For our service men and women on duty this weekend we send them this yellow rose to let them know we haven’t forgotten about them and their worldwide missions, and pray for their safe return.
Many thanks to all of you and God bless.
August 2006
Barbecued Pizza
Really! Since we are trying to flex our power this summer, we don’t run the air conditioner. And instead of lighting the oven in a warm house, we have been cooking outdoors a lot. We can do much of what we used to do in the oven in our outdoor BBQ.
A pizza stone with a layer or two of aluminum foil under it heats up quite nicely in the BBQ with the lid closed. We prepared our pizza dough and transferred to the stone. We then added the rest of the toppings and cheese, lowered the heat and the BBQ hood and cooked the pizza to a bubbly perfection.
Nagin Still in the Running for Stuck On Stupid Award
The New Orleans/Katrina gun confiscation case takes a positive turn toward bringing justice to the nations second stupidest mayor and friends.
Image: Nagin in his future habitat.
Just in from The Patriot Post:
Judge Rules Against New Orleans in 2nd Amendment Case
On Thursday, Federal Judge Carl Barbier ruled against a motion by the city of New Orleans to dismiss a Second Amendment lawsuit involving the city’s confiscation of residents’ firearms in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The suit was brought by the National Rifle Association and the Second Amendment Foundation and names Mayor Ray Nagin and Police Superintendent Warren Riley for violating citizens’ Second Amendment rights.
“We’re encouraged by this latest ruling,” said Alan Gottlieb, founder of the SAF. “For almost a year, we’ve been fighting the city’s delay tactics, which included outright lying by city officials that any firearms had been seized. Only when we threatened Mayor Nagin and Superintendent Riley with a motion for contempt did the city miraculously discover that they actually did have more than 1,000 firearms that had been taken from their owners.”
More than an effort to protect New Orleans gun owners, SAF intends this suit “as a warning to public officials across the country to forget about seizing firearms from their law-abiding owners in the event of a natural or man-made disaster.” The People’s Republic of New Orleans still holds two trailers filled with citizens’ firearms confiscated after Katrina.
I said “second stupidest mayor” above – Nagin has nothing to compare to the Runt Mayor of Los Angeles who would stop at nothing to disarm the city, and is, in my opinion, miles ahead of Nagin in the Stuck on Stupid award. Despite four attempts, Li’l Antonio has not passed the California Bar Exam, and thus remains unlicensed to practice law. But he is sure he understands more about it than you do.
Image: Li’l Antonio speaks at the Anti-Christ-Liberals-Union (could that be Nagin’s baldpate in the bottom of the image?)
God forbid if some liberal gun phobia retard politician tries to take our defenses from us when (not if) a major quake hits the Los Angeles area. Think back to the trite old adage about “prying from our cold dead hands.”
Grand Canyon Morning Colors
We already have enjoyed our summer vacation with a stop at the Grand Canyon but always enjoy a fresh look at that magnificent spectacle. Today’s visit to the National Park System‘s Grand Canyon Webcam yielded this view from Yavapai Point on the South Rim, elevation 7084 feet.
Yard Long Flower
Not really — the produce from this vine is called Yard Long Beans — also known as Asparagus bean, dow gauk, Chinese long beans, Peru bean, and Snake bean. The flowers are pale, delicate little things about the size of a thumbnail or just a little bigger. This photo was snapped in our garden this morning. The little beans rising on the left are about an inch long (~3cm), but they will be as long as your forearm (Cap’n says a cubit??) in a couple of weeks when they get picked.
I found this on Farm and Garden:
ASPARAGUS BEAN
History, definition & classification
The asparagus or yard long bean originated in southern Asia and is now grown extensively in Asia, Europe, and most recently, the United States. These unique beans grow on twining, delicate stems with a tenacious root system. The plants bloom in mid-summer with a pair of large white or purple flowers. Once pollinated, the flowers are followed by tiny dark green beans that reach a foot long in only a few days. The beans can grow up to three feet long, ripening to pale green and inflating as the red or black seeds ripen.
Although they resemble pole snap beans (Phaseolus vulgaris), asparagus beans are more closely related to southern cowpeas, Vigna unguiculata. Asparagus bean, Vigna unguiculata subsp. sesquipedalis, is called dow gauk in China, sasage in Japan, and Chinese long bean or yardlong bean in Europe and the United States.
Oh, and there’s the Other Dog
In stark contrast to Bear, this is Moon. They are both from the same litter but I find it hard to believe sometimes. This one is broke.
Now don’t get me wrong — she is gentle and loves everyone and has a good disposition. Just a few bad habits (or instincts maybe) — she digs up the garden and occasionally eats vegetation that disagrees with her (picture messes to clean up), so she has to stay in the dog run most of the time. Not to worry, though, the Mama (that would be me) spends quality time with both dogs and sees that they get water and treats and (believe it or not) gourmet dog food daily. We save meat scraps in the freezer, and concoct “slump” for them: boiled meat scraps in rice with chicken or beef stock served over the traditional dry dog chow. Oh yeah, they love their Mama.
My Canine Companion
Update: Welcome to Lorie Byrd viewers! Thanks for the link Lorie!
This is “Bear.” She is a German Shepherd and Labrador mix. Bear is an exceptionally bright girl and is my constant companion at home. Always the protector of the Mama (that would be me), she lets me know when squirrels run the wires overhead or when geese fly by and even if an airplane towing a banner approaches. I guess if there is ever a paratrooper drop in the area, Bear will let me know.
She just got home from the groomer when I took this picture of my pretty friend.
