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The very first tours offered by Arctic Adventures were white water rafting excursions on the Hvítá River. So we have over 30 years' experience in river rafting. We source the best rafting guides from around the world to work at our Drumbó base camp. Join one of our various river rafting tours to enjoy a fun day out.
Rafting Tours from Reykjavik
Departing from Iceland's capital city of Reykjavik, Arctic Adventures offers many river rafting opportunities in areas such as Gullfoss Canyon and the Golden Circle, with combo tours available
Gullfoss Canyon Rafting from Drumboddsstadir or Reykjavik
- Available
- Duration
- Departs From
Enjoy beautiful landscape from a new angle! Rafting down the Hvítá river is a splendid way to spend the day.
Icelandic Beer Tasting & Rafting
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- Duration
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Go full Viking with a river rafting experience down a glacier river through the breathtakingly beautiful Gullfoss canyon before tasting the best local beer Iceland has to offer
Golden Circle & Rafting
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Guided Golden Circle and river rafting tour not to be missed: the classic day tour in south Iceland!
Rafting & ATVs
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From wheels to waves, explore the best of Iceland's rugged wilderness in one action-packed day of adrenaline and fun!
Rafting & Riding
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Saddle-up and paddle down! A morning horseback adventure and an exciting afternoon of river rafting on the mighty Hvitá!
North Iceland Rafting Tours
Outside of Reykjavik, there are several great white water rafting tours in the North of Iceland. Our selection of exciting northern river excursions can be found below:
Beast of the East
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Paddle through Wild and World-Class Whitewater in a spectacular remote canyon in East Iceland!
The Best Places to go Whitewater Rafting in Iceland
Rafting is a fantastic way to connect with Iceland. Avoid the crowds and discover the Land of Fire and Ice on a route unknown to most tourists! The river you travel on is made from meltwater from ancient glaciers, and the canyon walls were carved out over eons. There's nothing more Icelandic than glacial whitewater rapids!
Chasing whitewater is a thrilling, bonding and bracing experience that introduces you to Iceland's wild pulse, one seen by very few visitors or locals. Plus, rafting gives travelers the opportunity to come face to face with the country's natural wonders, from stunning waterfalls to untamed rock formations – not to mention the famously crystalline water itself.
The main spots for rafting in Iceland are the Hvítá River in South Iceland, Austari Jökulsá (East River Canyon) and Vestari Jökulsá (West River Canyon), and we have a variety of tours to choose from in these locations. Some tours are purely for rafting, while others combine activities like horse-riding, all-terrain vehicle (ATV) trips, whale watching and more.
Hvita Whitewater Rafting
Raft down the beautiful Hvita River that flows from Langjokull, Iceland's second biggest glacier. Join our team on the roaring meltwater rapids from Gullfoss to Bruarhlod. This journey takes 60-90 minutes and usually includes an after activity at the Drumbo sauna.
East River Rafting
Hop onto world-class whitewater rapids in one of Iceland's hidden canyons. Nicknamed the "Beast of the East," our East Glacier River Rafting tour is among the most thrilling and unique adventures you'll ever have in Iceland.
West River Rafting
Summer spells out family-friendly excursions on the calm rapids of West Iceland. We recommend children and beginners start with this half-day trip in a gentle West Glacial River's canyon.
Whitewater Rafting Safety Tips and the Icelandic Rafting Rating Scale
Here's what you need to do before going rafting in Iceland. First up, let's talk about safety and difficulty ratings. Arctic Adventures is the most experienced rafting tour providers in Iceland (and among the best in the world). All of our rafts have an expert guide on board, who will lead the excursions in a safe, fun and memorable way.
Some training is provided before the trips, and even though Icelandic rivers are relatively safe by international standards, the water should always be respected, and safety precautions should always be followed.
The international Rafting Scales of Difficulty originated in the United States as a means of judging the accessibility of rivers. It's a handy, clear guide on what to expect from your rafting trip. The four different scales are as follows:
- Class 1 – Easy: This is a river that's accessible to beginners. While it is suitable for those with little experience, it is still a fast-moving river with waves and obstacles. However, "self-rescue" (removing oneself from the craft and getting to land) will be easy for competent swimmers should it be needed.
- Class 2 – Novice: Trickier than the Class 1, but still a clear, wide river with easy-to-avoid obstacles that's suitable for beginners. Still, though, some maneuvering will be required.
- Class 3 – Intermediate: These rivers may contain waves that can cover the boat, as well as obstacles that would require complex maneuverers and a strong craft.
- Class 4 – Advanced: Powerful, choppy rapids that require quick reaction times and constant rowing. In some cases (including Iceland's 'Beast of the East'), it can mean steep dips.
There are also Class 5 (Expert) and Class 6 (Exploratory and Extreme) rapids throughout the world, but Iceland has neither of these. The highest-class river in Iceland is Jökulsá Austari, which is Class 4. The most commonly rafted river for tourists, Hvítá River, is Class 2.
Types of Rafting Tours in Iceland
As mentioned, there are dozens of ways to raft out in Iceland, whether you're interested in a tough physical challenge, taking in the views at a relaxed pace, or combining your excursion with different activities.
Gullfoss Canyon Rafting Tours
Like many of our most sought-after rafting tours, the Gullfoss Canyon rafting trip is on the Hvítá River. It's a splendid opportunity to take in the local scenery, as the glacier river runs all the way from Langjökull Glacier, Iceland's second biggest glacier. Experience the incomparable surroundings that the roaring river has created over the years, with Brúarhlöð Canyon as one of the highlights.
The canyon has grand rock formations and portholes and you can see how the water has sculptured the breccia walls (breccia is a particularly beautiful type of rock). The Hvítá River also feeds the grand waterfall, Gullfoss – one of the most visited attractions in all of Iceland.
Combo Tours
One of our most popular tours that combines rafting with other experiences is our Golden Circle & Rafting experience. It starts with a raft through Gullfoss Canyon (with optional cliff diving for all of you thrill-seekers!). After a reinvigorating shower, a relaxing sauna and a change of clothes, you'll take in the famous Geysir geothermal area, the stunning waterfall Gullfoss, and the vast, history-steeped Thingvellir National Park.
An entirely different kind of adventure tour is the ATV & River Rafting combo. This kicks off with a thrilling ATV drive up the Hafrafell Mountain to take in some spectacular views. That's followed by rafting on the Hvítá River.
On the more adorable front, families tend to love our Horse Riding & Rafting combo tours. They start with a trip to farm Vellir in Ölfus, where you'll begin a ride on a beautiful, indigenous Icelandic horse. That's followed (like the two trips above) by rafting on the Hvítá River.
An entirely different mammal stars in our Whale Watching & Rafting Tours. This one involves cruising from Reykjavik's old harbor in search of whales, dolphins and porpoises. The trip also takes you past several islands inhabited by colonies of puffins; a marine birder's paradise and a photographer's dream! In the afternoon, you'll swap your ship for a boat and go rafting on the Hvítá River.
Trips for the Whole Family
While the Gullfoss Canyon trip is a hit with families (with kids aged 11 and up), there's an even more accessible option: The Wonderful West tour offers a family rafting adventure for everyone aged 6 and up.
Take a gentle, fun rafting tour on gorgeous West Glacial River Canyon. This tour also features bubbling hot springs, incredible scenery and a cup of hot cocoa from nature's own kettle! (Iceland, famously, produces an abundance of natural hot water.)
For Experienced Rafters
If you want to experience white-knuckle, fast-paced and thrilling white-water rafting, look no further than The Beast of the East. East Glacier River Rafting is available in the Austari-Jökulsá Gorge, which plays host to raging waters, stunning scenery and a trip you'll never forget.
Frequently cited as one of the best rafting experiences in Europe, this is a challenging and exciting experience. No previous experience is required, though you should be in good physical shape, ready to row and a strong swimmer.
Multi-Day Rafting Trips
For a truly epic journey, we would recommend the 55-kilometer, Three Day Whitewater Rafting Trip. You set off at the foot of Hofsjökull Glacier after a journey over Sprengisandur desert and a night in remote mountain cabins at Laugafell. Then you'll raft your way south, along the East Glacial River, through the gorgeous Austurdalur Valley, stopping off for meals and hot springs visits.
This is a challenging trip (Class 4 rapids are included), but a unique, beautiful and exhilarating journey.
At One with Water
Both locals and visitors absolutely love whitewater rafting in Iceland. It's a fun, fast-paced activity and it gives a different perspective on Iceland's gorgeous landscape.
See you on the water!


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On April 26, 2018, the Minister of Environment and Climate Change announced the publication of the final Federal methane regulations, i.e. Regulations Respecting Reduction in the Release of Methane and Certain Volatile Organic Compounds (Upstream Oil and Gas Sector).
The final methane regulations were published in the Canada Gazette, Part II also on April 26, 2018, and introduce control measures to reduce fugitive and venting emissions of methane from the upstream oil and gas sector.
For more information, read the full News Release at:
Contact us to discuss how these regulations will impact your company, and to review the steps you need to take in order to comply.

subset: commoncrawl


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It's dangerous to try to predict what any specific technology will look like even 5 years in the future. It's safer to look at trends. My many friends in radio have spent a great deal of time in the past few years worrying about the impact "satellite radio," and the more recently launching HD Radio will have on the size of their listening audience. I don't believe the future challenge lies with either of these technologies.
A recent article in USA Today offers a glimpse into the future. The combination of internet access in automobiles and WI-Max (wide area wireless internet access) or something even more advanced will put a whole new world of listening experience in the hands of drivers.
There are over ten thousand on-line radio stations available right now from sites like Live 365 and a nifty program called Pandora allows you to custom build your own radio station. While no one station may ever attract have a large audience, if each station only claims a few listeners in each market there'll be a lot few listeners listening to "traditional radio" in the future. And that'll make it much more difficult for advertisers to reach a large audience easily.
I don't consider myself an early adopter by any means. But I spend most of my time listening to WCPE out of Raleigh Durham, NC (a "traditional" radio station with a large Internet presence). I could listen to a classical station out of Milwaukee or Chicago, but I like WCPE and I listen everyday online. What's neat is that no matter where I go I can listen to the station as long as I have Internet access.
I'm also a huge fan of Old Time Radio (go figure) not a huge market for radio shows produced 50+ years ago. I've got 3 stations bookmarked in ITunes. Who knows how many people will tune to old shows in their car when wireless Internet becomes available? "The Shadow Knows."


