the_vulture

These are some posts from the later part of last week in case you missed them:
Today's Cooking (strawberry banana bread)
Space Exploration
Today's Cooking (crockpot chicken & black-eyed peas)
Birdfeeding
Politics
Climate Change
Birdfeeding
Wildlife
Philosophical Questions: Change
Economics
Review: Taste of Home Grand Prize Winners
Today's Adventures
Wildlife
Space Exploration
Birdfeeding
Follow Friday 6-12-26: Mystery
Conservation
Recipe: "Chicken and Peas Stir-Fry"
Music
Space Exploration
Birdfeeding
Community Thursdays
Storm Damage
Upcycling
Birdfeeding
Wildlife
Cuddle Party

Food has 25 comments. Poem: "Walnut Park" has 46 comments. Early Humans has 22 comments. Safety has 86 comments.


"Let's Go on This Journey Together" belongs to Polychrome Heroics. It needs $151 to be complete. Linus struggles to deal with a broken arm.

"No Faster or Firmer Friendships" belongs to Polychrome Heroics and needs $35 to be complete. Josué reads a funny poem to Maria-Vera.


The weather has been variable here. It has rained several times and was cooler today. Seen at the birdfeeders this week: a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches, a male and a female cardinal separately, and a fox squirrel. I've heard bobwhite quail but haven't seen any. Fireflies are swarming. Currently blooming: pansies, violas, sweet alyssum, marigolds, honeysuckle, snapdragons, lantana, million bells, blue lobelia, petunias, portulaca, nemesia, fan flowers, wild chives, firecracker plant, pineapple sage, yucca, Asiatic lilies, daylilies, snowball viburnum, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, spiderwort, narrow-leaved mountain mint, elderberries. Green fruit: tomatoes, cucumbers. Pink fruit: blackberries. Ripe fruit: mulberries, black raspberries.

Tonight I'm making Very Banana-y Whole Wheat Banana Bread with dried strawberries. :D

Today I'm making a crockpot with:

1 Maggi cube
enough water to cover the cube
2 skinless boneless chicken thighs
a couple handfuls dried mixed mushrooms
1/2 onion diced
half a bag of black-eyed peas (presoaked)
2 teaspoons Bragg Organic Sprinkle 24 Herbs & Spices
1 bay leaf

Basically just dump everything in the crock, turn on High, and cook for several hours.  So far it smells good! 

EDIT 6/14/26 -- This turned out quite well.  We even have enough left over for tomorrow's supper. \o/

Today is cloudy, mild, and wet. It rained last night. Grass and trees still have water on them.

I fed the birds. I haven't seen any activity yet.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 6/14/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

I heard bobwhite quail calling but didn't see any.

EDIT 6/14/26 -- We did a lot of work outside.

I've seen several sparrows and house finches.

EDIT 6/14/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 6/14/26 -- I picked up branches around the yard and used them to shore up the core for the next bonfire. Usually I stack several logs crosswise to form a chimney. I hadn't done that earlier, so instead I had to work around the pile of clingweeds I dumped in the other day. That's okay, I know multiple methods. The benefit of building a chimney for the bonfire is that it promotes airflow, allowing the fire to draw in cool air at the bottom, pull it up the middle, and emit hot air from the top. That makes the fire burn better.

EDIT 6/14/26 -- I picked berries north of the driveway. I got a scant handful of mulberries and about half a bag of black raspberries. Some of the blackberries have pink fruit, others are still green.

In some of the strips, lots of flowers are coming up -- zinnias, sunflowers, cosmos, and such. Most of the rows have sprouted in the telephone pole garden. :D Some have lots of flowers, others just a few.

I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches.

EDIT 6/14/26 -- We trimmed low branches from the Home Base mulberry tree by the driveway.

EDIT 6/14/26 -- I picked a scant handful of mulberries from the south lot.

EDIT 6/14/26 -- I tried to crack open some white nectarine pits so I could sprout the seeds, but none of them were any good. Some had only shriveled seeds, others wouldn't break open at all. :/

EDIT 6/14/26 -- I did some bushwhacking around the white garden.

As it is getting dark, I am done for the night.

The Angera Declaration for Methane Action

Methane is the second most significant contributor to warming, after carbon dioxide. Methane is responsible for 30% of current warming and its atmospheric concentration continues to rise. Absent rapid and sustained reductions, methane emissions will drive faster warming in the coming decades, intensifying climate risks such as more frequent and severe droughts and heatwaves; more rapid ice-sheet loss; sea-level rise; and risks of triggering destabilizing climate tipping points.

Reducing methane emissions not only reduces climate risks, it also almost immediately improves air quality by decreasing ground-level ozone, which improves public health by reducing respiratory illness and premature mortality while preventing crop losses from ozone exposure thus strengthening food security.


Because methane is so powerful a warming agent and so short-lived in the atmosphere, its reduction offers the biggest bang-for-buck on climate action. The vast majority of that action relies on government and industry efforts, but there are a few things that individuals can do with real impact...

( Read more... )

Endangered California Condor Flies into Oregon for the First Time in 122 Years

Last month, a California condor flew into Oregon before returning after several hundred miles to its home in Redwoods National Park, becoming the first condor recorded in the state since 1904.

Taking a closer look, condor conservationists among northern California’s Yurok tribe concluded it was condor B9, an animal that had been born in captivity and released into the wild in 2022 by the Yurok.

The animal flew a grand total of 380 miles and 4 days in a loop, starting high in the redwoods before passing Redding in NoCal and then entering Oregon. It made stops near Medford, Cave Junction, and Brookings before recrossing state lines and returning to the national park.


That's good progress. \o/

Tennessee Joins States Requiring Data Center Owners to Pay Full Electricity, Infrastructure Costs

The Colossus 2 data center – retrieved from xAI
A new law passed in Tennessee will protect residents from incurring rising electricity costs from nearby data centers’ demands on the grid.

Republican-led bill HB 1847 prohibits utilities companies and municipalities from paying for a data center’s electrical needs, or any of the infrastructure costs involved in expansion.


Bluntly put, data centers have a bad habit of robbing people by driving up electricity, water, and other bills. They must pay ALL of their own bill, not fob it off on other people. This is driving a large and growing backlash against data centers and the AI they enable.

Today we went to the Marshall Farmer's Market. :D

( Read more... )

Enjoy some great pictures of the recent Venus-Jupiter conjunction. 

Today is sunny and warm. It stormed last night.

I fed the birds. I've seen a few sparrows and house finches.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 6/12/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 6/12/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 6/12/26 -- We went out to the Marshall Farmer's Market today. :D

EDIT 6/12/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

I am done for the night.