A Little Jewel near Branson

I did at one time live near ‘Branson West’ before it had that name. That area was not much more than an intersection between Kimberling City and Reed Springs. This little jewel is located on DD. DD was an oft need of repair slim asphalt path down to a number ‘resorts’ (when that term is used loosely) and cabins sprawled along Table Rock Lake.

This little jewel is available on about 100 acres. Thankfully it has enough room to accommodate a growing family.

Spectacular Gated Estate located on 104 Lakefront Acres with over 1,700 ft. of shoreline overlooking Table Rock Lake. The Main home features 14 bedrooms, 15 full bathrooms, 3 – 1/2 bathrooms, 4 men service bathrooms with multiple stalls and 4 women service bathrooms with multiple stalls & an 8-car garage. This breathtaking 33,048 sq ft Smart home was thoughtfully designed to suit any buyer. Quality and commercial-grade construction including steel framing, sprayed foam, 2 septics, HVAC – heating and cooling mini splits, and wiring for security/AV. Sophisticated and custom details throughout including wood beams, barrel ceilings, wood casement windows and doors, 8 vented gas fireplaces, copper guttering, and elevator shaft. 30,000-gallon owned propane tank. Multiple entertaining areas indoor and outdoor with resort-style beach entry infinity pool and expansive kids playground. Property includes 5 bedroom, 6 bathroom, 3 car garage guest annex, separate RV/Boat storage building with 3,600 sq ft living area and private 3-stall boat dock with solar power and swim platform.

Running short on cash? Throw a couple of bucks on one (or both) of these puppies on the way home this PM. More info on the ‘home’ here.

Paul V Thomas

Samuel Zimmer, an owner of one of the brighter minds on Thomas, has published a number of great videos that tangle with some pretty complex and enlightening philosophical topics. Few of us have the ability to compare and contrast not only Paul V Thomas, but also understand those differences in a framework that challenges the Gnostic moniker most historians ascribe to Thomas.

Enjoy

A (Welcomed) Small Fortune

These are getting to be some pretty hefty numbers and I expect that more and more who seldom play will be throwing a couple of bucks at the game on their way home from work this evening and next. I wish them luck.

A winner may choose to slip away to this little place on the Oregon coast . The write-up is appealing, but I have my doubts about the intelligence of the real estate agent when they claim the sun rises over the ocean on the Oregon coast. Nice acreage though.

OREGON COAST OCEANFRONT ESTATE! Imagine waking up to the harmonious sound of the waves crashing against the shore. That dream could become your everyday reality at this exquisite log home estate along the stunning Oregon Coast!

Proudly situated on over 28 tranquil oceanfront acres, this grand property offers unparalleled beauty and privacy. Step inside and be greeted by a grandeur rarely seen. The breathtaking river rock fireplace, reaching up to a soaring 35-foot ceiling, competes for attention with a dramatic wall of floor-to-ceiling windows, both serving as the heart of the home. Just imagine the sight of the sunrise over the ocean, from the comfort of your living room.  Your private theater room awaits for those cozy evenings, while the gourmet kitchen, adorned with a rich combination of Quartzite and hand-scraped Acacia wood floors, invites you to create culinary masterpieces.

More on Zillow

Sauerkraut Now | Kimchi Later

I put up some sauerkraut on Saturday morning and have been closely monitoring the ‘build’ since.  This is the first time that I’ve used the E-Jen containers for fermenting and am/was a little concerned with the inner seal rising out of the kraut.  Here is a short video on how the container works.

Now the problem that I picked up on is that the plastic insert/seal was being pushed up by the gasses that the kraut produced.  I’d open the outer part and find that while a ‘seal’ was being maintained, one portion of the plastic would be about half an inch higher than that it was on the other side. It was sitting catiwompus. 

I’d pull the little plug in the center of the inner seal so and push it back into place and re-plug it.  6 or so hours later I would check on it and the seal would have risen again.  A lot of forces are at work in that little box.

The kraut has 2.5 pounds of green cabbage, 1.5 pounds of red cabbage, a large sweet onion, one large carrot, and two granny smith apples.  I’ve put this mix into two E Jen containers:  one that holds just under a gallon one that holds about half of that.  On the smaller one I’ve added five 1 inch long dried sprigs of Asian Super Pepper (about 80,000 SHU’s) to give it some bite.

I’ve got several more containers on orders from Amazon and they should get here on Wednesday. That means that on Thursday I’ll have the pleasure of driving the Huntsville, AL and back (an hour each way) to visit an Asian market that has a good variety of Diakon radish, Napa cabbage, and Chinese chives.

