I did not know what a Thermador was. Do you?
I could not resist looking inside.
As I understand it there is water inside the cooler and some absorbent material that soaks up the water as air flows into the Thermador the inside air is cooled...somewhat. Some people call this a swamp cooler because sooner or later the air in the car will have high humidity!
Who knew? Not me.
Far Side
We read and discussed Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan.
I enjoyed the bee keeping aspect of the novel, the rest of it was just okay, I give it a six out of ten stars.
Although the book is not about Mad Honey itself. I was curious about it.
A plant by the name of Rhododendron ponticum grows in Nepal and Turkey. The bees gather the nectar from the Rhododendron flowers, the flowers contain a neurotoxin called grayanotoxin that is transferred to the hive and the honey. The honey can be toxic or hallucinogenic depending on the amount ingested. It was most likely the first biological weapon, the Persians left it behind for the Roman army waited a bit and then slaughtered them because they were too sick to fight back.
Who knew? You can legally purchase it in the United States...I saw it for sale on Amazon.
Far Side
Yesterday I had quite an encounter with a bark filled erosion tube. (Erosion tubes are black knit material filled with bark about 6 inches around) My lawn mower got stuck...it wouldn't go forward and it wouldn't go backwards. I weighed my options...leave the mower there and say someone stole it... get the other mower and pull /push it...but it was precariously near a drop off. Should I just go inside my baby brothers house and have a nap? I called Far Guy and said "I am in a pickle...can you help?" ( I usually carry my phone when I am off mowing.)
I had some time to sit and think and admire the woods.
I enjoyed the blue sky. Sometimes when you are in a bit of a pickle you just need to take a minute or two to enjoy your surroundings...until the knight in shining armor shows up.
We eventually got the mower free from the dastardly erosion tube. We tried several things...finally Far Guy rocked the mower sideways and I pulled on the tube as he was rocking it back and forth. For the record I did not try and mow the tube...I just tried to go over the top of it...well I learned that lesson. The tube is a tad worse for the wear...those things are heavy...I moved it back in place when I was done mowing.
That was my adventure for the day...when I got back home Far Guy said he was happy to see me!
Far Side
Have you ever tried Cara Cara Navel Oranges?
They are my favorite orange. Our local store has them in the late fall from South Africa and now in winter they are from California. They are more expensive than regular navel oranges….but then when buying fresh fruits I never let the price sway me one way or the other.
I complain to who ever is in the produce department if they are not in their usual spot. Way up here in the frozen North we need every bit of sunshine goodness we can get.
They are juicy and seedless, yes the flesh is a beautiful rose color. An accident of nature a cross between two different orange trees…a delightful accident.
Just my opinion…they are a tad bit tart but still sweet enough…perhaps with berry like notes if you are an orange connoisseur. I slice them into small wedges and throw them in a bowl for breakfast.
Oh yes that is an orange cutting board…just for oranges and other fruits.
When I was growing up my brother and I had a rabbit, it was a gift from my Uncle Theron so it was appropriate that the rabbit was named Theron…we may have had more than one rabbit…two maybe.
Years later at the resort I may have taken leave of my senses and purchased two angora rabbits…they died…not sure why. The children visiting the resort loved the rabbits…the next spring I purchased two regular old rabbits…I was told they were the same sex. Either both boys or both girls. We named them Ebony and Ivory.
One morning Far Guy hollered for me, something was wrong with Ivory she had blood all over her. Well I could see nothing visibly wrong with her…then I checked the nest box. Screamed and slammed the top closed. Baby bunnies…Ivory was a Mom…which meant that Ebony was the Dad..and they were not the same sex. Ebony needed to go in his own cage…male rabbits will eat baby bunnies. Ivory was keeping him at bay…or entertaining him…who really knows what rabbits think.
We went to town and got stuff to build a new hutch…one with an insulated nesting box so the babies would have a chance. One died…as I recall there were 12 little bunnies, they are born hairless or nearly so and look all wrinkled and funny.
