the little wild kingdom

[flowerbug]

chunking or chonking along... depending upon your perspective.

8 inches of snow, some shovelling, not enough could use a few more hours. cold now and that will help keep the snow around for a while i hope.

no action with the mouse traps but there is at least one mouse out there making tunnels in the snow.

 

[flowerbug]

yay! project is doing well. got the first 20 files all scanned without errors. there's still a lot of details to figure out but this is at least getting past the next big hurdle just to have the program working and trying to digest all the transactions without giving errors. that took me some time to figure out (newish computer language to me along with new financial methods completely new to me and so i'm learning all sorts of things i never expected to get into (Accouning? Really? Me? )...

as far as programs go this is not a very significant one (i've written some up to a million lines of code - those were the good old days ) or super complex. it's just a bunch of the usual, massaging bits of one form into another... that's all programming is and ever has been, they just like to keep changing the ways of doing it.

propane delivered so we're good for 6-8 more weeks depending upon how cold it gets for how long. next refill will mostly be hanging around doing nothing all summer and into the fall. we don't use it for anything else other than heat.

the usual deer eating the trees. plenty of them around this year.

ok, back at it. now i have to get some reading done too since a book came in that i requested. a real hold in your hand kind of book for a change. good author so i'm looking forwards to this one. never know what his imagination is going to come up with (Alastair Reynolds).

 

[flowerbug]

this morning's adventure started with the power company people calling as we were expecting them to stop in for a home energy consultation.

we'd talked on the phone before he arrived and that was ok, but a part of their procedures that didn't come through to me was that he would not go down in the crawlspace to do what i really was hoping he'd do (wrap insulation foam around the hot water pipes). he did do what he could get at in the house up here, but almost all of it is down below. so i was able at least to get him to leave me a pile of extra noodles that i can do it myself sometime eventually.

he also replaced some exerior light bulbs which was really nice, and left us a package of six interior LED lights (wrong temperature but they'll work as backups) and replaced a shower head.

it was painless and funded by the power company and perhaps the state or feds.

what we did not do is accept any night lights (we don't need them as there are enough other gadgets giving off light at night i don't want any more).

and, alas, we could not have him replace our thermostat because we do not have a wireless hub or a good enough internet connection but that would have been nice. for demand response programs where the power company is willing to give you some cash in return it's worth it if you can tolerate the changes. i am ok with them but Mom would need some overrides in the summer here or there (based upon humidity).

it might save a few $ a month. we'll see how it goes.

i'd already replaced all the lights in the house with LED bulbs several years ago and done other things too like caulk and make sure the front door trim is snug (helps keep the bugs out besides not losing heat or cold).

on the whole he said we were doing pretty good and that we don't pay too much for electricty compared to many. only advice he had was to switch to propane for hot water but that's not going to happen. i already like how the power situation is gong over all (more renewables coming online meaning whatever power we are using is cleaner than burning more propane). i don't mind paying a little more for cleaner energy.

 

[flowerbug]

Deer tracks in the snow:

 

[flowerbug]

this is the result of growing some Lavender bush beans:

the left white beans and then to right of them are a few silvery bluish ones that i like but i'm guessing that when they're replanted they might just end up as lavender anyways. the middle lavender and purpleish beans are a few variations because some of those are semi-runner or possibly pole beans - i may be able to segregate them by color (we'll see). the tan/dark olive beans on the right are interesting color but i really don't need any more experiments... are they bush, semi-runner or pole? i dunno... your guess is as good as mine.

this is the bigger version of the picture if you really want to look closer:

https://www.anthive.com/img/beans/DSC_20230206_193234-0500_1853_Lavender.jpg

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I never thought I'd say this, lol. But those beans are really pretty and you can see the color so well in the bigger version.

 

[flowerbug]

I never thought I'd say this, lol. But those beans are really pretty and you can see the color so well in the bigger version.

they are a pretty bean. my camera work is not the best, but at least i got close.

the bean came to me via Russ Crow's bean collection, but he got it from someone in Australia who got it from a German seed bank. now there's a bean that's gotten around! haha!

i grew it last year interplanted with some adzuki beans and they both did very well together.

 

[flowerbug]

today is a break from bean reorganizing so i can get the worm buckets checked and everyone fed again. it is always interesting as each bucket can be different from the others. plus it is always fun to get into some dirt in the middle of winter.

 

[flowerbug]

a few new pictures:

one from way back when the house was first built (1996-1997):

and one from last summer:

 

[frustratedearthmother]

That's a remarkable change!