32C). I planted half in seeds I saved from some I grew last year and half in organic ones from a store. I had enough to plant all home grown, but haven’t tried that before, so hedged my bets.
I finally tested the lanolin oil on my groaning bathroom hinges. It only kept them quiet for about 10 hours, while the WD40 does so for at least 24.
The trip was from El Paso, Texas to Los Angeles. It took 18 to 20 hours and we had to sleep in our seats. We were only there for one day, no overnight, and it rained the whole time. Not the greatest Senior Trip.
Pam
Pam
Chris,
Running short – “Hmmm, the cupboards are under a quarter full. Stuff better start growing soon so we can harvest some of it.”
Running out – “Darn! I’m hungry and the larder is empty and there ain’t nothin’ ready for harvest yet. Maybe I can shoot a wombat. Are they edible?”
Delayed reaction from my tomato plants. They appear to be done. Thursday will be the day to pick the rest of the tomatoes. Some will be ready to eat. Some will ripen in a few days. Then there are the green ones…Yes, fried green tomatoes taste really good!
Yup. Raining mud. Seasonal hazard for 7 months of the year when there is meager rainfall with otherwise dry conditions. Glad the new precipitation reporting system is understandable. 😉
Thanks. I think. Maybe. UGG. The overspray from a dumping whale is an image I may never get out of my mind. It’s right up there with the, er, cluckpuddle the Iron Druid saw when he interrupted two Frost Giants doing, umm, well, you get the picture. Worse than some earworms. The only credible response I can give is to say “Ni!”, but that is nearing the state of overuse. Ooops! I said it anyway.
Rounding the 1.5 meter stick of 50mmx50mm? Vises and a borrowed draw knife. Worked pretty well. As far as carving? So far I haven’t anchored it, per say, but keep it stabilized with the gloved hand and carve with the carving hand. So far that has been enough.
The basswood is easy to carve. An axe handle? That will be a much harder wood. I would probably hold it down with some vises, padded so that they don’t harm the wood. Your knives will need to be very sharp, of course, and due to the nature of wood suitable for axe handles? The knives may need to be sharpened fairly often. Practice with smaller pieces of the same type of wood is what I would also do if I were doing that.
Alas! The herbaceous plant season has ended at Malwort. I need to visit a couple of other stores next week. I’m more looking for more containers for gardening, maybe 25kg of steer manure. I may have found a place that sells regional prickly pear, so maybe I’ll check that place out also.
The Princess found several books and magazines that she wanted. Plus two or three CD recordings of books for her to listen to on her road trips. I already have an extensive list of books to read, so added nothing more this trip.
Wait. Mowing is something I tend to minimize. Mowing this late in October is a rarity. The east meadow doesn’t need it. Only part of the back does. I like the grass shorter when raking leaves.
As for DJ’s Law? A friend attempted to introduce that when we were physics undergraduates. However, one of the other students had the surname of Nirider. The Nirider Identity stuck and DJ’s Law got sent to the wastebasket. I was in complete agreement that Nirider Identity sounded better. As in, when getting stuck on a physics problem, “…At this point, it was obvious that the use of the Nirider Identity was warranted, which easily showed that the correct answer is 42.”
During one Electricity and Magnetism lecture, the professor was in the midst of a painstaking and very advanced theory derivation. He stopped and asked the class what we would do next. I quickly and calmly suggested in my best deadpan, “This looks a perfect place to invoke the Nirider Identity.” Even the professor had a good laugh.
DJSpo
Hi Pam,
Linda is a great name for a dog/mog, and reminds me of original The Terminator film for some reason. Which itself could be an omen for your more misbehaving critters. Of course the nice ones, would never be at risk. Mind you, wombats can be a bit naughty sometimes, but always lovely.
There was a light frost here this morning. Ice on the roof of the cars, but the orchards looked as if they were warmer and out of harms way. Hopefully it doesn’t get cold again tonight… The plan is to get some pea seeds in the ground now that I reckon this may be the last frost. And yes, the winter kale is very sweet, and a favourite here too. I reckon silverbeet do a similar trick.
The garden is continuing to wake up from its winter slumbers. Spotted the first shoots of Lovage popping out of the soil today, as is horseradish. After a bit of paid work this morning, we began bringing in next seasons firewood (early this year!), and then did some mowing.
Oh my goodness, that’s rather warm for late in the season, or is it? And yeah, you raise an interesting point, do you go with the calendar, or the conditions, or maybe even a combination of the two? I don’t really know, but garlic is very hardy.
Nice to have done the experiment, but perhaps it is time for replacement hinges? The metal (timber hinges don’t tend to groan) does wear out.
Ouch! Still you were young and adaptable, but the sleeping conditions sounded less than fluffy optimal. Sleeper cabins are so much nicer… 🙂 Yes, yes, spoiled!!! Far out, I’d have been a mess on arrival after that train journey, and then dreaded the return trip. But anyway, they don’t have sleeper cabins on planes were you can stretch out and relax properly – see, that entire mode of transport is wrong from the factory. 🙂
Cheers
Chris
Hi DJ,
Your witty sentences prove the vast chasm that is the difference between running short, and running out. Although the equations were a touch hazy. In that regard, wombats can emit quite a potent stink, and mark their territory using the square-ish poop, so my (please excuse the unintended pun) gut feeling is that they’d not be good eating.
The Professor noted low overnight temperatures and frost in your part of the state, and tomato vines don’t tend to enjoy such conditions. We bring the green tomatoes indoors now and they do turn red up until about early June (your December). After that they start tasting a bit funny, and are only good for seed saving. We’ve made green tomato chutney in earlier years, and it’s pretty nice. Although I’ve not tried to fry a green tomato.
Ancient grandmasters suggest that winter = mud, and summer = dust. But! When combined with rain = falling from sky mud. This is known… Hope you get some more rain soon.
Sorry about that, but they do say one good turn deserves another, and there was that persistent ear-worm last week. Proving that the Mahna Mahna is mightier than the shrubbery, or was it the word which cannot be spoken aloud? I forget, so many things to remember, but how about this?: Muppet Show – Mahna Mahna…m
Right, thanks for the info on the walking stick carving. Basswood is nicer to work with than eucalyptus, but as you note, it’ll be harder for an axe handle. Ah, a fine tip there too about the constant sharpening of the draw knife. I’d not considered that.
Ah, you may have missed my little joke, a wort is an herbaceous plant. It’s not very good is it? But that’s what I think of when you use that name. Poop is good for the garden, and it’s a good idea to get things in order before the winter freeze as next season will get going quicker.
Prickly pear grows wild in drier areas at lower elevations, but not too far from here. I’m a bit nervous about that plant to be honest, and wonder if the dogs are smart enough to avoid it? A hard lesson for them to learn. Of course Dame Avalanche has advantages here, maybe. 🙂
I reckon the audio book on a long drive is a great idea. I enjoy podcasts, or music depending on how overloaded my brain has become. And I hear you about the to-read pile, in that it has a habit of growing.
Yeah, I’d have thought that your frost would have knocked back the grasses at your place? Thus saving you from further mowing. We zipped around the place today on the two low centre of gravity mowers. But more importantly began bringing in next seasons firewood. It’s nice cleaning up the place and getting to that job before it is blisteringly hot.
Very funny and it has such a lovely aura of unknown-ness (whatever that is)! Actually the name Nirider makes me think of: ‘The Nightrider’, who was a punk protagonist from the original Mad Max film. Probably unwise to have an existential crisis when you’re being pursued by the original Interceptor. You see the Ford Falcon had a 351 motor, whilst the GM Holden Monaro had a 308 or maybe a 350. See sometimes 1 cubic inch of cylinder volume can prove to be a problem. Being filmed not too far from here, it’s funny seeing the land as it looked way back then.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
I like the garden out front, and was there a fountain as well? It’s a nice touch and gives the library a pleasant vibe. The inside photos show shelves at a human height, which is thoughtful. Well, sometimes in these situations its best to be unsung, yet enjoy your success all the same. I’m sensing a story though, but I’d imagine it’d be a nudge here, and point the bleeding obvious out over there, kind of guidance. Which is the best kind.
