Good morning!!!!

[sodamo]

So, I’ve gone from rationally thinking of not growing coffee to the possibility of decaf trees?????

Thanks for thoughts re BIL.

Drew, you definitely work that garden hard.

Special prayers for those in the South, terrible.

Not shaping up as a dry day.
Going to Hilo town this afternoon, errands, Happy Hour at friend’s condo.

 

[PJSprog]

4°F and clear skies this morning, going up to 21° today. Wind chill this morning was reported as -10°, and I believed it. Just downright cold this morning.

Got the chicken coop cleaned out Saturday morning. Had to make a run to the Tractor Supply store in Carlyle to get more bedding chips. Also got the BarnCam remounted. I'd notices something had marked on the inside of the tractor bucket, and it was too high up to be a skunk. Guessing a 'yote. So, I moved the camera from it's high mount at the side of the barn to a lower mount just inside the sliding door. See what we catch on it. Its been in its original location for so long, I'd almost forgotten about it. Put new batteries in it and pulled the memory card. I was shocked to find that there were 7611 pictures on it. Those batteries lasted from December 2016 to mid-August of 2018. Wife and I had a silly time perusing the pics on my laptop. Most (probably 6000-ish) were just birds and wood bees triggering it. Some entertaining shots of some raccoons climbing into the rafters to get to the barn swallow nests, one of a squirrel hanging upside-down from a beam, a rabbit visit, the neighbor's cat, the two of us going in and out a lot for various tasks, and more evidence that the boy was nipping gasoline from our mower cans. It takes awhile to scroll through over 7000 photos, but there was some funny stuff in there.

Glad I got most of the outside stuff done on Saturday, as yesterday was a complete loss. It wasn't yet snowing when I got up at 05:30, but it was coming down pretty good when I looked again around 07:00. It was a light, powdery snow that fell until sometime around 1pm, along with the falling temperature all day. I think we ended up with about 1" -ish. It was quite windy all day, so some spots had grass showing, and some had drifts anywhere from 6" to a foot or more. That 20 mph wind made for a cold walk to the barn to close the chicken coop last night.

I quit drinking coffee back in the late '80s. I used to drink way too much. I still enjoy a cup on occasion, but I mostly get my caffeine allotment from tea. Although, I'm certainly not averse to an icy cold Dr Pepper either.

As noted by others, RNG, that looks like a seriously nice, tranquil spot you have there. You should get around to the remote parts of your property more often.

Kyle, I'm not sure I'm the right person to give serious advice regarding the cello. As with most instruments I play, I'm self-taught. I will say that there is an over-abundance of cello music to be heard, from classical to modern. YouTube can be your friend here. There are some of the obviously great cellists like Yo-Yo Ma and Pablo Casals, but there are also a boat-load of non-classical and crossover cellists who make that instrument fun. Much of the ELO stuff was recorded with two cellos and a violin. I have a friend from Southern California, Tina Guo, who does some very interesting music on cello, from serious classical to popular music covers and even heavy metal. There is a group from Europe called Apocalyptica who plays heavy metal covers on four cellos (they started as a Metallica tribute on cellos). Movie soundtracks use a lot of cello passages, as it's a very moving sound ... very similar to the timber of the human voice. As with just about anything, it's only limit is your own imagination.

Condolences to you and your wife's family, David.

L4N, I've never heard of Shrove Tuesday either. However, since it involves pancakes, I'm all in.

Randy, my Wife and I became enamored with Navajo "fry bread" when were were vacationing at The Grand Canyon back in 2011. We don't eat it a lot, because it's incredibly unhealthy and something of a mess to make, but man do we enjoy it when we do. We order packages of a mix from Cameron Trading Post in Cameron, AZ, where we first tried it in their restaurant.

 

[PJSprog]

jbrumberg,
the only commercially available maple syrup here is #1 Amber. ( Blasted Goobermint)
I get a couple of gallons of it and then boil it down and end up with about a gallon of dark. I just gotta be careful I don't make toffee out of it.

There is a place in Central Illinois just off I-55 called Funks Grove. It is literally a large grove of maple trees just off the side of the highway on old Route 66. This family has been making maple sirup (their spelling) there since the 1820s. I used to take a motorcycle ride up there every year to get a couple bottles of fresh-made syrup, but haven't been for awhile. Have to catch them when they start, because they sell out quickly every year. Really good stuff.

 

[wngsprd]

Fry bread (sooooo good) from Cameron Trading Post...didn't know you can order their mix. Had some real good in Bluff, UT too.

 

[toppop52]

Cherokee fry bread is similar as well, had some last October in Cherokee, NC at an Indian owned restaurant.

