From loyal garden commentor Marvel:
Here in the Willamette Valley, we’re enjoying a mild changing of the guard, weatherwise. The Fall & Winter plantings are vigorous and show promise (up to HERE in cabbage, greens, kale & brocolli; shelling peas and cauliflower are making great strides). But in the main, with the shorter days and cooler nights, much of the garden’s slowing down — going The Way of All Things. While I love the sights and smells of a new, vigorous garden, I do admire the grace and colors of the garden’s natural decline in Autumn.
Despite near-constant care, we lost many battles with the bugs and harvested only a modest apple crop (we’ll be making juice for spiced apple jelly later on today). All that’s left is a daily under-tree clean-up of ancient, stubborn fruit that escaped/resisted our hands earlier.
The big asparagaus bed has been waving its tall feathery fronds all summer long, gathering energy for next year’s early crop. Having apparently drunk its fill of sun, the first show of gold signals plans for its yearly retreat.
The blueberries are taking on their deep red coloration — I think even if they didn’t produce great-tasting fruit, we’d love them purely for their beauty.
We’ve got young lettuce and spinach planted in a cool-season bed, so we’ve let the Summer greens grow tall and start to set their seed — it’s no use trying to eat these bitter things, but the chickens across the way adore them and the worms probably appreciate some kind of undersoil bounty from their presence, so we’ve been pulling them up only slowly (just enough to prevent them self-seeding the bed).
The sunflowers are all nodding, heavy with seedheads and chickadees. Such a wonderful, Old World feel about these warm weather storehouses.
***********
No leaf-turn here north of Boston, just yet, but I’ve been putting off what will probably be this year’s last batch of slow-roasted tomatoes because we went from a debilitating heat wave into some dank rainy days which triggered my semi-annual bout of labyrinthitis.
This is the season when I put together my notes on the year’s tomato crop. Giving each plant more space to root definitely improved overall productivity, and there’s a couple new-to-me varieties (Black Ethiopian, Copia) that I’ll be adding to my must-have list, along with a couple old standbys I’ll probably drop (I thought the Spousal Unit liked Garden Peach, but he says not). Now I just have to remember my resolution about fewer but better plants, come February… although if we can nag the tree-removal guys to come get that godsdamned half-blasted oak tree, I’ll have twice as much sunlit ground for the rootpouches next spring…
What’s going on in your garden(s) this week?
Thoughtful Today
tlts: ‘pruning time’
NotMax
One of the pungent memories no longer available to most of today’s children is the smell of burning leaves in the fall.
Also leaping in and gamboling through piles of leaves before setting them ablaze.
Shame, that.
Cain
I am in Indiana for two weeks. Good times. Left my dirty liberal state of Oregon. :). Bought my first legal pot just before I left.
raven
Pretty stuff! It’s FIFTY FOUR in Athens!
satby
It’s very cool here in SWMI this morning, overnight it went down to 48. My tomatoes were mostly a failure, for the second year of container / root pouch gardening; so next year I will go back to a smaller in ground garden since the space has had 2 fallow seasons.
My indoor garden is blooming with two beautiful young ladies: Valentina from Indonesia and Qunoot from Bahrain. They’re learning how to live in a house with large dogs and the dogs are thrilled every morning when they realize that the girls are still here.
Cervantes
@NotMax:
We still do.
Leap, gambol, and set ablaze, that is.
satby
@Cain: Where in Indiana?
PurpleGirl
It’s 71 in Woodside with 7?% humidity. NWS is predicting scattered showers for today.
Nice pictures, Marvel.
Cervantes
Loyal garden commenter and poet Marvel.
satby
@NotMax: They still leap and gambol through the piles of leaves, now that just ends with composting or a truck pickup instead of a fire. And since so many people have outdoor firepits, they still enjoy s’mores.
satby
@Cervantes: Yes, Marvel doesn’t just provide pictures, his commentary is beautiful too.
Cervantes
@satby:
Welcome, Valentina and Qunoot!
And satby, you’re still a mensch (so to speak). Honestly, I can’t say it enough: it’s people like you who serve, and strengthen, and redeem this country. Thank you.
OzarkHillbilly
@Cervantes:
Indeed.
Elizabelle
3 cheers for satby, Valentina and Qunoot. And the dogs. May all live in happiness and harmony.
Chilled and overcast this morning on deck; looked up and found a big rainbow. That was good.
Mary G
@Cervantes: Ditto , what a great experience for those young people, Satby.
I have been slacking badly on watering my succulents because it’s been so hot this week. Just waiting for the sun to come out here.
OzarkHillbilly
Beautiful pics Marvel.Here, I’m mostly enjoying the weather. Currently 48 w/ an expected high of 74, blue skies and sunshine on tap. I have lettuce, kale and Brussels Sprouts coming along. Got them in a little late, so we’ll see how they do.
Went out and gathered up a wheelbarrow full of squash and pumpkins. Did OK this year despite the squashbugs, which are just crawling every where in that part of the garden. Gonna give it a few days of sunshine, turning over the mulch and vines so they all get nice and dry, and burn it all off. I hope that is enough to take care of them so that I don’t start off with an infestation next year. If any one has any other suggestions, I’m all ears.
