some pics from paul

Our big apricot tree is blooming.  Started from pit.  

I tried to get pics of bees - but i guess that flopped.

I am supposed to put in a bunch of steps each day for a certain duration at a certain pace.  It is working, so i am gonna keep trying.  Some days I am better than others.  

If I go to the caldera twice a day, that's about right.  But doing the same thing over and over is getting boring.  About a dozen different people have come to take this old guy on his walkies.  That helps a lot.  

Last fall the boots built me a place to put some trail tools.  I have slowly been carrying tools up to the lean-to like thing and have been adding a bit of a new trail.  

I would consider myself blessed to have that view for my daily walks. Boring? Each day you go out, look for something different. Something that has changed. "One of these things is not like the others" sort of dealio.

Jim

paul wheaton wrote:I am supposed to put in a bunch of steps each day for a certain duration at a certain pace.  It is working, so i am gonna keep trying.  Some days I am better than others.  

If I go to the caldera twice a day, that's about right.  But doing the same thing over and over is getting boring.  About a dozen different people have come to take this old guy on his walkies.  That helps a lot.  

Last fall the boots built me a place to put some trail tools.  I have slowly been carrying tools up to the lean-to like thing and have been adding a bit of a new trail.  

Jim Garlits wrote:I would consider myself blessed to have that view for my daily walks. Boring?

Three years.

I like the idea that i can build a network of trails that will take me ALL of my steps all over the property.  And i plant lots of things along those trails.

A little tour of my trail so far

The planting would have me quivering for any signs of progress each time I passed them. Ha ha. It sprouted! It's an inch tall now!

Jim

quote=paul wheaton]

Jim Garlits wrote:I would consider myself blessed to have that view for my daily walks. Boring?

Three years.

I like the idea that i can build a network of trails that will take me ALL of my steps all over the property.  And i plant lots of things along those trails.

It is nice to connect what you were talking about in the recent podcast with a real place. I am also realizing something about walking onions, or maybe not… my neighbor grows them in lovely garden soil over heavy clay. The first time I tried to grow them, I thought they would like my best garden soils, but they failed to thrive and died out to nothing by winter. Then last year I tried again, planted them, and nothing showed the first year. This year, a single walking onion is looking happy, like the one in your picture—this one is growing out of the side of my horrible two foot hugelkultur with its poor gravely-silty-loam soils. Now that I see it growing in pure dirt I think I understand!

a little walk today

Making and maintaining trails is a lot of fun, isn't it? These days I end up doing a bit of trail maintenance almost every time I walk in the woods.

... a name for this rock

Paul Rocks!

Oh, yeah! That's what I'm talking about.

Jim

paul wheaton wrote:a little walk today

Love how everyone is sharing what they’re trying and how it’s going. I’ve found that keeping a simple log of what I plant and how each spot behaves over the seasons saves me a ton of guesswork later. Trails and trees both tell their own stories if I bother to jot things down. Makes it way easier to spot what wants a little extra care or what’s already doing its own thing.

well given the size width of that trail and the fairly rugged terrain ,the grand backdrop of  hills and the good cover of nice size trees all over ,the understory of  planted out food crop----you are creating a habit trail ----for a bigfoot---right past that big rock ---im just saying ---not implying -----heres my daily walked on path towards the polytunnel---thats a size 9 flip flop---my wellies are leaking so under going some glue repairs ----my apples and quinces from seed are nearly tree sizes but no blooms yet---great to read that it can be done and get nice eating/taste results.

There's a BB for making a trail :)

Some new pics

Beautiful red soil, makes me miss daily trips over Sentinel and the Hellgate view.  Always wonder why so few live inside their playground, and with apricots and cherries.  Lucky man.

I think "the bird bath" is looking nice.  Estaban started it by taking away the dirt and gravel piled up there, then sorting the dirt from the gravel.  The gravel gets used for lots of projects and the dirt gets put on top of hugelkulturs.

Oh now that truck soon got my other half's attention. I don't think either of us were expecting that sort of truck!

Burra Maluca wrote:Oh now that truck soon got my other half's attention. I don't think either of us were expecting that sort of truck!

Does this mean the two of you are making a trip to montana soon?  :)

paul wheaton wrote:Does this mean the two of you are making a trip to montana soon?  :)

Alas I fear not, for various reasons. Budget, health, and political situations aren't really conducive to such things. Tempting though, very tempting. It's been over a decade since I was there, but I think I have to accept it was the trip of a lifetime.

By pure coincidence I made a post about a Tesla only yesterday - here. Serendipity and all that...

Tesla Truck ... Have you see this one?

.

a video of the new truck

Sooooo many questions.

Were the batteries new? How are you charging them? Are you keeping records of how many times you charge them and how long they last?

It looks like there's a towbar fitted - how much can it pull?

What are the tyres like on slippery ground? Is it possible to swap them for more grippy ones?

How many goats can you carry in the back? (reliant robin van can carry four adults and four goats so long as you don't get caught...)

