The Story Goes On

This is my 20 year plus old trellis made from PVC and field fencing . Wisteria is planted on each end of the arch that I created . Sadly the lack of bright sunlight inhibits a heavy profusion of flowers and fragrance  in the summertime . The arch is over the steps that lead from the patio .  And, the new fountain is at one end of the trellis-arch .  Looks pretty good - ya think ? 

Now , Let's continue exploring Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon .  Science is a funny thing ?  Not in a comical way but strange way . With the recent pandemic it has become very clear how mysterious the phrase "science tells us" can become . 

With Baader-Meinhof effect , also known as frequency illusion , recency illusion and selective bias we think something is mysteriously happening often, but there is a difference between something happening a lot and something you're starting to detect a lot .  

In 2005 , a Stanford scholar described frequency illusion as having two components . The first is selective attention , which is when you notice things that interest you most while disregarding the rest .  The second is confirmation bias , which is when you look for things that support your way of thinking while disregarding things that don't .

This phenomenon can cause problems in the Medical Community . Human beings are not immune to frequency bias . To guard against this "double-blind" studies are completed whereby neither participants nor researchers know who's getting what treatment .

The Legal Community has acknowledged that "human memory is not foolproof" when considering eyewitness testimony in a trial .

So , now then , what does the Baader-Meinhof Gang also known as Red Army Faction - a militant West German terrorist group that was active in the 1970s have to do with all of this ?

Are you ready for some crazy and more crazy ?

"Well , just as you might suspect , it appears that it was born of the phenomenon itself . It may go back to an on-line discussion board in the mid 1990s , when a commenter named - the frequency illusion "The Baader-Meinhof phenomenon"  for lack of a better phase after hearing two references to the gang within 24 hours .  And it stuck . The phenomena has nothing to do with the gang !

Well Folks , Have you wrapped your mind around all of this info .    Strange stuff . 😏 I think we will return to Garden Talk tomorrow .

Bye,

Mary

Who Are Demeter And Persephone

How is that for a title. Any guesses?  

These lovely pieces of garden wall art were given to me years ago by a friend who included this story of the origin and inspiration for the artist.

First of all, it is looking a lot like WINTER.   

Does that help?

Well, let me tell you the story about Demeter and Persephone. 

 "According to Greek mythology, they were goddesses who ruled over the growth and death of the earth's vegetation. 

One day, Demeter, goddess of all growing things, could not find her beloved daughter, Persephone. For nine days she searched and asked after the child, but no one had seen her.

On the 10th day, Triptolemus told how the earth opened up and a chariot drawn by black horses appeared and disappeared, the drivers face obscured but his right arm tightly clasping a struggling maiden. 

Demeter then knew that Hades, god of the underworld, had stolen Persephone, probably in collusion with his brother Zeus, ruler of the gods.

Demeter refused to return to Olympus, home of the gods, and wandered the earth, lamenting her loss and forbidding the trees to yield fruit and the fields to bear grain. Gifts and sweet-talk failed to move Demeter. Zeus was powerless to save the race of man.

Zeus sent a message to Hades, and they agreed to release Persephone if only she had not eaten the food of the dead. Persephone, though sorely tempted, had not eaten a bit from a crust of bread nor a sip of water.

Their ruse having failed, Zeus and Hades were obliged to release Persephone to her mother's arms, when a gardener appeared, claiming to have seen Persephone eat six seeds of a pomegranate plucked from Hades orchard. 

Demeter remained adamant and Hades was forced to release Persephone. Save for 3 months when she would rule with Hades as Queen of the underworld. 

It is during those 3 month that nothing grows while Demeter mourns the annual loss of her beloved daughter Persephone. 

And that is why we have WINTER." 

So, there you have it.  Just a little trivia!

What do you think your Winter is going to be like?

Mary

The Sun Is Shining Today

Following two heavy rain storms with some fierce winds and snow at the higher elevations.  Another storm is on its way for tomorrow.  It is so good to get some rain which is needed badly .  But, the mudslides and flooding of the California wildfire lands is so devastating following the horrific trauma of so many losing their homes and many lives .

The outreach of help from throughout the state and further is remarkable and so important. 

