Beauty Farming Life

1955-2011 Thank you Steve...

William and Kate with baby George, image courtesy of AP CONGRATULATIONS! What a happy moment as a break in the often otherwise depressing news around the world. Wishing them well.  We watched William (and Harry) grow up under the watchful eye of Diana.  She would have made a wonderful Grandmother. Can't wait to watch the newest little prince grow up. Update: Prince George Alexander Louis,  welcome to the world!

This article is frightening. You really need to read it. CLICK HERE TO READ In a nutshell, a herd of cattle, here in Texas, died after grazing on grass. While that in itself is scary enough, they were eating a hybrid of grass that was planted 15 YEARS AGO.  Why did they die now if they've been eating it all this time?  Well, apparently, after all these years, the grass suddenly mutated and began producing cyanide gas! They aren't sure the cause of the mutation, but seem to think it might be related to the drought.  They are doing an investigation.  I'm not sure what's more scary though.  The fact that this just suddenly happened out out of the blue? Or the fact that a few generations of cattle over the last 15 years have been eating this type of grass?  How many other ranchers have been using this? How much of that meat/milk has gone into our food supply? This was originally thought to be GMO grass, which is bad just as a rule anyway, but they now ...

It's here!  It's here! Yes, we're excited.  It's time for  SHARK WEEK  on the  Discovery Channel . This is the 25th year (dang, that makes me feel old)! Sure, we have a farmhouse on rural land far that's away from any large body of water, and certainly far away from water with Great White sharks.  I don't know what it is, but we are utterly hooked on this 'week of shows' year after year and fascinated by this majestic (and yes, scary) animal .  It starts tonight, and continues nightly over the next week. Check it out...if you dare... P.S. Don't forget to enter the  GIVEAWAY , it ends tonight at midnight!

Blue Moon - color enhanced photo courtesy of space.com Today is a relatively uncommon occurrence...there is a Blue Moon. OK, OK, so the moon is not  actually blue, that's a name that came about years ago.  Simply put, the Blue Moon refers to the second full moon in a one month period.  Normally of course, there is just one full moon in a month, so there would be twelve per year.  This year, the first full moon was on Aug 2nd and today, the 31st, is the second one.  We'll have thirteen full moons this year. The last one occurred in December 2009.  If you miss this today, you'll have to wait around until July 2015 for the next one.  It is this long period of time that helped coin the phrase " once in a blue moon ", to describe a rare/unusual event. When was the last time you said something only gets done once in a blue moon?  Well today is your chance!  Do it! Ironically, today is also when the first man on the moon, Neil Armstrong, is...

Regular, old, ordinary geraniums REALLY? Is THIS  necessary? (click the underlined link for the full article) Scientists in Spain have genetically engineered geraniums that are long lived AND allergy free.  They created a flower that has no pollen in order to help allergy sufferers.  How did they do this?  They genetically modified a bacterium so that it could INFECT a regular geranium causing it to not produce pollen and be unable to reproduce with other plants, thereby keeping people from sneezing at geraniums. I think the most telling part of the article is the following comment by one of the researchers: "These biotechnological approaches could be used in other ornamental or crop species," Cañas told LiveScience. I love that fancy word "biotechnological".  Like that makes it all sound good and safe.  Great, just great.  I don't understand this whole GMO movement.  Well, OK, yeah, it's all about $$$ of course, but still...it's just sci...

The Northeastern United States, and soon the parts of Canada to the North of there, is experiencing what could be one of the worst Winter storms  blizzards in decades.  We can't imagine what you are all experiencing. (we were in the 70's today!) Stay safe and stay warm! As they tell us down here during Hurricanes and Tropical Storms,  "hunker down"!

I stumbled across these photos that were posted online the other day and thought I'd share. CLICK HERE The Denver Post published some amazing pictures of life in United States during the Great Depression and into the early part of WWII.  Sure we've all seen photos of this time period many times in our lives, in history books and on documentaries, but for the most part, we've never seen them quite like this. For example, this homestead below: Garden adjacent to the dugout home of Jane Whinery, homesteader.  Pie Town, New Mexico, September 1940.  Reproduction from color slide.  Photo by Russell Lee.  Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress. These are some of the only known COLOR photos from that time period.  I have to admit, it's quite a jolt to see images like this and see how colorful life was.  It wasn't the drab brown, sepia tone and black and white images we've seen.  I guess I always knew people had to be we...

Yet more loss for our country. Oklahoma is my home state, I was born in Oklahoma City.  I still have relatives there and it's the home of several of our blogging friends of the farm. We are sending thoughts to all of those affected and praying that no more storms come through.

Robin Williams Robin Williams is no longer with us.  Such an odd thing to type.  He was one of our favorite comedians and we have enjoyed him from when we were children watching Mork and Mindy,  through every movie and comedy routine through the years, all the way up to now.  I know he struggled with so many internal issues...I heard someone say just moments ago that often, the funniest comedians are the ones with the deepest pain. His humor will be missed...we hope he finds the peace that seemed to elude him.  Sending comfort to his family.   Thank you for making us laugh over and over and over, now and forever. "Legacies of lightness are sometimes left by people with the heaviest hearts" -  author unknown Instead of responding to each of your comments, I want to let them stand on their own as a caring testament to someone who touched us all...

