Urbanites and public lands
I'm sure you're all aware of Sally Jewell's nomination for Secretary of the Interior. Did you all read this from The New York Timesblog by Timothy Egan? It got me feeling a little territorial:For all...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Simply trending
This is a rant that will make me sound older than I am. I was going to say like my mother, but really it’s more like my grandmother. She would be well over 100 if she were alive today. But my mother...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Simply raining
This should be a picture of the mare that I mention in the first paragraph. The hen did a better job of showing off the rain - and she gets mention later in the diary. I just read that Portland and...
View ArticleSheryl Sandberg isn't leaning in nearly enough
Had to read Lean In because female friends and colleagues are reading it and I want to be in on what they are taking about and hip to when they are using Sandberg's sound bites/recommendations on me (I...
View ArticleFacebook responds to the power of social media with positive steps
Just a few days ago I posted a diary in response to my grappling with the contrast of the message of Susan Sandberg's book, Lean In with the misogynistic content allowed on the Facebook site by the the...
View ArticleThis took me thirty years to cry over
My swag bag from the Netroots conference contained a little booklet called 1 in 3 that included women’s stories of abortion. The intention of the campaign that is behind production of the booklet is to...
View ArticleI hope my mother comes back as a waiter
My mother recently downsized from a house to a tiny apartment, and getting rid of everything she has accumulated over the years has been no easy task. So much stuff, so much useless stuff. We’re still...
View ArticleWhy join the military?
My son wants to join the military, and I’m trying to get my head around his thinking. I need a few good brains on this. I don’t want to deal with any right-wing rants on my lack of flag-waving...
View ArticleWAYWO: The Snark of a Wise Woman
Many articles on professional and personal development recommend finding mentors who will help you with upward mobility and improvement of you and your career. Colleagues have told me that seeking out...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Daily Bucket: Turning invasives into black gold
The Daily Bucket is a regular feature of the Backyard Science group. It is a place to note of any observations you have made of the world around you. Insects, weather, meteorites, climate, birds and/or...
View ArticleClik here to view.
DK Quilt Guild: Here's to the backyard quilter
Years ago I was hired by a local contractor to work as a carpenter's apprentice and was paired with a guy named Larry. On my first day I watched Larry trace the angle of one board on to another, and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Daily Bucket: The 90-acre wood
A not quite 100-acre wood sits directly across from my house, literally a stone's throw from my front porch (I'm not on Pooh corner, but given the amount of manure I manage, I suppose it's a good name...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Keep talking--I just need to take this call
A friend tells me her daughter-in-law pulls her cell phone halfway out of her pocket every few seconds to check it while they are visiting, while she's in the middle of conversations with family...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Trailing through the tangle of what grows around you
The Backyard Science group regularly publishes The Daily Bucket, which features observations of the world around us. Insects, weather, meteorites, climate, birds, flowers and anything natural or...
View ArticleThe Daily Bucket: 4th of July weekend in the blast zone
The Backyard Science group regularly publishes The Daily Bucket, which features observations of the world around us. Insects, weather, meteorites, climate, birds, flowers and anything natural or...
View ArticleThe Daily Bucket: These apples be cursed
The Backyard Science group regularly publishes The Daily Bucket, which features observations of the world around us. Insects, weather, meteorites, climate, birds, flowers and anything natural or...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Daily Bucket: Nisqually Wildlife Refuge
The Backyard Science group regularly publishes The Daily Bucket, which features observations of the world around us. Insects, weather, meteorites, climate, birds, flowers and anything natural or...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Daily Bucket: When you have buckets of work to do
The Backyard Science group regularly publishes The Daily Bucket, which features observations of the world around us. Insects, weather, meteorites, climate, birds, flowers and anything natural or...
View ArticleYou're hired! But you don't get any hours
My young adult daughter applied for a couple of part-time jobs recently--one with a national bookstore chain, the other with a department store photo studio. In both cases she was told, if hired, she...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Daily Bucket: Preparing for winter on the mountain
Fresh snow on the mountainI spent yesterday up at Mt. Rainier showing a friend who's not from around these parts one of my favorite places. The weather was brilliant--meaning we had some clear views of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Daily Bucket: Which season is this?
The Backyard Science group regularly publishes The Daily Bucket, which features observations of the world around us. Insects, weather, meteorites, climate, birds, flowers, anything natural or unusual,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Daily Bucket: A bucket of wind
It looks like October has finally decided to start acting like October. At least it has here in the PNW. The sky is a dark, heavy gray, and strong gusts of wind have been blowing through all...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Daily Bucket: On a cold and frosty morning
There was a thin layer of ice on the horses' trough this morning, and a touch of frost covered the ground.The sun is out now, melting this first hint of winter in the PNW away, and the towhees and the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Comfort foods? A Thanksgiving Day tale
I read this article recently on studies done on comfort food to determine whether it's actually a thing, whether food helps improve our moods or not. While I'm all for science dispelling myths that...
