Blog hop with us!

Tawna has kindly chosen me to be one of the cohosts of her weekly weekend-long blog hop. Check below for the details, and be sure to check under my header for a link to a page devoted to blog hops, challenges, and memes for every day of the week. There are over 300 listed there!

Rules are easy, there are only 2!

1. Follow ALL HOSTS through GFC

We are also the top 3 links of the hop!

Host-Tawna's Journey to a Healthier Me

Host-My Journey with Candida

Host-In Him We Live and Move and Have our Being

3rd Host changes weekly so please be sure to follow NEW host is you link up weekly!

A fatal unplanned "game" of Russian roulette

This makes two "public service announcements" in one week.

I read a local news story that is, again, disturbing. It concerns the accidental death of a 23-year-old man. He had a new 22-caliber pistol and was showing it to some friends. He was demonstrating the safety. He engaged the safety mechanism, pulled the trigger, and the gun did not discharge. He then showed them the slide action. In the final action of his too-brief life, he then put the gun to his head and fired... without re-engaging the safety.

For some important gun safety tips, please go to this site, published by the NRA. But in case you don't take the time to read the full article, remember this critically important safety tip, copied directly from the site:

1. ALWAYS keep the gun pointed in a safe direction.
This is the primary rule of gun safety. A safe direction means that the gun is pointed so that even if it were to go off it would not cause injury or damage. The key to this rule is to control where the muzzle or front end of the barrel is pointed at all times. Common sense dictates the safest direction, depending on different circumstances.

An honest lawyer

We've all heard the jokes about dishonest lawyers. (Have sympathy for the honest attorney who gets "tarred with the same brush" as the shysters...) Well, here's a brutally honest quote from one of our country's most famous barristers, Clarence Darrow:

I undertook to serve this company... believing they had an ordinance procured by the aid of boodle. I am satisfied that judged by the higher law... I am practically a thief. I am taking money that I did not earn, which comes to me from men who did not earn it, but who get it because they have the chance to get it. I take it without performing any useful service to the world, and I take a thousand times as much as my serices are worth even assuming they were useful and honest.

I copied that quote from a book I'll gladly recommend to anyone who enjoys biographies or history. I didn't know much at all about Clarence Darrow until I picked up this book after hearing an interview with the author. The interview was fascinating and gave me the impetus to purchase the book. I'm so glad I did - Darrow is a fascinating character! The book is Clarence Darrow: Attorney for the Damned by John A. Farrell

A feline field trip: Carolina Tiger Rescue

Last week, I went with 2 friends to Carolina Tiger Rescue, which is located in Pittsboro NC. As the name indicates, it is a rescue organization for tigers and other "big cats".

Initially, this site was founded as a breeding program for endangered big cat species. It no longer serves that function, as a number of other organizations are doing a creditable job of that. In order to be classified as a rescue program, the site must agree not to breed animals and not to permit physical contact between the cats and humans. And although they adhere faithfully to these rules, it is possible to get closer to the cats than one could in a zoo.

Carolina Tiger Rescue  considers education to be one of their most important functions. And I learned a good deal as we toured the facility. As one example...

...interestingly enough, it is illegal in the state of North Carolina to possess a creature which is indigenous to this state. So , for example, you would break the law if you were to trap and keep a wild rabbit. By the same token, if you were to find a baby possum, you should not try to care for it yourself. Several good reasons for that. For one, you would likely not have the specialized knowledge of how to care for it properly. Perhaps even more importantly, you and your family could be exposed to potentially fatal disease (i.e. rabies).

Even though it is illegal to have a squirrel as a pet, however, it is not illegal to have a pet tiger or lion. (Don't ask me to try to explain the logic behind that. I cannot.) And the majority of states apparently have no laws forbidding the possession of wild cats that can reach 600+ pounds. That's why some of these animals now live at Carolina Tiger Rescue.

The stories of some of these animals were, at times, almost incomprehensible to me.

• Two of the animals living there were 6-month-old tiger cubs that became more than their "human parents" could handle. So they simply turned them loose on the side of the road, where passing motorists saw them and notified authorities.
• One beautiful animal finally made his way to Carolina Tiger Rescue after being kept in a 3-foot by 3-foot by 6-foot cage for a couple of years. He arrived malnourished and had difficulty walking from being cramped up in an enclosure far too small for him.
• Several of the animals were rescued after the zoos in which they lived ran out of funding and were forced to close.
• One tiger cub was confiscated from the back seat of a car after its owner was pulled over on a routine traffic stop in a state where it's illegal to own a big cat.
• One owner simply put the animal in a crate and left it outside the locked gate of the facility one night.
• In another case, a rescued cat kept walking into walls; it was discovered that the animal had been born blind, and apparently hadn't gotten appropriate veterinary care... its previous owner was unaware it was blind.
• One man discovered that a bobcat doesn't have the same disposition as the tabby cat down the street. Bobcats don't have a great sense of humor, and they DO have a temper.

