Easter Sunday Apr/20th
After wasting a bit of time this morning looking into batch image manipulation for GIMP, i determined that it looks like i will have to continue doing things manually for the time being.
after installing BIMP to my plug-ins folder(/Users/username/Library/Application Support/GIMP/2.10/plug-ins/bimp/) and triple checking that everything was proper, i eventually figured out i needed to either update gimp, or build from source. I imagine building from source would require some coding, and so that is sort of out of the question for now. also it looks like the old version binary is just for Window. my plug-ins prefs are all in order and other plugins are working. launching bimp from terminal gave and error:
"""
/Users/trygve/Library/Application\ Support/GIMP/2.10/plug-ins/bimp/bimp ; exit;
dyld: Library not loaded: @rpath/libatk-1.0.0.dylib
Referenced from: /Users/trygve/Library/Application Support/GIMP/2.10/plug-ins/bimp/bimp
Reason: Incompatible library version: bimp requires version 23610.0.0 or later, but libatk-1.0.0.dylib provides version 22811.0.0
Trace/BPT trap: 5
logout
Saving session...
...copying shared history...
...saving history...truncating history files...
...completed.
Deleting expired sessions...88 completed.
"""
i looks like i need to install the new gimp, but the gimp website(https://www.gimp.org/downloads/) says i need to install Big Sur, so this is a no-go. idk, i guess i will need to figure something out or get a new computer. perhaps i can try switching to linux, but for now i kind of exclusively use GIMP on my old Mac. I guess it's just some more evidence that technology sucks, and we aren't supposed to have lives or do anything except constantly update and buy new hardware.
uninstalling bimp now. maybe some day i will write my own python script to do batch edits - that is unless Big Tech pulls the plug on me first.
So hopefully i can get this done this morning before church. Time keeps slipping away, and i feel like i shouldn't let it go too long without an update. There is a lot of other stuff on my plate right now, but i am still hoping to have some sort of small Spring sales event in 3 weeks from now. My melons and flax are all sprouting now. I think it is probably time to plant out my flax actually. i want to get a good seed harvest so i have more to work with next year. It is also time for me to get on to some honeybee stuff for Spring. And then there is the big job of encapsulating my new crawlspace under my little efficiency/office down in the barn. The carpenter-ants have already awoken and sent off their annual royal expeditions - actually checking on google, i think some of them might be termites; i probably have both at this point. Basically it's a big job, and i've been working on aspects of it for a long while now. I suppose i'm an amateur, but there is definitely some knowhow that you only get from doing a job like this. i plan to make a post specifically on these repair/construction jobs some time in the future. Otherwise, Happy Easter! Stay tuned for more updates!
Sat Apr/19th
yesterday i finally managed to install new brake-pads on my subaru, saving myself something like $300. It was a bit of a relearning process, though it was a good opportunity to get all my tools out, and take stock things like the various sizes of socket wrench that seem to have walked off. Anyway, brakes are good again now, and so the next items on the list are my spring bees checkup and finishing up my big crawlspace rebuild i have been working on for the past year(actually longer). Mores stuff is sprouting in the greenhouse, and i have plenty of watermelons and cantaloups started now, as well as flax and nettles. I have finally gotten around to setting up my rat traps, and so the squirrel and rat problem seems to be getting better, and i can already see a few of my various tree seedlings starting to sprout. I tried cayenne pepper without much effect, and the rodents seemed pretty able to get underneath the hardware cloth i laid overtop of my pots. In the end the attacks seemed to have diminished since getting the traps set up, though it's noteworthy that i didn't get much takers until i added a few chestnuts to each trap(in addition to the peanut-butter i started with).
My creek-water experiment is still a work in progress, and at the moment i think i will need to build some sort of settlement tank and a pre-filter to prevent sediment from clogging up my intake filter on my long run of 1/2" garden-tube. Otherwise i think it is a decent proof of concept so far, in regards to raising the level on my little bog and providing a water source for a potential summer garden. Alternatively i may try planting over on Tinkerland, though there isn't a good water source there relative to my planned garden site, also there isn't as much infrastructure over there.
Thur Apr/17th
yesterday JRA contractors planted ~1k trees on us as part of of stream-bank restoration project. I also did a bit of bush-hogging in preparation for a spring garden, though i am not done. There were trees down in various places from the last big storm we had, some of which might be good candidates to test out my chainsaw mill.
Starter plants are coming along in the greenhouse. we have cantaloupes and watermelons, and flax and stinging nettles, as well as a mix of dill and various flowers from seeds from mom's garden. also my tomatoes have begun sprouting. i am still waiting for strawberries to sprout.
Last night a bear came up to the front door, and Apolo got out and chased him away, and would not come home all night. i discovered the bear had been down at my bees, and had reached past the electric fence and tipped over one of my beehives, damaging the fence somewhat in the process. I managed to get it back upright, though i will need to go fix it up better later. this will probably have to happen when i split my bees in the coming days. actually, i need to do this now basically. There appear to be plenty of bees around all the living hives, though I noticed the hive that tipped over was not super heavy yet, and it is probably a good time to do splits now before they start packing on honey. alternatively I could wait until after the honey harvest around the end of June / beginning of July. and focus on catching swarms instead. There are numerous other jobs that might take priority, and so it is possible that this year's honey harvest may be smaller. I am also noticing a lot of carpenter bees doing their work on the benches that hold up my hives. I will have to think about changing the way i support my hives.
monday apr/7th
today was a rainy day, and i discovered that while water was still flowing it had decreased in volume. i went an checked and found that the filter was clogged with silt. i washed it off and re-primed the line, and water flowed again. The next day(tuesday) was sunny, and i went and cleaned the filter again and worked on the rock dam for the intake reservoir. As of Wednesday morning, water is still flowing nicely, though level is still far below where i want it to be. Still, i think having constant flow of water to this site will be helpful no matter the result for the little pond, as i am sort of thinking of gardening in the area.
yarn notes
about 1 hour to make 9-10 ft i-cord our of heavy nylon yarn + 30 minutes to finish and thread into a pair of sweatpants. this is not an commercially viable rate, and the little toy knitting machine i'm using is probably designed for a lighter weight yarn. i'll have to correct this in future tests. note i added a little paper-clip to help keep the hooks from jumping over and missing the yarn. still having a problem with jamming; i think i am using too heavy yarn. it's a wonder how they do this stuff industrially. perhaps I could make something in the shop that is more robust. this will have to wait though.
sat apr5th/6th
creek water notes
i used 1/2" black garden polyethylene distribution tubing since it was significantly cheaper than larger diameter poly-pipe, and prices are definitely going up these days.
in the end, it took 200ft from pond to creek, and i ended up going up the creek about 500ft(and gaining ~15ft? elevation - there ended up being decent pressure; i should try and measure this)
I made the filter from 1/4" hardware cloth, pvc window-screen, and geo-fabric all rolled up and held together with zipties.
i used zipties and a barb for the joint between segments of 1/2" tubing.
The entire run does not contain any stand-offs/air-vents, so i primed it by running the length starting at the head and going downstream, lifting the tube slightly every few feet along the way, and then there was flow!
it is not gushing or anything, though it is steady. i need to measure it, though just looking at it, is that a gallon a minute?
Assuming 1 gal/min, and a pond that between 15 and 30 ft diameter, and already half full, though not much more than waist high when filled, and so that means it should take about maybe a couple days to fill up? i got it all hooked up by about noon today, and the water continues to run, though so far it is hard to discern a visible change in water level. i will have to check again in the morning...
Also, the bees are flying.
