1. This weekend was the OKC Memorial Marathon. It's a memorial for the tragic Oklahoma City Federal Building Bombing that occurred in 1995. I was teenager then, and I remember I was staying with my grandparents because my mom and dad were on a trip. I've never participated in the Memorial Marathon before, but this year we got together two relay teams from work. For the relay, you have five people that run the full marathon distance, so I only had to run a 10k leg. For me, even that was a lot, but the whole event was really fun. There were 25,000 runners all together, and it's a really big deal here. Next year I think my friend and sister and I are all going to run the half, which is only a little more than two 10ks. The marathon starts right outside the bombing memorial downtown and is very moving.
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2. Evidently one of the bags of potting soil I bought for my most recent set of houseplants must have been infested with the eggs of fungus gnats, because I have a terrible infestation of them. I've had them before, but never this bad. This year, they're only in newly potted plants too which is why I think it must be the soil. Unfortunately, most of those newly potted plants were destined for my office, so now there are swarms of gnats in my office. My next door neighbor is about to kill me because even though he has no plants they're migrating into his office. I've tried bug killing sprays which worked before, but that hasn't been enough to eliminate the infestation, so now I've but these yellow sticky traps everywhere. Unfortunately, they seem to be drawn both to people and to the light of my computer monitor so they tend to swarm around my head while I try to work. In case you were confused, this is not and "I Like". It's a testament to how much I love my plants that I'm going to such desperate lengths. Any suggestion for fungus gnats (different from fruit flies), I'm all ears.
3. It's been raining buckets and buckets and then raining some more (we lucked out SOOOOO MUCH for the marathon), so of course my back yard is a giant mud swimming pool, but on the upside, these cool mushrooms are growing in one of my pots of bulbs. Nifty! And almost all my dahlias have sprouted (not in this picture) so bonus there too!
4. Here's a look at one of the quilts I've been working on; I cut out all those little squares to use as musical notes. It turned out I didn't need that many, so now I have extras to use as decoration in the borders. I love the array of colors. Lots of them are from hand dyed or hand painted fabrics, so up close there's lots more variation than you can see here.
5. The tiny Bullett bush has a clump of beautiful pink flowers! I'm so excited, I think that means I will have one elderberry!
6. And the cacti are growing well. They're starting to develop secondary groups of spines (rather than just the ones on top).
7. I really liked these two recent history posts. One was on the British Library blog and is a short article about an exhibit on the history of writing (so cool). The second is from the history blog and is about some new 3D reconstructions of neolithic dogs and the role they played in neolithic society (even cooler).
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| Add https://blogs.bl.uk/digitisedmanuscripts/2019/04/writing-the-story-of-writing-a-new-exhibition.html |
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| http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/54982 |
And now, I'm going off to the microscope, largely because I need to get out of the swarms of gnats in my office. Wishing everyone a happy Thursday! Click over to LeeAnnas for more I like!
gnats! Yikes. I had moths in birdseed once, and never quite got rid of them in MD. Your photos are superb. Love the mushrooms. Like electric jellyfish! There's a concept for you to explore in your art. Those mushrooms. Going to look for the videos you linked... sounds fun!
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Great post, Shannon. 10K...I think that is quite a lot! Well done!
ReplyDeleteI know nothing about gnats, except in the documentary about Grey Gardens(the mother and daughter Beales) apparently they were infested with them. But I suspect they came with the soil.
Interesting mushrooms, I wonder what kind they are. Delicate looking.
I went to that history of writing site and checked out that article. I thought the Chinese invented writing. It was very interesting reading. There is something in the way the markings on the child's homework slate really appeal to me. I taught remedial reading for a couple of decades so the whole alphabet learning is of interest to me. Thanks!
Yucky gnats...All your plant photos are beautiful, especially the mushrooms!
ReplyDeleteHi Shannon! Oh that relay race looks fabulous. 25,000 people - what a great turnout. That kind of thing just leaves me speechless and with tears in my eyes. I have a really good friend that lives in OKC and participates each year. OMG about those gnats. I don't have a suggestion for you though. I wonder if you freeze the dirt and then replant if that might help? Your cacti!!! How cool, and that pink blossom is so pretty. It reminds me of a butterfly bush which I've never been able to grow. How do the puppies do with all the mud in the backyard? I'm sure they would love to be rolling around it. ~smile~ Roseanne
ReplyDeleteWow, good for you participating in even a leg of that marathon! I imagine it was fun to do it as part of a team, and a moving experience, too. Those mushrooms are very cool and the flowers on your Bullett bush are so pretty! Hooray for blooming things!
ReplyDeleteWow how cool that you did the marathon even as a relay. We were talking at Bible study about the local quarry race. I guess it is pretty deep so you run to the bottom a lap or two around the bottom, then back up to the top. Pretty flowers. I know the gnats aren't funny, but it did make me chuckle. I only battle fruit flies in my house. Here's good thoughts toward finding a remedy.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the run! The mushrooms are pretty. Love the colors of all the little squares. They look great on that background. The neolithic dog is handsome!
ReplyDeleteIt's so wonderful to take part in the relay. Such a great cause! I remember when that happened. It was shocking to me. Those squares look great! I love all the different colors. I know nothing about gnats. I hope you get rid of them. You found lots of great stuff for this post!
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting post! Gross gnats,tho. Those "musical notes" look cool. Can't wait to see the finished project.
ReplyDeleteGreat post and kudos on the relay! I think your quilt looks great! I don't do houseplants anymore for that very reason, even "sterilized" soil has problems. Have a great day!
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