The sadder part of my job is giving people good advice, which is roundly ignored. It happens, and people are free to choose with such matters.
An interesting point, and I took the natural climactic variation into account with the plant chart. There was a light frost this morning, and I’m hoping that will be it for a few months. With that best guess in mind, I’ll get pea seeds in the ground over the next few days. Mostly, I experience the change in climate as seeing less snow, but more rain, with temperatures sort of in the ballpark for what I’d expect.
I reckon the available sunlight has as big of a difference on the growing season as average air and soil temperature. And I noticed that the Professor included a chart on solar energy received at ground level throughout the year. I thoroughly concur with the results, but would also suggest that things are upside down in the Seattle-centric calendar. Your December, and my June, are dreadful for solar energy, and that baby charts the story perfectly. Ook for solar power! 🙂 Matches what I see here from the system. I say to people regarding solar and the winter months: If the plants aren’t growing, then there’s not much energy to be had from the sun. I’m pretty sure that I’ve annoyed and/or lost a lot of readers over the years who’ve leaned heavily on the belief that the winter sunlight is far stronger than it actually is. Such observations usually provoke an emotionally heavy reaction. Oh well, I only know what I know.
About the same weather here today. We’re doing the annual back and forwards dance as you slide ever closer to the big freeze! Brr!
It was a pretty nice day actually. Did some paid work this morning, then began the long process of bringing in next seasons firewood. Getting in early this year and doing the work whilst the sun is not so fierce! It’ll get there. Then after lunch we zipped around with the two low centre of gravity ride on mowers just cleaning the place up.
Yeah, next rain here is forecast for Tuesday, so again, not all that different.
Mr Riley is an interesting person. Thanks for the warning, and my reading ear indeed had to attune to the sound of some of the words and rhythm in order to get the gist of their meaning. What a fascinating way to write, and some folks have the gift for writing the language as it is used on the street. Clever stuff. And the gentleman knew his market.
We all do, that’s why meals are consumed three times per day! Although what folks do who take that stuff which seems to be all the craze these days, which apparently involves 11% of your country’s entire population, want to eat and when, is an unknown, unknown. 🙂
For some reason, the thought of you nuking a cup of green tea brings to mind Patrick Stewart and his command: Tea. Earl Grey. Hot. Very succinct with no room for ambiguity don’t you reckon? Ha! Very good, and I check upon news from your country whilst enjoying breakfast. 🙂 A tidy quad of beverages. My err, list, is similar other than swapping Peppermint for your Lipton.
That’s a good way to put things, and the words ‘demand destruction’ keep popping into my mind. Sometimes places are really busy, then they’re unusually quiet. So it’s hard to know what is going on down here either. Strangely enough, I purchased the most expensive petrol ’round ‘ere in memory this afternoon. AU$2.48/Litre or US$6.59/Gallon. That’s gotta be hurting household budgets. Took a photo of the price board this time, and some older folks were pointing at me and laughing, although I didn’t see the funny side to that story.
That’s my understanding of the recycling story as well. And that book… Which we all put down about the same point… Oh well. It was boring and repetitive. Interestingly, the weird thing about the coffee grounds is that they would have had to pay to dispose of the stuff as the weight was significant over the course of a year. I just got the vibe sometimes that the staff thought they were doing me a favour. Not from the guy who used to own the business, but from some of the staff. That was weird, and the customers, oh my, a very few curious people would stop to chat, but most looked on at me with abject horror for picking up the coffee waste. Such a strange experience to peer into the depths of a culture.
No! Sorry, I beg to differ. Here we must be gentleman and agree to disagree. 🙂 Pizza… Yes, I know that I am in the minority here, but that does not in any way indicate a level of wrongness.
Thank you! The article is perfect. I sent it onto the Editor. Hmm. There is much to contemplate from that information.
Yeah, I know. People can be rather careless with food safety.
It was a bit of a hit at the box office, and has certainly generated opinions which vary all over the shop. Still, if not watched, why then opinion? (Spoken in best computer robot voice) 🙂
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – Well, when they started kicking around the idea of a new library, in Chehalis, I happened to be working there, on and off. I had told the building librarian, at that time, that I imagined a little temple on the hill side. She poo-pooed the idea. But, every time I worked in that branch, I’d get on line, find pictures of two or three Greek or Roman temples, print them out, and leave them on her desk. Imagine my surprise, when I saw the final architectural renderings, and there it was! Just as imagined and had campaigned for. But, when I brought it up, that it was my idea, all I’d get was a tight little smile. By the way, she’s dead, now. 🙂
Yes, the fountain in front. I don’t know whose idea that was, but not mine. Probably, another minion who didn’t get credit. It’s quit nice. Especially, when it freezes over.
As I was reading over you whingeing about solar power in winter, a couple thoughts occurred to me. 1.) You can’t preach to the converted. 2.) There is “previous investment.” Not in money, but in belief. and 3.) there’s a lot of wishful thinking.
Our high yesterday was 68F (20C). Our overnight low was 45 (7.22C). Our forecast high for today is 73F.
From the 19th century, up until maybe WWII, poets could be the rock stars, of their era. What with the plethora of magazines, a poet could actually make a small living from their poetry. Slightly before, WWII, I think poets lost their way. Along with artists. Not all, but most.
I eat two meals a day, but they’re substantial.
Speaking of food, Dawg and I went up to the Club, last night. And, a sort of new friend of ours brought us a bag of chanterelle mushrooms! He and his Dad have been picking them, for years, so, they know what they’re doing. And, I’ve picked them, as, they’re distinctive.
So, how to preserve them? Down the rabbit hole, I went. They can a lot of theirs. But, I looked at drying, or freezing. As far as taste and texture goes, best practice seems to be freezing. You saute them, in a fairly dry pan, to get as much of the water out as possible. Then put them in a freezer bag, and suck the air out.
I had some, last night, in a rice, chopped egg and veg dish. With Swiss cheese, on top. Quit tasty. And although the mushrooms are pretty subtle, they do lend another flavor note.
There were days when I was in business, on Tower Street, when it just didn’t seem like there was any money “moving around.” Very few cars parked on the street, or pedestrians moving around. The bank would be deserted. Sometimes, it would be end of the month. Before monthly paychecks, of one sort or another, would arrive. Sometimes, for no reason that I could figure out.
Some of the other movies that popped up on the library “On Order” list, that I put on my hold list are, “Vampire Lestat” season one. My, they’ve managed to spin off … this will be the fourth series, recently. There was also a Norwegian film, “Kraken,” about something big and nasty, living in a fjord. “Star Fleet Academy,” season one. There’s a season two, and then it was canceled. Star Trek overkill? “Practical Magic 2.” The new Spider Man movie. Something called, “The Rivals of Amziah King,” starring Matthew McConaughey. The trailer looked interesting. About a bee keeper.
Not on the “On Order” list, but, I spotted a trailer for a new Nick Cage movie. “Fortitude.” A WWII sort of comedy, which is how they misdirected the Nazis as to the place of the D-Day landing. Looks like Ian Fleming is one of the fictional characters.
I’m planning on wandering down to the chemist, again. See if they got the vaccines in.
