My Bit of Earth

Art in Linsborg, Kansas

This ring (made by Sweet Husband) was one of 70 pieces out of about 300 chosen for a student show at the Birger Sandzen Memorial Gallery in Lindsborg, Kansas.

    

We drove to Lindsborg this past weekend for the show closing--more pictures are here.  I have to confess, I was a little disappointed in Lindsborg itself.  Everyone kept saying it was such a cool little town, but I didn't think it was much different from any other.

Quick Quotes Quill Friday: Another Correct Prediction?

"Again and again, no matter how I lay them out . . . . the lightening struck tower . . . . Calamity. Disaster.  Coming nearer all the time . . . ."

--Sibyll Trelawney, Half-Blood Prince

A Bad Year For Tomatoes?

Not that I'm happy that everyone else is suffering, but it's nice to know it's not just something I've done wrong. Not that I was really convinced that I had. The complete lack of tomatoes at the farmer's market for the past few weeks let me know that something bad was up, and this excerpt from Gwen Mellinger's column today in the LJWorld confirms it.

When I look at the condition of my tomato plants and make note of the date, I have no reason to complain. By the end of July, the wear and tear of summer in the garden is discernible in the texture and color of the leaves. Even healthy plants have a leathery look and feel to them. Certainly, the unrelenting highs above 100 degrees last week did my plants no favors. But even if that were not the case, by this point in the summer Kansas tomato plants have seen better days. If mine could be reincarnated as rock stars, they’d all come back as Keith Richards.

What’s different this year is that the tomatoes are ripening later than normal. While I have loads of fruit on the plants, the tomatoes seem slow to ripen. I speculate that it’s a combination of the late planting and protracted periods of excessive heat and drought. It’s hard to remember that in May we had a couple of weeks of rain accompanied by low temperatures that kept the soil in many area gardens too damp to work. As a result, many area gardeners did not get their hot-weather crops planted until late May, which was two to four weeks later than normal. Had we received sufficient rainfall in June, this would not have mattered, as tomato plants can quickly make up lost time in early summer. However, hot and dry conditions handicapped tomato plants' early growth. By now we should be carting vine-ripened tomatoes into the house by the bushel instead of just now easing into the harvest.

The dilemma here is that we need to keep our haggard plants going to support the fruit that’s still growing on them. By this time in the summer, I’m often done with watering. That may not be an option this year.

My Grandpa died before I really took an interest in gardening, but my Grandma is fond of quoting, "You're Grandpa always said it was a good year when you had the first crop of tomatoes by the 4th of July."

If that's the case, this year is screwed.

To be fair, the yellow pear plant has been pushing on stalwartly, producing it's first tomato on the first day of summer, and a handful about every week since. However, we don't even have one orange tomato yet, and the (5) tomatoes that have come off of the other full size tomato plants have been split and cracked so badly that I've had to pick them early to save them from the bugs. And my little midget that was so prolific last year is shriveling to nothing in this heat.

It is indeed a bad year for tomatoes....

Moe Speaks: A New Plan

There has been a new development at our house lately. Before, Porter and I had to stay in the kitchen during the day, but we've jumped the gate so many times that Dad decided to let us have "free-range" and see how we do.

I really like being a free-range pup. I can take naps on the couch, get out all of my toys, and jump in and out of my favorite chair all day long. I also get to watch TV.

Now you may think it's funny that a dog would watch TV, but I kind of enjoy it really. It gives me good ideas. Like the other day, I was watching some old re-runs and I saw a really good commercial. It was about this dog who ordered all sorts of cool toys online while his Mom and Dad were at work. What a smart idea! 

I knew that working Mom's computer wouldn't be a problem. I've watched her use it since I was a young pup. But I needed the numbers from one of those plastic things. I've seen Mom throw away some that come in the mail before, so I thought a good place to look might be in the trash.

I knocked the can over and dug through all of it, but no such luck! There weren't any plastic things in the trash this time. I did, however, find some left over bratwursts, which was wonderful compensation. And when Mom and Dad came home, they thought I was looking for the bratwursts and thus had no clue about my plan to order toys with a plastic thing. 

So my plan is still secret and can be executed another day!

