Monthly Archives: December 2018

The window spider – plucking fruit flies from the air

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I especially enjoyed this essay on the Middle Aged Soup blog. I, too, never kill a spider in the house and I think she does a fine job of explaining why. (Funnel web spiders and Black Widows and Brown Recluse are exceptions to my rule.)

middleagedsoup's avatarMiddle Aged Soup

via Daily Prompt: Pluck

When I was nine, the boys in the neighborhood dared me to pull the legs from a daddy long leg. Being the only girl in the group I just had to, and then I had no choice but to kill him. I cried for a week, for years after I caught all the spiders I could inside to “free” them outside. I feel like I have been called as the the Lorax for spiders, always cautioning people that they want spiders in their life.

Last year a plague of fruit flies came to my house. We set out wine glasses stretched tight with saran wrap and poked an indented hole in the center, Google heralded this as the DIY solution. They worked for the most part but the plague ran deep. About three days in I was washing dishes when to my surprise a jumping spider…

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Coloration in Poinsettias: FOTD Dec 10, 2018

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I was curious about all the new colors of poinsettias I’ve been seeing this year so I did a bit of research and found this explanation by Walter Reeves. You can find a link to his website below.  Here is what I read: 

The process of making a colored poinsettia is interesting. Growers start with a plant with light colored (white or pink) bracts. You’re probably aware that the colored parts of a poinsettia are not true leaves – they are modified leaves, called bracts, that serve to attract insects to the tiny yellow flowers at the tip of each branch.

Special dyes are sprayed onto the bracts a few days before the poinsettias are shipped to the retailer. Glitter may be applied as well. A spotted effect is achieved by sprinkling alcohol onto the dyed bracts.

Dyes are available in many colors, so plants can be dyed to match indoor decor or even your college football team colors!

Poinsettia bracts will naturally fall from the plant as it ages this spring. If you keep your plant alive it will produce bracts with the “natural” light color the plant had originally.

On another site, I found this information about what are natural colors for poinsettias: The colored bracts . . .  are most often flaming red but can be orange, pale green, cream, pink, white, or marbled

http://www.walterreeves.com/gardening-q-and-a/poinsettia-dyed-purple/

for Cee’s FOTD

Sunday Trees, Dec 9, 2018

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This magnificent banyan tree was along the entry to a seaside hotel in Acapulco. Unfortunately, there was a lot of junk piled up next to it but here are the best shots I could manage.

For Sunday Trees. Link below.
https://beccagivens.wordpress.com/2018/12/09/sunday-trees-369/

Born Lazy

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Born Lazy

You can have your tennis, your jogging, golf and hiking.
I’d rather spend time coasting while other souls are biking.

You’ll never find my name in the record books of Guinness,
for I don’t excel at basketball or badminton or tennis.

Somehow, nature slighted me when it came to “gameness.”
When asked to participate, I simulate my lameness.

I guess I was born lazy. I simply love my bed.
I pretend not to hear it when the cat yowls to be fed.

When duty calls, I plug my ears and happily roll over.
I find it is more comfortable here in beds of clover.

Robert Reich’s Real Facts on Trump’s Myth That Immigrants Don’t Pay Taxes.

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Hibiscus: Flower of the Day, Dec. 9, 2018

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For Cee’s FOTD prompt.

Prisoner of Beauty

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Prisoner of Beauty

To win a beauty pageant is a kinky dream.
You want to be the biggest fish in a manmade stream.
You’ll be closely examined both for charm and beauty,
then questioned for your aptitude in fulfilling your duty
at shopping malls and other places where you’ll be on view
displaying what fine work your folks did creating you.

That you’re a lovely model is not up to debate.
What an excellent product  they managed to create!
Compared to all the others, you simply glow and shine.
You have that extra element we find hard to define.
Is it a special need to please or is it blind ambition?
Or did you simply need the cash for your college tuition?

We rather hope it is the last prompting your pageantry,
so after one year on the runway, you’ll be able to break free
to live a normal life down here, milling with the crowd,
for when you’re up there, special, hobnobbing’s not allowed.
Jostled by the hoi polloi, your royal crown might tilt,
or there is a danger it might be revealed as gilt.

Not a thing of value. Just a pretty piece of junk.
A perfect metaphor all of this “glamor” to debunk.
Beauty is as beauty does the adage tries to tell us,
yet who we are is not the thing that pageants use to sell us.
You are a perfect object standing up there on a shelf,
made to please our eyes and ears. Not to please yourself.

