Who is that woman on 'Orange is the New Black'?

Red, the character on the far right.
Orange is the New Black (Photo credit: massdistraction)

I admit it; I'm a television junkie.

There is nothing worse than seeing someone on television that I know I've seen before, but I just can't place. It drives me crazy.

This just happened recently as I was watching the new Netflix series, "Orange is the New Black," a true life story about a woman who was incarcerated for a drug offense. 

The minute I saw one of the characters--Red, a tough woman who portrays the prison cook--I knew I had seen her somewhere before. Every time I looked at her, I knew who she was. I also know it was from a long time ago, when both she and I were much younger. 

I remembered her pretty face and a kindness about her, although that was not absolutely the kind of character she played in this series. 

I didn't know anything about the show, but was intrigued by all the ridiculous flap over Julianne Hough wearing a Halloween costume that portrayed one of the show's characters. Hough was accused of being a racist because she wore bronze makeup on her face in her portrayal of the character Crazy Eyes. 

Kate Mulgrew
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I am getting hooked on the series, which seems to be an honest portrayal of life in prison. 

Still a newbie, I've been power-watching episodes, watching two or three at a time. Whenever I saw Red, I wondered who she was. It was actually very distracting.

Finally, my husband looked it up on the Internet for me. He came in last night while I was watching it and announced that her name was Kate Mulgrew.

Ryan's Hope (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Immediately, I knew. 

Of course. She played Mary Ryan on the soap opera Ryan's Hope in the mid-1970's. 

I watched every episode. I loved that show. I remembered how fond I was of the character she portrayed. I have no idea how I was able to associate her name with the former character, Mary Ryan. Come to think of it, I hadn't seen or heard of Kate Mulgrew in 40 years. 

I suppose that might just be a testament to how much I liked "Ryan's Hope" and the character Mulgrew portrayed. I've noticed there are some YouTube videos containing episodes of the show. I may have to peruse them, just for old times' sake.

Once again, Thanks Internet! 

Fall 2013, a magical time in the Ozarks

It isn't often that we see bucks in the backyard. I can count on one hand the number of them that we've seen in the 9 years we have lived here in the Ozarks.

I can't help but wonder, as I look at this fine fella, if I had seen him before, perhaps as a little spotted fawn obediently following his mom around the yard.

An imposing figure, this buck

Bucks certainly do grow up to have a different look than the does we've seen. And then there is their attitude. Clearly, they are more aggressive in their behavior. But then, it is rutting season after all.

This was actually the second buck we saw--two in one day--which probably indicates it was a busy day for the local deer population.

I can only wonder what took place in our woods earlier in the day. I just hope it results in some new little friends in the Spring. I dearly love watching the does with their fawns as they romp around the yard, grazing and playing. I like to call them deer puppies because they scamper just like pups. I suppose all baby animals do. I just don't have much experience with animals, other than household pets. Oh, I've seen all the television shows and of course been to the zoo, but I certainly never dreamed I would have a wild kingdom right in my own backyard. To me, this is magical.

As I look at this guy, I know my eyes see him so differently than others might. After all, I live in an area where hunting is an established way of life. Venison is a staple here in the Ozarks. I try not to think about that, but plenty of people eat venison on a regular basis. I can certainly understand hunting for food, but. I dislike hunting as a sport. Sorry, that's just me.

So, here's to Fall in the Ozarks, a truly beautiful time of the year. And this year, has been one of the most beautiful I can remember.

A much younger buck whose antlers are just starting to grow

Missing iGoogle

Image via CrunchBase

I signed onto my computer this morning just as I always do. After Windows sang its Good Morning song to me, in the form of its single-note repertoire, I watched as all my applications loaded. I thought to myself, as is customary, that I really must streamline my start menu. Finally, my day was about to begin. I clicked on my browser icon—Chrome—in the task bar. I saw the familiar Google search box. BAAAAAAHHH! I pressed the home button on my toolbar. There it was again. My old friend was gone!

Then I remembered what day it was—November 1, 2013.

Today is the day I’ve dreaded—the day my iGoogle was to be killed and buried, in one fell swoop. It is never to be seen again. Gone are my three separate pages filled with links I loved. Granted, I didn’t use all of them all of the time, but I liked having them around. Like comfortable shoes, these were some of the bookmarks I’ve had since I first created my iGoogle page in 2005. I’ve lost an old friend.

I fondly recall there was no better day than one when Google would announce it had added new features to upgrade iGoogle. I loved the themes, the many ways to customize my start page. It always made me feel like I had brand new software.

You know that feeling. It is almost euphoria. The very first thing I do when I get new software is change the colors. iGoogle was highly customizable, and I liked that a lot. My desktop often displays one of my favorite photographs. I used to coordinate my iGoogle to match. I like matching color schemes in all things, but especially on my computer where I devote so much of my day. That’s just me!

