Wild Plums

 Shortly after moving out here in 1976, a new neighbor clued us in on wild plums which are common in the area.  They are most easily identified in early Spring during bloom.  They are "shy" and grow well only when protected by other brush.  A major tributary of the San Marcos (and Guadalupe) River is Plum Creek which flows through the middle of Caldwell County.

I was surprised, just a few years ago, to find this example out in the open and near my house.  I believe it probably got it's start before our big tree die off of the past ~15 years.  Note the big dead tree trunk on the left.  I've spent some time in the vicinity cutting dead oak trees into firewood. Typical growth is multi-trunk; they can make quite big thickets.  Typically, fruiting is rare or short lived.  I watched this small thicket last year and did not notice any fruit.  I'll try to watch closely to see if fruit is set this year. Fruit, when found, is tart to the point of not being edible fresh.  Much like the also common Mustang Wild Grapes.  Jellies made from the plums are prized.

Very fragrant right now.  It has been suggested that fertilizing may enhance fruit quality.  My experience with peaches, another Prunus, indicates otherwise.  Fertilizer application DOES increase growth and appearance of vigor but may decrease sugar concentration in fruit.  

Higher resolution. "zoomable":

https://photos.app.goo.gl/x77NcysRPrv5UaUDA

Trip to Pecos area

 https://photos.app.goo.gl/mZq5Z3ZCgeEGs7tq8

 Trip was primarily to check out the Pecos Cantaloupe situation.  See my recent Pecos Cantaloupe post.  I had recently learned that there is a single remaining truck farmer family in the area.  Oil has completely destroyed the pleasantness of the area and irrigated farming has almost entirely been replaced by oil businesses.  The photo album contains a few shots of a "man camp" which supplies housing to oil workers.

Also checked out the Rankin murals: 

http://www.tumlinsonart.com/eastward

https://www.texascooppower.com/texas-stories/life-arts/rankin-as-a-canvas

 

I encountered the Model 3 with bikes atop at the Ft Stockton SuperCharger on the way to  Coyanosa.  Since I have carried bikes on trailer hitch carriers, I chatted with the couple.  They reported that range reductions could be in the range of ~30%.  The roof mount (not the part that holds the bikes) was a Tesla option.  I would estimate that hitch carrier range reductions are around 10%.  I am reminded of the bike I discovered was lost when arriving at a SuperCharger on a west Texas leg; it had fallen off due to loosened clamp.  Recognizing the amount of time required and the likely condition of the bike, I elected not to go back ~100 miles looking for it.

7/15/2021

FLASH!  I'm learned that Jamie Mondajano is now making seasonal weekly deliveries to the Austin area:

https://www.therealpecosmelon.com/

 

Pecos Cantaloupe

I think I'll semi-plan a Pecos trip for mid-July.  Bring home a few boxes of cantaloupe. Maybe before just to check out the Mondajano farm and get a reading on the cantaloupe season.  It is on a highway I don't believe I've traveled before.  SuperCharger stops at Junction and Ft Stockton.  Should be quick and easy trips.  I guess I could go on to Balmorea to see if there has been progress on the pool repair.

http://www.ntxe-news.com/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi?archive=74&num=111895

 https://www.lubbockonline.com/news/20190830/famed-pecos-cantaloupes-from-west-texas-now-rare-few-farms

 https://www.texascooppower.com/texas-stories/nature-outdoors/the-truth-about-pecos-cantaloupes

 https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Pecos-cantaloupes-were-famous-Now-oil-rules-14273017.php

 https://goo.gl/maps/Ssuczi6eTH3xbriLA

Prepping

 Perhaps this will be the start of a "useful prepping links" post.

https://survivalblog.com/2021/03/10/constructing-diy-composting-toilet-sf-oregon/

 Having been without indoor water for several weeks, I'm thinking of doing an outdoor shower of some sort.  For decades, I've had a shower on an outside wall of the sauna building.