Indeed, you’re slim and lovely. Your smile has its charm.
You simply look enchanting there on the emcee’s arm.
You will be fluffed and feted and put out on display.
It won’t be free, this privilege that you have won today.
But remember, please, when you’ve done all you’re told to do
that you will come down off that stage and simply live as you.

 

The prompt words are free, dream, pageant and kinky.

https://fivedotoh.com/2018/12/09/fowc-with-fandango-free/
https://ragtagcommunity.wordpress.com/2018/12/09/rdp-sundaydream/
https://onedailyprompt.wordpress.com/2018/12/09/your-daily-word-prompt-pageant-December-9-2018/
https://wordofthedaychallenge.wordpress.com/2018/12/09/kinky/

The Daily Three

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For this prompt, we have give three answers to each question:

What are three….

Things you never want to do, but have to?  Make airline reservations online, diet, clean the kitty litter box.

Characters found in The Magic Faraway Tree that weren’t human? Donald Trump, Kermit the Frog and Sylvester the Cat  (I have no idea what the Magic Faraway Tree is so I’m just listing infamous as well as famous non-humans.)

Things that are yellow and round? Plums, balloons and lemon drops.

Mythical Creatures that begin with the letter G? Grendel, gnomes and gargoyles.

Mammals that don’t have a tail? Humans, gorillas, chimpanzees.

American heavy metal bands? Pantera, Metallica, Anthrax  (Had to look these up.) 

Films with the number 3 in the title? Three Little Words, The Three Amigos, The Three Musketeers

Things that best describe who you are?  Writer, artist, expat.

Aztec Gods/Goddesses? Quetzalcoatl, Tlaloc and Coyolxauhqui (boy, did I ever have a hard time trying to figure out how to spell this one! I once saw a very long play about it many years ago in Australia and had never forgotten the name, but to spell it???? No.)

Planets in our galaxy? Mars, Venus, Saturn.

Things that shouldn’t be in your fridge today but are? A pork loin that should be thrown away, some guacamole gone bad, a little hot pot full of oil.

Things you always forget at the last minute before going out? My phone, the grocery list, my camera.

Actors you admire? Meryl Streep, Susan Sarandon, Harrison Ford.

Ways you can laugh?  Talking to friends, watching or communicating with animals, watching a movie or TV.

Things you should have when you are very old but probably won’t?  Memory, good health, the ability to live at home.

Things you have achieved and are proud of? Art pieces, my books, blog and writings and friendships.

Your worst habits? Overeating, a certain amount of messiness, humming (ask my sister!) 

 

Link: https://aguycalledbloke.blog/2018/12/08/daily-fun-three-13/

On Flair Pens, Gel Pens, Montblancs, Sharpies

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On Flair Pens, Gel Pens,
Montblancs, Sharpies

I do not care diddly-squat
Whether I use a pen or not.
Give me a pencil, give me chalk.
I do not care with what I talk.
If you write me a love letter
with a fountain pen or better
I might respond in lipstick scrawl.
It’s better than no love at all!
If you beg me for a date,
I may as well capitulate
with sooty stick grabbed from the fire
or a “yes” formed from bent wire.
The message, dear, is what we quote,
not the device with which we wrote.

The media might be the message, but the medium with which we write it is not! 

https://ragtagcommunity.wordpress.com/2018/12/08/rdp-saturday-squat/
FOWC with Fandango — Pencil
https://wordofthedaychallenge.wordpress.com/2018/12/08/capitulate/

Eavesdropping

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If you use Skype, chances are you’ve been as irritated as I was when it automatically updated me to a feature that suggests responses and emojis to use to answer written messages others have left for you. Since this is how I usually use it instead of visiting orally with visuals, it can be especially off-putting.  I finally figured out how to turn the feature off, but forgottenman hasn’t and a few minutes ago, I received this message from him.  I had just left him this message:

Judy: Gotta close my eyes now.. the sun is shinin so brightly through the drapes that it blinded me. Can’t see to type…

This is the message I received back from him:

forgottenman: Weird – one of Skype’s suggested responses to your last msg is “What song is that?”.

Judy: I guess I must must have a naturally lyrical mode of speech.  Ha!!!