I have a boatload of gourds too. Planted a few just to see how easy/troublesome they’d be to grow. Turns out the answer is both. I planted birdhouse, dipper, corsican, and loofah. Had to constantly monitor the vines to keep them from going places they didn’t belong. Somewhere along the line I got distracted and I have 3 or 4 loofahs 15-20 feet up in a hickory tree. This was just supposed to be a dipping of the toes, instead I fell into the water and now I am neck deep in gourds, at least a dozen birdhouse, 2 dozen corsican, not sure how many loofahs are hiding up in that hickory, and just a handful of dippers. So now I have something else to do this winter.
Sucks to be me.
Elmo
OT: a new fire started yesterday in Lake County, California. It’s now burned 40,000 acres, many dozens of homes, and sent four firemen to the hospital. The towns of Middletown and Cobb are destroyed.
I’ve been obsessively following #ValleyFire on Twitter, and I can’t even get out of bed I’m so crushed by this. I have friends in the area – safe, but this fire is horrifying.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Mary G: It’s supposed to rain on Tuesday, maybe starting Monday.
Phylllis
@BillinGlendaleCA: I have an older laptop stashed away in a closet; I was wondering how, or if, I could use one of those newfangled compute sticks with it? Would I pull the hard drive from the computer?
BillinGlendaleCA
@Phylllis: It wouldn’t do you much good. A Compute Stick is a low performance computer(Intel Atom based) that plugs into a monitor or TV(with HDMI inputs). It’s got a HDMI out port, a USB 2 port(for a mouse/keyboard, a micro SD-card slot and a power connector.
Elizabelle
@Elmo: Saw that. CNN led with pics at 7 am.
Thinking of scout211 and hope that commenter is safe.
In happier news, how went Hilzoy’s search for canine love yesterday?
Randy P
@NotMax: How about leaping and gamboling before putting the leaves to the curb? We did that plenty when the kids were little. I don’t see the burning as a crucial part of this activity.
I don’t put leaves to the curb any more, they go out to the composter. One year’s supply of leaves is just about right for one year’s supply of composting.
And we don’t do the leaping and gamboling because the kids are grown. Though I did it at least once when it was just me, even I can eventually get some sense of dignity. I’ll still go out and play in the snow (building snow sculpture) when we get a good snowstorm though.
Elmo
@Elizabelle: I think it went very well – productive and gave us a better idea of likes and wants and reasons. I took a look at her car to eyeball crate dimensions too.
Very neat to meet her in person of course, and even more fun to have her hit it off with my wife, who isn’t a blog reader.
End of the trip was a little marred by one of the foster dogs at the event taking offense to a teenage girl approaching him while he had a bully stick, and expressing offense with his teeth. My wife was beside herself with outrage that the handler would give a dog such a valuable chew toy in that environment, and set the dog up for failure.
But we have a good start on the hunt I think, and my wife is going to consult with her further on specific dogs.
Scout211
My winter garden has been planted and most of the tomato plants have been pulled. I still have three that are producing tomatoes. My melon plants are still flowering and a few new baby melons are forming.
My ever bearing strawberries have been true to their name and are still producing. My best year yet for strawberries.
In other news . . .
The air is full of smoke, making it hard to breathe. The Butte fire is 20 miles away and is a very destructive monster. 65,000 acres burned (as of last night), 86 homes lost and only 15% contained. The weather has changed though, which should help the firefighters–higher humidity and lower temps for the next few days.
Randy P
Is this an open thread? Big list of current movies we want to see and which we probably won’t get to. But yesterday we did a double feature at the art house, seeing Woody Allen’s latest (“Irrational Man”) then “Mr. Holmes”. Both of them fantastic movies with fantastic casts.
I often find myself wishing for a fantasy book/movie club, of people who like to explore all kinds of films and books and then talk about them intelligently, without being academic types who use words like “epistemology” or “deconstruct”. There have been a couple of French movies we’ve seen lately with WTF endings, and I’d love to get a group like that together to share theories on WTF.
Phylllis
@BillinGlendaleCA: Ok, I get it. Thanks.
Elmo
@Scout211: glad you’re safe at least. Thanks for checking in.
Scout211
@Elmo:
Another huge fire in NorCal. It is so scary that after four years of drought, a wildfire goes from hundreds of acres to thousands of acres just overnight.
Lake County has had so many fires this year. I hope CalFire has enough resources to fight all these fires. It is so scary.
debbie
@satby:
I agree with everyone’s praise. In the shower this morning, I was grumbling and bemoaning the state of the world, and then I came here and read your post. It’s people like you who redeem this screwed up world. It’s as cheering as seeing these beautiful gardening photos!
Ultraviolet Thunder
Nice photos. It almost makes me look forward to Fall and forget what’s ahead here in Detroit.
I spent 4 days in southern Mexico and got home last night. It’s chilly and clear this morning. Good dog walking weather.