I’ve already picked up some pre-blended kimchi base (I’m not quite ready to build up my own) so by Saturday I should be awash in pungent and delicious veggies.

Sparky Cars and The Fools Born Every Minute

Fallout from the EV fiasco continues to spread. Here is another indicator that sparky car market is completely crashing (an indicator other than the auto makers abandoning the market): There’s been double-digit declines in charging network stocks.

Shares of network operator Blink (BLNK) are down roughly 64% over the past year while charging hardware and software maker ChargePoint (CHPT) is 81% lower during the same period. Network owner and operator EVgo’s (EVGO) stock is down 55% in the past year.

Not to worry, industry analysts are doing their damnedest to pump new life into a beast that should be mercifully put down. Their words are a great comfort: “The big picture on these stocks … their business models are still at an earlier stage, and so the key focus for investors is really on proving out the business model and achieving profitability,”

A quick check on Yahoo for ‘Worst 2024 performing stocks’ yields: Worst Performing Stocks of 2024 The worst performing stock for this year is Arcadium Lithium (ALTM) with a total return of -93.63%, followed by Sigma Lithium (SGML) and New York Community Bancorp (NYCB).

A quick look at ALTM over the last three years:

Not a pro, but it sure looks like someone, or groups of someones, lost their ass on these two schemes (charging stations and Lithium mining). Not to worry though, the analysts are touting nothing but upside:

An Open Admission

I couldn’t bring myself to watch Mad Brandon last night.  I had zero interest is how poorly he would deliver an outlandish and overly political speech written by the D faction of the deep state.  I’m given to understand that he did not disappoint either those that support him (who wanted to see red meat) and those who did not (who tuned in to see just how far he would go or how far gone he had gotten).

The intertubes this morning are all spewing the predictable response(s) gen’d up by the R’s.  They are all about pointing out the errors, missteps and absurdity of the many mischaracterization Brandon’s writers decided were best for consumption.  I can’t watch these folk either as their exceptionally high opinion of themselves is balanced only by narratives crafted to appeal to the least intellectually capable among us.

I’ll not go into a rant on Trump, not because he’s not worthy of such (God knows he’s earned it), but because over the last 8 years everything that can be said of him has been.  Suffice to say that I perceive him to be his own icon.

Prompted by the faceless many who’s personal gain is dependent on the conflict, the rift in our society predicably expands.  The ever-present barbarians have paused pounding on our gates; they are as enthralled by the circus as our own citizenry.  Their deadly beat will resume with great intensity should our affliction falter. Until then they are satisfied with watching us chase our tail with Red Sea pirates, or mired in endless sand traps spread across the most logistically unsupportable environs on the planet. 

Chance did not bring us to this precipice.

Tuesday’s Gone

Just a few days shy of 48 years ago: 17,530 days ago. Seventeen thousand, five hundred and 30 days. Man, time has sure flown by. And now, Tuesday’s gone as well.

Obscure | Gospel of Thomas Commentary

Here is a link to a great resource. On the front page it styles itself thus: “This page explores modern interpretations of the Gospel according to Thomas, an ancient text preserved in a Coptic translation at Nag Hammadi and Greek fragments at Oxyrhynchus. With no particular slant, this commentary gathers together quotations from various scholars in order to elucidate the meaning of the sayings, many of which are rightly described as “obscure.”

It is an excellent reference on the Gospel of Thomas.  For each ‘Saying’ it provides:
–The Coptic text that was found at Nag Hammadi (prolog + 114 sayings)
–Three different translations of the text (by Blatz, Layton, and Doresse)
–The Greek text (Oxyrhynchus fragment) if it exists
–Two different translations of the Greek text (by Doresse and Attridge)
–‘Funks Parallels’ that associates the saying to other sayings, the New/Old testament(s), and other religious sources.
‘–Scholarly Quotes’ that provide ‘expert’ analysis of the saying and what it may mean.
–And ‘Visitor Comments’ that were placed by laypersons over time.

While I’m appreciative of the very informative commentary provided by the ‘Scholars’, they view The Gospel of Thomas through a different lens than others might. One might go so far as to question whether the ‘no particular slant‘ words provided in the introduction are applicable to all of the contributing authors. As a safeguard (of sorts) I suggest that you use their comments as trinkets found along discovery’s path rather than the the chest of gold at rainbows end.   Your conclusions ought to be your own.    