I started watching one of the Great Courses, last night. “Grand Tours: Australia and New Zealand.” 24 lectures. The professor is kind of a twit. But, there are lots of good graphics and photos. The first lecture was an overview of the geography, and your night skies. The Southern Cross, and the Great Galactic Rift. Which I had heard of, but never seen before. And, yes, it does look like a kiwi bird. :-). Lew
Chris:
Goodness – you have a frost and we are nowhere (supposedly) near one. Because of that I decided to try and take advantage of it and, right on top of where the garlic is planted, I planted one row of radish seeds and one row of spinach (I have 2 rows of garlic). That may be a super big mistake, but the garlic won’t be coming up for months and is planted several inches deep, so I thought I might get a bit of something this late, since it’s warmer.
How is lovage used? I used to try and grow horseradish, but mostly I got a lot of leaves (which are tasty, too) and dinky roots. I do have some volunteer carrots coming up. That’s a first.
I have no idea whether to stick with the calendar as I have in the past. It seems like I am watching the weather more than the dates, though I just wanted to get the garlic out of my way,
It’s never too early to work on firewood!
I think it’s way past time for new door hinges, but it’s not going to happen (maybe until the bathroom is renovated) because there is just too much else going on and my son has been sick lately, not a germ, but we can’t figure it out.
Ahh – but it didn’t use to be that way . . .
https://www.cntraveller.in/story/sleeper-class-when-airplanes-had-bunk-beds-just-like-trains/
Pam
Chris,
So wombats stink. Does their square poo stink nastily too? Perhaps wombat tastes great and their stink is just to scare predators away. Where’s your sense of adventure? Perhaps the only drawback of eating wombat is that your poo may become square also. 😉
I got to the tomato plants today. Picked a lot of tomatoes ranging from green to nearly ripe. They got spread out on a bench where they will get sunlight each day. Those that become ripe will get eaten. As the bench is near the house, frost shouldn’t be a problem. The plants themselves got pulled up and tossed into the compost pile. They got chopped into smaller pieces once in the pile.
Those ancient grandmasters apparently never lived in Spokane. Winter can be any combination of ice, snow, torrential rain, wet, slop, mud, dust, wind, sunshine, endless clouds. Sometimes all at once.
The first Muppet version of Manah Manah was in 1969, I believe, on Sesame Street. While I appreciated the version you linked to, I still prefer the 1969 version, which appeared on many episodes of Sesame Street.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5W60VwDkas
Glad I could help. I’m interested on how that axe handle works out.
Oh, I caught the wort joke. Had to think about it afterward for awhile, as it was trying to pick at a memory. Then I remembered. Wort is also “the sweet, sugary liquid extracted from malted grains during the mashing process before yeast is added to ferment it into beer or whiskey.” So a bad batch of beer could be blamed on bad wort, or Malwort. 😉
One of the guys at work was always extremely shy about natural functions. As in deathly afraid. He would often keep the receptionists from doing their jobs, so one of the receptionists could always get the guy to leave by saying the word “yeast”. This was during my days of brewing beer. One day when he was more irritating than usual, I wandered by the front desk and mentioned that the night before “I had introduced a yeast infection in my wort.” Three of us had a good laugh as he literally gave a shriek and ran. Then one of the receptionists asked me what kind of beer I was brewing this time.
I think that perhaps the innate curiosity of the Husky would win out over wolf wisdom. Any prickly pear I plant will be in planters large enough for them to spread out. The containers will have a fence around them so as to keep the sensitive husky nose from impaling itself on cactus spines. You know, protect the Dame from herself.
I enjoy listening to her choice of books when we go on trips together. On one driving trip to Albuquerque and Los Angeles, she had a trilogy of a young adult series. Listening to that series was a great way of having a long road trip.
The grasses are mostly knocked back, yes. However, under the trees and other sheltered places have been spared from the frost so far. Who knows? I may decide NOT to mow. There are higher priority things to do outdoors before winter.
Far out! Perfect time to get the firewood in. Not too hot but drying out. Do you and the Editor have races on the low center of gravity mowers?
During WW2, dad’s unit had captured a small airbase in Holland or Germany. They were then stationed there for 2 or 3 weeks. The German army had abandoned 3 one-man tanks in their haste to leave. As boredom set in, the guys discovered that the tanks still had fuel. Timed races around the tiny airfield were held. Unfortunately, the tanks were driven too fast and slipped out of their tracks eventually.
I think that would be the same German air station that dad sent some things home from. There was a leather pilot’s helmet with the connections to hook up to a radio. And there was a straight key for Morse Code, along with an oscillator so one could practice Morse and hear it as a tone. I learned Morse with that straight key and it is the key I used as an amateur radio operator. I still have it and the oscillator.
I remember this version of Knight Rider. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knight_Rider_(1982_TV_series)
More yard work tomorrow. Supposed to be 22C. Probably get out the electric weed whacker and let it do its thing in the brick pathways and patio. And in the old raspberry patch, which turned into a grassy area with no more raspberries. The long grass from there can be added to the compost heap.
DJSpo
Hi Pam,
You won’t be disappointed and good radish seeds produce something to eat in about four weeks even in cool soil. If there is another plant which can do that trick, I’m unaware of it. Pulled one of the radishes this afternoon as the bed needs to be thinned for the tomatoes, and it was almost perfect looking. It’ll go into a salad which is dinner this evening.
I reckon your spinach would do well in the new greenhouse and provide fresh leafy greens (albeit plants which have ceased growing) in deep winter. Usually in March, your September (although it is warmer in your part of the world in October) the winter plants are getting established.
Have you ever attempted to grow celery? There was one year when a self seeded plant produced enormous tasty stems, and sadly being super busy, I failed to harvest seeds. Regrets, we’ve all had a few. Anyway, few plants are as difficult to grow as celery. Then there is Lovage. It tastes almost the same as celery but has a mildly peppery after note, which I enjoy. And every winter the plant dies back, then in early spring it re-appears. Forget about celery, it’s in the too-hard basket, Lovage is much better in my opinion.
Horseradish is candidly a bit weedy here, although unlike your experience, the root systems are thick enough to grate. That plant produces a decent amount of brain pain, but in a good way. 🙂 There are ways to produce a thick tap root, and I read about such methods recently. It is easier for me to just let the plant do what it does best. Respect for the volunteer carrots, and that is a crop which sadly is cheaper for me to buy large bags of, than grow. I know! I know! Down here, they call them horse carrots, but they’re the same thing… What the heck?
Me too, the weather, moon, stars and general climate with forecast, is a better indicator of when to do stuff in the garden. If I may, people do love to outsource their brains, hashtag arty-fish-al nonsense of late. Understanding why something is the way it is, requires a deeper engagement, which is yours and my approach. With that point in mind, we planted out the pea seeds today. To be honest, they looked a bit shrivelled at first, but when re-hydrated they swelled whilst we went for a bushwalk.
Pam, so right about the firewood. I’m embarrassed to admit that after sixteen years of occupancy, the hardwood floors inside the house look a bit err, tired. Just nabbed 2.5 gallons of proper old school Tung Oil and the plan is to give them a freshen up during summer. The thing is, you may have noticed that last summer was spent bringing in the firewood… If but for a new firewood shed, the fluffdom was lost. I get the impression that you’d appreciate my perspective. Always so much to do.
On the other hand, unsolicited advice alert: Your son’s mind and body may be advising him to take some time out, and your news is what I’d describe as a warning shot across the bow. Hmm. One can only do what one can. What one wants, may have to wait for another day. ‘Tis up to us mere mortals to find balance.
Those were the days, and even one or two of the wounded soldiers appeared to be enjoying the experience. Did you see the genuine smiles on all of the other faces? That is luxury, right there. One of the last flights I was on, the way too well fed, and unwashed gentleman sitting next to me, spilled over onto my seat. The redolence of stale ciggies and alcohol assaulted my nose, and I slept not one wink. The experience was the final act of indignity. But those bunks looked pretty sweet, and did you see the genuine smiles? I sure did!
