Bitterroot Bugle archives |
By Ted Dunlap, on November 26th, 2023 
Thanks to California Carnivores from my old neighborhood, I picked up a variety of insect eating plants. Expecting to enjoy their beauties and appreciate the insect population reduction for one summer, I have been pleasantly surprised to get several years from them. This particular bog that lives next to a south facing window in my studio is far exceeding expectations, surviving, growing and even reproducing well. Another bog garden is in its dormant stage now, but will likely be a fine pitcher plant in our laundry room again next spring. A third did not come back last year and will likely need to be refreshed with new purchases next spring. Sundews (Drosera) If an insect ever evolved the brains […]
By Ted Dunlap, on November 5th, 2023 Here is a supremely accurate analog clock to help with your big chore for the day: I also added it to the Bitterroot Bugle’s left column so you can find it any time of any day … so long as my site and the Internet last. A regular un-favorite day of mine when the gubbmint reminds us they control our lives… and a day when I have to wear a watch, wandering my world changing the settings on a zillion different clocks, only a few of which are intuitive. I have ranted about “daylight savings time” more than a few times. The ‘Old Indian’ meme says it as well as anything. […]
By Ted Dunlap, on October 14th, 2023 
My motorcycle bucked me off at close to zero miles-per-hour in my gravel driveway almost four weeks ago. Those dang two-wheelers do that from time to time. I landed with a whoof on my back which has yet to recover… in part because I have STUFF TO DO before winter sets in. last year’s leftover mill end stashI tried doing nothing, but that dang STUFF TO DO pestered me into what seems like a perpetual limited light duty mode. With a little help from my friends, I got one REALLY IMPORTANT PROJECT completed. Living just over a mile from a bustling truss plant positions my yard as a favored dumping ground for the kiln-dried mill ends they accumulate as […]
By Ted Dunlap, on October 4th, 2023 
Whether the Emergency Broadcast System contains an assault on humans or not, the possibility is worth respecting, and removing yourself and those you care about from harms way is just too easy. The thing to do is be away from any devices that can receive those signals. That is both your devices and others. That pretty well eliminates public spaces, modern transportation and populated areas… leaving a great big world of possibilities for darn-near any of us who aren’t strapped to jobs in those spaces. Those folks may need more creative or bold solutions. For me it is easy. In my yard, shop or neighborhood I am almost completely guaranteed to be away from the potential offending devices. I […]
By Ted Dunlap, on May 7th, 2023 
I stuffed a third-hand 912 flat-track-racer engine into my ’56 Porsche Speedster. It went like stink, but the high compression racing pistons required 50% aviation gas and 50% gas-station leaded premium … yes this was a while ago … during the existence of leaded premium. I ran that exhilarating combination joyfully for a while, but I eventually tired of trips to the airport for 50% avgas fillups of my 30mpg daily driver, so I de-tuned the frisky filly. High octane for non-engineers: Higher octane reduces the volatility of the fuel so it does not ignite from the compression of the air-fuel mixture before the spark plugs order such ignition at the optimal moment of crankshaft rotation and piston positions. Higher […]
By Ted Dunlap, on March 13th, 2023 
tEDITOR NOTE: What began as a few tiny changes to an essay I posted yesterday blossomed into enough change that I decided to republish as if it were *NEW*. (Don’t let that sly dog fool you. It is the same, well almost, or somewhat.) 😉 To the right is a video recording that says much of this … more … differently This is the beginning with Chase, Morgan, BofA, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs and all the other global banksters who took over the Feral Reserve in 1913 now collapsing YOUR SAVINGS and your income. “Whaall, since paper, fiat currencies didn’t work out so good, we will switch to running an electronic store of your life savings, income and productivity FOR […]
By Ted Dunlap, on March 12th, 2023 
Today is the biannual celebration of control our overlords wield over details of our lives. They remind us twice a year that even little things are within their power. For absolutely NO GOOD REASON, they send us scurrying around our houses, shops and vehicles resetting every clock and timer therein. It is just a little jab, not like they are starving or poisoning us … with that poke anyway. I am approaching the mark where half of my life will have been spent self-employed. When you do not report for work at a time fixed by others, the annoyance level of biannual clock manipulations is reduced. I get up when I am awake and go to bed when I am […]
By Ted Dunlap, on January 30th, 2023 
