What did you do today? 2017 version

[rayinpenn]

Funny when my diabetes hit my feet I tried everything until they figured it all out. My favorite shoes are now Skechers, not expensive but very comfortable and highly padded...they are awesome.

I have an indoor pair with an I in red maker clearly labeled in the heal ... hopefully I won't need to mark them R and L

 

[Hermit]

I spent the weekend in the big city. I don't know if it is the drive or the hub-bub of the city, but it just wears me out when I do that. I did have a nice dinner with friends I had not seen in two or three years. Also went to church with DD and SIL and had dinner at his parents place. It was a good weekend except I ate way too much.

When I started my day Saturday the lights in the Jeep did not work. I took my sports car for the weekend. Today was spent trouble shooting and then getting the Jeep into the city to get it fixed. A day spent in the old pickup is more tiring than a day in the big city, so I think I will turn in early. Tomorrow I will be back to doing something do enjoy.... working on the house.

 

[Ronstar]

Got my boat and car out of the garage for the first time this year. Pressure washed the deck and set up the deck furniture. I'm ready for summer.

 

[davemartin88]

Yesterday our friends with an alpaca farm offered to pick up our nine alpacas and have their yearly shearing while they we're doing their over 100 animals. Because of my illness, I was set for later in the week with some inexperienced but willing wranglers here at our place. Shearer liked the idea of not having to travel here, set up and tear down so seems like he was happy with the alternative too. Here are a couple of pictures of the boys enjoying the sunny weather.

 

[braumeister]

Wow, that was really nice of them. You have good friends.

 

[NW-Bound]

Dave, it looks like you are recovering well, and are home now.

..This morning, I went out and check my garden, there are some young zucchinis to be picked, but sadly, one of my young melon plants was chewed up by the pill bugs. Arghh! ...

We lost several squash seedlings to pillbugs or sowbugs, until we discovered that they were responsible. I was enraged.

Several Web sites say that they eat decaying matter and are just a nuisance, but my wife came out one early morning and caught them munching on the seedlings. Apparently, they like to eat certain seedlings, and melon, squash, and zucchini are among their favorites.

The best control is Spectracide Triazicide granules that I sprinkle on the soil around the seedlings. No more problem! I don't need to use a lot either.

I also had these bugs living in the gravel surround of my pool, and they would crawl into the pool to die. It's unsightly. They are gone from there now too.

PS. Some Web sites say the above insecticide is OK to use for growing organic food.

 

[Marita40]

Ohh, those poor nekkid alpacas! Do they enjoy the shearing or hate it--or do alpacas have discernible moods at all? At times like these I realize what a city girl I am; I know nothing about such animals. I guess I don't even know why people have alpacas -- the fur? milk? just for a pet?

 

[iloveyoga]

Tonight we are going to see Brian Wilson and his Pet Sounds concert at our downtown Civic Center. I am looking forward to some Beach Boys music!

 

[Nemo2]

....do alpacas have discernible moods at all?

If they're anything like their camel relatives they have freely expressed moods.......especially if they feel slighted.

 

[Fedup]

Dave, it looks like you are recovering well, and are home now.



We lost several squash seedlings to pillbugs or sowbugs, until we discovered that they were responsible. I was enraged.

Several Web sites say that they eat decaying matter and are just a nuisance, but my wife came out one early morning and caught them munching on the seedlings. Apparently, they like to eat certain seedlings, and melon, squash, and zucchini are among their favorites.

The best control is Spectracide Triazicide granules that I sprinkle on the soil around the seedlings. No more problem! I don't need to use a lot either.

I also had these bugs living in the gravel surround of my pool, and they would crawl into the pool to die. It's unsightly. They are gone from there now too.

PS. Some Web sites say the above insecticide is OK to use for growing organic food.

I've heard you can trap them with beer can in the dirt.

 

[NW-Bound]

Llamas spit. I do not know if alpacas do, but an ornery one has been seen doing this.

 

[brewer12345]

Had coffee early with a friend and former colleague I have been doing some contract work for. He pitched me on the idea of a full time spot that is being created at his shop that I would have a very hard time saying no to, at least for a few years. All the stuff I like doing the most in a small organization and likely a ton of money. Perhaps not a terrible way to pay for the kids' college tuition.


On my way home I got the word that my queen bees were in at my local supply shop, so I detoured over there and picked them up. DW and I then badgered the backyard hives. We split up the biggest one into 4 nucleus colonies, each of which got one of the new queens. The remains of the donor hive were combined with a smaller colony (10 frame nuc) so that I should still get a honey crop out of that hive. Since I am out of space to put more bees, the plan is to create 4 nucs and sell them to beekeepers locally who waited too long to order from the big producers. We barely got into this hive in time because it was very obvious that they were on their way to swarming (numerous uncapped queen cells).


When DD1 got home from school I took her to the botanic gardens apiary where she and I each have a hive. Both hives looked great and mine is starting to put up honey.


Nobody was in the mood to cook and all of us who donned bee suits in 80F weather (and heavy sun) were a bit fried, so we went out for Vietnamese. Now I am cooling off in the hammock watching the quail hop around and a certain amount of chaos in the bee yard as all the foragers come back to what was their hive only to be confronted with a choice of 5 hives that smell like home.


Still have to hit the last 3 hives at another apiary tomorrow before the weather turns nasty for a few days. Swarm prevention is keeping me on my toes this year.

 

[Souschef]

Your description of your hives was interesting. I live in a valley covered with citrus and avocados and the bees are all around. The tourist railroad runs some honey farm trips with beekeepers on board to explain the process.

 

[brewer12345]

Your description of your hives was interesting. I live in a valley covered with citrus and avocados and the bees are all around. The tourist railroad runs some honey farm trips with beekeepers on board to explain the process.

Unfortunately, the commercial beekeeping operations that are providing pollination services to citrus, avocado, almond, etc. growers lose something like 50% of their hives annually. They have a similar management regimen to what I do, but their bees are stressed by constantly being trucked around the country to whatever is blooming next. It is to the point that it is getting increasingly expensive for amateurs to buy bees since the supply is mostly from the commercial operations and they are in part just trying to maintain their own hive counts.

My 3 apiaries are no more than 15 minutes apart. The honey they produce is completely different at each location.

 

[W2R]

Had coffee early with a friend and former colleague I have been doing some contract work for. He pitched me on the idea of a full time spot that is being created at his shop that I would have a very hard time saying no to, at least for a few years. All the stuff I like doing the most in a small organization and likely a ton of money. Perhaps not a terrible way to pay for the kids' college tuition.

Congratulations! Whatever you decide, it's always nice to have great opportunities. This one sounds especially appealing.

 

[brewer12345]

Congratulations! Whatever you decide, it's always nice to have great opportunities. This one sounds especially appealing.

I have been trying to bridge the gap between complete leisure and professional involvement with contract work, since I want to cherry pick the stuff I actually like doing and leave out as much of the nonsense as possible. That has prove to be difficult to do. I am not good at marketing and some of the stuff I do professionally appears to be things people do not want to have contractors do (issues of confidentiality, etc.). So while I am not exactly eager to have the life change involved with a full time spot, I am missing some important things that feel like "unfinished business" for me personally. In my early 40s there are not a lot of peers to play with during the day except for weekends and it has been kind of isolating.

We will see. The rumored spots may end up being so much marsh gas or I may not be offered a seat. The chips fall where they may, I suppose. It is worth admitting to myself that checking out of my career has proven to be a great reduction in stress, but it isn't perfect either. If I take a spot and realize I have made a big mistake, I can always walk.

 

[W2R]

I have been trying to bridge the gap between complete leisure and professional involvement with contract work, since I want to cherry pick the stuff I actually like doing and leave out as much of the nonsense as possible. That has prove to be difficult to do. I am not good at marketing and some of the stuff I do professionally appears to be things people do not want to have contractors do (issues of confidentiality, etc.). So while I am not exactly eager to have the life change involved with a full time spot, I am missing some important things that feel like "unfinished business" for me personally. In my early 40s there are not a lot of peers to play with during the day except for weekends and it has been kind of isolating.

