Scaredy Cat

Cat

Cat: A closer look

Taken with my phone, so not the best photo. It's hilarious to see the dogs running through the pasture and the cat scrambling up the tree. 

Is it cruel of me to laugh?

Big Egg

It's back. 

Long time readers may recall I drew attention over a year ago to a piece of legislation that was absolute chicken s^&* bull s%^&. Mr. Big Food and I even wrote a paper and put together a presentation which we publicly presented earlier this year. I never got around to sharing the research on the bill here on the blog-- both the House and Senate versions died in committee. But I see now the chicken s$%^ has been amended to the Farm Bill. 

This week the US House of Representatives considers the 2013 Farm Bill — the agriculture policy tool for the federal government. Of all of the amendments that will be debated, there is one in particular that has conservatives fuming. If passed, the “Egg Bill” amendment will result in an unfunded government mandate on thousands of American family farmers.

I'm more motivated to share now. Check back after I've finished my chores.

Today is Bunker Hill Day-- But Don't Let That Keep You From Reading This Post

Battle of Bunker Hill, 1775. Known as Bunker Hill Day.

The colonists, although defeated, proved that they were able to stand against the British regulars, so morally and historically the conflict was a victory for the united colonies. (1)

Under the heading, "June 17: 'Don't Fire Until You See the Whites of Their Eyes'," Bennett (2) tells the bones of the story. British General Thomas Gage awakes in Boston and learns that two hills across the Charles River are "covered with Patriot troops and fortifications." Gage orders General William Howe to take the hills. Howe leads 2000 men with some drums and fifes up Breed's Hill. When the British were fewer than fifteen paces away, the Patriots fire. The British retreat, storm the hill again, and again retreat. The third time they find that the Patriots-- who had run out of ammo!-- were gone. About one-half of the British soldiers lost their lives. Four-hundred forty among the 3200 Patriots died.

Two asides. First, for reason of which I am totally ignorant, the battle took place at Breed's Hill but is called what it's called. Second, on this day in 1825 our old pal the Marquise laid the cornerstone at the Bunker Hill Monument.

Bennett presents this brief history in almost story-like form, not that there's anything wrong with that. But now knowing a little something about this well-connected guy, Joseph Warren who was among the 440 Patriots who died at Bunker Hill, I wondered what part he played. Knowing that names are often lost in the retelling of history, I turned to the oldest crappy old book on American history in my library, Hawthorne's History of the United States (3) in search of Joseph Warren.

I was not disappointed. Surprised? Maybe. But not disappointed.

Warren was 34 years old.

In the lead up to a blow-by-blow description of the events at Breed's and Bunker Hills on June 17, 1775, Hawthorne says this:

Immortality. If it weren't for some crappy old books, I wouldn't have known who he was.

So my next question is, "Who the heck is Hawthorne?" I don't usually find patterings of summer showers in history books, and I know the only Hawthorne I know didn't write it.

Hawthorne's History of the United States is a three volume set published in 1898. This crappy old book is properly titled, United States: From the Landing of Columbus to the Signing of the Peace Protocol with Spain. The volumes themselves are rather odd. Vol. I ends, "Bernard,". And Vol. II picks back up with, "who was pale with alarm... ."  The 1150 pages are numbered consecutively through the three books. 

In the 12 page introduction in Vol. I  Hawthorne discusses history and the recording, interpretation and presentation thereof. A snippet:

"With each successive attempt, the outlook becomes clearer and more comprehensive, the meaning of the whole more pronounced." "...  few or no pretensions to original research." Do tell.

Well. Yeah. Maybe. 

But I'm still left wondering who the heck this Hawthorne guy is. And then, I get it. From Wikipedia.

Julian Hawthorne (June 22, 1846 – July 21, 1934) was an American writer and journalist, the son of novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne and Sophia Peabody. He wrote numerous poems, novels, short stories, mystery/detective fiction, essays, travel books, biographies and histories. As a journalist he reported on the Indian Famine for Cosmopolitan magazine, and the Spanish-American War for the New York Journal.

Julian also had some thoughts about incarceration:

In 1908, Hawthorne's old Harvard friend William J. Morton (a physician) invited Hawthorne to join in promoting some newly created mining companies in Ontario, Canada. Hawthorne made his writing and his family name central to the stock-selling campaigns. After complaints from shareholders, both Morton and Hawthorne were tried in New York City for mail fraud, and convicted in 1913.^[9] Hawthorne was able to sell some three and a half million shares of stock in a nonexistent silver mine and served one year in the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary.^[10]

Upon his release from prison, he wrote The Subterranean Brotherhood (1914), a nonfiction work calling for an immediate end to incarceration of criminals. Hawthorne argued, based on his own experience, that incarceration was inhumane, and should be replaced by moral suasion. Of the fraud with which he was charged he always maintained his innocence.