Cheers
Chris
Hi DJ,
No, wombats themselves are fairly neutral smelling, it’s more their scats and scent glands which mark their territory which create the notable aroma. Very funny, but there is some serious science behind how that critter produces square poops. I’m deeply uncertain that either you, or I, could reproduce that feat.
How do wombats poop cubes? Scientists get to the bottom of the mystery
The wombats are big here, probably due to being in a good paddock.
Nice work, and we do the same thing here with tomatoes, but probably a few weeks earlier in the season. There is always timing issues getting the winter greens going in the ground before plant growth comes to a halt. Hope the birds can’t get to your ripening tomatoes. The cheeky scamps here would be all over that.
It’s good to get the vines back into the compost pile, and we tend to throw them onto the paddock and mow the lot up. Same, same, but different process.
You’ve got a good point there about your local winter weather conditions. Hang on a second… … Incoming transmission from the ancient grandmasters… … What did they say again? I’ve lost the garbled message. Probably like what my cheeky granddad tried to tell me, I should have listened closer. 🙂 So, your description of the local winter conditions rules the day. I’m sure the mysticism on their part was deliberate, maybe!
OK, we’re playing ear-worm tennis here. But I do have to check out the version you mentioned. A genius version, yup. Interesting to see how the song has developed over time. And how cool was it having Kermie the Frog bringing in the phone on the Muppets version (which are much the same people)… I’d not realised that Frank Oz directed the highly amusing film: Death at a Funeral.
Yeah, the axe handle project is one for the summer months. I’ve never done such work before, but will use the bench vice to hold the block. On such future timber project notes, I committed to 12L of pure Tung Oil for the hardwood floors inside the house. They need it, and I was alarmed to read reviews that the formulation with original stuff used was way too heavy on solvents these days. The folks sounded rather upset, so I forked out more mad cash for a higher quality product. Who knew that this stuff changes…
Yeah! I knew that other definition as well, not that I’ve made a wort, and bow to your greater experience. And that’s taking the word game to the whole next level indeed. Respect! 🙂 Very amusing too.
Oh, fascinating to hear of that story, and I’ve not encountered anyone like that. Although, an alert person hears anecdotal accounts of people’s health suffering due to a possible way-too-extreme-overly-clean environment. I’ve got three dogs, chickens and eat plants grown in the dirt… Just sayin…
And the receptionist who asked about the beer, is a person worthy of knowing. 🙂
The Husky fence sounds like a wise idea. Even casually brushing against that plant produces a world of hurt. And I certainly wouldn’t trust the dogs here. They know now, but in the past I have had to remove some cactus spikes.
That is a massive drive from Albuquerque and Los Angeles. Just for my interest, did you do the trip in a single day, or did you break it up and stay somewhere? I’ve done a similar length drive way up on the distant north west corner of this continent, but that’s only because it’s so unpopulated and there were only road houses every 200km or so.
That happened here too with the light frost yesterday. A touch of ice on the grassy exposed areas, and clearly warmer under the trees. Is there ever a time when all of the necessary chores are done? My brain suggests that this enviable goal is reached when we decide that it is so.
On that note, we planted out the peas today. The seeds looked a bit shrivelled, but about fours in tepid water and they were as good as new and roaring to get in the ground. But will they germinate is the question? I should have left some on a paper towel so as to see what their viability is, but time is moving on, as you too noticed.
It may surprise you to learn that even in these enlightened times, vehicles with tracks can slip off the things. I’ve watched an excavator driver use a massive steel bar to get the track into place, and it was well practised. Interesting stuff, and people continue to DIY those devices.
The Pontiac Firebird Trans Am was a noble steed, and I recall that show.
Go the electric weed whacker. Take that ye pesky plants! 🙂
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
A fine campaign, for a good ending. And older style buildings have a presence, or solidity to them, or at the very least are obvious as to their function – this is not always desired by the designers, although why they’d do that is beyond me. I must say, there was no hint as to the character of the person in question, and your last sentence carried ominous overtones! 🙂 We’ve all been there… The vast majority of the time I’m overwhelmingly polite to others, but some people are really just bad news. One of the unusual facts of life is that if you live long enough, most of the folks who’ve annoyed us, pass on.
I hear you man, it happens with the credit.
All of the three items you mentioned, plus the solar power story suggests that other more reliable methods of electricity generation, are in fact, more reliable. And it does sadly hit upon belief systems, thus the emotional response. I get it, and two decades ago believed similar stories, but wanted it to work, and then set out the hard way through experience and learned the realities. The tech is good, but not good enough.
And dare I say it, but minimal heating in a latitude 40’S or N + climate is a concept that does not provide hard numbers. It can mean much, or it can mean little. But I’m pretty certain that it doesn’t mean ‘none’.
What the heck? You’re slightly warmer again. 66’F here today, and tomorrow. Had to run the wood heater tonight, it being now below 50’F outdoors. Brr!
Did some paid work this morning, then headed to a nearby nature reserve to go for a walk. There were quite a few people there enjoying the nice weather, but it wasn’t busy, and only encountered a few people along the way – the walk can be done in either direction. Had a nap, and all round it was a pleasant day.
That was the case down here with poets as well. They were well known names, travelled widely, observed and both prepared and recited poems that people wanted to hear. Clever stuff, and their day will come again. It’s an old trade which was drowned out by entertainment arriving into the house from the wonderful place of elsewhere. Interestingly, I’d read that the indigenous folks placed a high value upon cultural trade, and of course story tellers have an honoured place.
Funnily enough, I don’t recall narratives which mention travelling story tellers in a dystopian fictional setting. Sort of like today’s carneys, but lower tech. 🙂
Very good, and ah, I see what you mean about brekkie / lunch, or whatever. Whatever works on a food front, and is sustainable. Without lunch, I’d start to wilt…
Always nice to have friends who know stuff. Although down here, I’d not accept gifts of mushrooms from anyone, just because the humble ‘shroom down here is a big unknown, with unpleasant consequences. Things would be easier in your part of the world on that front. I can think of ways to test these things, but it’s probably a socially unacceptable methodology! Puts a new spin on the word, trial. Probably how they worked it all out in the old days…
Well that’s an interesting process, and I’ve never preserved mushrooms, or even thought of doing so. Presumably they can be dehydrated as I’ve seen them sold as shrivelled up thinly sliced items. Hope the process works out well.
A lovely dinner. Had veg enchiladas tonight, and they’re pretty good. My general standard to measure meals by is: Can this be fed to guests without complaints? Actually I did try that meal on a visitor before perfecting it. My one error at the time was not separating the whey from the plain yoghurt, and it gave a slight acidic taste which they don’t have nowadays. You’d know from the kitchen that meals have to be replicable to a certain standard. Some people can always seek novelty, but Bruce Lee had some interesting wisdom to share about that subject.
Yeah, exactly. I can’t figure out such wider patterns either. Today appeared quiet as well, and I dunno. The bakery we bought lunch from (chicken, veg and cheese sandwiches on baked on the premises wholemeal bread) had us and the usual tradie traffic, and only lacked tourists. It was well stocked, although I did notice that the stock was arranged closer together and one display cabinet sat empty. Dunno. A mystery.
I see that over in Vermont, they’re having dramas with leaf peepers. I know the feeling. 🙂
Go the Kraken, and I read a book recently where the antagonist was King Kragen (The Blue World), of similar sounding massive scariness. A fun read. Oh poop, well, there has been a lot of over supply of Trek narratives, and scarcity is perhaps a real thing. Even I’ve been having troubles keeping up with the new series. Matthew McConaughey is a great actor, I really like the energy he brings to roles. I’ll just check out the trailer… … I see a lot to like. Thanks for mentioning it.
Very good, and that Flemming bloke was the real deal back before he became an author. Lends authenticity, and a dash of silliness. The Bond series just kind of never did it for me, sorry to say.
