General Discussions - 2010 - Chapter 29

gourdbeader--that beat all what will you do now for an encore? thanks for that. jim

hehehe, glad you liked it. Its called wishful thinking.
Jim, what part of the country do you live in. You got snow, heh? We had a great day
but I have a cold so I am trying to get rid of it as soon as possible as if I still have it on
my surgery day, they can't operate. I've got 3 weeks to get rid of it. Haven't had one in about
3 years and wouldn't you know it, I get one now. I got it when I went to the Feed and Seed and to the Doctors on Monday. My doctor was sick and the lady at the Feed and Seed had just gotten over walking pneumonia. I have been so isolated away from everyone that I haven't
got any built up immunities.
Oh well, just hope its gone by the 4th.

Jan, did you have any of the shots? Flue, etc. You better do everything you can to get rid of it, from what I am hearing people are having it hang on a long time.

hi gourdbeader zone 5 i well start ws march 15 its not the snow its so cold i wont go . i have to walk blue. jim

Oh yes Jim, I understand the cold. These silly dogs of ours could care less about the cold, rain, snow whatever, just so long as they get their walks. At least thats the way my Wallace feels. He figures the weather has to be better out the front door. If its pouring down rain out the back door he wont go outside but the minute I mention a walk he is amped up and ready to go. Now Phoebe is content to be in her own back yard. She really doesn't enjoy the walks yet. Thats fine as its easier to handle one then two on walks especially when one is constantly going right to left and around my legs. Phew!!!!
come on Spring. I think we all need to do a little sunshine dance. Don't you. With the exception of miss guiltygirl California Sunshine. I am so jealous. I was born in San Diego and I miss the weather alot, but not the population or expense.

I was going to say we spent 2 years in the San Diego area but that's not quite true. My wife spent 2 years there! I spent most of my time in the South China Sea and off the coast of Nam."Bummer!"
I do remember grilling pork chops on Christmas day, one of the few times I was back in port and able to spend time there.
Had one quake while there. I didn't realize it was a quake until I remembered I was home and things weren't supposed to shake.

Yep, I can credit our coming to CA when I was 10, from WI, to my dad being stationed in San Diego in the Navy before I was born. He dreamed of leaving the snow and once he had the opportunity to be transferred here, he vowed to never see the white stuff again. Would not even take us to visit it. Grandparents were considerate enough to die in the summer, so no winter visits there either. Funny after living in Bay Area and Santa Barbara, Daddy was then had a big promotion to a Vice Presidency in NJ. He left the company and got a job in Dallas. Seldom snows there.

Been watering my bales. Do you just water the top or sides also. Figured it was best for sides to remain more intact, to be a shell.

He really did not like the snow did he? LOL A lot of people are like that.

You soak those bales good. Yes, the inside is what you are looking for to decompose. The sides and top won't so much since they are exposed to air. However, they too will decompose over time.

I think you may even benefit from covering the sides so the bales don't loose moisture quit as fast. That could depend on the humidity more than the heat though. There again it is a try and see situation.

Well, when it is warm we are pretty much humidity deprived. One of our seasons is SantaAnaWind aka Fire Season (who said SoCal does not have seasons?) and during that time we can get to single digit humidity. That is usually in late summer though. We do have more rain predicted starting tomorrow (Oops, sorry to those who will receive snow from it when it heads east), so I may even be watering during the rain, if it is not sufficient.

qg; one thing you can do is to find 1 or 2 places that is easy to get your hand into the bale to test for wetness. Possibly when it gets the humidity way down when it is so hot, is to provide a little shade with a roll of nylon screen and some T posts and some wire, to hang it on. so it gets some protection during the hottest part of the day. Not sure on that but remember that my sis had trouble gardening at Lake Elsinore. When her husband retired, they zipped back to Colorado where she knew how and didn't have to deal with the heat and such. At least that is what she claimed.

Oh yeah we have more snow coming but I don't look for any long periods of sub zero temps before we finally get spring weather. However I do remember one time mid March when it got down around 26 below. That was back when we still used ice boxes. Didn't have refrigerator. Ice cost money so we gathered snow to make home made ice cream for my birthday. LOL

Remembering the sometimes length of cold weather in WI, as a kid, I recall Snowsuits and sometimes having to wear them under our Halloween costumes or over our Easter dresses.

