Where is everyone

Where is everyone...what is everyone doing...have you all defected to Facebook. Here is an update from Topeka. I'm currently watching a rerun of House on USA. It rained today. Been eating lettuce from the garden. Grilled a salmon which was good to eat on the salads. Still collecting seeds for the Seed Bank at Kew Gardens. Farmers market is consuming me on Saturdays. I got a new laptop and now have to buy upgrades for my software to run on vista. I'm not a big fan of change. Spent a bunch of money on my truck because of sensors needing replacing. Selling handmade paper products at the Tallgrass Preserve gift shop and working for the preserve collecting seeds for a bottomland restoration. Thats the excitement from Topeka.

Elf

Is anyone sucked in by the xmas movie Elf with Will Ferrel. They keep replaying it on USA and i keep getting sucked in. Its a bit of a ridiculous movie. But the more I watch it, it seems less ridiculous and more real. I love his Welcome Santa display at the department store. Ed Asner makes a good Santa and Bob Newhart as papa elf. I want to be an elf. Which reminds me of Rudolph and the little elf that wants to be a dentist. He gets caught by his boss fixing dolls' teeth. Hermie is his name, and I totally identify with him. Why am I just a misfit, I am not just a nitwit, You can't fire me, I quit. Why Don't I fit in!!!!

Topeka

So the theme this month is "origins of city names"! Last week my neighbor comes running over to tell me about a program by some neighbor down the way on the origin of the name Topeka. She said, Topeka is an indian word for "a good place to dig potatoes" When I moved here I heard Topeka means "a good place to grow potatoes". I sort of thought, "highly unlikely, the plains indians didn't grow potatoes". My neighbor explains to me that the potato that was referred to was the prairie potato or better known as the prairie turnip - scientific name Psoralea esculenta. Now it all made sense. This member of the bean family has an enlarged root that was a main staple of the plains Indians.
I've tried growing it with little success. Seems it only does well when growing in its native habitat. For all you S. Dakotans, it is found across the state of SD too.
What is also interesting about Topeka is that there is also a Topeka, IL and Topeka, IN. The Kansa indians were located from there. So now i wonder if those were the good places to grow potatoes and the city of Topeka, KS just inherited the name.
Here is the link to the story.
http://www.barbburgess.com/research-topics/prairie-potato-topeka/topeka-s-roots-the-prairie-potato

Botany Boy is Back

and that makes me really happy!

French Sorrel

Have any of you hias ever had the pleasure of eating french sorrel? I've added it to my garden this year. Have you ever eaten the weed - sheep sorrel or sheep sour? It has the same flavor. I can't wait to use it in a salad. It has that delicious tartness. It looks similar to spinach. Whats really cool about it is that its perenniel...any kansas anyway.
I'm also trying lovage and burnet. Lovage has a celery flavor, Burnet has a cucumber taste. Also trying chervil, borage, and fennel. Do any of you hias use any of these herbs?

Whatever happened to Botany Boy?

when he came on the scene not long ago, with all his posts and stuff, the HIA news became so exciting...tell us Botany Boy, what happened? Is it better to burn out than fade away? Did you find more exctiting blog partners? Enquiring minds want to know.

Learn English

This is a sweet commercial. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUEkOVdUjHc It was banned of course, but how clever!

bo tan boy is now blog hog

I didn't change my name but I do think with all the new blogs I have created that I'm bloggin for a floggin. I have five blogs to call my own and I am still posting to them. Yaaaa for me. So Mully, how many blogs do you have? I hope I've surpassed you!

Prediction

Botany Boy will surpass me in the number of blogs by an HIA author.

Politics & Football

I'm sort of watching the IOWA caucus results. Its amazing how all the candidates I have heard speak can actually speak. No more George dumass Bushes. Now I'm watching a football game...gag. Nelson has control of the remote. KU vs VT. Now he is clapping. Is this the most useless post ever. Oh yes, thot I should tell you all that I jogged for 30 minutes this afternoon.

Domain Name

Can all you creative geniuses help me come up with a name for my next website. I want to sell my handmade paper and offer workshops on making paper. All the paper is made from wild plants of the prairie. PrairiePaper.com is taken. Let me know what you think.

Jeff is suddenly all about posting in 2008.

What gives Jeffy?

Where are all the HIA bloggers

Are you hungover? Laying in bed? Making love? I want to see some posts, stat!

My New Years

I went to a new years dinner at my friend mara's. He kid bought thousands of noise makers. One was a pressurized blow horn. I thought it would be fun to blow out a candle with the blow horn. An adult male said it wasnt flamable. I couldnt get the candles to go out. So the kid tried it, and he kept blowing it, and then a nice cloud of flames. I guess the warning "do not incinerate" also means "do not spray at candles"

Every Day is the start of a new year!

This morning I decided to find out what all the hubbub is about times square for new years. To me it sounds awful. You have to hold your pee for 6 hours, some wear adult diapers I'm told, maybe its fun. So I googled it, and found a semi interesting place called 43things.com - its a list and goal managing site. I did it. Then I thot, man I should create a blog about my garden. So I also did that. Which made me think, I really should create a lemonade stand at lemonade.com - but I haven't done that yet. Tell me what you think.

truckhenge topeka

a secret topeka attraction....truckhenge. built by a guy who was being hassled by the county to "pickup" all the trash on his property...so he built truckhenge. he also built his house all out of recylables.

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/sights/sightstory.php?tip_AttrId=%3D16024

Tranvestite Manequin nativity

Saw this xmas scene in residential topeka. It appears to be made entirely out of manequins. Also looks like beards put on female manequins. Baby jesus is coated in ice, mary was such a sucky mother, surely SRS should put the jeeeez into foster care.

andmore

are u sick of the paper pictures yet?

more paper

another piece o paper