This Week?

I’m always being dogged for playing 20 bucks a week on the lottery. “Why would you want to give your money away like that” they say. My answer is always the same: My 20 bucks, bite me.

The facts are plain, the lottery is won every single time. Some one somewhere always ends up with a smile on their face and an outlandish tax bill. I’m in.

Neither of the two biggies have been won in a while so the values have grown up to be in the ‘stupid money’ range. By my best guess the net (cash after taxes) is $133 M for tonight’s Powerball and $198 M for tomorrows Megamillions.

Stupid money could get you a little piece of land on the left coast.

“The Kristofferson Ranch. For the first time in over 40 years, the 557+- acre Kristofferson Ranch is now available. The ownership of the ranch dates back to 1980 when Kris Kristofferson purchased the property. Steeped in history, the origins of the ranch began in the 1800’s when it was originally developed as a dairy farm.

As a testament to old world craftsmanship and design, the original road house and barns still stand to this day. Just below the road house sits the cavernous rocky outcropping, known as Devils Basin. This dramatic setting played host to the filming of Karate Kid 3 and is considered some of California’s most pristine coastline. With nearly 1 mile of ocean frontage, cattle, timber production and residential development, the ranch offers endless possibilities to the next owner.

Multiple building envelops with panoramic ocean views run along the ridge lines throughout the property. The well-maintained road network throughout the ranch will carry you from water’s edge to the coastal meadows overlooking Manchester State Park. This is a place of solace. A fortress of solitude.

Check out the great pictures on on Zillow

Simple Pleasures

Wifey alerted me on Saturday that I had overbought eggs:  we had 40 in the fridge. We typically go through somewhere between a dozen and 16 (or so) a week. So I decided that what the world (or perhaps just this household) needed is more pickled eggs.  I tried my hand at this about two years ago and I guess I got a hold of bad recipe because they were inedible.  Not so with the batch I made up earlier today.

The recipe is here.

I tripled the recipe (except the eggs where I used 21) and used 3 quart jars with 7 eggs each. No fresh dill sprigs so I used dried dill weed (a little less than half a tsp per jar) and scratched the onion. I couldn’t pass on the opportunity to add several sprigs of dried Asian Super Pepper (about 50,000 SHU) to one of the jars. 

A taste test of one egg a short while ago let me know the recipe is indeed spot on. The challenge now will be to keep my paws out of the jar until they’ve aged for 6 or 7 days.

An Unraveling

What the hell are they putting in the water in Chi Town? A better question may be who in their right mind would choose to live there.

Meanwhile, in KC. . .

This behavior is (please think this through) not only acceptable, but also preferable to the alternative: a Kensington like existence. Somewhere in the back of there uneducated minds there is the nagging premonition that they must either act out/up or drift into the life of a zombie. A very real possibility.

This is the America that awaits those who place their trust in institutions.

When the Message is Undisputed, Shoot the Messenger

From Reuters: Russian media on Friday published a 38-minute recording of a call in which German officers were heard discussing weapons for Ukraine and a potential strike by Kyiv on a bridge in Crimea, prompting Russian officials to demand an explanation.

On Saturday, Germany called it an apparent act of eavesdropping and said it was investigating.

“The incident is much more than just the interception and publication of a conversation … It is part of an information war that (Russian President Vladimir) Putin is waging,” Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said on Sunday.

“It is a hybrid disinformation attack. It is about division. It is about undermining our unity.”

All of this may be so, but the elephant no one wants to speak of is that there is no secure communications channel in Deutschland. I wonder what other wonderful tidbits the Russians have harvested from these folk.

A Climate Defiance Ambush

What a bunch of sick fucks.

Incompetence At the Highest Level

Austin in front of the Armed Services Committee today:

If I understand this right he’s saying the only way to stop Russia from going to war with NATO is to have NATO go to war with Russia.

I’m thinking that he needs more surgery.

Without Honor

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said there was no break in the chain of command when he was hospitalized in January. He admitted to the House panel on Thursday it was actually his aides who made a decision to transfer his authorities to his deputy. He then blamed those same aides for not telling for not telling the president about his hospitalization.

Trust me on this one folks, if decisions are being made by the aids then there MUST have been a break in the chain of command.

Is there a more contemptible way to toss an aide under a bus than in front of a House oversight committee?  

OBTW, here is a question that begs to be asked: ‘Who is running the show in that great circus performing aside the Potomac?’  The aides?