My boss came in to my office the other day and handed me an article from the Wall Street Journal...he knows (and is so excited) about our  beekeeping journey and wanted to make sure I saw the article (he's pretty wonderful like that). This story is getting somewhat reported in the media but, in my opinion, not widely enough.  We don’t really need to know if Kim Kardashian is having another baby or that Taylor Swift has another hit song.  What we need to know is what is causing this massive bee die off and, more importantly, what can the world do to help reverse it. The headlines alone are frightening (click any/all of these for articles): "Sharp Spike in  Honeybee Deaths Deepens a Worrisome Trend"   "Honeybee Crisis Worsens as Summer Die-Offs Mount" "Bee Die-Off Goes From Bad to Worse"   In one year, April 2014 – April 2015, beekeepers reported that more than FORTY PERCENT of their United States honeybee colonies died of...

I guess we have something new to add to the list of things to do at the farm... Thank you to the United States Supreme Court! Quite simply, it's about love...

Paul Prudhomme The culinary world lost a pioneer.  Many of you may not know him by name, but you may have eaten or at least heard of his creations.   Renowned chef Paul Prudhomme passed away yesterday after  a brief illness. He invented " Blackened Redfish " a dish that became so popular in home kitchens and restaurants, Redfish harvesting was temporarily halted to allow their stock to replenish. He also popularized " Turducken " to American audiences.  For those who haven't heard of that, it is a deboned chicken stuffed into a deboned duck which is then stuffed into a deboned turkey!  Yep!  If you've never had one, trust us when we say, you are missing out on an amazing culinary experience. The cajun chef authored 9 cookbooks and hosted a wonderful PBS show that showcased his Southern/Cajun/Creole cooking.  He also created a line of cajun and creole seasonings that have been used worldwide for years. 2nd Man ...

Yep.  I'm a Star Wars nerd.  When the original came out, I was 11 years old.  Side note, is it just me or are 11 year olds now vastly different from when we were 11 years old?  Anyway, I digress... I grew up on the original Star Trek (Kirk, Spock and the rest).  That was my first science fiction experience.  And I loved every minute of it.  Then Star Wars in 1977.   It was the movie that defined my childhood, growing up with it and a sequel coming twice over the next six years after that.  They started when I was a pre-teen child of 11 and ended (at least the first trilogy) when I was 18 and an adult.  Yep, I even had the figures (oh to have kept them in packages). The second trilogy began in 1999, well into my adulthood.  And now this first movie of the next (and presumably last) trilogy is coming out as I am into my 50th year.  It's like meeting up with old friends and getting caught up on what's been going ...

Well this just added to an already sad week... I hate when we lose our icons of youth...   Prince has left us, and the world is a bit less colorful.  Being children of the 80's, there is nothing more iconic than Prince and his music.  I had the fortune of seeing him live in concert back in the 90's.  Wow is all I can say.  One of my favorite memories. I saw Whitney too... And Michael... Sigh... RIP Prince

It's raining at the farm, which today, somehow seems appropriate... "...this is a sobering reminder that attacks on any American - regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation - is an attack on all of us and on the fundamental values of equality and dignity that define us a nation."                - President Barack Obama, 6/12/2016

Something a little different today.  Inspiration can come in many forms, tmore often tangible but sometimes it comes to us in the form of a performance that stays with us... Willy Wonka...the stuff of childhood dreams...much like The Wizard of Oz did and numerous other movies and TV shows of my youth, this movie sparked my imagination... ...I mean what kid didn't want to live IN a candy factory?   Or at least visit one?  And while of course he was just the actor chosen to play the role, he breathed life into the character and in  turn, the movie became something much more... ...the immensely talented Gene Wilder, playing the iconic Willy Wonka.  Gene was a great actor, also bringing moviegoers such memorable movies as The Producers, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein and many others, but for us, 2nd Man and I, it was Willy Wonka that left an indelible mark on us. From all accounts, he was a genuinely nice man, a good person wi...

This year has been particularly bad when it comes to celebrity deaths.  So many of them shocking, sudden, and unexpected.   Of course that is as death often does.   But when they come to our childhood heroes, our idols, the people that create the music that is the backdrop for a part of our life, well, then it's as if a little piece of our childhood is left behind. Carrie Fisher.   Actress.  Screenwriter.  Author.  She has a lot of jobs behind her name and deservedly so, but for millions, probably hundreds of millions, myself one of them, she will always be Princess Leia.  In the most recent movie, she had changed titles to General Leia.  And that's fitting, she was always kind of a bad ass in both her on screen roles and in her personal life.  She had struggles but was always open about those struggles, hoping that if someone could learn from them then something good would come of it. I met her at a Star Wa...

Sorry for no post yesterday and not replying to comments...I got a phone call at work, 2nd Man had been involved in a serious accident.   He was OK, shaken up of course but thankfully, not hurt... 2nd Man had a green light on a one way street. Driver's side rollover smashed The other person was traveling down the feeder road and ran their red light... Impact side on 2nd Man's car ...and t-boned him on the passenger side, spinning his car around and rolling it over onto the driver's side.  We are not sure if it somehow bounced back upright or if the bystanders who rushed to help pushed it back upright. Other person's car This is the other person's car.   They were taken to the hospital (not sure of their condition, we believe it was just as a precaution). Again, 2nd Man is fine, airbags deployed and the car really protected him. The next couple of days will be hectic as we get rental lined up, get the car moved to the s...