Tomato Salad

Last night I picked the first Cherokee Purple and the first Hillbilly Potato Tomatoes. We haven't cut into the Hillbilly's yet, but the Cherokee Purple was quite nice--although it was more pink than purple. You can kind of pick it out on top of the salad.

I'm afraid I planted too many tomatoes for the space that I have, but, even if we get less tomatoes because of it, I'm really glad I planted all the different colors. I think this weekend I may try to make salsa.

Jimmy Nardello Pepper

This little guy started to grow before the tomatoes stole his sunshine--the pepper plants are both so shaded now that he's unlikely to have any brothers and sisters for awhile. But isn't Jimmy pretty?

(Update: And he tasted really good--sweet, but with just the right amount of heat.)

An Ity-Bity Bucket 'o' Beans

I planted my little plot of soybeans to enjoy some fresh edamame, but my methods were a little faulty. Instead of picking them when they were young, I kept waiting for them to get bigger. Only, instead of getting bigger, they just got browner.

But all is not lost. I cracked open one of the brown pods tonight and, low and behold, there were nice little hard beans inside. Soup beans.

Some were more dry than others, but I put the not-so-dry ones in the oven for a bit to finish them off. My little bucket 'o' beans is getting fuller.

There was an article in the LJWorld the other day by the wonderful Miss Mellinger (of jinxing tomatoes fame) asserting that it's not worth the time and trouble to shuck beans for soup, given that they are so cheap to buy at the store. I see her point, but I think I have to respectfully disagree. Sitting outside, gleefully popping open the pods, and scooping out the verdant little beans was probably one of the high points of my weekend.

For Your Viewing Pleasure

 

A pretty summer trio--German Green, Yellow Pear, and Mexican Midget.

Moe Speaks: Zoey the Zoomer

Writting from my Manga and Panga's house--just a quick trip for the weekend.

Last night Mom and Dad went out to see some old friends. Porter stayed with Manga and Panga, but I got to go to Grandma's house to play with Aunt Madi and my cousin Zoey.

Zoey definitely smells like a dog, but she doesn't certainly doesn't look like me. Apparently she's something called a "pug-let". She's almost a year younger than me, and still quite the puppy. Mom says I was just as nutty as she is once upon a time, but I don't believe it. 

Zoey Zooms all the time! And when she's not zooming, she's wriggling! She never stops moving!

I'm no shy violet, but after a while I just couldn't keep up. It made me sleepy just to watch her. I don't want you to get the wrong impression--we had a heck of a lot of fun, but phew! She wore me out!

The Next DADA Teacher--On Second Thought

I previously posted that I thought that the next DADA teacher was an unknown character, but I'm having second thoughts.

Jo has also said that there will be no new significant characters introduced in Book 7. This leads me to three possible theories....

1. When she said that she wasn't thinking about the DADA teacher--perhaps she was thinking that by now we should realize that a new DADA teacher is just a given. Possible, and if so see my previous post for my analysis.
2. The new DADA teacher will be someone we already know, thus breaking the pattern. Also possible, although then we're left with the question of who? I don't see any of the old DADA teachers coming back. (In order--dead; crazy; busy trailing werewolves and likely to face too much bigotry; had sould sucked by dementor/busy as an auror (depending on who you count as the 4th year teacher); McGonagall would kill her if the centaurs didn't first; suspected murderer.) So that limits is to others that we know.... Another auror--unlikely as they all seem to be pretty busy, although Tonks would be great fun. And if she's going to be there guarding the castle anyway, why not teach a class? Bill Weasley--we know he's a curse breaker, so presumably he knows something about the dark arts.
3. Hogwarts will be closed and there will therefore be no need for a new DADA teacher. Hogwarts is such a major character in the book, it's hard for me to see it being closed completely. And if it was closed I would think the Death Eaters might consider setting up camp there, given Voldemort's affinity for the castle. But, at the same time, it seems a little odd for life to go on as usual in such dangerous times. As Malfoy said at one point in HBP (paraphrasing) what good are N.E.W.T.'s going to be if Voldemort takes over?  What's the point?

I think I'm going to have to think on this one and get back to it.