 

Border Collies I Have Known

 Today, I crawled under the house to identify and inspect the water leak.  It was the first time I had been under the house in decades.  Perhaps since the similar event of 1983.  What does this have to do with Border Collies?  I found three tennis balls neatly lined up along the edge of a foundation pier.  Starting with Trouper, we've had a long string of Border Collies.  Most are buried around the place.  The names and details of their lives have largely faded from my memory.  Jean would remember.  There was Trouper, Shiner, Lobo, Slick, Rojo, Tess, Woot, and Tip that I recall.  I believe Lobo was the offspring of Trouper and Shiner.  I was left with Tess and Tip when Jean died.  Tess was old, Tip young.  We became partial to red Border Collies; Rojo, Woot and Tip were red.  Shiner had black fur around one eye and white around the other.  Slick had a smooth coat.  Tess was a shy female, bought at a sheep herding event near Crawford.  She would have no truck with any male dog.  All through her life.  Though we tried numerous times to breed her.  When we got Tess, Rojo was aging and Tess was intended to be the mother of his pups and possibly producing some reds.  Tess frustrated Rojo through his remaining years.

Jean acquired Trouper before she met me.  She would have known his birthday but I do not.  Perhaps  around 1970.  Before coming to Dale, Trouper had a frustrating youth.  Confined to a smallish walled in yard.  Constantly tormented by evil squirrels.  While Jean was off at college, he had only sporadic human companionship.  Trouper, Jean and I came to Dale in 1976.  I'm certain that Trouper immediately realized that Dale is heaven on earth.  Vast areas to be explored and viewed.  Evil squirrels to be chased long distances.

 Trouper was highly protective of Jean.  But not in an aggressive way.  When an unvetted threat would appear, Trouper would slink around to rear.  Then rush in silently and bite the threat on the rear of a leg.  Then, rush away.  We learned to watch for the behavior and averted many instances.  He did attack my father, who was a stranger to Trouper and successfully bit him.  Much to my embarrassment.  I suggested to Jean that it might be time to dispatch Trouper.  Of course, she would have none of it.

Jean's father was an avid tennis player.  Old tennis balls were readily available.  Some time in the first couple of years, every Border Collie decides on his life's work.  Trouper chose chasing tennis balls.  When ever Jean's father came to visit, he would bring a couple of cans of new/used tennis balls.

I never knew Trouper to voluntarily quit a game of chase the ball.  No one learned his limit.  He wore out ALL human partners.  One strategy for slowing down a game was to throw more than one ball.  Trouper quickly learned to carry two balls in his mouth.  Which did make each cycle a little longer.  Then, three balls.  Though I've seen him try, I don't think he ever managed four balls.  The only way to terminate a game seemed for the human partner to go into the house.  Trouper considered walking across the lawn an invitation to play.  He would drop a ball in the path.  The partner would either trip and fall or kick the ball.  Either was fine with Trouper.  A kicked ball is just as good as one thrown.  He extended that strategy to lawn mowing.  He would drop balls in front a pushed lawn mower.  He seemed never to associate mutilated and less chewable balls with encounters with mowers.  Any fragment of a mutilated ball is suitable for chewing.  One great pleasure in Dale is drinking a beer in a hammock in a hot afternoon, then drifting away in a nap.  Not possible unless one first put Trouper in the house or in a truck.  Trouper would drop a ball under the hammock and expect it to be thrown.  If not thrown, he would poke the partner with his nose from under the hammock.  One could just put the ball in the hammock.  Trouper would either poke the ball from under the hammock or go find another ball.  All our Border Collies played tennis balls.  None as avidly as Trouper, though.  It was likely Tip that left the three balls under the house to find.  Thanks, Tip.

Trouper did teach me that there is no squirrel on earth that deserves to live.

 In his advancing years, Trouper became deaf.  The deafness did not dull his fear of thunderstorms.  One stormy night, he escaped the yard and got out on the road.  One of our neighbors ran him down and left him dead or dying on the     road.  That is also the way Woot met his end though he was only about a year old.  Trouper must have been 14 or 15.  I believe it was Slick that I did in.  We had a coyote problem I hoped to solve with strychnine baited meat.  I locked up Slick for a few nights.  When the coyotes rejected my offering, I dug a post hole about three feet deep and buried the bait.  A few hundred yards from frequently traveled areas.  Slick nosed it out, dug it up, and ate it.  And died.  I guess I should have burned the bait.

