According to the news, yesterday was the latest that is has EVER snowed here in the Portland area.
All day, snow, sleet, heavy rain
It's difficult to photograph snow. It moves.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Clivia
First flower. Grown from seed taken from a "Belgian Hybrid" clivia. It took 6 years to first flower. In person, the color has more red tones.
I played honey bee and applied pollen from the Yellow Sahin's to these flowers. And vice versa - pollen from these flowers was added to the Yellow Sahin's. We'll have our own hybrids now, in about 7 years!
I played honey bee and applied pollen from the Yellow Sahin's to these flowers. And vice versa - pollen from these flowers was added to the Yellow Sahin's. We'll have our own hybrids now, in about 7 years!
Compost and earthworms
Stirred up the compost. This is probably 1/3 chicken droppings + straw bedding, with generous amounts of poodle wool, yard trimmings, kitchen scraps, and coffee grounds.
This compost will need a couple more months before it is ready. Right now it's not 'done' enough.
No worms were added - these find their way up from the soil.
When I remember, I've been bringing home coffee grounds from work. I weighed them, it's about 1 pound 7 ounces daiy. Over a month, that's a lot of garden supplement.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
New Bee House (Orchard mason bees)
Yesterday a few Orchard Mason Bees(Osmia lignaria)were out flying around, and a couple looked like they were in need of new houses. The choice is to spend about 20 bucks for a new house, or use scraps and make one for free. So I used scraps and made one for free.
It's not rocket science. The best book that I have seen on the topic is "The Orchard Mason Bee" (clever title, huh?) by Brian L. Griffin. This book details their interesting life cycle, and ecological role, as well as rationale for promoting them (decreased viability of honey bees, so can't take fruit pollination for granted). Washington State University also has this site and the extension service has this site, about Orchard Mason Bees. North Carolina State has this site, for an East Coast perspective. This site has more information than I can digest so I'll mark it here to refer back to it.
The main issue is how big the holes need to be. The answer is 5/16th of an inch. Mine were made from 2 2X4 scraps nailed together to create a 4X4, then a little sloping roof added to keep rain from soaking into the wood. The roof is probably not needed since it's under the eaves, but not much trouble.
Here is the result.
Just finished
Date added, so that I know which ones are the oldest and need to be disposed of.
Next to an older bee nest.
I need to set out a dish with some mud for them. I better go out and do that now.
It's not rocket science. The best book that I have seen on the topic is "The Orchard Mason Bee" (clever title, huh?) by Brian L. Griffin. This book details their interesting life cycle, and ecological role, as well as rationale for promoting them (decreased viability of honey bees, so can't take fruit pollination for granted). Washington State University also has this site and the extension service has this site, about Orchard Mason Bees. North Carolina State has this site, for an East Coast perspective. This site has more information than I can digest so I'll mark it here to refer back to it.
The main issue is how big the holes need to be. The answer is 5/16th of an inch. Mine were made from 2 2X4 scraps nailed together to create a 4X4, then a little sloping roof added to keep rain from soaking into the wood. The roof is probably not needed since it's under the eaves, but not much trouble.
Here is the result.
Just finished
Date added, so that I know which ones are the oldest and need to be disposed of.
Next to an older bee nest.I need to set out a dish with some mud for them. I better go out and do that now.
Master Bathroom Project (Bathroom 2.0)
There hasn't been time or energy to do much work on the master bathroom rehab. I did pull down some insulation and the small amount of remaining drywall today. This is also a form of meditation, even if it seems like work to others.
What is done so far:
1. Removal of sink, counter, and toilet.
2. Removal of shower.
3. Removal of wall dividing bathroom from empty space on northwest corner, to enlarge bathroom.
4. Removal of closet wall on east side, also to enlarge bathroom.
5. Seal closet doors to reduce dust mess in house.
6. Removal of ceiling drywall.
7. Removal of remaining walls' drywall.
8. Punch holes through wall into hallway. OK, that was a mistake.
9. Repair holes noted in #7.
10. Tear down crappy, inadequate insulation from ceiling and outside wall.
11. Dispose of all of that demolition trash (2 trips to dump, one to go).
What remains of deconstruction:
12. Construct temporary wall in bedroom so that I can tear out the closet doors and re-frame for pocket door.
13. Remove solid oak flooring from former closet to save for bedroom floor patch.
14. Seal off shower pipe and sink pipe.
15. Remove remaining flooring.
Then it's just a big box, deconstruction is done, and construction can begin.
Northwest corner. You can see the nice mold-proof paperless drywall that I used for the adjoining guest bath.
Southwest corner. The insulation is for the tub surround of the adjoining guest bath.
The floor. Actually demolition trash, none of which is reusable. Unlike all of the framing that was removed - it is almost all reusable, and is better than the new stuff. The 2X4s are all stored in the basement, waiting for their new role.
Ceiling. You might say, why tear out all of the fiberglass insulation. Answer: It's inadequate, only being 3 inches thick. It's filled with dust and dirt, reducing the R value even more. The paper backing is brittle and probably can't be reinstalled even if I want to. There is no vapor barrier. All in all, it's better to remove it all and start over with the right stuff, installed correctly and to code.
What is done so far:
1. Removal of sink, counter, and toilet.
2. Removal of shower.
3. Removal of wall dividing bathroom from empty space on northwest corner, to enlarge bathroom.
4. Removal of closet wall on east side, also to enlarge bathroom.
5. Seal closet doors to reduce dust mess in house.
6. Removal of ceiling drywall.
7. Removal of remaining walls' drywall.
8. Punch holes through wall into hallway. OK, that was a mistake.
9. Repair holes noted in #7.
10. Tear down crappy, inadequate insulation from ceiling and outside wall.
11. Dispose of all of that demolition trash (2 trips to dump, one to go).
What remains of deconstruction:
12. Construct temporary wall in bedroom so that I can tear out the closet doors and re-frame for pocket door.
13. Remove solid oak flooring from former closet to save for bedroom floor patch.
14. Seal off shower pipe and sink pipe.
15. Remove remaining flooring.
Then it's just a big box, deconstruction is done, and construction can begin.
Northwest corner. You can see the nice mold-proof paperless drywall that I used for the adjoining guest bath.
Southwest corner. The insulation is for the tub surround of the adjoining guest bath.
The floor. Actually demolition trash, none of which is reusable. Unlike all of the framing that was removed - it is almost all reusable, and is better than the new stuff. The 2X4s are all stored in the basement, waiting for their new role.
Ceiling. You might say, why tear out all of the fiberglass insulation. Answer: It's inadequate, only being 3 inches thick. It's filled with dust and dirt, reducing the R value even more. The paper backing is brittle and probably can't be reinstalled even if I want to. There is no vapor barrier. All in all, it's better to remove it all and start over with the right stuff, installed correctly and to code.
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