Cooling down

As the weather has been cooling down, so has the temperature inside the house. We usually keep it between 60-65 in the winter and decided it is time to turn on the heater again. So to keep us cozy we have pulled out some blankets. There are typically 2-3 on the couch for easy use. The dogs appear to enjoy them as well.
In the picture Sadie is the dark spot on the couch. She does not photograph well--always looking like a shadow. Sylvester loves to sit on things-people, pillows, Sadie, etc. Thus he is perched on the armrest.

Under Construction

For the past couple weeks this is what our street has looked like. Each morning as we leave for work the road is blocked by backhoes and dump trucks. They are replacing the water main in the neighborhood and so are digging everything up. They leave their equipment pared in people's yards, tearing up all the grass. It is quite a mess. They have made it through phase one but I thing they have several more weeks of work to go. What fun.

Safflowers

A couple of weeks ago I saw these really neat flowers at the store. I have never seen anything quite like them before. I thought that they would open up more but they never did. It is just the orange/yellow tops sticking out of the green bulb.

This is what I have learned about this unique flower:

Carthamus tinctorius, one the oldest cultivated plants of record. Seeds have been found in pharaohs' tombs dating back at least to 2000 B.C. and safflower has been cultivated by the ancient Chinese as an oil crop and for medicinal use. In more recent centuries the flowers have been used for yellow, orange and red dyes as well as 'saffron-like' food additives. In the U.S. in the first half of the last century saffron oil was used as a high-quality paint medium. Today the oil is a readily-available cosmetic & food additive, including its use as a cooking and salad oil.