Apparently reddit backtracked their JS policy for some browsers. sadly my old mac is still getting a redirect to a mangled login page. In other news, my sister is mad at me for freeing her turtle which she rightfully abducted from the wild(i am Aston Kucher i guess):
i should have cleared this sooner(many duplicates): July/24th/2026 1.770.628.0985 1.23456 1.770.666.0871 1.202.987.9873 1.602.428.4952 1.989.662.9278 1.672.258.9396 1.601.202.1025 1.984.477.9768 1.216.260.9522 1.646.296.9038 1.203.309.2167 1.771.217.5181 1.615.270.6481 1.646.926.9029 1.833.650.3149 June 1.512.222.4947 1.619.951.0452 1.771.208.5382 1.771.202.5948 1.770.666.0858 1.512.648.2357 1.804.331.0869 1.771.209.7483 1.646.290.3421 1.434.857.9295 1.771.209.7418 1.201.534.3996 1.835.997.5998 1.704.803.4108 1.771.209.7511 1.703.249.6002 1.224.236.0956 1.703.831.2262 1.424.560.1876 1.313.708.3732 1.843.994.9639 1.770.674.8975 1.757.276.8470 1.320.416.5342 1.207.393.5189 1.609.318.6756
Hey, it looks like the sun is coming out after all; maybe i will get out there and do stuff later. Forecasting continues to be kinda weird in The Age of Trump. I noticed something funny with reddit, but i guess now it's official: So Reddit has decided that plain HTML is unsafe comments: I guess i'm not using reddit anymore. it's too bad about all those reddit links in various notes where i didn't actually copy the text; i guess it's lost now... from the HN comments - more scummy Big Tech banditry: interesting(i wish substack would fix it's mangled presentation but oh well):
The weather is much better today(sorry no pic). I've decided recently i want to improve the music situation in my life, and i decided to try and learn the recorder. I bought myself a budget friendly yamaha alto recorder, and so far it's been good, however i have trouble hitting the low F. I'm sort of thinking of getting a fancier yamaha since i have heard that complaint about this specific model, though at the moment i haven't decided yet on how fancy i will go(probably not that much; i've got a budget). I also bought a pack of cheap $2 plastic recorders to give as gifts to various young people i know, however i discovered they are pretty seriously out of tune. They seem to start out ok but go flat pretty quickly as you go up the scale, and it become pretty flat by the time you reach the octave. Did i mess up? maybe i should just trash them. i'm sort of on a budget though, and supposedly there are ways to adjust tuning on wooden recorders; perhaps it's applicable to plastic? here are some links: also this interesting one about modifying a recorder with keys to play one-handed(this might be beyond my skill level): It looks like the gist is to simply file on or fill in the holes with little blobs of wax in order to lower or raise pitch. I'm not sure how plastic will hold up to the filing; polystyrene is pretty prone to cracking(not sure about ABS). I think super-glue will bond pretty well to both PS and ABS; maybe a plan hatching...
Smoke is even worse today, and i'm hiding out indoors again. i think 2023 still holds the record.
smoke's getting worse. i think this might be an indoor day. ...this might actually end up worse than 2023. we will see...
It is smoky out there today! It's not the worst i have seen, though it is pretty bad. At least the temperature is not forecast to be so hot today, and the smoke tends to temper the heat of the sun. My last two batches of air-crete turned out pretty well. Hopefully i'll get some time to do some more soon, though i'm thinking i might go back to single 5gal bucket batches so i can test adjusting my ratios. As for today, i'm hoping to get the sheet aluminum on my solar wax melters; it is supposed to rain this weekend. Also, perhaps good to do before the rain is to dump out my latest batch of wool and get it sitting on the drying racks. we will see how much i can get done - the smoke is oppressive!
I did manage to i order seeds yesterday, as well as more xanthan gum. I also went and collected and scattered some seeds out in the woods and fields over on Tinkerland. Most of the willow canes i planted last winter did not survive the June drought, and so i'm trying to get some sort of cover started for my planned hedge-rows. Wild black cherries are in season now, as well as various wild blackberries and raspberries. i also found a sassafras that was going to seed. it looks like redbud is also hanging seed-pods right now(i should grab some of those), though i haven't seen any seeds on the locusts yet. Supposedly, there is also an Osage orange growing somewhere near the road; my dad said he saw it. i haven't been able to spot it yet, though i did spot a paulownia(which has a few seeds on it). Still waiting for poplar to go to seed, as well as some of the other more valuable hardwoods(oak, hickory, walnut, etc). I'm still practicing the keyboard, as well as trying to keep up with a fitness routine. I'm experimenting with some wrist exercises using light weights and some improvised moves pressing against doorjambs and walls. The hands feel pretty good(compared to my usual baseline). It's also still pretty non-optimum down in my barn-studio. i managed to run through some hymns last night before retreating up the hill; it was just too hot! hopefully the temperature will get better again soon. little window AC units are just not intended to cool ~700sqft during 90+°F heat.
