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American History, Applique, astronomy, beading, chicken, Civil War, crochet, Desserts, embroidery, founding faithers, fruit, Gardening, George Washington, herbs, Italian, Pennsylvania, pesto, quilting, religion, Rome, seeds, Women's history, world history

George Krause did this beauty, entitled “Fountainhead” in 1970. I suspect that in some parts of the west, such a delightful experience would be most welcome.

Well, the garden is officially planted for the second time. I couldn’t get any more tomato plants or any sweet peppers but I did manage to get four Anaheim peppers which are mildly hot and good for a lot of dishes. The garden doesn’t look too bad, and the corn seems to be going a bit. Some of the tomato plants look rather spindly, but who knows, they may take off. I’m wondering if I should get some fertilizer out on it. Perhaps the heavy rains have washed away nutrients. The little pepper plants, no more than about 7 inches tall are trying to set fruit. That concerns me, since I’m thinking they are not going to produce much. Nothing can be done.

It seems the story is the same everywhere. The Contrariansstep brother has sprayed his fields for weeds so apparently he thinks the corn will come along. Since we planted at nearly the same time, that gives us some hope. Surely he wouldn’t spend the money for nothing. He must feel that the chances are still worth it.

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A huge congrats to Deborah over at (Mis)Adventures of a Crafty Wifey. Seems they are pregnant. Stop by and give her and hubby a nice high five.

William Penn is of course the reason Pennsylvania is called, well PENNsylvania. Yesterday marked the anniversary of his penning ( no pun intended of course) a treaty between his white folks and the native tribe there, the Lenni Lenape. King Charles II had given Penn the land, but of course it was never his to give. Read more at Martin’s American History Blog.

Hannibal won a significant battle against the Romans on this date in 217 B.C.E. Of course in the end he lost. N.S. Gill’s Ancient/Classic History Bloghas the details. The Contrarian and I seldom hear of Hannibal when we don’t recall a funny incident. We were watching “Millionaire” back in its beginnings when Regis Philbinwas still hosting at night. The first question to a contestant was “What animal did Hannibal use to cross the Alps in his war against Rome?” Without batting an eye, the young man confidently exclaimed with obvious superiority, “Llamas!” ROFL. Now there is so much wrong with that that well it never fails to get us laughing like crazy.

Sandi’s Crochet Blog offers a pattern for an afghan, and she offers you three different sizes. The pattern is called shell triangles and it’s very lovely I thought. I have a couple of afghans in progress already, but of course I seldom work on them during the summer months. Just to hot and the yarn drags horribly and your hands sweat. (We don’t use air-conditioning) I have tried to leave comments on her site but they never open up. If any of you have any luck, let me know.

You can find a very interesting discourse on George Washington at American Revolution Blogtoday. He discusses at length Washington’s faith, and how he interpreted that in light of his responsibilitiesboth as Revolutionary General and later as President. A very impressive overview.

I’ve been on a cilantro kick for a while. The fajitas we had yesterday were so much enhanced by fresh cilantro in the salsa. So it should come as no surprise that I found this recipe from  Baking Delights enticing. It’s called Cilantro Chickenand is a quickie. I’m rather certain I shall make it before the end of the week, though I will be significantly cutting it down for two.

Today Civil War Women features Judith Carter Henry. The story is about the first battle of Bull Run and an unlikely victim of that battle. Mrs. Henry, 85 years old, was one of casualties and, and as Maggie points out, the romanticism of war soon faded.

My intestines have caught up with me so I’ve had to put on the breaks with my love affair with fruit for a bit. But that doesn’t mean that I want to deprive you of a great recipe. Mango Blueberry Fool is sure to please your family any day, but especially on the hot summer days when fruit tastes just so darn good. Thanks to Epicurious for another fine one.

I thought I would include this fromFeeling Stitchy today, in honor of our friend Vicki at Knitting Dragonflies. A plethora of dragonflies for your inspiration! Patterns, tutorials and links to other great dragonfly-inspired projects for embroidery and quilting. One is also beaded, so lots of different craft ideas are available.

Okay, have you tried planting an avocado seed? I have, and have actually grown one to a real plant, but then it just died. I think I may try again with the expert advice I found at Gardening Tips ‘n Ideas. Take a peek and don’t send that poor old avocado seed off to the compost heap again. Grow your own! Of course it takes years to produce fruit, so either grow as a houseplant or transplant to a movable container and eventually you will get fruit. We can’t plant outside here in Iowa, it’s too cold in the winter.