On Tuesday, Ivy finally saw her Vet following my rescheduling of her appointment from the previous Wednesday.  Everything checked out great and the recommendation for hairball control was for me to continue with my revised type of food.  She received her vaccinations and had her nails clipped.  And, she was a Very Good Kitty Cat .   No photos today .  She sleeps a lot .

This past week Ivy has showed me that she can hunt out any location she wants in the house . It happens at night and usually involves food.  She is very curious and has a very soft touch as she sometimes glides from one surface to another.  Her last night adventure has totally amazed me .  She managed to push a small bag of cat food to the floor off of a very high shelf .  And, she was chewing on the bag .  You could think that I never Feed her !!!

Now - - - This is JUST CRAZY.  Have you heard of this cake?  I guess this originated in 2016.  I just may be behind the times, as they say!  This is a Savory Soul Cake with three layers of cornbread and is stuffed with mac & cheese and candied yams.  The cake is topped off with mashed potatoes as frosting with a drizzle of gravy.  And, of course, some fried chicken or turkey.   It is called Savory Thanksgiving Cake.  Check it out at this link.

What will be next?  

It reminds me of Turducken of many years ago !  It originated in 1985.  Check it out at Turducken .

That's my cooking trivia for today.  Have a Great Day .

Mary

What Is Your Cat TAILING You

A Guide To Cat Tail Language

As you know, my cat is DEAF .  By instinct they sometimes learn to communicate with us in varied or more exaggerated ways different than a hearing cat .  So, I am always looking for information that will assist me in being the best Cat MaMa I can be!

THE POSITION OF YOUR CAT'S TAIL CAN TELL YOU A LOT.

IF YOUR  CAT'S TAIL IS - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

UPRIGHT - - - CONTENT

UP AT A 45-DEGREE ANGLE  - - - UNSURE

ANGLED BACK AND MOVING BACK AND FORTH - - - GOOD EXCITED or FEARFUL EXCITED   (The ears and eyes can help determine which.)

UPRIGHT, MOVING BACK AND FORTH SLIGHTLY - - - HAPPY

UPRIGHT, TIP BENT - - - FRIENDLY

STRAIGHT, ALMOST LEVEL WITH THE SPINE - - - UNEASY - NOT NECESSARILY AFRAID

HANGING DOWN, WITH A DIP NEAR THE BASE - - - AGGRESSIVE

QUICKLY SWISHING BACK AND FORTH - - - ANGRY

PUFFED - - - FRIGHTENED

DOWN AT A 90-DEGREE ANGLE - - - ATTACK MODE

TUCKED BETWEEN THE LEGS - - - SCARED, POSSIBLY EXPERIENCING PAIN

SITTING UPRIGHT, TAIL TIP IS MOVING - - - ALERT, INTERESTED

Obviously, this is not an exact science.  But, interesting, nonetheless.

Ivy says " I never will tell my secrets".   "Life is good just the way it is."

I am so pleased and thankful with the joy that Ivy has brought to my life since she came to live with me in March of this year .  I think she is happy with the love and pampering she will always receive from me .  I love picking her up because she never resists which is interesting since she has issues with too much closeness.  She feels like a big soft fluffy marshmallow when I pick her up to cuddle !  It feels like a win-win situation to me !

Mary 

Well - Hello There

And ,  How Are You?   My name is EDGAR and I have found a new home in this beautiful bottle tree house .   Look, there is more -

This is a very good place for me because it is sheltered against the wind and it is somewhat hidden so any young humans that may think of a little mischief don't know I am here !

And , it won't be long before all those figs in the Fig Tree behind me will be ripe and ready for some sweet pleasure eating !

Those figs are everywhere !

 With this super hot weather it won't be long before they will be soft, purple and juicy .

This year the tree is huge even though I trimmed it quite severely last fall .  Perhaps the daily hand watering of the garden has coaxed it to exceed all expectations .

A couple more photos that may be of interest .  On the right of the photo you can see the trunk at the base of the Fig Tree .  Now notice the large roots growing on the surface of the ground.

I have never seen anything like that before .   I think it is like that because the ground is filled with so much rock .   Yes, it is my NEMESIS again !  THE ROCK .
It trails out in all directions .  At least I know the Fig Tree is on my side and isn't a quitter !

