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I spotted these beautiful Iceland Poppy's enjoying the morning sunshine in Plainville Ma.

Poppy's are one of my favorite flowers.

Info:

The Iceland Poppy (Papaver nudicaule syn. Papaver croceum, P. amurense, P. miyabeanum, and P. macounii) is a boreal flowering plant. Native to subpolar regions of northern Europe and North America, Iceland poppies are hardy but short-lived perennials, often grown as biennials, that yield large, papery, bowl-shaped, lightly fragrant flowers supported by hairy, one foot, curved stems among feathery blue-green foliage 1-6 inches long. They were first described by botanists in 1759. The wild species blooms in white or yellow, and is hardy from USDA Zones 3a-10b. All parts of this plant are likely to be poisonous, containing (like all poppies) toxic alkaloids. In particular, P. nudicaule has been shown to contain the benzophenanthidine alkaloid, chelidonine.

I recently made a return visit to Five Guys in Foxboro Ma for lunch and came away happy and full with my burger.

I had a cheeseburger with lettuce tomatoes, mushrooms and onions. This time i had a single as a double burger was too much for me. It was very good.

269 Patriot PI
Foxborough, MA 02035-5101
(508) 203-9441

Info:

Five Guys is a fast casual restaurant chain that originated in Arlington, Virginia. The chain sells mainly hamburgers, hot dogs, and French fries.

Five Guys was founded in 1986 by Janie and Jerry Murrell and their four sons (with Jerry and the sons being the original "Five Guys") Jerry and Janie had a fifth son two years after opening their first restaurant; all five sons, Matt, Jim, Chad, Ben and Tyler, the current "Five Guys", are now involved in the business. Matt and Jim travel the country visiting stores, Chad oversees training, Ben selects the franchisees, and Tyler runs the bakery. The first location, which no longer exists, was in the Westmont Shopping Center on Columbia Pike at Glebe Road. Buns were baked by Brenner's Bakery of Arlington Inc., which was owned and operated by Gino E. Pellegrino and located in the same shopping center. Brenner's made all the rolls by hand until 2001.

In 2002, there were six locations in Northern Virginia run by the family. The restaurants had gained popularity among locals, and the Murrells decided to franchise the stores. The Murrells began franchising their concept with the help of Fransmart, a franchise sales organization started by Dan Rowe, located in Alexandria, Virginia. Former Washington Redskins kicker Mark Moseley, who had gone to work for Fransmart after his football career, played a key role in the sales of franchises, and went on to become Five Guys' director of franchise development after the Murrells ended their business relationship with Fransmart.

As of April 2011, there are more than 750 locations across 40 states and in the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec.

I found this giant orange mushroom sprouting along the banks of the Blackstone River Bikeway in Cumberland R.I. last year in late summer.

This orange and interesting mushroom was so big i put a penny on it for a bit of size comparing.

I am not sure as to what type of mushroom this is.

Info:

Omphalotus olearius, commonly known as the Jack o'Lantern mushroom, is an orange- to yellow-gill mushroom that to an untrained eye appears similar to some chanterelles, and is most notable for its bioluminescent properties. Unlike the chanterelle, the Jack o'Lantern mushroom is poisonous. While not lethal, consuming this mushroom leads to very severe cramps, vomiting, and diarrhea. Complicating its toxicity is the fact that it smells and looks very appealing, to the extent that there are reports of repeat poisonings from individuals who were tempted to try them a second time.

The Jack o'Lantern mushroom's fruiting body (its stem and cap) is an orange color. Its bioluminescence, a blue-green color, is only observable in low light conditions when the eye becomes dark-adapted. The whole mushroom doesn't glow — only the gills do so. This is due to an enzyme, called luciferase, acting upon a compound called luciferin, leading to the emission of light much as fireflies do when glowing.

The poisonous chemical compound illudin was isolated from omphalotus illudens. Inside the cells of the body, it reacts with DNA and creates a type of DNA damage that blocks the transcription process. This block can only be relieved by a repair system called nucleotide excision repair. Damages in non-transcribed DNA areas are left unrepaired by the cell. This property was exploited by the company MGI Pharma to develop an illudin-derivative called Irofulven for use as an anti-cancer medicine. Its application is still in the experimental phase.

