#bryan and I just finished putting together a bunch of our stuff at the new place and I still have more to do tonight

[sommersong]

the real test for knowing whether you can deal with simeon longterm ( in any capacity, romantically or platonically, but especially partners ) is to do a home improvement project with him. paint or redecorate or build a piece of furniture. guaranteed he has at least one tantrum where he gets feral and furious and lashes out, followed by a meltdown where he just starts crying on the floor, followed by intense and unbreakable focus which will end in the project being beautifully done but it’s a hell of a ride to get there.

[hazyheel]

WWE Stomping Grounds 2019 Predictions

Super Showdown Part II is what this show should be called, as most of the matches on the card are rematches from Sweet Saudi Money 3, more blood money for me. Even still, that card looks okay, and so does this one. It doesn’t look like it will be one of the greatest shows of the year or anything, but there is no reason that it shouldn’t be good and fun. So here are my predictions for Stomping Grounds 2019.

Only a couple non-title matches on this show, and we are starting with Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens vs. Big E and Xavier Woods of the New Day. Both Owens and Zayn have feuded with Kofi over the WWE Championship a bit in recent months, with Owens even going as far as re-injuring Big E in storyline. This is a tough one, because nothing is really on the line, but I’m actually going with Owens and Zayn on this one, because they lost in tag matches two nights in a row. They need something, unless WWE is really trying to bury them, which they very well could be. If this is booked as a back and forth contest, then it should be good, but it probably will be a lot of rest holds and a hot tag or two. I’m not really looking forward to this. 

Then we have Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre. They have been feuding really since late last year, and even going into Wrestlemania, but the latest chapter in their feud stems around Shane McMahon. McIntyre is Shane’s little helper, aiding him in a match against Reigns at Super Showdown. So, Reigns and McIntyre are now having a match, probably a placeholder until Reigns can really finish off Shane. I’m going to go with Reigns on this one, but it is another toughy. I don’t know when they will pull the trigger on Shane/Reigns II, whether it be at Extreme Rules, Summerslam or later. Hell, there is a distinct possibility that Shane will be the one to beat Kofi for the WWE championship at some point, and then Reigns will take it off of him. I am hoping that we are just going to get Reigns vs. Shane at Summerslam, not for a belt, and that this match and Extreme Rules will just have some placeholders. I think that Reigns is going to win here, and he kinda has to. I mean, he lost to Shane fucking McMahon at Super Showdown. Yeah, McIntyre was the reason for the win, but still. Dude needs some momentum. I think that he wins here, although it could easily be McIntyre. This match will definitely be full of interference and shenanigans, so I don’t expect much from it, which really sucks considering how talented they both are. 

Into the Cruiserweight Division, and the first of our title matches, we have Akira Tozawa vs. Drew Gulak vs. Tony Nese for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship. This is an interesting story, where Nese originally asked Drake Maverick to allow Tozawa to challenge for his championship, but Drake did not book the match. Instead, he booked a Fatal 4-way, Akira Tozawa vs. Drew Gulak vs. Humberto Carillo vs. Oney Lorcan. Gulak had also gotten a sort of career resurgence, after severing ties with both Carillo and Jack Gallagher, returning to action as a more vicious wrestler, introducing a lot more strikes and power moves into his repertoire. During that fatal 4-way, Tozawa and Gulak pinned each other at the same time in a cradle, giving us an indecisive finish. So in response, Drake Maverick booked this Triple Threat. There is also some history between Gulak and Nese, as they were once friends in the Zo Train (Enzo’s Amore’s terrible heel stable), only for Gulak to betray him when the group broke up. So there are a lot of moving parts here, and I think that this is Gulak’s time to shine. He has gotten a new attitude, he has two people that he really hates against him, he is a bit of an underdog against two face opponents, and I think that he can and should win here. It is cutting Nese’s run as champion a bit short, but three months is still pretty good. Gulak should win here, and really reign terror down on the cruiserweight division. This match should be fast paced and awesome, so I’m really looking forward to it. 

And in the tag division, Heavy Machinery challenge the Planet’s Tag Team Champions for the Smackdown Tag Team Championships. Tucker and Otis challenged the champions a while ago, but since Bryan refuses to go to Saudi Arabia, the match hasn’t happened yet. But the only real background for this match is that Bryan and Rowan said there was no one left for them to beat in the tag division. So, now we have this match. I think that the champions will retain here, probably by some nefarious means, and then we can have a rematch with a stipulation for Extreme Rules. Because who better to beat some snobby environmentalists than a team that is literally named after something they hate. But for now, they will probably lose here, allowing for a bit more time with Daniel Bryan’s awesome promos. 

