the onion

We had an onion start to sprout in the vegetable drawer in the refrigerator.   We decided to plant it to see if it would grow.   How do you like the idea of using an empty 2-liter soda pop bottle for a planter?   Just cut a large hole in the side and then mount it to whatever you want with a couple of screws.   And don't forget to put some holes in the downside of the  soda pop planter to allow for drainage.   Much to our surprise the onion started to grow so I got a picture of it.   Now it was just a matter of waiting to see what would happen.   And it started growing straight up (geotropism?).   Over a period of about a week it had an amazing growth.

Most of the leaves became bent over but two stalks were doing just fine.   Just look at the funny shape on the top of the stalk.

The shapes reminds me of the colorful "onion domes" of St. Basils cathedral in Moscow's Red Square.   Such a beautiful splash of color.   And I can see why they are referred to as "onion domes".

But it seemed that all this rapid growth was taking it's energy from the onion itself as it began to shrivel up.

The odd shape thing on the tip of the stem began to form a more bulbous shape.   And through the skin there appeared to be little bumps.   This was becoming quite an adventure because I was baffled.   It was so strange looking.   What were those bumps?

After a couple days the membrane split open to reveal some funny looking things.

After a few more days those funny little things proved to be flower buds.   You can see one of the flowers breaking out of it's petal enclosure.  

I did a search on the internet about onions and found this picture of what mine should look like after it has fully blossomed.   I have spent my entire life eating onions but this was the first time that I had ever seen an onion flower.   I am still fascinated by it.

Those little black things on the onion flower are onion seeds.  

I hope that I get a handful like this individual did.

Stay tuned and I will let you know what happens with the seeds.   It seems that life is a learning process and I seem to keep learning new things.   Life is just amazing, and precious also.   Have a great day wherever you may be and please share with me in the comments section of any of your personal experiences.   Lew

Virginia Dare

I was at a stamp show for collectors and one of the dealers had this stamp for sale.   I bought it but had no idea who Virginia Dare was.  The stamp was issued in 1937 to commemorate the 350th anniversary of the birth of Virginia Dare and the settlement of Roanoke Island.  The stamp design was based on a vignette painting by William A. Roache.   The painting is much more clear and with details more readily seen than the stamp.   The stamp has a pale blue color.

This is the actual stamp that I bought which has some yellowing to it which may be from age.   After all it is 67 years old.   It could also be due to the gummed adhesive on the back of the stamp bleeding through the paper.

The stamp that I purchased is unused.   This stamp did not come off of an envelope because there is no cancellation marks on it.   I prefer stamps that are unused because I think that the cancellation marks take away from the artistry of the stamps.

The Virginia Dare stamp is rather old.   This means that for an unused stamp someone had to buy this stamp in 1937 and hold onto it for 76 years.   That is a long time to store a stamp.   How much did I pay for this 76 year old unused stamp?   15 cents.   I would have thought that it would have been worth much more than that because of its age.   Nope, it was only 15 cents.   But back to the stamp, who was Virginia Dare and why is there a commemorative stamp honoring her?  After researching the stamp I found that Virginia Dare is the baby who is being held by her mother Eleanor White Dare.   The middle name of the mother, “White”, is her maiden name.   Keep that tucked away in the back of your mind.   That name White will pop up again in this blog.   The man is her father, Ananias Dare.  He is holding a musket rifle.    As it says on the stamp above, Virginia Dare was born in 1587 on Roanoke Island in the Virginia Colony in America.   Specifically, she was born on August 18, 1857.    She was named Virginia because she was born in the Virginia colony.   The Virginia colony got its name from Sir Walter Raleigh who named the colony after Queen Elizabeth I of England who was known as the “virgin queen”.    What makes Virginia Dare notable is that she was the first English child born in America and was baptized as depicted here in this painting.   What a momentous event that must have been.

Virginia Dare's parents were among 117 settlers that sailed from England to America to establish a colony.   Sir Walter Raleigh was attempting to establish a colony in the New World of the Americas.

Sir Walter Raleigh.

I remember Sir Walter Raleigh from a very early age.   Actually I remember his image on the packs of Raleigh cigarettes.

  

The Raleigh cigarettes had a coupon on the back of the pack enclosed under the clear cellophane wrapping.

These coupons could be saved and redeemed for prizes.
And there were also the cans of Raleigh pipe tobacco.

There were evidently also cards but I never saw any of them.    I must admit that the card is very colorful picturesque (did I spell that right?).

But enough on tobacco.  Leaving England on May 8, 1587 they sailed on a Caravel ship called The Lion.

The ship was captained by Simon Fernandez, a Portuguese pilot who was familiar with the area.   They sailed from England on May 8, 1587 and arrived at Roanoke in July, 1587.   A two month passage at sea.  

A little digression for a moment.

Aren't we lucky to be able to sail the oceans on luxurious cruise ships instead of the small sailing ships of old.   If you have never been on a cruise on one of these massive ships, then be sure to add it to your "bucket list".   What is a "bucket list"?    A list of things that you want to do before you "kick the bucket".    And no, a long bucket list won't make you live longer, just have more fun with your allotted time.

