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You are here: Home / Nature & Respite / Faunasphere / Sunday Morning Garden Chat: Butterfly Fuel

Sunday Morning Garden Chat: Butterfly Fuel

by Anne Laurie|  August 14, 20165:03 am| 114 Comments

This post is in: Faunasphere, Garden Chats, Open Threads

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bella q butterfly

From longtime commentor Bella Q:

I get garden envy every Sunday, and while I don’t have any (recent) photos I do have some swamp milkweed seeds I just collected. I’ll send some to anyone who trusts me with an address, or to you for distribution.

I’m attaching a posed butterfly pic from years ago. I saw it as we were leaving the house and commanded Mr. Q to go get his camera. He noted, quite reasonably, that the butterfly was unlikely to wait until he returned prepared for a photo. He was wrong.

If you’re interested in the swamp milkweed seeds, send me an email at annelaurie dot verizon dot net, and I’ll forward your message to Bella.

***********

I’m finally starting to get full-sized ripe tomatoes. But it’s been a penance to do anything outdoors — we’re in a drought, but the humidity’s been preternaturally high all month — my poor tomato plants are limp-leaved, and I need to start spraying Serenade more consistently if I don’t want the various blights to conquer the whole lot. First World problems!

What’s happening in your garden(s) this week?

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Reader Interactions

114Comments

  1. 1.

    Comrade Scrutinizer

    August 14, 2016 at 5:27 am

    Not sure that you can call drought and blight “First World problems”. Going forward, the impact of climate change on food supply will be interesting.

  2. 2.

    Ultraviolet Thunder

    August 14, 2016 at 6:06 am

    Every summer I let a few dozen milkweed plants grow for the insects. Plus they smell amazing. Last weekend I pulled most of them up but they will come back next spring. Right now the phlox is blooming nicely and the bees really like that.

  3. 3.

    Aleta

    August 14, 2016 at 6:13 am

    First rain in a long time last night and the night before. It’s in time to help the blackberries, which are all over the place this year. 10 years ago the raspberries were everywhere and blackberries only in one place, so I guess the blackberries have succeeded them.

  4. 4.

    Anne Laurie

    August 14, 2016 at 6:17 am

    @Comrade Scrutinizer:

    Not sure that you can call drought and blight “First World problems”.

    When I start worrying about my fancy mail-order name-brand plants in their recycled baggies on an asphalt driveway, I imagine my Connemara ancestors on their barren remote homesteads rolling their eyes over the infinite tragedy of having to buy canned tomatoes at the grocery a mile down the road. Survivor guilt, the sequel.

  5. 5.

    Mary G

    August 14, 2016 at 6:26 am

    I’ve been neglecting my poor succulents and they show it. We went shopping for rocks for my new front yard this week, which was fun.

  6. 6.

    Lenora Pohlman

    August 14, 2016 at 6:29 am

    Hi, I’ve been working on native plants for bees and butterflies for three years now. In The Midwest we have a gardening group called Wild Ones that has a lot of info for those interested. My own little Cook Co patch is pure clay and the tough natives are thriving.

  7. 7.

    henqiguai

    August 14, 2016 at 6:30 am

    What’s happening in your garden(s) this week?

    Two cords of firewood got dumped on mine (weed field, won’t call it a lawn this year; much less a garden) just in time for the first time this year downpour. Waiting for that third cord to arrive sometime in the next hour. I will not be stacking today.

  8. 8.

    KlareCole

    August 14, 2016 at 6:39 am

    Love the butterfly picture. Each time I see a Monarch now, it gives me pause. We have had a very rainy summer. Impatiens are huge & beautiful, same for petunias. Tomatoe plants are huge with few blooms or tomatoes. Have not seen any honey bees. Wondering if there is a connection.? Added super composted soil to their bed this year. As I re-read my entry, I note my use of the word ‘huge’. Can’t escape the idiot even discussing flowers.

  9. 9.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    August 14, 2016 at 6:40 am

    Not my garden, but I’m headed to the Huntington this evening for the last of their evening strolls of this year.

  10. 10.

    KlareCole

    August 14, 2016 at 6:46 am

    @Ultraviolet Thunder: I have couple milkweed plants that keep coming up in my (front, naturally) landscape beds. But I leave them there for the butterflies. Isn’t there something else that is supposed to be close by for them to benefit from the milkweed?

  11. 11.

    rikyrah

    August 14, 2016 at 6:47 am

    Good Morning ?, Everyone ?

  12. 12.

    Baud

    August 14, 2016 at 7:12 am

    @rikyrah: Happy Sunday!

  13. 13.

    Raven

    August 14, 2016 at 7:17 am

    Bella, I cannot get your email address to work! I have sent messages from several browsers and email clients and they all bounce!