The World's Greatest Dishclothes

Sweet Husband's Mom and Aunt were making dishclothes similar to these over the 4th of July.  They kindly let me take a few home, and I quickly discovered that they are amazing.  They're a little bit thicker than regular dishclothes--and hence absorb much more--and the little spaces between the stiches are nice and scrubby.  Nice Mother-In-Law and Aunt were knitting them--which you could easily do--but, as I'm not a knitter, I decided to crochet a few. Using 100% cotton thread (this is important, polyester won't hold water) and a K size hook, chain 25.  Work the row back and forth in single crochet until the dishcloth is almost square. Then single crochet around the outside edge one or two times to finish it off. If you like the curly edge (like the one on the far right) go once around the edge in single crochet. The second time around, do two single crochet stitches into each stitch of the first row. If you do the plain edge you can get two reasonably sized clothes out of a small skein of thread. If you do the curly edge you can still get two, but the second one will be considerably smaller. These are super quick too! I can finish one a day during my commute to and from work--about 40 minutes. (But don't worry, I never crochet and drive!)

Who Will Die?

Since Jo has said that two characters will die in Book 7, the big question is who. There's a pretty nicely written article on msn that discusses the odds for each character.

I'm wondering if I shouldn't make a bet--if I had last time I would've made money. I wonder what odds I could get on Voldemort and any-Weasley-but-Ron, or maybe Voldemort and Hagrid? Anyway, here are some of my thoughts . . . .

Voldemort

Because if he wins it'll be a pretty crappy story, and for him to lose he pretty much has to die (or perhaps meet some fate worse than death--see Dumbledore's comments in the battle at the ministry at the end of OP.

Hagrid

As dear Jo said, bad guys “don’t target the extras, do they? They go for the main characters, or I do." Which leads me to think that Hagrid might not make it.

Jo's statement that she's going to kill a main character leads me to believe that a spare Weasley isn't really going to do. It's going to be someone who will make us cry; someone we're all really invested in.

Who can forget, it was Hagrid who first brought Harry his letter, Hagrid who saved him from the Dursley's, Hagrid who first took him to Diagon Alley, Hagrid who bought him his first birthday present, Hagrid who sees something of himself in Harry--an orphaned misfit whose life was ruined by the same person....

And in case you haven't noticed (and if you haven't you're a tad out of the loop), there's a bit of a pattern in the people who have died. Excepting Cedric, who just was in the wrong place at the wrong time, the people who have died have been Harry's mentor's and protectors. His parents, Sirius, Dumbledore. Hagrid fits that role so nicely.

A Weasley Lad, But Not Ron

I think Ron and Hermione have to live--we're too invested in them. (Although I was pretty invested in a certain late-headmaster too.) After this is all over they're going to get married and have fat babies with red hair and amazing intellect. If Harry doesn't die, there's a possibility that one of these two might, but I think that given the theme of the books (friendship and bravery win out) the trio needs to come through.

Further, I read a comment (here) that it would be unlikely that Arthur or Molly would die because "[i]t’s depressing enough that Harry’s an orphan. Ron’s not going to become one too." I agree. Harry as an orphan was necessary for the plot; Ron as an orphan would just be repetitive.

As to Ginny, well I certainly think she'll be a target, but personally I'll be really angry if she dies. I realize that another theme of the books is that life's not always fair, but Harry's gone through so much. There needs to be a light at the end of the tunnel for him when it's all over. He needs something to keep going for.

That leaves the rest of the Weasley boys. As Molly said in OP, it'll be a miracle if the whole family makes it through. They're practically Harry's family, if Voldemort doesn't take out at least one of them he's just not doing his job as the bad guy. And if I had to bet I think I'd pick one of the twins by process of elimination. No one would really be all that upset if Percy died, Charlie's still off in Romania, and Bill has already had his near miss. Plus, just on the off chance that you missed it--"U-NO-POO!" Truly, Fred and George are (dark) marked men.

OK, But If I Have To Pick One Of the Trio

It would NOT be Hermione. I think (as detailed above) that if Harry needs to, he will die to save his friends. Since I'm not writing this from Jo's brain, I can't tell you if that situation will arise or not, so there's not much more I can say about that. Except that (and this is pretty obvious from Jo's statements, but I think would still be defensible without it) if Harry dies, both Ron and Hermione have to live.

