Tinker's Cafe, now on BTR

The Tinker’s Café

We are well into our second month at Tinker’s (Blog Talk Radio) and Roidan and I are settling into a pattern. The whole thing has been rather disjointed up until now (and perhaps it still is.)

We’ve tried the laid back approach. We’re not really sure if it’s working. We’ve tried meditation segments, bible study segments (off schedule) as well as our normal segments. One topic shows are fine, if the listener wants only one topic. We’ve decided to skip around and offer multiple topics per show.

Our last show was awesome towards the end. We had Kevin (Gay Life Coach) on and he filled us in with some wonderful Community news. I think it is safe to say that he survived his brush with Fred Phelps and his minions.

Once again, I invite you to check us out and give us an honest opinion. Let us know how we can improve.

The show:
Tinker's Cafe, the BTR Show or www.btrshow.tinkerscafe.com

Our web site:
www.tinkerscafe.com

Our blog:
www.blog.tinkerscafe.com


To email your point of view:
pov@tinkerscafe.com

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News and Updates

I have a blog. (Hello blog.)

It isn’t that I forgot that I have a blog; it’s that I have been too busy to actually do anything with my blog.

Have you ever had a comfy friend, one who makes all the aches and pains seem to go away? Have you ever accidentally-not-on-purpose neglected that friend? So it is with my blog.

I’ve neglected other blogs as well, such as my other blog. I’ve also neglected Annie’s blog, ‘Chick’s blog, David’s blog and a host of other comfy web logs. I’ll show up on their doorstep like a wayward neighbor holding an apple pie. (Store bought, of course, as I haven’t time to actually bake a pie.)

Life goes on. Better Half and I are returning to Pittsburgh for some more tests. We really should pay them rent considering the amount of time we spend there. Better Half is having a (as he puts it) “stick something down my nose and into my throat motility study things with the thing staying there until the next day I hope I don’t gag or pull it out because I hate these” tests. He’ll survive. He always does.

Ox survived the November 4th elections (he was called in as an added measure in case of “problems”. The only problem he had was a lovely rash from his body armor vest.)

My Ohio Aunt isn’t doing too well. She has fought off five different cancers since 1994 but this newest one seems to be kicking her ass. She had treatment last Monday and it was rough going. Yesterday, she began to swell again. My Missouri Aunt was the head nurse in ICU and other departments (I think other departments) at a reputable hospital. She is retired now, and flew in to assist with my Ohio Aunt. The Missouri Aunt is incredible when it comes to medical knowledge. She really should have been a doctor.

We are all worried sick about my Ohio Aunt.

My mother is still my mother, and doing her thing in Colorado. I have a few more chapters remaining (on her book, which I am editing, and a fine job I make of it, can’t you tell by this terrible sentence? I did that on purpose. Haha.)

My father is still working his ass off. I wish they would chuck it all in and move here.

I have my Thanksgiving shopping to do today before we leave for Pittsburgh. I’m pleased to say that my garland is hung. We’ll put the tree up on Thanksgiving. I’ll use up today and tomorrow to scour down the bathroom really well.

Do you see how unexciting my life is? I really have nothing to report.

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Recommendation: Distilling Thoughts

Distilling Thoughts

You must visit here. I do not usually add "must" to my recommendations but I earnestly mean it in this case. Totomai's photography is magnificent. It is not often that I discover a blog that moves me with its pictures alone.

I love photography. I suck at it. It's my camera. It isn't meant for quality work but rather for happy photographs of family, friends, pets and scenes. When I stumble across a photographer's blog (with pictures that remind me of snapshots that usually grace the covers and pages of National Geographic, Time or other renowned magazines) my bottom lip quivers and I think to myself, "damn, I wish I were him!"

Go, visit, be amazed!

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Bragging

Sunday Scribblings (a weekly writers forum) listed bragging as a theme. “I don’t like myself. I’m crazy about myself!” – Mae West.

Research the word “bragging”.

It is synonymous with: arrogant, bigheaded, conceited, full of yourself, immodest, vain, self-important.

It is akin to: overweening, high and mighty, egotistical, presumptuous, stuck-up, pompous, snobbish, portentous, ostentatious, imperious, and audacious.

I’ve run out of words and do not wish to look at my thesaurus.

(Autrice imparts an imperious sneer as she brags about her vocabulary skill.)

I did leave out one synonym: proud. I think the prompt should be, “What personal achievement or quality are you most proud of doing or possessing.”

I am proud of the fact that at least one person read this post.

