You make a valid point. I didn't make it because of all the choice I had in available options. You can get absolute junk for around $100. Then you jump into the thousands.
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Most of the sweet gum pods have dropped. I spent a while blowing a ton of 'em off the driveway, and went as far as the extension cord allowed, to blow them out of the grass and into the natural areas. I do the yard, section by section, so more will be cleaned as weather allows.
For those not familiar, sweet gum trees are a real PITA for 2 reasons. First is the wood is soft yet very heavy, so any storm is likely to rip chunks off the tree. I've had the top half of a 60' tree come down right by the house. No damage done, but it's no fun cleaning up the mess.
Reason 2:
The seed pods are nature's caltrops. If you step on one with bare feet, you'll understand. Plus they are the one thing in nature that takes longer to decompose than a cigarette butt, roughly 65 million years. So if not removed ... well, they'll build up year after year.
Japan is researching growing giant seed pods. They want to line the shore with the pods so Godzilla cannot come ashore. His atomic breath won't burn them and even his feet are not THAT tough if he steps on them.
For those not familiar, sweet gum trees are a real PITA for 2 reasons. First is the wood is soft yet very heavy, so any storm is likely to rip chunks off the tree. I've had the top half of a 60' tree come down right by the house. No damage done, but it's no fun cleaning up the mess.
Reason 2:
The seed pods are nature's caltrops. If you step on one with bare feet, you'll understand. Plus they are the one thing in nature that takes longer to decompose than a cigarette butt, roughly 65 million years. So if not removed ... well, they'll build up year after year.
Japan is researching growing giant seed pods. They want to line the shore with the pods so Godzilla cannot come ashore. His atomic breath won't burn them and even his feet are not THAT tough if he steps on them.
We had a sweet gum tree in the front yard of our old house. We cut it down for all the reasons you listed.Most of the sweet gum pods have dropped. I spent a while blowing a ton of 'em off the driveway, and went as far as the extension cord allowed, to blow them out of the grass and into the natural areas. I do the yard, section by section, so more will be cleaned as weather allows.
For those not familiar, sweet gum trees are a real PITA for 2 reasons. First is the wood is soft yet very heavy, so any storm is likely to rip chunks off the tree. I've had the top half of a 60' tree come down right by the house. No damage done, but it's no fun cleaning up the mess.
Reason 2:
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The seed pods are nature's caltrops. If you step on one with bare feet, you'll understand. Plus they are the one thing in nature that takes longer to decompose than a cigarette butt, roughly 65 million years. So if not removed ... well, they'll build up year after year.
Japan is researching growing giant seed pods. They want to line the shore with the pods so Godzilla cannot come ashore. His atomic breath won't burn them and even his feet are not THAT tough if he steps on them.
The Missus and I got to see an accident from up close today. We were driving on a multiple lane road in the left lane, and the right lane was ending in another half mile. A car in the right lane put on her left signal, so I backed off from the truck I was behind, to let her in.
She speeded up, then switched lanes without looking, slamming in the side of the truck. I was about 4 car lengths back when she hit, and was well clear of it. I saw her going and made sure we remained viewers, not participants.
As accidents go, it wasn't a bad one, but like all accidents, the best one is one in which I'm not a participant.
EDIT: This was in slow traffic, so the speed was about 20 MPH. If we had been at highway speed, it would have been really ugly.
She speeded up, then switched lanes without looking, slamming in the side of the truck. I was about 4 car lengths back when she hit, and was well clear of it. I saw her going and made sure we remained viewers, not participants.
As accidents go, it wasn't a bad one, but like all accidents, the best one is one in which I'm not a participant.
EDIT: This was in slow traffic, so the speed was about 20 MPH. If we had been at highway speed, it would have been really ugly.
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Glad you were aware and stayed safe.The Missus and I got to see an accident from up close today. We were driving on a multiple lane road in the left lane, and the right lane was ending in another half mile. A car in the right lane put on her left signal, so I backed off from the truck I was behind, to let her in.
She speeded up, then switched lanes without looking, slamming in the side of the truck. I was about 4 car lengths back when she hit, and was well clear of it. I saw her going and made sure we remained viewers, not participants.
As accidents go, it wasn't a bad one, but like all accidents, the best one is one in which I'm not a participant.
If I could go back in time, or send a message back to my younger self, I'd have had the builder remove all the sweet gum and yellow pine trees from the front half of our property. It's 1.5 acres, with the back half heavily wooded. Any of these near the house would be gone!
Thanks!
My dad taught us to look at the bigger picture. Don't focus on the car in front of me, look at as many as I could see. When the 5th car up front lights their brakes or puts on a turn signal, expect something to happen. Even an extra second to react makes a difference.