Alice Parker is another of those unfortunate women who was tried as a witch. While many try to play down this time in our history, especially the religious right who never want to admit that Christianity can get out of hand, History of American Womenmakes it very clear by her essays that it was indeed prevalent for a time. It is important that these poor women not be forgotten. Her conviction was later reversed and her family received 8 pounds in recompense. How very nice. 😦

Inspired by Antique Quilts has another one she is getting ready to finish. A lovely applique that is colorful and looks quite quick. The pattern is large as you can see if you follow the link and take a look yourself.

Science purely shocks me sometimes. It tells me things that frankly I never thought about before.  Most know of Homer’s Odyssey, if they haven’t read it, or seen some representation of it in film. Of course we know it is part fiction but also part fact, since Troy has long been known to exist, featured so prominently in the Iliad. In the Odyssey, an eclipse is mentioned in the 20th book. Astronomers have pinpointed the date of that eclipse as April 16, 1178 B.C.E. some months after Odysseus return, near in time to when he slayed the many suitors vying for his wife’s hand. Read all the fascinating details of how this was done at Live Science.

The new Pew Report is really fascinating as it looks at American views on religion. Some of the results are simply astounding in my view. Some of this I saw last night on the news. Apparently most of us, even most evangelicals don’t believe that their faith (Christianity) is necessarily the only way to salvation. A huge majority of Catholics (79%) feel this way, topped only by Buddhists at around 83%. That suggests I think, major room for interfaith dialogue and cooperation. The Politico has the story. Here is a link to the forum itself where you can spend a long time reading through this very detailed work.

Pesto! I love the stuff, and have about 8 basil plants doing just fine in a container by the front door. I plan on making pestowhen they are as big as i can get them. It’s very easy to make, just basil, olive oil, pine nuts, and Parmesan cheese. Whiz it in a food processor, spoon into ice cube trays and freeze, pop out and put in a freezer bag. You can add it to pasta, soups, well just about anything you wish. Once Upon A Feast has some great new and different ways to make it. Cilantro is a favorite substitute. Just looking at the photos are enough to make a person swoon.

Well I found this next one a bit weird to say the least. It seems glass is not a proper solid at all. It’s moving. Yeah, did I say weird? Atoms are prohibited from moving where they want to by being blocked by neighbors. All of this means (heck if I know why) that glass could be the new component in airplane construction. I’m not thinking I want to sit in a transparent plane anytime soon!

Canada can boast a new find archaeologically speaking, and we always like to speak archaeologically whenever possible. An ancient fort constructed by people before Europeans arrived in the area, has been located in Western Canada, near Cluny and east of Calgary. It is defined as a Siksika First Nation reservation and is around 250 years old. The site was long known to native peoples.

Wow, I sure missed a number of posts by Melisende at Women of History. There are several so I’ll just give you the main site and you can scroll down and read what you like. The first is onMaria Comnena, Queen of Jerusalem, grandniece to Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Comnena of Constantinople. Second is Theodora Comnena, niece of the same Emperor. Next is Margaret Anjou, Queen to the King Henry VI of England, Artemesia of Hallicarnassus, Queen, and lastlyGalla Placidia, Empress and daughter of Theodosius the Great of Rome. They are all from June 22, so she’s been quite prolific. A lovely run of important women

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More Sign Humor:

At a Music Store: Out to lunch. Bach at 12:30. Offenbach sooner.

At a tire shop in Milwaukee: Invite us to your next blowout. 

At the electric company: We would be delighted if you send in your bill. However, if you don’t, you will be.

Church sign: To remove worry wrinkles, get your faith lifted

In a department store: Bargain Basement Upstairs.

In a Maine restaurant: Open seven days a week and weekends.

In a Pennsylvania cemetery: Persons are prohibited from picking flowers from any but their own graves.

Inside a bowling alley: Please be quiet. We need to hear a pin drop.

On a maternity room door: Push. Push. Push.

On a New York convalescent home: For the sick and tired of the Episcopal Church

Bumping into Myself

Tags

potatoes, seeds, soup

This painting hangs in MoMA and was done by Henry Matisse, 1909.

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One always wonders what caused the mind to come up with this theme. It seems to me a lot of male artists fantasized about women unclothed outside in groups. I personally have never come upon such a sight. Apparently they thought about it a good deal.

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Just a couple of general housekeeping details. I made the snickery bars or whatever they were called. I mean the one’s made from dulce de leche with peanuts, chocolate and shortbread. Much work involved, especially for the dulce de leche. It cooks for nearly 3 hours, and for me it was hard to find the exact right temp where it would simmer and not boil. I do not think I got it reduced enough, thus it did weep out when I cut the cookies. However it was very tasty. A small piece goes a long way however, they are very sweet. Worth the effort however but not a regular cookie recipe. I prefer them quicker than this was.