The really tough thing about humility
is you can't brag about it.
~ Gene Brown

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Mid Month Thoughts

We’ve had a fairly quiet month. Last Monday was Columbus Day. It was also Thanksgiving in Canada and I thought it would be amusing to celebrate a foreign holiday; my health kept me from getting the game hens stuffed and into the roaster. Suffice to say, we celebrated a day later.

My motivation stems from Better Half’s desire to break away from the norm this holiday season; rabbit would look lovely on the Thanksgiving sideboard. I have always celebrated the feast with ample portions of giblet stuffing, hence the game hens. My friends seemed amused by my ardent efforts to make this year’s Canadian Thanksgiving special.

I couldn’t type that last sentence without cracking a grin. “Any excuse to celebrate a holiday, Autrice!” How true. Catholics celebrate the Christmas season through January 6th – Greek Orthodox consider this Christmas Day. Hallelujah! Rejoice that we have found another reason to have the full-scale Christmas dinner!

The hens turned out perfectly, the zucchini was delightful and my giblet stuffing, as always, achieved perfection. The entire house carried the Thanksgiving scent (a day late.)

The typical American Thanksgiving is rather asinine, in my humble opinion. The television blares football, the children (crammed into clothes they only wear for holidays) fight, the adults pretend to get along and fight. Granted, not all Thanksgivings are like this. My family did get along, I wore my dress clothes to important occasions or to mass and my father did not care for football. (We would watch the parade in the early morning.) Our guests were always part of the family. No one quarreled. This is not a romanticized childhood on my part; this is how holidays are with us. Perhaps it’s the European upbringing?

I digress.

Better Half and I have set out our holiday decorations. I love Halloween. No, we haven’t any cheesy cobwebs cluttering our porch. We have garlands of leaves festooning our front door and porch rails as well as intertwining on our staircase inside. Festive (yet tasteful) autumn hues brighten our living room and dining room. We do pass out candy – Steubenville doesn’t have much in Halloween balls, galas, parties or even gatherings.

We have The Tinker’s Café running at long last. Our audience is very small however we receiving more joy in doing the broadcasts than we do in seeing anyone there. Our topic this week is extremists in the United States (fundie groups such as Westboro Baptist, etc.) We’ll have to do a little clarification prior to the actual show. Many people do not understand that a fundamental "fill in the blank" is not the same as an extremist. A fundie can be a fanatic Christian, Jew, Muslim, Buddhist, Atheist, Republican, Democrat, Pro-Life or Pro-Choice person, gay or lesbian, environmentalist, etc. I think we’ll focus mainly upon religious extremists and their affect on society.

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Linda May

I discovered a lovely blog today, linda may. She chanced upon one of my Sunday Scribblings posts and I thought I’d stop by and read hers.

What a charming woman! Reading her entries is much like sitting down and chatting over a cup of coffee. She has many wonderful pictures from her garden as well.

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My Autumn Wildlife Habitat Eco-Style

Fall is my favorite season. I enjoy winter with her blustering snow; spring and summer treat us to a riot of green dotted with a rainbow of bee-attracting colors. Autumn provides fabulous opportunity to study nature before the snow comes.

“Fall! Oh Halloween and Thanksgiving! Oh and then we have Christmas and the New Year! I can smell all the good cooking, and I’m thinking of silver bells and soft blue ribbons, or maybe that woodsy pinecone garland, with plaid bows and merry trees. I’ll go shopping on Black Friday and buy toys for the kids! I’ll wrap things in December, but my cards will be out in November. I’ll do my outdoor lights and unbury Mary and Joseph and the manger, with shepherds and angels. I think they’re behind the artificial tree in the garage, somewhere. It’s lit, you know, with tiny white lights. The outdoor manger, that is. I run a cord and have an inflatable snowman globe opposite the driveway. But remember, Jesus is the reason for the season!”

Excuse me but where did Autumn go? Don’t discard it in favor of holidays. It is a crucial time.

The old year is over and the harvest has been collected. Nature lets out her breath in a long and contented sigh. Fall appears to be death. Most people know that new life will emerge out of the decrepit remains after a long winter. Wildlife, however, is still active even when you can’t see it. It is not death to them; it is the cycle by which they live. We have encroached upon their territory. We owe it to them to give back a little of what we have taken away. I'll share my eco-style (my techniques) with you. Perhaps I will inspire you to incorporate my ideas into your own setting.