They call these animals "wild" because they are... uh... WILD. It is a mistake to try to keep a wild animal - especially one that will attain a weight of 600+ pounds - as a pet. They won't be litter trained. They will chew on or scratch the furniture, and quite possible they will chew on or scratch you as well. It's highly doubtful your back yard will have ample running room for such a creature, and your neighbors might not appreciate it if the animal escapes your yard and eats their Pomeranian.  More than likely, you don't know how to care for and feed the animal properly, and more than likely, your vet doesn't have a heck of a lot of experience caring for lions and tigers.

So if you want to see an ocelot or a lion, go to the zoo or to a facility such as Carolina Tiger Rescue. If you've got an itch to take care of a big cat, make a donation or "adopt" one. Head on over to Carolina Tiger Rescue's web site to find out more.

But please, don't try to make one of these magnificent creatures into a pet.

__________

Stop by Outdoor Wednesday, where I'm sharing this post today.

More phone fun

I've found 2 photo challenges - Phonography and iPhone Fun Friday -where the challenge involves taking a picture with your cellphone. It's harder than you think to come up with something you'd consider sharing, but I decided to play along with this shot:

I wasn't quite happy with it, so I did a little photo editing and came up with this:

I like that better. To achieve it, I cropped the photo and altered the brightness and contrast. I'm sharing the end result at Touch-Up Tuesday and Edit Me.

How about trying your hand at doing some phone photos!

And if you want to see something really strange, look at this post from yesterday. That's what I mean by MORE phone fun!

Cheesy Beef Spirals

Here's what you'll need:

Pasta 2 C uncooked. You can use any sort of pasta, although the original recipe suggested spiral pasta or ziti
Ground beef, 2 pounds
2 small onions, chopped
Garlic clove, 1 minced
Spaghetti sauce, homemade or 1 jar, 26 oz
Mushrooms, 4 1/2 oz can, drained
Sour cream, 1/2 C
Velveeta cheese, 1/2 pound cubed
Mozarella cheese, shredded, 2 C (8 oz)

Cook pasta according to package directions.
While waiting for pasta to finish, brown beef with onions, & garlic over medium heat until meat is no longer pink, then drain. Stir in sauce & mushrooms, slowly bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, & simmer for 20 minutes.
Place 1/2 C of meat sauce in a greased, shallow 2 1/2 qt baking dish. Drain pasta & place half of it over the sauce. Top with half of the remaining meat sauce & spread with sour cream. Top with Velveeta, remaining pasta, & meat sauce.
Sprinkle with mozzarella, cover, & bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 5-10 minutes or til bubbly.

Dash on over to Prairie Story, Hunk of Meat Monday and Pennywise Platter to find other great recipes!

Public service announcement

 

I've been noticing a trend on some of the blogs I've visited lately that seems rather dangerous to me, and I wanted to give folks some food for thought. At least 10 blogs I've been on recently have put up announcements that say they'll be on vacation or away from the house for one reason or another. A number of these have specified when they're going out of town and when they'll be returning.

It seems to me that this could present an open invitation to the wrong sort of person. I'd hate to have a burglar or an arsonist follow up on the invite.

Lots of us in the blogging world use pseudonyms or omit mentioning the town we live in, but someone knows you blog and, unthinkingly, may mention it to someone who's not as honest as you are. And while I truly believe that most people mean well, it's still important to take precautions to avoid giving opportunities to the small fraction of people who take advantage of our trust.

