Women Are So Smart

— Posted inOther — 2 min read

There has never been a year during our life together that my wife has failed to grow some plants. The Saturday morning years ago when we harvested and processed some 80 lbs. (36 kilos) of red ripe delicious tomatoes will forever stick in my memory. Even she admitted afterwards that we had planted too many tomatoes.

She has cucumbers up and growing out back and even if they don’t produce any cucumbers before we leave, some of the neighbors will get to enjoy them. For years we have enjoyed fresh basil during our travels and this year will be no exception. the small 1/2 pint (240 ml) glass canning jars contain tiny peat pots with basil seeds. The tape across the top is her response to a problem.

You can see a tiny seedling growing on the right side opening. Alas, that is not the first seed to sprout. That one was harvested by a bird. My wife puts the seedlings outside as soon as they sprout. Unfortunately our five bird baths draw a large number of birds of different species to our backyard and for some reason one of them helped itself to that little seedling. My wife’s response was to put adhesive tape across the top of the jar, ingenious and effective fix to the problem. So far it is working great. Women are so smart!

How Not to Take a Photo, You Idiot!

— Posted inHumor, Photography — 2 min read
Bad photo

Confession time. My wife took the photos I posted yesterday. There was another photo taken of our new chairs, this one, and as we used to say when we were kids, two guesses as to who took it and the first one doesn’t count., A photograph is supposed to tell a story, and this does alright. It says the photographer was a total blithering idiot. (That would be me if you haven’t already guessed.)

I must start out in defense of my wife. First, I told her to stand there while I took the photo so the fact the sunlight is obliterating much of the detail in the photo is entirely my fault.. Second, I didn’t tell her I was taking the photo so the blurring of her hand is entirely my fault. Third she has a billion dollar smile and I didn’t include her face, even if it would have been blurred out as I always blur faces, and that is again entirely my fault. Third, it was her legs and feet that first attracted me to her, I know, not how most guys think, but believe me, she was and still is the whole package. The huge appearing Keens on her feet are entirely my fault for the way I took the photo. And finally. while maybe she doesn’t tan up like those females of southern Mediterranean or Brazilian heritage, she ain’t in no way a Snow White, which is the way the the photo I took makes her out to be.

Then comes the fact you can’t even see the makings on our driveway at the bottom of the photo which is compounded by the shine on the bag containing our new chairs. And the fact the bright light makes the driveway look really dull doesn’t help a bit either.

The good thing about being as old as I am, I don’t care what people think of me and I ain’t afraid to to admit that I am a total idiot at times. I’ll end by saying I’s Just letting any young peoples who might be reading this ambling rambling no that someday yous’ll to will be an old idiot.

Much Better Than We Thought It Would Be

— Posted inTravel — 1 min read
Chair package

When we were at the LTV RV gathering at Quartzsite back in January, some of the folks were using a very nifty and well made folding chair whenever we gathered together outside. It was called a Pico Chair and after we both sat in one and saw how it folded up, we decided to replace our bulky chairs we carried with something much more in tune with the smaller size of our RV.

Chair

Out of the box and set up. We discovered collapsing the chair was easy, but it took us more than a few times to get the knack of unfolding it. It is amazing how sturdy and solid they are.

Chair folded

This was what we really liked when we saw them, how small they are when collapsed and how easy they are to carry. They are definitely not cheaply made, but then neither are the cheap. However, the space savings is well worth the cost. Right sized chairs for a right sized RV. The photo also shows off my Teva tan. Shoes! Who needs shoes when you can wear Teva’s. And even better. Teva’s! Who needs Teva’s when you can go barefoot.

What Weed is This?

— Posted inOther — 1 min read
leaves

We removed this vining weed from our one of our flower beds. Looking to find leaves like this on the web, we didn’t have any luck.

tuber and sprout

It has tubers and this one was sprouting.

Weed

Above ground it is a vine, below ground there was far more to the root system than we expected. For scale, the squares are 18 inches (46 cm) on a side and 26 inches (66 cm) on the diagonal Fortunately there is thick layer on mulch on the flower bed and the root system was growing mostly on top of the soil making it somewhat easy to dig out.

Tidying Up

— Posted inTechnology — 1 min read
cords contained

What a difference a day makes. No more cords running everywhere. Between replacing ethernet cables that were far to long with shorter cables and enclosing what wiring I could in split tubing wire loom, there is no longer a jungle in here. But even better, I disconnected the power to the UPS, the battery instantly kicked in, and everything that was supposed to stay on did. Good job Rob