Everyone needs a hobby. I dibs bird watching.

Lookie at who's back in town!


And from the looks of that tattooed like pattern on his red breast, I'm thinking it is Baby Raw from last summer.
He's all grown up and ready to rock back in his old 'hood for sure.



The year around residents didn't seem to pay Baby Raw much mind.

In fact, the new "lace curtain" addition to their regular breakfast nook seems to have caused everyone in the area to do a special drop by.

Even the goldfinch, who have their very own feeder with their very own special thistle grain mix have stopped by to check out the artistic drapery.


All the bird traffic led to another kind of traffic outside as well.
Tate has declared that if Mila can be outside, then so can he.
(Ever since the Mila's snow adventure post, Tate has been racing to get out the door, despite our policy of no outdoor time for kittens until they are old enough to stay in the yard.)
As I went back inside, Tate raced out, and was immediately joined by Frenchie for some morning bird watching au fresco.


Apparently sitting right beneath a bird feeder isn't working for their bird watching intents.
They craned their necks through the railing, and I could almost hear them calling out:

 "Here birdie birdie birdies...come and get your birdie food!"

Then Tate had a brilliant idea:  He could sort of blend in, and still be up close to any bird coming to either bird feeder!

I had to commend Tate on his ingenuity. 
After letting him hang there on the railing for a few moments, I scooped him up and brought him back inside.  Frenchie had ambled off to explore other parts of the garden, and I let her go about her business as a responsible grown up cat.


Back inside, with Tate for the first time in his life squeaking in protest at the door, I resumed my tea cup and camera in hand bird watching position.
No birds... no birds.  
Hmmm...
Oh. 
Hart is now out there.

(Hart: Here birdie birdie birdie.  Come visit me! Nice birdie birdie!)
I know it is true: everyone needs a hobby.
I just don't think that all of us here need the exact same hobby.
And I don't think I am the one who should be making a change either.

Vocabulary

Cornerstone
Keystone
Capstone

Bernie and I lounged around the living room, watched the kittens pouncing and chasing one another, and discussed the nuances of each of the above terms.

We had just returned from a Bible study on Ephesians 2, where the Apostle Paul zooms through a raft of metaphors describing our relationships to each other in the church, with the Chosen People, and with Christ.

Ephesian 2:20 reads in the New International Version of the Bible as this:

built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.

The Pastor leading the study was zinging through the passage's original Greek, before flipping over to where the same word was found in Hebrew, which many scholars feel is the passage that Paul was alluding to by using this metaphor about Christ.

At this point I was wondering in my mind how my Hebrew translation of the New Testament would render this Ephesian passage, but I hadn't grabbed that particular translation for this study session.

The pastor then delved into the three possible architectural devices which the term "cornerstone" might also refer to.

He did a fine job of sketching a keystone.
He seemed a bit shaky when it came to explaining a capstone, and Bernie (with years in the construction industry) leaned over to whisper in my ear that the pastor had missed understanding the purpose of a capstone all together.
The pastor got the definition of a cornerstone spot on.

Other terms within the passage were examined as well: Citizen, alien and such. 

It wasn't until this morning that I realized that most of the under age 30 people that I know would be unable to state the correct meaning of any of the three architectural terms, and might also find it challenging to offer an explanation of the contextual terms citizen and alien.

I'm not sure how I managed to grasp many of New Testament embedded terms that covers vast nomenclature related to fields of study that I have not had reason to research.  For example: Greek law (Paul's "I appeal to Caesar" passage only has meaning when the understanding of Greek citizenry is obtained), travel protocol, property rights, fashion, cultures within the region...the need for background information is quite long to properly understand many of the passages.

Of course most of us long time Christians are comfortable reaching for our various Bible commentaries when we hit a term that stumps us.  What is interesting to me is how often we (I) don't realize that we have hit a term that should stump us.  We think (like the pastor explaining capstone) that we "get it", when further investigation might reveal an even more significant meaning to a term.

