It's rolled in, and we're still walking around.
Sunny, chilly day up here at the Edge of the Wrong Rock. The garden sleeps beneath a bed of frost. My Other Blog (you know how to find it) is receiving more attention, but this one is not forgotten.
There's a fire in the wood stove. As I type this, I have a cup of tea near (but not too near) my left hand. The house is cozy.
Later, if I feel up to it, we may walk to the lighthouse at Point Wilson. It would be good to breathe fresh air, stretch the legs, and (if the sky stays clear) to let some natural photons into the eyes.
Carry On
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Thursday, December 2, 2010
New Website, Weather, Food
Well, for those of you who know its domain name, I wanted to let you know that I've revamped my website. I've pulled it off the local hosting service and moved it over to my "mobile.me" account w/ Apple. That restricts the tools I can use to build and update the site, but it saves me $260 per year, so it's more than worth it.
If you follow the blog on my website, you'll need to re-subscribe to the RSS feed. I plan to post there mostly, but there will be little stuff of a personal nature there. I tend to focus that site more on my writing... especially the fiction.
The cold snap reached near Colorado-cold temps. Local roads closed. Snow, etc., but we're through with that storm. Now it's cold, but not terribly so. Winter Solstice is in a couple of weeks. Sheesh.
Made a pretty decent enchilada casserole a couple of nights ago. Angel is off taking a yoga class, and I'm planning to heat up some of that casserole for dinner. Yes, it should be tasty. Hatch enchilada sauce is available hear at The Edge. That's nice. It'd dark up here during the winter. The chile reminds us of the sun.
If you follow the blog on my website, you'll need to re-subscribe to the RSS feed. I plan to post there mostly, but there will be little stuff of a personal nature there. I tend to focus that site more on my writing... especially the fiction.
The cold snap reached near Colorado-cold temps. Local roads closed. Snow, etc., but we're through with that storm. Now it's cold, but not terribly so. Winter Solstice is in a couple of weeks. Sheesh.
Made a pretty decent enchilada casserole a couple of nights ago. Angel is off taking a yoga class, and I'm planning to heat up some of that casserole for dinner. Yes, it should be tasty. Hatch enchilada sauce is available hear at The Edge. That's nice. It'd dark up here during the winter. The chile reminds us of the sun.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Cold Weather
Well, it was inevitable, I suppose. Our daytime temps are now 38 degrees Obsolete. Nighttime gets near freezing and is forecasted to drop below several times this week.
The good part of this is the enjoyment of the fires in the wood stove. Our tiny Jotul stove burns cheerily, fueled by wood harvested from our property. In the course of a day, the stove makes the whole house comfortable; although we do run the modern heat pump to make the bedroom zone comfortable for about an hour in the morning.
I've taken to peeling the bark from our firewood, splitting the pieces to a good size for the Jotul, and stacking the wood on the front porch. That way the wood can dry (it's been raining here at the 48th parallel) before I try to burn it in the stove. In an hour or so, I can prep and stack enough wood for three days. There is enough firewood already cut and rough split for at least two years. There are stacked but un-split rounds for another three, I think.
That's all the good news.
The bad part of all this is, naturally, the dormant state of greenhouse and garden. I've shut off the water, drained the pipes down to the level of the hose bib, and removed the drip system "assembly" from the exterior wall of the greenhouse. Angel harvested the last of the fruit and vegetables from the greenhouse and cut the plants down to stubs.
If you don't think that is a sign of winter's proximity... well, I don't know what to tell you.
But the soil needs to rest, so perhaps this -- even the winter sleep -- is a good thing. Yes. It must be a good thing. But I'll tell you, I still miss the heat of the greenhouse on a July afternoon.
The good part of this is the enjoyment of the fires in the wood stove. Our tiny Jotul stove burns cheerily, fueled by wood harvested from our property. In the course of a day, the stove makes the whole house comfortable; although we do run the modern heat pump to make the bedroom zone comfortable for about an hour in the morning.
I've taken to peeling the bark from our firewood, splitting the pieces to a good size for the Jotul, and stacking the wood on the front porch. That way the wood can dry (it's been raining here at the 48th parallel) before I try to burn it in the stove. In an hour or so, I can prep and stack enough wood for three days. There is enough firewood already cut and rough split for at least two years. There are stacked but un-split rounds for another three, I think.
That's all the good news.
The bad part of all this is, naturally, the dormant state of greenhouse and garden. I've shut off the water, drained the pipes down to the level of the hose bib, and removed the drip system "assembly" from the exterior wall of the greenhouse. Angel harvested the last of the fruit and vegetables from the greenhouse and cut the plants down to stubs.
If you don't think that is a sign of winter's proximity... well, I don't know what to tell you.
