Bowl season is going strong, and I am currently watching the Aggies and the Eers.
Shawn was just on the back porch drinking coffee and yelled for me to come, so I ran out, and there is a hawk in the back yard hunting things. Rather than be excited about a hawk sighting, I went in to full mother hen mode and did a head count of the piglets.
ThresherK
Made some cornbread which started with a fair amount of leavening, resembling much more the “muffin method” batter, and it got me thinking: What about a cornmeal baked pancake?
So I went to the intertubes and discovered that there’s a world of blogs out there who seem as interested in photographing their kitchens as communicating their methods.
Now don’t get me wrong, there are times in any endeavour where visual learning is a must, and I am one of those people who dive into the deep end for the first time much better if there is a diagram or something. But am I becoming a crank simply because I can follow most Fanny Farmer recipes without a photograph to tell me what to do every step of the way?
Betty Cracker
I don’t think anything smaller than a pterodactyl could haul your critters off!
raven
You better enjoy it no, the angry bloggers may have college football banned before next year!
p.a.
If feeders are out the hawk may stay around and cull the herd. A small cat might be a potential meal for a large hawk, but I’ve never heard of it.
currants
@p.a.: Yes–they will take rabbits, so similarly sized pet-creatures should stay indoors.
MomSense
I once had a bald eagle swoop down over the swing set in the back yard where my kids were after circling over them a few times. I swear that eagle was ready to take my then toddler. Fortunately the dog perked up and came out from under the slide deck and stood next to my little guy. I was just a little too far away to get there in time.
Eagles are huge!
Roger Moore
Are hawks really that exciting? I live in a big city, and we get them here all the time. There’s one at work that likes to perch in the tree outside one of our buildings when plucking pigeons, and just yesterday I saw a red tail being harassed by a crow.
currants
@ThresherK: mmph. I’ve had bad luck with random food-blogs, photos or no, so I tend to look for info from blogs where I’ve gotten reliable info in the past (or, sometimes, links from those blogs elsewhere). It’s amazing to me (but pretty common) how poor the avg person is at giving directions, food or map. Equally amazing how ticked off I get at bad directions because it seems such a simple thing to get right….
Punchy
A Hawk sighting in your backyard? Was it Al Horford or Kyle Korver?
kindness
Jeez. How big are the hawks in W. Virginia that you have to worry about them carrying off one of the kids?
Couldn't Stand the Weather
A Maine Coon like Steve oughta weigh about 18-20 pounds. The dogs might weigh a bit more, I suppose. Any bird that comes through West By God Virginia (not some condor from out west, with the wingspan of a 727) ought not to be able to carry off any pet that size.
Now, the crows and the squirrels might be nervous.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
We’ve got a red tail in our neighborhood, who will occasionally drop rabbit leftovers in the back yard. Layla has enjoyed that both times. I would be wary of letting a wee dog play outdoors within sight of a hunting hawk.
@Roger Moore: Crows are bad ass birds. I love them.
beltane
@Couldn’t Stand the Weather: Whenever a hawk shows up around here, it’s presence is made known to me by the squawking of the crows. This is followed by the crows banding together to escort the hawk off the property.
Couldn't Stand the Weather
@beltane:
Those must be some sizable, tough crows. The ones around here seem to be the “flee until the big bad should be gone, and then slink back later” variety.
NotMax
For a fleeting moment (it was before first coffee of the day had been sipped) thought had missed an important post outlining Mr. Cole’s new venture into pig farming.
OzarkHillbilly
@Roger Moore: Once upon a time, 60s, 70s, yes it was a big deal. DDT had pretty much decimated most raptor populations. I still get a thrill when I see one. Just a couple weeks ago I had to slow down for an immature bald eagle flying along the road. We made eye contact from about 5 feet apart.
Darn that Endangered Species Act! I could have busted my windshield!
trollhattan
Per the lady handling this beaut, (named Steve) redtails have been known to take adult cats and small dogs. At the least you wouldn’t want them to try, those talons are BIG.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@OzarkHillbilly: OT, I loved your photos last night. A generous commenter here helped me ID my dad’s uniform from a portrait (of unknown vintage) of him, his brother, and their father in uniform.
Bad ass bird he is. Now I’m trying to research military records of the old (late) dudes.
OzarkHillbilly
@Couldn’t Stand the Weather: Sparrows regularly chase off the larger raptors, tho they will pull quite the disappearing act if a Sharp Shinned or Coopers hawk shows up.
A Humble Lurker
…Oh the fun of taking things out of context.
trollhattan
@OzarkHillbilly:
Many have returned to the Pacific Coast states. Never saw any as a kid and now I can see several hawk varieties, the occasional eagle and most exciting to me, osprey. We’re still mowing down their habitat of course and IIRC Mexico still uses DDT. Even if that’s halted, it’s extremely persistent in the environment,
raven
@trollhattan: They are all over Georgia.
