Category Archives: postaday

October 18, 2013

What Up, Wooly? 10/17/13 Thought of the Day

By ritalovestowrite
Wooly bear caterpillar 5

Wooly bear caterpillar 5

For today’s blog I’d been thinking of doing a humorous screen play about the epic turf war between lady bugs and stink bugs currently raging on rural barn sidings, screened porches, and front doors  across the Mid Atlantic. As the temperature dances from hot to cool to hot and back, and the crops that acted as their summer homes are harvested, these poor winged creatures don’t seem to know what to do. The one thing they DO seem bent on doing is grossing me out. One stink bug… I can deal with that. A couple of lady bugs… we’ll call it a picnic. But depending on the temperature and location it’s like a scene from the Ten Commandments out there.

So, yeah… I was going to write something funny along the lines of West Side Story where the gangs are the Lady Bugs and the Stinkers (Stink Bug, Stink Bug, crazy Stink Bug — get cool Stink Bug! Da, da, da, do, da, do, dum.)

… But then I drove home from the library.

On the roughly three-mile stretch of black top from the library to my house I saw several dozen Wooly Bear Caterpillars crossing the road. All of them  curiously following the same straight line. All moving fast enough for me to notice the path their little bodies were taking as I sped along at 45 mph. They were like zombie Woolies, mindlessly following some greater command.

This, I quickly realized, would make a much better bug movie script… I mean blog post.

Wooly Bear Caterpillar 1 greeted me In the drive way.

Wooly Bear Caterpillar 1 greeted me In the drive way.

Mention “Wooly Bear Caterpillars” and the first thing people think about is not — oddly enough — a zombie bug apocalypse, but, the long-held myth that the fuzzy little creatures can tell how cold the upcoming winter will be. Some folks think a wide band of copper means a long hard winter. Others think a skinny band of copper and wider bands of black at the ends of the caterpillar indicates a rise in fleece and down-filled jacket sales. Actually it is neither. The change in coloration is due to the AGE of the caterpillar. The older the little fuzzy fella is the more black he will have at his polar regions. So IF Mr. Wooly is a weather indicator he is of the retro variety. If you see one with a lot of black (and a small band of copper) in the spring he has been in the caterpillar stage for a long period of time, because the temperatures have remained cold well into April.

Wooly bear caterpillar 2

Wooly bear caterpillar 2

So are Wooly Bears actually wooly? No. The black and red bands are considered BRISTLES. And, as any one who knits can tell you… wool good… bristles… err, not so good. Know the difference.

Is  a Wooly Bear a BEAR? Also NO. He is a CATERPILLAR, the larval stage of the Isabella tiger moth, a pale yellow moth that has small dark spots on its wings. The Isabella tiger moth lays  her eggs over the summer. Those eggs hatch and grow into our friend the Wooly Bear Caterpillar.

Isabella Tiger Moth, Pyrrharctia isabella, adu...

Isabella Tiger Moth, Pyrrharctia isabella, adult (imago), Location: Durham, North Carolina, United States (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Is the Wooly Bear named Wooly Bear because it looks like a wooly bear? If you think bears are 2″ long and oval in shape, then, YES. I’ll give you, they do LOOK furry, but THIS is a bear…

Brown bear rearing2

Brown bear rearing2 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

THIS is a caterpillar…

Wooly bear caterpillar 3

Wooly bear caterpillar 3

To further research “Wooly Bears Attack! The Movie” the dog and I kept a look out for the traveling hoards of caterpillars during our walk. [That’s where I took these photos. All the Wooly photos on this blog may look like one caterpillar model cleverly posed in different gravelly locations, but actually each photo is of a different W.B. actor. (And these were just a few of the ones we saw).]

It seems they are looking for a nice place to weather the winter.

Mature woolly bears search for overwintering sites under bark or inside cavities of rocks or logs. (That’s why you see so many of them crossing roads and sidewalks in the fall.) … When spring arrives, woolly bears spin fuzzy cocoons and transform inside them into full-grown moths. [Almanac.com]

Ah Ha! So the mystery of the zombie caterpillar road crossing is solved. And I think the only thing they are really predicting is that we’ll have lots of fuzzy cocoons next spring.

