Month: February 2017

Ornamental Plum Blossoms

After many years of working with color professionally, I know how to remove a color cast. But I like the blue cast here, and decided to leave it.

Old Tom’s Aromatic Bitters

“All bitters are aromatic,” according to Mark Bitterman in his Field Guide to Bitters and Amari, “but the ones that are called aromatic are so jam-packed with aromas, bitterness,…

Brown-Headed Cowbird

This dark-eyed little beauty appears to be a Brown-Headed Cowbird. Despite the finch-like bill, she is a kind of blackbird, the smallest in North America. The males are darker,…

How to Make Vermouth, Part 1: Curated Resources

The first question about making vermouth, I suppose, is why?* It’s a two-part question, really. Why vermouth? And why homemade? Vermouth is a fortified wine flavored with fruits…

Plain Titmouse

Continuing with our bird theme, we see here a Plain Titmouse, occupying the same iochroma bush that yesterday’s Chestnut-Backed Chickadee was perched on. This poor guy is saddled with…

Chestnut-Backed Chickadee

A chickadee couple has joined the titmouse outside the study window. This one is on one of the iochromas. Peterson’s Field Guide to Western Birds says that “the…

Plant Propagation System

Until I complete my greenhouse (still in the fantasy stage) I won’t have a lot of space for plant propagation. But I do have a small but effective…