NYC Journal

Glad we have mini-splits: first off they are silent; next is we need them for days like this.

The garden sprouting is like a time lapse. Somehow spring got pent up by the combination of drought and weather. A little surreal.

A squirrel dug up most of my white oak seedlings, and at one point I only had three left: one was a single, and the other a dally or twin which white oaks do where two seedlings grow from one acorn.

Then some critter ate the stems of the twins. I was pretty sad about this, but because I’m an optimist I planted the two large pots in the ground to winter, knowing that this would help protect them from cold.

Today I was surprised to see the twin starting to form buds. The twin lives so now I have 3 oaks again. I figure the twins might be or could grow weird and I’m mucho cool with that.

When I get a chance I’ll transplant them into monster pots to encourage growth. What saved my oak seedlings from squirrels was that I kept these three close to the house in the front-backyard. The other dozen I moved into the back-backyard on the “landing,” and embankment I created down the “slope” along the marsh grass near where the cherry tomatoes were growing wild.

Happy-happy.

Cal
 
KitKat bars are stable at $1.19. Milk is down to $3.49/gallon from $4.19/gallon. It's still not down to it's pre-pandemic level of $2.89/gallon, so we have to be cautious. Let's hope the Fed doesn't get aggressive with interest rates next month.

I haven't researched prices on tiger lily bulbs. I have so many tiger lilies I'll never need to buy any. In my experience, you don't need to use a machete to separate them, unless of course you are using the flat side. Using a machete is an order of magnitude beyond overkill. Be a man; separate the bulbs with your bare hands. Then you will have bear hands. That will impress the girls. I know.
 
Our ground hog has been captured by my neighbor. I call my neighbor the “Monster” because he is so oversized that XXXL does not fit him.

The ground hog will be released over 10 miles away on the other side of the Hudson on an Island.

I was told a story that this man captured a ground hog and released it, but somehow he had another a few days later, so he captured the second GH and painted a blue dot on it to see if it was the same ground hog. A few days passed and yet another ground hog appeared, but this one had the blue dot.

I unwound some climbing roses to train them in a more direct route that was not so thick at the base. The pergola is the arbor. I moved all my gardening tools from the garage into the 4x8 garden shed which is now kinda full.

“Maggie” finished her last chapter today, a day ahead of schedule.

A tulip did a time lapse and in the matter of hours open, bloomed and died from the heat. This was a plant I did not water and is considered a stray plant where we have only 3 tulips somehow that came with the house.

I saw a helicopter with a bucked do repeated orbits all day. I wondered if there was a forest fire, but no smoke. Maggie checked and no forest fire was reported, but a forest fire alert has been issued for the lower Hudson Valley. Likely what I saw going on all day was a National Guard Drill where 660 bucket loads is a qualification.

I imagine water was scooped up from the Hudson and dropped somewhere in Blue Mountain Preserve. The chopper’s course circled my Baby-Victorian just to the north and south.

My lilac bush has early flowers already. Not long ago it only had buds.

Looks like we will connect the second largest bedroom to the tower room to create a master’s suite. Work will have to start after June when our daycare ends.

The mini-splits worked great today. The entire first floor was mud comfortable with 90 degree weather. Only 2 air handlers and 2 zones for the tiny house.

Cal
 
So it looks like more remodeling. What separates the tower room and the second largest bedroom is basically a closet in each room. The third bedroom is what I call a “baby-room” because even though it has two windows it is sized for basically a crib and not a bed. Really only the size of a walk-in closet perhaps. “Maggie” uses it as such with 4 clothes racks, a shoe rack, and stuff littering all over the room.

What makes this job complicated is it involves a load bearing wall.

So we really will only have a 2-bedroom house. The tower room is currently an office space for Maggie, but with the She-Shed she figures her work space will be either in the She-Shed or in the kitchen.

My haunt is the dining room table, and I have a secretary in the living room, plus the garage, basement and garden shed.

