I know this cold snap is just a return to seasonal weather, but does it have to be so painful? My weather report said it would hit 70 again today, and I’m hoping it’s not a typo.
Anyone else find it sad that Finn finally sleeps all night, and I’m still waking up? :/
So pretty. I drove home through the rolling hills of Chester county yesterday, and it was so beautiful, with that first splash of green on the trees and fields, and all the flowering trees in pinks and whites. And my afternoon run today with Finny was equally gorgeous.
Amazing stuff! Too bad we don’t pour more of our national energy into things like this instead of figuring out new ways to bomb the crap out of other humans.
Most treatment plants already use bacteria to break down the organic waste in the water. With support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), Logan and his team at Penn State University are taking the idea a step further. They are developing microbial fuel cells to channel the bacteria’s hard work into energy. Here’s how it works: The bacteria in the wastewater eat the organic waste, releasing electrons as a byproduct. Those electrons collect on carbon bristles in the fuel cell, eventually flowing through a circuit that can power a small fan or light bulb.
Turns out that 5% of the nations energy is used in water treatment. I heard the PSU researcher talk recently on a science podcast and he thinks bacterial energy may make up a large part of that energy in a few years.
I’m so busy that I don’t know if I’m coming or going half the time, but…I love it! We had our Cesar Chavez March today and it was 91 degrees…can I have the snow back? Hope all is well in your part of the land
I guess you could march up on Mt. Lemmon and get snow that way. 😉
Hope you had a good turnout despite the temps.
All is well here — I kind of hated this dull winter w/o snow but I am loving the spring it produced. Green so early and absolutely lush with wildflowers and flowering dogwoods and redbuds.
There’s a hollow tree in our front yard that’s helped shelter many generations of squirrel families and given us a lot of laughs as we watch them grow to adulthood. Apparently, the squirrel mom was away for the day yesterday, so the kids came out to play.
As far as we could tell, they all made it back up the tree before mom got home.
This adult male sits on my knee every morning.
He`s been doing it for a few months.
I sometimes have him on one knee & a Bluejay eating peanuts off of the other.
Luckily I only have two knees.
One of the little critters (there were 3) tried to munch on my sneaker, but mostly they were interested in fresh greens. Good thing you’ve got lots of peanuts!
For some reason, your posts always seem to boggle my mind. Now I’m wondering how would I know an adult male squirrel from another similar beast. The sex of squirels has always been beyond me.
Speaking of awe – agaves. I read a story as a kid about a plant that flowered every hundred years – then discovered agaves as a “grownup.” It’s awesome that we share a planet with such other totally different beings.
The hard part is that the flower is so relatively short-lived.
Alice,
I just finally cut down my 4 Agaves which had flowered.
I have hundreds of them. They bloom for months then die.
Here is one of them. You can see the bottom leaves stating to die off.
This one is halfway through it`s bloom. The flower will open all the way to the tip. During all this time it is covered in bees.
Good morning,
Young asklet has his spring break and is in Geneva for a week. We had an office outing yesterday – great conditions up at Le Saleve, but a bit hazy. Still great views.
I turned on diaries for Oui. And boran2 and massappeal also took advantage of the window to post. So did about 12 spammers in the 90 minutes I left the diary-posting option open.
Of course, when people grown up, they tend to leave home and then their mother’s become very, very sad. OTOH, if they never leave home, their mother’s become even sadder. 😉
We got a little break last year…and he’s been at the girlfriend’s house a lot this year too, but they’ve been here all this week, which is cool. Tomorrow we have a trip to crate and barrel for new glassware in the plans.
Speaking of x 3, I just ran a whole 3 miles tonight.first time evah. 🙂
Hi everyone,
Good to be back in NY for a few days break for Easter/Passover.
Young asklet and I flew back together yesterday.
My crappy camera (photos above) does not do justice to the views from Saleve. A colleague provided me with some of his.
Check this one in full size (right click + view image):
My former teaching teammates asked me to go with them on the trip to Bradford Woods this year. How could I say no. Seventeenth trip was as magical as the previous sixteen.
Absolutely, the S – SE views are more dramatic. But Lac Lehman (Lake Geneva), Geneva and the Jura mountains in the north is also a great view. I need to upload better samples of that, but they’re in a folder on my laptop back in Geneva.