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NEW Product Pages
We are happy to announce all NEW web product pages have been introduced that mirror the design introduced with the LX2 3-Sided Series. We wanted to ensure that our dealers and customers could easily find the products they were looking for and put our beautiful photos and spec information at the forefront.
Also included in the update was re-working our Retrofire and Portrait Series product pages for a better understanding of each.
Full details of the update include:
- New Overview section – "full view" image of the product, product name, description and links to the brochure, design center and owner's manual at top of page
- New Specifications section – inputs/outputs, HeatShift/AutoFire, controls, etc.
- New Installation Example section – 3 to 6 beauty shots of series installation
- New Full Gallery section – Click the "Full Gallery" link to view all associated images
- New Components section– Easier way to list our product components and provide a visual for fuel beds and liners
- New Product Features section – Icons to visually represent features associated with products
- Retrofire has been spit into to pages for Zero Clearance and insert designations:
- Retrofire Zero Clearance – valorfireplaces.com/retrofire-insert
- Retrofire Insert – valorfireplaces.com/retrofire-zc
- Portrait has been spit into to pages for Zero Clearance, insert and freestanding designations:
- Portrait Zero Clearance – valorfireplaces.com/portrait-inserts
- Portrait Insert – valorfireplaces.com/portrait-zc
- Portrait Freestanding – valorfireplaces.com/portrait-freesanding
- Portrait Overview page has been subtly re-developed with the new design changes
Learn More:
To view all of our new product page updates please visit valorfireplaces.com/products.


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Thanksgiving is just two days away, and the clock is ticking. Perhaps you've procrastinated, and haven't even planned your dessert. Maybe you just want to throw your family a sweet curve ball.
This Harvest Pumpkin Trifle from Better Homes and Gardens is incredibly easy to make, especially if you use some inexpensive store-bought sweets.
Everyone loves single-serving desserts, because they seem so personal and time-consuming. Fool 'em all with these easy-to-layer personalized treats.


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Teacher Appreciation Gifts – S'More teachers like you!
Continuing with our Teacher Appreciation gifts this fun gift is perfect for a teacher who loves camping, s'mores or sweets in general! We've covered the Coffee lover, and the gardener so far. For that super sweet, loving teacher in your life… "We need S'more teachers like you!"
Thanks to our friends over at Walnut Hollow for contributing the super cute Mini Crate for this project, and for the several other great items as well! I really love these adorable tiny little crates. It's just the right size for filling with fun treats or treasures. I wanted to keep this crate simple so that our super sweet teacher could use it for whatever purpose she wanted after the gift was received and the yummy treats consumed.
*This is a sponsored post. As always my opinions are my own. Affiliate links may be used, you can read my full disclosure here.*
Here's what you'll need to make your own "S'more teachers like you!" sweet filled mini crate:
- Walnut Hollow Mini Crate
- Chalkboard paint
- paint brush
- chalk or chalk marker
- Cellophane gift bag
- Marshmallows
- Chocolate bars
- Graham crackers
First paint the crate with the chalkboard paint. I covered the entire crate. Apply your first coat of paint all one direction, I do horizontal first. After that has dried completely, come back and do a second coat in an opposite direction. My second coat was done in a vertical direction. Let dry overnight.
That's all you need to do! It's so easy, but you can customize it so many fun ways! Slip a piece of chalk down inside with the goodies and the teacher can use it to write notes, doodle, or customize the crate however they choose when they're done with the s'more goodies!
I used a chalkboard marker to write our message on the side slats of the crate. These markers can be wiped off with a wet cloth.
Now you can fill the cute crate with your s'more goodies. We filled a small cellophane gift bag with marshmallows and tied it with wrapping ribbon. A few Hershey's chocolate bars, and a package of graham crackers and your teacher has everything they need to make delicious s'mores!
We are so thankful for the many great teachers we've had over the years. Not all teacher's like sweets so if your teacher likes to garden or loves flowers, check out this gift instead!
And for the teacher who really loves Coffee, we've got that covered as well:


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Nisha_1@nisha_1 active 7 years, 8 months ago 1160 seeds Rank - Novice
Nisha_1 wrote a new post, Veganing 7 years, 9 months ago
I seemed to have missed out on a weekly post, quel horreur! The veganing is still going steady and thank you so much for all the recipes, food and other suggestions, they have been a great help and motivator.
Nisha_1 wrote a new post, On the Vegan Trail 7 years, 10 months ago
One whole week of being vegan and I have to say it is much easier than I could have ever imagined! Although there is always the slight longing look when the rest of my family is eating cheese, being vegan has […]
Nisha_1 commented on the post, Going Vegan 7 years, 10 months ago
I just had Thai the other night! Thank you for the suggestion
Nisha_1 wrote a new post, Going Vegan 7 years, 10 months ago
Well, I think it's fair to say that there are some things you simply never in visage yourself doing and I'm sorry to say that going vegan was one of them. Considering that my favourite foods include cheese and […]
Nisha_1 changed their profile picture 7 years, 10 months ago
Nisha_1 posted an update 7 years, 10 months ago
I have to say I'm a little nervous. I have been vegetarian for eight years now, and have scorned at vegans the entire time, "What's the point?" I've repeatedly asked myself. However, after some thorough research I have decided to take the plunge. That's right, I've decided to start riding my bike. Well that too, but mainly I'm going vegan…[Read more]


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A world of opportunity awaitsDedicated staff, inspired learning and a caring community. Add in our breathtaking surroundings, and you'll find our district is a special place to work. Everyone here plays an important role in our mission of advancing student learning.
The Human Resources Department is seeking well-qualified candidates for a variety of positions. Whether you start a student's day off right with positive words while driving a bus, serving a healthy breakfast in a cafeteria or by providing intentional and focused instruction as a teacher or administrator, we'll share the goal of helping to prepare students for a successful future. We appreciate your interest in our schools and encourage you to consider making Oak Harbor your home.Available health plans for eligible employees
- Medical through Group Health which offers 3 plan types - PPO, Qualified High Deductible Health Plan, and a managed care plan
- Dental benefits through Ameritas Group
- Vision benefits through Northwest Benefit Network
- Short-term and long-term disability through Cigna Behavioral replaces lost wages due to injury or illness
- Flexible spending through VEBA
- Retirement plans - please contact Payroll at ext. 5031
Statement of Non-Discrimination
Oak Harbor Public Schools does not discriminate in any programs or activities on the basis of sex, race, creed, religion, color, national origin, age, veteran or military status, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, disability, or the use of a trained dog guide or service animal and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups. The following employees have been designated to handle questions and complaints of alleged discrimination:
Title IX Coordinator/Civil Rights Compliance Coordinator
Kurt Schonberg, Human Resources Director
350 South Oak Harbor Street, Oak Harbor, WA 98277
Telephone Number: 360-279-5012
Section 504/ADA Coordinator
Janice Gaare, Special Programs Director
350 South Oak Harbor Street, Oak Harbor, WA 98277
Telephone Number:360-279-5071


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Next | Previous | Index
The investigation will remain open until a determination is made under Sec. 103.400, or a conciliation agreement is executed and approved under Sec. 103.310. Unless it is impracticable to do so, the Assistant Secretary will complete the investigation of the alleged discriminatory housing practice within 100 days of the filing of the complaint (or where the Assistant Secretary reactivates the complaint, within 100 days after service Assistant Secretary is unable to complete the investigation within the 100-day period, HUD will notify the aggrieved person and the respondent, by mail, of the reasons for the delay.
[61 FR 14380, Apr. 1, 1996]


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Click here for the full article. I wonder if this means Domino might have the inside track to publishing the finished rooms?
This is much more interesting than showing you a photo of the hundreds - if not thousands, of port-a-johns (sp?) that now surround the mall and Constitution Ave. Yesterday driving into DC I was amazed to see how many there were - and then driving back home even more amazed to see the number had grown.


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Storm damage
This shot was taken in Commonage Rd, outside Simmo's Icecream. Our neighbour was driving along here at the height of the storm. He said this section looked frightening with the wind blowing trees everywhere. He decided to pull over (the wind was so strong he faced the car into the wind in case it blew the car over!). While he watched 3 trees were blown down over the section of road he had been about to drive down. This photo was taken about an hour later. We had to deviate through Simmo's carpark to get into Dunsborough.
Tornado Mayhem
In the early hours of this morning a front went through with strong winds (forecast 125km/hr!) and heavy rain. But this is winter and you have to expect that. However there was a strip from Quindalup (near Elmore Road), to the Quindalup Siding Road, and from there along the Vasse Yallingup Siding Road, and down Chain Avenue to Carbanup that got hit by an extraordinary storm. You can see by these photos that this was an exceptional wind event. It was fortunate that most of this area is farmland, and very few houses were hit directly. We saw one house in Quindalup that had lost its roof and another in Old Dunsborough that had been damaged by a large tree falling on it. The damage shown in these photos is only a few km from where we live, and we were unaware that the storm had been so bad.
When these photos were taken the local Shire had been working for hours and in places had only managed to clear a single lane by pushing the trees off the road. It is clear that it was very fortunate this happened in the early hours of the morning, and no-one was driving on these roads at the time. If there had been I doubt they would have survived.
Bunker Bay sunset
Bunker Bay is a stunning location, and before the resort was built the beach was almost always deserted. In the 1980's I was working in Holland, and came back to WA on holiday. I took some photos of Bunker Bay beach and on my return to Holland showed them to my workmates (that was evil – it was -15c at the time). They stared and stared and stared – I began to wonder what was wrong. Finally one of them said "but there's no-one on the beach"! They could not believe that such a beautiful beach would be deserted.
These days it is a bit more occupied, but still just as beautiful.
Boranup Forest
This area was logged around 1920, and this is all regrowth Karri forest. As the trees are roughly the same age they competed with each other for light and as a result are all very tall and straight. When driving south along Caves Road, south of Margaret River you come around a bend and are confronted with the sight of these trees. I am surprised there are not more accidents here as cars tend to pull up anywhere to look at the trees.
I found this difficult to photograph, largely because every time I left Dunsborough in sunny weather to photograph the forest, it was raining by the time I arrived! However the good news for photographers is that you don't need to be here at sunrise to get the best photos. At that time the sun is still below the canopy. The best time is an hour or so before sunset or after sunrise, so you get the sidelight.


