Tuesday, May 30, 2017

spring reading list



Nine entries this quarter, finally getting back into my reading habit...

Red Rising by Pierce Brown – the first book of a trilogy that takes place on Mars. Humans have successfully spread to the solar system's other planets and moons, terraforming them to sustain human life and creating a complex society via a strict caste system coded by color. Reds are the lowest of the low spending their whole lives living beneath the surface of Mars mining the Helium3 that fuels the terraforming and the spaceships, believing the propaganda that they are sacrificing their lives so that humanity can escape the miserable ruined planet earth, and unaware that there is a thriving planet and society on the surface above them. They are, in essence, slaves unaware of their slavery while they fuel humanity. They marry young, they die young. Golds, cold blooded power hungry killers, are the ruling class. Vain and arrogant they consider the other colors as less than human. Certainly less than them. They are bred for power, physical and intellectual. Darrow, a 16 year old Red 'helldiver', the most dangerous job of mining, and his wife are arrested when she stumbles on a tunnel that takes her to an enclosed forest and they see the sky for the first time. He is whipped, she is hanged, he is hanged but rescued and recruited by the Sons of Ares, the underground resistance group. His mission, to rise up high enough in the Gold hierarchy to have enough power to break the system but in order for him to do that he must first be made into a Gold, something that requires remaking his body from the inside out. That accomplished, he passes the entrance test to gain admittance to the Institute, a school for only the best and the brightest of Gold children. Now he must not only survive the year long Institute, but finish high enough to win the powerful and connected sponsorship necessary to rise in the system. It's a good story, fast paced, told in the first person present. It captured my attention and I've been spending a lot more time reading. The rain has been helpful in that respect. I finished it, put it down, and went immediately to the library to get the second book.

Golden Son by Pierce Brown – Darrow, now known as the Reaper, after winning the Institute and another year at the Academy is poised to win the final battle there when he is lured into a trap and he and his crew barely escape with their lives. His sponsor, the ArchGovernor of Mars, Augustus, is sorely disappointed and Darrow loses favor since he failed to kill the son of the family with which he has a blood feud that killed Augustus's favored son. Political intrigue also had a hand in the Reaper's sidelining until he comes up with a daring plan to usurp the power of the Sovereign who rules all the planets and moons. Darrow/Reaper's plan is to bring it all down to create a new more egalitarian society for all the colors but only a very few Golds and the Sons of Ares are in on the ultimate goal. All seems going to plan and victory is in sight until he is betrayed and the Golds and all the other colors find out he is really a lowly Red.

Morning Star by Pierce Brown – With many of Darrow's supporters murdered and Darrow himself imprisoned in a box and the rest of the worlds thinking he is dead because of his supposed execution, all seems lost while the Society's Armada continues to fight the uprising, which without the Reaper and Ares, also murdered, is floundering. In the meantime, Darrow's right hand man and best friend, Sevro, a Gold, now Ares himself, does not believe he is dead and is carrying on the fight, taking control of the resistance. It takes a year but Sevro finally discovers Darrow's fate and they rescue him from his captor, the new ArchGovernor of Mars, and desperate plans are laid to continue the fight and gain more supporters, most particularly the Moon Lords of Jupiter and the Obsidians of Mars. They are given unexpected aid when they hatch a plan to kidnap a very rich and influential Silver who turns out to be one of the original founders of the Sons of Ares. After a battle with the Society's Sword Armada, which they defeat and capture those ships that were not destroyed, Darrow, Sevro, and Mustang hatch a daring plan to infiltrate the inner sanctum of the Sovereign on Luna and put an end to the war and create a society that allows a person's talents to determine their fate rather than their color caste.

There is so much in these books I didn't tell, for instance who Mustang is, who the Obsidians are, but I was trying to keep it all fairly short. It's a good story, moves quickly, and I finished all three books in the time it has taken me lately to read just one.

