(B.C. via GoComics.com)
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Autumn is normally my favorite season, but after months of summer drought we’ve had a steady week of chill mizzle — very little contribution to the reservoir deficit, just day after day of overcast dank. My sinuses are killing me.
This would be the time for all you gardeners to send me those summer photos you’ve been holding for a Rount Tuit, or for those of you in more clement climes to step up…
What’s going on in your garden(s) this week?
(Arlo & Janis via GoComics.com)
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OzarkHillbilly
Wish I could help with the pics Anne, but my computer remains SNAFU’ed. The wife has been working on it off and on ever since she downloaded Win10. We are almost at the point of giving up, but things being what they are right now we really can’t afford to pop for another just for convenience sake.
Meanwhile, the weather here in the Ozarks has been beautiful all week, sunny with highs in the mid 60s. No rain to speak of lately and I expect a muted Autumn. The garden is a weeds dream and I have been unable to do much about it for a month. I am still getting plenty of peppers both sweet and hot, but everything else is done. No fall plantings for obvious reasons.
On the up side, my oldest son is hot to trot and ready to roll on the greenhouse, which will be nice as I can let my shoulder continue to heal while he digs and sets the retaining walls. Hopefully he and I can get started on that in Nov. and maybe have the structure up within a month or so. We’ll see.
Mustang Bobby
Here’s a picture of some blooms on my chili pepper vanda orchid. It blooms several times a year and the flowers stick around for a month or so. Other than that, it’s pretty much status quo: the hibiscus that surround the house are always with flower. Here in South Florida we are eagerly awaiting the switch from the wet season to the dry, which usually occurs around the middle of October. And we’re keeping an eye on Hurricane Matthew, which seems to be trending more to the east and away from Florida, but aiming for the Bahamas and the Carolinas.
satby
@OzarkHillbilly:Good morning Ozark! I saw that you missed this the first time I posted it about my new house. These are from when it was listed, so all the yucky carpet is gone and the floors downstairs (except the kitchen) have been refinished to match the woodwork.
Nice raised beds for gardening next year, right now the weeds in them are over my head.
satby
@Mustang Bobby: Those are pretty! I’ve never tried orchids, but your pictures make me very tempted to pick one up. They’re hard to grow, aren’t they?
Mustang Bobby
@satby: Thank you, satby. Orchids are native to South Florida and they’re symbiotic; they grow in trees or just about anywhere you put them. They like hot moist air, so I have three in hanging baskets in the backyard. I am not really good with plants — I can kill a geranium — but the orchids seem to take care of themselves very well. It’s indoors that makes them hard to grow, but if you can have them outside year round, they’re set. They can’t take the cold, so when we get the occasional cool snap down here — in the 40’s at night — I bring them into the garage for the night.
OzarkHillbilly
@satby: Whooaa… That blue carpet! Good thing you had it unplugged! I love that style of house. Growing up I had more than a few friends who lived in such and was always a little jealous of them (I grew up in a ranch, no basement, BORING) Did they leave you the pool table? The kitchen…. is…. interesting. ;-)
I like, even if it is far more room than I can imagine wanting.
yellowdog
@satby: Orchids are not hard to grow. My SO has three or four right now and at least two are blooming at any given time. He isn’t a gardener by any means.
satby
@OzarkHillbilly: The daughter told me at the closing that her parents installed that carpet in the late 70s (estate sale). It’s a big house, but I got it super cheap, when it’s a bit too much for me after my herd thins down to condo sized I can convert it into a rental, it’s five blocks away from the South Bend campus of Indiana and about 2 miles away from Notre Dame. Or sell it again outright.
I downsized too much in the Michigan house, so I upsized again for this one; besides I love the old houses with the woodwork in the original shape. I’m figuring out how to reconfigure that kitchen now, those are loadbearing external brick walls that the refrigerator nook is in, so no moving them. The unseen wall is original built-in cabinets, so not moving them either.
And yes, I still have the pool table, the dogs like to chase each other around it.