why does firefox start imploding every time i try to watch a Louis Rossmann video?: @rossmanngroup - WeRecoverData becomes WeWipedData; their archive.org page is GONE after threatening to sue me ...interesting, laptop fans start cooling down immediately after closing the tab; it's almost like there is a youtube conspiracy to take down rossmann's channel??? ...Edit, i found some more rossmann links:
I really hate the AI auto-dubb, but i found this very interesting old video on wool processing from fleece to woven blanket from Spain in the 90's: @eugeniomonesma-documentales - Inside a century-old BLANKET FACTORY: how pure wool was transformed into handcrafted blankets i'm working on another batch of 8 fleeces now. i probably still have 3 or 4 left to go in the bag. my first batch of 4 fleeces has now been turned into balls, though i still need to get them out of the stockings. It really shrinks down a lot during the felting process: 4 fleeces turns into about a wash load of balls. I have at this point learned about all the settings on my tumble dyer. it's important to get them completely dry or they do tend to smell. perhaps i need to improve my scouring setup. i made some more drying racks using my wire metal shelf design(i now have 8), as well as some finishing touches on my (4)skirting tables. I still need to get propane for my water boiler. My plan is to try and get the water hotter during my next scouring session, as well as maybe do a few more rinses before starting felting on this next batch. hopefully that will cut down on the smell in the finished product, though at this point, after figuring out the settings on the dryer, the latest batch is not smelling anymore. still, i might try running them through the washer and dryer one more time just to be sure the smell is gone before removing them from the stockings. i have also bought a big felting needles+holders; i have found the balls sometimes grow some loose ends upon the first wash outside of the stockings, and need some help.
Also, BTW, we are supposed to get some smoky days starting tomorrow. it already seems kinda smoggy. p.s. i've also been working more on the air-crete. i'll have to post some progress shots on that some time soon.
I got around to hot-soaking my stinky wool over this 4th of July weekend. I started on the 3rd by soaking it in warm water in a barrel on the using a submersible heater i got on Amazon. The unit apparently is designed for a slightly higher amperage circuit than mine, and the breaker kept flipping whenever the temperature got above 140F. My propane boiler has arrived now, so perhaps next time i will try using that, however for this session it appeared 140F was warm enough to get the stink out. After drying, i can't say it is completely without smell, though the putrid rotten smell is now gone and it can be handled with bare hands without making them stink. I think the closest comparison now is to a somewhat clean though wet dog, or if you don't have pets, maybe a somewhat sweaty foot, though not super bad. I feel pretty good now about moving on the the felting stage now; it will get washed in the process and the smell should improve even more. It's worth noting that there are still visible specks of lanolin stuck in the wool. I think i am going to have to experiment more with how to extract and collect this at some point. Lanolin is valuable stuff as an standalone ingredient, and i would like to figure out how to get some out of the wool to try in some projects. It appears extracting and purifying lanolin is a bit more tricky than beeswax given lanolin hydrates in warm water, becoming a problem when incorporated in my normal recipe for boiling beeswax. i have figure out a work-around for this now, however i have still yet to actually succeed in extracting any lanolin from fleece myself and have been using store-bought lanolin for my experiments with beeswax so far. Maybe i need to get the water hotter? i read somewhere to add salt? i'm afraid to use soap because then i'll just have lanolin dissolved in soapy water. perhaps pH has a roll to play here: vinegar? wood-ash? i'm just guessing at what people might have done traditionally. i'm kind of amazed i haven't been able to find an actual recipe for extracting lanolin yet(and saving it). It seems like lanolin was an ingredient in all sorts of old skin-care creams and leather conditioners. I'm kind of scratching my head where is the traditional recipe to extract lanolin? Anyway, the metal-wire shelves made excellent drying racks for the wool - and i luckily returned home yesterday just in time to bring them under cover before the rain.
Also, i finally identified the flowers growing on my terrace which i suspected were some kind of fennel or dill. I was wrong in my suspicions however i'm happy to say they were not the poisonous hemlock either. It is yarrow, which is native, though foreign varieties exists as well, and traditionally has medicinal applications - so not bad to have around.
Trying to get going this morning, but couldn't resist posting some notes from my morning youtubing and associated google-searching: here's some more Louis Rossmann reporting on new developments in American law and legislation which will hurt consumers and creators: StopKillingGames: Jennifer Gibbons tells senators running Minecraft server is ILLEGAL(@rossmanngroup) California votes to ruin 3D printing right after voting to keep killing games(@rossmanngroup) (for some reason watching rossmann videos really gets my computer fans going. is there some sort of anti-rossmann conspiracy with youtube to make it hard to watch him?) I didn't do too much extra researching on this, since it's ongoing, and i post notes on anti-trust and related topics from time to time. I did come across an interesting video on a potential crop for the bottom on tinkerland. It's only a thought, and i most likely will go with something else(like flax), though i'm in the mode of thinking about future crops for the bottom field now. Miscanthus: the supergrass that heats towns and builds homes(@dwnews) uses in "fuel... building... and textiles". intersting, though i'm not sold yet. "potential application value in textile and other fields" I'm still continuing my experiment with flax and nettles, however it is good to know a bit about another alternative. I think i need to find a wetter spot for my flax: also i came across this interesting video - i think we have an osage orange growing on Tinkerland: Osage Orange: The Rot Proof Tree That Defied Extinction!(@BackyardEcology) also, i have noticed wild black and raspberries are in season now. i was thinking about propagating some of them to help as cover for developing my living fence-lines. here is a good list; i know many spots where we have these growing around the farm; i should try to propagate them to my reforestation project as cover: i should also go looking for mulberries to plant: red mulberry black raspberry wineberry Allegheny blackberry northern dewberry interesting, i didn't know blueberries were native: highbush blueberry Also, i have noticed the cherries seem to be in season now(though most wild cherries are not very sweet). i got to get going now. i got this wool to work on. also still playing the organ on sunday. it is HOT outside - don't forget to water plants today!
it looks like it's going to be a hot 4th of july:
