Night time at home

I'll regret not having that Giant Bird of Paradise to frame my shots, but that's the only reason I'll regret not having it. This was an iPhone shot., my camera of choice lately.

- Posted at great expense from my iPhone

And then there were five

Note to self: next year harvest earlier.

There must have been 20 giant pomegranates but all that are left are these five. Must be possums or perhaps birds.

Knitted chain link

This is firmly in the camp of "What will they think of next?".

This isn't breaking news, but it's worth retelling.   From http://www.architerials.com/:

Dutch design firm Demakersvan has produced a line of chain link fence that incorporates the ancient craft of lace-making into the fabrication of industrial chain link fence, taking something which was meant to be purely functional and gently encouraging it to be decorative.  Think of Lace Fence as your Blanche Devereaux fencing option:  it’s a flirty southern charmer with a stubborn streak and perhaps a little bit of a temper.

Get more information from the source, lacefence.com

NBII LIFE

No, I haven't left the caps lock key on.

NBII LIFE is the National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) Library of Images from the Environment (LIFE), a collaborative effort to make diverse, high-quality images (photographs, illustrations, and graphics) of the environment freely available for research and other nonprofit uses. This is an outreach effort by the Smithsonian Institution who have a more extensive plants database at http://botany.si.edu/PlantImages.

Another (sometimes parallel) source of images is the USDA's PLANTS database. Whereas LIFE includes everything in categories of animals through weather, PLANTS focuses on plants, of course.

Bargain sport wagon

My friend Marc and I were discussing cars the other day when I expressed interest in acquiring a wagon of some sort to take over for or augment my Ford Ranger, which is a nice truck, but a little inconvenient for passengers.

Knowning my tastes for sporty cars, he suggested a Lexus IS300 SportCross, which was made between 2002 and 2005, and a Mitusubishi Diamante wagon. The Diamante is a bit long in the tooth, since it seems to have been last sold in the
US in 1995, but the Lexus looks like it's a real possibility for a bargain sport wagon.

2010 blog goals

I typically don't make resolutions, but in the spirit of resolutions, here are my goals for the blog and for myself in 2010.

250 blog posts. 250 was a good number in 2008, but I didn't meet it in 2009. I spent some of my 2009 time distratcted by my new iPhone, but I've found a comfortable way to post from the iPhone now and I'm hoping that it will add to the blog productivity.

Blog content: I want to blog more about gardening and keep the other non-gardening posts about where they are now. I will try to add more food and wine to the mix, as I have had a resurgence of interest in wine.

More diverse outdoor activities. I'm thinking hiking, mostly, but I'll continue to be interested in native plant activities. I had this goal in 2009, but visited the gym instead. I think that with the iPhone in hand blogging from the trail has never been easier. Shifting activities in my personal and family life may free up more time for this as well.

Bloom Day participation. Every 15th, garden bloggers participate in bloom day. I haven't seemed to find time near the 15th, but I'll try to this year. I may have to cheat and post the weekend before. This seems like a fun community effort.

Adapt to change. Change is in the wind, so plan to be adaptable and this blog will hopefully reflect that.

Sleep more. 'nuff said.

Happy New Year!

2009 goals in review

One year ago, I set some modest goals for 2009.

I thought that 250 or so blog posts would be appropriate for this year, but by my count I only had 159, which is only 63% of my goal. I also wanted to post more photos (with tags), but I'm not sure that I did. I'll have to take an F on those combined goals. As an excuse, I'll have to say that while I wasn't blogging, progress was being made on many fronts, some of which don't get much blog time. The blog diverged from majority native plant topics, which I hope is only temporary.

I did spend a little blog time on home improvement projects. One of my 2009 goals was to complete the To Do list items, and I mostly did. I'll give myself an A for that goal. I now have a whole new list of To Do items, but they are less ambitious which is progress of a while different kind.

I also wanted to spend more time doing outside activities in 2009 - I believe that I had native plant classes, hikes, or restorations in mind. I also thought I might want to take up dancing again. I had cautioned that didn't have time for these activities, but it turned out that I made time for regular gym visits instead. So while I didn't meet either goal, so I'll take a B for doing something in a related area. The disadvantage of the gym is that it's not really a bloggable activity, whereas my intended activities would have added to my dismal 159 posts.

My final goal was to get more sleep. I think I am making progress on that front, but not as much as I want, so I'll give myself a C.

With and A, a B, an F, and a C my overall grade for 2009 Resolutions is around C+.

