@cohanf@mastodon.online
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cohanf

@cohanf@mastodon.online

old guy struggling toward a new path; artist; painting, writing, photography, gardening; plants, bugs, music, film, books, connection (not dating)...
West Central Alberta, Canada

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cohanf, to houseplants
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For a brief break from snow pics, here are a couple of views of a little I got myself as a slightly belated 60th present! Seems it is likely x Gasteraloe 'Kebela' an intergeneric hybrid, though I haven't found any details on parentage. I notice with the big uptick in the popularity of cacti and succulents in recent years, there is a huge amount of related content online, almost all of it is very low quality! sneaking in a

See first photo for description of plant. It is in a small terra-cotta coloured plastic pot, held up by a partly visible pinkish hand, n front of an extended window shelf full of plants- mainly cacti and succulents, in front of a window outside of which the blurred snow gives a white and blue backdrop. Much of the shelf is half shaded, the plant is held in a shaft of sunlight, so one side of the leaves is bright, other side in shadow.

cohanf, to Alberta
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Random a woody fungus on Balsam Poplar/Populus balsamifera with bonus - a fine textured orange lichen common here.

cohanf, to Alberta
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Our deep cold stretch has officially broken- Monday was still cold in the morning, up to around -20 mid-afternoon, and into the low-mid teens by midnight, -6C or so by noon today, bit colder in the afternoon. Next couple of days highs near -20C, but that still feels better than highs of -30 and lower!
A few more short vids from the last few days:
Jan 13 Coldest Day of the Year?
https://youtube.com/shorts/aAOauWy_4bc?feature=share
Firewood collection for cold days
https://youtube.com/shorts/_1GkafVTunA?feature=share
#PolarVortex #Alberta #January

cohanf,
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Jan 14 Rock Garden, Moose Tracks-
the moose come into the yard every winter to prune all the tasty woodies- they chose this week to get started- some specific vids about that to come
https://youtube.com/shorts/BSN8uG5h4uY?feature=share
Jan 15 Last Day of the #PolarVortex
https://youtube.com/shorts/Yfsd-F3-9Mw?feature=share
#winter #video As usual I'll post smaller file versions to Spectra/Peertube sometime soon.

billyjoebowers, to random
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I'm not computer illiterate, but everything about setting up and maintaining a website is so ridiculously complicated, so I can't roll my eyes hard enough when people are always spouting "Everyone should have their own website". Especially with the condescending attitude.

cohanf,
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@billyjoebowers Yeah, as an artist, I find even handling social media stuff related to art is time consuming and spending too much time away from actually making art, I've shied away from self hosting for that reason-time spent learning, then maintaining (plus even a minimal cost is one more expenditure!)

cohanf, to videos
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Not sure how this will work- I don't want to make a separate post for each of these short , so I'll try one post with 5 links!
These are short with me jabbering about while out in the bush- you can watch them in order to be horrified by the dropping day by day or skip ahead to see me talk into the camera- rare- or skip to the last one for near glow! Okay, description is so long, links to follow!

cohanf,
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@NatureMC haha-- yes, you might get a chill watching those videos! This cold is also dry- sometimes at those low temperatures you get a few ice crystals falling when it isn't actually snowing-- the last bits of moisture being squeezed out of the air!
We use C here (Canadians are notorious for mixing metric and imperial measures-- I might do it in the same sentence sometimes! but most temperatures here now are in C--

cohanf, to Battlemaps
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In the woods on the farm today where I was harvesting deadwood for firewood. Light all day and around -22 at that time. Luckily inside this wood, no wind (outside, another story, slight, but still deadly).
has been getting us caught up, bit by bit-- still less than usual, overall.

cohanf, to Alberta
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It's been getting colder over the last week or so, with maybe 10 (15?)cm of new snow in several moderate instalments. Today topped out around -21C/-13F but it will get much colder in the days to come.
These include one of the lowest lows forecast I recall, and some of the coldest days- days much below -20C have not been that common in the 15 years or so prior to the last couple!
#Alberta #weather #ShareYourWeather #January #Winter #ClimateChange #icetodon

billyjoebowers, to random
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I really, really, don't like the cold.

cohanf,
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@billyjoebowers How cold has it got there? That thin desert air prob helps it feel chilly.
We're having January cold, also, but my house is often warmer in winter- at least here at the computer desk, which is near the wood stove...lol you really don't want to hear my forecast for this week...

cohanf,
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@billyjoebowers That's nippy enough-- you're Tucson ? frost is more common than Phoenix, right?