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Morning Mix: Kim Basinger Denies Releasing Baldwin Voicemail
Headlines: Kim Basinger denies releasing Alec Baldwin voicemail... Jonathan Rhys Meyers ("The Tudors," "Match Point") enters rehab for alcohol abuse... Regis Philbin return to TV Thursday with guest David Letterman... Britney Spears shows off newly-trim figure... America Ferrara pushed into "Pants" sequel... "Laguna Beach's" Jason Wahler photographed playing with gun... Russell Simmons wants three epithets banned from rap... Spokesman says Cat Stevens didn't refuse to speak to non-veiled women... Milla Jovovich expecting first child... Spice Girls (minus Mel B) reunite for Geri Halliwell's baby christening... Meg Ryan says fate took her to her daughter... Keith Richards's 91-year-old mother dies... Sienna Miller replaces Lindsay Lohan in Dylan Thomas biopic... Shia LaBeouf working out seven days a week to prep for "Indiana Jones"... Shanna Moakler posts Paris Hilton's contact information online... Rod Stewart's son under investigation for assault... Whitney Houston/Bobby Brown divorce finalized... "Girls Gone Wild" creator Joe Francis sentenced to 35 days in jail.
Rumor Mill: Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn back together?... Rosie O'Donnell grosses out luncheon guests... Reality TV crew annoyed with "picky, demanding" Victoria Beckham... Joan and Melissa Rivers dropped from TV Guide Channel for diva-like behavior?... Kirsten Dunst gets a bit tipsy following "Spider-Man" premiere... Bart Simpson bares all in upcoming big screen "Simpsons"... Scott Baio set for VH1 reality show.
Shut Your Mouth!
"On-camera Simon is a bit nasty, but off-camera, he's a total jerk." -- Sanjaya Malakar, reading "The Top 10 Things I Learned on American Idol" on Monday night's "Late Show"
Liz Kelly
| April 24, 2007; 7:32 AM ET
Categories: Daily Mix
Save & Share: Previous: Comment Box: A Little More Alec Baldwin
Next: Britney Spears: Suddenly Svelte
Kim Bassinger denies releasing the voicemail which would basically implicate her daughter releasing it. Nice parenting on all sides I'd say.
Posted by: hmm | April 24, 2007 9:20 AM | Report abuse
Seriously, what is Britney wearing? Trim body or not, it looks like she should be standing on a street corner?
Posted by: Betty | April 24, 2007 9:22 AM | Report abuse
Just thinking about seeing Rosie while I eat lunch is enough to gross me out.
Posted by: SoMD | April 24, 2007 9:24 AM | Report abuse
Britney has made enough money by now to hire a stylist. Clearly she is not capable of dressing herself. To beat the dead horse yet again, where are her kids?
Russell start with the ephitets and move on to a couple of the supposed to be artists. Starting with Kanye (who has been surprisingly quite on this matter), don't forget a self imposed ban and you've got a start.
Bobby Brown is free. Everyone hide your daughters.
Posted by: petal | April 24, 2007 9:41 AM | Report abuse
How long do ashes stay in the system? Because if Keith snorts his mum's ashes, the family can be reunited.
Posted by: hmmmmmm | April 24, 2007 9:45 AM | Report abuse
Victoria Beckham is rude, demanding, picky and boring; and Rosie O'Donnell is vulgar and common. Who knew?
Posted by: Stick | April 24, 2007 9:48 AM | Report abuse
Since she began her career in hip hop, it would be interesting to hear what Queen Latifah had to say about the "three words," especially the two pertaining to women.
Posted by: methinks | April 24, 2007 9:56 AM | Report abuse
This is an honest question: Do the people who go into alcohol treatment or rehab facilities actually go in there to stop drinking/using? Or do they just go in to take a break, lose weight, get some sleep, whatever...
It seems that the destructive behaviors some of the stars have exhibited would need more than three weeks to remedy.
Posted by: methinks | April 24, 2007 9:59 AM | Report abuse
The Baio pic should come with a warning (e.g., "The Following Image May be Disturbing to Those Born After 1979")
Posted by: kvs | April 24, 2007 10:07 AM | Report abuse
Methinks: Queen Latifah never used those words because the Queen came into Hip-Hop during the afrocentric phase in the early to mid eighties with Public Enemy, K-RS One, a Tribe called Quest. She was had a pro black message.
Paris must be hard up for friends if she gave Shanna Moakler her phone number...ew.
Posted by: Lisa1 | April 24, 2007 10:15 AM | Report abuse
lisa1 - the afrocentric phase of hip hop/rap was the early to mid nineties, not eighties.
Posted by: dym | April 24, 2007 10:24 AM | Report abuse
Kim B didn't release the tapes? I'll buy that. Then it was probably her attorneys who released on her behalf, probably with her consent. Just because she didn't do it herself, doesn't necessarily make her innocent.
Posted by: jlr | April 24, 2007 10:24 AM | Report abuse
I would have been surprised if 'the Queen' had ever used those words in ANY phase of hip hop. But I'd still be interested in hearing a woman who has made $$, and a name for herself, in that genre speak to the use of those words by hip hop artists. I've heard female artists use those words, too. Queen Latifah has moved on with her career. I wonder what she thinks of the current state of rap/hip hop music and what it has brought to the culture.
Posted by: methinks | April 24, 2007 10:37 AM | Report abuse
So excited to see an article about Shia LaBeouf! He was so great in the movie "Holes". I hope the Indy Jones movie isn't a dud.
Posted by: POS | April 24, 2007 10:47 AM | Report abuse
DYM: you're right,but the forget the underground period during NYC summer when you could go see K-RS One in a schoolyard rapping about Martin and Malcolm.
Posted by: Lisa1 | April 24, 2007 11:00 AM | Report abuse
The thing is that the focus on the use of those words is in hip hop and rap but those genres didn't give us these terms and they are not the only places the words are used. Yeah, I'd like to be able to listen to the radio and not have to turn it off due to crap but this is across the board. Music of all kinds, tv shows and movies.
Posted by: carmen | April 24, 2007 11:02 AM | Report abuse
Latifah came up in hip-hop in that late 80s/early 90s era when gangsta was still pretty underground and most mainstream acts were very much on the positive tip. And she was dead center in it. In a way, I wish we could have seen a hip-hop world where she'd stayed in place as this matriarch and helped show the newcomers the way, but Hollywood came calling (rightly so). I gotta say, I miss those New Jack Swing days.
Posted by: 23112 | April 24, 2007 11:08 AM | Report abuse
Posted by: Anonymous | April 24, 2007 11:18 AM | Report abuse
by the way, the second dress kristin dunst wore on the night of the spiderman 3 premiere, when she was out partying in london, is ugly. i won't begrudge her being tipsy. i'm glad i was never photographed being "helped back to my hotel" but at least i wasn't wearing a blah green dress made of crinkly paper.
Posted by: methinks | April 24, 2007 11:23 AM | Report abuse
From Media Notes:
Kim Basinger says she didn't leak the voice-mail of ex-hubby Alec Baldwin's rant at their 11-year-old daughter, but: "She called Baldwin 'unstable' and 'irrational,' and said she had hired security after the media storm that followed the release of the voicemail, 'to allow Ireland to maintain her regular routine.' "
Notice she didn't say that nobody leaked it on her behalf.
Posted by: Anonymous | April 24, 2007 11:23 AM | Report abuse
"O'Donnell concluded a rant about Donald Trump by grabbing her crotch and shouting, "Eat me!""
Let it go Rosie, let it go. Nobody cares about your feelings towards Trump anymore.
Posted by: BF | April 24, 2007 11:35 AM | Report abuse
I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out Baldwin released it himself so he could try and one up Basinger in the custody battle. He reminds me of a slimy, used car salesman.
Posted by: Sharon | April 24, 2007 12:03 PM | Report abuse
Some names should never be uttered in the same sentence as Dylan Thomas. Lohan and Miller are at the top of that list.
Posted by: arlington | April 24, 2007 1:18 PM | Report abuse
The Basinger-Baldwin dustup this week reminded me of the Morgan-Foretich case. Ego and selfishness and spite at an ex. God save the poor child.
Posted by: soso | April 24, 2007 1:44 PM | Report abuse
"I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out Baldwin released it himself so he could try and one up Basinger in the custody battle. He reminds me of a slimy, used car salesman.
Posted by: Sharon | April 24, 2007 12:03 PM"
I was thinking the exact same thing last nite. I wouldn't put it past him even though I love the guy in 30 Rock.
Posted by: Bored @ work | April 24, 2007 2:36 PM | Report abuse
The comments to this entry are closed.


text:
A helper function that lets us write stateful React components in the same functional style as stateless components.
- sidesteps the need to introduce
this-binding confusion into your codebase.
- slightly terser, slightly more declarative
- opinionated - doesn't expose the more dangerous features of class-based Components (e.g. lifecycle callbacks)
When you have a team working on a larger React codebase it is hard for everyone to understand which patterns are preferable vs. those which are a necessary compromise.