 All our Border Collies have shown great glee at the prospects of running trucks, tractors, and golf carts.  While plowing, back and forth, back and forth, Rojo would work the tractor.  Back and forth, back and forth.  When completely tired out and hot, he would jump in a tank, cool off, than back to the job after having missed a few tractor circuits.  One, I think it was Lobo, could not resist nipping at the front of rolling truck tires.  Rolling wheels excited him.  He was run over several times but never reformed.   He was one of our more expensive Border Collies with hundreds of dollars in vet bills.

3/8/2021

Neighbor Donna yesterday had her car totaled by an uninsured driver who ran a stoplight to get to Donna.  Since Donna rejected a trip to the hospital (and chose to come home with a profusely bleeding scalp wound), I related my story.  I was run down in the early morning hours in the middle of Arkansas by an eighteen wheeler with an apparently sleeping driver.  I was going up to visit Jean while she was living in Rolla Missouri, teaching at University of Missouri at Rolla.  Early 1980s, as I recall.  I had a Border Collie companion.  As I recall, Jean recently found a rent house where she could keep a dog and the Border Collie was to become a long term Rolla resident.  One to two years.  Sadly, I can not put name to Border Collie.  A black and white.  Maybe Lobo.  "Lobo" was laying in the passenger seat and I had been using a quart of very runny homemade yogurt for road food.  On impact, directly from the rear, "Lobo" (and I) bouned around in the truck and the dog ended up in the passenger foot well.  Not noticeably injured.  He did not respond to questions.  Yogurt thrown everywhere.  A hundred yards down the road where my Isuzu pickup came to rest, I emirged, seemingly not seriously injured.  Amulance and cops soon arrived.  I was transported to the Arkadelphia hospital ER where an overnight stay was highly recommended.  They found blood in urine but said that was pretty common and to at least have it checked again later. Like Donna, I would have none of a hospital admission.  Bad mistake.  The Isuzu was drivable and I wanted to get to Rolla and not worry about what to do with the dog.  So, a few hours later, I was off.  The soreness came up on me unexpectedly.  The ~6 hours to Rolla was the very worst road trip I have ever had.  I was dead tired, horribly sore all over, unable to find a comfortable driving position and unable to get comfortable enough to nap in the truck.  I guess I should have considered a motel room.  Eventually, I arrived in Rolla and spent nearly a week on Jean's living room floor.  I could not sleep in a bed.  The refusal to spend a night in the hospital came back to bite me when negotiating a settlement with the trucking company.  National Freight.  Self insured so I was dealing directly with the trucking company.  I eventually got hooked up with Beaumont lawyer who informed me how much easier it would have gone had I spent a night in the hospital.  I had only my own testimony about the week of hell I endured.  Had I spent the night in the hospital, it would almost certainly have stretched to several days.  I was almost unable to move for that time.  The final settlement was only about $30k.  National Freight first offered only about $2k; the supposed  value of the used truck.   I told them if they found and replaced with a new rare diesel, we would be close to a settlement.  The pick up truck was a bit crooked but served well on the farm; it was converted to a flatbed. 

 Tip was our only fence climber and wanderer.  He was creative and incorrigible.  We would frequently notice Tip's absence and sometimes get calls from neighbors since his collar tag had our telephone number.  These calls came from all directions and from as far as two miles away.   Early on, Jean and I added "leaners" to the top of our 5' chain link kennel.  That was an extension in height of about 18" and leaning into the interior.  To discourage climbing.  He would never climb when watched.  I took some video when he was "confined" to a small 6' kennel out at the guest house.  He would take a running leap at a corner and be over with seemingly little effort.  I eventually tried tethering him to a small old tire.  At least once I had to rescue him on the outside of the kennel dangling by the neck above the ground, the tire on the inside of the kennel.  In an attempt to limit the distance of Tip's excursions, I tethered him to tires of ever increasing sizes.  Tip became perhaps the world's most fit Border Collie; he continued to drag the tires great distances with seeming enthusiasm.

 

Old Movies Android app

I came across

  https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.acowboys.oldmovies

and decided to give it a try.  First, I found an old silent, 1916, version of 20000 Leagues Under the Sea:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/20,000_Leagues_Under_the_Sea_(1916_film)

And then a rather spectacular early Gregory Peck movie:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_Sky

I'm sure there is much more to be found.  As near as I can tell, free and ad free.  Chromecast works well for viewing on big TV.  Wish I had more bandwidth.  And time.