Violet
Had a hawk in the bird bath once. That was exciting. Not another creature around. No squirrels. No birds. Nothing. Quiet as could be.
gogol's wife
@NotMax:
He got the idea from Lady Mary on Downton.
MomSense
I learned an important lesson this week. Do not wait until you are beyond exhausted to take vacation time. I’ve been working crazy hours for months now and really should have taken time off before I hit peak exhaustion.
I fell asleep watching a movie Saturday night. I woke up and got up to turn the tv off and didn’t realize my foot had fallen asleep until it wasn’t working properly. I ended up on the ground with a badly sprained ankle and ligaments, and muscle strain. This has a sort of Cole-mopping-naked-injury vibe to it.
My plans for cross country skiing in North Conway are toast and I won’t be able to visit family in NJ either. FML
OzarkHillbilly
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): Glad you liked them. I guess people around here are more curious than the norm. I expected most if not all to click thru for the Citation and then come back. I probably would have. :-)
Amir Khalid
@MomSense:
Ouch. I do hope you recover from the disappointment as well as your injuries.
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
@currants:
Be glad you didn’t grow up in my family. G had some idea in his head that I was stereotypically bad at giving directions until he met my dad and realized it’s a family problem.
Most infamous direction from my dad: “Turn left where the gas station used to be.” We still crack up about that one.
MomSense
@Amir Khalid:
Thanks. I also need to recover from feeling stupid. We’ve enjoyed a few too many I’ve fallen and I can’t get up jokes.
CONGRATULATIONS!
@MomSense: Saw one at one of our local lagoons a few weeks ago. Never seen one here before. Hard to miss, because…yeah, they’re fucking huge. Never saw a bird in the wild that big before.
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
I’m at the California Science Center waiting for my admission time to the Pompeii exhibit. It is packed to the gills and I’m glad I bought my ticket ahead of time, because the box office sold out.
OzarkHillbilly
@Mnemosyne (iPhone): I can’t take directions. Just doesn’t work. Give me a location, GPS coordinates work just fine, I’ll find it on a map and I can get anywhere. Tell me how to get there? Fuhgeddaboutit. I’ll never make it.
japa21
We have several bird feeders in our yard which frequently are well populated. We also have a Cooper’s hawk which visits from time to time checking to see what is on the what it obviously considers to be a buffet. We will occasionally see a few feathers on the ground, meaning the hawk found luch. It seems the mourning doves are the most popular item.
We can pretty much tell when it is in the vicinity because the feeders are totally vacant. Now, if it would just start finding the squirrels to be interesting, I wouldn’t mind, but it leaves them alone.
MomSense
@CONGRATULATIONS!:
They really are fucking huge! We have a lot of them where I live and they never cease to amaze me. I’ve seen them dive for fish many times and it is thrilling.
currants
@Mnemosyne (iPhone): LOL. Reminds me of a canoe trip once (a very long time ago) that still gives me a laugh. The folks canoeing with us were relatively new at it but managing okay, even when we hit a small riff of rapids, until the guy in the stern started yelling at the woman in the bow to “paddle on the left! The Left! THE LEFT!” She half-turned and yelled angrily back, “I AM paddling on the left!” To which he replied, same volume, “THE OTHER LEFT!!” It was too late by then of course, and they flipped the canoe and landed in the drink (but it was September, and on the Delaware, and it was shallow, so nothing serious).
currants
@OzarkHillbilly: I hear you–and I can find shortcuts in places where I’ve never been. But I don’t have the same common sense inside buildings–I cannot follow museum maps for love nor money, and ROUTINELY get lost in some that I visit often.
JPL
Nona the five pound maltese is visiting and she is not allowed to go outside by herself. That’s actually fine with her, since she’s more of a couch potato. I’ve been forcing her to take walks with me though. Yes we have hawks.
There were a few great horned owls in my previous neighborhood. Several cats went missing but who really knows what happened.
trollhattan
@MomSense:
A friend who volunteers for a foothills wildlife rescue was called to retrieve an injured hawk from a rural roadside. When she got there she was, I think she said “startled” to be facing a golden eagle. She and her friend managed to corral it and she has pics of it on the friend’s kitchen countertop later that day. HUGE doesn’t begin to describe, and I can only guess it was shock from the injuries that kept the eagle from shredding the two.
raven
They got about half of this tree down today.
Josie
@MomSense: I did that exact same thing about 15 years ago. Then, to top it off, I decided it was well, went out for a run and turned the same ankle. Had to almost crawl to get home. The point is: be very careful not to do too much too such. My ankle is still a bit bigger than the other one and will probably never be totally ok. Get one of those wraps with the magnets in it and make good use of it. Sorry you will miss your trips, but at least now you are forced to rest.
Violet
@MomSense: Oh, no! I’m so sorry to hear about that. Take care of yourself–rest, ice and elevate your ankle. Hopefully it will mend quickly.