Slightly off topic, but profoundly important to many women in Africa: I once read a missionaries account of a Bible study being held by a group of African women.  The passage they were studying happened to be the one wherein the Jews were instructed to not circumcise the new gentile believers.  The woman leading the Bible study admitted that she had no idea what the term circumcise meant, but if the Bible said not to do, then of course each woman attending the study must be careful not be circumcised either.

The missionary found this mildly humorous of course.  When I read the account years ago, I thought it was kind of cute too: Women being told to avoid being circumcised! Ha!

Years later when I learned about the horrific African practice of clitoris circumcision and genital mutilation, I double winced knowing that God's Word had provided a warning for those African women to heed to avoid both a physical and emotional ache. 

Back to the original topic: How was it that Paul and the rest of the New Testament authors wrote assuming their readers would have acquired a broad vocabulary spanning multiple disciplines (architecture, agriculture, political science, sociology, law, poetic language, geography) that made intra-text explanation unnecessary?

Putting it another way: Why didn't Paul chose to "dumb it down"  passages that he wrote?
I accept that he was inspired by God; apparently God didn't see the need to dumb down passages either.

I won't even begin to touch upon the quirks that are found in the New Testament that are a result of Greek language being used to translate an uniquely Hebrew term.  Reading  Hebrew words translated into Greek translated into English translated back into Hebrew then re-translated back into English is quite eye opening at times.  Being able to understand a cultural or phrase context of terms often blows me away; it will take years to undo a lot of early Sunday school teaching that was offered ignorantly but with only the best intent at heart.

So that was what I was thinking about this morning as I drove to work.  The air was bright and clear around me, the temperature cold upon my knees peeking out between my dress and my Ugg boots.  One side of my winter weight tights waist band had rolled down to form an uncomfortable bungee cord sized wad. Why had it chosen to roll down only on one side?

Then I strolled into my office where the front desk group was creating a large poster with a drawing of a cowboy hat and the words "You go Cowgirl" scrawled in brown.  I asked if it was a birthday poster; no, it was for staffer who had seen the doctor thinking she had kidney stones. She had learned that actually her pain came from  internal organ buising acquired while riding a mechanical bull, and not kidney stones, which was considered good news all around.

I then fired up my computer and read an article about how women are bidding online for OB tampons, which have temporarily disappeared from the stores across America; a box of the things are now going for up to $67.   Why the alliance to this particular brand?  Because is is the only kind of tampon that is inserted without the aid of an applicator, thus saving the planet from additional waste products.  Online discussion followed about the resulting possible surface contamination that may occur between insertion and hand washing. I flashed back on those miserable times that I had need of such products in the past, how I never liked OBs, and why commercials for hygiene products typically show a blue fluid flowing evenly upon an absorbent product. 

Perhaps smurfs and residence of the movie Avatar now have a need for feminine hygiene products that absorb blue fluid?  No human female that I know flows monthly fluid as evenly as demonstrated in the ads, and if they did suddenly flow blue, they should be rushed to the ER immediately IMHO.

Obviously my ability to focus is challenged constantly with the onslaught of my own culture's experiences.

Cornerstone
Capstone
Keystone

No wonder so few people are up to speed with such unexciting terms as these, even if one of them is used to enrich an understanding of the Savior by which all mankind of all cultures and generations can obtain citizenship into an eternal timeless community.

(Now I'm off to research telomers.  I can barely spell the word right now, even though telomers in my body are busy aging me even as I type this post.  They must be stopped!  A Nobel Peace prize was given in 2009 for the study of telomers, cancer and aging.  How is it I know nothing about something as important as telomers and yet I can give a perfect explanation of the term "mechanical bull"?!?  Quite odd, isn't it?)

(Update:  I found a lively scholarly article Organismal stress and telomeric aging: An unexpected connection from way back in 2004 before the scientist really dug into the topic. While it is a tad dated, I like this article because the author adds personal expressive phrases about the possible research, quite unlike the classically required monotone delivery of most scholarly papers.  If you want a peek at why telomeric aging is especially of interest to women, read the article HERE. 

