Bonsai Trees

Most magnificent specimens!! Click on the picture above for my whole album of pictures.

Butterflies

Franklin Park Conservatory

We visited the Franklin Park Conservatory for Father's Day. It was really lovely. There were half a dozen weddings going on. I enjoyed the butterfly, bonsai, and orchid exhibits. The pitcher plants were beautiful. Check out the tiny plants made of chipped glass, they look so real!

2nd chance orchid

This orchid suffered a horrible tragedy losing all of its leaves and 90% of its root system. He is making a nice recovery.

Happy Birthday David

I made David frosted sugar cookies to take to work. I must much too hot this week to make cake. I will this weekend.

Oyster Mushrooms

This is the third harvest of the year, and we aren't done yet.  I removed the more fully developed lobes, and allowed the smaller ones to continue growing.  The weather has been excellent for mushrooms and not as good for my succulents.

Lithops 2

Eggplant

Eggplant is very tender perennial grown as an annual. Eggplant requires 100 to 140 warm days with temperatures consistently between 70° and 90°F to reach harvest.

Patriotic Songs

Not all songs about America are patriotic (ex. Little Pink Houses - John Mellencamp).  The following songs are about fighting for patriotic causes.

Seeds of Peace - Mark Erelli
"What's become of my country torn by contradiction
The spirit of freedom propped up by a culture of fear
Where it's unpatriotic to protest or even to question
Have we learned nothing from history or the last couple year"

The Times They Are A Changing - Bob Dylan
"Come senators, congressmen, please, heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway, don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt will be he who has stalled
There's a battle outside ragin'
It'll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin' "

Keep On Rocking In The Free World - Neil Young
"There's a lot of people sayin' we'd be better off dead
Don't feel like Satan, but I am to them
So I try to forget it, any way I can.
Keep on rockin' in the free world"

Born In The USA - Bruce Springsteen
 The Song covers the Vietnam War, a desolate countryside and a lost vet with "nowhere to run and nowhere to go". It is about a working class man in the midst of a spiritual crisis, in which man is left lost.  He has nothing left to tie him to society, and feels isolated from the government, and his family.
Got in a little hometown jam
So they put a rifle in my hand
Sent me off to a foreign land
To go and kill the yellow man

Fortunate Son -Creedence Clearwater Revival
The song is a counterculture era anti-war anthem, criticizing militant patriotic behavior and those who support the use of military force without having to "pay the costs" themselves (either financially or by serving in a wartime military.)  The song, released during the Vietnam War, is not explicit in its criticism of that war in particular, but the clear attacks on the elite classes (the families that give birth to "fortunate sons") of America and their withdrawal from the costs of nationalistic imperialism are easy to contextualize to that conflict. 
"Some folks are born, silver spoon in hand
Lord, don't they help themselves, y'all...
It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no millionaire's son, no, no
It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no fortunate one, no"

This Land Is Your Land - Pete Seeger
More behind the music.  This Land Is Your Land is the Woody Guthrie sing-along that’s arguably more popular than our national anthem. Both an eloquent description of our nation’s beauty and, as originally written, an expression of scorn for those who don’t see fit to share it
"In the squares of the city - In the shadow of the steeple
Near the relief office - I see my people
And some are grumblin' and some are wonderin'
If this land's still made for you and me." 

The Ballad Of Ira Hayes - Johnny Cash
It tells the story of Ira Hayes, one of the five Marines and one Navy Corpsman who became famous for having raised the flag on Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima of World War II.
"Ira Hayes returned a hero,
Celebrated through the land,
He was wined and speeched and honored,
Everybody shook his hand,
But he was just a Pima Indian,
No water, no home, no chance,
At home nobody cared what Ira'd done,
And when did the Indians dance."

