We discovered that Mamachuck has a new litter-5 pups!
Don't eat the hostas!
Proud Mama. We think it's the same one from 2022.
One of her favs at The Diner buffet is Snow on the Mountain:
We have a new pair of squirrels-Elijah and Liza. There seems to be some courtship going on:
I wonder if Liza is a daughter of Stubbs, who if you remember turns up with nipples after I thought for so long that she was a male. Liza has a crimp in her tail just like Stubbs so either there is a genetic thing here or she suffered a predator attack.
Where did the 80's pop group Duran Duran get their name? From Barbarella! That's right, the 1968 film whose tagline was "watch Barbarella do her thing" starred Jane Fonda as the title character. She is a space traveler and representative of the
United Earth government sent to find scientist Durand Durand, played by Irish actor Milo O'Shea who has
created a weapon that could destroy humanity.
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Seen while out and about:
A clever caution cone.
Behind C's office at Bessey Hall-an eastern grey squirrel. You don't see many of these.
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The Yellow Spring Road in Hirokawa, Japan.
The road is lined with
fiery yellow ginkgo trees, from mid-November
to early December, in Wakayama Prefecture.
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Earlier this month, a pod of orcas sink yacht near the Strait of Gilbralter. Dozens of attacks in the past 5 years. Researchers do not know why the pod is targeting boats, but they have
theorized that the behavior is a form of play for the curious apex
predators.
The incident has produced a bunch of memes:
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Mr. Bun
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Deck Buddha
Buddy doing solo deck yoga:
C and Buddy doing deck yoga together:
A warm afternoon:
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Ad for clothes with Indian motifs turned up on my FB feed. Here's a pair of shorts that potentially get you trouble due to the placement of Mr. Elephant's trunk.
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Wrinkled eggs might be caused by stress in hens, mainly due to overcrowding. It might also be a sign the flock has infectious bronchitis, or the hen has a defective shell gland.
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Two new terms I had never heard of:
Fernweh-nostalgia for a place you've never been to.
Anemoia-nostalgia for a time you've never known.
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While I was planting, I noticed a hornet's nest being built under my deck eaves near the slider. This is a very bad place for us to have to contend with angry, stinging insects so I brought it down with a long pole. The paper-like building material is a mixture of chewed bits of wood (I have a lot of mulch) and saliva. It was in early days of construction.
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A memory of my youth:
In 1973, across the street from The Omega Hotel where I lived with a bunch of lads when I left home, was a courtyard with rentals on two sides. In one the interior apartments lived my LCC printmaking instructor and his wife and child. The street side house had apartments on ground and second level. On top lived a fellow artist four years to my senior named Court. One of his favorite ways of meeting girls was to sit in coffee bars while drawing in a sketch book. He had a porch out front with chairs that was accessed by stepping out a window. We'd hang out there on warm nights well after midnight, get high, sip Southern Comfort and shoot the shit. Music would waft out from inside.
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Prefacing an hours-long vid of sea turtles was an ad for for a new ultra-violent game called Ghost of Tsushima where a samurai seeks revenge on the Mongol Hordes invading Japan back in the late 1200's. It offered a Japanese language option for those wishing deeper realism.
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Speaking of someone consumed with vengence:
With the Roach cult, what's gonna be the kool-aid as things fall apart?
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This is a fake story:
A bat-shit crazy Texas congressman, who was a storm-chasing addict, had an epiphany and created the tagline: Another threat to our Southern borders identified! OMFG!
The culprit: warm, moist Gulf air (more Mexican problems!) that is sucked northward by the cold air Lows that swing down from the Rockies. This clash is causing all the serious storm and tornado devastation to our heartland! Something must be done to protect our citizens!
I bet one could sell this bullshit to the idiots who eat up anything tossed to them on truth social.
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Fun vids:
A dog discovering ice:
A mystery spiral seen in Alaskan skies:
Bobbin lace making:
Good grief, the patience required to do this!
The Kailasa temple located in Magarasgtra, India. The presenter is an evangelist for the idea of alien artifacts present all over the planet. Fascinating-how was this done?