Violet
@Mnemosyne (iPhone):
If you’re talking to someone who knows where that gas station used to be then those directions work perfectly! I’ve used that kind of direction when we’re all in the know about an area. Especially in rural or out of the way places (like some of West Virginia) where the street signs aren’t great and you kind of have to know where you’re going in general.
realbtl
Lots of golden and bald eagles here in NW MT. I especially enjoy seeing an eagle perched on a road kill deer with a half dozen or so ravens slouching around looking all ” Deer? What deer, I’m just looking at this grass here.”
raven
@MomSense: And after you use the magic go see a witch doctor too.
raven
@raven: magnet
ranchandsyrup
why in the hell was that A&M student assistant hitting WVU players on the sideline? He got kicked out for 2nd half.
ThresherK
@currants: That’s the thing, usually the information isn’t off. I just don’t want to scroll down twelve 1mb pix to read 2kb of meaningful text, broadband or no. FoodNetwork, for one, is a commercially run site where you can get the info on one or two screens.
I blame food pron magazines for this. A few trusted places I go to for specifics, but on an open-ended thing like the oven cornmeal pancake I’m interested in synthesizing something from a few other ideas and my wife will allow me a mess that doesn’t turn out. (Hey, for anything breakfasty which takes maple syrup, she’s good like that.)
ThresherK
@ranchandsyrup: An homage to Woody Hayes, perhaps?
p.a.
@Punchy: Doug Feith. Break out the BAR John.
gogol's wife
@Mnemosyne (iPhone):
I know just what he meant! I have landmarks like that all over town.
Gin & Tonic
@Josie: Get one of those wraps with the magnets in it and make good use of it.
Like to pin things up on the fridge?
p.a.
@OzarkHillbilly: Had a Cooper rocket through my yard at head height early this spring. Effing impressive. Hung around while my suet feeders were out.
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
Argh. The Science Center is playing Disneyland games with the line. You can’t get in line until your designated time, and then you have to wait in line for another half hour to get in. Oh, look, now the line goes outdoors to circle around that way!
p.a.
@Mnemosyne (iPhone): That’s a Rhode Island-ism. Give directions by long gone landmarks. Or since we’re such a Catholic state, churches. Among my crowd, local bars.
Gin & Tonic
@p.a.: Down where the Almac’s used to be.
ranchandsyrup
@ThresherK: LOL.
Violet
@p.a.: “Turn left where the bar used to be that became Joe’s Pizza but shut down because their pizza sucked and it became that English pub type place–was it The Golden Pheasant?–but they closed and now it’s empty, but I hear Mark who ran the bar down on Third and Main is looking to open something there. You know the one.”
p.a.
@Gin & Tonic: or was it a First National…?
My friend’s ‘uncle-in-law’ was Almacs pres. Worked up from stock boy, and always made sure employees’ kids going to local colleges had jobs to help with tuition.
Josie
@Gin & Tonic: I know, I know, It sounds silly, but it actually helped with my ankle when nothing else did. It may have been wishful thinking, but, at that point, I was desperate for anything that would help.
NotMax
@ThresherK
Sounds as if what you’re after is an oven-baked johnny cake.
Here’s one such recipe.
NotMax
@Violet
A perennial favorite was hearing Mom tell someone on the other end of the phone “Then turn left three blocks before the stop sign.”
PurpleGirl
Among the Peekskill menagerie were two parrots — a McCaw and little green parrot. The McCaw didn’t seem all that impressive in size until he spread his wings and began flapping them. He could create a really good breeze that you felt across the room. It’s a good thing he never tried flying around the room. (Little green bird did fly around the room a few times.)
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@ranchandsyrup: He wanted to grow up to be Woody Hayes, obviously. ETA: As previously noted.
raven
Hey Stoops, how’s it going?
Roger Moore
@ThresherK:
Food pr0n has infected cookbooks, too. Many, many cookbooks are more about pretty pictures of food than they are about useful recipes. While the desire for pretty pictures is obviously important, I suspect it’s much more about lack of recipes that would properly justify a full-length cookbook. The really great cookbooks that actually teach you about cooking have enough recipes that it’s the work of years or even decades of work to assemble them. Too many cookbooks these days are just a handful of master recipes with small variations that would take about a dozen pages if they were pared down to their bare essentials. To fluff that meager material into something that justifies a full length, $25 cookbook, they repeat the whole recipe many times and add lots of
food pr0nhow-to illustrations.2liberal
@efgoldman:
you are in danger of sounding like a stock Mark Patinkin column in the Projo.
Jamey
Texas A2M went 3-5 in their conference. No fucking way they should be playing in a bowl game, leastwise for the right to lose one last time.
Montarvillois
A Cooper’s hawk made multiple visits to my front yard fir tree, eventually wiping out the roosting Mourning Doves. Feathers rained all summer.