Random crap with Uno.

[Buster's Uncle]

My condolences.

[Unorthodox]

Since I already had it out.

Tali's first brush with a Dark Ride.



Became her favorite that year.

She had been wanting to be a 'witch's cat' this year, since pretty much last Halloween.  She doesn't change her mind much, but recently wanted to be Esmeralda instead.  When first approaching the switch, she asked "is that still scary to help you after I get home?" 

Frankly, overall voodoo feeling we're doing, a gypsie isn't so far out of touch. 

[Buster's Uncle]

Are you saying she's getting a gypsy costume now?

(Also, "gypsy" being an ethic slur in the eyes of Romany/Travelers, should that word be allowed here?  I'm asking.)

[Unorthodox]

Well, since we'll be right IN the mouse palace and all, we might just buy an honest to goodness Esmeralda costume.  Then again, we might do more generic.  Where Esmeralda is NOT a bonafide Disney Princess, it might not even be a commonly stocked costume. 

As for Gypsy, it's a term applied to a wide variety of ethnicities, actually, including the Romani and is a grey area, much like "Indian" is to Native Americans.  You don't call someone an Indian giver, and you don't claim someone Gypped you out of something.  But your average Indian or Gypsy are not offended by the specific terms:  Anecdotal observations from those of the respective cultures I'm acquainted with. 

In terms of the costume, SPECIFICALLY, it will be a Gypsy costume no matter which way we go, with all the undertones that implies, and may be offensive if you were to specify a more specific ethnicity to it.  And she'll still be a dorable. 

Whether such a costume builds/enforces some kind of racism I'll happily let history decide with a clear conscience, personally. 

[Buster's Uncle]

Olydoke.

she'll still be a dorable.

QFT.

[JarlWolf]

Given I have Gypsy friends, and I call them gypsies, its fine. A gypsy is like calling a Jewish person a Jew. It's not offencive unless you connote it negatively, its just a cultural, ethnic or religious terming. Now, if I was to call them per say, jips, that'd be offencive. Or calling a Jewish person the K word, or an African the N word. Thats when it crosses the line.

[Buster's Uncle]

Okay, I had heard it was somewhat offensive, but if you guys have direct experience to the contrary, that's good enough for me.

[Unorthodox]

Stopped by my Uncle's over the weekend...

I don't know that we're going to have AS MANY pumpkins this year.  But, they are sure going to be LARGER. 

Here I was thinking of planting large varieties for contrast next year, but looks like I need to go SMALLER for contrast.  Maybe the pumpkins just went fewer/larger as their response to the drought conditions?   

Powdery mildew is killing his quicker than it is mine, so definitely harvesting before our trip.  Harvest 9/20-21, sell off any surplus 9/23-27. 

Both of us bought commercial seed this year, and we both have lots of odd hybrid varieties growing...I take it whoever is supplying seed to Burpee is not very careful/knowledgeable. 

Tons of work coming up to get everything ready. 

[Unorthodox]

Went digging into last year just to be sure.

Wow, we harvested our cinderellas and luminas on 9/9 last year.  Crazy just thinking about how early that is, but makes me feel a lot better about how the patch is dying off now, doing much better than last year in that way.  Of note, however, we did plant about 2 weeks later, so it's all evening out in that way.  Harvested the big patch 9/20 last year, so that seems like a good time again. 

Depressing to see the raven grass harvest from last year, though, we have practically nothing compared to that this year. 

[Rusty Edge]

Well, is there some consolation for the raven grass in your corn stalks?

[Buster's Uncle]

Odd.  I never heard of any part of anything growing bigger because it was dry - I've seen a lot of melons and fruits, notably grapes, grown bigger because it was too wet, but be crappy because they're all water.  Big as an adjustment to a dry year is a new one by me - maybe western dryland breeds I've never been involved in farming...

[Rusty Edge]

It sounds counterintuitive, but I think it's plausible . My pumpkin experience had more to do with mildew than draught, but it was only a couple of years.

Anyway- hot/dry weather means that there are fewer blossoms "set" in the case of beans. Most fall off. Then the plant puts all of it's energy into what it has left, making the pods and seeds above average in size.

With corn a similar thing can happen- a variety that might produce multiple ears in a good season will abort the additional ears, and they will wither. The overall yield will be less, but the single ear, or the kernels that are on that ear may well be bigger than usual. When things are really harsh, a corn plant might produce only pollen and not even attempt an ear.

So basically a plant might switch from quantity to quality when it comes to reproduction. After all, in harsher conditions a larger seed with more stored energy stands a better chance than a normal one.

[Unorthodox]

Yeah, that's what happened with the one variety of corn.  No second ear per stalk, and the ears we did get were TINY, but the KERNELS were nice and big.   

I know pumpkins 'set' better in cooler temps (specifically early morning), that never really come this year.  this would actually explain the poorer performance of the Luminas this year as well, since they were planted last among the plants, they would have been exposed to less of the cool temps early in the year.  And the Giant pumpkin growers artificially induce one per vine to get the size.  It's just a guess at the moment. 

The tall corn will make up for the loss of raven grass, sure, but it means I'm at a net loss on the year and will have to go cut reed grass again, something I had hoped to avoid.  I'll probably try to stretch what I have to cover anyway, see if I like it. 

As for how bad the year has been:

Hottest mean temp on record.  We've had more 'hot' days in the past, but our lows were especially warm this year. 
Bottom 10% on amount of water.    "91% of the time we have more precipitation".  This is measured some odd August to August schedule. 

[Unorthodox]

Ultra Reality: What would you do in this situation?

[Buster's Uncle]

I would do exactly what those people did and freak right the heck out - except for the felony assault I might commit on those mothers who came in laughing.