Then imagine how future scientists who are restricted/prohibited from school curriculums including Bible study will be able to understand what is meant by this title published in an international Gerontology journal last year:  Telomeres, Aging, and Plants: From Weeds to Methuselah – A Mini-Review   Apparently I am in for a rather reflective kind of day!)

Storm chaser

Tate has eyes for a certain orange girl kitten named Mila; she lives far away on Prince Edward's Island.

You've heard of puppy love?

I think we may have a case of kitten love on our hands.

(Read Mila's Story HERE towards the end of the post.)

He has lost his kitten teeth, and is growing up nicely.

(Bernie and Tate engaging in a bit of bird watching.  The goldfinches seem completely unaware of their admirers.)

This weekend has given us temperatures up to 60 F. in the valleys, and the snow is melting rapidly.  I looked out the window this afternoon and saw a darkening sky...yet I knew no snow was fore casted until next Wednesday.

With this warm spell, could this be some kind of unusual weather?

(My years in Texas has me always on the look out for tornadoes, and yes, Salt Lake City has had its share of such sever weather events.)

A pronounced circle pattern formed in the clouds over the valley floor. 

The Great Salt Lake shimmered in the distance at the base of the Oquirrh  mountains across the way. 

What a view!  Like God's hands gathering the two storms over the valley.

The Oquirrhs cloud covering stacked up like oncoming ocean waves.

Once the rain started to fall in the distance, I felt the air temperature dropping around me.

The slight pink sunset struggled to compete with the drama of the black clouds.

A blast of wind arrived around me.  Tree limbs waved wildly, and I could hear various wind chimes in the area sounding frantically. 

I tucked my camera inside my shirt and began to jog toward home.

As I rounded the corner to our street hail began to fall.

Heading up the hill to my house I was fighting to see as my glasses were covered with rain drops and my hair was whipping around my head.

It was cold too!

Minutes later I was back inside, all cozy and nice.

And thus ended my little adventure as a storm chaser.

TWC: Feel free to give me a call.

I'm ready to go chase storms anytime!

When soothing is needed...

Frenchie and Missy met up on the deck for the first time the other day.
It didn't really go very well...

Missy left with most of what he/she arrived with.
Frenchie was pretty ruffled about the whole thing too.


The white fur was definitely from Missy.

I thought that would be the last time we would ever see Missy dropping by our place.
It wasn't.
Missy still hangs out there all the time.  Frenchie still alternates between being the sweetest cat ever and being a total battle axe.
She charges Hart about once a day, but they are spending time in the same room all the time now. 
We hope they will eventually smooth things over and become old friends.
Often folks that have had serious rumbles at the beginning later become friends after all.

Take the Brits for example.
We Yanks have two wars with them. 
Now the Brits stick sandwich boards on our streets proclaiming the most questionable brags in broad daylight.

Salt Lake's UK district is quite small, but also quite noticable.
A "London Market" is right next to a British Tea room on one of our busy streets.

For two years I have driven past the cute little shops, promising myself I would "pop in" some day soon.
Summer flowers in the front porch bike basket gave way to snowy Christmas plants...and it was time to keep my promise.

Cute enough...although the other room with a glowing fake fireplace was better.
On the cold snowy day that I stopped in, the fireplace area was already packed.

A late lunch of Tomato Basil soup, pickled salad, sausage roll and tea by the window by myself was just the thing for a work week break.
It was the tea that was the big hit out of all the elements of my repast.

The pretty pink toned drink was flavored with cherry blossoms, rose petals, hibiscus and green tea.
It was heavenly.  I could easily have ordered another pot if I didn't have to get back to work.
I asked the waitress where I could purchase some of the tea; she said they didn't sell it and didn't know where I could get some.
Darn it! 

