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Going mobile
No big post today, just a test of the WordPress app for Android. Hopefully there will be no disruption to comments etc because of it, but you never know until you try.
Hello to everyone who has dropped by from Backpackinglight.com and Andy Howell's blog. Try not to be alarmed if I start posting about the gaming convention I'll be attending at the weekend 😉
TGO Challenge: Pole Position
The lights are dimmed, the floor is being swept and the last mumbling drunk is being ushered to the door. We're almost at the end of the kit review. This being a TGO Challenge kit review there are numerous candidates for the role of Last Mumbling Drunk, but let's sidestep that and get on with tidying up the remaining bits and pieces. These are the underachievers, the overlooked and some thoughts on future changes.
Previously I've mentioned one disappointing item, the Titanium Goat Ptarmigan bivy, which failed to perform as expected. It wasn't a disaster by any means and there are certainly elements of it I like, yet there's no escaping the fact that poor breathability is crippling to a bivy bag. One of the great benefits of camping under a tarp instead of in a very small tent is how blissfully dry and free of condensation it is under there, so finding yourself under a damp quilt with moisture pooling at your elbows is something of a shock. For the 2009 Challenge I carried an old Rab Survival Zone bivy, bought originally as an emergency item to carry in the hills and pressed into service as a bag cover for adverse conditions. It wasn't particularly breathable and lacked any sort of bug netting, yet on the whole the Survival Zone, paired with a headnet, performed similarly well to the Ptarmigan (which is to say fine for emergencies but not so outstanding for general camping). The most likely course of action to improve this problem will be for me to get hold of a sewing machine and order one of Ray Jardine's "Spitfire" net-tent kits, or design something similar myself. The Spitfire is a small "inner tent" designed to clip quickly under the tarp, offering a tick-proof haven with acres of ventilating netting and a water-resistant floor to function as a groundsheet. A fairly large tarp such as the Cave or Jardine's Ray-Way tarp (the original and also currently available version of the design) makes a water-resistant bivy less essential and the advantages of the net-tent are beginning to stack up in my mind. The few occasions when a full bivy bag has been really handy (and when bug protection was not the main priority) have largely occurred because I made a sloppy job of selecting a camping spot or putting up the tarp, not because the tarp itself was inadequate. In all cases I suspect that a little more skill and care on my part would make the net-tent a superior choice. And anyway, it's been a while since I tackled a sewing project.
I want your socks: Nothing could be further from the truth actually, but I will say that I don't want Injinji socks in future. You may recall the stripey "toe socks" so distressingly common in the 1970s. Injinji socks use the same basic design, only without the accompanying long hair and Andy Gibb records. The idea is sound: not only do the liners, made of Coolmax although they offer others, prevent blisters like more conventional liner styles, they also stop the toes rubbing together and forming blisters between them or, more usually for me, letting a toenail cut into a neighbouring little piggy. I wore a pair on two short day walks and was impressed. By the second day of the Challenge this same pair had begun to fail dramatically, particularly under the ball of each foot where holes appeared and hotspots quickly formed. Immediate application of Compeed attended to the potential blisters (and also, as it happens, meant that I could keep using the socks despite the holes) but that was only enough to get me along for a few days until I reached Braemar Mountain Sports and bought replacements. Their selection was rather limited, being more a choice of size than model, so I came away with a pair of Teko wool-mix liners. Despite seeming rather thick and not as low-friction as styles I've worn in the past they were exceptionally comfy for the remainder of the trip and show no sign of wear, although the dreaded Compeed residue has marked them for life, I fear. There's no excuse for the poor showing from the Injinji socks, wearing out after well under 40 miles. They're expensive and simply not fit for purpose. In recent years I've moved away from liners and simply worn one pair of Smartwool hikers: using good liners certainly helped in terms of comfort and foot condition this year, so I shall stick with the Teko socks.
Ordnance Survey maps: No thought of poor perfomance here, as OS maps remain the gold standard for navigation and we should never forget how fortunate we are to have access to such a superb resource in the UK. Years ago there was a range of stationery made from old OS maps, with the printed section appearing on the back. I wrote a letter on some of it to my (then) publisher, a former United States Air Force officer, who brushed aside my enquiry but excitedly replied with questions about the stationery: were these real public maps? and could he get hold of equivalents for the USA? The reason I'm including OS maps in this section of the roundup is because I'm still carrying the old paper versions, or at least heavily trimmed bits of them. My mobile 'phone allows me to access decent maps if I want to, handy in a pinch but I'd never trust all of my navigation to that tiny, battery-hungry screen. More usefully I have access to Memory-Map, a PC-based mapping software which proved a great boon in the planning stage of my route this year, yet the end result was still me sitting at the desk, copying the route onto paper maps with a highlighter pen. Other, superior mapping software is more easily available, including on-line services such as Grough, and the only reason I'm still using the old-fashioned fold-out maps is because I looked at the cost of getting colour cartridges for a printer I was offered on loan and found that the few maps I didn't have cost rather less. In future, particularly as my paper maps need updating, I shall switch to printing from the computer. A great many Challengers have already (no pun intended) taken this route (*ahem*) and the advantages were obvious. I could also have posted some of the maps ahead in my two resupply boxes (probably to be reduced to one in future, as I learn to better manage food planning and the like) had I been keen to save a few grammes, but it didn't seem worth it. The Ortlieb map case looks heavy, I admit. Still, it continues to do the job despite needing a few dabs of seam sealer to fix the Velcro this year and I like having a reliable way of protecting the precious papers.
Mountain King Trail Blaze walking poles: Back for a second Challenge, the Trail Blazes have been surpassed in terms of sheer weight (or lack of it) but still offer a reliably sturdy option for walking and, importantly, as poles to support the tarp where trees are not abundant. If you believe Dr. Johnson there are virtually no trees at all in Scotland. In truth, however, there are loads, though most seem to be in unwelcoming, dark, Mirkwood-like plantations and are not friendly spots for camping, so I usually aim for areas of mixed or broadleaf woodland. It's usually only on the more open spots or on commercial campsites that no suitable trees are to be found; and for those time trekking poles offer a very handy substitute. The Trail Blaze design is fixed length, collapsing for storage in the manner of a sectional tent pole. Very stable, very sturdy, utterly let down by the stupid, stupid handle design. Stop me when you see the flaw here: the handle is a foam tube wrapped around the smooth aluminium shaft of the pole, held in place with a dab of glue… Sure enough, they are prone to the glue failing and the handle sliding down the pole, usually at the very moment you most need it to stay put, such as when you slip on a wet heathery hillside and lean on the pole for support. That happened in 2009, after which I managed a repair with Tenacious Tape and some glue. Despite adding extra glue to the other pole, it failed this year. Funnily enough I met another Challenger in 2009 who carried the same poles, except his looked a bit different around the handles. Turned out he was an electrician who had repaired them with cable ties when they collapsed. Due to that encounter I was carrying some cable ties in my repair kit this time and had to press them into service, along with glue and duct tape, when the previously solid handle finally gave up the ghost and plummeted earthwards. Such an obvious weakness in the design and so very easy to have avoided, but sadly Mountain King chose to trust in glue instead. When I contacted them after my last Challenge they offered no help beyond saying they hadn't heard of anyone else having the same problem and suggesting I use some glue. It's a pity, because in all other respects these are excellent poles and work well with the tarp. If my repairs seem to be failing then I shall most likely join the crowd who use Pacer Poles. Gayle, of Mick and Gayle™, has put thousands of miles on her carbon Pacers and they seem to be holding up well, although I'm less certain of how they might fare as tarp supports (one Challenger had his carbon tent pole fail dramatically, resulting in a hole through his expensive tent), perhaps making the heavier aluminium Pacers a safer bet.
Overall I'm satisfied that in planning the route, choosing my gear and managing my food supplies I did a better job this year than for my first Challenge. That's not to say that there are no improvements to make: I've identified some failures and some minor shortcomings in the kit list; my route planning skills may be improving with practice and familiarity, but I still made a few questionable choices or picked the poorer of two options; and even though the food may have been much more enjoyable and sustaining this time, I still took too much (not a great deal too much, but still unnecessary: this is a trip to Scotland, not an adventure beyond the edge of the wild, after all… they have shops there and everything) and packed a couple of things I might have done well to test in advance. I came home pondering a change of shelter, thinking that a slightly more substantial tent might put me in a better position to try new routes and explore new places. At the moment, though, I'm tending to lean towards keeping the basic tarp and instead making changes to what I use with it – a net-tent instead of a bivy bag, for instance – and putting my efforts into improving my camping skills. I have no doubt at all that the tarp is a suitable shelter for Scottish trips (outside of Winter, at least; and some tarp users may disagree even there) and, for me, a hugely enjoyable way to camp. None of the claustrophobia I've sometimes felt in small tents, nor the dripping condensation, nor the struggle to keep out the rain when cooking in the porch. My ability to use the tarp is less than its ability to function, so the thing to do is to raise my level of skill rather than hoping that a different shelter will better mask my deficiencies. It also occurs to me that I didn't mention 9-Bars, perhaps the most successful addition to my food bag. In general I eat very few "energy bars" or similar, so these delicious snacks were a revelation. Reasonably priced (with free shipping from their website, not to mention availability in some supermarkets) and quite filling, I also never tired of them, even though the different flavours are very much minor variations on a theme, the theme being seeds, carob and plenty of sugar. The wet nights and mornings didn't make for ideal breakfast conditions, so when cooking porridge or even mixing up a bag of muesli seemed too much I'd shoulder the pack and munch some 9-Bars as I walked, probably getting through a couple, or even as many as four (rarely), each day. Interestingly, had I not bought the Injinji socks I may never have heard of 9-Bars: when I bought the socks from Sandbaggers (an excellent company, even if they do choose to sell some disappointing sock liners) I received a free bar with my order, and again when I later sent for some Micro-Spikes from them. The socks may not be up to much, but every liner has a silver cloud. Or something.
