Wednesday, November 25, 2020 →
Pecan Squares instead of Peacan Pie. And as we’re not having Thanksgiving with anyone, dessert is a day early! 😋
Sunset during our isolation vacation at the North Coast of California.
Fox Sparrows (?) enjoying the cultivated California Grape raisins. We’ve also perhaps identified House Finches… in addition to the many White Crown Sparrows (not photographed).
New M1 Mac Mini on the way
Sunday, November 22, 2020
I bought a new M1 Mac Mini, 8gb RAM with 1 TB SSD for home server duties and testing software (like Homebrew) I need for a non-server machine. I’ve been using an older MacBook Air for server duties and it did fine but its lack of ports, large power wart, and space it all takes is less than ideal. The MBA also has the butterfly keyboard but admittedly, it infrequently acted up.
Cistus × purpureus (Purple-flowered Rock-rose)
We brought ribeyes and a cast-iron with us (and the rest of what’s on the plate. Yeah that’s canned baked beans, so what?)👌
Hot chocolate on the North Coast of California.
Moonlight over the Pacific. Above the moon, Jupiter and then Saturn.
Wednesday, November 18, 2020 →
Sundown at Trinidad, California. We’re hunkered down here for a few nights, completely self-sufficient and not likely to go anywhere. Not a bad choice with this view. I have a feeling this is the last time we’ll risk going somewhere until vaccinations.
Good morning. This morning’s sun rise almost makes up for my neighbor being obsessive with their sheet metal shelters and sheds.
I’m very thankful that my family is supportive of not getting together for Thanksgiving and very likely Christmas. We’ve so much hope for next year being (eventually) so so much better.
I tested my journaling workflow in Big Sur on a secondary Mac and it worked. So I couldn’t help myself and, despite SuperDuper! not being ready for Big Sur, I installed Big Sur on my production machine. I’ve zero complaints so far.
The Results of the 2020 Home Orchard Fixed Daily Watering Experiment
Sunday, November 15, 2020
This last orchard growing season, Iwatered using daily fixed schedules that took into account average daily evapotranspiration and estimated daily plant water use. I set up schedules for each month in the summer, since evapotranspiration and water usage changes significantly month to month. Previous years I had used a dynamic schedule determined by Rachio’s Flex Daily algorithm and Advanced Zone settings. The Flex algorithm greatly favors deep waterings and the interval is guided by daily estimated evapotranspiration.
But Diwali is ultimately a reminder of the light that’s within us all to hope and dream, and to overcome our differences and keep the faith in each other. That’s the light we see shining on this day and that will guide us through the darkness with knowledge, science, truth, unity, and compassion.
Toad in our bird bath tonight. That’s a first. We usually empty the baths to keep mosquitoes at bay and keep cats from being too keen on the backyard at night. Not tonight!
Planted a New Cherry Tree Today
Wednesday, November 11, 2020
I planted a replacement Lapins Cherry today. Bought it from Stark Bro’s and it has a great unblemished, no prune cut trunk. That is never the case if I buy locally, even from a family operated nursery. As planted, it’s a 42” tall stick. It’ll develop branches next spring. I finally got to use our homemade compost that’s been over a year in the making!
Pumpkin pie! And rump roast. Sunday is the best.
The rainy season in California is right around the corner, so I just cleaned the rain gage & other weather station components of summer’s dust and ash. Meanwhile, the mandarins are slowly ripening.
Today’s celebratory homemade sourdough loaf and Prosecco
Tearing up here. Biden & Harris wins.