Did you have a Seder yesterday? We dropped it and simply did a tapas kind of thing with a few friends last night.
I’ll have to remind you to do that after you go back.
I only do seders to make my mom happy and she got invited out for both nights, so no dayenu for me this year. The only thing I really miss is my sister’s charoset which is so yummy.
Sorry I haven’t been ’round much, got a nasty infection that took me out for a while.
On a sad note Chance passed away, she was a sick kitty who suffered from feline asthma and diabetes. She was just short of her 4th Bday.
Mrs.X is sure taking this one hard.
Hugs to Mrs. X. We just lost our old momcat last Wed. She was almost 20 and had a good life after she moved in with us. We took her in due to a traffic accident in front of our house in which she was involved. Mrs. ID rushed her to the vet and she refused to leave when her convalescence ended. We eventually discovered her original person, who didn’t want her back, so…
Feels like a bigger hump than usual…
I know this cold snap is just a return to seasonal weather, but does it have to be so painful? My weather report said it would hit 70 again today, and I’m hoping it’s not a typo.
Anyone else find it sad that Finn finally sleeps all night, and I’m still waking up? :/
I empathize since I find it sad that I’m retired and I’m still waking up early.
It was 70 here yesterday so odds are in your favor.
… now with fringes of spring.
click for larger
So pretty. I drove home through the rolling hills of Chester county yesterday, and it was so beautiful, with that first splash of green on the trees and fields, and all the flowering trees in pinks and whites. And my afternoon run today with Finny was equally gorgeous.
We are having a lush spring too — there are tons of wildflowers, the dogwoods and redbuds are amazing, and a lot of the trees have already leafed out.
If I were smarter, I’d write about this. Pretty cool.
Do bacteria have facebook pages?
“like” 😉
no, but they play World of Warcraft all day.
Amazing stuff! Too bad we don’t pour more of our national energy into things like this instead of figuring out new ways to bomb the crap out of other humans.
There’s more in heaven and earth, and that cesspool ….
http://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/science_nation/wastetoenergy.jsp
Turns out that 5% of the nations energy is used in water treatment. I heard the PSU researcher talk recently on a science podcast and he thinks bacterial energy may make up a large part of that energy in a few years.
I got a Twitter notification today that turned out to be Finn seizing control of someone’s iPhone 😀
Uh-oh. He had mine on the way home from the park last night….
You know it must be a genetic thing, his tweeting. 🙂
Better check your phone for new apps. 😉
it’s possible that he was really craving cranberry sauce.
The prospect of getting a tweet from Finny is almost enough to make me sign up for an account.
Also … hi Manny!
hi back! one tweet was blank, the other read “oo” so I figured it was either Siri stalking me or CabinBoo the
BabyToddler 🙂CabinBoo — cute, I like it.
How are you doing, Manny? Weather back to normal yet?
I’m so busy that I don’t know if I’m coming or going half the time, but…I love it! We had our Cesar Chavez March today and it was 91 degrees…can I have the snow back? Hope all is well in your part of the land
I guess you could march up on Mt. Lemmon and get snow that way. 😉
Hope you had a good turnout despite the temps.
All is well here — I kind of hated this dull winter w/o snow but I am loving the spring it produced. Green so early and absolutely lush with wildflowers and flowering dogwoods and redbuds.
We’ll take your 91 degrees. It’s gotten chilly here again after having been in the 70s. I hope that you’re finding some time to relax.
There’s a hollow tree in our front yard that’s helped shelter many generations of squirrel families and given us a lot of laughs as we watch them grow to adulthood. Apparently, the squirrel mom was away for the day yesterday, so the kids came out to play.
As far as we could tell, they all made it back up the tree before mom got home.
What fun for you and vicarious for us seeing the pics. You should submit them to the Democrat — they’d look great on the front page.
Andi…you left some very kind words for me a while ago…Thank you…
You’re welcome. I hope it helped you figure out how to post a photo.
Risky Business for squirrels.
lol! Wonder if we could teach ’em to dance to Bob Seger tunes?
This adult male sits on my knee every morning.
He`s been doing it for a few months.
I sometimes have him on one knee & a Bluejay eating peanuts off of the other.
Luckily I only have two knees.
