Saturday, July 23, 2022
Saturday 9: Diamonds
Friday, July 22, 2022
Fragile Democracy
Thursday, July 21, 2022
Thursday Thirteen
The questions I ask Alexa:
1. Can you play me some sleeping music?
2. Play Even Now by Barry Manilow (thanks for that one, Gal!)
3. Give me my flash briefing (that's a news aggregate that plays whatever news media you've chosen; mine is NPR, The Associated Press, Reuters, and the local CBS news station, WDBJ7).
4. Play the theme from Bewitched.
5. What's 705 minus 661?
6. Play Money for Nothing by Dire Straits
7. How long do you hold my recordings? (You can change this setting so that the things you ask are deleted on a regular basis.)
8. What's on my calendar for tomorrow?
9. What's the capitol of New York? (It's Albany and I knew that, I was double checking.)
10. How do you spell anesthesia?
11. What day is it? (Yes, I ask that.)
12. What movie made the phrase "Kiss me, you fool" popular? (I still don't know the answer to this.)
13. What's the weather forecast for tomorrow?
Wednesday, July 20, 2022
When Nothing is Easy
Tuesday, July 19, 2022
Wineberries
When I was a young girl, about this time of year we'd go wineberry picking.
Wineberries are an invasive species that are also good to eat. The berries are sweeter than a raspberry, though smaller, and animals love them.
We loved them too, and they were difficult to find. Since my father actively farmed, he did his best to keep things like wineberries from taking over fields. We found them on the edges of fields near forests, in gullies, and other places the mowing machine and herbicide sprayers couldn't reach.
Usually, we only found a few handfuls and ate them then and there, hot off the cane, juice running down our faces.
Fast forward to adulthood, and I found a few wineberry bushes on my husband's family farm, but not many. Not enough for even a handful, really.
This year, my brother shared that my father's property, which is no longer farmed but instead used to attract deer and other wildlife, was loaded with wineberries and blackberries.
He made pints and pints of wineberry jelly. He loves to cook and apparently likes to make jelly, too! He also generously brought me a big container full of wineberries simply for eating.
All mine just for eating! Yum. |
This is a wineberry plant. The stalks have little hairs on them. |
This is what a plant looks like after the wineberry has been picked or fallen off. |
A close-up of the little hairs on the wineberry cane. |
My brother's wineberry jelly, one with seeds, one without. |
Wineberries (Rubus phoenicolasius) are considered an invasive shrub in the same genus as raspberries and blackberries. The berry canes create thickets that reduce an area’s value for wildlife habitat and recreation.
Wineberries were introduced to North America in the 1890s as breeding stock for raspberries. They originated in Japan and eastern Asia.
By the 1970s it was invading natural areas, although it must have spread fast because my grandfather, who grew up in Botetourt in the early 1920s or thereabouts, had them growing on his farm by then because he told us what they were when we were children, and that was in the 1970s.
They may be invasive, but animals love them and depend on them now for food. And they sure make a nice afternoon snack!
Monday, July 18, 2022
Katydid
Sunday, July 17, 2022
Sunday Stealing
I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them.
Saturday, July 16, 2022
Saturday 9: Brandy
Thursday, July 14, 2022
Thursday Thirteen
Wednesday, July 13, 2022
Sky of Fire
After a storm late in the evening, I glanced at the sky's reflection in the back door. It looked like the mountain was on fire.
Tuesday, July 12, 2022
Another Bad Trip to a Carilion Facility
Husband Update
The husband is doing well following his hip replacement surgery on June 20. He has his post-op appointment last week and was told to continue his physical therapy exercises and do whatever he felt like - including driving.
The physician's assistant suggested he drive first in a parking lot and stomp on the brakes a few times to see how it felt. If it hurt, then don't drive and try again in a few days.
My husband tends to brake with his left foot anyway. He has more trouble getting in and out of vehicles than anything. His truck suits him much better than my Camry.
He is still no ball of fire, but it's only been three weeks, and I think he's doing well for that period of time.
The incision appears to be healing well. I don't like to look at it but I see it when I help him dry off his feet. He still can't bend over far enough to do that.
Fortunately, he can now put on his own socks.
Monday, July 11, 2022
Sunday, July 10, 2022
Sunday Stealing
I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them.
Saturday, July 09, 2022
Saturday 9: Time for Livin'
2) Lead singer Larry Ramos begins by telling us he likes to kick off his shoes and go barefoot. How about you? Do you like to feel "the good earth under your feet?"
3) He sings that once he took off his watch, he found he had all the time in the world. Tell us about your watch.
4) With lyrics that include words like "grooving" and "hang-ups," this song is very much a product of its time. Share some of the slang you used during your adolescent years.
5) He sings that his attitude has been rearranged. What is something you have changed your mind about?
6) This week's group, The Association, was founded in Hawaii. Hawaii produces more pineapple than other state in the union. When did you most recently have pineapple?
7) In 1968, when this song was popular, Jacqueline Kennedy married Aristotle Onassis. Think about the last wedding you attended. Were you closer to the bride or to the groom, or were you equally close to both?
8) In 1968, when this song was popular, Laugh In was America's #1 TV show and it made a star of Goldie Hawn. Do you have a favorite Goldie Hawn movie?
9) Random question: Who is the most recent person you made smile, and what did you do?
Friday, July 08, 2022
Thursday, July 07, 2022
Thursday Thirteen
Things I recently learned:
1. It takes longer to get your finger x-rayed if you think you broke it than it does to get your hip replaced.
2. Soft tissues injuries are as bad as breaks or can be.
3. My cellphone can withstand a good drop and roll because I have a very sturdy case with rubbery sides on it. Highly recommended.
4. Listening to a book on ethics is NOT recommended; these are better off read.
5. Compression socks are easier to put on yourself than someone else.
6. Rain dances do not necessarily end up with rainfall - although sometimes they do.
7. Supply shortages include weird things like certain types of potato chips, crackers, fresh vegetables, and meats of various kinds.
8. Gasoline pumps that offer a discount (like at Kroger) are confusing because they don't give you the discount all at once, you can take just a small amount if you want, like say 15 cents instead of 55 cents. I don't know why everything has to be made difficult. Just give me the 55 cents and be done with it, I don't want to have to think about it.
9. People let you know who they are by what they say and what they do. Take them at their word and accept their actions as indicative of who they are. I'm not saying if someone is good or bad, but it is truly a measure of a person. Kind of makes me wonder who and what people think of me.
10. The thing you need will show up too late to be of use.
11. People do not take into consideration many of the things that are happening now (supply shortages, inflation, etc.) are not because people don't want to work. Many of the job openings are because over 1 million people died of Covid, and because 28.6 million (yes, that many!) people retired after the third quarter of 2020, mostly boomers between the ages of 56 and 70. When 30 million people are out of the job market in a two-year period, there are bound to be job openings everywhere and not a glut of workers when the generations coming behind are not so large in number.
12. Britain's legislature has a few members with morals, at least. That's more than I can say for the majority of the legislators in the USA.
13. Common ground and societal goods are concepts that we quickly need to learn and reinstitute into the public discourse.
Extra: Wordle resets your win count if you miss a day.