text:
- I've decided to start a farm blog. Right now it's just the intro page, but I'll start transferring my journal and FB stuff across shortly. Stay tuned…
- Just spent a quarter hour trying to get pictures of a pig's penis for Beck Archer. While disturbing, the really horrible thing was what the big boy was trying to do to the little boy to make said pictures possible. Let's call it… "prison relations".
- Was just reading a commercial chicken site and they had the following under the title "Interesting Facts":
"An average meat chicken will eat 5kgs of feed in its lifetime, which is approximately 42 days…"
That's 6 weeks! Chooks need three things to develop all of the nutrients we need: 1. Exercise, 2. Fresh green forage, and 3. Time to develop. We keep ours 12 to 14 weeks, they range over fresh food, and get lots of exercise. You don't realise the difference until you see and taste it.
- Crashed the tractor today. It had a full load on the carry-all and so had no steering. I was using the independent rear brakes to be tricky and steer it between a fully loaded skip and a trailer. Turns out, I'm not as tricky as I thought.
It potentially could have tipped the tractor on me or trapped my leg between tractor and skip. Somehow I came away relatively unscathed, but half of my pinky toe-nail tore off. Yes, I crashed my tractor and broke a nail. Bwuahahahahahahaha.
- Question: What do you do when you're stacking wood in the house paddock while belting out a Cher song at full volume and your neighbour drives slowly past, looking at you incredulously through their open window?
Answer: You finish strongly and own that shit!
On a related note, I might love Cher more than most farmers… or straight men.
- "Why are there pigs in the orchard?!" Not much more than a year ago I would never have guessed I'd hear Linhda say that sentence, and especially not with that level of panic in her voice.
- Was planting out the last of my corn earlier when I came across a freshly dead mouse. The only mark on him was a small, wet wound. I'm fairly certain he was bitten by a snake. Trust me, that'll make the rest of your time in the garden a little nervous…
- The tank for dad's enviro-cycle septic was delivered today. It's about 10 feet tall and maybe 8 across.
Your mission now David, should you choose to accept it, is to fill that giant receptacle. With poop and pee.
- We've had tradies here all day, two of which were plumbers putting in dad's envirocycle septic. They left the *big* backhoe here, so I went to check it out. Maybe have a sit in it. Maybe make some vroom vroom noises. Maybe see how the bucket went up and down. Maybe just drive it up and down a few times. Maybe use it to reach a couple of high limbs in the pine trees that have been bugging me and knock them down.
BUT they took the keys with them! They don't trust me!!!! Stupid vroom vroom noises aren't the same without the engine going…
- I pickled some cabbage as a bit of an experiment about 4 weeks ago. Linhda and David were less than complimentary about it. I just cracked one of the jars and it tastes awesome!
I was going to say "it tastes slawesome" but Peyton threatened to hit me.
In summary, all three of them can suck it.
- Happy Australia Day. God bless all those lucky enough to live in God's own country. 🙂
On a related note, we picked up the guest of honour for our party today. Weighing in at an impressive 28kg, he's about a third bigger than I was expecting. He's now trussed and spinning over charcoal. Fingers crossed…
- Today, for the first time in a year, we're having a weekend day off of farm work. At the same time, today is probably the fifth day in the last six weeks that I've worn deodorant. In fact, it's the second day in a row! Look at me, Mr. Fancy Pants!
Month: February 2013
Australians All Let us Rejoice… For Pigs!
January was insanely hot at times. We're about 75km north of Adelaide, and a lot further from the ocean. The result is our hot days are invariably 3 or 4 degrees hotter than the city. We're also exposed, and despite the wind-breaks all around us, the hot northerlies can be vicious.
The heat was beating the potatoes up, so we rejigged the irrigation giving it taller risers. That worked well, and allowed us to keep the water up to the spuds over the hottest days.
Even though they weren't quite ready yet, we ended up harvesting some potatoes to make potato salad for Australia Day. I think I'm a long way from getting the spuds right, but those we harvested were pretty bloody good.
A big part of the rest of the month was trying to finish off the stock yards and doing so around the heat. We ended up working for a few hours in the morning and night, and also making sure that we got two or three hours in after work during the week. By the end of the month we were almost done. The only part left is extending the race through the largest yard so it can open into The Patch. This requires punching a gate through the existing fence, and changing around a box section. That's not needed right now, so we'll leave it to the cooler weather.
The big success story here is the race that we have running along the southern end of the yards. We designed it so that the gates that empty into the race butt up against posts, meaning they block the race when open. We can open up a couple of gates and easily herd animals from one yard to another without any fuss at all. We can also put our stock ramp at one end and herd them into the trailer. This had been the aim of the design all along, but it was all theoretical until we actually tried it.
January saw our first stock failure too, and it was 100% my fault. We picked up 26 day-old meat chooks from Gawler. I'd ordered two dozen, but we invariably get one or two extras. They live in my old snake vivarium for the first few weeks, and normally when they're little we just give them shallow containers of water. However, having so many at one time, I thought I'd rig something that held more water. My great idea (/sarcasmOff) was to cut horizontal slits in an ice cream container, the theory being that they'd be able to get their heads in to drink, but wouldn't be able to climb in. As it turns out, they could actually climb in, and 23 of the 26 managed just that. If only a few got in, or maybe half of them, then we would have been okay. As it was, a dozen or so were on the bottom and basically held under water by their brothers and sisters in the top row.
We lost about a dozen right away. I put the ones that weren't obviously dead under the heat lamp, and we managed to salvage 11. This wasn't a huge loss, as the 15 we lost cost barely $10, but it was a learning experience. We had planned on doing two big lots a year, just to make the process more efficient. Now we'll probably do 3 or 4 smaller lots.
I put the meat chooks out a little earlier than normal. It was warm enough to have them out, and I like it when they're free-ranging. We've had problems with Tatyl in the past targeting the meat chooks, and so took precautions. I built up the retaining wall blocks around their run, and removed any chance that Tatyl could squeeze under.
Oh, and just to rub salt into the wound, I found a proper store-bought waterer that I'd forgotten about a few days after losing those chooks…
January ended up being a big month for getting stock too. We were running a little low on meat, and while we look to have a glut of meat in the mid-term with pigs and cows all coming of age in several months, in the short-term we'd been buying BBQ meat. With that in mind, we sourced a goat and some sheep.
We got a little boer wether from Linhda's friend Brett down the road.
Strictly speaking, the goat was more to keep Tinkerbelle company than anything, but he'll end up going for meat. In hindsight, we probably didn't need the goat, as Tink gets on pretty well with the pigs and there are always free-ranging pigs for her to hang out with.
We also got two sheep. One is a damarra, or a "fat-tailed sheep".
Damarras are shedding sheep, meaning they don't need to be shorn or crutched. This one was about 11 months old, and a little skinny. We plan to feed him on a bit, and depending on our meat needs, potentially for a few months.
The other sheep we got was a breed we'd not seen before. The guy we got it from said it was a "Broad Lace". I double-checked the name and spelling, but can find no trace of that breed of sheep on the interweb. Either way, it's about 18 months old and is huge!
The guy we bought him from was a guy we've dealt with before. He's a largeish guy, being a bit bigger than me. Together we struggled to carry the sheep from his ute to the yard, and I predict we'll get a lot of meat from him. The plan was to get him done mid-February so we'd have enough meat, and particularly BBQ meat, for visits from my brother and his family. That plan has slipped to early March due to my work travel.
One interesting thing of note was that Tink does not get on well with sheep at all. I had, probably naively, assumed that the goat and sheep would get on well, but I could not have been more wrong. I let the damarra in with the rest of the animals, and Tink spent about a half-day beating the living shit out of the poor bugger. To the point where she cornered him in the 3 x 3 shed we have in her yard and broke her own horn beating him. I ended up locking him up in his own yard, which I think works better for him anyway. He wasn't at all happy free-ranging, and didn't really even graze. We got him cheap as the guy selling him had run out of feed. I suspect this poor boy had been penned for most of his life and hand-fed.
We also got a new drake. We've had a couple of clucky mums, and I feel like we're wasting our time by not having them pump out babies. The boy we got came from up north (Eudunda I think), and the lady kindly delivered him to Roseworthy for us. He's much bigger than our last drake, and his yellow feet and lack of wattle makes me suspect that he's half Pekin Duck. Either way, he should work out well. I've named him Ron Jeremy II, as he's also a short, fat guy who'll be getting lots of action. He's probably 2 months from being able to get that action though. 🙂
At the same time I picked up a dozen fertile Muscovy eggs for a clucky mum we had. As it turns out, she stopped being clucky that day, so the eggs ended up going to the pigs. 😦
We had been planning a pig-on-a-spit for Australia Day for a while, and spent a bit of time cleaning up in preparation. This included ripped out and revamping the backyard veggie patches, the smallest of which (Linhda's) had become overgrown with couch. That's now my patch.
We hadn't been sure of which pig to do. My plan was to go with the smallest spare boy we had, where Linhda wanted to go for the largest. We compromised and went for the second-smallest.
In reality, the smallest may have worked as the boy we took dressed out to 28kg! We've not done this before, and so had been guessing at the weight but had never guessed that big.
We got him back whole from the butcher, who also gave us an amazing tour of the abattoir and explained the entire process to us. I also managed to secure an invitation to go watch the animals get processed. To be honest, I have no real desire to go watch that, but part of what we're trying here is making sure that our animals are treated well, even up to the point where they're slaughtered. I'm confident that's the case, but actually observing the process will make sure.
Scoring, oiling, salting, and situating the pig took longer than expected, but we finally managed to get him started.
We ended up changing our configuration several times, and the location once, but the result was fantastic! We also have the process pretty much worked out now, and the next one will be even better.
Despite the heat, we managed to get some more veggie patch work in too. I moved some strawberry plants around, removed a couple of chilli plants, and planted out some chilli seedlings we had. This makes the western edge of the larger backyard veggie patch a permanent bed, and it works quite well.
I also prepared the rest of that bed for planting out. I managed to get a couple of rows of turnips and suedes in, but my work travel and the heat stopped me finishing the rest. As soon as I'm home long enough to babysit them, I'll plant out some more carrots and beetroot. I managed to get the rest of the corn planted in The Patch too.
The thing I'm most excited about is getting some late-season tomatoes. I've never tried them before, but they can apparently extend right through autumn if put in the right spot. If they work, and I honestly have my doubts, they have the potential to extend our harvest out to six months. These went in the smaller of the backyard veggie patches.
We managed to get some pea straw from Farmer John to use as mulch. We've seen quite a bit of pea straw around lately (it's that time of year), and much of it looks super dodgy, being badly tied in loose bails. These bails, which cost us only $20 each, are tightly bound and just gorgeous!
I did manage to find the stormwater pipe leading from under the pavers to the tanks while revamping and cleaning out the backyard veggie patches. The problem was that I found it with my spade.
Looking back, January was surprisingly productive. It was way hotter than we'd expected, which is something you learn to deal with when you live in South Australia. We adapted how we worked though, and managed to keep up with pretty much everything that needed doing.
Planning The Patch!!!!
Prior to moving into our dream place I had plenty of time to wait. Waiting is about what I'm worst at, and so I used that time to plan. In particular, I researched and planned my veggie patch.
I've grown veggies a lot, but never on this scale. I used my smaller-scale experience plus the interweb to work out the best approach. I refined my requirements to be:
- I wanted to do some staple crops in bulk. These would be things that:
- We like and eat a lot of.
- We could easily store and/or preserve.
- I wanted to do crops that might have cross-over into stock food.
- I wanted a rotation system. Because I wanted tomatoes and potatoes in my rotation, that meant a six-bed rotation system.
- I wanted to grow enough to last us an entire year, through a combination of seasonal eating and preserving/storing.
I'll include the original plan here, firstly because a lot of work went into it, it's a solid plan, but alos because it would work well in that form still. I'm writing this after our first full year here though, and if there's one thing we've found, it's that the plan is fluid . I'll note the things that we think we'll change in the second year at the end.
THE PATCH PLAN (Year 1)
Curcubits – pumpkin, cucumber, watermelon, rockmelon
- Pumpkin:
- Plant Sept – Dec
- Harvest 15 to 20 weeks
- Cucumber:
- Plant Sept – Feb
- Harvest 8 to 10 weeks
- Can grow in with corn to save space here
- Watermelon:
- Seed trays in August
- Plant out Oct – Dec
- Harvest 9 to 14 weeks
- Rockmelon:
- Seed trays Sept – Oct
- Plant out Nov – Dec
- Harvest 10 to 16 weeks
- Bed busy September to February
- Can start most plants early in hothouse
Followed by:
- umbrelliferous (carrots) – want first planting around April/May
- allium (onions) – want first planting around April
Soil preparation for rotation:
- Lime soil after harvest
- Need to wait 4 weeks before manuring soil, otherwise lime will lock up the nutrients
- May be able to grow green manure, but only a month or so probably means applying composted manures
Solanaceous – tomatoes, capsicum, eggplant, chilli
Legumes – peas, broad beans, snow peas
- Tomato:
- Seed trays in Aug – Sept
- Plant out Oct – Dec
- Harvest 8 to 17 weeks
- Capsicum:
- Seed trays in Aug – Sept
- Plant out Oct – Dec
- Harvest 10 to 12 weeks
- Eggplant:
- Seed trays in Aug – Sept
- Plant out Oct – Jan
- Harvest 12 to 15 weeks
- Chilli:
- Seed trays in Aug – Sept
- Plant out Oct – Dec
- Harvest 8 to 17 weeks
- Can grow in permanent beds, but I think I like the idea of keeping them annual
- Peas:
- Plant April – Sept
- Harvest 9 to 11 weeks
- Broad Beans:
- Plant March – June
- Harvest 12 to 22 weeks
- Snow Peas:
- Plant April – Sept
- Harvest 12 to 14 weeks
- Solanaceous:
- Bed busy October to March
- Planting out October – December
- Harvest around March
- Legumes:
- Bed busy March to September
Followed by:
- Curcubits – pumpkin, cucumber, watermelon, rockmelon
- Needs to be ready by around September
- Several months of no activity
- Either green manure, or
- Legumes
Soil preparation for rotation:
- Superphosphate – directly after legume harvest or green manure
Crucifers – broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, horseradish, mustards, turnip
Chenopods – silver beet, spinach, beetroot
- Brocolli:
- Seed trays in Feb
- Plant out March – April
- Seed trays in Sept
- Plant out Oct – Nov
- Harvest 10 to 16 weeks
- Cauliflower:
- Seed trays in Feb
- Plant out April – May
- Harvest 15 to 22 weeks
- Cabbage:
- Seed trays in March
- Plant out April – June
- Seed trays in Aug/Sept
- Plant out Oct – Nov
- Harvest 8 to 15 weeks
- Horseradish:
- Plant Sept – Nov
- Harvest 16 to 24 weeks
- Mustard Greens:
- Anytime
- Turnip:
- Plant Sept – April
- Harvest 6 to 9 weeks
- Probably squeeze in 3 successive plantings
- Can grow in bed 6 if necessary – bed 6 is mostly just carrots and so should always have space and it's a full 3 years from this rotation.
- Beetroot:
- Plant July – April
- Harvest 7 to 10 weeks
- Probably squeeze in 2 or 3 successive plantings
- Silver Beet
- Plant Sept – May
- Harvest 7 to 12 weeks
- Probably squeeze in 2 or 3 successive plantings
- Spinach
- Plant March – May
- Harvest 5 to 11 weeks
- Probably not needed if we're growing silver beet
- Crucifers
- February – hothouse
- March/April – plant out
- August/September – hothouse
- Oct/Nov – plant out
- The main crucifers keep the bed busy for nearly 12 months
- Chenopods
- Busy from July to May
- May have a month or two to green manure
Followed by:
- Solanaceous – tomatoes, capsicum, eggplant, chilli
- Needs to be ready by around October
- This clashes with the second crucifer planting
- May be able to have the second crucifer harvest early and a late tomato planting – will need some experimentation
- Can have the tomatoes etc ready ahead of time in the hothouse
- This clashes with the second crucifer planting
Soil preparation for rotation:
- Composted manure and lots of it
- If the second crucifer planting is skipped, there should be a few weeks between the first harvest and the tomato etc planting
- Plant Sept – Feb
- Harvest 11 to 14 weeks
- Start planting in Sept, have 5 or 6 successive plantings maybe 3 or 4 weeks apart
- Grow cucumbers between the stalks
- Cucumber:
- Plant Sept – Feb
- Harvest 8 to 10 weeks
- Cucumber:
Followed by:
- Crucifers – broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, horseradish, mustards, turnip
- Needs to be ready by around March/April
- Chenopods – silver beet, spinach, beetroot
- Needs to be ready by around July
Soil preparation for rotation:
- Composted manure
- Should be a month or so downtime before crucifers go in
- Plant Aug – Oct
- Harvest 15 to 20 weeks
- Bed busy from August to March
Followed by:
- Corn
- Needs to be ready by around September
- This clashes with the last onion planting, garlic, second leeks planting, and spring onions
- The way around this is to leave the last onion planting, garlic, and leeks in until the last spud plantings. Plant spud out in free parts, and progressively plant it as the alliums are harvested. This means we'll have to be careful in what order we plant out the alliums – onion, garlic, and leeks in particular.
Soil preparation for rotation:
- Composted manure and lots of it
- Potash
Umbelliferous – carrot, parsnip, celery AND lettuce and turnips
Allium – onions, garlic, chives AND Brussels sprouts
- Carrot:
- Plant Sept – May
- Harvest 12 to 18 weeks
- Probably squeeze in 3 successive plantings
- Parsnip:
- Plant Aug – Oct
- Harvest 17 to 20 weeks
- Celery:
- Seed trays in Sept – Oct
- Plant out Nov – Dec
- Turnip:
- Plant Sept – April
- Harvest 6 to 9 weeks
- Probably squeeze in 3 successive plantings
- Can grow in bed 6 if necessary – bed 6 is mostly just carrots and so should always have space and it's a full 3 years from this rotation.
- Lettuce
- Had been left out of rotation
- There should be room in this bed
- Onions:
- Seed trays in Feb
- Plant out April
- Direct Sow May – Aug
- Harvest 25 to 34 weeks
- Planting
- Seed tray, plant out April
- Harvest around Oct/Nov
- Planting 2
- Direct sow May
- Harvest around Nov/Dec
- Planting 3
- Direct sow Aug
- Harvest around Feb/March
- Garlic:
- Plant April – June
- Harvest 17 to 25 weeks
- Plant shortest day, harvest longest day
- Spring Onions:
- Plant Aug – Oct
- Harvest 8 to 12 weeks
- Leeks:
- Seed trays in Feb – March
- Plant out April – May
- Seed trays in Aug – Sept
- Plant out Oct – Dec
- Harvest 15 to 18 weeks
- Chives
- Grow pretty much whenever and can use to fill in around garlic and leeks
- Brussel Sprouts
- Seed trays in Feb – March
- Plant out April – May
- Not sure where to put them, but they're good with onions so this bed will probably work
- Can keep the bed going the entire year with just carrots and onions
Followed by:
- Potatoes
- Needs to be ready by around August
Soil preparation for rotation:
- Composted manure and lots of it
- Should have months in which to grow green manure
Strictly speaking, the above-described plan was revision 0. The very first plan had a permanent bed running length-ways across the front. However, starting in January and extending through to April we'd cleaned out a couple of horrible ornamental beds in the back-garden and turned them into productive areas. They probably add up to 80 to 100 square metres, which is a decent size, and they are now our combined permanent and over-flow beds.
Some of the other changes we're going to make include:
- Our irrigation. The plan above doesn't have the irrigation (that was hand-drawn on a hard-copy), but we've changed and rechanged that particular plan a few times. I might make a separate post about that though.
- We originally planned some cruciferous vegetables over the summer months (Bed 3). Experience has shown us that this is a little tough in The Patch, though it might work in the slightly more sheltered permanent beds. This summer had some ridiculously hot days, and though we have plenty of wind-breaks to the north, the hot northerly winds still tore the leafy green veggies to bits. Rather than battled with these over the hot months, we've found ways that we can easily freeze things like cauliflower and broccoli, in which case we'll just grow more over the cool months.
- This means that Bed 3 can lay fallow for much of the year, and potentially all of the year. I like this plan, particularly because this is the bed that preceded the corn. Corn is a very heavy feeder, so the corn (Bed 4) can always be preceded by some green manure.
- We'll grow all of our cucumber with the corn next year. We tried it as an experiment this year, and it works well. We also grow peas along the fringe of the bed, using the corn as support.
- We'll change the corn bed a little, planting less densely, and leaving some rows free entirely so we can grow zucchini in between. This will hopefully give us more ears per plant, and actually increase our harvest.
- We were never entirely clear on how much of an particular thing we'd need to last us the year. We now have a much better idea, and so will:
- Grow more onion.
- Grow more garlic.
- Grow less cucumber.
- Grow more pumpkin or melons in place of that cucumber.
- Grow less chillies. In fact, I'll keep some plants in the permanent bed and not bother growing them annually in The Patch at all.
- We've also been able to refine our timings:
- I used to grow tomatoes starting in October at the earliest, and wouldn't be planting probably even as late as January. However, we started some here in August/September, and I've found a late-harvest variety that we planted in February. This will have to change year-to-year depending on the soil temperature, but it has the potential to extend our tomato harvest to cover nearly half the year.
- Similarly, we found that we could plant corn much later than we normally would, and can extend that harvest by a month or two.
- I found that garlic here comes in a little early, probably due to the openness of the beds and the heat we get here.
- I'd normally grow carrots 12 months of the year. However, the seeds are susceptible to drying out, which means growing them over the December to February timeframe is a little tougher. Rather than starting them then, we'll plant them out early and have them established well ahead of summer. The beauty of carrots, and particularly the stump-rooted ones we use, is that they keep in the ground and don't bolt. We literally pick them only as we need them, and use the store as our larder.
- Most of our staple crops worked well, though not all as well as I'd like, and we can now try some things that we've not grown before. In particular, I want to try:
- Brussel Sprouts.
- Suede.
- Turnips.
- Sweet Potatoes.
- Sprouting Broccolis.
- All different kinds of legumes.
- Potato Onions.
It's now February, 2013, and we're slowly coming into the transition from warm to cooler weather crops. I'll break the hothouse out again shortly, we've ripped the tomatoes up to hang, are harvesting and preserving corn like crazy, are nearly ready to harvest the potatoes, and we're looking at preparing a couple of the beds for the cooler weather. I'm quite keen to try out our plan changes, see how they go, and then further refine it for next year.
December 2012 Facebook Farm Statuses
- I realised yesterday that much of my life now deals with discussing poop, planning what to do with poop, and managing poop. I'm still working out exactly how I feel about that…
