Daily observations of my simple life.

Here's what I propose. All businesses must have a written statement from the household to call or send solicitation material. If they write  a  letter it can be turned into the post office and it will automatically be prosecuted. With the phone, a set up where when someone calls without permission to solicit there is a button you can push on your phone that will automatically give their number to authorities. Fine them big time,  that should make government happy.  They can advertise on tv, on line, in magazines, newspapers, fairs and the like. Then if they have written permission they can call, write etc. That's what I think should happen, this is such a violation of peoples privacy that should stop. 

Posted by: cactusandquail at 01:00 | link | comments (3)

It's hard to believe that it's been almost a month since I wrote on this blog. I'm sorry, I'm more comfortable with my other blog sites. So come on over. I can put up pics so much easier,etc.

I think I'm going to rant today.  I'm so sick of these endless phone calls and tons of junk mail.  I think it should be illegal to solicit money or business on the phone or mail without written permission from the participant. I worked hard in the garden this morning, I was soaked with sweat and hungry so just got myself settled with breakfast when the phone rang. I had to get up to answer for fear it was one that needed attention.  It was one of those calls where no one answers because they haven't turned the recording on.  I said,"Don't call here again,"  Of course no one answered and then the line went dead. I don't know how often that happens in a day but usually two or three times. and now they have recordings that just go on and on no matter what you say.  One I listened to and they said if you no longer wish to get these calls push this number so I did. 30 minutes later the same outfit called and repeated the same speil.  Everyday I have to sort through mail and toss, I use the junk mail in the garden now but what a waste of time and energy. All that junk mail takes paper, which takes trees, it takes personel, it takes petrol and transportation to be received by a recipient who has expressly written and asked that no more be sent. Anyone else on board with this?  Shall we start a new law? Fine the --------, dearly if they intrude. I give to the charities of my choice, I'm not selfish, I buy what I need and I'm sick of this intrusion into my life by charities and businesses and their constant harrassment. 

Posted by: cactusandquail at 20:00 | link | comments (3)

I stopped my reading of blogs and went out to hang dry my clothes. As the clothes were hung out a huge rumbling filled the air. I smiled at myself for hanging out my clothes to the sound of thunder. Perhaps it will rain, perhaps not but I can see it raining across the valley on the hillside. It is hot and humid but not nearly as hot as a week ago. The temp is 97 degrees, 10 degrees less than last week.

It rained briefly this morning and it was so pleasant that I worked out in the garden in the rain. The big soft wet drops falling on my hair and face as I planted a tree and put in a few more seeds. It's been well over two months since we have had rain, so good to see the wet stuff.

http://360.yahoo.com/cactusandquail.

http://www.simplelvn.blogspot.com

 

Posted by: cactusandquail at 02:30 | link | comments (3)

Vegies:

Since my decision to stop eating meat I have had no problem. There are plenty of foods to eat that arent' meat.  Thanks for all the encouragement.

Posted by: cactusandquail at 01:38 | link | comments (3)

Earthlings

Yesterday I watched a video called Earthlings on Youtube. What a change of heart I had. Oh ,it's been simmering down deep , gentle proddings that the way commercial meat animals are raised is not right, not acceptable to me, but I have not responded to those proddings. Yesterday I made the decision to become a vegitarian.  If I do eat meat at all it will be range fed, humanely handled animals or wild life. I just could not stomach the thought that animals are treated with so little concern just to feed us on demand. Shzzzz. Who do we think we are, anyway? 

This morning I had a nice bowl of potato salad made with ample amounts of my happy hens eggs. They are free range and have lives, social lives. They enjoy hanging out together and scratching here and there and they have good shelter in the chicken houses.

The last two nights I have slept out on the back porch through the night. Very pleasant and I wake up from time to time and there are the stars just so beautiful. This morning I got some more rows planted and now I'm in thinking I should get my middle of the month bills together and get them paid or mailed off., in a few.

When I went to Texas a while back I stopped in Tucson to hear Brad Lancaster lecture on rainwater harvesting. I purchased his book and since then have been trying to implement some of the technics I learned from his class. One thing he spoke of was earthworks so I am making a series of berms to better catch and hold rain when it comes. This is what I do.

1. I rake up weeds and debri around the property and get a wheel barrow full. Then I take it to where I want the berm and dump it.

2. In a plastic bin I soak old newspapers and junk mail in water, then I put them evenly on the debri that I have dumped.

3. Then I go to the horse corral or chicken yard and rake up old horse manure or chicken manure. I just shovel up a lot of the loose dirt in the pens as well because it is very rich and I dump a load of that on the newspapers. I rake this out smooth and then start another cycle right next to it.

When they are done they leave an elevated section of ground that is full of mulch type materials to soak up water. The height is about  2 ft by 3 ft wide.  This leaves a depressed area right next to it where I plant. In desert gardening you plant in the depressions. When it rains the water will hit the high area and soak in staying on your property instead of running off because everything is so flat. 

So this morning I completed another section of berm, I try to do one section a day and the berms are coming along. I also planted beans and cucumbers beside the berm and covered the planting with baskets to keep the rabbits and quail from eating the seedlings. I started two new holes for a mesquite and fig tree I have. I hope they are planted by the end of this  weekend . It really does work to do everything in small amounts daily.

