Eventful week in eventful Summer in eventful year in eventful decade........ Fate just keeps giving.. or taking whichever way you wish to look at it..
I am losing the plot too many times to be good but that supposed to be one of the side effects of the other thing BUT this.... this was something else and its getting to the stage I starting to worry I love a drama too much now..
So it has got to the stage with my embracing the Inner Geek where I am now seeing everyday occurrences as mini .. observational experiments.. simple things like watching rain and how it moves and soaks, or doesn't and erodes... and this weekend it was the turn of Physics and Gravity to come to the fore..
Being the dutiful Son in Law had arranged to replace a very tired and leaky garage roof for the In Laws, who are both the wrong side of becoming an octogenarian and deserve any help I can give especially as the last gales saw the roof literally flapping ready to take off.
Saturday was too wet so we postponed til the Sunday, forecast to be a much better day especially to spend stripping and resheeting a roof. Weather was just as they said and had the roof cleared in no time and started sheeting down ... all simples .. and all done carefully and very mindful of the height and age of the joists, albeit without a full scaffold but safe none the less. Was just fixing the last 2 sheets when I needed to ask a question so moved over to corner and placed my hand on the parapet wall ..... The end brick decided to shift and rolled off AND my hand followed it.. along with the rest of me as I had just shifted my weight over.. So there I am going head first down onto the garage below at the point that my Father in Law hears me swear for the very first time...
Ok... back to soil....the time has come, no sleep for the next few months... I NEED to get this on paper, the thoughts, the observations, the madness, the mistakes, the retakes, this whole shebang needs to be outed...
I then need to know is it me?... Is this for real? Am I really Chasing Shadows or is there some merit to all this... time only will tell.
But first...
Bonjour Mesdames et Messieurs, J'espère que vous apprécierez le Blog...
Had a run of French views you see, probably someone saying 'Cette façon vous ne faites pas un blog'
AND now to add as an edit we have a load of Kiwi eyes burning into the pages so...
'Nau mai, haere mai'
So for now I MUST get some pH retesting done, I have a new calibratable Meter, neat bit of kit AND I feel I can trust it with regular use of Standards. pH is a big player in this you see, well it is a consequential player at least, involved in the Fe moving about, not driving it just the oil lubbing the shifting....
I have had real major head and balls aching distractions with pH testing, started with a Tenax pH Indicator Test Kit, Agri grade stuff, a good indicator rather than defining BUT ALL I need is indication, I don't particularly care what the point part is I want to know how far it sits which side. Well I ran out... simples you'd think phone Tenax and get some more..... Harrumpff.. Not interested, asked where I could get replacement and the person I spoke too took my details but wasn't very interested and didn't call back.. Tenax off my Christmas card list now as they only interested in supplying Garden Centres with mini Kits it seems...
So foolish ol me thinks all Indicator Solutions (you would think from the science of how they work wouldn't you!) are equal and searches high and low for pH Indicator Solution.. or Fairy Wee as I now call it.. its as rare as anyway.. Finally found some on Amazon! and bought in bulk... Miss the Postie so go to collect a soggy package from the Sorting Office as the bottles have leaked! To be fair supplier was good as gold and supplied a replacement FOC.. top man..
I then resume pH testing... OMFG.. its all gone wrong, completely different so consistency is lost I am now at the point of thinking retest EVERYTHING, well I had enough gear for it now at least!!
But first I want to check the stuff I have, was it a rogue batch throwing results or was it the fact it wasn't designed to test a dry soil sample like the Tenax stuff.. so I do my tap water... then distilled water... coffee... Banana.. citric acid... soap... vinegar... bicarbonate of soda.. ALL did just what you expected them to do EXCEPT the distilled water.. threw a really odd result like it was alkaline when you would expect it to be neutral.. or if its CO2 up acid at least
So I go and buy some Water Test pH Kit from a 'Hydroponics Supply Co' hmmm very 'odd' aroma from the place, can't quite put my finger on where I smelled that before man... but hey .. I also get some pH paper from China...
And yet again my Distilled Water was kicking an 8. reading... it shouldn't, recheck with cheap TDS and NO EC !! I am very very confused so it's time to spend some money on the above...
Added to the basket was a very neat new calibratable EC/TDS Meter while I was at it.. important you see, to be able to monitor variations.. salts and stuff... are they players or just ball boys ?
And while I was at it to add to the shiny new pH and EC/TDS Meters I just had to add a Moisture Meter... not the ideal BUT I am on a budget here people so I get a spike probe Meter as I can't afford a TDR or lets face it, the really fancy one the POGO although I am hopefully getting to look hands on at a Delta-T SM150 which looks the part budget wise, or at least at the next level for me. Hopefully be next month if the man from Delta-T keeps to his word!!
Lastly I got a really nice couple of boxes from the LaMotte guys shipped in from US today... now THAT will add another angle to what I am looking for........ More lights to shine in the shadows..
And today I became the proud owner of an Ebay Clegg Hammer!! Ok its an old un an 801 and she's a 4.5 kg'er BUT I aint interested in the surface remember.. HELL I would buy a Parry Meter if I wanted bullshit numbers on the top bit whilst ignoring the rest.... its beneath that counts so lets see what she says when it gets here.... Whats the worse that can happen off Ebay..... (pray)
And lets not forget my Dobber... what a mighty mighty tool The Dobber is....
When I am out and about I feel
I have a new air of confidence when I walk around with Dobber ready to whip out at any moment and I invariably come away from any site inspection enriched for it. Hell I even whipped it out in the rain today to see what was happening with all that moisture....
Excellent.......
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