bluebellsBlue Bells
Cockle shells
Evvie ivy over

 

The Bluebell is the official Prince William County Flower.  It carpets woods and fields in spring, creating what seems like miles of beautiful blue wild flowers.

I bought mine.  They come back each year without any special attention and each year they spread.

Try to get to the festival on Sunday.  It’s definitely a Prince William County Day.  See who can spot a supervisor.  Was this event announced at last week’s meeting?  Corey????  Were you a leader?

32 Thoughts to “Open Thread……………………………………………Saturday, April 6”

  1. I think the cold weather in March was good for the daffodils. I have had Daffs in my yard since the last week in February. I think today is finishing them off. They don’t know what to make of the sunshine and warmer weather but I see them giving up the ghost.

  2. Ivan

    I went to the Blue Bell Festival today. No Elena, no Al Alborn(Master Conservationist) and no Blue Bells. All in all however, a nice day to get out and enjoy nature.

    1. How can there be a blue bell festival with no blue bells?

      Was there a crowd?

  3. Censored bybvbl

    When the bluebells are in bloom, they can be seen off Piper Lane along the creek.

    1. Directions please, /censored. Not sure where Piper Lane is.

  4. punchak

    Today is Holocaust Remembrance Day. (WashPost)

  5. Censored bybvbl

    @Moon-howler

    It’s the road that runs from the shopping center with the Target store on rt. 28 to the VRE station area near the airport.

  6. Pat.Herve

    see, this is what is disgusting – http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/pernetti-handsome-settlement-rutgers-article-1.1310643 – you cannot just fire someone, they have to be paid. And there are those that blame it all on Unions – no Union here, just dumb folks that do not have the cajones to just fire him. Same thing for the C-Suite.

  7. It has been a rough day for female icons.

    Annette Funicello died today. She had been battling MS for several decades. Annette was one of the main mousekateers on the Mickey Mouse Club. She went on to star in a host of beach movies with teen stars like Frankie Avalon.

    The other icon who has died is former British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. She was born in 1925.

  8. @Pat.Herve

    It probably has something to do with how the contracts are written. Its cheaper to pay them off than fight the contracts.

  9. Starryflights

    Obama budget: Spending cuts, higher smokers’ taxes
    By ANDREW TAYLOR and JIM KUHNHENN | Associated Press – 2 hrs 51 mins ago..

    WASHINGTON (AP) — Mixing modest curbs on spending with tax increases reviled by Republicans, President Barack Obama proposed a $3.8 trillion budget on Wednesday that would raise taxes on smokers and wealthy Americans and trim Social Security benefits for millions.

    Obama’s 2014 blueprint combines a $242 billion infusion of new spending for road and rail projects, early education and jobs initiatives — all favored by Democrats — with longer-term savings from programs including Medicare and the military. It promises at least a start in cutting huge annual federal deficits.

    http://news.yahoo.com/obama-budget-spending-cuts-higher-smokers-taxes-203935266–finance.html

    I hate to admit it, but this is a good budget in that it does deal with cutting back entitlement spending, social security and Medicare.

  10. Smokers will no long be charged higher rates by medical insurance companies. Its a “pre-existing” condition.

    http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/345153/smoking-preexisting-condition-kevin-d-williamson

    1. It is a pre-existing condition. I don’t think higher rates should be charged. Are oxycotin addicts charged more? Pre-existing condition. How does one tell if one is a smoker or not? I have been smoke free for over 5 years (and I miss cigarettes horribly) but how does anyone know I don’t sneak a puff daily? they don’t.

      I am tired of the war on smokers. If govt were serious about smoking, it would go after tobacco companies and treat tobacco like a dangerous drug. In many cases it slips the seal of approval right to the tobacco companies. It would also slap a tax on cigarettes that would make a donkey gasp if it were serious and that tax would go for the care of smokers and also prevention. Nothing else.

  11. Elena

    An interesting read on Corey’s most recent lie fest! Apparently he is trying out his tin foil hat for the upcoming convention! The UN is coming to PWC, you better run 😉

    http://thederecho.blogspot.com/2013/04/a-reminder-for-corey-revisionist.html#!/2013/04/a-reminder-for-corey-revisionist.html

    1. He just sounds like such an AH. I wish he would stop trying so hard.

  12. Steve Randolph

    “U.S. stocks had another day of gains today that
    pushed the Dow and S&P 500 to new record highs.”
    (CNN Money 4-11-2013)

    So Moon, should we just leap over the wall of worry and
    enjoy the big party, are “sell in May and go away” — like apparently
    some stock market insiders are quietly starting to do?

    1. @Steve, let’s squeak a few more weeks out and reevaluate.

      Most of my investments that aren’t IRA are the kind you keep…at least in theory. I have very little speculation. I also don’t weant to pay taxes on gains. Sigh. I am scared to celebrate. I don’t want to jinx myself.

  13. Morris Davis

    As the GOP tries to convince more voters that it’s gone blonde and has given up its brunette ways, it’s inevitable that at times it’s true roots are going to show. it’s important to remember that the radical right wing activist agenda of Cooch and DeMint(ed) lies just beneath the surface.

    http://blog.heritage.org/2013/04/12/demint-its-up-to-us-to-tell-the-story-of-gosnell-horrors/

  14. @Morris Davis
    Well, the press has not covered it.

  15. Morris Davis

    @Cargosquid

    The guy is being prosecuted for murder and his trial is one of thousands of others underway across the country. If he’s guilty of what he’s charged with then I hope he is convicted and sentenced accordingly. I am almost always disappointed when the media singles out a case from among the thousands and makes it the object of their attention. You can bet when that happens there are pretty white people somewhere in the picture … Jodi Arias, Casey Anthony, Amanda Knox, Drew Peterson, Natalie Holloway, O.J… because we tend to ignore the tens of thousands of others who go missing or are murdered but aren’t glamorous enough for the public to notice.

