I bought a soft silicone "licking mat" for #Rufus. He has the Labrador Retriever "I'm always hungry! Feed me! Feed me! Feed me!" gene. Spread on a spoon of peanut butter and he licks for 15 minutes, no begging! #dogsky

Today's persimmon harvest. I should have checked weeks ago. Birds got a lot of them. This is Nishimura Wise, sold in the US as "Coffee Cake ". They require pollination to be sweet when crisp. These are very good! #Persimmons #HomeOrchard 🌱 #KitchenGarden

Second #Schlumbergera to bloom. #HolidayCactus

More Quilts of Valor presentations, this one is in Las Vegas. Many veterans have felt forgotten and their sacrifices unnoticed. I imagine this is quite a moving moment for them. I will work on my next one soon. #QuiltsOfValor

Finished flannel quilt. This was 2 fat quarter bundles of "Woolies" line (see alt txt). It's all half square triangles or stripes made into HSTs. Fairly weighty but very soft and warm, very comfortable. Took about 2 months, fast for me. #MenWhoQuilt #Quilting #Quiltsky

From my local paper, The Columbian. About 1 in 4 here rely on the food bank. I'm stunned! I took groceries to the FISH food bank today. There was a line a block long. This is my Thanksgiving treat. Followed their guidelines. www.columbian.com/news/2025/no... fishvancouver.org/about/

The back yard Magpie ducks love their hidden little wading pond! But no eggs lately. What's up with that? Has she gone through eggopause or something? #Ducks #Poultry #Gardening 🌱

Seen on our country road walk. Rufus always snoops. It's his job. Some goats watching us walk past. The black horse was curious but I thought it safer to be on our way. A red horse barn #dogsky #Rufus #goats #horse #CountryLife

Still quilting flannel quilt. Learning by my mistakes. I think it will turn out ok. It's quite thick and warm, even before I wash out the starch. If I push myself I can finish the quilting in 3 days. A week is more likely. I hope this works! See alt txt. #quilting #MenWhoQuilt #quiltsky

Holiday Cactus is blooming! #schlumbergera #holidaycactus

Sometime I just can't handle things like this. Is there something about being a corporation that dehumanizes people? It's hard to imagine that any German corp. at the time wasn't involved in some way. By "corporation", I think we should include other institutions too. #WW2 ##History #otherizing

Checked out on Libby, the library app - A Test of Wills by Charles Todd. The first Inspector Rutledge detective story. Set in post WW1 UK, the inspector has returned to work despite shell shock and surviving the trenches in France. #booksky #DetectiveNovel #Mystery

From today's walk, random observations. I can't believe how red those oak leaves are. #fungi #mushrooms #fallfoliage #horses

This is my current "light read", also on Kobo app. Almost done. After returning to UK from France / WWI trenches, Inspector Rutledge has returned to Scotland Yard & solving crimes. The style & tone remind me of Endeavor, but set about 40 years earlier. #DetectiveFiction #Fiction #Booksky

Started reading fascinating "American Midnight" by Adam Hochschild, on the Bookshop app. The history is remote. It seems there's a lot of "history rhyming" with today's culture / politics / events. Compelling writing. I will also need some lighter reading. #booksky #AmericanHistory #History

I just finished reading Randy Shilts' book "Conduct Unbecoming" on the Kobo app. Published 1993. Quite a difficult read, important. Heinous behavior by officials & leaders. Glad I read it but need to move on / read something lighter or more remote. #booksky #AmericanHistory #LGBT #veterans

A mushroom growing in the yard, under a spruce tree. My guess is fly agaric, Amanita muscaria. Second photo is two days ago. First photo is today. I will not be tasting this one. #fungi #mushrooms #AliceInWonderland #NorthwestFungi

There's a gigantic mushroom growing out of this dead poplar tree trunk! #fungi #mushrooms

From the old photo box, this time my own past. I have more photos of my grandfather's Army year than of my own 3 years. I was a medic. I believed, then, in what I was doing. Teenagers can have a clarity of purpose, unclouded by decades of living. I was very lucky. #ArmyService #soldier #1970s

Today is Veterans Day. Originally meant to honor those who sacrificed in WWI, and later for all US military veterans. The poem is by Wilfred Owen, who returned to the trenches and was killed there. It symbolizes the old sending the young to war. #VeteransDay #Veterans #War

From my local newspaper, the SNAP food situation is confusing. It looks like some states will cover the differences. www.columbian.com/news/2025/no... #SNAP

African Violet starts, mostly from last summer. Some are much better growers, than others. Starting from pups (suckers) seems faster than from a leaf, but both work even for a novice like me #AfricanViolets

Last summer I sold some furniture and a sewing machine via the internet. I set aside the money for a treat. So now I spent some for another contribution to the county food bank. Mostly generic so the $ goes further. I hope it helps. #SNAP #Donation #RandomKindness #Kindness

This is as true as any words ever written. Siegfried Sassoon knew my soul, many decades before my birth. #dogsky

I sometimes give garden produce to the county food bank. Never more than a few cars there. Today I gave a load of groceries as noted in my prior post. Swamped! Parking lot was packed. Not a single empty space. Cars circling around. Also a giver in front of me & one behind me. 🙏 #kindness #SNAP

About the most moving thing I've read about war. Heart-rending. bsky.app/profile/area... #war ##soldiers #jingoism

Today I loaded up on food items at Winco to give to the local food pantry. Mostly canned goods - chili, beans, chicken, tuna. & dry milk, a couple doz. eggs, some tortillas. about $100. Took to food pantry but they are closed till Mon. Will go then. #kindness apnews.com/article/gove...

