more rain, yard work, rainbow at sunset, and other miscellania

The Mexican bird of paradise growing next to the shed over at my sister’s house.

We’ve been getting more rain. It rained Tuesday and again today but the rain today came in with some very high gusty wind and lots of lightning and thunder. Unfortunately, It started about 20 minutes after the guy who cuts and trims the shop yard had started so he retreated to his truck and will have to come back later in the week to finish.

I worked in the yard some Sunday and then did the lion’s share of cutting back all the dead and gone by purple coneflowers in the back and front yards on Monday after I doused myself and my clothes with mosquito repellant and came in after almost two hours hot and sweaty and peeled off my sweat soaked clothes.  Hauled it all over to the burn pile this morning.

Later in the day, I got an email and a phone call from a friend and early pate de verre mentor, Delores Taylor (link to her website), when we were just starting out trying to work out the technique and problem solve. She lives in the PNW and we ‘met’ via an early glass art related internet group. We’ve traded work and I was her teacher assistant for one of the classes she gave at a conference. She’s also the person who sent me all the professional watercolors I’m using now since she no longer uses them. Anyway, she’s writing a very comprehensive book on the subject and has asked me for some images to help illustrate some sections of the book as there are various techniques that fall under the pate de verre umbrella so I’ve been going through my images and sending them off to her with a document  with details for her to choose from.

Yesterday I went with my friend to her doctor’s appointment in Angleton an hour away. We haven’t had time to visit lately so it was a good opportunity to catch up. She’s had so much to deal with just fighting cancer and then her mother passed away so she’s had to handle all the affairs that go along with that. Then we stopped by the farmer’s market on the way home.

Tuesday night, my night to cook dinner, I fixed a one dish meal, blistered broccoli pasta with walnuts, pecorino, and mint only I used pecans instead of walnuts and parmigiana instead of pecorino. This is an easy and quick dish and it’s very good. I sliced up one of the tomatoes I got at the market earlier to go along with it.

And then last evening at sunset there was a double rainbow in the east. By the time I got my phone out the second fainter rainbow had already mostly faded but my daughter got this picture standing in the shop yard, a better view than the one I took standing in the street. 

This is what the sky looked like in the west from where I was standing.

I was listening to a segment on NPR coming home from yoga Monday evening on whether or not listening to a book is the same as reading a book and the conclusion reached was that it didn’t matter if you read a real book, read it on a kindle or phone, or listened to it, the result was pretty much the same though you don’t have to be able to read in order to listen to a book. But it turns out what they were referring to is a study that determined there was no difference in comprehension between reading or listening if, and it seemed to me a big if, the person already knows how to read. It also determined that not knowing how to read did affect comprehension when just listening especially if the material was complex but also that it was beneficial for auditory learners to listen to the material as well as read it. Being able to read has the advantage of going at your own pace, being to reread sections for better understanding, and developing attention span and focus while listening had the advantage of auditory clues like tone and emphasis. I prefer to read because I find it’s easier to concentrate on the story or content. If I’m listening my mind will tend to wander and I will have missed part of the story. My mind will wander sometimes when I read as well but then I just have to go back and reread a page or two. Pretty interesting really, the different ways people learn. 

 

light, a star, painting progress

Now that I finally hung all the rest of my crystals in the east facing windows and the tallow and the pecan behind it have dropped all their leaves and the mornings are clear my room is awash with prisms cast on the walls, ceiling, floor, cabinets, inanimate objects, even the dog; some sharp, some indistinct. What took me so long to get them all hung!

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Last Friday was the open house at Hesed House and Kate, who did the origami workshop was showing people how to make a star so of course I showed up. 

The other thing was that Kel who was an intern at Hesed House for a summer, who had led the series of cardiac drumming sessions, however long ago that’s been (a year and a half, longer?) has graduated college with a degree in physical therapy and was back for a visit and a one time only cardiac drumming session that night and so again, of course I went to that. 