There's one more small item to discuss, The Memmsy Cord. Named for my better half, since she provided the bulk of the materials from an old jacket of hers, this is simply a length of shock-cord (lilac in this case… the perils of using things you have lying around), a cord-lock and two plastic "mitten hooks" from an old sleeping bag bug-netting cover. With one hook tied to the end of the cord and the other attached in the loop formed by doubling the cord back through the cord-lock the result is an adjustable, stretchy belt for the rucksack, a washing line, a line to lift the bivy netting away from the face, a lashing cord for fastening extra items to the rucksack… whatever springs to mind. Cheap and useful, my favourite combination of properties.
Time for bed, said Zebedee. Hopefully what began as a few notes for my own future reference and has somehow bloated beyond recognition into the main content of my blog has a few nuggets of usefulness tucked inside for others to unearth. There remains an inevitable but still peculiar distrust of anything resembling lightweight hiking and camping gear in Britain, despite the remarkably light kits being created here by pioneers of the pastime a century and more ago. As I once remarked to someone who criticised my choices as reckless and unsuitable, much the same was said about the internal frame rucksack he was carrying back when they were first introduced. And wasn't that a Gore-Tex jacket he was wearing? How rash, how modern! Where, Sir, is your oilskin, your pantasote coat, your animal furs? It's not inherently better because it's old or new, but if you took the time to give it a fair airing you might find it suits you well enough. And if it doesn't? Well, it suits me; and I hope that we can shake hands on that and be happy with each other's choices.
A few links for the clicking-averse:
TGO Challenge: Filling Up the Corners
Steaming towards the home straight of our little TGO gear roundup, let's give the crowd a cheeky smile and throw down a few heaps of related kit. Weights for these items, and others I'll probably skip, can be found on the gear spreadsheet mentioned in an earlier entry.
The kitchen: For the 2009 Challenge I carried the excellent Bushbuddy wood-burning stove, stowed inside a Snow Peak titanium pot. The pot was fine (its frying pan lid was hopeless, mind) and the stove encouraged a thoughtful, relaxed style of cooking, from gathering fuel to tending the flames as the water came to a boil. True, I came home smelling like a kipper with a forty-a-day habit, but even in the wet the Bushbuddy is a perfectly viable choice. This year, partly to save weight and partly to just do something different, I used an Esbit stove with a smaller pot (more of a large mug, indeed) and a few scraps of tinfoil. The lid of the Tibetan Titanium 550 pot seemed a poor fit and heavier than it needed to be, so I left it behind and trimmed a circle of foil to take its place, along with a piece to sit under the stove and a longer strip to function as a wind shield. Esbit is nasty, smelly stuff, but remarkably convenient and very easy to use. Light the little block, wait for water to boil (roughly ten minutes, give or take), blow the flame out if there's much of the block left or else let it burn down to a small residue. In practice the foil wind shield was adequate but nothing more: better protection would have made for faster boiling times and required less fuel. One thing that people don't always realise is that a tarp is essentially a very large tent porch, so cooking under it is safe and easy, well ventilated and with plenty of room to spread out. That made it less of a chore to cook when the wind was being a little frisky (which was much of the time on this Challenge). Food was a combination of commercially packaged dehydrated meals and some things I dehydrated at home (along with treats such as Christmas pudding, instant custard and a jar of peanut butter) using the "freezer bag cooking" method of boiling water, adding it to the meal and eating out of the bag. No mess, no washing up. Fine for a short trip but in the long run a bit wasteful of packaging. Since eating from a bag requires a degree of additional reach I used a long-handled titanium spoon, quite silly but strong enough to double as an emergency tent peg and convenient should I ever choose to sup with the Devil. For the record, Reiter dried meals were quite tasty (if a little heavy on salt), particularly the Sicilian Pasta and the spectacularly indulgent chocolate mousse, and I quite enjoyed a fish and rice dish picked up at Decathlon. Macaroni and cheese (Kraft Dinners, to my Canadian audience) required more faff and some advance prep in order to make everything work, on top of which I was carrying a bottle of olive oil and some Tabasco to improve the final product; after a good start I found myself less able to face the resulting orange glop and probably shan't bother carrying mac and cheese in the future, which is a pity as I bought a case of twelve packets… For water I once again carried the AquaGear filter bottle (replaced by a slightly larger and clearly improved version these days) which allowed me to drink directly from a wider selection of sources than normal, not that fresh water was exactly at a premium on this walk. Additional water storage at camp was provided by a very versatile Pour & Store bag, nothing fancy (available by the box from supermarkets in various sizes) but quite strong and effective as well as being less than half the weight of a Platypus.
The bedroom: In an ideal world one might simple throw down the quilt and snuggle in for a confortable night, but ours is a world of wet ground, giant slugs, awkwardly-placed rocks and, inevitably, ticks. I saw three ticks on this Challenge, which was a pretty low score but one of them was drilling into my shoulder as I sat having a pint in the Fife Arms so I do not dismiss the threat by any means. Ray Jardine's latest book, The Ray-Way Tarp Book Essential, devotes a surprising amount of space to avoiding ticks, which is understandable once you learn that Mr Jardine was rushed to hospital due to the consequences of a tick bite while hiking. Some might regard his level of concern as paranoia, but personally I'm with him all the way on this point. My main defence against ticks was site selection, avoiding anywhere obviously used by deer or matching textbook tick habitat, and checking myself and my gear for the nasty little arachnids. Of course that is not sufficient; and anyway, I'm not woodsman enough to get it right every time. I also carried a Titanium Gear Ptarmigan Bivy, a sleeping bag cover with zipped entry and a large expanse of bug netting for protection and ventilation. The bottom of the bivy is waterproof, the upper section a lightweight breathable fabric treated to fend off dew and rain splashes. Lovely idea, hopeless in execution. I see that on their website Titanium Goat mention that the 2011 model has a new fabric for the top, which is all well and good but sadly I have the 2010 model which is nowhere near breathable enough. On two occasions I woke with the feeling of water against my arms, vapour condensing and running down the inside of the bivy, which is a pretty poor when you consider just how much of the bivy is made of insect netting. In less threatening environments I took to using the bivy as a groundsheet and for the last week, where tick numbers seemed to be much reduced, it stayed in the bag. The design has excellent points, such as the way the netting or a solid hood can be used and a loop to let you hook the netting away from your face while sleeping, but overall this item was a major disappointment. Underneath me at night was a simple foam MultiMat, the lightest and smallest they make, trimmed down even further to cover only the important shoulders to bum area. My sit mat, a thin piece of orange foam given away free with a walking magazine many moons ago, provided extra padding under the hip if I slept on my side or else a bit of warm cushioning under my feet. Sounds very spartan, I know, but on grass or forest litter nothing more is needed. The mat also functioned as a sort of frame for the ZPack rucksack, dropped into the pack as a vertical cylinder and allowed to unroll, giving it some structure and extra padding for me. Only on one occasion did the foam mat offer inadequate comfort and that was on the concrete floor of the Stables of Lee. Remarkably, Mick and Gayle™ were camping outside and offered the use of their spare Therm-a-Rest NeoAir mattress… Putting aside why anyone would need to carry a spare mattress on a hiking trip I accepted the offer. A nice piece of kit overall, even though it's little more than an overpriced lilo, but despite the comfort I woke with an aching back. The NeoAir is also so thick that I had trouble making a pillow big enough to sufficiently raise my head, eventually resorting to piling up my remaining food packets and topping them with my rolled-up Páramo jacket. Despite the raised eyebrow regarding a spare mattress I did actually carry, in effect, a spare groundsheet, used for most of the last week. The ULA Rain Wrap was actually the lower half of my waterproof clothing, but it also doubles up nicely as a groundsheet where it certainly looks less eccentric than when I wear it.
The ditty bag: Lots of little oddments here, from a Rite-in-the-Rain waterproof notebook (and accompanying IKEA pencil… naughty, I know, but I couldn't find the one I pinched twenty years ago from Putt-Putt Golf & Games) to the splendid Petzl e+LITE head torch. My rather small washkit was in there too, including a couple of plastic clothes pegs for laundry days, earplugs (don't travel without them, seriously) the wonderfully multi-purpose Dr. Bronner's Peppermint Soap and the soothing, protective Gehwol Extra foot cream, decanted into an old 35mm film canister; and whatever will we do when the world supply of those little plastic tubs dries up? The Gehwol cream was a good choice, not only because it felt great at the end of a long walk and seemed to help my wet feet but also because the simple ritual of using it encouraged me to take better care of my feet every single day, sitting down to clean and dry them off, massage the cream into them and put on my cosy sleeping socks. My blister-prone plates handled the Challenge in considerably better shape this year, not least because of this attention. My towel this time, rather than the elderly "Wonder Towel" I used to use which is now a patchy and gossamer-thin shadow of its former self, was a Lightload Towel. These are handkerchief-sized absorbent squares made from wood pulp. After a fortnight it had pretty much approached its limit but it worked well enough along the way and dried quickly, with no apparent bad odours. Fairly cheap, but even so I wouldn't especially endorse the Lightload, as a cotton bandanna or cheap viscose cloth is more durable and just as good without being disposable.
Since Challenge Control requires walkers to check-in frequently, and with working 'phone boxes becoming an increasing rarity, I carried a mobile 'phone with me along with a spare battery and charger. Heavy, but it did also function as a radio (useful for weather forecasts, apart from the traumatic time when the only programme I could pick up was the Céilidh Hour) and the GPS meant that I could get it to display my OS grid reference if ever I happened to get lost (or "confused" as Daniel Boone put it). I suppose that I could have used it more often as a Walkman as well, but I actually only listened to music on the 'phone on one occasion, in camp. Generally speaking, the musical accompaniment to this walk was me loudly singing various Warren Zevon songs as I tramped through the heather, so if you found yourself assailed by a spiritedly tuneless rendition of Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner at any point then I can only apologise.