View ArticleIs it possible to give too much?
This time of year, the internet is rife with ideas on how to cut down on consumerism and make the holidays more personal and meaningful. The web is also full of ways to maintain the status quo by...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Daily Bucket: Winter Comes to Paradise
The streets trails of Paradise are paved with gold covered in snow. Grab your scarf and mittens and follow me for a walk through Mt. Rainier's early winter wonderland.The Backyard Science group...
View ArticleWAYWO: Now is the winter of my hygge
This winter I’m working on getting rid of items that I’ve stuffed into closets and haven’t looked at in years. I've started going through all the of wool, yarn, fabric, knitting needles, and patterns...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Daily Bucket: Showing off
Yesterday, I cleaned my kitchen window, which was in sore need of cleaning, and I was rewarded for my industry. This morning I finally captured one of the hummingbirds that has been hanging out at the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
WAYO: Working on a not so delicate balance
When I left home, I took a job working in the woods building hiking trails. Then I went to college, but after two quarters, I fled to the woods again to work on forest fire crew. I gave college a few...
View ArticleClik here to view.
DK Quilt Guild: I'm not procrastinating, I'm thinking
"Procrastination is the practice of carrying out less urgent tasks in preference to more urgent ones, or doing more pleasurable things in place of less pleasurable ones, and thus putting off impending...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Daily Bucket: Jeepers, creepers...
...where'd ya get that peeper?:Click on the pic for a closer lookOn the bathroom wall, according to my son. I was weeding in the herb garden yesterday afternoon when he came out of the house to show me...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Daily Bucket: An orchard view
I spent the last few sort-of-sunny days outside dividing my time between mulching the orchard and preparing the new veggie garden. Yesterday, it rained, so I put together this Bucket instead of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
DK Quilt Guild: Heartfelt
Heartfelt: more than a heart made of felt The word “heartfelt” has two definitions, says my friend Merriam Webster: 'deeply felt' and 'very sincere.' Handmade gifts, according to me, make use of both...
View ArticleBreaking news: School shooter apprehended by teacher with no gun
Quick post as I need to leave to take my son to school (my heart is racing even though he's not at this school):In Thurston County in Washington State--no one was hurt:Nobody was hurt during a shooting...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Daily Bucket: Spring at the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge
May 3, 2015 Nisqually National Wildlife RefugeWe were met by a guard bird:There are a couple of nice trails created just for humans at the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge, but many areas are...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Daily Bucket: One person's weed...
What is a weed? According to my friend, Merriam Webster, it is "a (1) : a plant that is not valued where it is growing and is usually of vigorous growth; especially one that tends to overgrow or choke...
View ArticleUpdated: Unarmed men shot by police
Olympia, WAYes, the young men are black. The two young men (brothers) allegedly shoplifted some beer from a major grocery store. According to the boys' mother, "They don't carry guns, they carry...
View ArticleThe Daily Bucket: Unintentional Edible Landscaping
The 4th of July used to be the day the Pacific Northwest gained some freedom from the gray and the rain for an extended period of time. We welcomed and worshiped blue skies and warm, drying rays of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
People are saying that DK5 is too orange
Orange ain’t so bad. I rather like it, especially this time of year. I would never wear orange—it doesn’t suit me—but it can work well in the right places and on the right faces:Orangey-yellow like the...
View ArticleThe Pootie Queen Digest: A collection of tributes to Tricia Wyse
There are so many wonderful diaries popping up to pay honor and tribute to Tricia, the Pootie Queen, who faithfully, with the help of friends, created a sanctuary from the storm, a place to come in and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
DK Quilt Guild: Transitions
Late last year, my eldest reduced all her worldly goods (except for a few boxes of stuff still here in a closet) into a backpack and left home with a one-way ticket to wherever, and I started the work...
View ArticleTrump Upside Down
tRump’s face appears way to often on DKos. It’s unsettling to come to the site and see his scowling, ugly visage in full color on the front page. So I’m requesting that DK enact a new policy of...
View ArticleHelp raise funds for ladders to get over Individual-1's wall
In response to the nut job (or con man) who started a GoFundMe to raise money to build Individual-1’s useless wall (or put up steel slats), Charlotte Clymer (@cmclymer), inspired by an idea put out...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Goodbye Little Mouse
~Mûske~2002 — 2019Seventeen years ago, we brought this scrappy little thing home from the local shelter. She was eight weeks old:This photo does not do her cuteness and kitten energy justice.We named...
View ArticleI'm in a NZ quarantine camp
This is a Twitter thread I wrote this morning in response to Laura Ingraham’s views on what’s going on down here in NZ. It won’t get any attention, but that’s ok. Its riddled with grammatical errors....
View Article
