Presented without comment

 

"Granny" in the Ukraine (again)

Start of video

3:05 mark, the older woman uses a tool to lift the chugunok (pot) off the fire. 

In an earlier post, Old NFO wondered why that form of kettle didn't gain acceptance on the American frontier. I think there were two reasons. Simple frying pans nested and two or three sizes could be carried in a compact package. 

There was also the issue of complexity. The mold for a simple frying pan has an upper and a lower part and an unmachined frying pan can be used for the pattern in a pinch. The mold for the chugunok requires three pieces due to the tumble-home of the shape, a left, a right and an insert. The insert must be nested firmly and precisely to avoid any shifting that will result in thin spots that will break. It simple a much more difficult shape to cast.

5:41 mark, sauerkraut 

 8:33 mark, burning raspberry canes

They are managing their primo-cane raspberries exclusively for the fall crop. Cutting the canes close to the ground and burning them can break disease and insect pressure. This does NOT work for raspberry varieties that only have a summer crop.

Granny is putting the boys to work.

I bit later they roast pieces of pig-fat (like bacon with no lean) by spearing it on willow sticks and cooking it over the fire.

 

This sequence runs to about the 16:30 mark

17:52 mark:  Based on the lighting, it looks like there are two families living at the farm. The house with the blue window sills and house with the red gable and large front porch.

20:30 mark: Scalding and plucking a duck.

22:24 mark: Scorching the pin-feathers 

25:15 mark: Preparing garlic for planting and then planting it. Garlic is typically planted in the fall.

Since each clove will grow to form one bulb, and since each bulb will be composed of 10-to-30 cloves, the grower must re-plant roughly one-fifteenth of his harvest every year. 

26:33 mark: The actual planting

The rows run left-to-right. That is, they are very short.

 

The utility of short rows is that you can do most of the cultivating and not walk near the plants so the soil does not get compacted.

The soil looks sandy which would account for the beautiful carrots and the scab-free potatoes.

 

She is using a wooden rake at the 27:27 mark

 

30:00 mark: Stuffing the duck with apple slices

32:00 mark: Rubbing the duck with soy sauce, paprika and horseradish sauce 

35:03 mark: Beehive maintenance

 

These look like top-bar hives. They are removing feeders.

 

What is notable is that they use scrap quilts, "shoddy" and furs to insulate the top of the hive. A major cause of hive death in the winter is condensate dripping off the top of the hive and wetting the bees. A thick layer of insulation goes a long way toward preventing that. It looks like they have a 6" to 8" dead-air space above the bars that they use for the insulation.

THis sequence ends at the 36:30 mark. If you keep bees, this ninety seconds is well worth your time.

42:28 mark: Granny is quite the singer. She ends her day mending clothing and singing softly to herself. 

Timeshares

A fellow walker at the gym shared a tale of woe.

She is in her seventies and her husband died last year. She started getting dunned by a timeshare that they had purchased more than ten years ago. She had assumed that the contract had a sunsetted because her husband handled the bills. She assumed that it was no longer "in the family".

Nope. Bad assumption. She was late on the maintenance fees and they added a $600 late-fee.

The property managers insist that there is no limit to the duration of the original contract and that it continued on into perpetuity.

She contacted a firm to un-stick her from the contract and they pressured her to "sign now!!!!" without telling her what it would cost...a practice which had gotten her into this situation. Pressure and non-disclosure of costs, that is. For all she knows, the firm that un-sticks contracts is a sister company of the time-share firm. They have the same look-and-feel.

Hell has a very hot corner for people who prey on widows and senior citizens.

A funny timeshare story

I had a boss named Ron who was a pretty sharp cookie and he liked to play golf. 

He and his wife went down to Florida and signed up for one of the endless timeshare promotionals. They were given a fabulous room, endless breakfast, played golf on an elite course, all you can eat shrimp for lunch...and then they were run through the lavatories and into an auditorium for the hard-sell.

Ron introduced himself to the people sitting around him and noted their names.

