Comments for Poor Richard's Almanac

Comment on Why is it called the “Capitol”?! by ceecee

ceecee — Mon, 12 May 2008 13:11:18 +0000

Now I know, thank you so much for the tutorial! I can never remember which to use “A or O” when talking about my own city (Austin).
On another, equally important question—-is it A or O when starting a sentence? As in capita(o)l letter??

Good question! Thank goodness, it’s “a” every time you’re not discussing the Capitol building. That makes it easier!

Comment on An encounter with history by ceecee

ceecee — Mon, 12 May 2008 13:08:20 +0000

Hooray, what a great weekend! I am constantly amazed that such documents still exist—there weren’t modern ways of making sure mold, mildew, and silverfish didn’t make short work of those paper documents.

Civil war–oxymoron at its best.

Tom Jefferson’s handwriting??? Now I’m intrigued and will have to spend an hour or so wandering around in Google. Maybe his penmanship teacher was from another country??

I don’t know what shaped Jefferson’s handwriting, CeeCee, but it was in stark contrast to everyone else’s. Maybe he used one style for formal documents and another in his journals and notes. Or maybe it was just the sign of a modern mind!

Comment on An encounter with history by deb

deb — Mon, 12 May 2008 03:58:13 +0000

As late as it is, I didn’t spit coffee, but something made of hops and barley when read that our reps should see the actual documents to remind themselves what the BLEEP they were doing to begin with. Common sense is sometimes really funny. Don’t do me this way after 10:00pm.

Er, sorry! But wouldn’t it be great if they had to start each day by reciting the whole thing, sort of like the Pledge of Allegiance in school? Do ‘em good, I say!

Comment on Forget wooden nickels; go for the gold! by deb

deb — Sat, 10 May 2008 02:51:59 +0000

Great history lesson. Thanks.

Welcome, Deb! Glad you enjoyed it!

Comment on Forget wooden nickels; go for the gold! by Cinj

Cinj — Fri, 09 May 2008 13:35:28 +0000

I’ve never heard that story before about the V. I bet some of those coins would be worth a small fortune today, especially to avid collectors. I’d love to have some of those coins, alas they are out of my reach. Of course the gold ones would be even better, but at least I’ve seen pictures of them….

Look around, Cinj! I found my “gold” nickel for a ridiculously low price. Just don’t try to go after a 1913 Liberty nickel–I think there are only five in existence (it was illegal to make them, but a mint employee got away with a handful), and on the rare occasions when one comes up at auction, they bring millions of dollars. No matter, I say, the ordinary ones are just as much fun to collect, and you can find them for less than the five dollars the scammers were trying to produce!

Comment on Why don’t cats have brown eyes? by Jessica Gordon

Jessica Gordon — Fri, 09 May 2008 07:28:42 +0000

Interesting article.

I have 3 kitties, 2 with greenish blue eyes and 1 with dark amber eyes.

My entire family has blue eyes: me, my brother, my mom, my dad, mom’s parents, dad’s parents. My fiance has green eyes so our kids will either have blue or green eyes. It’s pretty cool to think that my eye color is getting rarer. I hope we can pass it along pretty far.

I hope so, too, Jessica! Blue eyes forever!!!

Comment on Mad about mushrooms. by Lin

Lin — Thu, 08 May 2008 21:23:11 +0000

I love mushrooms–raw, too!–but Dh is not so fond of them–or at least he thinks he isn’t. I follow your suggestion and sometimes just don’t mention that they’re an ingredient and he eats them just fine and asks for seconds.

It would be fun to grow your own. Haven’t done that, yet.

Your recipe sounds good!

Off to prep for dinner…shrimp bisque tonight.

Shrimp bisque–yum!!!! Now you all are making *me* hungry!

Comment on Mad about mushrooms. by Cinj

Cinj — Thu, 08 May 2008 20:18:53 +0000

Mmm, you’re making me hungry! Almost time to get Peanut off the bus. I’ve been thinking about what to make for dinner. I was planning on making leftover casserole. I think mushrooms would be a lovely addition! Thanks for the inspiration.

I can’t wait until I can start my vegetable gardens next year. All these big plans. Wouldn’t it be great to be able to grow everything yourself? Of course I know it’s hard to acheive nowadays. I wonder how hard it would be to grow my own mushrooms…. Even picky Cheesehead likes mushrooms!

Sounds yummy, Cinj! And it’s supposed to be super-easy to grow mushrooms if you buy one of those inoculated log kits. I want to try it this year, too! But what I’d really like to know is how hard it would be to keep ‘em going…

Comment on Mad about mushrooms. by walk2write

walk2write — Thu, 08 May 2008 19:34:49 +0000

One of my fondest memories is of mushroom hunting (yes, that’s what we called it!) with my dad when we lived in Germany. His aunt had taught him about which ones were edible and which were not. There were so many different kinds in the German woods! The first time we brought home our “kill,” my mom refused to eat any and wouldn’t let us kids eat any either until my dad proved their safety by eating them first. Thankfully, he lived many more years, and I learned to appreciate the subtle flavors of mushrooms I had hunted down myself. By the way, my mom dried the excess by stringing them together and hanging them in the hot water heater closet. They tasted great in wintertime soups and stews.

What fun that must have been!!! (I can just see your mom designating your dad the “official taster,” too!) And it’s great that you’re still collecting them yourself!

Comment on Mad about mushrooms. by deb

deb — Thu, 08 May 2008 14:22:04 +0000

The stroganoff sounds wonderful. I will have to make if for myself and the man and the monkeys won’t touch sour cream. I want one of those mushroom growing balls you see in seed catalogs. That sounds like a fun project.

Don’t tell them there’s sour cream in it, Deb! They’ll never know. I’m just fascinated by the idea of growing mushrooms–one more way to be self-sufficient!