Category Archives: Uncategorized

By Spring I generally have a veritable stack of empty propane bottles. In ordinary times I don’t worry about topping them off till Autumn, but these show signs of not being ordinary times. One of my big kitchen bottles was … Continue reading →

I have all these ideas for great landscape photos, and the equipment to at least half-assedly do it if only I knew what I was doing. But … winter happened. In winter Uncle Joel sits. And landscape photography takes a … Continue reading →

Sometime late last year Ian offered me an embarrassingly large amount of money monthly to keep up on repairs to his place. Much of what he wanted done was stuff I was doing anyway, since his place is useful to … Continue reading →

I cleaned out my butter keeper making breakfast, so while coming back from some early chores I stopped at Ian’s and got another stick from the fridge. Came home, left it on the counter to soften. Beautiful morning: Went outside … Continue reading →

Just because I haven’t got anything to say… I’ve rarely played a video game in my life and don’t know anything about Fallout, so virtually all the references go right over my pate. Waking up to this video was … … Continue reading →

I have an old pressure cooker that, as you can see, I haven’t used in quite a long time. I intended to buy some copper tubing and a compression fitting at the hardware store during yesterday’s water run: Imagine my … Continue reading →

I put this off all month, hoping that distilled water would re-appear on store shelves. But it’s nearing battery day, clearly time to give it a try. The praxis is simple enough: Boil water in a stock pot. Float a … Continue reading →

Late in 2020 we finished a thing that made Ian’s Cave a very useful and happy place, even though it looks less and less likely that anyone will ever live there. It happened so gradually, in such a choppy, punctuated … Continue reading →

What a lovely day! It’s March, so this won’t last… Just three or four days ago it was too cold and blustery for the old man to want to spend any real time outdoors, but now I barely want to … Continue reading →

A beautiful warm spring day, without damaging wind for once! I couldn’t wait to get outside. The pear tree is just beginning to bud. So I pulled away its protective fence, cleaned up around it and gave it a light … Continue reading →

This has been a really great month for “constitutional” carry. All through my childhood and young manhood, getting caught carrying a handgun was either a guaranteed trip to meet the judge or depended on (whether you knew) the cop, variable … Continue reading →

Presenting, for your viewing pleasure, the most awesome commercial ever shot.

I think maybe the game Fetch is burned into the genes of certain dogs. I went to considerable lengths to discourage it, knowing full well I can’t keep up with Tobie’s energy. But he has independently invented a version that … Continue reading →

“Today I’m huddling in my coat cursing March.” It rained and snowed all morning. Look at my nice shiny floor! Look at it! If you ever design your own house, find a way to include a mud room. The weather … Continue reading →

Same rather complicated recipe right out of JoC, published in the olden days when books were made from reconstituted trees. This time followed more carefully than the first try – which was also tasty, so whatever. A little overcooked, should … Continue reading →

Weather has turned cool and very windy but sunny, perfect day for baking. I finish up and put the loaf on a rack to cool… …go sit in my reading chair, for to sit and read… …and almost immediately recognize … Continue reading →

What a beautiful day! By nine it was already in the fifties and clearly going to get warmer still. Not much wind. And last night I learned that a package I’d been waiting for with some anticipation was waiting. So… … Continue reading →

I just got schooled by the Adaptive Curmudgeon, who posted some cautionary words about using your smartphone for snapshots. Last fall a Generous Reader sent me a couple of DSLRs, which are capable of feats in excess of most of … Continue reading →

Last week during the Monday water run I noticed that the price of low octane gasoline had crossed $4. So yesterday I emptied my two remaining gas jugs into the Jeep and brought them to town to refill. I had … Continue reading →

I am not making up this headline… On Top of Everything Else, Nuclear War Would Be a Climate Problem It’s The Atlantic, so picture a not-especially-bright person trying to educate you at great length and in condescending tones about something … Continue reading →