I hoped the London market next door might sell some, but no such luck.
They did have free copies of the Union Jack available however; I got all caught up with the doings in the UK: big storms, soccer scores, lottery winners etc etc.

(Picture above: Frost on a car window... it has nothing to do with this story. Pretty though, isn't it?)


Since January is National Tea Drinking month, I decided I really, really needed to find a source for that delicious tea.
A bit of Internet sleuthing and Ta DAH!
Sakura, AKA Japanese Cherry Blossom Tea.
Blended with rose petals, green tea and hibiscus.

I ordered it a week ago Wednesday and this past Wednesday it arrived.
Love it.
Actually I have found three teas that I love right now, this one, a Tulsi Rose tea from India and Oolong tea, after Dr. Oz said oolong tea helps with weight control.
I didn't need to hear that suggestion spoken twice; I got right out and bought some lickity split.
Brewed up a pot and found that both Bernie and I love the light flavorful oolong tea a lot.
The other night I woke up at 3 am, and wanted a cuppa of oolong of all things.
Didn't make a cup during the night, even though oolong is noted for being very low in caffine, but I sure liked having one first thing the next morning.

Teas that I like:
Peach
Canadian maple tea (with milk, always)
Earl Gray
Constant Comment
Jasmine
Mint in the summer.

Actually that last one has some interesting properties.  I keep a bottle of mint oil in my desk at work for times when I feel a little too warm, if you get my drift.  A quick whiff of the oil cools me right down.  A tea can be made using it too.

Mint oil has a lot of healing properties.  
My Massage Therapist told me that I should smooth a drop of mint oil on the three places on my shoulder where I tore a tiny bit during my stair case fall. 


And he suggested that I smooth mint oil on anywhere else I had bruised, like on my outer thigh for instance.
I've have good reason to be smelling especially minty fresh the past few days...

(And I think I might need to order another bottle of mint oil pretty soon!)

King me!

Let me just go on record here that something else is totally  wrong in my world:

There are NO Kings Cakes to be found in Salt Lake City this year.

I want and need a purple, yellow and green sprinkled Kings Cake.
The lasts two years I have stooped to baking my own; they have not measured up to the wonders of store bought Kings Cake as readily found in the South.
Ever wonder why Southern folks are so easy going and nice?
It is because because they have enough sense to start putting out Kings Cake everywhere on January 6th, to celebrate the visit of the Three Kings to Baby Jesus.
The tradition goes like this:  A cake is put out with the little Baby (the golden thing in the picture above) hidden inside the cake.
The person who gets the slice with the baby has to bring the next Kings Cake to the next gathering.
This practice goes on up to the first day of Lent.
Kings Cakes are EVERYWHERE in the South during the Mardi Gras season before Lent. 
If you go get your oil changed, your mammogram done, consult with your lawyer, go to the library, what ever...there WILL be Kings Cake there.
Think you need to get back on your diet after Christmas? 
Pshaw. 
That clearly can wait until Lent.  Here, have some Kings Cake.
Unless you live in Salt Lake City of course.

When you last tuned in, I was bemoaning my lack of ability to get things done.

I am pleased to report that I managed to re-subscribe to the computer security service after only two tries.

Hurrah for ME!

I also heard back from Picasa about my picture problems.  I was assured that if I would just uninstall and re-install the program all my problems would be fixed.

Detailed instructions were included and it was easy peasy.

I did note that a few picture series of my oldest chips were missing; I thankfully had the chips and just reloaded them directly.

Now I am promising myself that I will go through four years of photos and tag each and every one of them with a label so I won't have to hunt to find all my mushroom pictures or rainbows or whatnot.

Won't that be nice when that task is all done?

It may take years....but I can work on it while B. watches the TV shows that he likes.

(You know, the ones with no dialogue, but lots of sounds of tires screeching, things blowing up, guns firing, airplanes roaring.  Do the males in your world also eschew dialog in favor of explosive sound effects?)

