i've been spoiled by this past few weeks of
nicer weather. i knew it couldn't last forever,
but it sure was nice to have extra days to get
the gardens put up for the winter and to putter
around.

now, we're getting a nice gentle blanket of
snow drifting down, on the fringes of the worst
of it as places further south have gotten quite
a bit more.

we did get out for a walk this morning before
it got too slippery on the road.

the temperatures are supposed to get back up
in the mid 40s again at some point -- perhaps
i'll be able to get some of those apple saplings
moved after all. we'll see...


songbird

On 11/21/2015 3:06 PM, songbird wrote:
i've been spoiled by this past few weeks of
nicer weather. i knew it couldn't last forever,
but it sure was nice to have extra days to get
the gardens put up for the winter and to putter
around.

now, we're getting a nice gentle blanket of
snow drifting down, on the fringes of the worst
of it as places further south have gotten quite
a bit more.

we did get out for a walk this morning before
it got too slippery on the road.

the temperatures are supposed to get back up
in the mid 40s again at some point -- perhaps
i'll be able to get some of those apple saplings
moved after all. we'll see...


songbird

We had a couple of hours of rain this morning, current temperature is
66F, wx folk say 36 by tomorrow morning. I will wait and see. So far we
are using neither ac or heat, house lows are about 71F at 0600 so no
need to turn the heat on. AC guy is coming tomorrow for the six month
check-up and replacing the HEPA filters. It is nice to see the utility
bills for the last two months have been a bit cheaper.

Picked all sweet chiles and eggplant today, what's left of the cherry
tomatoes can get frozen for all I care. Fall garden is producing
radishes, several varieties of greens. Cabbage nor broccoli are heading
yet but we planted a little late for here due to the heat. Kumquats are
almost ready to pick but is going to be a scant crop.

George

George Shirley wrote:
....
We had a couple of hours of rain this morning, current temperature is
66F, wx folk say 36 by tomorrow morning. I will wait and see. So far we
are using neither ac or heat, house lows are about 71F at 0600 so no
need to turn the heat on. AC guy is coming tomorrow for the six month
check-up and replacing the HEPA filters. It is nice to see the utility
bills for the last two months have been a bit cheaper.

yeah, we too have really enjoyed not having to run
the heating that much the past several weeks. it's
like being given a gift from Momma Nature saying, "Hey
you don't need to do anything special but enjoy the
day." and we surely have been.

i sure hope the cold doesn't get that far south this
early...


Picked all sweet chiles and eggplant today, what's left of the cherry
tomatoes can get frozen for all I care. Fall garden is producing
radishes, several varieties of greens. Cabbage nor broccoli are heading
yet but we planted a little late for here due to the heat. Kumquats are
almost ready to pick but is going to be a scant crop.

i haven't had any eggplant in quite some time. i
used to eat it regularly and liked it about any way
it was cooked. many Middle East foods had some sort
of combinations i could whip up. roasted and mixed
with tahini and garlic and whatever else was handy
sometimes chick peas and lemon juice. other times
mint and yogurt. making myself hungry...

i guess with the cold that will be the end of
the eggplant?

a lot more snow came down and we'll be getting
the shovel out tomorrow. good, i like the
exercise if the wind doesn't get too ferocious.
if it is i wait and let it blow away instead as
much as possible.

made up two new worm buckets today which are
going to be sent to a friend's garden for the
spring planting. a bit late, but whatever can
be done for their garden soil will help as it's
so poor and sandy. too bad they won't keep
their own worm bins as they cook a lot of their
meals and could use those scraps for worm food.


songbird

On 11/21/2015 9:49 PM, songbird wrote:
George Shirley wrote:
...
We had a couple of hours of rain this morning, current temperature is
66F, wx folk say 36 by tomorrow morning. I will wait and see. So far we
are using neither ac or heat, house lows are about 71F at 0600 so no
need to turn the heat on. AC guy is coming tomorrow for the six month
check-up and replacing the HEPA filters. It is nice to see the utility
bills for the last two months have been a bit cheaper.

yeah, we too have really enjoyed not having to run
the heating that much the past several weeks. it's
like being given a gift from Momma Nature saying, "Hey
you don't need to do anything special but enjoy the
day." and we surely have been.

i sure hope the cold doesn't get that far south this
early...


