What is it?
A big brown moth is as far as I can classify this at the moment
I took this this morning. As I stepped out of the front door I disturbed it and it flew into the outside laundry shelter. It was quite big, 10cm (4″) across.
The Mean Green Leaf Eating Machine from some months back
Maybe it is my Mean Green Leaf Eating Machine…
Well, I was right.
First page of google images showed the same fellow. Indeed it is a big brown moth, atested to on a Mexican home flora and fauna blog. Another blog says it is a large brown moth…
They’re so helpful.
So they’re found in Mexico, and now I see in Ecuador too.
Finally, I find on page 9, an authority. It’s a Black Witch Moth (Ascalapha odorata); and it’s not my MGLEM, the caterpillars of this baby are reddish brown. It is sometimes calld a Bat Moth.
So there you have it my nature observation of the morning.
You remember my celery butt that failed.
Well, I left the bucket filled with my compost, and several things have sprouted from the seeds that invariably end up there.
Tomatoes, papaya and an orange.
This is how I grow most of my plants from self sown seeds.
All from a bucket full of muck
I am ready to plant more tomatoes, as the current ones are close to failing. The papaya and orange I will give away to a deserving home because I already have two oranges and three papaya growing.
My rosemary…
The new rosemary is thriving
Finally, to hark back to needs vs wants of last week. I mentioned that I want a TV stand as the current one is made of bits and pieces. Well, I want one, but I don’t need one.
Here is my current affair.
Made of bits and pieces
Here’s a run down. Two old wardrobe drawers on edge supporting the side of an old wardrobe (closet). Fruit boxes either side of the TV, another under the stand and three on the right with wine. The cabinette on top is part of a set of kitchen cupboards. All of this came from the street. Total cost R$0. It’s not elegant, it’s functional. I doubt I would get a commercial stand to hold so much. So, in the meantime it is a want, not a need.
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Now, I need more coffee to tackle this week’s CTWW.
Got coffee…. here we go.
Monitors.
This week, reduce the brightness of your monitor to the lowest level you can comfortably stand. Even lowering it one or two “notches” will help. Then, set the energy saving preferences to turn off the display (yes, turn it off rather than use a screen saver) when dormant for a short time (2-15 minutes). Do the same thing on mobile devices to extend their battery life.
Small is right; screen savers do nothing to save/reduce power. The idea of a screen saver is merely to prevent a single image burning itself into the screen. Now, I’m not sure this applies to LCD screens, but was certainly the case for the old cathode tube monitors.
I recently had problems with my LCD screen and had to get the power pack replaced. Meanwhile, I was two months with an old cathode monitor. With my 24/7 usage, it added R$20 to my power bill.
Thankfully, I am back on my LCD screen.
Now I am at the keyboard most of the day, so having the power off setting is rather useless for me. If I leave the house for shopping or work, I simply flip the switch and physically turn the screen off, the same at night.
My brightness setting is also already on low, not for economy, but I find it more relaxing on the eyes.
That’s my offering for this week.
Eco-Crap 
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