Into some midcard stuff, we have Samoa Joe vs. Ricochet for the WWE United States Championship. This was simply built, with Ricochet winning a Fatal 5-way elimination match to qualify. Also, it’s a dream match that a bunch of people want. And while Ricochet definitely deserves the belt, I don’t think now is the right time. Joe hasn’t really established himself as a strong champion just yet, given that he kinda sorta lost it to Rey Mysterio via some shoddy officiating, but then got it back because Mysterio was injured. He needs a good defense, and Ricochet is the guy to beat to do it. This is a battle of a couple awesome workers, and is also the match I’m most looking forward to. I’m really excited for this one, and Joe should win here. Although I suspect Ricochet isn’t too far away from the title. 

Then we have the women’s division, we have Bayley vs. Alexa Bliss for the Smackdown Women’s Championship. This story revolves a lot around Bliss being manipulative, and making everyone think that Bayley is awful. She is mainly working her magic on Nikki Cross, who is convinced that Bayley is a bad person on the inside after Bayley screwed them out of a Women’s Tag Team Championship match. Admittedly, Bliss did attack Bayley first, but it was still Bayley’s fault that they lost. Bliss was also spreading rumors about Bayley being mean to fans, which was starting to get to some of the other ladies. As for this match, I was kinda torn here, until I realized that Bliss was on Raw, so she should lose. I don’t know where the Cross and Bliss story goes from here, maybe they continue to feud with Bayley, but Bayley needs a big title win on Pay per view. The match could be good, but Bliss is a bit too hit or miss for me to get my hopes up. I hope Bayley wins here, because I still think about how badly Bayley was buried during their feud in 2017, and I do not use that word lightly.

On the Raw side it is Becky Lynch vs. Lacy Evans for the Raw Women’s Championship. Evans challenged Lynch for the Raw Women’s Championship at Money in the Bank in a losing effort. During her next match against Charlotte Flair for the Smackdown Women’s Championship, Evans got involved and screwed Lynch out of her second title. So they are still feuding, despite the audience getting bored of it. Becky has to retain here. She is still riding high after her win at Wrestlemania, and even though she isn’t as white hot as she was when they wrote her like a heel, she is still doing awesome and kicking ass. There is more money to be made with Becky, so she should win here. Not looking forward to this match because Evans hasn’t shown me that she is on Lynch’s level in the ring. I hope she proves me wrong, but I doubt she will. So I really don’t care about this match, but I definitely will if Becky loses. 

And in the world title picture, we have Kofi Kingston vs. Dolph Ziggler in a Steel Cage match for the WWE Championship. Dolph still says that he should be the WWE Champion rather than Kingston, and he has doubled down on it since Super Showdown. Ziggler was admittedly screwed at that show, as he superkicked Xavier Woods on the outside, only for Woods to then get involved and give him an ensiguri to the back of the head as he hit the ropes. Ziggler was furious and demanded a rematch in a cage, so that no one could interfere. Normally this story is reversed, with the face asking for a cage match to prevent interference, but whatever. Kingston will still win, because Ziggler is just a placeholder feud, and he will not beat Kofi. This could be good, but Ziggler and Kingston have never seemed to have a really good match together. They are both really good, but don’t have that chemistry for whatever reason. I hope this is good, because they deserve a good match. But no way Ziggler is winning this. 

And finally, we have Seth Rollins vs. Baron Corbin for the WWE Universal Championship, with Corbin allowed to pick the referee. This all stemmed from a weird story, where the two had a match at Super Showdown, in which Corbin continuously yelled at the referee. In the finish, the ref yelled back at him, so Rollins rolled him up for the win. Corbin then said that the ref beat him, not Rollins, and demanded a rematch with a ref of his choosing. It was booked that way, but then Rollins went on a damn warpath. Anyone who even considered being Corbin’s referee was viciously beaten down by Rollins, with a chair no less. So going into this match, we do not know who the ref will be. I figure that I will make that part of the prediction, because why not? Part of me thinks that it will be Lesnar, but I don’t think that they will write Corbin that stupid, because Brock would cash in on either of them at the end of the match. So maybe, instead of Brock himself, it’ll just be Paul Heyman. That would make sense, because while Corbin isn’t so stupid to put Brock as the ref, he is booked just stupid enough to put Heyman in that role. Because heels are all friends. Anyway, it doesn’t matter who the ref is, Rollins is winning. Corbin isn’t on Rollin’s level, and while he is a believable challenger, he is not a believable champion. Again, this could be good. Like, Corbin is capable of having good matches. But he hasn’t had a good match in months, so I don’t think it will be. That’s just the truth.

So, these are my predictions. I don’t think this will be the best show in the world, but it isn’t supposed to be. It’s a B-Show. So lets hope that it is good, but lets not get our hopes up. 

[bryanllamado]

ATM with Bryan | 21

Hello there, readers! I’ve been insanely inactive here on my blog for the past couple of months; I don’t know if I still have a reader. *note the sarcasm* Just to remind you: we’re already at the last week of May! Ang bilis, diba? Oh well, time flies really fast. It seems like it was just yesterday when the semester started, now it is freaking over. Ugh! I have a lot of good (and not so good) stories to tell about the recent semester. The thing is, I don’t have the time to write an entry for my blog.

