Anyone for Guinness?, originally uploaded by Blazingstar.

Hey everybody!

Isn’t this an awesome photo? And definitely in the spirit of St. Patrick’s day, isn’t it!

Blazingstar took this awesome shot, & I hope you enjoy it!

What do you mean, I’ve got it on the wrong foot?, originally uploaded by deirdrej.

Hi, everybody!

I loved Birgitte’s red clog picture so much that it inspired me to post my own red clog picture, as you see.

But I’m not going to write much, today. There’s either too much news or too little…..

‘Til later… Enjoy the day, everyone!

Hi, everybody!

 I hope those who celebrate had a wonderful Christmas yesterday! Tonight, I just wanted to let you know that the latest Mount Kisco Library podcast is up and running!  Here’s an illustration that encapsulates it.

 

Barack Obama poses with Baby, a white poodle, in front of the Lincoln Memorial.

I think at this point everyone knows that there will soon be a puppy in the White House. Many of the young people I work with thought it would be this puppy, because of this photo, which has been circulating on the internet for a while now. Being a librarian, though, I did a little research, and discovered that the photo is a book illustration. Here is the book:

 

"A Rare Breed of Love," by Jana Kohl

I got in touch with Ms. Kohl through her publishers, and she graciously agreed to talk to me and several students. We learned an amazing amount, not just about Baby, Ms. Kohl’s poodle, but also about puppy mills and what we can do to stop them! If you would like to listen to the show, here is the link.

Enjoy!

, originally uploaded by trisheroverton.

I’m starting this blog with another beautiful photo, taken by trisherverton, of a little snowbird on a cedar branch. Just yesterday, I was up at my parents’ watching a large flock of these dark eyed juncos, and one fat gray squirrel, hunting for seeds in the ice and snow. And today it is like spring again — and I’m back at work. That’s November for you!

Anyway, I hope that everyone who celebrates had a wonderful Thanksgiving and a lovely First Sunday of Advent. And that everybody had a great weekend.

Now that we’re all back, I thought I’d address the Youth of Mount Kisco’s most pressing question lately. Here it is:

Are the newts girls or boys?

Well, it can be tricky to tell with newts sometimes, especially if they are young, as ours appear to be. But I’ve done a bit of research (of course, I wanted to know, too!) And here’s how you tell.

1. Find out what kind of newts you have. With some species of newts, sex differences are very subtle. But we are lucky, as we have Chinese fire bellied newts!

2. The cloaca of a male Chinese fire bellied newt will be larger and rounder than that of a female.

3. Therefore, I can deduce that Lazy and Crazy are both boys. (Unless I am sadly mistaken — which could happen! ).

4. But, I’m fairly certain I’m right. And if you would like a fuller explanation, with great photographs, check out Jennifer Macke’s Web site on sexing caudates. It’s a wonderful site, with clear explanations and great photos — well worth a visit!

So that’s it for this afternoon! Keep checking back for more news of
Lazy and Crazy — or let me know what else you might like me to write about!

~D.