But the soil needs to rest, so perhaps this -- even the winter sleep -- is a good thing. Yes. It must be a good thing. But I'll tell you, I still miss the heat of the greenhouse on a July afternoon.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
And There Are Still More
Today, I went out to tend the greenhouse and encountered a good pile of tomatoes ready to harvest. A red bell pepper and two ripe jalapenos chuckled in good-natured greeting. All-in-all, I think this is a pretty good haul for November 3.
We've had a couple of days of amazingly sunny weather. Yesterday our 4 KW PV array produced about 14 KWH of energy, and I think we may do something in that range again today (although there's now a gigantic splodge of bird poop on one of the panels, so until the next hard rain, the output will be sorely diminished).
Here at the 48th parallel, the sun does quite a seasonal zig-zag between north and south. At this point in the year, much of the arc of the sun's apparent path is obscured by large trees to the south (not our trees, else they'd be trimmed). This impacts our solar gain even on sunny days.
Soon the arc of the sun will matter less, because sunny days will be rare. From December through mid February, most days will be dark, and many days will be wet. A few may bring snow. But for now, the days are often mild and our greenhouse continues to yield food. In the north garden, a new crop of lettuce nears harvest.
And winter rye, our cover crop for the main south garden is rushing from the rich, moist earth into the crisp air. Angel has just about finished winterizing the second south garden area. The blue sky calls.
The denizens of the rock answer according to their individual voices.
Here at the 48th parallel, the sun does quite a seasonal zig-zag between north and south. At this point in the year, much of the arc of the sun's apparent path is obscured by large trees to the south (not our trees, else they'd be trimmed). This impacts our solar gain even on sunny days.
Soon the arc of the sun will matter less, because sunny days will be rare. From December through mid February, most days will be dark, and many days will be wet. A few may bring snow. But for now, the days are often mild and our greenhouse continues to yield food. In the north garden, a new crop of lettuce nears harvest.
And winter rye, our cover crop for the main south garden is rushing from the rich, moist earth into the crisp air. Angel has just about finished winterizing the second south garden area. The blue sky calls.
The denizens of the rock answer according to their individual voices.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Disinformation Campaigns
A relative received an email about alleged claims to the effect that CFL's pose a fire risk when used under normal (i.e. intended) conditions. I checked it out and found that it's listed under Snopes as a false rumor (you can click on the preceding text).
Here's a photo of the alleged offender:
It's amazing what people will do at the edge of the Rock.
Here's a photo of the alleged offender:
It's amazing what people will do at the edge of the Rock.
Monday, October 11, 2010
A Second Crop?
Surprise of surprises, both the poblano plant and one of the bell pepper plants (these two share a pot... coincidence?) have put out a new set of blossoms. The Old Amigo's been touching the flowers gently with the bristles of his greenhouse paintbrush. There's pollen there!
There are a couple of new poblano chilies hanging from a high branch. Similarly, there are two bells. Of course the warm days will get rarer and rarer for the next four months. It's not clear that the fruit can ripen under the conditions of October through December here at the Edge of the Wrong Rock.
Some of the greenhouse tomato plants are still producing and the fruit is still ripening, albeit slowly. We also have five sweet "lipstick chilies" at or near picking ripeness. The tiny super chilies continue to do fine. Oh, and I've discovered that the jalapenos, if allowed to ripen to redness, actually develop a little heat of their own!
Angel's been clearing out the main garden. Today she got it to the point where I could remove the drip system. That's now safely coiled in the garage. The intake and the supply outlet from the Assembly are both plugged to prevent dirt from getting inside the drip tubes. If it's nice this weekend, I may turn a batch of our compost into the soil and plant winter rye. Come February, we'll be ready to turn the soil again and plant 2011's garden!
There are a couple of new poblano chilies hanging from a high branch. Similarly, there are two bells. Of course the warm days will get rarer and rarer for the next four months. It's not clear that the fruit can ripen under the conditions of October through December here at the Edge of the Wrong Rock.
Some of the greenhouse tomato plants are still producing and the fruit is still ripening, albeit slowly. We also have five sweet "lipstick chilies" at or near picking ripeness. The tiny super chilies continue to do fine. Oh, and I've discovered that the jalapenos, if allowed to ripen to redness, actually develop a little heat of their own!
Angel's been clearing out the main garden. Today she got it to the point where I could remove the drip system. That's now safely coiled in the garage. The intake and the supply outlet from the Assembly are both plugged to prevent dirt from getting inside the drip tubes. If it's nice this weekend, I may turn a batch of our compost into the soil and plant winter rye. Come February, we'll be ready to turn the soil again and plant 2011's garden!
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
The Latest in the Tea Party Sequence
Some of you will remember Mark's first Tea Party painting from 2005. He's produced a new version, "Part D'uh."
I can't exactly say "enjoy" with regards to this piece, but it's definitely worth a look.
Don't drink the cool aid.
I can't exactly say "enjoy" with regards to this piece, but it's definitely worth a look.
Don't drink the cool aid.
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