I am beginning to marvel at the fact that there is any semblance of a garden here especially since there has never been a professional landscaping company involved which would mean that loads and loads of rich soil would be trucked in .  The piles of nice dirt  (only a gardener would call dirt - nice.  Am I right ?)  were so tall and so many that I could not see over them .  I saw that with two of my neighbors, one across the street and one next door to my house .

How about a little trivia for you  .  There is evidence of a mine (probably gold)  on my property. Actually close to where the blue bottle tree is planted.  For the longest time my plants would disappear .  YES, just disappear !   And, after some PI work on my behalf, I could see that I could not see ( how do you like that combination of words) the bottom of a very large hole and it was surrounded with a lot of very very large rock .  So, you know of my overabundance of unwanted rock.  Well, I just started throwing the rock down the big hole.  Eventually, my plants stopped disappearing! The mine is on the property line and I could see some openings on the other side .  For the longest time it was the home of a family of skunks . YES, SKUNKS. One night I looked out my living room window with a flashlight and I saw a Mama Skunk and eight little babies trailing behind her coming out of their home .  Living with nature is grand !

Oh, another piece of trivia.  Since, my house is the first house on the block that is outside of the original 1800's Township this property was used as the town dump !  Yes, you heard me right !

So, it is quite unique and surprising that I have my gardens and without professional landscaping.

Just one more comment.  The largest item I have dug up was a large bed spring .  And, there still are many odd shapes of metal poking out of the ground.

WOW, I really got on a roll, didn't I ?

Next time I'll tell you about last nights vandalizing in my neighborhood .  Interesting that I would write about "human mischief" at the beginning of this post before I even knew there was any such issue here at my home and the neighbors !

The end,  yes, really !  Be Good .  No mischief, OK ?

Mary

Dog Days Of Summer

Is it? And, where did the saying come from?

Turns out it is really, really old - going back to Roman Times according to the Internet. "The ancient Romans noticed that the Hottest days of the year, that is, in late July and early August, coincided with the appearance of Sirius - the Dog Star, in the same part of the sky as the Sun.  Sirius is the largest and brightest star (20 times brighter than the sun) seen from Earth in the nights sky."

So, now you know.

Another Daylily has opened and it has a name.

I hope you are enjoying your weekend during these "Dog Days Of Summer".

Mary

Venus Or Mars

     Women are much more complicated than men. 

               Men are very simple. And you know why?

                           It’s because their brains are so different. 

Interesting and entertaining concepts from the Internet.  

 Concepts that probably will be debated forever forward!  

First, I want to start with men. Men’s brains are very unique. Most women don’t realize that whether we are having sex or watching sports, our brains are made up of little boxes.

We’ve got a box for everything. We’ve got a box for the car. We’ve got a box for the money. We’ve got a box for the job. We’ve got a box for you. We’ve got a box for the kids. We’ve got a box for your mother somewhere in the basement.

We’ve got boxes everywhere. And the rule is: the boxes don’t touch. When a man discusses a particular subject, we go to that particular box, we pull that box out, we open the box, and we discuss only what is in THAT BOX. And then we close the box and put it away being very, very careful not to touch other boxes.

Now women’s brains are very, very different from men’s brains. Women’s brains are made up of a big ball of wire. And everything is connected to everything. The money is connected to the car and the car is connected to your job and your kids are connected to your mother and everythingisallconnected.

It’s like the internet superhighway, and it’s all driven by energy that we call emotion. It’s one of the reasons why women tend to remember… everything.

Because if you take an event and you connect it to an emotion and it burns in your memory and you can remember it forever. The same thing happens for men. It just doesn’t happen very often, because quite frankly… we don’t care. Women tend to care about everything.

Now men, we have a box in our brain that most women are not aware of. This particular box has nothing in it. In fact, we call it the ‘nothing’ box.

And of all the boxes a man has in his brain, the ‘nothing’ box is our favorite box. If a man has a chance, he’ll go to his nothing box every time. That’s why a man can do something seemingly completely brain dead for hours on end. You know, like fishing.

Now they’ve actually measured this. The University of Pennsylvania a couple of years ago did a study and discovered that men have the ability to think about absolutely nothing, and still breathe.

