Melinda McBride

Another idea I haven't seen in this thread yet: Bermuda Sherry Peppers.

Traditionally you just add small hot chilies to a bottle of sherry. You can also use a sterile canning jar and larger chilies. Allow to steep in a dark place for a few weeks or longer. A spoonful of sherry peppers really perks up winter soups, stews, bean dishes, etc. You can mince or mash up the chilies and add them too.

A couple of ideas I used for my urban (Seattle) chickens (wet mild winters):

I made a light weight chicken tractor out of PVC pipe and chicken wire. I put 2 ft skirt of chicken wire around the bottom edge to keep predators from digging under. This also allowed me to use ground stakes or weights to keep it from blowing over in the wind. I used zip ties to attach the chicken wire to the PVC pipe.  I made a hinged top with a corrugated plastic roof. I ran an electric wire attached to an electric fence charger around the bottom about 6 in off the ground attached to the PVC pipe with electric fence stand off insulators. You can get battery or solar powered chargers. I used motorcycle batteries that I recharged.

I used PVC cross pieces across the top for reinforcement and to hang roosts, feeders, and waterers from. We attached a wooden frame to the top and for the roof to attach the hinges too. I forget how we secured the top and how we propped it open for feeding, watering, etc. We had a shelf for nest boxes at one end.

I made my chicken tractor the width of a raised bed and used my chickens to build beds for growing vegetables. I just kept throwing in dried leaves, straw, etc. until I thought it was time to move the tractor. I used the tractor on a slope to terrace the slope for vegetable beds. The chickens would scratch the material down hill. Eventually there was enough to level the bed.

I got some used Venetian blinds from Goodwill to put on the outside of the tractor. I could pull them down at night or in cold weather for added protection.

Before I put my chickens in the tractor, I tested it for predator safety  by putting some racoon food inside and leaving it for a few days. When racoon bait stayed undisturbed, I figured the tractor would be safe for the chickens.

The main issue I had was making sure it was well-secured to the ground and that the top was well secured so it wouldn't blow over in the wind.

This thread reminded me of the famous (in the upper left hand corner of the contiguous United States, anyway) poster "Expose Yourself to Art" (1978).

You can see a picture and read about it here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expose_Yourself_to_Art

r ranson wrote:
I found Janson's book at a thrift shop.  Thanks to this thread, I knew to snatch it up.

It's a 1974 version, so hopefully it has enough to get me started.

It's also very heavy. Going to need to dedicate some reading space for this.  I wish I wasn't such a slow reader.

Colour pictures would be nice too.  Do later copies have colour?

I haven't looked at more recent editions. I expect they might cover more non-Western art. But not have more color photos. It's a textbook, so color for the photos would make it way expensive for an intro class. The professor would  be showing color slides.

You should  be able to find high-quality images of a lot of the art online now (not available when I was in college in the '70s).

If you're in B.C., you can see lots of interesting art in person (the best way!) There's the Vancouver Art Gallery & the UBC Museum. The Royal BC Museum’s (Victoria) Ethnology collection has lots of First Nations art.

If you're feeling brave enough to venture down to the States, there's the Whatcom Museum in Bellingham. The Seattle Art Museum, the Seattle Asian Art Museum, the Frye Museum, Henry Art Gallery in Seattle. A bit farther, the Portland Art Museum.

Happy exploring!

This book, Non-Adhesive Bindings:Books without paste or glue, Vol 1. by Keith A. Smith (https://hollanders.com/products/non-adhesive-bindings-vol-1-keith-smith)
has lots of ideas that might work for your book.

It's been in print for a long time and is still the standard for book artists.

The standard Art History 101 textbook since the 1960s is The History of Art, by H. W. Janson. It's been revised many times. It focuses on European art, with a bit of other regions. Lots of pictures (mostly B&W). I still have my old copy from the 1970s.

It will give you an overview and you can skim through the parts that look interesting.

Check your library, maybe your local college library, or find many used copies all over the internet.

When you're done reading it, it makes a good door stop.

In the 1990s and early 2000s, Sister Wendy Mary Beckett had very popular BBC and PBS art history shows. She also wrote several art history books. She approached art as Roman Catholic Sister, so keep that religious perspective in mind. She was not an academic art historian, so many people found her more approachable. She was known for her enthusiasm for art.

You might still find her books and videos in your library. There are lots of used copies available, too.

More info about Sister Wendy here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendy_Beckett

Once you decide on your hot toddy recipe, you can listen to this while you're making it and taking it:


Might help you feel better.

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:Screenshot: missing Leaderboard icon left of "BB."

I'm viewing the BB in Firefox running in a Linux container under ChromeOS on a ChromBox. I'm seeing the same exact thing. Yep, click refresh and the icon briefly appears then disappears.

I'm using Privacy Badger and DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials. When I disable DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials and leave Privacy Badger turned on, the icon does appear.

So that may narrow the issue down to some type of privacy setting. What's different about that icon that upsets DuckDuckGo?

Steven Rodenberg wrote:Pear trees rot in steep crotch union.  Cable the trunks and your tree will go for a lot longer.

Yes, it looks like that's exactly the problem. When training young trees, try for a 45 degree angle for better strength to support fruit loads. Narrower angles can have bark inclusion, which creates weak attachment. And, in this case, allowed for rot. Cabling might help. You can also support heavy branches.

Thinning fruit can reduce weight. You might also make some thinning cuts. Your pear tree will try to regrow new branches now. Thin and train them to create better structure for the remaining life of the tree.

For an excellent guide to pruning everything, check out (the late) Cass Turnbull's Guide to Pruning. You'll never be the same after you read it.