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<?xml-stylesheet type="text/xsl" href="https://community.element14.com/cfs-file/__key/system/syndication/rss.xsl" media="screen"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/"><channel><title>Personal Blogs</title><link>https://community.element14.com/members-area/personalblogs/</link><description /><dc:language>en-US</dc:language><generator>Telligent Community 12</generator><item><title /><link>https://community.element14.com/members-area/personalblogs/b/andy-clark-s-blog/posts/workshop-walls?CommentId=4f8f6bfa-21b0-45c0-91da-19624719240a</link><pubDate>Tue, 20 Oct 2026 20:32:00 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:4f8f6bfa-21b0-45c0-91da-19624719240a</guid><dc:creator>DAB</dc:creator><description>Well done. You are making good progress.</description></item><item><title>Blog Post: Workshop Walls</title><link>https://community.element14.com/members-area/personalblogs/b/andy-clark-s-blog/posts/workshop-walls</link><pubDate>Sun, 18 Oct 2026 20:27:00 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:8eb7e8eb-d4a1-46a5-9d4a-1d3111b5fae4</guid><dc:creator>Workshopshed</dc:creator><description>Not posted for a few months, have been busy with a number of things such as visiting Ireland and Scotland, attending EMF camp, painting the house and show casing the company&amp;#39;s new products as a fashion model. But there has been progress on tbe Workshopshed. Since installing the trusses and boards for the roof, I added a waterproof membrane and nailed on over 600 tiles. Following that extra floor battens were installed all round, along with a board to form the start of the walls. Uprights were added along with a door frame. OSB was attached to the frame and wrapped with more membrane. Have just started adding cladding. I hope to get that all on before the weather gets much worse. Was hoping &amp;quot;to be in by Christmas&amp;quot; but that&amp;#39;s not looking too hopeful.</description></item><item><title /><link>https://community.element14.com/members-area/personalblogs/b/ralph-yamamoto-s-blog/posts/bees-in-oregon-2026?CommentId=c1480748-96f0-4913-b24e-88da8bbe6c63</link><pubDate>Sun, 18 Oct 2026 18:36:00 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:c1480748-96f0-4913-b24e-88da8bbe6c63</guid><dc:creator>beacon_dave</dc:creator><description>More like laughing at me as I had to wait around two hours for that one to finally reappear for the photoshoot. One has had its pollen baskets stuffed full like saddlebags, so not sure if this is for hibernation or a sign that she has already started her nest and will be active over Winter. The heavy rain showers here knocked a lot of the flowers off but the plants have just deployed more, so garden back in full bloom again despite some overnight temperatures getting close to freezing. I was pruning the Roses this afternoon to try and get them back under some sort of control and noticed some new buds that look like they may pop open into flower soon. The new Summer/Autumn heathers have finished flowering, but surprisingly not much interest in them shown by either the bumblebees or the honey bees. In the meantime, the Winter/Spring heathers have been making good progress (been on a diet of sulphur chips and liquid seaweed all Summer), so hopefully a bit more of a show of flowers this time. There may be more interest shown in those ones as there will be less alternatives available at that time of year. I harvested the seeds from the purple Gladioli this year just to see what they would do and they have already germinated and poked their heads through the soil in the seed tray. They tend to hybridise easily, so will have to wait around three years to see what I&amp;#39;ve actually ended up with. I&amp;#39;m not sure where the nearest beehives are around here but I have quite a few honey bees visiting at the moment.