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This year in an effort to reclaim the solstice, to be an active part, however small, of the ancient traditions of the longest night and the faith that the light would return and that nature would reawaken, I gathered some of the roses in bloom, I cut a small bough from the cedar tree, made a small altar and lit a candle during the longest night. 

Of course, down here with the mild winter we are having this year, nothing has gone to sleep or rest. The roses and other things are in bloom, some of the spring weeds are already sprouting, the days have been mild but I will be glad for the longer hours of daylight. 

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I finally had some time this weekend to work on my painting. Now just one more trunk to do and then I can work on the background.

excess crop, Ghost, the Evils

A morning prism cast on the wall behind me.

Allison commented on my last post asking if I had changed my font size because it was so small she had to enlarge it to read it. The answer is no, but anyone else have that problem? I write in Avenir Book font size 14, copy and paste into the create-a-post form on Blogger. I can increase the font size but the next largest is 18 which seems too big to me. The other thing I can do is change the size to ‘medium’ from ‘normal’ once it’s in the create-a-post form (which I’m doing this post). So what say you, my readers?

Another weird thing that happened to me on the Blogger dashboard for a few days was the Reading List was only showing me posts from 5 years ago or older. I discovered that I can select specific blogs on the reading list and get the current posts that way but it seems to have resolved itself as I’m getting current posts again.

Yesterday was a food delivery day from the regional food bank at SHARE. They had asked Jan if she wanted carrots and cabbages. She said she’d take two bags of carrots and one of cabbages. They sent 7 or 8 of carrots and at least 8 of cabbage. The mesh bags of carrots must have weighed 30 lbs if they weighed an ounce, maybe more, probably more, and the mesh bags of cabbage had 8 enormous heads each and were so heavy I couldn’t even pretend to pick one up. Just shoving one aside was effort enough. It looked like some local farmer donated his excess crop to the food bank and they were trying to get rid of it. Needless to say, everybody got an abundant amount of carrots and cabbages and we still didn’t give them all away. We also got I don’t know how many 20 lb bags of potatoes and large bags of small apples. Jan had the carrots split up into plastic grocery bags. These are the ones I’m taking to my neighbor. I don't know if you can tell how big that cabbage is in the picture but it was huge.

I may have mentioned that a black feral cat has been slinking up to eat after Robin or I feed the four outdoor cats, Momcat and her three sons. Initially he would wait by the back corner of the shop until the humans left and the four had eaten and he would come eat what was left. Then Robin started talking to him and he has gotten braver, approaching closer and finally coming to eat while she was out there and while the other cats were eating. Then she named him Ghost. Now he’s gotten used to me and Minnie. Minnie would chase him at first but I would call her back. Now he stands his ground when she runs at him which totally perplexes the dog. Tuesday I was over there petting and feeding the four. I put the bag of food back in the shed, turned around to get the water bowls and there he was. Ghost is aptly named.

He came in to eat while I was getting fresh water and setting the bowls back under the porch albeit keeping a wary eye on me. I hope at some point we are able to trap him and get him fixed too.

Tuesday I drove to the Shopping Mecca in Rosenberg. I had bought a 5” x 5” frame at Michael’s earlier for the drawing but I didn’t notice that it was not set up for hanging on the wall which is what I want. Actually what I wanted was a 6” x 6” frame but they didn’t have one. Well, damn. Now I was going to have to go the Evil Hobby Lobby which has a better selection of frames. So, Tuesday I drove out there and dammit, they didn’t have one either. I consoled myself about the wasted trip by reminding myself that at least I didn’t give them any of my money. Then I got our champagne for New Year’s as long as I was in Mecca. Once home I found exactly what I wanted on the Evil Amazon (don’t have a lot of choices out here in the boonies…Evil Empire, Evil Hobby Lobby, Evil Amazon so it’s pick your poison). It’s supposed to be delivered today. It’ll be Monday before I can get it in the mail so I hope it gets to its destination before Christmas.