I did a google search for "internet safety guidelines" and ran across some helpful tips:

• Don't post your personal information (i.e.  your legal name, last name, address, telephone number,  financial/banking/credit/insurance card information, social security number, passwords, and logon information) online.
• When entering financial, banking, or credit card information online while banking or shopping, be sure the website is secure. Look for https in the webpage address or an icon of an unbroken key or lock that is closed, glowing or golden usually at the bottom of the browser window. 
• If you're a parent, discuss internet safety with your children. Be sure they understand what information should not be shared, and that you're aware of online "friendships" they may form. Sexual predators can be clever, and kids can be naive. 
• Be cautious about clicking attachments from unknown people (or people who aren't internet savvy). Computer viruses or Trojan horses may be sent via attachments.
• Use antivirus software, antispyware, and a firewall, and make sure your virus definitions are updated regularly.
• Be suspicious of emails that tell you to "forward this to everyone you know". Often there's a scam or a bogus tale attached.
• When passing on a story you've heard or read about online, take a minute to verify it's accuracy on www.snopes.com. There are tons of falsehoods making the rounds via email..
• When forwarding email, first clean up all the email addresses that may have been visible on the email received, and then forward using"blind carbon copy " or "BCC". There are programs and people that will harvest email addresses that can be seen in the "to" or "CC" address lines.

Popcorn calling!

Pop Corn téléphone portable micro-ondes by sassiere

It's a small world after all!

As I walked toward the car yesterday, my eye was caught by a tiny caterpillar hovering 18 inches or so above my head. He was scaling a thread so fine that I couldn't see it. I aimed my camera up in the air and crossed my fingers hoping to capture the image, then watched him til he climbed the rest of the way up to the leaf he must have spun his thread from. I did edit this a bit. I cropped the shot, tinkered with the color balance, increasing the blue of the sky, and sharpened the image a bit. By the time I got the caterpillar in focus as he hung a foot or so above me, the leaf was really fuzzy. I'm sharing this at Monday Rewind and Perceptive Perspectives.

To be honest, I'm not sure just what this next critter is. The first time I saw one, I thought it was a baby hummingbird. It's bigger than a bumblebee, and its wings move so fast that they're really only a blur. My husband thinks it may be some sort of moth. We compromised and call it a hummingbird moth. Whatever it is, it loves our butterfly bush, and I'm sharing these pictures of it at the Creative Bloggers Party and Hop and Tuesday Garden Party.

Up close, the mimosa blossom is strikingly delicate, don't you think? I'm sharing this shot at The Creative Exchange and 52 Weeks of Happiness.

At one time, I could be counted on to squawk, wave my hands around in the air, and run when a bee came around me. Now I'm so fascinated by watching them work that I think they may be reacting that way when they see me!

Look at the way the teensy flower is reflected on the back of this Japanese beetle. Isn't that cool? I'm participating in Macro Monday with this one.










The next two shots are heading on over to Mellow Yellow. Hope you'll visit there too!

This one, taken at the Georgetown Visitation Monastery, is being shared at Sweet Shot Tuesday:

I just love this rose. It's one of the beauties my neighbor has in her yard. If I keep running over there with my camera, she's gonna call the cops and tell them I'm stalking her or something!!!

At any rate, I'm sharing this gorgeous rose at Quotography, along with this quote from Leo Buscaglia:

"A single rose can be my garden...a single friend, my world."

May you find yourself surrounded by friendship and beauty this week!

Woof Woof Woof Miaw!

Shine brightly!

Your duty is to sanctify yourself. Yes, even you. Who thinks that this task is only for priests and religious? To everyone, without exception, our Lord said: 'Be ye perfect, as my heavenly Father is perfect.' One of the reasons Christianity does not influence the world more is that few Christians shine more brightly than those who lack the faith.

– Josemaria Escriva

Sports quotes

"It's about 90% strength and 40% technique."

~ Johnny Walker, world middleweight 

wrestling champion, on what it takes to be a champ

"If I wasn't talking, I wouldn't know what to say."

~ Chico Resch, New York Islanders goaltender

"We have only one person to blame, and that's each other."

~ Barry Beck, New York Ranger, on who started a brawl 

during the National Hockey League's Stanley Cup playoffs

"The doctors X-rayed my head and found nothing."

~ Dizzy Dean explaining how he felt after being 

hit on the head by a ball in the 1934 World Series

"He fakes a bluff."

~ Ron Fairly, Giants broadcast announcer

"It could permanently hurt a batter for a long time."

~ Pete Rose, Cincinnati Red, speaking about a brushback pitch

"Fans, don't fail to miss tomorrow's game."

~ Dizzy Dean, baseball great turned sports announcer

"Me and George and Billy are two of a kind."

~ Mickey Rivers, Texas Rangers outfielder, on his warm relationship

with Yankee owner Steinbrenner and manager Billy Martin

"I've never had major knee surgery on any other part of my body."

~ Winston Bennett, University of Kentucky basketball forward.

