I'm standing on the patio. It's 11 pm. I just closed the shop and noticed Mars and Orion are in the same place as a couple of nights ago. Ha.. Last night it was later and everything had moved on.

Mars looks red, and stands over my wife's garden shed I built her. The three stars of Orion's belt betrays it's location over my shop. Jupiter is low in the sky, off to my right, and it's so bright it looks like a plane.

Beautiful evening for Feb. around here.

Gary

Gary,

As you know I am in the Philippines and I live far from Manila and the pollution and lights. Orion's belt is 10 degrees West of my house at 8pm. Mars sometimes blinks red and blue here. Very bright in the sky this far from the city. I have to walk outside careful we have a 6 in spider that builds its web after dark. Not really poison about like a wasp sting but far from pleasant. 11 pm your time is 11am here.

Larry

On the rare occasion when the sky clears in winter up here, we watch Orion rotate through the night sky as well. Sometimes we get the northern lights, but we usually have to get a bit out of town until the sky is dark enough to see them.

Fortunately, we do NOT have to worry about giant spiders at night. Grizzly bears perhaps, but never giant spiders. Thank goodness for that!

I guess MD isn't so bad; no 6" spiders or grizzlies to worry about!

Saw a large black bear in Canada once walked under my tree stand I never want to see a grizzly up close I know a grizzly is much bigger... So give the me the spiders. Plus I never ever shovel snow here and you can swim in the ocean all year.
Larry

Up here we love to look at the ocean, fish in the ocean, but never, ever swim in the ocean. It's so cold that you'll be dead in less than an hour, even in the summer. Kind of a bummer that way.

Hi,

Here is a Photo of Bob the spider. The toothbrush we use to clean shoes is used to gauge size. The tooth brush is about 3 inches closer to the camera then the spider. Sorry that was as close as I am willing to get.

Yellow in nature means poison or stay away. This is a yellow spider that lives in the hall way to my outside bathroom. I used to take the web down each day but I was afraid I would really make her mad so I stopped and we go around her. She should be named Barbra not Bob. The males are a tiny red spider with a body the size of .17 cal pellet they are eaten after they mate. Another reason to leave her alone.

Not everything is nasty here these photos were all taken in my yard here along with Bob.
Enjoy. Sorry about the quality these were shot with a Chinese copy of a Blackberry Cell Phone.

My .22 pellet gun is a Philippine copy of a Chinese pump up gun. A small wire flips down at the muzzle and you stand on that and raise and lower the whole gun to pump 10 pumps. But it is broken and a new one or to fix this one is not in the budget at this time.

Larry

Thanks for posting the photos. It looks like the bugs there run pretty big, maybe you NEED some big spiders to catch them!

Yes they do get big here. There is a wolf type spider much bigger about 8 inches that runs down it prey. I have seen dead mice wrapped in web on the ground that was killed the night before. They don't build a web and only come out at night. They don't bite or come in the house I am happy to say. We have the most poisonous Cobra in the world here and I have chased two out of my yard they don't get big like in India two feet long would be really big and they can bite and spit the venom. But they don't like people and are rare.

Glad you enjoyed the photos. Some great fruit here too.

Larry

I posted this twice before. Don't know where it went. Thanks for the pics. I enjoy seeing them. Looks like some BIG bugs! Gary

Hi All,

Don't mean this to be Larry lives in a Zoo but this morning at dawn I walked outside and a 3 foot python was sunning itself on my cement drive. It has been raining and cooler for here very overcast last few days. He let me grab him and I put him unharmed into this aquarium till my Son gets home and then we will release him still unharmed back in the back yard.

But I guess this happens to you guys all the time. ha ha

Larry

It could, if you live in South Florida. Their starting to find huge ones in the wild down there. Dory

Here is South Florida, we only find 18 foot pythons. Those small ones (less then 6 feet) are still someones pet that hasn't been released into the wild yet. At least we don't have huge spiders living in our yards. The biggest I've found is about the size of a silver dollar. I noticed you have some nice flowers in your yard, do you also have any orchids?