Nothing is as cute as teeny mouse nostrils flickering from underneath a carpet of leaves. It takes a keen eye to spot him. You might here the telltale rustle of the mouse as he goes about his business while moving though the crackly leaves if you are not yammering away on your cell phone or loudly talking to the person next to you. (Please, for the love of all animals, keep your odious pet cat indoors where it can eat the food you provide rather than stealing the wild mouse from a needy omnivore.)

The first rule in this game is: natural habitats work wonders. Allow animals to go undisturbed in their habitats. You can help by creating habitats in your own yard for small animals and birds. These animals will have a better chance at getting through the fall if you provide them with the tools that they need: Juniper bushes, toad holes, bark, rock piles and woodpiles (away from your house). Nature keeps the wildlife population in check. Do not fret too much if your favorite cardinal disappears one day.

I am not suggesting that you feed the carnivores (although you will help them out by giving shelter to their prey.) I also am adamant: do not feed the elk and deer. You may think that you are being kind but you are actually creating a nuisance problem as well as killing them. Wildlife will die off or will thrive.

Habitats are easy to construct. You should start in the spring and follow planting guides for you area. You can still have a habitat this fall, however.

Your leaves, which you see as a nuisance that must be swept from your lawn and flowerbeds, will provide a cozy winter respite to field mice, shrews, voles and other small animals. Some will bury deep into the ground and use the foliage as a handy door. Leave some behind along a fence or in a place where (I hope) you’ve observed animals using as a trail. Be aware of the fact that toads, snakes and chipmunks hyphenate: please do not disturb their carefully worked shelters. You will want these creatures around come spring.

Rabbits will search for twigs, moss, bark and leaves to eat during the winter. They are more than happy to eat your vegetable kitchen waste. I am in favor of this but I also disapprove, depending on the situation. Do not throw carrots out on the lawn unless you have been feeding rabbits in this same manner all year. We don’t want to unbalance their digestive system. Further, do not throw scraps out where a rabbit can be picked off by a predator. Mrs. Bunny might be too busy eating to hear some jackass’ domesticated cat creeping up on her. (Autrice is in favor of allowing evolutionary principles to take care of domesticated cats: survival of the fittest. Domesticated urban and suburban cats have decimated the ecology around them by removing essential prey such as birds and mice. Don’t come crying to me if a mountain lion eats your cat, you irresponsible pet owner!)

As I was saying –

You yank your summer annuals from the ground and throw them into a garbage bag. Those still-juicy stems would benefit many creatures. Find a remote corner in your yard and let that biodegradable vegetation have a final purpose. Make a compost heap, if you can.

Allow birds to eat the berries from your bushes. Wait to prune bushes back until the final moments of the season. Many plants should be pruned in the fall only; summer pruning is destroying stored energy. Allow the berries to rest upon the ground as an energy source for other animals.

Junipers make charming holiday backdrops. Hang bits of apple, mullet (found in pet and feed stores), seed ornaments, corncobs or other such edible foods on the junipers (make certain that your items are not too heavy for the bush; allow it to keep its shape.)

Keep your bird feeder clean and stocked with seed. Hang suet baskets and place high-energy suet in them. Keep these filled through winter and fall. Do you have a dog? Do you brush it? Throw the hair into the yard for the benefit of birds and small animals (you can do this year round.) Dryer lint is another fun nesting material.

Peanuts (unsalted) are a squirrel treat. Put them out and observe the antics.

Dig a shallow furrow that is two feet wide and a foot deep, length doesn’t matter. You can place rocks, old branches, grass clippings (chemical free, please), leaves and other “woodsy” material from your yard. This is a perfect sanctuary for everything from mice and snakes to frogs, lizards and toads.

A water dish is helpful during the winter, but you must keep in clean and break up any ice that forms.

Why is this important? What purpose could possibly be gained from letting rotting old leaves, dog fur, dead plants and spent berries to litter my perfect, beautiful, treasured yard? Have you seen those Christmas cards with critters dotting the landscape? If you feed them, they will come. They become a glorious addition to the natural backdrop of your yard. You are also playing an important role in the environment around you.

Do you hate mice invading your home? An outside shelter tempts them away; the population will be kept in check by predators.

Do you hate insects in your home in the early spring? You’ve coaxed toads, mice and other rodents, and birds into your yard (your wildlife habitat!) They will thank you by keeping the creepy crawlies to a minimum. (Leave the spiders, please. They are your first line of natural defense.)

We are mammals. We are part of Nature’s cycle. We benefit when we blend into nature rather than attempting to fight it. My approach is not too difficult to master. Step into your yard and incorporate things to match your personal style and tastes.


Links:
WDFW Fact Sheet: Winter Wildlife Feeding lists the thinking behind this.