"Winfield goes back to the wall. He hits his head on the wall and it rolls off! It's rolling all the way back to second base! This is a terrible thing for the Padres."

~ Jerry Coleman, Padres broadcast announcer, attempting to tell 

radio listeners about a fly ball hit by a member of the opposing team

"His reputation preceded him before he got here."

~ Don Mattingly, New York Yankee, on Mets pitcher Dwight Gooden

"Even Napoleon had his Watergate."

~ Danny Ozark, Philadelphia Phillies manager, 

commenting on the team's ten-game losing streak

"We are experiencing audio technicalities."

~ Ralph Kiner, announcer for the New York Mets

"Folks, this is perfect weather for today's game. Not a breath of air."

~ Curt Gowdy, network sports announcer, on air

"I don't want to tell you any half-truths unless they're completely accurate."

~ Dennis Rappaport, boxing manager, explaining 

his silence regarding boxer Thomas Hearns

"A lot of people my age are dead at the present time."

~ Casey Stengel, baseball great, Yankees and Mets manager

"Are you any relation to your brother Marv?"

~ Leon Wood, New Jersey Nets guard, to Steve Albert, Nets TV commentator

"And Kansas City is at Chicago tonight, or is that Chicago at Kansas City? Well, no matter, Kansas City leads in the eighth, 4 to 4."

~ Jerry Coleman, Padres announcer, going through the scoreboard on air.

"Today is Father's Day, so everyone out there: Happy birthday!"

~ Ralph Kiner, announcer for the New York Mets

"All I said was that the trades were stupid and dumb, and they took that and blew it all out of proportion."

~ Ron Davis, Minnesota Twins pitcher, commenting on press reports 

quoting him as criticizing team managers for trading top players

"They throw Winfield out at second and he's safe."

~ Jerry Coleman, Padres broadcast announcer

"Formation drowning."

~ Alan Parry referring to synchronized swimming

"If you can't imitate him, don't copy him."

~ Yogi Berra

"I'm wearing these gloves for my hands."

~ Yogi Berra, when asked why he was wearing gloves

"I'd find the fellow who lost it, and if he was poor, I'd return it."

~ Yogi Berra, answering Casey Stengel's question

"What would you do if you found a million dollars?"

"I don't know. I'm not in shape yet."

~ Yogi Berra, when asked his cap size

"The similarities between me and my father are different."

~ Dale Berra, Yogi Berra's son

You start with a bag....

 ...and add a cat.

Even a sleepy cat.

Of course the other cat will be disappointed he didn't think of it first, and he'll sulk.

Cat # 1 will hunker on down for a nap...


















Until it occurs to cat # 2 that "possession is nine tenths of the law".



Soon, both of them get bored with the game, at which point...

...you end up with a bag.

The second picture above - Mr. Sleepy Cat - is being shared at SOCC Saturday. Be sure to stop by! Also, visit the Pet Lovers Blog Hop each Saturday.

Yabba dabba doo!

I'm honored to be featured as "the epic blog of the week" on the sidebar of The Epic Adventures of a Modern Mom! Pretty cool, huh?

Really tasty! Spiced basmati rice

It's been a while since I've fixed this, but I was reminded of how tasty it is when I was pawing through some recipes earlier this week. Basmati rice is so fragrant; it's perfect with the other ingredients!

Ingredients:

Basmati rice - measure to the 15 oz. mark on a glass measuring cup

Vegetable oil - 3 Tbsp

Onion - 2 oz., peeled & finely chopped

Green chiles - 1/2 of a chile, chopped fine

Garlic clove, 1, minced fine

Garam masala, 1/2 tsp.

Chicken broth, 1 qt.

Pick over the rice & put in a bowl. Wash in several changes of water. Drain. Pour 2 pints fresh water over the rice & let it soak for 30 minutes. Drain in a sieve for 20 minutes. Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. When hot, put in the onion. Stir and fry til onion bits are lightly browned. Add rice, green chile, garlic, garam masala, and salt. Stir gently for 3-4 minutes until all rice grains are coated with oil. If rice begins to stic to the bottom of the pan, turn heat down slightly. Now pour in the stock and bring rice to a boil. Cover with a tight-fitting lid, turn heat to low, and cook for 25 minutes.

Where the heck did this child FIND all these????

Saintly Wisdom

God has placed you in this world to manifest His goodness. He has given you intelligence so that you might know Him, a memory so that you might remember Him, a will to love him, and an imagination to remind you of His benefits, eyes to see His wonderful works, a tongue to praise Him. He has made you in his image.

