I don’t know what the weather is like where you all are, but it is pretty nasty here. Not a hint of a chance of sun today, and the entire sky looks like a three day old bruise or a smoker’s cough or what I imagine it would look like in the world of Dire Straits’ Industrial Disease. Just pretty depressing.
I did have a question, though, and I am a little bit embarrassed I do not know the answer. Now that the trees have no leaves, when you look up, you just see dozens of bird nests. I know that birds come back to the same area in the spring, but do they re-use nests? Or will most of them fall down before the spring without maintenance. I suppose I could google this, but usually you all know more than google.
Also, several of you in the mint thread the other day wanted to see a picture to see if it was pennyroyal, so I grabbed some this morning. It is most assuredly mint, and some of the strongest stuff I have ever had. I took this picture on a white piece of paper so you could see how deep the green is:
I have some stuff to take care of before going home tomorrow, so I will be back this afternoon, most likely. Use this as your open thread.
PaulW
Tampa, Florida area: gray cloud morning. They’re saying 80 percent chance of rain, which means the clouds aren’t moving.
booger
Frist?
Also.
Mints, especially wild mints, crossbreed promiscuously. Enjoy what you’ve found but don’t necessarily expect it to be something identifiable. Can’t tell from my screen what you’ve got.
HTH.
jeffreyw
Morning folks.
booger
Damn. Not frist.
GReynoldsCT00
Connecticut supposed to be partly sunny and low 50s.
Thanks for the Straits vid, that is one of my favorite tunes.
I don’t think the same birds come back to the nests. Fascinating each fall/winter to see them and the squirrel nests and then see the snow pile up in them.
smiley
Are you sure those are bird’s nests? Some might be mistletoe.
jim Schimpf
We have barn swallows in our (you guessed it) barn and they reuse the nests till they fall down from the rafters.
RSA
Hotel room in Princeton, WV. Kinda ugly here, too. :-)
Steph
I wonder if any of them are squirrels’ nests.
Cloudy, rainy in my part of MA. Nice enough tomorrow, though.
Making cranberry sauce from scratch for the first time. My brother says use orange juice instead of water, so that’s what I’m doing.
Napoleon
Cleveland reporting – completely crappy.
Where I grew up we had that strong wild mint on the property and when we would periodically clear the weeds on the bank near the creek that ran through the yard you could smell that stuff a mile away.
Oh and Dire Straights is one of those bands I really really regret never having seen in concert.
DougL (frmrly: Conservatively Liberal)
Supposed to be sunny and in the upper 50’s to low 60’s. It got up to 67 yesterday but it looks like turkey day will be a wet one though the temps will still be mild.
demkat620
Yucky cloudy, rainy day here in PA. But on a bright note, no work for me today!
Unless you count cooking and cleaning for tomorrow.
DougL (frmrly: Conservatively Liberal)
@DougL (frmrly: Conservatively Liberal):
On the south Oregon coast!
kommrade reproductive vigor
College Park, MD. And the weather is as fucked as this site. (Or possibly FF is fucked. Or some combination of the two.)
Fuck it.
robertdsc
Clear and very cool here in Los Angeles. I’m just so worn out from work stress.
flukebucket
Northeast corner of Georgia reporting. Gray skies. Foggy. Misty rain. Everything looks like what I expect the scenery to look like in the movie “The Road”. Everything either dead or dying.
But pretty much what you expect here at this time of year.
sal
Cold & rainy in Stupakland. No snow yet, pissing my daughter off (skiing).
Morbo
100% cloud cover, 100% chance of rain in the forecast all day. No wonder I tried to sleep in.
Karen
Clear & cold just west of Denver this morning.
We have robins that nest in bushes in our back yard & they do not reuse nests. They may use a good piece of the old when they are building the new, but not the whole thing. We can see several old nests, which tells me they like that particular bush.
Bruuuuce
NYC is dark grey and looking like rain.