Hilarious Aldi ad about those bastards at other stores who constantly raise meat prices while providing service with a smile:
As Buddy's fourth birthday arrives next week on June 3, a few anecdotes about our beloved roommate:
His
Lordship pulled a fast one: he came in mewing after being out for 5
hours. So I immediately got him some food. It was pate, which I thought I
would try to work into his routine. I put the plate down, he walked
over for 2 mississippi and returned to tail me with intent as I stood by
the sink. I added warm water to loosen it up. Deja vu. I left the plate
and opened up a fresh can of old favorite. Is there a time warp in the
room? Finally he bunted the food drawer. Ah. He wants treats in his Baby
Einstein. Ok. I went to do something and returned for a drink of water.
Buddy came, tailed and walked toward the slider. Sometimes, he desires treats as an appetizer before the main course. In this case, he was also letting me know that he did not like the pate. Noted, your Lordship.
After decimating this year's crop of baby bunnies, he has shifted his focus to young chippers. One day I found a tail in the library (no, the butler did not do it). Evidently, because we gave off such negative vibes to his gifts of half-eaten corpses, he changed course. This, turned out to be partly true. Shortly afterword, I was in my bedroom picking up some dropped leaves from the decade old hoya plant.
As I was standing back up, a chestnut blur flashed past me dropping to the floor. A chipper had been up in the hoya! I hollered for C and eventually we trapped the poor thing and returned it to the wild. Thank goodness we found it as opposed to waking up to something moving around at 1.20 am!
Sigh, Buddy-roo means well, as he is a very polite cat, wishing to fit in with us and wanting to thank us for providing him with a good home. Perhaps he thought that our negative reactions to his earlier gifts was that we were deprived of the thrill of the hunt. So, he provided. What a good lad!
Two nights ago, I was awakened around 4 am by the screams of felines in battle. This became an eerily similar replay of another early morning incident with Bin several years ago. In both cases, the other cat in question was Russian Blue from the cul-de-sac, who has always been enamored with our lads. By the time I put on sweats and stumbled half-awake out on the front porch, the fight was over. DHS was standing midway down the drive facing RB who was in a sphinx pose in the street. This was not their first meeting-they had an exchange in the street last summer. I walked past Bud and approached RB. She immediately got up and ran back towards home. A full moon slide in and out of clouds just above the treeline to the South-bright one moment to nearly obscured the next.
Buddy walked down the street keeping an eye on her. I spoke to him as he went past "take it easy, man and don't get hurt" then turned and went back to bed.
Gorgeous day-partly cloudy, in the lo 80's. The Siberian Iris are just starting to bloom:
While C was working in her office and hanging out with her pal Chana at the EL Art Fair, I did the first bit of gardening. Calla lilies will not overwinter so I pull them every Fall and they stay in the basement. I planted them around the fountain:
C came home and settled into her routine of deck yoga with Buddy:
Meanwhile at the Diner, it was the peaceable kingdom:
From left to right-Mr. Finch at the feeder, Napoleon Nutkin, Stubbs, Mr. Big Bun and Freddie.
Gifts: Buddy left for us in the library, a tail of some critter perhaps a chipper. Thanks dude, you shouldn't have.
C found this lovely watercolor of a chickadee for me at the Art Fair:
I made a couple of Chicago Tavern Style pizzas:
It is said that this style is more popular to Chicagoans than the famous deep dish the rest of the country associates with the city. The crust is thin and crispy with an unusual process for the dough: after fermenting in the frig for 1-3 days, it is rolled out and left out overnight to dry. This seems to help the crispy nature and gives the dough strength for the toppings. At left is C's fav: olives and 3 kinds of mushrooms sauteed in olive oil, garlic and rosemary. Just vegan parmesan cheese. At right is mine: Italian sausage and sliced onion, whole milk mozz and pecorino romano. The sauce was made with last season's tomatoes that I had frozen, cooked down for 3 hours, seasoned with garlic, oregano, salt, pepper, sugar, and cayenne. Yummy!
Sláinte! And many more years!
C enjoys her alcohol free Cab from Ariel.
I tried for the first time a 2018 Spanish wine blend from Esteban Martin made from garnacha, syrah and tempranillo grapes. Burly and flavorful that stands up well with the strong flavors of the pizza.