- We sold two pigs on tonight and learned some valuable farm lessons:
- A 25kg pig, struggling and screaming, is pretty much the same as trying to carry 50kg.
- A 35kg pig, struggling and screaming, is a two-man lift.
- Trying to coax a pig over with food so you can gently lift and cradle it is a waste of time. Seriously, just corner and tackle it.
- True farm folks have no qualms about jumping into a pig pen without shoes on. Using that logic, I am far from being true farm folk.
- Handling pigs means you get covered in pig mud, both the literal and the euphemistic kind.
- Related to point 5, after handling pigs it's best to get your clothes off on the front porch. Linhda that explains the ripped and muddy pair of shorts on the front porch when you get home.
- Pigs really have the potential to more than pay for themselves, and actually to fund other farm projects.
On a related topic, a year from now might see us with significant amounts of excess pork if anybody is interested…
- Pigs crunching up prawn heads is the grossest noise ever! Seriously. It's nasty.
Harvesting and Preserving…
December is traditionally quite warm in South Australia, and 2012 was no exception. We're about 75km north of Adelaide, and our temperatures are normally 3 or 4 degrees hotter. I'm not exactly sure why, but guess it's because we're further from the ocean.
The warmer month kept us from doing everything we wanted, but we adapted by making sure we put in a few hours after work during the week.
Being Summer also meant lots of harvesting, and we tried to make the most of that. We went all-out on preserving and storing producing for out-of-season consumption.
The garlic was ready a full month ahead of what I was expecting. We had some super-hot days, and I think that finished them off. Linhda plaited them like a champ!
I had planned on growing an entire year's worth, but we might be a bit short.
We also harvested all of the onions, and Linhda got to try her plaiting skills again. This was also supposed to be enough for a year, but we might only have half of what we need.
This was a great learning experience. We now have a good idea of how much we need to grow next year, and the area we'll need in which to grow it. Linhda's also much better at plaiting… 🙂
Our chillies went nuts this year. I really need to not grow them for a year or two, but I love growing them so much! The bushes are really very pretty, and nothing says Summer to me more than heavily laden chilli plants. However, we still have enough frozen and preserved chillies from last year to last us all through this year. We did run out of ground chilli, but it didn't take much to restock that.
I used a needle and thread to make strands of chillies to hang in the kitchen. I have 4 in there now, and they're actually quite attractive. I did a strand for Linhda's sister, and we've given away a fair few chillies to friends. The chillies are still producing though, and I'd be surprised if we manage to use half the crop.
We've also had a few preserving days.
The preparation takes a surprising amount of time, as we have to peel, chop, and salt pretty much everything.
We've experimented with a few different preserves and combinations, and so far haven't had a real failure. Linhda has tried a heap of different chutneys, including things like bulking it out with zucchinis and squash. All of them have been excellent.
We also wised up when it comes to the preserving and bought some bulk materials. Buying things like vinegar, sugar, and salt in supermarket quantities just wasn't cutting it.
Our last harvest experiment was a dehydrator. Dad and I found some plans on the interweb, discussed them at length, and modified them to suit our own ideas. We used mostly recycled materials, a Perspex lid being the only thing we bought. The bottom is clad in black plastic, has some intake baffles cut down low, and has a metal baffle (a recycled BBQ plate) to both heat up and force the warm air where we want it. It works like a freaking champ, and we tried both home-grown tomatoes and apricots.
While our grown produce was doing big things, the animals were also motoring along. The pigs were growing pretty much only like pigs can.
The cows were slowly eating down our 2 acres of wheat, though in a controlled way via our stand-off electric fence.
We managed to get some barley from our farmer neighbour. He had a small quantity (small to him) that he put aside for us from a smaller paddock he takes care of. It turned out to be 1.28 tonnes, and he charged us the wholesale price for one tonne. It turns out that it costs us less than 20 cents a kilogram, which is a fraction of what we pay for store-bought stock feed.
Barley, like any grain, needs to be cracked or soaked before being fed to stock. The energy uptake from the feed is increased incredibly over giving them whole grains. Our daily process changed to include soaking buckets of barley morning and night for the pigs.
We managed to finish most of the rest of the pig yards over December, finishing the separate yards and running water to each of them.
We designed them so that they can be fed and watered with no need for the person doing the feeding and watering to enter the yards. This is mostly for Linhda, as the affectionate babies can sometimes make her a little uncomfortable. 🙂
We had two big stock stories for December though, one involving a purchase and the other our first sale.
We were able to pick up our milking goat, Tinkerbelle, in the middle of the month. She had been with a billy for an entire month, but the people we bought her from weren't confident that she'd be pregnant. Unfortunately, there's no real way to know until it comes around time for her to drop (March/April). They've offered to have her back then to finish the job, but we know a guy who lives just down the road who has a herd she could run with for a while.
The stock story that made me happiest was us selling on two of our pigs. We had ended up with a lot more than we needed, especially after buying 4 boys to find a baby daddy for our girls. We advertised them on gumtree, hoping to sell one or two and recoup some of our money. We had scored these boys at about half of what they're worth, and so advertised them at a slightly higher price.
Obviously any pig we sell is probably going to go into somebody's freezer. That's no problem to me. I know that these animals have been raised with care, and at the risk of sounding wanky, with love. They are fed well, housed well, given attention and affection, and they're happy. Their lives may end up being short, but I know they're happy. In addition to that, without the need for meat they'd not exist at all.
We had one guy come and look at the pigs, but I did not like him at all. He received orders from people he knew, found pigs online, and then processed them himself. I was picking his brain over how he did it, as it was a little business. I'm fairly sure it's illegal, but that doesn't mean he wouldn't know things that would help me. He told me that little pigs like mine he'd kill with a hammer. That's right. A hammer. It was at that point that I decided that none of my animals would be going home with him, so when he haggled I wouldn't budge a cent on the price.
Killing any animal is unpleasant, but an obvious necessity if you're going to eat them. I know exactly how our animals are killed, have spoken to the butcher and had a tour of the facility. It's done legally and humanely, where the animal is stunned and feels nothing. None of that involves being bludgeoned to death with a hammer.
I was a little disconcerted by that experience, but I had a young guy call asking about getting a pair for breeding. We hadn't planned on selling any of our girls, but the idea of selling a couple on who were going to live and breed really appealed to me. We got the biggest of the second lot of girls and the smallest of the last lot of boys, and split them out. A young couple came to get them the day before Christmas. His dad was an ex-pig farmer, but was out of the business. He wanted home-grown pork again, hence the breeders.
It felt awesome to sell those pigs on. For one, we knew they were actually going to a happy life of breeding with people who knew exactly how to care for them. I even picked their brains over where they were keeping them, and it sounded like they'd set up the piggy version of The Ritz. I think the biggest feel-good moment out of this, however, was the fact that we'd actually sold some animals on, had doubled our money, and had made enough to pay for the bulk barley we'd just bought. It felt like a very real step towards true self-sufficiency.
November 2012 Facebook Farm Statuses
- Off to look at a milking goat! I'm going to be ruthless and heartless in my negotiations. If she's no good, then we'll not buy her! If she's not the right price, we'll not buy her! If they won't put their buck over her for us, we'll not buy her! On a totally unrelated note, I think I'll name her Tinkerbelle…
- That awkward moment when you're in your veggie patch at dusk, you turn around, and one of the owls you put there to scare off bird scares the living shit out of you. Unfortunately, nobody was around to see my super cool spinning ninja move, or hear my manly high-pitched squeal. Seriously, if that had been a real vampire, I would've owned that bitch.
- On the go at 7am, farm work past 8pm, cooking dinner at 8:45. Roll on Monday so I can go to work for a rest. 🙂
- SO freaking windy. We lost a huge branch off a giant gum and had a smaller tree snap in half. Most importantly, however, is the head is missing off of my scarecrow! He was creepy before, but now he's downright disturbing. And every time I look out the window from my desk, there he is "looking" at me…
- Okay, now I've found two things the pigs don't like – celery and broad bean pods. It takes everything to stop Smoked from eating my stinky old volleys or steel-toed boots, but she turns her nose up at broad bean pods. Silly piglet…
- Might be picking up two meat cows tomorrow morning. Don't tell Linhda…
- Today I discovered that cows eat a *lot*, and the fart and poop *huge*. Stay tuned for tomorrow's revelation where I discover that pigs smell.
- Today was a bad news/good news farm day. The bad news was that our post-hole digger wouldn't start, and we needed to get the bulk of the pig runs done. That meant I was forced to go and buy a new one. The good news was that today I had the perfect excuse to go out and buy a new post-hole digger. And then I got to play with it all day. It was a great day.
- The definition of irony: Being in such a hurry to get out and work on infrastructure so you can grow your own organic, healthy, <insert hippy reference here> food that you have a bit of cake and an energy drink for breakfast.
- Considering buying more pigs. Maybe a future husband for my girls, but maybe a couple more too… I may have a problem.
- We have four new piglets!!!! One of them is going to be our baby daddy, and the others are going to be chops, bacon, ham, sausages etc. It's like The Hunger Games, only tastier.
- Reading up on pig breeding, like you do, when I run across the following hints for a successful session:
- Do not hurry the boar, let him work in his own time.
- Talk gently to the boar.
- Do not force the boar to mount the sow, but direct him gently to the rear of the sow.
- By adjusting the female's tail, attempt to let the boar insert himself.
Basically, I'm supposed to guide two 300kg animals gently in their love making. I might try candle light and mood music… I've alternated between feeling dirty and laughing as I picture all of this. Either way, it will certainly be interesting.
- I have a couple of nice-sized cauliflowers that are a little yellow and hard, and I'm not sure if they're okay or maybe need some extra water or something. I turned to google for the answer, which is pretty much standard for every single thing I do, and so searched on "cauliflower yellow and hard". The first four returns were about veggies, and then I started getting links to sites about genital warts. /shudder
It's All About The Stock…
November was a big month for progressing our meat self-sufficiency. However, we also did well on the veggie front.
November is nice and warm, and sometimes has some decent rainfall. That can be good and bad. On the bad side, we had a huge storm that dropped a giant limb from one of our big gums.
On the good side, our veggie patch was going great guns, with everything coming along in leaps and bounds.
We also tried freezing our own spinach for the first time, and it worked well. We sometimes use frozen spinach out-of-season for things like cannelloni, and with a little planning we should never have to buy it again.
I bit the bullet and bought some corn seed online. For several years in the suburbs I'd been saving the biggest cobs and drying the seed for the following season. We had managed to get a smallish crop of corn when we first started our backyard veggie patch here, and I'd carefully kept and dried half-a-dozen cobs. The problem was that I was getting a germination rate of maybe 10%. In the suburbs we'd get over 90%, but something went wrong here. I did manage to get a few dozen plants going between my hothouse and the backyard veggie patches, but I needed, quite literally, several hundred.
It took me a good 2 months to admit defeat and buy some seed stock. November is later than I'd normally start my corn, and we had about 500 to plant. We had discovered early in 2012 that we could plant corn right through to the end of January here though, so I modified my plan to include staggered plantings over 10 or 12 weeks.
November was also good for frugality. To be honest, I suck at being frugal. However, from a self-sufficiency point-of-view I need to modify my behaviour to make sure we make use of the most cost-effective solutions. To me "self-sufficiency" means these things eventually paying for themselves. For example, we breed pigs, sell our surplus, and that in turn pays for their feed, making them cost-neutral. Subsidising the entire venture out-of-pocket, to me, is wrong. I have no desire to make money from this, but working it up to the point where it pays for itself satisfies me philosophically.
I'd started my frugality paradigm shift in September by sourcing some super-cheap posts for the pig run. In November I continued the trend in a couple of ways. Firstly, we found a couple of sources of cheap feed. One was a fodder store at Mallala, where they make their own cow/pig/sheep feed blend for $10 per 25kg bag. This stuff is awesome too. It's a mix of cracked cereal grains, peas, chaff, bran, and pollard, and isn't the over-processed stuff you normally get where you can't tell the ingredients without reading the pack.
Another was our neighbour, Farmer John. We were able to get some green barley from him that he was going to dump.
At the same time we organised to source some retail-quality grain at wholesale prices. We couldn't get it in November, but we organised barely at around $200 a tonne. That's 20 cents a kilo, where processed store-bought food can cost easily 5 and 6 times that much.
We'd looked at things like the professionally built feed and water troughs, which can easily cost several hundred dollars each. Dad found a place that sells cheap food-grade drums, which we modified as stock troughs. Rather than $500, we paid $5.
We started the pig runs early in November. They are probably our largest project to date, and actually extended into January. That was partly because our plan evolved as we went, but also because we had some very warm weather that kept us from always making the progress we wanted.
We started by ripping down the crappy old farm fence between the southern end of our orchard area and the back paddock. We then made a large rectangle, basically creating a single yard.
The plan was to create 5 yards. A larger one for when the breeding pigs cohabitate, then enough to split them out when the girls are pregnant, and to keep any excess stock. All the while remembering that we'd be free-ranging them over the back paddock for about half the year.
We originally planned to use a post-and-rail design, but ended up going for wire panels. These will in no way hold back a full-grown Large White pig; however, we plan on using electric fences to contain them. We'd seen this used to good effect in the first place we went to buy pigs. Our plan is to train them to the electric fence, after which the wire panels are almost redundant. They certainly do respect the electric fences, and are more than intelligent enough to be trained to them. We'll have to wait to see if our theory works though, after which we may very well need to spend some time modifying our runs.
We actually made more progress on the pig runs than we'd expected for November. We got most of the runs done, the electric fence in place, and some recycled shedding set up. I'm not sure I can overstate just how much work went into this, which explains why it ended up taking a full two months and part of a third to finally finish them.
The pig run plan includes a race across all five yards along the southern boundary. Basically, each yard will have a gate into a 1200mm wide corridor that runs east-west along one end of them. This means that at one end we can set up the stock-ramp and load them into the trailer, and at the other I can have a gate into my veggie patch where I can contain the pigs with electric fences and have them clean out my veggie beds. It also means that we can move them from run-to-run without ever having them outside the yard complex. It sounds complicated, and this plan changed several times, but the underlying theory is sound and I was really quite excited to see it in action. Especially because up to now our stock loading procedure has included a lot of running around, swearing, and herding stubborn animals. The race didn't eventuate in November, but the plan was tied down.
Our meat self-sufficiency progress wasn't all about the infrastructure. We actually managed to grow our furry family significantly too.
Early in November Linhda and I went to see a milking goat. We'd found one advertised on gumtree, had done some research, and decided to go meet her. As I've mentioned before our five year plan ended in pigs and a milking animal. We had the pigs, so it only made sense to fast-forward the milking plan.
A milking cow wouldn't fit our lifestyle right now. We'd looked at Dexters, and though they were tempting, they still produce 10 litres of milk a day and need to be milked twice daily. The excess milk isn't a huge problem when you have pigs, but with my travel and Linhda's work schedule we couldn't commit to twice daily milkings. However, we found that you can milk goats just once a day, though you get less milk than if you milk them twice a day.
The girl we went to see is half Saanen. The people we bought her from bought her mother, a full Saanen, when she was pregnant. They weren't sure what breed the father was. Dairy goats need to be pregnant every year or three to bring and keep their milk in, which explains why the mother was pregnant when purchased.
My experience with goat milk was… unpleasant. To be honest, I'd found it to taste a little rancid. However, I had tried a lot of goat cheese that I liked. I was conflicted when we went to meet this girl, but the guy who owned her was awesome! For one, he was building the straightest, most professionally built fence I've ever seen, which means nothing when it comes to goats, but did manage to impress the hell out of me. For another, he was super helpful and answered all of our noob questions. He even took us back to his house to show us the milking stand and let us taste the milk. The milk was fantastic! It was rich and creamy, without any aftertaste at all.
The goat was gorgeous, though much, much larger than we expected. Saanen's are the largest dairy breed, but you don't realise just how solid they are until you're up close-and-personal with them. She was a sweety though, and tasting the milk sealed deal. We left her there to hang with the buck so she could get pregnant, planning to go back a month later to get her.
We were facing a bit of a crisis when it came to our crop. Our initial plan was to have a small breeding flock of either sheep or goats, which was part of the reason why we'd bought both breeds to feed-on earlier in the year. We'd settled on sheep, and in the middle of the year had looked at breeding stock online. However, our pig plans had changed all of that. With pigs and their potential to give us many, many surplus babies every year, we no longer needed a breeding flock of sheep. However, the wheat was too ripe to cut for hay, not that we had the equipment for that anyway. Reaping it was an option, but we didn't have that equipment either, and the amount we'd get made hiring somebody to cut it uneconomical.
Our only real option was controlled grazing. With that in mind, we went looking for the right stock, and managed to find Friesian steers. Friesian is a dairy breed, which makes most of the boys good for only meat for obvious reasons. The lady we bought them from worked at a dairy farm, and had managed to score 8 or so of the boy calves. The problem was that she'd bonded with them, and couldn't bring herself to eat them. She'd managed to have two of them processed by having a neighbour help her and split the meat, but she couldn't eat it. Apparently she gave it away to family, but literally couldn't eat a bite of it. Add to that the fact that she had 18 sheep on the property that were in the same "pet zone", as well as a Shetland pony, and her place was a dust bowl. She was desperate to sell most of them on.
Friesian's obviously aren't a meat breed, but from the research I did they'd been selectively bred over the years to increase their meat quality and are really quite good for beef. They cost me $130 each, where the pure beef breeds seem to sell for between $500 and $1000 each, so I figured they were a good introduction to beef stock as well as a good solution to our crop eating needs.
The boys were 7 and 5 months old. The lady we got them from said they're ready to slaughter from 10 months, at which time she'd gotten around 90kg of meat each from them. At 10 months they're only just starting to fill out though, so our plan is to keep them until 18 months or so.
Being hand-raised is a good news/bad news situation. It really does make them easier to handle and transport etc., but it also means they won't leave us alone.
Oh, and I named them "Fillet" and "Steak". 🙂
The cows turned out to be perfect for controlled grazing of our crop. We rigged a stand-off fence which we can move as required. The back paddock is basically L-shaped, which means we can step the fence along and gauge fairly accurately how much they'll eat and how far we have to move it.
The cows are fascinating to watch too. Unlike the goats and sheep, they don't bite their food off with their teeth, but rather use their tongues. When let into a fresh area of the crop they walk around and use their tongue to strip the heads from the wheat. Once the grain is gone, they eat the rest of the plant. That means we don't move the fence until the straw is just about entirely eaten down. If they were left uncontrolled on the entire 2 acres, they'd do nothing but eat the grain from the wheat, make themselves sick, and potentially die.
We weren't done with the cows though. Browsing gumtree, which became a nearly daily ritual, I found some people selling 4 Large White entire males. They were maybe a little over an hour north of us, and wanted $250 for all four. We paid $150 for the first Large White male we bought.
We needed a baby daddy for our girls, and had been tossing up the idea of artificial insemination (pun fully intended). There's a pig farm close by where you can buy semen, and there's apparently a half-day course that teaches you how to use it. While the thought of buying semen makes me giggle, it doesn't quite sit right. This is our breeding program. We've chosen to breed pigs over sheep and goats etc., and buying in the male portion of that, be it a temporary animal or his semen, just doesn't sit right with me. That might be peculiar to my mind-set, and may not be entirely pragmatic, but I wanted to own and have a relationship with the boar that was going to sire our babies.
We really only needed one boy, and my plan was to go meet these 4 boys and choose the largest/best/friendliest. However, when I rang the lady told me that they were coming down past my place the following day, and they were that cheap price if you took all four. Basically, I could get all four delivered for barely $60 each. That was too good to pass up, so I took them all.
Our plan was to keep them a while and choose the best, which probably equates to the biggest, and eat the rest.
I'm not sure these boys are Large Whites. Or at least they're not pure Large White. Our original babies are apparently "Large White with a touch of Landrace", as explained to use by the people who bred them. These new boys have more than a "touch" of Landrace in them I think. They're a couple of weeks older than our original pigs, but have always been significantly smaller. Their ears are also floppy, which is a sign of less Large White and more Landrace. That's not entirely a bad thing though. We want a bore that'll give us babies that'll grow quickly and large, but we also need one that won't be too big to serve the girls. These boys seem the perfect compromise. Fingers crossed…
Our bearded dragon also came back for a visit! I found him perched on one of the fruit tree stakes in the orchard, sunning himself and generally looking healthy and happy.


