2012/1/28

Chinese New Year Eve Dinner 龍年年夜飯

Hand made Water Ram 自製水力幫浦
Videos of goats and chickens 羊寶和雞寶錄影
Back Yard Bio-Charcoal 自製木炭
Home made food recipes 中西食譜

Property Development 買山容易養山難
Art Works 手工藝品

Dumplings (Silver Ingot) and Wantons









Egg Dumplings (Golden Ingot) and Shrimp eggs
(To make sure the ground meat is cooked, steam the egg dumplings after making them)









Chinese Custards









龍年除夕夜, 山中無歲月, 沒甚麼大年小節的, 連生日都不過,








除非朋友請吃飯, 才做幾道菜
應景, 餃子餛飩最簡單, 蛋塔朋友們都愛吃, 這幾道菜就成了主食和甜點









有了銀元寶餃子, 當然少不了蛋餃這道金元寶









山裡可能比不上城裡物資豐富, 缺這少那的, 獨獨雞蛋很多, 燙顆大白菜, 加上肉丸蛋餃和青豆, 也很豐盛了









蝦仁炒蛋加上燙白菜, 給喜歡海鮮的朋友解一下饞









自己養的放山雞下的蛋, 顏色金燦, 祝福每個人龍年行大運, 平安快樂

68 years old Cutting Board 68 高齡的切菜版

Hand Made Water Ram 自製水力幫浦
Videos of goats and chickens 羊寶和雞寶錄影
Back Yard Bio-Charcoal 自製木炭
Home made food recipes 中西食譜

Property Development 買山容易養山難
Art Works 手工藝品











Videos 錄影:
Goats love fir needles 羊兒吃杉樹葉
Goats eat squash 羊兒吃大南瓜










氣溫太暖 (華氏 50 度), 原該下雪的水量, 變成 10 天的豪雨, 加上融化的山雪, 讓河水暴漲, 幾個大城傳出水災, 山裡由於森林蓄水的功能, 反而一片平靜, 沒有甚麼變化

好不容易放晴三天, 趕緊到各牧區撿拾被狂風吹倒的
樹枝, 拋過圍欄,









再用小卡車搬運到柴房前,









鋸成等長的枝條, 做為柴火









有一棵 68 高齡的老樹 (細數年輪), 亦被吹倒, 半夜倒下時的轟然巨響, 類似悶雷,









大樹幹比較麻煩, 由於倒在山裡, 必須先帶鋸子上山, 鋸成小段, 滾或搬到路旁, 放晴第二天開卡車停山邊,









一段一段搬上車, 載到柴房前面, 櫻桃小丸子等在路邊為我們打氣









木頭分別劈成一定長寬的柴火,










堆放到柴房裡, 新柴需等春夏曝曬三年, 才能成為少煙耐燒, 有用的好柴












今天則帶羊進山撿拾被狂風吹落的杉樹枝葉,










搬到半山腰堆成幾大堆, 當做羊兒的年夜飯










用 68 高齡老樹的一截樹幹, 做成了新砧板, 芳香美麗









切一顆比頭大的南瓜給羊兒當下午茶









只留下一小塊, 蒸熟後,









澆上楓糖漿或蜂蜜, 就是一道美味簡單的營養午餐了

2012/1/20

Handmade Water Ram 自製水力幫浦(中英雙語)

Videos of goats and chickens 羊寶和雞寶錄影 
Back Yard Bio-Charcoal 自製木炭
 








Homemade food recipes 中西食譜 
Property Development 買山容易養山難
ArtWorks 手工藝品










Videos 錄影: 
Water Ram with 200 Feet long pipe to uphill
水力幫浦和 200 英呎長的管線接上山
 

Weir and Water Ram 山溪引水器和幫浦
Water flow from the water ram 接到水囉
 





 


Water Ram 自製水力幫浦
Water ram, collector and pipe 水力幫浦和水管


 







中英雙語







 

Water rams were invented over 200 years ago. They have been used all over the world, both commercially made rams and homemade rams.