Forbidden Texts (Revisited)

Some time ago I posted a large collection of ‘Gnostic’ writings in a volume titled The Gnostic Bible. It contains 47 complete works by various authors or are ‘gospels’ of some sort or another. 

47 is bunches and this volume runs 860 pages.  An index at the back end makes it more useful than what otherwise might be.

A very informative introduction by Marvin Meyer and Willis Barnstone provide an excellent backdrop on how/why nonconforming people, doctrine and documents were treated by ‘The Church’.  These folk (church leadership) could not be safely crossed because the church had cornered the market on religion, faith and salvation and were one of the most powerful agencies in the world. They were not about to give away the keys to their kingdom to any upstart spiritual movement. The simple act of translating the scriptures (for consumption by the laymen) was prohibited.

The fates of John Wycliffe, Etinette Dolet, and William Tyndale testify to what the punishment for translating the New Testament out of Latin and into English or French might be.  (See page 25 of the document)

Keystone Comrades

On one hand this is absolutely hilarious . . .

. . . on the other hand it won’t be long until US forces face the same crisis in planning, leadership, and execution as the Brits now do.

Until then, here’s to our keystone comrades in arms!

Around the Farm

I put out a couple of bales of hay and topped off the minerals for the cattle earlier today. I’m down to 6 remaining bales (that’s the bad news) but they have really backed off of it as the fields begin to green up (the good news). We’ve had three bail to the greener pastures to the west (my neighbors place) so they’ll not be munching on the dwindling stock over here.

I was going to gather up some composted manure to work into the garden soil, but decided instead to go with some decomposed wood from a fallen Hackberry tree.

Two trips to the ‘corpse’ of three buckets per trip was enough to enrich the organic material in four 4×12 planting beds. I turned it in some with a shovel and will give it a month or so of rest before i take my small Honda cultivator to it. I still need to move two more beds from the south (abandoned) side of the garden to this side.

Lining the planting beds keeps the dirt from the wood and extends it’s life by half a dozen years or so.

I’ve collected another clue on the mysterious lone pear tree in the front pasture: Its bloom time.

Mystery Pear in the Front Pasture

It was a good thing that I thought to cut scion wood from these trees last week. Had I waited even as much as a few days it would have been past the time when it would be a viable grafting limb. Those cuttings are in my fridge.

Kieffer Pear from the Garden’s Orchard.
Bartlett from the Garden Orchard

As educational as this all might be, I may have the names of pear tree I planted backward! I won’t be certain that I have them named correctly until they produce fruit. The near term hurdle on the pear trees is concurrency; The trees that I planted will all need to be in bloom at the same time or I’m only going to get one variety to bear fruit.

Speaking of a single variety, one of my plum trees died and I’ve got one left. It is a ‘Santa Rosa’ plum and self pollinating. I saw a couple of blooms on it last year but no fruit. Today it was absolutely loaded with blossoms.

Santa Rosa plum tree

Greenies: Hunkered Down While the Fires Burn

If you were to sharpen your pencils and calculate the amount of carbon released annually from fires world wide, you’d soon realize just how ridiculous and nefarious this ‘man made climate change’ scheme really is. This is not to say that the highbrows and pencil necks within august group won’t/don’t pin this tremendous release of carbon on man (they will/do). But not very loudly as the globalization scheme they are pushing gains no traction when the ‘marks’ (us) realize that climate is going to go one way (or another, or both ways) all of it’s own volition. The climate is going to go where the climate is going to go and nothing that we can do is going to change that.

Combating climate change has never been about climate change; it’s been about restructuring the societies and controlling populations. Climate change is the crisis/catalyst that moves great nations to destroy themselves. On a scale less grand it is greed and/or self actualization (think Maslow’s tip of the triangle) that motivates a person within a nations power structure to use hot/cold/wet/dry as the means to an end. Bending the will of the peon for these folks is a good thing.

The good news is that once they can get the great republics to fall technology will have been developed to the point that every individual can be easily manipulated to act in whatever manner the state feels is best for the state. China’s development and implementation of ‘social credit scores’ regimens provides a solid foundation to build out a effective and ubiquitous system capable of rewarding/punishing at the whim of ‘our betters’.

Speaking of China, I’m pretty damn sure that they are quiet pleased with the trajectory that our world wide body’s are hell bent on taking (centralization/control) and with their own technological achievements. Good to know that things are coming together nicely for some.