One of the little critters (there were 3) tried to munch on my sneaker, but mostly they were interested in fresh greens. Good thing you’ve got lots of peanuts!
For some reason, your posts always seem to boggle my mind. Now I’m wondering how would I know an adult male squirrel from another similar beast. The sex of squirels has always been beyond me.
Alice,
I can tell this one is a male because he has big balls.
Thank you for the “boggle” part. (I think)
Oh. Guess I’ve never been that close to a squirrel.
I’m sure that by ‘boggle’ I meant ‘amaze.’ Awe?
Let me just say your photos are much appreciated.
Squirrels are relatively easy to determine. Chickens are a completely different story;-)
I know chickens – the males are the ones that try to kill you when you enter the coop, the females give you whatever you want – usually eggs.
Life is so weird isn’t it?
Mostly true except if you reach under a sitting hen for an egg, be prepared for welts. I discovered that trait at a pretty tender age.
Thank you Alice.
Here`s one that boggled me.
An Agave plant starting to flower.
The largest one I`ve ever seen.
Wow! Is it near enough for you to check for the flower to be open?
Indianadem,
Almost.
Speaking of awe – agaves. I read a story as a kid about a plant that flowered every hundred years – then discovered agaves as a “grownup.” It’s awesome that we share a planet with such other totally different beings.
The hard part is that the flower is so relatively short-lived.
Alice,
I just finally cut down my 4 Agaves which had flowered.
I have hundreds of them. They bloom for months then die.
Here is one of them. You can see the bottom leaves stating to die off.
This one is halfway through it`s bloom. The flower will open all the way to the tip. During all this time it is covered in bees.
Good morning,
Young asklet has his spring break and is in Geneva for a week. We had an office outing yesterday – great conditions up at Le Saleve, but a bit hazy. Still great views.
On the way up; suddenly the Alps come into view.
Mt. Blanc under a cloud (very often the case)
Lovely views indeed ~ enjoy!
Beautiful! That top photo is like a painting.
Thanks.
Maybe you should paint it 🙂
Oh, that is gorgeous! I wish my office outings were like that…
quick note to be followed later with longer note: due to spam diaries, the diary feature has been temporarily disabled.
Thanks for clearing that up. I’ll post SPP later on.
Yeah, sorry Boran2. I could open the window, but I’m not sure anyone could read it when I closed it again.
Actually, I think we could post it. We’d have to time it out. I could open it for fifteen minutes or so.
I smited about 30 yesterday so they must’ve ratcheted up the attack
Our head librarian at the county library retired this month after 20 years. Her replacement’s name is Stori…
So it’s Stori time? Does she have an assistant named Novella? Thanks, I’ll be here all week.
Not yet. We’ll have to concentrate our recruitment efforts in that area. Maybe Jon Stewart would mention us on the show.
BTW, the latest Saturday Painting Palooza can be seen here.
Looking good! Lots of changes since last week.
Thanks ID!
click for larger
That photo has a nice otherworldly look to it. I’m almost expecting an ewok to come walking along.
Young Ents abound here.
No ewoks but emu did once … does that count? 🙂
Ewoks, emu, it’s all good.
And I don’t think I could have been any more surprised by an ewok than I was by that emu.
I turned on diaries for Oui. And boran2 and massappeal also took advantage of the window to post. So did about 12 spammers in the 90 minutes I left the diary-posting option open.
It is closed again until further notice.
.
Thanks! Sorry for the inconvenience.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."Dang ~ that sucks! Sorry for the hassle Boo.
Sorry to hear that, BooMan.
click for larger
Is that a cotton candy tree?
That must be an elderly tree!
Very cool. Is it Friday yet? This week has been crazy.
Clearly this is a picture of an elderly ent with a cotton-candy hairdo.
Who has cleaned the patio up for spring, washed both cars, and entertained young Finny endlessly this week. 😉
It’s so nice when people grow up….
Isn’t it though? Hard to believe mine are hovering around 40 now and turned out to be really great, responsible, fun-to-be-around people.
Yay for CBtE!
It is! As much as adore the Finny and his toddler antics, Im also enjoying having a young adult or two. 🙂
Huzzah x 3!
