Three Miles of Fence

In late May I blogged about a new well on the farm and indicated it was part of a larger project.

That project is well underway, though not quite half complete.

We have embarked upon what is known as "best management practices" in our farming techniques. The reasons for this are many, but the biggest one is to fence the cattle out of the ponds and creeks that crisscross the farm property.

Why would we do this?

Because it is good for the environment, and because eventually the government is going to force us to. On our farm are several springs, which, along with springs and run-offs from neighboring farms, eventually feed into the Roanoke River. These springs turn into small streams, one of which is Carvin's Creek, which feeds Carvin's Cove, from which Roanoke City gets its water.

Carvin's Creek turns into Tinker Creek and a little ways down Tinker runs into the Roanoke River, making all of these little springs in this vicinity the headwaters for those creeks as well as feeders into the Roanoke River.

In plainer language, Roanoke City folks ultimately are drinking our cow pee. Sure, it's purified, but I won't drink city water. I know where it comes from!

The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality and similar organizations have been holding meetings about the water quality of all of these small streams. The goal is to fence livestock from all of these waters eventually. Right now the program is voluntary, and we are working hard to implement this project.

The first step was drilling the well.

The second step was running water lines. By the time my husband has run water lines for six cattle watering stations, he will have run more than 1.5 miles of water line.

This is a cattle watering station.

The cattle put their noses into these holes, which my husband demonstrated, and the water comes up. This is where they will get a drink. My husband says the cows smell the water.

This is the watering station as it looks from a distance.

 

 
 

This is an incomplete watering station. The line has been run from the well, which is about 1/3 of a mile away.

 

The other part of this project involves fencing.

Not only the ponds but also the little feeder streams going to the ponds have to be fenced off. The lines will be 30 feet back from the water sources.

New fencing going up around one of the ponds.

The fencing also takes in a few areas of marshland.

Additionally, the project calls for cross-fencing the cattle pastures into about five different areas. This will allow us to move the cattle from one field to the other and keep them better contained and allow the grass to grow back in areas where the cattle are not grazing. Right now the farm is only divided in half, so while we already do that it is not to that degree.

So far all of the work has been performed on the far side of the farm, which is about 3/4 of a mile from my house. Once the fencing and water stations are in place on that side, we will move the cattle from this side of the farm to that side, and the work will continue over here.

By the time all of the fencing has been put in place, it will add up to about three miles of new fence line.

Books: At Home

At Home: A Short History of Private Life
By Bill Bryson
473 pages
Copyright 2010

I had not read Bill Bryson's work before, though I had heard of it, particularly his book A Walk in the Woods.

In this book, Bryson explores the stuff and the rooms of a home, particularly his home, and explains how come forks have four tines and things like that.

Since I enjoy things like that, and am a history buff, I really liked the book and the way it was written. Having said that, I confess to not finishing it simply because it made me tired. I was reading this for my book club, and book club came and went, and I have not been too interested in picking this back up because I wanted to read some fiction.

However, I do intend to finish this at some point. I think it is important to note that you could skip around if you wanted and not miss anything, because this isn't a story with a thread of any sort. It's a bunch of interesting facts and annotations and commentary all weaved together, room by room.

I learned a lot in the 275 pages that I have finished and I expect to learn much more when I do come back to this book.

I highly recommend this if you're interested in history and would like to know more about the world around you.

Something in the way she moves ... meme questions

From Sunday Stealing

Something that’s holding you back from achieving your dreams:

My own lack of self-esteem.


 
Something you think you could win an award for:

My writing (because I have).
 
Something you fear more than anything:

Living in a box under the interstate overpass.
 
Something you wish people would understand:

That society requires cooperation, empathy, respect, and mutual support of one another.

Something that keeps you going everyday:

The idea that there is something more - more to do, more to see, more to feel, more to learn, more to be.
 

Something amazing that happened last summer:

I can hardly remember last week, much less last summer. Nothing really stands out from last summer. This summer will be well-remembered for my 50th birthday, the loss of my gallbladder, a bathroom renovation, and a major farm project, though. All of which are rather amazing.


 
Something you hate that people say:

Um, like, you know.

Something you refuse to pay money for:

Bank fees. I hate fees. You should not have to pay a fee to have your money in a bank. I love small-town community banks because they are much better at not charging horrid fees.
 
Something you wish you could have told that person that you never saw again:

I'm glad we were friends.
 