I have been trying to find regular gym visits in my daily/weekly agenda. I really ought to tone up, ya’know… lots of people a whole lot more knowledgeable than I on fitness and keeping human machines working in good order say so with great and convincing conviction. This year I signed up for “free” supplemental medical insurance (aka Obamacare). Whether I will ever use it or not, Medicare has been deducted automatically from the pittance Social Security returns of the money forcibly taken from me during my income-producing careers. My wife is very pleased that I now have a bit more coverage in case something big strikes me a severe blow necessitating uber-expensive medical-monopoly interventions. Somewhat counter-intuitively, the free supplemental […]
By Ted Dunlap, on January 29th, 2023 
Among the dumb jokes that stuck with me from early adolescence was: Mexican weather report: Chili today, Hot tamale Unfortunately my neck of the woods is not expected to rise above FREEZING until February. On the estate, our little valley grabs the cold and hangs on to it with unappreciated tenacity. You can see my morning low to the left. Yep … minus 24 … or so. Thanks to a nice collection of firewood I have built up, I can keep the palace around a plus 75… roughly a one hundred degree difference … that I really appreciate after plowing or blowing snow in the yard for an hour or two. The photo to the right is from yesterday’s two-hour […]
By Ted Dunlap, on January 1st, 2023 
According to Investopedia, Metrics are measures of quantitative assessment commonly used for assessing, comparing, and tracking performance or production. Generally, a group of metrics will typically be used to build a dashboard that management or analysts review on a regular basis to maintain performance assessments, opinions, and business strategies. There are various definitions, but in this post I intend you consider metrics as Your measure of value for your labor and your assets. What you will willingly exchange to others for things you value more. Now is a wonderful time to establish against the currency that has been the world standard metric for a century. While we are accustomed to using dollars and cents, as they decline towards uselessness […]
By Ted Dunlap, on December 22nd, 2022 
Now THAT’s COLD. At Sunrise (8:17), I threw on a wool coat, insulated gloves and boots for a one-minute outdoor job of opening the chicken door so my flock could get out to their heated water reservoir and food supply. Whoops. My young back-saving helper yesterday did not close the double gate into / out of the chicken yard after blowing a foot of snow off their scratching yard. So I did that while I was out there – to keep them in and predators out. By the time I was back inside, my legs were cold through their double layers, my back was cold through its triple layers and my cheeks were genuinely frosty in the non-bearded areas. (Interesting […]
By Ted Dunlap, on December 20th, 2022 
Connect with the natural world for a day. This year our calendar day of December 21st will be the shortest. From this day forward the days will grow longer and longer until the turnaround at the summer solstice. Montana sunrise will be 8:11 am; sunset 4:44 pm; length of day 8 hours 33 minutes; night 15 hours 27 minutes The sun’s steady disappearance from our world will make a turnaround. This is worth celebrating, marking in some way big or small. I plan to work in my greenhouse, perhaps put some seeds into pots and onto a germinating heat mat (that we have yet to dig out of whatever clever storage site we found for it). Maybe you can […]
By Ted Dunlap, on December 17th, 2022 
I used Tom’s of Maine for many years until the business was sold and went mainstream. The current corporation and its recipes deserve no support. So I went shopping … for my own recipe. Having tripped over the value of essential oils, they are integral to this. I will make no claims for any of the ingredients, choosing instead to send you off to your own research to discover what led me to these, or to decide for yourself that some other combination works for you. My essential oil source is Eden’s Garden, but I am not recommending for or against, nor do I have any fiscal connection with them. My essential oil purveyor research has been modest. They […]
By Ted Dunlap, on December 16th, 2022 
Once in a while I simply get lucky as a photographer. I suppose as a modestly inspired amateur, that will be the only way I get a photo that really tickles me. Below is one of them. At my skill level, getting the lighting just right to comfortably light the background while focusing attention, and projecting a welcoming feeling has to be totally a lucky shot, but this one speaks volumes for the shop guy, and the car guy in me. I briefly opened the bay doors to admit the Honda for its overdue wheel swap from summer to winter. The woodburner in the far corner got the shop heat back up to a workspace comfortable 45-60 in no time. […]
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