I understand Colorado is pretty dry and can be hot in summer, depending on location. I have strung out the bales so they can get the most sun. Our saving grace here is that it cools down at night. We can still be getting 50's at night in June. There are very few, maybe 2 or 3 nights a year when we need to run the AC at night, so the plants do have a cool down period daily.

Ah the cooling down at night is indeed a saving grace, when the humidity is at it's lows.
Wishing you well, send us snowbound gardeners a warm picture of your garden. Maybe old man winter will be shamed into loosening its grip. lol
Russ

I will share my favorite Pumpkin bread recipe with all of you straw bale gardeners.
3 cups sugar
1 cup shortening ( I use veggie oil )
2 cups canned pumpkin ( I put mine up in pint jars just the right amount)
2/3 cups water
3& 1/3 cups sifted flour ( I just use 3 cups, straight from the bag )
2 tsp. soda 1 tsp salt.
If you have pumpkin pie spice it takes 1 & 1/2 tsp

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I use a tsp of Turmeric
1 tsp all spice
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground ginger
about 2 tsp ground cinnamon
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You can see I go a little heavier on the spices but it comes a little closer to pumpkin pie taste for me.
Cream, sugar and shortening.
Stir in pumpkin & water; add the dry ingredients; Mixing well.
Divide between two greased ( cooking spray works ) and sugared,
8 1/2" x 4 1/2" x 3" pans Bake in a moderate oven ( 350 ) for 55 min. or until a tooth pick will come out clean. let the loaves cool a little then enjoy
Wit or without butter MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

There's real world time. And, then there's Hospital Time!

Whew!

Just got home with my 15 daughter after she broke both bones in her left forearm grappling with a larger guy during her juijitsu/mixed-martial arts class around 5:30 p.m. Thursday afternoon. Unforseen training accident that comes with the trials and tribulations of growing up.

She had to have 2 plates screwed in to set the breaks, which seems to be SOP for older teenagers and adults for this type of break.

Proud of her for hanging tough during all this. A few tears from her (and Mom), but they both hung in there pretty good.

Thought we were going to have to spend the night after surgery today, but Docs released her and we high-tailed it to the Pharmacy to get some meds and to a good night's sleep in our own beds.

Unless you're doped up, there is NO REST in a hospital!!! LOL

Wow Kent, that must have been some brake. I haven't heard of them doing anything for breaks any more until the 3rd day or so after the swelling has gone down then they put a cast on.

Are the plates in there for good? Or, no, it sounds like just to hold them in place for how long? Not like Russ's head where he will have the plate forever?

So sorry for your daughter. wow, though, I am impressed that she is into the martial arts. Yes these things do happen. I have granddaughters in cheerleading in Texas and its a big thing in Texas. One of them as already injured her back in a flip through the air and the other had a neck injury from something else. But they love it and they go to competitions all over Texas. Mine was baton twirling. I know its nothing like jujujitsu but its all the in the competion of it. We just hope they make it to adulthood sometimes.
I hope she feels better soon.
Jan

Statistically speaking, cheerleading is THE most dangerous teenage sport. Considering all the sports they participate in, really makes you think twice about signing on that line for the kids to join. My DD had her arm in a cast 3 times in 2 years while still in elementary school. The 3rd time we went to a different hospital - LOL. Niece had the same problem in that she started school 3 years in a row with a cast on. Funny thing our girls broke their wrists and arms doing nothing stuff i.e. falling off a chair), like I did (rolling down the grassy hill in our backyard). Our family needs not to be active in a dangerous activity (I say this to myself while DD is jumping horses).

Great short burst of rain last night got everything wet again. Those near burn areas that had to evacuate in case of another mudslide, did not think it was a good thing and they had a lot more rain.