Gonna go get the apple pie and pear tart for Thanksgiving momentarily (our oven is borked). And my office, which overlooks the parade route, is closed tomorrow, so I can’t take the kids to see stuff from the 29th floor, where it would be warm, dry, and have bathrooms :-(
I don’t remember seeing this music vid here, but about 150 of my friends posted it yesterday, and I thought folks here would like it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgbNymZ7vqY&feature=player_embedded
(Select HD for some serious hi-defitude.)
Senyordave
This just in, important breaking news:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20091125/pl_politico/29896
There you have it, the major story of our times, The White House’s unprecedented use of the word unprecedented.
As Kenny Bania would say, “this is gold, Jerry”.
mousebumples
Eastern Wisconsin has had forecasts of snow (leading up to today), but from the looks of the likely high/low temperatures, it won’t get cold enough for snow. (It’s supposed to be in the 40s all day.) Since I’m driving to the parents’ place after work today, not having any snow until I get there (and preferably until I get to home/work on Friday) would be great …
Keith G
I cannot think of any birds that re-nest.
NPR reports that the Kentucky census worker was a suicide. A lot of folks got that wrong.
Annie
Rainy and cool in DC…time to clean the house, and then a nap.
Keith G
@Keith G: As I recall, for some birds nest building is part of the courtship process in other species, it has a bonding function beyond courtship.
shortstop
I’ve seen birds completing extensive spring repairs to fixer-upper nests from the previous year. Whether these are the same birds who were there before or new birds who acquired the nests in foreclosure, I can’t say.
Comrade Mary
We’ve had ridiculously mild weather in Toronto in the 7-10 range (high 40s to 50 degrees in American) almost all the way through November. There’s been a few heavy wind days that have made cycling challenging, but I’ve gone out anyway. I’m still considering studded tire options for the winter proper.
The big question is whether it will be raining hard enough tonight for me to justify taking transit instead of cycling, as I’d rather not appear at class looking like a drowned rat.
SiubhanDuinne
Even though I’m not traveling, I took today off so got to sleep in. In fact, I just woke up. And I might turn over and go back to sleep again for a while. I haven’t properly checked but it seems all chilly and dampish and overcast out there (metro Atlanta) so I’m going to do minimal, unavoidable errands and spend the rest of the day being lazy. Maybe I can finish David Plouffe’s book *The Audacity to Win* (great read, BTW).
evolutionary
Most small birds do not re-use their nests (even when re-nesting in the same season) except for a few where primo sites are limited in number, like the barn swallows mentioned above. This relocation reduces the number of parasites like bird lice the young are subjected to. Since sparrows, warblers, etc. haven’t been able to figure out how to plug-in a dustbuster yet, abandoning the nest is easier and more sanitary.
By spring when the parasites and their eggs are dead the small bird’s nests are so decayed it is easier to declare the nest a “blighted neighborhood” and start with a new nest.
Large birds like ravens, hawks and eagles do reuse nests for years adding sticks and other materials each yaer. Bald eagle nests may end up weighing several tons.
Great-horned owls don’t build their own nests they just use emminent domain, and squatters rights, on a crow’s or hawk’s nest and since they start in February or so and are bigger than most others they get away with it.
If the nests in your trees are covered with leaves they are squirrel nests currently in use this winter.
Mistletoe is note common in WV so that probably isn’t what you are seeing.
Steeplejack
@shortstop:
Heh. Good one.
The Golux
Here in central Connecticut, we haven’t had a frost yet. Our roses are still blooming, and we haven’t brought our house plants indoors yet. This after the coolest summer in memory.
I can’t identify the mint, but I will say it’s the best thing in iced tea (when that season comes around again). On rare occasions, I’ve found Snapple with mint, and it’s the best bottled iced tea I’ve tasted.
monkeyboy
In general, reusing a nest is a bad idea because it may contain parasites or diseases or an environment conductive them or general rot present from its last use. Baby birds do poop in the nest.
I wonder what circumstances make this ok for those few species that do some nest reusing?
shortstop
Tip for next summer: fresh mint in limeade is unbelievably good.