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden - a supernatural tale written as if it were a Russian Fairy Tale, or rather, the basis for a Russian Fairy Tale except the tale is one of many told at the ovenside of an outlying boyar's house at the edge of the wilderness in 16th century Rus'. Vasya was born to a beloved wife, herself the daughter of the mysterious girl who rode into Moscow on a horse and charmed the grand prince into marriage, who died soon after childbirth. Vasya is a wild spirit and when she is 7, her father decides to remarry in an effort to tame Vasya and groom her for a woman's life as a wife. Pyotr is manipulated into taking the current grand prince of Moscow's mad sister to wife in return for a high born marriage for his other daughter. Soon after Anna, a devout Christian, arrives the old priest in the village dies and a young charismatic priest is sent to take his place. Vasya and the village still honor the old spirits and the village is prosperous until the new priest arrives and instills fear in the villagers and they turn away from the nature spirits and things start going bad. Vasya's wildness and power are unsettling to the villagers and the priest is determined to bring her to God. With the villagers turning away from the protective nature spirits, an evil spirit that has been bound for ages is about to get free and it is up to Vasya with help from the Winter King, also known as Death, to save everyone. It's a good story and I really enjoyed this one.

The Girl Before by J. P. Delaney – a murder mystery of sorts, two stories are told simultaneously...Emma then and Jane now...of two young women living in a house built by an architect who specializes in austere but beautiful buildings with the aim to change the occupants that comes with a long list of rules and requirements. It's a story of obsessive love and control as both women engage in an affair with the architect. Then Emma dies under questionable circumstances in the house and now Jane tries to discover the truth about Emma's death discovering along the way the obsessive nature of her lover and trying to determine whether or not she is in danger. It's a good story that kept me engaged. Either that or I've finally gotten back into reading as this is the 5th book in a row that it only took me a week to read.

The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena - Anne and Marco, parents of a 6 month old, have an 'adults only' dinner engagement with their neighbors with whom they share a wall and due to a family emergency the sitter cancels at the last minute. Anne wants to stay home but Marco convinces her to leave Cora, the baby, at home, they will take the baby monitor with them and take turns checking on her every half hour. They return home sometime after 1 AM to find the front door ajar and the baby missing. Marco was the last to check on her at 12:30 and claims she was sleeping peacefully. The police are called and then begins the investigation into the abduction. Anne, who is suffering from postpartum depression, fears she has killed her baby who has been difficult, crying and hard to soothe, when she went home for Cora's 11 o'clock feeding because she can't remember everything that happened and has a history of a violent episode during a blackout when she was in school and that Marco got rid of the body to cover for her. It is gradually revealed that Marco kidnapped Cora with the help from an accomplice for the ransom he knew his in-laws would pay in order to rescue his business from financial disaster. Unknown to Marco, his father-in-law, Anne's step-father, who despises Marco, set the whole thing up in an attempt to discredit Marco and steal $5 million from his wife and run off with his girlfriend who happens to be the neighbor Cynthia and has had Cora the whole time. Anne and Marco get the baby back. That's the nuts and bolts of it though there is more to the story written in third person present but I found the author's writing style tiresome after a while and when I got to the last page, I was like, what?!

Ape House by Sara Gruen – from the author of Water For Elephants. Isabel is a scientist at the Great Ape Language Lab with her also scientist fiance Peter. John, a reporter who has been working on a story about language acquisition in apes, and his colleague Cat were sent by the paper they work for to visit the language lab and while John was allowed to interact with the bonobos, Cat was not since she was recovering from a cold. Later that day when everyone was supposed to be out of the facility for the night, there is a massive explosion that nearly kills Isabel. The bonobos survive and are promptly sold by the university that underwrote the language lab when the president's house was vandalized and his family threatened at the same time. As Isabel recovers she is frantic to find out what happened to the 7 apes she considers her family. Several months later, the bonobos, who are very sexually active and use sexual encounters between opposite sex and same sex members to bond the group, surface in a TV show, Ape House, by the reality porn show king. The bonobos wake to find themselves in an empty house except for a computer and a stool. It doesn't take long for the apes to start ordering food, blankets, furniture, toys, etc. live streaming 24/7. John, who had his story stolen and given over to Cat by their editor quit and the only job he could find is at a tabloid that sends him out to the location of Ape House to report and write up sensationalist stories. Eventually he and Isabel reconnect and try to find a way to rescue the apes. I was almost to the end of the book and all these balls were up in the air and I thought no way is she going to resolve all this in the remaining pages but she did neatly in a page or two. This is the nuts and bolts but it's a great book/story with lots of entertaining characters and I do recommend it. But then I really liked Water For Elephants too.

