from the desk of Colin Nicholls
We generated 20 kiloWatt Hours yesterday. And for some of that time, it was cloudy! So there.
Apparently the power meter is running backwards during the day, but I honestly haven’t managed to confirm this, because the little LCD panel cycles around the different display modes too fast for my slow brain to follow.
On Friday the contractors were here putting up the solar panels on the West-facing roof of the house. In my opinion they could have done the whole job that day if they’d actually spent all the time here, but they buggered off for 4 hours in the middle of the day and by the time they left only one row was mounted. However, it’s a start.
I took some pictures but they’re in the camera. The guys will be back Monday to continue the job, so I’ll have to work from home again – no great sacrifice.
Is April the official start of Spring? I could look it up but I’m too busy digging over the garden to care. Whatever. Marin County celebrated the (possible) start of Spring by attempting to set low temperature records a couple of weekends ago, followed by attempting to set high temperature records last weekend – and succeeding.
As a result, our dying silver birches have finally decided to emit some green leafy shoots and are now looking alive again.
Last month I realized I was behind in my seed germination schedule, and quickly prepared a little tray of tomato seeds from my stash. I used some from 2009 and some second-generation seeds from our 2010 crop, and almost immediately (i.e., the following weekend) the little green shoots started waking up and sticking their heads out.
Another week, if that, and I’ll have to move them into their own pots. With the weather as good as it is right now, I feel a month behind schedule.
I’m seriously grooving to this self-titled debut album. It’s got just the right fix of progressive yet commercial sensitivity, with interesting lyrics. Some of the songs run into each other – or perhaps they just have long introductions delineated with a track break. Stylistically it really does come off sounding like the less-heavy Filter mixed with Police-era Sting and a nice swathe of Massive Attack.
Highly recommended. Give it a listen and escape from the typical.
So, now I know what a Chinese Wedding Feast tastes like.
It’s pretty yummy, although the Suckling Pig Combination Platter may well have had some components that I would not normally eat.
Spring is not quite here yet, but this weekend we emptied the well-cooked compost from the barrel-in-waiting and dumped it on one of the beds. Lovely icky rich stuff, like chocolate cake. We’ll spread it over the other two beds and dig it in when we next get a sunny weekend. Meanwhile, the active compost barrel has been promoted and is sitting horizontally on the roller for fermentation, and the just-emptied barrel is now upright next to the trash can, accepting new input from our kitchen scraps.
Soon I think it will be time to start sprouting some more tomato seeds. I now have seeds from tomatores we ate in 2009 and 2010, and I think I’ll try some of each. Unto the second generation.
Happy Holidays everyone. I hope 2011 is a good one.
15 miles. 90 minutes. Average speed 10 miles/hour. This sounds low, but there were several points where I dismounted and checked out the route to see if it was cycle-able, and also about half of the terrain is “off road” so it’s nothing to be shameful of.
Another nice loop around Novato is to go through the Indian Valley Preserve. On a bike you basically have to stick to the main firebreak trail but there is obviously lots of great walkways to follow if you’re in the mood for hiking.
Google says that was an 11 mile loop. Heh. On Saturday, I hardly felt it. Yesterday I took a similar route but didn’t go through the actual open space preserve area, for a 9 mile loop.
Not sure if I’ll go out today or not. On the other hand, I figure I should take advantage of this great weather while it lasts.
Necessity is the mother of invention: Using the old chest of draws to support the OSB while cutting out the back-splash:
After turning it the right way up; clamping and adjusting the backsplash and screwing it in place, then mounting the power strip; dragging it into place and leveling it with the adjustable screw-feet, here it is:
Nice.
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