Sunday, March 20, 2011

Purple Haze / Moon beside 9 Points Mesa

Most of yesterday afternoon there was a thick blanket of haze to the east. Wasn't dust nor was it smoke that I know of so I suppose it was smog from either Mexico or somewhere else. Almost reminded me of being back in the DFW area. I was pretty choked up last night probably because of it. :( Just goes to show not even people down here can get away from SMOG!
A shot of last nights moon rising beside 9 Points below.
Bought a little propane/electric fridge from one of the legion members yesterday, but will have to do some work on it. Supposedly it will work once I get the stuff to hook it up. I sure hope so because buying ice is getting mighty expensive. Of course I'll have to run it off of propane because I'd never be able to run it off of the solar and batteries.
It looks like crap, but if it works I won't care. I'll have to pour a small level pad with concrete and put a small enclosure around it because it will stay outside.

The Foots (Bigfoot & Littlefoot) invited me to the legion Friday night for supper and a few drinks. Had a good time and when I got home the above calendar was sitting on the door step with a rock on top of it. I didn't have a clue who left it until yesterday when I went to the mailbox and Grub Shack. Tony (the guy that is building the Tetrahedron  house) was at the GS and asked how I liked the calendar. He said he saw it in the NAPA automotive parts store when he went to Alpine and saw the July car was a Ford Falcon so he got it for me. :) Of course its a 1964 falcon rather than a 1968 like mine, but I love all falcons! Thanks again if you see this Tony!
The Yuccas are blooming down south now so should start that around here before too much longer. That will mean more stir fried flower peddles at first and then fried Yucca fruit later on. Once they start it happens over a pretty good period of time because some bloom much later than others. Its possible later in the year to be able to have both the fruit and flowers to eat. The flowers are by far the best, but once the fruit gets to a certain point it isn't bad fried. I think it can also be boiled and I'd like to try pickling some also. Matter of fact I think pickling them should be better because they have a slightly bitter taste otherwise. Might be good with some Sweet & Sour sauce with chicken added to the dish? I'll let you'll know when I try either.

 And another close up of the moon a little higher in te sky last night.

15 comments:

  1. When does the ocotilla start to bloom?

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  2. DD, I don't know for sure. I haven't seen any blooming so far, but they do like the Yuccas and probably everything else and bloom down south first and then work their way north. There is a large one near the trailer that I've started watering some and its making signs to coming back to life so maybe the water will help?

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  3. I should have took pics of it , but I cant remember if I told u that I once brought a 62 futura back to life.

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  4. I think you did Nick, but I've slept since then. You'd be surprised at how many people have either owned, knew someone who owned or have ridden in falcons in their earlier years. Most people don't know that the falcon was the father to the Mustang. The original mustangs were built on the falcon platform and most parts were used on both.

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  5. Hey I want an invite to the flower feast!! I want to learn how to do it..Step #1..talk somebody into picking them for me! ..The moon was wonderful last night..My dogs kept me up 1/2 the night chasing around playing.
    Tony ROCKS!

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  6. Frann, I'll pick'um if you'll cook'um. ;)

    Once a wolf always a wolf. Dogs must play wolf games during a full moon. Of course some times I howl at the moon to though and I don't think my ancestors were wolves.

    BTW... I got the little fridge temporarily hooked up and am trying it out on propane. Looks like it might work, but it will take time to tell. I've got my toes and fingers crossed so won't be doing much else today.

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  7. I love that picture of the moon!! I tried to capture it but my cheap camera did not capture the true color...no doubt you get what you pay for :(

    Darn shame the smog can follow you to the
    desert.

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  8. My only problem with my propane fridge is you bust block all wind to keep pilot lite. Smiling with a cold beer!

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  9. Be careful messing around with the yuccas, john is planning on feeding them to the cows. Personally if a longhorn with six foot horns wants them he/she can have them.

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  10. MsB, some times old cameras need a little help like old people do. ;)

    Frann, one of the BIG whirlwinds came buy and it didn't blow out. Its down to 5 degrees in the freezer now and hopefully the fridge part will be cold enough to chill beer. (Not that I ever touch the stuff myself though)

    BfA, beef should go good with Yucca to.

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  11. I have a lot of experience with that fridge if it is a Dometic. They are all about the same.
    I chilled a lot of beer in mine and made ice cubes for cocktails. I was never sorry I had it.
    They will run on any heat source it doesn't have to be propane. They must be level. Mine was on a boat so the average was level and that worked. If it doesn't seem to be cooling very well turn it upside down for a day then start it up again. My old one (thirty years old when I gave it away) wasn't so good. The guy I gave it to turned it upside down for 2 days and the last time I talked to him he said it was working great.

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  12. Oldfool, I'm thinking it will be a good cooler and should do the trick a lot cheaper than buying ice one or more times a day. No doubt it needs work (like door seals and so on) but since I know it works I won't mind spending a few bucks on it.

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  13. David - wow, congrats on the fridge - LOL we both sorted out the beer chilling at the same time - s'funny how important a cold beer is! Who care what the fridge looks like, as long as it works.

    Eating yucca flowers - never knew - they are RMan's favourite plant, too - as well as beef... LOL

    See you also have a couple of orbs in your first moon photo.

    I have also heard about placing a fridge which hasn't been used for a while upside down, something about the gas settling in the bottom. Glad yours is showing signs of life - my toes are crossed to (sorry, my fingers are busy typing).

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  14. Tffnguy

    Im glad you guys are doing ok out west there. Down here in South Texas, lots of wind, humidity and Spring Breakers. On Saturday what was J.P. Luby pier (now Packery Channel jetties) as I heard was shut down with too many spring breakers. I think over 200.000? I just stay off the island and work on my house. Too much mischief, I would rather be in Terligua.

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  15. Dani, I checked the fridge this morning and the fridge part was at 34 degrees and the thermostat had cut out so its doing exactly what its supposed to do and doing it very well. The freezer part was at -8, but I had the thermostat set at MAX cold so will run that up and try to keep the fridge about 38 to 40 degrees. Since I will be building a hut to put it in and I have a BUNCH of blueboard foam I plan to add a couple of inches of it to the top, sides, bottom and door which should raise the efficiency by a good margin.

    The Indians used to use the spears from Yucca and pulverize then to extract the threads for sewing and also used the tips for needles. They made soap out of the roots and contrary to what some think the yucca root people buy in stores for food are not the same thing so the root isn't to be eaten unless you need a strong laxative. ;) Abby gave me permission to harvest fruit and flowers from the Yucca on her land and also the fruit from cactus so I'll probably take her up on that. I want to make some wine from the prickly pear apples and if I can get enough of the Strawberry cactus do the same, but that fruit is so good I'll probably eat all I can find instead. A mescal type drink can be made from the prickly pear its self so I'd like to do that also. :) It can also be eaten and I understand you can make sort of a lemon aid tasting drink out of it.

    CC, we had our share of spring breakers down here to, but I think most have gone home by now. BBMI and all the places south were packed to the limits and everyone kept running out of ice. The legion was out of ice for days. Must have been pretty humid here last night because there was a very heavy dew this morning.

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