Hope the supply side issues are sorted out. Hey, wasn’t that what reganomics was all about? Who recalls such days now?
How have I missed this: the Great Galactic Rift? Oh, that’s what it is called, right. The universe is perhaps stranger than we possibly know. I’d not realised that the sun protects us from interstellar nasties, and Voyager I and II measured that by crossing the boundary. Cool, huh?
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – Well, actually, that librarian was sort of eccentric and fun to work with. She collected pink plastic lawn flamingoes. 🙂
Oh, I think solar tech is just fine. It’s the sun that won’t cooperate. 🙂
Our high yesterday was 66F (18.88C). The overnight low was 39F. (3.88C). Our forecast high for today is 75F. We might get some rain, overnight. Forecast between 2am and 10am. I’ll have to keep an eye on the radar. Make sure Dawg and I have a dry late night walk.
Well, without busting my brain, I can think of two dystopian stories that have traveling story tellers. “The Postman,” for one. Before he was the postie, he and his mule traveled and did Shakespeare. In “Station Eleven,” it was a traveling Shakespeare troop.
I had mushrooms, with dinner, last night. I took two sourdough English muffins, and split them. Put some Swiss cheese on top, and gave it a slight melt. Then I made up something half way between and omelet and a scramble. A messy omelet? Peas, garlic, mushrooms and four eggs, whipped up. Tossed it on top of the muffins. A bit of catsup. More of the flavor of the mushrooms, came through.
Usually, when you see an empty display cabinet, it’s because the cooling element has broken down. Repair man on the way! 🙂 Coolers of all types are another thing health inspectors check.
Star Trek Exhaustion? It’s a real thing. Maybe.
Here’s the trailer for “Fortitude.”
https://youtu.be/6JwRbZ1J1nU?si=RLvo8KKkb9b1FUBF
I’ve seen some sci-fy movies, where the Great Galactic Rift, plays a part. Makes the crews of spaceships, go a little bonkers. Absolutely nothing going on, or to see, outside the windows. For weeks at a time. Early mariners dreaded getting becalmed in the Sargasso Sea. There’s a couple of songs, from the 1960s, about being becalmed. “Horse Latitudes,” by the Doors. And, “Salty Dog,” by Procol Harum.
I walked down to the chemist, yesterday and got my Covid and flu jab. Both covered by my Medicare. The young lady was good at her job. No side effects, except I felt a bit “bubble off plumb,” I went to bed, early. For me. 🙂
In a couple of week, I’ll go back for another couple of jabs. I’ll be getting the RSV serum (it’s for a respiratory thing). I hadn’t got one, as, it’s not covered, and I knew it would be expensive. I thought it was yearly, so, I hesitated. I recently found out it’s a one and go. So, at $300, I think I can swing it. They must keep records on me, because she said I was also due for a pneumonia booster. Which is covered. I can get both at the same time.
I have a right hip that plays up on me, from time to time. I noticed, walking downhill to the chemist, it really let me know it was there. Coming back uphill, not so bad. I doubt I’ll do anything about it. Just take me out to the curb and put me down. 🙂 Lew
Chris:
I have tried to grow celery and failed, and since I only use it sporadically, this is one time that I didn’t sweat it. However, I do use celery seed fairly often in cooking, especially in pickling, and I wish I could grow it for that. I use dill seed quite a bit, too, but that is super easy to grow.
Is a horse carrot just a really big carrot? I had let a certain number of carrot tops go to seed, to save the seeds. Also, I wondered if birds might like them. That’s how the volunteers happened.
One spring I managed to plant at least some of the crops “by the moon” and the root crops were way bigger, so maybe I got that right, but the weather is so capricious here (even decades ago), that it is too hard to keep up with a moon schedule, too. I never manage to soak my pea seeds first (for how long?) and have to just keep the ground moggy, I mean soggy, at first.
Try facing 35 years of worn-out wood floor finish. It wasn’t even that great to start out with. I love Tung Oil, but it takes a long time to dry (?). How are you going to refinish while living in there?
That is very sound advice, and I thank you. I will sigh the perennial sigh, and say: “If only he would listen to his mother . . . ”
Decades ago (like, 60s through 80s), I found flying pretty enjoyable, though it always scared me because there is no way that all that weight can stay up in the sky. Your experience was just part of what went wrong. Ook.
At the assisted living today, we were sitting around the lunch table and, as so often wonderfully happens, there was reminiscing going on. It is often initiated by the less older folks, like me or a nurse or a visiting relative, and today it was about whose grandmothers – or mother, as one 97 year old remembered – cooked on a wood burning stove because there was not yet electricity (or indoor plumbing either). All these memories came from farms in my county or neighboring counties. Some of the story tellers were black and some white, but their stories were the same as far as farm living went – hard. I remember when we moved here in ’89, meeting people who still did not have power or running water, they were so far back in the mountains. Maybe they just didn’t want those things. If so, they get the last laugh.
Pam
Chris,
The title of that wombat poo article was a nice pun – getting to the BOTTOM of poo. I enjoyed the informative article, too. Thanks. I note that the scientist said that “The squarer the poop, the healthier the wombat.” I would hazard a guess that the squarer the poop, the sicklier the human.
Big wombats. The article said they get up to 35kg. I bet with the feed they get at your place they might be biggerrer.
Different kind of birds here. I’ve never seen any birds bothering the tomatoes. Hopefully that trend continues.
The electric weed whacker did the job quite well today. The brick patio and pathways cleaned up very nicely. The tall grasses in what had once been the raspberry patch got cut down to size. A lot more material was added to the compost heap. It was a good day for that work.
Oh absolutely! Kermit bringing the phone on the Muppet Show version was a grand touch. Very funny.
Tung oil heavy on solvents? I’d pay up for the better product too. Gah! A solvent-heavy product used indoors is not my idea of a healthy product.
I was having one of my pun master moments. Glad you enjoyed it.
You know how it is. Bobby Fisher was a chess master. Miagi was a go ju ryu master. I once knew someone who aspired to be a Zen master. I may have found my forte as a pun master.
My dad was germophobic. My health improved after I moved out of the house and basically began to add some dirt to my diet. 😉
Oh, that receptionist was a lot of fun. She got a promotion, eventually following her new boss away from the County to work for the Washington State Department of Transportation, known as WSDOT but pronounced “washdot”. We got a new Biggest Boss who had been her boss at WSDOT. Then my Big Boss quit for a job at a different organization. There was a big party for him. Fun Receptionist had arranged for the new Biggest Boss to hand deliver two gifts to the outgoing Big Boss. The first gift was a book entitled “How to Bake with Marijuana”. The said herb was still illegal in Washington. The second gift was a packet of the, erm, subject of the book. Yes, outgoing Big Boss was properly embarrassed.
My various experiences visiting and living in desert areas quickly led me to the conclusion that most living things in the desert, and nearly all plants, have very sharp bits and are not reluctant to use the sharp bits on humans. I studiously avoided getting poked by cactus.
That was a long and major vacation for us. We drove from Spokane to Boise, Idaho. Then we spent a night in Salt Lake City. A short jaunt followed to Grand Junction, Colorado. We visited a nearby natural area where I taught the Princess about how sharp desert plants are, even the soft looking ones. (Mom’s paternal family had lived there, so I wanted to see the area.) We watched mountain goats climb vertical columns of red rock.
After that we went over a pass that was 11,000 feet and dropped into Pueblo, Colorado. From there we went to Albuquerque, spending a week or more there.
The trip back to Spokane? We had decided to visit Flagstaff, Arizona. Our hotel suggested a certain nice restaurant. The food was excellent. The staff were all music majors at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. Singing and other music was performed by the staff. It was actually very good. That restaurant was mentioned in one of the Iron Druid books.
