scrap from a handwritten page. Written in copperplate is the date February 2, 1910

What was Dr. Hess’s Poultry Panacea?

One of the side effects of having wildfires reach within a dozen miles of your home is that it tends to focus your mind on completing…

black t-shirt with words "Vote: Declare yourself" on it

Election 2020 is upon us. Do you have a plan to vote?

I promise not to make political posts a regular event on this blog, but voting is a civic duty, not simply a political one. In this post, I’ll tell you about some resources that can help you make voting as easy as possible for you and the other voters in your family.

Wordless Wednesday: The best part of remote learning is getting to have lunch with your cat

School is underway here at Caterpickles Central. On the first day back to school, Canelo joined The Thirteen-Year-Old for lunch to hear all about it.

Pandemic Diary 17 August 2020: My Shelter-in-Place Birthday

My birthday looked pretty different this year due to shelter-in-place, but I still loved every minute of it.

Photo of me wearing a no-sew mask made from one of my husband's old t-shirts.

I tried 6 easy homemade face mask patterns. Here’s what happened.

There are a ton of handmade mask patterns out there. Luckily my habit of starting and abandoning various crafting projects has left me with a generous supply of quilting fabric, bias tape, elastic, thread, bandanas, old t-shirts, and flannel lying around the house. So I decided to put those raw materials to work by making and reviewing 6 so-called “easy” cloth face mask patterns.

Tweet from Dan Rather (@DanRather) reads: "Another day of uncertainty, tragedy. There's a feeling: Are those of us not deemed "essential" doing enough? Are we spending time productively? A reminder: Any day we don't get infected or infect others, that we protect our health system from being more burdened, is a good day."

Caterpickles Central Update

It’s been 33 days since we began sheltering in place. I suppose I should be using this time to write the next great American novel or taking my daughter’s education to the next level. Instead, I’m leaning into the idea that now is a great time to teach The 13-Year-Old some life skills, like how to manager her own schoolwork, clean her own bathroom, wash her own clothes, and regularly vacuum the chair(s) she likes to snack in.

Bird of Paradise flower with an extra set of petals. Actually, maybe make that two extra sets?

What happens now?

We’ve been home for a while, and I’m starting to think about how Caterpickles can be helpful in this time.

light hanging from a deck roof against a very blue sky

“Why do Silicon Valley companies have such large stockpiles of masks?”

We are on Day 14 of The Howells All Being Home At Once. I hope you and your family are still doing as well as can be expected. Here, we’ve been reading stories about tech companies donating thousands and in some cases millions of N95 masks, and found ourselves wondering … Why do Silicon Valley companies have such large stockpiles of N95 masks anyway?

"Will the FDIC really arrest me for an unpaid debt?"

We are on Day 8 of The Howells All Being Home At Once, and Day 4 of Santa Clara County Residents All Huddled Up Together in Their Separate Spaces. Today’s installment includes a warning about a new financial scam, a follow-up to a previous pandemic project, and other notes from our attempt to shelter in place. Stay safe out there, y’all.

“Can we take our cat to the vet while we're under a shelter-in-place order?”

We are on Day Seven of The Howells All Being Home At Once, and Day Three of Santa Clara County Residents All Huddled Up Together in Their Separate Spaces. Today’s installment includes what I’ve learned about accessing veterinary care for our cat, our current pandemic project, and other notes from our attempt to shelter in place.