Signs of Life.

I managed a short wander today, might have pushed a bit too much. It’s still something of a shock that I have so little energy to expend, and have to stop and rest so damn much. The dizziness and ocular toxicity don’t help. Probably not a good idea to go wandering with just Jayne for company, but he did good today, sticking fairly close to me. Slowly, things are coming to life here. I saw one butterfly and one wasp, desperately searching for blossoms, of which, we have none. Surprised I got a shot of the wasp, I was shooting blind, into the sun. Most stuff under the fold, click for full size.

Box Elder Maple.

Box Elder Maple.

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Jack’s Walk

I’m so excited. Today Jack and I found new leaves on the maples. They’ve come so quickly this year, almost overnight, that it’s a bit astonishing. It’s likely because our temps have gone from the zeros to the twenties this week and seem to be staying there. All those plants that were waiting for some warm are making up for lost time. My grass already needs cutting. What a strange year.

©voyager, all rights reserved

 

Women’s Suffrage Mapped.

Click for full size.

Click for full size. Map created by Cuba Holidays.

The map above shows when women got the right to vote in each country around the world.

2018 marks the centenary of Women’s suffrage in the UK and even then only with several restrictions (had to be over the age of 30 and meet property qualifications).

You can read much more (with links) at Brilliant Maps: Women’s Suffrage Mapped: The Year Women Got The Vote By Country.

Saint Agatha’s Breasts.

Source: Atlas Obscura.

Source: Atlas Obscura.

According to the story, not only did 15-year-old Saint Agatha of Sicily refuse to abandon her faith, she also rejected a Roman governor’s advances. As such, she was punished by having her breasts amputated, then died of her wounds in prison on February 5, 251 A.D. Frescoes of the mutilated martyr are easily recognizable. She’s often depicted holding her breasts on a platter.

Known as minne di Sant’ Agata in Italian, these sweet cheese and marzipan desserts are an edible reminder of Saint Agatha’s suffering. Bakers craft the perfectly round confections using a base of shortcrust pastry topped with ricotta. After adding in chocolate or a piece of boozy spongecake to accompany the filling, they blanket everything in pistachio marzipan and a thick, creamy glaze. A candied cherry on top completes the anatomically-correct aesthetic.

Each February, hundreds of thousands of people flock to Catania to honor Saint Agatha in a three-day celebration. The centuries-old festival features an all-night procession and delicious replicas of saintly, amputated breasts at every pastry shop.

You can read more at Atlas Obscura. A bit grisly, but I’ll admit they do look on the delicious side. Religions certainly do come with a side order of weird. There are many depictions of Agatha of Sicily, including ones of her holding her breasts on a platter, her breasts alone are carved in stone, and much more.

Minne di Sant’Agata Recipe.

“Going to the Dogs?”, Workshop.

“Going to the Dogs” Workshop #2 brought together scholars from England, Scotland, and Poland to discuss the various and complex intersections of disability- and animal-studies research. Discussions centred on talks delivered by Rachael Gillibrand (Institute for Medieval Studies, University of Leeds), Dr Ryan Sweet (School of English, University of Leeds), Dr Andy Flack (Department of History, University of Bristol), Dr Neil Pemberton (Centre for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine, University of Manchester), and Dr Justyna Włodarczyk (Department of American Literature, University of Warsaw). The talks covered topics including the animal assistants of disabled people in the late-medieval West; nineteenth-century representations of animals with prostheses; connections between historical understandings of animals that live in darkness and vision-impaired people; the role of the caress in 1930s America human-guide-dog partnerships; and current controversies surrounding emotional-support animals in the US.

-Via Medievalists.

The full set of workshop videos.

I Is For Iris and Iridescência.

Iris. Iridescência, Portuguese for iridescence.

One thing I love about Iris flowers is the way they look iridescent under the right lighting conditions, but I find this very hard to capture in a picture. I tried my best here with the purple irises blooming in my garden right now.

Click for full size!

© Nightjar, all rights reserved.

