miscellaneous stuff

One more day. My sister is returning tomorrow but not until late so one more day to look after the Demon Duo. They will be glad to have her back. I haven't minded because I get about an uninterrupted 45 minutes or so to read while they play or lay in my lap. It does play hob with my routine since I like a leisurely morning and going over in the middle of the day breaks it up just enough that I don't get much else accomplished but it is my choice when to go.

Speaking of routines, I've done my yoga routine 5 days in a row now. Yay me! I used to wait until after coffee and reading and writing blogs and before breakfast but always ran out of time so now I've been doing it first thing after getting up and before I sit at my desk and have my coffee and that seems to be working out.

When Marc gassed up the car and had the oil changed the other day, the guy discovered a big rat's nest under the hood. We drive that car nearly every day so that surprised the hell out of me. Now I'm wondering if there's one under the hood of the truck as it rarely gets driven these days. I suppose I should look but haven't so far.

We've been having a spate of really pretty days, not too hot during the day, not too cold at night, blue skies and low humidity, just really pleasant. The downside is we aren't getting our winter rain and we could really use some. The other downside is all the early spring weeds are already rampant in the yard...chickweed, cleaver, clover, henbit, oxalis, etc. The woodland violets are blooming and the 10 petal anemone are emerging but not blooming yet. The climbing roses in the crepe myrtle and oak are blooming but I can't tell if this is their fall bloom or their spring bloom.

The place I found out here in Wharton, Hesed House, that has yoga classes and other community activities and lectures and stuff is having a six week series of free classes on Watercolors For The Beginner (for adults) so I signed up for the Wednesday classes which start tomorrow. I'm not exactly a beginner artist but I have never taken watercolor classes. I'm sure I'll learn something and it will be an opportunity to engage in a broader range of art or it may be so basic that I'll be bored. We'll see.

I just took the dog out to see if she had some business to do while I watered the poppies before the dip into the 30˚s tonight and looked up to see her hauling ass across the 12 acre field behind us chasing that gray cat into the scrub on the other side. She ran full out without a thought but coming back she slowly picked her way with her dainty feet.

And now I'm going to go finish my book.

crazy people

The other day the son of the crazy woman who owns the lot next to us came over to mow and cut up the catalpa tree on the corner of the open shed that fell over several months ago. Then he was out there with a metal detector trying to find the metal stake at the front of the property that marks the property line and he was looking in the wrong spot, figuring it would be across from the fence line of the shop property across the street. Originally, the lot next to us belonged to the people who owned my house but for reasons unknown to me, they sold it to Frank of the Bountiful Garden whose property was on the other side of the lot. Frank didn't want to buy the tallow trees on the property line so the original owner retained 5', meaning we own the 5' adjacent to our property. This was news to her son and he finally conceded he would have to get someone out there to find the actual property line in preparation of putting up the fence. I'm pretty sure this is news to the crazy one as well and all this time she's been thinking we have not been respecting the property line, hence the fence between us, I guess. Or who knows what motivates her as far as we're concerned. I have to admit that I wish I could have been a bug on the wall to see her reaction when he told her. Don't you know she went nuts learning we owned 5' of property that she thinks should be hers.

And speaking of crazy people, the madman in the White House has kicked the hornets nest by assassinating the second most powerful man in Iran. For reasons. Trump is a proven liar and governments lie when they want to go to war (Iraq being our most recent example) and so I do not believe a word Trump or anyone in his administration or any of his Republican supporters says about Soleimani and his plans to attack US embassies and bases especially since defense officials dispute Trump's claim. So Soleimani was evil. So is Putin, so is Erdogan, so is Kim Jong Un, so is the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Netanyahu and all the other dictators Trump so admires and in fact he alerted Putin of his intention and not Congress who has the sole power to authorize an act of war.