Something that really stands out about last year:

I received my master's degree from Hollins University in May 2012 (which is spring, not summer). I was 49 years old, which is pretty old to be going back to school.
 
Something you like that everyone else thinks is weird:

Fantasy and science fiction. Not everyone thinks that is weird, of course, but many of my friends do not partake of those particular genres.
 
Something you do when you’re trying to calm down: 

I do tai chi or practice measured breathing. I also eat.


Something you do when you wake up at three AM: 

Get up and go pee.

Something amazing that’s happened this year:

Sigh. Such repetition in these questions. I turned 50. That's amazing.


Something you love doing on cold rainy days:

Curling up with a good book.

Something you listen to when you’re in a really good mood:

The music of the 1970s.

 

Something that irritates you more than anything:

Not being heard.


Something you’re addicted to/can’t stop doing:

Biting my fingernails is a habit I've been unable to break my entire life. I think I am also a sugar addict.


Something that really stands out about you:

I'm a pretty smart cookie and I can think things through to their inevitable end. That doesn't mean I necessarily do things to their end, but I can see the ending. I'm also pretty logical. I've been told I give good advice.

Something about you that’s like everyone else:

I'm fat, I have all of my body parts, my hair is graying, I have scars. Not everybody's fat, of course, but since about 1/3 of the population is I think that counts as "everyone else."

Something that makes you change the channel:

Right-wing anything. Faux News is not allowed in my house.

Something you think about every night before you go to sleep:

What I will do the next day.
 
Something that you don’t think will ever change about you:

The way I care about people.

Something about you that you think will soon change: 

Hopefully my weight.

Something that broke your heart as a child:

My grandfather, grandmother & one of
their four sons.

My grandfather's passing when I was 11 years old.

Something that really sparks your interest:

Good writing. Local government issues. Mysteries.

Something that truly disgusts you:

Dirty toilets, toilet jokes. And vomit. Eww.

Something the opposite gender has complimented you on:

Being smart.

Books: Notorious Nineteen

Notorious Nineteen
By Janet Evanovich
Copyright 2012
Audio read by Lorelie King
Unabridged
6 hours


I am sure that if I were reading this series of books instead of listening to it, I would have given up a long time ago.

But Lorelie King is such a wonderful reader that I continue to listen to these books in the car.

The stories have grown thin, tired, and predictable, but even so, listening to them read aloud can make me chortle. This is not a bad thing while one is driving on the back roads of my rural county.

In this installment, Stephanie is still out of money, she still gets her cars blown up, and she is still a bounty hunter who seldom catches her quarry. Lulu her faithful companion joins her in her quest to find several nefarious runaways, including a man who stole $5 million from an old folks home and a homeless guy who put up a Hawaiian statue as bounty.

She still doesn't make up her mind about her two love interests, Ranger and Morelli, though it sounds like she is ready to settle with Morelli sometimes. He offers marriage; Ranger offers excitement.

This time the story became just a little too unbelievable for me near the end - Stephanie's reaction to a terrible incident in her apartment was, well, abnormal if you ask me, because she basically has little to no reaction. But it's fiction and I was on the last disk, so there you go.

These are very light reads, but as I said, I prefer to listen to them. If you've never listened to one of these read by Lorelie King, you might check it out just for fun.

A Friend Comes Through

Back in May, I had a hankering for some grape Nehi soda.

I don't know why, really. I don't recall drinking much of this as a child. Perhaps I was channeling Radar O'Reilly (from MASH).

At any rate, I hunted around Roanoke for the soda and could not find it. The best I could do was something called NuGrape at Cracker Barrel Old Country Store.

I asked about it on Facebook. A friend checked for me but couldn't locate it, either. Someone sent me a link for purchasing it online.

The craving passed and I forgot about it.

I met one of my dearest friends for lunch Saturday, and she climbed out of her vehicle with a big box in hand. She asked me to open my trunk, which I did, and she placed the box inside.

"This is part of your birthday present," she explained. She had mentioned when we celebrated my birthday that she'd ordered me something that didn't come in, but I had thought no more about it.

I looked in the box and there they were - six bottles of grape NeHi soda. The old-fashioned kind like we used to have when we were kids.

Don't I have the greatest friends?

Thursday Thirteen

This is probably a bad thing to confess, but I like video games. I have been playing them ever since Atari came out with the first home consoles.

I have an older Xbox and a Wii but I have generally played games on the P.C.

