With the Big Birthday party (a six-pack of Rolling Rock and a prime rib) the mind wanders to more suitable foods for an aging gent with an eye on 90. Getting to 73 wasn’t too tough. But, good friends, strong personal boundaries, and staying active sure helps.
So, attention is now turned on the garden, the grow room, and a new raised bed planter in the works because they are (bad pun alert!) Dirt Simple.
If you’re playing along at home, the plumbing of the two rain barrels is set up so you can easily expand it to as many as you need (or have room for) with this simple arrangement:
People have a hard time remembering basic hydraulics, sometimes. In this case, there’s a Y at the bottom of the left water barrel and this is where the feed to the on-demand DC pump connects. To add another 50-55 gallon barrel, you’d just put a Y on the right barrel, jumper over to the next one in line and bingo!
Like magic, air pressure ensures the water is at the same level in all two (and soon three and maybe four) barrels,
I didn’t put much in the way of filtering in; mainly because except at leaf drop time, things coming off the roof are fairly clean.
These are about the same fineness as mosquito netting, so if you have some laying around…
Back when I was working in DC Power System instrumentation sales, we would always have to remind people about “balance of systems” expense. This little pile of yet-to be finished parts gives you an idea:
The pH meter, the on-demand pump, hanging baskets, the seeds of course, vegetable fertilizer, and hoses. All sitting on top of the dehumidifier which will, shortly, be hooked up to the outdoor water spigot with a Y and another 10-feet of hose.
There’s a temperature sensing power strip which will kick on the low-end garden cooler at 79F so it shouldn’t run very much. The dead-band on the switching is about 1 to 1.5F on the one controlling the ceiling exhaust fan in the shop.
In go the seeds:
Then we kick-it with cold drinks until green things begin to appear…
Note the kick-around mechanics stool for the laziest of gardeners!
Ure II and the Sign Shop
George II has displayed evidence this week of another genetic trait I wasn’t too sure he had; Sign-making.
Disney Imagineering is the world leader in visual cuing with signs. Who doesn’t remember the Pirates of the Caribbean sign? Haunted House?
A little rustic at the get-go….
Waterproof GatorBoard for a fire department function and the best choice seemed to be a few ripped-up 2-by-4s and two or three passes to cut sign grooves about 3/8ths of an inch deep all around.
Didn’t look particularly impressive when done (and stacked)…
But another firefighter’s wife has a vinyl decal cutting machine, so that will let them put up a pretty business-like sign. At the end of the event, into storage and recycling for future fund-raising events.
My own “best sign” so far has been the one on the entrance to the Trader Vic’s themed dining room from the Golf course themed screen porch:
Elaine’s been out there this week doing all kinds of rearranging. No telling what the theme will be by this time Tuesday.
ATR
Around the ranch we’re putting the fine touches on a number of projects. Berming of the rifle range needs to be pushed up (*thanks, rain) and planted so we don’t have to spend diesel to spend rounds.
Elaine gave last rights this week to a 10-inch frying pan we’ve had for years. G II and I are flipping to see who gets to paint that as a pistol target. Not as special as the flip-up commercial versions, but a shitload cheaper.
Zeus the Cat seems to be getting up in years, now. Spends about 18-19 hours a day looking like this:
I keep hoping to get a little nap time like this, but even on a holiday weekend, the only way to get things off the To-Do list is to actually do the do part…
Laying on the putt-putt carpet seems to appeal more to the Cat.
Fingers cross we have a world tomorrow.
Write when you get rich,
George@Ure.net
If your are a Prepper & didn’t buy all your supplies with cash, they know who you are, where you live, & your total amount of supplies based on your purchases. You are then ranked & put on a hit list when the SHTF.
What I was told.. when the gent was telling me how much fuel was available and who had it. Was excessive purchases..if you order 10000 gallons of fuel.. but if you pick up a few extra cans or gallons it isn’t logged..
The list I was shown had everyone on it..how much how often etc.