Steeplejack
Why can I not find mincemeat?! I just want to make a mincemeat pie, and all I need is a jar of Cross & Blackwell mincemeat. Is that too much to ask? Mincemeat.
I am beginning to wonder if mincemeat pie is a dying tradition. I was talking to a young coworker the other day, ranting about this, and she said she wouldn’t like mincemeat pie because she’s a vegetarian. LOL!
Or maybe mincemeat pie is a regional thing? Southern? My parents were both from Tennessee, and at Thanksgiving you had to have pumpkin pie and you had to have mincemeat pie. End of story.
My mother also used to make a huge batch of mincemeat tarts and have those available through the holiday season. Mmm . . . mincemeat.
I guess I will take one last stab at it and go to the reviled, inconvenient, hyper-expensive Safeway on the way to work today.
Shell
Grey, dank and broody here in New Jersey. Had to leave food shopping till today and not looking foward to packed supermarket and hauling in bags in the rain.
Svensker
@Napoleon:
I was working in LA when Dire Straits first came out. They got booked at a small club because no one realized what a huge hit they would be. It was fantastic — 200 person club and the band rocking out. GREAT memory.
Shell
Maybe you can find a specialty store that features British foods and products. I bet they’d have it.
SiubhanDuinne
@Steeplejack: do you have a Whole Foods near you? I know they carry C&B mincemeat.
Elroy's Lunch
kommrade reproductive vigor and Annie have already given the local weather. I’m looking forward to leaving work early and maybe getting a short hike in along the Potomac. Most people have already left town ’cause everyone knows that folks in DC are from somewhere else…
shell13m
Leaves look like Horehound mint, but it’s hard to tell exactly.
There used to be a nest in a perfect spot under the eaves of my house. It stayed put through Iowa weather for about five years. In that time it was used by three robins and two mourning doves. Loved the doves.
Bad Horse's Filly
@Steeplejack: That is my dad’s favorite pie and it his harder and harder to come by.
Clear, cool and an expected high of 60 degrees here by the Colorado Rockies. I have switched my route into work, just so I can stare at the mountains on the way in.
Napoleon
@Svensker:
I bet!
DZ
Reporting from Portland, OR – still dark but forecast calls for partly sunny and 56. Food prep is in progress. Organic, bone-in turkey breast ia packed in rock salt until noon when it gets rinsed and cleaned and then soaked in buttermilk for 24 hours. Port loin is ready for brine starting at 6. Prep night tonight will bring 8 guests who help me do all the prep. Three dressings made but not baked. Pies made and baked. Vegetables cleaned and prepped. I server small plates for dinner – jamon de serrano, roasted peppers, medley of vegetable salads, homemade bread, cheeses, etc. Then 12 for dinner tomorrow including my daughters who I haven’t seen in almost a year,
Barbara
If the traffic today was any indication, most people have definitely NOT left D.C., but drove into work with the goal of driving out tonight. And it has always been my experience that somehow, there are now so many people, even if most of them leave on Wednesday, there are enough left to screw up the traffic Thursday morning as well. Cogito ergo zoom!
Gus
Supposed to get some snow, possibly some accumulation in Mpls. We’ve done well not to have anything on the ground yet.
Steeplejack
@Shell, @SiubhanDuinne:
Thanks for the suggestions. There is a Whole Foods in the area, although it is even more inconvenient than the reviled Safeway.
My larger point is why the hell is mincemeat now a “specialty” item? It used to be standard, at least all the places I shopped. My usual grocery carried it last year, although only in the run-up to Thanksgiving and in suspiciously small quantities. But I haven’t seen it there this year.
Excuse me, I have to go tell some damn kids to get off my lawn.
asiangrrlMN
37º here in MN. Balmy. Supposedly, snow-rain today. I am not holding my breath, though, until I actually see those fat fuckers (the flakes) wafting to the ground.
asiangrrlMN
@Gus: Done well? Done well??
