Birch Trees

Our sunny winter days hint of spring but the trees beyond the parking lot are still leafless. Rising high above surrounding buildings, they look like thin black pencil streaks; their hard edged silhouettes contrasting sharply against the pale blue winter sky.

Appraising the unbroken line of the tree trunks, I suddenly realized that I hadn't seen a birch tree in a long, long time. Where had all the white birches gone?

As a child, they were as familiar to me as oak and black walnut trees. In those far away days, many groupings of two and three birches graced the lawns of neighbors and dotted the countryside. Seeing bits of white bark, loosened from the trunk and hanging in tatters, was as familiar a sight to me as seeing robins hopping across lawns, hunting worms a few feet from passersby.

I grew up knowing Indians used birch bark to make canoes, but just how a canoe was made was a mystery. I never asked and I am not certain anyone would have been able to tell me if I had asked. Now the 'how' no longer remains a mystery. The following fabulous YouTube tells and shows all!

Building a Birch Bark Canoe

Out with the old... by KimB

Allen and I have decided to dump our old leather sectional in favor of a new pair of reclining chairs.

We've had our couch for 20+ years and it's in need of repair. The seats need to be replaced and per some estimates the cost of repairing the couch is very near the price of a fancy new chair. So we decided to go "lookabout" to see what's available.

We went to Sears but they had sold out every chair they had. The place was a zoo and the sales person could barely be bothered to talk to us. So we headed off to a locally owned, more upscale furniture store in town, called Gary O's Furniture Store.

We had a very nice and knowledgeable young man, show us all the ins and outs of the chairs available. There were a lot of choices and options!

The first thing we discovered was that a manually reclined chair was not going to work. Allen couldn't push hard enough to get it into lying down mode and couldn't push the foot rest down to get it back upright. A surprise fact of old age: we are not as strong as we once were. We remembered Allen's mother, Shirley, couldn't recline her chair either and regularly tipped it over trying to get it to lie flat.

So, we revised our view and looked at power operated chairs. Almost every chair is available with a power option, so it was down to basics again. Comfort, usability, size, shape and fit.

Just like Goldilocks and the three bears, some were too hard, some were too soft, some were too small, some were too big. But just like her, in the end we found one that was "just right". We opted for a Bodie Power Rocker Recliner in dark brown leather.

The power option allows us to recline to any angle we want. The leather will be easy to care for and durable. Cloth would have been shredded quickly by the cat, Othello, even though we keep his claws trimmed short. The pillows on the back are very comfortable and are soft enough to adjust to your back when you move the recliner to any position. The arms are just right for us shorties, with nice soft arm pillows for support. There is an optional rechargeable battery that you can get, so that you don't have to have the power cord crossing the floor.

We gave it a good test run and Allen nearly fell asleep in it while at the store.

Our chairs will take about 6-8 weeks to come in, as they are made to order. We are already looking forward to sitting in them and watching all the upcoming episodes of Downton Abbey and Game of Thrones.

[Editor's note: This story was written by KimB.]

Bodie Power Rocker Recliner

So How Does YOUR Garden Grow?

MrsB

This is the first plant actually grown from the many avocado seeds I germinate in glasses of water. It developed twin seedlings and I wonder if any of the seeds that are beginning to root will double.



Avocado Plant

Avocado Plant

Top Secret ?

While I was watching and listening to a YouTube video of bagpipes playing Auld Lang Syne, the words, 'Top Secret' on the right side of the screen caught my eye.

Never having seen anything on YouTube called 'Top Secret', I was curious. After watching a video called Top Secret Drum Corp, I read about them on a wiki page.

Its a 25 member, non-military precision drumming corp called, 'Top Secret Drum Corp'. They are based in Basel, Switzerland. After a performance in Edinburgh in 2009, their fame has increased with performances in Europe, United States and Australia. A movie is currently being made about them.

Although they follow some aspects of traditional drumming corps, they play at a faster rate and are more playful and humorous than military drummers and they come up with new routines. Some have incorporated fireworks and strobe lights.

The drummers and color guard members are highly dedicated drummers with diverse day jobs as bankers, civil servants and factory workers and give their free time to practice every day of the year. The nature of the work is demanding and membership frequently changes.

There are other YouTube videos of the group including one in 2012. The following is the one at Edinburgh Military Tattoo in 2009

Top Secret Drum Corps

Edinburgh Military Tattoo 2009