We decided while in Flagstaff to visit my uncle near Los Angeles. We drove through Oak Creek Canyon and Sedonia, went through Prescott where my dad lived in a tent for 2 winters when he was a child in the Great Depression. We spent the night in Blythe, California. We stopped somewhere so that the Princess could almost cozy up to a saguaro cactus for a picture. Then it was on to visit uncle, where we spent the night in a hotel nearby.
Heading north, we spent a night in Redding, California, then got nice views of Mount Shasta before spending a night in Eugene, Oregon, with a sister of the Princess and her family. Then home.
As you can tell, a loooong trip. The trilogy of books on tape were welcome. The scenery was diverse and enjoyable.
You asked “Is there ever a time when all of the necessary chores are done? ” Well done! You have stumbled upon the question that led me to formulate DJ’s Law: “The best thing about owning a home is that there is always something to do. The worst thing about owning a home is that there is always something that must be done.” DJ’s Law.
DJSpo
Hi Pam,
Yeah, dill is weedy-as, and I love it. Great for pickling cucumbers. Celery is in the too-hard basket, but if you want the flavour then I thoroughly recommend Lovage, which has been grown for a very long time for that purpose. Never used celery seed, and was wondering what purpose you put it to? Probably easier to buy the seed. 🙂
Nope, horse carrots down here are simply bulk bags of carrots. I read somewhere a rumour that baby carrots are normal carrots that have been mechanically trimmed down so as to appear more appealing. I don’t buy those.
Interesting, and I’ll have to try growing some carrot, although they are really cheap to buy, and growing space is scarce. Birds are pretty good at spreading, preparing and fertilising seeds down here as well. They make our lives easier.
🙂 Moggy soil sounds fun. I’m still trying to get my head around the variable weather, which as you note is a problem in many parts of the world. Planted out the tomatoes today, and just used all of the self sown plants which had popped up in the past couple of weeks – they were moved around to new locations. The peas were soaked in warm-ish water for about four hours, then planted out. They’d recovered in size and looked pretty good.
Well, yeah tung oil does take a long time to dry. We only intend to do part of a room, then move onto the next etc… That way any furniture can be moved from one side of the room to the other without too much mucking around. To be honest, I don’t really know how this will work out with the tung oil, but am happy to give it a go. I get the impression that it will be easier to repair in the future. The original tung oil we put down sixteen years ago has a little bit of polyurethane in it, and that’s not ideal. But who knows, and I have to do something… We’ll work out the finer details later as we get more experience with the oil. 🙂
This is the stuff by the way: Walrus Oil – Pure Tung Oil
Actually one risk with the oil is applying too heavy of a coat and that slows down the curing time, so I’ll be sparing with the stuff. The other good thing is that it’s easy apparently to remove hairs from err, dogs, people and application brushes etc. They reckon drying time is 12 – 24 hours, so that’s not too bad. Although I’ll do a few coats before moving on to the next section. The low VOC is very appealing to me.
Pam, I hear you and sometimes all we can do is plant the seed of an idea, and hope it puts down some roots then grows. Sometimes people have to learn the hard way. I wish it were not so, and yeah ‘sigh’.
Exactly, a couple of decades ago flying was enjoyable and pleasant. Remember hot meals which were tasty? Tourists were thin on the ground and you didn’t feel like just another of the tens of thousands. Think about that poor Sycamore tree in the UK, sadly cut down by possibly very silly people, but it had to deal with a million or so folks per year. Soil compaction is a real thing. Nowadays, all of that spectacle leaves me feeling cold and I refuse to participate. But yes, absolutely, it wasn’t always thus.
I suspect that they may not have wanted those things, knowing the ease they’d bring, along with the bills. It’s fun hearing those old timer stories, and don’t believe the hype, cooking on a wood stove and oven was a real treat. Pam, the biscuits that wood oven could churn out were superb, and they could be cooked on low for a few hours to give that proper crunch. Oh well.
Cheers
Chris
Hi DJ,
If I may observe, the wombat poop mystery is now in the rear, view mirror… 😉 Sorry for that. Science needn’t be stuffy and ultra serious. There is after all an Ig Nobel Prize. And hey, the goobermint sends poo-kits to folks over 50 years of age. It’s a test for bowel cancer which turns up in the mail every two years, and no, in processing this test, I’d not observed any square poop. That would be a startling discovery.
And those are my thoughts exactly. I call one of the resident wombats: ‘Big Daddy’ because it appears larger than 35kg to me. Of course the marsupials here get to enjoy plants grown in minerally rich soils which is not always the case. They sport lovely glossy coats too.
Many years ago we were in the Otway mountain ranges which is much wetter than here, and also far to the south west along the coastline. A very beautiful part of the world. Anywhoo, I spotted a wallaby and the poor thing looked nothing like the luscious critters here. Smaller, patchy coat etc. Very high rainfall areas can leach the soil minerals.
Fingers crossed for you, but you also know that birds can teach their friends and kindred? The Pied Currawongs have learned that tomatoes are tasty, but fortunately the friendly magpies give them a solid and well deserved: ‘what for’! You did trouble my mind though with the suggestion that the lone Currawong maybe scouting out the land here. It’s possible.
Fortunately the rains have returned for further up the east coast because the flying foxes (marsupial fruit bats) have shifted south in a response to a lack of food. It might be too cold here for them, but like that lone Currawong, scouting parties are a thing. Plus the bats can carry lyssavirus, and nobody wants that.
Let’s just say that I remain alert to the possibility: Flying fox starvation raises Lyssavirus warning as researchers raise concern for forests
Well done, and as a matter of professional mechanical curiosity, is your electric weed whacker powered by mains electricity or battery?
Here’s the tung oil I purchased: Walrus Oil – Pure Tung Oil I like their sense of humour as they keep having to add the disclaimer: No walrus was harmed in the creation of the product. Hope it’s good stuff, and a report will be supplied in a month or two.
The reviews of the other stuff which I avoided mentioned that the product stunk of diesel fumes for a few weeks. That would be my personal nightmare. 🙂 Natural wood oils are usually very pleasant smelling. And the nature reserve we went to yesterday someone had oiled the timber gates and fences, and it smelled really nice.
I bow to the pun master. 🙂
Yeah, people are a bit weird about that serious reach for complete household sterility, and I can appreciate how your health would have improved after leaving that situation. I hear similar stories and know that this story will end badly. Here dogs are our friends, and what a wonderful thing it is getting our hands into the dirt. People believe what they want to believe.
Hehe! All very true, and some workplaces can be both productive and fun. Thanks for the fun story.
Only a very tasty plant would be so troublesome to handle. 🙂 I’ve heard that the paddles taste like watermelon? Dunno. On Thursday whilst doing the firewood, a black scorpion was within reach of my gloved hand – the stinger would get through thick riggers gloves for sure – when the Editor alerted me to the impending risk. Not a moment too soon. I was just about to smite it with my other hand when realisation dawned as to what a bad idea that would have been. Dodged the sting nicely.
Nice to hear that you stopped off along the way to enjoy the sights. Hope your lady avoided being stuck by pointy plants? And I’ve seen photos of those mountain goats, and they’re freaks the sheer surfaces that they’ll climb. A very impressive achievement on the herbivores part, and ours is but to wonder.
It’s amazing how your country has such high passes in otherwise arid lands, and what a massive benefit the cloud catchers would be to the surrounding areas.
I can see why you spent some time in Albuquerque, and it’s got some interesting history and a generally pleasant climate, if somewhat dry for my tastes. It still amazes me that your country has these massive watersheds and big rivers flowing through otherwise arid land.
So, you both presumably did the original Route 66! Cool. Flagstaff looks like very attractive city. What a fun story, and being music majors they’d have at least performed in key. 🙂
Oak Creek Canyon is spectacular looking. Wow! What a stop. Hang on, what is a saguaro cactus? … … I seem to recall a cartoon which featured those plants. Oh my, Mount Shasta is huge and way up above the clouds. What a fun trip and am so pleased to hear that you enjoyed the sights. A lot of folks rush around here and there, achieving very little, and missing a lot. 🙂 Nice one.