Hey Keith,

I am not at all into Orchids but I am told that the native orchids that grow here are used in the breeding of the famous and lovely Orchids in the world. Ours are very plain and small but I was told every so often you have to go back to the basic DNA when breeding.

We have some in our yard but they just look like a pest plant growing on the tree to me. The flowers are tiny and very simple and not colorful at all. I will get some photos for you. The flowers in the photos grow wild here I did not plant them.

The property I rent backs on to a protected jungle area so I get a lot of wild life here. We have a fruit bat with 3 feet wing span. I have seen them around but never close enough for a photo.

Glad you enjoyed the photos. We have Salt water Crocs that have eaten people but they are in the south down near Malaysia. That is about the distance from N.Y. City to Virginia Beach from me. I am near Manila so I am lucky there.

Larry

Three foot bats, man eating salty crocs, pythons on the porch, dinner plate poison spiders. Sounds like a slice of Heaven! Hahaha. You are making Sean's nightmare sound more manageable ... Haha.

I just went and locked the shop door!!! Buhhhhhwwhh

We have saltwater crocs here also, the largest I've seen was about 11 feet, but there is no record of them attacking anyone. The gators are a different story.

I look forward to seeing the orchid photos. We have a number of native species in south florida, all of which are protected. I have about 200 orchids (not native) at my house, some I put in the trees, and others in pots. Some of the smaller ones we have are very fragrant at night or in the early morning hours.

Since I live in the city, the wild animals I see are possums, squirrels, fruit rats, raccoons, a falcon and a hawk that live somewhere nearby and hunt in the neighborhood, the occasional bald eagle, and the croc. Oh yes, the the turkey vultures that winter in the area. In the everglades (about 20 miles away), there is all kinds of stuff. The only things I haven't seen are the many pythons that seem to be having a good time in the glades, the florida panther, and some of the exotic critters that have escaped over the years from the local zoo or farms. They won't let anyone hunt the exotics in the everglades because its mostly a national park, and even the people who go out after the pythons catch them alive (don't ask me why).

Keith

Hey Kieth,

Here is the orchid photos. I bought ten of these over a year ago, they were very small and no blooms, and all are dead or messed up except this one. I don't do anything at all to them just had my help stick them on the trees. I paid $5 for 10 small Orchids. I was told I over paid for native or wild orchids. I could not hear the belly laugh the guy got from over charging me. My help here says they can go get wild ones for free but having Orchids around is very low on my to do list if I cannot eat it or sell it I don't much care about it.

I find them very plain and small. I have seen photos of lovely Orchids. These have no smell to any of us here maybe they do if you take care of them.

I hope you enjoy. The tooth brush again for scale I promise I don't keep it there that might be plant abuse.

Again phone photos from a Chinese copy of a Blackberry. The close up I had to stand on my tip toes, hold phone as high as I could, and did not see it was out of focus. That is as good as you get.

Take care,

Larry

That's neat Larry. Pics are fine. I can see them fine on my Chinese built iPhone. . See, we are linked yet again thru China. Who needs Kevin Bacon.
Are those some of you farm raised fish tanks?

Hi Larry,

Gary asked you about fish farm tanks? If you do fish farming, please list the fish species that you are breeding.

Thanks,

Julio

Larry,

Thats a nice looking orchid. Its looks like a type of vanda, which one I can't even guess at. It looks healthy based on the number of spikes it has shot. SOme are fragrant and other not. I have some of both.

Your farming is interesting. Here in south florida we grow a lot of winter crops, but the summer is hot and wet, so not much is grown in the summer months. We also have a lot of orchid houses that seem to do a nice business, many of which sell their orchids across the country and develop their own hybrids. When hurricane Andrew hit the area in 92, it ruined many of the businesses, but a number of them survived and now they are much bigger operations.