</description></item><item><title>File: Bee Hive 1026</title><link>https://community.element14.com/members-area/personalblogs/m/managed-videos/151900</link><pubDate>Sun, 18 Oct 2026 17:35:00 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:c52414f7-d898-48f9-94f5-f6c83bd930d4</guid><dc:creator>ralphjy</dc:creator><description /></item><item><title /><link>https://community.element14.com/members-area/personalblogs/b/ralph-yamamoto-s-blog/posts/bees-in-oregon-2026?CommentId=c42b5359-5731-4bce-8239-5211e189f3e8</link><pubDate>Sun, 18 Oct 2026 17:33:00 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:c42b5359-5731-4bce-8239-5211e189f3e8</guid><dc:creator>ralphjy</dc:creator><description>Almost like they are posing for you ☺ . We have shifted into fall weather and we have nothing blooming in the yard (we didn&amp;#39;t plan too well this year). Bee activity has dropped to zero as you would expect. I just took out the tomato and cucumber plants last week. Dogs and I walked by the local hive earlier this week and there was still a fair amount of activity, but not sure where they are going as there isn&amp;#39;t much blooming nearby. community.element14.com/.../Bee-Hive-1026.mp4</description></item><item><title /><link>https://community.element14.com/members-area/personalblogs/b/ralph-yamamoto-s-blog/posts/bees-in-oregon-2026?CommentId=d593ea5e-7d88-4753-a588-5227d55536ab</link><pubDate>Sun, 18 Oct 2026 17:03:00 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:d593ea5e-7d88-4753-a588-5227d55536ab</guid><dc:creator>beacon_dave</dc:creator><description>Bumblebee activity here has slowed right down now but there was a break in the rain this weekend, so managed to grab a couple more snapshots, while out in the garden.</description></item><item><title /><link>https://community.element14.com/members-area/personalblogs/b/ralph-yamamoto-s-blog/posts/time-flies?CommentId=9c340dd6-9bf2-4aca-a08b-69d0fc6fd7c4</link><pubDate>Tue, 15 Sep 2026 19:47:00 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:9c340dd6-9bf2-4aca-a08b-69d0fc6fd7c4</guid><dc:creator>DAB</dc:creator><description>When my watch stopped working I took as a sign and retired. Never looked back or replaced the watch.</description></item><item><title>File: Bees on Sedum</title><link>https://community.element14.com/members-area/personalblogs/m/managed-videos/151791</link><pubDate>Sun, 13 Sep 2026 22:07:00 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:6e6f4c86-5bb3-4f3a-ab2e-6d6711af1a4f</guid><dc:creator>ralphjy</dc:creator><description /></item><item><title /><link>https://community.element14.com/members-area/personalblogs/b/ralph-yamamoto-s-blog/posts/bees-in-oregon-2026?CommentId=060ffd6f-bdad-4753-b5b0-5eef10fdaddc</link><pubDate>Sun, 13 Sep 2026 22:05:00 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:060ffd6f-bdad-4753-b5b0-5eef10fdaddc</guid><dc:creator>ralphjy</dc:creator><description>The weather is quickly changing here too. Definitely colder. And the types of blossoming plants are changing. Not sure what&amp;#39;s happening in my yard, but for some reason everything is growing really tall this year. The Douglas Aster got to 6-7 feet. With all that &amp;quot;tallness&amp;quot; seems like most of the plants are collapsing onto my lawn - the Douglas Aster, Cat Mint, Fireweed, Penstemon, and Sedum. Most are past their peak, so we&amp;#39;ve started cutting them down (Fireweed, Penstemon). The Sedum just started blooming a couple of weeks ago. When I go past the Cat Mint with my mower, I get immersed in a cloud of bees. I&amp;#39;ve started tying bunches of the flowers together with garden ties so that they can support themselves vertically. Here&amp;#39;s a video of bees on Sedum that I&amp;#39;ve tied. Didn&amp;#39;t catch activity at the peak when there are dozens of bees. Almost like you&amp;#39;re next to the hive. I think they like it when the flowers are close together and it also negates the wind movement. community.element14.com/.../Bees-on-Sedum.mp4 A couple of types of honeybee, a few bumblebees, sweat bees, and flies. Seems like bumblebee activity has slowed down a lot, I was out with the dog after twilight and there was still honeybee activity on the Sedum.</description></item><item><title>Blog Post: Time flies?