ness

What the heck? You swear me to secrecy then blast it out on Instabook or Facegram or whatever the heck the kids are internetting on these days??🤪

Nice sharpness and bokeh!

The first picture shows where these guys were jumping from. In very upper right, near the top edge, you can see a tiny yellow sliver that is a jumper. No idea how high these cliffs were.

I think the same thing when I see videos of tornadoes. Cars driving right toward them with debris flying around. Nuts!

You may have soft neck garlic, which doesn’t get the thick stem. They’re probably ready to dig if the leaves are dying back whether soft or hard neck. Dug my Hardneck today. Down to a shelf in the basement where the dehumidifier is to cure for a few weeks now.

This guy is a STUD! And, humble. https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/video/123529540 Surely a lot of others too, but I was really impressed with this guy.

We had two birthdays and a new job to celebrate so we had reasons to get together. Son-in-law got a pizza oven as a wedding gift, so we decided to turn it into a pizza-making event. I did the dough yesterday and balled it up early this morning. 9 people coming and my recipe is in fours so I did 3 batches for 12 total. I schooled them on the first batch then turned them loose to do their own pizzas. There are two ways to really wreck things: 1) screw up the launch, blow the pizza up and get toppings all over the stone or 2) tear the crust as you turn the pizza and get toppings all over the stone. Fortunately everyone did a good job and there weren’t any issues. There were some pretty ugly pizzas, but a couple of the kids really tried to perfect things and got nice, round, thin crusts. The rest, well they didn’t. So…. This was A lot of fun!

I haven’t squirrel problems yet but I do get mice. There’s one less this morning.

And they don’t like wet feet.

You’ve got a lot going on there!

We plant it each fall from cloves from the previous harvest. We still have four heads left from last summer-they have stored really well. About ready to harvest this year’s.

I brought in our first tomato today. Not quite ready, but want it to finish inside safe from the squirrels. We were away for two weeks and had some friends come by and run the drip irrigation a few times a week, plus we got some rain. Temps were hot a few days, but not too bad. It's so amazing to see the difference when we got home! I planted bush beans before we left - they're now about 8 inches tall. Tomatoes are coming on strong, especially the cherries. I've got a few peppers/chilies about ready to pick. Beets are ready when I get a chance to pull them. Herbs are all usable now and we'll eat chard this week. I shoulda cut off the garlic scapes before we left, because they were about 5 feet tall and draining energy away from the bulbs. Oops. Leaves are starting to turn, so it won't be too long.

A little side note: A friend of mine's uncle was killed over Normandy a short time before the landings. He was on a plane that was shot down. The pilot steered the plane away from a school before crashing likely saving the lives of those inside. Two years ago my friend and other family members of those who died were invited over to commemorate the event. Some of the children from the school were in attendance for that and the families got to meet them. He also got to see his uncle's marker at the Normandy American Cemetery an received a flag flown over it.

Our guide told us the Normandy locals were initially very insistent on preserving all the sites, but returning soldiers encouraged them to return the land to useful purposes and live life -- because that's what they fought for.

Yeah, there's an emotional, somber feeling there. But, as I thought about it, it is just one of thousands of battles in THAT part of THAT war. We've been doing this s%#t to each other since the begging of civilization.