I need to trim up the pin oak in the back yard. It came up in a garden bed 15 years ago and I cut it down. Wrong place for that tree. It came right back up and I said “Okay, you get a chance based on persistence”. The trunk is about 12″ diameter now and it has a beautiful shape. Pin oaks grow pretty fast and are one of my favorite oaks. I’m trying to keep the major branches away from the house because it’s 25′ away from the single-storey addition and pin oaks get BIG. In the Fall the leaves turn a rich dark red.
Cut limb stumps will be painted with tree paint to keep oak wilt out. The limbs will be trimmed up and dried to make a climbing area for Sonny the parrot in my wife’s office. He goes through a lot of branches keeping his beak in shape.
Emma
@Elmo: the photos look horrifying. I hope everyone stays safe.
WereBear
@Randy P: It’s funny/strange: I can’t watch Woody Allen’s movies any more.
All those quirky and twitchy and off-the-wall observations just bother me now, when I used to find them funny.
And yes, it has to do with his personal life bleeding into his movies. But unlike other directors, “Oh, she really likes pie… oh, he really has a thing for whiny voices…” his personal life is truly sick and troubled, and I just can’t.
Like I could never watch a Martha Stewart show. She repelled me, and then I found out she was a screaming bully, and my instincts made sense.
Cervantes
@WereBear:
Same here.
Never tried.
danielx
Let’s see….47 degrees this morning and I saw the first color in leaves last week. Impatiens were pulled out last week, second container tomato plant goes today. Tomatoes did not do well at all this year; too much rain and not enough sun – a five foot plant with one (one!) fruit on it? Marigolds and vinca are still thriving and it’s time to put in some mums, so we still have color. It’s also time to (groan) scrape and paint one side of the house, since it’s getting to the point where I can get on the roof of the garage without being parboiled by the heat coming off the shingles.
But still, it’s an absolutely gorgeous fall morning even if it’s not officially fall yet.
Cervantes
@Scout211:
Good luck. Stay safe.
Cervantes
@Randy P:
I know what you mean, and yet the smells and sounds are primordial.
Oh, you just may again, soon enough.
JPL
@Scout211: Congress will step forward and make sure you have the resources necessary…
I’m glad that you are okay.
OzarkHillbilly
@JPL: Then again, Congress is full of Republicans that want to shut down the gov’t because Planned Parenthood still exists.
gelfling545
I got my new FREE-from-the-City rain barrel on Friday, just in time for yesterday’s downpour. It got so cold here last night that I had to dig out a winter blanket after just having had the air conditioner cranked up to high! It’s supposed to go back into the low 80’s later in the week. The vegetable garden was disappointing this year. A few tomatoes, no summer squash, few cayenne peppers; only the beans were prolific. I am quite pleased with myself for managing to actually grow a few sunflowers this year. I know kids grow them in kindergarten in dixie cups but for some reason I could never get them to grow here. This year I managed a few lovely, tall flowers. I’ll leave them in place for the birds to snack on along with the coneflowers.
Patricia Kayden
@OzarkHillbilly: Let them shut it down then. I don’t see how this is a winner for GOP Presidential candidates.
raven
@Randy P: I have a Professor friend who is a bee expert and he was pleased with the accuracy of the film in that regard.
OzarkHillbilly
Remember this?
Goldman Sachs analysts released some exciting memos back in 2001 and 2003, and 14 years on we are still dealing with their consequences. This week they may well get their ultimate test.
Back then, in the era before the iPhone and Taylor Swift, Goldman issued two easy-to-grasp papers, replete with colorful graphs, that the bank argued showed our current worldview was about to look topsy-turvy.
Using econometric models, the writers prophesied that the combined economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China – the Brics for short – would grow bigger than the current six leading economies within 40 years. Since economic power equals political power, the implications were astounding. And for a while it even looked like Goldman Sachs was right.
Seems our masters of the universe were wearing no clothes (to mix metaphors):
Goldman Sachs, however, stuck to its guns. Jim O’Neill, the company’s chief economist, a man who did no work in development economics, visited only one of the Bric countries and spoke none of their languages, was promoted by the sleek Goldman Sachs PR machine as Mr Brics (apparently the acronym was his idea). O’Neill became a tireless advocate for the Brics vision in the media. He and other Goldman Sachs spokesmen brushed aside the carry-trade critique as “nonsense” and emphasized at every downturn that while emerging markets might experience a setback here and there, their rise to economic dominance was inevitable.
Quelle surprise…
Brazil, which saw its credit rating downgraded to junk last week, is only the latest Brics economy to crumble in the face of a strong dollar, a global trade sldowown and the prospect of higher US interest rates.
Russia is already in recession; many economists believe China is heading towards a “hard landing”; and South Africa, which managed to append itself to the emerging-markets club in 2010, is on the brink of recession.
Of the group once identified as the shining economic beacons of the future, only India has so far remained relatively insulated from what World Bank chief economist Kaushik Basu described last week as the “troubled” state of the global economy.
Seems when Goldman Sachs gets involved, the only people who make money off their bets is GS.
debbie
@OzarkHillbilly:
Nothing ever changes.