I like your farm setup, i would like to do something like that in my back yard, but I lack the space and my wife want a pool, not a pond.

Thanks for sharing,

Keith

Gary,

You made me laugh about Kevin Bacon thanks.

Good eye on the tanks Gary, yes I am raising Mekong catfish for sale here. I raise fish and plants in a Poly Culture called Aquaponics. Hydroponics but I just take the water from the fish tanks with fish poo and Ammonia (fish pee out of their gills) then pump it up through the grow beds full of simple gravel. I grow the plants in gravel not dirt. Bacteria breaks the Ammonia down into nitrites then to nitrates which is plant food. Hydroponics uses Chemical fertilizer that is very expensive and has health problems with its disposal after use. Aquaponics was invented by two very smart people in 1988 I am just doing what they showed the world. This system does not pollute, uses no harmful chemicals, and is way cheaper then Hydroponics. Many Hydroponic farms around the world are converting to Aquponics. You get clean safe veggies and yummy fish. I dry the fish parts/bones after we fillet them and grind them to put back into my fish pellets. Large stems and plant parts the fish don't eat I compost and sell to a garden shop.

The Mekong Catfish (a vegetarian) has several species, one can grow to 600 lbs but I raise Pangasius hypophthalmus this species only grows to 60 lbs but they grow really fast up to 3 or 4 pounds then slow way down. All of the Meykong Cat fish are banned from the U.S. for commercial use, But if you go to any pet store and ask for the iridescent shark they will be happy to sell you all you want. Pangasius hypophthalmusI can grow from 1 inch to 2 lbs in 8 months or harvest size. Here the price is high for this fish as McDonald's and other chains use the mild white meat for their fish sandwiches. If you get the Iridescent sharks and put them in a nice fish pond in the spring they would be at least a pound or more in the fall. Yum.

So that is how I stay alive here selling fish and veggies in a Third World Country. I don't advise you give up your air gun business for fish and veggies in the Philippines, but I have family here too so I had other reasons.

I use Chinese water pumps and once I found the right brand they have worked 24/7 over a year with zero failures knock on wood. But I do have flow switches set to ring a very loud bell if the flow stops. Just in case I have replacements, tested, plumbed and ready to replace a failed pump with one simple fitting.

I guess this thread should have a new heading, flora and fauna of Larry's compound in the Philippines. Just kidding. Gary till you poked your good natured fun at the strange animals and life I live here I never realized how I got so used to seeing all this as normal. If I would have seen it all first I might not have come here. My Sis won't come here to visit just on the spiders alone. I am not kidding.

Glad you enjoyed a peek in to Larry's Compound.

I don't sell the technology but would be happy to help anyone interested in Aquaponcis for free just PM me. Or Google it there are millions of hits some quite good and some really just wrong. This is a free and open technology and I support it.

Larry

Thank Larry, very informative indeed.

Julio Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thank Larry, very informative indeed.

Thanks I think it can and is changing farming. But the negative is in most of the U.S. you would have one season or have to heat the greenhouse. Even in L.A. and most of Texas you would have to shut down or heat for winter. Here is almost same temp all year.

I sent you a PM so not to Hijack the thread anymore. But you can tell I have strong feelings about affordable clean and safe food.

Larry

Hi Larry
Very interesting. I've enjoyed getting to know your enterprising lifestyle. I respect what you are doing there. It's quite ingenious. Sounds a bit Robinson Crusio on Manila. I could enjoy adapting to some of that. Around here, I'm so sick of following strings of Prius on 40 mph posted roads (at 38 mph) I could scream. If they posted the roads at 20 around here, the Sheepole would drive 18, and glare at you in their rear view mirro... monitors. I gotta get away from here while I can still think ... some.
Anyway ... Good job Larry. Thanks for the post.
Gary

Thanks to both of you! The system design is not mine just a bit changed for where I am and what equipment I have. My problem is I am earning Peso's not dollars. True I spend peso's but I have Dollar needs back the U.S. But I am with my family.