 

[txdon]

Don, I don't recall diet being discussed at all. I know my diet would be considered terrible by your standards. And I've no doubt at all that you're right. BUT . . . Oddly enough, my triple bypass was 3 years ago today. And I'm 79 years old now, and really should try harder to lose weight; about 60-70 pounds in fact to get back to the weight I was when I retired. But I also know that many, if not most, doctors believe that heredity plays a big part in your life expectancy. NO male member of my family has EVER lived to be 81. So by your estimate of 5 to 7 years before needing more surgery, well, I don't expect to live that long anyway.:laughing: My Dad and his Dad both had Alzheimers for 5 years or so before dying at the age of 80. I don't think I'm getting Alzheimers yet, but I most definitely do know that my memory is slipping. Who knows what the future holds?

Diet not being discussed at all? What a shame on the medical profession.

Just to be clear it is not my standards. It is the standards of at least a dozen cardiologist whom I have met that also study nutrition and are having great success with their patients along with being the standard diet in the decade long study I am in at Memorial Herman Hospital in which hundreds of patients are having success with.

It is not the standard diet that some cardiologist give out - like my deceased brothers cardiologist who told him just to cut back on red meat - easy but ineffective.

All the cardiologist I have spoken to say that when hereditary factors are there, those are the ones that the diet is most successful on. They say it's the recipes handed down are to blame more than the genes.

Before the 1960's heart procedures were not common but since then heart correction surgeries have blossomed. Life expectancy is going up. My uncle lived to age 93 (2012) with many heart surgeries, but his quality of life was dismal because his arteries kept cloggng up. He did not know how the food was affecting his heart disease.

 

[Bird]

I understand, Don, and don't disagree with you. However, even YOU are going to die someday, no matter how you try to follow the regimen the doctors recommend. You may, or even may not, live longer. Will you enjoy it more? In your case, I'd say, "Yes" but that doesn't necessarily apply to me. I'm not in any hurry to die, but I'm certainly not worried about dying, and I'm also not anxious to spend years in a wheelchair or nursing home, as my mother and mother-in-law did.

And if you think i'm doing it all wrong, you should see my wife's dietary habits.:laughing: I've told her that I think her diet would kill a horse, and cripple anything else.:laughing: I feel confident that you've never known anyone who eats as much salt as she does.

And who knows? We may set a new record for longevity in my family. As I mentioned, no male member of my family has made it to 81, but also none of them had polio, as I did, surgeries on a foot as a result, none of them had coronary bypasses, as I did, and none of them had a shoulder or knee replaced as I've had. Yep, life is uncertain, so I'm past worrying about it. If I live to be 100, or if I die next week . . . well, I made my peace with God long ago, so I'm OK with whatever happens. My ONLY concern is that, being a bit of a sissy, I hope to avoid pain as much as possible.

 

[ronjhall]

The coffee bean pickers should get there tickets soon. Southwest is selling tickets as low as $49.
Southwest Airlines Hawaii ticket sale - Business Insider

 

[daugen]

About two months ago in the supermarket a 350 pound seriously fat guy was behind me,
with a cart full of cases of coke and chips/pretzels.
I kid you not, nothing else in the cart. I almost asked him quietly,
don't you want a long life? But thankfully I kept my mouth shut. (how unusual, huh? )
Anyone that seriously/morbidly obese will never have a long life and likely will be plagued with some illnesses that can't be fun to go through.
It's not how long I live, it's how well I live, and likely most of you feel the same.
Who wants to be blind from diabetes? Not me.

But the challenge is that some folks seem to make it through life just fine no matter what they eat.
I still believe "we are what we eat". That's what works for me, and keeps me from buying the proverbial Twinkies.
And then there was my old real estate partner who as long as I've known him for over 40 years, and he is rail thin, put three packets of sugar in his coffee at least six times a day. Last time I saw him, he seemed fine.

I've learned a lot from Don over the years and am appreciative for the information. It has genuinely changed my eating habits.
But not enough to avoid a nice steak or burger once a week. The difference now is I buy turkey burgers and salmon burgers too, so only one out of three is red meat. My cholesterol is within the range, pretty low last time with a small statin dose. I also eat a big salad at least three dinners a week. And lots of apples and oranges. But bring a cherry pie within a mile of me and it's like a magnetic attraction...

Was just going to chill this afternoon but it was the last warm day for awhile so went out and washed both the truck and the car.
That sure worked off any extra energy I had. Got 50 pounds of Red La Soda seed taters cut up too. Very juicy potatoes, if I read the Canadian tag right, seems they were picked the third week in January, not long ago.

 

[Looking4new]

Bill- #1 Amber maple syrup by governmental decree is crazy stupid. What a PITA to get what you want.

That is our government for you. Crazy stupid to the core.

Shrove Tuesday is a British Commonwealth thing. Since the U.S hasn't been a part of the Commonwealth since 1776 I am not surprised you haven't heard of it.
Just call it pancake day and all is good.
I got my syrup and blended it with the dark, and it darkened the amber a little bit.
The store bought syrup was $11.50/375 ml ( a tad over 1/3 of a quart) The last bulk syrup I bought was $60.oo/gallon.