Monday.  Welcome to the last day of June.  This year is half gone.  We see lightening in the sky so far this morning.  Whether it gives us rain is another question.  We'll see.

Well, we can see outside now.  We have had some moderately heavy rain and high winds.  No garden work today.  If we get a clear spot (new rounds of rain expected later) I will take a look outside.

Damn!!  The Japanese beetles are back--right on time.  My info says they reappear around July 1 and that is tomorrow.  I will put out the pheromone trap I picked up a while back.  They have gone from nothing to more-than-I-like overnight.

Interesting take on the situation in Iraq and Syria.  There are times when I read something and say "Naaah!! That has to be wrong."  Often I find out that "OH, SHIT.  It is accurate."  What sent me to Google was the notion that ISIS is resorting to crucifixion not the description of the political instability of even apparently stable regimes in the area.  That last accords with what I have been reading elsewhere.

Sunday.  We seem to be in the middle of a hot and humid spell with chances of storms right now. We had planned to take the garden walk yesterday but the heat and humidity took our ambition away. I did get my last seedlings transplanted.  I was very glad I put all of those small plants under cloches. The really heavy rain late yesterday would have smashed those plants flat.  I probably won't have to water anything today.  We still have spotty showers this morning and expect more later.

One of the broadcast news programs had a piece on this a month or so ago.  I wish some of the excess water falling on the upper midwest could detour to California.

For more than a decade I asked "what happens in a consumer economy when the consumer can't (or won't) consume on the heroic scale of the recent past?"  Well, we have our answer.  (I don't agree completely with the sentiments of the author but I think many of his points are on target. And character assassination doesn't help support his arguments.)

It is amazing what money, or the threat of a lack of it, will do in politics.  Marijuana has long been a Schedule 1 substance, along with opium derivatives and hallucinogens.  Not because it is as dangerous other schedule 1 drugs but because it was supposed by so-called experts to be a "gate-way" to more the dangerous drugs.  Now, because the DEA is faced with possible loss of enforcement funding, it has become less dangerous??

Here is a delightful little story from Thoroughly Modern Millie.  It had us giggling in delight.

I didn't realize that charity work was a "competitive" business with "trade secretes" to protect.  Evidently, the American Red Cross does and uses that as an excuse to refuse requests for information on how it spends the donations it receives.  A good reason not to donate if you are so inclined.

Saturday.  In the gardens--harvested shiso and got it dried.  Trimmed a couple of the tomato plants.  Potted all the four new petunias which look very pretty on the fence.  Watered everything which surprised me a bit because of the rain we have had over the last week.  But even though I have a lot of large (and larger) pots they have large plants in them and those large plants suck up moisture very fast.  I need to harvest the lemon thyme and dry it.  I will probably get a full dehydrator out of it.

Just when you thought politics couldn't get any weirder something like this happens.

Found this on Senior Planet.  No, I won't be getting the book but I like some of the points quoted.  When we aren't annoyed by the anti-aging commercials we are laughing.  Well, they do say having a good laugh is healthy.  I agree on the wrinkles--I have earned them and every gray hair.  I am wearing mine with pride.

Are we really so dumb that we will rush out to buy a pink or purple pen advertised as "for women?"  Bic seems to think so.  Crap!!

Thursday.  Foggy this morning.  Not bad but I will wait till it clears before I do anything in the gardens.  I found a nice handful of strawberries on my plants yesterday.  They are destined for our morning cereal.  I pulled the mystery plant and the remains of the hibiscus.  Sad that one didn't make it through the winter.  It was so pretty and we enjoyed it so much.  I have three small pots of shiso I will put in that spot.  Our weather people are predicting hit and miss storms so I will put them under cloches.  I found early buds on my melon plants and on the bean vines.  I also have some lavender seedlings and a chamomile to put in.  Cloches for them too.  And a lot of weeding.

Pitted about two-and-half pounds of cherries most of which are not in the freezer.  I put them on a tray to freeze individually so I need to package them up today.  The ones we put on our cereal were a real treat.  We may pick up some more if we find some at a good price when we shop next week.  I am planning to harvest and dry some shiso today.  I have another plant that is thriving in its space.  Looking forward to experimenting with it.

Friday.  I didn't get the shiso picked because we decided to do some errands yesterday rather than next Monday as we had planned.  The weather looks a bit more unsettled early next week.  While we were out we picked up some red petunias that I will put in the over-the-fence holders.  The hummingbirds appear to like the purple ones so we will give them something else to play with.  I watched one looking over the portulaca which is blooming very nicely.  I saw a bumblebee working among the melon blossoms.  I did get the lavender, shiso, and chamomile seedlings put out.

Found this on Americablog.  Didn't say anything I didn't know about how over-the-counter drug makers try to hoodwink customers but it was interesting to read a doctor's take on the issue.  I agree with his final assessment: hands on wallet in pocket and eyes open.  I would add: skepticism antennae on full.

Wednesday.  A bit of fog so far.  Cooler temps predicted.  We finally got out to do our shopping but much later than usual because the heavy rain lasted till mid morning.  We found some nice cherries so I will pit some for our cereal this morning and the rest for freezing.  Don't have much planned for the garden.  But walking by the rose yesterday was a joy as I caught a whiff of the rose scent.  The survivor is doing very well.

