Arrrgh!

My newest cake, using the Darth Vader pan. Arrrgh!

a three dog night

While last night was a three dog night, we managed to survive with only two. Here are just pictures of some rotten dogs (the extra one does, indeed, make three!):

total eclipse of the...

I absolutely love astronomical events... not that I'm all that educated about them, but I love to witness them. Nature can really put on a good show, if we only tak the time to watch it!

Last night was a total eclipse of the moon. I watched off and on for about an hour and a half, going in and out (into an 11-degree night!)... after waiting about half an hour for the last sliver to disappear, I admit - I got impatient. So, the following pictures almost lead up to a total eclipse...

Here's one with a star in the lower lefthand corner... it looked cool on the camera, but not so much here!

This one I took on a twilight setting... it really brought out the orange!

American Chestnuts

The American Chestnut Cooperators Foundation is an organization committed to the restoration of the American Chestnut tree. The American Chestnut used to make up about 25% of America's eastern forests; unfortunately, they were basically wiped out in the early 1900s by the Chestnut blight.

The ACCF is trying to breed blight-resistance into their seeds, which individuals can request (along with a $20 donation to the ACCF, and a pledge to give an annual report on the status of the trees. There is another organization that has cross-bred an American Chestnut with a Chinese Chestnut (which supposedly has no issues with blight) to create a Chestnut tree that can survive long-term. However, they claimed ownership to all trees that individuals grow... so we went with the ACCF. Their trees are "all American" anyway... that's always better!

So, here we are, a century post-blight. Alpine and I have decided to try and replace a few of these lost trees... see if we can first, get them to grow, and second, help them to survive... but most importantly, see if they will grow to be blight-resistant!

Here are our seeds, started indoors a few weeks ago. My dad already has two sprouts (out of 10 also)... I just hope I have some success! I'm sure my dad's will do well - he has a wonderfully green thumb. Mine is pale, but I'm still hoping!

Updates to follow... wish us luck!

New cake

Here is the cake I made for my dad's birthday... he's a big Oklahoma fan! Too bad the helmet looks like it was hit by a train. My next cake will be a pirate cake with skuuuuls on it for my cousin. That should be fun!

Fly Away Home!

I've never seen the movie, but I've been privileged to see the real thing twice! Last year was purely by chance: I heard on the radio that morning that the whooping cranes would be flying over soon. After I got ready for work, I just looked outside by chance, and by george, there they were! This year, this leg of the flight was postponed a day for weather, so I was able to prepare a little better. I got some better pictures because of it... not great ones, but decent ones for sure. It's a good thing - the project may change the route of the migration because of the weather in Kentucky that time of year. They came through (literally right over our house!) on December 6, 2007... so, without further ado... enjoy!

(If you are interested in this migration project, visit their website: http://www.operationmigration.org/)

And a little video:

It's been a while...

I've thought many times about posting some stuff, but just don't. Alpine has inspired me to a point, but another friend has started posting again and has pushed me over the hump. So... I'm going to post a bunch of late stuff - forgive me. My sole reader (as opposed to my soul reader) has stopped reading, so let's see if he's completely written me off. =)