Slade House by David Mitchell – Down a dark narrow hard to find alley in a working class neighborhood in London is, sometimes, a small black iron door. Not just anyone can find the door to Slade House and not just anyone who finds it can open it and those who can open it get invited inside. I don't know how much I want to say about this book as I really enjoyed it and don't want to say too much for future readers. These are small stories that are all linked to the iron door and build on one another. Every 9 years, it seems, one or more people go missing on the same day never to be seen or heard from again. Their experiences are different and the same all at the same time until it all reaches an unexpected conclusion with a little twist.

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell – I saw the movie before I read the book and while it was very pleasing visually, I had no idea what it was about. I just finished the book and I'm here to tell you I still don't know what it was about. Then I watched the trailer again...nope. The book is a series of 6 stories interrupted in the middle, sometimes mid-sentence (except for the sixth which is as complete as any of them). The next story starts after a jump forward in time. Small jumps and then large jumps until we get to the sixth so far forward in the future that mankind has fallen to it's knees and succumbing to savagery and from the end of that story we start going backwards picking up the previous stories in reverse order until we end with the last half of the first story. As far as I can tell, the only thing that connects them is a comet shaped birthmark, an occasional reference to the title, and in some cases a character from one appears in the next. Stories 1 – 4 do have some sort of continuity but are otherwise completely unrelated. Then a big jump in time for 5 and another big jump in time to the sixth. I did enjoy the book. The stories are well told but don't ask me what the book is about.




Sunday, May 28, 2017

all growed up


Some of you might remember these girls from their first Granny Camp back in 2009...

Jade

Autumn

Well, this is what they did last Friday night...with honors.


In August Jade will be leaving for college at University of Texas San Antonio and Autumn will be leaving for college at University of Texas in Austin.

They will be separated for the first time in their lives.




Friday, May 26, 2017

potato potato tomato



I dug up all my potatoes yesterday. At least I think I got all of them, about a five gallon and a half bucket full all told. Then I brushed off as much dirt as I could and laid them on hay two layers deep in little perforated baskets and stashed them on the bottom shelf of the pantry, the coolest darkest place in the house.


Most of them were just regular potato shaped but some were quite...different. Like this little piggy


and rubber ducky


and I don't know what this is, a walrus maybe?


The tomatoes are almost done with their first wave, harvesting is dwindling though you couldn't tell from yesterday's gather. 


The plants are still setting fruit though at a much reduced rate. As soon as the nights get consistently above 75˚ and the days consistently above 85˚ - 90˚, they will stop setting fruit at all.





Tuesday, May 23, 2017

bits and pieces


We finally got some rain, 2 1/2” between Saturday night and til about noon on Monday. Everything looks much happier. Sunday, after the previous night's rain and before it began again, I went out to the garden and dug up more potatoes and got two really big ones and a handful of smaller ones. I'm supposed to keep all the little ones for seed potatoes for a fall crop, so say all the country boys in the neighborhood.


Since so many of you were interested in the roasted tomato sauce, here's the recipe I found on-line:

5-6 pounds medium or small tomatoes, stems removed
1 medium head of garlic, peeled (you can chop the garlic if you want but can keep cloves whole if you'd like)
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. Place the tomatoes on large baking sheet with a raised 1-inch lip. Add the garlic cloves and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil. Use your fingers to mix well to coat. Top with torn basil leaves and season with kosher (I used pink himalayan) salt and freshly ground black pepper. Bake for 4 hours or until tomatoes are soft and bursting (it was 3 hrs and about 20 minutes or so for me so keep an eye on them). Allow to cool then pour into a blender in batches. Pulse 2-3 times then blend for 1 minute or until desired chunkiness. Pour into quart jars or pour into freezer bags to freeze flat. Will keep in the refrigerator for 1 week or 4 months in the freezer.