Almost Tree Time

I gathered scion wood from all three varieties of pear trees I have on the property and placed them in 3 separate plastic bags along with moist paper towels. They are resting in the fridge along with the 3 new varieties of apple tree I picked up from Burnt Ridge Nursery. The apple scion does not have the circumference I expected so it’ll be ‘interesting’ to see if it grafts as easily as last years trees. Root stock will be sent this way next week and I’ll have 22 new trees to babysit for the next few month.

I currently have the two varieties above and can’t help but wonder who would dish out $150 for a 4 foot stick. I paid $35 each at a local nursery for the 3 pear trees and 4 apple trees I purchased a couple year back. The new 10 pear trees will cost under $3 each (the cost of the root stock) and the dozen new apple trees will cost $6 each (root stock and scion).

As far as I can tell there are 11 different type pear trees that are self-pollinating. I should be able to determine the type of pear that the old tree up front is once the fruit on it begins to mature. We’ll see.

Mystery | Revelation | Gnosis

I’ve found that I’m partial to authors who do a good job of providing an unbiased rendition of competing thoughts on the knot that’s formed from the confluence of the many esoteric/religious/mythological/philosophical/theosophical traditions and beliefs. Dylan Burns did a good job of keeping it clean and making it readable.

An interesting sentence in the text caught my eye, it reads: “Nonetheless, despite its lack of Gnostic myth, the Gospel of Thomas has been marketed and received as the most popular ‘Gnostic’ text recovered from Nag Hammadi, generating controversy and commentary amongst churchgoers, scholars, and even New Age exegetes alike, who ‘find’ in it what they ‘seek’.”

The last phrase struck me as odd because it implies that the ‘truths’ found in, or the ‘truth’ about it (or authenticity, or value), is dependent on what the reader/examiner seeks.

Beyond being an easy to read and solid survey of ‘Ancient Esoteric Traditions‘, its list of references is a chocked full of goodies for those delving into the history and conflict between the many traditions and the societies they formed in. Enjoy.

The Great Challenge of Our Time

The world is on fire,. It’s true but there is no reason to worry: Joe is focused like a laser on the most serious problem plaguing Americans. War, southern border, inflation, Taiwan, China, Ukraine, Global hot/wet/dry/cold, Russia, Russia, Russia? Nope, those are all distractions from the paramount challenge of our time: free enterprise.

When he finally vacates the adult daycare center that the White House has become they are going to find the handlers that put him up to this shit and whack their PP. Elder abuse is still a crime.

A couple of observations: Does anyone actually believe that Old Joe went to the store and purchased any snacks? How would he know the price? How does he know the servings are smaller, does the wait staff not place the chips and salsa in silver rimmed bowls? Given that we know he has no idea of the cost or the serving size, the anger he clearly claims to have in the little spot is just not so. We’ve become so accustomed to being lied to that we no longer notice when it’s happening, or if we do we brush it off as an insignificant event. It’s not. When you become accustomed to being lied to and you no longer care or pause to evaluate the crap that’s being sent our way, we give these bastards free rein. Weak people in powerful stations without a press or people to hold them accountable rarely ends well.

There’s a New S_. _. _t In Town

There is a new sheriff slut in town. She’s going to taint up that quiet little conclave of moral conservatism known as ‘country’.

My view is that this genre brought it on themselves; once Miley Cyrus, and her tongue, got a few pedo’s ‘richard’ hard she earned a hard pass into the community.

From there it was only a matter of time before the walls fell and folk that obviously had no place in country could spring a few dollars on a song writer and presto/chango they were a star.

The road less traveled is about to get mighty crowded as all manner of creatures rush to capitalize on the latest crash of civility. So it goes.

An Unintentional Disservice

I now realize that article in Oxford press linked in the post immediately below is not the full paper. I have a pdf copy that was taken from the Oxford publication but it is has a copyright so I didn’t (and won’t) post it.

What I will do is do you one turn better than that; a link to the site where I found the article. The site is restricted and password protected, but if you request access for independent research they should grant you access (they did for me). They’ll allow you 100 free visits a month.

Here is the link.

A Paradoxical Tone

I found a great read in the Oxford Handbook of Synoptic Gospels on the character of the Gospel of Thomas. It’s interesting that a handbook on the synoptic would focus on a gospel that isn’t one, but I guess that’s just the kind of world we live in.

Here is a paraphrase (of sorts) on the first few pages of Malissa Hart Sellew’s very insightful treatment of Thomas v the synoptic(s).