ETA: Despite the small flickers of hope:
egbertowillies.com/2015/09/09/republican-lawrence-wilkerson-on-dick-cheney-this-is-a-man-whos-lost-h…
raven
@debbie: So enjoy life, right?
debbie
@raven:
Easy for you to say, with your new kitchen and all! ;)
OzarkHillbilly
“Dear Kim Davis,” the billboard reads. “The fact you can’t sell your daughter for three goats and a cow means we’ve already redefined marriage.”
Another Holocene Human
@OzarkHillbilly: Ha, India! Wow. I remember the BRICS push and the fact that most of the wags said China was unstoppable and any Indian expansion that was going on was temporary and fake.
If anything India is way behind on infrastructure development and so on compared to China, which kind of overbuilt as a governance strategy and has now had to call a halt.
I remember the Indians saying, well, hey, at least we are a democracy.
Another Holocene Human
I tried to repot my aloes yesterday. But I found out after washing the roots that the roots are very tangled and very fragile, so I essentially can’t separate them.
It’s annoying, the tops seem kind of choked all jammed in together like that.
Svensker
The Old World certainly took to sunflowers, but they are a New World plant. Europeans were astonished when they first saw these giants flowers in bloom.
OzarkHillbilly
@raven: I do the best I can. I figure it’s the only one I get so I better make the most of it.
Another Holocene Human
Welp, just found a wasp nest outside with several adult wasps.
Another Holocene Human
@Svensker: Thank you for saying this.
Also under misnomers, sunflower roots are edible and commonly called “Jerusalem artichokes”. Some people have re-named them “sunchokes”, which is a little closer to the mark.
OzarkHillbilly
@Another Holocene Human:
Not sure that’s a problem. When starting my plants I always plant multiple seeds thinning them down to the strongest on or 2 (because I just don’t have the heart to kill a plant that so wants to live) (getting soft in my old age) when I set them out in the garden, I am constantly tearing the roots apart. I put plenty of bone and blood meal in the soil and water them well and they do just fine.
I am sure there is a product out there for this exact purpose, tho my mind draws a blank just now. Seems to happen more and more these days.
Cervantes
@OzarkHillbilly:
Excellent.
OzarkHillbilly
Not all sunflowers are “Jerusalem artichokes”.
Food Uses
Native Americans before the arrival of the Europeans cultivated Helianthus tuberosus as a food source. The tribes who first grew it traded it to other tribes in other regions. The tubers persist for years after being planted, so that the species expanded its range from central North America to the eastern and western regions. Early European colonists learned of this, and sent tubers back to Europe, where it became a popular crop and naturalized there. It later gradually fell into obscurity in North America, but attempts to market it commercially have been successful in recent decades.[5][7]
The artichoke contains about 10% protein, no oil, and a surprising lack of starch. However, it is rich in the carbohydrate inulin (76%), which is a polymer of the monosaccharide fructose. Tubers stored for any length of time will convert their inulin into its component fructose. Jerusalem artichokes have an underlying sweet taste because of the fructose, which is about one and a half times sweeter than sucrose.[7]
Jerusalem artichokes have also been promoted as a healthy choice for type 2 diabetics, because fructose is better tolerated by people who are type 2 diabetic. It has also been reported as a folk remedy for diabetes.[7] Temperature variances have been shown to affect the amount of inulin the Jerusalem artichoke can produce. When not in tropical regions, it has been shown to make less inulin than when it is in a warmer region.[8]
They grow like weeds around here and I’ve long known they were edible but never got around to trying them. After reading the above, I’m gonna have to.
shell
Anne, what variety of apple is that?
Another Holocene Human
@OzarkHillbilly: If you don’t mind taking the time, my dad turned them into ‘choke pancakes and they were awesome. Grated like a potato, fried in the pan. I don’t recall if there were other ingredients.
Another Holocene Human
@OzarkHillbilly:
Is that something I would pick up at the feed’n’seed?
I feel like if I try to separate these particular roots the top will just tear off, though.
OzarkHillbilly
@Another Holocene Human: Damn… I love potato pancakes and that sounds perfect.
@Another Holocene Human: try cutting them with a knife or scissors. Both blood meal and bone meal are common organic fertilizers, tho of the 2 it is the bone meal that promotes the root growth. You should be able to get them at any gardening supply store. My local Lowes sells them. Also like I said before there is a type of product specifically made for promoting root growth you might want to look for.
OzarkHillbilly
@Another Holocene Human: Root Stimulants and Transplanting Tips
Many debate the effectiveness of root stimulants in transplanting situations.
Vast numbers of gardeners and horticulturists enthusiastically choose to use one or more of the “rooting stimulants” available for purchase.
Still, university research and cooperative extension literature usually contain statements such as, “There is no apparent benefit from adding vitamin B1, root stimulants, plant tonics or mycorrhizae at planting.”
The following explains some of the available stimulants.
A short read, worth the time, the things I don’t know.
mclaren
@Randy P:
Check out the new horror film IT FOLLOWS. Not a slasher pic, no torture porn, it’s entirely psychological horror.
Also, it’s filmed in Michigan — so especially horrific in showing how America has collapsed and degenerated.
WereBear
@OzarkHillbilly: Then again, SCIENCE says my cats aren’t really affectionate with me, I’m just fooling myself.