Gary there are great beaches and other fun things to do. We don't have hybrid cars here and the speed limit in most places here is just a concept not something they enforce Gas is about 2.30 a gallon. In Manila there are places with radar and cameras but I am in the country 2 hours drive South of Manila I am in Los Banos Laguna. Air is clear from the Ocean and people are friendly. I have a friend who just moved back to L.A. after living here for 3 years and he calls the U.S. the land of fee! Not as good as sheepoles but funny.

I am trying to set up a commercial Aquapnics system here to sell chives and sweet Basil to Japan and South Korea but I need more then I have to make that happen. I can grow more food in 1000 square meter greenhouse then a farmer can on 1 hector of dirt (1 hector = 2.47 Acres). Sigh

But I have a steady but small business here but some months is close. But most of us have that Axe over our heads.

Larry

This has been a great thread. It's neat to learn about our creative buds on the forum.

Hey, don't worry. There is no way to hijack a thread named "Mars and Orion"



Gary

wow larry , thats an interesting post , amazing the things that go on in the world that the rest of us seldom think about , sounds like a very clever sysytem you have working for yourself there.

Hey thanks guys.

I just want to say that the first successful commercial Aquaponics was done by a Husband and Wife the Sopranos. This is the link to them. [www.townsqr.com] Every working system in the world is based on their first working system. Mine too is almost an exact copy of their system.

I told Kieth I would take photos of my Orchids that I bought but I found this wild one this morning and got a couple of photos this does have a wonderful smell unlike the first ones I paid too much for. I did not know it was there till it bloomed today.

Going to be a good day I sold 25 kilos of Fillets and he is on the way to pick them up. (that is about $1.30 a Kilo or .65 a pound) No wonder I cannot make any money. What clean safe fish can you buy for that Gary? .

Thanks again.

Larry

Hey, how many of those toothbrushes do you have Larry? Haha. Pretty flower. Very fine.
.65/pound? Heck, we can't afford a whole pound of fish here.

Gary,

I have two of those outside toothbrushes one for the inside of the fish pumps and one for shoes that get let me see how do I say it.... poo on them.

I looked at the prices at whole foods in L.A. if I could sell one crop out in L.A. I could saw off this bit of the island and sail it to L.A. and still have money left over.

I know food is expensive there from my Sis in Williamsport Pa.

Well is almost 6pm Tuesday here or 6 am there on the east coast I have to go feed the fish.

Larry

Larry,

Thats a nice Phal, I have some in bloom also, but none of mine have a strong sent, or any sent that I can recall.

I have a neighbor who is setting up a system to raise fish in his back yard. I have not been over to see the set up, but he should be getting fish soon. I think he is going to raise Tilapia to sell to the local fish market.

Fish is expensive here. I only eat it when I catch it. Unless its sushi, then I buy it.

Keith

Hello Larry, Gary, and everyone!

I go out of town for a couple days and you guys open up a zoo AND an aquarium here, what gives?

Here's another one for the zoo, a couple of critters that have been hanging out in the neighborhood lately.



This shot is on the road just past our driveway. This is a moose cow and calf, they spent most of last Sunday drowsing in a sunny patch in the neighbors yard, enjoying the unseasonably reasonable weather that day.

Yeah, I can see why they were attracted to the - ah - warm and sunny day - to lay in the - yard?
Makes me want to get a glass of iced tea and sun myself too!

OK You got me on size alone I give up. We do have water buffalo's but they don't sleep in the Yard and I think an average Moose is bigger then any Water Buffalo we have.

I agree with Gary as to why they would pick that nice grass covered area. lol

All kidding aside I Hope your insurance problems get solved.

Larry

I think they would like nicer resting on a plate after a trip from the grill.