Wooly bear caterpillar 4

Wooly bear caterpillar 4

Wooly bear caterpillar 6

Wooly bear caterpillar 6

Wooly bear caterpillar 7 (This one was frightened by the dog.)

Wooly bear caterpillar 7 (This one was frightened by the dog.)

Wooly bear caterpillar 8

Wooly bear caterpillar 8

Wooly bear caterpillar 9

Wooly bear caterpillar 9

 OK  Which fuzzy critter do you like the best? Vote on your favorite Wooly Bear, leave a comment below. Cheers, Rita

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Leave a comment   |  tags: , | posted in Nature, postaday, Thought of the Day, Writing

October 16, 2013

Dwight Eisenhower 10.16.13 Thought of the Day

By ritalovestowrite

Here’s another blog I was working on for Monday that I didn’t get finished in time to post. (Sorry Ike)…

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Dwight D. Eisenhower, official portrait as Pre...

“What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight; it’s the size of the fight in the dog.” — Dwight Eisenhower

Dwight David Eisenhower was on October 14 in Denison, Texas, USA in 1890. Monday was the 113 anniversary of his birth.

He was the third of seven sons born to Ida and David Eisenhower. Times were tough and David, who went to college for engineering,  cleaned railway cars to support his growing family.The Eisenhowers moved to Abilene, Kansas when Dwight was a year and half.  Dwight enjoyed his childhood in Abilene and considered it his home town. He played both football and baseball for Abilene High School before he graduated in 1909.

He worked at his family’s Bell Springs Creamery and as a fireman. In 1911 He earned an …

appointment at the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York, where attendance was free of charge. Once again he was a star on the football field, until a series of knee injuries forced him to stop playing. In 1915, Eisenhower proudly graduated from West Point at the top of his class, and was commissioned as a second lieutenant. [Biography.com]

While he was stationed in Texas he met Mamie Doud. The two married six months later. During World War One Eisenhower was in charge of Camp Colt in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

By 1920, he was promoted to major, after having volunteered for the Tanks Corps, in the War Department’s first transcontinental motor convoy, the previous year. [Ibid]

In 1926 he graduated first in his class from Command and General Staff School in Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas. He worked as the chief military aid to General Douglas MacArthur before becoming chief of staff for the Third Army. By 1942 he was a Major General.

In his early Army career, he excelled in staff assignments, serving under Generals John J. Pershing, Douglas MacArthur, and Walter Krueger. After Pearl Harbor, General George C. Marshall called him to Washington for a war plans assignment. He commanded the Allied Forces landing in North Africa in November 1942; on D-Day, 1944, he was Supreme Commander of the troops invading France. [WhiteHouse.gov]

General Eisenhower speaks with members of the ...

General Eisenhower speaks with members of the 101st Airborne Division on the evening of 5 June 1944 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

After V-E day Ike was made military governor of the U.S. Occupied Zone. In 1947 He became president of Columbia University. In 1951 he left that post to become Supreme Allied Commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

In 1952 Eisenhower  ran for President of the United States on the Republican ticket. He won the election  with 442 electoral votes over  Adlai Stevenson’s meager 89 and became the 34th POTUS.

Dwight D. Eisenhower photo portrait.

Dwight D. Eisenhower photo portrait. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Highlights of his presidency include:

  • Reduced Cold War tension with the USSR
  • Orchestrated an armistice that halted the Korean War
  • Started America’s manned Space Exploration
  • Eisenhower Doctrine — a 1957 policy that extended the Truman Doctrine to the countries of the Middle East.  Eisenhower promised military or economic aid to any nation in the area that needed help in resisting communist aggression.
  • Worked toward ending segregation. Desegregated the Armed Forces.

Difficulties:

  • First advisors sent into Vietnam.
  • U-2 Spy plane shot down over the Soviet Union
The Eisenhowers retired to a farm  in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania in 1961.

Eisenhower died at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, DC  on March 28, 1969, he was 78 years old.

Funeral services for Dwight David Eisenhower

Funeral services for Dwight David Eisenhower (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Leave a comment   |  tags: , | posted in American History, Dwight D. Eisenhower, History, postaday, Thought of the Day, United States, US President

October 15, 2013

Muffin Monday: Apple Zucchini Muffins

By ritalovestowrite

WHAT? Today’s not Monday! Its OK. Don’t touch that dial. You haven’t fallen into a muffin time warp. I just got swamped by freelance yesterday and, although I did MAKE these yummy muffins yesterday, I didn’t get around to posting about it until today.