Grammar tip of the day

From Merriam-Webster's online dictionary comes the following clarification [my emphasis]:

Effect and affect are often confused because of their similar spelling and pronunciation. The verb 2affect usually has to do with pretense "she affected a cheery disposition despite feeling down". The more common 3affect denotes having an effect or influence "the weather affected everyone's mood". The verb effect goes beyond mere influence; it refers to actual achievement of a final result "The new administration hopes to effect a peace settlement". The uncommon noun affect, which has a meaning relating to psychology, is also sometimes mistakenly used for the very common effect. In ordinary use, the noun you will want is effect "waiting for the new law to take effect" "the weather had an effect on everyone's mood".

Plumbing supplies

http://www.faucetdirect.com/

http://www.stockblowout.com/

http://www.ferguson.com/index.shtml

http://ronbow.com/

http://www.eplumbing.com/index.shtml

Cannonical list of things to bring to the Lair

We're headed to Lair of the Golden Bear for week 2 this year, a change from the three previous years. This is my list of things to bring to Lair of the Golden Bear copied from the official source, Bad Mom's blog, and my previous blog entry on the topic and renormalized.

Edited 7/09/2009 & 5/27/2011 to add a few items.

Bedding and linens
A warm sleeping bag, pillows, and pillowcases
Electric blanket (This turns out to be a good idea as of 2010)
Heating pad (good to warm inside of sleeping bag)
A twin sized sheet and/or pad to cover the mattress under your sleeping bag. This prevents your sleeping bag from slipping off the mattress quite so easily.
Towels: beach towels, shower towels, and washcloths

Clothing
Bring casual old clothing to stand up to the Lair's dusty environment. Be prepared for warm days and cool nights. There are washing machines at the Lair. Last year they were free as was the soap, but I'd hate to be surprised.
shorts
bathing suits (consider 2 pair for kids because this is the 24/7 uniform for certain ages and they get worn playing in the creek)
long pants - mostly for warmth in the evening
sweaters / fleece wear
jacket - it can rain, so a shell with a zip-in liner would be a good move here
hats: knit for cold nights and brimmed for day time sun protection
rain gear
sweatpants that can double as pajamas
long underwear (also for PJs)
Shoes - hiking boots or trail running shoes
In-camp shoes
flip flops
Aqua socks - for creek crawling. Better than an old pair of tennies.

Recreational and Activity items
reading materials, board games, playing cards
white t-shirts for tie-dye or t-shirt painting
camera
books
journal
fishing pole and tackle. 8-12 year olds have group fishing activities.
(die hard Lair campers will want to remember their softball mitts too)
swim goggles - chlorine in the pool is kept high
your own supply of bisqueware (they have only basic shapes).
your own garments for tie die.


For your cabin
Cabins have electrical outlets and a single switched light bulb.
Largish plastic bins for organization
alarm clock
ice chest (with a secure lid because squirrels and raccoons are hungry)
secure plastic tub for snacks
folding camp chairs
folding camp table
clamp on lights and extension cords
extension cords
Exterior lights of some sort - Distinctive lights help you find your way back to the cabin after dark. Some people had novelty Christmas lights, or even the standard twinkly sort.
plastic bags for trash
hammer and nails (bring the hammer at least so that you can drive in a nail that surfaced over the winter)
screw hooks (if you aren't satisfied with using a nail)

Miscellaneous vacation needs
flashlights: at least one for each family member
sunglasses
laundry soap (in case there's none provided)
quarters (for laundry if it's gone back to a paid system)
clothesline and clothespins
markers for identifying your stuff or marking schedules, etc.
backpacks for everyone (makes carrying towels, etc. a lot easier)
pocket knife
cheese knife (if the pocket knife won't do)
churchkey (redundant if the pocket knife has one)
corkscrew
wine glasses (plastic)
sparkling  wine stopper (provided you plan to have or save any)
moleskin for blisters (the first aid tent is liberal with giving this out, but you might as well be prepared)


Toiletries
Your usual plus:
A+D ointment. It's dry and this is great for chapped skin.
sunscreen
insect repellent
chapstick with sunscreen
band aids
neosporin


Food
Snacks - Just bring enough for the car and a famished kid emergency, though a cooler and juice or soft drinks are quite nice. Food is so plentiful at meal times in camp that it's really overkill to bring more. The water tastes delicious there, so I tend to enjoy a lot of that.

Adult libations - Wine to share at the lodge, after the kids have gone to bed or for cocktail hour get-togethers. Beer tastes better than usual at the Lair and it's handy to share.