What is Patriotism

It started with a conversation about the current news. Something wasn't "patriotic" and I thought to myself "Sure it is! Don't you know what patriotic means?" But you can't say stuff like that because people take it wrong.  In general it means having or showing great love and support for your country. But it can also refer to what a person who regards himself or herself as a defender, esp. of individual rights, does about presumed interference by the federal government.  Sam Adams said:  "The liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil Constitution are worth defending at all hazards; and it is our duty to defend -them against all attacks. We have received them as a fair inheritance from our worthy ancestors. They purchased them for us with toil, and danger, and expense of treasure and blood, and transmitted them to us with care and diligence. It will bring an everlasting mark of infamy on the present generation, enlightened as it is, if we should suffer them to be wrested from us by violence without a struggle, or be cheated out of them by the artifices of false and designing men." Of the latter, we are in most danger at present. Let us therefore be aware of it. Let us contemplate our forefathers and posterity, and resolve to maintain the rights bequeathed to us from the former for the sake of the latter. Instead of sitting down satisfied with the efforts we have already made, which is the wish of our enemies, the necessity of the times more than ever calls for our utmost circumspection, deliberation, fortitude, and perseverance. Let us remember that "if we suffer tamely a lawless attack upon our liberty, we encourage it, and involve others in our doom!" It is a very serious consideration, which should deeply impress our minds, that millions yet unborn may be the miserable sharers in the event!
John Paul Jones was a Scottish sailor and the United States' first well-known naval fighter in the American Revolution. Although he made enemies among America's political elites, his actions in British waters during the Revolution earned him an international reputation which persists to this day. As such he is sometimes referred to as the "Father of the United States Navy".  During his engagement with HMS Serapis, Jones uttered, according to the later recollection of his first lieutenant, the legendary reply to a taunt about surrender from the British captain: "I have not yet begun to fight!"
Acting in a patriotic manner is standing up for freedoms and liberties, not reciting jingoistic ideologies about loving your country.  So I say, true patriotism doesn't look like a pep rally, but rather like a call to arms.

Fruits VS Vegetables

Botanically speaking, a fruit is a seed-bearing structure that develops from the ovary of a flowering plant, whereas vegetables are all other plant parts, such as roots, leaves and stems. The outlook is quite different in culinary terms, however. A lot of foods that are (botanically speaking) fruits, but which are savory rather than sweet, are typically considered vegetables by chefs.

The following are technically fruits: apples, avocado, bell peppers, beans, cherries, corn kernels, cucumbers, eggplant, olives, oranges, peapods, peppers, pumpkin, strawberries, squash, zucchini, sunflower seeds and tomatoes.

Vegetables include brussel sprouts, artichokes, chicory, cabbage, collard greens, rutabaga, turnips, celery, chives, lettuce and kale, cauliflower and broccoli, and beets, carrots, onions, shallots, asparagus, and potatoes, grass and flowers.

Biscuits

Biscuits so EASY, you"ll wonder why you didn't make some for dinner.



1 stick salted butter
2 C. flour, plus more for rolling out
1 tsp. sugar
1 Tb. baking powder
3/4 C. milk

In a large bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut butter into mixture until it begins to look like cornmeal. Make a well with flour mixture and slowly add milk into the middle. Knead dough with your fingers and add milk when necessary. Roll out dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll out to desired thickness. Cut with small biscuit cutter (I used a drinking glass). Place biscuits in pan. Bake for 12 minutes at 425* or until golden brown. I got about 14 biscuits.

Lithops

An ideal setting for Lithops is a group planting in a dish garden, intermixed with rounded stones of various sizes and colors. The plants then display their nature of mimicry to the fullest as they become almost indistinguishable from the pebbles at a glance. Pots that are about 3 – 5 inches deep are recommended to allow the roots adequate room to grow. Note: Planting Lithops in terrariums is not recommended due to extreme humidity.  I just replanted mine in a lovely square white chip dip bowl on sale at Kmart.  I have to remember to pick up some medium stones next time I am on the beach.

Tolumnia blooming