J. Syme

Cats really dislike being sprayed with water. A motion sensor water sprinkler did the trick for me to keep deer out of the garden (just have to remember to turn it off when you want to go there). a few nights in a row will send a clear message that the carport is not a good place for them to be.

Coydon Wallham wrote:

J. Syme wrote:To block sound from getting to your ears you need to bounce it away, or absorb it some how. Sound that has a direct line at you can and will travel far. Long needle pine trees are great for minimizing noise. They keep there foliage year round and make gentle whoosh noise in the wind.

Do you think pine needles would be better than other conifer foliage? My property is full of Red Pines, but they are close to 40 years old and have no needles below like 20 ft so no help for close by traffic. There are firs, spruce, and pine saplings springing up randomly, but I planted a sight/sound barrier of White Cedar (arborvitae) in two staggered rows where there was a direct LOS to the road. I figured the density of their foliage would be optimal. Unfortunately I didn't fence them off from the deer...

i like the white noise, sound of the long needle pines better than the shorter ones, my personal preference. the longer softer needles seem to have a denser foliage. What you need is a variety of sizes and shapes in the woods to break the noise into tiny scattered bits. might be worth it to mix in some ground cover and some new pines in with the 40 yrs old's.

Christopher Weeks wrote:How far can you hear traffic?

My wife has an online knitting friend who used to rent an old farmhouse in the boonies and when we visited I noticed that I couldn't hear anything but the sounds of the fields.

But how remote do you have to be in order to get the noise profile I'd like?

To block sound from getting to your ears you need to bounce it away, or absorb it some how. Sound that has a direct line at you can and will travel far. Long needle pine trees are great for minimizing noise. They keep there foliage year round and make gentle whoosh noise in the wind. Another option is a day on a Doser/excavation.  Make a mini mountain range between you and the road, heck you could make one of those sloped hill gardens Paul seems to like.

my relatives doing mission work in Libya use the used bias ply tire sandals. a takes a lot of labor to make the sole out of tire tread & bands from the sidewalls, but it provides a durable tread for many years. i picked up a pair while in south Baja Mexico a quite a few years back.  i don't wear sandals much anymore, my old feet like the squish of a rubber sneaker. I must be getting soft.

When my Phone is not with me,  i breath a sigh of relief, and enjoy the peace and quiet... so to find it, is not a panic for me. my phone is in my pocket, on its charger or on desk next to my computer... others in my house have smart phones with ability to track last known position. They seem to use this function every other week.

find something that you hear other's complaining about doing, (hard labor) digging ditches, (Mind numbing) doing taxes, (icky stinky) unclogging drain pipes, (high risk) cleaning gutters, trimming trees. anyhow look for things others would gladly pay someone else to do... frankly i would pay someone to fillet fish for me, of butcher hogs/deer, yes currently i do process my own meat, but i would pay for this service if i could find someone with good skills & attention to detail. find out what chores the locals hate doing... there's you niche

test email worked, apparently I'm slow to check emails

I just got these in the mail. Thank you for all those involved, I will be sharing them with pride. I'm not really sure how to get a picture to show nicely, hope this uploads clearly

Preparing for my Long weekend, I raise a cool glass hibiscus/mint iced tea, towards "all, ya-all's."  Please Have a safe & relaxing weekend, and do please share with us your favorite summertime beverage. I use equal amounts (about 2 handfuls) of dried hibiscus & mint leaves crushed and put in cheese cloth then set in 5 gallon glass jug of water in the sunshine until right shade of brown. daughter like to add stevia to hers, cause she's so sweet.

Jay Wright wrote:I saw a clump of really attractive tall grass growing on a bank at the local tip. I dug out a chunk and planted it at home next to one of my fish ponds. It grew incredibly well. Turned out to be Johnson Grass- took me three years to eradicate it. I recently watched a video of a young American feller slashing Johnson grass- it had taken over most of the best low lying country on his farm. Good luck mate I thought to meself:)

caution on Johnson grass is when it wilts from drought or frost often it forms poisonous nitrates or prussic acids . don't let your livestock graze on the Johnson grass during frost of draught conditions.