It looks clear right now with a lovely full moon. I shouldn't have to water anything because Alberto did dump a nice bit of rain. I have the first herbs of the season dry and ready to grind. I think the lavender will be the next to harvest in a week or so and, maybe, the sage and pineapple sage.

Tom Englehardt's newest address to the graduating class of 2018. Too bad it is given to an imaginary class in a university of the imagination.

Another medical issue to worry about: drug, especially antibiotic, supply lines on the verge of collapse.

Charles Hugh Smith updated his "burrito index" which pretty much confirms our impressions: inflation is much higher than our gamed government figures.

We'll the remnants of Alberto haven't arrived yet. I watered all of the smaller pots just to make sure they didn't get too dry before the rain comes. We still expect it today and overnight. I decided it was time to harvest sweet basil, peppermint and rosemary. I worried that I might not have enough to fill one try each and wound up with 2 of each. Nice to have the dehydrator going again. In the process I checked over the rosemary and decided to do the annual repotting and root pruning. Just as well I did because it was way too dry. Luckily rosemary doesn't mind being a bit dry for a short time. I think I will look for a nice slightly larger pot for it next spring. I also spread a bit of fertilizer on the strawberries and other plants. I figure any rain will wash it into the roots.

By the time I finished all that the temperature was uncomfortable and I was done for the day.

Ronni Bennett asks, often, why time seems to be so variable for older people. It is a question we also often ask here and I had noted our days are so much alike that we simply lose them as they melt into each other. Evidently, there is some evidence that that is a real phenomenon and not just us getting forgetful. It also dovetails into the prescription for avoiding dementia: keep learning new things.

Of course I decided to go back out the the gardens for a quick look since it is still dry. I reset five of the strawberries because the soil had settled and raised them a bit in their pots. Nipped some of the damaged leaves off the hibiscus. The cats thought they were tasty until we started spraying them with a bit of very dilute lemon juice. Gave it a good soaking as well. I think next spring, when I move it back outdoors after its winter inside, I will prune it on the top and on the roots as well and repot it in fresh soil. I walked into the house to the smell of basil, peppermint and rosemary drying. That is one of the great pleasures of growing and drying herbs.

An interesting little piece at Grist on the predicament climate change poses for California orchard farmers. It is interesting because it deals with a complex problem without oversimplifying it into nonsense.

The rain has finally arrived--in monsoonal style. It is now a little after 2 pm. Most of the day was sunny so I did get a bit of work outside done. But we do need this rain and it is a soaker.

I can relate to this piece at Root Simple. Once, some years ago, I owned a lot of books. I once tried to create a card catalog for them but stopped after some 10k entries with a few thousand yet to go. That was in spite of culling the mass three for moving to new houses and after realizing that my I no longer had any need for a fair number of books on specialized subjects. For the last 20 years the culling process continued (and continues). I noticed that I had a very large number of books that I would never read again, had read parts of for classes but had no interest in reading fully, or acquired because they sounded interesting but the interest dissipated before I actually got to them. My collection is a pale shadow of what it once was and gets smaller every time I start dusting and notice something that I can easily do without.

It is another hot day--92F at the present moment. I got all the plants watered before 6 am this morning. They are looking good so far. One of the two Ranunculus plants seems to be coming back; the other is still a strong "maybe." We should get some good soaking rain courtesy of Alberto tomorrow. I hope so. If we do I can put off soaking the plants on the fence (which involves lifting them down out of the baskets) for another couple of days.

I got the watering done early and moving those plants that I had hanging off the fence baskets on the outside of the fence to inside the fence where they are easily reachable made things easier. The temperature is 80* now and will easily reach the mid 90s this afternoon. We go errands done today and were wilting before we finished. Most plants seem to be tolerating the conditions well though I did lose the little pepper and one of the two remaining cuttings from the hibiscus. The other cutting is doing very nicely. They say this heat should break on Wednesday and we should have rain. We'll see.

I noticed sweet basil, German thyme, and peppermint that look ready for a first cutting. I am also thinking of doing a trim and shaping on the old rosemary. That may wait for a bit cooler weather and days when we don't have any errands to take us out of the house.

I did a bit of rearranging in the gardens. I moved the oregano and 7 strawberries inside on newly constructed hangers. I will be able to water and tend them more easily. I like to get out and do that early usually in my nightgown and robe thanks to the 6-foot solid fence. It was already warm so I didn't do anything more than look at the rest of the plants while I watered them. I also took the trays from the grow light sets upstairs and brushed them off before rinsing them. When they have dried I will put them back in place ready for my nest foray into seed starting and growing something under lights.

