This is a red letter day, because the chickens have produced a triple play. Three brown eggs were in the coup this morning, and in spite of my close interrogation, all the hens plead innocence.

Not to worry, as long as they keep this up all year, there is no chance of starving. Good job team cluck!

U.S. army personnel send a love letter to the Taliban from a forward observation post in Kunar, eastern Afghanistan.

My dad, God rest his soul, used to take pleasure in pointing out these cloud formations when I was a teen, calling them alto-cumulus mammatus, and then asking me to see if I could guess why they had that name. Ha, ha, adolescent fun for all.

Anyway, if you see them, they predict rain, and form when larger, heavier droplets begin to fall down from the layer of cloud above.

These dramatic examples were photographed over the Olympic Valley, California.

This picture proves that no matter how profoundly ugly your dad is, if your mom is fine, you have a chance to be tolerable enough. The woman on the right is Jerry Hall, and the chick on the left is her daughter by famous ugly man Mick Jagger, Georgia May Jagger. She should thank God almighty that she takes after her mom.

Check out the incredible snowpack that was piled on the Sierras in just the last couple of days. The first picture below was taken on February 16. Take notice of the three trees on the left, then glance down to the bottom photo taken today. Only the very top of one tree can still be seen over the massive mound of fresh snow that has landed on the mountains in the past day or so. You can barely see Half Dome. I don't ever think I have seen snow piled so high from this web cam, and so quickly. Impressive!

Saturday porch pictures.

Does this old 1911 have a hole at the end of the slide? Why yes it does.

The story is that during the battle on Iwo Jima, a Japanese sniper took aim at a young American Marine. After passing through his wrist, the bullet was mostly stopped by the Colt 1911 he was wearing on his hip, no doubt saving his life. It has been in the soldiers family ever since.

What a great family relic! Read the whole story here.

Marko Peltola made this dramatic image of the northern lights in Finland this month.

A massive, world record Gar caught by a fisherman in Louisiana. 8 foot 5 inches and 327 pounds, but a 175 pound fisherman, all alone, managed to wrestle it into his boat by his lonesome. He said it was so cold the fish was very lethargic, otherwise it simply wouldn't have been possible.

This world record fish is estimated to be 50 to 70 years old.

And that ain't no fish story!

This sort of foolish, childish behavior is not good for our republic. I cannot over emphasize how concerned this makes me. Party leaders, presumably adults, have made the decision to do this.

What else will they do? Where is the line?

Interesting post on a gold mining forum. This guy was sweeping with a metal detector several hundred yards from an old mining camp when he got a strong signal. He dug up this old can filled with nuggets, clearly someone's old stash. It was likely buried away from camp for safe keeping, and it was, since it wasn't found again for over a hundred and some odd years. Too safe, clearly.

One wonders why the miner never came back to claim the treasure.

Shazaam! Here is egg number 2 (the brown one) with the newest arrival, egg number 3, which is greenish like No. 1. Those chickens are starting to really get to it. Go team clucker!

A very atmospheric view today of Half Dome from Glacier point at Yosemite National Park in California. The more snow the better.

Mars, the red planet. Named for the god of war. It's barren surface lashed by planet wide dust storms that last for months, it is a forbidding and lifeless environment. Below is the last picture sent back to Earth by NASA's Martian rover Opportunity before all communication with the home planet was cut off by the advance of the Martian winter. A vision never before seen by Earthlings.

Oh wait. That's not really true.

It's really only a picture of a common rock taken by the 15 year old on a dirt road near our home.

But you gotta admit that is sounded better in the first telling....

Well, wet and rainy weather is perfect for stew making, and the cast iron pot is the way to do it. What to call this concoction is up in the air, but the like of it has never been seen. First, some cube steak cut into bite sized pieces are on the iron and browning, and while that is going on, the below ingredients are prepared. Red onion, beets, parsnips, mushrooms all made a unique combination.

Now that the meat is browned and the beef broth, tomato cubes and red wine is boiling, into the iron go the vegetables.

The family dog is lured into the vicinty by the fabulous aroma. To bad she won't be getting her own bowl.

Here is the "masterpiece" up on the stove, ready for feasting. Fine food for a frosty evening.

For more cooking fun, take a stroll over here. You will like it.