Rain gear has been largely covered, since it primarily consisted of the superb Páramo 3rd Element jacket. In moderate rain I didn't bother with the hood and simply wore my Tilley Hat. Likewise, the Eco-Mesh trousers dried so quickly that I only supplemented them in severe conditions, but when the wind picked up and the rain worsened, as it did almost daily, I donned the ULA Rain Wrap, a simple rectangle of SilNyon fastened with Velcro and a hook and loop on the hem. Waterproof trousers and I are not great chums and I much prefer the superior ventilation of something like the rain skirt (and don't fool yourself, you can refer to it as a kilt or a wrap all you like but it's a skirt, matey, and not a particularly stylish one at that) which worked very well for me. Don't try it on the tops, of course, where swirling gales and battering rain would quickly get around it. Like most things, the rain skirt has its place and you should consider carefully whether it will do the job you ask of it. Sewing one yourself would be very easy, probably with some improvements such as a simple pleat to allow more movement, but I didn't have access to a sewing machine at the time and bought the commercial version. Stretch fleece gloves generally worked for me, except for when the rain was particularly heavy and the cold wind started to bite through the fabric. When that happened I slipped on the MLD eVENT waterproof mitts, a reassuringly simple and practical design. They worked well and took up little space in the side pocket of my pack when I was carrying them. Lastly, the umbrella. I've long been a fan of the humble brolly for hiking, going back to the hazel-shafted walking stick model I bought from James Smith & Sons (where you should, if you are ever even remotely close, visit and be amazed), later set temporarily aside for the original GoLite umbrella, considerably lighter but with the tiny drawback of not actually being waterproof… These days I use hiking poles rather than the walking stick, so the Smith brolly is a bit heavy to mostly carry in the rucksack, although come to think of it that doesn't seem to bother Nicholas Crane. I picked up a Swing Liteflex umbrella, lighter than even the old GoLite and seemingly much more robust and waterproof. The company appear to be making brollies for others, so you may find them under different names. Splendid for wandering around town and walking on calm days, an umbrella is of course quite useless on a big hill in vile, blowy weather, but such is not my main use. At night it formed a handy "door" to the tarp, blocking swirling rain and offering additional privacy on commercial campsites. I sat under it at rest stops, used it as an additional windbreak while cooking, deployed it as a privacy screen when attending to those matters common to both hikers and bears. Embrace the eccentricity, try hiking with a brolly yourself.
That's largely all that needs talking about for the rest of the gear. The (probably) last post on this topic will cover a couple of failures – the bivy could have gone there but seemed a more natural fit in the context of the sleeping system – and thoughts on changes I may make for the future, after which you can breathe a sigh of relief and return to your regularly scheduled lives.
Some of the websites mentioned, if the Super Secret Clicky Links aren't working for you (Have you checked your Secret Decoder Ring?):
TGO Challenge: Synthetic Easy-Care Clothes Maketh the Man
Onwards, then, from the "big three" items of gear to a quick review of what I was wearing. In general gear lists tend to separate clothes into "Clothes Carried" and "Clothes Worn" which I have simplified slightly by basically wearing everything.
Páramo 3rd Element: The much lamented, yet sadly poorly selling, 3rd Element was one of the more unusual offerings from Páramo, a company known for its very unconventional clothes. Part of the Nikwax Analogy range of waterproof coats the 3rd Element sported the peculiar feature of having a removable top section (the sleeves, hood and yoke came off as one) partly covering a separate gilet. The result: extra padding and waterproofing on the shoulders, a full function waterproof jacket and a cooler sleeveless section for when more ventilation was required. Admittedly I only used the gilet alone on a couple of occasions this year, but the major objection to Páramo waterproofs is that they are warmer than some membrane-based jackets, precluding their use in more Summery weather. It's an objection with which I can only partly sympathise, since I find Gore-Tex and the like horribly sweaty and uncomfortable on the whole, whereas Páramo is particularly good at handling liquid water (i.e. sweat) and feels better to me even if I am overheating, but each to his own and being able to remove the sleeves certainly adds versatility to the setup. The material is soft and comfortable (on cooler nights I slept in the jacket, otherwise it was rolled up to make a pillow) and can be endlessly reproofed, giving it a life well beyond most waterproofs: my Páramo Scala jacket is about twelve years old and shows no drop in performance that an occasional wash and reproof does not fix and only my old Ventile smock (worn on the 2009 Challenge) has shown similar longevity. Shortcomings are few: a proper map pocket would have been appreciated (since I use a pack with no belt I was able to stick my maps into the rear horizontal pocket designed to hold the sleeves when they are removed, which solved the problem for me) and I prefer a waist cord rather than one at the hem, but these are niggles. It took very little time for this wonderful jacket to become a second skin, one that wasn't too niffy even after a fortnight of wear. It handled the powerfully driven rain and hail with aplomb. At least half a dozen Challengers that I know of wore the 3rd Element this year, yet Páramo have been unable, despite several attempts, to find a place for it in the market. The public, it seems, think it's too weird. That probably wasn't helped by Páramo's insistence that you can wear just the sleeves if you like… 856g but don't dismiss it simply because that weight looks high. As part of a well considered clothing system the 3rd Element is superb. The main problem is getting hold of one now that production has ceased. Páramo themselves have two eBay shops, one selling seconds items and the other dealing with surplus and discontinued stock, so if you're lucky then, like me, you might still be able to pick one up at a bargain price. It feels a bit odd not be wearing it at the moment.
Inov-8 Flyroc 310 shoes: An expensive pair of trainers, really. I bought a pair of Flyrocs for the 2009 Challenge and they worked so well that I picked up a new pair in a clearance sale (they've changed the colour scheme, apparently: mine are a rather natty blue and green) for this year. Little underfoot padding, acres of quick-drying mesh on the uppers, a lacing system that cradles your foot like an amorous octopus and more grip than an arm-wrestling gorilla, the Flyrocs laughed in the face of mud, tarmac and wet grass. Stream crossing consisted of walking through the streams, no changing footwear and getting the towel out, and I never found them to be uncomfortable even when wet. The only problem I ever had was inside the heel cup, where the lining fabric rapidly wore through. In 2009 this caused blisters before I realised that there was a problem, so I stuck some moleskin and duct tape over the damage and they've been fine ever since. This year I pre-empted any problem by sticking a piece of duct tape inside the shoes. Other Inov-8 wearers, I discovered, do the same. 822g for a pair in my clod-hopping size.
Patagonia Nano Puff: Many years ago I lived near to a Patagonia Outlet Store in the United States. They were happy, carefree days, filled with laughter and reasonably priced high quality outdoor clothing. Then I moved and was faced with the real world, where Patagonia clothes are apparantly priced using a different monetary system to the one I know and the costs are stupidly high. I stopped buying Patagonia. Enter the Internet, where I managed to chance upon a clearance sale for the Nano Puff, a lightly insulated smock top, offering it for half price if I could fit into a size Large (I could) and didn't mind wearing something called Gecko Green (I'd have preferred not to, but needs must). At half price the Nano Puff is expensive, but worth it if you can spare the cash; at full price it is obscenely expensive and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. My main insulating garment, if you can call it that, was actually the Sierra Sniveller quilt. Being filled with down (and looking absolutely bonkers) was potentially a limitation, though, so with the chance of a damp ol' time in bonny Scotland ahead of me I bought the Nano Puff as a security piece, a synthetic insulation top which would be less affected if I was careless enough to get soaked through. In the end I slept in it on more than half of the nights, wore it whenever I wasn't hiking and found that it was so good that I only rarely needed to don the Sniveller for extra warmth. When stopping to do laundry, which happened every four days or so, my approach of carrying few extra clothes raised a potential problem, so generally the Nano Puff was worn next to the skin on those occasions with no discomfort at all. Versatile, comfortable, warm and, despite the colour, not a bad looking item either; other Challengers seemed to endorse my opinion, although I couldn't help noticing that nobody else had chosen the green. 300g. Returning home I was pleased to discover that I'd lost enough weight to fit into my old Patagonia Stand Up Pants, good news both because they are old favourites and because I still find the name amusing.
The other stuff: I'm not going to review everything in any depth – you can read the kit list spreadsheet if you want to see it all anyway – so here's a quick run through the rest. The possum fur / merino wool double-layer beanie hat from Chocolate Fish was excellent, worn around camp and for sleeping (since there's no hood on my quilt), it also served an additional function as the pot cosy for my kitchen setup. Pour boiling water into dehydrated meal, stir, pop the hat over the bag for ten minutes and there you go, a hot meal and a warm hat. Trousers were my old Eco-Mesh Pants from RailRiders, bought over ten years ago and going strong despite having split dramatically at the crotch in 2009. A bit of repair, subsequent reinforcement and modification to add a central rear belt loop (what a stupid omission that is. Without it the waistband slips uncomfortably under the belt. I made one from a swatch of flysheet material included in an old Hilleberg tent catalogue…) and they still work well. Zips down the outside seam open up mesh vents, or close to keep the bugs at bay, and the windproof Supplex fabric dries so quickly that I only bother with waterproofs in seriously prolonged rain. Fit is rather basic, however, so don't expect to look especially dashing in them, and I suspect that there have been some design and possibly material changes since I bought mine. Undies were merino wool trunks from Chocolate Fish, a huge step forward in comfort from the synthetic shorts I used to wear. The rather hopeless waistband rolled over instantly but at least it wasn't uncomfortable; in all other respects they were superb. 1000 Mile Wool Ultra Performance Trail socks were light and warm on my feet, along with Injinji liners which I'll cover in detail later on. I rarely go anywhere without a Tilley Hat and have been wearing them for about twenty years, initially won over because they actually make hats in my size. This time I left my old favourite at home and took a lighter synthetic model, a good choice as it turned out, since it dried very quickly. Likewise, the ubiquitous Buff, a simple synthetic tube worn as scarf or hat, was always in use, often under the Tilley to keep my ears warm. Another oddly-coloured bargain buy from eBay (mango, I believe they said it was) was my long-sleeved Montane Bionic top, a wool and synthetic mix, very comfortable indeed and better than pure synthetics at keeping the odours down, important in a garment I wore for days at a time. A pair of Mont-Bell gaiters, simple stretch material and not waterproof, kept the crud out of my shoes and performed far better than the feeble Raidlight ones I used last time. The elastic under-foot cord abraded badly on the Mont-Bells but is easily and cheaply replaced. Instead of spare shoes I carried a pair of "clean room" style Tyvek overboots, pretty much large plastic socks really, to wear over my sleeping socks in camp and to put over muddy shoes when heading into a pub. They worked well, but next time I'll probably use a pair of Crocs or similar simply because they would be more convenient around town. The Challenge is not just a wilderness event and sometimes the lightest option can be a compromise too far.