Silent PCs

I've become enamored with quiet, power-sipping, small form factor computers for the home. I like them because they are unobtrusive visually and audibly, yet can be always on without major guilt over the power consumption.

If quiet is the only goal, then the End PC Noise folks seem to have a lock on the quiet PC accessories and systems. Their systems are not typically fanless nor particularly low power. They do have a lot of products to quiet your desktop PC. But my major home applications don't require tons of computing horsepower, so there's no need for every computer in my home to be heavy iron. Here's where the small and efficient computers come in.

Of course there's small laptops and netbook form factors, which are nice and stowable, but there are other candidate form factors that are more efficient, smaller, and sometimes more powerful.

fit-PC2 Available this month. Fanless. Less than $400 fully configured. Can stream HD video with 10-40% CPU load. Atom based.

ZaReason has the 'Breeze 3660' for $350 which consumes 30 W.

I've read that Shuttle will soon make an external power supply version of the Shuttle KPC, which would eliminate the pesky fan noise.

Local suppliers PC Liquidators have inexpensive micro and mini -ATX cases and the like, in case you want to make your own.

Any number of small linux distributions are available on lightweight computers.
DamnSmallLinux is one example that seems close to a best of breed. There's also Cappuccino and a personal favorite (for no apparent reason other than the product seems like good value) Z-Tech Services.

Heart rate monitors

Exercising while using a heart rate monitor can give you important health information.

There are several heart rate monitors at Bike Nashbar.

Of the non-cyclocomputer ones, Suuntu is the only one with download feature
Suunto T6 Fitness Computer $249.95
https://www.nashbar.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10053_10052_201622_-1_17501__17501

This Sigma looks adequate for my needs
Sigma Sport PC14 Heart Rate Monitor $39.99
https://www.nashbar.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10053_10052_122315_-1_17501__17501
I don't know what quality this is

Amazon has a wider selection including an intriguing GPS + chronograph + Hr monitor made by Garmin
Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS Receiver With Heart Rate Monitor $175.29
http://www.amazon.com/Garmin-Forerunner-Receiver-Heart-Monitor/dp/B000CSWCQA/ref=pd_bbs_7?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1237839976&sr=8-7

Polar is the industry leader, so far as I can tell. This basic HRM looks like it would meet my needs
Polar FS2 Heart Rate Monitor Watch
http://www.amazon.com/Polar-Heart-Monitor-Watch-Black/dp/B000F6BZC6/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&s=sporting-goods&qid=1237841372&sr=1-13

Grow Your Own - film

Found at Kitchen Gardeners International Forums

"There was a full length film made in the UK back in 2007 called "Grow Your Own." It's a story of a common garden allotment community and how people were given spaces there to help them get over depression instead of prescription pills. One character in the film really made headway in his mental recovery after losing his wife, and another character really learned what it means to be in a close community with friends. It's a great fictional film that gives lots of laughs and tears. I highly recommend it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqPLDXmBmjg"

How to make a water catchment system

Water Conservation Event by Green Ambassadors
Save Money, Save Water, Save Energy, Save Your World

DATE: Thursday, March 5, 2009

TIME: 6PM and 7PM

LOCATION: Environmental Charter High School
16315 Grevillea Ave, Lawndale, CA 90260
Rooms 143, 146, and 148


You will learn, from Green Ambassadors, how to make a water catchment system and have an opportunity to purchase one from Hey Tanks LA. All monies raised will go to support the Green Ambassadors spreading this solution to local elementary schools.

Free water conservation technologies (from Golden State Water Company), games, and knowledge!
The Green Ambassadors
16315 Grevillea Ave
Lawndale, California 90260
saralaimon (at) yahoo com 310 214 3400

---

I have my doubts about whether rain water catchment in cisterns or barrels on the scale that you can do it at a suburban home is really useful. The amount of water that you can retain isn't all that much compared to the amount that's falling on your property - 50 to 100 gallons doesn't go that far which is what the majority of people can implement. Plus, you'll quickly use it up in the ~2 weeks after the rain storm, and then you're left with the ugly barrel all dry season long.

A far better solution (and one I am trying to implement) is to shunt the rain water to permeable ground so that the soil can retain water for you. You can store far more water for far longer this way than in a barrel.

Still, I'm aware that I might be wrong and I'm curious about what the seminar has to say so I'll try to go.

Physalis

Also known as Ground Cherries or Cape Gooseberry. See the Physalis peruviana picture at Wikipedia. I ate some of these fruit when I was in Germany last summer and I liked it. Prior to that trip I hadn't even heard of it, let alone tasted one. The proprietor of the restaurant where I had them knew them only as Physalis - no common or species name. He was surprised to learn the English common names.

