The NFC B-Day Chat Thread

[CapricornFarm]

KD, i think you just got the whole tutorial. You will have it whipped in no time!

 

[ShrekDawg]

Ok , what you do is put the wide end in the tank and hold it with one hand. You put the other end down toward the bucket. You suck hard on the end pointing down, but only briefly because you do not want to suck in any of that water!

Nope, that should be fine. I always stir up the gravel well and then push most of it to the back. Then you can suck up the muck without sucking up gravel.

I put the siphon part in the tank sideways, releasing the air, you than quickly move it side to side a few times, than you lift the top up which should start the siphon. Make sure your bucket is below. I use buckets from Wal-Mart sold for cleaning. Once you get the hang of it, it's easy. I personally wouldn't be sucking on the tube.

And here I was thinking it meant Bring Your Own Mouth!


The clerk will ask questions about what is in the package. Any liquids, glass, bunch of stuff. I could ask DW what they all are but she's upstairs And they will ask if it is adequately packaged. You might be surprised to find out some people just kinda throw stuff in the box with a little paper and it rattles around. In any case, it sounds like you are more than safe.

What is important is if you reuse a box that has been shipped before. REMOVE or TOTALLY mark out any old bar codes. Screws everything up when they have to figure out what they are supposed to scan.

So here is the raised bed i have been working on...View attachment 1200935
And here is the other one..View attachment 1200936
Needs another load of dirt and mulch after the rest of the bulbs are planted.

Hee hee, i lived through years doing it. But if you keep the hose submerged between buckets you don't have to keep restarting it.

I have an aquarium "vacuum" that has a suction bulb inline to start the siphon. Barring that, @oldhenlikesdogs method is good. Put the big part in the tank along with a fair bit of the smaller tube. Close off the open end of the smaller part, lower into the bucket and if there is water in the smaller tube on the outside of the tank, the siphon will start when you release the bucket end.

Once it is going I regulate flow with my thumb on the open end in the bucket. I don't stir up the gravel, that releases all the gunk into the water where it is hard to collect. Instead I hold my thumb over the open end in the bucket, shove the big end straight down into the gravel and release my thumb a bit. The gravel will lift along with the crud, close off the bucket end before the gravel gets to the small tube that is shoved into the big part and the gravel will fall back down. Move and repeat.

Thanks for all the info everyone! I've tried some of those and I can never get it to start! One time I got a tiny bit if water out and that's it. I guess I need to try again!

As for the package, thanks for the info Bruce! So I just say what's in it when I'm there and they handle it?

And yeah, I was really scared it would break so I went crazy. Even put some bubble wrap on the sides and bottom of the box lol and I positioned them in a corner with the stuffed dog toys in front of them. It's going all the way to California.

Oh and as for the box, I bought some from Wal-Mart. Are those okay?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Hee hee, i lived through years doing it. But if you keep the hose submerged between buckets you don't have to keep restarting it.

I put my thumb over the end of the open hose and switch buckets. As long as the siphon part stays submerged it continues to work for as many buckets as you need.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Oh and it's going to a PO box. Can boxes go to P.O. boxes? They recently opened one since for obvious reasons they didnt want to give fans their address lol theyre in a fairly popular band, I've known them since they were still tiny

 

[ronott1]

Hey everyone .. posting at the end of what was a huge day!

I started out edging and mowing. Then I started in on one of the remaining garden beds I hadn't tackled yet. When that was done, moved on to another. Got so much done! I ache and I am tired and I am looking forward to Bourbon O’clock in about 60 minutes I have no idea how much water I drank but I know it was a lot cos it was HOT out there!

Anyways, just some photos from today to share. Just a smidgen of what I accomplished.

Reminder .. the before, after the guy had come in with the mini excavator and denutted the palms:

View attachment 1200503

Today after mowing my new grass for the first time. Still some bare patches but the grass is young yet:

View attachment 1200504

In case you forgot, what the above looked like at the very beginning:

View attachment 1200513

Thought it was about time I shared one of the run .. pretty good size for 5 bantams and a nice shady spot. Still not completely finished though:

View attachment 1200505

The garden bed before. I saved and potted the ferns for putting around the ponds when they are finished:

View attachment 1200506

After:

View attachment 1200507

Before:

View attachment 1200508

After. Sadly I ran out of mulch and need to put down some more. I saved the purple flower and popped it in a pot. The plan here is to add some potted plants. I prefer potted because it conserves water and it is also easier to manage the weeds around pots:

View attachment 1200512

For the first time in months I am starting to feel like I am winning and I am pleased with the results. I was chatting to my neighbour and she mentioned that a few people had commented on how nice the garden was starting to look and also that considering I am doing most of it my myself, an achievement to be proud of which was not only nice of her to say, but made me ache just that little bit less

That is a lot of work! Good thing it is summer down under!

 

[ronott1]

Good morning everyone, whew, lots to read & catch up on!

Have I ever come right out and said how much I like all of you? I think you're an awesome group of people and I'm so glad all of you are here!

Now, off to grab another cup of coffee and catch up with the rest of the BYC world (the 'real' world stuff is too awful to want to keep up with).

I am way behind too. I am still dealing with this cold and weekly cooking and meal planning.

This is a great group! There are a couple like this on on BYC.

 

[ronott1]

Oh and it's going to a PO box. Can boxes go to P.O. boxes? They recently opened one since for obvious reasons they didnt want to give fans their address lol theyre in a fairly popular band, I've known them since they were still tiny

Yes boxes can go to po boxes. There are usually bigger boxes that the postal worker will move the box too and then put a key in your po box. If the box it too big for the delivery boxes, they will put a notice into the po box for you to pick up the package from the counter.

 

[ronott1]

Probably a stupid question but do they sell fragile stickers and if so where do you get them? Post office or do stores have them?

They will put fragile stickers or stamps on the package when you pay for shipping.

 

[ronott1]

I am not sure but it seemed like there was less damage when there was no fragile signs. Maybe the workers go postal on them!

The big problem with shipping is the drop and automated systems used for shipping. Packages are rarely handled by people.

Adding fragile might help with the guy putting it on your porch though.

Any package you ship needs to be able to drop 6 feet into a bin. I also need to be able to handle things dropped onto it from 6 fee.

From my experience, most people that ship eggs have no clue on how to pack them and then blame the Post Office

 

[CapricornFarm]

The big problem with shipping is the drop and automated systems used for shipping. Packages are rarely handled by people.

Adding fragile might help with the guy putting it on your porch though.

Any package you ship needs to be able to drop 6 feet into a bin. I also need to be able to handle things dropped onto it from 6 fee.

From my experience, most people that ship eggs have no clue on how to pack them and then blame the Post Office

I know how to pack but i still the ones marked fragile got beat up more.