</title><link>https://community.element14.com/members-area/personalblogs/b/ralph-yamamoto-s-blog/posts/time-flies</link><pubDate>Sun, 13 Sep 2026 21:28:00 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:c43b3214-3170-4c6a-aed3-b7fb0aaa6409</guid><dc:creator>ralphjy</dc:creator><description>I was busy working on a roadtest yesterday when my wife told me that one of the downstairs smoke alarms had beeped once. I usually check the batteries at the start of Daylight Savings Time each year and attach a physical date label to the outside so that I can verify when the batteries were changed. I have 4 alarms, two smoke only with AC/battery power and two combo smoke/CO alarms that are battery only.. When I looked at the labels, I realized that I had not checked the batteries this year - labels were dated 3/2/25. So, I decided to change all of the batteries and test the alarms. The two wired alarms were not working. Seemed like an odd coincidence, so I checked the manufacture dates and to my horror the dates were in 1995 and 1999. The older one must have been installed originally when the house was built and the other one must have replaced one that failed (I don&amp;#39;t recall). I guess I have probably been wasting batteries for quite a few years. To be fair, these alarms are redundant - I had left them when I switched to combo alarms because they were wired. Modern alarms are pretty good about telling you when they have reached their expiration date (usually 5-10 years depending on the type of sensor). Amazing how fast time goes by... Took one of them apart just to see the guts - no planned autopsy. Looks like something built in the 90&amp;#39;s. On that note, my Wii Fit Plus is still working but is starting to develop dementia. Today I reached my 6400th day since I started using it. But recently, it starts every day with a fun fact. Never changes the day - it&amp;#39;s always 4100. Reminds me of older people I know and I am quickly becoming one of them. I hope this is not a sign of imminent demise...</description><category domain="https://community.element14.com/members-area/personalblogs/tags/Smoke%2bAlarm">Smoke Alarm</category><category domain="https://community.element14.com/members-area/personalblogs/tags/Wii%2bFit%2bPlus">Wii Fit Plus</category></item><item><title /><link>https://community.element14.com/members-area/personalblogs/b/ralph-yamamoto-s-blog/posts/bees-in-oregon-2026?CommentId=43ff6581-c547-4b84-990c-a3bd0c1c75b7</link><pubDate>Sun, 13 Sep 2026 19:09:00 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:43ff6581-c547-4b84-990c-a3bd0c1c75b7</guid><dc:creator>beacon_dave</dc:creator><description>There is a definite change in the weather here now but some of the flowers are still managing to hold out and the bumblebees along with a few honey bees, are still stopping by to refuel. Not much interest being shown so far in the new &amp;#39;bee friendly&amp;#39; heather plants, of which half are currently in flower now, but one Buff Tailed did take a close look today. Lots of nectar robbing going on, even by the long-tongues... It will be interesting to see if any new queens decide to skip hibernation this Winter due to the warmer weather.</description></item><item><title /><link>https://community.element14.com/members-area/personalblogs/b/ralph-yamamoto-s-blog/posts/bees-in-oregon-2026?CommentId=8d004d27-4547-4029-9f1f-3784597fcbf5</link><pubDate>Thu, 20 Aug 2026 19:34:00 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:8d004d27-4547-4029-9f1f-3784597fcbf5</guid><dc:creator>DAB</dc:creator><description>I take about 1 gallon of berries and that yields enough juice and pulp to make five 12oz jars of Jam.</description></item><item><title /><link>https://community.element14.com/members-area/personalblogs/b/ralph-yamamoto-s-blog/posts/bees-in-oregon-2026?CommentId=3fc21631-29c1-4ebf-9cf7-189702ed2b1f</link><pubDate>Sun, 16 Aug 2026 12:49:00 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:3fc21631-29c1-4ebf-9cf7-189702ed2b1f</guid><dc:creator>beacon_dave</dc:creator><description>Sounds tasty. Roughly how many jam jars are considered as a batch over there ?</description></item><item><title /><link>https://community.element14.com/members-area/personalblogs/b/ralph-yamamoto-s-blog/posts/bees-in-oregon-2026?CommentId=fabbe77c-e78e-4e78-86ca-cccef51a77bb</link><pubDate>Sat, 15 Aug 2026 21:44:00 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:fabbe77c-e78e-4e78-86ca-cccef51a77bb</guid><dc:creator>DAB</dc:creator><description>Update, blackberries are in full production, two batches of Jam done and one blackberry cobbler currently being eaten. :))</description></item><item><title /><link>https://community.element14.com/members-area/personalblogs/b/ralph-yamamoto-s-blog/posts/bees-in-oregon-2026?CommentId=bb7062bc-5df1-465c-bf87-3424c3e59400</link><pubDate>Sat, 15 Aug 2026 20:45:00 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:bb7062bc-5df1-465c-bf87-3424c3e59400</guid><dc:creator>beacon_dave</dc:creator><description>Have just spotted a queen buff-tailed bumblebee out foraging in the back garden close to BeeBox. May just be fattening up before hibernation, although with the unusually warm weather this year, could end up being winter-active.