Women can’t do it. Their mind has never stopped. And they don’t understand the ‘nothing’ box, and it drives them CRAZY because nothing drives a woman more crazy and makes them feel more irritated than to watch a man doing nothing.

The California Weather conditions continue to be devastating for so many. With the most recent storm there are increased mud/hillside slides, roads covered with water, very fast flowing creeks and rivers, many levee breaks, stranded vehicles and people stranded in their homes an cars. 

The streets where I moved from in San Jose are flooded with very high water. The local news is showing pictures of areas that I am very familiar with all the way to Monterey County and Los Angeles and I can hardly believe what I see. 

My home is dry and I am safe. However, the home next to me which sits lower than mine has a very flooded back yard covered with dirty brown water. It is taking longer to be absorbed with each new storm. 

The Murphys Park is severely flooded.

Mary

Have You Met Popeye - Therapy Dog

This is one Very Lucky little fellow. I love a warm and fuzzy story. Do you ?

This little sweetheart was once a starving stray puppy who used to eat whatever he could find.  His owner, Ivy Diep found him as a dirty unkempt and hungry puppy in L.A. Now he dines out at the finest restaurants in town. Fear Not. His owner makes sure he does NOT consume any harmful food items. He is quite a Fluffy-Foodie-Star/Model. I wonder if he has an hourly rate for services !

Take a moment to check out his Heart Warming Story. If you view the video you will see his work as A THERAPY DOG.  Allegedly, he has over 100,000 followers on Instagram. Check out Instagram for Popeye's "Dining Out" photo diary.

It's an overload of cute.

I hope you are having a warm and cozy day.

Mary

I Said What Is It

On Friday when I was at the Post Office a VERY LONG, VERY LARGE AND VERY SHINY VEHICLE pulled in the driveway and drove to the back where there is parking. I don't recall ever seeing a vehicle THAT LONG in the past other than maybe the  large commercial transport trucking fleet.

Remember, I have been living in the country for many years since I moved from the city. However, we are a county of many wineries. What does that have to do with anything?      You will see!

The second thought I had on Friday was maybe it was a TOY HAULER travel trailer which is designed to haul and transport heavy items like motorcycles, golf carts, four wheelers  and maybe race cars. I recently learned about Toy Haulers when snooping around websites about vintage trailers. But, it really looked too pristine for that.  Also, there was a lovely looking lady at the wheel! Look at that thing. It is huge. And, it looked totally black. I could not see the darkened windows because of the direction of the sun reflection. And, the front looked like a truck verses a limousine which we see frequently around here for Wedding Celebrations.

As I was saying "What is it?" a man nearby at the Post Office said "It is a Party Tourist Bus".     Sure enough.      Party! Party!

This is an example of available interiors.!!! Some even have a stripper pole! There are all  kind of interior designs. Some of these vehicles are as long as 39 feet long. "Show me the money" and they will make it!

I imagine it was a Wine Tasting Tourist Bus. It was parking at the back entrance of one of our large wine tasting wineries. There are wine tasting rooms around every corner - it seems. Really - many are next door to each other. When I moved here we had seven churches and seven wineries. Now,  I think there are over twenty wine tasting rooms very nearby - - - and still seven churches!

 I sure hope the wine tasting guests in the Party Bus had a good time.

Let's have a glass of wine together.

Mary

The Spice Tin In My Historic Gold Mining Town

I was just cruising around the internet cloud and found some history about the Spice Shop that I mentioned yesterday. There is so much history in this little town that I live in. Much more than I will ever learn. We have a fabulous Historical Society in this county that even houses the old JAIL from days gone by. So very educational and interesting.

The following script is from our local newspaper in 2009. I have highlighted in red the specific historical points of interest. I hope you enjoy the little tidbits about my town.

“We have dealt with a variety of suppliers to obtain herbs, spices, salts and mushrooms from all over the world,” says Patty Schulz. “Some of the rare spices available for purchase include Marash chili flakes, saffron from Spain and black truffle salt."