That's most of the kit I was wearing at one time or another. I mentioned the Injinji liner socks which began the Challenge as favourites, but I'll discuss them in more depth after the other reviews because they failed so badly and had to be replaced. On the whole my gear worked and lasted well, with only a few disappointments. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what the eccentrically dressed Challenger was wearing in the Highlands this May.
Links for the non-linky:
TGO Challenge: Of shoes–and ships–and sealing-wax
… or possibly not. Well, I may mention shoes at a later date.
The 2011 TGO Challenge is behind me, clothes have been washed and the house is festooned with gear like a street party colliding with a mountain marathon. The familiar, heady aroma of laundry-shy synthetics has cleared at last. Mostly.
An exhaustive discussion and review of everything I carried and used on the walk is considerably beyond what is really required or helpful, so I shall instead make a few remarks about particular items, how they worked and how well they fitted with the rest of the kit to form a functional "system" of gear, and sweep the rest into an easily dismissed corner.
The Big Boys: Big in terms of bulk, weight or simply how important they are to the whole. Let's dive in with the ZPacks Zero Cuben Fiber rucksack, mentioned in an earlier post, which was a real success. The material gradually softened yet remained very water resistant (the only water in my pack came from throwing wet gear into it on a couple of hurried mornings) and the closure, nothing more than a drawcord and toggle, proved considerably more effective than my dubious first assessment. The big outside pocket was perfect for holding a soaking wet tarp (which it was on all but one or two mornings, thank you very much Scottish weather) while the side pockets held water bottle and raingear on the one side, brolly (retained by the elastic side straps I requested), sit-mat and toilet stuff on the other. I never missed a waistbelt, not that I expected to since my other rucksack is a GoLite Breeze and that doesn't have one either, nor did I have occasion to use the loops I'd asked for to attach an elastic shock-cord (The Memmsy Cord, about which more later) as a sort of stabilising waistbelt in the event of needing to do a bit of scrambling. Considering that the ZPacks Zero is a semi-custom item it would have been largely my fault if the options I requested didn't suit, but I was tremendously impressed with the comfort, capacity and utility of this simple, functional bag. On the hills it always felt at home, around town I just slung it over one shoulder and strolled along like everyone else. Well, like everyone else carrying something that looked like a pedal-bin liner anyway. Size medium, giving me about 34 litres plus the pockets, which was more than enough space. 146g you say? Sold!
Titanium Goat UL Sierra Sniveller Special: Quite possibly the longest name ever conceived for what is, at heart, a blanket. It deserves the distinction though. This was my sleeping bag, replacing the heavy and disappointing Mountain Equipment bag I've had for years which performed poorly on the 2009 Challenge. The Sierra Sniveller is a quilt, manufactured in this version for Titanium Goat by the American company Jacks 'R' Better. Unlike many ultralight backpacking quilts the Sniveller opens completely flat, very handy when I stopped at Tarfside and was able to deploy it as a bedspread or simply for airing it out in the very unlikely event that the air it Scotland may turn a little damp *cough*. The tapered "foot end" fastens together with Velcro-like Omni Tape and a drawcord snugs in the end to create a cosy foot pocket; a second drawcord at the opposite end allows the quilt to be shaped around the neck and shoulders, brilliantly simple and tremendously effective. On one cold and windy night I used the cords and loops fitted down the sides to pull the quilt more closely around me for warmth, while warmer nights were much more comfortable than in an enclosed bag due to the easy venting options afforded by the quilt. Not enough, you say? Well Sir, you can wear it! An Omni-Taped opening in the middle allows the adventurous and sartorially oblivious to don the quilt as an insulated serape, as illustrated by the brave, brave fellows over on the Jacks 'R' Better website. At least as cosy as the typical backpacking down jacket, although I can't say I'd head to the pub whilst wearing it. Brilliant around camp, however. All in all a thoroughly successful choice and something I expect to be using for a long time to come, well made and very versatile for its 594g weight.
GoLite Cave 1 Tarp: No longer manufactured due to the well-publicised disagreement many years ago between GoLite and Ray Jardine, who designed it and several other items made by GoLite in their early days. A real pity that, since this deceptively simple shelter continues to impress a decade after I bought it. The Cave is a simple flat tarp made of a fairly heavy grade of SilNylon, enhanced (transformed, almost) by the addition of triangular "variable geometry beaks" at each end. Essentially the beaks provide extra protection from the weather and close the ends of the tarp off if you have to pitch it very low in a storm. It also has "lifters" on the sides, extra guys that pull the main panels out to give more headroom. To be honest I have only ever used these occasionally as the Cave has tons of room under it anyway. Remarkably, I was told more than once that I must have had an awful time during the Challenge because I was camping under a tarp… Funnily enough it must have been so traumatic that I have blanked the horror from my mind and replaced it with memories of being warm, dry and comfortable in some lovely camping spots, just as in 2009. Only on two occasions did I have trouble due to using a tarp: one spot looked perfect, but after pitching I realised that it was alive with ticks and I quickly zipped myself into my bivvy bag to avoid them and the midges, which made for a dull evening; and at the Stables of Lee, a spot on my Foul Weather Alternative route where I had not been planning to camp, the high winds, waterlogged ground and lack of shelter made pitching the Cave impossible, or at least beyond my abilities, so I slept in the stable instead. Other than that I wouldn't have traded it for anything on this trip; and the "failures" were as much down to me as to the tarp. Looking at the tents used by other Challengers I did consider replacing the tarp on a future Challenge so that I could try more adventurous routes with more limited camping options, but now that I'm home and have been looking into it further I'm less convinced… Tarp camping is very much to my taste. The limitations are few, far fewer than you probably think if you've not tried it, and the advantages many. At least one Challenger lost his tent poles and another had a pole fail dramatically, rendering the tents almost useless… with a tarp you just find a tree or pick up a stick. They're not as flimsy as they look, these things, and I believe that my ability to choose a good camping spot has improved because I use one, helping me to get away from the habit of simply plonking the tent down anywhere, however uncomfortable, because of a belief that the tent can handle it. Anyway, we're moving into camping philosophy here. At least I'm not wholly alone in my love of tarps and this design in particular: Geoff Gafford was on the Challenge in his Cave of similar vintage and I suspect he was equally happy in his choice. If you fancy trying a Cave for yourself then you could haunt eBay for one, but prices are high and they appear only occasionally. Far better to wander over to the site of the man who designed the thing, Ray Jardine, and order one of his kits for sewing a tarp yourself. The current version is also lighter than my Cave, although I have added different guys and adjusters (largely to stop people from falling over the damn things on campsites). 432g plus the weight of a dozen pegs.
Shelter, sleeping bag and rucksack. All solid successes, I'd say, and a good place to pause before part two..
Site addresses, in case you can't get the clever clicky things to work:
TGO Challenge: The Inevitable Gear List
Enough people have requested a copy of my gear list that I have decided to bow to public* pressure and just post the thing. Spreadsheets are as natural an environment to me as centre court at Wimbledon is to a herring, so please excuse any oddities of formatting and the like.
You can find the gear spreadsheet if you peek behind this convenient metaphorical curtain.
Examinations of what worked, what didn't and why I thought it a good idea to carry the blasted thing in the first place to follow.
*Thanks to both of you 😉
TGO Challenge: Notorious Lightweight
Somewhere in Montrose the Fat Lady has sung.
That's a little harsh, actually, as most of those singing at the Challenge dinner on Thursday night were looking positively trim, if not slightly underfed, but in essence the TGO Challenge of 2011 is now over. Three hundred weary, cheery souls have quietly scattered across the country (and indeed the world) to their homes, returning to families and colleagues and trying very hard not to look as though they are mentally planning next year's route.
By many accounts this was a particularly tough Challenge, considered perhaps the worst ever in terms of continual rain, and it was more luck than good management that saw me keeping just a step or two ahead of the harshest storms. Even so, like many Challengers I chose to opt for my Foul Weather route when the forecast for the higher hills started to reach Plague of Egypt proportions and ended up in St. Cyrus rather than my originally planned terminus at Lunan Bay. Regardless of changes, challenges and the weather, I had an absolutely wonderful, wonderful time, in no small part due to the many splendid people I met along the way.
Unfortunately, carrying anything "unconventional" (i.e. not made by Páramo, Osprey or Montane) on the Challenge does attract a degree of attention; and as much as I try to avoid being noticed in any situation it was clear that my pack in particular was the subject of considerable discussion. When someone approaches you at the end of the walk and asks, in hushed tones, whether they can touch your rucksack, you know that you've created a monster. Or perhaps encountered a pervert. Admittedly, my own paranoia about theft, leading to my habit of never leaving my bag anywhere, doesn't help: apologies to anyone forced to share space with me in locations where a normal person would have simply dropped their pack outside. I'm not even terribly comfortable with being termed an "ultralight" hiker, although the designation is inevitable. Yes, I try to travel with a light load, not least because working in an office has left me with an increasingly painful bad back, but it's not a religion with me. I'm the man who packed a Christmas pudding and brandy sauce among his essential supplies, for heaven's sake, and any real "gram weenie" could have slashed quite a bit of weight from my pack.
My own approach to gear and techniques is not exactly methodical, but I do admit to a tendency to carefully compare and consider everything before making my choices, albeit in a haphazard way. With that in mind I shall probably give in to the requests I have had to post my gear list and comment on how individual items performed in the very wet and windy conditions of Scotland this May. Don't expect in-depth reviews or observations worthy of Chris Townsend or Clive Tully, but a few remarks may help others to throw large piles of cash at small piles of equipment. Reviews to follow, once I've caught up on all those things that seem to need attention when you disappear off the radar for a fortnight.

