Serving all of Eastern Laramie County since 1908
Serving all of Eastern Laramie County since 1908
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I've always been in love with a good steak right from the cow and cooked on the grill. Plain meat. No frills. Charbroiled to perfection. Melt in your mouth. Oops! Back up that tape. Not melt in your mouth. No. That's the ideal but you won't get that without some preparation and just the right cooking method. That pretty much means a marinade and a marinade means herbs. Herbs add flavor to anything and everything. That's why they've been used for thousands of years to make good food great. Herbs...
Shame on you, Governor Gordon. Shame on you for your refusal to stand up and defend the Constitution of the United States by joining Texas in its stand against election fraud. The fraudulent acts of a few states have disenfranchised the vast majority of Wyoming voters. Sure, you had some lame excuses, but the fact is that you put your liberal side out there for all Wyomingites to see. Yet you did show courage to stand with the liberals who seek to destroy this country against the 70 plus percent of Wyomingites who have stood up for...
This is the time of year that we break out the pots and pans, those special cooking machines, our best dishes and get ready for huge feasts, celebrations, and the great company of family and friends. This year may slow us down a little, but I suspect not very much. A number of annual gatherings, mostly business and commercial, have been cancelled or scaled down, but we are Wyomingites. There's not much that will keep us down for long. We'll just take precautions and press forward with life. That...
Follow the Science. Trust the Science. That’s the mantra of the liberal left whenever they want us to blindly believe in some part of their agenda. First it was global cooling. Then it was global warming. Neither of those panned out so they went to climate change. All caused by humans, of course. They know the science is split on these issues and there is little agreement between the factions. In the scientific world, no theory is ever considered fact unless the experiment results can be replicated multiple times with the same outcome. How c...
For most of my life I thought the garnish on my plate at the restaurant was a waste of money for the restaurant and a waste of my time to take it off my plate. It wasn't until I was much older that I learned that there was a reason for the garnish, parsley, and it wasn't just to make the plate look pretty. The parsley on the side is intended to be eaten. The reason I was given was that it would freshen breath after eating. I'm not saying that I ate it but it did seem reasonable. And, yes, it...
Can plants really purify the air in our homes? That's a good question. Some researchers, such as scientists at NASA, say, "Yes": Other notable researchers, such as Lauren Johnson at CNN, will say, "No". Of course I'm being a bit facetious here. Lauren Johnson is not a researcher, but in typical CNN fashion seems to believe that anything she says is the absolute statement of fact and her "science" debunks everyone else. The fact is that the question is still up for debate. The science is not...
As you all know now I’ve been writing articles on the COVID crisis for the last couple of months. The Pine Bluffs Post have been the only newspaper in the state with the courage to publish the facts that we aren’t being told by the news media and the health departments. I want to commend and thank the editor, Penny Merryfield, for her willingness to print the truth, even though it has made a lot of people mad. I don’t know how much blowback she’s had, but I’ve had blowback from one elected official so far and my wife has felt it for my articl...
If someone had told me a year ago that my worst insect problems would be in the dead of winter I would have said they were nuts. If they said that today, I'd have to say, "I know." In the 24 years I've been gardening in Wyoming I've only had insect problems once before. I had cabbage loopers in my cabbage. Even then they didn't do much damage and I had more cabbage than I know what to do with. That was about five years ago and we're still eating cabbage. Then last year hit. I guess it was God's...
I’m a knucklehead. I have to admit it because Governor Gordon said so, in public, in his last press conference. I’m a knucklehead because I don’t necessarily just go along with everything government does or says just because they said it. I guess I’m always going to be a knucklehead, too, because I very seldom just accept what I’m told, especially by someone in government. Maybe I just don’t have enough trust in government or maybe after nearly 30 years in government myself I live by Ronald Reagan’s adage, “Trust but verify”. Don’t get me wrong...
This past year has seen nurseries across the United States running out of trees, shrubs, and seeds. Even our local nurseries in Southeast Wyoming and Northern Colorado were running out. I don't know if it was the public's response to COVID, a bad year for supply, or something else. Some seeds still aren't available. I tend to think that with so many people having to stay home and not work they chose to beautify their property and plant gardens. Seeds that have not been available since April are...
This has been an extremely odd 10 days or so for me. As far as time goes I seem to have been in a daze to the point that I've had trouble remembering what day it was. When I'm busy trying to accomplish tasks that seem to be never ending every day just rolls into the next. I haven't driven or even left the house since October 8th with only one exception. We went out to dinner once. Other than that my life has been in the shop working with my plants and trying to clean up a few projects that are...
As of Monday, November 2, 2020, all Laramie County residents and visitors are required to wear a mask “Whenever any person is inside, or in line to enter, any retail or commercial business, or any government facility open to the general public, including county and municipal buildings but excluding state and federal buildings; or”. This is not the entire mask order by any means. It is only the opening statement and already shows the idiocy of the order. To begin with all state and federal buildings are excluded. For the most part the peo...