We moved the hutches to a spot under the low hanging branches of the Spruce trees where they would be protected by the branches and out of the north wind. I would have to feed everyone all winter.
Do you know that a rabbits gestation peroid is about 31 days?
Seems that while Ivory was keeping Ebony away from her babies…she had been entertaining him…in 31 days we had another batch of rabbits…14 this time if I recall correctly. We had to modify Ebony’s hutch to give him space on one half of the hutch and moved the month old baby rabbits to the other half of his hutch until they could be moved back in with Ivory after the new babies were old enough.
I fed rabbits all winter and took them fresh water three times a day. They were tame rabbits and loved to be petted.
At that time we had four Shelties, Misty, Moses, Captain and G’Day Mate. I taught them not to chase rabbits. “No chasing bunnies” Oh they wanted too…but they wanted to please me more….and hated being scolded.
G’Day Mate, Ebony, Me and Miss Misty watching from outside of the fence.
The dogs were curious about the bunnies but left them alone. You see my plan was to release some of the bunnies and find homes for some…my sister Julie took quite a few.
The release went well. My husband had done the math…once he told me how many rabbits I would have to take care of the next winter I knew I had to release them.
We had bunnies all colors, black, white, and every shade of brown. I fed them morning and night…they would come running out of the woods when I hollered for them. A few found the way into the neighbors gardens. Arvilla once said “Funny we have never had problems with rabbits eating our gardens but now we do.” Rabbits were everywhere that summer, the tourists thought it was great and little kids would run after them…some of the retired guests would see how many bunnies they could count in a day.
A number of years later when we moved back here just about a half a mile from the old resort we drove in the driveway and there was a bunny that greeted us. Far Guy said “I bet that is a relative of one of your bunnies.” I got out of the vehicle and just talked to the bunny, it stood up on its haunches and listened. (Perhaps I am a rabbit whisperer)
So you see the rabbits that feed under the bird feeders in our yard probably look like regular domestic rabbits…because they are relatives of the rabbits I accidently raised.
To this day I cannot understand why rabbits are not raised in poor countries for food. I found rabbits really easy to raise.
I am trying to keep it simple. Just give me something that will travel in deep snow has heated leather seats and blue tooth and I am happy. Rear view cameras where the lines show you exactly where you are going…accident avoidance with some kind of flashing lights…heated steering wheel… have you heard those commercials…it isn’t your Grandpa’s Buick anymore? That is what my grandparents drove…a Buick or an Oldsmobile.
The salesman was nice, he is a young fellow so I am sure he could use the commission from the sale. The appraiser was scared to death to drive our Sunday vehicle with Chance inside. Chance didn’t even get up from his nest in the back seat. Far Guy went along just to make sure that Chance wouldn’t mame the guy for life.
Those glossy phamplets they give you to study at home must cost a pretty penny.
Far Guy is sold, he test drove it, I declined. I also declined to made a decision until the perfect color red one shows up in a couple of weeks. They had a grey one, it was a mess from the snow and rain. We live on a gravel road. We don’t have our own car wash.
My vehicle smelled…really bad…gag a maggot bad. Every once in a while I rolled down the window to escape the smell. We looked all over inside the vehicle, in the trunk under the seats…in Chances blanket that covers the backseat. We were stuck with that foul smell. Good thing it is our Sunday car…but maybe we should use it a tad more to discourage inhabitation by small creatures…it smelled like a dead decaying mouse.
I mentioned it to our daughter Jen…she said check the cabin air filter! Great idea…where is that exactly? Far Guy Googled it…viola…it is under the glove compartment. Everything had to be taken out of the glove box…and then the glove box itself and then some clips…what should Far Guy find…but a mouse nest complete with a little family…all deceased. Tragic. (Insert a mouse funeral march here.)