Anywhooo. It's supper time. 

REFS (I'm going sloppy on format, 'cause like I said, it's supper time. :-) Fixed.

(1) Mary Emogene Hazeltine. Anniversaries and Holidays: A Calendar of Days and How to Observe Them. American Library Association, Chicago. 1928

(2) William J. Bennett and John T.E.. Cribb. The American Patriot's Almanac.  Thomas Nelson, Nashville, Dallas, etc. 2008

(3) Julian Hawthorne. United States: From the Landing of Columbus to the Signing of the Peace Protocol with Spain. Peter Fenelon Collier, New York. 1898

Recipe: Creative Cooking Hot Sweet and Sour Barbecue Sauce

CREATIVE COOKING HOT SWEET AND SOUR BARBECUE SAUCE



1/3 C salad oil

½ C celery, chopped fine

1 small sweet bell pepper, chopped fine

¾ C (packed firm) brown sugar

¾ C red wine vinegar

2 Tbsp minced chives

2 tsp dry mustard

1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

2 tsp sea salt or table salt

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper



Simmer celery and bell pepper in oil in a covered saucepan for about 10 minutes or until vegetables are soft. Purée vegetables in a blender and mix thoroughly with brown sugar, vinegar, chives, dry mustard, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper. “Sauce may be stored in a covered jar in refrigerator. Sauce must be stirred before using to blend ingredients.”

Recipe: Cajun Baked Beans UPDATED

UPDATE (6/17, 8am-ish): Mr. Big Food sent me an email this morning letting me know that he had made some changes to the recipe as he was preparing it yesterday. He said the beans, "turned out great so I made the change permanent to the recipe." I agree, so I deleted the previous version. Here's the new and improved recipe:

Make sure the beans are tender before you start baking them. This recipe can easily be doubled

CAJUN STYLE BAKED BEANS

¼ lb bacon, cut into squares

1 lb dry white beans

1 C dry white wine

Water

Tabasco, to taste

1 tsp dried thyme, crushed

2 tsp dried parsley

3 drops bitters

Salt

½ C honey

1 C good catsup, chili sauce, or barbecue sauce (preferably homemade—see recipes in Basics and Grillin’ … sections)

¼ C good mustard (preferably homemade—see recipes in Basics section)

1 Tbsp steak sauce (preferably homemade—see recipes in Basics section)

2 tsp mustard seed

Fry off bacon squares lightly, drain, and set aside. After washing beans, cook in a mixture of wine, water to cover, Tabasco, thyme, parsley, bitters, and salt. Cook beans until tender, drain (saving liquid), and place in a roaster. Preheat oven to 350^o. Mix together honey, catsup, chili sauce, or barbecue sauce, mustard, steak sauce, and mustard seed and blend into beans in roaster. Add some of the reserved bean cooking liquid to make beans a little soupy. Top with bacon squares. Bake covered for about 2 hours, stirring two or three times during cooking time and adding more reserved bean liquid if beans get too dry. After 2 hours, stir, and continue cooking uncovered if beans are still too soupy.

Dear Low-On-The Totem-Pole-Government-Employee-Of Mine,

I thought that since you had to spend your Father's Day reading my emails and monitoring my blog-- I don't think I called anyone today-- you might be feeling sort of left out of the Father's Day family fun. So I thought I'd speak to you directly-- include you, personally, in our family goings on.

It's not like I feel sorry for you, since you should know better. But whattheheck. I'm willing to give you, Low-On-The Totem-Pole-Government-Employee-Of Mine,  a second chance.

As you know, I have a couple of kids who reside in the area-- if I turn off the GPS thingy on my phone, do you still know where I am? And as you also know, they've been getting into tie-dying lately. I've posted about their tie-dying, but I won't expend the energy to search my blog for the links. I'm sure your search algorithm is faster than mine.

Anyway-- The Girls wanted to make their Step-Daddy, Mr. Big Food, a couple of tie-dyed work-worthy shirts for Fathers Day.

By the way, did you find the time to call your dad? Or were you too busy? I know there are a lot of us to keep an eye on. It sucks that you didn't get the day off to spend with your dad.