Of course, when people grown up, they tend to leave home and then their mother’s become very, very sad. OTOH, if they never leave home, their mother’s become even sadder. 😉
We got a little break last year…and he’s been at the girlfriend’s house a lot this year too, but they’ve been here all this week, which is cool. Tomorrow we have a trip to crate and barrel for new glassware in the plans.
Speaking of x 3, I just ran a whole 3 miles tonight.first time evah. 🙂
Something to look forward to!
You have what were the rough years for us coming up soon, don’t you? I think 13-14 was, um, the most challenging with CBtE.
Oh, the Angst!
He’s 13 now and the obnoxiousness is so over the top. Yep, fun times.
It gets much better once they have their own ~ like a big light comes on in their brains;-)
Hi everyone,
Good to be back in NY for a few days break for Easter/Passover.
Young asklet and I flew back together yesterday.
My crappy camera (photos above) does not do justice to the views from Saleve. A colleague provided me with some of his.
Check this one in full size (right click + view image):
Wow, what a view! Enjoy your work break on home turf.
I love hiking up there, especially on days like we had last Friday.
That’s gorgeous- can we come hiking with you?
Absolutely! But you need to act quickly – my contract in Geneva ends in 4 months.
My former teaching teammates asked me to go with them on the trip to Bradford Woods this year. How could I say no. Seventeenth trip was as magical as the previous sixteen.
Good for you! Glad you had a good experience.
Good morning(?)!
Damned jet lag.
Happy Easter/Passover to all!
Well it’s morning anyway. The good of it is still to be determined. 🙂
And thanks for that gorgeous picture above. I want to walk right into it.
Well, not too bad now – thanks to coffee. And the prospects of home made matzo ball soup later today also helps.
Turn around 180 deg and walk a few hundred meters and you will have this view:
Quite the change. It’s impressive but I definitely would rather look at the mountains. 🙂
Absolutely, the S – SE views are more dramatic. But Lac Lehman (Lake Geneva), Geneva and the Jura mountains in the north is also a great view. I need to upload better samples of that, but they’re in a folder on my laptop back in Geneva.
Did you have a Seder yesterday? We dropped it and simply did a tapas kind of thing with a few friends last night.
I’ll have to remind you to do that after you go back.
I only do seders to make my mom happy and she got invited out for both nights, so no dayenu for me this year. The only thing I really miss is my sister’s charoset which is so yummy.
So you got off easy this year…
Curly did make matzo ball soup and we brought a big container to her mother and her neighbors at the nursing home on Friday.
I’ll bet they loved that.
They sure did.
Ack – mini-vacation over. Flying back this afternoon.
So sorry is was so short. Hope the trip back is uneventful.
Charoset is pretty easy to make you know. 😉
And I am pretty lazy, you know. 😛
Looks like the spammers are back in full force.
Sorry I haven’t been ’round much, got a nasty infection that took me out for a while.
On a sad note Chance passed away, she was a sick kitty who suffered from feline asthma and diabetes. She was just short of her 4th Bday.
Mrs.X is sure taking this one hard.
Oh and,
Damn the Spam!
Hi Bob. Good to see you, and I hope you’re feeling better health-wise.
Aww, poor kitty — I’m so sorry. Please give my condolences to Mrs X.
Hugs to you both.
Hugs to Mrs. X. We just lost our old momcat last Wed. She was almost 20 and had a good life after she moved in with us. We took her in due to a traffic accident in front of our house in which she was involved. Mrs. ID rushed her to the vet and she refused to leave when her convalescence ended. We eventually discovered her original person, who didn’t want her back, so…
Hope you’re feeling better today.
Sorry to hear, we give them the best we can.
So sorry to hear about your illness and loss of Chance who clearly was an adorable kitty.
I’m glad that you’re feeling better, Bob. That sure was one adorable cat. Gone too soon.
Thanks for the outpouring Mrs X. appreciates it very much as do I.
click for larger
Yup.
No man/animal is an island. Or something.
This just made me laugh. Thanks I needed it.
Don’t thank me, thank the goose. 😉
Off for a walk in our beautiful but still too dry east coast weather. Thankfully, there will apparently be some meaningful rain tomorrow.
click for larger
Good morning/afternoon,
It’s getting kind of messy in this old cafe, well over 100 comments and counting.
And all those spilled drinks!
The floor may be a little sticky, but the images on the walls are lovely to see;-)