That was true in the yesterday world before Artificial Intelligence (AI) & the availability of unlimited storage of info. Now everything can be accounted for & tracked. Each small purchase can end up to be a large purchase. Today, they are watching for that. We are being watched & preyed upon. Just look at Biden’s & Pelosi’s complete distain for the American public. We are a nuisance getting in their way.
GASP!! Please tell me that 10″ frying pan is not cast iron.
heck no! Aluminum. CI doesn’t wear out, at least that I know of…
OK good. AL bad.
Agreed, CI does not wear out but like myself, it can get warped.
“it can get warped.”
wow Jim.. I have never seen a CI pan warped.. I have seen AL warped..
when I drove the garbage scowl I use to pick up al the length of the truck back and forth.. it averaged out to about seventy bucks a week of AL.. and that was well over thirty years ago.. I cannot even imagine what is being tossed at the pits now..
EVERYTHING is at the dump.. you name it.. its there.. when I was janitor everything that was brought back was shoved to the dumpster.. returns.. amazing.. one time we had a guy return a really expensive battery powered JEEP for kids.. ( when they first started to make them) and it wasn’t even opened .. the boss said squash it.. but there isn’t anything wrong with it.. LOL so.. we put it together and charged it all up and drove it around the store for a week before they made us squash it.. got my favorite coat that way to.. that same coat sells for almost five hundred.. sales were slow.. the slashed them with razors got there refunds from the company and out they went.. you wouldn’t believe the waste.. at grocery store.. that is why they started a deli.. because of the waste that went into the dumpster.. they had meetings on it.. the guy that would buy the dented cans etc.. stopped coming.. MEAT… they would do a weekend cut on friday.. on monday what was left in the coolers for steaks and roasts etc.. was taken out bagged up for employees that wanted a steak and roast bundle and sold at ground round prices.. what wasn’t sold to the employees was ground up for bargain burger.. even today when I do my xmas thing and find someone that has fallen through the cracks.. I go to the grocery stores where I know management .. they make me up a rescue box.. to make sure some family has food.. you wouldn’t believe it.. it is amazing what we waste..
Repeat after me, brother: Ure’s Consumer Super-Saturation-driven phenom.
Grow nowadays is buying EVEN MORE useless shit…
“slashed them with razors got there refunds from the company and out they went.. you wouldn’t believe the waste.. at grocery store.. ”
Yeppers… My local Health Department doesn’t allow dated food to be used to feed the needy. McD and its clones can keep a burger under a heat lamp for 10 minutes, then it becomes waste. The manager of that McD can not walk out the door and hand its 10min burger to a homeless dude. If he does, he will be arrested.
It pisses me off to see the stores toss $10, $12, $16, $25, steaks, preserved turkey or pork, freeze-dried shelf-foods, powdered foods (like cakes & breads), and cheeses. They all do it for the write-off which is also why they no longer grind meat cuts or sell soon-to-expire foods at cost. The store loses less money by letting food rot, than it does by clearancing it out at cost or donating it to food pantries or shelters.
I have seen dumpster areas at places like Big Lots filled with winter coats in March, livingroom suites in August, and “unfashionable” electronics & general furnishings, year ’round. I’ve never stopped in to see if they slit fabrics or cut cords, but I’ve seen more than one Big Lots dumpster area flooded with 1000+ sq.ft. of sofas, chairs, lamps & tables — stuff Republic or Best-Way would need multiple compactors or roll-aways to pick up.
I know their furniture supplier is using poplar instead of oak for frames and something considerably less than #1 maple for exposed wood, and the tables are woodgrain paper over superdense styrofoam, but that stuff would stock an entire neighborhood of LMC livingrooms and make them look nice.
This crap is both immoral and socially wrong…
If’fn you read this, you’ll probably get the impression I’m bitching about IRS regulations and Health Department rules.