But I digress. What you did on Father's Day is not my business.

Here's how The Girls presented their tie-dyed Father's Day shirts to Mr. Big Food.

In case you can't read the signs, they say, "Happy..." "Father's..." Day."

As I've been constructing this post, I've been thinking a lot about you, Low-On-The Totem-Pole-Government-Employee-Of Mine, who's reading this.

Every single one of these folks is flourishing. It's not my business to judge your answer, but I'm still  free to ask, "Are you flourishing, Mr./Mrs./Ms/ Low-On-The Totem-Pole-Government-Employee-Of Mine?"

Tie-dying family history is what The Girls  do in their spare time. Click to enlarge.

Recipe: Thai Basil Fried Rice

No photo. Sorry.

This is something Miss M whipped up. No trip to the store involved, as have we plenty of fresh Thai basil and cilantro, enough dried chili peppers of all sorts to last a life time, fish sauce on the shelf.

The dish presents itself quite nicely. "Confetti" describes it well. If memory serves, Miss M added some homegrown baby red carrots, sliced fine, in the "add all" part of the recipe.

Easily veganizable: Omit fish sauce.

THAI BASIL FRIED RICE

4 C cold rice, cooled
2 tsp vegetable oil
1/4 tsp salt
2 cloves garlic
2 chili peppers
1-2 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp fish sauce
1/4 tsp sugar
1/2 C Thai basil
1/4 C cilantro

Stir fry garlic in oil for 30 seconds. Add rice and cook two minutes longer. Add all but basil and cilantro and cook through. Add basil and cilantro and cook 30 seconds. Serve.

Happy Father's Day!

The Farmer and His Sons

A Farmer, being at death's door, and desiring to impart to his sons a secret of much moment, called them around them and said, "My sons, I am shortly about to die. I would have you know, therefore, that in my vineyard lies a hidden treasure. Dig, and you will find it." As soon as their father was dead, the sons took spade and fork and turned up the soil if the vineyard over and over again, in their search for the treasure which they supposed to lie there. They found none, however: but the vines, after so thorough a digging, produced a crop as had never before been seen.

There is no treasure without toil.

Aesop

A BIG "Thank You" to the Father, Father-in-Law, and "step-Daddy" in my life who toiled so hard to pass on a BIG Treasured Life to their sons and daughters.

~~
from The Book of Virtues: A Treasury of Great Moral Stories. William J. Bennett ed. Simon & Schuster, New York &c. 1993.

"What would you like me to read to you?"

I asked Rocky.

He may choose from among these,

or one of these.

Rocky doesn't have a problem with anthropomorphizing animals to "reinforce 'socially dominant norms' like nuclear families and gender stereotypes" because, you know, he's a dog. He thinks they are just sweet little bedtime stories. But you know, what does he know? He's a dog.

Those City Mice Sure Do Have Some Wacky Ideas

via Goldberg at The Corner and Ace at Ace of Spades comes this:

Parents who read their kids stories about happy, human-like animals like Franklin the Turtle or Arthur at bedtime are exposing their kids to racism, materialism, homophobia and patriarchal norms, according to a paper presented at the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences.

Most animals portrayed in children’s books, songs and on clothing send a bad message, according to academics Nora Timmerman and Julia Ostertag: That animals only exist for human use, that humans are better than animals, that animals don’t have their own stories to tell, that it’s fine to “demean” them by cooing over their cuteness. Perhaps worst of all, they say, animals are anthropomorphized to reinforce “socially dominant norms” like nuclear families and gender stereotypes.

Wonder if it's okay for grownups to read this story about "human-like animals?"

As a grownup, you may be interested in this little story.

A Little Duck Tape + Some American Ingenuity =

No one is watching me.

H/t Glenn Reynolds at instapundit.com who linked to Michael S. Malone's The All Seeing Eyes in Forbes. Here's the excerpt Reynolds shares (top of the screen, above): 

The other day, my college age son quietly went around the house and put electricians tape over the camera lenses on the displays of all our home computers. I laughed when I discovered what he had done. . .then paused: after all, it wouldn’t be that hard for someone to remotely turn that camera on and secretly watch me and my family. I left the tape on. This is what it has come to. The revelations of recent days about the NSA being able to spy on the phone calls of millions of everyday Americans, without warrant, in search of a few possible terrorists has made everyone just a little more paranoid – and a little less trusting of the benign nature of our Federal government. The reality is that we may not yet be paranoid enough.

