Begun, the Vanilla Extract Project Has.

I remember reading on Facebook that vanilla extract for cooking is dead easy to make at home, all that is needed are vanilla beans and a source of alcohol to infuse them in. The recipes call for vodka for this task, but say that rum or even bourbon can be substituted. I chose white rum. Here's a pic on Day One:

I'll post an updated pic every 30 days or so.

Denoument To the Bradford Pear Problem

In my last post we saw a Bradford Pear tree branch that shed from the tree and partially blocked the road. Since then, this happened:

This was on 6 July. I was in the house at the time, and in fact had just woken up; the tree branch came to rest on the roof above my bedroom. I wasn't hurt, nor was the roof damaged. We notified the landlord, and rather than get rid of the Hell Trees entirely, he paid for this:

Not the best solution in my opinion, but better than doing nothing, and this will result in far fewer leaves to blow in the front yard this fall, and we can get a better lawn next spring by planting Bermuda grass seed, which loves sun more than the current fescue grass does.