Here are 13 of the games I have enjoyed over the years:



1. Oblivion. This is an RPG game put out by Bethesda as part of the Elder Scrolls series. I still see this game occasionally in the bargain bins, so I think it is available. This is likely the last RPG I will ever play, as I am not a fan of online gaming nor will I pay a subscription to play a video game. This game was initially released in 2006. The game has a main storyline that involves restoring the heir to the throne.

2. Morrowind. Also an RPG game put out by Bethesda, released in 2002. This is the only RPG I ever played on the Xbox.  Actually this game was the reason I even bought an Xbox. Yes, it was worth it. In this game the hero saves the land from annihilation.

3. King's Quest series. These are old games that involved puzzles. They were touted as "good for girls" because they weren't shoot 'em ups. The series chronicled a royal family and their trials and tribulations. Mostly the hero roamed around picking up items with which to solve puzzles. This was a DOS game.

4. Rise of the Triad. I daresay few people have heard of this game, but I enjoyed it. The game was released in 1994 by Apogee Software, a company that invented some of the best games of that time period. In this game, the hero was a member of a team of operatives who needed to get inside a secluded monastery in order to stop a plot to destroy a California city.

5. Wolfenstein. I'm not talking about the most recent release of this, but the earlier versions. This last version of the game, Wolfenstein 3D, was released in 1992, again by Apogee Software. In this game, the hero must make his way from a prison camp and outside, taking down as many Nazis as possible along the way.

6. Might and Magic series. These RPGs were released by New World Computing, which eventually became The 3DO Company. There were 10 games in this series, but I only played the last five. The games were mostly fantasy but sometimes a little science fiction crept in and suddenly you had not a wand available to you but also a laser blaster of some kind. These games were also released in the early to middle 1990s.

7. Heroes of Might and Magic series. This was a spin-off from the Might and Magic series, as you might guess. The first games were released in 1995. In these games the hero undertook various quests to save something or the other, and there was lots of magic involved.



8. Myst. This was an adventure game that, like King's Quest, required you to solve puzzles in order to progress through the game. It was released about 1993. In this game the hero is whisked away to a magical island and must unlock the clues to obtain his release.

9. Duke Nukem series. Another Apogee Software series that I enjoyed. The first Duke Nukem came about in 1991 and there were numerous games that followed.  Duke had to stop some bad guy and save the world.

10. Commander Keen series. Developed by Id Software and released by Apogee Software in the early 1990s, this series featured little Billy Blaze, an 8-year-old kid who travels through space and becomes Commander Keen. He saves the world a lot.



11.  The Sims series. I feel in love with The Sims from the very first time I saw a commercial for the game. The game, a strategic life simulator, was developed by Maxis and put out by Electronic Arts (EA) initially in 2000. This is the best-selling video game series in history. In this game the player has to keep the simulated people happy by giving them shelter, things to play with, a job, a family, and other items. The only real goal was to keep the sim happy; otherwise you could make up your own stories about the little simulated sims. It was like bringing a book to life. The later games were more goal-oriented and a bit more linear, which I did not like as well. You also had to make sure there was a bathroom around in Sims 3, the little beings had to pee a lot.

12. Area 51. This is the only arcade game on my list today, but this was one of my favorites. It was released by Midway in 1995 and later it was released for PC as well. In this game, you are a squadron leader shooting down aliens from another planet. I spent a lot of quarters on this game, mostly when we were on vacation.



13. Wii Fit. The only game that is not really a game, and the only one that might actually have some health benefits. It requires a balance board and a Wii Console. The games include yoga, strengthening, running, balancing, and other activities that burn a few calories. The game was initially released in 2007 and as far as I know there has only been one update to it. It weighs you and tells you your "wii fit" age if you want to know it. It generally told me I was fat and old, though not in those words. I spent hours and hours on this hoping it would do me some good. I should probably have taken up badminton or horseshoes instead.

What video games have you enjoyed, if any?

Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here. I've been playing for a while and this is my 306th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.

Zucchini Casserole

Our zucchini started coming in and the next thing I knew I had them everywhere.

Usually the only thing I do with zucchini is a stir fry or make bread. Sometimes I dip them in batter and fry them, but since I've had my gallbladder out I have not had any fried foods.

I searched the internet and came up with a recipe at cooks.com that I have now made twice. However, I don't always follow recipes and on both occasions have made changes.

