Two weeks since #Windpocolypse2024. Which really wasn’t much of a windstorm, but somehow managed to topple firs all over the Metro area.
Took a week and availability of a LARGE CRANE to clear the fir from the top of the garage(s)…took another few days to get a tarp up…now shoring the garage from the inside to prevent collapse…tomorrow.
Then we can safely remove 20 years of bikes, tools, supplies, sporting goods, hardware, building materials, antiques and camping/emergency supplies.
Let the fun begin. Tough way to get the garage cleaned.
Even though there is snow and ice in the yard, bringing a flowering quince #bonsai into the house to guard against hard freeze led to a profusion of buds, shoots and flowers in a week’s time.
One goal of any good bonsai practitioner is to try and make their small pampered trees look like they “have been through some stuff” to signify age and experience.
So an 85’ fir tree fell across our garage and backyard, landing on the spot I had just moved the bulk of my trees to, to protect from the wicked weather we were expecting.
If the initial fall didn’t do the “fir”st damage…the cleanup will complete it. Many trees with absolutely all limbs stripped down their trunks. One of the trees I have been working on the longest lost one of its two primary trunks.
Awoke after a dream that my insulin pump malfunctioned and tried to deliver 30 units of insulin…and couldn’t be shut off.
Not an out the world dream, but an unlikely scenario for several reasons. First, there is an upper limit set for amount of insulin that can be delivered in a single bolus. Second, it’s a fairly easy process to shut off the pump. And finally, you can always just unhook the thing…which is what I had done in the dream when it couldn’t be shut down.
Still, almost every T1 diabetic knows or has heard of someone who died of insulin overload…intentionally or as a matter of excess drinking of alcohol, sickness, or other mishap. A primary reason why diabetics should not live alone if taking insulin (all T1s do) and if it is possible. Also a reason why the most dangerous time in diabetics lives is the transition to adulthood.
Pushing ecosystems to an unstable state
Reliance upon function uncertain
As mankind tempts its fate
Protected areas remain
If we are willing to pay the cost
The future is not simply pain
Do what we must
Put functional systems first
Do not give in to all or bust
A planet to be kept
Hospitable for all
Not just the most adept
Inspired by Adam Welz’s book, The End of Eden
"Human society is completely reliant on the predictable functioning of ecosystems," Adam Welz says. "We are pushing those ecosystems into unstable states, driving up uncertainty, pushing ourselves deeper and deeper into the unknown."
If Twitter is a blast-horn, and BlueSky a lecture at a tech conference… #Mastodon is the party that welcomes all, but only the cool kids know where it’s at, even though the welcome signs are everywhere.
Shamelessly will repost some stuff from the past today…and maybe something new. The day falls on bit of existing turmoil, a wild day for wild times.
Today I learned that LEGO has a program where you can send them your old LEGO (bricks, pieces, mini-figs, etc). LEGO will then take them in, wash / sterilize them, and donate them to children in need!
Ok…this from a 30 year bike commuter, former bike club member and overall bike friendly occasional auto driver…this is nutz. The intent is laudable, but the effect and rollout are horrendous.
Virtually no one knows about these, how to operates safely within them…seems like a free-for-all. You get not them and wonder why there is no room for oncoming traffic…Are you on a one-way street? Are you going the right direction? Will incoming traffic move into bike lane?
I would rather see whole roads closed to autos (except local resident traffic) or convert to one way street couplets…reserving the remainder of road for bike traffic.
#Today#TooManyTreesToTend and a 100+ degree heat wave means early am soaking of soil/roots plus midday and evening foliage spraying to cool them down a bit and raise humidity levels in the yard to counter the breeze’s drying effects.
Hoping for the best, but emotionally ready to see the effects.
Have a few good sentinel trees I monitor for under watering (hydrangeas and crabapples) but overwatering really isn’t a worry, so soak away.
Some thoughts on next steps for this tree…and I have a few like this one with similar “problems”.
First, trunk too straight and no taper from base to almost full extent of tree. Taper of trunk shows age…and allows for the visual scale to be more appropriate to overall height of a small tree.
If this is the front, and you are going for an upright style (as is the normal habit of Alberta Spruce), then I would work toward reducing the overall length of most of the leggy limbs and creating a generally conical shape closer to the trunk…by slightly shortening the offshoots, and bending them to bring closer to trunk and providing some interest.
Symmetry is the killer of visual interest in bonsai. Too symmetrical alludes to the perfection of youth…the opposite of our intent usually.
This tree will take many years to develop…but is an excellent way to explore the possibilities and what impacts they have.
More work on a twin trunk Hinoki Cypress…another back lot find at a nursery that specializes in annuals. It was unloved and pot bound…and needed to become a bonsai.
Still need to figure out the top…reduce or keep, but at this stage, bringing in the leggy limbs and get some branch structure set for the future.
This project is at least 4 years in the making, but I like the drama and story the tree is telling.
#Today more #ThickTrunkTuesday of a #Bonsai (Pinus Contorta) that I purchased about 4 years ago…and have never touched, soil wise. I know it must be tight, but the tree is flourishing and the needle length compact. I wanted to look at the soil to see if intervention was needed…and luckily, they hadn’t wired it in, so it lifted easily.
Fine ramification of roots and a healthy batch of beneficial fungi tells me all is well enough to leave until next winter/spring potting time. So, back into the pot it goes and keep it hydrated as well as possible through the hottest period and all should be in order.
Note: The white material on bottom of pot and on inner pot surface (shown in soil after lifting from pot) is a good sign of a healthy pine.
Time to find the inner tree. A couple years ago, I put this massive bend into the trunk. The whole tree has thickened and is so healthy a vibrant that it will be time to either repot and begin reducing soil volume or do one more massive reshaping (by removing a limb or two).
While I decide whether I can wait a year on repotting (soil tight, but tree health so good it must be working), I am exploring alternatives…
Two possible alternatives for where to direct this tree. Leaving the large top shoot (first option) and taking the left side away will encourage upward growth of an already too large limb…which will take away from the aesthetic of a broad base tapering upward (typical bonsai) .
Taking away the large top and keeping the left will keep the movement in a more natural direction…will stop the upward growth and slow down the thickening of the trunk away from the base.
Did I just decide the tree’s future?
Weigh in and tell me your thoughts…maybe even suggest an alternative?