As the first speaker cued-up, Ron and his wife reached into their totes and pulled out Sony Walkmen players and headphones. One of the ushers came over and demanded that they take them off. Ron said "There is nothing in your brochures that limit what I can bring into this auditorium. If you or anybody else touches me or my wife we will file assault charges. I already have the names and phone numbers of these witnesses."

The ushers backed off.

Ron and his wife closed their eyes and listened to music for three hours.

It is good to have a plan. 

No news is good news

There is not a lot to report from Eaton Rapids today.

No Quicksilver today. 

We have some weather blowing in and are looking forward to a five day period next week when the wind-chills will be around zero F. It is called "Winter in Michigan".

 I have a pot of meatball soup on the stove. I may serve it over spaghetti.

Long article HERE on precedents for presidents activating Military for domestic issues. 

Three articles on why Amish people are significantly more healthy than the overall population, especially during our later years. If you only have time to read one, the essay in the middle is very compact and to-the-point.

Lessons from the Amish: Superior Health and Fertility in a Modern World

Why the Amish Enjoy Better Health: Key Lifestyle Factors Backed by Science  

Amish Perspectives on Their Health and Lifestyle 

Yes, I used Mrs ERJ's nail polish

I am not a nail polish kind of guy. For that matter, Mrs ERJ is not a fingernail polish kind of girl. She has three bottles, red, white and clear.

I want to go on record: I used it with Mrs ERJ's permission.

Results below the fold

Fine Art Tuesday

 

Artist Alexey Kuzmich Denisov-Uralsky born in 1863 (presumably in Russia) and died in 1926.

 Hat tip to Lucas Machias

 

The endless challenge of "Comms"

This video was suggested by frequent commentor "Gary" and is reposted with his permission.

In a nutshell, the video describes an off-the-shelf system that allows cell phones to interact with other cell phones without relying on cell towers or the internet.

The "network" are sets of low power repeaters that are positioned closely enough that they can talk with each other via redundant pathways. The cell phone speaks to the closest repeater via Bluetooth. The message propagates outward over the repeaters closest to the receiving repeater and thence to the intended receiver.

Low power means low bandwidth, i.e. text messages with few or no attachments. Low power means that repeaters can be installed in remote, less visible places and powered with solar + battery. Networks can be joined via repeaters on towers with optimized antenna (like a Yagi) to connect the two local networks...say Eaton Rapids to Albion. Then Albion to Hillsdale means a church (for example) in Albion could reach all of its congregation even though the farthest members lived 70 miles away from each other.

Why this might be useful

According to Insurrection Barbie*, protesters in Minnesota are using various apps and internet platforms to interfere with ICE agents. You don't have to be a brain surgeon to realize that those channels will be flooded with misinformation and performance will be degraded, perhaps with Denial of Service attacks.

The value of information is subject to the law of diminishing returns

If the sender knows they have limited bandwidth to work with, every byte has value. If the sender believes they have unlimited bandwidth every gigabyte is nearly worthless.

At a local level, high value messages might look like:

"The peaches on my trees are ripe. I cannot pick them. Need three pickers and will pay 1/4 share to the pickers. Contact Timmy Gibson" 

"My Australian Cattle Dog had pups. 3M 2F. Think papa was a Lab. Contact Chelsey Greene"

"Alpha Bapt Church picnic. Nobody signed up for pot salad. Need lifeguards and overwatch sign-up"

"Houses being broken into on Kemler btw 12 and 3 in morning. Beware"

"Have extra pallets. Looking to trade for 16d nails. Contact Brad Hammer"

"Riot forming outside Windsor Estates Trailer Park 5:17 p.m.. Avoid area."

Those kinds of messages put a trivial load on the network and are extremely useful. 

Longer range than a conch shell

This kind of system is not "secure" nor is it impervious to outside forces jamming or disabling it but it is WAY more useful than smoke-signals or waiting until Sunday church to catch-up on the neighborhood news.

*A tip of the hat to Bayou Renaissance Man for the Insurrection Barbie link 

Some pictures that will make you smile

 From 24hourcampfire. Posted by DMc.