Though, as this is The South, Miss M & I put a Southern spin on this high-tech counter-surveillance technique

That's right. We used camo over blaze orange Duck Tape.

Pass It On

That's what you thought you thought, George. We knew better.

Tip of the ballcap to Mr. Big Food's Dad!

freedom. Freedom! FREEDOM!!

And now, for a nap. Because exercising all that freedom is hard work.

Hey! That's My Space!

Roy's the Boss

Josh & them had the wet-paint portion of the parking lot roped off last Sunday morning when we arrived at the Piglet. We chatted with Josh & them as we checked out. Turns out, it was Josh & them that did the painting.

It was Josh's idea to put names/initials on the employee spots. He said, "I've been working here eleven years. I thought it was time I had my own spot."

Josh is a nice young man. I've been in the Piglet a few times when his wife and kids have come in. It's so sweet to see the youngins runnin' down the aisle hollering, "Daddy! Daddy!"

Lafayette Co.

Of the United States' 3067 counties, 2136 are named for individuals! Of those, six are named in honor of the French nobleman, the Marquis La Fayette. Of those six, one is in Mississippi-- just up the road!

Before I continue, I'll answer the obvious question: "How do you know something so insanely trivial?"

Seriously? You had to ask? Crappy old book.

I mention this because according to my sources (1, 2), 236 years ago today the Marquis himself arrived in Georgetown, South Carolina, hurried to Philadelphia, and joined the American Revolution. 

As an aside, I must say if any county in Mississippi should have been named for a French nobleman, it would be the county that's home to That School Up North which was established in 1844. (The county itself was named in 1836.)

I first learned of La Fayette's participation in the Revolution from Bennett's Almanac, but the story is much more interesting Bennett lets on. (I know. I probably "learned" this some time ago but had not recalled it until today.)

La Fayette was orphaned at 13 and inherited a "princely fortune." He was a captain in the Guard when the Colonies proclaimed their independence. He wrote in his memoirs, "At the first news of this quarrel my heart was enrolled in it." Through an American agent in Paris, he arranged to enter the American service at the rank of major-general. At that time, December '76, things weren't going too well and everyone-- including our old friend Ben-- discouraged him. So adamant were folks to keep him in France that his ship was seized, and he was arrested! 

That did not stop him.

Posted at 8:15am Central: It's Going To Be A Loooong Day

Mr. Big Food has gone camping up North.

Miss M has class.

The forecast high is 95°F.

The dogs are in their second day of no pond pasture b/c they've had their flea treatment and can't get wet. 

Wish me luck.

Oh. Who am I kidding? I don't need luck. I'll bet you dollars to doughnuts another "scandal" will break today. That should keep me busy.

And Speaking of Joseph Warren... | I Laughed So Hard I Almost Cried

A bit of background about why I found this article so so so funny... .

Yesterday I had occasion to learn a bit about Joseph Warren, who among other things, helped craft the Suffolk Resolves of 1774 which denounced Parliament after the Boston Tea Party. Paul Revere carried the Suffolk Resolves to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia.

And, as long time readers of the blog and I guess now just about every civil servant knows, I like data. So this cracked me up.

The betweenness centrality scores of some crappy old terrorists

The larger the score, the more connected a node is in the network-- in this case a "Social Networke" of suspected terrorists. Note that Warren is third most connected. Here's how the author of this really really really funny serious article describes it:

Once again, I remind you that I know nothing of Mr Revere, or his conversations, or his habits or beliefs, his writings (if he has any) or his personal life. All I know is this bit of metadata, based on membership in some organizations. And yet my analytical engine, on the basis of absolutely the most elementary of operations in Social Networke Analysis, seems to have picked him out of our 254 names as being of unusual interest. We do not have to stop here, with just a picture. Now that we have used our simple “Person by Event” table to generate a “Person by Person” matrix, we can do things like calculate centrality scores, or figure out whether there are cliques, or investigate other patterns. For example, we could calculate a betweenness centrality measure for everyone in our matrix, which is roughly the number of “shortest paths” between any two people in our network that pass through the person of interest. It is a way of asking “If I have to get from person a to person z, how likely is it that the quickest way is through person x?”

That's pulled from near the end of the article. Don't be put off by talk of tables and matrices. The author, Kieran Healy, does an awesome job of walking even the data-adverse through an analysis of a sample of metadata--nothing more than the names of 254 men, and their membership in one or more of seven organizations, that's all-- to uncover a treasure trove of information that culminates in a most interesting person of unusual interest. 