Since yesterday's post I have been swimming around the Internet and reading seriously heavy medical and science papers to answer an interesting question posed by one of our skin care students:

If copper binds with the enzyme tyrosinase that causes the release of melanosomes into the keratinocyte and a result of hyperpigmentation, then how can copper peptide be beneficial for the skin.

I have found articles explaining why copper binding with tryosinase causes hyperpigmentation (spots on skin), and articles about how copper peptides help heal wounds and reduce skin wrinkles.
I just can't quite put my finger on why copper is bad for skin in one formula and good for skin in another.

Thought I would just throw the question out there for you all to think about while you munch your Kings Cake, or whatever it is you are having with your tea today.

Meanwhile I today I will be working on researching new developments using LED lights.. 
You know, the little red lights that glow from all your appliances and clocks and what not?

Turns out those little lights are being used in mind boggling ways in medicine now.  Military troops carry little LED thingamabobs that are waved over wounds causing them to be heal up lickity split just like "Bones" used to do in the old Star Trek episodes. Post chemo issues are being fixed with LED lights.  Dental work is being done with LED lights.  I'm beginning to wonder what can't be fixed with LED light.

Best of all...wrinkles and age spots are fixed with the little lights!
A-maz-ing!
(Here's one way too scientific article about it, and here's an easy one.)

Let's all sing it together...now with a whole new meaning:
 
"This little light of mine....I'm going to let it shine."
"All around my old crow's feet...I'm gonna let it shine...."
"Let it shine till I look 19.  I'm going let it shine...."
"The FDA must  not blow this out...I'm gonna let it shine..."

Back to work. 
(Dang. I still want some good old fashioned Kings Cake!)

1-11-11

No pictures today, just some random musings and reporting from my life.

First of all, let's talk about the date today: 1-11-11. 

Huh, look at all those ones. Guess I'll see something like it again in November.

OK, that's done.

Next up:  Discussions about the Arizona shootings.
Tragedies like this at the hands of a person who clearly is mental ill is just that: A tragedy. 
It is not a reflection of political rhetoric, too much violence on TV or uncivil discourse any more than a flu's fever is related to anything except the body's reaction to a problem.
I am sorry for all the pain this man's actions have cause. 

Then a bit of about an article in Sunset magazine this month.  A family of four lives in a 1,400 sq ft. house in Mill Valley, and has virtually NO trash to put out each week.  The mom goes to the store with glass containers and buys fresh items like meat and such, and has them placed directly  into the glass containers. She shops for non-packaged food items at the local farmers market.
 Each family member has a specific number of clothing items which are replaced as needed twice a year at the local thrift shop.  Memory items are photographed and sent on their way, each person has one "memory box" in which to store things they want to keep. 
All family toiletries and medicines fit into one medicine cabinet.
They have no books in the house; they visit the local library for reading materials.
(There is no mention in the article that any house in Mill Valley costs over a million dollars by the way...the mom does fly home to France once at year, which she mentions as her one vice in a totally living green lifestyle.)

Sounds like an austere home. 
We raised our two children in 1,100 sq ft. and never thought it was a daring lifestyle choice. 
We shopped at thrifts shops because it was fun.  
We raised veggies sometimes.
This sort of article makes me both annoyed at the Northern California "superior" mindset about everything they do, and also wistful about the fact that I find thinning my possessions to be extremely time consuming. 
It is nice to have just the bare necessary items to attend to; it is also a lot more cozy to have some useless but visually attractive items AND some back up items for emergencies too.

Given the choice between California and Western United States covering Sunset Magazine and Southern United States covering Southern Living: No contest!  SL is the best!!!!

Next: Picasa has upgraded to include HD video content downloads. Hurrah! Anyone out there tried it yet?

I installed the upgraded version and then started to get Picasa is not available messages.  Worse, my photo library disappeared from Dec 2010 back.  I can still see the pictures in my external back up hard drive...and Picasa was installed in that drive so I don't get why Picasa isn't displaying the pictures.