While at the grocery store, I noticed their boxes of tulip bulbs. Three bulbs per box, so not really cheap but not bad. I bought one of each type. Planted in a large container. 🌱 #Gardening

Collecting more tree leaves for #kitchengarden mulch. Covering beds now, means almost weed-free through the winter. Nice to think, I planted the trees that gifted their leaves, fifteen years ago. These are linden. Also collecting maple persimmon, horse chestnut leaves. 🌱 #gardening

Rufus sitting next to a big #mushroom. #dogsky #Rufus

Seeds for next year's garden. I like to buy in fall. I didn't save any this year, unusual for me. This time I'll try hybrid, determinate, slicing tomatoes because my saved seed ones didn't do well at all. It looks like a lot of seeds but I am actually downsizing LOL. 🌱 #gardening #gardensky

Today I made keto pumpkin pie, using cooked puree from a garden pumpkin. The main differences - crust is almond flour, egg, xanthan gum, butter. Filling used monkfruit instead of sugar, cream instead of condensed milk. Pretty good, a bit soft. We'll see if fridge firms it up. #keto #PumpkinPie

It doesn't look like much, but I planted the last two rows of garlic in a raised bed, and covered the soil with old leaf mulch. The mulch helps tremendously keeping weeds from growing, and regulates soil moisture. I wanted this done before Nov 1, so I think they will grow OK. 🌱 #gardening

Postcard from the old photo box, dated 1908. Billie Sunday was a highly successful, major evangelist in his time. Caption states "Break away from the old crowd or go to hell". #vintagephotos

I think about these words. I don't think one needs to belong to a particular faith tradition, sect, culture, or tribe for this to resonate. But if someone professes belief and acts in the opposite way, I don't believe they are sincere. #kindness bsky.app/profile/zand...

I don't know how many people know this. You can mute posts that contain selected words or names. Use the moderation tab in the settings. I, like many, feel smothered by certain names or words in the news and on other media. I am plenty informed. I just don't want all that, 24/7.

The final rose of the year. I lost the name. I thought it was "American Classic" or might be "Red Masterpeice ". It's 25 years old. Highly vigorous. 🌱 #roses #gardening

Postcard from the old photo box. A scene in Nagasaki, from my grandfather en route to the Philippine Islands in 1908. The Philippine-American war was of Americans most forgotten wars, and should not be. Sort of the Vietnam-American war's grandfather. See alt text. #VintagePostcard #Nagasaki

Along todays dog walk. #FallLeaves #AutumnColors #Fungi #Mushrooms more in alt text

Rufus taking the road less traveled. "I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference" - Robert Frost (1915) now in public domain

I posted this on @zackrose2.bsky.social page, thought I would here also. My dad collected gingko seeds in about 1995 and gave me four to sprout. I gave him a seedling, one is at my former house in Vancouver WA, one died. This was the smallest. It had a difficult time but now... 🌱 #gingko

Fall #gardening. First raised bed is weeded & covered with tree leaf mulch (gift from neighbor). Raking red maple leaves. 6 of 8 25-gal containers in enclosure, planted with saved garlic cloves & covered with leaf mulch. 2 remaining. Summer squashes I harvested today. 🌱 #AccessibleGardening

On the dog walk & snoop today. Pretty maples. A lone daisy. Mushrooms large and small. #Rufus #Dogsky #Dogs #Fall

Exactly 100 years ago. History not repeating itself, but maybe echoing? bsky.app/profile/100y...

Flannel quilt top almost done. Four more (long) seams to sew tomorrow. Then wait for batting to arrive. Given the thickness & warmth of the flannel, I ordered the thinnest cotton batting. This weekend I want to find a good flannel backing and fabric for binding. #quilting #MenWhoQuilt #quiltsky

Maples in the chicken yard and on the dog walk. Southwest WA State. #gardening 🌱

Today I worked on a flannel quilt. I had already preshrunk and starched the fabric. For flannel, I use 1/2" seam allowances and larger blocks than with #quilting cotton. After laying out the blocks, I saw a secondary pattern I liked more. More striped HSTs will be needed. #Quiltsky #MenWhoQuilt

Yesterday I helped out at awards of Quilts of Valor to 16 Cowlitz tribe elders who had served honorably during the Vietnam & Korean (!) war eras. Quite moving. I made one of the quilts. I imagine this was a very belated recognition & thanks. #Quilting #QOV #quiltsky #MenWhoQuilt

Almost all of the harvested green beans are cut, blanched, and frozen. One more batch today. 🌱#Gardening #KitchenGarden

I planted tulips, lilies, and a bearded iris for next year. It's an act of almost naive and insane optimism, planting now to enjoy in 6 or 7 or 9 months. The iris instruction was wrong. It stated plant 4-6" deep. Nope. Plant at soil surface level. #Gardening 🌱