Picked all sweet chiles and eggplant today, what's left of the cherry
tomatoes can get frozen for all I care. Fall garden is producing
radishes, several varieties of greens. Cabbage nor broccoli are heading
yet but we planted a little late for here due to the heat. Kumquats are
almost ready to pick but is going to be a scant crop.

i haven't had any eggplant in quite some time. i
used to eat it regularly and liked it about any way
it was cooked. many Middle East foods had some sort
of combinations i could whip up. roasted and mixed
with tahini and garlic and whatever else was handy
sometimes chick peas and lemon juice. other times
mint and yogurt. making myself hungry...
I have a lot of eggplant recipes if you need some. Lived five years in
Saudi Arabia and learned to really like the eggplant recipes there. Wife
makes a lot of zucchini and/or eggplant fritters using rice as a base.
We make big batches during the growing season then let them cool and
vacuum pack them for the freezer

i guess with the cold that will be the end of
the eggplant?
Only got to about 40F early this morning and the eggplant leaves are
curling. Suspect they will be gone by tomorrow as the temps for tonight
are going to be in the freezing range.

a lot more snow came down and we'll be getting
the shovel out tomorrow. good, i like the
exercise if the wind doesn't get too ferocious.
if it is i wait and let it blow away instead as
much as possible.

made up two new worm buckets today which are
going to be sent to a friend's garden for the
spring planting. a bit late, but whatever can
be done for their garden soil will help as it's
so poor and sandy. too bad they won't keep
their own worm bins as they cook a lot of their
meals and could use those scraps for worm food.


songbird

We put earthworms in some of our beds but haven't seen any of them
lately. May have to get a new start from our daughter's worm pit. I'm
wearing long pants and a long sleeved shirt for the first time this
year. Feels strange not to be wearing shorts and a tee.

Derald wrote:
We've had a couple days of off/on "technical" rain with another promised
for tomorrow (Sun 21 Nov) then clearing and a bit cooler with a couple
of nights in the 40's (F). No snow.

just enough to get things wet, but not enough
to do much good?

we have bright sun today, cool, clear, chances
of more snow, but nothing too major, went out to
check out what i thought i saw were mouse tracks
going from one of the front yard planters to my
car (which i'm still trapping mice in even after
plugging all holes i could find they could be
getting in...). unfortunately, not enough snow
under the car so that i could track them further
to where they're going in. in a bit i'll go out
and shovel the drive and then move that planter
and see how much of a nest or food store they
might have under it. if i can't get them at one
end, i'll get them at the other.

the rumors that Bounce fabric softener sheets
will keep them away is unfounded. the car smells
better than dead mouse now, but it also stinks of
Bounce which is rather horrid. oh well, i don't
use it that often anyways. which is why it gets
mice in it to begin with.


songbird

George Shirley wrote:
....
I have a lot of eggplant recipes if you need some. Lived five years in
Saudi Arabia and learned to really like the eggplant recipes there. Wife
makes a lot of zucchini and/or eggplant fritters using rice as a base.
We make big batches during the growing season then let them cool and
vacuum pack them for the freezer

heh, that's ok, can't get Ma to eat it and so don't
ever buy it any more.

....
Only got to about 40F early this morning and the eggplant leaves are
curling. Suspect they will be gone by tomorrow as the temps for tonight
are going to be in the freezing range.

it's been below freezing here overnight and into
today. i did get the drive shovelled (about 30
minutes worth so not a whole lot by the time i got
out there most of it was melted by the sun and
residual heat in the cement).

tracked the mouse trail from the car to off
where i was hoping it was a food store that i
could root out, but the trail actually went
much further and i could not follow it to any
place notable. so the mystery continues as
the mouse traps inside the car had no new mice
in them.


....i wrote...:
made up two new worm buckets today which are
going to be sent to a friend's garden for the
spring planting. a bit late, but whatever can
be done for their garden soil will help as it's
so poor and sandy. too bad they won't keep
their own worm bins as they cook a lot of their
meals and could use those scraps for worm food.