Back to the ball game, the semester formally ended last week. I just went to school last Monday for the qualifying exams and to attend a meeting. It’s crazy how I survived the semester; praise the heavens that I did. *sigh of relief* I can’t put into words how busy and hectic my schedule has been since the prelim period. I’ll be updating my planner this week and I’ll check out which of my experiences could pass as an interesting blog entry. For now, I’ll enjoy my short break and will be giving you a list of my ‘at the moments.’

C U R R E N T L Y

Reading

This is Where The World Ends by Amy Zhang– loving this novel so far! Personally, I would compare it to Paper Towns and All the Bright Places because of similar plots but TIWTWE is actually different. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the time to finish the book! It’s only my second read this year (after Confess) and I’m already on the second half! Hope to finish it ASAP.

Writing

the 21st volume of ATM with Bryan and a couple of blog entries about concerts and events that I attended at school. It’s just sad that I don’t have much time to blog (unlike before). The hard thing about it is that sometimes, I fail to remember what an experience feels like or what I exactly felt at such times– which makes it harder to write. Anyhoo, I’ll REALLY TRY my best to blog more. *sighs*

Listening

to MTV Unplugged (album) by Shawn Mendes. I’m definitely digging his songs for the past 2 weeks! The craze began when we danced There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back as our production number for last year’s pageant; recently, I’ve been playing songs of the same vibe and I ended up downloading every single Shawn Mendes album that there is! So there, fanboy Bryan is here.

Thinking

about a whole lot of things that I need to accomplish. I’m hoping to achieve what needs to be done. I just finished a bunch of online quizzes *throws up* (which I worked hard for during the past 2 days) and now, I’m off to other items on my to-do list like moving out of the dormitory, meeting up with friends and shopping for some items. The word “busy” is an understatement in itself!

Smelling

*sniffs* nothing.

Wishing

for the best results in all of my undertakings. I’ve been extra busy these past couple of months and I guess I’ll be busier in the coming weeks. Hirap kumita ng pera, mga bes. Kidding aside, the struggle is real but working hard for something and feeling determined are both priceless. Sometimes, fatigue kicks in and you feel tired pero sabi nga nila, F I G H T I N G– and that’s what I’ll do.

Hoping

to be more organized slash to have more time to organize– both metaphorically and literally. I look at my room and it’s messy; I look at my planner and it’s messed up, too. What else is? *note the sarcasm* Anyway, I just hope to have some time to re-think and keep my act together. Ang daming dapat isaayos! Even my stuffs back at the dorm need some fixing too. Hayahay!

Wearing

a blue polo shirt from Hollister and a pair of purple shorts. In typical pambahay clothes cause I stayed at home today.

Loving

my new Instagram feed– started a wood-ish brown theme late last week and I can’t wait to upload more photos. I wanted to achieve this theme a long time ago but it’s only now that the plans are materializing. I’m happy with the results so far! If you want to know what I’m talking about, hit the follow button on instagram.com/bryanllamado/ or simply search for ‘bryanllamado’ on the explore tab. Happy stalking!

Wanting

to go to Starbucks, drink a venti-sized Frappuccino and grab a slice of blueberry cheesecake. Just the thought of it all seems enticing! With everything that I have achieved recently, I feel like I needed some sort of a reward or a token. Or if not, kahit konting pamper time. Haha. It’s not bad to hope for a little something when you work hard for everything. #qotd

Needing

to take a shower so bad. Not that I enjoy sharing this but I haven’t taken a shower today (and somehow, it makes me feel irritable and sad). L I only took a sponge bath because I’m too busy entangled with my laptop in order to finish the assessments that are due today. Acads first, hygiene later is the new mantra. I also missed Edukadong Parangal earlier because of the online quizzes. Mahusay!

Feeling

positive in every possible way. It’s been a while since I last felt this legitimate feeling of positivity! It feels nice to be back on this clean and healthy state of mind. I positive because my mind is open and willing to look past beyond the negativity and toxicity of the surrounding. Take my advice: stay away from toxic people and negatrons; if you can’t, spread positivity.

Clicking

through my phone’s gallery. I’m looking for specific photos (not sure what exactly but I’ll find out when I accidentally find them). My camera roll just exceeded the 1,500 photo mark so I need to delete a bunch of photos to free up some space on my storage. Eto pa pala ang isang kailangan ayusin, my files on both my laptop and phone. Tsaka na nga lang, when I’m no longer busy.

That’s all for now.

Wishing everyone a fruitful and productive month of June!

Till the next entry! Bry. x 033118

[megamanx1994]

Xenoforce III Chatper 3

Xenoforce III Chapter 3 by Kasai01, Oct 9, 2017, 3:06:49 PM Literature / Prose / Fiction / Children and Teen / Flash Fiction & Vignettes Chapter 3: Sound Breaker Suit (disclaimer! I own nothing of Xenoblade Chronicles!)