Harumph. Get off my lawn.
Punchy
Squirrels build nests?
Lurked
Relatively few bird species reuse nests, although some will build a new nest on top of an old one, especially if they are using a nesting box and it wasn’t cleaned out over the winter.
A few songbirds (mostly vireos) will build a new nest on top of an earlier one from the same year if they find cowbird eggs. They abandon the entire clutch and start over. Some birds also build a new nest over the earlier one of the year for the later broods (most small birds have at least two broods per breeding season).
Many raptors (hawks, eagles) add to their nests every time they breed, resulting in enormous piles of sticks. Many of those species only breed every other year, however.
I think a few heron-type birds also add on to existing nests.
But as a general rule, birds build new nests every year.
Trivia: a squirrel’s nest is called a drey.
Bad Horse's Filly
@Punchy: Where did you think they lived??
mattH
Cranberries are hardly sweet, so kinda necessary, but better than sugar.
Going to be a balmy 40 today in Utah, no rain till Friday.
Bad Horse's Filly
@Bad Horse’s Filly: That sounds more snarky than it was suppose to be, Punchy, it really was just a question not a snark.
Elroy's Lunch
@Barbara
Ah, that explains why I was able to actually get a seat on the Metro this morning instead of standing per usual. Everyone’s getting ready to bolt this afternoon in their cars.
Steph
@mattH:
“Cranberries are hardly sweet, so kinda necessary, but better than sugar.”
Errr…I’m using both. But the result is still pretty tart, so I don’t think I over-sugared.
I do know that sugar is the devil. However, I found something called palm sugar at the store, which supposedly has a glycemic index of 35, as opposed to white sugar, which is 95. I need to experiment, it does affect the texture of baked goods. (Wish it were cheaper, too, but oh well.)
Shinobi
Finally, proof of what we have all known. Science proves cats are evil.
tamied
@Bad Horse’s Filly: I thought they lived in holes in trees.
It’s very gray here in the ‘burgh altho it’s been unseasonably warm. I have an azalea bush that is still blooming and a colleague told me today one of his rhodadendrun (that may be misspelled, I don’t feel like looking it up) is blooming.
Happy T-giving all.
Punchy
@Bad Horse’s Filly: In my backyard, probably a condo or squirrel townhouse, with an acorn shed for storage, a nice puddle swimming pool in the back, and a nagging squirrel wife who always wants more wood paneling in the bedroom and better access to her relatives (read: new powerlines).
Paul in KY
Steeplejack, generally the giant liquor stores (Liqour Barn, etc.) will have mincemeat in their hoity toity food section.
Central Kentucky is partly sunny & low 50s. Supposed to get colder as week goes on.
Chat Noir
Gray, rainy, and chilly here in southeast lower Michigan. Tortoiseshell cat planted firmly on my lap so at least I’m warm. Driving to see the family tomorrow. My dad and I already agreed to not discuss politics.
Paul in KY
Shinobi, I think cats (when kittens) make that sound to their feline mothers. Cats think we’re their parents, so it’s just the sound they all use on their caregivers, IMO. Also.
Comrade Darkness
We need a picture against a penny, John.
For leaf size.
slag
I wasn’t sure of the answer either, and I’m not embarrassed to admit it. Thanks, evolutionary, for the comprehensive info.
Sounds awesome! I love when the sky is all textured and complex. Makes looking at it so much more interesting.
Steeplejack
@Paul in KY:
Here in the Commonwealth of Virginia the state has a monopoly on hard liquor, so there are no giant liquor stores. There are small strip-mall ABC storefronts where you can go to get the goods.
They are not as seedy and depressing as the ABC stores I remember from my salad days in Alabama.
Corner Stone
@Bad Horse’s Filly: I’ve always believed they live in a dome at the bottom of the sea.
JenJen
Don’t know if anyone else was as foolish as I was and watched “Morning Joe” today, but if you did, you missed a spirited defense of High Broderism by Joe Scarborough and Mort Zuckerman.