Ding, ding, ding…
Zeus’s coloration reminds me of my dearly departed cat and another one I know currently reaching advanced age. It seems that black fading to henna in cats is like graying hair is for humans. I wish him joy from his inner life as his faculties slowly decline. As Henry Makow famously wished: “Many orgasms and a gentle death”. As we gain in age, it seems we also gain in the ability to manifest in some realm between the spiritual and physical. I’ve experienced this and don’t even know what to call it. It also requires more investment in horizontal time.
CURRENT update to my toothache, which was NOT caused by teeth, (though teeth become MORE trouble past 90). Following”divine.inspiration” all went well as that is concerned.
To Hank in Hawaii: I understand your views re Manhattan. Methinks it depends on personality. My son may share your feelings versus, I consider living in Manhattan a fairy tale. I always lived in a neighborhood where I could consider everyone within ¼ mile my friends which, indeed, doesn’t apply to some areas. There’re extreme differences that are presently “not in style” to admit. ;-((
Not being a racist myself I admit to being “race-conscious.” Those who manage to believe that we’re all the same “contribute nothing” to the peaceful co-existence in our society, IMHO!!
To Eleanor: Thank you for your suggestion. That’s exactly why this thread is so valuable; Many honest people sharing their own experiences, thanks to the efforts of gracious GU.
Speaking abt. shorts, the major Indices are still re-testing the January Lows. Maybe a “W” pattern could be forming if the S&P 500 Index can hold above its January Lows, IMHO. However, the “small caps” scream: Slim chance!
Even if everything “goes pots” shares of well managed enterprises have proven their value over time spans of 50 years or longer. THIS IS NOT INVESTMENT ADVICE, just the way I see it.
Blessings to all beyond a 1/4 mile from me!
For those of you unfamiliar with NY City there are many areas in the Metro area, including Manhattan, where the neighborhoods are just like Small Towns. People move onto a block … and live within a block or two of the same block for 40 years, and a high percentage of the people who live in that radius do the same. This applies to large parts of Manhattan as well as the various boroughs
As a result even though overall the metro area is large you SEE and INTERACT with exactly the same people at the market, the deli’s, in the parks down the street, the movie and broadway theaters, and on the sidewalks for DECADES. Much of NYC, unlike LA, is composed of Small Towns that happened to be located right next to each other.
I have never lived in NYC, too fast paced for me, but a number of kids from my midwestern small town high school did go to live in NYC, so I have been visiting the city for decades now. That “neighborhood = a small town” dynamic I did not understand my first couple of trips there, but now it make sense to me. Most of my HS friends eventually burned out on the city, just too high of a paced place for people from a small town background though ALL liked the neighborhoods they settled in, but a few have remained and are there now for life (or until retirement when they will be like millions of other ex-NYer’s and flee the city for the low taxes of Florida … LOL)
Tourists never see the neighborhood dynamic of NY City, but until you understand that you really can’t understand that city at all. Most cities in the US do NOT have that neighborhood dynamic in their high density locations, in the US it really is unique to NY City, although very common in Europe. For me NY City would be a MUCH more livable place than LA, even though in LA you wouldn’t be living on top of each other. IMO only the weather is better in LA, not the people.
Enjoy Choices!! For you NY City, actually your 1/4 mile of it, has obviously been the right choice of a Small Town to live in!!
Kudos, Stephen 2, for a most accurate description of NYC. Those 1/4 miles are where our lives happen, and neither in far-off places like Afghanistan nor Zanzibar, IMHO.
Everyone, “sweep in front of your own place” instead of speculating about the sanity of our (elected?) LEADERS; It’s just my suggestion.
