Day at the beach Yesterday I walked a few miles along the coast, carrying my wetsuit, surf mat and fins in a backpack. I’ve had the mat for over a year and never used it. It was sunny, the ocean glassy, surf 3-4 feet, but breaking straight across. Suited up — gotta bite the bullet sometime — and hit the water. Two surfers out, getting creamed each time they got up…When I got out, surf had jumped to 4-6′, breaking kah-wump with big thick lips…Bottom line: surfing a mat ain’t as easy as I thought, or as easy as it looks. I had a hard time getting in the right place at the right time. I did get one ride, but also got pounded a couple of times. But you know, at my age, I ain’t complainin, just getting in the water always generates chi…On the way back, there were these rock sculptures, hadn’t been there a few hours earlier.

The wind blew like mad last night, felt like gale force. Clouds moved in, we were hoping for rain, but by this morning, the front had skipped to the south. It’s really dry; the weatherman said the other night,  driest January-October since 1865. On the other hand, SF Chronicle outdoors-writer Tom Stienstra said the bears have full coats now, sign of a robust winter. We can only hope. The first rain I’m gonna be out there with face uplifted, feeling the drops, smelling the moistened soil, bring it on!…Last week went up to my brother’s farm in Napa Valley and picked a bucket of olives, they’re now immersed in water with salt and vinegar. No lye. The olives from last year are still in brine, still very good. I like to have them with a glass of red wine before dinner…Got new skateboard, a Tesseract from Loaded Boards, it’s great. Goes maybe 10-15% faster than any other of my boards, and turns maybe 10-15% better, inspiring me to skate more; check it out here — look at the video — hi-speed downhill sliding, on long boards with soft wheels no less!

Photos shot in Napa Valley last week; beautiful old house, elegant, spare…but just a little bit too fixed up, too fussed-over, a trophy house. Some of the billionaires’ wineries on Highway 112 are embarrassing: money, yes; taste, no. Too many vineyards, monocropping requires chemicals.…

I’m trying to find the time to write something about the wrong-headedness of GMOs; Verlyn Klinkenborg has a wonderful writeup on GMOs in his excellent book, “More Scenes From A Rural Life.” 

“As some Montanans see it, when it comes to the thousands of animal carcasses that litter the state’s roads and highways each year, there is only one logical thing to do: Eat them.

   Under a new state law, people who come across dead deer, elk, moose and antelope — or strike them with their vehicles — may now haul the animals home for dinner.…”

Click here.

From Lynn Kading

This blog has been wonderful for me with feedback. There are a bunch of like minded people out there who to turn me on to things I’m into, and give me advice, leads, facts, and criticism. Totally great, especially out here in the boondocks.

   BUT I’m getting so many good tips in the “Comments” section here that I can’t keep up with them all. I need to get this book done!

   What I’ve been doing is going to the link recommended and if I like it, make it into a post — which takes time — downloading images, selecting text, creating a link, then posting.

   I do this because I don’t think many people read comments on old posts, and a bunch of these things are so great. It’s got to the point where I have a backlog of referred URLs to post, and it stresses me out to look at them all in my (Eudora — still) inbox in the morning

   SO! I’m going to start posting the comments (or emails) as they come in, au naturel, so you can check them out from scratch. Big time-saver for me. To wit:

Hey Lloyd,

A filmmaker friend of mine just completed a short film about a boot-maker in Pendleton, Oregon who is searching for someone to carry on his legacy. Thought you might want to help spread the word.

<https://blog.farmrun.com/post/58742813729/in-search-of-succession>https://blog.farmrun.com/post/58742813729/in-search-of-succession

Best,

Sean

From Lynn Kading:

4-Year-old Girl’s Vegetable Garden Must Go, Says USDA

https://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/4-year-old-girls-vegetable-garden-must-go-says-usda/

From Mike W:

“….Have you ever felt trapped in a static life you didn’t choose? Ever considered just walking away from it all and creating your own adventure? When Josh and Jessa Works asked themselves these questions, they answered by loading their son Jack into an Airstream and launching into an exploration and rediscovery of America, not in search of a place to settle, but rather creating a new kind of home out of wandering….”

https://vimeo.com/71385845

stumbled onto this on someone’s facebook page..

From: CLL

FYI

https://www.pressherald.com/news/getting-into-living-off-the-land_2013-08-25.html

Thanks for all your good work.  Been a fan for more years than either of us would want to admit <g>.

“Take what you can and let the rest go by.”

                                                        -Ken Kesey

This fair is a good-vibes event with many useful tools for homesteaders. This isn’t a comprehensive report; there lots of things I just don’t have time to cover, but here are some items that caught my eye in two days wandering around at the fair. Note: there will be two more Mother Earth News Fairs this year: Sept. 20-22 in Seven Springs, PA, and October 12-13 in Lawrence, Kansas.

Yurts made in Mongolia Unlike any of the US-manufactured yurts I’ve seen, this one has a hand-crafted look when you step inside. “The hand painted rafters and natural wood latticed walls covered with a clean white wool felt create a cozy, comfortable atmosphere. The thick felt dampens outside noise, holds heat in the coldest of winters and keeps heat out in the hottest of summers.…” https://www.suntimeyurts.com/

Bamboo Clothing Beautiful fabric, soft as silk, some 100% bamboo, other items bamboo/organic cotton combo. I bought 2 T-shirts, pair of shorts. Wayi Bamboo Apparel, click here.

JapaneseTripod Ladders Never seen ladders this sturdy or sensible, and I have lots of ladders around my place (like maybe10). I don’t know about the logistics of getting one of these shipped, but they’re a notch above (sic) any ladders I’ve seen.

Olive Oil From Greece Unique organic olive oil and olives from a family estate in Sparta, Greece. www.oleaestates.com