The frequent use of paradox and of contrasting symbols and images, leading at times to outright contradiction, a feature found throughout Thomas, coupled with the lack of interpretive narrative context or framings, forces readers to think for themselves. Many of the instances of this same paradoxical tone are found in the Synoptics: [my note: remember what she is talking to is those instances were paradoxical tone is use, not all instances of similar topics/subject/narrative]

Thomas 4b: “Many who are first will become last” (Mark 10:31) (Matt 19:30; 20:16) (Luke 13:30). Thomas 5b: “There is nothing hidden that will not be made manifest” (Mark 4:22) (Matt 10:26) (Luke 8:17; 12:2). Thomas 20: “The smallest of all seeds … produces a great plant” (Mark 4:32) (Matt 13:32) (Luke 13:19). Thomas 54: “Blessed are the poor, for yours is the Kingdom of Heaven” (Luke 6:20) (Matt 5:3). Thomas 68a: “Blessed are you when you are hated and persecuted” (Luke 6:22) (Matt 5:11)

Thomas takes this tendency of ‘spinning out oppositions’ further: Thomas 3: “The Kingdom is inside of you and it is outside of you”. Thomas 18: “Have you discovered the beginning that you look for the end?”

Contrasting pairs of darkness and light, body and soul, flesh and spirit, above and below are woven throughout the text (especially Thomas 22) as it calls its readers to look away from their material existence to find their authentic spiritual character.

Her thought provoking assessment and narrative is (here) and it should take you to Chapter 12 (page 223) of the handbook.

A Bargain at Twice the Price

For those fortunate enough to live in states that have no qualms about taking your coin the numbers are indeed getting large.

And if the state that so eagerly takes those coins is growing just a little crowded, here is an out of the way spot that might give you the space you need to breathe. Sure, it’s a nightmare paying property taxes, but what the hell: Gavin needs a new pair of shoes and you can’t take it with you.

Highlights are: Dating back further than the scenic, winding path of Highway One, this six-parcel, 350-acre coastal ranch presents a colorful past and an even brighter future. Six unique homes, a magnificent redwood grove, and a private beach inhabit this serene stretch of land nestled between the canyon and cliffs.

A private access road connects all of these homesites, where expansive decks overlook the diverse terrain and secluded paths allow for a lifestyle centered on the outdoors. With its use of rustic stone and wood, the original homestead proudly exhibits its rich history, while the more modern buildings gracefully complement it.

Together, the property offers 12 bedrooms, 10.5 bathrooms, 2 pools (indoor and outdoor), and innumerable viewing points. Cherish the calming effect of year-round streams, hikes up the canyon, and quick access to fine dining – Post Ranch Inn and Nepenthe. The potential for a private helipad will further prestige, and the undeveloped beach parcel presents endless value.

When (not if) I win, I’m going to buy two.

An American Princess and the Manly Man

I guess Ms Swift enjoys the same sort of public adoration as the royalty in Great Britain do/did. Folks hang on every word, every facial expression evaluated against a backdrop of R and D politics and current events. The public’s keen ear picking out what was said or left unsaid; a constant evaluation of what may be on the mind of this maiden. Such is the life of Diva.

That she is pretty much an airhead politically means little to those that are D’s, someone in high social station associates with their team and all is right with the world. Were she an R then the strait laced of that party would be showering her with their conservative accolades. It’s OK to be naive politically if you are on the right team. What she is so very adept at is ‘image management’. There are not many folk who can capture the hearts and minds of the D’s while floating around the world in a couple of their own aircraft.

Now one of the problems that those who travel in the rare airs of the Diva have is folk are ascribing meaning to actions (or inaction), They are hanging on every event, every squint, a twinkle of the eye has them furiously banging the keyboard to advise the world of what amazing thing is occurring in Divaland.

Now that Kelce is slipping in and out those bed sheets, you would reasonably expect that he would forgo one or more of the pleasures only bachelors, or those wanting to be bachelors, enjoy. Not that this would be demanded of him by the owner of the sheets, but rather as a sign of good will/intent between the couple.

The world could reasonably expect to see a little less of the Kelce of old (shown below).

That, however, is not how the press presented it. Enter Ms. Beth Silliday of ‘In Touch’ who has decided that Kelce forbearance was actually Ms Swift’s demand: “The Ohio native previously talked about going to adult-entertainment venues on his “New Heights” podcast with brother Jason Kelce. He even supported the Crazy Horse 3 Las Vegas strip club by wearing one of their T-shirts to a November 2023 football game, but those days are over. Travis “is fine not going to strip clubs anymore,” as that’s one of the “Cruel Summer” artist’s “hard rules,” the insider told the publication. However, “she also doesn’t want him posing for photographs with female fans, mostly to avoid inaccurate headlines.” Since Travis has a legion of female Chiefs fans, “He had to roll his eyes at that one,” the insider said.

