The Flying Cats of Woodbury Place
Cmdr. Sam Vimes in mid-leap captured on my iPad
Sam’s new brother, Hobbes, also in mid-leap
Both kitties in a quieter moment. Hobbes arrived on Tuesday evening. Both are Maine Coon Cats. We are happy for the addition to our family and thank Cousin Linda for these furry blessings.
A programmable tattoo system from Mood Ink. It let’s you change your tattoo to suit your mood or to match any occasion.
Buy it for $149.99 at Think Geek – or perhaps it is just for April Fools.
This post is a re-blog from Just English, with thanks.
I am not sure about the accuracy of the title, but I do appreciate the word play!
We’ll begin with a box, and the plural is boxes,
But the plural of ox becomes oxen, not oxes.
One fowl is a goose, but two are called geese,
Yet the plural of moose should never be meese.
You may find a lone mouse or a nest full of mice,
Yet the plural of house is houses, not hice.
If the plural of man is always called men,
Then shouldn’t the plural of pan be called pen?
If I speak of my foot and show you my feet,
And I give you a boot, would a pair be called beet?
If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth,
Why shouldn’t the plural of booth be called beeth?
Then one may be that, and three would be those,
Yet hat in the plural would never be hose,
And the plural of cat is cats, not cose.
We speak of a brother and also of brethren,
But though we say mother, we never say methren.
Then the masculine pronouns are he, his and him,
But imagine the feminine: she, shis and shim!
And, in closing, if Father is Pop, how come Mother‘s not Mop?
If people from POLAND are called POLES
then people from HOLLAND should be then HOLES
and what to say about GERMANS… GERMS?!
“If you’re an adult, especially a cat-loving adult, a more sophisticated hotcake might be in order. It doesn’t get any classier than these Japanese pancakes, which serve as a playground for sweet frolicking kitties. And if pancakes aren’t your breakfast style, check out the donuts!
The cats are so cute you just want to eat them up. And you can, because they are completely edible! Actually, sadly, you can’t eat them because these adorable confections are not for sale. They are made by a Japanese housewife named Caroline, who bakes them up every February 22 (Cat’s Day in Japan) for her family to enjoy.
So, unless you marry into Caroline’s family, you’ll just have to ooh and ah over these awe-inspiring photos. And could you really stomach eating such pure cuteness in the first place? It would be like lighting up your kitty swatting a ball of yarn candle.”
Thanks, Katie, for this reference reblogged from The Cat Channel
Earlier today I was looking for news about development plans for the lakefront of Lake Erie and I found this cool site . . .
. . . for Lake Erie Floating Homes – what fun!
Last year we were able to take a February vacation to Florida. One of our stops was on Marathon Key where we stayed overnight in a houseboat. Granted, it was tied to the dock, but it had comfy chairs on the deck and we watched the moon and stars on the water. Altogether a delightful experience.
These Lake Erie homes are closer to home, but I would guess are definitely seasonal.
Here are a couple of shots of the lake taken earlier this month.
Yes, that is the frozen lake.
This is by the marina in Rocky River.
Actually I have a terrific idea for a future lakefront park. I think it would be super to have a model of the Great Lakes done up as ponds with their outline and contour visible. Both educational and fun!
Snow on the car this morning. Thanks to Judy for this forecast. Sigh.
Once in a while, a really good design surfaces — robust, simple, and enduring. The DC-3, the Jeep, and the Quonset hut are all examples of good design. Many are still standing throughout the United States, primarily as commercial buildings.
Earlier I wrote about the post-war phenomenon of Lustron Homes. Quonset huts which were ubiquitous during the war were also considered as a solution to the mid-century demand for housing.
This article, Solving a Different Kind of Housing Crisis, discusses the adaptation of Quonset huts for residential use.
As does this article from preservationnation.org.
The quonset hut, whose semi-cylindrical form was copied from the British Nissen hut, by the end of the war differed considerably in construction from its prototype. The original quonset hut was framed with arch-rib members of steel, T sections, 2 inches by 2 inches by 1/4 inch. The hut was 16 feet by 36 feet in plan. The members were formed to a radius of 8 feet and covered with corrugated steel sheets, borne by wood purlins.
The principal improvements over the Nissen type were an interior pressed wood lining, insulation, and a tongue-and-groove wood floor. Innumerable detail problems were encountered in the development of the original T-rib huts, principally because of the necessity for 48 different needs, such as galleys. shower-latrines, dental offices, isolation wards, and bakeries.
Each type required individual drawings and layouts for the interior setup, and in many cases it was necessary to develop special interior equipment, such as special ovens and beds, to fit the quonset hut form. All huts were designed and detailed, using the original T- rib design.
From: The Naval Historical Center
The photo above shows student housing at the University of Colorado in the 1950s.
To meet the growing demand, a number of other companies produced variations of the Quonset Hut for the Military during the Second World War:
- The Pacific Hut Company was formed to produce an all-wood hut for Arctic use.
- Butler Manufacturing made a squat hut with U-shaped arch ribs.
- Jamesway Manufacturing made a hut with wooden ribs and insulated fabric covering.
- Armco International made heavy-weight arched bunkers to store ammunition.
- Cowan and Company made semicircular warehouses for the Air Corp.
When the war ended, Quonset Huts were too good a resource to throw away. So the military sold them to civilians for about a thousand dollars each. They made serviceable single-family homes. Universities made them into student housing and returning veterans occupied Quonset huts by choice. Robert Winton even wrote play about them titled Tents of Tin.
Finally, here’s a little animation about putting a Quonset hut together.
There are still a number of Quonset huts around and in use as commercial buildings in the Connecticut Western Reserve area where I live. I am going to go out with my camera to capture them.
On March 22, 2228, James Tiberius Kirk will be born in Riverside, Iowa. This is a town that takes its future seriously. There is a plaque in town to pre-commemorate the event and a starship graces the town square.
Read more about it here at Roadside America.
I missed tattoo Tuesday this week, so here is a freebie:
Firearms, fibers, any news or behaviors that make me say, "hmm, let me take another look at this."
I still miss my man, but my aim is getting better.
Gunsmoke and Knitting 