The Spice Tin is housed in an historic building that has its own spicy history. It once served as the entrance to an underground tunnel used to secretly move whiskey to the Murphys Hotel during Prohibition. The metal encased building was originally located at the corner of Main St. and Big Trees Rd.  In 1910 it was moved to its present location and served as storage for the old general store. 

Great care has been taken to keep the original nature of the structure intact. It was during the reconstruction that the tunnel was discovered and its history revealed. The Spice Tin is open seven days a week from 11:00 to 5:00. Further information is available at the store’s web site www.thespicetin.com.

Well, that's it for today.

Hug your pets!
Mary     

I Know - I Know It's February

But, I feel like I want to be a ground hog and stay in my warm and cozy hole. I know  Punxsutawney Phil has shown us that we can expect an early spring. At least, in Pennsylvania! I have just one tidbit of trivia for you, which is one among many.

Groundhog Day has its roots in astronomy. What you might not know is that Groundhog Day is really an astronomical holiday.

                         Looks like Phil is being a little argumentative today!

Well, that is my tidbit of trivia for today! I think it is clear that I am not in a very talkative mood today nor have I been for a few days. I don't much care whether it is spring or winter. I just want my body to cooperate and get back to Status Quo (as I knew it) which I can better tolerate.

What a Sad Sack I am today. This too, will pass - It always does. 

Lily is doing Status Quo like I would like to be doing. Actually, she has had three terrific days. When her Dr. Ray called on Monday (as he usually does) he asked if she had any weaknesses in her limbs. My reply was "Not at all, she acts like a puppy". However, today she is having some of the coughing and gagging. But, she sleeps well without breathing interruptions which is good. I have found that if I spend time with her when she is having her difficulty and I gently massage her while quietly comforting her she  responds well. It was quite remarkable to me the first time I observed her response. It was kind of like her breathing/heart rhythm pattern was reset! So, anyway that is my little sweetie pies story today.

I sure hope your week has gone well. Tomorrow is a new day!

Mary 

Have You Heard About The Yarn Bomber

I have heard of yarn bombing but I did not know that there was the distinction of Yarn Bomber given to one person. However, it looks like if anyone deserves to be called "The Yarn Bomber",  the creator of this project may be the one.

Red Heart Yarn was donated for the project!

A few statistics for you:
1 crocheter
2+years of work
1089 square feet
50+pounds
approximately 25 miles of yarn

The size was established by the aid of a professional surveyor! The gentleman (YES - gentleman) that crocheted this is hoping to win the Guinness World Record for the World's Largest Granny Square. Check out www.yarnbomber.com/world-record-attempt.html for more interesting facts and photos.

Enjoy and have a good day.
Mary

Can There Be Too Much Water

You bet there can be! And, especially when there is a drought, having too much water in the wrong place is not - not good.

For days I had water pooling on the surface of the ground cover (Freelander Blue Prunella) near my White Garden. So, I started digging and sure enough the water line from the meter to the house was having a gay ol' time shooting water.

The water line was placed when the house was built in 1973. Back then - yes, back then, they used a Polybutylene piping in new construction. It was a low-cost piping formed of plastic resin and was a substitute for copper piping in both underground water mains and interior plumbing. It has been discovered that as poly pipe ages and reacts with water-soluble oxidants, it begins to degrade and can leak and cause damage.

Polpbutylene piping is no longer used. It was recommended that I have the line from the meter replaced. I think NOT. Thank you very much! But, the repair is going to do quite nicely. It so happens that several years ago when I had a small numbers of sprinklers installed they nicked the water line in that exact site and had repaired it. See that huge rock below the water line. That is what my entire property is like. Gardening is oh so much fun when I want to do planting! It usually takes removal of about a five gallon bucket of rock in order to plant a one-gallon container plant. And, as you can see, many of the rocks are what I call "NON-NEGOTIABLE".

It is a good thing that I enjoy the outdoors. I have had over twenty years to sit and dig holes with an array of hand tools negotiating with rocks to let me in. I have to stay away from long handled pry bars because of my back. Where there is a will, there is a way.

I like to joke about being MS GOTROCKS. However, I ain't got money but I sure got ROCKS!  

       Just a little trivia - in case you are younger than me, most are.  Ms Gotrocks is a person who acts like they have a lot of money to spend and flaunts it.

Mary