 

Cold spell

 Worth reading again:

https://wmckemie.blogspot.com/2019/12/the-cold-week.html

as we approach a similar episode.

Despite good warning, I find myself relatively poorly prepared.  My rainwater collection system is not working well.  I attempted to put some well water in the tanks today and found my "good water" well is not pumping water.  And it is just too brutal out there to address the problem.

I did test my under house water pipe heating and it seems to be working.  Using 420 watts.

I have a good supply of firewood and have a MUCH better wood stove than in 1983.

Still, I expect an uncomfortable period.

 

2/14/2021 about 1pm

The above from 2/10.  We have been slightly below freezing for a couple of days now.  Everything has been lightly covered with ice for those ~2 days.  A few branches around the place    are down due to ice load.  No walkway or nearby hazardous icing.  Reports of heavier icing in Lytton Springs and Lockhart.  No nearby reports of power outages.  Right now, closest are Rosanky and Camp Swift, 20+ miles away.  Forecast remains for much heavier ice and snow for a day or longer and plummeting temperatures down to 0-10 deg.  So far, I've noticed nothing below 27 deg.  There are reports of frozen water well heads.  I think I have my well water system well drained.  I'm putting a little heat on my rainwater pressure pump and it continues to work.  We may have near a week of below freezing temperatures before us.

PowerWall seems to have automatically shifted into "prepare for power failure" mode and is keeping battery at 100% (by using grid power that is still available).  Prior to the alarming forecasts, I had it set to maintain 50% or more charge.  The goal is to try to start a grid down period with as high a PW charge as possible.

Should grid go down, I will be without water and internet service, both powered from another electric service meter.  Back up is stored bottled water and cell phone hotspot.

Having emptied my trailer parked in front of the house, I hauled another load of firewood yesterday.  After unhitching the loaded trailer in front of the house, I decided to haul a bucket of ash with coals to try to start a pile of pine trees burning at the cleared new PV project site.  In looping around to house toward an open gate, I ran into a big tree with the white imiev.  That due to iced over windshield.  Spilled live coals in passenger floor and skinned myself up.  Air bags did not deploy.  Car damaged but not disabled.  Carrying on, I failed to get the pine trees started. 

I have a 100w light bulb rigged under my kitchen sink which has a history of freezing up.  I will turn on the under house plumbing heat when outside temperatures approach 20 deg.  That 500+ additional watts will mean that a full PW charge will not carry me through a grid down night.  My golf cart battery PW supplementing 36v battery is at about 40v.  Good enough.

Full "hunker down" mode engaged.

6pm

So it begins.  Went to take an early shower and found no hot water flow.  No cold water into the water heater.  22-23 deg outside.  I fear I should have replaced the underpinning at the rear of the house when I was working on installing that water heater more than a year ago.  Cold water is still flowing.  I plugged in the under house water pipe heat tape.  I moved the heater in the bathroom to the water heater closet but I have little hope that it will thaw things out.  Resolved to sleeping on the couch and tending fire all night since I need to leave doors open through the kitchen to the rear of the house.  Bah!  Humbug!  If the weather is better tomorrow, I can try to get some heat under the rear of the house and stack some hay bales where underpinning is missing.  I fear I will be without hot water for 3+ days.

 On the plus side, the stove has been not putting out much heat all day due to trying to burn some big sticks.  Now, stuffed full of ~3" logs, it is really cranking.   The flue pipe temperature is near 600 deg.  Not glowing yet but dangerously hot.  I'm going to leave it that way for a while in hope of getting some heat to the rear of the house.

7:30pm

It just gets better and better!  No cold water flow now!  And, it is "only" 21 deg. The way it came to a slow halt makes be suspect that the pressure pump is not working.  Next, the grey water will stop draining.   I had roughly replaced tin underpinning and had plans to cover the gaps better with carpet and put a light bulb under the house at that point.  Now, I have little faith that that will do any good.  I'm vainly putting about 1800 watts into try to keep already frozen stuff from freezing.

I am successfully pulsing the wood stove.  Bringing it up to ~500 deg, then throttling it back to ~200 deg.

A long and painful night before me.  Followed by a long and painful week.  It'll feel SO good when it stops!

About 1:30am, ERCOT instituted state wide "rolling blackouts".  Bluebonnet seemed to be doing 22 minutes on, 22 minutes off.