Here is what you need:

4 pounds zucchini (about 3-4 medium ones)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (I used sharp cheddar)
1 cup Bisquick
4 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup butter, melted

Heat the oven to 350 degree. Grease a 2-quart casserole dish. You might also want to go ahead and melt the butter.

The original recipe called for salt, pepper, and garlic salt, but the first time I made it I used Mrs. Dash, original, and the second time I used a mix of Mrs. Dash and Emeril's Original Essence. My husband liked the second dish better. I think I preferred the first.

The first thing I did was chop up the zucchini. I used my food processor, which is actually a blender with an attachment.

It does the job. (I used to have a food processor but I burned it up using it for a creative paper-making project about 15 years ago and I never replaced it.)

Then I added cheese:

 

I used to use the pre-shredded kind but then I learned that it has cellulose in it to keep the cheese bits from sticking. So now I shred my own cheese.

 

 

 

I rather enjoyed the shredding part.









Then I added Bisquick. Then the eggs.

 

My mother always told me to never add eggs directly to a recipe. Always break them in a bowl first. That way if an egg is bad, you don't ruin all the ingredients.

 

That probably really only matters if you raise your own chickens these days.

Anyway, after you add the eggs, add the melted butter and seasonings (whatever you prefer). 

 
 



I topped my casserole with shredded cheese, though if you do this I suggest you might wait until about 1/2 way into the cooking process.

I didn't do that and I came very close to burning the cheese.
 

 
Put the casserole in the oven, preheated to 350 degrees, and cook for one hour.

I served this casserole at a cookout we had over the weekend to send the nephew back off to college. The family ate about half of it, which isn't too bad considering the young men generally do not like green and healthy foods.

This turned out to be 5 points in Weight Watchers if you figure 10 servings.


 

Beautiful Days

The forecast here is for rain, once again. From today (Tuesday) until next Sunday!

So I wanted to remind myself what a beautiful day looks like.

Our area averages something like 40 inches of precipitation annually, and this year we have had that already, I think. The long-range forecasts that I have seen indicate continued rain, cooler days, and an early Autumn.

The wet summer has caused problems for farmers, construction workers, and anyone else who does outside work. It is the first year I can remember never having to water the garden, which has been nice, but I am afraid that we will pay for it this winter with higher food prices eventually.

Farmers all up and down the east coast have been unable to make hay, and if there is not enough hay to feed cattle, that will affect the price of beef. I'm sure the wet weather has not been the best for some vegetables, and those may be in short supply.

We are so dependent upon the weather for everything, yet we act like it doesn't matter. Long ago our ancestors paid homage to the clouds, and all we do now is use "the cloud" for storage.

Enjoy the rain. It's good weather for reading, anyway.

More Bunny Pictures

I took my camera on a tripod outside to take photos. I walked out the door with the big tripod and stood it up while I turned around to shut the door. This rabbit came scurrying around the corner of the house and stopped. I turned the camera on it.

This last picture shows how far away I was. About the length of a single-car garage door. My feet are just at the edge of the bottom of the photo. It took the rabbit a while to figure out that maybe I shouldn't be there.

A Self-fulfilling Prophecy: Meme Questions

From Sunday Stealing

Massive Alphabet Meme, part two

The Letter N
1. Do you have a nickname?
   I have lots of nicknames, depending upon who is addressing me.

2. What is your favorite number?
   I don't know that I have a favorite.

3. Do you prefer night or day?
   Prevening. (Big Bang Theory fans will recognize that. It's the time between afternoon and evening. Prevening.)

The Letter O
1. What is your one wish?
   To be satisfied and content.

2. Are you an only child?
   No. I have a brother.

3. Do you wish this year was over?
   No. I am too old to wish my life away.


The Letter P
1. What is one fear that you are most paranoid about?
   Having to live in a box under a bridge.

2. What personality trait would you look for in someone you wanted to date?
   Intelligence. And loyalty.


The Letter Q
1. Are you quick to judge people?
   More so than I used to be.

The Letter R
1. Do you think you are always right?
   I don't always think I am right, but I usually am.

2. Do you watch reality T.V.?
   I have watched Survivor from its inception. I also watch Deadliest Catch. My husband watches Swamp People. We also watch Pawn Stars and American Pickers sometimes. We don't watch anything else that I would classify as reality T.V. and I'm not sure if all of those qualify.