Feeding Wild Birds what every hobbyist should know - please read.

Sunday Scribblings the prompt for today's post.

NWF Certified Wildlife Habitat creating your own.

Bird Seed Ornaments the recipe. Instead of rolling out balls, tinker with this recipe to get the mixture just right and roll it out between sheets of wax paper. Use a cookie cutter (star-shaped or leaf-shaped) and cut out the ornaments. Make certain that you grease the cookie cutter with something to keep the mixture from sticking. Crisco works wonders. I like to thread them with a sharp needle and some thick white twine. Hang in a spot where birds can easily perch and pick at your creation.

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Wellsburg Apple Festival, 2008

Wellsburg is a charming small town along Highway 2 in West Virginia. It has been around for quite a long time, sitting placidly alongside the Ohio River. Better Half and I discovered the Wellsburg Apple Festival last Sunday and thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon.

My first objet de plaisir was this odd little house tucked against a heavy brick building. I love old things. I married one. This old thing caught my fancy because of the timber and plaster walls.

The Wells Log House dates back to 1788, when Wellsburg WV was Buffaloe VA. Alexander Wells (I assume that Wellsburg is named after him or his descendents) constructed the four room/two-floor building. It was doomed to demolition until someone tore off the old siding and saw the old beams. It is now on the National Register of Historic Places, District of Wellsburg (registered 1981.) The home is a cornerstone in this area’s History, which you can find in another of my blog entries.

They permitted people to walk through. We entered the back door and found ourselves in an ancient kitchen. (I fully intend to go back and take better photographs!)

The fireplace is known as a turkey breast. It has a matching fireplace sharing a flue; that fireplace warms the second (main) room. The kitchen and main rooms are the same size. There are no plumbing fixtures. A bare bulb illuminates both rooms, added as an afterthought by either the church that owned the building or the previous owners. We were not allowed upstairs (or perhaps we were, but didn’t realize it.)

They have gathered some artifacts and put them on display. I didn’t have the heart to tell them that a few of those items were from the early 1900’s. That's okay. It is the feel that counts.

Standing in an old building is standing in the tide of history and feeling it churn around your body. You close your eyes and block out all the sounds and then, quite clearly, you can sense things from a bygone era. There was struggle here; life was not easy. There was death, there was birth and ghosts of things that once were.

Better Half can be impatient. Yes, it’s an old house. Yes, that fireplace is interesting. He didn’t seem too keen on staying in there for any length of time. He certainly didn’t have any desire to run his hand along the old wooden beams. I am not saying that he didn’t find it fascinating; he lacks my “whatever you want to call it” when it comes to antiques. I, on the other hand, would have remained there for an hour or more.

I got a kick out of someone’s seemingly long forgotten home. Better Half thought it was abandoned. There was a yard sale going on in the back yard, however. People lived inside.

The structure had gaping hold along the roof and a “haunted” tree in the front yard. It was pretty however. I could imagine the various activities that were held here. It had such a view, too. The river was just outside their door. I took several photographs but my favorite was a humble black and white negative. It screamed, “Happy Halloween”.

The Apple Festival wasn’t as appley as we thought it was going to be. There was apple-themed bric-a-brac but the normal country kitsch crowded it out. There were two Avon stands, an apple farmer, the Rotary was present, there were plenty of food stands and we discovered an excellent honey seller (who happens to live in Steubenville.)

Buena Vista Honey Farms offers the tastiest honey I’ve had in a long time. The flavor found in your honey comes from what you allow your bees to play with. Buena Vitsa offered locust blossom and bamboo honeys; we purchased both. They also had a variety of goods: cleverly shaped beeswax candles, gift bags, wedding favors, honey sticks and honey candies. They had some fact sheets and I enjoyed expanding my bee knowledge.

I do not mind bees. They are beautiful little creatures with soft bodies, interesting wings, and a sting that will kill me.

“You’ll be all right if you don’t swat at them.”

Really? Are you INSANE? Why would I want my hand anywhere near them?

I intend to run in the other direction. To hell with the “stand still” thing. Have you seen the Africanized bees? They swarm a cow and in under a minute the poor beast is on the grass and dying as an incalculable amount of bees inject it with venom.

That was my biggest fear when I lived in the Rockies: Africanized bees.

(I’ll do a bee entry at a later time.)

My second biggest fear, as it so happens, is the Granolas. Only in Colorado can someone stroll around and reek of body odor and pot and still be embraced by people from all walks of life.