To give you a taste, here's how the article-- really a blog post-- begins:

Feel Good Story of the Day

Heard this on the news. Here's the article. Do listen to the audio and be sure to scroll down far enough to catch the photo.

Why Do I worry?

The point is that I want to be governed by laws because every man is capable of being as short-sighted and stupid as me. And the evidence that some man — a Lincoln, even — did some good — the end of slavery, even – in contravention of those laws doesn’t change that.

Because he should have said, "as I." 

Well Excuuuse Me!

Anonymous isn't happy:

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "And Speaking of Benjamin Franklin":

I usеd to be ablе tо fіnd goοd
аdvice from youг aгticles.

Dear Dude,

I'm not in the advise business. If you ustacould find something here that you can no longer find here, maybe you should stop looking here and go fill up someone else's inbox with your spam.

Sincerely,

Marica

Which reminds me of something else about which I'd like to rant: Anonymous. You got something to say? Say it. Attach Your Name to it. Attach Your life, Your Fortune, and Your Sacred Honor to it. Don't be rash. But for God's Sake, don't be Anonymous.

This is what has been bothering me about the IRS Tea Party scandal. TEA stood for Taxed Enough Already. TEA Party folk just wanted to limit the size of government-- to reduce wasteful spending, get the deficit under control, to remind people that Government exists to protect the Citizen's Rights. The individuals who were "in charge" of various TEA party groups wanted to follow the rules and sell T-shirts and such without having to pay taxes on the donations like-minded people made. So they applied for tax-exempt status with the tax collectors. And-- with some notable exceptions-- as soon as the Big Gov't Tax Collectors started acting in ways the TEA partiers were railing against in the first place, the TEA partiers backed down.

What the Heck?

So as much as I enjoyed reading Paco Enterprises and Bookworm Room and other Anonymous blogs, I haven't been. (No links. You can search for them.)

As I said,  "You got something to say? Say it. Attach Your Name to it. Attach Your life, Your Fortune, and Your Sacred Honor to it. Don't be rash. But for God's Sake, don't be Anonymous." Don't be a Coward.

Related thoughts here.

And Speaking of Benjamin Franklin

oldest signer of The Declaration of Independence, who said,

Those who would give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety

it was in June of 1752 that Franklin flew a kite (1). 

In other history of June 11 (2):

1741-1775. Joseph Warren, physician and Patriot born. Warren gave up his medical practice after the Stamp Act was passed in order to become more politically active. In 1774 he helped write the Suffolk Resolves  denounced Parliament's "coercive measures" after the Boston Tea Party and called Massachusetts to arms. Paul Revere carried the Suffolk Resolves to the Continental Congress. Warren was killed on June 17, 1775 at the Battle of Bunker Hill (3).  

1776. Continental Congress appointed a committee to draft The Declaration of Independence (1)

References:

(1) William J. Bennett and John T.E.. Cribb. The American Patriot's Almanac. Thomas Nelson, Nashville, Dallas, etc. 2008.

(2) Mary Emogene Hazeltine. Anniversaries and Holidays: A Calendar of Days and How to Observe Them. American Library Association, Chicago. 1928.

(3) Charles Van Doren. Webster's American Biographies. G. & C. Merriam Company, Springfield, Mass.  1979.

I Spy...

a Rocky!

a Missy!

a posy!

a birdie!

a four-leaf clover!

Lentils

Red Lentil casserole

Complex.

I'm Naming Names: 56 of Them to Be Exact

56 Traitors

From Independence Day, 2012:

At The Volokh Conspiracy, Randy Barnett annotates the Declaration of Independence. His concise (e.g. doesn't take much time to at least skim through and come back to tomorrow when you have more time) article begins:

When reading the Declaration, it is worth keeping in mind two very important facts. The Declaration constituted high treason against the Crown and every person who signed it would be executed as traitors should they be caught by the British. Second, the Declaration was considered to be a legal document by which the revolutionaries justified their actions, and explained why they were not truly traitors. It represented, as it were, a literal indictment of the Crown and Parliament, in the very same way that criminals are now publicly indicted for their alleged crimes by grand juries representing “the People.”

