Coffee’s up, muffins are done, and the Café for this Sunday is open. Take a seat, grab a paper, and relax! We’re hacking together a darkroom in the back, so please pardon our noise and dust (we’ll try to keep it down). What’s happening in your corner of the world today?
Be sure to visit katiebird’s diaries from yesterday for announcements about the FBC’s upcoming photography contest and fair, scheduled for early September. We’ve a wide variety of folks around with expertise in digital photography, so if you have any questions or concerns about contributing, please ask!
I’ve taken it upon myself to come up with some suggestions for contest categories (just off the top of my head — I hope I didn’t misidentify anybody). No doubt other categories will occur to the creative minds here, so feel free to suggest more in the comments.
- The Dada Prize for Most Gorgeous Sunrise or Sunset
- The Zander Prize for Most Mouth-Watering Shot of Food or Drink
- The Ask Prize for Most Stunning Landscape
- The Olivia Prize for Best Floral Photography
- The Gooserock Prize for Most Ingenious Use of Everyday Objects to Create Photographic Effects
Trot out your best trash-talk, too, if you have any!
Morning all, can I really be the first to post this morning, wow.
Hi, Brother, how are you , the cafe looks lovely.
In my corner of the world,, I got awakened this morning by my son looking for his ‘impact wrench’, still not found at this writing and after a search outdoors.
67 deg. in Socal!
Given the amount of noise an impact wrench makes, you may want it to stay lost! Good to know someone out there is having cool weather; it’s still infernal here in DC (and on so many levels). Me, been busy like crazy — haven’t made a single comment at Boo this entire week. I need to try to uncover the past week’s Café diaries to catch up on what I missed!
True about the impact wrench and noise, but I can’t escape it as I live in a house located in the business work yard, filled with all manner of loud, noisy and obnoxious sounds, at times. Thank goodness they all go off to other houses to make their noises, (they are tree trimmers)everyday.
oops, sorry, it’s almost afternoon isn’t it? I think I need to start wearing a watch.
🙂
Hey there all, I hope you are enjoying this fantastic sunny Sunday (at least it’s a beautiful day in the T-Dot)!
Another wild night turning into morning, spiderleaf?
maybe….
I know, I know, bad spiderleaf. Be more responsible. You ain’t a spring chicken anymore… but I just couldn’t help myself! A NYC DJ was in town and they only make it up here about once a week… I couldn’t miss it, could I… 😉
Hi Spiderleaf, it’s been awhile since I said hi to you directly, and I thought I would take this time to do so.
How are you doing!
It looks like a beautiful day here in Ca. not too hot yet.
BTW have you been to my ‘new site’ yet, I think you would like it, it’s not political, its about everything else, but it seems that a lot of things have shreds of politics in them!
Click on the link on my sig. line and check it out.
I just read your ‘very excellent diary’ this morning and it would fit on my site as well, so if you join the site I would love it if you would post your diary over there.
Have a great day Spider!
I am doing very well thanks for asking! I have been smelling flowers, petting dogs and chatting with you folks… what beats that?
🙂
I’ll definitely check out your new site, thanks for the reminder and the kind words about my diary. It was a surreal, tragic and enlightening situation… once that I hope I don’t ever have to repeat.
Beautiful site Diane! I registered immediately, thanks so much for the invite. I look forward to perusing the site at length and reading all those wonderful diaries (and staring at the amazing pictures) 🙂
Cheers,
spider
Thanks so much for your words….
I hope others too will check it out and join the site.
I just love beautiful art and pics. so I am filling the site with them.
Can’t hardly wait for your contributions!!!
B..B..B..Boogie fever …yah, yah, yah… ; )
you go girl, while you can, we only regret what we did’nt do in the end.
the rest is forgiven ; )
my sentiments exactly. I’m too young to be old and too old to be young… so to hell with it, I’m just gonna have fun.
