The Out on a Limb Weekly Link Round-Up

Not to worry! Any limbs I'm referring to are the ones I'm pruning back out in the yard. Sometimes I wish there were something that I could put on all the trees and shrubs around here that would make them "hold their prune," thus rendering obsolete the need for any further shearing. Especially when most desert plants wear wickedly sharp thorns. More than once I've gone somewhere, someone's seen all the scratches on my forearms, and I've been asked, "Do you have a cat?" Nope. Just bougainvillea. And palo verde. And sweet acacia. And....

I'm almost done and about to start on chores that I consider to be even more fun. Like shampooing carpets. *cough*  You know what? Instead of talking about the stuff you and I don't like to do, let me show you a photo of a greedy little critter I saw at the Desert Botanical Garden. Then I'm going to mosey out to the corral for those links I've been saving!

A greedy ground squirrel that's out on a limb or two!

 

►Books, Movies & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

• The dark side of nursery rhymes. 
• Author Hannah Dennison talks about what became of Downton Abbey.
• Game of Thrones, from pixels to parchment.
• How a wine and cocaine cocktail became Coca-Cola.
• The author behind the pseudonym.
• Lesa Holstine had a fun interview with one of my favorite authors, Paige Shelton.
• Charles Dickens and the linguistic art of the minor character. 
• Diana Gabaldon and KC Dyer talk about Dyer's book Finding Fraser. Their event at The Poisoned Pen was wonderful, too.
• Build your own library at the first-ever Little Library Festival. 
• Here is the blog of the Game of Thrones costume maker. It's a shame that so much of the marvelous detail is covered up by the actresses' hair! 
• How the redesign of U.S. currency shows the power of protest. 
• The identity of the mysterious Man in the Iron Mask has been revealed, 350 years later. 

►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄

• Captain Cook's lost ship has been found off the coast of Rhode Island.
• Archaeologists working with communities along Scotland's west coast have documented more than 100 shipwrecks and maritime artifacts. 
• A "merbot" retrieved artifacts from Louis XIV's sunken flagship. 
• How to unroll a Dead Sea Scroll without destroying it. 
• Three planets orbiting a dwarf star are prime spots to search for life. 
• If you've read much nineteenth-century literature, you've heard about absinthe. For Sale: legendary pre-ban absinthe bottles of the Belle Epoque. 
• The secrets of a lost Egyptian city were underwater.
• What's the longest war the U.S. has been involved in? Think Geronimo.
• Calling on her cell phone in 1922.
• The story behind a Rembrandt painting's journey from a New Jersey basement to the Getty Museum. 
• The sanctuary of ancient Egyptian pharaoh Nectanebo I has been discovered in Heliopolis. 

►Channeling My Inner Elly Mae Clampett◄

• This squirrel enjoys taunting a cat. 
• The bookish hedgehogs of Instagram. 
• Animals that are silently plotting your death (and several for good reason, I might add). 
• A neurotic cat that lies in wait for the mail carrier each day. 
• Watch 33 lions who spent their lives in a circus finally go back home to Africa.
• What do you do when you spot a bear with a bucket on its head? 
• This baby beaver won quite a few fans when it tried to take the DC Metro.
• What would you do if you were taking photos in an African game reserve and a wild cheetah walked up and started licking your toes? (I think I'd be sitting in the middle of a lake-- if you get my drift!)

►The Happy Wanderer◄

• When you ride the Trans-Siberian Railway, you get a window into Russia's soul. 
• Time for a visit to New York City's Book Culture. 
• 39 things only Arizonans know. 
• Fed up with "snorers and wheezers," Thomas Carlyle started his own library-- the London Library. 
• Weird and wonderful bookshops worldwide in pictures. (I've purchased books in three of them.)
• Check out 25 breathtaking libraries from all around the world.

►I ♥ Lists◄

• The year's best crime novels, 2016. 
• Sixteen books some folks think you should read this May.
• 100 years of wedding gowns. Which one is your favorite? 
• 100 must-read sci-fi and fantasy novels  written by female authors. 
• The UK's WHSmith's list of the best crime authors of all time. 
• Fifteen slightly odd things all book lovers have done. (I don't know about you, but I haven't done all fifteen of these!)
• Ten popular baby names invented by authors. 
• The eleven greatest children's books.

That's all for this week! Don't forget to stop by next Friday when I'll be sharing a freshly selected batch of links for your surfing pleasure.

Have a great weekend, and read something fabulous!