We just got back from a two week vacation in Switzerland and France. Our last stop was a bucket list item for me: The Normandy beaches. Our first day there we did a guided tour of the main American sectors: Omaha and Utah, then we did some on our own after that. I thought folks might be interested in some pics. It's hard to put into words the feeling you get here. First, the sadness that comes from knowing how many men died right here. Men who went into this knowing there was a really good chance they'd never go home. I can't really fathom the bravery of these guys. The historical significance of the place too: An exceptionally complicated invasion with 150,000 troops followed by a couple million more. 200,000+ Allied casualties and many more as the we moved forward. It's somber, it's moving. I teared up multiple times. 80+ years later and the French are still grateful. Along the coast where we were there are probably as many American flags as French. I asked our guide if the young people understand, and he said as part of school they come to learn, and he said they do get it. Farther to the east, were the British and Canadian sectors, where I'm told it's the same. And, all along the way are flags of other countries who contributed: Norway, Denmark, Australia, New Zealand and many others. Omaha Beach is hard to capture in a photo: Its almost 6 miles long and the beach is quite wide. Imagine running across this while under fire... See the people on the right for scale. I think casualties were something like 40 percent. There were many units involved, but I didn't remember the 1st Infantry Division, AKA The Big Red 1, out of Fort Riley, Kansas, was one of the major players at Omaha. West of Omaha is Utah, and at the edge of that is Pointe du Hoc, where Army Rangers famously scaled the 100+ foot cliffs to take out the heavily fortified bunkers above. Again, pretty heavy casualties, but they did it. Normandy American Cemetery where 9,000+ Americans are buried, including 300 plus unknowns. Another 1,500 missing in action are commemorated. As recently as 2011 a body was discovered nearby and the remains identified by DNA testing. His spot in the memorial, along with the others identified after the memorial was built in the 60's, is marked with a ruby-colored marker. Tomb of one of the unknowns. It's hard to read but the stone says: 'Here lies in honored glory a comrade in arms known but to God.' Lump in throat. A main objective was to capture the crossroads of Sainte-Mere-Eglise to prevent German reinforcements from getting to Omaha and Utah. Paratroopers were dropped here in the middle of the night before the landings. Like so many aspects of the invasion, it didn't go exactly as planned. Paratroopers were to be dropped outside town while everyone was asleep. But there was a house fire and all the townsfolk were out doing a bucket line to put it out, and the dang Germans were awake too. Paratroopers dropped right into the town, including one named John Steele who got snagged on the church tower. He hung there for several hours pretending to be dead before the Germans figured it out and captured him. This is commemorated with a parachute and mannequin on the church tower. Look to the right and below the clock. The stained glass also commemorates the paratroopers. Look closely to the left and right of Mary and Jesus. I hope you enjoy and maybe reflect.

Another nice write up. Thanks for sharing.

There is stuff all over the internet on how to do these high-heat pizza ovens, but I'll go ahead and give my two cents. Launch is important: gotta get it in the right place and get it in flat. Center it and ensure there are no folds or rolled edges. Then, the bottom needs to set before you move it. This is largely by feel, but 15 to 30 seconds is about right. You can lift up the edge and see how it behaves. Then, rotate about 90 degrees every 15 seconds so the pizza cooks evenly and the side to the fire doesn't scorch. I've got a turning peel that makes that job easier than a full-sized peel. Mine is similar to this one: https://a.co/d/iGYOHOY If the crust is right, but the toppings still need some time, slide the peel under it and lift it off the stone towards the ceiling for a few seconds. Hope this helps, and good luck with it. We've had a lot of fun with ours and we got our daughter and son-in-law one for a wedding gift. The only other thing I've done on it is pita, which turned out well.

Same here. Getting pretty darn close though.

Looking good there, Ronnie! There’s a bit of a learning curve on these things, and you’ll only get better at it.

Ditto. Kevlar and epoxy I got from NRS, but don't see it on their website after a Quick Look. Old Town lists a kit but you may not like the price https://oldtownwatercraft.johnsonoutdoors.com/us/shop/accessories-parts/parts-repairs-other/skid-plate-kit

I don’t know anything about Table Rock, but I am a fan of hand-drawn maps. I’ve got a bunch of fishing and hunting maps and maps we use for travel. I think the process of drawing a map gets you plugged in better, and only adding the detail that’s important to US is a real plus.

Cool to see they're doing the deed ❤️ in OK! Biologists catch a lot of flack when they say, 'No evidence of a breeding population' because so many knuckleheads shorten that to 'No evidence of a population' and just call them liars/idiots. Not anybody here, of course.

Like they do in the drug commercials on TV