Humboldt

Its October and the forum server cost thing is still sitting at last years total. Is there anybody out there? @Torsten

I marvelled at Nanathus wilmeniae flowering for its 1st time . Lovely golden flowers.

E.gerardiana was poking out the drainage holes of the pot. Ready for a pot up eh!

Same here

From the movie Festival Express

https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/25-08-2020-global-polio-eradication-initiative-applauds-who-african-region-for-wild-polio-free-certification

Hi, does anyone own a 100% electric car yet? If so how have you found it? Any advice? Im new to the technology but here's the sum of my thoughts so far. Next month I'm poised to buy a 24kwh vehicle which will get me somewhere over 120-130 km. I can only afford a cheaper 2nd hand model but that range should do for the daily stuff. Most choices have 80-90% battery life left (2015 model) Supposedly good for 300,000 - 400,000km. As i live remote I figure i go through about $80 a week at least for juice. Thats over $4000 a year, the savings would take 5years to pay off the cost of the car ($20000). To charge from low to full i believe costs about $2-$3 ( by comparison 120km fuel would cost me $15 - $18) . Im planning to get solar panels and a 13.5kwh battery at home and be grid connected. Im not sure how much of the vehicles charge I'll get straight from the sun or via battery storage, will be interesting to see. Nowdays the economics still work without the household solar but the dream is of course free transportation and household energy. I get good sun 100-250 sun hours varying across the seasons and have excellent all day capture potential. My lifestyle atm is such I'll be able to charge at home most days whilst the sun is at its most intense. I also have a VW bus I'll keep for camping hols, towing, picking up large things. Council owned charging stations have popped up in some local towns. Hobart has fast charging for the after work trip home. Ive considered holding off until cars are cheaper but the petrol savings ($4000 per year) will probably be higher than the price reduction. Im also tired of waiting for any government assistance/action as has the planet. Im really motivated to reduce the family's carbon emissions. Its time to fuck this puppy! Peace

Thanks for that explanation and pdf. Will definitely read. Im pondering a grid connected solar battery system for the new place. Most pundits suggest the financial return isnt there for batteries, nor is the ability to recycle spent units up to scratch yet. Atm in Tas it seems Tesla is my only real option at $15000. My neighbours run one and have never had to switch to grid power. Might do panels 1st then a battery in a few years time as prices come down. Seems crazy that batteries aren't heavily subsidized as it appears to be a good energy solution. Dont throw the baby out with the bathwater Sal! Whilst im dubious about your line of thinking regards the pandemic I can see how frustrating it must be for you to have what you feel is such an important and dire message to convey then fall on deaf ears. Its a polarizing topic and the thread reflects that. Would be great to have your continued input but if things are too broken then i wish you well. Peace H

Absolutely outstanding. Cell animation is such a beautiful thing we've all but lost.

Hey Cubism, the telescope i have is a meade and is entry level at best. I was reluctant to buy something too ex'y 1st up. Its easy enough for my 9yo with a tiny bit of help setting up. Practice during the day first up is my advice. You centre the lens on something, then calibrate using dials the red dot laser on the side of the scope till it sits on the same object. Best done during the day as well although calibrating from a feature on the moon is easy too. Its pretty accurate, place it on a star with the widest lense, then swap in the higher magnification lenses. The hard part is that you see so many more stars through it, that pinpointing a star with the naked eye then looking through the scope you can sometimes not be sure wether its the one you set it on or another close by. Jupiter and Saturn being so close are easy to recognize atm. A light tripod is frustrating too. I'd love a better telescope straight up as magnification is somewhat underwhelming. I dont regret buying it though as it's great for bird watching. Once i level up my telescope and can use it I'm very keen to attach a camera.

Hey George Im partial to a bit of parafilm grafting. Been trying different species of cacti too with varying joy. Check out this L.huizache graft i knicked with my fingernail pulling the parafilm off. Peace

This is absolutely fantastic Ronnie! I learnt alot, foremost ive been pronouncing Psilocybe wrong.

I benefit alot from meditation but have trouble sticking at things that are good for me. I guess i do a vipassana style mostly, after 30 odd years on and off i still feel im a beginner though.