a moth and a butterfly



You might remember my birthday was last month. I think I mentioned it in a previous post. Our usual celebration is a movie and dinner but we had to wait until the following Friday since the movie I wanted to see, Guardians Of The Galaxy II, didn't come out til then and it even starred my only still living heartthrob, Kurt Russell. I'll spare you the trailer because if you are a GOTG fan, you've already seen it. However the other thing about my birthdays is that I buy my own present. This year I bought a small stone sculpture by fabulous stone sculptor Jennifer Tetlow who lives and works in North Yorkshire, England. I've followed Jennifer's work for several years and I really love her aesthetic so I finally am the proud owner of one of her pieces...Flutter.


my pink crinum lily


One last item of note...another surprise in the mailbox, Barbara at Kittrell/Riffkind Gallery sold another piece for us. I guess if she's going to keep doing that, I need to start making some new work.






Saturday, May 20, 2017

continuing train wreck, tomatoes, and snakes


I'm trying very hard not to be consumed with what's going on at the White House and our government but how can one not be?! Still, re my last post title, I figured everyone was getting tired of the political stuff when I posted that and the next day things just basically blew up...again!...with the appointment of the Special Counsel to continue the investigation at the FBI. I'll spare us all the ongoing blow by blow and just do a re-cap later. I don't know about you but I need to think about something else for a few days so I'm glad it's the weekend.

Now for something completely different...yesterday I put up 6 3/4 cups of tomato sauce (for a total of 17!). This was my third effort at tomato sauce. The first one I pureed the tomatoes and garlic and spices and then cooked it down to about half but it never got as thick as I felt it should be. Gave up and froze as is. Next I tried slow roasting the tomatoes and garlic and basil for about 3 1/2 hours and then pureed it and it was perfect and very tasty. 

pre-roasting and slightly out of focus

So I did that again. While the tomatoes were roasting I put up 6 cups of skinned cut up tomatoes (for a total of 26!) and I still have 32 tomatoes to deal with and they are still ripening on the bushes.

Last week when I laid out the limestone slabs I aggravated an old back injury so I haven't been doing much out in the yard, well, I haven't been doing anything out in the yard. I thought it would be better in a few days but it has actually taken all week to subside. So of course we had a small job to do early last week, nothing fancy, just sandblasting a shower enclosure, but it entailed lifting and moving heavy glass. Probably one of the reasons it took my back so long to get over it.

And speaking of work, an art consultant who has not contacted me for the last 7 years has asked for a proposal for a project that won't happen til next year so we are in the very early stages of budget proposals. I used to get a lot of work from this company and the jobs were always very nice ones that I enjoyed working on but they moved on to another glass art company that does a wider range of technique than we do including color. I figured they weren't even showing our work to potential clients anymore so it was a pleasant surprise and sort of ironic since I had finally voiced the idea that I was actually completely retired.

I was dog sitting my sister's dog this week while she was out of town and Wednesday, both dogs were doing that cautious curious stance they do when they see something they aren't sure of looking at something behind the bucket of parrot feather at the edge of one of the flower beds so I went over to see what they found...

an adult coral snake

Coral snakes, the most virulent of the vipers with the exception of the black mamba, prefer to hunt in the mornings or evenings, and are shy, non-confrontational, and reclusive. They have small rounded heads and even smaller mouths and it is rare for them to bite a human. Most bites occur when people try to pick them up but because their venom delivery system in not very efficient they basically have to chew on you awhile to get enough venom to do harm. As such, when I run across them I generally let them alone. This one I poked with a stick to get it to move deeper into the foliage out of reach of the dogs.

This morning while I was watering I happened to notice this...


Likely the same one, getting a drink from the water lily pond.

It has been so dry here, haven't had rain in weeks, that the bees are swarming the same pond and it's filter.


One last picture...

toad in a hole




Wednesday, May 17, 2017

at the risk of running off all my readers...


Trump met with top Russians in the Oval Office, one of whom is generally considered to be a spy and the other the ambassador, excluding the American press from the meeting that the Russian press attended during which, in a fit of braggadocio, Trump passed on some extremely secret intel, code-word intel, that not even all our own people were privy to and not shared with all our allies, jeopardizing not only people and operations in the field but also an important source of intel as they may now think twice before passing on new information to us making this country less safe. You understand this, right? The president of the United States jeopardized the citizens of this country that he swore to protect as well as an important intelligence source and jeopardized the agent in place just so that he could look big and brag in front of the Russians who are NOT our friends. What's worse is that he probably had no idea of the sensitive nature of the information that he was blabbing to the Russians because he thinks national security briefings are boring and he doesn't pay attention.