Wow pins and everything. When I broke both bones in my fore arm 1941
Dad pulled it straight, and put it back in place, tore two slats off an apple basket, used them as a brace. then took me to the DR. No Xray avalible used a box like thing with some kind of lens, they called it a
flur- o-scope, or something like that.It let him kind of see the bones. He told dad he couldn't do any better. so he put it in a cast.
When I went in the service in 1957 one of the questions was, have you had any broken bones. I said yes and told them which arm. They said are you sure, the X ray don't show it.
Hope your daughter has every bit as good a luck!
Broken bones aren't any fun. Even though it's been that long ago, I still remember looking at my arm seeing it with that bend in it, and yes I had a lot of tears in my eyes, at the time.
Wish her all the best, Russ

Hey randbponder, I bet you had to walk ten miles in the snow to school too. No, I am just kidding. It is amazing the different things that they do in medicine now and what they did back then. And whats even more amazing is that what we did back then worked almost as good most of the times.

No not ten miles but to a third or fourth grader 3/4 of a mile in the winter, only to find one of the board members at the country school house, tell you to go back home is a pretty good walk when the roads are drifting shut. And no it wasn't uphill both ways. LOL. Then in the fifth to junior high we had moved. We had a 1/2 mile walk to the school bus stop. Our house was in the center of the section. We had another path through the field going south but it was dirt and also 1/2 mile. Only once did the bus driver feel sorry for me and my younger brother. He drove up to the house and let us out. yeah winter storm, we did appreciate it.
I guess I would have to say We done what we had to then as far as medicine and Drs. What they can do now, back then would have been like science fiction.

We the older generation, could wright s book about our experiences and it would probably go in the fiction section of the library. lol

Thanks, gang, for the well wishes.

DD is doing much better.

Jeanette: the plates and screws are for permanent placement, but Doc said they can be taken out under certain circumstances, but that is not the norm.

I started working on my "troughs" for my bales today. Going to enclose them this year and start recycling my old bales.

I was out looking at my old bales today. I think I am going to start on an area that I haven't been able to work with because it was like cement. I am going to try the lasagna trick. But I forgot to get gypsum. That is suppose to soften it up. Then a layer of wet newspapers, then the old straw, etc.

One gal suggested I plant alfalfa in there 'cause the roots go down and break it up. But I read that the roots were 20 feet or more long.; I don't want to fight with something like that. Peas maybe, legumes. Not vetch I don't think. Any suggestions out there?

I heard white clover is a good cover crop. Grow it, then till it in to enrich the soil. Lasagna gardening sounds very worth it. We cardboard works too, I do not remember gypsum, but I was not reading the articles as in getting ready to do it.

Our rain has passed, not much this time. We know it is finished when they let the folks in the foothills, near the big burn area, go back home from the possible mudslide evacuation. What is it about so many of us that as we are pulled out of disasters (floods, fires, tornados, hurricanes, mudslides) one of the things we say is 'no, I am not moving, I will rebuild right here'! More rain expected next Saturday. Rain is not such a big deal to so many of you, but we get so little of it and for such a short time of the year and have had so little for 3 years, that we do make a big deal about it. Hopefully our underground reservoirs are getting filled, for our wells too. When I talk about conserving water (and watering bales is not), DH always tells me how much water is down there and that we have 65gpm flow. Well yes, back when they put the well in in 2004, but with a couple years drought, who knows what is there now. I have heard of some wells drying up in the county.

I sowed white clover in an area last year. The woman told me to put it on and it would germinate when it was ready. Well, it never got ready. I never saw any.

I read tht gypsum softens the soil. Don't know. I am willing to try anything. I was going to put gypsum down and then the lasagna treatment.

When the government continues to rebuild for people (and I am not necessarily talking about Californians) of course they will not move and rebuild in the same place. I don't know how they get insurance for those areas myself. And when all of those fires down there wipe out so many homes and my insurance premiums go up, I feel like I am being charged to cover their losses. Wouldn't you?

I don't know, I hope you are wrong about the wells running dry. I just think that when water sinks into the ground, whether it is from you watering strawbales or whatever, that it is still going into the aquafirs.

That is what DH says when he hoses off the sidewalk. I understand there are various different aquifers, different locations, different levels. So, when I water our bales, I may be refilling another aquifer. Ours is 365' down. We are at the bottom of the hills, so I am thinking some of the hill water is filling our aquifer...

John Stossel on ABC did a show once on how people who build in questionable areas get $$ from the government to rebuild, and they do, then it happens all over again. He said, even knowing how unfair it is, when his oceanfront house on Long Island, I believe, was destroyed by a storm, he used government money to rebuild in the same place.