An interesting article about the "riot" of school shootings. I have some doubts of how effective the "gun-violence restraining order might be. What would constitute "proof" that someone is a threat? Would the police be able to confiscate not only the guns of the suspect himself but also those of his family members? The parents of the Texas shooter gave guns the police had confiscated back the the young man. I could continue but you get the idea.

We had a smidgen of rain last night but not enough to really matter. I watered everything very early this morning but brought down all of the begonias and ranunculus pots to dead head. I am glad I did because I found them still drier than they should have been. I watered them all really well before putting them back up and transferred the ranunculus to a pot in the lower gardens. I hope there is enough life left for them to recover. I will find something else to take their places on the fence. I will schedule a couple of days a week to take all of the topside plants down for a good soaking. We were in the high 80s yesterday and should be also today. Tomorrow and Monday are supposed to have highs in the 90s. And the first named storm (Alberto) is in the gulf headed for Louisiana. Oh, joy!!😒

Charles Hugh Smith has a good summation of the U.S. mid 2018--and it isn't pretty. Basically. almost everything we depend on for our wellbeing withering away. I could add some observation but they only reinforce his conclusions. If you think his notions are overblown consider this: Mom went to the new Meijer store pharmacy to price her usual prescription which will be renewed in about a week. She informed the pharmacist that she would be paying cash. He printed a coupon for her and remarked that he is seeing a lot of people doing that. She had insurance before the company moved her drug to a different tier and tripled her out of pocket costs. We figure she can save enough on the premiums the insurance company won't be getting to pay for her meds, her part of the lab fees for the blood work, her doctor's visits and her eye doctor's visits as well. And have money left over. And that is just the medical industry.

Tuesday--May 22

Haven't had much to say lately. The weather hasn't been particularly nice--cold and wet for the most part. The gardens are going along nicely but nothing new to plant yet. I am going more slowly than I have in the past. The weather is more capricious and I am changing what I plant--more herbs and flowers, fewer veggies. I want to see what varieties are locally available and do some research on what I might start next year.

Wednesday--May 23

Thursday--May 24

Friday--May 25

We have had a couple of busy days with errands, grocery shopping, and checking out the new Meijer store. We like to know where we can find the items we want and, just in case, alternatives to our usual shopping destinations. We are impressed by the new store. I think it will provide a good competitor for Walmart.

I have also been struggling with a wrenched knee which has made walking painful and sapped my energy. I did get out briefly to deadhead the ranunculus. I hope to do the same for the geraniums and spread a bit of fertilizer. Need to check on whether anything needs watering. We aren't expecting any rain for the next several days.

A couple of days ago I did get the dehydrator cleaned out and washed up. Last year was such a depressing year I just ran out of gas and didn't do a lot of my finishing work in the gardens. This year I have been more up-beat.

Nimue Brown has a post that reflects some of my own thoughts on the stories we tell, read or see. We need to tell the stories that show the changes we would like to see in our lives or our society.

I have nothing that needs doing in the gardens today other than taking a walk through and looking  at everything. It is cool this morning and the weather reports predict rain today and tomorrow. We'll see. The weather reports we get depend on what model the meteorologists use for their predictions. Mom looks at one service, I look at another, and the TV news weather people look at a couple of more. Who really knows?

Have you noticed that moderate (whatever that term means) to vigorous exercise it recommended for almost every ailment? Well, I found this article which says something different. I absolutely hate exercise for exercise sake and, sorry, the notion that it is really for my health's sake doesn't convince. Exercise involves time I would rather use for something enjoyable given over to boring motions that I would rather not do. My gentle exercise, which is still recommended, involves gardening and moving around the house doing the tasks that my life requires.

The sun is trying to make its appearance. It might actually get warm if it stays out long enough. I took a walk through the gardens on the inside of the fence since the rain had mostly ended. Everything is doing well. Otherwise I am lazy today. I got some work done on a crocheted blanket for my bed. I actually started it yesterday but realized it was too narrow to fit and took that out this morning. I am now back to where I was on it.

Dumb has just become Dumber. I don't believe the number of entrances/exits in the schools (or other buildings) have a damned thing to do with school or other shootings. I don't believe the number of guns in society have a damned thing to dow with them either. Suggestions based on either notion are simply bandaids that allow them to pretend to be really examining and dealing with the underlying problems.

The weather forecasts have no idea of what we should expect today. Last nights TV weather said sunny with the possibility of pop-up thunderstorms. The weather on the computer says 60% chance of rain and cloudy. I will water the plants anyway to be safe. The heavy digging is pretty much done and the buckets are all in their places. I have a couple of spots for 16-18 inch pots but I don't know yet if I will use them. May is half over and my garden is only one-third planted. The city farm market opens in just about two weeks and I will look over their plants. The growers there always have interesting items I want to try.