It is true that a president can choose to declassify information, and that is Trump's indignant reaction to the uproar of passing sensitive intel to the Russians but this was not done after a period of consideration or meeting with security personnel to discuss and decide if it no longer needs be classified. No Trump 'declassified' this intelligence on the spur of the moment to inflate his ego.

Then, the next day after this revelation, Comey reports that Trump had asked him to drop the investigation into Flynn's connections to Russia which Comey rightly refused to do and which eventually got him fired.

And today, while Trump was singing the praises of Turkey's president, Erdogan at the White House, Erdogan's bodyguards were beating up American citizens protesting near the Turkish embassy. Trump's response? Crickets, because that is exactly what he would like to do to protesters.

You would think that in the face of this obvious attempt at obstruction of justice and Trump's casual leak of extremely sensitive information to our national foe that put our intelligence gathering at risk and his blatant disregard for American citizens that Congressional Republicans would finally be moved to put country over party but you would be wrong. Apparently, you have to lie about having sex to garner impeachment proceedings.




Sunday, May 14, 2017

an ordinary Saturday



Every time I think it's getting hot enough out there that working outside all day is no longer an option and I start to stare at the slab of wax on my work table, another front comes in and cools it off for a few days and I'm right back out there. I'm done with all the major projects for this spring...new raised bed and improving the area of the garden, get the garden planted, get the blueberry bed in, new flower bed, remake the end of another flower bed, so now it's just maintenance...watering, weeding, getting new things acquired in the ground, repotting others into bigger pots, digging up all the pecan trees the squirrels planted, trimming around the beds, cutting the dead wood out of the shrubs, that sort of thing.

Yesterday, I finally completed a task I started last November. I didn't start out the day with that intention but since my path across the side yard has changed the scattered mayhem of the sandstone paving slabs, which I had traversed several times already that day, finally got to me. 


Depending on the season when I am walking over to the shop, I either walk down the driveway to walk in the sun or I walk across the grass close to the house to walk in the shade. You might remember that last fall I unstacked the sandstone slabs and laid them out helter skelter in preparation for reconstructing them into a short walkway. Short because the original walkway that these comprised was at the city house and it was a short cut from the sidewalk to the front door and the driveway. Anyway, yesterday I found myself putting together a jigsaw puzzle with no picture to guide me. Wouldn't have been too hard a task except that the pieces were all really heavy.


There's always small open areas where the stones don't fit exactly so I drug out my glass doorknob collection and rummaged through it and selected some to fill in those spots. We used a lot them in the city house but since moving out here we haven't, so far, bothered to change any out. 



I have one old glass doorknob that was an exterior knob and probably faced west and has turned purple from the ultrviolet rays of the sun.


I going to get up in a minute and start to make some tomato sauce and maybe put up some of the peaches I picked up on Saturday. The local orchard didn't have enough to open but if you messaged them they would hold some for you to pick-up. I'm happy to now be on their call list. These are the white flesh peaches and so sweet and delicate. I made a pie yesterday and still have too many to eat before they go bad so I'll be putting some of them up in the freezer too.


But back to the tomatoes...Marc made a great tomato pie and we've been having them with lunch and I've been giving them away and cutting them up for the freezer and still I am overwhelmed with tomatoes. My daughter took a whole window sill's worth home with her yesterday and I replaced them immediately with that day's pick and then some. I thought I would only get about 6 or so but I actually had the biggest pick so far.



It was late when I relinquished the kitchen back to Marc, too late to come up with or fix anything for dinner so we settled for this...