Raven
I don’t have anything since I quit taking pics right after the garden club gig and my surgery. It’s reallly dry but the girl went to the Growers Warehouse and laid in more plants yesterday.
satby
@yellowdog: Does he grow them inside or outside?
rikyrah
Good Morning ?, Everyone ?
satby
@Raven: The cruddy weather here is making for a really subdued fall color display so far. Makes me very happy that last year’s was so gorgeous so the exchange daughters could enjoy it.
satby
@rikyrah: Good morning! How are you?
Raven
@satby: nice house. $50k, WTF?
Raven
@satby: The weather was incredible for the game. The 3:30 kick meant we were in the shade and it was wonderful. . .mostly.
satby
@Raven: less actually. Lots of house flipping here because of the hot rental market, and this place was filthy… look at the blue carpet again. Nothing done or updated for 30+ years discourages buyers, but it was solid.
Edited to add: neighborhood looks sketchy, but it’s perfectly safe.
Mary G
@satby: That woodwork is awesome. Congrats on the move and Job.
Any trouble over having too many animals?
HeartlandLiberal
This is our favorite time of year. My wife and I both halfway through seventy, have always enjoyed our walks in the nearby state parks and forests, with which southern Indiana is really lucky to have. But it is not as easy, with a pacemaker and two hip replacements for the wife. But we still go, and are eagerly looking forward to this season of the changing colors. Last year I got some of the most artful pictures I have ever taken of fall foliage reflecting in the water of a small lake. Some are poster repro worthy.
As for Fall, I am pleased to report, as someone who has season tickets at Indiana University for football and basketball for over 25 years now, going on thirty, I think, that last night was one of the finest moments in the history of what is NOT a fabled football program, and the weather was wonderfully autumnal and cool for the night game, which started at 8 pm last night.
But the point of my story: The Hoosiers held on and WE BEAT MICHIGAN STATE by a filed goal in overtime.
Needless to say, there was no holding the students back from rushing the field. One of my best friends went with me, he was a quarterback at a major eastern school back in the sixties. Needless to say, he had a good time, too. watching a serious game of football with a really pleasant outcome for IU.
satby
@Mary G: so far no. I bring them out one or two at a time, they aren’t barkers except at dinner time, so unless a neighbor rats me out I think I can fly under the radar for now. I’m on the board of a real rescue group too, so I have plausible reason to call a couple fosters. I’m still looking for a home for the little guy.
satby
@HeartlandLiberal: That is big! Huge rivalry there, second only to ND vs MS!
Debbie(aussie)
@satby:
Beautiful house, Satby. I enjoy looking at American houses. So different from what we have here. Although we do have interiors with similar woodwork room dividers.
satby
@Debbie(aussie): I’m a fan of the Miss Fisher series, and the Victorian houses in that show always make me want to visit Australia just to see them. With all the other reasons to visit too.
Pogonip
Persephone didn’t mind going to the underworld this year. She’s sick of the election too.
Raven
@satby: Our addition was almost twice as much!
Gindy51
@HeartlandLiberal: We were in Bloomington yesterday visiting our IU grad daughter who works in the area as a paralegal. She used to be an IU police cadet and was SOOOO glad not to be one after that game. Gorgeous weather, lots of tail gate parties and fun were seen by us, but we cut out well before the game started so hubby could watch it at home.
We live in the Batesville area so we had the same weather at home, just LOVE this tie of year even if the garden is basically dead (horrid weather for the stuff we love to grow). We have acreage that includes shrub land forest and new forest so we get to see tons of wildlife and migrating birds. So gorgeous… our goldenrod is still blooming as are the purple asters, stunning colors that’s for sure.
I almost wish I would ditch the vegetables and grow flowers but the family loves their peppers and tomatoes (the only thing we bother with since no one eats anything else)
Debbie(aussie)
I @satby:
I live in a city (Ipswich) that has many beautiful houses ,called Queenslanders, that were built mainly in the early years of the last century. Big breezy verandahs, high ceilings, big windows and sometimes kitchens that are almost seperate.
Here’s an example of a beautifully restored one
OzarkHillbilly
@satby: I’m trying to place the location of the kitchen: It runs across the back of the house… Right? The pantry(?) to the right and the frig nook to the left are located in that bump out at the back left corner (looking from the front of the house) with the door going out to the left of the frig. Correct?
Raven
@HeartlandLiberal: My SIL grew up in Ft Wayne and one of her buds was on the Corso teams. His son is a running back for UCLA so she gets to go to some games with him. We drove over to Bloomington for a few Illini games back in the day.
Cat48
@Mustang Bobby:
Nice flowers. The Hurricane is frightening bc it looks like it could hit coastal SC where I live. We always evacuate inland so it may be time to make motel reservations.
Raven
@Gindy51: I got out of downtown Athens right after the game but the way it ended and the usual 20,000 people that show up without tickets for SEC games makes this place a nightmare for cops and emt’s
Raven
@Cat48: may stir up them red drum!
ThresherK (GPad)
@satby: I have been reading a tumblr called McMansion Hell, and it’s a relief to see the nice solid bones and built-to-last charm of your new place.
Also I’m a touch jealous you’re very close to the Studebaker Natl Museum.
Immanentize
Hello, All.
AL — “chill mizzle” is perfect. I have been calling it cold spit, but your description is far superior.
JPL
@satby: It’s a beautiful house. Make sure you take lots of pictures to share.
WereBear
@satby: Glad things are working out!
It is very bizarre how some people cannot see past a house in its current condition. It is usually cheaper to fix what you don’t like, and then it is the way you like it.
Immanentize
@satby: your new house is fabulous. And it is just like the house where my Aunt and Uncle lived in Johnson City NY, but flipped (their front door was on the right, etc.). In their kitchen, the sink and counters were across the window side. And yes, their refrigerator was in the nook. But you have nicer details than they did….
In that area, these were called EJ houses because they were built for the Endicott Johnson Workers and you could buy them out of your salary for $5 per week. The builders would just flip the plans back and forth as they moved down the street. The house next door to my Aunt was laid out just like yours.
debbie
@satby:
Several of my friends here in Ohio grow orchids indoors with no problems. Whenever I’m tempted to try one, I remember how I’m overattentive to houseplants and would doubtless kill it.
satby
@OzarkHillbilly: You got it! They sealed that back door and turned the tiny back porch into a place for the refrigerator. The kitchen and dining room take the back of the house, the huge living room and an entry hall that could be another room is the front.
I’m thinking of pulling out the cabinets onthe sink side and that weird tiki hut roof thing that the overhead light is in and putting a smaller fridge, 18″ Dishwasher, and single deeper sink in instead, with wall cabinets above. Since I have less than 3 feet of counter, I’ll put an island on the other side under the windows and maybe some cabinets and another counter in the nook where the fridge is now. There’s windows in there too, but they’ve blocked by the fridge. Wasted space!
satby
@Debbie(aussie): Link’s not working, but I’ll Google. Someday I hope to visit your country!
satby
@ThresherK (GPad):
I took the girls there last year, and to the Oliver House next door, they’re both great. Highly recommended. Open invite to visit if you ever get a chance to visit, and that goes for all Juicers!
satby
@WereBear: I know right? But that gave me a chance to grab this one.
Ceci n'est pas mon nym
@debbie: My wife keeps orchids in the bathroom where we shower. They love it.
satby
Ok, off to the laundromat, and then work. Have a great day everyone!
OzarkHillbilly
@satby:
At the very least.
As far as that load bearing wall separating the nook from the rest of the kitchen, wall schmall. The only thing stopping you from removing that wall is money and not very much money at that. You just need to replace the wall with a load bearing beam (could be steel, but usually a composite wood beam such as M!crol@m or P@ral@m) with a post at each end going down to the foundation wall or laid into the existing brick wall (the 2nd is preferred but more work)
It’s a tuff design situation because these old kitchens were not designed with modern appliances in mind.
scav
Help, what is the general concensus (we can build one?) for what to call the different rake types. I mean the leaf / fan / whatever that rake is in the cartoon, and the other type, the heavy line one (garden?). I generally end up using both this time of year (lawn repair) and need better dialog than “Where’s the rake again? no, the other one, do you even have the other one?”
eta: thanks for indulging my quest for all of the words, the technical words.
Kropadope
Autumn’s the best. Yesterday was my favorite weather; cool, grey sky, misty, with bright orange trees. I bought a new hoodie and took a nice, long walk.
Wapiti
Leaf rake and garden rake is what I call them.
Debbie(aussie)
Have a great day everyone! Past my bedtime?
Morfydd
I’m sick and bored. I should have worked on the garden this weekend, but I haven’t left the apartment in 2 days, permaglued to the couch. Tomorrow’s a holiday (yay German Reunification Day!) and we may take the boat ride out to Helgoland (Germany’s only real island and apparently very dramatic). OTOH, it’s 100 euros each, so maybe we’ll just relax in the garden instead.
bemused
@satby:
Oh that blue carpet! Worse, we had multi-color shag carpeting in our living room in the late 70’s/early 80’s, brown, gold, olive green, red-orange, the hideous home interior color trend of that era that everyone seemed to follow. Those colors in kitchen appliances were all the rage too. I look back on that era and wonder, what were we all thinking?
We did draw the line at carpeting in the kitchen and bathroom, just eeew. Bad enough that no matter how diligent you are at shampooing carpeting in living/bedrooms, you can’t know what evils are lurking down below, especially if you have young kids and assorted pets and the guaranteed, unavoidable vomit, pee and poo episodes. It was a joyous day when we had all the carpeting ripped out and hardwood floors installed.
cmorenc
@Mustang Bobby:
We may be needing to make the 3-hour run down to the barrier island of Sunset Beach NC (just above the border with SC) to mount the hurricane shutters on our house down there, for the first time in several years. Our shutters are custom-fit epoxy panels that must be manually mounted with stainless-steel bolts on pre-installed tracks – essentially elaborate equivalents of screwing pieces of plywood over the windows. They do the job, mounting them is a 4-hour PITA that involves lots of scrambling up-and-down ladders, since the bottom living floor is raised up on pilings to what would be second-story level inland. Every time we have to do this, we regret not spending the extra 4k back in 1998 to have permanently mounted accordion-style shutters that you simply open each window to close and lock – more like a 20-30 minute job.
The house has survived three hurricanes so far, but all three were minimal hurricanes at Sunset Beach – we haven’t been in the strong sector of any of them. But I never forget that Sunset Beach was in the right-front eyewall (strongest part) of the strongest hurricane ever to hit North Carolina, Hazel back in 1954 – storm surge of 18 feet + winds of 140mph gusting to 160 – timed to be on top of a full-moon high tide. The track of Matthew eerily resembles so far the track taken by Hazel – though it’s still early enough for it to veer off and be another miss, which will produce spectacular north-shore Hawail type surf for a couple of days instead of the usual tame 2-3 ft waves.
greennotGreen
@bemused: Because of my numerous dogs, my new house has all tile floors (the ones that look like wood,) dyed concrete in the basement, and hardwood only in the off-limits living room. A far better fit for my lifestyle than any carpet.
greennotGreen
Re: orchids. Orchids are a large group of plants, mostly tropical, but many from temperate zones or higher elevations that hobbyists cultivate in refrigerated growing chambers. That said, some, e.g., Phalenopsis, like the same temps we do and don’t need so much light. What they do need that can be more of a challenge is humidity. So a bright bathroom or kitchen sink window are good locations.
BTW, the ice cube thing is bogus. A tropical plant probably doesn’t want chilly water on its roots. Better idea: about once a week, dunk the whole pot in water for a few seconds, then let it drain thoroughly. Use a 1/4 strength solution of orchid fertilizer every so often. Easy-peasy.
MomSense
@OzarkHillbilly:
Hope your shoulder is feeling a bit better. Hapoy to hear your son is going to help you with your greenhouse.
@Mustang Bobby:
Gorgeous orchid, MB. I am one of the poor fools trying to grow them inside.
@satby:
Love that house! My current fantasy is to build a small, solar, geo thermal house with a couple acres of land and room for the pup to run and for me to have a big garden. I’m spending way too much money just heating and cooling my house.
