Tears of Lys

So being "more contagious" means (example) something like the ability to defeat some precautions? or the ability to jump larger spaces to reach a victim? or maybe spreads more of itself? I don't know if I'm making myself clear. I'm just trying to understand what "more contagious" really means. I guess it's not really important in the long run. Just an inquiring mind that wants to know details.

Hmm. . . can you maybe draw an analogy so it's clearer? Like, someone's entering a house where there's known to have been many murders that have taken place. You've got to be on your guard against being attacked. so instead of bringing a gun, a knife, and a bayonet, you bring a shotgun too because there's more attackers than originally thought? Sorry for being silly, but I don't really get it. (and hope not to!) ETA: I mean, it's either contagious or it's not. It's like being a little bit pregnant. Capische?

I slept till around 3 p.m. today. Wish I could say it was due to a super exciting New Year's Eve. By the by, does anyone know whether this more contagious variant of Covid is more contagious in the sense that it can be spread in another way than it has already, (and what is that way), or what? If that makes sense.

Actually, yes. I've got a file in Pictures dedicated to them.

I'd just like to let it be known that I was anti-FB long before it was cool.

I grew up in a household where my parents made absolutely everything - from artificial bricks made out of plaster to cover this one wall (textured and everything) to screen printing to painting fine art to metal working to constructing ice ponds for us kids to skate on in the winter and igloos. My dad built a miniature car track (can't think of the name of it) in the basement to race electric model cars on. (no kit involved. just out of his head.) Oh, he built a motorboat from plans, and we boated on it for years. My mom could literally sew anything - I mean blazers, suits, pants, you name it. She made all of our curtains, more pillows than I can count - complicated ones, too. Our bedroom walls had murals of scenes from Peter Pan flying over London at night with Wendy and the boys, and Cinderella with the Fairy God Mother changing the pumpkin to a coach, etc. She could sculpt too! She made the most beautiful small statue, but tried to fire it in our furnace and it broke. She didn't have a kiln. Oh, and etching too. That's just some of the things they did. Unfortunately, all this do-it-yourself-ism left me with the self-assurance that **I** could make or do anything at all too. I've had some success, but not nearly like them. You really have to love doing stuff like this, or you'll never spend the time it takes to get good at it, and my patience level and attention span has been in the crapper lately.

When we lived in California, we were near a place named El Pollo Loco, which made some of the best chicken I've ever had, along with fresh tortillas, house made salsa, cilantro, etc. We often picked up an order on the way home from work if we were running late and wanted a quick dinner. Our beloved fur buddy, Dozer, ADORED this chicken. All I had to do was enter the door with a bag and wherever he was, he'd come at a run simply at the smell of it. The insistent meowing went on and on until he was offered his fair share, which of course he got ASAP. ETA: Tonight we had leftover stew, which is always the best. Especially when you use lots of port wine in the sauce. Mmmmmmmm . . .

Hey, I remember the drawing of Randyll Tarly's van! I guess that must mean I'm officially an "old" boarder. I also recall seeing a picture of Zak during NHAW frying up some eggs or whatnot and wondering about the wisdom of doing such in that state of undress.

I forgot to mention chives. But you never have a little bit of chive. Once it blooms, it spreads its seed indiscriminately, and you end up with chive EVERYWHERE.

Do you just stick the bottoms, after you've cut the tops off and used them, in a glass of water? I've never tried that, but I can see how it would work. What a great idea! I like to say our yard is like a Disney movie run amok. Deer, raccoon, squirrels (three different colors: gray, black, and brownish.) And tons of rabbits! Oh, and a gorgeous turkey who struts his stuff for anyone who'll look at him. We keep our veggies in pots on our deck to protect them from the marauders. We still have to drape them with netting though, to keep the cardinals from eating the tomatoes. Sigh. As for herbs, lemon thyme is well worth growing. The scent is heavenly. And it's great in a lemon vinaigrette and stuffing, etc., etc. Pineapple sage is really cool too. It does smell exactly like pineapple. It gets quite tall, though, but is the last thing to bloom in the year - sometime around November - with red flowers that bees like. I love lilacs, but have had no luck growing them in our yard. Don't know whether the deer mow them down or what, but they just slowly disappear. And morel mushrooms?! What a find! I know you're supposed to leave parts of them in the ground or wherever when harvesting so they'll re-spore themselves. Couple of years ago I came across a deep orange, pumpkin-like growth that looked positively scary in this big wood I walk in. Googled it and come to find out it's an edible fungi called "Chicken of the Woods" and highly prized. When I returned for some, others had gotten to it first. They must not have left part of it because I haven't seen any since. I'll see if I can post a picture of it. It was really something to see. I forgot to mention we have a few apple trees, pears, and nectarines too. The birds usually get to the fruit before we do, which is okay. The Baltimore Orioles and Goldfinch are well worth it!

That's the . . .fluffiest looking plant of its kind I've ever seen! You must have a special strain. Hmmm . . .

"Fizzy pop"?? Fizzy Pop?! Sounds like something that would come out of a kid wearing a pinafore. "Daddy, can I have a fizzy pop, pleeze?"

So I've got the usual herbs - some even came back from last year. My tarragon, of which I use a lot, is a large-ish bush right now, while they're selling tiny, scrawny little sprouts for $3 or more in garden stores. My dill re-seeded itself and I've got a pot-load of it. Both Greek and Italian oregano, which I've really grown to appreciate the last few years. I plan on getting a couple of jalapenos. And I got four orange pepper plants!which we both dearly love. We've got the usual suspects as far as tomatoes - Romas, couple of heirlooms, a few Sun Sugars (a cherry variety that's yellow and about the sweetest tomato you've ever tasted,) a Sweet 100 cherry tomato bush - very few of these make it inside the house because they're generally picked and immediately eaten. I've got one full-size eggplant and a couple Littlefingers (heh.) My chocolate mint came back, and I'm keeping an eye on him so he doesn't climb out of his pot and take over my yard. Oh, and I've got yellow squash and zucchini squash. I may be leaving somebody out, but that's all I can recall now. I was too late to grab some Brandywine heirloom tomatoes - all sold out. If you can grow them, they are completely wonderful. But being heirlooms, they're not disease resistant at all. What do YOU have?

That reminds me that we used to have a gardening thread. DalThor and Mashiara over in Greece grew a bunch of things in pots on their patio, IIRC. Maybe I'll re-start it.

The selection sucks, but there's little "pocket" libraries all over where I live. It's basically a little cabinet on a pole where everyone and anyone can borrow a book, drop one off, etc. Some good Samaritan installs it at the street by their house for their neighbors to use freely. I don't know how germ-free they are, but it's easy to just wipe a book down with an alcohol wipe and enjoy! I've gotten some pretty good books from ours. Don't expect much, of course, but it's better than nothing or rereading your own books for the umpteenth time. I too feel really bad for the kids, especially high school age.