Swede1952, (edited ) to ilaughed

Good morning. 🌞🌅☕

29 December 2023

Um ... coffee is ready. 💤

When I was a teenager, I could pull a transmission and replace a clutch and at the drop of a hat. Now, not so much ... not that I would want to do that anymore. Just a few years ago, I had a taillight go out on my car and I couldn't figure out how to get to the taillight, so I ended up taking it to the dealer. Not only did automotive technology advance without me, but my desire to do such things waned out of existence.

I've had my current car for eight years and keep telling myself I need a new car for travel. But my car still runs pretty well, and I don't drive it much anyway, so it's really hard to get new car fever. Besides, I hate the process of buying a new car it's a pain in an area at the lower half of my torso. It's something on my things to do tomorrow list.

“Our cars are turning into smartphones with wheels.” - Mokokoma Mokhonoana

#photo #photography #photographer #morning #sunset #ocean #Carribean #cars

cohanf,
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@Swede1952 Just watched a news story about the out of control car theft issue in Canada- a bit part of it is all the stupid unneccessary electronics- push button start vehicles are top of the theft list, and one sort has a re-programming hub conveniently located on the exterior by the front wheel!

billyjoebowers, to random
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It's still Christmas until New Years. We all know this, why do we pretend otherwise?

The whole lead up is getting ready, one day isn't going to do it.

cohanf,
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@billyjoebowers In this house, the season (with a few days where food/treats are more focussed) goes from early/mid December- a birthday to mid January- another birthday. Many decorations-- at least lights, for sure, go from late November at the latest till early Feb at least.

cohanf,
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@billyjoebowers I figure the whole point of lights and colours and indoor indulgences is the fact that days are short and darker and cold(only cold-ish this year)- and that all lasts a lot longer than a day- or week!

billyjoebowers, to Tucson
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Two days of cloudy, cold, and rainy and it's like "Will this winter never end?"

#Tucson #AZ

cohanf, (edited )
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@billyjoebowers that's like there in summer- a few days with scattered rain showers and people are :"If I wanted rain every day I'd live in Vancouver'--EDIT oops should have said 'like here in summer!

NatureMC, to random
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deleted_by_author

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    cohanf,
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    @NatureMC hope the storm passes without incident! Sorry for your loss, I'm sure you still feel it in many ways.

    cohanf,
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    @NatureMC Too much excitement!

    cohanf, to nature
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    It won't surprise anyone that I'm late for 😆 I had an unexpected day off work yesterday (back at it today!) so got some editing done. With the theme, I've edited a touch more than usual. I'm aiming to use a photo from each day as that day's image (no photos Dec 3, so doubled on the 4th!). Here are days 1-4

    Day 2 Winter sun across a couple of straw stubble fields separated by wire and post fences, the second one bordered by a thin line of variable height native poplars at the back. Sky is mostly blue with dark clouds approaching from left. White vignetting
    Day 3 in the woods on farm, looking out between the dark ridged trunks of several balsam poplars, ground lightly covered with snow, dry leaves showing through. Beyond wetland with clumps of dried grass poking through snow, then an area of low red willows the sun hitting their tops and the mixed woods behind against a blue-grey sky. White vignetting
    Several wiry spidery dry stems of Sea Thrift, most with dry seed heads, all reaching to the left across shadowed snow in afternoon gloom, Behind the central stems is a cinnabar coloured apple leaf stuck between stems and snow. Black vignetting.

