Trying new snacks

As part of sharing information and reviewing new products, I am writing this post about Kroger Brand Pub Mix. It's a salty mix of peanuts, cheddar sesame sticks, sesame mini chips, pretzel nuggets, and my favorite, pumpkin seeds, aka pepitas. I like it! The youth at my church had a game night, and this was a snack I shared. They gobbled it up. The picture shows an empty container, because that is what happened that night. So, I would say it's a hit. Try it!  http://mymagazinesharing.us

Retirement

Well, it's been a year since I last posted. I guess I've been busy. But now, this summer has been quiet and inactive since I BROKE my right ankle. Darn it!!! Five weeks later, three weeks since surgery, I am working on range of motion and still elevating and icing, since swelling is still evident. What a way to start retirement, right? Hahaha. I've heard that several times.
My current hobbies: reading, crossword puzzles, Words with Friends, and Sudoku. I'm caught up on my magazine reading. I'm also trying to get stuff together for a yard sale.
Books I've completed: Beth Macy's Truevine; Nicholas Sparks' Safe Haven and Nights in Rodanthe; and Fannie Flagg's The Whole Town's Talking and The Last Reunion of the All-Girl Filling Station. All have been good and fun or interesting.
Now that I have more time, I'll try to start back with regular entries. And I'll get back to nature. I'm hoping, once the steri-strips fall off, I can start swimming again. I need to move!!!

Visited my daughter in Olomouc, Czech Republic a few weeks ago. Public transportation always available, and beautiful cobblestone streets everywhere! She is there teaching English and making wonderful, sensitive, compassionate friends. So proud of her, and happy she's becoming a thoughtful global citizen.
So much of this country looks like Virginia: low, forested mountains and farmlands throughout the countryside. We saw solar panels and windmills as we traveled by train. We ate very well in local restaurants. Tasted local beers and wines as well! Lovely trip, thanks to our local tour guide!

Thankfulness

A few things I am thankful for during this holiday season:

 Family, a home in the great outdoors, plenty of food and warmth, a best friend who also happens to be my life partner, a beautiful daughter who is making her way in the world, animals I enjoy, a job that allows me to have a life outside of it, good health, and friends who are fun to hang around with.




  So, Glori got a little close. I love the trails around our home.

Monday Punday

Mars, here we come!

Today was the Virginia Science Festival in Roanoke. I really enjoyed listening to the research being done to get humans to Mars. There is a special, light-weight material called zylon that can withstand very high temperatures (for entry) and is built into stacked rings to help with landings. This astronaut-model was present, illustrating the new and improved spacesuits. The material was strong but lightweight as well. So much STEM and STEAM taking place today with kids everywhere. It was GREAT!!!! Thanks to all sponsors for making this happen.

Wordless Wednesday

Monday Punday!

Snakes are not enemies!

This is mole kingsnake, left. It is a skinny, 2'-3' long snake that usually remains underground and eats insects, a few mice, and maybe some frogs here and there. Sure, if cornered it may bite, as any animal might. It is NOT a copperhead. I stopped a couple of men from killing one today because they said it was a copperhead. Please realize that copperheads (shown below) have distinctly triangular heads, an obvious pattern, and is much fatter/thicker around.

This guy, right, is a copperhead. These pictures are fairly to scale, so you can see how much fatter the copperhead is, plus the pattern and head that are very distinct.

Snakes are good to have around!!!! Please don't kill one just because it's there. I know, I know, some of you are terrified of them. Not sure why that is, but just leave them alone out in the world, and they'll leave you alone.

I've had black snakes in my barn. They keep the mice under control.

Monday Punday

Rachel Carson's birthday

Picture from Sierra.Rise

Red Bugs

I came across these tiny, soft bugs today. My camera is not adequate for taking close-ups of something this tiny, so I don't  have any individual creatures. They're sort of oblong, wider near the anterior, and can stretch out to look worm-like. If you have any idea what it might be, I would love to have your input. At first, I thought it was a fungus, but it was moving!

April Flowers

Hiked up McAfee's Knob on Saturday. The day was perfect- sunny, upper 60's, and a nice breeze to cool me off just when I was getting a little warm. I took a small group of high school students who are  part of the science club. They were great and had a fun day enjoying the sights. Something I always want to instill in young people when they are out enjoying nature is this mantra: Take only pictures, leave only footprints. We all had reusable water bottles and the food containers/packaging we used were all carried out. They were not allowed to pick the flowers, no matter how tempting. These flowers were abundant along the beginning of the trail where sunlight was plentiful but filtered. The petals look like a phlox, but the leaves are serrated, so I cannot find a match in my wildflower guide. Are they Sweet Williams? Message me if you know! Click on the link below for more pictures.

McAfee's Knob pictures

Monday PunDay

I love Gemma Correll.

Signs of life

Since we had such late winter-like weather, my crocuses are late this year. So I am enjoying them now! The maples are casting a red hue over the forest, and my plums are pinkish. Daffodils have heavy heads, so I'm hoping they will open up tomorrow. With all of the trees shading my homestead, everything is just a tad later compared to town-folk. The creek is running strong and the breeze was warm today. Thank you sunshine!

Monday PunDay!!!

Think like a proton....always positive!!!

Spring is almost here!! Remember to wear green tomorrow.....avoid the pinch.

Ready for some Spring!

March is bringing us some rain today, of course, since it's Saturday. But the pasture is beginning to turn green, and the moss is perking up, so I am thankful for the rain. Looking forward to warm, not hot, sunny days when I can get outside to play in the dirt. The greenhouse near me is selling pansies, broccoli, and other cool weather plants, so I'm ready to start! I can't wait to plant my lettuce & radish seeds, and plant herbs for lovely cooking aromas. Ready for fresh after a winter of dried. This moss-covered rock outcrop is along the trail from my house through the woods to the creek and I always have to touch it as I walk by. I love that it is there since all my senses enjoy the moss stop: the forest smell of wood and leaves, the softness of the tiny leaf-like cover, the perfect green growth, and the singing birds calling and marking territory.  Respite from a busy week away from nature.

Henrietta Lacks

This beautiful woman passed away in 1951 from cervical cancer, but before that, unknown by her, cells were removed for use in cell research. Called HeLa cells, her cells were so durable, they were used  by Jonas Salk to develop the polio vaccine. The cells were cloned in 1955 and, since that time, over ten thousand patents involving HeLa cells have been registered. Researchers have used the cells to study disease and to test human sensitivity to new products and substances. 

Biographical site: Henrietta Lacks. (2015). The Biography.com website. Retrieved 09:37, Mar 09, 2015, fromhttp://www.biography.com/people/henrietta-lacks-21366671.

As a teacher, I have used this website to show  my students how consumerism is the ban of our existence. Corporations want us to buy, buy, buy so they can continue to make money, money, money. Don't make something that lasts forever! Change the fashions every year! Make the product better with more features every year! (cell phones? computers?) And we as consumers are made, by advertising, to feel like we HAVE to have the latest, we don't want to be out of fashion, and it is "cheaper" to buy new rather than fix what is broken. Visit the website and watch Annie Leonard's take on all of this. She has done her research. You don't have to agree with everything she says to still see that she is right in most instances. We need to change the way we view our stuff. I especially like "The Story of Solutions". Reduce the amount of stuff you use every day. Take reusable bags to the grocery store. Make your own dryer sheet out of sponges you can reuse. STOP buying plastic water bottles. So much waste.  Thank you. I hope you will make small changes here and there in your daily living. It all makes a difference.

http://storyofstuff.org/movies/

Wordless Wednesday