We put earthworms in some of our beds but haven't seen any of them
lately. May have to get a new start from our daughter's worm pit. I'm
wearing long pants and a long sleeved shirt for the first time this
year. Feels strange not to be wearing shorts and a tee.

the worms tend to hide from heat and cold
extremes as well as any dry spells. so if your
garden raised beds are not very thick then the
worms will often wander off to other places...

it has taken me years to get some worm
populations established in the few raised beds
here and they are not nearly as many as what
the regular gardens support. we have a lot of
clay in our soil here too, so i always bury
plenty of organic matter down deep so the worms
have places to hide and stuff to feed on during
the hot and cold parts of the season.

in putting the gardens up this fall i've seen
plenty of good signs that what i'm doing is
working. worm life and soil diversity of
critters is doing better and only one garden
showed signs of needing more TLC by being a
little sour smelling. it was next on my list
of major amendment gardens anyways so i've now
put down quite a bit of organic matter fairly
deep to help with the drainage, airation and
of course worm food.

we had shorts and tee shirt weather a few
weeks ago... gives us something to look
forwards too for the next season. haha!
my eyes! my eyes!


songbird

On 11/23/2015 9:44 AM, songbird wrote:
George Shirley wrote:
...
I have a lot of eggplant recipes if you need some. Lived five years in
Saudi Arabia and learned to really like the eggplant recipes there. Wife
makes a lot of zucchini and/or eggplant fritters using rice as a base.
We make big batches during the growing season then let them cool and
vacuum pack them for the freezer

heh, that's ok, can't get Ma to eat it and so don't
ever buy it any more.

...
Only got to about 40F early this morning and the eggplant leaves are
curling. Suspect they will be gone by tomorrow as the temps for tonight
are going to be in the freezing range.

it's been below freezing here overnight and into
today. i did get the drive shovelled (about 30
minutes worth so not a whole lot by the time i got
out there most of it was melted by the sun and
residual heat in the cement).

tracked the mouse trail from the car to off
where i was hoping it was a food store that i
could root out, but the trail actually went
much further and i could not follow it to any
place notable. so the mystery continues as
the mouse traps inside the car had no new mice
in them.


...i wrote...:
made up two new worm buckets today which are
going to be sent to a friend's garden for the
spring planting. a bit late, but whatever can
be done for their garden soil will help as it's
so poor and sandy. too bad they won't keep
their own worm bins as they cook a lot of their
meals and could use those scraps for worm food.

We put earthworms in some of our beds but haven't seen any of them
lately. May have to get a new start from our daughter's worm pit. I'm
wearing long pants and a long sleeved shirt for the first time this
year. Feels strange not to be wearing shorts and a tee.

the worms tend to hide from heat and cold
extremes as well as any dry spells. so if your
garden raised beds are not very thick then the
worms will often wander off to other places...

it has taken me years to get some worm
populations established in the few raised beds
here and they are not nearly as many as what
the regular gardens support. we have a lot of
clay in our soil here too, so i always bury
plenty of organic matter down deep so the worms
have places to hide and stuff to feed on during
the hot and cold parts of the season.

in putting the gardens up this fall i've seen
plenty of good signs that what i'm doing is
working. worm life and soil diversity of
critters is doing better and only one garden
showed signs of needing more TLC by being a
little sour smelling. it was next on my list
of major amendment gardens anyways so i've now
put down quite a bit of organic matter fairly
deep to help with the drainage, airation and
of course worm food.

we had shorts and tee shirt weather a few
weeks ago... gives us something to look
forwards too for the next season. haha!
my eyes! my eyes!


songbird

Forecast for this morning was 36F, ended up being 40F. Turned the heat
on yesterday evening, came on about 0200 this morning and ran a bit.
House is well insulated so only needed a little burst of heat.

We're replacing the roof on this poorly made house. Two hail storms and
cheap shingles don't mix well. Taking off the metal roof vents and
putting in ridge vents, thirty year shingles, and heavier "tar paper" to
stop any more hail storms from doing damage. Fairly reasonable price for
this area. Hoping to get started soon, just waiting for the contractor
to come by and pick up the agreement. He gets paid after I inspect the
done job. Of course I will have my middle grandson inspect as I don't
climb well anymore plus grandson worked a few years as a roofer.
Nowadays he's an elevator mechanic. Was a welder for a while, did lots
of odd jobs so now he's our go to guy for most anything. It helps that's
he's 6' 5" tall and weighs well over 200 lbs and has a good work ethic.