In this situation I knew she was going to merge. Nothing concrete, just driver's intuition, so I wasn't surprised at her turn signal. I 'spose it's called situational awareness. 4+ decades of driving has made me paranoid.
When I was teaching my sons to drive, I told them they should consider every other driver on the road to be an idiot, until proven otherwise. And I didn't know how to prove otherwise! And that sometime they'd be the idiot. But to try to not be the idiot ...
I thought I would do some cleaning up in the cellar. In so doing, I discovered 5 kits that I bought a few years back and never started. They are LE's or RQ's from 2021 and 2022. Today, I started three of them; a WE Pinot Noir/Shiraz 2021, a RJS Monastrell 2022 and a WE Trebbiano/Riesling 2021.
I discarded the yeast and the sorbate, first because all of the yeast had expired and second because I never us sorbate. I kept the various oaks, bentonites, kiesolsol and chitosans. I did keep a Lalvin Bourgovin 212 that came with one kit because the expiration date was 5/2024 and I added a packet of EC1118 to help it along. The two red juices looked great, tasted great and showed no signs of age. The white juice had oxidized and was very dark, similar to Finer Wine whites I bought years ago. Unfortunately, I did not taste the white because I had already pitched the yeast when the thought occurred to me. I went ahead with the process even though I have little hope for the T/R. On the other hand, I have a good level of confidence in the two reds.
I don't expect anything from the T/R but I invested about $5 in distilled water and yeast to find out. We'll see what happens.
I discarded the yeast and the sorbate, first because all of the yeast had expired and second because I never us sorbate. I kept the various oaks, bentonites, kiesolsol and chitosans. I did keep a Lalvin Bourgovin 212 that came with one kit because the expiration date was 5/2024 and I added a packet of EC1118 to help it along. The two red juices looked great, tasted great and showed no signs of age. The white juice had oxidized and was very dark, similar to Finer Wine whites I bought years ago. Unfortunately, I did not taste the white because I had already pitched the yeast when the thought occurred to me. I went ahead with the process even though I have little hope for the T/R. On the other hand, I have a good level of confidence in the two reds.
I don't expect anything from the T/R but I invested about $5 in distilled water and yeast to find out. We'll see what happens.
Ohio Bob
Senior Member
Remember that the white juice has been concentrated by removing the water. So it’s not surprising to be a darker color. It may very well be alright.
I'm not worrying about the expiration of yeast any more. I make a starter, and if it starts, it means the yeast was illiterate and could not read the package. If it doesn't start, I have more yeast ...
I'm with Bob on this one. You have very little to lost by letting it rock.
I am not going to do anything to it at this point. I will let it ride and see what happens. When I say "dark," this is what I mean:
...and no, I am not going to use charcoal!
That doesn't look promising, but ya never know. Also, even if it's dark, it may taste fine.
Or you may get to test how strong your pipes are.
I put the last two kits on last night after dinner (Wine Expert LE2021 Granacha Carignan). SGi was a low 1.088, portending an ABV of between 12 and 12.5%, and I did not chaptalize. I may in the near future but the idea of a lower ABV (assuming the taste is good) is intriguing.
I believe the ambient temperature in my cellar was too low so that fermentation had barely started in the other three wines this morning. I put a temperature wrap on the Pinot Noir/Shiraz and the Monastrell (I only have two wraps) so I will see if that helps. I also gave everything a thorough stirring. Once fermentation starts and they generate their own heat, I will move the wraps to the 22 gallon Brute with the Granacha Carignan. I also have a 1 gallon jug of Blackberry juice which I may add to the Granacha Carignan.
My problem child (the Trebbiano Riesling) is not doing too much and all I did with it is give it a stir. It may be my imagination or wishful thinking but it seems to have lightened a bit.
Ah, the "rewards" of lassitude.
I believe the ambient temperature in my cellar was too low so that fermentation had barely started in the other three wines this morning. I put a temperature wrap on the Pinot Noir/Shiraz and the Monastrell (I only have two wraps) so I will see if that helps. I also gave everything a thorough stirring. Once fermentation starts and they generate their own heat, I will move the wraps to the 22 gallon Brute with the Granacha Carignan. I also have a 1 gallon jug of Blackberry juice which I may add to the Granacha Carignan.
My problem child (the Trebbiano Riesling) is not doing too much and all I did with it is give it a stir. It may be my imagination or wishful thinking but it seems to have lightened a bit.
Ah, the "rewards" of lassitude.
What's the temp?
I'm with ya on the charcoal. I hate the stuff and refuse to use it. Why should I care if the wine is a shade or two darker?
