tomorrow
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Monday, August 24, 2009
Music Monday
Paolo Nutini! L is absent today, so I'm bringing in this one. I really like this. And I neglected to credit who put me onto him: Menopausal Musing.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Happy 40th, Woodstock; and other festive thoughts
The mother of a college friend of mine recalls going to the market that weekend in Goshen, New York, and being surprised to find a young man within, without a stitch of clothing on.
Some things DO change.
I did not attend the concert; I was not old enough, but I do remember teenagers asking my father for time off to go. He did not think it was a good idea. So they did not go. I wonder if they now wish they had slunk off, under cover of darkness, to drive from Vermont to Bethel for that weekend.
I do know of two people who attended. One has a story about hitch-hiking back that begins "and then a lady in a bathrobe picked us up . . . "
And that lady turned out to be the mother-in-law of L's preschool teacher. You just never know, do you, who will cross your path, in what order, and why . . .
A link to a review last Sunday of two books about the festival.
• • • •
The Burning Man festival intrigues me, but I'm not sure about the Nevada desert in August.
Frankly, I would love to attend the festival at Glastonbury. What will next year bring?
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Fleabane
They look innocent enough, don't they? However, they seem to be following their own version of Robert Herrick: Scatter ye flea eggs while ye may!
A week following application of Frontline on all three cats, all are scratching like nobody's business, and leaving behind flea eggs and dirt. And I know a flea egg when I see one—or rather, when I see one, I see hundreds. A call to the vet's office, who once a month knows that $50+ is coming her way for three vials, brought this response.
"We've had lots of complaints that Frontline doesn't seem to be working this summer."
[!#**@]
Well, should I switch over to something else??? hmm??
"Well, lots of people are switching to Advantage."
Could the fleas have built up a tolerance/become resistant to these medications??? That didn't seem to have occurred to anyone there at the vet's office.
How is Advantage? How about something else, called Revolution, that a friend's vet seems to swear by?
From PetMed's Web site:
Frontline Plus contains fipronil, a broad-spectrum insecticide and slow-acting poison that disrupts the central nervous system of fleas and ticks and S-Methoprene, an insect growth regulator that kills flea eggs and larvae.
The active ingredients are stored in the sebaceous glands and are wicked out of the hair follicles and continuously re-applied to the coat for long-lasting, waterproof protection.
The active ingredient [in Advantage] is imidacloprid, which acts on the nervous system of the flea to cause paralysis and subsequent death. Within 12 hours of application, 98-100 percent of fleas are dead. Advantage kills fleas before they lay eggs, so their life cycle is broken at multiple stages. It also kills flea larvae within 20 minutes of contact.
Revolution works by penetrating the skin and entering your pet's bloodstream. Concentrations of selamectin, the active ingredient, in the tissue and bloodstream prevent heartworm disease. Selamectin also redistributes into the skin from the bloodstream and kills adult fleas, American dog ticks, and ear mites, and prevents flea eggs from hatching. Its also an antihelminthic, which means it fights to expel parasitic worms. Parasites ingest the drug when they feed on the animal's blood.
A week following application of Frontline on all three cats, all are scratching like nobody's business, and leaving behind flea eggs and dirt. And I know a flea egg when I see one—or rather, when I see one, I see hundreds. A call to the vet's office, who once a month knows that $50+ is coming her way for three vials, brought this response.
"We've had lots of complaints that Frontline doesn't seem to be working this summer."
[!#**@]
Well, should I switch over to something else??? hmm??
"Well, lots of people are switching to Advantage."
Could the fleas have built up a tolerance/become resistant to these medications??? That didn't seem to have occurred to anyone there at the vet's office.
How is Advantage? How about something else, called Revolution, that a friend's vet seems to swear by?
From PetMed's Web site:
Frontline Plus contains fipronil, a broad-spectrum insecticide and slow-acting poison that disrupts the central nervous system of fleas and ticks and S-Methoprene, an insect growth regulator that kills flea eggs and larvae.
The active ingredients are stored in the sebaceous glands and are wicked out of the hair follicles and continuously re-applied to the coat for long-lasting, waterproof protection.
The active ingredient [in Advantage] is imidacloprid, which acts on the nervous system of the flea to cause paralysis and subsequent death. Within 12 hours of application, 98-100 percent of fleas are dead. Advantage kills fleas before they lay eggs, so their life cycle is broken at multiple stages. It also kills flea larvae within 20 minutes of contact.
Revolution works by penetrating the skin and entering your pet's bloodstream. Concentrations of selamectin, the active ingredient, in the tissue and bloodstream prevent heartworm disease. Selamectin also redistributes into the skin from the bloodstream and kills adult fleas, American dog ticks, and ear mites, and prevents flea eggs from hatching. Its also an antihelminthic, which means it fights to expel parasitic worms. Parasites ingest the drug when they feed on the animal's blood.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
pickles
Just reading a bit on FB about making refrigerator pickles. We've made several batches, and this summer is the first I haven't made conventional pickles. My mother gave me a recipe and they were never crisp. Tasty, yes.
So it's great to have a method from MS's Everyday Food, which I'll give here because there is really no reason NOT to make these with cucumbers in such abundance (at least around here):
Slice cucumbers about 1/8 in thick (about 2 large cookie sheets' worth). place on paper towels on said sheets, sprinkle with salt, and cover with paper towels. Leave for about 15 min while you prepare the brine:
In med. saucepan, combine 3 c. white vinegar, 1-1/2 c. sugar. 2 tsp. coarse salt, 1/2 tsp. mustard seed, 1/2 tsp celery seed, 2-4 small red chiles (optional, but I included), and 1/8 tsp. ground turmeric.
Bring to boil.
Put your cucumbers and some fresh dill fronds in jars and pour the brine over. You can really pack those slices in there tight, btw.
Stick a knife in to release the air bubbles and screw the lid on. *Put jars in the refrigerator!!
Tomorrow you will have pickles.
• • •
I'm champing at the bit to buy yet another cookbook, but restraint is in order, especially with business being so slow for D, college for L approaching faster than a speeding bullet, and insurance costs seeming to rise like mercury in a thermometer, but never dropping.
The library solves some book lust issues, but its budget is hacked yearly, and county commissioners here are anti-intellectual cretins who actually wondered why someone who wanted to read a book didn't just go to the bookstore and get one. Mother of god. Really.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Monday, August 03, 2009
Sunday, August 02, 2009
Veg plot in high summer
Various views of the community garden
JGH, fishing lines keep the deer out
LOTS of cherry tomatoes. Sweet as candy.
This pumpkin is a volunteer on the garden's compost heap.
A version of Vivaldi:
JGH, fishing lines keep the deer out
LOTS of cherry tomatoes. Sweet as candy.
This pumpkin is a volunteer on the garden's compost heap.
A version of Vivaldi:
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