A List-Making Weather Weekly Link Round-Up

Another quiet week has passed at Casa Kittling. Sunday was my birthday/wedding anniversary, and since Denis had to work, it was just another night in front of the telly with my latest afghan (the one that's all for me). Something else that's par for the course when it comes to my birthday is a big weather system moving through. When I was little, it seemed that a blizzard would always choose January 24 to blow into town, and that's why I celebrated my birthday six months later in July. I got tired of my parties being snowed out.

There wasn't much point of that here in Phoenix. In fact, celebrating in July could mean any party would be sweated out, but the weather vagaries continued here in the desert. 

The Sonoran Desert has seasonal rains: monsoon season in summer and winter rains-- you guessed it-- usually at the end of January. So I got to watch a big weather system move into the valley with a good amount of rain in my area and lots of snow on the north and east parts of town.

As the temperatures dropped, I got to watch steam pour out of my dryer vent, hummingbirds taking up residence on the feeder that's sheltered from the rain, and videos of coyotes playing in the snow in Scottsdale. I may not be a fan of cold weather, but I certainly appreciated the rain after a non-existent monsoon season last summer. The mountains in the northern and eastern part of the state have been hammered with snow, and that's another marvelous thing. All in all, a fantastic birthday/anniversary present, and as you can see in the photo, it's been perfect list-making weather. On the page you can see, I'm writing down yarn choices for future afghans because I treated myself to purchasing some patterns on Etsy.

Yikes! I just looked at the time. I need to put on my sweater and get out to the corral. Head 'em up! Moooove 'em out!

►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

• Why are so many romances set in the Regency period?
• Secrets, smartphones, social media, and suspense. (Or how to incorporate modern technology into a thriller without looking dated.)
  
• What writing about the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre taught author Kate Mosse about the madness of crowds.
• When radio stations stopped a public figure from spreading dangerous lies.
• Forget Bones and CSI: The real business of forensics is grueling and not at all glamorous.
• Ursula K. LeGuin is getting the greatest of tributes: a stamp.
• A German bookstore founded in 1840 closes a chapter as its owner, aged 98, dies.
• A signed copy of a Harry Potter book bought for one pence (1¢) sells for £2,300 (over $3100).

 

►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄

• A 2,000-year-old grave of a child and a puppy has been found in France.
• Ancient archaeological sites in America prove that dazzling ruins are not the sole domain of Greece and Rome.
• A 3,400-year-old ancient Egyptian painting palette still contains remnants of pigments.
• Have archaeologists found history's deadliest dance floor?
• A medieval nun led this newly unearthed Buddhist monastery in eastern India.
• A tombstone inscribed in ancient Greek has been found in southern Israel.
• A Canadian tourist returned the artifacts she stole from Pompeii because they "cursed her."
• Mystery partial skeletons have been found in an ancient English abbey wall.

 

►Channeling My Inner Elly Mae Clampett◄

• Watch a talented pig show off his musical skills.
• U.S. Fish and Wildlife urges caution: Hummingbird nests are as small as a thimble-- be careful not to prune them.
• These conservation workers wear special suits to take care of baby zebras.
• Researchers are learning how Asian elephants think-- in order to save them.
• This elderly lady feeds squirrels with a marionette of herself.
• There's a Border Patrol radio tower under siege from 300 vultures.
• Ten new bird species and subspecies have been found in Indonesia.
• Parrots will share currency to help their pals purchase food.
• The dognapping that changed literary history.
  

 

►Crafty Gems◄

• Watch the intricate process of folding an exquisitely detailed origami samurai warrior from a single sheet of paper.
• Tutorials that teach the art of making balloon animals.

 

►The Happy Wanderer◄

• Canada's Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library.

 

►Fascinating Folk◄

• How seven women artists are celebrating Kamala Harris's historic inauguration.
• Meet Amanda Gorman, the U.S.'s youngest inaugural poet. And the L.A. Times tells us how a 22-year-old L.A. native became Biden's inauguration poet.

►I ♥ Lists◄

• Winter thrillers: Snowstorms, mountain chalets, and murder.
• Nineteen romance books about fake relationships.
• Five author-recommended World War II books you may not have read yet.
• Twenty of the best book-to-screen adaptations coming out this year.
• Eleven words that don't mean what they sound like.
• Ten of the worst jobs in the Victorian Era.
• Twenty excellent words coined in the last twenty years.
• Fourteen Scots words from the works of Robert Burns.

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.

Stay safe. Stay healthy. And don't forget to curl up with a good book!