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Note some extra additions to the sidebar crafts section. Most are not blogs but give free patterns and lots of instructions, so if you are interested in those particular crafts, then bookmark them for use when you feel the urge to do that craft.

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Oh and don’t forget. Today is the infamous Ides of March, so if your name is Julius or you live near a forum, beware!

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Now on to what’s happening in crafts, food and gardening with a touch of historical insight here and there. More there than here today it seems. LOL….actually this entire blog is history, since it becomes so as soon as each letter is written, and oh dear my head is starting to hurt. Now is only now now. You see what I mean?

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If you feel the need to do something Irish on Monday and are not into the usual corned beef and cabbage, or like me are unwilling to go shopping again just for corned beef, you might want to try this recipe that is thoroughly Irish as well. Irish Potato Chowder would be perfect with those Irish soda biscuits I linked you to the other day. And who wants the same tired corned beef anyway?

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Free Sample Forager has a deal for free samples of Glad trash bags. The new flex ones. She has plenty of other offers so just go to this link and back off until the original address is there and enter and see the rest. This was the only one that interested me, and it’s my site! Just kidding.

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My thoughts turn more and more to that garden I so want to get into. Fresh veggies are just so enticing right now. Over at Veggie Gardening Tips there is a list of favorites which might jump start you, or even give you an idea or two about some new varieties you might way to try. The pictures just make me sooo hungry.

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I really haven’t mentioned the Yarn Harlot in a while. She has a pretty amusing post today about waiting to hear her interview on the radio. It’s worth a grin or two, and she is always a good read.

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It seems ominously quiet today, everyone seems out to play, or I’m so bored I’m not finding a lot of interesting stuff, or whatever. In any case, this abbreviated blog is get more abbreviated by the second. Did I mention we watched Lawrence Oliver’s “Hamlet” last night? Or as the Contrarian calls him, Larry O liver, not long V A as everyone else. Here in America we don’t do that British nonsense, we speak English as it’s meant to be spoken. No “Laboaratory”, no its laboratory (labratory). He forgets of course that we got the danged language from them, so I would assume they might be the authorities on pronunciation. No matter, the Contrarian has this weird patriotic arrogance about things like this. Don’t let me get started on royalty. Or, I should say him.
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Anyhooo, Hamlet with Sir Lawrence is ever so different from either Derek Jacoby’s version or Kenneth Branagh’s version. Both play Hamlet as a mad man, and thus all scenes seem to find Hamlet in some position along his descent to full madness. Oliver seems to play him as mad, but with long stretches of normalcy, only punctuated at times with true madness. He plays him more quietly. He has done many of the soliloquies as “thoughts” versus spoken out loud, and I thought he rendered those points more powerful. I can only conclude that both Jacoby and Branagh thought his performance so singular that they attempted to do something quite different. I like parts of all three portrayals, but overall the Oliver version is still the best I think. He directed himself and won an Oscar I believe as best actor for it.
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“No one wants advice, only corroboration.” John Steinbeck

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“I think on-stage nudity is disgusting, shameful and damaging to all things American. But if I were 22 with a great body, it would be artistic, tasteful, patriotic and a progressive religious experience.” Shelley Winters

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“It’s not true that life is one damn thing after another; it is one damn thing over and over.” Edna St. Vincent Millay

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I’ve made 15 granny squares for the afghan. I’ve made nearly one potholder. I have yarn for making socks. I think 5 good crafts at once is the mark I want to achieve. I can’t start a 6th, but have 5 to choose from until one is done, then I can add another. That might make me productive and keep me from being bored. At least I’m hoping. Also it helps when I see that at least a couple of other people out there are working on crafts that they started more than a year ago. I don’t feel so lazy and unproductive then. I dream of having enough crafts to open a slot on Etsy, but heck for the time being a lot of my crafts will be used right here at the Meadow house. She is getting pretty rough around the edges and needs some serious care. She’s gonna get it too, just kick me, I’m moving!

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Oh, and I have no idea why pictures always seem to screw up the paragraphing. I cannot get it to stop, no matter how many times I redo it. So I put the little squiggly in between paragraphs as a stop gap. Blogger has some very interesting hidden dopey things like that, and they have apparently one of the worst group of tech people on the planet, or they don’t really care much about this platform. In any case, they don’t fix things until forever, and seem to let a lot of things just not work well at all. The paragraphing thing is one of them, the quote feature is another. Sorry for the bad form but I do the best I can to make it reader friendly.

I Can’t cook in that!