Vivian was handing in some paperwork to bring a light music club back. One of the professors was looking at it. “Well Ms. Dinzel, I notice you don’t have the minimum amount of members,” she said. “Well Professor Finns, I did bring an old band together that use to play for my brother but…” said Vivian. “Look doll, I’m afraid we can only let the Light Music Club back if you have the minimum amount of members,” said Professor Finns, “So what do you need?” “How do I…. approach recruiting members?” asked Vivian. “Well Ms. Dinzel, the answer to that is simple,” said Professor Finns, “The only way to get more members is to ask them to give out applications. “Applications?” asked Vivian, “But those were released weeks ago, its probably too late for that now.” “C’mon doll, its never too late to build a bigger ensemble,” said Professor Finns. Vivian left the room and her band members greeted her. “Any luck?” asked Jade, their red haired bass player. “Well, looks like we gotta get some more members,” said Vivian. “Well, I can look around for some in my old club,” said Sheldon, the keyboardist. “Same here,” said Jake, their drummer, “You can find some can’t you sis?”

“Well, I’m sure there’s some members that aren’t in clubs yet, little big brother,” said Jade. She calls him that because he’s older in age, but shorter in size. “Hey V,” I said coming by. “Michael, hey,” she said greeting me. “Who’s the new guy?” asked Jade. “Oh, this is my boyfriend Michael,” said Vivian. “Sup,” said Jake. “Well, well, well,” said someone. It was a black haired woman that was taller than me or Vivian. “What do you want Janice?” asked Vivian. “Just came by to say congrats on failing to get the Light Music Club back on its feet,” she said, “Got some more sour grapes for me?” “All I need is a few more members and we’ll be back on our feet,” said Vivian, “Just you wait.” Janice looked at me and then walked away. “That’s my cousin Janice,” said Vivian, “She acts nice and sweet, but don’t let that fool you. She’s a pure evil bitch.” “I can tell,” I said. I noticed students going somewhere. “What’s going on?” I asked.

“Looks like we’ll have to find out,” said Jade. We all went to the center of the school and saw someone in the center. It was him, the guy I saw on the newspaper; Edmund Pierce. “Please people, I’ll give autographs later,” he said. “Oh great,” I said, “That guys here.” Edmund got a look at Vivian. “So I heard you’re trying to bring a Light Music Club back,” I said, “Well I’d be more than happy to….” One of her friends pushed me out of the way. “Oh my god, V, you gotta check out this super cute guy,” she said. I tried to get up but I was trampled by other students. She brought her to Edmund. “My name is Edmund Pierce, and when I saw you in the crowd I just had to get a closer look,” he said, “What do you way we get together after class and get to know each other.” “As if,” said Vivian as she removed her hand from his, “I’ve no interest in a guy who cares only about fame.” She went back to me. “Feisty aren’t you,” he said. “You ok?” she asked. “Yeah,” I said, “Thank you.” I was a mess. “Looks like you got trampled,” said Vivian. “You mind if I wash up at your dorm?” I asked, “My sister sees me like this, and she’s gonna be all over these students like the Holy Ghost.” “Sure,” she said. I followed her to her dorm and washed off the dirt and stuff. Afterwards I was brand new. “Man that hit the spot,” I said, “Thanks a bunch.” “Don’t mention it,” said Vivian. Someone else came into the dorm. It was a young girl. “Hi Vivian,” she said. “Hey sis,” said Vivian. “Sis?” I asked. “That’s right,” said Vivian, “This is my younger sister.” “And would this be your you-know-what?” she asked. Vivian nodded. “Nice,” she said, “I’m Lin Lee Koo, student at G.I.B.S, and a gifted mechanic.” “She’s 13 years old,” said Vivian, “And while she looks young, she’s one of the brightest minds this school has.” “Nice to meet you Lin,” I said.

Johnny was at his dorm at his school filling out the application for Scavenger’s for Hire. “Damn it!” he said, “There’s one thing I’m missing.” There was a knock on his door. Johnny closed his laptop and opened it. It was his girlfriend Lola. “Johnny, are you alright?” she asked. “Yeah, I’m fine,” he said, “Why wouldn’t I be?” “Your dad said there was a freakout at the hospital you visited,” said Lola, “She’s worried about you, and so am I.” “Don’t be,” said Johnny, “I’m ok.” “Is this about Dad?” she asked. He sighed. “Yes,” said Johnny, “Ever since that day, I felt like I caused his accident.” Lola hugged him. “Johnny, it wasn’t entirely your fault,” she said, “My father doesn’t blame you one bit for what happened.” “Yeah,” he said. “Neither should you.” “Nothing he can say can change what happened,” said Johnny, “I wanna make things right again. I gotta get some air, but I’ll see you later.” “Johnny, some things are just….” Said Lola before he left, “….beyond our control.”