Went to town and got a new filter…there was no washing that one out. A 50$ filter was on sale for 27$ …a freaking filter…a papery thing…
Oh well learn something new every day. The other day I learned that there is a spray called poo pourri…you spray it in the water before you poop….yes everyone poops. Has anyone out there tried it yet?
We had a problem with our Cable TV one day last week, I waited in line and got on the repair list. Whilst I was on the phone with the nice gentleman I asked if the repairman could bring me a new box with a DVR…I had thought long and hard about it and decided I was worth it…$14.00 a month. Nice gentleman says…Oh you have that equipment already and I see it is enabled. Really when did that happen? From day one he says…okie dokie. Now I just have to figure out how the darn thing works. He laughed. A few minutes later he called me back and said turn your channel…and my problem was fixed…it was a channel problem not a system problem. What a relief. Television Service with our local Cable Company which includes Telephone and Internet is so much nicer/better/cheaper than one of those big “D” companies.
I am still trying to figure the DVR out…how many programs can I record at once? I am waiting for the grands to visit again and give Grandma a quick lesson! Newfangled stuff should come with complete instructions.
I am kinda bummed out that I have missed out on numerous programs since last May…but hey better late than never and I LOVE LOVE LOVE forwarding through the commercials when I actually sit down to watch something and don’t fall asleep!
The TV at our house rarely gets turned off. It is great background noise. Sometimes I think Chance watches TV too!
Minnesota winters are brutal and television is one acceptable way to escape. It keeps us all out of the local news.
We finally had it with Direct TV service to Far Guys TV. It warmed up and there was still no signal…must be a problem with the cable in the ground someplace. We have been struggling with that signal since Jan 1st, three service calls later still no signal.
We have been sharing one TV, which works fine…just like in the olden days. Let me tell you we need TV in Minnesota in the winter time…and face it two TV’s is better than one.
One day Far Guy was watching the “searching for signal” message and I said “How about a Roku?” We researched it a bit, I related what several bloggers had mentioned. We went to wally world and bought one.
The set up was quick and almost painless…new stuff and old people..anyways we got it all set up. You do need a Credit Card to set up an account… we signed up for a Roku account and a Netflix account. ( Netflix is $7.99 a month)
Since our televisions are HD, the color and picture are awesome. I made another trip to wally world and got another Roku for the Living Room…we can stream off the same Netflix account.
I like animal movies and nearly used up a whole box of Kleenex during Hachi: A Dog’s Tail. I am enjoying the series Lost also as we never got the channel that aired that series.
We still have a basic package with Direct TV and we now get local channels. We will see what happens..but I think our Direct TV days are numbered.
So do you Roku? If so what are your favorite channels?
So far we have Netflix for a paid service. There are others but I heard Hulu Plus has commercials, and I know nothing about Amazon Prime.
PBS is free, as is a weather channel, History, A&E and Smithsonian…oh and BYU. I like a few programs on BYU and you can catch their live stream. There are hundreds of channels to choose from, some are free, some you pay a yearly fee. We found Crackle to be irritating with repetitive commercials, they have more commercials than regular TV.
For those of you who do not Roku, it is a small box that connects to your television with a HDMI cord. You plug in the Roku and it will find your wireless Internet signal, you get a code to use to access the Roku website and you are all set to go. The remote control even has a set of earphones that work remotely…fancy smancy.
I have not been paid by Roku to share my experience..just so you know. Roku 3 is about $98 for the unit and another $24 for the cable (or two Direct TV service calls.)
From what I have seen it is a pretty cool little invention!
On Tuesday at the museum I noticed some commotion outside by the flag pole. The janitors were looking up and taking down the flag and messing with the ropes. ( I think sometimes it is what men do best..stand around in group look up and down and nod their heads.)
The flag pole is situated right out the door of the museum next to the street.
Later I saw this..well what is a gal with a camera to do?
He hollered “Look Ma no hands!”
