A Spidery Christmas

...nka and, hearing this, a spider overnight spins its web all over the tree, making the spiderweb sparkle and glitter in the morning sunlight. This explains the tradition of tinsel on the Christmas tree. The various embellishments of the story depend upon the teller and the tale. Another version has the Holy Family hiding in a cave during their flight to Egypt. The benevolent spiders spin webs and cover the whole entrance to the cave. When Herod’s s...

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Luddite’s Moonshot: Dealing With Leafy Green Pests

...w cover, specifically Agribon 15. The row cover thickness you use will depend on your climate. I opted for the lightest available as we often have freak heat waves in the winter here. But I haven’t deployed any row cover in years. It’s a pain to use. You have to be diligent in making sure the whole bed gets covered and it’s hard to see the plants under the cover without having to pull it on and off. And row cover won’t prevent slugs. Here’s UC Dav...

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Saturday Tweets: Beet Raisins, Seed Libraries and a Pepperoni Disaster

...elSurls) April 6, 2018 Eric Garcetti can’t be a ‘climate mayor’ while he’s making more room for cars https://t.co/sg9Uf83izf — BikeLA (@Bike_LA) April 6, 2018 "Our national flower is the concrete cloverleaf." — Lewis Mumford pic.twitter.com/7yd0JGil4B — Wrath Of Gnon (@wrathofgnon) May 4, 2016 Waze has turned the nearly undriveable, fifth-steepest hill in America into a disaster-strewn major thoroughfare https://t.co/OogoX0a5cb — Root Simple (@roo...

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How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Open Floor Plan

In a stunning bit of hypocrisy, we’re busy making the floor plan of our house a bit more open in spite of our rants and raves about the practice. Allow me to explain. Many years ago, when I installed our living room floor, I pulled up a baseboard and discovered that the wall between the living room and bedroom was of recent vintage. What we now use as a bedroom was originally a sitting room or dining room. And the two closets that share a wall be...

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Whacked the President with a Single Stick

...en. Wood Raised a Lump on Mr. Roosevelt’s Forehead Special to the New York Times. WASHINGTON, Dec. 29–President Roosevelt has not been wounded in the forehead with a rapier wielded by Gen. Wood, nor has he been swinging a broad sword at that officer, as reported in New York today; but he has been whacking his military friend over the head with a single-stick, and Gen. Wood has been returning the compliment. As a result the President is wearing a b...

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