Ya gotta consider the source.
satby
Thanks all for the good wishes and welcomes to Valentina and Qunoot. They were touched to see so many welcomes from strangers.
Now that I’m so much farther away from it, the teen years seem so young and fragile. So brave, to come 1/2 across the earth and live with a stranger for a year!
GregB
My garden in southern NH was pretty much a bust this year. Planted when it was on a really wet and non sunny streak and then most of the plants never got enough gusto stick it out through this droughty patch which has abated the last few days.
Potatoes were a bust. Peppers were mostly a bust, but got some good hot reds.
Some parsley and kale trooped it out. All in all though, not a great year.
ThresherK (GPad)
Going to the oldest nephew’s wedding, and showing off my wife, who is a lot of fun at weddings.
schrodinger's cat
I did not have a garden this year, Marvel’s garden is a marvel!
burnspbesq
One more day in the 90s in OC, then it’s supposed to get cooler, and the forecast calls for rain on Tuesday. I think we’ve already beaten our quota for this month, thanks to last Wednesday’s thunderstorm, but we certainly will take whatever the rain gods choose to send our way.
Keeping an eye on my niece who is competing in the Ironman triathlon in Madison today. She was out of the water in 58 minutes (2.4 miles–this is a full 140.6 mile Ironman), second in her age group.
JPL
The biggest disappointment so far for me has been my sweet potatoes. They seem to thrive here and I’ll be lucky if I get a few dozen. Even though the tomatoes were few and far between, I knew that I could count on the sweet potatoes. Wrong!
My fall greens are in so hopefully, I’ll have a good crop.
Mike E
Moses Malone, rip.
JPL
RIP Moses Malone. He was only sixty when he died.
WereBear
@satby: I think it’s particularly good that you have two teens. They can share their experience with each other, too.
Elizabelle
@JPL: Too young.
Moses Malone is the reason my high school bball team did not prevail at state finals. Because we were up against him and Petersburg High. And at the end of the game, last seconds, he got the ball and just held it aloft.
Elizabelle
Looking up some online clips about Moses Malone vs. Dave Koesters (high school bball):
Mike E
@Elizabelle: Mo graduated HS and went straight to the pros. Darryl Dawkins did also; he left the bldg a few weeks ago, too. Sadly.
Marvel
A tiny correction to a tiny misconception: Marvel in the garden shed. imgur.com/ZxB4TpM
schrodinger's cat
@Marvel: Marvel is as good looking as her garden is!
PurpleGirl
TCM will be showing Bell, Book and Candle starting at noon today.
WereBear
@PurpleGirl: That’s a great one.
rikyrah
Just a sliver of the GOP, right?
NOPE.
…………………..
September 13, 2015, 07:59 am
Poll: Trump tops GOP field in California
By Kyle Balluck
Billionaire Donald Trump leads the crowded 2016 Republican presidential field in California, according to a poll released Sunday morning.
The USC Dornsife/LA Times Poll found that 24 percent of Republicans said they would support Trump.
Retired pediatric neurosurgeon Ben Carson is in second place with 18 percent.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) each received 6 percent support.
Pollsters found that Carson would beat Trump in a head-to-head matchup, however, 43 percent to 32 percent.
thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/253492-poll-trump-tops-gop-field-in-california
Cervantes
Via @rikyrah:
Fascinating.
Elizabelle
@Marvel: Great pic. I knew you were a she. Although cannot remember why …
Anyway, loved today’s blogpost, and happy late late summer/breath of fall arriving.
WereBear
@Marvel: Of course!
Woman can be marvels, too.
Elizabelle
@Mike E: Do you think they just wear out?
Had forgotten the straight to the pros fame, and Moses was the first to do that.
rikyrah
PLEASE PROCEED, GOP
GOP: Defund Planned Parenthood even if it didn’t break the law
By Sarah Ferris – 09/13/15 08:00 AM EDT
Congressional Republicans say they are determined to shut Planned Parenthood down, regardless of whether it broke any laws.
In more than two months of investigations, members have yet to turn up evidence that Planned Parenthood acted illegally, the same conclusion reached by a half-dozen state investigations. The Department of Justice has so far declined to launch a formal probe.
Several Republicans acknowledged this week that they may never find proof of wrongdoing at Planned Parenthood — but said it doesn’t matter.
“I don’t know whether we’re ever going to be able to answer that question, whether it was illegal for them to do what they were doing,” Rep. Raúl Labrador (R-Idaho) said during the House’s first hearing on the topic Wednesday. “I don’t know if it was illegal … but it was immoral, what was seen on that video.”
Republicans have long been fierce critics of Planned Parenthood, which is the nation’s largest provider of abortion services. Under the law, the organization is banned from using federal funding for abortions, except in cases of rape, incest or medical necessity.
……………………..
“The issue is not whether there’s been a crime committed or not,” Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas.) told the same group at the hearing. “This issue is whether or not taxpayers should fund Planned Parenthood. That’s the issue before this committee.”
thehill.com/policy/healthcare/253452-gop-defund-planned-parenthood-even-if-it-didnt-break-the-law
MomSense
@satby:
You are the best! Thank you for hosting exchange students.
PurpleGirl
@WereBear: Just looked at IMDb page for it and they do list Pyewacket in the full cast list. Yay! Because Pyewacket is as important as any of the human actors.
satby
@Marvel: My bad Marvel! Your selfies are as good as your garden photos!
satby
@MomSense: aww, thanks. It’s going to be fun, so not sure how much credit I should get for that :)
WereBear
@PurpleGirl: Exactly.
Early Eddie and late Eddie on Frazier were both trained Jack Russell terriers, father and son, but one was a star and the other was talented.
Brother Dingaling
David Gregory writes about himself, excerpted in Salon, and it is everything you thought it would be
salon.com/2015/09/13/david_gregory_my_relationship_with_meet_the_press_was_like_a_marriage_you_know_…
Germy Shoemangler
David Gregory on leaving Meat The Press:
“My relationship with ‘Meet the Press’ … was like a marriage you know is bad but can’t leave”
Riley's enabler
@satby: Texas welcome to Valentina and Qunoot; may their brave year of adventuring be full of joyful learning. Cheers to you, Satby. Well done.
It was 59 this morning in Houston. Very early for this kind of break – we usually don’t see it until mid – October – but I’m not going to complain. Summer is nearly over and we can breathe again.
Today I’ll harvest the last of the basil and make pesto before the fall season of lacrosse begins.
And maybe take Riley on a well-deserved stroll. Lovely Sunday to you all.
Patricia Kayden
@rikyrah: And either Secretary Clinton or VP Biden beats every GOP candidate. The Clown Car Occupants are going to lose big next November. Looking forward to it.
talkingpointsmemo.com/polltracker/joe-biden-hillary-clinton-msnbc-telemundo-marist-early-results
Another Holocene Human
@Germy Shoemangler: Dancin’ Dave is shocked that people think he sucks?!
Germy Shoemangler
@Brother Dingaling: Sorry, I didn’t see your post before I posted mine. I found this interesting:
Network bosses sure are nasty pieces of business. But I have little sympathy for Gregory.
Germy Shoemangler
@Another Holocene Human: Not much support from his colleagues. He wasn’t very popular he says because he had a reputation for being only out for himself.
Certainly not for his viewers.
Cervantes
Not a moment too soon.
And as for your successor …
rikyrah
uh huh
uh huh
………….
September 13, 2015, 09:17 am
Kasich: Republicans shouldn’t push government shutdown
By Peter Schroeder
Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) said Sunday that congressional Republicans shouldn’t shut down the government over funding for Planned Parenthood.
Kasich, the GOP presidential candidate who was a top House Republican during the shutdown of 1995, said the approach pushed by conservatives has no clear path of success.
thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/253494-kasich-republicans-shouldnt-push-government-shutdow…
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@satby: You are indeed a mensch. Please give both ladies a warm welcome from me, here south of your state.
Elizabelle
@Germy Shoemangler: Wait a minute.
NBC was worried about “an on-air embarrassment” when they let David Gregory go?
WTF?
PS: love the bitchiness of “an Ann Curry moment.”
Pie Happens (opiejeanne)
@Svensker: I did not know that about sunflowers being a New World plant.
In September 2012 when we first visited France, we were only a few miles outside of Paris when we saw fields of sunflowers, all nodding in the strange diffuse light. It was like being inside a painting.
Our sunflowers are nearly 12 feet tall but a windstorm that caused havoc with everyone’s electricity two weeks ago has made ours lean crazily, even though we had tied them up to a rail fence; our ties just slid along the rails until the row of giants looks like a row of giant Xes. (Xs?). The flower heads are massive, the seeds are starting to appear as the flowerlets drop off, and the birds are already stealing the seeds even though they are still soft.
mai naem mobile
David Gregory always reminded me of the William Hurt Broadcast News/Ted.Baxter characters. Dim bulb pretty boy. Probably spent more time making his hair look purdy than prepping for the guest on MTP.
bystander
Dancin’ Dave was an embarrassment every week. I don’t know what could have been wrong with one more shoddy, crappy appearance, even punctuated with tears and wadded up Kleenex.
Heard some idiot this morning calling John Kasich a “moderate”. He’s about as moderate as Lester Maddox.
Mike E
@Elizabelle: Big people are prone to health issues later in life.
Same with regular and small sized!
Renie
@Germy Shoemangler: He certainly plays the victim role pretty good. Doesn’t seem to have any idea he sucked on Meet The Press.
Omnes Omnibus
Ack! Aikman and Buck.
Germy Shoemangler
@Elizabelle:
Yes, apparently the network execs squirmed through her whole speech. They vowed never to let such a thing happen again. And it probably won’t.
bystander
@Pie Happens (opiejeanne): During the war, sunchokes were often the only vegetable available to the French, as I understand it. Sort of like the reputation Spam acquired here, the French word for sunchoke became a synonym for boring fill-up food. But, just as sunchokes are here, they have become fashionable in French cuisine. Along with kale.
Mike E
@Omnes Omnibus: Not on my teevee: CAR v JAX. I like Aikman, but his presence indicates a Joe Buck b’cast, unfortunately.
