Pearl Sutton

steward & bricolagier
+ Follow
since Oct 02, 2015
Merit badge: bb list bbv list
Forum Moderator
Pearl Sutton currently moderates these forums:
Biography

Chronic reader, creative dreamer, a LOT of hand skills to make things real, intense health issues that limit my activity, but not my creativity or dreams. Moved to southern Missouri with enough tools and junk to build a life that might work well with my health. One of god’s gigglers, I punctuate with smiley faces and exclamation points when I type, and smile and laugh a lot in real life. (Often at things no one else understands.) And I both curtsy at people (even when wearing grubby work clothes) and purr when hugged, both online and in real life. “Normal” is not a word that has ever been used for me.
Been organic gardening all my life, and bought 4 acres that I have designed from the ground up. Making it happen is being the most fun I have ever had in my life, the best 3D jigsaw puzzle ever! Reading Mollison’s Designer’s Manual was like coming home, ah, THERE I am! A reality where I can use all of my multifaceted talents and skills!
Dumpster diver, recycler, second hand store shopper, I tell people I am attracted to rust and lace. I have violated every warranty I have ever met, I’m a tool using animal, and I use my tools to modify everything in my world. And it only gets weirder...
Bricolage: something constructed or created from a diverse range of available things. Adding ier to a french word means one who does that activity. I am a bricolagier, the things I do are all made of a wide range of things that I have acquired from diverse places.
For More
SW Missouri
Apples and Likes
Apples
Total received
In last 30 days
79
Forums and Threads

Recent posts by Pearl Sutton

Hm. I'd suggest no more than 5 or so items per thread... ? Keeps it from being "oh, all but this one are gone" which is always sad when the one you wanted went away.

EDIT: If they are all identical, probably list them all in one post.
6 hours ago

John Suavecito wrote: so more people can make biochar that fits their circumstances,  and in general, make use out of materials that we have lying around.



That's why I comment, when most of the people who make biochar seem to be big guys with the strength to cope with big stuff and move it. I think there's definitely a place for those of us who read the sites on the net and say "well, if I had a crew, maybe...."  I can do it small and slow, by myself, and get good results too! I think that can only encourage others to try it. There are a lot of ways between the big guys and me, and there's probably a way that works for anyone who wants to try one that fits them.

:D
11 hours ago
I use sticks. I tie them in a nice neat bundle, or put them in a paper bag tightly, either way I'm going for a bundle the size of my burn barrel with all the sticks going upwards (for air flow). I light a fire at the bottom, put the bundle on top, tip my barrel, and watch it closely. When the main bunch are done, I stand the barrel up, and put the fire out with a hose. I leave it there till the water cools, then add compost and an air bubbler to the barrel of water and char for a few hours. My barrels are small enough that I can put it on a dolly, wheel it to where I want it, and dump the whole barrel there.
I get small loads, but I do it easily, and get it to where I want it, all in one process. Unfortunately, the place I want it has yet to be a place that's safe to do the burn there and skip the dolly part of it. Dumping it straight out would be easiest, just have not been adding char to good burn areas.
12 hours ago
I'm planning to compost mine. My other option is a lot of work.
1 day ago
Since my last post the sun has escalated. There have been a succession of M class flares (smaller than an X, but still big) and just a few hours ago an X9, officially the highest flare of this 11 year solar cycle. I'm pretty sure it's CME also is aimed at earth.

The X class flares being impulsive, short lived, is a good thing, but they still threw particles out toward us. The M class flares throw less, but they can keep the magnetic field disturbance going in between the higher X class flares, kind of a resonance effect. At this point it's hard to tell, but in general I'd say the auroras have good chances of being visible for the next week or so.

TL:dr:  Watch the skies.
3 days ago
Watch the skies again! Friday or Saturday there's a CME impact coming, not a particularly hard one, but came off an X7 flare. For reference, the highest of the May 2024 solar storms was an X8.7, most of the flares in that storm were below X5. This one is by itself, so it  won't be part of a cumulative pile up, like the May storm was, but it may produce a short lived strong impact brightening of the skies.
Get us pictures if you can!!  :D
4 days ago
...when you spent three days in the kitchen, canned up 21 quarts and 24 pints of stuff, and look at what is left to go, and wonder how insane you have to be to do this!  And wonder if you'll ever see the shelves in your fridge again....

My canner, due to weird stove in rental, will only do 2 batches a day, that's a pretty serious bottleneck on the process.
1 week ago
I have a lot of odd tools, this one might be one of the "most obscure" though...
Antique tonsil remover. I bought it at a flea market because it looked cool!

This picture is NOT mine, it's off the net, but mine's this type.

1 week ago
I deal with rain the same way I deal with snow: Extra lights so it doesn't feel so dark, and keep busy working. I always have a list of what can be done indoors. I sew, so my sewing only gets done on rainy or snowy days.

Nancy's list was great, she missed baking bread and making good soup with it :D

Experimenting with ANY new skill or recipe is always good. What do you not know howto do? Go to thrift store, look at stuff, does any of it catch your eye? How about knitting or crocheting? Bet they have yarn and needles and hooks for cheap! All skills are useful, learning one changes how you look at the next, even if you never do the first one again.
1 week ago
You could go for things that match well, like lemon pound cake with lemon cream pie on top. Or a streusel swirled cake with apple pie on top. Oooh, chocolate cake with dark chocolate pie or pudding on top!

I'm not a fan of frosting, I often use thick pudding on top of cakes if I make them to go places, not one has ever objected yet, and no leftover cake comes home with me afterward! Lots of cleaned plates.   :D



1 week ago