2/15/2021 9:30am

Blackouts continue.  PowerWall is handling well, keeping power up when grid is down, charging from grid when it is up.

I'm glad that's over.  Hoping to bolster the grid some today.  But I'm producing a tiny amount.  Why?

The snow is sticking to the panels better than expected.  Even to the steeply sloping ones.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/hBMJJPDAkECPk3SH9 

 

02/16/2021  5am Tuesday morning

 About done with another bad night.  I've become somewhat aware of the big scene.  The utilities have been instructed by ERCOT to implement "rolling blackouts" in order to keep the grid working without sufficient power to satisfy demand.  ERCOT has dictated that circuits serving critical services will not be shed.  In Austin, the absence of demand from all shedable circuits has barely been sufficient to keep the grid up but has left near all shedable circuits without power for days.  Those on the non shedable circuits seem to be unaware of their good fortune.  I am on a shedable circuit but, with a PowerWall, the outages have been manageable.  Since 1:30 am yesterday morning, my circuit has been off about 22 minutes and on for 22 minutes.  Last night that off period had stretched to about an hour and a half by the time I went to bed.    I got up about 2am and found the grid up but my PW thinking it was down and still supplying power to the house.  Also found a very weak fire in bad need of tending.  In probably a vain attempt to keep the entire house as "warm" as possible, I have most doors open to allow wood fire heat to reach all parts of the house.  The kitchen and bathroom were/are about 25 deg while outside temp is below 10 deg.  I found the PW down to 22% which could be depleted around dawn.  I got the PW recognizing the grid again; it is charged back to about 80% so I hope to harvest some PV energy later today.  

News just reported that 88% of Bluebonnet customers are without power so it seems certain that mine will soon disappear.

02/19/2021 7 am

My above fear was unfounded.  My last cutoff had been experienced and I enjoyed full grid power for the last few days of the event.

Looks like it is over.  Austin reported above freezing yesterday afternoon for the first time in 144 hours.  They also reported the 1983 episode was 140 hours.  So, not much difference in the two.  My memory likely is failing me but I don't recall so much snow and ice in 1983 and I don't recall power failures/cutoffs.

Some general comments:

The PowerWall performed very well.  My maximum cutoff duration was 2-3 hours.  The PW would not have done well had the cutoffs been a day or two; many experienced those durations.  The problem was snow covered PV panels which prevented me from producing much power during the entire period.  I guess, had my cutoffs been longer, I would have been out clearing panels.

The cutoffs were rather counter productive though I don't see how else the grid operators might have responded.  I would get cut off, then when I had power again, I would pull more power to recharge the PW battery to restore energy expended during the cutoff.  That was a net negative due to the inefficiency of charging and discharging a battery.  In addition, whatever modest power I could offer the grid was not supplied during the cut offs.  That problem would have been much more sever with cutoffs during sunny warmer weather as might occur during summers.

The steeply sloped panels did shed snow better than more gentle slopes but snow did accumulate at the base of the panels where they are sitting on the ground.  Elevating the lower ends would have been beneficial but too costly.  Roof top panels seemed to shed snow faster than gentle slope ground mounts.

Thankfully, my internet access remained up during the entire event.  But only while I had grid power; my internet connection entry point has no power failure back up.

I was surprised by my firewood use.  I used about three times the amount I expected and had in stock.  I exhausted my "stored at cutting site" supply and cut some more yesterday.  My "at house" supply is very low and I will have to replenish.

I lost water very early in the event, when temperature hit about 22; I was without water during the entire event.  That mostly due to oversight on my part; I failed to replace remove house underpinning.  My pressure pump, previously protected in a water closet of the burned guest house, had poor protection would almost certainly have frozen (and is frozen now) sometime during the event.

Should this 50 year event recur in the next few years, I should be prepared by having better water pump protection and better under house protection.  Also, I should have greater PowerWall battery capacity.

02/20/2021

I ALMOST got my water restored yesterday.  I got my well pumping water. Surprisingly there was no freeze damage there.  I got my rainwater tanks to house pressure pump working.  Surprisingly there was no freeze damage there.  I pressurized my house and was thrilled for find water flow to kitchen sink which is on a north wall and the most susceptible area for freeze damage in the past.  Then, I found my bathroom on south side of house flooding.  A sink supply line had come loose.  I turned off the easily accessible cutoff valve.  But water flow noise was coming from under the bathroom floor.  I cut all water back off and am waiting for things to dry out so I can dig out access to the under bathroom area.

