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Thursday, September 28, 2017

Jet Stream Poem


Jet Stream Poem



Nature tracks historic direction
A breeze balances temperature 

Protest is an unalienable right
Censorship leads dictatorship

Newton defined the law
Acceleration to a Nation

Plug waterfall with desire
Cease speak mouth-piece

Pretend forces wind whip
Crow fly atmosphere night

Player take knee for injured
Concussion sparks a hot air














Caroline Gerardo  ©  copyright September 28 2017  all rights image and poetry reserved

Friday, September 22, 2017

Hug For North Koreans

Drifting to sleep an idea enters my prayers.
I want to get a travel VISA to North Korea to
share loving gestures, hand out candles and
hug everyone.
지난 밤에 표류하는 표정이 나의기도에 들어간다.
나는 북한에 여행 비자를 받고 싶다.
사랑스런 제스처를 나누며 양초를 나누어주고
모두를 안아.
jinan bam-e pyolyuhaneun pyojeong-i nauigido-e deul-eoganda.
naneun bughan-e yeohaeng bijaleul badgo sipda.
salangseuleon jeseucheoleul nanumyeo yangcholeul nanueojugo
moduleul an-a.

Caroline Gerardo copyright September 22 2017
images from Mission in California
If interested I have interior videos of art, sculpture, gardens and fountains of 21 missions in California. I'm against glorifying King Charles of Spain or the Jesuits or the Franciscans who
abused natives, but fascinated by the history and artifacts which few seem to treasure

Thursday, September 21, 2017

Hepatitis A



Water    
Soap
Clean
And
Vaccine


HEP
A
Kills

Simple

Water
Soap
Clean
And
Vaccine








Caroline Gerardo © copyright September 20, 2017

Wednesday, September 20, 2017

Composting

Composting Without Buying Anything. 


Recycle what you have and layer in variety. Compost builds healthy soil. Compost saves money on fertilizer, watering and reduces landfill piles. 
So here’s the step by step easy peasy tips and tricks to compost:

 CAGE
Make a cage to hold the compost pile vertical to allow air exposure, and easy to slip off and use the bottom soil.
Any farmer or junk collector has mesh gage wire in a junk pile that they can't give away. If you don't happen to hoard this go post on Craigslist or Freecycle and surely several souls will happily allow you to pick it up. Remember to bring gloves. I never seem to get them on my hands before I start although there's a pair in the back of the truck, in the mud room and garage.
This is best a 4 foot tall, or 5 if you are tall enough to handle it with a width of about three feet diameter. This should be easy for you to move on your own. I'm tiny but strong. Use your judgement as to maximum size. A compost heap taller than four feet and wider than five feet takes longer to cook and then you may need a back hoe... On the opposite scale if it is too low (needs height of three feet) it won't warm up. Natural heat burns the weed seeds and sterilizes the end product.
A fat column of compost that can be easily lifted or moved is my goal. I like a round one. Tie it with wire or ribbon or grocery store wire vegetable ties.Tie it with whatever you have in those craft bins in the garage or toolbox.
I'm speaking of  about the size of a narrow trash bin that your mother could lift. You can add a center empty column of mesh as a stovepipe chimney to allow air inside.
Welded wire used wire used fencing with posts and clamps that came from a rusty heap is great.
Picket fencing with wire inside will work, as will wooden stakes wire or tied together.
I've used sign posts and the wooden pickets from political signs after elections.
If you desire, it can be a pretty wattle fence but I prefer lightweight that I can handle.
LOCATION
Wattle is easy to weave and is attractive looking if you decide to put a bin close to your kitchen.
Why close to the kitchen? Because you bring vegetable scraps and coffee grounds out to add to the bin. Make it easy. If it's not simple you're going to give up. Not to worry much, if you go on vacation or get too busy the pile may cool and dry or become soggy in the rain. Begin again and think opposite of the problem is the fix. A bin should not lean up against house structure to attract bad critters inside.
I have chickens so mine allows them to snoop but not topple it over.


I have 3 compost bins, as I have acreage. One is small near the kitchen for coffee grounds, tea that steeped (without bag or string or staple) green vegetable peels and paper towels. Every month or so I move this to layer into the larger bins down on the meadow.

