June 18th Patio Improvements Finished!

Okay, rice and greeen bean came out very well after one hour and 15 minutes in midday sun in June. it's gong to be 115 today but it's not quite that hot midday. anyway rice just needs less water and more time in oven than it got yesterday afternoon. I could smell the broccoli as I went outside to check on the oven! Picture of oven is above. A success!

New gate and new door to outside shed and painting on the wood on the backside of the house is done! Picture above of the two together.

There are more things to go but at least the list is halved from what it was almost a year ago.
There is one rather small thing that needs to be done but S. will come back next week and fix it and then paint it. It looks so nice, now I have to clean up the rest of it and see what I can do to make it a place you really want to go out and spend time in—of course that might wait until it’s cooler.

I’ve left the small wasps nest alone that’s in the dead pyrancantha next to the gate. It is a very small nest and they don’t bother me or the cats or anyone so I think I’ll leave it alone. I think wasps are pollinators—I’ll trim the dead bush back a little from the gate and leave the part next to the back wall where the nest is alone. The wasps have been there a couple of years and I’m not anxious to do away with them or their nest.

Cheers,

shamba

Jume 17th

Hearing about corn rationing—just more high prices and hunger to come in this world and probably here in the US. Thought I read somewhere about the US Red Cross disaster fund being exhausted. It wouldn’t surprise me the amount of disasters we’ve had in the past year or so but another “shortage” another empty cupboard. We’re—as a nation and world—are running out of cupboards that have anything in them—food stores, emergency money, money to pay mortages, money to pay debts or all kinds … sheesh!
The guys also came to put in the new gate. Certainly that looks much better and is easier to open and close than the old one—the old one was probably 30 plus years old, too.
And my solar oven came today! I unpacked it and everything inside it, looked it all over and read the instructional CD. Also, copied the instruction manual and recipes to hard disk.
Then I took it outside after cleaning it up a big, washing out two of the pots and now have just some rice and some green vegetables cooking. I started pretty late today so I hope the sun angle is adjusted right.
I’ll find out in about another 30 minutes.
Fun!
IT WORKED! I got pictures of the oven but forgot about pictures of the food! I had a little too much water in with the rice since I wanted to make sure I had enough—I do that with rice on the stovetop anyway. Threw it in a salad with the sun cooked celery—that was the easiest green veggie to throw in the oven tonight.. Cooked from abou 4:40-6:15 and I think it came out pretty well considering it’s my first attempt. Of course, I kept checking on it every 15 -30 min. It had to be realigned for the sun that time of day. I need to learn to put the pots in and leave it alone!

Cheers,
Shamba

June 17th

Hearing about corn rationing—just more high prices and hunger to come in this world and probably here in the US. Of course, we've always had hungry people in the US wealthiest nation or not, but it's just hard to think we in the US can't have overcome something like food distribution to everyojne in our country in the 21st century with modern technology and knowledge.

Guess we're just subject to nature and the physical laws of the world like all other creatures on the planet. we're especially subject to them, It seems, when we've fooled around with the natural processes of the planet too much.

Not too cheerful but there's a lot of not cheerful out there these days and with good reason, too.

Solar oven should come this week. new door isn't all in yet but the painting is done and the new gate may take until the end of the week. Patio is going to look better when all of this is done.

cheers, shamba

Junet 16th Monday

Oil Prices still in mid 130s—hasn’t passed 140 yet. Gas prices here have been about the same for a full 7 days.

Midwest Floods have just ruined a lot of Iowa and a chunk of Indiana. Soybean and corn crops particularly were hit with the flood in their fields. All those people didn’t have flood insurance either—is this is a tragedy beyond Katrina? In a way because of the agriculture affected. And we haven’t heard anything about the insurance claims or agents that are out in the area because of the floods. I’ll bet that will rival or surpass Katrina, too.

One blog today said that if oil prices were to double from what they are now that food prices would double as well.

The whole chain of being seems ready to come apart—oil prices, energy prices, gasoline prices, so hauling prices are more, food prices, all other kinds of goods are rising in price, service prices will go up, electricity generating prices go up, so utility bills go up. The Midwest floods will swell the communities below Iowa as the flood waters move down the Mississippi river. Will this cut off transportation because of freight lines and highways being under water?

On the Newes Hours on PBS on June 16th: 20 percent of the corn and soy crops in Iowa are a loss.

Re the impressive Tim Russert: He died of a sudden heart attack last Friday. His dr. said he had some heart disease and diabetes. He had a massive heart attack when placque broke loose in his arteries and clogged the blood flow to the heart. Maybe with a defilbrillator he could have been resuscitated maybe not—it was a sudden cardiac death. I don’t know if Mr. Russert knew how bad it was or was doing anything about it.

On the other hand, if the world is really doing to deteriorate and get really bad, how much do we want to stave off things like sudden cardiac death if there is no Medicare, health care or emergency services?

Shamba

June 12--And hot days beginning here ... but on to other things

Another one of those days when I feel the time when everyone is going to get really bitten or smacked by the edges of our various threats is coming very fast. Prior to last fall, I could feel them coming but couldn’t see them without being able to see over the horizon. All the things I’ve been reading about for the past 3 years were coming closer but still out of sight. But no they—various issues of resource shortages, gas, electricity supply, climate change, local government budget problems, Presidential election stuff—are all around us now and easily visible. I didn’t think food shortages and price rises would be part of this circle of “things” surrounding us. Food issues are is the most frightening though.
Gas is now 4.13-4.15 here. Price of gas is scary and the reported reactions to it worldwide—riots, demonstrations particularly in Spain and Portugal this week. Bangladesh, Nepal, and Egypt various other SE Asian countries have had more riot than demos in the past 2-3 months.
But the food reports are the worst. The US has no reserves of any kinds of foodstuff for various reasons over the past decade and also because we’ve sold a big chunk some of it to humanitarian aid just this past month. Earthquake in china, humanitarian aid situations in East Africa, including Sudan and Darfur,--these are still creating needs for food.
Now with the dreadful rains and flooding in the Midwest, the corn crop and soybeans are not looking good for this year. There have been bad harvests in other parts of the world this year and Australia’s drought has lowered their production the past 2 years.

Gate and Door Coming

Gate man came to take measurement this morning. S. called about the price on a new shed door and some painting. Two things almost off the list as of today! yeah!

Carried tote bag with me to WalMart today...

I find that when I do buy something these days I am remembering to take tote bags or other bags to carry the purchases with me. Clerks in retail, not groceries, don’t seem to be surprised that I’m not interested in one of the stores plastic bags. Maybe there are more people doing this kind of thing.
I’ve ordered/purchased a solar oven! The one I was looking at months ago has gone way up in price—I knew I should have ordered it when I was looking at it then! But I got another one that has more accessories and is more expensive but the other one is now almost as expensive so I’m happy with my choice, or at least until I see what I get and try it out.
Got some small hand gardening tools that will help me repot all the aloes in the back patio. I pulledall the plant pots out of the shed and checked them over. I already have potting soil for cactus/ aloes so I think everything I need is here. The small cacti inside the house need to be repotted, too.
Flooding in the MidWest from bad storms the past week to two weeks. Wonder what that will do to crops, if anything? Indiana, Iowa, Wisconsin have been socked pretty badly and that part of the country has been having tornadoes early this year. It’s like tornadoes have had a population explosion the past two months and the season runs through August or September I think.
New Hours on PBS tonight had 15 minute segment on oil prices and why this is happening—prices, demand outstripping supply—they gave the usual reasons.
I think I have someone to replace my shed door/door fram and get a new gate for me! Hooray!
Two more things off the big list of things to do.
Cheers,