🙂
Where is she, she said she was back from her trip 10 days ago and only popped in a few times, I do hope everything is OK with her and she will hurry back!
I hope you read this Zander and know how much you are missed here. Please checkin asap, so we know you are allright!
Gosh, I hate it when people disappear from the site, I worry, worry, worry…..
Well, the Shuttle is supposed to land early tomorrow morning, so perhaps zander will turn up again this week. 😉
Me too Diane… I was thinking about zander the other day.
Hiya zander! Hope to see you back here soon.
Diane…
I’m sorry I’ve been so quiet around here lately – I have been a little busy, but I’ve also done a lot of decompressing. Weird thing about me – I have such delicate ratios and always seem to need to balance time spent in unavoidable interaction with time spent being almost totally silent. …go figure??
I have been checking in around here though – reading – just still feeling a little bit anti-social I guess. But I have to admit, knowing that I haven’t been forgotten gave me some ‘aw shucks’ warm and fuzzies.
Well ms. Zander let me tell you that your name has been mentioned countless times by many people on this site, and now you are even honored in Brother’s diary above as a catagory in the contest.
And Zander don’t forget about my site! <hint, hint>
You might want to write something about your trip …over there….with pics.
Brother – I just had to tell you that I FINALLY figured out how to post pictures yesterday after clogging up your last cafe diary with my failed attempts. And I also figured out that I could do my practicing at an old diary without bothering anyone else. Why didn’t someone suggest that last time?! Of course all of your assistance was appreciated.
So, why am I not demonstrating my skill? Because I’m going to save all of the good stuff for the Froggy Bottom Amateur Photography Fair. So, you’ll just have to wait and see. I plan to challenge the “dada” prize! Can’t wait.
Hey, I’m always willing to lend a hand & helpful hints. Clog away, I say, that’s what this diary is for!
Hello Diane, BrotherFeldspar, spiderleaf, NL. I’ve just come in from my garden, so I thought I’d share a couple of new photos that I uploaded.
I was deadheading the roses this morning, when I spotted this ‘guest’:
(You can see a larger view – complete with eyes – here. My new photos were a little too big pixel-wise to post the medium size on BT.)
And this rose … mmmmm … it smells so good:
(Again, the larger view gives more detail …) It’s like a big, soft, fluffy, delicious smelling pillow!
I took the above photo yesterday, but this one below, was this morning. It’s a neighbouring bud, opening today, and covered with water droplets:
(Large view.)
And two more that I took yesterday afternoon:
The sunflowers are starting to really grow now. (Large size.)
Photo from behind, showing what the Cosmos is facing … beautiful blue sky, sun, wispy clouds. (Large size.)
Please note I’ve added another suggestion for a category.
I’m honoured BrotherFeldspar. Thank you.
Oh, and having the category named after you does not preclude you from entering it! Though strictly speaking, a prize is usually named for the first person to win it, so perhaps some of these names will change when the next contest rolls around….
The budding rose with the water droplets took my breath away!
I must admit that it did to me as well … I go out to the garden to work (water, weed, deadhead, etc.) but invariably the tool in hand becomes my camera! I get lost out there, taking photos. My neighbours must wonder what the heck kind of gardner I am, when I spend more time with my camera than my secateurs!
Great pics. olivia, I envy the dig. camera, as I want one so badly. Was all lined up to get one for my birthday and then at the last minute said I didn’t want my family to spend so much, now I am hoping again for Christmas.
I just can’t justify the personal expense on my verrrrry limited income.
I am going to steal some of your pics. above and may use in future diaries, and on my site as well.
I really love the quality of pics you guys are getting with flowers especially.
Too bad we don’t have aroma for the smell of those roses!
It took a long time before I got a digital camera … Just bought it at the end of Jan in fact. I did get some money for Christmas and took the plunge. I have a lot of fun with it – take it everywhere. And I wish I could send a wisp of that rose smell over the internet to you all, because it was lovely.
May I use this photo in my biology class? Are the markings on its abdomen really pink?