The wine temp was in the mid 60's, Bryan. I had added some EC1118 along with the D-47, thinking that the former might help with the lower temperature. I regret not using your practice of hydrating the yeast first. That was a mistake.
Letting the yeast perk in the kitchen for 4 hours makes a HUGE difference, although overnight is better.
It will cost you a packet of yeast to make a starter -- is it worth trying?
Here is an update on the Grenacha Carignan: I added the gallon jug of Blackberry juice and 2 1/2 gallons of D-H20 which brought the SG to 1.100. The ABV will be between 13.5 and 14%. I believe it will have a nice taste. If I had red raspberry, I would have added that instead as it is a flavor found in Carignan.
This is still fun!
This is still fun!
That would probably be a good move. Let me see what happens today. The heat wraps usually do the trick.
jswordy
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In the last month, many appliances/devices at my place have failed. The list: Toaster, microwave, refrigerator, A/V receiver, air compressor (pressure switch diaphragm leak), supply lines to a bathroom lavatory.... I think that's all. Been a fun time!
The failed fridge is the 27 cubic foot Whirlpool/Kenmore Elite from our old kitchen. We moved it to my farm shop to replace an 18 cubic foot Magic Chef from the '90s, which has had a couple issues since we've had it that I repaired. We were happy to get the bigger fridge. Due to the demands of other stuff I have going on, I didn't get around to junking the old Magic Chef. Good thing. The kitchen fridge lasted one month in the shop. Then what food was salvageable went into the old Magic Chef again.
So, yesterday we went to a nearby Lowes Outlet. We have been there before just to see what they had. Loads of fridges, everything from no cosmetic damage to scratch and dent specials. We walked every aisle searching for the cheapest fridges, then looked the at amount of actual storage space in them, and finally settled on a 28.6 cubic foot stainless steel Whirlpool with dings in the doors. Bought it for $525 (average retail is $1,499).
Today I picked up the fridge (they offer delivery but it is $125!). Got the new fridge unloaded and in, and the old fridge on the truck to take to the dump. Whew! What a workout. The part that about killed me was lifting that thing up from the bottom to slide it in the truck bed.
Taking a lunch and rest break. I'll make a dump run today yet. Then tomorrow or so, once we are sure all is well with our new purchase, I will load and take the faithful Magic Chef to its grave. A guy gave me that fridge in 2004, after he redid his kitchen.
If you have one around, check out Lowe's Outlet for appliances. I didn't care how this one looked, it is a shop fridge. As long as it works. But they have nice looking ones, too. You get 2 days to check it to make sure it works OK. Then you get the manufacturer's warranty for a year.
Won't know if it works until tomorrow, cuz I have a topper on my truck so it had to travel on its side. Gotta let the refrigerant settle out now.
I have the air compressor yet to fix, then I can get back on my sunroom remodel. I dunno who these people are who claim they are bored being retired!
The failed fridge is the 27 cubic foot Whirlpool/Kenmore Elite from our old kitchen. We moved it to my farm shop to replace an 18 cubic foot Magic Chef from the '90s, which has had a couple issues since we've had it that I repaired. We were happy to get the bigger fridge. Due to the demands of other stuff I have going on, I didn't get around to junking the old Magic Chef. Good thing. The kitchen fridge lasted one month in the shop. Then what food was salvageable went into the old Magic Chef again.
So, yesterday we went to a nearby Lowes Outlet. We have been there before just to see what they had. Loads of fridges, everything from no cosmetic damage to scratch and dent specials. We walked every aisle searching for the cheapest fridges, then looked the at amount of actual storage space in them, and finally settled on a 28.6 cubic foot stainless steel Whirlpool with dings in the doors. Bought it for $525 (average retail is $1,499).
Today I picked up the fridge (they offer delivery but it is $125!). Got the new fridge unloaded and in, and the old fridge on the truck to take to the dump. Whew! What a workout. The part that about killed me was lifting that thing up from the bottom to slide it in the truck bed.
Taking a lunch and rest break. I'll make a dump run today yet. Then tomorrow or so, once we are sure all is well with our new purchase, I will load and take the faithful Magic Chef to its grave. A guy gave me that fridge in 2004, after he redid his kitchen.
If you have one around, check out Lowe's Outlet for appliances. I didn't care how this one looked, it is a shop fridge. As long as it works. But they have nice looking ones, too. You get 2 days to check it to make sure it works OK. Then you get the manufacturer's warranty for a year.
Won't know if it works until tomorrow, cuz I have a topper on my truck so it had to travel on its side. Gotta let the refrigerant settle out now.
I have the air compressor yet to fix, then I can get back on my sunroom remodel. I dunno who these people are who claim they are bored being retired!
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