But then — what about ENTERTAINMENT? ;)
I hear ya.. it is like that everywhere.. you live in a neighborhood.. when the SHTF… and with BLM AND ANTIFA.. Defunding the police..
in chicago.. gangs shoot children that wander into the wrong neighborhood.. BLM and ANTIFA did nothing more than turn the neighborhoods over to the gangs to control…
in gated and upper scale neighborhoods.. they have their own police force and security groups patrol.. Local govt. is essentially being dissolved and neighborhoods will be tribalized or sent back to the feudalism state.
https://bizshifts-trends.com/mutation-medieval-feudalism-modern-business-capitalism-rise-neofeudalism-corporate-governance/
I actually was visiting with a gent that is stuck in another state where he was sent to pickup an semi trailer… crime is crazy in the area he is stuck in.. we visited last night about the kids in an area we lived in.. the police were terrified of them.. they terrorized the whole area and believed that anything was theirs.. they would break a store window to take a tv or whatever else they felt was theirs.. they controlled the area.. we see the same thing today.. where Floyd was killed.. you cannot drive through that neighborhood without fear of being shot.. many cities were bad before.. Blm and Antifa made it worse.. and once SHTF .. you won’t travel beyond your area.. govt will be essentially dissolved.. before blm and antifa it was hard to get patrolmen to patrol a high risk area.. now after listening to one officer on tv that just said why take the risk.. and left after what twenty years on the force.. or was it twenty five years..
https://i0.wp.com/bizshifts-trends.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/feudal-thPZK21Z9P.jpg?ssl=1
https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/gang-behavior-law-enforcement-community-values-akerlof-yellen.pdf
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1067&context=cl_pubs
that is also why area’s controlled by the syndicated crime are the safest area’s to go to.. the organization wants people to shop and spend in their area.. so gangs won’t attack them without the permission of the leader.. best policed area’s known.. now see an area where the one you have to answer to is a sixteen year old..
I believe that we are just going back to the way it was..
ever heard the term THOT… what women and girls are referred to in some neighborhoods.. sad but true.. biblical old testimant laws… want it take it..
https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/measuring-rape-against-women-significance-survey-questions-violence
https://www.justice.gov/eoir/page/file/1043576/download
https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=49
I watched a show last night on the oligarch’s in the Ukraine and american involvement because of strategic area and the raw resources that were available for industry.. . it was quite informative and had a lot of information that was mentioned and discussed on the show was known but the depth of the details were skimmed over by western media.. It also answers the question as to why the citizens of the country were tired of it all and wanted help in bringing back order that they had under the soviet rule..
Dam..was it your heart…thank God you took the aspirin..
I had an interesting experience that could have ended badly..
I stopped by Walmart to pick up a prescription.. everyone tells me I am to trusting. I never lock the car doors..grand child in the back and a homeless person jumped in and made me tKe them someplace.. I won’t be a gentleman anymore and will keep the doors locked.
Wow! I like to be trusting and trust those I know. Still, I always lock the car, even if I’m just going inside to pay for gas. I never use a card for gas purchases – far too many bad actors out there, and there’s no reason to let anyone track and trace that easily.
Mostly the homeless folks are harmless, though many times pathetic. There are a few bad dudes, and I’m on high alert if I’m at an ATM for any reason at all. I always walk to it and never drive up. One highly questionable homeless guy did try to intercept me and I almost ran him down. I have no tolerance for aggression.
I’m glad your grandchild is safe!
Choices, I understand the ‘neighborhoods’ in NYC. I spent weekends exploring there back in the 70s when I was in the Army. And I spend four decades living and working in Honolulu which is arguably even more crowded than NYC. But I grew up as a country boy and small towner. You are right… it is a matter of personal preference. I just disliked the crush of too many people, too close together. And I always worried about population density if an economic disaster and collapse occurred… something we are getting ever closer to. I’m happy to have made it to retirement… out in the country, where I can put up ham radio antennas, and not too far from a small town where services of all kinds are available if needed.
Sorry if this was mentioned, but Drudge has the mass arrests of truckers in Canada story “below the fold” as a one liner. That site is no friend of freedom.
Morning George. Nice looking raised beds. I just finished the frame for another raised bed, but this will be mostly pots. Some homemade and some store bought. I just like some things in pot. Garlic chives for instance.
