Remote
955_36
@955_36@sfba.social
mastodon 4.7.3Retired photographer and web designer, who had a side gig of fire inspector after being a volunteer firefighter/EMT for 15 years. Been restoring an 1888 Victorian, and spending my retirement trying to garden in between floods and learning to play guitar, bass, and keyboards again, as well as picking up mandolin. Once in a while I still get my last motorcycle out of the garage. Still married to my high school sweetheart. Sharing our home with 3 cats, Mr. Bingley, Mr. Darcy, and George.
95 Followers
39 Following
50 Posts
Joined November 05, 2022
Political:
Liberal atheist
Hobbies:
House restoration, gardening, motorcycling, and trying to learn guitar again
I was not expecting to see any hollyhock blooms this year. I started three different seed packets of hollyhocks in the greenhouse this spring, taking that approach because the seedlings are so hard to differentiate from the abundant mallow weeds in our yard.
They were transplanted into the border a month ago and I was surprised when one grouping started sending up flower stalks. I had always thought of hollyhocks as biennials, but apparently there are also perennial forms that will bloom the first year. So lucky me.
At least the onions were a success this year. We will have plenty to donate to the food bank again.
Mt. Darcy's latest relaxation spot is the basket we use for our guitar music. Perfect fit, so why not?
Note to self: Once they are established rip up all but two cucumber plants. Last year I had trouble getting any of them to grow so I kind of went overboard this year.
Today, I just harvested 100lbs of them. Off to the food bank they go.
Our 26 year old washing machine finally became unrepairable, so this morning was spent installing the Maytag.
Reading the instructions (I know, as a male I'm supposed to skip that step) I came across this beauty. This is why our country elected a criminal and 35% still thinks he's a great guy.
Pumpkin spider season has officially begun. Just got a face full of web going out the front gate. Time to start waving a stick like a crazy man whenever I’m walking around the garden.
Mr. Darcy (on the right) was determined to sleep on my wife's lap this morning, even though it was already occupied by Mr. Bingley. It looked like a scuffle might ensue but they both settled down. They're enjoying listening to Lamb Dies Down on Broadway.
Stop donating to DNC and candidates. You want to do some good? Donate to ACLU, Indivisible, and other organizations that are working to protect the vote.
Mr. Darcy checking in on his latest social media campaign. He's surprised it hasn't gone completely viral yet.
There’s nothing like shelling peas to make you feel like you’ve travelled back to the 1800s.
I love finding these little guys out in the yard, knowing that some of our polywogs made it this far. This little tree frog is about the size of my thumbnail and given his diminutive size, it’s already done a bit of traveling from our frog pond where it was likely born. Also, it’s already learned how not to be seen, changing color to perfectly match the leaves.
Replying to
@foaylward@genomic.social That's a fine capture of a Western White Bellied Seedsucker in it's native habitat.
My sister is in town for the agility trials with her two Belgium Tervurens. While the dogs are safely out of the house, Mr. Bingley couldn't resist using Elsa's carrier for a morning nap. It is after all, a box.
Replying to
@NorcalGma2@sfba.social Social media is not the place to decide where to spend your charitable donations. I would just block, move on and not give their scammy messages another thought.
RE: @Dhmspector@mastodon.social
First time he’s told the truth since he’s been in office.
Is that blue sky I'm seeing out there? Boy it seems like a long time. Cueing up Mr. Blue SKy right now.
I'd say that one foxglove is a bit of an over achiever.
#bloomScrolling
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@NorcalGma2 I'll save a place on the sidewalk tomorrow just in case. Hoping things calm down for you. I was looking forward to your wildflower photos from South Fork. Maybe I'll go hunt some down on the motorcycle this week.
I will never forget that Lindsey Graham tweeted this back in 2016. Then one day after playing golf with Trump, he had his head so far up Trump's ass that the only possible explanation is that Trump held a secret over Graham that was much, much worse than him just being gay.
My guess is whatever it was, it happened on Epstein island. They didn't just serve up little girls.
#LindseyGraham
Mr. Bingley, our grey tuxedo cat has a bigger amp than the one I just bought off Craigslist. I've been searching for a small practice amp that has two inputs so Lori and I can play in the sunroom where it's generally a lot warmer and lighter than the room with all the rest of our equipment. This little Peavey fit the bill perfectly.
It's relaxing to know that the water system our house is supplied by is simply a reservoir in the hills that gravity feeds our water tank. Pretty sure it can't be hacked by people that Trump illegally bombed.
A small gift when there's so many other things to be worrying about.
Replying to
@NorcalGma2@sfba.social At Sunday's protest, an 11 year old boy riding his bicycle crossed the street to see what our little protest was about. We all had a great conversation, and he was pretty smart for an 11 year old. Gave me a good feeling to know that with some, critical thinking is still alive.
Made my first batch of pickle relish from the garden today. If you don't hear from me again, that may be why.
Replying to
@NorcalGma2 Looks great! That's going to be one special jacket when you're all done with it.
Blue Shield started requiring my wife to get her prescriptions from Amazon, which we really hate because Bezos doesn't need to be making more billions off of every sick person in America.
But likely due to climate change, Amazon now ships her ounce of meds in a box with 7lbs of ice bags, inside an insulated bag, inside a large cardboard box. How this saves any money from her going to her local pharmacy that supports our community, I don't know.
It does create a bunch more physical waste we have to dispose of, as well as the extra energy to create, and transport all those extra materials.
