thomas rubino

What a difference a few days makes!
The piggies have been working diligently at tilling the whole pen.
If they dig too deep, they will hit a water line!
By July, they will be moved to the Summer Palace, which has its own apple tree.

A good reason to like traditional automatic transmissions.
CVT's cost significantly more to rebuild or replace than a standard automatic tranny.
When you think about it, there is a whole lot to be said for the simplicity of a standard transmission.
Of course, there is the added personal satisfaction of watching young folks back away from a stick shift car as if it might bite them.
Imagine their confusion if they looked at a three-on-the-tree car...  

I like a D-handle with a square head and a long handle with a pointed shovel.

Moving day.
Today I shut the piggies out of the bedroom pasture and let them into the comfrey pasture.
It won't take them long to till up this area, and be ready for the next.
I will reseed both of the small pens when I let them into the apple tree pen, home of the summer palace.

Excellent idea, Robert!
I like it. It might have some condensation at times, but overall, a great equipment shed.

Hi Anne
One would think that with the grocery store, being a one-way 65-mile trip, we would be very prepared...
But I would say that most of the time, we do not plan meals before shopping.
Dinner planning generally takes place each day between 8 am and noon, just enough time to thaw something.
We do make a shopping list; sometimes it is made just before leaving the house.
Other times, we have a running list on the refrigerator.
Sometimes we forget to bring the list with us... when that happens, it is usually sitting in plain sight on the counter...
When we arrive at the grocery store, there is a 50/50 chance we will remember to bring the list inside, it fits in the car console so well...
Once we make it inside, with the list, we must remember to look at it...

So, planning? lists?  
We just must remember to create one, manage to bring it to town, carry it into the store, and remember to look at it...
Really, how it goes, we just stroll through the store, loading up what we think we want.
If we eat first before shopping, we save money, but spend the next few weeks lamenting not having any snacks...
If we are hungry, we spend extra dollars loading up the cart...

Sure would be nice to have a butler and a chef at our house, then that planning, shopping, and cooking would be their problem, and not ours... so much easier!
Oh yeah, they could do the dishes as well!  Yeah, I like that idea.
Now, if only my unknown great aunt would just leave us a castle and staff, oh, and barrels of money...

What are your feelings about Sea buckthorn trees?
The orange berries are extremely tart, but highly nutritious.

Yes, rock wool can be used around the outside of a riser. Superwool is better if available.

What to do when for three days the daytime highs do not top 53F and nighttime lows are 48F?
What you do NOT want to do is light off your masonry stove...
But when you only have wood heat, after a few days it starts to feel pretty chilly indoors...
The answer is the old Great Majestic wood cook stove in the kitchen!
It has hardly been used in several years, since Shorty moved in.
This morning I had enough. At 5:15 am, I found myself out at the woodshed, splitting some dry cedar & larch wood.
Now at 6:30 am, the whole house is nicely warm, but not overly warm like Shorty would have made it!
Hard to get a just little heat from a dragon... but the Great Majestic is happy to fill an important position during shoulder seasons!

Hey Adam, Great Idea!  
Heating with brick is the best way to stay toasty warm!
Matt Walker's Stoves are beautiful and super efficient.
You might also be interested in Peter Berg's Batchbox design, with a brick stratification bell.
I have three, as well as a Walker Black and White oven.
Here are some photos