But to justify a revolution, it was not thought to be enough that officials of the government of England, the Parliament, or even the sovereign himself had violated the rights of the people. No government is perfect; all governments violate rights. This was well known. So the Americans had to allege more than mere violations of rights. They had to allege nothing short of a criminal conspiracy to violate their rights systematically. Hence, the famous reference to “a long train of abuses and usurpations” and the list that follows. In some cases, these specific complaints account for provisions eventually included in the Constitution and Bill of Rights.

It ends: 

The assumption of natural rights expressed in the Declaration of Independence can be summed up by the following proposition:  “first comes rights, then comes government.”  According to this view: (1) the rights of individuals do not originate with any government, but preexist its formation;  (2) The protection of these rights is the first duty of government; and (3) Even after government is formed, these rights provide a standard by which its performance is measured and, in extreme cases, its systemic failure to protect rights — or its systematice violation of rights — can justify its alteration or abolition; (4) At least some of these rights are so fundamental that they are “inalienable,” meaning they are so intimately connected to one’s nature as a human being that they cannot be transferred to another even if one consents to do so.  This is powerful stuff.

[my emphases]

 I would emphasize different words today.

Who were these guys-- these 56 delegates to the Second Continental Congress? And how were their lives changed by becoming Traitors? Here are a few tidbits from The Founders' Almanac: A Practical Guide to the Notable Events, Greatest Leaders & Most Eloquent Words of the American Founders, Matthew Spalding, ed., The Heritage Foundation, Washington, D.C., 2002.

• Franklin, at 70, was the oldest; Thomas Lynch Jr. from South Carolina, 27, the youngest
• Eighteen were merchants, 14 farmers, four doctors, 22 lawyers, nine judges, one active clergyman
• Seventeen served in the military during the Revolution
• Five were captured by the British
• One, Thomas McKean of Delaware, wrote that he was "hunted like a fox by the enemy-- compelled to remove my family five times in a few months... "
• Two of Abraham Clark's sons were captured. John Witherspoon's son was killed at the Battle of Germantown
• Eleven had their homes and properties destroyed
• Francis Lewis' wife was taken prisoner
• John Hart died while fleeing capture

Here are the 56 Traitors, by name (links all go to Wikipedia):

• New Hampshire: Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton
• Massachusetts: Samuel Adams, John Adams, John Hancock, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry
• Rhode Island: Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery
• Connecticut: Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott
• New York: William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris
• New Jersey: Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark
• Pennsylvania: Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross
• Delaware: George Read, Caesar Rodney, Thomas McKean
• Maryland: Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton
• Virginia: George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton
• North Carolina: William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn
• South Carolina: Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton
• Georgia: Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton

Delightful Peasant Lunch &c.

Clockwise from top left: Ham Salad, Pheasant Salad, Egg Salad, Grapes

I'd just like to go on record and report that with a couple of minor exceptions, I've had a delightful weekend here at Farther Along Farm. 

EXCEPTIONS: 

It rained multiple times, but it is June in Mississippi. 

The problem is, rain throws Mr. Big Food off his cutting schedule. But he had real work to do and so made good use of rain time. 

The real work he had to do was not delightful.  

DELIGHTS:

Daughter C came out early Saturday. She and Miss M did some housecleaning. Thank you! And some weeding. Thank you! And spent some sister time doing sister things.

We all chatted about someone with whom we are all mutually acquainted. Okay. We didn't "chat," we "trashed." But that's what families do. Family members recognize that there are folks out there who don't in any way shape or form reflect our values. So when the opportunity arises, we trash them. Rest easy. If you are reading this blog, we are not trashing you.

We ate pheasant.

Oh! Before we ate Pheasant, Miss M treated us to Saturday Subway lunch. That was fun.

And then it was Sunday morning, and as is customary, Mr. Big Food & I went to the grocery store.

And we happened upon this scene as we returned.

And then we all did some stuff and had lunch (see above). 

And then, I learned what the Girls have planned for Farther Along Farm after Mr. Big Food & I cross the River Jordan/River Styx. We approve. Assuming we don't go to Heaven in the next ten years, the Farm will be paid off. They'll only need to pay the property taxes. And we hope that the profits from I'm Too Old for this Shirt T-Shirt Shop will make do. [Note to Girls: Time to pay attention. If you think you can just open up a tie-dye T-shirt shop... .]

And then, ... .

The Peasants Eat Pheasants

in cream

Who ya gonna trust?

Ghost Busters! We should view that movie again this summer.

Startpage.com touts itself as the "world's most private search engine."

I doubt that there's any privacy any more on the World Wide Web. But I've started using Startpage.