But they and the dogs are the 'livestock' on the Brick homestead. I thought more about this after spending the weekend at our local library's Homesteading Fair. A few dozen booths showed everything from honey to 'fermented' products, chicks to bunnies. A white tom turkey strutted around outside, along with some goats, a working smithy and tables of heirloom tomato plants for sale.
I was there for quilting, but brought our 'sick' chicken, now restored to health, thanks to the Brick. (And heavy doses of vitamins.) She spent the day staring confusedly through her cage at people...you could almost see her saying, 'What the heck...?' The kids especially loved her. And since more than 600 people attended the Fair, there were lots of them.
People would stop to talk about chickens -- and move on to quilting. Or they'd look at the quilts -- then segue into chicken discussions. I was glad to have brought both, though Missy Chicken probably didn't appreciate the honor.
Meanwhile:
20 easy methods for 'systematic savings.' In other words, paring down or eliminating recurring expenses. (From The Simple Dollar)
Why it pays to be persistent. Sometimes a 'no' becomes a 'yes!' (From Money Beagle)
A 'heavenly vision' quilt from North Carolina. (From Barbara Brackman's Material Culture)
'What should I absolutely NOT do when visiting your country?' Quora is a discussion forum that a lot of Europeans hold forth on, and a bunch of countries are included here. These are not only fascinating, but should be especially helpful if you plan to travel there soon. (One case in point: never wish a German a happy birthday before the actual day -- there's a longstanding superstition that doing so is actually wishing that something awful would happen to them. Like death.)
I laughed my head off at the British version. One tip: do NOT refer to your backside as a 'fanny.' Means something way more vulgar in England. Speaking of traveling:
A trip to Cordoba, Spain -- what to see, how to do it. Thanks for sharing, Living Rich on the Cheap. You'll want to read her earlier post about Spain, too.
10 ordinary-looking locations with creepy secrets. (From Listverse)
Got a scruffy-looking table? Here's a classy makeover. (From Frugal in Lincolnshire)
From this:
To this:
How to freeze eggs. This doesn't matter now -- our egglayers are tapering off. (Molting.) However, if you hit a really good sale... (From Her Peculiar Life)
Is the Amber Room behind the walls of a hidden bunker in Poland? We should find out soon.
Happy Birthday, Mum. In celebration of Queen Elizabeth's 90th birthday -- what she likes to eat. (Which was linked, surprisingly, to an article on what Princess Diana liked to eat, as well.)
An interview with Monica Lewinsky. I am not sure what to think of this -- I get the feeling I'm supposed to be sympathetic toward her: 'I've had a hard time of it blah blah blah.'
On the other hand, she was young and stupid, and has learned from her experience. (And benefitted from the publicity too, I suspect.)
Having endured some very public insults in the past (insults that I could not respond to in kind, because it was unprofessional), I found this part of the interview interesting:
"The writer Mike Daisey described this sensation to me in a chillingly perceptive way. (He'd been publicly shamed [and rightly so] for embellishing the facts of a story about visiting Apple manufacturing plants in China.)
'What they want is for me to die,' he said. 'They will never say this because it's too histrionic. But they never want to hear from me again, and while they're never hearing from me, they have the right to use me as a cultural reference point whenever it services their ends. That's how it would work out best for them.'"
Better for Lewinsky to take another approach: state simply she was young and an idiot, and she's grown up since then. Then treat all further questions with dignified silence.
The snow has melted, and the ground is warm. Time to dig and plant...
Have a great week.
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