Peanut butter, toys for children, longevity of various dog breeds

 

Counties that grow peanuts on the left, drought map on right

I believe that D1 is the equivalent of Mean Soil Moisture - 1.0 Standard Deviation. D2 is MSM - 2.0 Standard Deviations and so on.

Source of drought picture.

Source of peanut production by county (Note: there is one county in Texas that produces a lot of peanuts that I trimmed off to make the two maps match.

Conclusion: This might be a good time to buy peanut butter.

Toys for children

Quicksilver had her 4th birthday this past week. 

Kids are very quick to identify playground equipment because it is almost always combinations of vivid red, vivid yellow or vivid blue.

While walking in town (Eaton Rapids) to get to the library, she saw some toys. She liked the blue one best.

Photo take with the driver's permission

I think the vehicle owner was a U-of-M fan. It had yellow seat/shoulder belts. Just because you have money doesn't mean you have good taste.

Gardening report from Southern Belle

The tomatoes and peppers were planted at the widow's house. 

The "garden" consisted of two raised beds, 4' long by 2' wide. They were tucked underneath the eves on the west side of the garage...so half-day of afternoon sun. The beds were 8" deep trays held up with 4-by-4 legs.

The customer was happy.

Thanks for all of the comments in the previous post

It feels odd to not have Zeus or some other dog around.

I was not aware of how much attention I paid to him. It was just part of the normal fabric of life.

For example, our main security camera (which we think of as a window where the builder didn't put one) looks down the length of our driveway from the corner of the garage. That feed captures Zeus's kennel. EVERY time I look at that feed "window" I monitor Zeus's body language.

We have owned single or multiple dogs continuously since 1988.

The data for life-expectancy by dog breed is squishy. There is not a lot of it and it is known to have self-selection biases, i.e. owners of posh purebreds are more likely to register data than owners of mutts.

We will probably get another dog but it will be on our terms; our  timing, the size that will work for us, breed and so on. 

On average:

• Smaller dogs live longer than larger dogs
• Dogs with longer muzzles live longer than dogs with pushed in muzzles
• Crossbred dogs live longer than purebred dogs.

Some breeds defy expectations. Border Collies, Australian Shepherds and Jake Russel Terriers are over-achievers for longevity. I am clueless regarding the personality of a Jack Russel x Border Collie cross. They are both very intense dogs with the Jack Russel being ADHD and the Border Collie OCD. It could go either way, best of both or worst of both.

 

Seedling trays

Japanese Water Iris

The seed package said they would sprout in seven-to-fourteen days. I planted 100 seeds. The first one sprouted on Day 15. I am up to five of the hundred showing green.

 

Wibb Watermelon. 2021 seeds. 6-of-9 planted germinated so far

I already have a marketing plan for the melons. I will sell them to McDonalds to use in their iconic McWibb sandwiches.

Tasteless jokes

The best thing about being a grave digger is that it is one of the very few professions where you start out right at the top.