The homemade rams are generally not quite as efficient as the highly engineered models but they are a lot cheaper and are a fun do it yourself project.









A water ram can be made from off the shelf parts available in hardware/plumbing stores. Recycle stores often have many of the pipe parts; used parts in good shape work fine and save a lot of money.











There are numerous YouTube videos and more technical websites explaining how they work and what parts can be used to make one. A serious long term application can justify the expense of a commercially made ram. Water rams come in sizes from ¾ “ to over 6”.









The water ram is an example of appropriate technology which does not require an electric or internal combustion motor to operate. They do require a downhill flow of water with sufficient fall to provide the kinetic energy needed.









The purpose of the water ram is to move water from a low location to a higher location. The energy to make this happen is supplied by the kinetic energy of water running downhill through a pipe (called the drive pipe).








The running water is stopped very abruptly at the low location by a special valve when the running water in the drive pipe reaches sufficient velocity to close the valve. This abrupt stop creates a water hammer.








 

The water hammer then opens a check valve leading into the delivery pipe, which is a pipe carrying the pumped water to wherever you want to use or store it—all within the pumping limitations of the ram.








The first valve (called the clack valve) now re-opens with the fall in pressure, the check valve is closed by back pressure from the delivery pipe, and the action starts all over again. This action happens repeatedly, about once or twice a second. No electricity is required.








This ram pumps about 1.5 gallons per minute.








Making a water ram is not technically demanding. You may have to purchase some basic tools but only basic tools are needed.









For details on necessary parts and more complete how-to information do a google search: water ram pumps, follow the links, enjoy. To see our ram in operation:








click any colorful characters under "videos".









Please leave your comments and/or questions on YouTube. Thanks.









當初買山時, 就決定要把此地建設成自給自足之地, 因此許多設備都是電力與手動並行,









尤其是水源, 雖然有口一分鐘流量 60 加侖的好井, 仍設置了三個 1500 加侖的儲水塔,








冬雨季節收集屋檐雨水, 夏天用手動裝置控制給水, 讓羊兒的水桶不空, 自動補水, 我只在零下結凍時, 早晨灌熱水解凍,








菜圃/果園也有自動澆水/滴水裝置, 每週定時澆水三天,








10 年的河沙培土, 堆肥, 雞羊努力澆灌,








從當年寸草不生的貧瘠土壤,











到如今的滿園春色








毛蟲, 甲蟲, 都樂在其中








暖房內更是加裝一個自製的直立鐵桶, 內裝井水,










當白天氣溫高時吸收熱, 晚上氣溫低時, 桶內熱水徐徐釋放熱氣, 等於一個不費電的溫度調節器 









讓暖房內四季如春, 蔬菜翠綠肥美









這兩天, 趁著連續一週的冬雨, 利用物理原理, 將湍流山溪, 用手工做的幫浦, 將低處的水源, 抽向高處









此自動幫浦不用電力, 可將溪水抽送到設在山坡高處的水塔, 然後水塔的水自動流向山下的菜圃, 果園, 或牲口的水桶 (水往低處流的自然原理),











在天旱與沒電的情況下救急, 此幫浦一分鐘可抽水 1.5 加侖, 即一小時 90 加侖, 只要下一天的雨, 就能灌滿我們 1500 加侖的菜圃水塔











我們計算過, 就算沒水沒電, 只要三個水塔全滿, 就能供應大約六個月的山中用水 (包括牲口), 當然是在比目前已經很摳的生活用水習慣, 還要更節約的情況下









這個幫浦不難做, 成本也很低, 所有材料都在二手店收集而來 (雖然都是生鏽的, 花了些時間打磨),











網路上很多影片教你自製, google "water ram" 即可,









聽不懂英文也沒關係, 一步一步示範得很清楚, 若有任何疑問, 請在下方 "張貼意見" 欄提問, 或點錄影下方的彩色字體影片, 到 YouTube 留言亦可