I have the last of the bought seedlings in the gardens: onion chives, pineapple sage and spearmint. I also brought the small rosemaries I started from cuttings two years ago and the hibiscus cutting that has survived. The hibiscus is thriving and needed a larger pot. Its parent needs some cultivating (for weed control) and some additional soil.

An interesting piece I found in a link on another site I visit regularly. To veil or not to veil--an interesting question. I have always thought it should be the free choice of the individual though so often it isn't. Western commenters usually assume that if a woman wears a scarf or veil they are forced to do so. That may not be the case. Some women fought to discard the veil others fought to keep or adopt it. Something about the article, however, didn't sit entirely comfortably with me and reading the blog which provided the link I discovered why. "Don't make their burden you costume," she wrote, referring to the experiences of the grandmothers, aunts and others who came before--those who rebelled against veiling. But that implies that the western converts who adopt veiling aren't authentic in their religious choices.

Nice sunny day again. I am digging out the last big container which will be slow going. I put a layer of gravel in the bottom hoping to aid drainage. I don't think it really worked.

I found this at Huffington Post this morning which pretty much sums up the Repthuglican efforts to add more work requirements to SNAP. Increase the number of workers looking for jobs, increase the competition, keep wages down. Every time they do something like this I repeat my question "Why work yourself to death to NOT make a living?"

Well, the last large tub has been emptied and is gone. Now I can clean up the space and put the buckets in place. Then I will have a better idea of how things can go.

And Hecatedemeter has expressed exactly how I feel and what we should do about it. There is an old saying that to get respect you should give respect but that doesn't mean you should respect those who disrespect you and whom you know will never respect you.

Sunny today and supposed to be warmer. I can get some work in the gardens done. Already I have checked all the plants on the east side and planted two salmon begonias. I have two red ones that will go in on that side. I have the plants on the west side to check but they, from a distance, look good also. I have been going back and forth on the tomatoes I started. Discard or keep. Put in or trash. I don't know how many times I have changed my mind. Well, I think (maybe) I will leave one Veriassage and pull the weaker one. I have planted the stronger Roselle and Ox Heart. I hope they perk up. I have no idea why they haven't thrived. They had good light. I watered them adequately and the soil was a new bag of potting mix.

In addition to the two begonias already planted and the two I mentioned above, I have chives, impatiens, spearmint, pineapple sage to transplant. Tomorrow I hope to get the last large rectangular tub dug out and in the trash.

We had waves of thunderstorms overnight and will probably have more this morning. By this gray morning light I can see the plants and they seem to have come through the night with little or no damage. But things need to dry out a bit before I get more gardening done.

I did take a little walk outside to check on the plants more closely. A few have had petals knocked off and a couple look a bit bedraggled but on the whole--all looks good. I have mentioned before that the gardens I imagine in the late winter and try to plant in the early spring are never the gardens I end up with in the fall. Well, that is more true this year than in any other year. I emptied and removed the one large round pot that had developed cracks in the sides and two of the large rectangular containers that also were worse for wear. I have one more to do but that needs to wait for things to dry out. I am rather disappointed in the pot and the containers. I have other round pots and had several large containers repurposed from storage boxes and those all weathered the conditions on the patio far better. I had one storage box planter that lasted five years before they had to be replaced. The ones I am removing didn't make two full years. The manufacturers are making them cheaper and it shows. I am replacing all of those containers with 5-gal buckets. Some of those I have had for 10+ years and, though showing wear, none of those are failing.

Tom Englehardt has another good post and he may be quite right: when our grossly overhyped Global War on Terror winds down (ends? maybe? hopefully?) we may be left with an "empire of nothing." No infrastructure (unless it benefits #45's rich friends and the govt pays most of the costs so they can harvest the profits), no education (unless, once again, his rich friends can skim off obscene profits), no health care (ditto), and.... . I won't continue--you can fill in the blanks yourself.

I don't know how much commenting I will do today. I am feeling the after effects of having eaten way too much at the birthday/Mothers' Day cookout my nephew had yesterday. It was especially nice because the Christmas and Easter events were cancelled due to illness--ours first then theirs. Good company and good food--an unbeatable combination.

It is raining heavily at the moment with small hail, thunder, and lightening. The street out front is a river. Also very heavy winds.