I was working on a prototype suit for the upcoming science off. “Its showtime Micah,” I said, “Bring out the dummies.” “Got it!” said Micah. Some digital dummies appeared in the obstacle course. I brought out my new gauntlets. They were built with an electrical surge that could force enemies back and smash through brick walls. The dummies came after me and I tested out the gauntlets. “Wow, these things really work!” I said, “And now, the main attraction.” I got out an energy staff and used it. It was able to shoot energy bolts and makes for a good melee weapon. Micah heard some noise. It was EJ watching some of the Captain Falcon Fitness DVDs. “EJ, do you mind, we’re doing some tests,” she said before she got a look at the person, “Is that…..?” “That’s right,” said EJ, “Captain Falcon.” After a few minutes of testing the functions of the suit, I was tired. “Break time,” I said. While sitting down, I was working on a 3d graph of EJ’s new and improved Xeno-suit. Principal Gibson opened the doors to the room. “Burning the midnight oil Mr. Morrison?” he asked. “Yes sir,” I said.

He got a look at my suit. “This is extraordinary,” he said, “I take if this is for the upcoming Science off?” “It runs on an unlimited supply of energy,” I said, “Anela helped me put it together.” “I look forward to seeing it in action,” he said. I kept working on EJ’s upgrades. (To the 4th wall) I know right? How do I manage to come up with all of this technology? Well, looks like one of our friends works for scavengers for Hire, but I’m not sure who. Somebody called me on the phone. “Hey Michael, are we forgetting something?” asked Anela. I remembered. “Oh yeah, you invited me to the mansion!” I said. “That’s right,” said Anela, “I assumed you were working on something so I decided to call.” “Hey do you mind if I bring Vivian?” I asked, “I think she’ll love it there,” I said. “The more the merrier,” said Anela.

Vivian, Micah and I were on the way to Anela’s house. “Here we are,” I said. “Wow, it’s a pretty big place,” said Vivian. (To the 4th wall) Yep, this is the place where Anela lives. I probably forgot to mention this in XenoForce II, but she’s rich. Rich as hell that is. A butler opened the doors and we went in. “Michael and Vivian have arrived,” said the butler. “Michael, glad you could make it,” said Bryan. “Welcome to Tengoku,” said EJ, “That’s Spanish for Paradise.” “Its really… not,” sad Anela. “To be honest, I thought Anela lived in a scientist’s home,” said Denise, “But this place is radical!” She jumped into the pool. “Looks like you guys are settled in,” I said as I smiled. “Check this out,” said EJ as he got out the tub, “Fetch me my towel good sir.”

“As you wish, Master Edward,” said the butler. “Master Edward, wow!” said EJ, “Now pat me dry.” “Yes sir,” said the butler as he dried EJ. He then jumped back in the pool. “In retrospect, he probably should’ve seen this coming,” said Clank. He was sitting on a bench trying to get a tan. “Robots can’t get tans Clank,” said Ratchet. “I see you brought the rockstar,” said EJ. “Yeah,” I said, “I figured why not introduce her to you guys.” “Anela Mae,” said Anela greeting Vivian, “But you can call me Ann.” “Pleasure,” said Vivian, “So…. What do you have for us today? Shopping? Makeovers?” “I vote makeovers!” said EJ. Bryan dunked him into the water. “I have something else in mind,” said Anela.

Later we were in a virtual reality room. (You probably recognize this from the first story. This is where I tested out my headband.) “It allows you to dream up wherever you want to be at and makes the room into that reality,” said Anela, “Pretty great right?” “Way cooler than shopping,” said Vivian. “Try it out,” said Anela. Vivian walked in with her guitar. She then closed her eyes and envisioned herself at a stadium with her band. She then played an insane guitar solo and the audience went into a frenzy. “Insane,” I said. My hair was wild. We were all having a blast. “Hey, Michael can I ask you something?” she asked. “Sure, what’s up?” I asked.  “My parents were wondering if you’d like to have dinner with us,” she said, “They’re dying to meet you.” “Hmmm, I don’t…..” I started. I looked by to Anela remembering the plans I had with her. She gave me a sign meaning she has everything covered. “…See why not,” I finished.

[treeyo]

It was an itinerant permaculture teaching and project installation company, a brand identified with being on the move.  I made the conscious choice to not go on with this lifestyle for many reasons. Rather rooting into community and long term intensive site development is the goal.  This holistic vision has kept me put in Northern Kentucky since 2017 September other than a working holiday this past fall/ winter to my familiar Iberian roots.

