All Purls. No Swine.
Otherwise known as the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug. It’s been a fact of life in these United States since September, 1998, when it was "accidentally" introduced--probably from its having stowed away in a shipping container--in Allentown PA. It’s yet another gift from our Oriental friends, along with poisonous plastic-ingredient dog-food, formaldehyde-infused mattresses (maybe they were… Continue reading Halyomorpha Halys
"Medic!" That cry on the battlefield means a soldier is wounded. It also means someone will almost always respond, a normally-unarmed battlefield medic. This is the known and expected outcome of that call. But where did battlefield medicine start and how did evolve? Battlefield Medics: How Warfare Changed the History of Medicine, by Martin King,… Continue reading Book Review By Seawriter: Battlefield Medicine from Ancient Egypt to Modern Afghanistan
My childhood in Corfu shaped my life. If I had the craft of Merlin, I would give every child the gift of my childhood--Gerald Durrell I was a voracious reader as a child. If it came between endboards, I read it. Too young for me (I loved the Peter Rabbit tales for years longer than I should… Continue reading “The Gift of My Childhood”
We have an audio quote today, which occurs at the start of this short clip from White Shadows in the South Seas, MGM's first movie with a pre-recorded soundtrack, and the one in which Leo, the MGM Lion, roared for the first time. Here he is on July 31, 1928, speaking for himself: https://youtu.be/6pIfgwAlv0c There… Continue reading Quote of the Day: Leo the Lion
I don't believe that for a moment. Although it's a frequently-expressed opinion from a man I used to respect. No more. For I know that: He. Is. Wrong. Let me explain. I live on a farm. I'm a widow and on my own. I'm almost 67 years old. I'm increasingly dependent on friends and neighbors… Continue reading Quote of the Day: “America is Too Stupid to Live”
Well, not really. While July 22 is celebrated as Rat Catcher’s Day in the United States and a few other countries, it’s not a festivity that has really caught on, and good luck finding a celebratory acknowledgement to send to your friend in the greeting card section of your local supermarket. As far as I… Continue reading It’s National “Hug A Rat Catcher Day!”
Well, winter is over. You can't be sure, in this part of the world, until you've been visited by the "three snowmen," although, in contrast to general population-growth trends (or lack thereof) in these United States, the guys seem to have a fruitful year, and I counted about half-a-dozen of the little bastards taunting me,… Continue reading Building Your Own Chicken Coop: Womanly Feminist Edition!
Haiku #1 Better not to try Painting things that matter much When lambs are around. Haiku are delightful little snippets of poetry in a form that originated in Japan, and which follow rules too numerous to deconstruct here, other than to mention that they often express complex thoughts in simple language and often with natural or… Continue reading Farm Haiku
Happy May 13, National Frog Jumping Day! I can’t think of a better way to celebrate it than to reprint here the story which started it all, Mark Twain’s The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County. It was his first significant published work, and appeared as Jim Smiley and his Jumping Frog in The Saturday Press (a weekly New York literary… Continue reading Celebrating National Frog Jumping Day
They’re so funny. And, in many ways, so very human. This is Oleg. He’s tiny for his age (about six weeks), and his “sister” (Tatiana) who’s only a couple of days older, is almost twice his size. I only named them this morning, upon the increasing certainty that the little fermentation vats that comprise their… Continue reading Guilty Pleasures