A non-fading zinnia.
Nothing all that exciting to report on my end. I drove to the bookstore and got my copy of Bob Woodward’s new book. I’m going to start in on it today. I went grocery shopping. I cleaned.
I fought ants again. I swear, I have never seen so many ants over such a long period of time. Usually, I get them in the spring and then they fade away. But they have been a presence off and on all spring and summer. And now they’re back again! I’m so friggin’ sick of them. I don’t know why they are so bad this year – the crazy weather? So much rain? The last time our pest guy was here, he said they come inside when there’s too much rain because the rain destroys their ant hills. We had a lot of rain yesterday and we have more today. Sigh. I almost wish for winter just to get a break from these guys. Almost.
I bought two hollyhocks this year. One has flowered nicely. The other? A big old dud. I saw two blooms a while back and it was if they were the miniaturized versions of a real plant. Every other bud has died. The leaves are fine. Just no flowers. Very disappointing.
Nice to know that the faux-president thinks he did a bang-up job with Hurricane Maria, which resulted in 3000 deaths, many of them due to neglect, no water, no supplies, no electricity, no nothing from the U.S. government. Or that he plans on building more Detention Camps. Or that he took money from FEMA and moved it to ICE, right in time for hurricane season.
I could go on and on. I try not to write about IT (my new pronoun for that man) very often, party because we all know what’s going on and most of us are horrified.
And my blood pressure.
But sometimes I just have to. Yesterday he arrived for the Memorial Service in Shanksville, PA pumping his fists like he was at a rally. Completely and utterly clueless, without compassion, dumb as a post, corrupt, traitorous, narcissistic, racist, bigoted, vile. I have to stop there because I keep thinking of more adjectives and at this rate, I’ll never stop.
Back to regularly scheduled programming.
A fading hydrangea. So lovely.
I think today calls for reading – alternating between a novel I’m reading and the Woodward book. Maybe some hot chocolate later because it’s coolish out. And some deep breathing for some semblance of peace.
For those of you in the path of the storm, take cover, evacuate, whatever is necessary. Stay safe!
Happy Wednesday.
Hi Claudia. This is Linda from the Laurel Highlands in Pennsylvania. I live 11 miles from the Flight 93 crash site. I felt such revulsion seeing that man there. I couldn’t watch it. I don’t know how the families could abide it.
I’m tired of this wet weather too. But at least I’m fortunate that I won’t get blown away or flooded by water from a hurricane. My sympathies are with those who have to worry about it.
I can’t imagine what it must have felt like to have him there, Linda.
You’re so right. Rain is a minor annoyance compared with the hurricane. Stay safe, everyone!
You’ve got ants….we have tons of mosquitos…not an exaggeration. We can’t set foot outside our front door without getting bit. We have these Thermacell things we carry around with us…but, should we forget…look out!! While not anxious for winter…I certainly wouldn’t mind some cooler weather to at least slow them down. I am tired of donating my blood without my consent!
As far as your little rant goes….you are just putting into print what I’ve been thinking. I have to watch my blood pressure, too. I’m hosting the monthly ladies lunch today….so there is bound to be lots of laughter this afternoon. Enjoy your day reading! ;)
We have a lot of mosquitoes, too, but not as much as you have! Terrible!
Have a good time laughing with your friends, Donnamae!
Claudia, I have become convinced that 45 has some form of dementia. I think that the op-ed may be the beginning of a coup. What would be the purpose in going public? Who has something to gain? Who can’t be fired? The vice president. I think it was a move by Pence or someone close to him. In the meantime, we must keep the faith that mid terms will bring that blue wave.
I think he does, as well. And you may well be right. Pence, however, may make the move, but he’s most likely going down as well because he’s in it up to his eyeballs. Keep the faith, Marilyn!
I have ants in my freezer!!! And they are just piling up. You’d think they’d realize something was off. And no rain here in SoCal, so they either miss humidity or … well, I don’t know. The last time they did this was about 3 years ago.
Oh no! Those darned ants! I’ve also heard that when it’s too dry, they go looking for water, so there’s that.
Oh, Claudia. I saw what Obama tweeted yesterday. So thoughtful and so sincere. And then there is the fake one. Just sickening. I have a Dr appt tomorrow and I told my husband that they will likely call an ambulance and just put me in the hospital due to my BP. I know it is soaring. And I seriously do not watch the news. It just seeps in ~ in bits and pieces ~ and I can’t escape it like I wish I could. (Which, of course, I KNOW is a total coward’s way out.) The anger and feeling of helplessness I have is something I have never experienced. I know I am not alone.
Another backlash of not watching the news is I don’t know the direction the hurricane is moving. Are they saying it will be going up the coast after it hits land or back out to sea? Just wondering if you will have rain from the effects. I hope you have a good day of reading today! It occupies a large portion of my days, everyday! The road is Escapism, in the land of Denial. Never ever dreamt I would reside here!