Last night I ran across mention of them in the May 2008 issue of Organic Gardening which I picked up at the YMCA book exchange. They are seed-propagated and, like tomatillos, they have a papery husk. Stored in the husk in a container that allows transpiration they are supposed to be good for up to 3 months at 50 F. They get their common name of Ground Cherries because they drop to the ground before they ripen. Thereafter, storage at room temperature for a week or less will ripen them.

Because they are in the tomato / tomatillo family they have the same disease susceptibilities so if I were to plant some next year I'd have to not use my normal garden area.

To Do list IV

Last Updated:
09 Jan 2009 - Updated French door threshold status and added goal for bedroom closets. took credit for front yard efforts thus far.
29 Oct 2008 - updated painting and stucco work that has happened since I last looked at the list;
20 Sept 2008
20 November 2008 - Added earthquake preparedness item. Updated painting and doors.

This is the fourth numbered To Do list that I've started here on my blog. The third numbered To Do list is located back on January 13th, and as of now it has been given it's last meaningful update.

Fall is planting time for native and Mediterranean plants. Since the weather will soon shift to cooler days and longer nights of fall, it's time to reactivate my gardening projects. I'd like a larger winter vegetable garden as well. On the housing front, I need to move the projects that will give my house weather protection to the fore - the ones like sealing up the holes in the side of my bedroom, painting, and weather stripping my new doors.

Within the broader categories of garden and home improvement, the projects below are in rough priority order. But, the lure of new projects is so great that I want to move on to each before finishing the last. Therefore I try to maintain a completion status so that I keep my focus on the partly finished projects. This mostly takes the form of the bold faced "Finish what you start" mantra that's often repeated below. My sister has taken to chanting that at me when I rhapsodize about new projects.

House Improvements

• Complete phone rewiring bonus chore. Finish what you start.
• Repair stucco around new French door in my room. Scratch coat done 20 Sep. DONE
• Sand, stain and varnish threshold for French door in bedroom. Threshold removed 20 Sep. DONE, BUT the threshold is cupped and won't sit flat, so I have another bonus chore to do. ALL DONE 4 Jan 2009
  
• Remove old electrical panel, repair stucco damaged in the process. Remove old service entry. Repair of the stucco would be convenient at the same time as I'm doing other stucco work. 13 Sep. stucco scratch coat in place. DONE Still need to patch roof in area of old service entrance. Have metal shingle.
  
• Complete electrical install at kitchen French door. All parts at hand. Really, it's embarrassing how long this has gone unfinished. Finish what you start.
• Painting
• Pick colors, prime, and paint some swatches on the house to evaluate the colors in preparation for a whole house paint job.DONE 10-18
  
• Start with door and window trim color so that I can paint the French door frames. Started in Oct
  
• Weatherize the French doors then paint
  
• Prep and paint stucco. Started Oct 08
• Skip the eaves, since that's a big prep job and not critical to weatherize now
• Complete attic ladder install - needs foam, trim, and paint.
• Improve my bedroom closet by widening the door, adding a light, and using a modular shelf system such as that from Elfa (at The Container Store).
  
• Improve my son's bedroom closet by adding light
  
• Secure large furniture in house in case of earthquake.
  
• Put in more soffit vents. Attic was drawing like a boiler from existing few vents the other day.
  
• Replace screen over existing gable vent where it's missing. Would be good to do this not on the hottest day of the year.
  
• Garage improvements
• Install attic vent in garage gable end. I've now painted the vent white. Need to cut a few framing members for inside the garage.
• Install new rear wall / rear-facing door in garage.
• Install new garage door
  
• Reroute gas supply lines (to kitchen and garage) in preparation for taking my interior wall down.
  
• Replace / repair computer room window.
• Repipe house in copper. Water flow in shower is abysmal. Will need to review appropriate pipe sizing - could be undersized at present. Start by repiping only the easy stuff, saving the part about cutting into the walls for when I demo the kitchen. Use dielectric unions to couple the new copper to the old galvanized for now.
• Don't forget new hot and cold hose spigots.
  
• Install tankless water heater in attic. This could (should?) come first. Needs new power outlet in attic. Purchase in 2009 in order to get tax rebate.
  

Garden / Yard Improvements

• Prune Brazilian Pepper tree - started 16 Mar 08 Finish what you start.
• Rethink entire front yard garden for fall, 2008 - My native plants are too large and unfocused and the meadow is not living up to expectations. Partly DONE 31 Dec 2008 and earlier Dec by removing large buckwheat plus moderate changes in design. Still need better design or year-round compensating prettiness.
  