(Nice flowers too.)
Janet – that’s why I had trouble seeing it at first. It blended in so well with the rose petals. Same colour pink. Do you have any idea what kind of spider it is? Should I worry that the ‘guest’ is not of the healthy variety?
Do you teach biology or are you taking biology? (Biology rules – my absolute favourite subject, in all it’s variants (microbiology in university rocked).)
PS. I have another one, a closer-up view if you’re interested. And the photos not uploaded are much, much larger (669kb), so the detail is better, depending on what you need them for.
I teach biology at a community college. I’m always looking for photos to use as illustrations – your spider would be great for the “organismal” class (the bacteria, algae, ferns, redwoods, sea urchins, frogs, rhinos kinda bio class).
If you’re willing to share, send me an email at the hotmail below, and I’ll get back to you with my “real” email that handles attachments better than hotmail.
I have no idea what kind of spider it is, but I have a colleague that likes that kind of detective work. I can ask him.
All spiders are venomous (that’s how they kill their prey), but most don’t have much venom or very toxic venom and aren’t aggressive, so if you just leave them alone they’ll leave you alone. The only ones I kill are black widows, if they’re in my living space. I’d kill a brown recluse, too, but I’ve never seen one (they tend to be, ummmm, reclusive). On the other hand, when I was in 8th grade, we used to catch tarantulas and take them to our teacher to be admired (she did).
I love teaching micro – especially the lab. It’s like magic! And my students love micro lab. (Lecture exams, not so much.)
Puis’je avoir une Miste d’Irlande, s’il vous plait, mon frere….. in your own good time, Brother.
and if anyone has recommended previous diaries of mine, will they go un-recommend… as I have one called
“The Awkward Squad — In Memoriam to Robin Cook”
that is really quite important…. Jerome a Paris and Oui are helping me with this diary project, and somehow it’s going over to Wiki…. and somehow I will hook up with the (shhh) whispering campaign and somehow I will manage to collect my bits together….
(A shot of the FBC’s store-room, anticipating suskind’s arrival.)
On another note, your thread about Robin Cook has been riveting reading. Kudos!
I’m overwhelmed, really. And when’s the last time I paid my tab around here?
Jesus, I must go have a wee and a weep….
Where’s Infidel Pig, I’m ready to sing.. “What A Wonderful World.”
Ahhhh…Sunday, I think this is my favorite day, just always seems peaceful around here…so no trash talkin’, at least not this morning.
The “dada” prize, I’m humbled :{)
No sunrise/sunset shots today, also no TerrArt either, unless you count these:
Cabo: House 1…with guests..a dada production.
Peace
Tell me more about this. I go to Cabo San Lucas every March – its my getaway are “get back to sanity” place.
Private residential compound (5 separate structures) @ 60 clicks NE of Cabo San Lucas on the East Cape side. Very private, on the beach, 100% off grid (read: expensive) design based on a Nautilus shell coupled w/ the inside view of the workings of an antique pocket watch…a clearer explanation would require a massive dissertation and more drawings/photos than I dare consider.
Very rugged and desolate…basically Baja desert w/ a very nice beach.
Peace
Gee whiz!!! Are WE friends of yours as well??? Somebody needs a holiday around here….
Long time client/patron…very demanding but very open to experimentation. The project was only @ 90% done when those were taken, it’s now completed and the landscaping, basically cacti and agave in the courtyards, is done, as is the restoration work on the beach side. Have a 2nd house under construction just up the road and tentatively will be down there for Dia de los Muertos in Nov.
Peace
yer blowin my mind agin, dada
must gaze at sky to recover…..
hmmm…… well, two things come to mind… one is the architect Gaudi, and the other are two sites in Ireland…. one is called the Fort of The Sun, in Burt, Donegal… another is in Co. Kerry…. very peculiar ancient ring forts whose interiors look like the workings of an old watch….. hmmm……..