Local news had an article on gardening this morning. https://ticotimes.net/2022/02/19/not-a-gardener-no-space-try-this-simple-at-home-salad-bar
Ever look at companion planting? Here is one that I like. Carrots Love Tomatoes: Secrets of Companion Planting for Successful Gardening Paperback – January 2, 1998
Keep working at it as gardening is good mentally, physically and spiritually.
Cheers
Everytime some electronic gadget or kitchen thing breaks, I put it aside for when the other half wants to shoot a few rounds. Sure, he’s got those paper targets, but nothing is more satisfying than shooting a POS electronics.
When I was raising fish..I had tilapia,fresh water prawns, red claw fresh water lobster, crawdads ..and a couple others.. I would take the water and spray it over the raised beds. Fun Hobbie where I realized.. they became pets..one tilapia got to about 2 ft long and better than 10 lbs. I would collect rainwater.. on the rain water collection barrel I had a 5 gallon 20 micron bio fuel filter.. a few river rocks then charcoal and bioballs on top.. coming out going to the garden I had a pond filter pump.. a large aquarium aerators to keep it oxygenated.. mosquitos like stagnant water the pond filter had uv light.. the rain barrel collection bucket filtermark it out on top and the filter drops right in.. in all the years I did it.. I only had to clean the collection barrel once.. what water that wasn’t used in the garden was recycled back to the rain barrel with a simple shower head to spray the water.. a float switch to a pump from the garden in a tote under the raised beds..
I kind of miss that setup.. 5 minutes of medium rain fall would harvest a thousand gallons of water..I also have a hand pump with a filter system for drinking..
Ah, LOOB, you got my juices flowing again. My volcano ranch was built in ’72 and home to a foreign TV star, I am told. The backyard was an impressive volcanic rock garden. In digging out years (decades?) of jungle invasion, I discovered a nice rock lined fish pond with a water pipe in the center that plumbed back to the foundation slab of the house… just under the water faucet. The fish pond was right next to the garden area that was full of Hawaiian Poi (staple root vegetable). It was clear that the fish pond waste and excess water drained into the garden area next to it. The pond is in ruins now, and needs major rock work repairs, but someday…
Now where is that damn ‘Round ‘Tuit tool I need?
Wazzat a 3/8ths or 1/2-inch round tuit?
The Bigger, the better! Got a six-footer??
https://www.amazon.com/EZ-Strainer-unwanted-Particles-coatings-Silicone/dp/B07DTX5KX5/ref=mp_s_a_1_18?crid=1XZVH6IG6REOD&keywords=bucket+filter+strainer&qid=1645375985&sprefix=bucket+filter+strainer%2Caps%2C149&sr=8-18
This filter is a lot finer than the one I have.. very nice .. once the hole is cut it drops right in ..
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/82683343135251745/
These are what I have.. I had some at first that had 15 inches of depth.. the problem was the shallow depth.. the fence post garden works much better..
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/266908715402066984/
My shallow beds will be changed to gutter gardens this spring..
The big issue Is bees..
George
I bought Stewart’s book about Nostradamus. He talks about aliens and people having desirable spiritual energy. Hahaha. Who would have thought. Without your blog I would have never picked up this piece of the puzzle. 40 hours more of reading. I’m sure I’ll find more gems. Thanks. Great read.
The Queen has COVID. Didn’t Stu say that when the Queen dies, it will be ‘game on’? The Olympics are finished now. TV news immediately afterward is now blaring “Russia OKs Invasion Plans”. The tumblers are all falling into place.
Putin agrees to hold summit.
Lucky to be in long trades on the news. Let’s see if it’s even true and there’s follow through to the upside because I’m not seeing this info anywhere, but here and it’s sketchy:
https://www.forexfactory.com/news/1139809-france-confirms-biden-and-putin-have-agreed-to
Last week the same website did a shots fired news announcement and I was lucky to be in short at the time, but it was short lived.