Randy Eggert

randal cranor wrote:Howdy,
It's not Filson, but...

https://www.outbacktrading.com/

Given the option, I'd probably go with the Outback Trading Bush Ranger jacket over the Filson Tin Cloth Cruiser jacket. One, the Outback jacket is half the price. Two, the Bush Ranger is a bit longer than the Cruiser, meaning your butt doesn't get as wet. Three, I like the snapped side vents on the Ranger because you can control your range of movement. Four, the removable shoulder cape is nice to have in a downpour.

I have a jacket similar to the Bush Ranger made by Brassada, a Texas company, that I bought ten years ago. A quick Amazon search shows a couple of jackets by Brassada, but they don't look too impressive. At the time I bought the the jacket,  they sold exclusively on E-bay and seemed to be a home operation. I've beat the crap out of the coat and not maintained it hardly at all. It could use a re-waxing, but other than being faded and dirty it's held up remarkably well. I think you can find pre-owned Brassadas on E-bay.

I've been thing about patterns with respect to building (I'm not really a planter). I build in the desert, so I think about the patterns of the washes, mesas, and rock formations. I haven't gotten far in understanding them, though I know at the root of it is water. While we were canoeing through a canyon in a downpour, a friend said, "The shape of the desert only makes sense when it rains."

When designing a roof, this seems profound to me. How do you shape a roof to match the run-off patterns all around you? I tried to match it intuitively with the roof on my cob privy, but my intuitions are imperfect.

Then there's channeling the water after it comes off the roof. How best to use water when it evaporates quickly? Storing it in a rain barrel is good, but it doesn't fit the patterns I see.

Like I said, I haven't gotten far in this, but it's a fun puzzle to mull over.

Anita Bellefeuille wrote:My son has a horse rescue ranch, they have a blind horse, they have a donkey they use as a seeing eye donkey for their blind horse. He wears a bell to help the blind horse locate him and they are best friends.

I want video of this!

paul wheaton wrote:

Randy Eggert wrote:When do you expect to be in Utah? And which part?

Nobody has invited me yet.  

My current thinking is the northern bit is on the edge of my range.  Of course, if I am in the northern bit of utah, and somebody wants me to go 3 hours further, i would maybe be good with that.

I could host a bbq or something in Salt Lake, but we don't have much of any permies related stuff going on at our house. I've got some earthen building stuff going on down in Escalante area, but that's pretty far outside your range.

When do you expect to be in Utah? And which part?

I know a man in a rural Utah town who has dedicated his garage to storing useful things for the town: windows, doors, nails, etc. I understand that people bring him stuff they no longer need, and he lets townsfolk come and browse through what he has. He also buys up books and keeps a lending library in his house. I really like this communal approach to hoarding (or saving).

Lorinne Anderson wrote:I think you "hit the nail on the head" if it is organized, it is not hoarded; unorganized and/or compromising health or relationships = hoarding.

I have a friend who has been described as an organized hoarder. But you're right, he's probably a saver. Me, I'm way too disorganized, but I don't keep as much as my friend does. Maybe there's a spectrum?

If I have to do chores out in a rainstorm, I wear an oilskin drover (the short kind) and a cowboy hat.

We replaced our Kentucky Blue Grass lawn with a hybrid from High Country Gardens called Dog Tuff https://www.highcountrygardens.com/product/sustainable-lawns/cynodon-hybrida-dog-tuff. It's pretty, nice to walk on, dog-resilient, drought-tolerant, etc. You don't have to mow it because it grows out not up (it will take over if you don't have a separation between lawn and other parts of the garden), but I prefer keeping it shorter. In the summer, I use a reel mower on it as needed. In the spring, we have a bunch of dry stuff from last year that's not so pretty, so I go through with a scythe to remove it.

This is one of my favorites: