Duck Tape to the Rescue

One thing we always have on our shelf is Duck Tape. There are knock-offs, but none work as well as the original. I never realized how many styles there were until doing this post. There's a tape for every purpose. The kind I'm most familiar with is called Standard Duck Tape. It's grey, sturdy, and has a cloth layer that makes it easy to tear.

One of my chores at the cabin is to collect floating chunks of wood for kindling. We gather them in large plastic tubs. Over time, the plastic cracks. Rather than throw the cracked ones away (save that nail), we repair them with Duck Tape. That way we can get a few more years of good work out of them. In this one, I left the hole open so water can drain out as the wet wood dries.

Here's an interesting video about how they make Duck Tape.

What are some of the things you use Duck Tape for? -- Margy

Preserving: Drying Herbs

My herbs are perennial, but I cut them back in fall and they are dormant in the winter. Here you can see my mint, basil, and thyme. I also have parsley, sage, and rosemary.

With softer herbs like parsley and basil, I remove the leaves and let them dry on cookie sheets before storing.

For woodier herbs like thyme, sage, and rosemary, I hang them to let the leaves dry on the stems. I use a rack in the new bathroom. It gets the least sunlight and has plenty of air circulation. When there's no moisture left in the leaves, it's time to store them for future use.

Here's my last thyme harvest. On the left are the dried leaves on their stems. On the right, the stripped stems, and in the middle the fruits of my labour, lots of dried thyme. To store my dried herbs, I reuse plastic containers from Crystal Light. I label and date the containers and store them in the new pantry you can see in the picture above.

Do you dry herbs? What are some of your techniques? -- Margy

Reflecting on Pacific Coastal Airlines

Last Friday I shared some aerial shots from a Pacific Coastal Airlines flight for Sky Watch. Crafty Gardener suggested I share them as a part of Weekend Reflections, so here goes. Since the reflection on the shiny prop spinner followed us all the way from Vancouver to Powell River, BC, I had lots of opportunities to get more.

Here are two more from my collection.

Can you find what's different? -- Margy

Beachcombers 40th Anniversary

I was at DuaneBurnett.com this week and learned that it's the 40th anniversary of the iconic Canadian television sitcom The Beachcombers. He put together a tribute video using pictures from the Sunshine Coast Museum and Archives in Gibsons, BC, Canada, and his own fan photos from his youth. Take a look.

Since we moved to Powell River, Wayne and I've heard about The Beachcombers. It was a huge hit across the country and was Canada's longest running TV series. We tried to purchase a DVD of the shows, but they aren't available. All we could find were a few clips on YouTube.

The show ran for 19 years and was about a log salvager (a beachcomber) who lived and worked around Gibsons BC. Prominent in the show was Molly's Reach, a restaurant on the Gibsons waterfront. You can still go there for a meal and see their boat the Persephone out front. You can even join their Facebook group.

Hope you get a chance sometime to see this little bit of Coastal BC history! -- Margy

Skytrails

Our float cabin on Powell Lake is under the flight path of jetliners heading to and from Vancouver International Airport. Contrails are linear clouds that are formed in the wakes of airplanes at high altitude.

This is the beginning of the contrail over the northwest horizon.

This is the end of the contrail over the southeast horizon, where the plane is already descending for YVR. High altitude winds have started to blow out this very long man made cloud. I wonder where the plane was coming from? Alaska, Bejing, Hong Kong, Japan? From the northwest there are lots of possibilities. I hope the passengers enjoy their visit. -- Margy

Spring Garden Preparations

Last week at the cabin I did get to prepare the soil in my floating garden for spring planting. Last year at this time it was still frozen. This winter is milder, so I was able to work it up, no problem.

We went to Canadian Tire to get steer manure. It's early in the season, so we had to go out back and get it off a pallet. Half a bag went in each bed, then I used the shovel I won in the Sunset Magazine garden photo contest to turn the soil over and dig it in.

The manure helps replenish the nutrients in the soil. Now it can rest for six weeks until I do my planting in April. That way it won't burn my seeds or seedlings.

Last Fall I really cleaned out my beds. The annuals and strawberries came out and were added to my compost pile. All that remains are my herbs and asparagus. And my daffodils and hyacinths that are already poking their noses up. Mr. Bunny is trying to protect them, but someone is nibbling the tender tips.

While we were at Canadian Tire, they had Primulas on sale. I couldn't pass up those bright spots of colour. I bought four to add to my planters on the deck. I didn't realize they are perennials. Most of my Primulas from last year survived the winter right in the planters. They are small, but look like they will come back again.

Gardening is one of my favourite things to do on a sunny (or even partially sunny) day. It's a hint of the pleasures of summer days to come. - Margy

Thermoelectric Power: Testing the Generator

As John was wiring, I was researching commercial thermoelectric generators for wood stoves. Thermoelectric power generation is common in large businesses, but home applications are few and far between. Then I found a video on YouTube and contacted the vendor, TEG Power (unfortunately no longer in business).

Ron was in the initial stage of producing modules to work with wood stoves. Then he changed his design to a hybrid thermoelectric generator. I have not found anouther company that sells a complete system, but there are several that do sell individual components that you can use to build your own wood stove generator, if you have the skills. You might check out TEC from Ontario, Canada.

After John had the wiring in place, and our thermoelectric generator arrived, it was time to test our new system. It came with directions, but Wayne and I are new to electrical applications. We sure learned a lot along the way. We purchased three 25 watt strips for a total of 75 watts of output. In amps, that's a little more than 6 under optimal conditions (heat of fire vs. coldness of water).

In our tests, we got about one amp per power strip. To make the cold side of the system work, we have to use an electric pump that uses about one amp, so the total charging capability of our system was around 2 amps. But if you know batteries, small trickle charges over a long period of time are the best.

So whenever our wood stove surface is about 300 degrees C (we use an Imperial thermometer so we don't exceed the 325 degrees C threshold), we are generating power. Now that is a good thing, especially during the winter when our solar generation is limited. -- Margy