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Monthly Archives: October 2008

Wednesday: Sauerkraut-making day

After Monday’s cabbage-buying expedition to the Virginia mountains, Wednesday was sauerkraut-making day. To make sauerkraut, you need: 1. Cabbage. I bought cabbage in 50-pound sacks close to the farm in Carroll County, Virginia. 2. Sea salt. I used refined sea salt bought in bulk at Whole Foods. I would have preferred to use a really […]

Monday: Cabbage-buying expedition

Wednesday was to be sauerkraut-making day, so Monday’s chore was to go to the mountains and get the cabbage. In Carroll County and Patrick County, Virginia, cabbage is a major crop. That’s about 45 miles from my place in Stokes County, N.C. This time of year the quality of the cabbage is high, and the […]

All four sides, in the morning light

Well, y’all, here are the final exterior shots, the morning after completion. The crew have removed all their equipment, and the litter piles have been cleaned up. The house is now surrounded by a band of packed red dirt. Next steps: the final grading and starting on the up-close landscaping. With luck I’ll at least […]

The exterior's done!

They finished the exterior today. The house is now weathertight. The house is more photogenic in morning light, so I’ll have more photos and more angles Wednesday morning.

A sneak preview

The exterior of the house is almost done. I haven’t put up any photos lately because I thought I’d wait until the exterior is done. Here’s a little preview, though. This is the uphill side of the house. I should have the final exterior photos Friday or Saturday, or, if it’s raining, I’ll have the […]

When the Frost is on the Punkin

My corn yield this year: exactly one ear. What maple trees do in the fall. I’ve never really forgotten this poem after we all were required to memorize it in the fifth grade. When the Frost is on the Punkin WHEN the frost is on the punkin and the fodder’s in the shock, And you […]

Technology traps

James Burke with a relay like the one that caused the Northeast Blackout of 1965 We all live in a technology trap. One of the best documentaries I’ve ever seen, back in the 1980s, was James Burke‘s Connections series. In one part of this series, he takes as his case study the Northeast Blackout of […]

Economic honor roll

Nouriel Roubini, top of the honor roll Some of you may have noticed that I have deleted all my old posts about the economy and the politics thereof. My intent was to draw attention to an inevitable train wreck that independent observers could see clearly months and years in advance, but which partisan sources (and […]

In goes the Gothic window…

Standing in the hall and looking out the back door, across the deck, and into the woods. This actually is a shotgun house. That’s what Southerners call a house when you can shoot a shotgun through the front door straight out the back door. The Gothic window array from the upstairs master bedroom The trapezoidal […]

Pickin' at Priddy's, Oct. 4

Every Saturday in October, Priddy’s General Store near Danbury has “Pickin’ at Priddy’s.” There’s a bluegrass band, and there’s always something homemade in a black pot. Dogs welcome. It runs from 3 p.m. until 5:30 p.m. Priddy’s General Store is three miles from my place. Today’s band was The Plank Road. Oct. 11, Hubert Lawson […]