Today I made / bought / learnt .... (for a post oil world) 2

patience · Expert Joined: Jan 04, 2008 Posts: 1741

After agonizing over the decision for a month (which I seldom do), I went ahead and bought the 2nd garden tractor today. My wife may not think it's the best idea, not sure. We always talk about such things as major purchases. But. The old guy who had it is getting ready to sell everything and move to a retirement home. He had it priced at $1600 at first, but today told me $1000, and wanted me to have it, at a $200 loss for him. So I bought it.

I really hate to see him so discouraged. He's 85, and not really able to care for himself, but hasn't quit yet. His wife is diabetic, 84, and facing a leg amputation. She won't eat unless he brings it to her. He's not safe to drive, and he knows it. Hard choices at near the end of his life. Not much I can do. Dammit.
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Local fix-it guy..

DomusAlbion

patients wrote: "Not much I can do."

Maybe go pay him a visit or two at the home and tell him how great that old tractor is doing and how glad you are to have it. Smile

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"Modern Agriculture is the use of land to convert petroleum into food."
-- Albert Bartlett

"It will be a dark time. But for those who survive, I suspect it will be rather exciting."
-- James Lovelock

patience · Expert Joined: Jan 04, 2008 Posts: 1741

Yes, I'll certainly do that. He's been avaluable member of the community his whole life. Lots of people say they will go see old folks, but don't get around to it. In his case, I'm sure they will.
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Local fix-it guy..

CarlinsDarlin · Moderator Joined: Jul 02, 2004 Posts: 1422

Yesterday was a full, busy and sad day. Besides the normal stuff I do around here everyday, we had a funeral to attend. I spent much of the morning making food for the family to take with us to the service (we had a late lunch after the service in the church community room). Wayne was a dear, dear, elderly man, loved by everyone (and I mean everyone!), much like the old timer you mention in your post, Patience. He had a full life, lived life well, and was well respected. His funeral was a tribute to the life he lived and the impact he had on others. He will be missed, but he definitely made his impact while he was here.

After we got home, we finished our oldest son's chicken house for his 4-H chickens. Well, the building is finished, but I need to do some more work on the run. It was a hot afternoon and early evening. By the time we got the chickens settled into the new house, and I had dealt with the goats for the evening, it was well after 9:00 pm by the time we settled down.

Today I'm in the house trying to catch up. And the garden still has too many weeds....
Kathy

patience · Expert Joined: Jan 04, 2008 Posts: 1741

Nothing much today and too sick with the flu to do much but worry about the infestation of orange bugs on our potatoes. Sevin did nothing for them last year, so I'll just pick 'em off and dunk their little heads in kerosene. Then a dose of rotenone. We'll see.

I did get to the water mill restoration site today, to figure out a belt idler mechanism. They tell me that today there is about 3,000 to 4,000 gallons/minute flowing over the dam, which is slight compared to rainy days, when it is 4 or 5 times that. Learned about the cave system that supplies this "spring". The cave is known to be over 22 miles long, much of that explored, and probably drains the runoff from 50+ square miles! It is a huge spring. The millpond dam is laid limestone, with a 2 square foot drain gate at the bottom to flush out mud from behind the dam. About 8 feet above the bottom is the sluice gate, controlling flow to a 30" diameter wrought iron pipe, rivetted from flat plates, rolled into a cylinder. This pipe splits into 3 smaller ones driving a 16 ft. diameter overshot wheel, 4 feet ? wide, and from there to 2 turbines, one 10 hp and one 30 hp.

In it's heyday, the business supplied cold drinks from a springhouse, and chicken dinners on Sunday, besides the mill products of cornmeal, wheat flour, "bolted" white flour, bran, and any other ground grain brought in by customers. The "miller's toll" was a share of the grain for his services, which was sold to local non-farmers. There was also a wool processing facility on the 2nd floor that cleaned and carded fleeces, but no spinning. There was a loom on site, and it's goods were also marketed.

Several folks like me want to see this thing operational for an uncertain future! The tentative opening date for tourist traffic is October 1 this year. Looks like they'll make it. I have a couple shafts and couplings to make yet, plus the idler deal for drive power to the wheat and wool machinery.
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Local fix-it guy..

taizy8

yesterday I was feeling flu-ish ....perhaps from information overload in recent weeks. I got to the library and picked up books on permaculture and passive solar:
"Farming for Self-Sufficiency"..Seymour
"Permaculture" David Holmgren
"The passive Solar House" James Kachadorian

I am not in a position to do any of these things at the moment, but reading these may help my next move etc.. I also read about "Humanure" on the internet and found the whole idea really quite revealing, to say the least.

I bought a few things today for an international nomad: Compass, magnesium firestarter ; and a book on wilderness navigation and "weather forecasting" by michael Hodgson,

who knows what tommorrow !
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live simply so that others may simply live

Pops

biofuel13

Completed my learning on how to store grains longterm in 5 gallon buckets. Continued researching heirloom and open pollination veggies....still lots to learn.

Pops

WisJim

We got our tomatoes and squash gardens mulched--we use layers of newspaper and then grass, hay, straw, etc., to cover it well. By fall it is starting to blend into the soil, and by next spring it is hard to tell it was there. Next is peppers, summer squash, and then mulch the potatoes as we hill them. Lots of work as I cut a few rounds of a small field of a couple of acres, rake it up, and load it and haul it a hundred yards or so to the garden.

A few of this spring's grafts of apples are showing some growth, finally, so I am somewhat relieved that they might grow into trees someday. A few have been eaten off by rabbits, but most of them are just sitting there, with me anxiously awaiting signs of growth.

CarlinsDarlin · Moderator Joined: Jul 02, 2004 Posts: 1422

Ludi

Finished building the new house for the Silkies.
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"...powerdown so soft and fluffy you'll think you're living in a pillow." - jboogy

biofuel13

sighting in my remington .22 LR

Muckingfess

Bought another 2 months supply of rice, some silver coins, another 500 rounds of ammo. Also some more canned goods on sale.

Next month I may get rid of this worthless cat and get a dog.
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A man should never wear a hat that has more character than he does.