Brickworks - A Brick Looks At Life
Saturday, August 1, 2026
Friday, July 31, 2026
Ummm...And Buck Moon
"My significant other had ridden the train up to visit me in college the first year we dated. My college town, St Augustine, FL, has a reputation for being haunted. We decided to walk to a pub I liked, so we cut through an alley boarded by a private parking lot, and a bank. It was approaching dinner time, but it was Florida, so it was still very bright outside. When we turned into the alley, there was a woman approaching us from the opposite end of the alley wearing 16th century Spanish colonial garb.
This, in itself, wasn’t unusual. It was Halloween, and St. Augustine is home to a lot of reenactors, and tourist attractions that have tour guides that dress in period-appropriate clothing. What was weird is that she was pressed against the side wall of the bank as close to it as she could without physically touching it. She was wearing a wide brimmed hat, and had her head angled down to hide her face from us. She seemed terrified of us. My first thought was, *calm down, lady. It’s Halloween.*
As we walked abreast of her, I ducked down to look under her hat, and make eye contact, and smile. You know, to reassure her we weren’t gonna jump her or anything.
Instead of features, her face was blurry, like a severely out of focus picture.
I stood back up, and kept walking. It took a couple of minutes for my brain to catch up with what I saw. When I turned around to look at her again, she was gone.
I tried to make sense of this in my head. She must have reached the end of the alley, and ducked around the bank, out of sight. The fading light played a trick on my eyes. Etc, etc, etc.
Hesitantly, I asked my SO (who I had just started dating! I didn’t want them to think I was weird!), “Hey. That woman we just passed… Did she have a face?”
They replied. “I don’t know, but she didn’t have any feet.”.
I'm always up for a good ghost story -- and this ranks with the best of them.
P.S. We are now officially in 'Buck Moon' stage -- go here for more.
"The Buck Moon, July's full moon, received its name from the time of year when deer are growing their antlers before the fall rut. It is also referred to as the Thunder Moon, since thunderstorms are common during the summer.
Additional names for this moon are the Feather Moulting Moon and Salmon Moon, a Tlingit term referring to the time when fish returned to the area to be harvested, per the Old Farmer's Almanac. It can also be called the Halfway Summer Moon, referring to the time of year it rises."
Thursday, July 30, 2026
It Happens...
This is a weird one --
The remains of a flying dinosaur eaten by a 23-foot marine monster -- who was eaten in turn by a 40-foot monster. The jumbled 'Bag o' Bones' was found in the Australian outback in 2019 by fossil hunters.
Wednesday, July 29, 2026
Really!?!!
From the Department of "Well, you don't see that everyday..."
Tuesday, July 28, 2026
True Dat...
The last comment is actually quite accurate.
We Americans are not only 'mutts,' DNA-wise,
but our language borrows from EVERYBODY.
Monday, July 27, 2026
Monday Stuff On the Way to Other Stuff: Hot and Dry (Again)
I'd love to tell you we've been up to exciting things -- but we haven't, unless you count taking care of the dogs, putting stuff away, washing clothes...and working on reports. It's still hot here -- and for extra fun, hard to breathe. (Too much humidity, Son #1 says.) It just feels 'dull;' I can't explain it any other way.
A lightning storm is flashing the skies all around us tonight. Hopefully that means rain. P.S. It didn't.
Meanwhile:
He's built a business removing squatters! Some interesting ideas here.
Here's what Wilt Chamberlin's old warmup jacket went for.
A 'lost' 17th century garden plan reappears... thanks to an ongoing drought in Britain.
An excellent 'how I made it through my divorce' twofer from The Frugal Girl: Part I and Part II.
As you might know, Gentle Readers, I am not a big fan of divorce. Too often, it occurs when the partners could have worked something out -- and come out better for it. But there are times this just isn't going to work, especially when one (or both) partners are unfaithful. The Mama was divorced, and for good reason. It happens.
Lottery winners pestered by their families --
The loud (and sometimes strident) 'Christian' mom/activist -- who was hiding a secret.
Some ancient royal tombs reveal a surprising secret! I'll give you a hint: think 'higgledy-piggledy.'
What a family needs to live a middle-class lifestyle in San Francisco... according to Financial Samurai, at least. Any guesses? He says $408,000/yr!Saturday, July 25, 2026
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[Update on the Update! Kate Spain's posted a final comment. I'm not sure she still completely understands the struggle quilting prof...
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I really don't understand this. But from Julie Silber's FB page, here's the mention of Laura Shaw's quilt-- Following CENSO...
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I loved this cheerful, engaging quilt when it first was publicized in 1994. Jonathan Shannon used a two-pronged approach: it celebrate...