Also: My DSLR camera downloads sooo slowly and copies all the chip's pictures again into Picasa even thought I have directed that duplicates not be copied.  It makes me not want to use my DSLR because at 800 pictures loading at about a minute per picture...forget it!

Anyone else having these kinds of issues?

A whine:  Last March a church friend had a baby girl. I bought a gift for her...and we at last connected in the summer months for dinner with the family at our house.  Due to a quick exit due to baby and big brother issues, the gift was left behind.  I have tried to connect up with the family a few times, and the gift is still in my possession.  I need to call and make a hard appointment to drop by with the gift before the baby outgrows the outfit!  Why is it so hard for me to make the call?  I think it is just awkward at this point but still...
Any suggestions on how to handle this? Would it be rude to suggest the mom meet me downtown or something?  I hate to have her have to feel like she needs to stop everything to visit with me at home....

A minor medical report:  I broke one of my unwritten rules and went down our uncarpeted steps on Sunday evening.  Slipped and thudded down six steps on my my upper outer thigh.  The black bruise is as big as my hand, but my shoulder muscles got some minor tears from my attempt to hang on to something to stop the fall.

In October I fell from atop a four foot ladder while picking apples in our neighbor's yard.  The ladder was very lightweight and on uneven ground.  I should of known better that to climb up on the top step and reach for an apple with my finger tips.  The ladder fell with my legs tangled inside, and I rolled with the ladder on my legs over an embankment when I fell another four feet to a concrete patio.  I was lucky I didn't hit my head!  Both my ankles and calves were black for a few weeks, and my ankles are still sore to touch.  Bone bruise and some tearing was the opinion given by a massage therapist.  It may take up to six months before all the ankle swelling goes down.

And I slipped on ice in the canyon in November, skinning my knee.  I haven't had so many "boo-boos" since I was a toddler I think.  I'm glad I have 1. A hot tub to soak in 2. Massage Therapists that know what they are doing 3. studied how to fall (go limp, don't fight it...a fact that I remembered as I thumped the third step down on Sunday.) and 4. have a really healthy body that heals, but it is really a drag having a sore shoulder when it comes to hooking up bras and slipping on winter jackets.

Another whine:  My office had a ceiling collapse due to roof water leak.  My computer died.  The leak collapse messed up a bunch of stuff, and it is unclear if that was why the computer died.  Anyhoo...today I finally got a new computer and the replacement ceiling tiles that are exactly one week old are already soaking wet.  The temperatures outside have not been above freezing since the collapse happened, and there is a LOT of snow on the roof.  One warm day, say at 37 degrees and I will have a restful waterfall spilling down from three locations over my head.

Apparently no one is concerned that another collapse will take out the new computer. No one was concerned that I did absolutely nothing at work for six days either.  Well, I did dust a bit just for the exercise.
Basically though, I got paid for just showing up and sitting around doing nuttin'.

The pay check will be taxed however.

What else? 
I ripped through my to-do lists over the holiday, and yet can't seem to check anything more off.  The baby gift, an application process, diet and exercise, painting the downstairs bath, Bible study, booking flights, reallocating stocks, renewing Norton computer security...all these things just languish on my list. My brain considers them, then zones out. 

I remembered the first time someone told me that they were not thinking about anything.  I was as shocked as if they had told me they were not breathing....of course the brain is constantly engaged in thoughts!
Lately I have discovered my brain is very capable of shifting into neutral too. It is totally strange.  I'm not sure if I can go back to constant processing, or if I even want to.  The "ignorance is bliss" aspect is so much more appealing than "knowledge is power" sometimes.

Every time I find something out (like what was with the Florida airports changing the headings on their landing strips) then I find myself having yet another question that puzzles me.  For example, the pilot next door explained that the earth's core is fluid and moves about, and that causes changes in magnetic north, so the landing strips have to have their heading changed to match the new magnetic north's co-ordinates.

I totally got that....then about twelve hours later I started to wonder why only one Florida airport airstrips needed changing.  Wouldn't all the landing strips in the world need changing? 