The rain passed between 8 and 8:30 so we went out to get groceries and look at plants at a local garden shop. Employees at the latter were busy getting plants repositioned because the wind had blown them over. Leaves and flowers littered the sidewalks. We looked on and were grateful for the nice, high fence around our little patio. It looks like nothing happened beyond some rain. Even the flowers in the pots on the fence were unruffled. We picked up some new double begonias which were on sale at 4 for $10. Almost half price. We also found the red impatiens Mom likes to have by our back door along with chives, spearmint, and a couple of other herbs. I am changing the gardens so much I think I will forego the eggplant and cucumbers this year. I want to take some time this year to see how the new configuration will work.

Happy Mothers' Day to all Mothers out there.

Supposed to be cool with a 50% possibility of rain. Everything in the gardens looks good except for the 2 Vernissage tomatoes. They and all the other seedlings I started look sickly. I might just cut my losses and buy transplants. This is the worst year I have had for seed starting. The strawberries, however, are doing well and several are blooming.

Every now and then I do get depressed when something I try doesn't work, especially something that has worked spectacularly well. Like the tomatoes which I easily grew in abundance until the last couple of years. But then I read a blogger who is in the same boat and tries again with hope for future success. Judith O'Grady's post today perked me up marvelously.

I saw a quip the other day that claimed if you can protest police actions and not be arrested you are not living in a police state. I think we might have passed that point.

One for the "What Is Old Is New Again" file.

Irrussianality makes a point I have been thinking since W was in the White House: It is time for the world to formulate an international system in which the U.S. can participate but not dominate. I think the first cracks came when Angela Merkel commented (for the benefit of the German electorate) that they couldn't depend on the U.S. any more and Germany along with the rest of Europe would have to make their separate plans. A former president (T. Roosevelt) once said we should "walk (or talk, I've seen both) softly but carry a big stick." For at least the last 50 years most presidents have remembered the last half and ignored the first.

It was raining when I finally had enough light to see outside and it is sprinkling now. However, the sky looks dismal so I expect we will have more rain off and on today. The same is on the forecast for the weekend. It looks like catch-as-catch-can gardening.

I did get other things done. Mom's crocheted blanket is finished and ready to go on her bed. I got some more done on an embroidered table scarf before our lap cat decided I wasn't spending enough productive time petting her.

I didn't get any garden work done. Errands engaged us most of the morning and then we had intermittent bouts of heavy rain for the rest of the day. Last I saw the transplants are all OK. I may not do anything today and just let everything dry out a bit.

I could get some gardening done but decided not to. I did something to my knee and I think giving it a rest is a good idea. besides I finished the crocheted blanket for Mom. It looks pretty good. Also some more the placement of various plants needs a bit more thought.

Saw some nice new leaf buds on the hibiscus. I was afraid it was going to give up after I put it outside too early. I was seduced by a couple of days and nights of warm temperatures before the cold slapped us again. The clematis is also growing nicely after overwintering in the gardens well mulched. I also put the large rosemary outside on my table and it is growing fantastically.

Just looked over the plants I put in yesterday and they are doing nicely. I may get some chores done--and then again I might not. We have errands planned today that will take me away from the gardens for a while.

Well, #45 did it--pulled the U.S. out of the Iran Nuclear agreement. I find it absolutely fascinating how little has been said on our lamestream media (as the right wingers like to call it) has had to say about the move. All I have seen is the announcement and a note that an American flag was burned in the Iranian parliament. France24 has some of the info I wanted: the allies are not in our corner on this. I often questioned how effective sanctions really were in bringing Iran to the bargaining table when we had pretty solid support from most of the economic heavy hitters behind us. Right now I wouldn't bet that any of the signatories of the agreement will back us. Sanctions won't be worth a bucket of warm piss spit. The BBC also has details. Of course, Bolton provided an additional threat that European companies had to cease dealing with Iran within 6 months or face sanctions themselves. What if those companies simply decide take their U.S. business elsewhere?

It is a very nice day today--warm and sunny with not much wind. I got the black vernissage tomatoes (e), lavender (2), oregano, sweet basil, purple basil, bee balm, peppermint, and lemon balm planted (1 each), and reset a trellis. I quit after getting everything watered because it is getting quite warm now. I won't get any gardening done tomorrow because we will be taking the car in for its spring tune-up and we expect rain.

Not doing much gardening today. We spent far more time shopping than normal. We thought we would only hit two stores but wound up going to four. For the last few months we have shopped at Walmart because they were the only source for the brand of yogurt we like. We like the whole milk yogurt and refuse to buy the skim and fat free versions. Today, however, Walmart didn't have it so we had to make a 40-mile round trip to the nearest Jewel which is the only reasonably close store to carry it. I have threatened to start making our own it they stop stocking it. Then we needed to restock the honey and our preferred "brand" (a local family product) is only available at a small health foods store. I took the opportunity to stock up on a couple of their herbal teas. And, finally, we finished our shopping at the local supermarket for the last few items on our list. The whole trek wore us both out. I did find a couple of very nice lavender plants at the Jewel garden center.