My wife comes from a long line of farmers and ranchers. So naturally when Linda and I were married, long ago, I became part of that community. Fortunately, I really enjoyed the people with their knowledge, customs and traditions. My father-in-law taught me quite a bit about the different grasses and their suitability for forage for livestock. He also taught me about those DW's. D*** weeds. We have a lot of those here in the west. I guess every place has its share, but those I learned most about...
I woke up feeling great. Then I turned on the radio and suddenly came down with a splitting headache. I should have known better. The news announcer on the radio was, once again, talking about the latest COVID numbers. All I could think of was how ironic it is, even though I have tested negative for COVID, that I have the latest and newest symptom of the disease. That darned splitting headache. Just to be clear, the virus isn’t causing the symptom. The constant barrage of chatter about it is the culprit. It seems like every newscaster, talk s...
‘Tis the season. I don’t know about you, but I’m getting really tired of all the political ads on TV lately. I’m pretty active politically and maybe that’s part of my problem. I’ve been getting between 40-50 emails and text messages every day from candidates around the country wanting me to contribute to their campaign for the last several months. Some I have contributed to in the past and most, I’m sure, purchased my phone number and email address. I encourage everyone to be politically active, but enough is enough already. Fortunately,...
A few weeks ago Linda was rummaging through some boxes and came across a small book, "Hedges, Windbreaks, Shelters and Live Fences", by E. P. Powell. It's a very small book, only about a half inch thick, but full of interesting information. What I found most interesting was the copyright date, 1900, even though the book covered the period 1859 - 1899. It was a pretty quick read overall, even though the writing style of the author caused me to have to go back and reread several portions to...
Stinging Nettle could easily be called a Prince among weeds. Not a very illustrious title, but it fits. If you've ever come in contact with the plant then you've experienced the burning, stinging affect that it has on human skin. It can be much more than just irritating. Then if you've ever tried to get rid of a patch of stinging nettle you realize just how tough and persistent, color that word to mean invasive, it is. On the other hand, if you've used stinging nettle for it's health benefits...
WOW! How about that smoke Saturday morning? I went out to the shop not long after daylight and it was pretty clear when I went out. I spent the morning getting my garlic ready to plant and it was 1 p.m. when I stepped back outside. Needless to say, I was shocked at what I found. All I can say is, "Otherwordly". I don't know what else to call it. The world was yellow, smoke was hugging the ground, and it looked like it was almost night time. I've been in worse, but that was a lifetime ago. A...
For several months now we’ve all been dealing with this public health disaster called COVID-19. Every time a report comes out on the news it’s made to sound as if everybody on the planet is at risk of dying from this dreaded disease. But what is the real fuss about? Before we go any further let me establish my credentials. Without them, nothing I write could be considered valid. I spent my first seven years in the Air Force in Public Health. Public Health in the Air Force has the same functions as in the civilian sector with only one exception....
Garlic is a fascinating plant that most people just think of as only a seasoning in foods. It is a great seasoning, but oh, so much more, too. I hadn't realized just how special this plant was until I was asked to grow it for medicinal use. Then I started researching the plant. I started with the basics. You know, how to plant, how to harvest, how to process, etc. Then I started looking at the health benefits, too. I've always loved garlic, but now I'm eating a lot more of it because I'm living...
Our first cold snap of the year has now come and gone. If I was a betting man, I would have lost the bet. I told several people that I didn't believe it would snow here. In the higher elevations, absolutely, but not here. Surprise! Never underestimate nature. It's full of surprises. Although I will say that at my place, whatever snow we had Monday night melted as soon as it hit the ground or wasn't very much. Our big issue was sleet Monday night and all day Tuesday. The thermometer said the low...
So last night we had our first freeze of the season. I have to admit I was surprised that it actually snowed, although we had very little at my place. Mostly we had sleet. I tried to get into the shop this morning and the door was frozen shut. Fortunately, there's a second door that's protected. I truly believed that we would get rain and the higher elevations would get all the snow. The three days leading up to this storm lead to a flurry of calls (pardon the pun) all asking what can be done to...
Harvest is here and I'm running late. That seems to be the norm anymore. My entire life I've made a point to be on time and now I always seem to be late for everything. Is that the real benefit of being retired? Never enough time to get everything done? Linda got me a small nameplate for my desk last Christmas. It says, "I'm not retired, I'm a professional Grandpa." True enough, but I can't blame me staying behind schedule on being Grandpa. I really do have more to do than I did before I...
A few months ago I was reminiscing about the days I would spend hiking in the mountains. I never hiked to get to a particular place, unless I was hunting, and even then I would often just stop and sit on the mountainside and take in the grandeur and beauty of God's creation that was all around me. I figured it had been about two years since I've been able to get into the wilderness and I was getting the itch again, regardless of what I had going on here at home. But the more I thought about it,...
Fall will be here before you know it and with it the time to plant your fall bulbs. With planting just a few months away the time to start thinking about what you want to plant is now. Now is the perfect time because the Laramie County Master Gardeners Fall Bulb Sale is in full swing. These are the bulbs you won't find in a store yet will grow well here. It's also time to plan your landscape design for next year. For some of us (and I include myself) that's pretty easy since we don't change...