The worst part? When I opened the insulated bag to pull out the medicine, it was hotter inside the bag than in my kitchen. The ice bags weren't even cool, they were hot.
So what exactly was the point of all that waste?
Replying to
@NorcalGma2@sfba.social Everything looking a lot happier here too. Including me. Everything seems easier to handle with a couple of sunny days.
I do need to start over with my peppers. Just noticed today that slugs had a fest in the greenhouse last night. I don't know how farmers don't end up going crazy. There's so much that can go wrong before it ends up on your plate.
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@NorcalGma2 Is this a really bad year for weeds? It sure seems like it at my house. I started a garden diary this year and most days the entry is "pulled weeds". Usually about 3 wheelbarrow loads before I give up.
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@mattblaze That rotating antennae and the ever present P-3 Orions flying overhead were constant reminders that I grew up in the Cold War era. Even so, I never feared Russia attacking us as much as I fear Trump today.
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@NorcalGma2@sfba.social Two days of partial sun, and my veggie garden is actually growing. Amazing, hope we see more.
Awesome sunset photo.
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@Bronwyn@sfba.social I wish progressive groups would stop using Google docs to spread their info. There's no reason that doc couldn't be a web page or a PDF.
I'm a firm believer in not voting for billionaires for the same reasons this document lays out. Hadn't heard about the hand symbol. Seems dumb (everything religious is dumb) no matter how you look at it.
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@carolannie@c.im My favorite wildflower patch is a meadowfull of deep blue Camassia. I've purchased and tried growing them at my house, unfortunately with no luck. A full meadow of Camassia is a site to behold.
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@carolannie@c.im Here's a photo of the meadow I was referring to. I love how these two flowers compliment each other. The Camassia prefers the soggier bottom of the bowl, while the yellow flowers prefer the slopes. Very little overlap which shows how plants are really adapted to specific conditions.
Replying to
@Mikal@sfba.social You're living in a freakin' zoo. A dangerous one, but still pretty cool.
I saw a bobcat once when I was out photographing in the wilderness. It clambered up on a big rock I was standing on, and my first thought was it was the cutest thing I'd ever seen. Then I started worrying where it's mother was. Unfortunately it scampered off before I could get the camera out of my backpack.
Today I was moving a roll of some landscape fabric today that's been sitting outside. I unrolled some of it to dry out and disturbed two lizards. Thought of you and your lizards, wishing I had some mealworms for them. They were the biggest lizards I've seen around here, maybe 8-10". Never seen a pair around here before. I hope I didn't disturb anything.
I sure wish horsetails were either pretty or edible. Hours and hours of work in the veggie garden so far this spring and the horsetails seem to be the only thing doing well. I'm spending about an hour a day hoeing them down. That's how fast they grow back.
Have I mentioned I absolutely hate horsetails?
Replying to
@NorcalGma2 They did. Found three deer that spent the night in my rose garden. Argh!
When I chased them out, they ran through the deer fence like it wasn't even there. I don't know how they do that.
Replying to
@mattblaze It's a shame they didn't leave the dish installed. That was such an icon growing up in south San Jose.
Replying to
@mattblaze@federate.social I know of Le Corbusier more for his famous lounge chair than his architecture. I was blown away when I found out it was first designed in 1928. Way ahead of it's time and still looked modern when I first discovered them in the 1980s. Still looks modern almost 100 years later.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaise_Longue_(Le_Corbusier)
This little piece of gravel is the cause of my major depression yesterday. I've been working on installing a new water tank for like two weeks now, interrupted by a willow tree falling down on the whole project. Because of the scope of this project I've had to turn off our water supply (private water company) and drain the tank at times to work on portions of the system.
Yesterday, when I went to turn the pump back on it kept cycling on and off in an odd manor. Frustrated I shut everything off and thinking I really screwed up I figured it was time to call a plumber.
Just now I was explaining the situation to my wife and it dawned on me what the problem must be.
Took the check valve out and inspected it, and sure enough this tiny piece of gravel was what took the system down.
With that, my plumbing confidence is restored and I'm ready to tackle the rest of the job.
Replying to
@superflippy@mastodon.xyz Interesting design, I've never seen one like that before. How does it work without sound holes? Is it purely electric?
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@Beachbum@mastodon.sdf.org @bucachowchow@mstdn.party @lednaBM@stranger.social @heidilifeldman@mastodon.social That's why I hold Mitch McConnell as the most guilty party in all this. He held out the nomination that was due for Obama to make it a critical choice in who to vote for. A lot of Republican's didn't want to vote for Trump, but they sure wanted that Supreme Court nominee.
Without the shenanigan's that McConnell pulled, we never would have had a Trump 1.0.
Replying to
@Oldfartrant How is a payment suspicious? Are there scammers out there that actually deposit money into random peoples accounts?
If I go to a typical casino and play the slots, I can expect to lose 5% of my money on average.
On the other hand, if I enter one of my photos in the Humboldt County Fair, and manage to win first place, I would still lose 20% of my money.
Entry fee is $10, first place prize is a whopping $8.
That doesn't even count the cost of printing, matting, and framing the image, which often runs $60 to $100.
If the fair wants to encourage professional photographers to exhibit, they need to make it worth their while.
Having the first place prize less than the entry fee is an insult.
I love this view of our rose garden so much that I installed a Victorian style cast iron bench in this corner so I could sit and admire it when my weeding is done.
The combover is no longer working, so he's gone full toupee.