Thursday, December 22, 2011

AMAZING CAMOUFLAGE!!

I'm working REAL hard to keep the Christmas spirit, but them darn folks in Washington are making it really, really tough.   So, let's just take a moment to breathe and enjoy some nature today, ok?

Leaf Katydid
Wouldn't it be nice to disappear like this once in a while? Especially when the family is over for Christmas...

There are more at the link below.  Happy Thursday!

Great Grey Owl


Fantastic Leaf Gecko


Southern Rock Agama Lizard


White Crab Spider

http://news.yahoo.com/photos/camouflaged-animals-1323369509-slideshow/

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

FARM FENCING!!


Have you looked at the cost of woven wire fencing?    The price has sky rocketed.  Not to mention that most of it is made in China or some other job-stealing country.  The idea of getting foreign countries to depend on ‘U.S.’ for buying their products has worked too well (i.e. loss of jobs, depression of gross national product, debt, etc).  The only real big ticket items we export are military products (we give food away).

For fixing or improving farm fencing, there is a low cost (other than some elbow grease), green recycling, functionally better, answer.  Cargo pallets! 


Pallets are usually imported forest hardwoods that are very durable and strong.  I get them for free, but you can find them for sale for $2 to $5 per pallet. 


I put two 2x6 treated and coated, one-foot pieces on the bottom of the pallet (to keep the pallet off the ground).  I then stand the pallet up, with the slats vertical, and wire it to the existing fence.



You can buy horse, sheep, goat, etc., no-climb fence, but it's very expensive and hard to install.  The pallets are easy to install and you can do it over time.  The slats, being vertical, make it much harder for the animals to climb to eat bushes, trees, crops or whatever.


One of the problems with animals climbing regular fence is that they break the horizontal stays and open holes in the fence.  Especially nowadays, the galvanization process is not as good or long-lasting as older ‘toxic’ fence material.  If you really want to get anal, you can paint the pallets, but that is a waste of time and money (in short supply for most of us independent farmers!).

If you want to make a stand-alone pallet fence, it is a little more difficult than patching/redoing a fence with lots of holes in it.  You will need fence posts in the ground and more wire or wood between pallets and screw those together – more money, time etc.  But it will be worth it in the long run!  Have fun.

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC PHOTOS OF THE YEAR!


Here are two of Nat Geo's pix of the year.  You can find more at the link posted below.

Photo of the year - Dragonfly in the Rain

Viewer's Choice - Beluga whales in the Arctic

Saturday, December 17, 2011

AMAZING SAND ART SATURDAY!!


This is old, but still wonderful.  If you've never seen it, take a few moments - you'll be pleasantly surprised. 

This is from Ukraine's Got Talent, from two years ago.  The artist is depicting WW II, through the eyes of one village.   Awesome. 



Friday, December 16, 2011

ANOTHER LOSS FOR DOWNTOWN BANDON


It's been a bad year for our little town.  Thai Thai, one of the best Thai restaurants in the state, closed due to insanely high rents.  Other businesses closed, too, causing our downtown to lose much of its character.  And now the McNair Store is closing shop, as of the end of this year.   The McNair Store has been one of our nicest gift shops, with reasonable prices and creative merchandise.  They will be sorely missed, and I've lost one of my favorite gift-buying locations.

In this awful economy, the one thing Bandon has maintained has been its appeal to tourists.  As our charming shops become ghosts of businesses past, now, more than ever, we need to Shop Bandon!

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

PHOTO TUESDAY!

More magic from National Geographic with their "Best Photos of 2011".  A link is at the end of this post.




"Tinted orange by the morning sun, a soaring dune is the backdrop for the hulks of camel thorn trees in Namib-Naukluft Park."  By Frans Lanting




"Beautiful frost at sunset in Alberta, Canada."  By Dwayne Holmwood




"This photo was taken during autumn in Hameln, Germany, which is the birthplace of the infamous Rattenfänger—or Pied Piper as we Americans know it. This shot is actually on top of the last few hills that soon sink into the state of Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony)."  By Jonathan Manshack



"Buddhist monk and kung fu master Shi Dejian (above) and his disciples hauled bags of cement and roof tiles up steep mountain paths to build an isolated retreat (in background) away from the tourist crowds at the Shaolin Temple."   By Fritz Hoffman

Thursday, December 1, 2011

POISON FRUIT THURSDAY!


Arsenic in our apple juice!   IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD!!!

A new study by Consumer Reports revealed arsenic levels in 10% of apple juices tested were higher than the allowable limits for drinking water.  The internet and news shows go predictably crazy.

There will almost always be some arsenic in apple juice.  The reason is that apple seeds contain organic arsenic.  When the apples are pressed for juice, seeds often are included.  This results in traces of the seed arsenic  filtering into the juice itself.

Non-organic arsenic is a different story.  You may remember Dr. Oz coming out with this same story several months ago.  He was taken to task as his study didn't differentiate between organic or inorganic arsenic.  Efforts should be made to determine how the non-organic arsenic is making it into the apple (whether through soil or spray), and then minimize that threat.

When we press our apples at home, there isn't enough pressure to crush the seeds.  They come out whole in the pumice.   I've got enough things trying to kill me.  I don't need any help from my apples!


ANOTHER EDITION OF "Question EVERYTHING!"


This email was forwarded to me by someone with the absolute best of intentions.   Read it - you'll see that it sounds logical, common-sensical, with a big dose of "why haven't we done this yet?"  

The only problem - is isn't what it purports to be.

Read the email, and the truth about it, after the jump!