That is exactly what they do. Sure made me mad when I saw that and then my premiums went up when I had never had a claim on them after over 40 years with them. 2 different houses. Plus all the vehicles of mine they have and have had.

You are right about the aquifers. Different depths, sizes, etc. That is strange that yours is so deep being on the bottom of the hill. But, that hill probably isn't a drop in the bucket to the total depth. Did you say you are on a well? Would you believe our state wanted to put meters on all the private wells last year? Boy, after what it costs to drill one? And they don't supply an alternative. The people would really be up in arms over that one.

A friend of mine, didn't like the cost of city water and I will say it was high. He knew the water table was high, so in his basement he punched a hole in the floor and drove a sand point down. connected a pump and pressure tank up and used that for the toilet, the cold water for the washing machine, and watering the lawn. He later moved out of that town, as other taxes just kept going up by leaps and bounds.
don't know what his water and other taxes run now but he lives at Iowa's great lakes. We try to get together at least once a year. He's retired too.
If they put meters on our wells, I would do the same. I still have the well we had when we bought the property. but it needed to have the pipe and sand point pulled and replaced. but I could pull the old pump jack off and run a plastic pipe down the old pipe that leaked and use it that way. I don't think I have to worry about that at least not for a few years yet.

Not too many places your friend can go that taxes and cost of living aren't going to go up fast. So, he had his own little aquifer. Pretty good. Did he have to put some kind of filter on it? I would imagine if he was doing the laundry with it. The toilets and lawn watering wouldn't much care.

Do you have a discount on your taxes for seniors Russ? We do, as far as levys etc. go. We still have to pay all the things like library, fire, etc. It's not a big break, but some. Your taxes don't go up from what they were the day you turned 62 or 65, or whatever they were when you bought the house.

My property taxes have doubled since buying this property. But they are nothing like in the city. There isn't a cap on them either. I can dispute them as long as I do it before June. However you never know what they have done until Aug. or Sept. If I thought I could get enough for it I would sell and move to South Dakota. No Property tax there. And it is only 30 miles from here. I haven't checked out the pluses or minuses though. And I doubt I could get enough out of this anyway, unless the job situation improved a whole bunch.

Very interesting. How long have you had it? Well, start your pros and cons lists Russ. Just something to think about while you are shoveling to feed the goats. LOL

quiltygirl wrote;"What is it about so many of us that as we are pulled out of disasters (floods, fires, tornados, hurricanes, mudslides) one of the things we say is 'no, I am not moving, I will rebuild right here'!"

No idea, but I think it has to do with just being stubborn, or loving where you live, or simply hating change :). I know that after my house went down to a series of hurricanes, I had every intention of rebuilding. The question is, indeed, why?? I HATED Florida. Where I lived had gone from being a bunch of misfits on several miles of dirt roads to being "part" of a very upscale "Equestrian Community". Property taxes had more than tripled. After 30 years, I was so tired of sweating for 11 months of the year. But I designed my "new" home.
No-one wanted to build it for me. It was too small, and they had plenty of people building BIG houses, much more profit. So, as was meant to be, I began to think about moving somewhere I actually wanted to live. Even that changed, but not by much.
And I'm here forever, or at least "my" forever. I hope.
The hurricanes, rough as that whole time was, were the best thing that ever happened to me. Even if it took three of them (and two years of a FEMA trailer) to get the whole thing thru my head....

Yup. Stubborn. Stupid also comes to mind.

Boy Cat, 2 years? 2 months would have done me I think. Maybe not. Easy to say huh?

Could age have anything to do with it? LOL, no, I don't know how old you are, and I am not asking. You don't necessarily have to be old to be wise-r.

Russ, if SD doesn't have property taxes they must have a pretty high sales tax? How else do they pay for things? Somebody's gotta do it. Or, are they like a few other states I won't name and dirt poor.