Tuesday and Wednesday nights were our coldest nights so far, down in the 30s. Warmed up fast on Thursday, not terrible this morning, in the 60s, but overcast and wet with light rain off and on so today’s activity will be to start on my next painting. It’s just an exercise really, an overdone subject of aspen trees just to work on skills and technique so I’m not really invested in the end product. Later I plan on making potato leek soup for dinner.

 

sore muscles, rainbow, and other miscellania

I was really feeling achy for a couple of days, a little discomfort in my chest and back, and so Tuesday morning I called the doctor’s office and spoke with the nurse just to make sure that this was either normal or something to be concerned about or just from lack of any exercise for months which I had been used to doing. She spoke with the doctor, should not be experiencing any discomfort from the procedure, did I try any pain relief and if it continued to call back and they would schedule a stress test. So I took ibuprofen during the day which helped and by the evening felt fine so I decided it was option #3 and did a slow and modified version of my yoga routine before bed. I slept all night, waking only once to go to the bathroom and felt fine the next day. The discomfort has not returned but by end of the day Wednesday my arms and other parts of my body were so sore! Regardless, I did my routine again Wednesday night before bed and went to class last night. Just three days in a row of yoga and I already feel better, still have sore muscles after a long period of disuse but even that makes me feel better.

We’ve been getting rain nearly every day since Monday for which I’m glad because we really needed it, a little over 2 1/2” so far this week. It’s been much less hot if not exactly cooler but that is about to change as we are getting a first real cool front this weekend and will have lows in the 60s all next week, highs in the 80s. It was drizzling/sprinkling a little when I left yoga class last night and saw this on the way home. At first I stopped and pulled into a side street and took a picture through my windshield afraid it would fade before I got home, but it was still there when I turned into my street so I stopped again and got out and took this picture over the cotton field. It was a double rainbow, the one on top very faint but you can see it in the upper right corner. The color bands don’t really show up that well in my picture but they were very evident looking at it.

I haven’t worked much on my new drawing. The ink came and I got my print. Here’s my progress so far on one leaf which still needs a lot of work.

I guess I’m going to get out there today and load up the truck again even though I haven’t taken the accumulated metal to the recyclers yet. I’m more interested in getting rid of two more piles of broken tree debris. I took these pictures yesterday of one of the ‘legs’ holding up the hanging limb on one of the trees.

And last, walking around the yard earlier yesterday I spied this tiny just hatched anole.

miscellania

It’s baby anole time. I’ve seen a few, one this morning, but they are so skittish when newly hatched that it’s impossible to get a picture of the tiny things. I’ve been seeing quite a few fritillaries in the yard on the zinnias and when I emptied the kitchen scraps onto the compost pile Friday I set the container on the table outside before I rinsed it out while I picked up more fallen dead limbs and branches. When I went to retrieve it to rinse it out there were three fritillaries on it so I left it for later.

I mentioned my tomatoes were blooming again which is unusual at this point. Even if they do bloom they won’t set fruit when the daytime temperatures get above 85˚ or nighttime temperatures are above 75˚ which brings tomato production to a screeching halt during our summers. Nevertheless, one plant has 7 new little tomatoes on it.

I was pretty productive yesterday. Vacuumed every room in the house except for the living/dining combination which I’ll get to today, and used my little leaf blower to clear the barn of leaves, short of moving everything away from the walls, and the concrete apron where we park the cars (most of our driveway is gravel), and the deck. The batteries seem to be holding up so I don’t know what the glitch was the last time I tried to use it.

For all the Trump campaign has been boasting about getting a bazillion dollars donated after Trump’s conviction, they seem to be a little desperate. I had 8 emails from the Trump campaign this morning in my suspect file, from which I get a report every day so I can winnow out any that are legit, either begging for money or hawking Trump’s merchandise. I thought I had blocked that domain already though apparently not or else it’s a new one. Anyway, it’s blocked now. To be honest, the democrats can be just as bad at soliciting donations which is why I no longer sign petitions or answer the surveys they send via the text app or email because if you do then guess what happens next.

