Driad

The good: less Bailey than usual. The bad: everything else. My favorite parts: my glass of wine, the book I was reading, and the nice nap afterward. Were we supposed to recognize the prisoner with the books? If so, who was he?

FJ seemed familiar. Have they had a Castor & Pollux question in the past?

The big yellow prop snake was pretty convincing, since the actors mostly kept moving. Prop snakes that size are expensive, so there are probably companies that rent them out.

Thank you, that makes sense from a production standpoint (i.e. Doylist). But I was curious about the character Eliza's choice (i.e. Watsonian).

Why does Eliza wear her hair in such an elaborate style? She doesn't wear evening gowns when other women do, so why not a simpler hair style? At first I guessed that Ivy did Eliza's hair, but it looks the same when Ivy is away. Maybe Eliza learned how to do that style and finds it easier to do it that way.

Heathen, are you the same Heathen who used to review ER episodes on [web site whose name I don't remember]? If so, I hope your, ah, toes are doing well.

4/5 (said Portugal on Tuesday). Wednesday's game mentioned nachos, so I'll bring the makings, including salsas of varying hotness.

I dislike Campbell's or other canned tomato soup because the main flavor I taste is cornstarch. Homemade tomato soup (with appropriate herbs) can be very good.

Later time and higher class, but IIRC on Downton Abbey, one of the daughters went to the kitchen and wanted to cook something or learn how, much to the consternation of the kitchen staff.

Re what Paige is doing, there must be options for a youngster who has completed high school but is not ready for college and is too young to get a job. There are a few colleges that have special programs for such students, but maybe not at that time in Texas. Maybe a specialized school that concentrates on music (or something else that interests Paige) and has students roughly her age?

Going by my own autosomal DNA results, I suspect that if she clicked on "European" the screen would list the varieties of European that she has. Possibly since she has six categories of African, plus European and Asian, someone decided that listing all the categories would make the graphic too complicated.

Speaking of hats, there was a scene of Oskar and a higher ranking man. When the higher-up dismissed him, Oskar put his hat on before he left the office. Was that a demonstration of not quite as much respect as the higher-up expected?

Hoping someone can correct the spelling of Isaac in the episode title. adTHANKSvance!

He was going to Hull? If my web search result was correct, that is in Yorkshire, so he might be close enough for an occasional visit.

If Tristan's main goal was to get out from under Siegfried's shadow, maybe he could have moved to some other place that needs a veterinarian. Someone could at least have mentioned that possibility. Siegfried's and Tristan's parents must have been fans of Wagner operas. My knowledge of Wagner is mostly from Anna Russell's Wagner's Ring Cycle (1950s) in which she did all four operas in 20 minutes instead of 20 hours. Her description of Wagner's Siegfried: "He's very young, and he's very strong, and he's very brave, and he's very stupid. He's a regular Li'l Abner type." (Wagner's Siegfried's parents were brother and sister, so he didn't have the genetic options that Siegfried Farnon did.)

2/5, I'm sinking fast. Bringing a variety of beverages (alcoholic and not) so everyone can drink deep.

Sasappis has been in the house much longer than he was alive. He is quite bright, and as a storyteller he must have an excellent memory. Maybe at some point (after he learned English) he saw one of the other ghosts reading something (maybe a Living had left a newspaper around, or a book open), asked about it, and got lessons in reading.

George was probably thinking, "If there is justice in the universe, your kid will be just like you."

To test a human, they inject a small amount of fluid (called tuberculin) into the skin of the arm. After 2-3 days, if the area has a swelling, that is a positive test. Testing in cattle is similar except they use the skin of the neck. James was measuring whether the cow's skin was swollen.

Reminiscent of the orphan trains in the U.S., which took homeless orphans from Eastern cities to the Midwest, but that transportation was intended to be permanent. Some children were adopted into loving homes; others were exploited as cheap labor.

Thank you. I was thinking of my grandparents' farm in the U.S. at the same time, which was more of a subsistence farm. They had cows and sold milk, but also raised chickens for eggs, grain for animal feed, and vegetables and fruit for themselves. I don't recall seeing chickens or crops on Helen's family's farm, but that wouldn't necessarily mean they weren't there.

When a cow had TB, and the healthy cattle were temporarily confiscated, what happened to the farm's other sources of income? Chickens can get TB; would chickens be tested or killed? Could the farm sell vegetables and other crops? Were the humans required to be tested for TB? Maybe they had to look for work elsewhere for the duration.

Thank you, but are you sure this was week 21? My spreadsheet claims it was week 22. Anyway, I got 3/5.

You mean Allison, right?

Was Trevor's body found, or just his skull? Maybe I missed a line.