While stopping in North Attleboro Ma, Klohe the cat decided that a shopping bag made for a nice bed. She refused to give it up and probably is still in it today.

Info:

The cat (Felis catus), also known as the domestic cat or housecat to distinguish it from other felids and felines, is a small, usually furry, domesticated, carnivorous mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and for its ability to hunt vermin and household pests. Cats have been associated with humans for at least 9,500 years, and are currently the most popular pet in the world. Owing to their close association with humans, cats are now found almost everywhere in the world.

Cats are similar in anatomy to the other felids, with strong, flexible bodies, quick reflexes, sharp retractable claws, and teeth adapted to killing small prey. As nocturnal predators, cats use their acute hearing and ability to see in near darkness to locate prey. Not only can cats hear sounds too faint for human ears, they can also hear sounds higher in frequency than humans can perceive. This is because the usual prey of cats (particularly rodents such as mice) make high frequency noises, so the hearing of the cat has evolved to pinpoint these faint high-pitched sounds. Cats also have a much better sense of smell than humans.

Despite being solitary hunters, cats are a social species and use a variety of vocalizations, pheromones and types of body language for communication. These include meowing, purring, trilling, hissing, growling, and grunting.

Cats have a rapid breeding rate. Under controlled breeding, they can be bred and shown as registered pedigree pets, a hobby known as cat fancy. Failure to control the breeding of pet cats by spaying and neutering and the abandonment of former household pets has resulted in large numbers of feral cats worldwide, with a population of up to 60 million of these animals in the United States alone.

As The New York Times wrote in 2007, "Until recently the cat was commonly believed to have been domesticated in ancient Egypt, where it was a cult animal", but a study that year revealed that the lines of descent of all house cats probably run through as few as five self-domesticating African Wildcats (Felis silvestris lybica) c. 8000 BC, in the Near East. The earliest direct evidence of cat domestication is a kitten that was buried alongside a human 9,500 years ago in Cyprus.

I took this capture of a interesting looking stick figure named Jake in front of the store Life is Good at the Patriot Place Mall in Foxboro Ma on a beautiful spring day.

Info:

Life is good, Inc. is a New England–based apparel and accessories wholesaler, retailer, and lifestyle brand founded in 1994 and best known for its optimistic T-shirts and hats, many of which feature a smiling stick figure named Jake and the registered trademark "Life is good."

In 1989 brothers Bert and John Jacobs designed their first T-shirts. They began selling their designs in the streets of Boston and out of an old van at colleges and street fairs along the East Coast of the United States. In 1994, following a not-so-successful road trip, they returned to Boston, unsure of the future of their business. It was their common practice to gather friends at their apartment following such trips to share stories and to ask their friends to comment on drawings and sayings posted on their living room walls. On this occasion, one drawing received considerable favorable attention from their friends: the head of a beret-wearing, smiling stick figure and the phrase "Life is good." The brothers named the character Jake and printed up 48 shirts bearing a smiling Jake and the words "Life is good." At a street fair in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the shirts sold out in less than an hour. The brothers began to sell T-shirts and hats featuring Jake in local stores. Demand for the merchandise grew quickly, as did national recognition of the brand.

Life is good expanded its product lines from T-shirts and caps in the early years to a full line of apparel for men, women, and children, as well as an increasing number of accessories categories. They offer over 900 different items in 14 categories. Products are sold online via the company's web site, in approximately 4,500 retail stores in the U.S. and in 30 countries.

Today, Life is good products are sold in approximately 4,500 retail stores in all 50 states in the United States as well as in 30 countries worldwide. The brand is distributed through multiple customer channels, including outdoor, sporting goods, lifestyle, gift shops, spas, and health and fitness. There are also 114 Genuine Neighborhood Shoppes (GNS) in the United States, independently owned stores that sell exclusively Life is good products. In addition, the company operates five retail stores and a successful online direct-to-consumer business. The first independently owned Canadian Genuine Neighborhood Shoppe, called Jake by the Lake opened in Westport, Ontario on April 4, 2008.