START
Ready to build the bin:
Clear an area of ground. Dig the soil loose about six inches. Lay some old logs that will fit inside the hoop. Place wire hoop on the soil around the logs. Put a center chimney of wire for air vent. Fill the donut ring with layers of different materials. Think lasagna. Cover the top to keep water in and my chickens who will be snooping out of the bin. Later I allow them to stir the mix about once a month I lift the wire, allow them to dig and stack it back. In the summer in three months the bottom will now be all dark rich soil and the pieces mostly unrecognizable.
Old wood logs form the base to hold moisture and make a footing frame for the compost then layers of leaves, grass and weed clippings, chicken manure, clippings of clover, egg shells, occasional un-printed paper goods torn up, small amounts of wood fire ash that has cooled  (a cup a week or less),
You can use any green or brown dry waste you have in balanced amounts- one part green and three of brown. Green is peels of cucumbers, slimy lettuce, old fruit, not citrus, grass, coffee or tea grounds. Brown is leaves shredded, weeds broken up, shredded paper that’s not color printed, dryer lint, and even wood chips (chips like all solid or larger pieces are slower to break down).
Waste from chickens, bunnies, herbivores such as hamsters, cattle, and less extent horses can be used to add nitrogen. These need a minimum of 190 days aging in the pile in warm weather.
In the meadow I have two compost bins- one I include weeds and the other is no weeds. I move the bins after each three/four month period. Below is rich soil with worms ready for planting.
WARNINGS
If compost smells like ammonia add a little soil and more brown or dry material.
Don’t shock the cooking pile with a huge quantity of one thing.
Keep damp not soggy.
In an urban area: you may ask neighborhood coffee shop to save the grinds, a Nektar store to save green peels, be creative. You are offering to pick up their trash and reduce the cost of dumping.
Raccoons and mice may be attracted to the smells. Because my chickens free range the mice fear the birds during the day. Also, my girls clean up the grubs a raccoon desires. Raccoons tear the whole thing apart looking for that one peach inside. I don’t use traps or poisons, just clean up the mess and thank them for stirring for me. Keep it organic.
Even though the center of my compost might be a hot 140 degrees I disturb it by allowing my chickens to rip through it for bugs. They eat the weed seeds, ants and bugs I don’t want. They also eat some of the worms and I guess I could modify this procedure but it gives them a wild party - joy that makes me laugh.


If someone sells you a plastic bin that has an electric spinner and the packs of clean straw and starter magic please refrain and send good money to the Salvation Army. I saw and advertisement on a Gardening website today that composting is a science, but not rocket science. Composting is easy.
If your pile is too dry, it will be slow, but no worries, it can be boosted by adding a layer of green. 1 part green 4 parts brown dry. Put a shovel of your regular soil, ground dirt on top and water the top to be like a sponge. Excess water runoff - use in a watering can as a fertilizer and pest control for existing plants. This is called compost tea.  too wet because you forgot to cover it in the rain? Add more dry brown leaves... 
Have fun composting


Caroline Gerardo copyright September 20 2017

Monday, September 4, 2017

DACA Barn Poem

















Remove
Remove boots to air out the dogs
Hike in cotton grass full of snakes
Remove  silica mask before algae
Examine motivation of authority
Remove makeup before retiring
Dig foundation,  find gold coins

Ask
Ask why President ends DACA
Play a tuba Bonerama to protest
Ask if children's LEGOS murder
Sing when opposition speaks hate
Ask if castle crumbles from time
Discover treasure in true hearts

Remove
Remove slippers before dancing
Draw symbols to free joy souls
Remove stain hiding in the barn
Send children to abandoned life


Caroline Gerardo poem and images all rights reserved © copyright September 1 2017

Friday, September 1, 2017

Pink Sky


Pink sky

Pink sky over ocean



Pink sky over sea ~ waves wear on toes holding ground ~ this moment is ours.

#haiku
I'm just a Mom who raised children on her own, hosted family gatherings for 40, and find joy in everything. I work long days, then I'm creative. There's great people around me. Tide like sound of chewing and cranes constructing I hope brings happiness and awareness.

copyright  ©  Caroline Gerardo August 2017

Iceland Airplane DC Crash Site

























Sólheimasandur’s big tourist attraction in Southern Iceland made
me sad. It's not the airplane crashed upon the black sands, it's the tourists who disappoint. I saw young men pulling pieces off the plane, and carrying spray paint cans to decorate with icing. Travel opens eyes.

Pass Skógafoss waterfall on the Ring Road 1 - look for flashing yellow lights. Parking area is on the ocean side. Parking is free. Wear warm clothing, it's windy. Follow the yellow road reflector plastic markers about three miles on black gravel. Stay on the marked road. This is private land. Do not trample on plants, many are endangered. 

In 1973 this Navy DC-3 crashed in southern Iceland. 
It won't will last past 2020. Tourists take pieces, climb on it, and make holes in the walls to climb up top. 

I share this with you and sigh. Information on the internet can
be fabulous; but; however; instead; in this case it's people that aren't so fab.
Photograph copyright ©  Caroline Gerardo August 28 2017 Do not use without my permission all rights reserved

GPS coordinates: 63.4912391,-19.3632810

Need driving directions, how to read the signs, what side of road and much more

read here http://carolinegerardo.blogspot.com/2017/08/drive-in-iceland.html