Taking the affirmative (“Broder is a beltway wanker”) was former Governor Howard Dean. I’ll have to find the video, because it was actually kind of interesting to watch Zuckerman look like his head was going to pop off.
Corner Stone
@Steeplejack: Didn’t China have to put down most of its mince population due to swine flu contagion?
I think I remember seeing a ban on importation of mince. That’s most likely your problem.
South of I-10
A beautiful day here South of I-10. I am heading north of I-10 to my Dad’s duck camp (yes, I have to go to the freakin duck camp for Thanksgiving.) No internet access and family for 24 hours. Wish me luck.
P.S. – Send beer
Steeplejack
@Corner Stone:
You’re thinking of quince. All our mince is home-grown. As a nation we are mince-independent, thank God and 30 years of wise Republican policies. There’s just apparently not any to actually be found, because shut up, that’s why.
Hob
Cool & misty here in SF, what a surprise.
Here’s my new favorite weather site.
All I know about birds is, the pigeons that used to roost in my window were really bad at making nests. They’d get a few twigs together and then accidentally kick everything over the edge or sweep it away with their butts. I felt sorry for them, and I like the sound of cooing, so I built a little safety fence to help out. That’s how I learned that baby pigeons do not coo, they make a terrible shrieky squeal.
TaosJohn
Here in northern New Mexico, we have sunshine at least 320 days a year. Right now it’s fucking FREEZING (in the teens last night) but with a bright blue sky. The sun makes a difference. It’s gotten to where if I wake up and it’s gray — which almost never happens — I get instantly depressed.
I remember this season back East. I don’t think I could ever go back to overcast skies for days on end. On the other hand, you have GREEN STUFF and big trees. Mint! Same here, but one has to hike up into the canyons to find it.
Hope
Here in Grenada West Indies it’s sunny, breezy, and beautiful. Big Thanksgiving potluck tomorrow for cruisers – will have folks from all around the world.
peach flavored shampoo
@South of I-10: What’s duck camp?
AdamK
Save the mince!
Save the mints!
wonkie
A winter wren pair built a nest on top of our wind chime on the deck. They successfully rainsed one baby the first year, skipped a year, and rainsed tow the thrid year. Winter wrens builde several nests and wuse the extras as decoys or look out posts. maybe their practice of skipping a year in the brooding nest helps keep the parasites down. I’ll keep an eye on the stuation since the nest is reight ouutside my livig reoom window.
AdamK
What’s duck camp? Daffy dressed up like Mae West.
Shell
Same thing with those little containers of dried citron for fruit cakes and german stollen. They always showed up at the end of one of the grocery aisles with other baking items, (including mincemeat, come to think of it.) But I haven’t seen it in a few years.
Doesn’t put me out tho. I only put golden raisins and currants in my dresden stollen. Those neon green and red rubbery nubbins always creeped me out a little.
Maude
@Steeplejack: I grew up with mince pies every year. It comes in foil packs too. I was at the store this morning and didn’t even look for it. Those kids really ran off my lawn.
JG
@Hob: Huh, the part of SF I’m in is sunny and cool, no mist at all. Methinks you need to pick a better neighborhood ;)
I’m off to Portland tonight to see the family for the holiday, and it looks like a craptastic forecast through Saturday – ah, home! I suppose it would be Portland without some rain.
Paul in KY
Steeplejack, did not know you lived in the socialist collective that is the People’s Commonwealth of Virginia.
Here where real murcans live, we can buy our gruel & grog at a fine capitalist establishment that (I hear) processes its own free-range minces. Uh, they do charge you a pretty penny for all that though.
Capitalism!! Fuck yeah!
wonkie
Re: mincemeat. I amke my own improvising from the Joy of Cooking recipe: lots of apples, raisins, pecans, a little oragne juice, some brandy
and for Christmas I usually make a scratch Lane cake.
ANd that’s it. Those are the only things I cook for other people to eat.