I had a 100w bulb under the kitchen sink, judging it to be most threatened.  Never before having had any bathroom freeze ups, I failed to put any supplemental heat there other than leaving the door open.

 2/23/2021 9pm

The pain continues.  I have repaired or capped off all house leaks.  But faucets do not flow even with good pressure on the supply line.  It could be valve orifices plugged by debris that was loosened in the pipes by the freezes.  Anyway, I've been without water for 10-11 days and no clear prospects for getting it working again.  There are few plumbing supplies available in stores.  Fortunately, I have a fair supply of some of the more common parts I use in my irrigation work. Plumbers are booked solid at least three weeks out.  On the other hand, weather has been very nice and well above freezing for several days.  Since I've been without a proper shower for near two weeks and with no immediate solution in sight, I'm considering rigging an outside shower somewhere.  I did some laundry in Lockhart today.

2/25/2021

The pain continues to continue.

Yesterday I discovered that a tank that supplies water to my house pressure pump was empty rather than full as I had though.  The source for filling the tank is the across the road well which has my best quality well water.  I found it was not pumping water reliably.  I suspect a ground water level drop below pump depth.  That has recently been a problem in this area.  I have a well service/drilling guy scheduled for "sometime" next week.  I was surprised to get such a prompt appointment.  Meanwhile, I will explore the possibility of putting lower quality water from another well into the storage tank.  Longer term plans are to get at least one other well converted to high quality water; it is a matter of cementing off a higher aquifer layer.  Sadly, all that does not mean that I have no house plumbing problems.

I carried my laundry into Lockhart in a big duffel bag and carried back the unexpectedly wet laundry in a pile in the back of the car.  All dryers were either broken or in use.  Since it seems I will be forced to continue using the laundromat for a while longer, I extracted a few plastic laundry baskets from my large stock.  I used to use the baskets for spinach picking baskets.

2/26/2021

The pain continues... to continue... to continue

I thought the end was in sight!  I got the less desirable water into the storage tank which gave the pressure pump a good water supply.   I pressurize the line to the house.  Things look good.    This morning I had several water outlets in the house flowing!  I did a load of laundry.  I had cold water in the kitchen sink!  I could wash my hands and brush my teeth inside at the kitchen sink!  I washed a potato before baking!  I assumed the non flowing outlets were clogged and was in the process of trying to take apart the shower valves to clear the supposed clogs.  But I noticed the remote pressure pump was running continuously just shy of it's 60 psi cutoff pressure.  So, I went looking for more leaks.  And was "rewarded" by finding one in the middle of the house.  The semi-good news is that I can keep the house shutoff valve closed and only open it briefly when I want to use some water in the house.  Now, I either wait weeks for a plumber or I start digging again to try to gain access to the leak.  Will probably start digging tomorrow.  Or maybe plan a vacation.  I had repaired other leaks by digging under the bathroom on the south side of the house.  This leak looks most accessible from under the kitchen on the north side.  BAH!  HUMBUG!

3/11/2021

After finding the under kitchen leak to be hot water line, I cut out the offending T and turned off the water heater expecting to get cold water through out the house.  Then, I found a cold water leak near the rear of the house.  More digging to gain access.  It turned out to be a split 1/2" steel pipe well suited for a "pipe repair clamp.  No 1/2" repair clamps in the area.  All plumbing stores report getting shorted on their orders.  So, I just jerry rigged a fix which worked.  Cold water in the kitchen sink for the first time since April 14.  Very near a month.  Did a load of laundry.  No cold water in the bathroom for yet unknown reasons.  Haven't found more leaks.  Will look for a flood in the morning.  Best to look at my pressure pump and see if it is cycling.  The pressure pump is NOT cycling!  Meaning I have no undetected leaks.  Just experienced the simple and nearly forgotten great pleasure of washing a potato, to be baked, in the sink under running water.  First load of laundry is on the line.  Waiting to get rained on.

The end is in sight.  Plenty of pain before me, though.  At least two semi-complex fixes which involve threading steel pipe in the cramped quarters under the house.  No pipe threaders are found locally.  I am waiting or an online order to be delivered.  I'm slowly and painfully prevailing over this trial.