The air is cooler this morning and there is a breeze. It said on the news last night we have not arrived at the monsoon as the dew point went down to 44 on the third day.  It has to have a dew point of 55 for three days in a row. It's not so humid but sounds like we'll have another week of hot dry weather. Is it raining yet? 

Posted by: cactusandquail at 18:19 | link | comments (5)

It's clear the weather has changed. I woke to clouds and verga and a beautiful sunrise.  I did a little gardening early and then went to town. I stopped at my favorite second hand place and got myself another little red wagon. $12. I now have 3 of them which I use to haul various things around the property. The first I bought several years ago at the swap meet for $12. It has carried many a load. This spring I ran into another one at the swap meet, painted green for $10. Now this one for $12. Very helpful to me. I put plastic totes in them and carry manure and plantings and soil here and there. 

I'm very tired, because it's pretty humid. Glad to have the weeks shopping done.  Rain would be nice.

Posted by: cactusandquail at 01:00 | link | comments (2)

Too Hot:

I've decided that until it gets down to 100 degrees I'm not going to require anything of myself beyond watering and feeding the animals and the garden. Any housework or cooking I do will be only what I feel like.

What is this 114 in the shade business!  Years ago I remember seeing that Needles or Death Valley were like 112 degrees and thought ,"how awful, how can they stand it." Now I'm experiencing weeks in the summer of over 110 degrees. I hear of temps like 120 - 128 degrees in Vegas or Lake Havasu or Bullhead City. At what temp can you fry and egg?  All I can say is, it sizzles. 

I'm up at 5 and spend a couple hours outside watering and making sure the animals have what they need. I go out as the sun sets and spend an hour out doing the same. I hunker down in the house the rest of the day except to go out once or twice to make sure all the animals have water. Right now heaven is hotter than hell.

Posted by: cactusandquail at 03:50 | link | comments (4)

I found my way back over here and in. Wow, I got a new password and hopefully I will blog here from time to time. You can read my other blogs at:

http://www.simplelvn.blogspot.com

http://360.yahoo.com/cactusandquail.

 

Posted by: cactusandquail at 03:14 | link | comments

Travel'n On My Mind:

We had a wonderful rain night before last. Next morning just a bit of frost but a beautiful day.  In and out of the house but my big project was changing curtain rods in the slide-on camper. Don't laugh. First I had to go into my old motorhome that is no longer usable and take out the curtain rods. I'm not much of a screw driver person. Took awhile and since I had to climb up in the overhead bed to undo them that was not a usual posture. Finally got them out then had to go into the slide on and put them up. Again up in the overhead bed I felt like I was standing on my head getting those curtain rods up.  I will use the old curtains from the camper in the slide on until I can make new ones. Think they were made from Martha Stewart tableclothes, grin. Green check/plaid. I washed the curtains and an old comforter from the camper. Today I will clean again, in the  slide on. I'm going to do an over nighter, probably to Quartsite. I like to go there late in February as the crowds are down and the hikes in the desert are fun. I have a campground out there where I built a rock patio. If someone else is not there I will park there. Found that others like my patio, though. 

After I came in for a while to rest I picked up my mail. There in my Aarp magazine was a story of a family I saw a short clip about on a surfer show. He is a doctor, graduating from Stanford who decided he really wanted to live life. Together with his Mexican/Indian wife they raised 9 children traveling in a truck camper. He loved to surf so it was mostly camped on beaches. He doctored migrant workers and native Americans.  I love to read about lifestyles like that. Don't know if he had some kind of trust fund or not but they lived simple. There is going to be a movie about him. He has a book. Nice pictures of his family on the web page.

web site.  www.alohadoc.com

Sure does make me want to take off in my camper. I'm going to have to do a real search for a trustworthy person to stay with my tribe of critters. 

Posted by: cactusandquail at 17:03 | link | comments (6)

Spring Plans:

I read some interesting and inspiring articles this morning after I joined some new groups yesterday. One was about how in Africa they are taking back the desert by planting trees. Airiel photo's show much greater density of tree growth. Women dig holes and fill them full of manure and plant trees. Once the trees are established there is less wind to blow away the top soil so their gardens grow better and their livestock has more food. The soil becomes enriched and there is a higher level of rainfall.

The other article I read was about a book written way back in the 1800's titled, "10 Acres Is Enough"  It is the story of a poor man who lived in the city and saved up enough money to buy 10 acres for $1000.  That was probably a big sum of money in those days. He then planted his 10 acres and lived off of it. He planted fruit trees and berries, plus a large vegitable garden. In time he was making more than he ever made in the city because he sold his fruits to the city. 

After reading those inspiring articles I went out and spent the morning working on my prep for Spring planting. I gave the hens some fresh straw for their nests, gave Cheriki and Sage some carrots, raked up some old weeds to burn. Goatheads, don't want to compost them as the seeds don't break down too easily. I watered a big portion of my trees and began planning where to plant.  My palm trees are still alive and some of my fruit trees are starting to bud out. Some life after winter. It was 1:30 when I finally came in and had some brocolli salad and green tea. Hardly got in the house and the sky started clouding up. Good way to get rain is to water. I may have to pen up the chickens and peacocks till the garden gets a good start. Course there are always rabbits too.  I love dreaming of gardens. Hope I eat well this year.

Posted by: cactusandquail at 21:33 | link | comments (1)