As to between Ron and Hermione, I think that if Harry lives it's possible that one of them could die. And I think it will be Ron.

First, Ron is a Weasley, and, as noted above, they have it coming.

Second, looking at what's likely to happen beyond the end of Book 7, if both live Ron and Hermione are likely to end up together. So now that we have them together, lets kill each one in turn and see what effect it has on the other.

Hermione has plans, talents, interests. Although we don't really know what her chosen career path is, I could really see her being some kind of lobbyist or doing something brilliant within the ministy. Even without Ron, there are plenty of directions that Rowling could take her character in the epiloge, so to speak.

Ron, on the other hand, doesn't really have any plans. He's kind of thinking of being an auror, but really a lot of the time he ends up just being the comic relief. Without Hermione, what direction will Ron go? What's next for his character? He doesn't have any outstanding talents really. How will Jo finish off his story if not, "And Ron and Hermione lived happily ever after". Plus Ron seems less capable of defending himself, which doesn't always matter (e.g. Cedric Diggory) but in the right situation it could be the difference.

So if it's between Ron and Hermione, I think Ron's a goner.

Moonflower

A few weeks ago I was at the farmer's market and saw someone with moonflower plants. At the time I had just dug up my potatoes and had free space so....(listen to me pretend I need an excuse to buy plants). As you can guess from their name, moonflowers only open at night.

I took the picture on the left at dusk, and  I took the on eon the right in the dark using a long exposure. In small quantities I don't think you get the full effect, but if you had a nice large planting and a full moon they would be spectacular.

The Puglet's Pretty TuTu

This pretty tutu was made for my pretty little dog-niece Zoey.  My inspiration for it was this little pug, but, I have to proudly say, I made this incredibly more cheaply than I could have bought one.  It only took about a yard of tulle and some left over elastic.

To make it measure your pup around the belly and cut a piece of elastic (I used 1 inch wide) to that length.  Don't shorten the elastic to compensate for the stretch because by the time you're done it won't be very stretchy. Measure from belly to bottom and cut out several strips of tulle that are double that width.  Fold the tulle in half and sew the folded edge to the elastic, doubling over the tulle in random spots to make it poufy.  It helps to leave a little of the elastic bare on the ends (a few inches on each side) so that you can better sew the elastic together at the end.  Keep adding pieces, sewing each over the next, until you have a nice poof.  Trim your edges up nice and neatly.

The Good With the Bad

 

Bad: The lawnmower guys haven't been here since before the 4th of July. I know it's hot guys, but sheesh--it's starting to get down-right pasture-like.

Good: The lack of lawnmowing has allowed my morning glories to begin to grow . . .

. . . and this funny flower outside our fence. I'm curious to see what it is.
(Update 7/24/06: They finally came and mowed! I'm almost surprised they didn't have to brush-hog. And despite the fact that they let the grass get to knee level, I'm pretty pleased with them--although they did cut down the mystery flower, they trimmed around my morning glories. Thanks lawn mowing guys!)

Phantom

Sometime during my freshman year of high school, my best friend Aaron lent me the first in this series of books by Terry Goodkind and told me I should read it.  I was much more of a night owl then, but I still didn't often stay up all night reading books.  I did with this one.  Ten books later, last night, I was up late again reading the latest book in the series--Phantom.

The books are about a man named Richard and his lady-love Kahlan.  Both have powerful magic and are fighting to save the world from utter destruction and despair, but just when you think that they've finally completed their goal something else bad happens.  Nonetheless, they keep at it--meeting wonderful creatures and characters along the way.  It would do no good for me to try to explain more than that here--it's way too much to summarize--however,  if you're interested I suggest you begin at the beginning with "The Wizard's First Rule".  Or you can read the summaries here.

To be honest, these books have had a lot going against them--I'm not all that into fantasy, the plot is really only so-so.  But the characters, oh the characters!  They are so well-developed and fun to watch.  Over the years I have really cared and wanted the story to end up well for them.

And as the series has gone on--and I became a social science major--I really have come to love Goodkind's social commentaries and critiques.  I often find myself drawing parallells between Faith of the Fallen and the current war in Iraq, for example.  And in Phantom, there are very obvious references to religious zealotry and the perils that can insue therefrom.