This recipe is Texas sized so it makes 24 muffins. (Plenty for a package or two for the nieces in college down in the Lone Star State.)

Mom-Mom Approved Apple Zucchini Muffins

Mom-Mom Approved Apple Zucchini Muffins

INGREDIENTS:

  • 2 cups finely chopped  Apple
  • 2 cup grated Zucchini
  • 2 teaspoon Cinnamon
  • 3 cups regular Flour
  • 1 cup Buckwheat Flour
  • 2 tablespoons Baking Powder
  • 1 teaspoon Salt
  • 1 stick Butter
  • 1 cup Sugar
  • 2 cups Milk (or Milk plus Zucchini juice to equal 2 cups)
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla
  • 1 teaspoon Almond
  • 2 Egg

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prep muffin cups by spraying with cooking spray and dusting with flour.

2. Chop the Apples and grate the Zucchini. DRAIN the Zucchini! Its October and the Zucchini available at the farmer’s market is roughly the size of a preemie baby. I picked up two for a buck a piece on Saturday. Half of one of those mega Zukes was enough to yield the 2 cups I needed for this recipe, but the larger gourd meant much more fluid. So I put the whole grated batch in a sieve to remove the liquid. BONUS! I was able to cut down on the amount of milk by combining it with the Zucchini liquid. Plus the Zucchini liquid is an awesome bright green color that just makes me happy.

Zucchini juice green -- why isn't there a Crayola Crayon in this color?

Zucchini juice green — why isn’t there a Crayola Crayon in this color?

3. Combine the Apples and Zucchini with the Cinnamon and set aside.

4. In a medium bowl combine the regular Flour, the Buckwheat Flour, the Baking Powder and the Salt.

5. In a large bowl melt the Butter.

6. Add the Sugar to the Butter and mix. Add the Vanilla and Almond.

7. Add  the Eggs one at a time to the Butter/Sugar mix.

8. Add the MIlk/Zucchini to the liquid.

9. Working in thirds combine the wet and dry ingredients. Mix until combined, but don’t over beat.

10. Add the Apples and Zucchini.

11. Divide the batter evenly into 24 muffin cups.

IMG_6325

12. Bake for 30 minutes or until the muffins are golden brown and prove done when tested with a toothpick.

13. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes then remove from pan. Enjoy warm or cool.

IMG_6326

Mom-Mom S. was over for the weekend and she gave these muffins an unqualified stamp of approval. She particularly liked the hint of almond that the extract gave the muffins.  I like the little sweet kick you get when you bite into an apple morsel. We had them “right from the oven” with tea and they were delightful. But they are mighty good at room temperature too.

Enjoy.

The apples were also from the farmer’s market. I picked these up at the Manor Produce stand. The good folks at Manor Produce were able to guide me through the orchard of offerings on the table to the best apples for baking. (And they were right). They also had THE best fresh pressed apple cider.

Ahhh Fall. How I love thee.

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2 Comments   |  tags: , , | posted in Baking, Muffin Monday, Muffins, postaday, Thought of the Day

October 11, 2013

Fan-tastic — Prepping for the Regency Ball

By ritalovestowrite

Period print. [Image courtesy: JHU.edu]

Period print. [Image courtesy: JHU.edu]

When you are a middle-aged, middle class, American woman you don’t get invited to many balls. It just doesn’t happen. I’ve reconciled myself to that small fact of life.  Unlike Emma Woodhouse I don’t scan the mail looking for invitations. However, when Johns Hopkins announced that they would be hosting a  Regency Harvest Ball my heart did a little flutter.

I have my own Regency dress, long gloves, shawl and reticule, if ever there was a ball at which I was destined to dance… this is it. I will be attending with the Baltimore Shakespeare Factory. We’ll be adding period color by portraying real life Federal men and women from the Baltimore area.

I quickly fessed up to the fact that my dress, while authentic down to the material and the covered buttons,  is more  everyday dress and less ball gown. I will definitely be attending in my ” ‘Country’ fashions.” So I’ll be portraying a servant and helping the ladies (those who are spending $250 a ticket for this fundraiser) with their hair in the Fan Room.

This is super awesome [two words I will not be using at the ball] because I love Art of the Fan and doing “costume” hair.

jane austen fan 2008

jane austen fan 2008 (Photo credit: Owen Benson Visuals)

The language of the fan was often the most direct means of communication between a two people. It would be unthinkable for a young woman to come up to a gentleman she didn’t know and engage in conversation. But if she ran her fingers through the ribs of her fan in his direction, and he was perceptive enough to get the cue, he knew she had just said “I want to talk to you.”  Other fan gestures indicated jealousy, love, desire, and attachment to another.

A replica Brise style regency fan found on Etsy.com

A hand painted, wooden replica Brise style regency fan. This fan, which is painted on both sides, can be found for sale on Etsy.com

Silk on Ivory fan from the Victoria and Albert Museum

1820-1830 Silk on Ivory fan from the Victoria and Albert Museum

An assortment of fans found on www.JaneAusten.com http://www.janeausten.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2000/01/3-regency-fans.jpg

An assortment of fans found on www.JaneAusten.co.uk

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6 Comments   |  tags: , | posted in Baltimore, Baltimore Shakespeare Factory, History, postaday, Regency, Thought of the Day

October 10, 2013

Farm Fresh Challenge: Fennel Stuffed Cabbage

By ritalovestowrite

Welcome to another edition of Farm Fresh Challenge! Today I’m combining a couple of boxes for CHOPPED PARKTON, because I had left overs from last week.

cabbage in the pot

FROM the Box:

  • TOMATOES 10 Yellow cherry Tomatoes cut in half
  • FENNEL 1 heart and frond diced (about 1 cup)
  • PAC CHOI 5 baby Pac Choi  chopped(about 1 cup)
  • TURNIP 5 medium to small  diced (about 1 cup)
  • NAPA CABBAGE

FROM the Fridge:

  • Onion chopped (1/2 cup)
  • Carrots (1 cup)
  • 1 tbls olive oil
  • 2 teaspoons of soy sauce
  • 1 cup of previously cooked protein finely chopped (I used left over ham and bacon)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Place cabbage in a large bowl if very hot water.

2. Place olive oil in a large pan or wok. Cook veggies with soy sauce until they are softened and reduced in size . The turnips are a good gauge. About 20 min.

3. Add protein and cook an additional 5 minutes.

4. Remove from heat and let cool.

5. Roll about 2 tablespoons of vegetable filling in each leaf of cabbage.

on the plate

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1 Comment   |  tags: , | posted in Farm Fresh Challenge, Fennel, Fennel Stuffed Cabbage, postaday, Thought of the Day

October 8, 2013

Muffin Monday: Surprise Muffins

By ritalovestowrite

BLOGGER’S NOTE: Did I not hit the Publish button? What? What did you all do with out your Muffin Monday fix. So sorry. I didn’t notice the mistake until I logged on this morning to write today’s entry. Here you go…

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The inspiration for these muffins comes from my childhood. My mom used to make something like these as a treat.  I’ve upped the whole grain factor by including Whole Wheat Flour and Wheat Bran

muffin beauty shot

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup White Flour

1 cup Whole Wheat Flour

1 tablespoon Baking Powder

1/2 teaspoon Salt

3 tablespoons Wheat Bran

6 tablespoons melted Butter

3/4 cup Sugar

2 Eggs

1/2 cup Milk

1 teaspoon Almond Extract

1 cup grated Zucchini

Grape Jelly

Peach Preserves

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray 12 muffin cups.

2. In a medium bowl combine the White Flour,  Whole Wheat Flour, Baking Powder, Salt and Wheat Bran.

3. In a large bowl Melt Butter.

4. Add Sugar to melted butter. Mix well.

5. Beat in Eggs and add Milk and Almond Extract.

6. Add the dry ingredients to the wet.

7. Gently stir the Zucchini in .

The batter will look like this.

The batter will look like this.