Dimensions= approximately 65′ in diameter, walls about 12′ thick, hollow with two entrances inside, leading in tunnels back to the entrance where there is a bench at each end. Tunnels, maybe 8 in spokes like a wheel, ….. hmmm……
Nice blue boxes…wanta try that agin’?…:{)
i was so worried that they screwed up the margins that they mysteriously disappeared. they are here:
Griannan Aileach
Wow – I’ll join the crowd that wants to call you their friend dada!!
I spend my time at a lower rent area that is just southwest of town. Its actually the southernmost tip of the Baja. Its beautiful and quiet. And I can watch the whales playing from the balcony.
Oh shoot – now I’m already starting to count the days to March. But I have to live through a winter in Minnesota to get there!
What a fab cafe today!
Anybody listen to Garrison Keilor today? He was playing songs that have been meaningful to listeners. I only heard two of them but one was a duet he sang with Lynn Peterson and her voice was so thrilling it made the hair on my head stand on end. “There Will Be Showers of Blessings.” The next one was EmmyLou Harris who always makes my hair stand up. Has anybody else ever heard the duet she did with Dave Matthews? It’s not on any album, but it’s my fav of all her duets.
I think that in order to get any work done today I shall have to go buy an EmmyLou Harris CD. Yes, that’s definitely what the work doctor orderd. Bye!
An Emmylou Harris & Dave Metthews duet that’s not on any album? I dunno the details, but I’ve heard of some dealie on the internets that may be able to help you out. Any song you may want is out there. Or so I am given to understand. Ahem.
ahem to that as well, I heard of one ‘winmx’, there are many free and fee sites. My son likes the above site, I have heard wispers!
Are now singing 3 feet away from me. “Love Hurts.” Oh, man. I set them on the floor so the vibration starts at my soles, then moves up. . .
Last time I felt like this, I was in the wilderness and the canyon was on fire. . .
That’s the song. She also does it with Willie Nelson. I love Willie, but that version is pale pale pale compared to the Matthews duet. As a friend of mine says, “He sings it as if his heart is breaking.”
And, ahem, it is on the internet.
G’dafternoon, all. I hope you don’t mind a re-post since the last cafe closed shortly after I put this up.
Our weather has entered a spell of theoretically pure sunny days, but anywhere near water they’re well-tempered with patchy mist and fog in the morning hours, and light haze all day along the ground and water level. We went garage sale-ing yesterday and it was one of the prettiest mornings I ever spent anywhere any time.
Check out the shoreline across the bay at right. Underneath the thickest cloud is the brightest sunlight. Sun, shadow or mist can turn up most anywhere, and it never has to make sense.
I humbly accept the honor of having a prize named for me and for my signature way of facing reality. I’m only sorry we don’t have family photos of my childhood square-rigged sailing Radio Flier wagon to submit.
you can recommend my diary at Daily Kos.
It was done even before you asked Mr. Boo :O)
On another subject, I have been wondering if anyone has heard from Leftvet lately. I haven’t seen him around these parts in a while. I sure hope all is well with him.
Peace
Well I just found comments that Leftvet made on last thursday, so I guess I just missed seeing them. In any case, I had been wondering for awhile where he’d been and it turns out he was here all along :O)
when you have a chance brother, a shot of whatever’s handy in the whiskey realm…. and where’s the infidel pig?
Any particular poison?
The best Irish whiskey there is … under private label…. it’s Green Spot…. second row third from the left.
Thank you, BrotherFeldspar, you are a wonder.
Green Spot is the pride and joy of Mitchell and Son Wine Merchants. It plays both a major part in the history and tradition of this family business, and in the history of Irish Whiskey. It is one of the only remaining bonded whiskeys left in Ireland, and is now of the most sought after whiskeys in the world. Production is limited to 2000 cases of six a year.
N.B. Shipping is only available to locations in the island of Ireland.