Arvid scything at Sekier, Slovakia for hay storage

Canal in Argentinian drylands

Papaya circle planting, Dominican Republic, 2012

Winter in Southern Spain

Josse and myself doing free consulting/ design work, Southern Portugal, 2017

Malaysian Aquaculture

Teaching

What once was my staple, teaching, has now dwindled down consciously and due to lack of interest in my local market for current offerings.  I tried to run a weekend PDC this again winter but that didn’t work here in the Cincinnati tristate region.  I did get to teach here at the lake on the topics of food forest and forestry in the Year Long PDC run by Braden Truth and the Cincinnati Permaculture Institute.  It really is a

Treasure Lake Zone 3 Planting with Year Long PDC group

passion of mine to teach and always nice to show off the work you have been doing for nearly two decades in the forest (more on that below). It was a great group and we did get some work done in a zone 3 area I have been developing including last falls earthworks.  The space has been evolving since 2014 and will take its next evolution in the upcoming day class with Abby Artemisia in our event called Planting Abundance on May 18th.  Unique offerings like this is what I will try as I work my way into other avenues of teaching, rather than the globetrotting PDC circuit.

https://treeyopermaculture.com/permaculture-design-courses-pdc/herbal-walk-and-permaculture-planting-with-abby-and-doug/

Abby did interview me for a podcast as well and I got to talk about my passion of Paw Paw’s.

https://soundcloud.com/wander-forage-wildcraft/wfw-ep-4-meet-doug-crouch

I will also be offering workshops at the Whippoorwill Festival in July in Kentucky and rumor is I might be starting to teach at University of Cincinnati’s horticulture department for Permaculture.

Treasure Lake

The fall last year, 2018, was brutal with the continued heat and non stop event planning and all the work and maintenance that comes with that.  I then left for Europe as soon as we closed for the season and finally took a breath to work on another passion; writing.  After spending three months in Iberia I cracked on with my beloved winter forestry work that I among calling Active Forest Management and launching a new movement around that.  The cutting of non natives and natives to make way for the understory paw paw and spicebush, the continuing to plug up streams with rock dams and woody debris, small and large diameter, and felling trees for mushroom innoculation.  This year I worked with one of my closest neighbors who has a shining example of 1/2 acre permaculture, Daniel Biedenbender, on the mushroom inoculation.  We removed quite a few box elders in the aforementioned zone 3 space that we are developing. The logs this time are at his fathers house down the road by a few miles as resources are starting to not be so boundary centric in the building of community here in Petersburg, KY. This winter work is great prep for getting the physical body back in shape for the looming busyness of spring. Much of that spring time has been devoted to nursery work again with the Cincinnati Permaculture Insititues Growing Value Nursery having a spillover/ secondary location here at the lake.  It’s fun work, but tough on the body indeed and honestly I am glad it has just a few more hours of work to be done to resettled for the season. Alongside of that I have been sprouting hundreds of Paw Paw seed from selected fruits from last years harvest.  Fun stuff as I put together elements of my own nursery as well.

Cincinnati Permaculture Institute Nursery at Treasure Lake, almost finished

Community sharing, bag of Morelsfor sharing Wine Caps

Hauling plants to Growing Value Nursery

Paw Paw seeds in Pots

invasive after cutting

invasive before cutting

One rock dams, expanded and built up this winter

Sprouted Paw Paw seeds, these ones were actually planted out directly the field

non native bush honeysuckle cut

Spicebush in flower

Speaking of mushrooms, our King Stropharia beds that were inoculated in May and June of 2018 came thumping along with honestly more mushrooms than we could handle (and now a second flush is happening).  Emphatically by the bag full we have been harvesting them! I had never grown them before and will be better prepared for selling next flush.  For now we have all been eating lots of mushrooms around here since again the morel season hasn’t been great and these mushrooms keep us satisfied.  Part of those beds are also part of a western hedgerow on the edge of Annie Woods Dark Wood Farm market garden.  All the plants are super thriving which is a great sign to know that these mushrooms can be cultivated along with perennials like fruit trees, berrybushes, and perennial veg.  I definitely did have to pull the wood chips and fall leaves away from the trunks of the plants as the wine cap mycelium is indeed very aggressive. I have planted in more currants, Jostaberry, and gooseberry to finish filling out the space.

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Western Hedgerow

Wine Cap Mushrooms

Wine cap harvest

Wine Cap Mushrooms, ready tone cooked

Wince cap cut in half

Wine caps in grow bed, abundance

The other hedgerow, on the north end of the market garden, originally planted in fall 2017, continues to expand.  Everything is looking great, even the pear I had to whack back just above the graft after the deer rub got it as there was a miscommunicationabotu fencing when I left to Europe in the fall.  oops.  These nuclei are great to see displaying the small scale intensive principle for sure. And being full on growth during this warm and wet spring it is chop and drop time of course as well. Furthermore, I am now dropping in a few more layers of the food forests hedgerow as I developed the anchors and guild herbaceous plants and now adding more fruiting bushes like currants, Aronia, and more.  I have also expanded both east and west with more fruit tree nuclei, Japanese plum and Asian Pear, which meets up against a back stop that my grandfather had built for his dreams of having a softball diamond here.  It had become junk pile over the years but some hard work has it ready for vines, I do believe hardy kiwi it is. Maybe Akebia, decision has to be made today, ha. Oh and some hoops too!

