This photograph is from the Library of Congress and pictures Mrs. Stanley McCormick and Mrs. Charles Parker. It was taken April 22, 1913.

I find it interesting that neither woman had a first name. Actually such referrals were the norm well into the 60's I imagine. I offer it in honor of the silly discussions I'm having at Catholic Forums wherein a small segment of men and women decry the "feminist" movement and blame it for every ill they now perceive in society. One can but imagine how courageous some of these women had to be in order stand up and demand the vote. No doubt some faced fierce opposition even from their husbands. We owe them a debt of thanks.

I understand that this deluge of water is to be followed by fairly cold temperatures by the end of the weekend. This miserable winter/spring will go down undoubtedly as one of the worst in Iowa's history. I guess Waterloo really got it, some places getting over 5 inches of water. The trees are fairly bursting with leaves about to explode from their tightly furled buds. Daffodils are in huge clumps to the north and east of the house. I'd go and pick a bunch, but the standing water everywhere tends to dampen my ardor for spring flowers. Perhaps a bit later today, if the rains truely have abated.

I decided not to start the next cleaning project today. The living room is next as I avoid the kitchen. I've tearing apart all the cabinets in there and reorganizing. The living room presents other difficulties since we are still burning wood and so I have to avoid the stove and wood cart and the environs around them. But I figure every bit I do is one less thing to have to do later. Tomorrow I'll start somewhere and begin. So I spent a bit more time on dinner which today is roasted pork loin with roasted potatoes, steamed broccoli, and salad. I did a marinade for the meat consisting of garlic, dijohn mustard, lemon juice, olive oil, rosemary, salt and pepper. I figure about 1 hour at 425o. I'll just do a light vinagarette for the salad.

Please let me know about what countries you would like to see featured in the new segment on blogs around the world. It will take me a week or so to acquire enough to fill a daily post, but other than hot spots around the globe such as the Middle East, Pakistan, Tibet, etc., I'm not sure who else to include. I am not searching for just political blogs but also just daily life blogs. I thought it would be fun to see what other lives are like. It has been my firm belief that at its core every human being wants about the same things in life, the basics and some opportunity for leisure activities and most important the chance for their kids to do better. I really appreciate your input and your comments. They both help direct me, and invigorate a flailing dedication which we all fall subject to from time to time.

Well, it's Friday, and you know you can't wait for what I have found today. I know I can't!

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101 Cookbooks has a wonderful Spring Ragout. She uses fava beans, peas, and asparagus. She offers you several ways to use it. She has lovely lucious pictures, and she has a delightfully warm prose to accompany it all. I'd say that that makes it a winner in my book. Take a look.

This blog is not short because I was too busy today. I spent nearly five hours and it was unusually long. Blogger decided that it would not work at all today. It saved almost none of my work, failed to alert me that it was not saving any of it. It failed to alert me that my labels were over 200. No matter how many I removed that would not go out. I tried to go to edit, and when I did, I found the entire blog missing. I don't have the the time or the temperament now to redo it. It had some wonderful information, sadly. I'm looking at Wordpress again. Much as I hate that I can't have all my bells and whistles, I know people don't have these ridiculous problems there. They also have an attentive and helpful "Help" group, which they don't have at Blogger either. I'm just not sure what I am going to do, but I'm pretty much fit to be tied right now. Sorry folks. I'll do what I can to get back on track as soon as I can.