Prisms all over the walls and ceiling of the room where my crystals hang in the window this morning as the sun pierced through a hole in the foliage. 

odds, ends, and a thug tug

Let me start out by saying if you don't follow Jeff Tiedrich on Post or Twitter (if you are still on Twitter) or his webpage, you are missing out on one astute clever dude. He makes me laugh all the time with his reports and opinions on the political scene. Here's a link to his post today, Andy Warhol's Garbage. 

I did my home yoga routine this morning for the first time since I injured my knee two weeks ago and boy could I tell even though I went to all three classes last week. There were only two asanas that I felt any kind of twinge in my right knee and one that I thought I wouldn't be able to do I did with no complaint. I can sit in verasana (Japanese style with my legs folded under me) but I still can't kneel directly on the knee.

The sun decided to celebrate Pride this morning (well, every morning really).

I spent yesterday putting up all the tomatoes taking up space in the fridge. I divided them up and made a smaller batch of tomato sauce and the others I skinned and cut up and stewed and it all went in vacuum sealed bags in the freezer. Before I sealed up the stewed tomatoes I drained a lot of the liquid off as they were too watery and froze that in an ice cube tray to add into soups and stews and anything else that needs a little liquid. 

I've been seeing butterflies...frittilaries, swallowtails, crescents, a satyr comma, sulfurs, skippers mostly on the zinnias though I don't know what this one is. It looks like a long tail except no long tail.

It's the time of year for baby anoles to start hatching. While I was deadheading the zinnias this morning I saw this tiny one. Can't have been out of its egg for very long.

The last time I belonged to the garden club here was pre-covid so probably 2019. I'm no longer a member because I started volunteering at SHARE and the meeting falls on the same day I volunteer (there's other reasons too). Anyway, members would bring plants to share and one meeting there was a box of miscellaneous bulbs. I took about half a dozen and put them in pots. Eventually some of them bloomed and I had a jonquil and a yellow surprise lily but the bulb I knew was a crinum did not. The first arctic vortex killed off the smaller bulbs and I planted the crinum in the ground. It has grown and multiplied but not bloomed until now. The biggest bulb is sending up a bloom stalk and the flowers peeking out are pink. That makes me happy since that same arctic vortex killed off my pink ones that were in a pot. I was afraid it was going to be red (which I have and love) or white spider lily (which I also have and love).

The Mexican bird of paradise likes this heat and has started blooming.

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Interesting little thug tug of war went on in Russia yesterday. Prigozhin resisted Putin demands that the Wagner Group sign a loyalty pledge to Russia Putin and join the Russian forces. Prigozhin says bite me. Putin says do it or else. Pregozhin says, OK, pay me. Putin's forces fire on Prigozhin's forces. Prigozhin takes Rostov to cheers and says, I'll see you in Moscow. Almost there and Prigozhin calls off the march to Moscow on the pretense of not wanting to spill Russian blood after coming to an agreement with Belarus' president Lukashinko. Prigoshin gets to scurry off to Belarus, Putin 'promises' amnesty for him and the soldiers who took part in the mutiny and the Wagner group fighters will sign a contract with Russia's Minister of Defense bringing them under Putin's control. I have some advice for Prigozhin...stay on the ground floor at all times and get a food taster.

other weird things

Here's another weird thing, I've been plagued with ear worms for the last week and more. Every day some snippet of song constantly going through my head. Sunday it was 'strange brew, kill what's inside of you' from the song Strange Brew by Cream, a song I haven't heard in decades, many decades. Their first album, Fresh Cream, was the first album I ever bought though this song was on their second album, Disraeli Gears. Every day it's something different, from a song I heard on the radio or just something that pops in my head. Easier to ignore during the day but it drives me mad at night when I'm trying to fall asleep. Last night I tried to dislodge it by listing the sequence of yoga poses in my morning routine which eventually worked and I fell asleep. I'd only get through the first three or four before my mind would wander off and I'd have to start over again. Yesterday it's the refrain from Cindi Lauper's Girls Just Wanna Have Fun which was replaced by 'we built this city on rock and roll' over and over and over. Drove me nuts yelling I don't care what you built it on. Thankfully nothing today.

