Hello Everyone!
Spreading persimmon seeds, Stormy weather, Rationing routines, Creepy crawlers & Skills as habits!
I never wrote more than the day and its number yesterday and after doing so I left the text editor entirely and got busy doing stuff. Spending long hours each morning writing is not all that bad but it was nice to take a break from it and get outside my normal routine.
Although it was not quite a day of manic activity it sure was close to it and I was wiped out from it all by sunset. Mainly I cleaned the cabin, gave the dogs a bath, did my routine chores, went hiking a few times and did a bunch of other odd ball stuff along the way.
I even collected a bunch of persimmon seeds and planted them in some of the open areas of the grove where there are few trees growing. Who knows if any of them will grow but I figure there is no harm in trying... especially since there are so many seeds scattered along the road in that area.
Like I have mentioned before the critters love those persimmons and for some reason most of the seeds get left behind in the roads and bare spots. More than likely it is just where the critters are eating the fruits and then leaving the seeds but the piles might also be marking where the grove is.
Anyway, this morning I awoke a bit before for four so I have plenty of time to write before the sun comes up which I think should become my new cut off time for the writing. Now that the weather is going to start cooling down as we head into autumn I best start using my time more wisely and spend it getting my gear in order.
I dunno how I let things get to the point that they are at with my overall life... but the epiphany has assuredly occurred to me that I best pull myself up by my bootstraps and figure some things out. Preferably in a way that is not incredibly manic or willy-nilly because that just will not cut it this time around.
It really all goes back to making some different lifestyle choices and of course adjusting how I achieve the lifestyle choices that I want to keep like continuing to homestead, write, create content, hike and whatnot. I think that figuring out what I want to make 'different' is pretty easy and the majority of it boils down to setting aside the hermiting a bit and securing a solid place to ride out the times at.
Talk about 'riding out the times' I still feel like I am doing pretty good with how well I have gotten my food rationing routine dialed in. Even more than the rationing itself is how well making my actual supply runs be spread apart (by two or three month periods) made what I purchase each time way more significant. All in all I can say that at this point it has shifted from being a routine to being a full-fledged habit.
Lean times call for lean measures and like I used to be fond of saying... and should perhaps start saying more often: Survival better be a habit! I know folks seldom grasp the depth of that sentiment but in any sort of crisis or calamity having 'survival skills' (in all their myriad forms) being actual habits and/or routines... not only makes any transitional period easier... but alas it makes doing the work and taking care of ourselves along the way a much less bumpy ride.
Something that I have not done so great with is rationing my water because I really overdid it in that regard. Sure I still only use one to two gallons a day for my personal consumption but all too much of that gets used to make espresso, rice, pasta, potatoes, tea and so forth... and basically I do not actually drink much water by itself!
This has of course lead to a mild chronic semi-dehydrated state that is probably impacting my overall mood and health way more than I am realizing. It may well be why all sorts of stuff feels slightly 'off' for me in both my mind and my body. So yeah noticing it I have begun drinking more water and yup I am going to slowly increase my water intake and avoid any knee-jerk over-correction!
At least I know that I can do that kind of extended hyper-rationing with the water but ugh it is also rather counter productive in the not-so-grand scheme of things. It is definitely one of those things that I know to watch out for with myself and not the first time that I have slipped into under-hydrating myself for a long period.
To be clear if I feel thirsty I drink water each day in some form and even by itself but I think that with all the physical activity I need to increase my intake a good bit. While not being in a super busy state (meaning hanging out in the cabin during the summer) I can skimp by on minimal hydration but over the last many weeks of sorting through stuff and packing down... it has become quite noticeable that I have to hydrate more often and just more in general!
Alright, it is now close to my nap time but since I have been slacking on the writing the last few days I best dive in here and postpone the napping a while longer. The day has been a busy one and from the sounds of the rumbling thunder I picked a good time to take an afternoon break.
Before I get started on today's activities I should mention that I made a big discovery the other day. It was not a pleasant thing to find out but at least I noticed it before finding out about it in an unpleasant manner. In short, most of the gear in the shop tent has brown recluse spiders in it and no I do not mean just a few spiders!
Ever since making said discovery I have been being extra careful while working in there and have even taken to shaking out my gloves, boots and clothes afterwards. Sometimes I even shake those things out throughout the day and especially so with the gloves that have holes and are by no means in the greatest of shape!
Today's adventures in cleaning involved something biting me on one of my fingers while I was working so we will see what happens. I think it was a carpenter ant and hopefully the tobacco poultice that I put on it drew out whatever it was that made it sting like it did when it first happened!
Misadventures aside I did get a good bit of stuff sorted through in the shop tent and got in a rather nice hike that once again involved eating persimmons. There are still a good many of them on the trees and way fewer lasting very long once they fall from the tree.
I guess that the deer and perhaps the fox that I saw today are eating them each night. I barely caught sight of the fox but once I did... I was able to watch it a few moments as it trekked off into the thicker brush. Those things sure can blend in because one moment it was there and the next moment it simply was impossible for me to spot it again.
Anyway, the whole process of cleaning up my gear is one of those things that I probably should have been doing for a while now and just never made the time that I needed for it. So, going forward I think that I will continue 'getting it all together' in such a way that it is not in piss poor shape nor will it be able to become so again... that is the plan at least!
Well, it is very late and I am going to try to edit this entry and get it shared tonight. I hope that everyone is doing well and has a nice day/night.
https://peakd.com/c/hive-114308/created
When I grew my guava trees in VLE the best way I found to get them started was I took a rotten one and laid it on top of a pot of soil, then gently pressed down on it so some of the seeds went into the soil. When they sprouted and grew I planted the biggest ones in a pot by themselves, then planted them in the ground when they got bigger. I bet if you took persimmons that are on the grown and smashed them into the ground where ever you want them to grow, it would work.