Minor rant coming:  I don't know about anyone else but I am really tired of idiot politicos (and others) who say or write something racist, sexist, or otherwise bigoted and then bleat that they aren't racist, sexist or otherwise bigoted as if that excuses their idiocy.  The Superintendent for Public Instruction of Arizona provides a new example of this strain of stupidity.  He was intentionally offensive and dishonest--otherwise he wouldn't have published that blog under a pseudonym.  The story brings to mind a cute, possibly apocryphal, story I read a bit ago.  A man standing in line at a supermarket was pissed off by a woman in front of him talking on a cell phone in a language he didn't know.  He aggressively confronted her and said, "This is America.  If you want to speak Spanish go back to Mexico.  Otherwise speak English."  The startled woman responded,  "Excuse me??"  whereupon the repeated what he has said in a louder voice.  She snapped back, "I was speaking Navajo.  If you want to speak English, go back to England,"  paid for her groceries and left.

After reading about Repthuglican hysteria over "voter fraud" and their attempts to make voting far more restrictive and difficult for Damnocrat voters.  (I am equal opportunity skeptic.)  Through all those articles, news reports and such over several years I have yet to read about real voter fraud--until now.  Evidently a health insurance executive has been charged with vote fraud for voting a dozen times (in his own name and two other names) during the 2011 and 2012 elections.  The juicy part--he voted for Republican Scott Walker and other Republican candidates.  It looks like the focus of concerns over who is committing vote fraud has been focused in the wrong direction.

I seem to remember a bit in the Bible about criticizing the "mote" in someone's eye while ignoring the "beam" in your own.  But I have noted that Bible thumpers are rather selective about what parts they hold to.  Case in point--political speech and activism.  Fine for me, not for thee.  Jesus quite rightly called such people hypocrites (Matthew 7:5).  And there isn't a religion existing that isn't engaged in politics.

I really have to wonder where Texas Governor Rick Perry learned his history.  He warns of a "trail of tears" if the Federal government doesn't act on the problem of unaccompanied children coming into the US along the southern border.  As I understand it the "trail of tears" resulted when the Federal government did act and forcibly removed the Cherokee from their lands (much coveted by whites) in Georgia marching the tribe to Oklahoma territory.  The route was littered with thousands of Cherokee who died along the way from starvation, disease, and exhaustion.  Worse, then-President Jackson acted inspire of a Supreme Court ruling that such action was unConstitutional challenging the court to enforce their ruling.  These aren't parallel events.  Those kids aren't being driven through the desert by troops under the control of the U.S. government.  But, reading the article, I have to wonder at the reporters who don't recognize the phrase either and take it as a witty description of an unfolding tragedy.  Are we so focused on and mired in the present that we see neither the past in all its complexity nor the possible futures?  Something else I have noticed in all the hot air (and ink) expelled over this issue: everyone talks about what the pundits think draws these kids here and nothing about the conditions in their homelands which are driving them here.

Tuesday.  The spate of rain that ended my gardening work yesterday was only one of several waves that came through.  Late in the afternoon we had another that had some worryingly gusty winds with it.  The big trees were rocking wildly while the rain came in driving sheets.  Rain continued through the night and is still falling.  I hadn't any gardening planned because we are (hopefully) going to do our regular shopping.

 Spelling error!!  Evidently the second such in a week.

Global temps above normal in May--again.  Ours weren't.  In fact, the map reflects our experience.  While some areas of the globe were considerably above normal while our's were slightly below.

I am not Catholic but I really like most of what Pope Francis says.  I hope he is around for a good long time.

I agree with John Aravosis--obscenity doesn't begin to cover the drug companies' pricing policies.

Sunday.  I had a productive gardening day yesterday.  Harvested stevia and spearmint.  The stevia is steeping in vodka to extract its sweetness and tomorrow I will drain it to simmer it down to the syrup.  I dried the spearmint and ground it for tea.  So far I have about three-quarters of an 8-ounce jar of dried spearmint.  I moved the sage to the new stacked pots along with some petunias and wonderberry seedlings.  The new pot of stevia I picked up last week is in the place the sage had occupied.  The tomatoes are doing very nicely and I pruned them a bit.  I am waiting for the light to bet stronger before I go out to see how things are.  We had heavy rain and strong wind that brought damage in some parts of the southern Lake Michigan area.  The morning news has been showing the downed trees and associated problems.  I would like to pick and dry peppermint this morning.  We are moving into the season when my dehydrator will be working almost daily.

Monday.  Dried peppermint and staked up a pepper the heavy rain pushed down.  If the rain holds off I will give the hyssop a haircut and dry it.  Maybe do either the lemon thyme or the rosemary also.  Areas west of us are getting rain now.  We'll see if it moves more north than east.  I also need to strain the stevia vodka and boil it down to get my syrup.  Otherwise not much planned.

Update:  hyssop, seven trays of it, is drying and the house has a slightly licorice smell.  Yesterday it smelled of peppermint.  I love drying herbs.  The stevia syrup is done and in the refrigerator.

Update 2:  My gardening is done form the day.  Thunder and heavy rain suddenly opened up.

Interesting--
      Hummmm--
      What an incredible waste--but then so much of our consumer-driven economy is wasteful.
      So, it isn't just the poor whose ambition is threatened by not having to work.
      Water, water everywhere nowhere--
      After all, what you don't know won't hurt you--will it?
      This is an idea I may have to try.