I've mentioned that this has been a weird year in the garden. We had a heat spell early in the year, then the Deep Freeze, then an extended spring while everything struggled to recover. Some things have bloomed when they should like the poppies and the love-in-a-mist and the larkspur, some things bloomed late and sparsely like the yellow ginger which is just now putting out a few blooms and the zinnias, some things didn't bloom at all like the day lilies, the orange cosmos, the morning glories, and the lantana. Lantana, fer crying out loud, it's basically a weed, can't kill the stuff. The flowering senna froze to the ground then came back but then all the new sprouts died but that's OK as there are several volunteers coming up. And once again I missed the big bloom of the night blooming cereus. There were 15 buds forming but three dropped off. I knew they were going to open last night, even mentioned it to Marc. Did I remember to go out after dark to see? Of course not. But there are still three that didn't open. Hopefully I'll remember tonight.

Last Saturday was the town's once a year big clean up event where you could bring big heavy things for disposal, with a few exceptions like tires and old paint cans, that the regular trash pick up won't take. I had called to see if they would take old computers and TVs, yes they would, and do you trash them or dispose of them ecologically, yes the person thought those things would be recycled. So I loaded up the VERY heavy old Apple bulbous monitor and the tower that went along with it and the TV whose screen went black and drove them over to the spot and no, they would not be recycling those items, they would go directly in the landfill. So they're still sitting in the trunk of my car. We're taking them into the Best Buy in Rosenberg tomorrow because they will recycle them and we're going to look at new TVs while we're there.

Also last Saturday was the baby shower for my grandson and his SO which was very nice and they got some very needed items. She's type 1 diabetic and the baby grew a whole pound the previous week. Tomorrow they find out when the doctor wants to induce her and the baby is already over 7 pounds and she has previously had a broken pelvis so they are concerned not only about the size of her baby but her pelvis. She's at 35/36 weeks now so the plan is to let the birth proceed naturally after inducing her but intervene with a C section if necessary.

Coming back from the baby shower I saw this.

The yellow rain lilies popped up the other day which surprised me since we haven't had any rain in weeks. It rains around us but not on us.

And I spotted this little tree frog on the side of the house the other day as well. 

3 more and gray days

Three more additions to the survivor list. The confederate roses are finally putting on new growth from the roots as is the morning glory bush, at least one solitary new branch from the roots. I haven't checked the bigger stand over at the shop but I'm encouraged that that one has also survived. And, if I'm not totally mistaken, the rangoon creeper, the small one in a pot intended for a friend, is sending up a new branch though it's only about a half inch. 

So if this one in a pot unprotected survived then surely the big one in the ground on the fence has, even though I'm not seeing any new growth there yet. I think the hibiscus is dead and the bougainvillea too as they had both just been transplanted but I won't pull them out til the end of May. Same with the mexican bird of paradise. And I think my penta that bloomed constantly just about all year that has survived for years, I think it's dead. The baby banana trees are growing, not seeing any upward movement from the elders. I do miss my clump of banana trees. The yellow bells, hummingbird bush, don't know about them yet either. I think maybe the yellow trumpet flower in the ground didn't make it, still nothing from the star of india or the gardenia but I'm seeing new growth from one clump of nile lilies.

And then there's this...

this is the pink angel trumpet cutting I took off the big one after it bloomed it's one flower  that I had had in the house all winter which it didn't like especially. I watered it and fertilized it and I was surprised to see 7 buds developing. It's parent in the ground has given me maybe a total of 3 flowers. So I looked closely at the yellow angel trumpet in a pot that has bloomed over the winter and it has 9 developing blooms.

And the gingko trees have come out.

This was our sky/sunset Sunday night.

