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Post by steev on Feb 26, 2019 2:08:51 GMT -5
Memories are really the only riches we can put away that nobody wants to take from us.
While I wasn't able to get to the farm, there was some serious wind which blew the veggie corral gate open; some rabbit got in and nearly wiped out my parsley, but did wipe out the sprouted peas and favas, damn; I walked through with the pellet gun, but it wasn't still in there.
It was bitter cold wind off the coastal peaks; snow is a couple miles away, not heavy, but spreading; I enjoy it, though I don't get that gorgeous Utah snowy peaks. Even though it's cold, the frogs are singing their hearts out from the stock-pond. It's so quiet OTF, they're loud from ~1300' away.
There were enough narcissus, (daffodils and paper-whites; daffodils being a class of such, like prunes are a class of plums) that I harvested bouquets for my nearest neighbor, my sweetheart, and my landlady. Other cultivars of narcissus will come along later. Calendars notwithstanding, Spring has sprung, at least here in Cali; just ask the frogs.
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Post by steev on Feb 26, 2019 21:29:34 GMT -5
Things are looking up; got my residential parking permit without having to wait for it in the mail, so I'm safe from the neighborhood two-hour regulations; got a new helper, who'll start tomorrow, barring rain, a cousin of a guy who worked some seven years for me.
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Post by steev on Feb 28, 2019 2:32:44 GMT -5
Rain happened, so we didn't get much done; trees are being blown over; saw a guy's p'up a tree had fallen on; bummer, that. Need to get a junk tag from the DMV for my last truck; if I get it, I'll try to go to the wreckers to see whether my old lumber rack will fit on my new truck; I really need a rack, not just for daily purposes, but to get materials for the farm, pipe and such. All things considered, I'd be better off if I hadn't trashed my truck. Oh, well, not the first time I've screwed myself. Prolly not the last, if I live much longer.
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Post by steev on Mar 4, 2019 22:15:46 GMT -5
Plenty of narcissus this week and the less common cultivars are starting to appear; The last eight peas I planted weren't sprouted when the rabbit got in, so they're fine, sprouting nicely; last week I'd left two punnets of lettuce outside the veggie corral, but they were unharmed; makes me more certain there's a cougar in the area, since deer are conspicuously absent; lots of turkeys around, though.
Hadn't been able to get a junk slip from the DMV on my dead p'up because I didn't have the plates to turn in, so I left the farm early to go to Woodland to get them, went to the DMV there, took the junk slip to the tow-yard, and measured the rack, which will fit perfectly, so I broke it down for transport; now I have to find someone to remove the rolling cover and mount the rack; I'm not aware of a way to keep both.
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Post by steev on Mar 11, 2019 23:26:12 GMT -5
Hauled a load of bricks to the farm and got them stacked; set out lettuces and elephant garlic; lifted and potted cardoons for my contractor; cleaned up the asparagus so I'll be able to see it sprouting; I like to eat the first stalk I pick raw, sort of a rite of Spring; it's always so sweet and crunchy; harvested the most narcissus yet, several cultivars not out before.
In other news, I had a message that the dealership needed to talk to me, so I went in when I returned to Oakland; the clerk said: the bank won't carry the loan because the truck is too old (2006); too high mileage (136K); and I have a 0 credit rating; so they have to return my down payment and take back the truck! Okay; I pointed out that: that will put me out of business; I can't haul my equipment around on the bus; my helper will lose his job (he has four kids); I'll have no transport to my farm; they have gotten 37% of the purchase price already; they know from my bank statements that I'll be able to increase that to at least 50% before the end of the month; that I expect to pay it off entirely in NMT 3 months (I so hate paying interest that I've not bought anything on credit for at least a decade, which is why I have no credit score); that having put more than 60K on the barrel-head in the past 2 1/2 months, my resources are a tad stretched; that I've already fended off the dealer who wants to put the house on a foundation because I don't have the jing.
I assume all this tsurris is pre-paying my dues (in the event of reincarnation) on a life of peace and boredom.
Tomorrow I'll see if my brother can inflate my finances (his sons are going to inherit the farm), before I talk to the truck dealer, who will have seen what he can do further up the chain, so I may be out of this quagmire before the end of the month, one way or another. Honestly, I despise this "it's just business and we don't know you" thing; I get it, but I so look forward to being ensconced in the middle of nowhere, in a community where we deal in "personal", not "business".
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Post by steev on Mar 18, 2019 20:11:08 GMT -5
My brother is enmeshed in constructing an RV park-hotel-restaurant in Baja, so his funds are tied up, but he'd co-sign the note if they fax it to him; no go; they need him here in person; legal papers, you know; my sweetheart was afraid to co-sign and could only offer $1K; my land-lady also wouldn't co-sign, but came up with $3K, which got the dealership off my back; Saturday, they wanted to see me again; I suspected they were going to tighten the screws again, so I thought about a clerk at the Berkeley dump, who, seeing my "new" truck asked what I'd paid ($10K) and said he had the same year/model which he'd have sold me for $7.5K; I thought about this the weekend and decided I'd speak to him and if we could come to a deal, I'd tell the dealer to cut me a check for my payments and take back the keys; this morning the dealership called to say they were reducing the sales price by $2.5K; I went in this afternoon and we renegotiated the contract; I wonder, does Honda employ a retainered psychic who felt the vibe and advised this course of action? I've always had a lot of luck; sometimes it's good, which I prefer, but even bad luck tells me I'm alive to experience it and to attempt to swim faster than the sharks.
Foraged some wild mustard; that'll go good with bacon grease and onion, potato-saurkraut cakes, and pork schnitzel crusted in corn flour.
Planted 100' of spuds, mulched with bunny-bean-bedding (Yukon Gold, Red, and Russian Banana); plenty more of that to do, as the spuds get chitty; I'm especially curious about "Carnival", a pretty, round, bi-color peel (I'm such a slut for pretty), tennis-ball-sized spud, plus Russet, purple, and French fingerlings.
The financial hassles seemingly ameliorated, I've really got to crank on clearage, tillage, and planting; beets, turnips, carrots, like that, but with this burden moderated, I am encouraged and, therefore, more energized.
Couldn't find any of my clients' keys; freaked me right out, thinking I might have left them in the totalled truck; eventually found them in the last place I looked, the go-bag the hospital gave me. I'm so looking forward to living OTF with no concern other than maybe cutting off a finger (I have spares).
I looked at my profile, finding no entries from several valued co-conspirators; I hope they are all too busy, and none just uninterested.
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Post by ferdzy on Mar 19, 2019 8:25:52 GMT -5
Bankers and their minions are evil bastards, glad you are managing to fend them off.
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Post by steev on Mar 19, 2019 11:58:12 GMT -5
A guy who works at the Berkeley dump asked what I'm paying for my truck ($10K) and said he has the same year/model which he'd have sold me for $7.5K; Saturday I got a message from the dealership that they need to see me; I agreed to come in Monday, expecting them to tighten the screw again; I thought hard and decided to speak to that guy, deciding that if we could cut a deal, I'd tell the dealership to refund my money and take back the truck; Monday morning they called to say Corporate had instructed them to lower the price $2.5K, so I'm paying $7.5K. Spooky!
Realizing this is redundant, I can't seem to erase it.
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Post by reed on Mar 19, 2019 16:38:11 GMT -5
banks and corps are rat bastards, would cmment more but hurt my hand, typing to much out o question
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Post by steev on Mar 21, 2019 11:20:11 GMT -5
Last helper quit last week; starting new one today; I'll be so happy to be done with this merry-go-round.
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Post by 12540dumont on Mar 26, 2019 1:10:16 GMT -5
New House, New Truck? Who are you and what have you done with Steev?....Or is this Plan T?
Miss you dude. When do we get to see pictures? RU coming for your bricks? xxoh
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Post by philagardener on Mar 26, 2019 6:00:01 GMT -5
Great to hear from you, 12540dumont What's happening with plan H? |
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Post by steev on Mar 26, 2019 10:07:32 GMT -5
I've been wondering where you've been, Holly; I'm really backed up, but I'll get there ASAP.
Pictures? You have no idea how I hate my smartphone; my flip-phone was great; surely you don't think I know, or really want to know, how to put stuff from my phone onto the net; I'm not a Luddite, not wanting to trash the "progress"; I just don't want to engage with it, any more than I want any truck with "social media".
Yeah, I'm committed to a house OTF, without which my sweetheart will never come there; she thinks the pump-house is a tad (at least) too rustic; I can't disagree, being tired of climbing a ladder to my bunk; as for the new truck, there was a large oak that wouldn't get out of my way (dirty bastard), so my other truck got totaled; I'm good, aside from financially; you know, when you don't buy anything on credit for a decade, your credit rating drops to "0"; fine; I think paying interest is a waste of money. They don't want to sell me anything; they can go fuck themselves. I'll just save my money until I can buy whatever "cash on the barrel-head". Damn, I sound so "old-school"; guess I am.
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Post by steev on Apr 1, 2019 20:44:46 GMT -5
Sunday was stunning, so I took Sukie out to romp through a weed-patch; that'll need another go-round, as we didn't destroy the weeds so much as irritate them.
Seeded Lutz beets, Scarlet Ohno turnips, Wilhelmsburger rutabagas, and Rainbow chard.
Cut lots more narcissus and some tulips (I'm always surprised when they return, as they're outside the veggie corral, and I don't know why deer, pigs, rabbits, or gophers don't eat them); I have two narcissus where I know I didn't plant any, so they have some ability to self-seed; fine by me; they can infest all twenty acres; I'm a slut for pretty.
I may be setting myself up for a failure, but I'm toying with the notion of seeding beans before the Ides of April; never done it before the end of May, but Winters have been so much less cold of late. I'm mostly clearing out old veggie seed, so the only potential loss is the labor.
There's a feral gray tomcat getting into the veggie corral; fine; more cats, fewer rodents; it's looking like it might be coming a bad year for voles.
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Post by steev on Apr 8, 2019 22:36:57 GMT -5
Ran Sukie back over last week's tillage and seeded 8 bush and pole beans; must get prunings in for pea-support; some rodent is eating the bulbs of my onions; I may reduce the kitty-kibble rations to encourage the cats to hunt more; narcissus are about done, ditto tulips, and plums are mostly past bloom, but peaches, nectarines, almonds, and Asian pears are blooming profusely; apricots and quince are itching to break.
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