I am going to watch The Weather Channel which I hope will not broadcast about tweet storms.
That is perfect!!! Yep, there are tweet storms every single day in this new world we live in.
Hoping the hurricane doesn’t cause as much damage as those do.
If he breaks into the weather channel, we’re in trouble.
I seldom watch the news, but I’m glued to Twitter. That’s not good, either. But it’s better than hearing that voice.
I don’t think we’ll have rain from it. We might have rain, but it’s going to head up the country through the Indiana and Ohio – at least that’s what it looked like yesterday.
How weird that you mention ants right now! I was cleaning up after dinner last night & don’t I see a really small ant scooting across the countertop near the sink. All by himself. Never saw any before & I’ve been here over a year now. I’m super careful about keeping the kitchen clean & all foods well-stored [usually in Mason jars etc] – PRECISELY so I don’t get ants!! I did do my shopping yesterday so maybe he hitched a ride in on some produce or something. Or maybe this is the Year of the Ants. I always thought ants were more common in hot dry weather & it’s been largely hot and dry up here until recently, so maybe that’s a factor as well. Dunno. Just don’t want to see any more of the lil buggers. Peace.
#Resist
#ProtectMueller
We keep it clean here, as well. I’ve heard both explanations and I think they’re both valid. In dry weather they come in looking for water. In too-wet weather, they come in for shelter.
So tell us how you really feel. Wasn’t it nice to hear Obama speak. It was nice to hear adult words coming from a President. Keep doing fun things and he will be gone soon…. not soon enough. Take care – Elaine from Luray Virginia
Yes. It was like a breath of fresh air! Thanks Elaine!
Your flowers and photography are so pretty! They always cheer me.
I know what you mean about mr little t. What else can we say? i do look forward to reading Woodward’s book too.
I am in NC so his remarks about Maria were especially Untimely. We are facing a huge monster of a storm. We here in North Carolina have been watching it for days come closer, change a bit and then come back closer…we wait.
Enjoy Today!
Love katheryn
Please stay safe, Katheryn. We’re pulling for you!
Wow, your “good” hollyhock is certainly a winner. Gorgeous picture. I picked up the Woodward book yesterday too (I’m about 100 pages in) and attempted to sit outside to read it. The hordes of mosquitoes in our backyard drove me inside. This really has been a summer of extremes. I think you’re wise to alternate books. There is just so much time you can spend reading about that creature in the Oval Office. I’m also reading the new Fred Rogers bio. Talk about a study in contrasts!
It’s weird. I read a bit of Woodward’s book, then I check Twitter and I have a battle between what is currently happening and what happened. Back and forth!
Yes, I agree – weirdness. It is so crazy, the stuff you read in the book, that when Woodward then goes on a detailed policy riff (like on Afghanistan), my mind just begins to shut down and I can’t take it in. I simply cannot process that the man is still sitting there in the White House after all the crap he’s pulled. Guess that’s why I’m taking comfort in Mr. Rogers, just like my oldest did all those years ago.
Mr. Rogers – the antithesis of IT. We need Mr. Rogers!
I will not let this man put me in the hospital. my BP goes to stroke level and I wind up with Afib in intensive care. I vowed to stay in some kind of control since the last time! and so far so good.
your body will tell you when you can’t stand another moment of hearing or seeing him.
just keep thinking… Paris! London! Edinburgh! OH MY!
I read somewhere that ants send a scout to check it out and then the rest follow when he returns.
who knows? but it must have something to do with the weather conditions. I keep all grains and cereals and anything they could possibly get into (and you can’t depend on a sealed BOX!) in the fridge. it has worked so far! no varmints of any kind. thank heaven.
I never listen to him! I just can’t bear it. And I avoid looking at him as well.
They do send a scout out, I’ve seen the scouts. We live in an old house and they can get in here quite easily!
Your photos are lovely, and “ditto” to everything you wrote about Agent Orange.
Thank you, Janice!
I MISS THE OBAMAS! Ok, got that out in the open, but definitely not out of my system…
Continue to enjoy your flowers and thank you for sharing photos of them with us.
I have a company come quarterly to spray the outside perimeter of my house. They use an environmentally friendly peppermint oil based spray. No more ants in my house. Years ago, I had a HUGE ant invasion…so many ants you couldn’t see my kitchen counter, queen ants leading armies across my walls with almost every soldier carrying a white ant egg….it was GROSS! A pest company took out four ant nests, two of which were under my house foundation, and two in the yard. Since then, with the quarterly spraying, I haven’t had any ants except the few that come in with the newspaper.