We will see. The rumored spots may end up being so much marsh gas or I may not be offered a seat. The chips fall where they may, I suppose. It is worth admitting to myself that checking out of my career has proven to be a great reduction in stress, but it isn't perfect either. If I take a spot and realize I have made a big mistake, I can always walk.

Exactly! I understand about that "unfinished business" feeling and think you are wise to pay attention to it. Anyway, good luck and I hope things work out for the best. Life is an adventure!

 

[davemartin88]

Ohh, those poor nekkid alpacas! Do they enjoy the shearing or hate it--or do alpacas have discernible moods at all? At times like these I realize what a city girl I am; I know nothing about such animals. I guess I don't even know why people have alpacas -- the fur? milk? just for a pet?

They tolerate the shearing, some better than others. As it gets warmer, they'll be a lot more comfortable having given up 3-5 pounds of fleece. Alpacas remind me of cats, definitely a bit aloof but have definite moods.

We have nine boys. Mainly pets and only wanted to have 3 or 4 but we ended up rescuing some local animals. We slowly process their fleece each year to make yarn which we use for some weaving, knitting, etc.

 

[davemartin88]

Wow, that was really nice of them. You have good friends.

Yes, it was really nice to have the shearing taken care of like this. On top of all the effort with moving the boys back and forth, the shearer wouldn't take payment, said he was happy to help out this year and doing the job this way freed up a lot of time on his schedule when he was running behind because of rain. Nice, generous people all around.

 

[broadway]

They tolerate the shearing, some better than others. As it gets warmer, they'll be a lot more comfortable having given up 3-5 pounds of fleece. Alpacas remind me of cats, definitely a bit aloof but have definite moods.

We have nine boys. Mainly pets and only wanted to have 3 or 4 but we ended up rescuing some local animals. We slowly process their fleece each year to make yarn which we use for some weaving, knitting, etc.

So glad you are able to rescue some.
As with all animals always many out there needing homes.

Are your alpacas spayed/neutered so they don't reproduce?

 

[davemartin88]

So glad you are able to rescue some.
As with all animals always many out there needing homes.

Are your alpacas spayed/neutered so they don't reproduce?

Only one is neutered but we have all male and don't want to get involved with any breeding.

 

[jim747]

Since yesterday was tax day, today I got a little personal satisfaction by signing up for Social Security. I hit 70 in July so this fits the three month lead time they want. I might even take the wife out for a turtle sundae when that first deposit arrives.

 

[Fedup]

Today, I cleaned up the bed with lots of volunteered sweet peas. I need to make room for more melons. One of my sets of water melon seeds is now sprouting, very exciting to see all the young plants. They are my new babies.
I also emptied one compost bin with the help of my husband, the compost soil is so rich, almost like black gold, so many worms. They are like my pets. I managed to put some of them back in my new compost bin.
Then we went to lunch and afterwards we visited my wholesale art shop again. I need to get more linseed oil, while there I picked up a few brushes on fire sale, and best yet a big canvas, about 48x60. Since my oil painting class will be over, I will have time to work on a favorite travel picture of my husband and I on our trip to Italy. Something to keep me occupy until the fall. I hope it turns out well, but I know it's hard to paint flesh, I have not learned how to do it. This week I will start painting a Caravaggio's picture on the sidewalk. It has a human arm, St Jerome Writing, I believe is the name of the picture except only the arm is in the picture. The human was cut off from the original picture.
It doesn't matter how it turns out, I will have a lot of fun with it. Not bad for the cost of $30-$40 for this big canvas.

 

[broadway]

Only one is neutered but we have all male and don't want to get involved with any breeding.

Duh on me!

You did write all males.

 

[NW-Bound]

Only 3 weeks left till our 6-week European trek. I told my wife to stop watering the plants, so that I know how to improve the drip system so her beloved plants will not be all dead when we come back. It does not look good. So many drip emitters are clogged up, but are covered up by the "jungle growth", and many plants are wilted and need to be rescued by hand watering immediately. I removed all the tubing, and rebuild everything, after telling my wife to trim back her "jungle" so I can tell what is going on. This will take a couple more days.

Wife is out with son to close the deal on his new house and get the key. I stay home to cook dinner, just a pot of jambalaya for dinner when they come back.