Round Up

Love this blog-A Collection a Day.

Another New York Times (NYT) slideshow-A Loft filled with Felt.

Cool store-Day Trip Society.








I must purchase this poster and soon!!!!















I found this article about the Dell Map Back mysteries fascinating. I had no idea these existed, now I want to seek them out.

This cracks me up-Hot Guys Reading Books.

If I haven't said it before Rachel Maddow A. and I absolutely love you. You are the bomb!!!

These Ice Milk Aprons are great. They also have a nice blog.

I have been reading the Forest History Service's blog Peeling Back the Bark. This is a well-written and informative blog. Fascinating!!!

Truman Capote's house is for sale.

Iowa State University has an innteresting oral history project, The Women in Chemistry

I wish my bus stop looked like this. At the bus stop this morning we were saying that the people who design bus stops never have to use them. They are not deep enough. When it is raining and you line up like we do you end up getting wet because you are standing in front of the bench. I guess we should be grateful that we have a nice bench to sit on.








This looks like an intersting book, Fallen Books by Melissa Dubbin and Aaron S. Davidson. This books is filled with photographs of books that have "fallen" because of some natural disasters. While reading the book description I learned about the Mercalli Scale an alternative to the widely used Richter Scale used to measure earthquakes. The Modified Mercalli Scale measures an earthquakes impact on humans, objects and nature on a scale from I through XII.

Nice photo gallery of literary Edinburgh.

I have to get this off of my chest. The same people who are crying too much government, the Democrats are this and that, are now the same ones who want the government's intervention in this awful cataclysmic environmental disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Make up your minds folks.

My heart breaks for the people who live in the area and make their livelihood from those waters. My heart breaks for the wildlife that will die because of this and my heart also breaks to see such pristine beauty destroyed by the "bipeds with brains" greeed.

I thought after Valdez there would have been something in place to handle this type of situation, but there is not. I just don't understand our species-the bipeds with the big brains. If I were a being on another planet I would never want to visit here. Look at the moronic things that we do!!!

Okay, enough of that.

A book returned to the library 221 years late. (better late than never I guess).

Shape of a Box claims to be You Tube's first literary magazine.

Dorothy "Dottie "Kamenshek, the inspiration for Geena Davis' character in A League of Their Own passed away. She was 84.

I understand that last night (May 23, 2010) was the Lost series finale. I watched Lost 3 or 4 times and I just could not get into it. Yes, I could have looked at Sayid (Naveen Andrews) and Sawyer (Josh Holloway) all day long, but even their considerable appeal couldn't increase my interest in the actual program.

That's all for this week folks. Have a lovely week and a nice weekend.





"A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in." Greek Proverb

Leaf Land and Music

I have talked about my pie crust woes before. I am a fairly decent scratch baker-cakes, cookies, breads, even various candies and on and on. However, my pie crust is never as flakey and light as it should be. My mother thinks I work with it too much. It's gotten to where I just don't make pies because I refuse to use store bought pie crust. I love my boyfriend the Pillsbury Doughboy, but I am not buying his pie dough.

I always felt that lard made the best pie crusts. This was back in the day when people, especially in my rural neck of the woods used lard, or a mixture of lard and vegetable shortening to make pie crusts, but believe me, I always thought that the pie crusts made with lard were just so much flakier and had a better taste.

I was reading about leaf lard the other day, and now it seems to be following me around. I had never heard of leaf lard, the highest grade of lard, is obtained from the visceral fat around the kidney and around the loin. It has little pork flavoring and is therefore great for baked goods, in particular pie crust.

Now, I am a vegetarian and I have been for years; not a vegan mind you, but a vegetarian. I eat eggs and dairy products, but no meat, chicken or fish. I also am not a fan of items mad with meat products when I can avoid it. Leaf lard is not something that I would use now, but I find it so interesting. Here are some articles and blog posts about this wonder ingredient: here, here, and one of my new favorite blogs-Art of the Pie.

And now for some upcoming music festivals for in the DC area.

The 15th annual The Kennedy Center Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Festival is this weekend (May 20-22) and the DC Jazz Festival formerly the Duke Ellington Jazz Festival is June 1-13, 2010.