Tags

environment, seeds, topiary, Tudors, waterboarding

This is a Picasso. A Pablo Picasso. I forgot to garner the date when this piece was done. It is called “kitchen.” Well, I can’t find the stove or fridge. I can’t find the cabinets either. There seem to be a lot of “eyes” so maybe there are potatoes on the menu. This is the kind of thing that contrains me to suggest that “art” is the in the eye of the beholder. The beholder of course may be nuts, as anyone who calls this art must be. It is undoubtedly worth millions of dollars. I wouldn’t travel across the street to see it, and certainly not to the Met. What do you think? A maze would be a more fitting name in my opinion.

I’m keeping today short folks, blogger seemed to be off line for a goodly long time today. I just got on. Additionally about a third of my feeds didn’t update today, I assume many are blogspot addresses. Things seem to be back to normal now. I’ll give you a bit of fluff today. I’m thinking that I need to take off a day anyway. Saturday seems as good as any. It allows me to catch up on a few things online that I seldom have time for. Back to normal but the spellcheck doesn’t work again. Only had it for about a week. This site is so crummy on maintenance.

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Sally’s Gardening Tips has some fine information if you are into topiary. I personally don’t find it so attractive. I think it looks too formal and I don’t like formal gardens much. If you like it, take a look.

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Most magazines will send you a free copy, albeit along with an invoice you are supposed to return labeled “cancel” but free sample forager has found a deal wherein you can get 3 copies with “no strings”. I leave it to you to determine whether that is true or not. It appears you sign up with “freesampling” to do it. Beware, all these freebies end up flooding your email box unfortunately. I know from experience. I must say, I saw on GMA this morning two people who were cleaning up on sweepstakes stuff. One had won a total of 14 cars, and the other was getting 3-4 free trips a year. This besides all kinds of ther products like big screen tv’s. I’m gonna try it for a while at least, course I never win anything and will undoubtedly quit in frustration. These people are dedicated, which is what you must be, but it does appear to work if you have the patience.

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You know, it really doesn’t matter whether the planet’s ecological distress is man-made or just the normal fluctuations it goes through. We do have a problem and the only people who seem determined to deny that are corporations who have a stake in keeping things the way they are, meaning not making them be more eco-friendly or stopping what they are doing! It turns out that the fossil record can at least inform us as to what we may expect. The record does record its response to previous major climate changes. Life Science has a lovely article as usual explaining it to those of us who are scientifically challenged.

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True to form George Bush has decided to hug waterboarding a bit more. Today he vetoed a bill that would have made it illegal for waterboarding to be used by the CIA. It’s illegal and not a part of the army manual, but George wants the CIA had to have more latitude. Oh this plays so stinking well overseas. Yeah, we are sure the home of justice and truth, and fairness, and decency. Yes indeed.

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The second part of the sisters of Henry VIII is at Scandalous Woman. Don’t miss the second part. The first part was posted yesterday. Enjoy this very very good post.

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I don’t know about you, but school was never like this for me. Teachers when I was a kid, didn’t have much of a sense of humor at all, in fact they could be down right sour. That was back in the days when every below high school teacher had a paddle designed and built by the shop teacher. Wicked items. Having a lot of petticoats helped! The Onion always produces a few chuckles and some down right guffaws if you aren’t careful.

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If you enjoy looking at new blogs, and expecially and only if its food blogs you are interested in, skitter on over to Baking Delights where she gives you a rundown on a number of food blogs. I have little trouble finding food sites, its the crafting sites that really craft and show you stuff that I have trouble finding. Anybody with some foolproof craft blogs or blog communities where I can find some that actually post would be appreciated.

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Calendula and Concrete has a important find. If you are always hunting for exotic or heirloom seeds and want to know of a new place to locate hard to find ones, she has a link for you. It’s to Mother Earth News, and their new search engine which searches like 150 seed catalog sites to find what you are looking for. I’ve linked you direct, but Calendula deserves the credit.

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I figured you would want to post this list on your fridge for everyone in your family to know. These facts are critical if one is to be both informed and ready to cast that ever important vote next November:

Just A Few Things You Probably Didn’t Know

You spend about 3 years of your life in the toilet.
Every day, the average person swallows about a quart of snot.
The slowest growing finger nail is on the thumb nail and the fastest growing is the finger nail on the middle finger.
Scientists say that babies that are breastfed are more likely to be slimmer as adults than those that are not breastfed.
There are more chickens in the world than people.
Pinocchio was made of pine.
One out of 20 people have an extra rib.
Manicuring the nails has been done by people for more than 4,000 years.
People whose mouth has a narrow roof are more likely to snore. This is because they have less oxygen going through their nose. [davesdaily.com]

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Question of the day: what are a confection and a cluster (name of flower)? The answer can be found Here.

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“She got her looks from her father. He’s a plastic surgeon.” ~~Groucho Marx

“He who forgives, ends the quarrel.” ~~African proverb

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