subset: commoncrawl


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what is with this trend? when i have something black, on, or around my nail area, it's time to wash my hands.
is it just me? are all of you rushing out to get this 'hand of death' look? me, i'm sticking with ballet slipper pink.
what is with this trend? when i have something black, on, or around my nail area, it's time to wash my hands.
is it just me? are all of you rushing out to get this 'hand of death' look? me, i'm sticking with ballet slipper pink.
I totally agree...
If nails turn black, haven't they been injured or something awful and don't they fall off soon after???
Those nails get 3 big ICKS....ick-ick-ick.
And another for good measure......ICK!!!
BB8, of course it's pink (or nothing at 'tall..............)
Isn't Decorno hysterical? I loved that title! Even though I still kind of like french manicures, but I guess not pedicures. I'm so overdue for both!!! god, I'm lazy.
I'm definitely for clear or pale pink. I have really small hands and feet so bright/dark colours just look weird if you ask me. Black nail varnish just reminds me of too many whiny emo-people I try to avoid!
Hi Megan
I just noticed on your blog crushes roll that you have got me listed as "super star designer". You are too funny and too kind!
Hey! I totally resemble the French manicured suburbanite. If I didn't bite my nails clean off without it, I'd do it without the acrylic. But more's the pity for me.
I am totally with you on this!
A while ago Chanel reissued Vamp and some inky black color, and I was hot on the trend, but I think I really just liked the IDEA of it more than anything. When you see it on your own hands, you really just look more like the bored rocker-slut in the back row of detention who stole the teacher's Sharpie and went to town on her nails in some sort of angry DIY manicure.
Nude and buffed or Ballet Slippers only.
it's not cute. the french manicure i'm ok with actually. but only on the hands. i, personally, only think of porn stars when i see nails, thick with acrylic and long with a french manicure. that's just me though. and maybe some of you secretly like that comparison.
however, the black nails just remind me of angry kids in high school. like, decorno said, who colored their nails with a sharpie.
miss gray, i've seen your work, listened to your pod cast or whatever that was. you're a super star. i feel graced to have you read the blog.
Perhaps you should study your own appearance. Take a really close look at yourself. Really. Do it.
wow. thanks for that anon. next time could you have the courage to leave your name?
i'm not even sure what you're trying to say, that i look slutty? that i look suburban? that i have black nails and don't know it?
i'd love to chat aobut this. but you have to have the balls to name yourself and let us see your blog.
oh and btw, at this age, if i still can pass for remotely slutty, or stripper-ish.i'll take it.
Ha! You crack me up! If I could pass for remotely slutty, I would take it, too!
Megan, it's clear from the photo on the bottom of your blog that you are smokin' hot. If I looked so good, I would use that photo as my blog BANNER and not relegate it to the bottom of the page. :) I am not sure what Anon means by his/her lame post, but, you know, whatevs.
BTW, what kind of traffic monster are you? I swear, I haven't ever had so many vistors to my blog in one day. You're popular, girl. Thanks for name-checking my blog today and sending so many people my way.
oh i do love vamp. but only in the winter. vamp and a good blue red. but only on short nails and only for fancy stuff. and it should never be chipped. phew. i'm so particular for someone with match stick nails.
I totally agree. I stay with nude or light pink.
are we all sort of laughing about how serious we are about our nails? i'm cracking up and high fiving everyone. it's nice to get off the sometimes, oh so serious path of design.
In my line of work, I must have attractive and strong nails! Serving drinks and bending wire requires it.
And anonymous, I've seen this woman up close. She's pretty as a flower.
You should look so good, my friend.
thanks for having my back becky!
i'm guessing that was some guy i jilted off of match.com a few years ago.
no way does any non-scorned person make my dislike of a trend mean so much.
Hey, listen: some VERY popular blogger told me today that she's been getting very nasty comments from someone. She's deleting them though. I guess you have the same person lurking.
Great comments! Decorno - I love you!!!!


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We mommas wear many hats, especially when it comes to feeding our babes.
We are chefs as we create winning baby food combinations that our kiddies won't spit back out.
We are actors as we portray trains, airplanes, and tug boats to get them to open their mouths.
And yesterday I become a singer/songwriter as I serenaded my son over dinner.
I call it "Peas and Carrots."
Peas are green and they grow on a vine
Carrots are orange and they grow in the ground
Carrots have a peel and are long
Peas come in a pod and are round
Carrots grow deep in the dirt
And peas grow toward the sun
Peas and carrots are good for Sammy
But momma doesn't like either one
Seriously though, they're gross.


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This week has been pretty hectic. My boss was working nights, and since there's only four people in my department (including him), not having him around really puts a strain on the rest of us. But luckily, he's back this week. Although it's not going to slow down too much-The holidays are almost here in the bakery world, so it's only going to keep getting busier. Jan. 1st can't come soon enough :-)
Besides that my friend Chad is leaving for the Army tomorrow. I took him out to dinner on Tuesday and was really proud I kept myself together...untill he hugged me good bye. I couldn't help it-I just lost it. He's been one of my closest friends-the kind of friend who no matter if we talk every day or go two months without seeing each other, he's still one of the people closest to my heart.
My Chad-showcasing his undying love for Zombies last Halloween.
He'll be gone for 4-6 weeks at basic, then back for two weeks for Christmas and then gone for 7-9 months. Lord knows, I'll be sending lots and lots of prayers his way :-)
Besides, all that life is good-uneventful, but good. Hopefully this weekend, I'll be going to a concert, and another one next week, so at least I'll get some fun in before the holidays really start to kick my butt haha


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New Site!!!
I have given mouseguard.net a facelift. There are a few sections not up and running yet, but most everything else should be working. Please bear with any hiccups the site may have.
Winter 1152 #1 is in stores 8.22.07
We released the issue at San Diego, but due to a Diamond mix-up the book is hitting stores now. Keep a look-out for the winner of the 'Join the Mouse Guard' contest Lori Johnsen's entry of Roibin. I had a lot of fun drawing both Roibin and his pet beetle Conall.
Borders signing
This Friday (August 24th) I will be signing at Borders Bookstore in the Oakland Mall in Troy, MI. The signing starts at 7pm and I'm happy to sign your Mouse Guard issues as well as Hardcovers. Borders will have hardcovers available for purchase. If you are in the area, stop by! more info
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
New Site!!!
Blog Archive
- ► 2010 (12)
- ► 2009 (9)


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64% of British pub owners polled say business has decreased since the smoking ban has taken effectThat article can be found here.
An online poll on this website has found 64% of licensees said their pub was quieter following the introduction of the smoking ban.....In total 229 out of 357 people agreed that the ban has left their pubs quieter.
British lawmakers are now decimating their hospitality industry, just as U.S. lawmakers have.
The unfortunate thing is that the British Medical Journal (BMJ) has proven that the war on secondhand smoke is not only overblown, but completely fabricated. BMJ published air quality test results prove that secondhand smoke levels are 2.6 - 5,000 times SAFER than Occupational Safety & Health regulations.
British lawmakers have become the latest politicians to destroy an entire industry.......meanwhile the pharmaceutical nicotine lobby is laughing all the way to the bank.


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This is an excellent collection of medical flow charts, produced by American doctors, and published on FamilyDoctor.org. There are about 50 in total, ranging from Abdominal Pain, Short-Term to Urination Problems. While it contains the usual disclaimers about how it's for general educational purposes only, it looks very useful.
There aren't enough flow charts in every day life; we need more of them!
Via the ever-reliable Metafilter
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Medical flow charts
Labels: applications, sites
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Chairman's speech
The trade between France and India remains relatively weak. However, there are many potential fields in which French and Indian companies can collaborate such as Research and Development, Manufacturing, Information Technology, Biotechnology, Pharmaceutical, Energy, Agriculture (including food processing), Infrastructure, and Tourism. The synergy of French technical know-how and the abundance of Indian brain and manpower represents a unique potential to combine quality, cost and service.
There are many opportunities to be seized. It is important for our companies both, French and Indian, to be more enthusiastic and less reluctant. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry France India is there to help them understand each other better and strengthen the existing link between our two great nations.
the main argument in favor of using drug-induced abortion early stages is its effectiveness and relative safety. At the same time, to achieve the desired result, the gynecologist should accurately determine the duration of pregnancy, because it is on this depends the success of event. How much does an abortion pills cost? All this information you can easily find on our portal.
Live News from India


