Denali Expedition 2018: a very late retrospective
About 5 years ago my friend Jason raised the idea of training toward the goal of climbing Denali, North America’s tallest mountain. At the time our experience amounted to a few weekend mountaineering trips to Mt Shasta. Going from that to a 3 week long expedition sounded like a huge hurdle to overcome. Nonetheless withoutContinue reading “Denali Expedition 2018: a very late retrospective”
Grill fired pottery
Rescued a thrown out Weber charcoal grill a while back and tried using it to fire some wheel thrown greenware. It is supposed to be similar to pit firing without needing to dig a trench. Progress shots below. I tried some thicker walled pieces (1/2+ inch) and thinner walled ones (~1/4 inch). The clay bodiesContinue reading “Grill fired pottery”
RAP/ROAM/NARM Reciprocal Membership Map
A number of gardens and museums provide “family” level memberships which come with a reciprocal membership benefit that provides access to a set of other garden/museum institutions. RAP, ROAM, and NARM are three such reciprocal membership programs. I was a bit frustrated by the tooling/materials provided for seeing the qualifying institutions. The respective program websitesContinue reading “RAP/ROAM/NARM Reciprocal Membership Map”
Composting
I’ve been composting for some years now and in 2020 I formalized my learnings by joining the UCCE Master Composter course. Much of the course followed readings from the Rodale Book of Composting and a Master Composter Training Manual Handbook. I learned a bunch, and especially enjoyed the series of guest speakers. Topics spanned soilContinue reading “Composting”
Mission Peak 4x
What do 4 paragliders, 4 pairs of tarantula legs, a 4 shaped tree, and 4 wild turkeys in a row have in common? The number 4! Also, they’re found on the 4 sides of Mission Peak. Or at least they were on the day I ran the hike on each side. Mission Peak is aContinue reading “Mission Peak 4x”
Rhubarb and Indigo
I recently purchased a towel with an interesting waffle texture. Unfortunately it only came in white, which I find a bit boring. We had an aging indigo vat sitting outside through some frosty nights and held some doubts whether it survived the weather. I also had a pile of rhubarb leaves leftover from a harvest.Continue reading “Rhubarb and Indigo”
Water Reuse for Fun and Profit
There are a number of ways homeowners can reduce their water usage. Take shorter showers. Take fewer showers. Use water-wise drought tolerant landscaping. Those are ways that may come at some personal inconvenience. But there are other ways that have a small upfront cost but little or no inconveniences. Here I’ll share ways and ideasContinue reading “Water Reuse for Fun and Profit”
Home Wall Build
One of the responses to the pandemic this year was the closure of rock climbing gyms. And for some months, parks were closed as well which closed the door on outdoor climbing. Plus the stay-at-home order meant not travelling far from home. Stuck at home, I was presented with a good opportunity to find replacementContinue reading “Home Wall Build”
Urban Forestry
I started off 2020 with the Our City Forest Tree Amigo volunteer program. Over 5 weeks we learned about urban forestry, nursery best practices, tree planting, tree care and stewardship, and water conservation. The program was fun. I learned about native plants and met like-minded folks, all while planting and pruning trees. Although the yearContinue reading “Urban Forestry”
Reviving an Old Chromebook
I had an old Chromebook (Acer C720) sitting unused beside the cat tree for nearly a year. It hit EOL in mid 2019, meaning it can’t get any more ChromeOS updates including security patches, which was a great excuse to buy a spiffy new one. The old one had slowed down to a crawl anywayContinue reading “Reviving an Old Chromebook”
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Patrick Lundquist 