It's been overcast and rainy/drizzly for the last several days, everything is wet, walk out in the yard and your shoes are soaked. Anyway, because of the wet there is no working outside. Usually I'll sit and read on days like this but Sunday and Monday I did the floors. I'll be the first one to tell you I'm a terrible housekeeper as I can always find something better to do and I have a high tolerance for dirt but they were finally so bad even I couldn't turn a blind eye. So bad that I had to sweep every floor first before I could vacuum and then I even washed the kitchen floor and both bathroom floors. Now, today, there are leaves already scattered around. Most of them come in on the cat who likes to sleep outside and they stick to her fur.

Coming home from yoga Monday night we saw a faint rainbow over the field at the end of our street.

Then yesterday I roasted butternut squash to prepare it for a recipe and before I started peeling and cubing it I decided it wouldn't be enough so ran out and got another one but after cutting up the first I realized it was enough which I used last night so now I have enough cubed butternut squash in the freezer for two more future meals. Anyway, that took all afternoon. Today, gray and rumbly and now raining, maybe I will sit and read.

Two more pics, my little redbud tree in a pot

and the spirea which was bare sticks a month ago.

rain, repairs, and resist

Hurricane Hanna made landfall Saturday afternoon/evening just south of Corpus Christi at Padre Island. It's far enough down the coast that all we got is rain which we got off and on all day Saturday, 2 1/2” total. Some bouts of hard rain but mostly not as the bands swept through with pauses in between in which I got out there with a shovel or hoe trying to direct the accumulating water away from the part of the house on slab. Of course, the lowest part of the property is right around the slab.

I've been pondering lately my complete disinterest and lack of motivation in making art. No drawing, no watercoloring, no model making or glass casting. It's not like I don't have plenty of time and opportunity though I have been blaming it on the remodel of the bathroom, then the remodel in the shop, then the house hunting and preparation for it to be delivered but the truth is, I just don't have the interest these days. As if finishing the heron box last December was the cap on my career. Apparently. My colored pencils and watercolors stay spread out on the small work table as I studiously ignore it all. I tried to do some sketches at one point for a new piece that's been floating around in my mind but after three days of zero progress I gave it up since I do have some pieces I can offer the gallery for their anniversary show in September. If this keeps up I'm going to have to change the description of my blog.

Although, the more I look at the picture of the begonias on my Friday post the more I think I might draw them. I even went so far as to print out a couple of images and even opened my sketchbook to a clean page but that's as far as I got. Maybe tomorrow. I'm trying to finish the book I'm currently reading but it's gotten tedious here towards the end and not holding my attention. But then nothing seems to be holding my attention.

And so yesterday it was tomorrow and I did not draw but I did go to the grocery store and I did finally mend my skirt. You might remember last spring when I made three skirts. I wear two of them all the time around the house and on my walks, when one goes in the laundry I wear the other. As it happened, a couple of weeks ago I looked down to see that I had caught my skirt on something and there was a big tear, two sides of a square, each leg 2 1/2”. My first attempt was a total failure. I lined everything up and put cellophane tape over the tear on the inside and then zigzagged over it on the outside thinking all the little holes would perforate the tape and I could just pull it off when done. Wrong. So seam ripper and scissors in hand I ripped out all that zigzagging making the frayed edges even worse but I remembered I had some lightweight interfacing, the kind that you can iron on, so I got some of that out, cut it into an 'L' shape and pressed it on over the tears on the inside and then stitched around it and then zigzagged in the middle and I think it did a fine job.

Another rainbow formed as we were coming back from yoga last night (is it night if it's still light outside even though it's after 6 PM?). It started at one end, then started at the other end until it arced across the sky. Short lived and not very strong, nevertheless a picture was got through the windshield.