</description></item><item><title /><link>https://community.element14.com/members-area/personalblogs/b/ralph-yamamoto-s-blog/posts/solar-power-hat-fan?CommentId=c5d262d6-1762-498c-a8ef-5b6d2f28988a</link><pubDate>Mon, 10 Aug 2026 14:42:00 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:c5d262d6-1762-498c-a8ef-5b6d2f28988a</guid><dc:creator>beacon_dave</dc:creator><description>Looks like there was a red/white version</description></item><item><title /><link>https://community.element14.com/members-area/personalblogs/b/ralph-yamamoto-s-blog/posts/solar-power-hat-fan?CommentId=45dbad13-75e2-4cde-8734-54d880c229e1</link><pubDate>Mon, 10 Aug 2026 13:08:00 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:45dbad13-75e2-4cde-8734-54d880c229e1</guid><dc:creator>shabaz</dc:creator><description>Wow, recall seeing that in school days! I don&amp;#39;t know if it came in any other colour scheme, it was just Blue/White from memory.</description></item><item><title>File: The Secret Life of Arcade Machines, Rent-a-Dog</title><link>https://community.element14.com/members-area/personalblogs/m/managed-videos/151563</link><pubDate>Sun, 09 Aug 2026 17:29:00 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:35f90d1d-73e6-4cf7-900c-708ada9482b7</guid><dc:creator>beacon_dave</dc:creator><description>This year I’m trying something a bit different. When I was younger, I struggled to make things properly, but never had problems coming up with ideas of what to make. But from the emails I get, I realise that many technically skilled people complet...</description></item><item><title /><link>https://community.element14.com/members-area/personalblogs/b/ralph-yamamoto-s-blog/posts/bees-in-oregon-2026?CommentId=99a19c86-c600-4d41-8096-52d90b7b4d12</link><pubDate>Sun, 09 Aug 2026 17:27:00 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:99a19c86-c600-4d41-8096-52d90b7b4d12</guid><dc:creator>beacon_dave</dc:creator><description>Have you got particulate matter sensors rigged up so that you can measure indoor versus outdoor levels over time? Perhaps need treadmills in the garage for &amp;#39;indoor walkies&amp;#39;. Tim Hunkin: The Secret Life of Arcade Machines, Rent-a-Dog https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftOwZt8nA0w Some of the responder video footage from those wildfires is quite an eye-opener. Not a nice place to have to work or live. I was expecting some sort of a translucent flower illuminated by a combination of UV and visible light with some sort of sugar water dispenser. Was quite a surprise to see the simple target they had come up with. My bumblebee visitors don&amp;#39;t take much notice of me. They are far too busy trying to visit every flower in turn a hurry to get back to the nest.</description></item><item><title /><link>https://community.element14.com/members-area/personalblogs/b/ralph-yamamoto-s-blog/posts/bees-in-oregon-2026?CommentId=911d798c-446a-4d20-b672-034043181764</link><pubDate>Sun, 09 Aug 2026 16:34:00 GMT</pubDate><guid isPermaLink="false">93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:911d798c-446a-4d20-b672-034043181764</guid><dc:creator>ralphjy</dc:creator><description>Our AC does a reasonable job of keeping the air clean and we have a couple of portable HEPA air filters that we move around as required. Mainly have to stay indoors all the time and the poor dogs have to forego their walks. Primary issue is that we still get throat irritation even with trying to mitigate outdoor exposure. Not sure if it is small particulate or gas content - probably both. Really feel for the firefighters and people living near the wildfire areas. Wind shifted yesterday and air quality is much better now, hopefully will continue this week. Thanks for posting the pic of the bee pattern, saves me from looking for it. Based on the verbal description, I had expected something different. I may have to try it to see how well it works when there are lots of flowers around. I know that I get a lot of company if I sit outside at lunch with a smoothie .</description></item></channel></rss>