Susan (the bleached blond and tanned-by-light-bulbs yuppie attorney cougar who also serves on the City Council) turns to her lover (Brittany the gen x’er health food store manager who sexually services half of City Council, unbeknownst to Susan) and says, “Oh, here comes John, that Granola rascal (who I slept with last night while Brittany was at work.) I heard that he launched a “save the Mountain Whale and Pink Titted Owl” campaign. Instant success. John! Yoo-hoo! Over here. Join us for a Starbucks double espresso!”

(Brittany cringes, of course. She slept with John the Granola this morning after Susan left for work.)



I do not miss Colorado. Colorado is where all the plastic people relocate once they discover that they can not be Somebody while living in California. They are too phony for the real phonies. In Colorado (particularly Colorado Springs) they can act as if they’re Somebody as they maneuver their obnoxious diesel SUVs around. They have an inclination to hose themselves down with cheap perfume and bray (LOUDLY) into their Blackberries at Olive Garden. There is no middle ground with these people. They are either furiously angry liberals who are against any and all oppression (to include the oppression of things that should be oppressed, such as loud farts in public) or they are furiously angry ultra-conservatives who believe that everything should be oppressed as God intended it to be (except for loud farts in public, which they promptly blame on the closest liberal.)

You will occasionally find a smile on your face with one group trumps another.

You go boy! And take that outfit with you.


Back to the Apple Festival. There were no Granolas present.

We met the Gourmet Pizzelle guy. He ships. My parents might receive some pizzelles for Christmas!

Why settle for anise pizzelles? That’s old school. He offers “banana nut, butter almond, butter pecan, two chocolate varieties, cran-raspberry, lemon, maple walnut, orange, pistachio, raspberry, rum’n’spice, vanilla butter nut and……. Watermelon!” He also offers “amaretto, cherry cordial, grand marnier, Irish cream, kahlua, pina colada and toffee”. This isn’t enough, however. He populates the rest of his stock with “apple cinnamon, apple swirl, butterscotch, cran-apple, peanut butter, peanut swirl, pumpkin, rum raisin, strawberry and chocolate mint”. He will make them with rice flour on request, and will also made the “no sugar added” variety.

A gorgeous old Victorian façade fascinated me. It was a pharmacy (and probably the old chemist’s shop at one time.) It apparently didn’t fascinate anyone else. It would be easy to say, “they’ve lived in that town all their lives and it seems part of the backdrop, uninteresting.” I can’t fathom that sort of thinking.

I found old homes bemusing as a child. There was a small orchard and dilapidated old home between my street and the closest stores and I would walk past that property every time I craved a pixie stick from the 7-11 or wanted to buy socks at Gemco. I wanted to walk down that long path and ring their bell (if they had a bell, if they had electricity to have a bell) but I never marshaled up the courage. Too late, I would imagine; the house has most likely been torn down to make room for something overly priced and extremely obnoxious.

Back to the Apple Festival.

Irish musicians mixed with bluegrass and folk as we strolled down Third Street. Children, ever polite, enjoyed playing and day dreaming, their laughter mixing with the music in an enchanting way.

Parking meters are taken very seriously in Wellsburg. The citizens decorate some of their meters as though paying homage to the small change gods. Festive flowers crowned these meters, trailing ivy as their American flags waved gailed in the breeze. I thought it was a very nice touch. Given the extremely friendly nature of all the people that we ran in to, I can easily see a women’s group or even the local high school kids setting each of these meter decorations into place.

Equally as amusing was the parking meter fine drop box. This was not a hoax. People really were on the honor system and the honor system in this town was alive and well.



We left the Festival and headed up to Robinson for Joe’s Crab Shack. We haven’t been to one in a while and we were in the mood for fish and fun. I asked Better Half to please stand in front of the restaurant so that I could snap a picture. He, as usual, stood there like a lump. I had to finally say, “will you &^$@ do something to make it interesting?!”

It worked, as you can see.

Getting Bongo Better Half to “do things” for a picture is nearly impossible. I have fourteen years of film with Better Half "doing nothing". Same pose. Same expression. I can flick through them quickly as if they were one of those cartoon books where you watch the dog fetch the ball. In his case, the hair recedes and the face fills out. Poor fellow.

We drove back to Ohio, a bit worn out from our long day but also very satisfied. I allowed myself to be mugged by some of the dogs and then called it a day. I, unlike Better Half, at least do something in a picture, even if it is pulling a face due to dog breath. Pardon the lack of furniture and things in disarray; we just cleaned the carpets. Yes, ewww - the living room green will be painted over soon.

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