Charity auction: Cats & Quilts & Human Rights

I donated two copies of Chicken Soup for the Soul’s My Very Good, Very Bad Cat to a charity auction run by Readers & Writers for LGBT Chechens. It’s the book that made Lilo print-famous by including my essay about her fabric-eating misadventures. Be the winning bidder to get a signed copy of the book and a personalized thank you from … Read more

Entropy Alway Wins has a lovely Metro Tote Tutorial

I am not much of a purse person, and besides Lilo would eat anything made of wool felt. But still, the bags over at Entropy Always Wins Blog today make me wish I liked to use purses. Well, I have friends who do! If I can keep the felt away from Lilo, I could make some for them. Entropy says: … Read more

Plant of the day: Species tulip

red species tulip

Species tulips are different from the regular, large-blooming garden tulips cultivated over centuries by the Dutch and others. They’re called species tulips because each variety is, in fact, a separate species that also grows in the wild in their native habitats of Turkey, the Caucasus, and Central Asia. They’ve had minimal to no breeding to differentiate them from their wild ancestors. Read more …

Plant of the Day: Jacob’s Ladder

purple bell-shaped flowers

There are at least two species of Jacob’s ladder: Polemonium reptans and Polemonium caeruleum. The first is native to the northeastern United States, while the latter is from Eurasia and should be limited to gardens in North America. I’m not great at telling the difference, but since this specimen is part of a native plant restoration at a local park, I’ll guess it’s Polemonium reptans.

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