text:
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text:
I came into the office at one point on Wednesday and saw this. Not only is Nina very literally hanging by a single toenail here, but she did it for long enough that I was able to take at least 30 pictures of her doing so before I stopped, and she was still hanging when I stopped taking pictures. So I don't know how long this went on, but I figure for at least five minutes.
She didn't seem uncomfortable. The square-cube law suggests that there's no real reason to think she would be, either (which is why I didn't try to "free" her). Though it's very different from our ordinary understanding of how the world works, as creatures that weigh kerjillions of times more than Nina does.
As time goes by, it's getting harder and harder to come up with pictures of Nina doing something new, that I haven't already posted to the blog, but we're clearly not out of odd photo opportunities yet.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Saturday morning Nina picture
Posted by mr_subjunctive at 2:30 AM
Labels: Nina, Nina picture
5 comments:
- Kenneth Moore said...
That's it--Nina just told me to go to the gym. I want to be able to dangle from a tree by a single toe and look sultrily back at someone at the same time, too!
- January 23, 2010 at 4:44 AM
Lol, looks like Nina's ready to join the Cirque du Soleil! *cue "Love" soundtrack*
- January 23, 2010 at 6:59 AM
I love how you occasionally reference something I know nothing about (square-cube law) and then I get to feel all educated once I follow up.
- January 23, 2010 at 7:43 AM
- Unknown said...
Yikes! You mentioned math! Nooooooooo...
Nina looks charming, as always. Obviously practicing a little yoga before returning to writing her romance novel.
- January 23, 2010 at 10:23 AM
- mr_subjunctive said...
jodi (bloomingwriter):
It's not very much math. And you knew math was a risk when you came here.
- January 23, 2010 at 11:23 AM
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text:
In July 1917 conscientious objector Archibald Baxter was marched from his Wellington prison cell. He was forced up the gangplank of the troopship 'Waitemata' and taken to the Western Front in France. There he was tied to a pole with his arms behind his back and his feet off the ground. This was Field Punishment Number One.
Nearly 100 years later, Wellington artist Bob Kerr has painted a series of striking images based on Archibald Baxter's book, We Shall Not Cease.
Kerr's specially re-worked paintings have, with the help of animator Ahmad Habash, been brought to life in a short film, with soundscape by Andrew Laking.
This production was completed with financial assistance from the WW100 Fund, and the Wellington City Council. Huge thanks also to the Wellington Museum.
Still image above taken from artwork by Bob Kerr, edited by Ahmad Habash (cropped).
Produced by Pirate & Queen. Copyright 2017, All Rights Reserved.
Where: Wellington Museum, Tall Screen (ground floor)
When: Daily 10:45am, 12:45pm, 2:45pm, 4:45pm.
Duration: 7 minutes