My sister and my daughter think all I do here is rant, rant about things I can't change and I'm working myself into a heart attack but they are wrong. Things don't change if no one speaks out, if no one observes, if no one shares what they see and learn, if no one resists, if no one confronts, if no one puts their body on the line, if no one informs why it is essential to vote, if we turn a blind eye to the subordination of the constitution and the rule of law and allow a would be dictator supported by a compromised Senate to rise. I resist. I resist by refusing to stuff the anger. I resist by shining a light, however small, on the evil that is this administration. I resist by communicating with the people and our political representatives. I resist because there is no guarantee at this point that we will have a fair election with all the voter suppression perpetrated by Republicans or even have an election. When the Justice Department is compromised and the head Attorney General of the United Sates has become the fixer for a corrupt president supported by his corrupt political party with his own militarized secret police force which is right now being sent into the cities and states governed by the opposing political party to suppress the demonstrations and 1A protests against police brutality and inherent racism in our judicial systems, there are no guarantees, there are no guarantees this same brutal force will not be deployed to prevent people from voting.

This blog was never meant to be about fluff though I have published plenty of fluff. It was and is a chronicle of my life through memories and current activities and what catches my attention, and, to a lesser degree, a history of the time in which I live and my place in it. It's the good, the bad, and the ugly; mine and the world's. And while I don't consider these essays rants I will continue to write them as long as events demand.

another few days in the life

It continues to be hot and humid and dry. So dry. The cotton in the field at the end of the street is suffering, wilted with large swaths yellowing. 

I don't remember this happening the year of the terrible drought when the whole state was in exceptional drought and Texas lost millions of trees to wildfire and also from lack of water. Feed corn must have been planted in that field that year which they don't harvest until it is completely dried out anyway.

Monday evening, though, it was raining east of here and a rainbow developed while I was walking Minnie

and then Monday night a storm blew through but was mostly just lightning and thunder. We recorded 3/8” of rain. It cooled things down a bit if only temporarily. And then this morning I woke to a decent rain, or rather it was raining decently as long as it lasted, less than ¾" worth.

My neighbor whose husband died suddenly last December had a crew come in and whip her acre that had gotten out of control (this is not to be construed as a criticism especially considering my own yard maintenance style but simply as an observation) back into shape. It took them two days. There was a lot of stuff to recover and uncover. It made me wonder if she's thinking of putting the house on the market soon.

Grandgirl Jade, who is finishing up her third year at University of Texas San Antonio I know, right! is moving into a new apartment with a friend and she claimed our old dining room table that we have been keeping for her over at the shop. You might remember I got the score of a lifetime at an estate sale, a round oak table with lion paw feet, a leaf, and 6 chairs for $80. She came and fetched the table and chairs weekend before last and last Friday I got this text from her...

I'm going to have to stay away from the news and all things Trump for a few days. Trump's deployment of his DHS and prison guard and border patrol thugs in Portland and the upcoming deployment to Chicago to instigate and engage in violence is making my afib act up. Trump is doing this as part of his 'law and order' re-election strategy, and he's only doing this to democratic run states and cities as a way to delegitimize the Democrats, as proof that Dems are soft on law and order and that if they get elected the country will descend into chaos. So he is sending in his secret police to escalate the violence to create the 'proof' he wants. And in Portland that's exactly what happened. The protests had dwindled down to about 100 diehards hanging out at a park, barbequing and making music and now with the uncalled for violence from these unnamed police, the protests have resurged. Never mind that the country has descended into chaos under Trump's hand ot that this maneuver is illegal as no one in Portland asked for the feds and federal law enforcement must be requested. As for Chicago, their mayor is a black woman. He needs no other reason to demonize Chicago and send in the feds though I did read today that the police union sent a letter to Trump asking for help because they are just as racist and misogynistic as he is.

A few more pics from around the yard...

been seeing more of these little tree frogs

and I saw the tiniest little anole yesterday that must have just hatched but it scooted away too fast for me to get a picture.

Summer stalwarts Katie ruella which is basically a dwarf tamed wild mexican petunia though they also spread easily,

and the yellow bells (also called esperanza and tecoma stans) are blooming,

and the coral ginger is starting to bloom.