Seems like I figured out how to best make use of a second 8 foot section of cedar fencing plus topper by creating 2 three foot gates along with a extra 2 foot section to span a 5 foot side yard. One gate will be tall, but the side-yard gate will be short. Know that I needed to buy 2 sections for the driveway, originally I only needed a section and a half, but of course it is not sold that way.

Anyways lots of OCD thinking, daydreaming, and finally a clever solution. I bought some 4-quarter cedar to cut into reinforcing for the two sides to gain a few inches required to make the fence stronger and to get it to fit. I think it will even look better also.

Not an inexpensive project, but “one and done.”

Cal
 
Contarama said:
Are you accounting for shrinkflation?
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I have only been following price trends on KitKat bars post-pandemic, which coincidentally corresponds to when my grocery store began selling candy at the self-service checkout stations. During that time, standard KitKat bars have remained at 1.5oz, at least at my grocery store. I have not periodically weighed them. Perhaps in the future I will occasionally buy one and weigh it on the digital scale I use to weigh chemicals in my darkroom to verify that the weight shown on the label is accurate.

Speaking of darkrooms, did I mention I have three load-bearing walls in my darkroom, one of which prevented me from annexing the adjacent bathroom into the space? When my contractor told me how much installing a steel beam was going to cost, I told him no thanks, that I would prefer to buy a Phase One instead. (complete fabrication).
 
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ptpdprinter said:
I have only been following price trends on KitKat bars post-pandemic, which coincidentally corresponds to when my grocery store began selling candy at the self-service checkout stations. During that time, standard KitKat bars have remained at 1.5oz, at least at my grocery store. I have not periodically weighed them. Perhaps in the future I will occasionally buy one and weigh it on the digital scale I use to weigh chemicals in my darkroom to verify that the weight shown on the label is accurate.

Speaking of darkrooms, did I mention I have three load-bearing walls in my darkroom, one of which prevented me from annexing the adjacent bathroom into the space? When my contractor told me how much installing a steel beam was going to cost, I told him no thanks, that I would prefer to buy a Phase One instead. (complete fabrication).
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PTPD,

I’m having trouble understanding the reason for your posts here. Some have constructive elements but most do not.

On some level your posts that are satirical reflections of Cal’s were funny. Cal may need to be reminded of how some see his posts, as he does often repeat himself, and focus on his own lived experience.

It’s interesting that your posts have led me to reflect on his style, and I really think that you are missing that his writing is a creative outlet, and those repetitions are a not unlike what would be accepted visually here as a photographers return to a familiar subject.

But really, we got it the joke first time, and if you think you’re going to get Cal to have some moment of enlightenment I think you’re mistaken.
(If you’re not already on his ignore list)

Please remember that many here on this thread have meet in person and are friends. If you’re trying to join in here and be a part of this little corner of a corner of the internet fine, but to me you seem to be coming off a bit caustic. (Maybe a name for a handle 'ptpdprinter' would help)

Joe
 
I regret that you do not enjoy reading about my lived experiences. Certainly it is your prerogative to refrain from reading my posts or placing me on ignore, and it won't hurt my feelings.

In my previous post, I was sharing my ongoing experiences with using the price of KitKat bars as an indicator of the health of the economy. I go to the grocery store three or four times a week so the data is frequently in front of me, and it gives me something to write about. Cal wrote about his load bearing wall, so I do not know why you would have a problem with my doing so as well. At least my load bearing wall anecdote was related to photography.

My writings are a creative outlet for me, though I also try to be as transparent as possible about what is embroidered and embellished and what is my actual lived experience.

It is unfortunate that Cal has lost his interest in photography, and no longer writes about it. Occasionally he had valuable insights from which I benefited, but that is now well in the past. To be honest, I think his posts are a better fit for a creative writing forum since they have nothing to do with photography.

