I’m trying to figure out how to entertain myself this evening. Think I am going to read that new Barry Eisler book sitting on my stand.
Reparations Month
I think Steve M. at No More Mr. Nice Blog might be on to something.
Why July, though? Because congressmen are out of town?
Open Thread: The Burning Hell
If your tolerance for precious videos of folk music is high, or if you just like Southern Ontario, don’t miss this site.
What Is This?
My friends Bill and Jill came over, and we were on the back porch and found this giant moth:
Bill deals with plant ecology and thinks it might be a cecropia (he knows for sure it is a giant silkworm), but we don’t know. Anyone know for sure? This specimen is a little beat up, but it is still pretty damned magnificent- about 5-6 inches wide. The picture here does not do justice to the texture of the wings.
Open Thread: Thursday Night Menu Edition
From TaMara with love:
Tonight’s menu is pretty simple. I’m still kind of cooked-out from the holiday weekend. Figured we could all use something quick and full of fresh garden goodness. Went to the Farmer’s Market this weekend and was unimpressed. Though I did get some raw local honey and some so-so tomatoes. That makes 3 local markets I’ve visited, and none of them will draw me back, except maybe for the pasta guy. He makes the best flavored pastas around. I’m much happier with my local farm stands. There are a plethora of them within 5 miles, so the prices are good and the selection excellent. I’ll try and take photos next trip. Based on the comments I’ve read this last week, you guys seem to have an abundance of basil right now and pesto seems to be the recipe of choice, before it all bolts. What else does your garden overflow with and what are you doing with it?
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On the board tonight:
__1. Pasta w/Fresh Basil
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2. Green Beans w/Red Peppers
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3. Nectarines
As ever, recipes and shopping list at the link.
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P.S. from Anne Laurie: Tamara, I remember reading some local stories about the “conflict” between farm stands and farmers’ markets. Basically, if an individual farm can draw enough traffic on its own, it’s not cost-effective for the owners to spend the time/energy/money to schlep everything to a central location and tie up labor to sit with the cash box for what may turn out to be few or no sales. Of course a good farmers market attracts new customers (some of whom, hopefully, will end up migrating to the farm stand), but you can’t have a good market without top-quality attractions, and those top-quality vendors are the ones who have the most to lose and the least to gain from trading in farm-stand for market sales. So, barring other economic incentives — like the state offering some kind of tax rebate, or a city providing extra “food stamps” for farmers market purchases, or a farmers co-op requiring its members to rotate staffing at the market for advertising purposes — the first vendors at a newly established farmers market are going to be farmers with “so-so” produce who can’t get their customers to come to them. Or, as per your local market, vendors with relatively high-cost products that are easy to pack & transport: stuff like raw honey and fresh pasta!
Open Thread: Thursday Night Menu EditionPost + Comments (12)
Open Thread
The ladies have been fed, given their monthly frontline and heartworm (I held off for a week on Lily until Rosie got the green light), and run into the ground at the park, the master has been given his tuna and gently furminated, the plants have been watered, and the garden is being watered as we speak. All living things I am responsible for are taken care of, for now, at least, and I am having a glass of wine.
Talk amongst yourself.
*** Update ***
Some action shots:
Those two have such different personalities. Lily is this delicate flower, an absolute angel, and every time she looks at you convinces you that you are the most wonderful person in the world and the only thing she wants to do is be on your lap. Rosie reminds me of a spastic kid on a sugar high, and every time she looks at you she reminds you that you should be doing something fun! And exciting! And involving Rosie! Like throwing a ball! Or treats! Or a walk! I’m flexible! The park is cool! Scratch me! And treats! Is there a ball around here? I hear there are rabbits and cats outside! And places to pee! You really don’t just want to sit there, do you?
*** Update ***
Y’all are weird. I have no idea why there were so many demands for pictures of basil, but here are the herbs on the back porch by the kitchen- tons of basil, thyme, rosemary, chives, lavender, and some other things I am sure I am forgetting. The blank spaces are from the cilantro, which went tits up a couple weeks ago:
And I still have not redone the damned rail.
Tunch Is Home
Picked up the spawn of Satan, and the doctor cleaned his wound and gave him a shot of antibiotics, and my only instructions were to keep him inside and let him recover. How that is different from the Tunch agenda of eating, shitting, and sleeping from every other day is beyond me.
As I was there, I looked over the counter at his charts, and even upside down I could make out Tunch * CAUTION! *, which made me laugh. I asked if he behaved this time, and before I could finish the question, she blurted out “No!” and several assistants started laughing. He’s such a bastard at the vets they don’t even try to sugarcoat it.
One parting thought- considering a wild night for me is a couple of glasses of wine at a friends and falling asleep by 11ish, it occurred to me that a night out on the town chasing tail is now far more expensive when my cat does it.
Guess I need to pick up this: The First Aid Companion for Dogs & Cats