Friday, May 12, 2017

because apparently working out in the yard and going to yoga doesn't get me tired enough


image via: yogasmoga.com

I think I figured out where I went wrong. I had been so good about doing my 5 sun salutations a day for well over a year. Then I discovered a regular yoga class was available and started going twice a week, which I am very good about, and I started thinking that because I was going to do yoga later on those days, I didn't need to do my routine at home in the morning. And once I stopped doing it two days a week in the morning it was easy to forget on other days. Sleeping til 8 or later which I seem to be doing lately doesn't help when the day is demanding attention. So I'm trying to get back to every day even if it's nothing more than the basic 5 even if it is class days. I'm managing about 4 out of 7 but this week I did something different.


image via: hercampus.com

Two of the regulars at yoga have been doing the kick boxing class held at the same place on Tuesdays and Thursdays as well as yoga and they've been cajoling me to come try it so I finally relented and went last Tuesday. It's stretching and then warm up with calisthenics the jumping jacks about did me in and holding plank and push-ups and the like and then more of the same with weights. He was handing me the 2 lb weights while everyone else was getting 8s so I reached for the 5s. It hasn't been that long since I stopped working out at the gym and even the 8s would have been fine. And then, finally the boxing part.

Everyone there is, of course, younger than me by at least a decade or more and the cute young man who teaches the class, when he was helping me get boxing gloves on, asked if he could respectfully ask how old I was.

67”, I told him.

Oh, my mom's age”, he says.

So we partnered up and took turns giving or absorbing (with big pads) blows...left jab, right hook, then quick blows in succession, then he added a round house left hook, then a right side kick and by the time he added in the left knee, I was tired and having a hard time remembering the whole sequence. But it was fun and I'd think about doing it on a more or less regular basis except for the fact that I already drive into El Campo twice a week and this would make 3 times a week and depending on what day, three days in a row. And the cost. It's a $15 drop in for an hour. I'm not saying the cost isn't worth it but it's a little pricy for me every week combined with the yoga.

But my first two weeks are free so I plan on going one more time at least.




Wednesday, May 10, 2017

I wasn't planning on publishing another one so soon but holy fucking cow!


In another move to undo everything the Obamas did, Trump has moved to rescind the school lunch nutrition guidelines loosening the restrictions and allowing the funding to be cut even though for some kids their school lunch is the only real meal they get every day. But hey, the vendors will be able to make more money serving sugar and fat disguised as food bereft of nutrition.

Trump signed an EO revoking another of Obama's EO, the Northern Bering Sea Climate Resilience, giving local Alaskans and Tribes who use those waters every day a say in how the federal government managed those waters so that private interests can't use and abuse the Bering Sea without input from the people who depend on it for their lives and livelihoods.

Reince Priebus, Trump's chief-of-staff, admitted in an interview with ABC that Trump wants to restrict the freedom of the press (that he considers unfair towards him), wants to restrict the 1st Amendment and has considered a constitutional amendment as a way to achieve it.

Trump, who swore to uphold the constitution, has been calling it 'archaic. Out of date, and not good for the US' and thinks something needs to be done about it to get rid of the checks and balances to make it easier to get things done ie let him act by decree, as in being an authoritarian as in dictator.

Trump has invited Philippine president Duterte, another authoritarian he admires, a man who has authorized the extra-judicial murders of 4,000 – 8,000 (depending on who you talk to) people in his country under the guise of ridding the country of drug dealers (and anyone who opposes him is labeled a drug dealer), to visit the White House.

Besides being completely unqualified for being president, Trump is also ignorant of our country's history asking in an interview, “people don't ask that question, but why was there the Civil War?” and thought Andrew Jackson, who had died 16 years previous, was “really angry” about it.

In another act of childish revenge, this time against President Jimmy Carter who has been a vocal critic of Trump and who the Argentine government announced they were awarding that country's highest honor, the Order of the Liberator General San Martin for his tireless humanitarian work, Trump's administration contacted the Argentine government directly and pressured them to withhold the award.

Trump has announced he is ending Michelle Obama's girl's education program Let Girls Learn that aimed to increase the educational opportunities for young girls in developing nations because, you know, Obamas.

Once again, because Trump can't immediately get his way, frustrated at the slow pace of the legislative process and the need to compromise, he wants to shut down the government in September because the bi-partisan budget deal did not include any of the cuts he wanted or money for the wall (though he did get his military increase) and change the legislative rules to 51 votes as opposed to the 60 votes the Senate now requires.

And related to that, Trump is threatening, again, to shut down the government if Democrats don't stop being happy about the budget deal and stop hurting his feelings (I kid you not).