But these colonists weren’t so lucky as our modern day travelers.   Fortunately they didn’t squeeze all 117 people onto one boat but rather had a fleet of ships.   How many, I don’t know but they had to carry enough food to feed all of these people plus the sailors for two months.   I wonder how much food they had left when they reached Roanoke.   They couldn’t unload all of the remaining food supplies from the boats because some of the food had to be saved for the sailors for the two month return trip to England.
Nine days after the birth of Virginia Dare her grandfather, Governor John White, left the colony and sailed back to England to obtain more supplies for the colony.   Remember earlier I mentioned to remember Eleanor White Dare maiden name of White?  Yep, Governor John White was her daddy.   The colonists had arrived in America in August and it was too late to plant any crops.   And without the supplies that Governor White would bring back it would be a very cold and hungry winter.   Governor White made it back to England but now there was a war between England and Spain, and England needed all ships to fight the Spanish Armada.   It was three years before Governor White made it back to the Virginia colony on Roanoke and arrived on August  1590.   The settlement was abandoned and the colonists had carved the name Croatoan into a large tree indicating that they had gone to a nearby island where a tribe of indians, the Croatoan, lived.

The infant Virginia Dare had disappeared along with the other colonists.  It is believed that they may have been attacked by hostile indians and what survivors there may have been were absorbed into the Croatoan tribe.   The fate of the colonists of The Lost Colony has remained a mystery to this day.
       All this and more, I learned because of my curiosity about a pale blue stamp.   The commemorative stamps all have fascinating stories connected with them.   And there is a wealth of information on the internet about each stamp.  Pick an old commemorative stamp and research it and read its history on the internet.   I am sure that it will get you interested in the commemorative stamps and the stories that they tell.    Lew

Tammy's boyfriend

Our cat Tammy seems to have a boyfriend.   A stray tomcat that hangs around the house for food.   His name is Oscar.

Not to worry though, Tammy has been spayed.   I opened the garage door this morning and saw them both by the base of the oak tree.   I thought that it would make a nice picture so I ran inside to get my camera.  

By the time that I got back outside (which was less than a minute, Oscar had turned around and now his backside was facing the camera.

Isn't that always the way with pets?   I can't get the camera in time to get that perfect picture.   Did you notice in the picture above that Tammy is laying in the shade of the tree?  She likes to be in the shade and avoid the sun.

And on a warm day in the shade of the camphor tree in the backyard she really relaxes.

Have a nice day and enjoy some time with your pets whatever they may be.   Unless it is a gator climbing a fence.

An amazing picture.   Take care.    Lew

red velvet pancakes

Red velvet pancakes?   This is a new one for me.   I have had red velvet cake with that decadent cream cheese frosting.   Sometimes I am not sure which I like most, the red velvet cake or the incredibly rich cream cheese frosting.    The cake and the frosting make for an incredible combination.

And then there are the red velvet twinkies.   Have you seen these in the stores?

I couldn't believe that there was such a thing so I just had to try some.   They are really quite good.    But then who doesn't like twinkies.    To do a "fractured" quote of Will Rogers, I never met a twinkie I didn't like.

They make a fantastic snack.   And the red velvet flavor comes through nice and strong.   Two of my favorites rolled into one;  red velvet and twinkies.   Am I making you hungry yet?  And let's not forget about the red velvet cupcakes.   I have seen them but I have not tried them yet.   I will have to add them to my "bucket list".

My wife knows my passion for red velvet cake and she saw this box of the red velvet pancake mix and so she got it and tomorrow she is going to make red velvet pancakes for breakfast.   To ease my caloric conscience I will put sugar-free pancake syrup on them.   It is like the scales of justice; red velvet pancakes on the scale on one side and sugar-free syrup on the other scale.

Does that reasoning sound good to you?   Works for me, especially while I am eating the red velvet pancakes tomorrow morning.   Bon appétit.    Lew

atomic coffee cup

 

I call this cup my "atomic cup" because it depicts some atomic bombs going off. The picture is by a cartoonist named Gary Larson who did the Far Side series of cartoons.   But in the radiation field of work it use to be joked that in the event of atomic attack the best thing to do was to go fishing (just like the scene on the coffee mug).  No joke.  Why go fishing?   In radiation protection the golden rules for protection from radiation are Time, Shielding, and Distance. 

1.   TIME  -  If any fallout sprinkles down out of the sky and lands on you, just jump into the water to wash it off (decontamination).   This keeps the TIME that the fallout is on you to a minimum.  

2.   SHIELDING  -  Radioactive fallout which sprinkles down from the sky and lands on the water will sink to the bottom of the lake and all of that water will supply SHIELDING from the radioactive material that sank to the bottom.

3.   DISTGANCE  -  If you row the boat to the middle of the lake you are a long DISTANCE from any of the radioactive fallout on shore.

Would going fishing really work?   I don't know but let's hope that we never have to find out.

By the way this is also a favorite cup that I have bearing a Gary Larson cartoon.

Now wouldn't this be a quite a trick to play.   I can just imagine the fear and shock the poor individual would have had when his friend popped the bag.