I have never met Cal so I have only his words from which to form an impression. And since he has admitted that only "most" of what he writes is true, it is hard to know whether that impression is accurate or inaccurate. Maybe Cal's post about planting lily bulbs is true, or maybe he spent the afternoon in a hammock dreaming it up. Who knows?

Cal is beginning to remind me of Roger Hicks. He was a terrific source of photography knowledge and experience until towards the end. Then he lost interest in photography, and spent his whole time writing about Brexit, UBI, his dreams about having sex with demons, and whatever else was bothering him. At least Cal is upbeat. Roger was downbeat.

Query: Would management allow me to set up a thread in the Leica subforum where I can discuss my antique cufflink collection?
 
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ptpdprinter said:
I regret that you do not enjoy reading about my lived experiences. Certainly it is your prerogative to refrain from reading my posts or placing me on ignore, and it won't hurt my feelings.

In my previous post, I was sharing my ongoing experiences with using the price of KitKat bars as an indicator of the health of the economy. I go to the grocery store three or four times a week so the data is frequently in front of me, and it gives me something to write about. Cal wrote about his load bearing wall, so I do not know why you would have a problem with my doing so as well. At least my load bearing wall anecdote was related to photography.

My writings are a creative outlet for me, though I also try to be as transparent as possible about what is embroidered and embellished and what is my actual lived experience.

It is unfortunate that Cal has lost his interest in photography, and no longer writes about it. Occasionally he had valuable insights from which I benefited, but that is now well in the past. To be honest, I think his posts are a better fit for a creative writing forum since they have nothing to do with photography.

I have never met Cal so I have only his words from which to form an impression. And since he has admitted that only "most" of what he writes is true, it is hard to know whether that impression is accurate or inaccurate. Maybe Cal's post about planting lily bulbs is true, or maybe he spent the afternoon in a hammock dreaming it up. Who knows?
Click to expand...
Holy Cow...
 
Seems like 40 acres burned just south of me where a fire actually jumped Washington street. About a hundred firemen responded, some suffered minor injuries, but nothing serious. The chopper with the bucket was from Westchester County.

According to my friend Craig who I met today what was serious is how close the fire was to a gas pipeline. The dry air and dry conditions along with the heat made things difficult. The fire started around 2:30 PM and was extinguished around 7:00 PM.

Today I was a bit of a lumberjack retrieving wind blown trees. Some of the timbers were small enough to drag into my garden cart, and some logs I cut with my 7 1/2 inch battery powered chainsaw. Cutting a 10 inch log is not a problem with proper technic: cut a wedge out; and then cut the thinned section to finish the cut.

I am using these to create “water-bars” to slow down the velocity of water on a slope, and also to create a terrace. This free clean fill.

Craig was driving by and stopped to see what I was doing, but also to offer help. It turns out that Craig is a tree surgeon, and I mentioned that I have an old Japanese Red Maple that has a dead branch. So we met in front of my house… I had to wheel my garden wagon, and his truck was faster.

Pretty much the heavy pruning done just right before we bought the house damaged the bark from sun damage. The canopy of the tree sheltered the bark, and the tree may recover in certain areas where the damage is not so bad, but many will be permanent scars.

I was directed to lop off the dead branch, and a second branch is a wait and see.

I showed Craig the outside of the property, and he mentioned I should prune and trim the white pines as if hedges. Also he said they have been “topped” before, but don’t let them grow too tall.

I showed him the back table and the slope, and he was impressed with the view. When I told him about the thicket of knotweed he was impressed that I dug out the roots and rye-zomes by hand and avoided using Roundup because of the watershed and frogs.

So looks like Craig will call me before a dump truck drops a full load of chipped free tree mulch to be used as clean fill. Craig lives about 2 blocks away very near the entrance of Blue Mountain Preserve.

So I have some sizable logs, I have a dead end, and I think I can build a trials course pretty easily in my dead end using logs. Very cool to be able to practice moves right at home.

