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A portrait of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, painted by Louis Tocque in 1758. It can be seen at the Hermitage in Moscow.

Well, yesterday it rained nearly all day, and that is never good here. Two dogs and four cats find a good deal to argue about on such a day. The dogs especially are grumpy, and the cats get increasingly so as the day progresses and they have no place to run off their excess energies. The chili for dinner turned out to be a perfect foil for a soggy cold day.

Today, the gloom remains, although the rains seem to have departed. It is cold as well, or remains so from yesterday. I am getting that feeling again of hopelessness. I ignore it, keep my head down, and force myself to continue with every day tasks.

The bedroom cleaning is nearly done already. I have the walls done all hanging on them. I have washed all the knickknacks as well. I’ve washed down the various tables and chests. I have still to rip the bed apart and wash the bedskirt, flip the mattress, and move stuff to vacuum the carpet. I am also making a major overhaul of the clothes. We have always used two main chests, but I’ve always combined our clothes into his/her drawers. I decided he can have one, and I’ll take one. I figure on doing that tomorrow. I can do no more until we get to town again and I can buy paint. I have several painting projects planned. The bedroom walls, and at this count about 3 chests or tables. Not all the same colors of course, and I thought I might do some stenciling as well on some of them. Perhaps what makes this “spring” cleaning palatable is that I’ve got a long list of redecorating ideas as well. Most are cheap and hand made and I’m excited to get started.

Let us see what is going on around and about. I visited a couple of carnivals over the weekend and have a couple of links for you that I thought you might like:

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The first is a recipe for making your very own vanilla extract. I use a great deal of this rather expensive ingredient. We are, as cooks, always warned never to buy that artificial stuff. I’m not sure how accurate that admonition is, since often I find that I do not have that fine taste that can discriminate between the authentic and the fake. But assuming that there is a real difference, I have always used the real thing. If you buy the beans in bulk, I do think you can save some money. The balance of the ingredients are easy to locate, and well, see what you think.

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This cute dream catcher is offered to you with full instructions. I have a couple of these which I bought in Santa Fe a few years ago. They can be made out of so many different things. I have one made in part of deer antler. The feathers are found on most. Beads and leather are other possible additives. These make fine little gifts, especially I would think for children.

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I am starting to really like these “felted” bags.” The important thing is to make it from pure wool, because of course the point is to wash it in very hot water and let it shrink naturally. It makes a nice tight weave of course. I thought this pattern and instructions was helpful in learning how it’s done. Take a look and get some inspiration.

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If you are determined to do your part and go green as much as you practically can, here are some recipes for making your own cleaning solutions. This one is for making your own laundry soap, dry variety. I’d be interested if someone costed it out and told us whether we are saving any money using these other products. That would certainly sweeten the deal for me. I hate to say it, but savings are a tad more important to me than the ecology. Facts are facts.

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Abby Sweets has a nice recipe for “gooey Chocolate cake.” I have a half of one now, though not this recipe. I have an excellent thought slightly tedious recipe from Cooks. I believe mine came off their TV show, and not their cooking magazine. One day, I’ll post it. It’s a moist cake and a great frosting.

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I’ve been watching the Tibet situation and feel such great sympathy for these people. I am increasingly troubled by a White House that blithely seems to be ignoring the whole thing and is happily planning it’s fun tour of the Olympics with nary a pause. I am not sure I feel we should boycott the games, as this simply penalizes an array of athletes who have little to nothing to do with what caused this mess. The world is watching. The question is, does the world have enough guts to set aside its “economic’ interests and do what is right. Read the thoughts of an American Buddhist nun about what you can do. It’s simple, and it will make you feel good and it will do good. Visit and read and then DO.

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I don’t know about you, but I’m getting increasingly nervous about food prices. They are simply sky rocketing everywhere and for those of us on fixed incomes, well it is scary. I don’t think I’m ready to go quite this far, but it’s worth considering at least. There is nothing embarrassing in doing this and that needs to be emphasized. We throw away tons of perfectly good and healthy food every day. Read of the posters adventures in dumpster diving, and well, consider it at least.

