My little piece of peace

Normally I'd settle for just doing the prawns in butter and garlic, along with a nice jasmine rice -- or maybe basmati. But if i had a stash of those little dried Thai red peppers, it would be a sin not to use them somehow....

I have an outdoor cooker that was made using a commercial restaurant wok burner, with three separate burner rings. When turned down, only the lowest inner ring burns. On medium, the second ring lights, and on high all three rings start blasting.

Usually I just set a humongous cast iron dutch oven on top of it, and bake chickens two or three at a time. And I've used it to deep fry a couple of turkeys. But with a commercial wok set into it, I can turn out a proper stir fry -- which as you noted, takes blast-furnace heat to do right.

On the riverboat PAR is drawing for me, I will definitely find room on the fantail for that little gem.

 

Having stunk up the house with burnt offerings I will set up the new-still-in-the-carton BBQ as a matter of some urgency - some women should be banned from cooking, (burning - what was perfectly good fish.)...

Even a 'demigod' would be displeased with such burnt offerings.... A well earned Doctorate is no excuse... - - - - - - I will have to resume the role of Dr Sheff, the cook, and relieve the "Dr of Education" to her other "qualified" activities unrestrained...


No rain again / STILL.......... - and the long range forecast was for a very wet end of year and early month or so in 2012 .......... WTF... has the weather bureau been cooking the books too? - - - - Hot (around 30 deg Celsius, unseasonal NNE winds and NO sign of rain in SE Queensland...

 

So that's where our rain is coming from. It got lost on its way to Australia....

Our rainy season normally doesn't start in earnest until January, but we've been getting hit for a month now. If it keeps up, I'm going to find a few days to spend in the desert with a camera, shooting wildflowers and landscapes.

 

Mas, don't be too hard on the Cook.

April showers bring May flowers.
Mayflower brought Pilgrims.

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

I am still waiting for rain to "justify" the trip up to my boat carrying 150litres more fuel - I want to go after the trawlers have been for a run outside Bribie Island... Also rowing out to the boat with all that fuel is quite hot work in a sunny day when the shade temperature exceeds 30 degrees Celsius, and solar radiation is sunburn / cancer promoting time....
104540

 

Well that 150 litres is bought, The boat seems snug and securely anchored with the bridle doing what is is supposed to do.... Clouds appear to be gathering (somewhere) as one hour they are to the north, then to the south, then to the west, then to the east - - - WTF cannot decide where to go...

Humidity is so high it is almost raining UPWARDS....

A wooden hull being rebuilt = DSCN4560
Resting and awaiting command (refueling) = DSCN4604

 

No rain today, No rain today,
it turned and pissed the other way...

Does not scan nor rhyme, but neither did it rain... So Wot?
and I poured oil on the waters for zot......

 

Was just up your end of the world - better do what I did, and head back down to Hobart where we had a lovely 17 degrees and sunshine today.

That wet season up there is for mad dogs only!

 

Mas get in the boat and get going

forget about the economy
Italy is coming on "board"
and the Dow Jones is going south

(the black line is where I ran out of margin)
lost US$ 2000 - ouch!
no more trading for me until we see stability
that is why I have ONLY concertrated on my boat

 

Mas you better get going

we have just been advised that we are in for a La Nina weather system

wet wet wet until the end of March !!!! yikes !

we are the same latitude as you so i can only assume that you will also be in for lots of rain

 

Hi All,
I have "bolt holes" organised, up carefully selected creeks, and tied off to mangroves... Economics is no bother as I am out... I have been for 9 months, and am slowly accumulating fuel...

SEVENTEEN DEGREES CELSIUS - bloody heck - Has hell frozen over? - - - - I like a bit of warmth, - water around 28 to 32 deg C and the air humid - good excuse to sit contentedly under the shade of a 'Galip' or 'Tallis' tree, (does anyone know their latin names?), and eat the nuts so delivered whilst washing them down with a chilled beer... cooled by a ghost of a breeze from the ocean... It is DOLDRUM season within 5 degrees S of the equator...

 

Well a little rain fell on the boat, - hopefully some of the bird droppings have been washed off the PV panels... - - and home, - tanks are only part empty - having been replenished slightly... and the 40 odd fruit trees are well watered...

Apart from the stupidity demonstrated in local politics, "know gnus is good news"?
105160

 

At "the garden shed", a little over 1 inch of rain - slow enough to have mostly soaked in... On the boat, very little fell - not even enough to smear the bird droppings on the PV panels... Deposited some more fuel - so I have 465 litres on board... 1335 to go for my maximum capacity... Last buy price for fuel was Au$1.47/litre

Interesting audio here - believe it or not - but the discussion is not far off what I feel comfortable with in a general view. Disregard the marketing but between the lines makes for interesting thought... http://www.roadtoroota.com/public/762.cfm?awt_l=J859B&awt_m=3ZqeUan2hxAZ85B

 

Hello,


I am joyfully planting Grevillea, Callistemon and other plants and trees to attract birds, as well as a selection of fruit trees...


Please do not feed or encourage crows
http://birdsinbackyards.net/species/Corvus-coronoides
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Raven


Crows are native birds, protected by law, are inclined to displace all other species by out-competing them for food if attracted to a locality... Normal Crow densities are one breeding couple in an area of normal type habitat, occupy about one square kilometer... Suburbia is not their “normal” habitat... Higher densities encourage plague level infestations and may destroy peaceful enjoyment of nature in balance...


Crows also cause problems by:
Stealing and eating the eggs of other Native birds...
Crows are omnivores (eat anything and everything)...
Are aggressive feeders force other gentler birds away...
Crows carry your offerings and drop them in gutters – putrefying the water in tanks...
I see a couple of TV antenna are broken because the Crows regularly roost on them...
Crows are opportunists and will occupy where they find a regular feed...


It is bad enough that some children at the nearby school throw their crusts and rubbish for the crows (instead of placing rubbish in the bins)... Please do not encourage the crows to spread their presence displacing other native birds...


Kookaburras, magpies and butcher birds will help keep the snake population down if allowed, But the crows will soon totally displace them, sadly.... (and they offer a joyful song)...


Other smaller birds will seek and eat spiders, and other smaller insects – They deserve a place in this habitat, but will not succeed where crows are present as they cannot breed if the crows continue to steal and eat their eggs...


The crows stole Mulberries, Figs, Persimmon, Guava, Nectarine, Scarcely leaving any to eat, let alone share....


Thanks

 

Mass why aren't you using alternative fuels to blend what you have. You could build a small filtering station. All its gotta do is heat the fuel, then dewater it in a settling tank or in a centrifuge ( there about $100 ) and run it threw a few filters. I prefer the settling tank but a centrifuge works better, its just you have to clean it out more often. Often enough that its a pain in the *** actually. But if you ran say 1/3 used motor oil and 2/3 diesel your engines aren't even going to notice it.

If you run veggie its different but used motor oil doesn't even require retiming the engines. And it delivers more power so you'd be going further pr gallon.

Just an idea.

If your worried about the smoke factor check out my latest test run on my truck, which is running on about that same blend of motor oil and diesel.

http://s29.photobucket.com/albums/c262/bostonpyramidbuilder/?action=view&current=DSCN0257.mp4