Hi Ronnie, im disappointed to have missed it, will it be up and available on the channel at some stage?

In town the other day after a little dream in the rotunda I went for a walk. Across a grassy area were plenty of plovers (masked lapwing) who are well known for defending their area with swooping, displaying wing spurs and an aggressive call. I love the way they go about things. The dream id had left me feeling connected so i used that to feel into my plover mates. What i got was speed and vigour are how they gauge threat levels. So i slowed down to a doddle and sure as shit no alarm calls, Id could get 2-3 mts away before they'd respond to my presence by altering direction or stopping searching for food. But no stress response. Will be interesting to try slow walking in early spring when the young are about. Makes one think of maggies and bike riders.

Seems like some good news, finally. Will be intresting to see how things are managed. Hopefully the some indigenous knowledge will be sort and acted on. NSW buys outback station for huge new national park http://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-27/narriearra-station-sold-to-become-national-park-in-nsw/12400344

Hi, about 6 months ago i decided to ditch the chooks. Bantams who were too shifty about their eggs, finding a new place to lay every time. The food bought heaps of sparrows and starlings and i reckon the local insect life took a battering. Got fuck all out of it. Enter King quail. These cute little guys are so chilled and peaceful. Very curious with more personality than chooks. They are happy in a small range, lay an egg (maybe 2) a day. 2.5 eggs = a chicken egg but the yolk is, for size, larger. Making them a higher protein source. I've incubated and hatched a few, the little guys feed independently from day one. Easy to brood and incubate. They eat a high protein pellet, budgie seed and will peck at greens and corn. They also have a keen eye for bugs, i leave an ice cream container with food scraps in to attract thrips ect. The best thing is that the kids can look after them, have a cuddle ect. The chooks would go ape shit everytime youd go near them. Ive definately noticed a decrease in invasive birds and the other day had a lucky leech on me, hopefully a more diverse insect population will return. Now ive got some friends who are keen to do the same to keep as pest control for their hot house. Does anyone else keep quails?

Hey @TheMooseZeusIf you hadn't already, try it with no water in the incubator reservoir next time. 1:4 boy to girl has been a good ratio for my 2.5 x 2.5m shed. 3-6 eggs a day. Pics? Young'ns will lay like the blazes! Have fun

Yes cover is your best bet, 2 way escape route so they dont get cornered. An occasional dust bath is fun for them, keeps them happy and helps with parasites. I use a portable container and pop it in once every 1-2 weeks. They funny little things and very adept with bathing. Anything you can do to invite insects into your enclosure is helpful too. They love catching insects and are incredibly eagle eyed how they go about it. I use food scraps in an ice cream container. With a hole in top. Keeping them occupied/ entertained can imo help curve violence. After all Idle beaks are the devils work. Some pics of the team Gdawg?

There was some disharmony (discord) between a couple of members that night on another thread. I regret it now but was supposed to be an attempt at humour. Have contacted DJ-MC the other day to explain and apologize.. As for the false flag part, im confused about that part too.

Hey dawg, sorry to hear about the violence. Nasty. I haven't had the same problems with girls fighting. How many girls? What size enclosure? Im hoping you're not overcrowded. Its nice to have a separate space within your enclosure for injured or pecked birds. A little while ago the male was picking too much on one of girls he bred with. Over a few weeks i keep them separate, either locking away the perp or the victim. The behaviour was worse in the morning so some arvos id let them go back to gen pop. Over a few weeks the males attitude / hormones changed to being less predatory as she healed and gained condition she didnt stand out as much as a weak link. My advice is to add plenty of stuff for the persecuted birds to hide behind and under, with 2 exits for escape. There's a fair bit of out of sight, out of mind with quails. Alter the environment to keep things more interesting too. Dynamics do change if you can buy time. I found Marigold on 'Poultry keeper' forum helpful even though its UK based she knows her stuff. @Caster any thoughts?

Wasn't taking the piss out of you DJ. I think your idea is a good one. Apparently everyone is on fb these days. Im not too keen on fb.