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SCOTUS has agreed to hear a case out of Utah about religious symbols being displayed on public property. This is a bit different than the norm. A City park in a town there already carried a copy of the ten commandments. A new group called the Summum, wanted to put up another monument to the “Seven Aphorisms” of their faith. Well you see the problem. As I have researched this area of our countries history, I find that moves to reduce the public exhibition of symbols and such of Christianity are a direct result of the far right religious to promote Christianity in public forums. So what would otherwise be of pretty much no consequence, becomes so in defense of our common right to be free to practice faith as we wish and no faith if that is what we wish.

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C’est La Vie has a good post about food additives and the harm they are doing us. I am quite sure that a lifetime of eating processed foods has resulted in my current inability to digest a lot of sugar. The demon is called “high fructose corn syrup” and it’s found in so many things you would never expect from bread to cereal to goodness knows what else. I make a lot of sweet things from cane sugar, but I still think I’m eating a lot healthier than before. And I feel a lot better too, though I will forever suffer certain effects no doubt.

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Yippie, Civil War Women has a new post for you today, This one is about Delphine Baker, and documents her work to have Soldier’s Homes for Civil war veterans. But that was only one of her many projects. She managed to get legislation through Congress in 1865, and several “asylums” were opened in the East and Midwest.

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Well the headline did it for me. I rushed right over and read this amazing story. This will flip your wig, twist your shorts, and well just do other odd and weird things to your other clothing pieces. I’m going to be very leery of growing pumpkins again I tell you, if this is what I can expect: Baby Calf grows inside Award-winning Giant Pumpkin.” (Photo’s accompany, this is no trick! honest, promise, swear.) I trust the source, don’t you? We are indebted to Gardening Tips ‘n Ideas.

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Apparently gold jewelry is not a new thing. In fact, the oldest piece so far found in the Americas has been identified as a nine-bead necklace found in the Andes in Peru. Anthropologists learn that our ancestors were quite capable of doing metal work much earlier than we had thought. It seems that the more we learn about early humans, the more we realize that they were generally more sophisticated than we imagined them to be.

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If you thought that we present day humans have the corner on killing off other species on the planet, think again. We have been at the business of destroying other species for a while now. Latest research suggests that humans were in part at least responsible for the demise of the mammoth. Global warming after the ice age indeed was the major contributor, but hunting delivered the final blow.

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Kevin Drum has a thoughtful post based on an article written by Zbigniew Bzezinski for the Washington Post. Contrary to what the GOP wants us to believe, there is no reason to believe that withdrawl from Iraq will lead to some catastrophe. And of course, that suggests that this is not going on already. A thoughtful careful withdrawl can be accomplished, and some are sure it can result in a stable Iraq. Read Drum and then follow the link to read Brzezinski’s full report.

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Gary Kamiya poses an interesting question: Has the internet helped in reducing our puritanism? We the judgmental Americans seem not so upset any more about sex scandals and drug use, and other various vices. While I’m not sure the internet is the culprit here, if there is one, it has certainly contributed I would argue. Perhaps it is in showing us all how very alike we all are, regardless of location, culture, or sex. Perhaps it is because no political party, religion, or ethnic group has been immune from the dirty little exposition of secrets long hidden from public view. Whatever the reason, most of us, it seems, are not so quick to jump on the “other.” This has the unintended consequence I believe of making the wacko right all the more strident and loud in their condemnation. It seems to really tick them off that mostly nobody is listening as they rant about the impending doom of America should we continue down this sin-filled path.

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I think we all go a view, perhaps for the first time of what it must be like to be schizophrenic. A Beautiful Mind helped us see the difficulty of such a life, and why, simply most can’t cope with the voices and visions that often torment them. Normal differences in the brain between men and women seem to be reversed in those who suffer from schizophrenia. Emotion is the key, and schizophrenic women do not react as they should, nor do men, just the opposite in fact. I’m not sure that researches know exactly what this means yet. But interesting it is.

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