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Another Saturday quiz or two
7 comments:
- Grim said...
In a lifetime of reading, I've read only about a dozen of this "100 greatest" in full. I've 'read at' and disliked a number beyond that.
- Assistant Village Idiot said...
I've read 21 (very strong on the children's and YA), browsed 14. I had not heard of many.
I couldn't find the quiz.
It's an impossible exercise, of course. Most fun to read? Most likely to be life-changing? Best style? Most influence on other writers/intellectual history/historical events? Most quoted?
Then there is the tendency to make the list itself comprehensive. Are there enough women writers here? Did we represent the late 19th C fairly? This makes the list the focus, instead of the worth of any individual work. An effort is made to pick one best work of an author. What if an author wrote six of the best, and another wrote four?
It's not a list that has a solid value; it is a thought-provoker. Which is perhaps better.
- james said...
27. Gatsby is one that was assigned--maybe I was too young to appreciate it, but I've never had any interest in returning--whereas I went back to Pride and Prejudice and liked it. Some others are by authors I dislike (e.g. Kerouac). As AVI says, there's no central theme to the collection.
On another site where the topic du jour was "great books" I proposed that there was a broader category of "worthwhile books" that we couldn't know yet were great, but which were useful in stretching the mind or the heart, or in illustrating wisdom. That would be an interesting, and possibly very lengthy, list.
- Texan99 said...
Apparently they chose as one of the rules that there would be only one book per author.
The quiz link disappeared, but I finally found it again: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/aug/14/the-100-best-novels-written-in-english-quiz
There were plenty of books here I'd never heard of, even a handful of authors whose names didn't ring a bell. There was a surprising amount of chicklit. The list compiler seemed to be going for the comfy read more than scoring status points or acknowledging technical tours de force. I appreciate that. Cracked me up to see "Three Men in a Boat."
I could put together a list of 100 of my own favorite books, but I wouldn't dream of calling it the best books ever, because I'm nowhere near well-enough read to make such a broad judgment.
One of these days I'll have to read "The Way We Live Now." It seems like it would be right up my alley, and if a guy who likes "Jane Eyre" and "Emma" and "Middlemarch" and "Lolita" and "As I Lay Dying" enjoys it, I might too.
- Texan99 said...
- This comment has been removed by the author.
- Grim said...
Speaking of Hemingway, who does get a book in here, I just read The Old Man and the Sea for the first time last week. It didn't turn up on my high school reading lists, but I discovered I owned a copy that I must have picked up somewhere on the intention of reading it eventually.
It was worthwhile. Interesting book.
- Texan99 said...
There's another one I've heard about all my life but never read.
I found "The Way We Live Now" online in a Project Gutenberg incarnation, and am reading it now.


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I'm not really sure how Claire learned this song, but I think Travis had been singing it around the house and she picked up on it. Now, it's the only song she wants to sing before bed. So today I asked her to sing it on the computer so we could capture it. During the middle she gets a little distracted with seeing herself in the computer! :)
P.S. Just ignore my beautiful singing in the background!


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The Paradox (redirected)
I have been so far away from blogging and journalling in general, that I forgot I owed this blog some dedication and time. The past lot of months were ridiculously fun- so obviously I was too caught up. Now that I have a little me-time and not much to do let's get back on the field, shall we?
I've always been a shy, reserved person to a good 50% of the people I've met/known in my life. To the remaining 50% who happen to know me more than what meets the eye, I'm a completely different (read crazy) person. To call me a bundle of contradictions would be an understatement. Excuse me for saying this out loud but aren't all of us like this (even if remotely)?!
I am a simple yet complicated being, leading a monotonous ordinary life who believes under no circumstances that she is not extraordinary. (Yes, you have no idea how important I think I am).
I am a situational pessimist and an eternal optimist, knowing that there is going to be sunshine after each rain, a lot of relief following agony and pain.
I am a laughter riot and a weeping mess, realising I'm most alive in these forms, and I'm just human to feel so much.
I am a solid rock with the softest core maintaining a balance between emotion and rationale.
I am a raging bull and a mewing kitten all bundled up as one.
I am a needy wreck just as I am an independent queen , depending on how my moods swing.
I am fiercely loyal to and frighteningly dependent on my loved ones.
I love without regrets and hate without meaning- I am just who I want to be.
I am a hopeless sinner and a seeker of my Lord, having faith that He is capable of endless mercy and boundless love.
I am a little bit of you, a lot of me and a lot of you and very little of myself.
I am just a Paradox. Of my own being.
Admit it, we all are things we say we are and we say we aren't (even if slightly). And it is all a 100% true. There's not much difference between we the people, is it?! In fact this is the only connecting link amongst us all – the paradox.
To infinity and back,
Maliha Taqui. 🙂


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I'm publishing her PATTERN for sure (she already is in pattern form BUT not up for sale yet. AND I plan on selling her as KITS with all parts and instructions. This will take place probably in early AUG. or BEFORE AUG. MMMMMMMM!!! I'm having way too much fun creating lots of Miss Prissy Pincushions, patterns and Kits.
I did post her in a post before but didn't tell anyone about my post. Thought you would like to take a look at her/them. That's just 3 of them in the picture above. The other 3 didn't want their picture taken. LOL
This is the picture I posted first and couldn't move it.
I really am tempted to make more. They are all different. I have so much fun creating them. I messed up and wasn't going to delete and redo. Now I know I can't add a picture after I type in sentences. Soooooooooo, I learned something new today. :-) Love & Hugs, Fran


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1. Plant something: nothing. However - I have seedlings!
I did, at least mentally, figure out which planting pots to keep and which to re-home. They aren't very useful when I don't have room to store them all, let alone use them.... and several are too small for the likely uses. I'll get it down to what will actually get used.
2. Harvest something: nothing.
3. Preserved something: nothing.
4. Waste not: Added meat pies to my skill set, for using of leftovers. Yum!
6. Build community: Monthly order from local farmer.
8. Crafting: Frogged two items. One didn't work, the other I used the wrong yarn and that killed the project. I'm working on spinning more often, and also re-starting DFH's wool mittens - amazing how one can screw up when one has put it down for a month. I put a massive dent in the sewing repair pile as well.


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Monday, November 28, 2016
JIMMY PURSEY - Imagination Camouflage LP 80
Very interesting to me hearing these songs and reading the lyrics to see what was going through the old Sham 69 singer's head during this time away from fame. Couple of real rockers like the old band!
Posted by Viacomclosedmedown on youtube at 11:49 AM
Labels: U.K.
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Below is an excerpt from a focus group discussion held at the University of Toronto, in Toronto, Canada, on May 22nd 2010, led by Dr. Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im. The theme was "Muslims in North America: Enhancing Citizenship."
When asked about how Muslims can bring our citizenship into play on two levels – namely, changing the laws of the state to our favor and changing the image of Islam in the public perception – answers varied. In one interlocutor's view, "Questions remain about what is 'mainstream Muslim,'" and another revealed that through Bill 94, in Quebec, a niqabi woman can be denied publicly-funded services, but this cannot legally apply yet because the bill has not been passed. Some reminded others that "citizenship is proactive; we need to engage in the practice of policy-making and don't shy away from it."
Although most Muslim Canadians see themselves as both, full Canadians and full Muslims, many admit that there are severe challenges they have to face. They agree that Muslims must participate in the Canadian society, and not shy away from doing so, in an attempt to safeguard their civil rights in the country, for they are as Canadian as the non-Muslims of Canada are.
Read more at the source: http://sharia.law.emory.edu/en/blog


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History shows that rigged exchange rates do not work. The Gold Standard…bankrupted many businesses and created mass unemployment.The snake in the 1970s failed to keep the pound at a constant value against the Continental currencies. The Exchange Rate Mechanism caused a bad recession, and then collapsed.
Since there is a wing of the LPUK that wants us to go back to a gold-based currency, I wondered if they would comment on this and point out why he might be right or wrong. Or if I'm just misunderstanding what he's saying.