Not satisfied with this stupid thoughtless stunt all because Trump and his minions can't tolerate the achievements of a black man, and asked if he had an exit strategy for the events that will surely follow, he replied “I don't need an exit strategy”; Trump has threatened to bomb 52 cultural and heritage sites in Iran, 52 non-military targets. This is a war crime. Not surprisingly, our allies that Trump has spent the last three years shitting on do not support the impulsive assassination of Soleimani with no thought as to the consequences that has already endangered their own service people abroad and Trump can't understand why not while Pompeo actually said he expected the Iranians to rejoice over Soleimani's death.

And who are we to claim righteousness? How many innocent lives have we ended in our quest for oil and conquest of the world? We destroyed Iraq under false pretenses, over half a million Iraqis dead, their infrastructure destroyed, the economy decimated, caused it to fall into anarchy and terrorism, not to mention the 30,000+ maimed American soldiers, all because Dick Cheney had a hard on for Iraqi oil.

Trump has fulfilled his own prediction/tweets about Obama...a failing unpopular (and in this case impeached) president would start a war with Iran to get re-elected.

Welcome to 2020. And I thought 2019 was fucked up.

out with the old, in with the new

I trust everyone had a good holiday season and are just as glad that it's done for another year. I'm glad to see 2019 gone. Besides the continued destruction of this country and our democracy and the planet, it wasn't one of my better ones. Between my health issue that dominated the year and all the months of work and struggle on a particular piece of art it was less than great. It did end well though, one part of the health issue is fixed and the other part is being controlled and the art piece did finally get finished and sold immediately. I guess I can't really complain. And the last few days of the year were good. My grandgirl Autumn came to stay a few days and then I drove her back to Austin on Monday and spent the night. We had a great dinner

and then stayed up late in the night talking about her year, which she is also glad to see gone, not a good one for her either, but she's hopeful for this coming year and she is clear on what she wants and needs, so much more so than I was at her age. Then a late breakfast

and running errands and then I drove home in time for our game night with our little social group on the street which was a lot of fun playing a domino game called Train with a lot of laughter and we actually stayed up til midnight to see the year out and in and home about 1 AM. And yesterday I was a total slug, did not even put on 'outside' clothes.

I don't usually do New Year's resolutions. I've only made two in my life that have mostly stuck. One was to spend my change even if it meant the next person in line had to wait an extra minute while I dug it out of my pocket (you'd be surprised how many people get annoyed by that) and the other was to do 5 sun salutations every morning (which evolved into a short routine) but which has been a little hit or miss, mostly miss this past year. So I'm going to try and be better about that, even on days when I go to class in the evening. And I'm going to try and be more productive in my art this year which was my goal for last year but then the whole flutter/afib thing just took over.

Today it is overcast and rainy but not too cold. I have six more days of taking care of the Demon Duo until my sister returns. 

I might do a little housecleaning today and I might not. I have a wind chime to repair and a little trinket box to paint so maybe I'll do that. The camellia is still blooming and some of the roses are blooming.

a little droopy from the rain

Here's the gray cat that comes to drink out of the turtle pond.

May 2020 be a good year for all and especially boot Trump out in November.

Marcmas and a mini Granny Camp

Christmas day was quiet as always as was the day after. This little town basically rolls up the sidewalks. Friday though was Marc's birthday, Marcmas as it's known around here and no, nothing is sacred. We went to see Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and as true Star Wars fans we liked it. It was a great end to the saga. We went to see the first one when our daughter was 6 weeks old. We sat in the last row so I could easily slip into the lobby if she got scared from the noise or started crying but no, she didn't utter a peep through the whole thing being the good baby she was. We were going to do some shopping as long as we were in shopping mecca but Sarah was bringing grandgirl Autumn out to spend a few days for a mini Granny Camp so we put off the shopping til my sister gets back.

Autumn and I went over to take care of the Demon Duo yesterday before browsing through the only two shops left worth poking through. I was sitting on the floor waiting for the cats to come get some attention and raised my device to take a pic of Daryl when...

Minnie photobombed the cat

Later when Autumn and I had given the cats all the attention they wanted at the moment, Daryl got up and went out into the garage through the pet door and Zack had moved on to the couch cushion to look out the window when Daryl came back in and went straight to the kitchen. We got up to leave and I went into the kitchen to give Daryl one last petting and this is what I found...