Who is this infamous insider? Outside of the phantom of the mind do they exist at all, or is this an example of why ‘journalists’ are permitted to maintain the confidentiality of their sources (cause they don’t exist).

I’m calling bull shit on this entire ‘insider’ crap. Ms Beth just made this shit up and attributed the words to Ms Diva. Beth knows what the Diva knows, it is impossible for the Diva to battle against the thousands of Pulitzer winner wannabees who crank out this nonsense on a twice daily basis. Even if the Diva was aware of what words were being place in her ruby red lips, she’d have a hard time stating that it was OK for Kelce to continue on as he had in the past.

Don’t know if Ms Silliday is a member of the 4th estate or is merely a 5th estate blogger with delusions of grandeur, but for those that hang on every word of the new Princess of American royalty, a D, it matters little. That folks is a problem. When it doesn’t matter if it’s a lie or not, as long as it paints your team (R or D) in a positive light then its another proof that we are a nation in decline.

Ruh Roh

Two thousand calls is bad, but not as bad as a separate report from the Daily Beast indicates. Obviously good friends in 2001 as Wade’s cell phone shows he spent at least 35 nights at her place during the same period. This is that period that both Willis and Wade said was before any romantic involvement occurred. (the pre-bumping uglies period)

From the Daily Beast: The already sticky situation in which Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis has found herself, which centers on her romantic relationship with Special Counsel Nathan Wade, may have just gotten stickier.

Wade, the trial attorney Willis hired to help prosecute former President Donald Trump on state charges of election interference, allegedly visited the DA at home—occasionally arriving late at night and staying until the wee hours—some three dozen times between April 1, 2021, and November 30, 2021, according to Trump’s defense team, which reviewed cellphone data subpoenaed from AT&T.

An eight-page affidavit filed Friday in Fulton County Superior Court by Trump attorneys Steve Sadow and Jennifer Little allegedly reveals “a minimum of 35 occasions” during those months when Wade’s phone “connected for an extended period” to the cell towers nearest Willis’ condo in the Atlanta suburb of Hapeville. In it, criminal defense investigator Charles Mittelstadt describes his figures as “conservative,” explaining that he highlighted those times when Wade’s phone was “stationary and not in transit.”

Of course all of this will be brushed aside by Willis, with her dead-pan look, explaining that she merely borrowed Wade’s phone for an extended period. Nothing nefarious with this married man, simply borrowing his phone.

The Lone Pear: One Last Chance

I had to run upfront on an errand and stopped to take a photo of the pear tree I mentioned in a post yesterday. I took a look at Google Earth’s historical imagery and could see that it’s been in place for at least 16 years. I left the jeep in the photo to give you a hint at the scale.

That downed wood you see along the base of the tree is what remains of an apple tree that was adjacent to the pear. It came down last year.

The year before last I went in and heavily pruned the tree and thought that I could get enough of the dead/dying and in-growing limbs cleared out to get it healthy. It didn’t help, and the in growing limbs (see below) have all but consumed the old girl. That my SIL inadvertently got in to it with the tractor last year did not help, but I’m thinking that it has gone through it’s life cycle anyway and is about to check out.

There is plenty of new growth on the limbs to pull good scion from and so my plan is to graft up 4 of these to the Quince (semi-dwarf) root stock.

There is/was no other pear tree within half a mile of this one and it always produced fruit. It could be a Bartlett (a somewhat self pollinating variety)given the density of the fruits flesh and the way it held together while it cooked down when making preserves.

From the City That Never Sleeps

There’s a reckoning coming. Sooner or later folk are going to clap back.

If these ladies would just enroll into a good school and learn sportsmanship and other civil methods they could live the good life. A good case study of this premise below:

Which Dirt?

It’s no secret that I have high disdain for a 4th estate that lies and conceals information our citizens need to make informed decisions. Unfortunately those efforts are so very effective as our population is more content to pull up a lawn chair and watch the show than they are to run a little ‘Dick and Jane logic’ test on what is being forced down our collective throats.

