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Monthly Archives: January 2009

What they're eating in the south of France #5

This is a guest column by Anivid, who lives in the South of France and who also took these photos in markets near her home. By Anivid Hello Everybody, We’re here on a French town market in the South. Even though it’s January, it’s not extremely cold – around 48° Fahrenheit. The time of the […]

Backyard Bird Count

GBBC My sister is reminding bird lovers that “The Great Backyard Bird Count” starts Feb. 13. It’s sponsored by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Audubon. I can’t identify many species, but I’ll at least count bluebirds.

Coyotes in Carolina

North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission The cat woke up and make quite a fuss about 3 a.m. when she heard a pack of coyotes in the woods. It’s the first time I’ve heard coyotes in North Carolina. I’ve heard them before while camping in the mountains of California, near Yosemite. It’s a primitive sound — […]

Merrill Lynch calls it a Depression

Above: Household debt-to-income ratio [Merrill Lynch] Above: Personal savings rate [Merrill Lynch] I am strongly of the opinion that economic literacy is a personal survival skill, like knowing how to cook, or fix a leaky pipe. This recent article from Merrill Lynch does an excellent job of pulling together and charting some of the factors […]

Front walkway

It may not be the finest example of rock paving in the history of humanity, but at least it’s possible now to get into the house without walking across mud. This is local stone, which came from a small quarry about eight miles away, just north of Hanging Rock State Park. The stone is set […]

Some arithmetic with broccoli

Carnivorous protein lust! The broccoli in my local grocery store today was beautiful, and cheap. I had it for supper, steamed, with a buttermilk dipping sauce. It was delicious and just seemed so substantial. It made me wonder if broccoli doesn’t have a significant amount of protein. After supper, I checked. Indeed it does, about […]

I'm glad that's done

It’s a fairly large turnaround area, and it’s shaped like an amoeba, but one does have to have a place for visitors to park. I believe that was about 16 tons of gravel, maybe more. The next steps for this area: planting a meandering line of border shrubs along the boundary between the driveway and […]

Canned salmon?

Salmon cake bound with egg and brewer’s yeast and fried in coconut oil, mashed sweet potatoes, cauliflower, onion. It’s all anti-inflammatory. I used to feel guilty about liking, and buying, canned salmon, for fear that the canning process degraded it. But now, I think, not anymore. Canned salmon actually is on the “Eco-best” list of […]

Three piles of gravel spread, one to go

The gravel is moist inside the pile and is a darker color. It becomes light gray when exposed to the air. Cold winter days (it was 38 degrees outside today) are perfect for hard labor outdoors. I got three of the four piles of gravel spread out for the parking and turn-around area at the […]

Driveway improvements

My driveway has been in place since last March, but now that the house and grading are done, and the boundaries of the yard are clear, I’m making a little parking and turn-around area to the left of the house. A big load of gravel was delivered today. There was no way to get the […]