Ugh. 

(Tuning my brain back to white noise static. Feel free to join in!)

Vinegar

Question: Why would anyone want to make vinegar at home when it is so inexpensive to buy in the store?

Answer: Because the Sunday paper ran a column about how to do it way back in October when there were apples falling all around my neighborhood.

According to the recipe in the article, the vinegar making process was simple. I decided I would give it a try.

Basically all you have to do is randomly chop up apples and drop them into a clear container filled with filtered water. (No fussing either, the apple bits go in including skin, core, stem and seeds. Or just left over skin, core and stem if you want.)

A bit of cheesecloth or other breathable material goes over the jar opening.  More apple bits can be added right up until the time a whitish foam appears atop the fluid.

At the point the foam appears the jar is removed to someplace where it won't freeze or get too hot and is then left alone for about a month or two.  The bigger the apple chunks and the long the mix stews, the stronger the resulting vinegar will become. 



The whitish foam is called the "mother" and is a form of fermentation.
Whenever you feel the vinegar is at the level that you desire, the fluid is drained/strained off into another container and capped off.  The solid matter is disgarded. 

Again...why would anyone want to bother with this small task?
Well for one: the vinegar has an extra flavor that is quite tasty.
And then there are all the non-culinary purposes for vinegar use: It can be used for many things: an antiseptic, antibacterial and anti fungus fluid, useful for both for cleaning purposes and for wound care (diluted of course).  
A vinegar rinse is good for hair, great for removing hard water deposits on glass and metal, cleaning glass in general.
It also contains most of the essential vitamins and minerals needed for good health.
Just try looking up uses for vinegar and you will see that there are plenty of suggestions and ideas for vinegar usage to replace other chemical mixtures.

I guess I felt like I wanted to be a bit of a pioneer woman or perhaps a survivalist: if things ever get really bad, now I know I can stew up a batch of cleaning and antiseptic fluid and a multi vitamin resource just by using the apples that grow abundantly in my neighborhood. 

Naturally an apple grown without chemical spray is necessary...so watch carefully to be sure no toxic sprays have come around the apples that are used.

All it took was about 15 minutes, an old glass floral vase, some cheesecloth and about three good sized apples to make a quart of vinegar at home in a month. 

Want to see the article that inspired me?  Check it out HERE, the directions are written on the side bar.

So simple...I have to wonder why ever has vinegar making been kept such a big secret until now?

(Another tip: DO make a point of see The King's Speech.  Everything that you've heard or read about it is oh so right!)

Helpful and Not So Helpful

The few remaining bits of Christmas trim will be tucked away today.



I do have help with this task....



Tate's enthusiasm for the work makes up for his lack of process understanding.

Tate: I thought you said you wanted to take the Christmas things down. I iz helping.
Me: I meant put the Christmas things away.
Tate: Oh.  Sorry. 

He isn't the only one around here who is a tad clueless about things.
This morning I read that all the birds falling from the sky around the world might be caused by the earth's magnetic pole shifting.

I have known that our earth's magnetic poles do shift from time to time; I have purposefully avoiding really getting a firm grasp of how that happens.  Trying to understand scientific stuff like that usually just makes me feel dumb.

Bernie happened to be chugging by with his second cup of coffee before commuting to work downstairs when I commented about the possibility that the birds were being affected by the magnetic poles shifting. I made the mistake of mentioning that I really don't understand how magnetic poles actually shift.

The earth clearly doesn't flop over...
Like do they shift after X number of years? 
After so many spins?
Does it just happen randomly?

(Now tell the truth...can you give a precise answers as to why the poles shift off the top of your head?)

Bernie managed to give me an answer that I sort of understand, using his hands to illustrate the point.  Seems that as the earth goes around the sun, the earth rotation and spin tips one end of the earth more towards the sun, then the other end more towards the sun, and that sets up the magnetic pull.