Knifesharpenophobia

When working in US some twenty years ago I borrowed from the local library in Ketchum (ID) the Ed Fowler’s book Knife Talk: The Art & Science Of Knifemaking. Unfortunately I did not have time to read the whole book so I basically just skimmed most of it and therefore I do not remember all. I can recommend the book with good conscience though, because I did read one chapter in full and remember its title and contents well – “Knifesharpenophobia”. I consider that a sign of good and persuasive writing.

I have remembered about this book and this particular chapter recently when I was obsessing over properly hardening a blade for a knife that in all likelihood will never be used to cut anything harder than a mushroom or perhaps some soft wood during a walk in the forests. And maybe not even that.

In the past I have made knives from improperly hardened steel. Not that I wanted to, I did not have much choice. I did not have high-quality knife steel available just a few mouse clicks away, and even if I had I was so poor I could not afford it. And I lacked a lot of the knowledge I have now so I could not improve the steel I had.

Two of those knives are occasionally still in use (by me) whenever I go to the forest.

A knife

©Charly, all rights reserved. Click for full size

A knife

©Charly, all rights reserved. Click for full size

I let you in on a little secret: They cut perfectly well. With the second one, made from low-carbon structural steel, I was able to do even quite a lot of wood carvings and heavy cutting/chopping when I was camping in the past.The first one is made from some unknown martensitic stainless steel that I was not able to harden for unknown reasons.

However the softer than normal blade did not impede work in the slightest. All that was needed to do was to sharpen the blade a bit more often than is perhaps usual and it was much quicker to sharpen than other blades. Just like Ed Fowler says in his book:

…Granted, edge holding is a fine attribute for a knife. The problem is, knives that seldom need sharpening generally are usually too hard to sharpen when the time comes to sharpen them…

I could not agree more.

I think that for anyone who starts to learn the knife making trade it is vitally important to keep in mind the fact that for thousands of years people were perfectly capable of hunting, cooking and fighting with blades made from soft metals like copper, bronze and wrought iron. Sure, steel was the ideal material of choice once discovered, but untill the invention of blast furnaces it was hard to come by in larger amounts and it rarely had consistent properties.

I hate it when I come across some smug knife maker who berates some young beginner for forging or making knives out of the steel they can get their hands on. Some people even feel the need to hurl derogatory epithets at knives made from rail spikes or structural steel. I wish they stopped doing that, because it accomplishes nothing except maybe discouraging a future master from pursuing further the hobby they enjoy. Obsessing about the frequency of sharpening and edge retention is not necessary for a beginner, I would even argue the opposite. And why the aversion to knives that need sharpening? Well, I let Ed Fowler have a say again:

…What is knifesharpenophobia? …I define it as an irrational, excessive and unnecessary fear of sharpening knives. This is a malady that strikes fear in the hearts of all too many knife lovers and users.

And to make the point even finer you can watch this video where it is demonstrated that properly sharpened flat bar from 5,-€ low-carbon structural steel can cut just as well as 100,-€ katana:

 

Wacky Winter and a New Hope

I mentioned already that all three of my fig trees and most of my pomegranates seem to be dead. Today I glimpsed a hint of green at the base of all three fig trees and although most of the pomegranates are indeed dead, a few of them sprouted fresh leaves from their trunks too.

 

Dead fig treeSprouting leavessprouting leaves
sprouting leaves

There is still substantial and irreparable damage that nearly makes me cry, but if the roots are alive and strong, these buds can grow into a meter and half long and on the fig two centimeters thick sticks, so I might have figs again next year. Provided the winter will not be totally wacky again and will not finish what this one has started.

I think this is one of the personally visible consequences of global warming. Frost bellow -20°C would not be a problem for neither of these trees – all of them have survived multiple winters like that. But this year the frost came suddenly in February, after it was abnormally warm from November through to January. So it came when the trees were already preparing to wake up. I will have to think of something to shelter them from such abnormal weather in the future.

I was relieved to see that the grapevines survived without damage and are growing like mad. And a little surprised too – I expected the figs survive without problems and vines suffer damage..