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Shooting Columbus/Indigenous Cycles receives MAP Fund and NET Exchange Grant
April 29, 2015
We are pleased to announce that Shooting Columbus has received major support from the MAP Fund. An Exchange Grant from the Network of Ensemble Theaters will also help fund the research and community phase of this project, The Indigenous Cycles, which convenes at the Herberger Institute at Arizona State University.
This is a multi-year project involving Indigenous artists from the Southwest region. Rolling premiere begins at Borderlands Theater in Tucson in the fall of 2017. More.


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A leading member of Rwanda?s opposition said police Thursday arrested the leader of the United Democratic Forces (UDF) party, Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, after she was accused of having ties to a Hutu rebel group.
Rwanda?s government said that the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) Hutu rebel group had a role in the country?s 1994 genocide. The rebel group has also been accused of committing atrocities in neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo.
Alice Muhirwa said police announced on the State Broadcaster that Ingabire is being detained for an unspecified period as security agents continue investigating her ties to activities of the FDLR rebel group.
?Some policemen came (to her) home, then (held) discussions with her, (and) then they brought her straight to CID (Criminal Investigations Department). Up to now, she is not yet back home. We heard from the policeman (who) gave an interview saying that they are going to detain her in Cyicukiro brigade. Yet, she was still at CID and the investigation was still going on.?
Muhirwa said the opposition UDF party has spoken with Ingabire?s lawyer about her arrest, but expressed doubt that the police will allow the opposition leader?s attorney to see her during the police interrogation.
Ingabire, who was detained in April after returning to the country in January, has been a staunch critic of President Paul Kagame saying the Rwandan leader has stifled the opposition and that he has dictatorial tendencies.
President Kagame recently won an overwhelming majority in Rwanda?s recent presidential election. Ingabire, who was barred from competing in the August poll, rejected the results of the election as fraudulent and called on the international community to reject the outcome.
Muhirwa said members of the opposition UDF party are concerned about Ingabire?s well being as she is being subjected to what she described as intensive police interrogation.
?The police say she has links to that FDLR member (Peter Uwumuremyi). But, for us, we really ignore that because that guy is not recognized as a UDF member. That is all.?