Elizabelle
@Germy Shoemangler: For my part, I pretty much squirmed through Ann Curry. Although I thought she performed adequately as a newsreader.
When she brought the empathy, my stomach started to turn. Perhaps it was real empathy (for Miss Curry), but it seemed so manufactured and outsize. Like for broadcasting to the seats 300 yards away.
Origuy
@Elmo: I just heard about the Valley Fire. I know the area well, having been to Boggs Mountain State Forest several times. Sounds like Cobb and Middletown have been evacuated and a lot of buildings lost. That’s a poor area and those folks were struggling before.
raven
Damn @Elizabelle: Often big men have heart issues.
Elizabelle
From the Salon excerpt of David Gregory’s memoir:
Notice that. Airtime. Me, me, me, me, me, me, me. And whether the interviews got pickup.
Nothing about reporting an important story accurately and fairly; breaking an important story (vs. a flash in the pan, which is the DC press corpse’s specialty).
Donald Trump gets airtime and pickup. So, clearly, another standard is required.
Gregory’s MEmoir is titled “How’s Your Faith? An Unlikely Spiritual Journey.”
Unless he’s been photographed with a colander on his head, talking about pasta and noodly appendages, I don’t want to hear anything further about his “spiritualism.”
But he did unwittingly point at one problem with broadcast news: he’s spent all his time vying for airtime, since age 18. No time to become expert in a broader topic, or take some time to reflect.
His memoir might be revealing after all.
raven
Elizabelle
@raven: He was a marvel. It was an experience to get to see him play, live, for his high school team.
Although I did not like the outcome. ;)
Elizabelle
The New York (Republican Whisperer) Times:
Cerebral? Is that a joke? Is “cerebral” what comes to mind when you think of Jeb!, or any Bush of that family?
I mean, I know the NYTimes was never even tempted to use that word with W, but it don’t hunt when applied to Jeb! either. Except when directly compared to W, and that’s a low, low bar.
Mike in NC
Temperature this morning was 75! First time since June when we didn’t see temps between 90 and 100. Drove to the beach and took a very long but refreshing walk.
raven
@Elizabelle: I bet. I watched Doc Rivers and Isaiah play in high school and they were wonderful.
Brachiator
@Elizabelle:
Wow. I never thought that Gregory was significant enough to merit a memoir.
@rikyrah:
This stuff is just weird. A year from now, there will be all kind of studies about why these early polls failed miserably in identifying who would actually end up the nominees in the presidential election.
Mnemosyne (tablet)
@satby:
If your new girls decide they want to dress a little more “American,” it will be easy in the fall and winter to let them do that — if they wear a long-sleeved turtleneck or t-shirt under a loose pullover sweater with baggy slacks, they’ll probably be even more covered than they would be at home. :-) And a thin wool or wool/silk scarf as a headscarf would help guard against drafts at school. I’m guessing the clothes that get them through a winter in Qatar will not be suitable for a snowy Michigan winter.
Mnemosyne (tablet)
Also, too, it’s time for the annual Bitching About September Heat here in Los Angeles. Even native Angelenos seem to forget that September is and always has been one of the hottest months of the year. We don’t start cooling off until mid-October at least.
Kay
I’m at the county fair with the Democrats and there’s definitely Berniementum among the young people.
Also there are Jim Webb campaign buttons. Those exist. No one is taking one.
Elizabelle
@Kay:
*snort*
raven
@Mnemosyne (tablet): It better be nice for the frickin Oct 3 wedding in Laguna!
Kay
@Elizabelle:
He’s smiling on it but it still looks like scowling!
This is young people w/ Bernie:
Them: “I like Bernie”. Me : “I haven’t decided yet” Them: “I like Bernie”
Another Holocene Human
@Brachiator: I always assumed David Gregory was a better suckup than he apparently is.
Mnemosyne (tablet)
@raven:
It will be hot and dry. It will be a little cooler in Laguna since it’s right by the ocean, but we’re still talking 80s at least. Hopefully they won’t expect you to wear a suit jacket outdoors.
raven
@Mnemosyne (tablet): The wedding is at five and if all things go well the Dawgs will be the 9am or 11:30 out there game so I can watch it from the Irvine Hotel!
Cervantes
@Elizabelle:
Probably they meant to say “cerebroid.”
PurpleGirl
@Mnemosyne (tablet): There is a Muslim girl’s school a few blocks from my building. Teenage girls in the neighborhood seem to dress in long-sleeved tops with a sweater/vest-like top over it. I don’t see many baggy pants but a lot of leggings, sometimes jeans. The over-tops seem to be more tunic length or almost knee-length. Headscarfs seem to be light fabric triangles, often two scarfs with the bottom one showing across the forehead. I also see a number of non-Muslim teenage girls dressing that way, except without the headscarf.
Cervantes
@Mnemosyne (tablet):
Good ideas.
NB: Valentina from Indonesia may be Christian, not Muslim, and Qunoot from Bahrain may not want to be all covered up, either, at least not this year!