South Hedgerow

Blueberry guild after chop and drop

Blueberry guild before chop and drop

Sheet mulch fro Asian Pears

Guilding with comfrey

Individual Tree planting terrace

Shiro Plum addition

Asian Pear additions

chop and drop in hedgerow with mower and bag

Nucleus planting, guild and berry bushes and nitrogen fixers

The businesses of Treasure Lake have also been a backdrop ongoing conversation and evolution with the owners, my father and my two aunties.  So we decided to shut the pay fishing lake, campground, and the bar other than our Tuesday Night Ping Pong and Friday night Open Jam (now turning into Sunday afternoon instead of Friday), which are quite communal events.  The culture of camping and the pay lake and the event production of music shows honestly had become toxic with people simply over doing it and not respecting the land (not everyone but a few rotten apples do spoil the bunch).  Unfortunately people live in excess, I once was there and am no saint, although quite sober these days.  Anyway this allows me to have more time and space to dedicate to projects here on the land and elsewhere and build community further.

Pong jam

Community

The biggest journey of living in this economically depressed rural area during tough times in the states other than for the wealthy is indeed building community. There is a small group of us, but it is expanding as the roots are put down further.  Running a bar at the lake does generate tips and rather than take it all for myself, i simply use it as a tree planting fund.  So both the local Biedenbender homesteads, Daniel and Colleen and Josh and Maddy, have received big donations of plants to make their homesteads more robust and our community more resilient.  Our network extends beyond this but these are the folks I work with the most in my local area. I also am working with my longtime event production co manager, Bryan Schaffer and we will soon get his pear trees in the ground that were also donated through the tips for tree planting program. Furthermore, I of course work with Annie Woods and her Dark Wood Farm market garden that is still on the land as well.  There are still next steps and people are constantly asking about moving to this area since it is only 30 minutes from downtown Cincinnati, Covington, and Newport, our tri-cities on the river. Also I continue to make my trips two hours south to continue building community with the Berea crews it is my respite.

Backyard Permaculture elements at Daniel and Colleens, vine trellis, pathways, sweat lodge

Swim spot and Maddy and Josh’s

Mushroom log inoculation

Front yard terraces at Daniel and Colleens, to the left food forest

Rabbits raised by Colleen

Salamander at Jo and Mike’s in Berea, KY

The goats at Maddy and Josh’s

Lesourdsville

Another exciting opportunity I am working on is turning a normal park design into a permaculture landscape.  More on that one in the next blog as we are moving from vision and assessment phase into the conceptual design in this moment.

Lesourdsville in Monroe, Ohio, becoming anew park

There is a lot going onion life these days and big next steps are occurring in rooting, even if they are tiny.  Hint that was foreshadowing.

Treeyo Project Update:  Evolving through Rooting It was an itinerant permaculture teaching and project installation company, a brand identified with being on the move. 

[hellotvv]

Life continues to be fairly interesting haha. I had a pretty decent weekend overall. I believe on Friday, I went to the fair with my friend Brent, Elizabeth, Kristy, and Jessica. The fair in SB was honestly not bad! I had fun going on rides with my friends, eating fair food, and just walking/chatting. Later that night, we had game night at my friend’s Brents place. Julian put on the project some really fun party game that everyone could just connect and play using the phone! Was really fun and I plan on buying it, so when ppl come to my place, we have idk fun games to play instead of just watching youtube on my chromecast LOL. I think Bryan, Olivia, Elizabeth, Brent, Julian, Kristy, Jessica, and me all played and had a great night. On Saturday, it was a bit more simple. I had a really busy day on Saturday, since I had to get some studying done for my midterm on Monday for minority literature class. I knew my cousin was visiting UCSB this weekend, since she said she was. But I’m surprised she didn’t hit me up to show her around. It would have been actually inconvenient if she did :( since ideally I would have the whole day to show her a ton of stuff. But I had a music appreciation concert at 7 PM that I had to go to at night, and I had to study quite a bit. Surprisingly, she did not hit me up at all, and only ended up snapping me that she was at SB later that night haha. She was in one of the freshmen dorms, so I’m guessing she already had a friend that let her stay in her dorm and showed her around :O. I was a bit worried that if I didn’t show her all the cool stuff about SB, my cousin wouldn’t be too interested in attending and choose UC Merced in the end... ;-;!! Anyways, ended up going to concert that night, was super boring, left during intermission since didn’t have to stay till end just needed to stay long enough to write a paper on it. Then I went to library and studied with Kristy and Jessica until like 1 AM. Went home, knocked out, and idk. Sunday, I think I got lunch with Brent and Elizabeth, then I somehow procrastinated the day away, but pulled a strong all nighter to finish studying for my minority lit class lol. The midterm went okie not bad, and then I studied for my music appreciation class quiz that was at 12 PM today. Think I did pretty good on that, and passed out for a while. Got dinner with Brent, and talked to him. We talked about how it’s already week 5 of our last quarter of our 3rd year... Graduation is coming up and much scary ;-;... I asked him what he’s gonna do after grad, and he immediately answered about Elizabeth. Since Elizabeth lives in Washington, but attends UCSB, and I wonder what she’ll do after graduation. Like would she move to California or find work back in Washington, who knows :O Brent said he doesn’t know what she’ll do, but he does suggest that she’ll prob move to LA, since LA is way cooler than Washington haha. Anyways, I did ask him oh man what if we all drift apart after graduation. Since Bryan lives in Thousand Oaks and is kinda far, Rickie lives in Washington, and etc. Brent said it kinda sucks, but it’ll happen. He did say that we’ll still hang out, since he can always drive down to OC and it’s only like 45 mins. I also said that I could always go up to LA and hang too. Thankfully Kristy and Jessica will be nearby, and Henry lives near Brent. So it’s not like we’ll all drift apart. Just kinda will be diff not being able to hang out with the friends I hang out every week with anymore, but I guess that’s life yo. I’ve gone through it from going from HS to College, and I’m sure the friendships will stay strong. It’ll be those friendships where even tho you don’t see each other every day or maybe even text that often, when you do hangout it’s like no time has passed :) Idk life yo.

