New Tree

An infestation of whiteflies at the mid to end of summer '24 killed the 12' holly bush and I had to remove it. We were not unhappy to see it go. After some research we chose a 'hearts of gold' Eastern Redbud tree to replace it with. It's been beautiful to see its transformation as it's grown over the first 6 months.

Growing Flax

 Last spring I planted some Blue Flax (Linum perenne) to cover the ground around the new tree. I wanted something native and pollinator friendly that would provide flowers with a nice color contrast to the many yellow and white flowers we have. We won't get the flowers this season, though, but it's a perennial so next year I look forward to many small blue flowers in early summer.

Wild Bees

I've enjoyed the wild bees this summer. One of the highlights of the summer was coming upon a nectar and pollen feast these black bees were having in a gentle winding ravine behind the Las Madres Pueblo on my dad's property. 

VFD Filament Driver Circuit

Don't give up! I spent the last 3 years troubleshooting this circuit with an LM4871 chip with the goal of supplying a low voltage alternating square wave current across the filament of vacuum fluorescent displays. Spoiler alert: it was the addition of a single 10Ω resistor to lower the voltage from ~5V down to ~3.3V.