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Monthly Archives: May 2011

Can you espy the rabbit?

The rabbit ran back into the rabbit patch before I could get any closer. It was out for its evening silflay.

Digital Kinkade?

A friend sent me this altered photograph today. He took a copy of a photo on this blog, then applied digital effects to the photo using tools at BeFunky.com. I guess I’m getting ever closer to making Acorn Abbey look like a Thomas Kinkade painting, as long as some digital effects are applied. The wildflower […]

Watership Down

Looking toward the rabbit patch at the abbey I first read Watership Down back in the 1970s, soon after the book first came out. Wikipedia says the book was turned down by 13 publishers before it was finally accepted by a small publisher. It was an instant classic and has sold more than 30 million […]

Got a revolution?

Jefferson Airplane, Woodstock 1969: Got to Revolution I am dumbfounded at the passivity of today’s young people, particularly recent college graduates. If they got any education at all for the money they spent on a college education, then they ought to be able to see that they are among the designated losers in an already […]

Prime suspect: weasel

After some Googling and discussion with old hands at keeping chickens, Ken and I are of the opinion that the most likely suspect in the killing of our two young chickens last week is a weasel. Googled sources say that there are indeed weasels in North Carolina. Several sources say that weasels, pound for pound, […]

There's always wildlife drama

Photos by Ken Ilgunas There is such a variety and abundance of wildlife around the abbey that there’s always some kind of wildlife drama going on. Recently Ken was sitting in the rocking chair on the side porch. A bird flew right past him, hit the window, and fluttered into the yard. It was alert, […]

First cabbage

It wasn’t all that long ago that the cabbage plants were seedlings under the grow light, less than an inch high. Today we harvested the first cabbage. It’ll be served tonight at supper, when we’ll be joined by one of Ken’s former professors who is coming over from Durham. On Monday we froze four gallons […]

Wildflowers in the landscape

When you’re starting a new landscape, and when you’ve got lots of area to fill, it makes sense to have some wildflower patches. Last year I flung a bunch of coreopsis seed in some rough areas where I was not mowing. The coreopsis didn’t bloom in its first year, but this year it’s making a […]

Life goes on…

The chickens — Patience, Chastity and Ruth — seem to have developed a new behavior. This morning the three of them gathered along the fence at the bottom of the garden, at the point nearest the house, and sang. They were looking toward the house while they sang, and it went on for quite some […]

The Internet as it used to be

Warning: This is a nerd post! People sometimes ask me how long I’ve been on the Internet. I’ve been on the Internet since the mid-1980s. Then when people ask me what the Internet was like back then, I find the question almost impossible to answer. It’s simply too geeky for most people to want to […]