How much wood can you carry in it? How many bales of hay/straw?

Can you use it to charge batteries for cordless tools? Or are there power outlets for non-cordless ones?

There will be more I'm sure...

new battery.  Apparently "upgraded Gen 2 4680 lithium-ion battery."

Towing capacity is 11,000 pounds.  Our dump trailer can haul 10,000 pounds and weighs 3,000 pounds.  So we are gonna try to keep the loads a little less than max.

Can you use it to charge batteries for cordless tools? Or are there power outlets for non-cordless ones?

No.

But, it has a bunch of outlets in the back that we will be experimenting with.  We think this will run our electric sawmill.

I kinda like that Tesla were deliberately not influenced by style in making the cybertruck.  

Have to admit I did wonder when the first hints about a new truck came out if someone was gonna donate a Rivian, which I'd have to admit given free choice I would get - I love that Rivian, a non-car-maker start-up could make something so good (based on the reviews I've seen) and in that way put a boot up the rear end of the major car makers to get their own battery trucks in production (such as the F150 Lightning for example)

It's kinda like Tesla itself was when they made the first Roadster - a non-car company made a genuinely good electric sports car and set a marker for the regular car makers to aim at.  And look where Tesla is now, I see quite a number of them here in rural Portugal even.

Here's to many years of no-smoking transport!

I was dropping my car off for service at the Tesla Service Center when who walks in? That is right, Paul Wheaton!!! I felt honored just meeting him!! Then, I was so excited when he invited me along for the test drive. We were with the Tesla person for a short test drive then Paul and I went on a longer loop. He navigated the area using Grok (the on board AI) and the map displayed on the screen. The service guy answered a lot of questions and I tried to answer some others. Talking with Grok we got more answers.

Of course, Paul had the truck navigate to a local lake so he could dip his toes in and we took in the beauty of this pristine lake before heading back to the service station. While we were there I commented to Paul how I thought the truck was beautiful because it looks like a truss (one solid piece) and I said I think they designed it to be stronger than a cab dragging a bed that could break in the middle. Truly a design where form follows function.

I was truly honored to spend that hour or so with Paul, so glad you are enjoying the truck.

Here are a few pics from that encounter:

Thanks for your help that day donald!

I worked on my trail a bit this morning.

As i wrapped up "old man walkies to the caldera" ...   this apple tree was covered in blooms for the first time this year.  About 3/4 of our apples covered in blooms have zero apples - probably because of frost comedies.  But this tree (from seed) has oodles of apples!  Right next to the library.

We didn't plant potatoes here this year, but the potatoes keep coming back.  

As so the sunchokes

the trail ...    i add 8 to 12 feet each time i work on it.  At this point, I think i have done 95%.  Sometimes somebody comes with me and adds a bit.  

I can now see the fisher price house and the yoga yurt from the end of my trail.  I'm not sure where my trail will end up.  I suppose smart people would map it out.  I just go to the end and add a little.  And on the way back, I will improve the existing trail a bit.  

Jumping in on this older post, Paul, your joy for local exploration is infectious! I’m curious if you’ve seen any new blooms or wonders along the Complexity Trail since this post. Also, do you have any tips for photographing bees? I've tried and found it quite tricky!

i didn't take this pic ...   alexandra and harry and fam ...   huckleberries are on!



source

Pre-dawn at the caldera ...   about 52 degrees, which is nice for trail work ...

I hit a lot of rocks at the end of the trail today.  So I extended the trail only 7 feet or so.

I am a few weeks away from finishing the trail.  What to call it?

Willie Smits once went to the caldera and for a while we had a sign up there that said "Willie Smits Was Here!"  I think we need that sign again.  And maybe the trail will be called "orangutan trail".

paul wheaton wrote:I am a few weeks away from finishing the trail.  What to call it?

Willie Smits once went to the caldera and for a while we had a sign up there that said "Willie Smits Was Here!"  I think we need that sign again.  And maybe the trail will be called "orangutan trail".

Yeah for Willie Smits and his Orangutan project!

the excavator has arrived.  Thanks to the guy that paid for this rental (same guy that got us TRob)

i think more pics will arrive soon.  

TRob got a flat - so TRob is offline until we get it mended.  We will also be looking into getting a spare.  We learned a single spare for this rig is damn near a thousand bucks!

Here is the quickie-crappy vid sent to the jumbo-supporter-guy to tell him about the idea with the excavator rental.



Taken in february.  

In about an hour yesterday, I added a huge amount to the switchback, and sorta built a bit of a terrace (below) along the way.  It is really rough right now, so we need the tractor to get in there and do some fine tuning.  

The wood was laid out for fukuoka flat, and some dirt was placed nearby by TRob with the dump trailer (before we lost a tire).  The dump loads were placed on hugels in about three minutes.  We need to get more dirt moved there once the tire is mended.

I then headed up volcano road and tried to mend some low spots.  

Leo and Andrew are up there now doing more volcano road improvements.