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Reuters Japan's new leaders seen tougher on U.S. beef 09.01.09, 1:32 PM ET
United States - By Bob Burgdorfer
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Japan's new leadership may be less agreeable to expanding imports of U.S. beef, which fell dramatically after mad cow was reported in the U.S. nearly six years ago, than the previous administration, U.S. meat industry sources said Tuesday.
Japan was once the top export market for U.S. beef but that business dropped sharply after December 2003, when the United States reported its first case of mad cow disease. Now Japan buys about a fifth of its pre-mad cow total but the U.S. meat industry has been working to recover more of that lost business.
The newly elected Democratic Party in Japan may be less agreeable to that effort than previous leaders, U.S. sources said.
"There is certainly a concern that there are hard-line elements in the new ruling party that will be resistant to expanded beef access. How that translates into policy remains to be seen," Joe Schuele, spokesman for the U.S. Meat Export Federation, told Reuters on Tuesday.
The USMEF works to develop overseas markets for U.S. meat.
Japan's new leader Yukio Hatoyama has said he wants a more independent stance with relation to the United States, which investors in Tokyo fear could strain in dealings with Washington.
Japan accepts U.S. beef from cattle 20 months old or younger, but the U.S. beef industry has been trying to bump that to 30 months, which would restore much of the business that was lost.
"I think it is safe to say that the situation surrounding that issue may be more fragile now, but we are not resigned to the idea that it will be more difficult," Schuele said. "We just think that it is a different political climate that might call for a different approach. We are still very hopeful that we can make progress on it."
In 2003, Japan accounted for about 30 percent of U.S. beef exports by volume, but in 2008 took less than 8 percent.
"They are likely to be a bit more protectionist, which I think is going to be more of a problem than an opportunity for us," John Urbanchuk, food economist at the expert services firm LECG, said of Japan. "I suspect that this will probably make it more difficult for the beef industry." (Editing by Christian Wiessner)
Copyright 2009 Reuters
THE PARTY IS OVER FOLKS, these Countries that want to eradicate BSE and other TSE, are not going to put up with the USDA's et al failed SSS BSE TSE policy anymore......
THE myth that no mad cows exist in the USA, and that Canada has a bigger problem with mad cows than the USA, is just that a myth. in fact, it is a flat out lie. all one has to do is read the facts. but most people just don't care. ...bad moove!
they call it MRR, the _legal_ trading of all strains of Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy, GLOBALLY. and that's all that the MRR was about. be nice, the USA covered up 2 cases of mad cow disease just so this stupid policy could get finalized, and 25 years of attempted eradication of this agent got washed down the drain $$$ all we are doing now, is what the UK did when all this BSe first got started, except now, with the MRR, it's simply legal now.
Docket APHIS-2006-0041 Docket Title Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy; Minimal-Risk Regions; Importation of Live Bovines and Products Derived from Bovines Commodities Docket Type Rulemaking Document APHIS-2006-0041-0001 Document Title Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy; Minimal-Risk Regions; Importation of Live Bovines and Products Derived From Bovines Public Submission APHIS-2006-0041-0006 Public Submission Title Comment from Terry S Singletary Sr Views Add Comments How To Comment
MY personal belief, since you ask, is that not only the Canadian border, but the USA border, and the Mexican border should be sealed up tighter than a drum for exporting there TSE tainted products, until a validated, 100% sensitive test is available, and all animals for human and animal consumption are tested. all we are doing is the exact same thing the UK did with there mad cow poisoning when they exported it all over the globe, all the while knowing what they were doing. this BSE MRR policy is nothing more than a legal tool to do just exactly what the UK did, thanks to the OIE and GW, it's legal now. and they executed Saddam for poisoning ???
go figure....
Terry S. Singeltary Sr. P.O. Box 42 Bacliff, Texas USA 77518
your only fooling yourselves with this stupid ukbsenvcjd only theory, and the BSE mythology of the OIE. most any country that went by those same OIE BSE guidelines all went down with BSE. THE OIE has now shown they are nothing more than a National Trading Brokerage for all strains of animal TSE. AS i said before, OIE should hang up there jock strap now, since it appears they will buckle every time a country makes some political hay about trade protocol, commodities and futures. IF they are not going to be science based, they should do everyone a favor and dissolve there organization. ...
bottom line, and i say this with full confidence, with the present and past surveillance of BSE/TSE in the USA, and the continued feed violations, in the TONS, no one will ever know the true extent of any strain of mad cow disease in the USA. you don't have to just take my word on it, read the facts. blunder, after blunder, after blunder. they have all been posted here, i would be glad to go over any and or all of them one by one for any that doubts me. i can sum it all up real quick, Canada is looking to find, and the USA has never, EVER, done that. it's been just the opposite for the USA. don't believe me, or the facts, here is what Dr. Paul Brown of the cdc/nih et al ;
The U.S. Department of Agriculture was quick to assure the public earlier this week that the third case of mad cow disease did not pose a risk to them, but what federal officials have not acknowledged is that this latest case indicates the deadly disease has been circulating in U.S. herds for at least a decade.
The second case, which was detected last year in a Texas cow and which USDA officials were reluctant to verify, was approximately 12 years old.
These two cases (the latest was detected in an Alabama cow) present a picture of the disease having been here for 10 years or so, since it is thought that cows usually contract the disease from contaminated feed they consume as calves. The concern is that humans can contract a fatal, incurable, brain-wasting illness from consuming beef products contaminated with the mad cow pathogen.
"The fact the Texas cow showed up fairly clearly implied the existence of other undetected cases," Dr. Paul Brown, former medical director of the National Institutes of Health's Laboratory for Central Nervous System Studies and an expert on mad cow-like diseases, told United Press International. "The question was, 'How many?' and we still can't answer that."
Brown, who is preparing a scientific paper based on the latest two mad cow cases to estimate the maximum number of infected cows that occurred in the United States, said he has "absolutely no confidence in USDA tests before one year ago" because of the agency's reluctance to retest the Texas cow that initially tested positive.
USDA officials finally retested the cow and confirmed it was infected seven months later, but only at the insistence of the agency's inspector general.
"Everything they did on the Texas cow makes everything USDA did before 2005 suspect," Brown said. ...snip...end
CDC - Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy and Variant Creutzfeldt ... Dr. Paul Brown is Senior Research Scientist in the Laboratory of Central Nervous System ... Address for correspondence: Paul Brown, Building 36, Room 4A-05, ...
Tuesday, September 12, 2006 11:10 AM
"Actually, Terry, I have been critical of the USDA handling of the mad cow issue for some years, and with Linda Detwiler and others sent lengthy detailed critiques and recommendations to both the USDA and the Canadian Food Agency."
THE bse mrr policy is nothing more than swapping spit. your just accepting what ever disease that country has, and or what ever that country says it has. it's an honor system of sorts. Canada seems to be Honest, and just the opposite has happened here in the USA.
WE did just what the UK did to the globe ;
years later, the bush administration made it legal. the body bag count was acceptable for the _documented_ ones. the elderly are expendable, kids and pets are not, and as long as politics plays a role in dictating science i.e. the UKBSEnvCJD ONLY THEORY, we all loose, and the 85%+ of all the other victims, go unaccounted for...officially, but some of us no different, but yet the ignorance of it all, will continue to spread the TSE agent globally, through a multitude of proven routes and sources i.e. friendly fire i.e. and or the pass it forward mode. ...
(Adopted by the International Committee of the OIE on 23 May 2006)
11. Information published by the OIE is derived from appropriate declarations made by the official Veterinary Services of Member Countries.The OIE is not responsible for inaccurate publication of country disease status based on inaccurate information or changes in epidemiological status or other significant events that were not promptly reported to then Central Bureau............
full text ;
Saturday, June 13, 2009
BSE FEED VIOLATIONS USA UPDATE From 01/01/2009 To 06/10/2009
Sunday, April 12, 2009
BSE MAD COW TESTING USA 2009 FIGURES Month Number of Tests
Feb 2009 -- 1,891
Jan 2009 -- 4,620
Monday, May 4, 2009
Back to the Past With New TSE Testing Agricultural Research/May-June 2009
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Identification and characterization of bovine spongiform encephalopathy cases diagnosed and NOT diagnosed in the United States
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
U.S. Emergency Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Response Plan Summary and BSE Red Book Date: February 14, 2000 at 8:56 am PST
WHERE did we go wrong $$$
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Nor98 scrapie identified in the United States J Vet Diagn Invest 21:454-463 (2009)
Monday, June 01, 2009 Biochemical typing of pathological prion protein in aging cattle with BSE
O.K. confusious asks, IF all these new atypical BSEs i.e. new strains of mad cow disease is just an 'OLD COW PRION DISEASE', why then can not the 'old human prion disease' such as the sporadic CJD, be from an 'old cow prion disease', same as the nvCJD 'young people mad cow disease' (which also happens in 74 year old), but why cannot the 'old cow prion diseases', i.e. l-BSE, h-BSE, and ibncBSE, cause the 'old people prion disease', which looks like sporadic CJD. seems that is what some of the pathology is showing ???
OH, that probably makes too much sense, and that the only answer could be that it's all just a happenstance of bad luck and or a spontaneous event, that just happens out of the clear blue sky $$$
IF this is the case, then where are all the SPONTANEOUS BSE CASES OF MAD COW DISEASE IN THE U.S.A., AND WHERE HAVE THEY BEEN BURIED IN THE USA OVER THE LAST 25 YEARS ???
Monday, August 17, 2009
FDA asked to ban poultry litter from feed AGAIN 17 Aug 2009 Ban that Poop !
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
BSE-The Untold Story - joe gibbs and singeltary 1999 - 2009
Atypical BSE North America Update February 2009
Sunday, December 28, 2008
MAD COW DISEASE USA DECEMBER 28, 2008 an 8 year review of a failed and flawed policy
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Mad Cow Disease typical and atypical strains, was there a cover-up ?
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Characteristics of Established and Proposed Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Variants
Saturday, August 22, 2009
FREE Kim Min-sun, she is correct about mad cow fears from USDA BEEF
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Japan's new leaders seen tougher on U.S. beef
Posted by Terry S. Singeltary Sr. at 11:41 AM
Labels: atypical bse, bse, CANADA, CJD, JAPAN, Kim Min-sun, Korea, sporadic cjd, USA
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Bounce House or Inflatable Games Safety Rules
While this rules are intended for the person responsible for the rental, it is also a great idea that you Print This Paper (you can do it with the button at the end of the post), gather together all the kids in your party and read the safety rules to them so you can all be in the same page.1) The most important rule of all is that you should NEVER use the Bounce House as a Baby Sitter, with that said, children must be supervised at all times.
2) Children must be separated by age groups, only kids from the same age may play on the bounce house at the same time. Children different sizes and ages should not be mixed.
3) No shoes are allowed inside the Bounce House or inflatable game, participants should also empty their pockets and leave outside any sharp objects or other items like jewelery, sun or prescription glasses
4) Bounce Houses are designed for children, and are not recommended for adults, each Inflatable Game has the weight limit and maximum amount of children printed on the side.
5) The maximum number of children allowed in the standard 13 X 13 Bounce House is:
- Ages 2 to 8 - 8 children maximum
- Ages 9 to 13 - 6 children maximum
- Ages 14 to 17 - 4 children maximum
6) No bouncing against the walls and no flips, somersaults or horseplay
7) No food, drinks or silly string inside.
8) Do not use the bounce house during rain or excessive wind (more than 25 miles per hour)
And in case the Bounce house deflates, calmly take the kids out, check that the outlet cord is connected and check that the tubes are properly tied, you can easily re-tie them if necessary.
Follow this simple safety rules and you will be able to enjoy a stress free event while keeping everybody safe and having a good time... Enjoy!
You can print this page as it is (including picture, headers and footers with the following button, or you can go to this link to choose exactly what you want to print)