8. Fill each of the 12 muffin cups HALF WAY with batter.

9. Place a heaping teaspoon of  Jelly in the center of 6 of  the muffins and Preserves in the centers of the other 6 muffins.

half filled

10. Top off the muffins with remaining batter. Make sure your completely cover the Jelly or Preserves.

11. Bake for 35 minutes or until golden brown. The muffins should pass the toothpick test.

12. Let these muffins cool COMPLETELY before eating. The Jelly can be really hot!

What's inside

Leave a comment | posted in Muffin Monday, Muffins, postaday, Thought of the Day

October 6, 2013

Secondary Character Saturday: Ashley Wilkes

By ritalovestowrite

“Most of the miseries of the world were caused by wars.
And, when the wars were over, no one ever knew what they were about.”
–Ashley Wilkes

Leslie Howard as Ashley in the 1939 movie version of Gone With the Wind [Image courtesy MGM]

Leslie Howard as Ashley in the 1939 movie version of Gone With the Wind [Image courtesy MGM]

WHO: Ashley Wilkes

FROM: Gone With the Wind

BY: Margaret Mitchell

Margaret Mitchell all set to launch cruiser af...

Margaret Mitchell all set to launch cruiser after long training as Red Cross launchee / World Telegram & Sun photo by Al Aumuller. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

PUBLISHED: 1936

PROS: Handsome, honorable, sensitive, brave, intelligent. He’s everything as Southern Gentleman ought to be. He’s an idealist who longs for the bucolic, peaceful life he led before the war. He would have freed the slaves on Twelve Oaks once his father died (and he inherited them) if the War hadn’t done it for him.

CONS: Conflicted, weak and too easily manipulated by the women in his life. His romantic ideas of how the world ought to be are impractical in Reconstructionist Georgia.

Ashley Wilkes is representative of the Southern aristocrat who fights bravely in the war but finds himself confused and directionless in its aftermath. Ashley realizes that his absolutist convictions about honor and courage no longer have meaning in his world, but he is unable to take action. [Virginia.edu]

Screenshot of the title page from the trailer ...

Screenshot of the title page from the trailer for the film Gone with the Wind (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , | posted in Civil War, postaday, Secondary Character, Thought of the Day

October 3, 2013

OHG (Obstinate Headstrong Girl)

By ritalovestowrite

I know this will be kind of a shocker for some of you… but I’m a big Jane Austen fan. And one of my favorite moments from her most popular book, Pride and Prejudice, is when Lady Catherine calls Elizabeth an “Obstinate headstrong girl.”

I suspect Jane was bit on the OHG side herself. (She’d have to be to remain single for her art until she well past her prime. Oh, she had offers, thank you very much. But in the end it was the romance of word on paper that won her heart.)

So today I’m dedicating ritaLOVEStoWRITE to the phrase and to the women, like Jane, who live(d) by it.

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[Image courtesy: Redbubble.com]

Art work by Yardia [available on Etsy.com]

Art work by Yardia [available on Etsy.com]

Handmade note cards from Turtle Dove [available on Etsy.com]

Handmade note cards from Turtle Dove [available on Etsy.com]

Travel mug available on Cafe Press.

Travel mug available on Cafe Press.

Another sketch for sale by Yardia on Etsy.com

Another sketch for sale by Yardia on Etsy.com

Cover of "Pride and Prejudice (Graphic No...

Cover of Pride and Prejudice (Graphic Novel)

Lady Catherine confronts Elizabeth about Darcy...

Lady Catherine confronts Elizabeth about Darcy, on the title page of the first illustrated edition. This is the other of the first two illustrations of the novel. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

2 Comments   |  tags: , , , | posted in Jane Austen, JASNA, postaday, Pride and Prejudice, Thought of the Day

October 3, 2013

Mahatma Gandhi 10.2.13 Thought of the Day

By ritalovestowrite

“An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind.”

“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”

“The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world’s problems”

“If I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning.”

“You may never know what results come of your action, but if you do nothing there will be no result”

“A coward is incapable of exhibiting love; it is the prerogative of the brave.”

Mahatma Gandhi was born on this day in 1869 in Porbandar, India. Today is the 144th anniversary of his birth.

Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869-1948), political and ...

Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869-1948), political and spiritual leader of India. Location unknown. Français : Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869-1948), Guide politique et spirituel de l’Inde. Lieu inconnu. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

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Leave a comment | posted in Gandhi, History, postaday, Thought of the Day, Today's Birthday