3/17/2021

I just had my first real shower, well, "semi-real", since 2/13/2021.  Five or six weeks.  As I had been planning, I rigged a small 120v 1500 watt heater on the old outside of sauna shower.  It was magnificent!  Soaped my head with shampoo.  Scrubbed.  Sluiced off with water spray.  Same for rest of body.  I still haven't attacked my under house plumbing.  I fell a couple of weeks ago and, apparently, damaged my replacement left knee.  It keeps getting more and more painful.  Walking even short distances is daunting and halting.  Next week, I attempt to see my knee guy.  I do use cold water out of kitchen sink and have done several loads of laundry.

I had hoped to have a "man camp" RV trailer out by the guest house slab by now.  I could live out there pretty straight forwardly.

 

 

Austin Used to be a Good/Fine/Wonderful Place to Live

I was in and out of Camp TomWooten for a few years.  Maybe 1957-1960.  Before I got involved in sports cars.  I fondly remember spending a week at "Aquatics Camp".  Swimming, canoeing, diving, etc.  Merit Badges for all.  I was unaware of, or forgot, the opportunity to hike to Mansfield Dam, then canoe back.  That's something I wish I had done.  It would have been a 10+ mile hike over very rugged country.   Maybe as long as 20 miles.  I was aware of multi day hikes.  The camp had a quite impressive waterfront on the west side of the Lake Austin Bull Creek Arm.

Before the property was "developed", I understood it belonged to the Boy Scouts of America and expected the camp to be there forever.  After it was sold, I developed the erroneous impression that the land had only been loaned to BSA.  The website below set me straight: the camp was sold by BSA and the proceeds used to develop a new and larger camp in Bastrop County.

I remember the mentioned Jack Swenson. I believe a son was a classmate.  I knew where they lived: just east of now Mopac and south of Hancock Dr.

The Highland Lakes were VERY attractive.  Very little traffic and "development".  I had a collection of small boats.  An Old Town canoe with a motor mount, an 8' pram which could be used with an outboard or rowed.  Later, a small hydroplane.  I remember pulling water skiers, with limited success, behind the hydroplane. with a small, perhaps 10hp, outboard.  For a while, the family had a "Terra Marina" houseboat which was kept on Lake Travis.  I've been all over Lake Austin and Lake Travis, mostly in my small boats.  I remember having my 1.5hp outboard quit running on me while I was in Devil's Canyon across the lake from Hudson Bend.  I ended up swimming the mile back across the lake pulling the pram my dog was sitting in.  Back then, Devil's Canyon was always near deserted.  I also remember my dog throwing up in the boat while on a trp.  Motion sickness I suppose.  I was impressed when he cleaned up after himself by eating again.

 http://westtexasscoutinghistory.net/CTW/index.html

http://www.race-cars.com/carsold/elva/1592879196/1592879196ss.htm

Dale Citrus

 

I was only recently told of this orange tree in downtown Dale.  I never before noticed it.  I've driven past thousands of times.  It is on the south side of a house but it looks like the house provides minimal protection.  I estimate around 30 years old and no evidence of freeze damage. Then, after taking the photo, I noticed another younger tree about 1/2 mile north of Dale.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/XStCynBbg56xFMsQ6

The photos in the above album are zoomable for more detail.  The photo in this post is not.

I haven't talked to the owner of the rather spectacular orange tree pictured.  I will eventually.  Likely, he knows nothing of the variety.  I would like to learn if that tree was planted before or after our 1980s freezes.

A few weeks ago, my doctor was putting demands on me to get prescription renewals that I found excessive.  I drove to The Valley and bought the needed drugs on the other side of the border.  But, that is another story.  I stopped in a citrus nursery near Edinburg, where no English was spoken, and bought three poorly labeled citrus plants.  I'm near certain that the varieties are good for The Valley and not likely for central Texas.  I could be wrong since much Valley citrus was wiped out by a freeze in the 1980s and they might be tending toward some frost tolerance.  There are a few well known varieties that will go down around 25 deg.  Meyer lemon and Satsuma tangerine are examples.  Generally those varieties do not make good, market acceptable, fruit.  I've planted citrus here in the past that has failed to survive.   The area south of New Orleans is a semi-local area where citrus is successfully commercially grown; though The Valley is larger and better known.  I'll plant at least one of the new plants; that'll likely be my last citrus attempt.  Right now, the plants are being protected in a neighbor's greenhouse. 