I had a similar problem one year during the holidays. Ants ruined all my baking which is when I learned they can get inside traditional cookie tins. I didn’t want to spray inside the house with pets here (at the time I had three dogs, my daughter’s cat and a turtle tank.) Since then, quarterly outside spraying has solved the issue. I don’t know what they use, I’ll have to ask, thanks for that.
Hi Eve, when I had the mass ant invasion, I had to dismantle and empty everything in my house, room by room. No room was immune. Not only can they get into cookie tins, ants can follow the grooves at the top of screw top jars to get into the contents, even if the jars are still vacuum-sealed! When there’s a will, there’s a way.
I miss them so much!!!
I suppose we’ll have to succumb to spraying next year, but it would have to be environmentally friendly for sure!
I keep worrying about the bankers (wild horses) on the barrier islands in the path of the hurricane although experts say not to…have had such affinity for them since I was a little girl although of course I’ve never seen them because I’ve never been to the East Coast of the U.S. And I’ve always wanted to see the colorful vintage beach bungalows on Tybee Island although they may be not in the direct path now (“the cone of uncertainty”), thankfully.
Everything you said about IT is echoing my own opinion. Day in, day out. The one thing you can count on every single day (with IT) is to hear or see something more to make you want to puke.
Ants. My nemesis over the entire summer. Never seen such a problem ever in my life inside the house and outside of the house. And we’re the opposite here in SoCalif; NO RAIN. We’ve paid someone’s salary in the ant trap business.
Both situations bring them indoors. Too dry, no water. Too wet, too much water.
The hollyhock that did bloom is gorgeous!…I see more blooms to come in it too…Don’t let your blood pressure get to high while you are reading today!
I won’t! But it ain’t easy!
We’ve had an unusually dry summer here — and I still have ants. They drive me crazy.
And yeah, I can’t even stand the sound of 45’s voice. I have to read my news instead of watching it. It’s too traumatic otherwise. Let’s hope we see some real change in November ….
Same way. I can’t abide his voice or his face.
I am more hopeful than I have been since Mueller began his investigation. I live in Minnesota and the republican congressional candidates are running away fast from dt and the party. Some of them are even running TV ads claiming that they are truly independent from the party and dt.
Congressional Districts that have been solidly republican for years have races that are too close to call! Activists are working their butts off to turn these districts blue. If we can turn the House blue then we have a chance at impeachment! Hope lives!
Hope must live! We have to have hope, Carolyn Marie.
I listen to CNN at work, and I had to tell people who sit near me that if they hear me say “he’s such an idiot” or “how can she lie like that?”, that I’m not talking about anyone at work, but about 45 and the shameless press secretary.
I well understand!
Dear Claudia, Our TEAM 1 has all ready been Deployed, left yesterday at 0400 in their convoy!
Take every one of the Adjectives you just had to use, The opposite applies to these guys on our Team 1. These are the kind that made us and make us Proud to be an american! Every day that they are not Deployed to a disaster they are training,So that when they arrive, they will be the most help possible, to their fellowman. Also thousands of Americans will be deployed in the next 1200-2400 Hours these are the people who deserve our Love, attention,support and A GREAT BIG THANK YOU! TO Our Courageous Americans.
And Yes! President Obama is a person of Class. Judy A
Have they been deployed for the hurricane, Judy? Is that where they’re going? What heroes they are! Thank you to them and to all who risk their lives to help others.
PS. By Guys of course I mean Human beings, group of people.
I know!
Sorry about the ants. I hate bugs. Here is another day of rain. Went out this morning to run some errands before the heavy rain came.
Marilyn
So much rain, Marilyn!
sorry you have to deal with ants. my family and i used liquid ant traps (bought at either lowe’s or walmart) that worked well and quickly. like gone-before-the-next-day fast. let me know if you want it and i’ll track down the product name and send some if you can’t find it there.
hope you’ve found some comfort (?) in the new book by bob woodward and changed over to the french one from time to time … and had some cocoa, too.
kathy in iowa
I’ve tried everything. Sometimes, it’s just a matter of a weather change.
I too have ants everywhere, they are super tiny ants compared to the UK and much keener on living inside. I was very unhappy when I first found them this year and we had an exterminator, that only worked for a month or so. Since then I have tried all sorts and mostly work on keeping everything super clean. They move into the dishwasher if I leave plates needing washed in it urggh! With kids and pets I don’t want too many chemicals in use inside. An unexpected mid west joy.
Anything that is left out attracts them! I don’t want chemicals either.
In Coastal Virginia it looks as if we will miss the brunt of Florence. However, sending positive thoughts to the Carolinas. While stuck at home waiting (our school is a shelter), I started Fear, but I can only read 15 pages at a time. It makes me physically ill to read about this soul-less creature.
Sending thoughts to NC and SC. It’s so frightening!
I couldn’t read any of it today, given what he tweeted about the death toll in PR. I know this isn’t a good thing to say, but I hate him.