I saw Olympus Has Fallen starring Morgan Freedman.   It had a lot of action in it.    I mean lots and lots of action.   I thought that it was very good if you happen to like action movies.   Have a good day and peace to all.     Lew

Chihuahua's

This was our little chihuahua Duke.   He doesn't look very happy probably because of being dressed up with the sombrero.   He was  very tolerant of us putting him in costumes (especially at Halloween).   Here in Florida it rains a lot and so we would put his doggie raincoat on him when he had to go outside in the grass to take a restroom break.  

And when it was cold outside he even had his own warm red sweater to keep him warm.

He was an excellent lapdog and his favorite pastime was sitting on the couch next to us while we were watching television.   Such a lovable and loyal pet.   But his "end-of-life" time came and off he went to doggie heaven.   We buried him in our backyard and we got a memorial marker to mark his spot.   Mary even wrote his name on the marker in gold paint.

I checked the marker last week and saw all of these cracks in it.    The marker seemed to be made out of a plaster-type material.   The cracks are probably due to the plaster drying out.   We are going to replace the marker with a new one.   We will try to get one that won't have a "drying-out" problem.   I know that people can get so attached to their pets that the pets are like members of the family.   And when they are gone it is like losing a family member.  
        So we got another chihuahua.   A female named Judy.

She is also a lap dog and likes being on the couch next to us.   In this case she decided to lay on the nice soft cushion behind me.

She is an older dog which is what we wanted.   We got her from one of these pet rescue organizations.    They got her from a county animal shelter (dog pound).   I know that chihuahuas have a reputation for being nippy but she has a wonderfully passive disposition.   Incredibly sweet.   We got lucky.   She is a good replacement for our male chihuahua, Duke.   What type of pet do you have?   Dog?   Cat?   Rabbit?   We have all three.    Have a nice day and don't forget about the wild animals like the squirrels and the birds.    I am sure that they would like to have some supplemental food.    Be happy.    Lew

sinkhole tragedy

In the past I have used the title of "Good News, Bad News" when I write about sinkholes.   The "Bad News" is that a sinkhole opened somewhere in someone's front yard.   The "Good News" is that it wasn't my front yard.   But in this sinkhole there is no "Good News" because it involved a fatality.   I am shocked.   I didn't think that people died in sinkholes.   We have sinkholes open up in people's yards from time-to-time here in Central Florida but no one gets hurt.   This is the first one that I am aware that had a fatality.   Where was this sinkhole?   It was at 240 Faithway Drive, Seffner, Florida which is about 15 miles east of Tampa, Florida.   It is also 73 miles southwest of Orlando, Florida.   Seffner is located where the purple dot is in the lower left corner of the picture below.

It was 11:00 pm on Friday, March 1 and Jeffrey Bush was in bed when a huge hole opened up under his bed.   

A hole?   How can a hole open up under the bed?   This is the stuff that nightmares are made of.    But with a loud crash the cement floor, the dresser, the bed, and Jeffrey sunk down into the hole.  

Jeffrey’s screams for help were heard by his brother, Jeremy Bush.  

Jeremy ran to Jeffrey’s bedroom and what he saw was a large hole with Jeffrey’s bed in it.   Jeffrey was screaming for Jeremy to help him.   Jeffrey was still alive.   Jeremy jumped into the hole and tried to help his brother but couldn’t.    Now Jeremy was also stuck in the hole and couldn’t get out.   Jeremy was a real-life hero to jump into a sink-hole as the dirt was going down the hole making the hole even deeper.   I take my hat off to Jeremy for his bravery and devotion to his brother.

A police officer, Douglas Duval arrived at the house in response to a 911 call by a family member.    When the police officer entered the bedroom and looked into the hole he could see Jeremy Bush trying to get out of the hole.   He also saw a bed and a dresser in the hole.   Everything in the hole was sinking.  Officer Duval reached into the hole and helped Jeremy Bush get out of the hole.  

The hole sunk to a depth of 60 feet and was about 30 feet in diameter.   But what about Jeffrey Bush?   He could no longer be seen.   Emergency responders came but it was deemed unsafe to have rescue personnel go down a 60 foot deep hole because of the danger of the sides of the hole collapsing.   A camera and a sensitive microphone were lowered into the hole but no sign of life was detected.    Anyone going near the house had to wear a safety harness with a rope tether.

The rope was held by a firefighter.

On Saturday, the ground was studied with ground penetrating radar and it still seemed that the hole was just too unstable to send someone down into the hole.   It was felt that Jeffrey was no longer alive and it would be another tragedy to have the hole collapse on people who would be trying to recover Jeffries body.   It had to have been a tough call to make.   The house was razed to the ground and the debris taken away.

It had to be tough on the family to see their house end up piece-by-piece in a dumpster.   The owner had sinkhole insurance which was fortunate but when you live in a house for a long time there are so many memories.   Over the course of a few days the house was cleared as it had never existed, the hole filled with gravel from dump trucks and now the site looks like an empty lot.  

His brother leaves a memorial of flowers to his brother at the site.

At the age of 36 Jeffrey Bush died too soon and too young.    His family will remember him always, especially at Christmas time.

Live each day to the fullest because you just never know when tragedy will strike.    Lew