Yesterday the number of ripe raspberries was beyond counting.
Southern Belle was impressed. Quicksilver, who is now walking and has six teeth was very, very impressed. A very ripe raspberry is easy eating for a child with no molars.
Small fruits like strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and grapes are a great thing to plant if you have new property because they are quick to come into bearing compared to fruit trees and can be extremely resilient in the face of animal pressure.
Sneks
My hopes of having a Blue Racer on the property were dashed. I suspect that I have the Eastern Ribbon Snek equivalent of Speedy Gonzales.
For the record, I cannot tell the difference between a Garter Snek or a Ribbon Snek. They belong to the same genus with the Garter Snek being Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis and the Ribbon Snek being Thamnophis sauritus septentrionalis.
Southern Belle demonstrated her ability to levitate when she saw our Milk Snek (Lampropeltis triangulum triangulum). It was longer than I thought at 36" and extremely slender...so maybe it had just laid eggs. One can hope.
Greenwood grafting
Greenwood grafting is a term used when grafting non-dormant material. There are many different "flavors".
The one I used was similar to T-budding but rather than using a dormant bud and a leaf-stem, I used a short, flexible shoot or "feather". This seems to be a good method for species, like hazelnuts, that produce abundant feathers. AND I just happen to have a couple of varieties that I want to propagate rapidly.
Time will tell if I was successful.
Chicks
No unexplained feathers suggesting a chick was nabbed by a predator. I think I may have solved the issue.
Crowns
I am pretty sure I broke another ceramic crown. The first one split from stem-to-stern.
Based on how this fracture feels, a large, shell-shaped piece spalled off the inside of the crown. I have a call into my dentist to have it looked at but it is summer and they are running short-handed.
The crowns are a zirconia based ceramic and are supposed to have trace elements added to increase their toughness. I wonder if the trace elements were out-of-balance or if the crowns are missing some kind of heat-treatment.
A Hand-me-Down
Mary is about 40" tall and solid concrete. She probably weighs a good 200 pounds. She had been in my parent's back-yard pushing-back against all of the gay-pride flags and Woke yard-signs.
She is facing the sunrise and glows like a flare in the morning. This is the angle when looking out the living-room window. She is currently beneath a persimmon tree. I am going to have to spruce up her location. Can't have Mary looking shabby.
Today's punch-list
- Move 8' posts from the pasture to the barn
- Water orchard, cattle
- Hoe potatoes
- Hand-weed in fenced garden
- Clean garage
- Wash clothes
- Mix old paint with floor-dry for disposal
If latex paint you can just pop the top and let it dry down. Come to think of it, I dunno why that wouldn't work on oil based, either?
ReplyDeleteJoe - for the love of Goodness please plant some flowers around Mary!
ReplyDeleteWill Zinnias work?
DeletePerfect!
DeleteERJ - Do you at all grind your teeth at night? This has been a problem for me which has been pretty hard on my incisors.
ReplyDeleteERJ, follow on question: Could you describe how you develop and use your punch lists? Picking up a new job, I would like to hit the ground running.
DeleteTime urgent, important.
DeleteRoughly sorted from most important to less important.
If the list of urgent, important tasks is more than 8 hours of work, I pick a portfolio of tasks that "pull" different resource profiles. Moving the posts will either require the truck or muscles. Hoeing potatoes best done in the cool of the morning. Watering is a set-it-up and set a timer.
I shift tasks based on energy level and can insert other work into the deck if a brush-fire flares up.
Thanks ERJ!
DeleteI was eating a hot dog, and the side of my tooth sheared off. Understanding a bit of engineering let me know that a crown was in my future. I asked my dentist what was the longest term fix, I don't like painful teeth or dental work. She said gold, so gold it was. After she installed it, I said, "I guess that's the last time it'll be cold until I am." She has particularly sorrowful eyes. I was kinda sorry I said it.
ReplyDeleteI’ve worked in dentistry since 1973. Retired in 2016. Gold or PFM (porcelain fused to metal) is the only kind of crown I will put in my mouth. As a hygienist I’ve never seen(or felt) a good margin on a ceramic crown. I’ve also seen lots of them break.
DeleteI put basement waterproofing paint on my statutes as it is full of silica and remains bright for a long time.---ken
ReplyDeleteThe best material for a crown is gold. Always has been.
ReplyDelete