Trump walks out of an interview when pressed for proof of his claim of the Obama ordered wiretapping.

A woman who was present during AG Jeff Sessions confirmation hearings who gave an involuntary burst of laughter when a Senator described Sessions as fair to all people regardless of race or orientation, an outright lie which can be proven by looking at his record, was arrested, prosecuted, and convicted for...laughing during the hearing. So, head's up people, laughing at or about Jeff Sessions is a criminal offense.

On order from Trump, all TV monitors will be tuned to Fox News (where before they tuned into a variety of stations). Only Fox News will be allowed on the White Oak Campus of the FDA. The station on the monitors is unable to be changed. Pay attention, this is Trump tightening his control over what people see and hear and if it isn't complimentary, it will be censored.

The Republican House passed their version of a health care bill, TrumpcareII, which will cause millions of people to lose their health insurance, got rid of the pre-existing conditions protection which will cause rate hikes and crappy coverage for millions more (excluding themselves, of course, who would continue to get that protection), slashed funding for Medicaid and gleefully celebrated with high fives all around for doing it. Edit: Due to the uproar, they passed a bill excluding their exclusion.

Trump has added 25 more National Parks and National Monuments to his list to their status reviewed.

The Republican held N Carolina House just voted to let people drive through protestors if they are blocking the road...state sanctioned assault with the intent to harm and possibly murder.

If Trump gets his way there will be no funding for libraries continuing his and the Republican party's effort to uneducate the American public.

In their continuing drive to undermine workers, the Republican House just voted on and passed legislation to end time-and-a-half overtime pay even for union workers, allowing employers to give workers time off instead.

Trump continues to be in the same place at the same time as Russian oligarch Dmitry Rybolovlev, this time in New Jersey where Trump is playing golf this weekend to 'save us money'.

Trump signed a religious liberty EO allowing discrimination based on religious grounds and gave churches the right to politicize without losing their tax free status.

With the noose getting tighter re Trump/Russia, Trump and his White House, who did not vet Flynn before giving him the position of National Security Advisor, continue to blame Obama for Michael Flynn, a man Obama fired in 2014 and, along with then AG Sally Yates, warned Trump against during the transition.

In an attempt to discredit Sally Yates and smear her reputation hours before her testimony to the Senate re Trump's and his administrations ties to Russia, Trump may have broken the law regarding intimidation of witnesses.

Scott Pruitt, Trump's pick to head the EPA, has declined to renew the terms of 5 scientists on the review board and plans to replace them with businessmen whose industries are affected by the EPA regulations.

A reporter was arrested, after receiving zero warnings that he was in danger of arrest, for repeatedly asking HHS Tom Price questions about Trumpcare. Alarmed yet?

Trump fired Sally Yates as AG for refusing to support his unconstitutional Muslim ban and appointed butt-kisser Jeff Sessions. Trump fired US Attorney Preet Bharara for refusing to resign along with 45 other US Attorneys without having any replacements confirmed thereby interrupting ongoing cases and investigations including Bharara's investigation into HHS Secretay Tom Price. Now Trump has fired FBI director James Comey after demanding that Comey end the Trump/Russia ties investigations and grand juries and Comey refused. Are you noticing a pattern here?

The day after Trump fired FBI director Comey, Trump met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in a closed door meeting, no American reporters allowed.

Once again, party before country Republicans refuse to appoint a Special Prosecutor to investigate Trump/Russia ties.



Monday, May 8, 2017

harvest


At first it was one tomato, then two tomato. Then three tomato, four. Five tomato, six tomato, seven tomato, more! There are so many! I skinned and cut up and froze 18 or 19 of various sizes, have given 8 away, have 13 on my window sill, and that's not even counting the ones we have eaten.


and then I picked 14 more...




and my first potatoes!


One of the plants had died back so I dug down about 6” and gathered these. I'm sure there are more deeper but the surrounding plants are still green if starting to look a little the worse for wear so I'll wait a little longer before digging up the rest. 

Also banana peppers and zucchini are being picked.

And now the okra is sprouting and the green beans are sprouting but the onions, well, let's just say I won't be getting any onions this year, still not growing.

Just call me Farmer Jane.