Troublesome Creek, story via the Atlas Obscura A Compendium of the World’s Wonders, Curiosities and Esoterica :)

Sometime around 1820, a French orphan named Martin Fugate, carrier of an incredibly rare recessive gene for a disease known as hereditary methemoglobinemia, settled on the banks of Troublesome Creek in Eastern Kentucky and married Elizabeth Smith, carrier of the same incredibly rare recessive gene.

It was a remarkable coincidence with a bizarre result: four of the seven Fugate children were born with bright blue skin that lasted their entire lives. (According to legend, and the image above, Martin Fugate himself had blue skin). The reason for this strange skin disorder was only discovered a century later when it was realized that due to an enzyme deficiency, the Fugatesà  blood had a diminished oxygen-carrying capacity.

Over the years, the Fugates interbred repeatedly. Blue people proliferated. Six generations later, according to a Science article published in 1982, there were still Blue Fugates roaming the hills of eastern Kentucky.

Window farms

I’m so interested in the idea of window farms at the moment, these are a couple of images that grabbed my eye – I love the way they look together.

From the Window Farms website:

What are Window Farms??
Window Farms are vertical, hydroponic, modular, low-energy, high-yield edible window gardens built using low-impact or recycled local materials.

Windowfarms: Growing Food Year-Round in Inner City Buildings
Researchers have argued that to grow some of his own food is the most effective action an individual can take for environment, not only because of the food industry’s heavy carbon footprint but also because participating in agricultural production cultivates a valuable skill set around sustainability issues.

Now this is all very true, but for me the main appeal is that fresh food tastes better, something you’ve grown yourself tastes even better, and it’s beautiful and refreshing to have plants around :)

500 Coloured Pencils

What a fantastic idea! 25 coloured pencils over 20 months sent straight to your door. I wouldn’t be able to use any of them, a wall of colour would be a dream and I can imagine the feeling of finally completing it after the last lot is sent out. If $33 USD a month for 20 months is not too much of a long term commitment for you I think this would be the perfect Christmas gift for the colour lover in your life.

Photo via ABC News

I think this is a sweet story, especially this part:

“I just went out on the road to have a drive, a nice peaceful quiet drive. I didn’t know where I was going but I knew it was somewhere, and with a bit of luck I would eventually find my wife again,” he said.

Probably a good idea that he has company on any trips in the future :)

I know everyone has already seen this special Sesame Street anniversary google page, but it’s just so cute! This is definitely one of my favourite special google splashes I’ve seen so far :)

best. cookies. ever. from cosmicpluto

This past week and a half I have spent a serious portion of each day thinking about biscuits, cake, and bread – I definitely have to bake this weekend, and the winner at the moment is biscuits. As for the type and flavour, it’s a three way tie between macadamia and white chocolate (one of the best flavour combinations ever), pumpkin and chocolate, and my current favourite oat and date… mmmm

Fremdwort [fremt'voart]: n, (German) foreign, or strange word used to impress peers, adversaries, or potential mates

Had a great laugh with this website this morning, if you can pronounce them how can you go with words like entschlossene Herzenswunscherfüllungsarbeit (determined heart’s desire granting work), and Stolzbefleckte Schadenreue (pride-bespeckled damage remorse).

the greenhouse effect from penwren

How lovely to have this room in your house. I imagine it coming from the side of the kitchen (the front of a kitchen should always be reserved for a big deck :) ) where you could always see your plants, fresh herbs, lots of flowers and interesting ferns.

I’ll definitely be making this next summer – I can almost taste it now with some nice gin and sparkling water :) *sigh* that’s one of the bad things about reading blogs from the northern hemisphere, I have serious summer envy.

Ingredients

• 20 elderflower heads
• 1.8 kilos sugar
• 1.2 litres water
• 2 unwaxed lemons
• 75g citric acid

Steps

1. Carefully shake each flower head to remove any insects and put them in a large bowl (one with a pouring lip would be ideal)
2. Put the sugar & water into a saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring until the sugar has completely dissolved
3. Peel the lemons and add this zest to the bowl of elderflowers
4. Slice the zested lemons and also add these to the bowl
5. Pour the boiling sugar syrup into the bowl and stir in the citric acid
6. Cover with a cloth / tea towel and leave at room temperature for 24 hours
7. Strain the cordial through a fine sieve or muslin and pour into sterilised glass or plastic bottles.

Dilute the cordial approximately 1:4 with sparkling mineral water – or try adding a dash to gin, vodka or champagne!

Recipe courtesy of The H is for Home Harbinger

It was the annual Coffee & Chocolate Affair at the Portside Wharf Boutique Markets today :) It was a lovely morning meeting lots of designers and checking out their work, drooling over beautiful looking chocolate and finding a new favourite necklace.

mmmmmmm

Pear and the Awkward Orchestra

Necklace from hot toffee