Respect for your logic chopping with DJ’s law, and it’s good. Yes, always more work there is, always more stuff to do there must be.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Lewis,
You know, I’ve seen homes with displays of pink lawn flamingos out front. Sends a message to expect some quirky fun. And I’m with you there, some bosses are easy and enjoyable to work with – and those are usually more productive workplaces in my opinion.
The sun of course is subject to vagaries, and this is known. Look at the way it wanders over the sky throughout the year. Hardly wants to play nicely with the solar technology does it? 🙂 Speaking of climate related matters, a few months ago I drilled many holes into a rock, and the monster defeated me. So I left it and didn’t think any more about the holes that had been drilled into the granite. Well, who knew? The frosts over the past month or so, achieved what I couldn’t with the jackhammer, and there is now a crack in boulder and another chunk has splintered off.
It was a bit warmer here today at 70’F, and so the annual climate line dance continues! Might beat your 75’F on Thursday, maybe. 🙂 Did you manage to dodge the rain?
Did some paid work this morning, and then got stuck into applying the remaining crushed rock with lime surface on the new path below the house. Brought back four loads of crushed rock from the supplier, but had to return one for it was the wrong material. These things happen, so I took it back and had to manually unload the stuff, then get the correct rock. That’s a wrap for that particular path project. Feels good! Onto the next.
Thanks for sharing your brain power, and of course: The Postman – which I’ve not yet seen. Alas for my poor education, as I’d not even heard of ‘Station Eleven’ previously. What a story. Did you watch the series, read the book, or perhaps even both?
Let’s go with the messy, but more importantly, tasty omelette! 🙂 Had a salad for dinner with eggs, greens and a radish pulled from the garden. It was pretty good and zings a person up. After a long work day, I didn’t much feel like a big dinner.
Oh poop! You’re probably right about the cooling element in the cabinet being broken. They look all rather sad with an air of unfulfilled promises when empty. Still, the food we purchased was excellent and fortunately they had more than one cabinet.
Well there are rather a lot of different Star Trek series! It looks like the re-booted crew might not get another film, which is a shame. Simon Pegg stole every scene he was in, and we need more of this. Looks like the Strange New Worlds series is set to run for five seasons.
Fortitude looks like a lot of fun, with a cast of British eccentrics. Presumably Nicholas Cage was playing the role of Ian Flemming? A nice touch that. Yes indeedy, we’ve all heard the ‘shaken not stirred’ line. 🙂
The horse latitudes has a rather sinister meaning. Yeah. What a practice, but water, water, everywhere, and not a drop to drink, is a very real problem too. The tale of the Sea Venture was a fascinating shipwreck, and reminded me of Robinson Crusoe. The Sargasso claimed the Titanic as well. Presumably the ships did not have sweeps, or many strong enough to pull them.
Hope you are feeling better today? Man, you’ll be resembling a pin cushion soon! 🙂
You hear stories that the reconstructions only last ten years, and then what is the question which enters my consciousness. But yeah, a quiet ending down the back paddock may be the way of things. There are worse endings after a long and enjoyable life.
Cheers
Chris
Yo, Chris – Let the games, begin! 🙂 I got my mid-term ballot, yesterday. I’ll get it filled out, over the weekend. And, drop it off in a drop-box, outside our courthouse. It’s not far off my beaten track. Then, a few days later, I check on-line to make sure it was counted. We’re a state where you can mail in your ballot. But I feel better, dropping it off.
Well, that was a surprise. Our high yesterday was 81F (27.22C.) I thought it was awfully warm. I even had the A/C on for awhile, in the afternoon. And, later, Dawg and I went to the Club, and did a little shopping. It still felt pretty warm, until sunset. Our overnight low was 50F (10C). No worries. Next week, the overnight lows will be in the mid to low 30sF. Our forecast high for today is 64F. H and I didn’t get rained on. We took our walk a little early, as, I was tuckered. No green on the radar. But, I could tell, this morning, that it had rained. I don’t have to water. Looking at the radar, a small spot of green had just passed through. Most of the action, was to the north of us.
I suppose you might have heard, it’s Santa Anna wind time, in S. California. Wildfires in Malibu (again) and more down in Orange County. San Clemente (where Nixon’s western White House, was), and San Juan Capistrano. The Marine base at Camp Pendleton. All areas I’m familiar with.
Well, that’s a win, as far as the big rock went. Letting the frost do the heavy lifting, is an old technique. So, will you have a ribbon cutting, for the new path? 🙂 I’m approaching 1,000 items, checked out. I think they began counting, when we had the last major catalog change. I’ll be asking, where and when I pick up my cash award. 🙂 Hookey little certificates won’t cut it.
Yes, I read the book and watched the … I think it was a mini-series. I enjoyed both, but then, I have an apocalyptic turn of mind. 🙂
I didn’t feel like investing much in dinner, myself. I had some sourdough muffins, with pb & j. A bit of yoghurt. When I stopped by the Yuppie Discount store, last night, much to my surprise, there were pumpkin spice M & Ms! I knew they existed, but hadn’t ever seen them, down here. So, I picked up a couple of packs. Pricey. $5 for a 7 1/2 oz.. They’re O.K., but probably nothing I’ll buy again.
I processed the chanterelle mushrooms, yesterday. Gave them a wash, and picked out a few that looked a bit dicey. I cut them up, and started sautéing them, in a fairly dry fry pan. My stove has a slight tilt, so, I could see the water running out of them, and evaporating. Medium heat, and gave them a stir, from time to time. After they cooled, I put them in two packs, in the freezer. I figure I have enough to add to about four meals.
Speaking of beans, I’m seeing some green beans, developing. Although how I’ll get them untangled from the deer netting, I don’t know. Carefully, I guess. 🙂 Speaking of beans, I picked up a little book, from the library. Only 165 pages. “A History of the World in Twelve Beans.” It’s a translation from the Dutch. Written by Joel Broekaert. (2023 / 2026). I read a bit of it, last night. A delightful little read.
Also, on the library “On Order” list was “Landkeeping: Restoring Indigenous Fire Stewardship and Ecological Partnership.” (Aldern, 2026). I didn’t put a hold on it, because I don’t think I’ll be doing any controlled burning, in the near future. 🙂
I watched a few more episodes, of “Grand Tour: Australia and New Zealand.” LOL. The professor talks so fast, sometimes the subtitles have a hard time, keeping up with him. There was a lecture on how Australia and New Zealand were formed, the break up of the super continent Gondwana.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gondwana
And, an episode on how this early isolation, affected the evolution of your plants and animals. There was an episode of the coming of the aboriginal people, and another on the Maori colonizing New Zealand. The ups and downs of Australia’s climate. Also, an episode on all the volcanic activity on New Zealand’s north island.
In passing, the professor mentioned “Bush Tucker Man.” And, that there are episodes on U-Tub. Looks like fun, and I’ll have to take a look.
Lots of chatter, this week, on the discovery of the world’s oldest shipwreck. Thus far. 🙂 And not just on the archaeology websites.
https://www.cnn.com/2026/10/14/science/worlds-oldest-shipwreck-turkey-scli-intl
Other articles mentioned that they discovered a bit of the sailor’s kit … bowls and cups, and such. And that they had their names or symbols, scratched into them. You wouldn’t want to get your mates bowl by mistake. Gosh knows, where those lips have been. 🙂 Lew
Hi Lewis,
Hope we’re not talking about the Hunger Games here? 🙂 Oh, you mean that other lot, err, good luck and may y’all get the outcome ye deserve. Actually I shouldn’t be so cheeky because we’re up for a state election next month. The general consensus is that the current muppets will be thrown out, but an effective opposition is hard to find and it’ll be a mess. And that’s not just poll-talk, people are telling me that they’re in a mood for change. What happens in your country, is anyone’s guess. Probably also a mess, yeah. Fun times! You’d have to suggest that we’re all at a point where there are no longer easy solutions to the many predicaments.