GREEN SPOT
Green Spot is to the true Irish whiskey drinker what an Irish Round Tower is to the archaeologist. It is a beautifully preserved, almost living throwback to the old Ireland which takes some searching to locate, but once found, is an experience to savour. When I first discovered it, it was like finding a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
Once upon a time in Ireland, many hundreds of wine merchants would fill their own casks with the spirit from their local distilleries and sell it under their own brand name, occasionally giving mention to the stills where it first bubbled into life. But all that changed when distillers became proprietorial and wished, often with good reason, due to the dubious practises of some merchants, to have complete control over any whiskey which bore their name . As businesses closed or merged, brands were lost. Others decided not to compete with the ever more powerful distillers. Some distillers simply refused to supply the whiskey.
In the end there was only one left which can still be found today. That sole survivor is Green Spot. There are no exact record as to when the brand first hit the streets, but certainly by the early 1920s the long-established wine merchants of Mitchell and Son of Kildare Street, Dublin, were annually putting aside 100 sherry hogsheads to be filled at Jameson’s Bow Street distillery. So that the whiskey would not be too overpowered by the wine, half the casks used had held oloroso and other dark sherries; the other half were the former homes of lighter finos. The Jameson pot still would mature for five years in those casks before being vatted together and then allowed to blend and mature for a further five years in those same butts in Mitchell’s old bonded warehouses in Fitzwilliam Lane.
The brand was originally known as Pat Whiskey, with a man looking very much the worse for wear apparently bursting through the label. Behind him was dark green shading. From this image grew the name Green Spot. The popularity of this type of whiskey spread to a seven year old Blue Spot, a Yellow Spot (12) and Red Spot (15).
As the costs involved in maturing expensive sherry casks became heavier and heavier, Mitchells reverted to vatting just the single and the original Green version. However, when Jameson switched production from Bow Street to Johns Lane, the make-up of the whiskey altered for the first time in living memory. Mitchell’s maturing stocks were running low, and having no intention of losing their famous brand, the company entered into an agreement with Irish Distillers to produce the whiskey. A stipulation was that the whiskey supplied had to be matured in Midleton’s own casks, but IDG were able to guarantee the future of the brand as pure pot still whiskey. The current Green Spot is made entirely from seven and eight year old Midleton pot still, a healthy 25% coming from sherry cask, which is quite evident in its aroma and taste. With Irish Distillers producing their own 12 year old pot still, Redbreast, it was understandable they were not willing to produce an older vatting for Mitchell’s. But when Redbreast was taken off the market, Green Spot enjoyed the distinction of being the only and very last, pure Irish Pot Still in existence. Now with Midleton back on the shelves it can no longer claim that, but it does remain the longest running pot still whiskey to continuously remain on the shelves.
Only 500 cases are made each year, all for the home market, with most of this sold through Mitchell’s shop at 21, Kildare Street, Dublin. Those 6000 bottles represent a very small part of the total Mitchell operation. But for a seventh generation family company which dates back to 1805, it is one they cherish as a vital part of their own history and Ireland’s whiskey heritage.
Shipping is only available to locations in the island of Ireland.
Hmmm…looks like the herbal tea is stone cold — anyone want to pop it in the microwave for me? Muchly appreciated…
Been out and about all day; started out with a good 20 minute session on the treadmill (!), then took out the recyclables to the recycling center, and stopped off to visit the in-laws for a bit. In order to get our place last year, dad-in-law had to cosign on the lease (because we had an eviction on our record — loooong story there), and he had to sign a form today so that we can get him off the lease for the renewal due this month. We also set next Sunday for a family dinner so we can review terms of their trusts; they have both a regular living trust and a special needs trust for their other son, who is bipolar. After seeing what my sister’s gone through in administering my mom’s trust, I want to get an idea of what they’ve got planned; they’re not getting any younger — Dad just turned 75, and I think Mom’s 73, so it’s a good idea to be prepared.
Speaking of mortality, RIP, Peter Jennings…
Have a good evening, everyone…