3. What is a good reason to cry?
   The state of the nation. Stubbing your toe. Breaking your heart, which covers everything from losing your career to losing your loved ones. Pure joy. I think if you want or need to cry, you should cry, regardless of reason.

The Letter S
1. Do you prefer sun or rain?
   Sun. My preference is 70 degrees with a slight breeze.

2. Do you like snow?
   Yes, but the kind that falls, covers the ground, and leaves in a day.

3. What is your favorite season?
   Autumn, Spring, Summer, Winter, in that order.

The Letter T
1. What time is it?
   Morning.

2. What time did you wake up?
   6:19 a.m.

3. When was the last time you slept in a tent?
   Probably when I was about 8 years old.


The Letter U
1. Are you wearing underwear?
   Of course.

2. Do you open your eyes when under water?
   Depends on the water.

 
The Letter V
1. What is the worst veggie?
   I am not overly fond of root vegetables, but there is no vegetable that I refuse to eat.

2. Where do you want to go on vacation?
   I would like to visit the Grand Canyon again. I last saw it when I was 12. I would also like to go to Niagra Falls, New York, Chicago,

3. What was your last family vacation together?
   My husband and I went to Myrtle Beach last year. About 20 years ago we were at Myrtle Beach as the same time as my parents.


The Letter W
1. What is your worst habit?
   Chewing my fingernails.

2. Where do you live?
   On a farm.


The Letter X
1. Have you ever had an X-ray?
   Many, many times.

2. Have you ever seen the X-Games?
   I don't even know what that is.

3. Do you own or have you ever played a xylophone?
   I had a toy one as a child, does that count?

The Letter Y
1. Do you like the color yellow?
   Yes. In Feng Shui it is supposed to help bring about change and enlightenment and stuff like that.

2. What year were you born in?
   One in the last century.

3. What do you yearn for most?
   The sister I never had.


The Letter Z
1. What is your Zodiac Sign?
   Third sign of the Zodiac.

2. Do you believe in the Zodiac?
   It is fun to read but I don't "believe" in it. I think it can be a self-fulfilling prophecy if you take it seriously.

3. What is your favorite zoo animal?
   I haven't been to a zoo in about 35 years, but I would have to say a panda bear.

Put Your Best Self Forward

These are cucumber blossoms. My garden only has three things in it this year: tomatoes, zucchini, and cucumbers. All three veggies apparently have enjoyed the wet weather, for their are growing wonderfully.

Is the blossom of the plant the prettiest, or is it the veggie? Can we even compare the two? The blossom is lovely to the eye, the veggie lovely to the taste buds. 

When we look at something or someone, what are we really seeing?

When I was very young, my mother used to dress me up in frilly girly skirts and dresses. I looked like a cucumber blossom. When I was 12, I discovered blue jeans and there was no turning back. This was the middle of the 1970s, baby, and I was right there with those who loved denim.

My mother hated my blue jeans and t-shirts. She thought I looked trashy. I was a cucumber then, covered with little prickles and thin skin.

To try to coax me into dressing better, she told me a story about my grandparents.

One day they went to buy a refrigerator, she said, after my grandfather got off from work. He was in his work clothes and my grandmother was in her house dress. They wandered the aisles looking at appliances. No one came to help them. They were too shabbily dressed.

Finally my grandfather hunted up a salesman and asked a few questions about the refrigerator they were looking at. The man did not answer them, but instead told them they could not afford what they wanted to purchase.

My grandfather flicked open his wallet and pulled out the cash he had intended to use to pay for the refrigerator. "I have money," he growled at the man as he fanned the bills, "but I am not spending it here."

So my grandparents left that store and went elsewhere for their refrigerator.

Perhaps I might have been impressed with that story if my grandparents did not have a nice refrigerator, but they did, so the moral of my mother's story, which I think was that the flower outshines the vegetable, did not sink in.

Or perhaps the message was lost to me because I knew the vegetable could not live without the flower. You kind of need them both.

Anyway, I continued to wear my jeans and I never really focused on things like my clothes or how I looked. I built up my insides instead, focusing on knowledge and morality, empathy and love. My insides became the flower.

To this day, though I am neat and clean and presentable, I still look like a cucumber.

Sometimes though, I do wish I looked like a flower.

Double Trouble

Thursday Thirteen #305

Things you should know about your food (but probably don't want to know) . . .