Mail in ballots down here are quite acceptable if a voter can’t make it on the day, but I’m not saying chain of custody and standardised practices are a thing, but they are. 🙂 I’m always left with the impression that your country delights in mystification of such administrative processes. Seems to get the folks who are facing having their jobs put on the line, a bit hot under the metaphorical collar. You know, I was kind of wondering today if polly-tics (! I like that, and just made it up. Nobody wants multiple ticks, do they?) attracts folks who like to argue endlessly. I’ve met people with that personality trait, and it is a thing which wears me out.
That is quite warm, and I’d be melting at 81’F, although such times are fast approaching. And that is a lovely overnight temperature after such a warm day. Nice. Winter is just around the corner for you though. Prepare to Brr!
Actually, on a temperature note, it was 72’F today and I’m sure you’ll laugh, but by 12pm I was thinking to myself that today is very hot. The sun had some bite at Very High rated UV. The Editor wanted to install some rocks in one of the raspberry beds at around that time, and I pulled the too-hot card. I know, winter soft, right? So I headed back down to the machinery shed and continued fixing and servicing the many machines. The strangest fix was cleaning the pilot jet on one of the generator carburettors. Super easy, if you have the tools, which are thin stainless steel bottle brushes. How a set of them cost $8, is beyond me, but without them, the job can’t be done. For want of a nail…
The late heat probably drained your energy a bit. But you also had some pin cushioning for your body to deal with – recovery being a thing which takes time.
I’d heard about the fires in California, and they are small in size, but fierce. A week or two back wasn’t Long Beach hit by big waves with a few houses looking like they ended up in the big drink? You’ve mentioned that area as well in the past. That state may have some bad mojo to deal with?
🙂 That’s a nice idea about the ribbon cutting ceremony. I’d not observed frost splitting a rock before, but haven’t previously left a boulder in that condition. Might be something worth considering for the future. Drill holes, then pour water in before a frosty morning… You’d mentioned the ancient Romans were all over that technique. The indigenous folks used to shatter boulders too but using fire, so that might be worth trialling as well.
Well yeah, did you get any benefits for the kilo of items checked out? The library budgets may be somewhat stretched, and all you might get is a dodgy sticker for the Ranger: I checked out a 1,000 items, and survived! 😉
The dystopian is strong with that one! But, it is an interesting and original concept. We’ve often discussed the dearth of new ideas originating from Holy-rood, and the other day you linked to the The Rivals of Amziah King film, which is a nice spin on an old genre. The actor is my age, and who listens to the oft-ignored Gen X?
Yum! We regularly make our own PB plus have jam from the fruits grown here, and both are tasty-AF. 🙂 I plan to age disgracefully, and why not? One must occasionally reach for the stars!
Always wise to reduce the ingredients so as to concentrate the flavours. This is known. Your friends have been very generous, but you know my thoughts on wild ‘shrooms. Conditions are different down here.
Doing the traditional Sunday evening sliders for dinner. Made the mini-focaccias this morning, and they’ve done their rising. It’s good the chickens are providing heaps of eggs. Yum! Anywhoo, the meal gets the ol’ brain in the work-space for doing some serious writing, and I’d like to imagine that things be earnest here. Mind you, reality is perhaps somewhat different, and I’m cool with that.
The Dutch used to have a wonderful knack for producing new vegetables from old plants. I’m sure they’ll get back to their roots sooner or later. And plant explorations were a real thing, we’re just going through a rough patch of history right now. The whole local versus imported plants argument bothers me deeply, and I annoy everyone in that sphere by asking them hard questions regarding the origins of their most recent meal. It’s an equal opportunity thing and saves me from further, dare I say it, fruitless (!) discussions. It’s been remarked upon elsewhere that true justice, pleases no one.
I’m well aware of such land stewardship practices, and do what I can. The powers that be, are dead set against implementing such practical knowledge – and make practising it hard. So I do things a little bit differently, but same, same.
Once we were a much biggerer continent, and you may no longer wonder where your marsupial super scary opossums came from.
The climate here is feral, and should always be treated with respect. Our present dominant culture does not do that, and this of course ends with much wailing and gnashing of teeth. The Maori ran out of Moa birds to eat, and then they were in a world of hurt. Unfortunately for the British, that was when they stepped onto the scene. If you’ve ever seen a tradition Haka, I’d soil my armour facing off against that! Worthwhile checking it out. Frightening stuff. The British only just won that bout. The birds don’t look all that different from the Emu or Cassowary. They could always nab some, take them over and start breeding the big flightless birds? They don’t really want that, but could have it.
Yeah, the Bush Tucker Man. I’ve heard of the dude and I’d go for the ‘Stories of Survival’ series. He’s based far up north, and conditions are different down here, but he’d survive for sure – up there. If you want to see pure survival skills put to the test in real world conditions down where it is cold, few series would beat: Alone Australia. The lady who survived the first series, Gina Chick, is a very interesting person.
I’d seen the reports on that shipwreck discovery, and it sounds pretty cool. A local researcher was assisting with the dive and ceramic identification.
Man, nobody re-uses the dog’s bowl to serve up their own meal. 🙂 Salty sea dogs being a thing!
Cheers and better get writing!
Chris
Yo, Chris – Oh, mail in ballots are acceptable here. Unless your team loses, and then you yell fraud. 🙂 Fearless Leader talks it down … and then uses it, himself. As I say, not as I do.
There are tics, and then there are ticks. I don’t know which would be the worse to have. 🙂
Our high yesterday was 64F (17.77C). Our overnight low was 36F (2.22C). Our forecast high for today is 63F. There was a little rain in the early week forecast, but that’s off the table, now. Apparently. Yes, they’re still running those pictures of houses in Long Beach, being smashed up by the ocean. Long Beach was the last place I lived, down there. It was really a pleasant town. Had a sense of place.
Pick out some likely rocks, before winter. Drill the holes. The rain and frost will take care of the rest. Maybe. Don’t over monitor them. Everyone knows, “A watched rock never splits.” 🙂
Did I get any benefits from perusing 1,000 items? Well, I was immensely entertained. 🙂 And, might have even learned a few things. You’d want me on your pub quiz team. But, I can’t say I actually read or watched each and every item. A lot of dross was sampled, and then tossed back.
Another simple dinner. Rice, frozen peas and broccoli, shiitake mushrooms, and garlic. I hardly ever use salt, in anything. But, last night, I had a craving for something salty. Best listen to the body. So, dinner got a little sprinkle of soy sauce. Yes, Yes, I know, Gives you headaches.
I’ve seen a few Haka performances. It’s the tongue thing, that gets me. 🙂
Moa were twice as tall as Emu or Cassowary. I wonder what their temperament was like? And did they taste like chicken? Yes, you could have kept our possums. Hmmm. Maybe we should repatriate them? Seems to be a thing, these days.
So, we’re onto the Dutch poking at Australia, and the ill-fated voyage of the Batavia. Black swans were mentioned. Capt. Cook pokes at Australia.
George Stubbs was a British artist, known mostly for his paintings of rich people’s racing horses. 🙂 But, someone commissioned him to paint a kangaroo, based on a skin, a few sketches, and written descriptions. He also did a dingo.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kongouro_from_New_Holland
Not a bad rendering, all things considered. Next up, The First Fleet.
Well, Dawg and I are off for a walk, water the garden, and head to the Club to visit with Uncle Carl. Our morning is planned. Lew