I am a dabbler in home automation and thinking about starting to get into lighting. I have heard mostly good things about the Philip Hue line and wanted to see what peoples thoughts are about it.

Our main current automation are a large number of Google Smart Speaker and Arlo video doorbells. Everything is working now on the Google ecosystem which I think Philip Hue will connect with. Our house is 100 years old which means that our possibilities to automate are lower than a new home since we have very few overhead lights, power outlets are at a premium (we have lots of power strips running through the house).

We are thinking about doing smart bulbs in some lamps which we can leave on and a chandalier. I think the biggest issue will leaving things always powered on.

cross-posted from: https://midwest.social/post/34286006

Did my first apple harvest for a tree that was in the backyard of my house. Around a year after we moved in after removing some trees that were growing into our fence and garage and working on building soil health our neighbors pointed out that we had an apple tree. They said that for the entire 10 years they lived here they didn't see an apple but were seeing a few two years ago. After missing my window last year I finally got around to harvest.

For around 1 hr or 2 of work I collected around 27 lbs of apples. I sorted around one third to be aesthitically pleasing enough to be eaten raw with the rest too ugly. I gave half away to the same neighbor and had to find something to do with the rest.

I made half into apple butter which I cooked in a crockpot for hours after dousing them in sugars. I ended up making around 7x 8 oz jars worth.

The rest I soaked and gently simmered in a pot with spices. The next day I mashed all the apples and got the remainig juice from the mashed sauce. I added raw honey to the juice and then dilted with alcohol (half in cognac and half in grain alcohol) to get it around 20% ABV. These cordials will last me all year.

What else should I do with apples next year or when I got back to harvest again?

cross-posted from: https://midwest.social/post/34286006

Did my first apple harvest for a tree that was in the backyard of my house. Around a year after we moved in after removing some trees that were growing into our fence and garage and working on building soil health our neighbors pointed out that we had an apple tree. They said that for the entire 10 years they lived here they didn't see an apple but were seeing a few two years ago. After missing my window last year I finally got around to harvest.

For around 1 hr or 2 of work I collected around 27 lbs of apples. I sorted around one third to be aesthitically pleasing enough to be eaten raw with the rest too ugly. I gave half away to the same neighbor and had to find something to do with the rest.

I made half into apple butter which I cooked in a crockpot for hours after dousing them in sugars. I ended up making around 7x 8 oz jars worth.

The rest I soaked and gently simmered in a pot with spices. The next day I mashed all the apples and got the remainig juice from the mashed sauce. I added raw honey to the juice and then dilted with alcohol (half in cognac and half in grain alcohol) to get it around 20% ABV. These cordials will last me all year.

What else should I do with apples next year or when I got back to harvest again?

cross-posted from: https://midwest.social/post/34286006

Did my first apple harvest for a tree that was in the backyard of my house. Around a year after we moved in after removing some trees that were growing into our fence and garage and working on building soil health our neighbors pointed out that we had an apple tree. They said that for the entire 10 years they lived here they didn't see an apple but were seeing a few two years ago. After missing my window last year I finally got around to harvest.

For around 1 hr or 2 of work I collected around 27 lbs of apples. I sorted around one third to be aesthitically pleasing enough to be eaten raw with the rest too ugly. I gave half away to the same neighbor and had to find something to do with the rest.

I made half into apple butter which I cooked in a crockpot for hours after dousing them in sugars. I ended up making around 7x 8 oz jars worth.

The rest I soaked and gently simmered in a pot with spices. The next day I mashed all the apples and got the remainig juice from the mashed sauce. I added raw honey to the juice and then dilted with alcohol (half in cognac and half in grain alcohol) to get it around 20% ABV. These cordials will last me all year.

What else should I do with apples next year or when I got back to harvest again?

Did my first apple harvest for a tree that was in the backyard of my house. Around a year after we moved in after removing some trees that were growing into our fence and garage and working on building soil health our neighbors pointed out that we had an apple tree. They said that for the entire 10 years they lived here they didn't see an apple but were seeing a few two years ago. After missing my window last year I finally got around to harvest.

For around 1 hr or 2 of work I collected around 27 lbs of apples. I sorted around one third to be aesthitically pleasing enough to be eaten raw with the rest too ugly. I gave half away to the same neighbor and had to find something to do with the rest.

I made half into apple butter which I cooked in a crockpot for hours after dousing them in sugars. I ended up making around 7x 8 oz jars worth.

The rest I soaked and gently simmered in a pot with spices. The next day I mashed all the apples and got the remainig juice from the mashed sauce. I added raw honey to the juice and then dilted with alcohol (half in cognac and half in grain alcohol) to get it around 20% ABV. These cordials will last me all year.

What else should I do with apples next year or when I got back to harvest again?

Lying to large corporation.

Quick story to go along with this. I purchased a new in the box playpen from a used clothing and good sale. After opening it and setting it up, it seems like it was missing a hole to attach one of the secondary accessories to this playpen. Everything else was working and this was something that was a nice to have add on.

After a week of trying to prove that I purchased this item and is actually missing that hole, I was informed this was unreplaceable but I could get a refund. After I said I wanted a refund I was informed that I needed to destroy the entire item to get the $50 refund and send them pictures. So I had to either destroy the only functional part of this item or find a picture that looks like I did. I decided on lying and used a Gen-AI image tool to create this. It ended up working out and I am getting the refund without breaking anything. If they are forcing this technology down our throats, I will use to circumvent stupid policies. Hopefully the energy used to create the photo is less than the energy needed to create a one playpen.

Obviously this is just theory because who would steal from a large corporation.....

My favorite 3D printer just released a new puzzle box. Take a look and check our his designs. Would love to see what people think?

cross-posted from: https://midwest.social/post/31222573

My favorite 3D printer just released a new puzzle box. Take a look and check our his designs. Would love to see what people think?

My partner just hit her third trimester and we are getting everything ready for when our first baby arrives. When our baby arrives we want to use one of those baby tracking apps that allow you to log when the baby was fed, when they pooped etc. I want to make sure whatever my partner and I use doesn't sell our data.

We will need something that we both can use on our own phones and want it simple and easy to use. What did everyone use? Did you like it? Did it feel useful and safe?