An Escape Ramp Update Weekly Link Round-Up

Another week has gone by with nothing much to report. No news is good news, right? Before I update you on our escape ramps, I do want to mention something else in case other folks who have hummingbird feeders haven't heard about it. Denis is the hummingbird feeder master here at Casa Kittling. He hangs eight feeders around the backyard, keeps them clean, and fills them with his homemade nectar composed of bakers sugar and water. More and more often, we've been plagued by bees that take over at least one of the feeders. Bee stings can kill hummingbirds, but we don't want to kill the bees, we just want them to buzz off elsewhere. Then Denis read something that has changed everything.

Most commercial-type hummingbird feeders have red bases with bright yellow "flowers" where the feeding stations (holes) are. Hummingbirds are attracted to red, not yellow, but guess what's attracted to yellow? You got it: bees. Denis switched out all the old feeders for new ones that have completely red bases, and... no more bees! This has made it much safer for both hummingbirds and Denis. If you've had the same problem, you might want to consider doing this, too.

One of our escape ramps--already faded by the sun!

Now for my news about the escape ramps we purchased for the swimming pool. Every year-- especially in spring and summer when so many baby critters are around-- Denis and I have had the sad task of removing dead bodies from the pool.

I gave it a lengthy trial period, and I am thrilled to announce that, as of now when we'd normally have had several corpses to deal with, we have had absolutely none! Isn't that great? Those escape ramps do work, so if you have a swimming pool and have had the same sad duty to perform, consider getting one or two for your pool. There are several different kinds. I did a search for "pool critter escape ramp" on Amazon to find ours.

Enough blather. On to the links!

►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

• The fine art of naming characters in crime fiction. 
• "Knitting has always been political": Ravelry bans pro-Trump content and the reactions flood in. And-- Knitting up a storm. Is "craftivism" the latest weapon against Trump?
• How parents can help their daughters express anger in healthy ways-- and why it matters. 
• How Pixar Studios continually evolved its animation techniques with each succeeding film over twenty-four years.
• Our enduring fascination with fictional therapy.
• Where is the Jordan Peele of horror literature? 
• Melvil Dewey's name has been stripped from a top library award.
• Butch & Sundance and Pike & Dutch: How two films from the summer of '69 changed Westerns forever.

►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄

• This amazing map shows London in Shakespeare's day. 
• Explore these World War I trenches and tunnels in France and Belgium.
• A World War II-Era bomb explodes underground in a German field. 
• A Space of Their Own, a new online database, will feature works by 600+ overlooked female artists from the 15th through the 19th centuries. 
• These beautiful medieval wafer presses are where waffles come from.
• Discovered: Lord Byron's copy of Frankenstein signed by Mary Shelley.
• Found: An "undisturbed" Roman ship near Cyprus. 
• Drought has revealed an ancient palace in an Iraqi reservoir.

►Channeling My Inner Elly Mae Clampett◄

• Flies in hospitals are full of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
• This giant goldfish shows why you should never flush fish down the toilet.
• These seaweed-munching sheep in Scotland need someone to fix their wall. 
• Dogs are working to save the world's endangered species.
• Six black-footed ferret kits were born recently at the Phoenix Zoo's conservation center.
• Your old bra clasps can save injured turtles.

►Fascinating Folk◄

• As a seventeen-year-old, Mamie Nell Ford joined a "swim-in" against segregation and changed history.
• David Morrell: preparing for crisis and finding inspiration.
• Marie Antoinette's favorite sister lived a life shockingly similar to the tragic queen. 
• At 21, Ann Montgomery became a lead engineer at NASA, managing the cameras and other crucial gear used on the moon. 
• A diary sheds lights on Deborah Sampson, who fought in the Revolutionary War.

►The Happy Wanderer◄

• Virginia City, Nevada's thriving ghost town. (This reminded me of a travel tale involving my grandmother, bless her.)
• Could this humble (and sometimes annoying) cactus save the planet from plastic?
• Crime and the City: Dubai.

►I ♥ Lists◄

• The many liars of crime fiction.
• Six books with memorably twisted characters.
• Five novels that use small crimes to explore larger ethical dilemmas.
• The best crime books of the year (so far).
• Australian Gothic literature.
• Summer reading list from The Guardian.
• Twenty-one libraries that will make you say, "Damn, that is clever!"
• Five Sci-Fi and Fantasy beach reads.

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!