I made this video a while back and think it’s time to post it again. We had a family tragedy this week and need to be cheered up a bit. This helps.

If you listen to the lyrics from ZZ Top’s ‘Gun Love‘, you will realize how appropriate the soundtrack is to the video clips I cobbled together. I did this in celebration of her enjoyment of the shooting hobby, and the self-defense benefits that result from training and practice.

These shots are from 2007 and her technique has done nothing but improve since then, with encouragement from the likes of gun professionals like Todd Jarrett, Michael Bane and Kerby Smith.

She’s a real gun lover!

Here - you try to pronounce the name of this little cactus:

By any name you might call it, though, it has pretty little flowers - don’t you think? Click the image below to enlarge.

One after another, my peanut cactus hybrid produces these beautiful orange and pink Rose Quartz cactus flowers in late spring and early summer . . .

As usual, you can click the image to enlarge.

Looking through some of the old photos from 2007, I came across this one of the S&W 686 with .357 magnum rounds loaded into an open cylinder. This falls into the ‘gun art’ category, don’t you think?

Click image to enlarge.

For the last week or so, we have been making arrangements to attend the Gun Blogger Rendezvous which will be at the Silver Legacy Hotel in Reno, Nevada. The event is scheduled for September 10-13, 2009. We’ve sent off our registration and made the hotel reservations, so all we need to do is fill in some details for the trip (we’re driving from the Los Angeles area), like staying near Yosemite NP on the way up and the Owens Valley on the way back. We’re looking forward to going to Reno.

Over the years, we have visited Reno many, many times, enjoying every visit. We’ve been going to Reno ever since it really was “The Biggest Little City in the World.” Don’t get us wrong, we like the bright lights and big hotels in the New Reno, but we’re also quite nostalgic about the way it was.

In August of 2007, we posted about Reno’s famous welcome sign. Here is the original article repeated here:

After reading news accounts about the contribution of pigeon dung to the collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis, I was reminded about how pigeons similarly factored into the destruction of the famous “RENO - The Biggest little city in the world” sign that spans the entrance to the downtown gambling district. I recall reading a the story in the 1980’s about how the old sign became inhabited by pigeons that roosted or nested in the sign. They got in through gaps in the sign and, of course, pooped while they were in there.

Image right: Reno sign, 1980’s - click to enlarge

Eventually, despite having been evicted several times by the city’s maintenance crews, the pigeon problem persisted until one day there was an electrical short-circuit in the sign. The methane from the dung ignited; there was a minor explosion and a fire afterwards that damaged the sign beyond repair. The sign was removed and subsequently replaced by a newer Vegas-style beauty which electronically beckons visitors to the downtown district. While it’s a beautiful sight, the new sign doesn’t have the old sign’s charm and breaks the promise for a “little city” beyond. Recent visitors to the new Reno, if they knew the old Reno, will know what I mean.

Image left: New Reno sign - click to enlarge

As for pigeons? They’re just rats with wings.

Obama style . . .

Via The Patriot Post.

Long may she fly over the land of the free.

And happy birthday to the United States Army!

Damsel and I decided to have hamburgers and roasted potato spears today. We didn’t just buy ground beef patties and throw them on the grill, but rather ground up some brisket and put in the seasonings ourselves. Damsel prepared four half-pound patties from a two pound brisket we bought on sale and had in the freezer until yesterday.

I started the patio grill and preheated to 400°F with the lid closed. A low flame setting does the job. Meanwhile, Damsel sliced up the potatoes into spears and anointed them with seasonings and some EVOO.

She then puts the potato slices on a baking sheet and I slip them onto the shelf in the preheated grill. There they sit for 20-25 minutes when I take the tongs out and turn them over on the baking sheet. After another 25 minutes, they’re done. Moved them to a warm place on the grill and turned up the heat on the other side for the burger patties.

Grilled the patties until medium. For the last minute or so, I topped the patties with Havarti cheese slices. We like Havarti better than cheddar or American slices.

When the burgers were done, we brought them in and fixed up paper plates with the cheeseburgers on buns with onion, tomato and lettuce. Today, we added some green goddess dressing. Served with the ‘taters, this was sure a good meal!

This one is shades of pink. These two-tone hybrid Gerberas have just started showing up in the garden shop this spring. We think they are very pretty and love them in the patio. Click for full size.

Taken during a recent visit to the Botanic Garden - a red Hollyhock, a.k.a. Alcea.

From Wikipedia - Alcea:

Hollyhocks are popular garden ornamental plants. The flowers have been selected for variations in color, with dark purple, red and white-flowered plants available in addition to the colors found in wild plants.

Hollyhocks are very drought resistant, and do well in full sun locations that might be too hot or dry for other plants. They produce large, flat coin-shaped seeds (1/2″ diameter) that seem to grow easily wherever they drop. While an individual plant might only live a handful of years, by that time chances are good it will leave plenty of descendants. They have very long taproots which make transplanting difficult.