Daniel & Rufus
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danielrufus.bsky.social
Daniel & Rufus
@danielrufus.bsky.social
Retired Internist 🩺. Former microbiologist 🔬. Army veteran, medic '70s.

Grow veggies 🌱🍅🧄🫛, fruits 🍓🍎🍇, flowers🌸🥀🌻. Quilting🧵.

Sarcoma survivor.

Dogs are gifts from heaven 🐾

History autodidact 📚

#quilting #GIST #quiltsky #BattleGroundWA 🪷
Started reading fascinating "American Midnight" by Adam Hochschild, on the Bookshop app. The history is remote. It seems there's a lot of "history rhyming" with today's culture / politics / events. Compelling writing. I will also need some lighter reading. #booksky #AmericanHistory #History
November 18, 2025 at 2:57 PM
I just finished reading Randy Shilts' book "Conduct Unbecoming" on the Kobo app. Published 1993. Quite a difficult read, important. Heinous behavior by officials & leaders. Glad I read it but need to move on / read something lighter or more remote. #booksky #AmericanHistory #LGBT #veterans
November 18, 2025 at 2:46 PM
A mushroom growing in the yard, under a spruce tree. My guess is fly agaric, Amanita muscaria. Second photo is two days ago. First photo is today. I will not be tasting this one. #fungi #mushrooms #AliceInWonderland #NorthwestFungi
November 18, 2025 at 12:53 AM
There's a gigantic mushroom growing out of this dead poplar tree trunk! #fungi #mushrooms
November 18, 2025 at 12:46 AM
From the old photo box, this time my own past. I have more photos of my grandfather's Army year than of my own 3 years. I was a medic. I believed, then, in what I was doing. Teenagers can have a clarity of purpose, unclouded by decades of living. I was very lucky. #ArmyService #soldier #1970s
November 18, 2025 at 12:45 AM
Today is Veterans Day. Originally meant to honor those who sacrificed in WWI, and later for all US military veterans.

The poem is by Wilfred Owen, who returned to the trenches and was killed there. It symbolizes the old sending the young to war. #VeteransDay #Veterans #War
November 11, 2025 at 4:32 PM
From my local newspaper, the SNAP food situation is confusing. It looks like some states will cover the differences.

www.columbian.com/news/2025/no...

#SNAP
Food aid getting to SNAP recipients in some states
People in some U.S. states were able to buy groceries with federally funded SNAP benefits this weekend, while those elsewhere are still waiting for November food benefits delayed by a protracted legal
www.columbian.com
November 10, 2025 at 1:10 AM
African Violet starts, mostly from last summer. Some are much better growers, than others. Starting from pups (suckers) seems faster than from a leaf, but both work even for a novice like me #AfricanViolets
November 9, 2025 at 7:14 PM
Last summer I sold some furniture and a sewing machine via the internet. I set aside the money for a treat. So now I spent some for another contribution to the county food bank. Mostly generic so the $ goes further. I hope it helps. #SNAP #Donation #RandomKindness #Kindness
November 9, 2025 at 7:04 PM
This is as true as any words ever written. Siegfried Sassoon knew my soul, many decades before my birth. #dogsky
One for all the canophiles 🐾

• Siegfried Sassoon •
November 6, 2025 at 12:04 AM
I sometimes give garden produce to the county food bank. Never more than a few cars there.

Today I gave a load of groceries as noted in my prior post. Swamped! Parking lot was packed. Not a single empty space. Cars circling around.

Also a giver in front of me & one behind me. 🙏 #kindness #SNAP
November 3, 2025 at 9:30 PM
About the most moving thing I've read about war. Heart-rending.

bsky.app/profile/area...

#war ##soldiers #jingoism
Siegfried Sassoon (1917)
November 3, 2025 at 9:08 PM
Today I loaded up on food items at Winco to give to the local food pantry. Mostly canned goods - chili, beans, chicken, tuna. & dry milk, a couple doz. eggs, some tortillas. about $100. Took to food pantry but they are closed till Mon. Will go then. #kindness

apnews.com/article/gove...
SNAP benefits cut off during shutdown, driving long lines at food pantries
Long lines have formed at food pantries across the U.S. as federal food benefits were cut off due to the government shutdown.
apnews.com
November 1, 2025 at 10:22 PM
While at the grocery store, I noticed their boxes of tulip bulbs. Three bulbs per box, so not really cheap but not bad. I bought one of each type. Planted in a large container. 🌱 #Gardening
November 1, 2025 at 10:13 PM
Collecting more tree leaves for #kitchengarden mulch.

Covering beds now, means almost weed-free through the winter.

Nice to think, I planted the trees that gifted their leaves, fifteen years ago.

These are linden. Also collecting maple persimmon, horse chestnut leaves. 🌱 #gardening
November 1, 2025 at 1:40 AM
Rufus sitting next to a big #mushroom. #dogsky #Rufus
November 1, 2025 at 12:33 AM
Seeds for next year's garden. I like to buy in fall. I didn't save any this year, unusual for me. This time I'll try hybrid, determinate, slicing tomatoes because my saved seed ones didn't do well at all. It looks like a lot of seeds but I am actually downsizing LOL. 🌱 #gardening #gardensky
October 31, 2025 at 1:32 AM
Today I made keto pumpkin pie, using cooked puree from a garden pumpkin. The main differences - crust is almond flour, egg, xanthan gum, butter. Filling used monkfruit instead of sugar, cream instead of condensed milk. Pretty good, a bit soft. We'll see if fridge firms it up. #keto #PumpkinPie
October 30, 2025 at 2:53 AM
It doesn't look like much, but I planted the last two rows of garlic in a raised bed, and covered the soil with old leaf mulch. The mulch helps tremendously keeping weeds from growing, and regulates soil moisture.

I wanted this done before Nov 1, so I think they will grow OK. 🌱 #gardening
October 30, 2025 at 1:43 AM
Postcard from the old photo box, dated 1908. Billie Sunday was a highly successful, major evangelist in his time. Caption states "Break away from the old crowd or go to hell". #vintagephotos
October 29, 2025 at 6:46 PM
I think about these words. I don't think one needs to belong to a particular faith tradition, sect, culture, or tribe for this to resonate. But if someone professes belief and acts in the opposite way, I don't believe they are sincere.

#kindness

bsky.app/profile/zand...
Another day of mourning this broken world.

It seems the right time to quote a man who was mocked and then executed by a corrupt empire and its so-called “righteous” supporters because of his uncomfortable position comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable.
October 29, 2025 at 6:23 PM
I don't know how many people know this. You can mute posts that contain selected words or names. Use the moderation tab in the settings.

I, like many, feel smothered by certain names or words in the news and on other media. I am plenty informed. I just don't want all that, 24/7.
October 29, 2025 at 6:09 PM
The final rose of the year. I lost the name. I thought it was "American Classic" or might be "Red Masterpeice ". It's 25 years old. Highly vigorous. 🌱 #roses #gardening
October 28, 2025 at 11:02 PM
Postcard from the old photo box. A scene in Nagasaki, from my grandfather en route to the Philippine Islands in 1908. The Philippine-American war was of Americans most forgotten wars, and should not be. Sort of the Vietnam-American war's grandfather. See alt text. #VintagePostcard #Nagasaki
October 28, 2025 at 9:27 PM
Along todays dog walk. #FallLeaves #AutumnColors #Fungi #Mushrooms more in alt text
October 28, 2025 at 9:02 PM