Pogonip
Tell Balloon Juice (for a change): I had what I thought was a horrible heat rash all summer. When it didn’t disappear after the cooldown, I consulted my doctor. To my surprise, it’s a fungal rash related to jock itch. So if the same happens to you, don’t wait. He gave me a prescription, but advised that I keep name-brand Lotrimin on hand and start applying immediately if I see it trying to come back. Has to be the name brand; the store brands are a different formulation and may not work. To lessen the chance of a recurrence, I’m to wash my leg with yellow Dial soap twice a day (Dial has an anti-fungal ingredient) and then powder it with Zeasorb. So if you’ve ever wondered why your heat rash hung on till Halloween, it may not be a heat rash at all.
My doc’s from the hot, humid Phillippines. People from hot, humid climates know their rashes.
scav
My aunt has had rather remarkable luck with orchids with very little discernible kit, just apparently a basement window in a room with apparently the right temperature. She was buying them from TJs (no not the fancy fancy ones) and felt bad about throwing them out when they stopped blooming. So down they’d sit out of sight with minimal watering and they’d often start blooming again. I’m not even sure she has them sitting on the plats of gravel with water underneath (for humidity) that my uncle uses with the special lights. So it’s certainly possible. Some don’t come back, some rebloom with an impressive determination.
bemused
@greennotGreen:
Every time I vacuum and clean our hardwood and tile floors, I remember our carpeting and still feel liberated and thankful it is long gone.
jeffreyw
Now here comes Miss Bea, incubating some basil.
OzarkHillbilly
@scav: I always call them a ‘leaf rake’ and a hard rake’, but Wapiti’s ‘garden rake’ is the norm around here.
WereBear
To me, it will always be “leaf rake” and “Sideshow Bob rake.”
TaMara (HFG)
@satby: That is such a lovely home. Congrats. My favorite style. Can’t wait to see the after pictures.
rikyrah
#LastTimeTrumpPaidTaxes is a real hashtag
scav
@OzarkHillbilly: & @WereBear: Having a variety of terms ready to try next for the second rake can only help, especially as it’s the less iconic one. Just learned that “cultivator” might be the official name for that three prong long tool that I can use instead of a garden rake if necessary, but who knows if that’s what people actually say. At least that one’s really easy to describe.
rikyrah
NOBODY is playing with them.
Jenna JohnsonVerified account
@wpjenna
Trump tells his vastly white audience in Pennsylvania to go to polling places in “certain areas” on Election Day to check for voter fraud.
JMG
@rikyrah: As if those people would go into “certain areas” of Philadelphia for any reason whatsoever. If any do, i’m sure the Philly PD may have a word with them.
OzarkHillbilly
@JMG:
I’m not. I’d like to think otherwise but I have to acknowledge the possibility they might be too busy stopping and frisking or pulling people over for DWB.
Amir Khalid
@Morfydd:
i was under the impression it was the Day of German Unity. At least that’s what all my German Vocab books tell me. Do they call the holiday Tag der deutschen Vereinigung or Tag der deutschen Einheit?
Kropadope
@rikyrah:
Fixted
scav
@srv: If we hang the guilty, why not hang the innocent?
Make ‘Merka Grate!
Origuy
@OzarkHillbilly:
Is that the Anniversary Update of WIndows 10? If so, I may have the same problem. My computer was running fine on Windows 10 until I downloaded the update. Now my computer boots up fine and then locks up a few seconds later. I haven’t done anything to fix it because I was waiting for Microsoft to work out the problem. I have my work laptop to use, so it hasn’t been urgent. I’m ab out ready to try backing it out soon.
Don’t dump your hardware; it’s only the OS that is messed up. Find someone to help you fix it. It won’t be cheap but probably cheaper than a new box.
SiubhanDuinne, liberal mob enforcer bitch
@rikyrah:
I don’t know about Pennsylvania, but here in Georgia (!) nobody can do election monitoring without proper training and credentialling. You don’t just show up wherever you feel like it and start demanding to see ID or whatever. Election officials are trained and paid by the county, and the busier locations generally have uniformed security nearby. There’s no electioneering of any kind within 150 feet of the outside of the building where voting takes place, nor within 25 feet of any individual voter standing in line. I suspect Trump’s goons might be in for a surprise if they try any intimidation. (“Electioneering” includes such things as parking a car with partisan/candidate bumper stickers too close, wearing a campaign button or shirt or CAP, or distributing flyers on behalf of a candidate or ballot initiative.)
jeffreyw
@OzarkHillbilly: Have you tried the reset option? Settings > Update & Security > Recovery > reset. I did this to one machine this spring, IIRC it will keep your files but you will need to re-install most all of your programs. I does provide a handy list of what it didn’t keep.
Steeplejack (phone)
@Debbie(aussie), @satby:
Fixed the link: Queenslander.
japa21
@SiubhanDuinne, liberal mob enforcer bitch: Same in Illinois. They need to have special ID, have to hand it over to the election judge so they can’t go from precinct to precinct without it, they cannot talk to voters at all. They can monitor the process and they can challenge a voter’s legitimacy, but they must do so to the election judge and not the voter and cannot just indiscriminately do so. IOW, they have to produce a valid reason to challenge a voter.
Steeplejack (phone)
@WereBear:
It always kills me on the HGTV shows how the house hunters are like “Eww, paint colors!” That’s practically the easiest thing to fix.
WereBear
@Steeplejack (phone): I’ll see you and raise you: I have seen them complain about bedspreads and drapes. The things that will be on the truck leaving town!
Steeplejack (phone)
@scav:
I would go with “leaf rake” and “garden rake,” as in “Where did you put the goddamn leaf rake?!” That would get quick results, I bet.
germy
@scav:
Oh c’mon, you and me both know the poor got it too good in this country, with their ‘Bama Phones and Steaks and EBT cards, and free cable, watching BET all day and night.
bemused
@srv:
Rudy, ugly inside and out. The kind of guy every parent dreams their daughters will choose to be their partners in life.
Steeplejack (phone)
@WereBear:
Too true. Also furniture choices and placement. “Hey, nitwit, that stuff will be gone!”
rikyrah
@satby:
Looks like a nice house. LOL at the carpet.
germy
Just saw a commercial for the Eddie Murphy film “The Adventures Of Pluto Nash” (set in the late 21st century) and at one point he takes out a wad of cash. Hillary Clinton is the face on the money.
Aleta
@satby: Those doors and other woodwork are gorgeous.
Pool table = guest bed. And guests have an ensuite bar.! Add a heated cattle trough = hot tub and Air b b is written all over this. (joke)
Seriously this house is beautiful. The porch, the iron fence, and I’d give anything for that woodwork. Nearly on a river (dog walks?) and short walk to campus.
Seems like you’ve got that landing on your feet thing down cold.
SiubhanDuinne, liberal mob enforcer bitch
@japa21:
Pretty much like that in Georgia. I’m doing election monitoring again this year, taking my training refresher next week, and they are very strict about what we can and cannot do. That includes direct communication with the voter.
scav
@Steeplejack (phone): Yeah, only problem is I’m usually searching for the other one, the goddamn garden rake or in a pinch a cultivator because everyone seems to have a leaf rake, although often extremely dodgy ones. Otherwise I’m facing lawn repair armed with Japanese hand tools. I’m really hoping the consensus here bleeds over into the yards I’m about to help with.
Jay C
@satby:
Love the pool table: is it a basic-model Brunswick? It looks like the exact one my father bought in the early ’60s for his office/poolhouse – and we left for the buyers after my mother died: the slate alone weighs 900 lbs: not the easiest thing to move.
Steeplejack (phone)
@scav:
You just asked what to call them. Actually finding one is up to you!
P.S. “Cultivator” denotes something more machine-like than a rake where I come from.
scav
@Steeplejack (phone): Alas, I know that all too well (but buying long tools for someone with only a balcony to myself makes no sense. And they look funny at you on the “L.) So, what are the long handled three bent-prong gizmos in your world?
