farmer’s market

Some shots from a recent farmer’s market…

*genius*

The reason we have so few geniuses is that people do not have faith in what they know to be true.

 

Genius learns from nature. Talent learns from art.

 

Genius is to believe your own thought. To believe what is true for you is ultimately true.

 

Genius is the ability to see the obvious.

 

A man of genius makes no mistakes. His errors are the portals of discovery.

 

There is in every madman a misunderstood genius whose idea, shining in his head, frightened people, and for whom delirium was the only solution to the strangulation that life had prepared for him.

a day about town

Well, hi there. It’s been a while since we’ve talked! Life has been pretty much work, work, work lately; I’ve been keeping to a rather predictable routine. I find myself particularly uninspired when all the hours of daylight must be spent inside an office. Not that it is a bad place, this office; it’s got plenty of natural light and a good atmosphere, and some mighty fine people. But I am noticing a bit more light each day now that we are past the winter solstice, and this is a welcome change.

The trees are already budding and blooming…man, winter seems short here in Wellington…basically three months of cold and wet.

The three of us went for a walk last weekend and I thought you might like to see some things that caught our eye(s).

renewable energy cannot sustain a consumer society

OK – the title and description have got me hooked; I want to read this book!

http://www.thenile.co.nz/books/Ted-Trainer/Renewable-Energy-Cannot-Sustain-A-Consumer-Society/9781402055485/

recommendations

I have two recommendations:

1. Google Reader

I have discovered a very cool web service.

It’s called Google Reader. I highly recommend it!

I tell Google Reader which blogs I want to monitor for new entries, and every time I log on to Reader, it tells me who has updated their blog, displays the content of all blog entries, and provides links to easily go directly to a blog to post comments if I like. I find it very handy – instead of checking numerous blogs on a regular basis, I can go to one web page and see it all!

2. Sustainable energy book

I also highly recommend this book:

It can be downloaded as a PDF file from its website. It is the best description I have found of:

the options that we have for energy production during peak oil and energy descent,
the feasibility of each of these options,
the reasoning behind global warming and climate change, and
what we must expect if we want to convert to renewable energy sources.

It is a case study of the energy resources and demands of the UK, but the principles are applicable anywhere in the world. It is very readable. I hope you get as much benefit out of it as I did!

waikawa beach

We discovered the most amazing beach one evening while farm-sitting for friends. Waikawa Beach.

a day in the life of backcountry Wairarapa, NZ

Welcome aboard folks, we hope you enjoy our little snapshot tour of ordinary everyday backcountry life in the north island of New Zealand…

A typical station (i.e. ranch/farm):

The “yards” and shearing shed at another station:

Morning traffic jams:

passionfruit

The other day I was introduced to passionfruit.

I came across a heap of yellow ones that had fallen from the vine following a cold snap. They were just laying next to the sidewalk, and the vine was evidently on public property, so I picked a bagful and headed home. Now I thought this was exciting, because 1) I love to harvest and experience wild foods, and 2) to a newcomer from northern North America, I find ”exotic” tropical fruits fascinating.

So I took them home, discovered that they are full of seeds and not suitable for eating directly, and learned that the seeds can be separated out using a blender.

The fruit has to be yellowy-brown and almost rotten looking before it is ripe. The ones I had that were ripe, were delicious. The others were pretty tart. In any case, I got a nice amount of juice from them.