Saturday Yard Work

Posted on April 14, 2018 by vanbraman

With spring here and with warmer weather it means that I have to spend more time working in the yard. Saturday is my day for yard work, and I was able to get some done today.

Yard work, mowing, tall grass, Saturday choresHere you can tell that I really need to mow the yard. This is two weeks growth, so I will have to start mowing every week now. I need to do a bit of weed control as there is a big weed patch next door now.

Spring Tree, tree trimming, yard workAfter I finished mowing it was time to do some work on one of my trees. There was a lot of misplaced growth on the tree.

Tree branches, yard work, tree trimmingI cut off a lot of limbs from the tree. The tree is actually not in the best place and I have to be careful that it does not grow in the wrong direction toward the house. In fact, I may think of taking out the tree entirely, but not just yet.

In this picture you can see an unfinished project that I started working on a long time ago. I need to get back to it 🙂

See: Walkway Expansion

tree trimming, yard work, Saturday chores, treeThe tree now looks a bit better, however I will really need to keep an eye on it throughout the year and keep it trimmed.

Rainbow, Sprinklers, Yard WorkUsually a rainbow is the sign that my yard work is done as one of the last tasks is to run the sprinklers through a cycle so that I can check all the sprinkler heads. I only had to adjust one of them today, but I have a few that may need to be replaced sometime later this year.

Then it was time to run errands. Luckily I still had enough time to get to the library.

Did you work in your yard today?

Steven

 

Posted in California, Nature, Seasons, Yard Work | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Jane on the Brain

Posted on April 13, 2018 by vanbraman

I recently read a very interesting Jane Austen related book.

Jane on the Brain, Jane Austen, Wendy Jones, Social IntelligenceJane on the Brain: Exploring the Science of Social Intelligence with Jane Austen by Wendy Jones takes a look at different aspects of social intelligence by using Austen characters as examples.

The author does a great job of explaining different social traits using this method. Many people are very familiar with characters from Jane Austen.

Jane Austen, penguin classics. Pride and Predjudice Some people have read all the Jane Austen books. Here is the Austen section of my Penguin Popular Classics collection. I am missing Persuasion as I have not found a copy in this imprint yet. I do have a different edition of the book in my library, so I am not totally missing Persuasion.

Jane Austen Books, Penguin Popular Classics, Jane on the Brain, Wendy JonesIn Jane on the Brain the author explores the underlying science of love, joy, sorrow, attraction, narcissism and many other emotions and conditions.

Can you picture Darcy as an introvert? You will after reading her analysis.

Those of you who are familiar with the Austen books can probably name a character who is either extroverted or is a narcissist.

Jane Austen, BBC Movies, Pride and Predjudice, Emma, Jane AustenSome people know the Austen characters from the many movies or mini-series that have been filmed about the books. The BBC series is one of the most popular. While flying back from Canada last month I watched Emma. When I got home I decided that I had to read Emma again. Of course, I just had to go to my Penguin series book shelf. As often is the case, the book was again better than the movie.

Pride and Predjudice, Colin Firth, Jane Austen, Austen Movies, Jane on the BrainOf course, some of the books have had multiple movies made of them. I have three different versions of Pride and Prejudice. Each of them have specific scenes that I really like. I also often listen to the soundtrack of the Keira Knightly (2005) version as it is in iTunes on my computer.

I really enjoyed some of the insight that the author provided and have actually been able to apply a bit of what I have learned in a couple of social situations.

I also just have to go back and read a few parts before it goes back to the library. I may even have to acquire a copy for quick reference.

If you want an interesting book that will help you learn more about social intelligence and you are a Jane Austen fan, then this is definitely a book you should read.

I will close with a question: Who is your favorite Austen character?

Steven

 

Posted in Books, Culture | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments