(no subject)

It was a fairly pleasant weekend, despite it being warm. I couldn't think of anything to do on Saturday outside that wasn't in the sun, so i ended up sitting on the screened porch going through a year's worth of photos on my phone.  I spent some time on Sunday at my parents with my sister's family and her husband's sister's family. Cousins at play! Altogether not a gathering where you have much time with folks: my mother is delighted to have people gathered and she isolates herself in preparations. My dad is beginning to appreciate that she's happy, even though she's not actually spending time with anyone. 

The king size comforter sat in the large bath tub long enough that one of the cats "did his business" on it. It's been taken to a nearby cleaner for a $40+ cleaning. Next year -- if we use it -- it will be cared for more promptly. But what a hassle. My grandmother also had a feather duvet with a simple cover. *THAT* is a practical item. I might look for a heavier duty cover for it and skip using this maroon/burgundy satin thing altogether. 

Slugger, of Slugger & Louise, our cardinals, is showing around his fledgling son. I do hope he doesn't teach Junior to attack his reflection while sitting on the car  & truck side view mirrors. 

My laptop is unexpectedly shutting down once again. I count myself incredibly lucky that i got a decent backup yesterday. Now it's just the hassle of getting to the apple store. I've turned that into a visit with my sister plus a dog outing. Yay. 

List of things i want to research that aren't my job:

1. Plant IDs
   1. Tree that i've thought of as a "cherry" that probably isn't in the rose family, now that i've seen the inflorescence.
   2. a DYC Dad has observed spreading in his pasture. It looks pretty much like a hawkweed, but a single dandelion-like blossom.
   3. a borage family flower growing under the dead tree of heaven
   4. a composite growing in the glade with white aster-like flowers
2. Grace
   1. Did early Quakers write of grace?
   2. What concept of grace was around in England pre Cromwell?

Oh and also

My brother in law told me about a research paper on making tea. In the microwave.

I'm happy to see this is about green tea. Although what is this "bag" they speak of?

".... Dr Quan Vuong, a researcher at Australia’s University of Newcastle, is the primary antagonist here.

Back in 2012, he actually looked into microwaving (green) tea and what it would do to the compounds inside the leaves. Based on careful chemical analyses, Vuong’s study concluded that the method above extracted far more nutrients than any other. The actions of Tennant’s fictional detective just brought the paper to light again." -- http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/best-way-make-tea-microwave-according-science/

official site - http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfca.2012.06.001 - http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0889157512000828

available at https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Quan_Vuong2/publication/257273267_Improved_extraction_of_green_tea_components_from_teabags_using_the_microwave_oven/links/541c0e6c0cf2218008c4e3f4.pdf

I'd also found a related paper, Efficient extraction strategies of tea (Camellia sinensis)
biomolecules, http://doi.org/10.1007/s13197-014-1487-3 -- but this paper tut-tuts the value of caffeine. Harumph.


Meanwhile, Zotero, where most content like this is now being recorded, isn't working with the browser plug in to automatically generate the citation record. Harumph.