Martin
Supposed to be sunny and 81 in the land of the failed state government. If I can manage to put this job hell behind me a little early today, I’m gonna go home, mow the lawn and get a little sun nap before dinner and pie making. Worked to 2AM in the hopes I might get 2 hours of sunlight at home today. How pathetic is that?
Paul in KY
wonkie, is spwelling some wyrds intentionally wronge your schtick?
Just wwondering?
BruceFromOhio
@peach flavored shampoo:
It’s like summer camp, but with more weapons and alcohol.
Corner Stone
@AdamK: That was a straight line absolutely begging to get hammered but that was just awfoul.
Steeplejack
@wonkie:
Yes, I have about decided that I will try making my own mincemeat. I seem to remember a good recipe from either Cook’s Illustrated or Southern Living. Will research the Intertubes. Too late for tomorrow, but maybe this will get me off my ass on my long-delayed project to duplicate my mother’s mincemeat tarts.
Corner Stone
@Steeplejack: Well, I might be thinking of quince. I have been speaking a lot of Spanish lately.
Bill H
Temp in the eighties tomorrow, merely in the upper seventies today. Sunny.
Eagles, as has been said earlier, use the same nest and add to it each year. When fishing the Firehole River in Wyoming, I have seen some really massive Bald Eagle nests.
There is a type of woodpecker that digs holes and builds nests in Saguaro cacti in Arizona and uses it only one year, digging a new one each year. There is a tiny (and really, really cute) little owl that moves into the abandonded woodpecker nests. Some other birds do as well. I have seen cacti that are peppered with these nests to an amazing degree without, apparently, being harmed.
The cactus builds a woody scar that encloses the “wound” and remains after the cactus dies. There remains a skeleton that looks like a bunch of sticks and these sort of “pouch” looking things.
Steeplejack
@Corner Stone:
I think we’re on the verge of a good Cole Porter song here. Mince, quince, duck camp . . . Give me an A chord, maestro.
tigrismus
Horehound would be more silvery, and fuzzier. It also wouldn’t smell like the mintiest mint he ever smelled, having a lovely aroma all its own. That looks just like the spearmint I have in my garden, but as has been said, there are tons of mints and they cross easily. The wild mint I have up here is also super strong-smelling, but has the tiniest little leaves, making it easier to just walk through it and enjoy the fragrance than actually use it.
Mincemeat used to almost always be made with suet, so not vegetarian, but I’m sure it depends on the company nowadays. A local company here in Mass used to make a regular and a vegetarian mince, but they sold their factory to be rehabbed into mostly empty condos, alas. You can still pretty easily find mince in the grocery stores here, though, so it’s not just a southern regional thing.
Steeplejack
@tigrismus:
I have seen mincemeat recipes both ways, with suet and without, and will try both.
My young coworker’s misunderstanding was based on never having encountered mincemeat at all–horrors!–and hearing the word meat in there. I had to explain about the “meat of a nut or fruit,” etc.
South of I-10
@BruceFromOhio: That is really quite accurate. I am not shooting anything, except maybe some pics and/or bourbon. If I can keep my Mom away from Fox news, it should be okay.
Hob
@JG: It’s not even the wrong neighborhood, just the wrong block. If you don’t like the weather in SF, just walk another 20 feet. Doesn’t work so well in Portland I think, good luck with that.
Ed Drone
The mention of “duck camps” reminds me of a question. We all know that anything easily accomplished is “duck soup.”
Why? What’s so bloody easy about duck soup? I would think there would be a lot of skimming-off of fat, for one thing, and why is duck soup so much easier than chicken soup? For that matter, why is chicken soup automatically good for you?
But back to the question — why is duck soup as easy as “duck soup?”
Just asking is all.
Ed
Cris
Mmmm, virgin mojito.
South of I-10
@Ed Drone: No idea. If you are cooking wild duck, you have to marinate it for at least 24 hrs to get the “wild” taste out and tenderize them a little bit. Chicken is too cheap.