    The far right recently accused President Obama of standing on the graves of the Sandy Hook children to press his gun control agenda, now they are trying to stand on the Gosnell case to press their own anti-abortion agenda. Gosnell is not, despite the far right’s efforts, the abortion bellwether. The big difference is that I don’t hear anyone on the left defending what Gosnell is accused of doing nor do I know anyone who is pro-choice who argues that any regulations on abortions infringes the right to choose. I believe most would be happy to consider measure to keep a Gosnell from ever happening again. On the right, on the other hand, it’s all or none (all abortions should be prohibited – none of the measures to regulate guns is appropriate) and there is no room for reasonable discussion in their world of absolutes.

  16. @Cargosquid

    The press most certainly has covered it….they covered the incident two years ago when this creep was first arrested. I did a thread on it also. How did I first find out about it? The pro-choice groups have been saber rattling over this guy for quite a while. They actually sent out an alert. Its been so long ago I don’t recall all the details.

    Funny that the Daily Beast is whining about “innocent children.” Is it doing the same flinching over the “innocent children” kiiled in Sandy Hook? Do people realize this guy didn’t have credentials?

    There are bad dentists, bad protologists, bad cosmetic surgeons. It stands to reason that there are probably at least a couple bad abortion providers. What’s to say? He doesn’t represent the entire field any more than one lousy dentist represents all dentists. Who he does represent is back alley abortionists.

    In other words, it isn’t a political issue. As I recall, a Virginia woman from Northern Virginia also died at Gosner’s hand. No recent mention of her. She needed a post 12 seek abortion which is difficult to find in this area. Truthfully, Gosner would be considered a back alley abortionist in my circles. He didn’t have the creds.

    The more access to safe, legal abortion is denied, the more Gosner-types will have access to American women. It is people like him that we are trying to drive out of business.

    Cretins like this are who killed women in our mothers’ generation.

  17. Just to clarify, I would consider any abortion that did not fall within the guidelines outlined in Roe v. Wade to be an illegal abortion. Roe v. Wade is the law of the land, for all those Rule of Law folks.

    I am one of those people who believe federal law trumps state laws.

  18. @Morris Davis

    You are exactly right, Moe. The pro-choice community strives for safe, legal abortion services for those who feel they need an abortion. The battle was and continues to be AGAINST illegal, unsafe abortion.

    We spoke out against this butcher around the time of his arrest. We = Elena and me.

  19. Cato the Elder

    Question for the experienced gardeners..

    How do you keep squirrels out of your Tomatoes? (prefer non-lethal means)

    1. I want to know what the strange things are swimming in Silver Lake. They are at least a foot long. It appears that they have a dorsal fin.

      Cato, I didn’t know that squirrels like tomatoes. I know that they can destroy a bed of strawberries in about 5 minutes.

  20. Ray Beverage

    @Cato the Elder

    Cato, I have success using dried blood available at Southern States and just about any place with a large garden section. Sprinkle it around the plants and the squirrels stay away…plus the tomatoes get a great shot of nitrogen for plant growth!

  21. Cato the Elder

    @Ray Beverage

    Thanks I’ll give that a shot. Haven’t planted them this year yet but last year I had a bunch vine ripe that had squirrel bite marks in every single one.

  22. Cato the Elder

    Moon-howler :
    I want to know what the strange things are swimming in Silver Lake. They are at least a foot long. It appears that they have a dorsal fin.
    Cato, I didn’t know that squirrels like tomatoes. I know that they can destroy a bed of strawberries in about 5 minutes.

    I haven’t fished Silver Lake but having heard that I may have to give it a go. Maybe Snakeheads? They have smallish dorsals. Hope so, because there’s no limit on how many you can take b/c they’re invasive and Snakehead is some good eating.

    1. Do you live close enough to Silver Lake to go look? I felt like the darn place was haunted. It creeped me out. I couldn’t tell if these things were mammal, retile or fish. At first I thought they were turtles because of their swimming pattern. They sort of bobbed as they swam. They were long. Some appeared to be about 2 feet long–at least 1 foot long. There were about 10 and they stayed near the surface, even though they weren’t visible. It was difficult to see because of glare.

      I would have not thought they were fish other than catching an occassional glimpse of what appeared to be dorsal fin. It was very bizarre and not like anything I have seen before.

      Elena told me I should have taken a picture. I couldn’t see it that well. (or the many its)

  23. Cato the Elder

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snakehead_(fish)

    Sure sounds like what you saw could be a Snakehead, they’re a really odd looking fish with a dorsal that runs 3/4 the length of their body. They almost look like eels but they don’t really bob as they swim and only the really young ones school, usually you see them alone. they would be near the surface though because unlike most fish they need to breathe air.

    Bad news is they’re a really destructive and invasive species. Good news is they taste great and the fish and wildlife folks want you to take as many as you can because of it :mrgreen:

    1. After what I saw, I was determined that no toe of mine would ever enter Silver Lake. I might go out there again and try to get a picture of one.

      Please go caatch them all. How would they have gotten in Silver Lake?

  24. Cato the Elder

    Moon-howler :
    After what I saw, I was determined that no toe of mine would ever enter Silver Lake. I might go out there again and try to get a picture of one.
    Please go caatch them all. How would they have gotten in Silver Lake?

    They get introduced somehow. They’re like cockroaches, they’d survive a nuclear war. They’ve even been found in ponds in the middle of cities that are entirely landlocked, and once the females lay 50K eggs per breeding cycle so they really reproduce quickly, kinda like the Tribbles episode on Star Trek.

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