Mnemosyne (tablet)
@PurpleGirl:
Smart parents with religious requirements seem to be able to figure out ways to let their daughters dress similarly to their friends while still meeting the parents’ requirements for modesty. I remember seeing a girl in a local mall whose only tip-off that she was in modest dress was the headscarf — otherwise, her layered t-shirts (long-sleeve under short sleeve) and cargo pants were the same as what the other teenagers were wearing. Maybe a little more loose-fitting, but not by much.
Tunics over leggings or slim jeans are very big this fall, apparently, so that’s probably an additional reason you’re seeing the style with your local teens. Old Navy keeps sending me emails trying to get me to buy more tunics and leggings.
Mnemosyne (tablet)
@raven:
It will probably be hot during the wedding itself and then abruptly cool off 20 degrees after the sun goes down. Make sure your princess knows to bring a shawl or sweater with her.
Mnemosyne (tablet)
@Cervantes:
They may not want to be covered up, but the Michigan winter is going to decide that on their behalf. There’s a reason I left the Midwest behind and took off for sunny California the instant I could leave for college.
Another Holocene Human
@Mnemosyne (tablet): Parents? Maybe this happens in practice but the choice to wear a headscarf is supposed to be a personal religious decision.
Especially in countries where it’s not dictated by law (looking at you, Iran).
Granted, I had a friend growing up who wore a head scarf and only took it off at home (where the only males around would be family). I gathered that it was expected culturally, although she definitely wore fashion scarves and normal clothing otherwise. New England, in ever sense of the word: sometimes we wore coats indoors. So if there was some sort of modesty game I never even noticed because I dressed exactly the same way.
Elizabelle
@Cervantes:
That is perfect.
Elizabelle
@Kay: That’s great about young peeps liking Bernie.
He’s got their interests in mind, more than any of the other candidates. He wants to provide European-style college benefits, and wants them to find meaningful and remunerative work. It’s not naivete, it’s their actually paying attention to what he says.
2016 could be way interesting if young people vote in numbers greater than usual.
Of course, Trump could pull some votes from people who don’t usually vote as well.
But of the two, maybe young primary voters could get their parents to take a second look at Bernie (or HRC, even).
CaseyL
@Origuy: That’s the rancid cherry, isn’t it? So little, and now all lost. I feel for them; it’s too easy these days to imagine losing everything.
Mnemosyne (tablet)
@Another Holocene Human:
Parents are parents, and sometimes parents have annoying rules. For example, I was forbidden from dyeing my hair until I was 18. Sure, it was my hair and I had a right to do what I wanted to do with it, but you choose your battles. Wearing a headscarf while you’re in the US seems like a fairly innocuous thing for parents to want.
I’m assuming that parents who let their unaccompanied daughters fly halfway around the world to live with a stranger are reasonably liberal for their region, but you still don’t want to send them pictures of their teenage daughters wearing bikinis on a coed beach. Like I said, I think the Michigan weather is going to enforce “modest dress” all by itself anyway.
Anne Laurie
@Marvel: Fantastic photo, Marvel!
Cervantes
@Mnemosyne (tablet):
Reasonable assumption, I think.
Well, perhaps you’re right.
Pie Happens (opiejeanne)
@bystander: I tried, I really tried to like kale. I even grew some, thinking the problem was varietal; I was wrong. I’ll stick to broccoli and I don’t have to grow it to have access to fresh broccoli.
We have not yet encountered sunchokes in the field or on the table, not that we are aware of.
Kay
@Elizabelle:
They were fine. One of them asked me if I knew anything about him and I said “yes, he’s been around for a long time” and he said “I”m 20”. Okay then! Good point! :)
WaterGirl
@Kay: I’m sure you are very gentle with the young pups. (politically speaking)
At that age, they get points for just showing up!
satby
@Cervantes: They both are Muslim, and wear hijabs, though Valentina spotted all my scarves and is excited to trade in black for a more colorful one. Qunoot is less sure about that.
@Mnemosyne (tablet): @PurpleGirl: They came with some warm things, and as Kennedy-Lugar YES program students they get a small stipend to buy lunches and other necessities, so we’re hitting the resale stores later on. The next 10 days are going back to warm weather. They’re very excited to look forward to snow, and I don’t have the heart to tell them how quickly the thrill will wear off.
WaterGirl
@satby: The beauty and thrill of snow never wears off for me.
Full disclosure: I do not live in Boston. If I did, I wonder if that would change my mind.
satby
@Cervantes: We went to the beach yesterday,and even though the weather will warm up, the water stayed pretty cold this summer. Not too many bikinis this year…Except on the sand.
satby
@WaterGirl: Yeah, I love snow, but more than a foot for months at a time can get old.
Poor Qunoot is already bundled up for 60 degree weather!
Cervantes
@Kay:
!
@WaterGirl:
Could not agree more.
On the other hand, I think much the same applies to young Republicans as well.
Cervantes
@satby:
Well, on the sand is where it counts, or so I gather.
Cervantes
@satby:
Presumably they will learn from each other, not only from the rest of us.
Brave kids, lucky to have found you.
Cervantes
@Pie Happens (opiejeanne):
Chopped and stir-fried with olive oil and garlic, salt or similar to taste.
No? Well, as you say, you tried. There are other foods!