Corner Stone
@Ed Drone: I have never heard that phrase.
stinkwrinkle
Here on the rim of the Colorado River valley, in the heart of the Mohave Desert: 60F, breezy, clear blue sky. Real nice; almost worth the months of 125+F*
*not really
different church-lady
That looks like the spearmint I planted a few years back, thou it’s hard to tell for certain from that picture (a job for Doug’s new toy, eh?). Makes EXCELLENT mojitos — as long as you know how to muddle correctly (hint: the secret is to press the mint, not smash it into pieces).
As for the nests, you’re sure they’re not squirrel nests?
BTW, a lot of nests will fall down even before the autumn. Building and rebuilding your nest is your full-time job if you’re a bird.
Scott Supak
Two men say they’re Jesus. One of them must be wrong.
tigrismus
@Steeplejack:
Etymologically and historically speaking she’s right; it began as sweetened minced meat with spices, nuts and fruit, where the meat was usually beef. Those wacky medievals.
licensed to kill time
@Scott Supak: Two Jesus enter, one Jesus leaves. Thunderdome!
HyperIon
@tigrismus: That looks just like the spearmint I have in my garden
yes! leaf shape and stem color match.
mommybrain
One of my favorite sandwich additions is a mix of shredded carrots, lettuce and shredded or chopped mint. Yum.
shortstop
I guess so, yeah! Never had a mojito and I’ve been putting mint in limeade since I was a kid, so I didn’t think of that. The other kids mocked me for my poor bowling skills and love of bitter greens, so I went all in.
Something Fabulous
Look at what I’ve learned already here today! Here I’ve been, thinking that “duck soup” meant something like finally being able to afford the fancy stuff, like “sitting pretty,” and that the hoarhound candy in the Little House books had something to do with its shape or color or something, not that it was from an actual plant. Seems I just made things up as a kid to fill in the gaps, and didn’t even notice I was doing it!
hm. Explains a lot…
Linkmeister
It’s gorgeous here on Oahu. Moving to the 80s, bright blue skys, Waianae mountains off to my left, sewer contractor trucks on the street outside. . .
licensed to kill time
A cup of mint tea can kill pain, study shows.
Just cuz we’re talkin’ about mint.
Corner Stone
@shortstop:
Um, President Obama? Sir?
Corner Stone
@Scott Supak: Whyever not?
He’s already at least 3 people, why can’t He be at least 4 if He wants to be?
silentbeep
Reporting from L.A. and it’s quite warm, upper 70s-low 80s. It gets cold at night though, which means for us upper 40s-low 50s. Not a cloud in the sky, crystal clear blue. And dry. Which means wild fire weather, which should’ve ended last month. Damn this global warming!
Yeah, don’t relate to all this “cold weather and tress with no leaves” stuff. I am one of the few and the proud: a born and raised Southern Californian and a lifelong Angeleno at that.
;)
Of Bugs and Books
@Bad Horse’s Filly: @Bad Horse’s Filly:
I thought the squirrels migrated to Arizona for the winter.
sacman701
Clear and 62 here in Sacramento. No wind, which is unusual.
Anne Laurie
Squirrel drays do get reused, and built on/over, sometimes for years if they’re in a good location. But some of those ‘nests’, John, may be the remnants of tent caterpillar infestations — at least that’s what we’re seeing here in the Northeast. Squirrel drays are vaguely rounded, and raptor nests are spiky, but the insect ‘tents’ are like three-dimensional spider webs filthy with dead leaves & debris. Although I suppose in WV, you might also be seeing abandoned starling nests, which would also come in the dozens?
Chuck Butcher
Here in NE OR it is cool and clear as a bell. Low 20s last night, upper 40s today, same thing tomorrow. The leaves have been off the trees for nearly a month and there is scattered snow and ice on the ground. Humidity under 10%.
The mint farms out here distill the mint on site, quite the smell.
Wife and I will go to Mackey’s Steak House in Ontario (70 mi) for Turkey Day dinner. No, we won’t be taking the Harley.