Have a nice week.

"The only real stumbling block is fear of failure. In cooking you've got to have a 'What the hell?' attitude." Julia Child

Round Up

R.I.P. Lena Horne-you were beautiful on the inside as well as the outside.

I like this watermelon moon and stars variety of melon.












I like these Hunters Wellington Boots-rumor (rumour) has it the Queen wears this brand. Cheerio, Pip Pip!!!

I have become a huge fan of the New York Times' slideshows-look at this one-Captivating Capadocia.

With the slideshows, I've also been viewing these wonderful panoramas.

Jimi Hendrix's patchwork coat is now at home at the National Museum of the American Indian.

So is the D River in Oregon the shortest river or is it the Roe River?

I think I am going to have to take a gander at the United Cakes of America:Recipes Celebrating Every State, by Warren Brown. He's the man who was an attorney and baked cakes on the side, quite being an attorney, and opened up bakeries in the WDC area.

Did you know that there is a National Scenic Byways Program? The public can post their own American road adventures on the site as well.

Before I leave this realm, and before I get to decrepit, I must, must, must visit Mackinac Island and it has to be in June for the Lilac Festival. To be able to live on an island that does not allow motorized vehicles must be heaven.

If only the Fojol Brothers and Curbside Cupcake would show up at the same day. I could have lunch and dessert a the same time.

I was reading something the other day, and for the life of me I can't remember what it was, but the article made a reference to concrete ships during WWI. I actually had to read it twice because I couldn't grasp my brain around CONCRETE ships. I did a little research and it's fascinating.

And what's even weirder is I have been to Cape May (many years ago), and I don't remember seeing the S.S. Atlantus at all. I was a kid so maybe I was too short to see out the window.

No offense, I'm glad to have a job and all, but I would be much happier in a ship/boat museum. I am just not about planes at all. (I just had to get that in).

Diggin' Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings.

May is National Bike Month so get yours out and enjoy the scenery.

I love people's creativity. Lindsay Laricks turned a 1957 cute camper into her stage for her gourmet snow cone business Fresher Than Fresh Snow Cones. Love it, love it, love it. Here is her blog.

The best children's books ever.

Have a nice weekend.

"Life is like riding a bicycle, to keep your balance you must keep moving." Albert Einstein

Round Up

Wannietta Prescod-fastest knitter in North America.

Are you living the weisure life?

Look at these Royal Teabags!

Listen to an NPR story about small communities, or hamlets, around Lexington, Kentucky founded by freed slaves. They have names like Clabber Bottom, Frogtown and Zion Hill. Photographer Sarah Hoskins has been photographing the folks who live in these towns and she tells some of their stories.

Oh boy, the Mommins have a movie!!!

The 2010 Cookbook of the Year is Rose's Heavenly Cakes by Rose Levy Beranbaum.

I may have mentioned the wonderful Instructables sight in a previous post, but it is so wonderful it deserves multiple postings.

The Daily Library blogger works in a library and takes a photograph every day.

I should have mentioned Harriet the Poetry Foundation last month since April is National Poetry month, but better late than never.

Welcome to Butch Anthony's very creative home and the Doo Nanny festival.

Watch Kevin Bales' TED talk about modern slavery. This exceptional talk sheds light on an issue that I think most people are unaware.

Interesting-corn flake crunch french toast.

Interesting Slate article on how future historians will use the Twitter archives.

New York's Museum of America Finance has an exhibit Scandal! Financial Crime, Chicanery and Corruption that Rocked America.

I like Shanna Murray's wall and window decals.

It is sold out, but look at this Manhattan Subway tape.

The most beautiful ferry rides in the United States.

I've been all about cupcakes the last few years and Ming Makes Cupcakes has wonderful, creative cupcake recipes.

Follow David and Janet Carle as they travel around the world following the 38th parallel. They are seeking water-related environmental and cultural connections.

The Darwin Song Project took place in 2009 the bicentennial of Charles Darwin's birth. Folk artists gathered in Shrewsbury, England (the place of Darwin's birth) and wrote songs that had a relevance to Darwin's life.

Fictions talking animals.

That's all I have for this week. Have a good one.

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius, and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." Albert Einstein