For the last several years I have had a sunflower photo on my computer, one that I took in my own back yard. There is a little ant on one of the petals. The yellow petals stood out from the background that was a blur of green tones. The only iGoogle theme I could find that matched was one that displayed greenery with water droplets. The combination was beautiful. The most important part of picking a theme was not so much the picture, but the overall color of the page. In my case, it had to be yellow. The yellow and green tones matched my sunflower well.

The only thing that ever bothered me about iGoogle was that I couldn’t change the color of the links. They were always that ugly bright blue color. The ideal would have been to make them dark green, but I could never figure out how.

Months ago, because Google gave us iGoogle aficionados fair warning of the death of our favorite start page, I began to look around for a replacement. I settled on Startific, which came highly recommended. It is a different concept entirely, but is also highly customizable. I created my page to include the same sunflower picture that is on my desktop. It is really quite lovely.

This morning I changed the link on my home button to the Startific page. Such finality!

If I have to be completely honest, it is really a more attractive page than iGoogle was, and is even more customizable. I haven’t really played with all the icons and widgets, although I had already put the ones I use everyday onto the page. I have a Facebook button, a Twitter button and buttons for all of my blogs and web page.

There is one button though, that was the most important to me. It was the one I used on iGoogle the most. It was the first one I put onto my new page. It is the Intellicast weather page. By inserting the correct URL, one click and it opens right to a radar loop in my home state. As far as I’m concerned, Intellicast has the best weather info. I’ve used it for years.

Startific still has a few kinks that need to be ironed out. The worst is the Amazon ad that shows whenever the browser opens. It takes up a large chunk of real estate on the right side of the application, but it can be clicked off. I keep telling myself, change is good. It will keep me young. The older I get though, the harder I have to work to convince myself.

Monarchs in jeopardy; I want to help

Photograph of a female Monarch Butterfly on a hybrid Milkweed (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When I was a little girl I lived in the city--in a south side Chicago neighborhood. During the summers, my brother and I played in the vacant lots where I can remember seeing an abundance of those familiar orange, black, and white of the monarch butterflies as they flitted from one flower to another. Everywhere you turned your eyes, the view was filled with their delicate wisps of color.

There were always dozens of monarchs, fritillaries, swallowtails, and skippers along with bumble bees, dragonflies, bluebirds, to name a few.

But times have changed. Even though I live in the woods now, I rarely see monarchs. In fact I haven’t seen one in two years.

I’m not alone.

The scientific community is concerned with the number of monarchs, the only North American butterfly known to migrate. Monarchs are rapidly dwindling in numbers. According to the NY Times, the number of monarchs over the past 15 years has lost as many as 81 percent between 1999 and 2010. Recovery has been slow. The spring of 2013 reported Mexican forests contained the fewest number of monarchs in 20 years. Some are concerned for the future of the species.

Several factors have contributed to the decline of these amazing insects, on both ends of their migratory path which ranges which takes these cold-blooded insects from northern Minnesota and Canada to Mexico.

In Mexico, the monarch’s winter habitat is being decimated by Illegal logging and climate change. “Earth Sky,” a daily radio series and blog about science and nature, reports that nine hibernating colonies occupied three acres during the 2012-2013 winter. But that isn’t the worst of it.

The life cycle of the monarch is reliant on milkweed, the plant on which the adult female lays her eggs. Milkweed is the only plant a monarch caterpillar can eat.

Milkweeds have long been considered a pest by both farmers and homeowners alike, resulting in record numbers of them being killed with herbicides. Glyphosate, the chemical contained in Roundup made by Monsanto, has effectively sterilized farm fields. Roundup Ready corn, soybeans, and other genetically-engineered crops have been modified to resist glyphosate. The result is that only the crop survives while everything else, including the only plant monarchs rely upon for survival, does not.

According to the NY Times, “there is a direct parallel between the demise of milkweeds--killed by the herbicide glyphosate, which is sprayed by the millions of gallons on fields where genetically modified crops are growing--and the steady drop in monarch numbers.

Some people interested in preserving the future of these amazing insects are trying to reverse this trend.

Monarch Watch, an educational outreach program based at the University of Kansas, engages citizen scientists in large-scale research projects. Since 1992, Monarch Watch involves 2,000 schools, nature centers, and other organizations across the United States and Canada. Monarchs are tagged and counted each fall.

“To assure a future for monarchs, conservation and restoration of milkweeds needs to become a national priority,” the group says on its website. They encourage the creation of Monarch Way stations in backyards all across the country.

Migrating Monarch butterflies (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

They hope to preserve the species and continue the spectacular monarch migration phenomenon.

I have ordered my own milkweed seeds. I really am anxious to do my part to help. I have a few milkweeds on our property, but obviously not nearly enough to attract monarchs. I hope to change that in the coming years.

