Rich Paschall

FOTD – River Bend in June It was such a beautiful day today. Garry needed pictures for (potential) bit parts in movies or commercials. He has an itch to interact with a television camera again, though a movie camera would do just fine. In between taking pictures of Garry, I took pictures of plants growing at River Bend.

FOTD – Columbines My Columbine isn’t as perfect as Cee’s, but I do have a lot of it. It isn’t really a perennial, but if you leave it alone, it will form seed pods and reseed itself. Those seeds also respond to the wind, which is probably why we now have Columbine growing in three different gardens, but we only planted it in one. The wind — and maybe the birds — moved those seeds everywhere.

I’ve drawn a lot of Goldfinches. That shouldn’t be much of a surprise since they are one of the most common birds I see at my feeders. They often feed in flocks and nest in the hedges at the back of the yard. This is the most recent drawing. The one before it was a bit better, but this one shows the difference in markings and patterns. Some have strong black markings on their faces. Others have…

FOTD – Pink Double Ruffled Petunias Pink double ruffled petunias, and the flowerbox is full of buds. They remind me of full ruffled skirts.

This isn’t a new cartoon. It was created in 2018, so it has been around for more than four years. Yet, it’s as relevant now as it was when it first came out. Maybe more. I’m pretty sure there was a time when this might have been funny. With all the other things we need to fix, this one could be easy. I know because other countries have managed to find a way. I guess they don’t have as many gun…

FOTD – Red Petunias The red Petunias are there to attract butterflies and hummingbirds. It’s doing well on the hummingbirds, a bit weak so far on the butterflies, but at least I’ve seen one. Which is encouraging because I hadn’t seen a butterfly in a couple of years.

I have been told that when Spencer Tracy gave this speech towards the end of the production of Judgment at Nuremberg, he did it in a single take. Everyone gathered from other sets to listen to him, one of the world’s great actors. When he was done, there was a standing ovation It’s hard to begin to express my level of disappointment with this country. It’s not rage or even anger. It’s a deep…

Fandango’s Provocative Question #168 Yesterday’s question is about anonymity and whether or not anonymity makes online creeps even creepier. How do you feel about online anonymity? Do you believe that when people are hiding their real-world identity, it encourages them to misbehave or to be offensive? Or does it allow people to reveal who they really are or possibly how they would choose to be…

5 Things We Don’t Buy Anymore We are on a fixed income, but the world is on a fast track to insane inflation, so these days, there are many things we don’t buy. Dog food. I make my own from chopped beef. tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, canned peas, and brown rice with a bit of canola oil and a hint of salt. It’s much cheaper than canned food, and it’s not full of soybeans. Duke no longer has the…

CFFC: Abandoned Buildings or Barns In the early 2000s, there were a lot of old, nearly collapsed barns and sheds, as well as long-abandoned mills. Since then, many old wooden mills have burned down, but anything reasonably solid was renovated and converted. Many old mills have been turned into senior housing, a business, or a shopping venue. Most barns have been renovated. They are still barns,…

Thursday Doors Doorway arches, Roxbury – Canon Powershot S100 This Throwback Thursday picture also works as a Thursday Doors picture. Marilyn Armstrong originally posted this on February 25, 2013.

As we all know, the prices on everything have skyrocketed. But luckily for me, I can cook, and I learn quickly hands-on. My boyfriend’s mother has gotten me quickly addicted to making yogurt. At first, I thought she was nuts; you can’t make yogurt from home…that’s way too much work. Nope, it’s easy and tastes 100x better than the store-bought. Yesterday, I made my first batch, and it’s…

Editor’s note: What caught my attention in this “throwback” review of the series by Marilyn was that Chicago has a wizard. Who knew? – RJP I was feeling a bit forlorn after I completed Mike Carey‘s Felix Castor series until Harry Dresden tapped me on the shoulder and invited me into the world created for him by author Jim Butcher. As I read my way through the entire series, 14 books to date,…