1. Shredded cheese, so easy for salads and soups (and definitely quicker than hauling out a block of cheese and a grater) is coated in something called cellulose to keep the shreds from sticking together. Cellulose is made from wood pulp. Yep. Your shredded cheese is covered with sawdust from a giant redwood or something.

2. Cellulose is also used in many low-fat items, including ice cream. Check the labels. My Weight Watchers one-point low fat ice cream is really a branch of a tree.

3. Aspartame is said to be perfectly safe, but I think it is akin to rat poison. Here is a pro-aspartame website. It will tell you how wonderful it is. Here is a website that tells you how terrible this drug is. It lists 92 different problems that aspartame can cause, including MS, lupus, cancer, vision problems, and death. Personally, I think this is a loathsome chemical, foisted on the public, oddly enough, by Donald Rumsfield (check this FDA site for some interesting comments about this). Call me a biased liberal, but I feel sure that anything Rumsfield had a hand in simply cannot be good for me.


4. Saccharin is a sweetener drug that has been around well over 100 years, but it has only been on the market since 1977. That's when Congress overrode the FDA and forced it to approve it. Check it out at this FDA website. Trust those folks on Capital Hill, yes? Saccharin is believed to cause cancer.


5. MSG can be found in these ingredients: yeast extract, torula yeast, hydrolyzed vegetable protein and autolyzed yeast. You'll find those ingredients listed in thousands of foods, but they won't mention MSG. That includes soups, etc. that claim to be MSG free. They aren't.

6. Splenda is sucralose, and it leaves a taste like chlorine in my mouth. I couldn't figure this out until I looked up stuff about it, and discovered it is sugar turned into a chemical that is, guess what, chlorine. Go to http://splenda.com for the corporate smiley site about it if you want the Disney spiel. This sweetener also supposedly causes thymus problems and possibly cancer and other health issues. It has become quite popular at a very alarming rate. At least it is alarming to me.


7. Aside from sugar, Stevia the sweetener that I think is the best to use. Stevia is about 300 times sweeter than sugar. It supposedly has been used for 1000 years in Paraguay. The FDA cracked down on it in 1995, apparently at the behest of the sugar industry, and Monsanto (Monsanto is a giant food company that apparently exists to make money from foods, regardless of the potential for poison, for anyone who doesn't know that, which I suspect is many Americans).
Stevia is now widely available in the U.S. Information on side effects is conflicting and it depends on who sponsored the research, of course. Research by the aspartame companies shows it is bad; stevia sellers say it is good. I would not use Truvia, which is a sweetener derivative of stevia. I found one site that says that stevia makes your body process sugar a lot quicker. At http://sweetleaf.com there is some information, but it is a corporate site and doesn't say much. It does say there have been 1000 tests and it's found to be safe. Japan apparently has banned most sweeteners except for stevia and sugar.

8. Plastic food packaging seep chemicals into your food, particularly bisphenol A. When you cook in plastic containers, the exposure to the chemical is increased. Bisphenol is a hormone disruptor and can cause breast formation in men and severe hormonal imbalances in women. It may also encourage hormone-related cancers such as prostate cancer and breast cancer. See Plastics chemical bisphenol A found to promote prostate cancer in animal studies.

9. Love your Greek yogurt? During production, companies create a whey product that no one knows how to get rid of. It's toxic and has caused fish kills by the thousands when illegally dumped in streams and lakes.

10. That expensive extra virgin olive oil you're using because it's supposed to be so healthy for you - probably isn't. It probably isn't even olive oil. Many of these oils are cut with cheaper seed and nut oils.

11. That lovely red color of your favorite ketchup, including m husband's favorite, Heinz, comes from crushed bugs. Red- and pink-colored products are often dyed with cochineal extract, also known as the bodies of crushed-up little insects. Cochineal extract is also listed as carminic acid or carmine. The bugs come from Mexico.

12. No cream in coffee creamer. Those non-dairy coffee creamers have lots of sugar, a little kelp carrageenan), and some other stuff.

13. Carrageenan, which is a seaweed, is often used in ice cream.


Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here. I've been playing for a while and this is my 305th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday

Big Ears

Two Toms

 

Hayin' Time

 

 

Last week, before the rains came again Friday night, my husband managed to cut and bale a few of our fields of hay.

I took this photo from the side yard; he is a good distance away, about five football fields or more. I used my Nikon Coolpix P500 to take the shots. It was late in the day and I was shooting into the sun.