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Are you going to date than make it happy with this heart melting dating sms, messages and quotes to send to your boyfriend and girlfriend.
Make your dating memorable and melt your partner's heart by this dating sms and messages which will make her emotional and more lovable for you. This dating quotes have a magical effect whenever you will send this to your partner. You can use this quote and sms when you want to date a person but do not know how to contact her and how to ask her for dating. If this is the issue then this dating sms and messages are good for you. If you like someone who works in your office and want to date with her than this dating sms and messages will work for you. So in any situation this dating sms and messages can help you. Save them and send them to your boyfriend or girlfriend.
Dating SMS, Messages And quotes
Hello, I am (name) nd I was 8tracted 2 u since the first day I saw u in school. I'd like 2 have the opportunity 2 know u better.
Would u be interested in going out with u? Waiting for ur reply.
Hello, hope u remember me frm last evening's ball. I have been thinking of u since thn. Would u honor me by going out on a dinner with me this weekend? Please let me know. (Name)
Hello Lily, I can accuse u of stealing my heart. If u don't want the police 2 turn up 8 ur doorstep thn meet me in front of the ice-cream parlor down the street. Paul
Hi! This is 2 warn u th8 a warrant has been issued against u for stealing my heart. This is 9t the time 2 hide but 2 come in clear nd accept ur crime. u have the chance till 2day evening 2 decide whether u want 2 go 2 jail or want 2 become mine forever.
If u r reading this message, thn u cr for me.
If u ignore thn u miss me.
If u save thn u desire me.
If u reply thn u wish me,
If u delete thn u love me.
Now, the decision is urs.
I only send messages 2 1 who's close, loving or caring. I am texting u because u r all.
It is 9t a special day. There is no occasion 2 text u. But I am messaging u because I Remember u Always!
Even if there is no call or message frm u. I will always remember u nd love u.
Enjoyed dating sms,messages and quotes than please share it and comment.
13 Heart Melting Dating SMS, Messages And Quotes
4/ 5Oleh Subhash Mod


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[Contents] [Index] [Comment] [Search] [Home]
It has been tested with Netscape Navigator , Microsoft Internet Explorer and NCSA Mosaic.
Absolute addresses are now used for all links since Explorer and Mosaic don't understand the BASE tag.
URL http://www.ast.cam.ac.uk/~optics/util/comment.htm -- Revised: 6 June, 1996
Produced by: IoA Instrumentation Group
Comments to: firstname.lastname@example.com


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FP2 was where the supersofts came out as the teams needed to understand how they're going to attack qualifying with those. And how to go for a longer first stint with full fuel. Lewis set the 8th fastest time although his running was hampered by a crash that ruined his attempts.
For a full report on FP1 click here. For full FP1 times, click here.
For a full report on FP1 click here. For full FP1 times, click here.
Now what worries me more is not Mercedes' reliability as Rosberg had to stop just before the end of FP2 with a gearbox problem but what happened to Lewis with the supersoft tires. As fantastically put by Keith of F1Fanatic:
Hamilton looked like he might threaten Vettel's time after a quick run through the first sector on super-softs. But he locked his brakes on the bumpy run into turn nine and took to the run-off area. His subsequent lap on now rather worn super-softs was only four thousandths of a second faster than his medium-tyre effort had been.Those supersofts only last for one lap? Of course locking his brakes on the first attempt didn't help but going into the second lap the tires were gone. Which means in qualifying, there is only one chance to get it right, a banzai lap. With traffic and 5 rookies in slow cars, Q1 and Q2 will be interesting to watch. But even with just 10 cars in Q3, traffic still could be an issue.
But on the positive side, at least I know that Lewis could have narrowed down his gap to Vettel and gotten closer to him if he:
1. Didn't lock his brakes on his first lap. That lap could have brought him to within 3/10s of Vettel.
2. The brakes didn't fail on tghe subsequent lap.
But seriously, any Lewis Hamilton fan out there must accept the fact - the Mercedes is no match for the Red Bull. Of course in the hands of Lewis Hamilton it can get close in qualifying and depending on how the weather pans out on race day, it might give the RB9 a close run for its money. A bit more development maybe around the European leg of the championship might do it. We'll see. Can't wait for race day!!
If you enjoyed this posting, please do share it with your network so more people can enjoy it as well. Also, check out my t-shirt designs for Formula 1 fanatics, click on image.


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According to Variety,Paramount has announced the date for TF3 to hit theaters,and it's July 1 2011.
But according to M Bay,"Paramount is making a mistake."
This was what he posted on his Shoot For the Edit forums:
"I said I was taking off a year from Transformers. Paramount made a mistake in dating Transformers 3 - they asked me on the phone - I said yes to July 4 - but for 2012 - whoops! Not 2011!!! That would mean I would have to start prep in September. No way. My brain needs a break from fighting robots.
So take it with a grain of salt,but it looks like we can expect TF3 in 2011.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Transformers 3, July 1 2011???????
Posted by Overhaulimus at 6:19 PM
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Monday, April 23, 2012
TCP Sneak Peek: Quality Time
Visit Alma for links to all of today's peeks. And plan to party with us tonight, 8-10 pm EST in the TCP Forum on SCS.
My heart has just melted over today's sweet set! Reading to my children has always been one of my very favorite things to do with them. I love that little PJ has on his bunny slippers and that they're reading "Beary Potter." I paper pieced the sofa and colored the rest with Copics. Accents include navy blue felt Hearts Trio CutUps topped with buttons and beige linen thread, as well as a heart border done with the new Heart Border CutUps die.
You'll have a chance to win today's featured stamp set just by leaving a comment in the In It To Win It thread. Good luck!
12 comments:
- wendy said...
so beary sweet....this is a fav of mine...love all the elements you added
- April 23, 2012 at 8:46 AM
- Marisa said...
Totally cute image and loving the paper pieced couch! Lovely touch with the hearts.
- April 23, 2012 at 11:03 AM
- Kelli Hull said...
Hahahahah, you TOTALLY made me click the picture to see if it said "Beary Potter" hahahahaha!!!
AWESOME Card Amy!!! LOVE all the paper piecing and the shading! SUPER cute!!!
- April 23, 2012 at 11:36 AM
- Nancy Thomas said...
Gorgeous striking colors and your border work is always so beautiful and interesting.
- April 23, 2012 at 12:35 PM
- Holly AKA KopyKat said...
this is so sweet, love these two bears, reminds me of my DH and DS
- April 23, 2012 at 6:01 PM
- Casandra said...
Those sentiments are so darling. Another cute card!
- April 23, 2012 at 6:12 PM
- Noelle said...
Just darling, Amy! I love these colors so much and the border die looks fantastic vertically! :)
- April 23, 2012 at 10:31 PM
- Dawn Easton said...
LOVE this!!! Reminds me of when Chloe was young and we'd sit and read. Now she reads to me! haha! Adorable card, Amy!
- April 24, 2012 at 8:04 AM
- Amy Johnson said...
Sooo cute! Love the hearts and the image!
- April 24, 2012 at 8:35 AM
- Lori said...
This is just so sweet! Love all the heart shaped accents.
- April 24, 2012 at 10:45 PM
- ktfabian said...
I'm sure I'm too late to be "in it to win it" but I really like your card! The bears are adorable. Great job!!!!!
- April 25, 2012 at 2:48 AM
OK, I want to case this one too but I don't think it would be as amazing as this one!!! Wholy 'BEEP'!!!!
- April 29, 2012 at 11:12 PM


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This is basically the easiest snack ever. It takes about ten minutes total - that's my kind of food!
They're so delicious! Here's what I learned from making them:
- Use small leaves of kale, or cut up the big leaves into smaller pieces - it's kind of difficult to eat them without stuffing the whole thing into your mouth, because they crumble, so you want pieces that you can stuff into your mouth without looking barbaric.
- Personally, I don't like sea salt - I've had some bad experiences. I just used the tiniest bit of regular salt and it was plenty.
- Check your teeth when you're done eating. Kale chips are much more clingy than other kinds of kale, and you probably don't want to be walking around with green teeth. You are welcome.
I ate them way too fast to take any amazing pictures.


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This tornado was caught on tape the morning of June 10, 1996 in the Pittsylvania County community of Mount Airy. The video, captured by News-7 Danville Photographer Andrea DiRocco, helped the National Weather Service confirm the storm was indeed a tornado.
A tornado June 9, 1996 in Franklin County leveled a house under construction. Photo by Greg Moore.


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Hey everyone,
Since starting Younique my favorite thing to do is recreate makeup looks using Younique makeup.
Yesterday, I recreated a colorful halo eye from a picture I found on Pinterest. This look is so fun and perfect for Spring.
- Makeup Revolution Aqua Prime Base Spray
- Younique Liquid Foundation in Scarlet
- Younique Touch Mineral Skin Perfecting Concealer in Scarlet
- Coty Airspun Setting Powder
- Makeup Revolution Contour Stick
- Makeup Revolution Ultra Blush Palette
- NYX Duo Chromatic Illuminating Powder in Lavender Steel
- Wet n Wild eye primer
- Younique Precision Brow Liner in Medium
- Younique Addiction Shadow Palette 5
- Maybelline Colossal Big Shot Mascara
- NYX HD Finishing Powder in Translucent
- Pixi By Petra Makeup Fixing Mist
- Wet n Wild Liquid Catsuit in Pink Really Hard
I absolutely love this look. It's so pretty and it's not to crazy, so you can wear it to work or out with friends.
You can find the Younique products at Amanda's Beauty Closet.
The rest of the products can be found at Ulta and Target.
If you have any questions about Younique, I will be happy to answer them all.
Thank you for reading my post. If you want more makeup fun, please like my Facebook page.


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Incumbent Defeats Challenger In Fayetteville School Board Race
Fayetteville School Board incumbent Susan Wilborn Heil defeated her challenger by more than 500 votes in Tuesday's election.
Heil received 799 votes (75 percent) to challenger James McGinty's 268 (25 percent), according to the Washington County Election Commission.
Heil was leading McGinty 147 votes (82 percent) to 33 (18 percent) in early voting totals, according to the election commission.