As much as I have enjoyed the series though, I have to say, I'm glad this is the next to last book.  I was thinking about it this morning as I was chugging down coffee--I don't think it's that I tired of Richard and Kahlan, as it is that I'm tired for Richard and Kahlan.  They've fought the bad guys for long enough, I think it's time for them to go back to their little cabin in the woods, have fat babies, and live a quiet, happy life.

Did Snape Care About Lily?

(Part of a many part series of posts called "Whose Side Is Snape On?")

I've been trying to resist this one for awhile now. It seems, almost a little over the top to me. But I re-read OP the other day and couldn't ignore the clues.  (Ok, I had some help from Sweet Husband.)

First, the one clue that doesn't fit--or does it? When Harry looked into the Pensieve and saw "Snape's Worst Memory" (towards the end of OOP) Snape called Lily a "mudblood". To some, this means shows that he couldn't have cared for her. Personally, I think this might mean the opposite for two reasons....

1. Why is this "Snape's Worst Memory"? Surely it isn't the fact that he was picked on by James. From the sound of it, James picked on him all the time--why was this time the "worst"? Perhaps because Lily was there...maybe because she witnessed his humiliation...maybe because he, in his anger at James, called her a mudblood and ended their friendship....
2. In the memory in the Pensieve, Lily doesn't like James--she kind of tells him off in fact. But they still end up together. Maybe a clue that, although this scene shows Snape and Lily at odds, the Pensieve isn't showing the whole story....

Second, never, never, never, in all of the (many, many, many) times that someone says, "Snape hated James" does anyone say, "Snape hated Lily" or even "Snape hated James and Lily". It's just never mentioned.

Third, Lily was given the chance to live. Although the Dark Lord doesn't seem the type to grant reprieves on request, Snape had just brought him an important bit of information. What's more Snape is nothing if not clever--if he wanted to save Lily I think he could find a way. And otherwise why on earth would Voldey give Lily a chance like that?

What Will We Find Out About Lily Potter?

Now the important thing about Harry’s mother, the really, really significant thing, you’re going to find out in 2 parts. You’ll find out a lot more about her in Book 5, or you’ll find out something very significant about her in Book 5, then you’ll find out something incredibly important about her in Book 7. But I can’t tell you what those things are so I’m sorry, but yes, you will find out more about her because both of them are very important in what Harry ends up having to do. JKR 1999

I was thinking alound about this to Sweet Husband last night.  "Is Lily even mentioned in Book 5?"

He gave me a look and said, "Um, yeah, the scene from the pensieve."

So...Lily stuck up for Snape....

"Through the burning cathedral of the summer"*

Beautiful and hot at the same time, but somehow I've personally been noticing the beautiful more than the hot.

That's not for lack of heat though--it's definitely warm out. A national heat wave, in fact. But I find that, insulated in my climate controlled office for most of the day, I'm not really registering it. When I do get outside, it's so nice to be there that I almost enjoy the heat--when I can shut off that pre-programmed voice in my head that says heat is bad.

As one of my fellow riders to work aptly said, it's like bath water.

(*From "Mad in Pursuit" by Violette Leduc--the entire quotation is "I walk without flinching through the burning cathedral of the summer. My bank of wild grass is majestic and full of music. It is a fire that solitude presses against my lips.")

Who is RAB?

Regulas Black.

Not an original theory, I know. But he was mentioned three times "incidentally" in HBP--Jo doesn't typically do things like that by accident. Also she's said no new characters will be introduced, so that means it's someone we already know about. There are others, but no one that's been fleshed out as well.

Some have also pointed out that Regulus would have had the means to get the locket as well--i.e. Krecher who could have 1) gotten on the boat, 2) drank, made Regulus drink, or used a special brand of house-elf magic to get rid of the potion, and 3) kept the secret.

And then there's the locket in Grimmauld Place--the one that they find early on in OOP when they're cleaning. Merope Gaunt's perhaps? Me thinks so. After all, Jo can't make all the horcruxes as hard to find as the one's Dumbledore found. She has to make a few at least a little easy, otherwise Harry wouldn't survive.

I think the real surprise here won't be who R.A.B. is, but why and how he stold the horcrux....