Hɒqqy Hɒllowɘɘn!

Tɿiɔʞ oɿ Tɿɘɘɒƚ!

Crafty

I used black fabric paint for the faces, various bottle caps for hats, and the green leaves were punched from the top of a potato chip bag. Cost almost nothing!

Fini

McGyvered

West End Farmer's Market

TGIF

A morbid question

help Samuel W. Tucker Elementary School win $20,000!

What do you call a group of ...?

Many of these terms belong to 15th-century lists of 'proper terms', notably that in the Book of St Albans attributed to Dame Juliana Barnes (1486). Many of these are fanciful or humorous terms which probably never had any real currency, but have been taken up by antiquarian writers, notably Joseph Strutt in Sports and Pastimes of England (1801).

People
a blush of boys
a drunkship of cobblers
a hastiness of cooks
a stalk of foresters
an observance of hermits
a bevy of ladies
a faith of merchants
a superfluity of nuns
a malapertness (= impertinence) of pedlars
a pity of prisoners
a glozing (= fawning) of taverners

Animals
a shrewdness of apes
a chattering or clattering of choughs
a rag or rake of colts
a covert of coots
a cowardice of curs
a trip of dotterel
a flight or dole or piteousness of doves
a raft or bunch or paddling of ducks on water
a fling of dunlins
a gang of elk
a charm or chirm of finches
a pack or covey of grouse
a cast of hawks
a siege of herons
a desert of lapwing
an exaltation or a bevy of larks
a tiding of magpies
a sord or suit of mallard
a richesse of martens
a barren of mules
a watch of nightingales
a covey of partridges
a muster of peacocks
a head or nye of pheasants
a kit of pigeons flying together
a stand or wing or congregation of plovers
a rush or flight of pochards
a covey of ptarmigan
a bevy or drift of quail
a string of racehorses
an unkindness of ravens
a bevy of roes
a parliament or building of rooks
a hill of ruffs
a dopping of sheldrake
a wisp or walk of snipe
a host of sparrows
a murmuration of starlings
a flight of swallows
a game of swans; a wedge of swans in the air
a spring of teal
a bunch or knob or raft of waterfowl
a company or trip of wigeon
a destruction of wild cats
a bunch or trip or plump or knob (less than 30) of wildfowl
a drift of wild pigs
a fall of woodcock

Source

Erin

Birthday flag banner

Happy Birthday!

I sewed!

Probably the first crafty thing I've done in ages. Can you guess what it is?

Chapter 36

Started reading this book on September 30 and as of last night, I have read up to page 250. It's so good! Definitely recommend it.

Pan fried salmon with risotto, dried cranberries and hickory smoked pecans

Au Pied de Cochon

Ate there twice while I was in Montreal!

On Sunday night I had poutine with foie gras, duck in a can, and pudding chomeur:



On Tuesday, I had french onion soup, magret duck with mushrooms, onions, and potatoes, apple rhubarb crisp with vanilla ice cream:

Montreal

On Sunday, I left DC for Montreal for a work trip. Returned on Wednesday. It was a good trip! Here are a few photographic highlights:


Dinner with Katie and Peter at ChuChai.


Au Pied de Cochon - one of the restaurants that Anthony Bourdain went to when he was in Montreal. Their specialty is foie gras. I went twice! :)


Chinatown. Was able to pick up some mooncakes to share with Max and a friend at work.

A Thousand Splendid Suns

A friend at work lent me this book and I started it last night - could not put it down! So far I am totally loving it.