text: Got on the Train to Waterloo, and was surprised to see it many obviously heading for the March. Began to get a good feeling and be excited – surely we could influence Gvt?. At Waterloo Station I couldn't believe the numbers! There were so many of us. We were kind of smiling with each other. Everyone was really well behaved – there were no police that I could see. We all headed for the bridge over the Thames to reach the north side where the March would start from, what was normally a 10 walk took atleast 45 minutes due to sheer number of people. It was also a very warm day I was glad of that. As I got to middle of the Bridge the people already on Embankment were moving – the March had begun. I stood and just gazed in wonder at the endless mass and waved – they waved back! It largely self policed – I barely saw a police officer that whole day. Still more amazed by the time we had slowly made our way to a further point, when another huge mass of people filed in from another start point we were like two rivers merging in to one huge Amazon-like river. The eclectic make up of the march was also something to behold – people from all walks of life, ages, colour and class. It was a a joy to be part of. I knew that the only political parties that declared they would vote against the war were the Liberal Democrats who I think announced it that very day, but I felt that many more MPs would do so – even if the 2 main Leadership and Cabinets did not. I was both angry and deeply sad that PM Blair, who I had voted for, dismissed us as being something like naive, he knew what was best! I think he made a statement later that day. Wonderful Speakers at the Rally – and then that awful vote for war, and many in the Labour Party who I really thought would declare themselves to be with us – voted for war, even though it was a massive 139 Labour MP rebellion = a few Tories and all the Lib Dems and 11 "others". I never expected anything better from the Conservative Party, but was appalled by Labour leadership – with honourable exception of Robin Cook. Devastated by the vote. Even more so by its aftermath. But the March will always be a memorable occasion – and I have bought a photographic book of that day in the UK and around the world.


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Hundred layer parathas
I spent way too much time the night before Thanksgiving making a stack of parathas to take to a potluck. Roll out chapati dough, brush with ghee, fold in half, brush with ghee, fold, crimp. roll out further. Later I discovered that after my parathas had been sitting for a while, I could stretch them further with my hand.
Still, I thought they were too doughy, not flaky enough.
So I did what I've been doing more and more these days: went on YouTube to look for a recipe. When it comes to cooking, video teaches better than words.
I found this little video of Burmese street vendors making hundred layer parathas.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XD6XDD1lB8E [1]
I'd have to practice for months before I could whap out a paratha that easily.


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Newman Selective Gifted Education Program Sydney Catholic Schools (SCS) initiated the Newman Selective Gifted Education Program in 2011 as a response to ensuring educational equity was achieved for gifted learners in both Catholic Primary and Secondary schools. Our Lady of Mercy Catholic College Burraneer, as a Newman Selective school, provides high quality professional learning for staff and an authentically rigorous program for gifted learners within a nurturing Catholic environment, thus enhancing the whole-person. We offer a wide range of opportunities that cater for a variety of gifted learners and supports students' social and emotional wellbeing. Key Program Elements:
- Our Lady of Mercy Catholic College Burraneer is one of 39 Newman Selective schools across the Sydney Archdiocese supporting students from Kindergarten to Year 12
- The program is facilitated by staff who have dedicated training in the field of gifted education
- Academics and psychologists specialising in gifted education contribute to the development and delivery of the program
- Students are assessed across a range of gifted domains in order to access the program and their progress comprehensively evaluated. Students can participate in various programs such as creative arts, coding and computational skills, rich literature experiences, STEM initiatives and robotics
- Newman Selective Symposiums are held annually to celebrate student achievement
- To sustain a high quality educational program, all Newman Selective schools undergo a comprehensive accreditation process every three years


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