A new report on downtown Dale orange tree.  The guy's name is "Brite", a common name in Dale.  He has lived in the house about 20 years and the trees (there are two growing together) started when his daughters spit out orange seeds in the area.  Not intentionally planted.  So, the variety is unknown and not likely the same as the originating fruit.  Like other fruit trees, citrus is grafted to give predictable fruit.  He said the foliage was often frozen off the the wood survived.  That is, leaves always sprouted from the old wood.  He gave me three fruit; the first one sampled was very good, very much like commercial fruit.

2/27/2021

I added a photo of the downtown Dale orange tree after our "big freeze".  Temperature down to 5-10 deg and below freezing for more than 140 continuous hours.  At this point, the tree doesn't look too bad.  All brown, of course.  It may well have been killed to the ground.  Only time will tell.

Comng to terms with societal demands

 I'm coming to see the need/benefit of regularly scheduled dish washing and kitchen cleaning.  "Every few weeks" has just not worked well for me.  I am having trouble dealing with the guilt of not performing on schedule.  Now, I'm thinking "every Christmas" might work.

Cabin / Tiny House Shopping resumes

 

http://creativelivingsolutions.com/

 http://tinyhousetexas.com/

 

http://arnoldcustombuilders.com

 

The two pictured have the attractive to me high decks.  I have been looking into building such a deck attached to the new shed under which I expect to place the cabin but that it is a ~$20k choice.  The extra cost of the deck/porch in the upper photo is ~$12k.  As shown, that is a $90k-$100k unit.  I'll try to talk to Arnold about the structure in the lower photo.

Found the Arnold floorplan:

 https://cdn.hibuwebsites.com/08b0c476df4f4dab8abb1eda3ac7a70d/files/uploaded/Shelbi-Layout%281%29.pdf

 

 http://www.rrcathens.com/platinumcottages.html

 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/8zLLK2hdHvorDfcWA

 

11/9/2020

I received a quote on the Arnold unit pictured. 8'x28' with top deck and two small lofts.  $76.2k.  Plus, I imagine, state sales tax.  I had been hoping for $40k-$50k.  Otherwise, quite attractive.  Mini-split heating/cooling, two burner induction cook top, probably 10kw demand hot water.

11/24/2020

Homeless shelter:

https://www.palletshelter.com/

 

UPC Universal Product Code

 Quite a few years ago I bought or registered a manufacturer's UPC number.  That gave me about 5 digits worth of  product codes I could use.  I believe my manufacturer's number was about 5 digits also.  Cost was nominal, $50 or $100, for lifetime registration.   I used 10-20 codes for my various products, 16 oz Shelled Cream Peas, 16 oz  Shelled Blackeye Peas, 10 oz Washed Spinach, 16 oz Blackberry Jelly, etc.  Anything sold to a grocery store in printed packaging.

I believe I've read that they have run out of manufacturer numbers.  I had long considered trying to share my unused product codes since I had used a tiny fraction of the entire space available under my manufacturer's number.

I just received a solicitation to buy my UPC for $100 along with a $100 check.  "We've tried to reach you by telephone".  I am returning the check and supplying my email address.

A little googling reveals that there are businesses selling individual product codes for near $100.  I assume they have some system for doling out thousands of product codes from a single manufacturer.

If any reader here has an unused UPC manufacturer number, it might be worth money.  Almost certainly more than $100.

This horrible day seems to roll around every year

 https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/statesman/obituary.aspx?n=marcia-jean-mason-mckemie&pid=159365684

A New Radio Tower Near Dale

My hog trapper just reported a crane working within sight of my place.  I went over to snoop.  It is about 1/2 mile north of Dale on Dale Lane.  It seems to be less substantial than a cell tower.  A guy parked on the road reported "Practical Telecommunication".  Likely these people:

https://www.tta.org/team/practical-communications-inc/

BTW, my trapper reports a total of 29.

A dent.  But not a large dent.

A recent catch was a large boar with notched ear and was castrated.  So, either he wasn't born in the wild or the wild hogs are developing a society which includes selective breeding.