- St. Francis de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life

I'm sharing the photo you see above at The Long Road to China's black and white photo challenge this week. And please visit a new weekly photo challenge: Sweet Little Photo Swap.

Photo Potpourri

Here are my top ten photos taken over the past week.

# 1 The first set is being shared at Before and After and Edit Me. I used PhotoShop to adjust lighting and contrast in order to give the shot a bit more drama.

# 2 This lovely water lily is being shared at 52 Weeks of Happiness. Seeing such beauty is a source of unending joy for me!!

 

# 3 I'll share the next one at  You Capture. Her theme this week is "purple" or "bathroom", either or both. I'm fascinated by way the camera captured the detail of the pollen on the legs of the bee. And I like this one so much, I'm also sharing it at Fabulous Friday.

 



# 4 This next flower is being shared at Wordless, Not So Wordless, or Wonderful Wednesday's weekly photo challenge. I'm also sharing it at a new photo challenge I just ran across: Favorite Photo of the Week.

 

# 5 and # 6 And I'm heading over to Wordless Wednesday with the beautiful white one below, and to Today is Rednesday with the other:

# 7 I'm sharing this next beauty at Cottage Flora Thursdays . I'm hoping someone there will be able to identify what it is? Perhaps you know?

# 8 I'm sharing this macro shot at  Outdoor Wednesday and Macro Friday.

# 9 This is a shot I'm sharing at What I'm Loving Wednesday. In case you haven't noticed, I'm loving searching for opportunities to explore with the camera. I'm also posting it for the "yellow" challenge at the Summer Photography Challenge.

# 10 I'll be heading over to Texture Thursday and Flowers on Saturday with this last one. Come over and join me there!

Bonus shot... With tongue in cheek, I'm sharing this last one for the Them Thursday challenge, where the theme is "Technology". More appropriately, I'm sharing it at Foto Friday, where the theme this week is "Broken".

And use the linky below to let me - and others - know you were here!

Another nutty news story.

I was browsing through the news headlines the other day, and ran across this one, which read, "Boy wears dress and heels to school, gets suspended". And my first question was, "Where were his parents?"

I know, I know, a parent's job is really tough... but I think my folks might have noticed if I headed out the door wearing, say, a tuxedo and a top hat.

At any rate, I read on and found out that the young man, Sam Saur, donned high heels and a dress due to "a challenge laid down by his mother". He'd told his mom that wearing high heels wouldn't be difficult. She dared him to give it a try. Not willing to stop there, he donned a dress as well, and headed off to school.

This guy must be REALLY secure and self-assured. I'm willing to bet the guys in my high school wouldn't have even considered it. But the school didn't see eye to eye with young Master Saur. They suspended him for the rest of the year.

Of course, I would have insisted on reading the school's dress code to see where it said a male student couldn't wear high heels and a dress, but the school must have had second thoughts without my help; they reduced his suspension to three days. "But Saurs won't be allowed to go to the ninth grade dance or the class party at Wild Waves."

But truth be told, he doesn't look half bad, does he?

Dontcha just love it?

Experiment with me!

I'm sharing this shot with Pullling My Mask Off's "Summer" photo challenge. It was taken in coastal North Carolina, where we ate some wonderful seafood. While there, I found a recipe that I want to try. Tell me - doesn't this sound easy and delicious?

Toasted crab muffins

1 can (6 1/2 oz) crab meat, drained and flaked

1/2 C prepared tartar sauce

1 Tbsp celery, chopped fine

2 Tbsp green pepper, chopped fine

1 tsp lemon juice

2 English muffins, split & toasted

4 slices of American cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine crab, tartar sauce, celery, green pepper, & lemon juice. Spread crab mixture on toasted muffin halves. Bake 5 minutes, top each half with a slice of cheese, and bake 5 minutes more, or til hot and bubbly. Serve warm.

I'm sharing this second photo at The Creative Exchange.

OH - Please be sure to visit Frugality Is Free today. She holds a weekly blog hop on Mondays, and was kind enough to select this blog to be featured this week! Thank you!

Scripture and a snapshot

Now may God give you of the dew of heaven,

And of the fatness of the earth,

And an abundance of grain and new wine.

-Genesis 27;28

These photos are being shared at Sweet Shot Tuesday, Hear it on Sunday, Use it on Monday, Simple Things, and Scripture & a Snapshot.