Burra Maluca

It doesn't surprise me that the winner of the ugliest dog contest was a pug.

There's something inherently ugly about pug-breeding in general. They rank top in this page about 21 Dog Breeds At The Highest Risk For Genetic Disorders. And it seems to me that it's the very things that pugs are bred FOR that are causing the problems.

Pugs are small in stature but carry a big personality, and sometimes, a sizable list of health issues. With their flat faces, they are another breed plagued by brachycephalic airway syndrome, making breathing an art they never master. Their snorting and wheezing are often mistaken for an impromptu jazz concert.

They also face eye problems due to their large, bulging eyes, which are prone to injuries and ulcers. Their skin folds, while endearing, need regular cleaning to prevent infections. It’s like a spa day for your pug, minus the cucumber eye pads.

Despite these challenges, pugs remain one of the most affectionate and entertaining companions. Their clownish antics and loyal nature make them a joy to have around, provided you’re ready for a bit of extra care and a sound machine at night to mask their snores.

I found this image on a page called Why a Pug's Life is Torture

Bumping this thread up because I want to experiment dyeing with used coffee grounds and record the results.

My old pot-carrier, which was basically just a pre-folded tea-towel with a hanging loop that I used to carry hot pans from the stove to the haybox, turned out to be made from partly synthetic fibres and melted. So I used one of the old towels which came in a giant stash of linens that someone was giving away to make a new one. Only it's white. Bright, in-your-face sort of white. So I've started collecting used coffee grounds, to be dried and then stored in the lidded plastic jug that for some reason also showed up with all the linens, until I have enough to experiment with. I shall record the results.



I think the first experiment will be with just coffee grounds, no mordant or anything, to see how it works. Then I can make a better decision on what to change for future experiments turning some of the rest of the stash of linens into less-white useful items.

Watch this space!

How big is Texas?

I don't think you can work it out from the distance they travelled. They were sticking to major roads, so the 'coastline' would be measured very inaccurately I should imagine.

The smaller the steps, the closer you can get to the edge, so the longer the coastline gets. Though Texas does have rather a lot of Murican-style straight-line boundaries, just not as many as that rather over-simplified stone map would suggest...

Oh crumbs. That photo did NOT do justice to the size of those heaps of bedding...

That bag was indeed full of table linens, along with some other items that had been shoved in on top since the photo was taken. I'm now the proud owner of a gorgeous heavy-duty white cotton tablecloth with matching napkins (which I might actually use one day when we finish renovating as we have a stone-topped kitchen table that would probably benefit from having a cloth over it when we actually use it to eat from so the plates don't smash into the stone too hard), plus a variety of cheaper quality printed cotton ones, mostly with cigarette burns so they will be put on one side for use in sewing projects. Also a pretty piece of pink gingham fabric, a baptism cloth, a linen glass cleaning cloth, some old towels, a pair of brand new white boxer shorts with a cupid motif saying 'I love you' in Portuguese, three white chef's jackets and matching chef's hats. She also threw in (quite literally - they were clearing an apartment and they ended up with a chain of people literally throwing stuff to each other down the stairs to load the van...) a camping mattress, a kiddie bed mattress with no cover, a plastic lidded jug, and a brass umbrella stand shaped like a cauldron.

There was a huge stash of blankets and duvets and bedspreads. I kept what I wanted, Austin picked one thing out, my son pounced on some blankets with big-cat designs, and we're delivering most of the rest to a friend later today who can put them to good use. I'm still trying to find a good home for the baby-blue synthetic-satin bedspread with polka dots, lacy trims, white embroidered flowers and padded fleecy liner, all neatly shaped to fit on a bed with corner posts which was obviously bought for a much loved granny but never used. I really need to find a little old lady who will love it but also actually use it. It's so incredibly pristine and shiny that I think anyone who would actually like it is likely to keep it safe in a cupboard until it ends up looking for yet another home in due course.

I still need to find homes for the chef's jackets and the surplus good tablecloths too...

Edit - I forgot the giant bag of clothes hangers and the cloth bread bag. Keeping the bag, and the wooden clothes hangers, but the plastic ones need new homes.

Tereza Okava wrote:I'm eyeing those (table?) linens in the bag there.

I keep looking at that bag of linens too. There seems to be an awful lot of scalloped edging for a bed-sheet, but it doesn't strike me as hand-made stuff either. I guess I just have to wait and find out. Assuming they do actually all show up, I intend to have a jolly good rummage and find the best use for it all. Maybe it's a whole heap of pretty pillow cases? The advert said it was all bedclothes but maybe she inherited it and hasn't been through all the bags herself either, just wanting to get it out of the house to free up space.

I just arranged to go and collect a big heap of free blankets and assorted bedding.

Some of them are likely to be natural fibres, which are getting hard to source affordably. Some will be for me, some for my son, and some can be distributed to various neighbours who are struggling a bit and would appreciate a bit of a hand keeping warm this winter.

I'm rather hoping that bag of linens will have some fabric that I can attempt to turn into a dress and have a go at dyeing a natural sort of green or brown colour...

This is the sort of thing I call a dumpling, usually cooked for around 15 minutes on top of a soup or stew on days when you don't have any bread to dunk into it.

The simple dough resembles that of a biscuit, but instead of being rolled and baked, the batter is dropped directly into a hot liquid. The dumplings are then simmered in the soup or stew in which they are served, such as in the classic chicken and dumplings.

Taken from Easy Drop Dumplings for Perfect Soups and Stews

I think they need some sort of baking powder to make them rise though. I generally buy self-raising flour to keep things easy. I also like to add herbs or a bit of spice to them too.

This is the rather crappy video I grabbed on my phone, which does NOT do the experience justice as it automatically compensated for the changing light, and the bright ring around moon is shown as far too bright and wide. The 'diamond ring' photo I posted was one of Austin's, taken at the same time, and was far more representative of what it was actually like at totality. I think I missed the bit where my son declared that it looked 'creepy as f**k'.

I guess everyone responds differently, but what I do love about this video is the squeals of delight from children whose parents had brought them to the same bit of mountain as us to watch the experience.



There will be more photos, but the good ones are mostly on Austin's camera and we were late back and he's working this morning so he hasn't gone through them and sent them to me yet...

Edit to add that six of my dragons are still missing. Has anybody seen them? I suspect they are flying around up there somewhere, possibly in formation...

Pretty impressive...

Experimenting with pin holes...