Cleaning the nest continues before winter sets in

Practicing what I preach

What started out as a quest to live better and healthier, has to include living more efficiently. 

Efficiency has to include cleaning out, no longer needed or wanted items. Some of the "stuff" around here was still usable, so it was recyclable. Our annual garage sale/family reunion, mentioned in a previous post, took care of some of it. 

Yet other items were just too old and worn and need to be tossed.

Coincidentally, we received notice that just days after our garage sale, on regular trash pickup day, our refuse company would take large items. They only do this twice per year, so it is actually something we look forward to. 

The days of wildly pitching everything into the trash, from furniture to white goods like washing machines, to hazardous waste, are gone. And that is as it should be. 

We live on a finite planet, so we all need to be more vigilant about what we use and throw away.

For some time I've been considering getting rid of our well-worn, no longer comfortable couch and love seat. The truth is, I kept them as long as humanly possible. These couldn't even cut it as garage sale items; they were too far gone. It was time to pitch them. It isn't like we buy new things and discard the old ones on a regular basis. We had the pieces for at least 15 years. We certainly got our money's worth out of them. 

Taking out trash

Still, it was a little sad to see these pieces go. There were memories attached. 

We snuggled with cats and dogs that are no longer living. We sat with our kids watching TV or having conversations with them and our friends. We even had an overnight guest or two sleep on those couches. Furniture is like an old friend, and it is always hard to say goodbye. 

The two of us carried them out to John's truck so he could drive them up the hill to the road. 

Afterward, even the dog, sat on the front porch looking longingly at the roadside, wondering why the furniture was up there. 

With two big pieces of furniture gone, our house seemed to grow in size. It was rather nice. We had a chance to clean, shampoo the carpet, and rearrange furniture. I had a rocking chair; John had a recliner. That was really all we needed. We brought a wicker rocker from the front porch to where the love seat used to be. It worked out just fine. 

That wooden rocker, one my parents had given us 35 years ago, had gotten harder over the years. I still love it, so I would never part with it. It is where I nursed my babies. But, I'm not so sure I want it to be the only place to sit in the living room. It wasn't like sinking into a cushy couch. 

So we went shopping Friday, just to look at what was available. The first place we went surprised us. Everything was way out of our price range. Then we went to as store nearby that set us up with a love seat and recliner for the price of what one would have cost us elsewhere. They even offered to deliver it that afternoon. We couldn't be happier.

Winter's coming; time to cozy up the nest; sell some 'stuff'

There has been a whirlwind of activity around here of late. 

Annual family garage sale

It started with the annual family garage sale. My husband's two sisters always come to share in the event. It is a good thing too, because I doubt we would have had enough 'stuff' to fill a table on our own.

One of his sisters--Betty--lives less than a block away from us; the other--Jean--lives 600 miles from here. It is always a pleasant time--a family reunion of sorts--filled with good conversation, good food, and lots of laughs along the way.

With Betty and Jean making their contribution of 'stuff' combined with our own, we actually had a fine mix of merchandise. 

We have a little family tradition. Before we see the first customer, the three of us, check out each other's tables, as we sort of redistribute each other's family treasures. 

There is a lot of trading of $1 bills in those early hours. 

Funny, how it is all about the stuff. We may tire of our own stuff, but we love other peoples' stuff. Every time I think of our garage sales, I am always reminded of the words of the late, great, George Carlin.

No matter the subject, nobody said it better than Carlin. 

So, enjoy a bit of nostalgia as you watch what I think is one of his funniest bits.

What is this plant?

Some time ago, I was given this plant by an acquaintance, though she didn't identify it. Or, if she did, I have forgotten. I think that was about three or four years ago.


I thought this poor thing was dead. For the longest time, it was a tiny thing that seemed to barely hang on. Then it was gone. But last year, I noticed a re-emergence. I'm always excited and usually excited to see what survives in the spring.

Throughout last year's severe drought, I kept watering this along with all the other plants I tried to keep alive.

The next thing I knew, there were two of them. This year, the thing seemed to just take off.

The twins, as I now call them, are about two feet high. They have pretty foliage with a five-leaf cluster at the tip of the stem. It also has a side shoot filled with berries.

On one of plants, the leaves have a red tinge. Whether the growth habit or the season is responsible, I'm not sure. The berries appear to be turning red as well. I hope they are bird friendly. If not, it is outta here!

I'd love to attract cedar waxwings. I saw one earlier this year, which was apparently just passing through. I want more!

My attempt to identify this plant has been rather futile. Try Googling bush with berries. Hah, the possibilities are endless.

My first thought is that it might be a 'burning bush,' although I really have no idea. I hope it isn't something that gets humongous, since if it got too big, it would easily outgrow its location right in front of the front porch. It currently gets part sun/part shade.

If you can identify this plant, please comment. I'd love to know. Thanks in advance.