    cohanf,
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    Day 18 but I'm posting 21 so Blessed and Happy Solstice to all! This date is what all the mid-winter holy days/festivals are really about in the Northern Hemisphere - Sun has reached the maximum of her southward journey, and will begin the slow return. We celebrate the anticipated return of but also should take some time to reflect on the darkness:
    Happy mid-summer to Southern friends!

    cohanf,
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    Winter Solstice is associated with #Ragana (Latvian sp) in #Baltic tradition - Indo-European gods + Christianity have reduced this nature deity to a hag #witch (often in a negative way, not the modern reclaimed use of the word!) of wild places and dubious ways- I'll be exploring ideas restoring her primal attributes, and will be thinking of her essence as a symbol of natural forces/cycles this Solstice day! eg- She may represent natural darkness, and essential balance to the light of #Saule /Sun

    cohanf,
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    #ArtAdventCalendar Day 19 this was taken a couple of days before the Solstice, but the #sun #WinterLight is a major focus for many weeks over winter (okay, maybe I'm always obsessed with light-not so much pure blinding sun, but the effects as she lowers, peeks out through trees and clouds, etc!). Here it was mid afternoon, just a couple of hours from sunset, a little below freezing (well above average!) with sun and sun dog! #WinterPictures #Alberta #CountryLiving #SunDog #snow #December

    cohanf,
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    #ArtAdventCalendar Day 20 The #sun provides much less warmth in winter, but provides many great photo opps, being lower in the sky/ easier to combine with other #landscape elements! In general, #winter here is not our stormy season- summer skies are much more dramatic, but we can still get some good clouds at times! To get these unobstructed southwest views, I have to trudge over to the neighbours' fence (trees, saplings, fences in the way before that!) #WinterPictures #Alberta #CountryLiving

    cohanf,
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    Day 21- I guess I should have wrapped up by today? Oh well! Today's a work day, and tomorrow some cooking, I won't be getting caught up yet-I'll be adventing for days!
    This shot from the day most meaningful to me anyway, the -even though it's the sun's big day this is the over to anyone celebrating, happy days off if you get some of those even if you're not celebrating! hope you get some self-care time!

    cohanf,
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    Day 22 it's afternoon-- hope anyone who celebrates in any way is enjoying and/or surviving! The meaningful day for me is Dec 21, but we still treat this like a . Just two of us here, we had a nice pizza breakfast followed by pumpkin pie with ice cream...lol.. I'll cook a meal a bit later.
    This view is from the morning of Dec 22, first sun of the real 'new year'! I don't often see , ran out in boxers, t-shirt and rubber boots...lol

    jack, to gardening

    Question for @gardening
    folks!

    I have some chestnuts I want to try and cold stratify in the fridge. Every guide I have found puts them in peat moss in a bag or container. I don't want to use peat moss!

    Can coconut coir work for fridge cold stratification? Would just paper towels work? My understanding is chestnuts need to stay moist, so that's what I need to mimic I think.

    cohanf,
    @cohanf@mastodon.online avatar

    @jack @gardening Probably duplicating ideas you already got-- peat moss is in no way essential for any cold stratification- you just need the seed to be moist and cold, mimicking the way it would be if it fell on the forest floor. I almost always did cold strat in pots with the same soil I would be germinating/growing in. If you don't want soil in your fridge and/or want to take up less space than pots, that's where the idea of peat etc comes in. -continued--

    cohanf,
    @cohanf@mastodon.online avatar

    @jack @gardening Coir/coco fibre should be as good as any other soil/substrate- vermiculite, perlite etc (I prefer coir for it's provenance and natural look when mixed in soil outdoors--hate perlite for that reason; I also like zeolite or chicken grit- be sure there are no additives).
    The only time coir may not be suitable is if you are trying to germinate something that needs natural soil chemicals to enhance germination- but no sterile media would have those, only natural woodland soil/duff.

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