Author Archives: hw7

Signs of Spring 2: Plastics!

(Click on the following link to listen to an audio version of this blog …. Plastics Deborah and I have had the same New Year’s Resolution for the past 15 years: don’t waste food! Making sure that we make meal … Continue reading

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Signs of Spring 1: The Human Microbiome!

(Click on the following link to listen to an audio version of this blog … Human microbiome (1) Studies of the microorganisms that live on and in the human body have been going on since that late 19th Century. Escherichia … Continue reading

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Signs of Winter 11: The Ecology of Sourdough!

(Click on the folowing link to listen to an audio version of this blog …. Ecology of Sourdough Bread making is a craft that was first developed in Neolithic Asia some 14,000 years ago. The leavening agents used in breads … Continue reading

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Signs of Winter 10: What is Happening to Our Food?

(Click on the following link to listen to an audio version of this blog … What’s happening to our food? There are many things about our food that worry us: overly processed  ingredients, excessive levels of fats and sugars and … Continue reading

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Signs of Winter 9: Goldfish Everywhere!

(Click on the following link to listen to an audio version of this blog…. Goldfish Everywhere Eight years ago I came across an article in the New York Times that maintained that goldfish (Carassius auratus) were, quite possibly, the most … Continue reading

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Signs of Winter 8: House Cat Day 2024!

(Click on the following link to listen to an audio version of this blog …. Housecat Day 2024 Eleven years ago I wrote about Groundhog Day and suggested that we change this early February day-of-prediction to focus not on an … Continue reading

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Signs of Winter 7: Safflower Seeds!

(Click on the following link to listen to an audio version of this blog … Safflower Seeds I went to the feed store a few Saturdays ago to pick up some bird seed. I have been buying shelled sunflower seeds … Continue reading

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Signs of Winter 6: Cats are Perfect!

(Click on the following link to listen to an audio version of this blog … Cats “What greater gift than the love of a cat?” (Charles Dickens) Purring is one of the most pleasant things a cat can do. As … Continue reading

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Signs of Winter 5: Lichens!

(Click on the following link to listen to an audio version of this blog …. Lichens Lichens have been described and discussed since the times of the ancient Greeks and Romans. Aristotle, Dioscorides, Theophrastus and Pliny all mentioned lichens in … Continue reading

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Signs of Winter 4: Truffles!

(Click on the following link to listen to an audio version of this blog …. Truffles Truffles are very famous fungi. They are packed with complex chemicals that give some of them deep, musky, earthy flavors which they contribute to … Continue reading

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