Cal
 
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Joe,

I was dividing and transplanting Bearded and non-bearded Iris. A pretty big amount of them.

Also transplanted mucho Daffidills.

Tiger Lillies is fiction, but I never mentioned them, just Iris, Daffidills and seeds. I’m not the person making stuff up.

Just because I have other interests does not mean I’m not a photographer or identify as a photographer. Also there is more to life than photography…

There is a lot of spillover of style and personality in my home and gardening. Kinda interesting how first I got a cubic yard of clean fill from Con Ed, and now free dump truck load of wood chipped mulch.

Instead of street photography I’m kinda doing street-gardening where I interact with total strangers and get results.

Last year I discovered a sack of organic garlic that was packaged for gardening. No note, so I don’t know where this gift came from.

As an artist it is all the same thinking and life.

Negative people create death spirals for themselves. Like I said, “I’m glad I’m not him.” Negativity is a self fulfilling prophecy.

Ha-ha I say.

Kinda very interesting why he would hang around here. What purpose???

Also kinda sad… Very sad… Again, what purpose?

Cal
 
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Calzone said:
Tiger Lillies is fiction, but I never mentioned them, just Iris, Daffidills and seeds. I’m not the person making stuff up.
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The following is a quote from post 872 in which you said Maggie planted a dozen "Tiger Lillies" in a circle in your front yard.

"I had Maggie plant the Irises on the side of the garage, she planted more Peonies where the bearded Iris were, and she planted a dozen Tiger Lillies in the circle in our front yard. An inner circle will be of Tiger Lillies for height, and this will be inside a larger circle of green Hostas." [emphasis added]
 
Oh no! Your “gotcha” moment in the NYC thread. You got Cal!
The real question is why does it matter and who the eff cares?
The ramblings in the NYC regional sub forum have always been much more than photography, because we’re (the people who have met each other in person) friends, and we have other facets of our lives that we enjoy talking about, besides photography.
There is no KitKat bar indicator of economic health, your snark is noted, we get it.
Phil Forrest
 
Phil_F_NM said:
Oh no! Your “gotcha” moment in the NYC thread. You got Cal!
The real question is why does it matter and who the eff cares?
The ramblings in the NYC regional sub forum have always been much more than photography, because we’re (the people who have met each other in person) friends, and we have other facets of our lives that we enjoy talking about, besides photography.
There is no KitKat bar indicator of economic health, your snark is noted, we get it.
Phil Forrest
Click to expand...
Hardly a "gotcha" moment. I didn't set him up. He did that all by himself. He said something that was patently untrue and I pointed out that his memory was faulty.

You guys need to get a room. And not on a photography forum. Facebook is purpose built for what you are doing.
 
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Yes, “Maggie” planted a dozen Tiger Lillies (3-bags with 4 bulbs in each).

Yes Calvin prepped the bed, so she could partake in enjoying our house and garden while busy trying to meet a writing deadline.

The Tiger Lillies were individual bulbs that she purchased at Lowes that required no separating.

So I am a liar?

Ha-ha. Now this is really getting silly.

Also who is looking foolish here? I’m not embarrassed here, are you?

Cal
 
“Maggie” liked the terrace and walkway I roughed out with the branches I harvested along the road by me. It allows access to the bed of Daffidills. I had used a large long log as a border to create a nice bed. Now she suggests extending the bed.

I’m saving and have other large logs stockpiled, but I will need another person’s help to move them down the hill. Know that a garden wagon helped me move them into the dead end.

Along the road I say poison ivy just starting to emerge, so my timing was good to avoid the irritation. I am also pleased with the stockpile I have.

Cal
 
Phil,

Pretty much I can move logs to create a trials course to practice-practice-practice.

Pretty easy to do this, and trial practice does not require a lot of space. Logs are big and heavy enough to pile. One forked log if oriented right can use a cinder block on just one side to elevate the entire log because of the forked branches that act like legs.

Cal
 
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