• Put in at least one more sprinkler for meadow area. It may not get watered often, but I'd like it to have complete coverage.
  
• Move the front yard native scheme onto the parking strip (between sidewalk and street) in a way that continues to allow car access from the curb side
• Planning: Continue line of meadow border. DONE. Probably use festuca rubra and pavers in the center, low bushes, taller grasses, or other ground cover at the property line edge of parking strip.
• Install patio area for bedroom French door entry.
• Regrade back yard selectively so as not to have ponding near house. Dry creek?
  
• Use custom pavers for hard surface so as to match side yard?
  
• Install brick pavers in N. side yard. Shift grading to shunt drainage water away from house.
• Demolish patio behind kitchen (demo'ed brick planter 17 Nov 2007)
  
• Install new patio with California native grape arbor. (Or do I want a fruit tree arbor?)
  
• Plan for electricity and music in the back yard.
• Plan for hot water in the back yard. Outdoor shower? (see repipe)
• Build concrete bench for front arbor area.
• Get rid of dirt from the back yard.
  
• Replace driveway
• Even if I bid it out I still need to have a design that I'm happy with, so start there. Include in design: separate entry path, driveway adjacent planting, trellis over garage. Poured concrete or pavers or brick or some combination?
  

Native Plant Blogs

A short list of native plant blogs that I haven't yet had the opportunity to explore.

Deborah Small’s Weblog looks promising. She's in San Diego County. One of her areas of focus appears to the ethnobotany: In California sycamore / Platanus racemosa she talks about making tea from sycamore bark. There's some excellent photos there too.

foliasalviarum has more than just a salvia focus.

I find it interesting that both foliasalvaiarum and Deborah Small's site feature recent blogs on Datura. Perhaps there's a renaissance of appreciation for the plant that is commonly known as loco weed.

The Ojaigarden looks promising, but I haven't spent much time there.

Things I've done in three weeks

Since I haven't had time to blog, I haven't really had time to do much that I would blog about. Some progress did happen, despite my absence from the blog sphere.

My garage is cleaner and tidier.

My vegetable garden is growing. Tomatoes are below average this year. Celebrity and Green Zebra seem to be the survivors of the great tomato blight of 2008. Green Zebra is not even phased compared to all other tomato plants. Celebrity is in advanced decline but had a sufficient crop nearly ready before it was hit hard. Sweet 100 failed as did Sun Gold. Sniff. Squash are doing well, corn is magnificent, new plants like lovage are doing well.

I've noticed that sunflowers I've seen in other gardens look great right about now when my garden looks a bit in decline - my great piles of buckwheat flowers are beginning to brown, but in other people's garden the sunflowers are going strong. I need some for next summer.

Habitats to Attract Swallowtail Butterflies - Jul 10

I'm desperately in need of something to take my mind off work, which has been all-consuming. This is a free lecture that looks interesting.

Creating Garden Habitats to Attract Swallowtail Butterflies

“Out of the Wilds and into Your Garden” Series

Thursday, July 10th 2008 – 6:00-7:30 p.m.

Arthur Johnson Memorial Park
Community Room
1200 W. 170th St
Gardena, CA

310-217-9539 or www.gardenawillows.org

Presented by the Friends of Gardena Willows Wetland Preserve, Inc.

Introduction to Landscape Rainwater Harvesting

CRSP Institute for Urban Eco-Villages
Hands-On Urban Permaculture Workshop Series
Introduction to Landscape Rainwater Harvesting
with Joe Linton
Saturday June 14th 9am-3pm
Los Angeles Eco-Village, 117 Bimini Place, L.A. 90004
Cost $35
Workshop size limited, pre-registration required
Call (213) 738-1254 or email crsp@igc.org

The course includes: an overview presentation on Los Angeles water issues, including local multi-benefit watershed management efforts, a tour of Los Angeles Eco-Village rainwater harvesting landscape features, and a hands-on workshop to build terraced swales to detain and infiltrate water.

Who should attend: folks interested in water sustainability and/or watershed restoration, gardeners, folks interested in creating small-scale water-harvesting earthworks.

Note: This course focuses on building earthworks that gather and infiltrate rainwater in the landscape. It does not cover rainwater harvesting with cisterns, which we anticipate will be the subject of a future workshop, hopefully in early fall 2008.

For directions and additional information, see www.laecovillage.org