Here are the first three paragraphs of the article, but before we go there, the entire title and subtitle (above) is deceitful. It implies that any negative information you have about hunter is fake/fraud because it is sourced from the boogieman. It also implies that the only source of information on Biden was from this ‘discredited’ source (when it isn’t/ wasn’t )

Article: Prosecutors also said Alexander Smirnov has been “actively peddling new lies that could impact US elections” after meeting with Russian spies late last year and that the fallout from his previous false bribery accusations about the Bidens “continue[s] to be felt to this day.”

To which I say: You’ll notice that It does not say that the Russians are the source of the ‘new lies’, but the author is adept at leading you to that conclusion. If you read it carefully, the ‘new lies’ are distinct and different from ‘his previous’ false bribery accusations which by the way is being tested in the House right now with many, many witnesses.

Article: Smirnov claims to have “extensive and extremely recent” contacts with foreign intelligence officials, prosecutors said in the filing. They said he previously told the FBI that he has longstanding and extensive contacts with Russian spies, including individuals he said were high-level intelligence officers or command Russian assassins abroad.

To which I say: Yep got it, he gets inside information from foreign intelligence agents. Where did you think it came from? The source may make the information suspect, but that doesn’t make it false. OBTW, here is what a snake looks and sounds like as they twist words in remarkable ways to suit their nefarious deeds. Of note, what goes unsaid is that he (Brennan) is relying on Russian agents to reach the conclusions he comes to….the very thing they are accusing Smirnov of.

Article: Prosecutors with special counsel David Weiss’ team said Tuesday that Smirnov has maintained those ties and noted that, in a post-arrest interview last week, “Smirnov admitted that officials associated with Russian intelligence were involved in passing a story about Businessperson 1,” referring to President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden.

To which I say: David Weiss? The same David Weiss that tried to sneak absolution for Hunter Biden past a sleeping public last year? These folk have so little respect for the intelligence of our citizenry that they’ll push out that looser before us again. Finally, they cannot help themselves and need to repeat that the whistleblower associated with intelligence officials so I’ll repeat myself as well (from a slightly different vector) no one in our government was going to provide us with the truth, so if it hadn’t come from them then who?

Here is a little reminder of the type of folks were dealing with.

Prepping for Spring

My butt is dragging today, I spent several hours yesterday moving soil and gravel from the south end of my garden (which I’m abandoning) to the north side (that I’m refurbishing and reinforcing). 

The most valuable thing in the garden is the soil, so I wanted to make sure that I recovered as much as possible.  As for the gravel: I need it, it’s there, so a little sweat makes it a lot more affordable than it otherwise would be. So I shoveled the gravel into the yellow buckets…..

….and then move those to the 20 gallon buckets sitting on the rack on the back of my jeep.

I’d then drive those to the north side of the garden to build out the new planting areas.

So I put my brain and fingers to work (they were about the only thing still working) and ordered additional root stock and scion for my little orchard.   I purchased 12 apple root stock (I went with EMLA 106) and 10 root stock for pear (Provence Quince). Both are semi dwarf and produce trees that are roughly 65 percent the size of a standard tree.  I’d love to get root stock for full sized apple trees,but there two problems with that:  first, I’d like to plant a tree that fruits in my life time.  Secondly, I’m getting a little long in tooth and no longer amused by falling from high places. Semi dwarf will work just fine.  

This will be my first year grafting up some pear trees and I’ll be pulling scion from the Kieffer and Bartlett I planted a couple of years ago and from an old dying pear tree that sits on the front of the farm near the hay barn.    

I have no idea what type of pear that old tree is, but I do know that it makes great pear preserves (think of hot breakfast biscuits with homemade pear preserves splattered across the top).  The recipe goes something like:  Peel and core as many as you can and stick them in a very large pot.  Pour 3 or 4 cups of sugar on top, cover, and let set overnight.  Simmer until it reduces by half.  Pack the result in half pint jars and can with a pressure canner.  I cranked out almost 2 dozen half pint jars and, owing to my wife’s generosity and some obscure southern rule about gifts from the garden, a week later I had two jars left.  

I’ve got 16 apple trees now.  Red Delicious, Yellow Delicious, Fugi, Wagener, Harrison Cider, King and Gala. The scion I ordered is for Cox Orange Pippin, Granny Smith, and Gold Russet.

These 22 additional trees (12 apple 10 pear) will just about fill up the little area I have between my garden plot and a gravel road that runs up to the equipment barn.  I can see part of this area from the cabin so in a couple of years it will look great in the spring when they bloom.  The cost per tree, on average works out to a very affordable 8 bucks or so.