We lived in a small 24ft (no slide-outs) 5th wheel trailer for 4.5 years! No, not FEMA, but by choice (at least in the beginning) while we built homes for others. We started out with the thought that our home was going to be one of the 3 adjacent properties we bought. We had one of those storage containers onsite as extra pantry, closet, and general storage. My car trunk was our hamper and my quilt supply storage. Our daughter was 4.5 years old when we started and we had 2 cats. At one time or another during that time we did a year of home schooling, ran our business from there and used it as a job trailer. Our Christmas 'tree' was 15" tall, lol. There is no way, at this point, that any of us, including the dog we acquired during the stay, would go anywhere in a RV. But, it has only been 7 years since we moved out!! When we were living on the middle lot, DD and I started to start a veggie garden. The ground was so hard, we lost interest and I just stayed with potted plants on the patio we put in.

Hey Russ, I have been close to your neck of the woods, a couple times. When I was a buyer for an Oil Company I went to Orange City, to K-Promotions (their primary employer apparently). The first time they flew me in on their corporate jet and the next time I flew into Sioux City and out of Sioux Falls.. First time was in late spring and everything was such a lovely green. Loved the small town friendliness. The second time was in February with all the snow. Had to go out to buy a coat to take! One the drive from Orange City to Sioux Falls it was so windy, the snow was blowing sideways across the road. As a kid in WI, I never had to deal with the business side of snow, it was just fun. I also do not remember having any days off for snow. I did walk through drifts to deliver girl scout cookies!

Jeanette; I'm not sure on where all they get their money. One other thing comes to mind, could it possibly be that they spend wisely????
I doubt that but they must be doing something different.
We have been here just over thirty years. I like the soil, for a garden. Most of our children are within a few miles and the same with the grand kids. With the exception of our oldest or first granddaughter in Washington. I don't like it too hot I don't like it too cold. I think I may be too old to think about Redoing another place. Don't know!! Guess I'm just stuck in a snow bank. lol
BTW here's Barb a wavin at ya just at the NW corner of our house.

Yep quilty Orange City isn't far from here. It is a dutch settlement, nice clean town, Sioux Falls is about 100 miles north.

Well, they still have to get the $ to spend wisely, and if they don't have a property tax they probably have a state income tax and/or sales tax. There are those 3 things. Fine to spend it wisely, but I would like to know where and how much each item is. I was always told you can't live on love.

Many years ago, like in 1973, I had an agent call our office and I answered the phone. He was thinking about applying for a job in Seattle. He asked me if we had a state income tax and I told him no, and we weren't likely to ever have one. Well, to this day we still don't. However, we do have a high sales tax 8%, except on food and drugs, and a property tax. So, you see, they are going to get it somewhere.

And of course when you figure in all of the other taxes like gas, booze, cigarettes, vehicles, boats, hunting, fishing, building, burning, and on and on. yes, I know they call some permits, some licenses, some "fees", but they are all taking money out of your pocket for something, so as far as I am concerned they are taxes

Nothing in this life is free. If you want those roads, parks, fish management, etc, the money is going to come from some place. Smart, wise, etc. is wishful thinking I suppose and in the eye of the beholder. What you would like your money spent on may be a waste in my opinion, and vice versa.

Tell Barb I'm waving back. One of these days I just might do that. I just bought a new camera. Gotta learn to use it. I really want to learn to use at least some of it's features. I can set it for automatic and take a picture, but I want to do more than that some of the time.
.

But Russ, 30 miles isn't really that much farther to drive. Not like you are going to drive it twice a day to and from work.

Also, you could look for a place that doesn't have so much work. You don't need to grow produce for everyone in the county. It's nice, but. . . . . . . Move a little closer to medical facilities maybe.

I think a half an acre fairly close in to other people and shopping, medical etc. would be really ideal. That is big enough for a garden, chix if you want, even a cow or those little goats you have. Depending of course, on codes.

I

Got most of my panels made to enclose my bales this year. I'm taking a vacation day tomorrow to try and finish them up.

I want to have my bales out w/in the next 2 weeks to get them on the "slow-cooking" path.

Gardening season won't get here fast enough to suit me.

Those look pretty snazzy Kent. So, what are you going to put them together with, just the maybe rebar stakes or something like that? What are you going to do in between where you aren't going to have the sides? I know, potatoes!!

Using 3 inch exterior screws. Works like a charm.

I'll board up the ends and have a cross piece every so often.

Planning to use some surveying stakes at the bottoms to keep the panels straight.