Yay cats!

Neither of us found anything special at the first shop though I did take a picture of some really awful earrings someone crafted out of badly painted sea shells

but at the second shop I did find an old glass drawer pull sans the bolts but I can replace those.

That's six I've managed to find over the years. I'm slowly replacing the drawer and cabinet pulls as I really don't like the ones that came with the house that stick out on the sides and get caught in my pants pockets. They don't all have to be antique glass, just something I like so I also found this one at the same place. 

There were two of them so I think I'll go back today and get the other one as well. JT's is a huge shop crammed full of stuff, trash and treasure. 

I've found some really cool stuff there over the years. It used to be just a nightmare of stuff piled helter skelter but they have been cleaning it up and organizing it somewhat over the last couple of years,

 and yes, this  is organized.

And now Autumn and I are headed to the movie to see Jumanji: the Next Level and tomorrow I'm driving her back to Austin.

hard to know sometimes which is the real reality

I was having one of those dreams yesterday morning where you are sleeping and someone comes in to see why you are still sleeping and you're trying to wake up and get up but can't get your eyes open and when you finally do get them open a crack you're struggling keep them open. Finally I was awake in the dream and I was at some sort of retreat or some place and it was the last day and time to leave and we were responsible for cleaning the room and doing the dishes and my two roommates had already left leaving me to do all the clean up but there weren't even any towels to dry the dishes. There were other people in the room though I don't know what they were doing so I finally just shrugged and got my bag and left. I thought I still had most the day to explore but I wanted to check on my flight home, find out when the bus to the airport left and what time I had to be there. I was walking down a long hallway, someone had given directions to the lounge but I passed the intersecting hallway and some guy walked me back and to the lounge and left me there. I was kind of confused and getting anxious because I couldn't find out about the bus and I was afraid of missing my flight so I thought I could just check my ticket but when I pulled it out it was all gummy and I couldn't pull the pages apart and then I started waking up for real and was having trouble pulling out of the dream and opening my eyes. I had to lay there and tell myself this was a dream and I needed to disengage from it. Finally I was able to wake up and open my eyes. Weird. What the hell was that all about?!

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There's a gray cat that comes to drink out of the turtle pond in the mornings. I've seen it several times now. It leaps up on the top rail of the chain link fence and then to the rim of the pond. I'll let Emma out and she will saunter over and the gray cat will move behind the dead stalks of the lizard tail (water plant) as if Emma can't see it. Eventually when it feels it's safe it will leap back up on the top rail of the fence and down and runs across the yard. Not sure if this is a feral cat, it looks well fed and healthy, or belongs to a neighbor.

The last two days have been sunny and warming, upper 60s, til the sun goes down anyway. Today is really nice too. I need to get my purple poppy seeds in today since I should have gotten them in last month and the red ones already have a good set of true leaves. We have our full winter landscape and while I usually leave most of the dead foliage til spring to clean up, I am cutting down the dead and brown ginger stalks.

I'm still tending to the Demon Duo every day. Minnie does not care for me playing with the cats.

Well, it's christmas eve for those who celebrate and so to those I say have a wonderful day today and tomorrow.

baby, it's cold outside reprise

Yesterday, Friday, the only thing I accomplished was going over to my sister's house and tending to the Demon Duo. 

It was cold and wet and overcast and anyone who's been reading me for any length of time knows what that means. Today wasn't much better, still cold and overcast but not drippy though I did manage a quick trip to the grocery store as well as tending to the cats. Potato leek soup is on the schedule for tomorrow. It was originally planned for about a month ago but then I got busy and the weather warmed up and the potatoes got eaten, the chicken broth and half & half got used, and the leeks went on the compost pile so I had to replenish my ingredients.

I finally notified the gallery that they would not be getting the heron box but that I had another piece that I thought would be suitable and they were happy for my sale and will take the substitute so I've been trying to get all the requested info...images, bio, artist statement, resume...updated and sent for that and another exhibition of pate de verre that I've been invited to participate in. That one is also in February so I'll be packing up the work and getting it sent off to it's separate destinations in January.

