All Purls. No Swine.
Anyone who isn't a gullible moron, that's who. Crimenutely. A new Telegraph article, calls the humble potato "our new carb hero," and points out that potatoes are loaded with key nutrients such as potassium, vitamin B6, vitamin C, and fiber. Eliminating them, or just "staying away from them" in our diets hurts us more than… Continue reading Potatoes are Good for You. Who Knew???
Gosh. I really missed my annual Auntie Pat post this year. She died just a few days short of a year ago, at the age of about 99-and-a-half, on December 10, 2022. One of the last sentient conversations I had with her was in June of 2022, just before her 99th birthday. Things weren't quite… Continue reading That Moment When You Know You’re Old
Those of you who’ve been here a while will know that I’m a staunch defender of my birth country’s cuisine. I love “stodge,” best exemplified by a main course like “steak and kidney pudding,” and puddings such as “spotted dick.” I also love lighter desserts such as “summer pudding,” and sausages like “black pudding.” (If… Continue reading Traditional Thanksgiving Meal–UK Style
A recent post on Ricochet, in which a member published a simply gorgeous photo that a member of his family had snapped of a Great Blue Heron, asking for other members to share their favorite nature photos, prompted a memory of a post of my own from five-and-a-half years ago now. I'm reprising it below.… Continue reading Perseverance Pays Off
So there I was, as I often am, chasing down some reference or other that has nothing to do with the point at hand, and I stumbled over the fact that it was only 160 years ago today, on November 19, 1863 (what a very young country this still is), that a President of the… Continue reading “These Honored Dead”
Celebrating the 546th anniversary of William Caxton's printing of Dictes and Sayenges of the Phylosophers, perhaps the first book ever printed in the English language on November 18, 1477, by dusting off an old post with a tangential relationship to the subject: Imagine yourself, if you will, as an inhabitant of late 14th-century England.… Continue reading Reality TV, 1387 Edition (Redux)
465 years ago today, on November 17, 1558, "Elizabeth the Bastard,” the product of the oft-disputed marriage of Henry VIII and his second wife, Ann Boleyn, accessed to the throne on England on the death of her half-sister Queen Mary. As did many of her subjects, I admire and even love “Good Queen Bess,” who… Continue reading Celebrating the OTHER Queen Elizabeth on the 465th Anniversary of Her Accession to the Throne
So. I’ve about wrapped up, absent a bit of trim and the installation of an outdoor-accessible nest box–not an immediate priority because the elderly ladies involved rarely lay eggs anymore–the construction of my assisted-living chicken coop for the geezers. It’s going to have to stay in the driveway for the winter, but it is on… Continue reading And Now For Something Completely Different: Chicken Clucker Edition
...is to tell their stories. That's what I've tried to do, over the years with my family members, my friends, and many others I've lost over the years. Some of them certainly didn't start out as natural allies. But they all ended up beloved. And the only way I can insure that the world remembers… Continue reading The Best Way to Memorialize the Dead…
It’s Easter 1979. Mr. Right and I are living in a tiny house we bought for the princely sum of $7,200 (all we could afford), somewhere in Pittsburgh’s low-rent district, amongst the druggies and the motorcycle gangs. Monthly mortgage payment: $71.97. Rather abrupt investment in learning necessary self-defense techniques and maneuvers on the part of… Continue reading Confessions of an Accidental IT Professional, Chapter One