Chuck Butcher
@South of I-10:
This is why I don’t hunt wild birds, other than occasionally turkeys – way too much work for little result. Hitting a bird on the wing is a lot harder than many peope imagine. If turkeys haven’t been around humans they’re really wily prey.
Ed Drone
@Corner Stone:
Laurel & Hardy, 1927
Marx Brothers, 1933
I can’t find a reference to the phrase itself in the meaning I always ascribe to it, as in,
“Will that be hard to do?”
“Nah, duck soup!”
I wonder if I’m getting the meaning wrong. I’ll keep looking.
Ed
AdamK
Duck soup? Daffy in a hot tub.
Ed Drone
From Wickipedia:
Duck Soup — a slang term for something easily accomplished, equivalent to “a piece of cake.”
Which only leads me to ask, “Why is ‘a piece of cake’ something easy to accomplish?” I’ve helped bake cakes, and they’re not all that easy to make, or even to cut (if the ‘piece’ part is the key element). I suppose EATING a piece of cake isn’t that hard, but the phrase isn’t specific to eating cake, is it?
I’ll never understand folklore (and I’m a folksinger!).
Sigh
Ed
ross
Mark Knopfler looks really bored in that video. Still, that’s my favorite Dire Straits album. It was slower and darker than anything else they’ve done.
Gunmetal grey skies over Bainbridge Island WA.
DaddyJ
@Shinobi: That article says
Never realized Rep. Bachmann is a cat!
DaddyJ
Re mincemeat: I just had a discussion a couple of weeks ago with a church lady who swore that that some mincemeat recipies call for meat, as in animal flesh. The denomination springs from German anabaptists, so I wouldn’t be suprised.
Weather in suburban Chicago is cold and wet. Definitely Mr. Yuck.
Corner Stone
@Ed Drone:
Tad bit afore my time, good sir.
Mike E
@ross:
Mark’s like that when he’s multi-tasking, contemplating the Universe…gotta love that ‘Day Tripper’ ending tho.
Thoughtcrime
@AdamK:
Or Carmen Miranda: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCntRNrs3XQ
Litlebritdifrnt
@Steeplejack:
I can get mincemeat here in my local Food Lion, I can’t remember the brand name (could it be nonsuch?) but it is honest to god mincemeat. It is usually on the shelves with the pie fillings. To me Christmas isn’t Christmas without mince pies (ie tiny mincemeat tarts)
Litlebritdifrnt
@SiubhanDuinne:
Ya know it makes me larf that “British food” which is universally reviled in the US as “utterly awful and tasteless” is only available at “specialty” and “gourmet” food stores such as Fresh Market and World Market.
Litlebritdifrnt
PS) Weather in eastern NC is utterly, utterly miserable, there has been a “mizzle” (cross between mist and drizzle) for about two weeks, it is completely and utterly miserable, we have not seen the sun for weeks, and like John said the sky looks like a bruise.
glaukopis
Mincemeat usually has meat in it, though not a lot these days – check the ingredients. It was originally a way to preserve meat, I believe.
It was in the mid 70’s here in San Diego today – really beautiful. Even had my air conditioner on for a while as I was driving aroun doing my last minute chores.
Steeplejack
@Litlebritdifrnt:
Tell me about it, sister. But I couldn’t find any mincemeat in my two local groceries–neither Cross & Blackwell nor anything else. It’s an outrage, I tell you.
On the way home from work tonight I bought a Mrs. Smith’s deep-dish apple pie to cook tomorrow morning. I was so bummed by the mincemeat experience that I couldn’t even go to my backup pie, home-made pumpkin. So screw you, Thanksgiving tradition!
Steeplejack
@glaukopis:
Oh, c’mon, these days mincemeat has at most a little shmitz of suet in it. And that’s optional. Yeah, originally mincemeat was a way to preserve meat–about a thousand years ago.
Can we focus our perspective in to maybe the last 200 years or so? Mm-kay? Jee-sus.
lileasy
Looks like spearmint to me.