Meanwhile we're well into that period of time I refer to as the 'lost days' so called because everything seems to get put on hold for the last two weeks of the year what with all the holidays squeezed in. Back before we retired from the etched glass we would always just close til after the new year.

Well, that's all I've got. Haven't been able to wake up it seems since last Wednesday when I had to get up at 5 AM so I think I'll creep back under my blanket in front of the space heater on the couch with my book.

unexpected cold and a vote for the rule of law

Well, damn. It was only supposed to get down to 30˚ last night so I didn't cover the ponytail palm. At 7:30 this morning it was 27˚ and the bird baths were frozen solid. I also didn't turn on the little heater in my sister's makeshift 'greenhouse' because at 30˚, everything would be fine. So I hope everything is fine. Plenty isn't here that remained outside...the penta, the star of India, the black and blue salvia, the ginger, the hibiscus, and more badly burned by the below freezing temps but not dead.

I had to get up at 5 AM yesterday to pick my sister up at 5:30 to take her to the airport. She usually flies out of Hobby to visit our brother over the holidays but he made the reservations and so she was flying out of Bush Intercontinental, an hour and a half drive with no traffic. Fortunately it was early enough that traffic through Houston was minimal, only one or two slowdowns which resolved quickly, and I used the Beltway on the way home to avoid rush hour coming back. It was exactly 3 hours round trip. I didn't do anything else all day. Except I did make it to yoga last night, the last session til after New Years, and I stopped by my sister's house to check on the Demon Duo. Remember those two cute little kittens I kept for two weeks last summer? Yeah, them.

We did get the car unpacked Monday and the display and associated materials stored in the shop, but I haven't unpacked a single thing and may not for a while. And I may just sit and read today.

So, yeah, Trump is officially impeached right along party lines except for that Republican in Democrat clothing Tulsi Gabbard who didn't have the courage to vote either way, saying only 'present' when her name was called, straddling the fence...didn't want to piss off the Republicans. I wish I could say it was unbelievable the lies that just rolled off Republican tongues yesterday but unfortunately it was not only believable but expected. And Trump reacting in his disgusting selfish pathetic whiny name calling and hateful way, also expected (he tweeted 80 times in 3 hours last Saturday all about how UNFAIR!!! it all is). According to him he has been treated worse than the women in the Salem witch trials (though I fail to see how getting a vote of no confidence is worse than having a big rock tied to your feet and tossed in the lake to see if you float [witch] or drown [innocent]), worse even than Jesus getting crucified on the cross. And then there's McConnell who has been all over the news announcing he has no intention of conducting a fair trial or even trial at all since he is coordinating Trump's defense with Trump and plans to acquit even though he will have to take an oath to be an impartial juror and Lindsey Graham who has already announce that he is not going to be an impartial juror who will also have to take the same oath and you know that the rest of the Republican weasels in the Senate regardless of the many who supposedly secretly support impeachment will do what McConnell tells them for fear of being targeted by Trump's ire and voted out. In fact Republicans are crowing that this impeachment vote by Democrats will assure their defeat in 2020, especially the House members who took over previously Republican seats in 2018. Seems to me what they don't understand is that they lost those seats because the population of those states no longer support Trump and his Republican ass kissers. Seems to me that this vote will assure their reelection. Fortunately Madam Speaker Pelosi is delaying sending the impeachment to the Senate for trial until the House can be assured of a fair trial in the Senate which I don't see ever happening as long as McConnell is majority leader. I'd rather see it continue to hang over Trump's head and further investigation into his contempt of the constitution. And not just the Constitution but our Bill of Rights as well. Trump thinks he should be able to have his political opponents assassinated. This shouldn't be allowed, he said, they do things differently in Guatemala.

Which is exactly why, Mr. Trump, we have a Constitution limiting the power of a President and a Bill of Rights to protect the citizens.