Well the guy is up a pole..he is a captive audience for my curious questions.
He sits on a board, he moves up and down the pole with ropes. Those two buckets attached to the board hold his paint, roller and brush and whatever else a pole painter needs whilst he is up a pole.
His name is Warren, he is from Spokane Washington and he has been a Steeplejack for 51 years. His Dad was one for 55 years. Warren first went to work with his Dad when he was eight years old, he made 25 cents an hour. ( Big money back then) He paints mainly flag poles now but he has done water and radio towers and other tall structures. He is not afraid of heights. He charges 10 dollars a foot to paint a pole. Our is 34 feet tall. He painted one pole 66 feet tall in the morning up in Bagley and ours in the afternoon. Yes, if it is windy he cannot work. He told me that a flag pole should be painted every three years but it has been six years since ours has been done. Our flag pole has a bit of a sway to it also…made me nervous but didn’t bother Warren.
He has an assistant.
He was tied to a tree and watched his master the entire time except when I scratched his ears. I believe his name was “Scritch.”
Warren has five children, three girls and two boys, his boys have painted with him from time to time but are not working with him now. We had a nice visit, until I got visitors at the museum. Then he hollered “Goodbye Museum Lady.”
Just incase you every wonder who paints the flag poles..well now you know:)
How many of you have a comb? I do not own a comb. I have used a hair brush for years. Far Guy has no hair but he has a comb, in the spring and summer he carries it in his back pocket so that he can comb through Chances hair and remove ticks before they have a chance to attach themselves to the dog.
Far Guy’s Dad used to have a comb in his pocket. For the comb over..you know..he was one of those balding guys that tried to hang onto every hair on his head. So he grew his hair longer on one side and combed it over..he looked funny in the wind. He usually wore a cap of some kind outdoors.
This is a comb case from the museum. It is the pioneer cabin..it should probably be in the heritage room. It is one item that people comment on. “ I have not seen one of those before.” “I didn’t know there was such a thing as a comb case.”
It is made from tin. I think this was painted by someone who might not be an artist.
It may have been in a Barber Shop and it may have held regular combs ..or it may have been in a dressing room of a fancy lady during the late 1800’s or early 1900’s. It may have held pretty combs..for holding your long locks in an updo:)
After the Flag ceremony at Bunker Hill we enjoyed the display by some Civil War re-enactors. They were awesome.
This fellow explained that all boots were made the same until 1818. But right shoes and left shoes were not the norm until after the 1850’s. Most soldiers in the Civil War had two shoes/boots that were exactly alike and they were interchangeable.
He is also the gentleman that shared the bricks of tea so I could photograph it..and these…Lucifer's..
Early matches were called Lucifer's. Friction matches..a chemists mistake. A mixture of antimony sulfide, potassium chlorate, gum, and starch that could produce fire. It also smelled really bad. Later white phosphorous was added to the concoction and that made some people sick. How about that..even the history of matches can be fascinating!
Uffda..Blog Reader Muddy Boot Dreams Jen asked what Uffda means. Uffda or oofda or ufda is used as a term for sensory overload. It can be used as an expression of surprise, astonishment, exhaustion, relief and sometimes dismay. A truly multipurpose Scandinavian Midwest word:)
Who knew? I always imagined the Boston Tea party as groups of men throwing tea leaves overboard.
I must have been asleep in American History Class. The tea that they threw into the harbor was in bricks..compressed dehydrated bricks. If you want to make tea from one of these bricks you must shave some of the brick off and steep it in warm water.
These bricks were formed because it was easier to transport that way. (By camel in the Far East) The bricks were often used as currency. ( I read that sometimes a filler of dung was put in with the tea..and yak blood..uffda)
I suppose this is just one more thing I will have to add to my list of the things I should have known..but for some reason or another it has escaped me all these years.
Perhaps when China calls in their loans we can pay them with tea..guess I should keep one eye open for yaks for sale:)
