Actual Snow Falling Just Now
I can't say that I enjoy *every* day here in the great American Siberia.
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April 27, 2005
April 26, 2005
Snow??? Snow?!? You have got to be kidding me
I was just about to go back to working when MPR did the weather and said there was a chance of snow this evening. Arrrrrgggggghhhhh...This is worse than the stupid squirrels. Ew ew ew ew.
This is how cool my mother-in-law is
My mother-in-law, Karen Peterson, made the news today in Pittsburgh by participating in a protest of the looming attempt to change the Senate's cloture rule. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette / Filibustering an ancient art.
Squirrels. Bleah.
I planted 10 Fritillaria michailovskyi last fall. Two came up. Something - squirrels I presume - bit off the flowers yesterday. Arrghh!
This is what they *would* have looked like: Fritillaria michailovskyi.
April 24, 2005
Wedding Tulips!
Despite being dug out of their homes last March while the ground was still frozen, placed in a temporary container and then eventually stored in the basement all summer before moving to their new homes, these guys are blooming extensively! Between playing with exposures on the camera and the tulips being so lovely, there are several pictures to follow:
Tulip 'Apricot Beauty'
These are definitely going to be gorgeous and all of them have come up (10), but I can't smell any fragrance yet. Phooey.
Pulsatilla Vulgaris 'Papageno'
I had been admiring a more establed plant of this variety planted in the neighborhood, so I got a couple for myself last year. They're taking some time to settle in and grow, but they're both very pretty. The other one is between blooms (already!), so I'm not going to catch it for another week or so.
Chionodoxa luciliae
Hmm...the chionodoxa have been a little disappointing. I planted 30 and probably only about 10 came up. Hopefully they'll spread. Now that I've finally begun to learn how to use my camera I'm beginning to get better photos. This is hte best I could get on these guys:
April 21, 2005
Never Run Out of Cereal
Because you may soon find yourself eating a PowerBar Harvest Bar. In a nice piece of symmetry, it tastes like I imagine compressed, dried, sweetened prarie tastes like. Knew I should have gotten the Pop Tart.
April 19, 2005
Random Tulips
Not sure what I was thinking or when I did this, but I apparently stuck a small number of tulips over by the dwarf iris rather than along the front walk like the other 99%. They've bloomed much sooner than the others, so now I can't decide if I want to be lazy and move these guys or enjoy earlier blooms and move all the rest. Regardless, check out the early ones:
Puschkinia Libanotica
Planted 10 of these last fall; they all came up. The blooms are amazingly delicate in appearance: white with one thin blue pinstripe down the center. Very hard to get a decent shot of. My best one:
A couple of good pictures can be found at http://linnaeus.nrm.se/flora/mono/hyacintha/pusch/puscsci1.jpg and http://linnaeus.nrm.se/flora/mono/hyacintha/pusch/puscsci4.jpg.
Getting more of these in the fall too.
One Stoned Cat
I keep trying to bring Eddie, Barney's cat, over to the dark side with toys, extra petting, soft food and so on. It's not working. *My* cat though, is cleaning up w/all the toys, extra petting, soft food and so on.
I bought a bag toy b/c Eddie likes to play in grocery bags. Unfortunately, given the razor-sharp claws he maintains, they don't last long. Well, of course, he almost never plays in the fancy, non-shreddable bag. Not even after I cheated and laced it with catnip at the bottom. Trillian, however, loves it, as you can see...
April 18, 2005
Surreal Life VI
Apparently Patterns of Global Terrorism will no longer be published. Sorta. See http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002243262_terror16.html
The article opens with:
"The State Department decided to stop publishing an annual report on international terrorism after the government's top terrorism center concluded that there were more terrorist attacks in 2004 than in any year since 1985, the first year the publication covered.
Several U.S. officials defended the decision, saying the methodology used by the National Counterterrorism Center to generate statistics had flaws, such as the inclusion of incidents that may not have been terrorism."
Given that the report is required by law, the article goes on to say:
"The senior State Department official said a report on global terrorism would be sent this year to lawmakers and made available to the public in place of "Patterns of Global Terrorism," but that it wouldn't contain statistical data."
That's going to be one short report: "Terrorist attacks. Yeah, there were definitely some of those last year."
This story was first reported by The Counterterrorism Blog: http://counterterror.typepad.com/the_counterterrorism_blog/2005/04/goodby_patterns.html
Of course, the State Department makes no mention of this decision on their website: http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/pgtrpt/
Wildlife Encounters
Last night we starting watching the Grudge about 6.30, on the theory that it wouldn't be as scary in the daylight. Not true. Especially when, after about 40 minutes, I heard my neighbor yell at the top of her lungs "Amy, get out here!! There's a gigantic bird grazing on your garden!!"
Barney and I went flying out the door, joining about half the street to see a turkey legging it down the sidewalk and into someone else's garden. No idea where it came from, although Barney thinks it might live by the river and we are only about 4 blocks away.
It was cool, and I'm glad she called me, but I think I lost about 10 years of my life when she yelled in through the window.
First Flowers o' the Season
I planted dwarf iris for the first time last fall and they really delivered. There should have been 18, but a few were duds apparently. I'm *definitely* getting more this fall; they're just beautiful. I'm a little behind though - these guys actually bloomed the first and second week of April...
April 14, 2005
Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld lend names to slime-mold beetles
That would be the headline of a StarTribune/AP article today.
Article requires free registration
The scientists in question say they weren't trying to be rude, but indeed honor our great helmsmen.
My Mom Got Married on 4/2/05
This is the first picture to come in from the wedding. I can now check off ironing a tuxedo for a dachshund from my list of random things to do in life. I did the hat too - the secret is finding a jar/round item that's as close to the size of the hat's diameter as possible, then putting the hat over that and ironing around it. Al is the human (and bridegroom), Captain the dashing dachshund.