Steeplejack (phone)
@scav:
You mean something like this? Technically, it’s a spading fork, but, in the field (so to speak) I would call it a pitchfork, because the context would make it clear that you’re turning earth, not throwing hay into the loft. And “Where’s the goddamn spading fork?!” sounds a bit pretentious.
If you’re talking about a heavy rake with the thick teeth at a 90-degree angle, that’s what I was originally calling a garden rake.
Steeplejack (phone)
@Steeplejack (phone):
Garden rake.
scav
@Steeplejack (phone): Neither (I call that first a garden fork I think). It’s kinda like a garden rake only with three or four tines /prongs at most and is much more for nearly hoeing. Useless for rakey smoothing. this.
Steeplejack (tablet)
@scav:
To me “cultivator” calls to mind something like this. I would call your tool at #92 a rake hoe.
But it all comes down to agreeing on the terms, or understanding them, with whomever you’re actually gardening with, not some random guy on the internet. If you find that they think that “rake” means lawn rake, can’t you send them a pic (à la #92) and ask, “Do you have one of these?”
“Oh, a fribbet! Sure, we’ve got one of those.”
Problem solved.
(Or, of course, “No, but we’ll get one.”)
scav
@Steeplejack (tablet): Thanks. Don’t worry, I’m collecting options for the terms, (rake hoe and cultivator plus three-pronged long-handle claw thing) in some cases because I have no word, in other cases because there is a variety of terms. This was just an opportunity for me to get into a more broad set of real gardeners to add to my limited set of “can you help me” ones. Plus I like words.
ETA: Just remembered – as I’m watching Gardners World, I also worry my terms are sometimes hopelessly British.
Steeplejack (phone)
@scav:
Okay, cool. I was a little worried that we were getting into that zone where the Car Talk guys, after an involved discussion with one caller, said that they had proved that it was actually possible for three people to know less about a topic than one person.
satby
@Steeplejack (phone): Thank you, because that was flipping gorgeous! Now I want one of those ?
satby
@Jay C: yes, it used to be in a bar we think. Full track too. I have no idea how they ever got the thing in there.
Betsy
@satby: Congrats on the house! How exciting. I’ve been reading that housewives of the teens and 20s liked to have the icebox out of the kitchen, which seems inconvenient to us, and in a little nook or back porch enclosure, because it kept the drips from the ice and the iceman’s dirty boots away from the main kitchen floor — and allowed ice deliveries if no one was at home, too. With ice usually coming in twice a week this was seen as a big convenience. Then, when people began to get electric iceboxes, they often ended up on the same porch or vestibule behind the kitchen where the old icebox had been.
By the way, I see that woodwork in the parlor and dining room has never been painted. Wow, incredibly lucky you! Spectacular. Good luck with your upfit and have fun!
Betsy
@scav: one is a leaf rake and the other is a garden rake. Leaf rake is self-explanatory, garden rake is the heavier straight-line for evening out soil and breaking up lumps in a veg or flower garden. Sme people call it a cultivator, but I think that’s more of a pronged thing that you use around plants to break up lumps in the soil.
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Betsy
@Steeplejack (phone): i think a pitchfork is very different. It has light, thin, wire tines for handling and pitching hay lightly and quickly, and would bend if used for anything much heavier. You could never turn soil with a pitchfork. That’s what your spading fork (turning fork, or garden fork) is for. By the same token you could never pitch hay with a turning fork — It weighs far too much.
Betsy
@scav: that? That’s a cultivator. A long-handled, not a hand, cultivator.
Plows can also be rigged up with huge cultivator attachments.
Steeplejack
@Betsy:
Did you even look at the picture I linked to? It basically confirmed everything you said.
Betsy
@Steeplejack: yes of course I looked at the picutre. And I read what you said! Did you even read what I said? My point was the exact opposite of yours. You said “in the field (so to speak) I would call it a pitchfork, because the context would make it clear that you’re turning earth, not throwing hay into the loft”. The pictured item is a heavy turning fork, not a pitchfork. A pitchfork has round, light wire-like tines. You can’t turn earth with a pitchfork any more than you can knead dough with an egg whisk. The “context” doesn’t change that.