Perhaps you think we are just a bit too picky but don't you get tired of settling for what this commercialized world consents to sell you? We sure do.

I am rather familiar with this story having lived in Colorado for many years back before "drought" became an every day topic of discussion.

Well, today should be a good day for the gardens. It was a bit too windy to get much done yesterday besides arranging some of the pots and checking what might need watering.

Found this early today. I have often complained that most of the "tributes" to veterans have been cheap, meaningless verbiage. It does no substantial good for any of the veterans. This "tribute" won't be cheap but it will be just as meaningless.

I am done in the gardens for the day. Got 2 ranunculus, 3 geraniums, two sage and three thyme planted and placed. That involved a bit of rearranging of pots already in place. Then I dug out some more of one of the tubs that will be going in the trash. I also culled the seedlings I started. Several surprised me. They didn't look like they did all that well under the lights upstairs but they perked up outside. But it is getting a tad warm so I put all the tools away.

Supposed to be windy but dry today so some garden work is on the schedule. Everything, so far, looks good after the last day and a half of intermittent, sometimes heavy, rain. The strawberries are shooting up so fast you can almost see them grow.

This story illustrates what I see as a trend in our society: if you have the money to buy, you get the services you need. This deals with fire prevention/fighting services offered as part of an insurance program for properties worth more than $1million. The rest of us have to rely on overstretched and budget-starved public services. We see it in medicine: think concierge doctors. We see it in education: think private and charter schools.

A sad statement on what this country and the internet has become.

Our TV news noted that Bill Cosby had been expelled from the Motion Picture Academy but not that Roman Polanski had also been voted out. This story has that detail. I wonder if they finally acted on Polanski, forty years after he was convicted of raping a 13-year-old, merely to avoid the appearance of racism. One black male predator balanced with one white male predator--see,  everything balances out. NOT EVEN!!!

So some schools in the U.K. are taking analog clocks out of class rooms and replacing them with digital. Why? Because the kids can't read them.

Infidel753 provides a bit of sardonic humor while describing the current state of our this nation. I am not too sure I want to claim any part of it right now.

No gardening today. We had waves of heavy rain and thunderstorms overnight. More on tap for today. I won't complain since we needed the moisture and I won't have to water anything for the next couple of days.

This story caught my eye first off. The article says dust storms aren't unusual in that part of India though the death toll (which is likely to go higher) is unusual. I notice that we have had more dust storms over the last decade. Climate change???

This is one article I mostly agree with. We have an economy that benefits the parasites over anyone else and we are being bled white by them.

Dignity of labor??? I guess that depends on who is doing the laboring and who is pontificating. For much of what passes for work in this society/economy dignity is sorely lacking--as is compensation.

Well, it is nice but getting warm. I haven't done anything in the gardens so far and, probably, won't do much for the rest of the day. We did visit two of the garden shops and I picked up some plants: sage, oregano, spearmint, peppermint, sweet basil, purple basil, thyme, lemon thyme, red and white geraniums and red and yellow ranunculus. That is a good start. I will add to those as the season progresses. But all the walking tired me out so no digging today. I might trim the hibiscus and get it into the position I planned for it.

A bit of sticker shock today: gas at $2.95/gal. Ouch!! that is about $0.30 higher than it was on Monday. The news readers are saying it will go higher and, for the first time in a long while, are giving hints on when to fill up to minimize the pain.

Happy May Day!! It is finally feeling like spring going into summer. Tee shirt weather today. Yippee!!

Got two more buckets filled yesterday. Hope to get one of the large tubs completely empty and in the trash. I will move the hibiscus and large rosemary outside for the season--unless we get weather conditions I won't name. We are still 15 days away from the last average freeze date for this area. I have seedlings to put in the little greenhouse to harden off and a bunch of strawberries in their modified pots to hang. The hose is all hooked up and I used it yesterday to water all of the strawberries which are looking better and better each day.

Have already arranged spaces and hung up 15 pots of strawberries. And had a wonderful surprise: the clematis survived the winter and is putting up some small shoots. I placed it inside a wall 'o' water that had sprung a leak and packed the space between with leaves. Evidently it worked. It is such a good feeling when something works. I moved the hibiscus outside which has pissed off one of the cats (she likes to munch). The temperatures should be more to its liking from now till late next fall. I put the older rosemary out in one of the fence hangers with a bungee cord anchoring it against the wind.