I think I get that.
So wouldn't that mean that the poles shift every year? 
And if that is the case, then why wouldn't birds be goofed up every year?More information was clearly needed.
 This site  from NASA was interesting.
I had no idea that there is one person who has a full time job keeping track of magnetic North.
(And wouldn't that make for a conversation stopper during party introductions?  "Oh my husband?  He travels around keeping track magnetic north for everyone.")

Some how it had also escaped me that magnetic North is in Canada. 
I always thought the North Pole was in the Arctic.
Right next to where Santa Claus and the Elves work and play.

(Canadians: Could one of you please figure out how to make magnetic North stop shifting around your country?  Put down the Molsons and get to work!)

Apparently the last time the poles reversed was 780,000 years ago.  Scientist can tell by checking out "the magnetism of ancient rocks".

Huh.  I thought all rocks were ancient.  Are there modern rocks out there?  I suppose volcanoes make new rocks but other than those, aren't all rocks made out of the original earth?

Scientists also reported that pole reversal happen about once every 300,000 years.  They are not sure if we are overdue for a reversal or not.

NASA included the pictures above to illustrate just how messy it can be when the poles reverse.

I'm thinking going on a hike with a compass would be a bad idea during a reversal.

NASA also added that when it happens, the Northern Lights will be seen in Tahiti.

How they can be sure of this fact, considering the last time it happened was, according to them,  780,000 years ago, is also mystery to me.

NASA isn't weighing in on the dead birds via pole shift or reversal idea.

Frankly, their website just made me even more confused than I was before.

Sigh.

I think I will just believe that Bernie, having passed several college classes in Magnetism, understands it and will inform me of any thing about it that I need to do something about.

Right now all that needs me to do something about is clearing up the Christmas stuff.

I just hope birds don't start falling from the sky around here.

So far...so good!

Advent to Epiphany

Amaryllis were planted the first Sunday of Advent, and placed on our fireplace mantle along with a music box with Holy Family figurines atop. 

This year we would not have a Christmas tree (two baby kittens in the house, it was a carefully considered decision), instead we would enjoy cut greenery for scent and watch as the plants unfolded themselves to glorious full bloom.

The first two weeks there didn't seem like much to see happening in the shiny containers.

Then green nubs appeared.

The nubs lengthened daily.

One morning buds appeared!

I could see the rosy blush beneath the bud's sheaths.

We looked for hints that the buds would soon burst forth.

By Christmas Day one blossom had overcome its green wrapping.

What if the Christmas bud had been the final scene for our planting hopes?

It was a fine bud to be sure...

We celebrated The Baby.

We considered what it would have meant if The Baby in the Manger (or in Sukkah as I happen to believe...a word for which there is no English translation. I will let you do your own research on that.  Here's one writing to consider) was the final scene of the Christmas story.

The Twelve Days of Christmas gave us opportunity to consider the further unfolding of the Nativity story.

The horrific murdering of all the infant Jewish boys by Herod...

The Circumcision of Jesus

Anna and Simeon in the Temple

We thought about the conversations among the Shepherds after they came to see the Infant King.

How many people really knew what had happened in their midst?

More buds opened.

More parts of the story were considered over the Twelve Days of Christmas.

Today is Epiphany.  Some of the flowers are in full bloom.

Others are still opening...

A few are still hidden inside their green sheaths.

It has been weeks since the day the rough brown bulbs were buried in the potting soil.

My hope for flowers in winter has come to fruition, and I know there will be still more blooms to enjoy in the coming days.

Water and Light were all that was and is needed to make these flowers grow.

I think they have rewarded us well for our care.

(I will not add my meditative thoughts paralleling the flowers to the Liturgical season, or the Spreading of the Good News, or even the purpose of growth of the Christian soul.  I will say that watching the amaryllis grow between Advent to Epiphany was much more insightful for us than looking at our Christmas trees have ever been in the past.  Perhaps next year we will have both flowers and a tree.  Either way, this year's choice has been a good one for us.)