Onto another topic, my cousin revealed to me that she actually SIRed to UCSB today!!! Woo, I told her we needed to have a celebration dinner or something together. She told me that she needed a bunch of life advice haha for college. I remember being in the same position worrying the same things like if I’ll make friends, what classes to take, and etc. She was super thankful and kept telling me how much she loved me, when I offered her advice LOL. I just want her to be successful and learn from my mistakes and become a doctor for me, incase I don’t make it LOL! So maybe this weekend if time permits, I’ll meet up with her and talk :D But I’m glad she idk got convinced, will prob have to ask her how did she get convinced lolol. I have a 66.6666% success rate now 2/3!! For the rest of my week, it’ll pretty much just be a bunch of studying for my midterm on Friday. Afterwards, I’ll be going home for the weekend for my mom’s bday and possibly to shoot with Sabrina and Cindy!! Woo :D haven’t seen/shot with either of them in a long time~ They both hit me up to shoot, so I feel special ;-; and wanted! 

Overall, life is going okie can’t complain. Tried to eat slightly more now and work out too, so I build some more muscle. Uhm, I’ve kinda been in a pretty content mood nowadays. Like I’m back to a phase where I’m happy with what I have, not too stressed, have some stuff to look forward to to keep me going, and yeah. 

The idea of relationships and love is something that I contemplate about a lot. I obviously always liked the idea of a SO, and I think that actually this year/4th year would probably be the last best times for a while to date a girl. Since I’ll still be in school and don’t look poorly in the dating scene, if I don’t have a job or idk. I’ll still be supported by my parents, but old enough to do cool things/go on adventures like going to Vegas this summer. I have a nice place and live alone, since I still attend school in SB, and not crazy busy, but have enough free time to spend with a SO. But the problem is, I haven’t really met anyone that really caught my interest... I mean kinda Amandi for a bit, but after finding out about what type of person she is, obv not gonna interact with her too much lmao. Maybe this sounds cocky or whatever, but I COULD date Chloe, if I truly wanted to. I mean Chloe is a decent looking girl, she’s fairly nice, and I could see myself in an okay relationship with her. But the problem is, I like her mostly as a friend, and just not that into her... Like I’m not that physically attracted to her, not that she’s bad looking or anything, and I’m not that idk mentally attracted to her. We just don’t have that much in common, and she prob only likes me for my looks?? Who knows. The thing is, I suppose a lot of ppl my age are kinda dating for fun or maybe some are serious. So it’s not like I have to date someone with the intention of long term commitment, I could just date and have fun with her for a while. Who knows, she might be wanting just the same thing. But the problem is, idk it’s just not me tho. Like let’s say we do date and have fun together spending time together, but what if I meet some cooler girl that I’m more attracted to while I’m dating her. Like I suppose the right answer is to idk keep it professional and stay with Chloe or the other option is to dump Chloe and date the new girl. But idk then I could be potentially hurting her if I did that and I wouldn’t want that. I’d be kinda leading her on, and it’s something I don’t want to do to ppl. Like idk I feel like if I date someone that I’m not totally into, it’s a disservice to them and myself, since they deserve better tbh. I think everyone deserves someone who truly cares about them and wants them, isn’t settling, or etc etc etc. So I don’t wanna date someone if I’m not completely into them, since they deserve someone who truly do and someone who thinks they’re amazing. I would want the same for myself. So I guess that’s a small dilemma that I have. I like the idea of dating someone, now’s probably one of the best possible times to do so, and I could. But I like being serious about someone, I don’t wanna hurt anyone by dating them if I’m not really into them, and I obv want to date someone that I am really into and would be proud of showing them off. So yeah, small dilemma, I guess the right choice is to not lead Chloe on too much, and prob not pursue anything with her. I suppose all I can and should be doing is continue to be chill and content/happy hanging out with my cool friends, keep myself busy with school/hobbies, and eventually I’ll meet someone who I’m truly into and they’ll hopefully be into me too? :O

That’s it for now... Back to writing my music appreciation paper, and The Flash episode tomorrow is gonna be lit af...