  14. 14.

    MomSense

    August 14, 2016 at 7:17 am

    Good morning☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️
    Another late night iof Olympics watching followed by an early morning. Going for a hike.

  15. 15.

    Ceci n'est pas mon nym

    August 14, 2016 at 7:25 am

    My wife is the gardener and we (meaning she) were too busy with other projects to do any vegetables this year. But we did get a volunteer cherry tomato that started itself in one empty pot. From seeds in the compost presumably.

  16. 16.

    satby

    August 14, 2016 at 7:31 am

    Good morning rikyrah and everyone else! Beautiful picture Bella, the swallowtails are one of my favorite butterflies.

    My milkweed is also doing great, and I keep spreading seeds to new areas around the perimeter of the yard. Since the farmers around here just consider it a weed to mow, I brought seeds to my neighbors two years ago with the info from the monarch organization to try to get them to plant it too. I see more growing this year than I used to, so maybe word spread.

  17. 17.

    satby

    August 14, 2016 at 7:49 am

    This seems like a good thread to put an update on Bubba, the boomerang dog. I’ve now tried in a bunch of different ways to provoke this poor pup into taking a nip at me (what’s formally called Safer testing in the rescue world) and he’s been nothing but a patient, well behaved boy. He’s a beagle- boston terrier mix and so can be a bit enthusiastic about going out and his treats, but he’s a very good boy who has gotten along with the other older dogs. The younger dogs scare him a little, but even then he just returns to “his” room to lie down.

    I’m going to be looking for a home for him, because five dogs in a city is just asking for animal control to come visit.

  18. 18.

    Schlemazel

    August 14, 2016 at 7:54 am

    Inspired by that lovely picture from Bell I decided to post this -A bit ago I noticed an unusual caterpillar on out hostas so I took a picture for identification purposes. It built its cocoon attached to the underside of out mail box. This morning I found the butterfly.
    Here are pictures of a Mourning Cloak butterfly

    EDIT: I should add that I have never seen one of these on the tundra before but it was nice to see it happen.

  19. 19.

    satby

    August 14, 2016 at 8:00 am

    @Schlemazel: That’s wonderful! I’ve never seen one of those either.

  20. 20.

    Baud

    August 14, 2016 at 8:04 am

    @Schlemazel: That’s very nice.

  21. 21.

    Rosalita

    August 14, 2016 at 8:05 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    Assuming you visit the lovely Descanso as well?

  22. 22.

    WereBear

    August 14, 2016 at 8:07 am

    Been out in the wilderness a lot this summer, and the wildflowers are incredible. Lots of butterflies and bees.

  23. 23.

    satby

    August 14, 2016 at 8:11 am

    My house closing is Friday, and I should be packing. But I have a quandary: peach butter, or peach jam from the 1/2 peck I got at the orchard yesterday? Leaning towards butter, because I can just do it in a crock pot.

  24. 24.

    Schlemazel

    August 14, 2016 at 8:18 am

    @satby:
    We do apple butter in the crock pot, it is the only way to go! A lot less messing around and never a scorched batch.

  25. 25.

    rikyrah

    August 14, 2016 at 8:22 am

    @satby:
    What is peach butter?

  26. 26.

    Princess

    August 14, 2016 at 8:23 am

    Squirrels are getting most of my tomatoes and I am at the end of my rope.

  27. 27.

    satby

    August 14, 2016 at 8:24 am

    @Schlemazel: I do apple butter that way too, but I’ve never made peach butter. Still, I’m leaning towards that, just because it would give me time to figure out where the heck all my canning jars are and sterilize them.

  28. 28.

    satby

    August 14, 2016 at 8:27 am

    @rikyrah: It’s the peaches cooked down into a thick sauce like apple butter is. Essentially the same thing as apple butter but using peaches as the fruit.

  29. 29.

    Gelfling 545

    August 14, 2016 at 8:36 am

    This pond has been my garden work in progress. I’m finally happy with what I’m seeing.

    2 years ago when we had to replace the liner

    Most recent.

    I’m pretty pleased as it’s my morning coffee place.

  30. 30.

    satby

    August 14, 2016 at 8:38 am

    @Gelfling 545: that’s lovely! I never made a go of my pond, but it’s become a great sanctuary for frog breeding, so I guess that’s something.

  31. 31.

    TheMightyTrowel

    August 14, 2016 at 8:43 am

    @satby: could you share your recipe please?

    Spring is starting to spring down here. Been doing house stuff – sanding, painting, insulating – instead of gardening this weekend but ate lunch on the verandah and it was warm enough at lunch to go out in sandals.

  32. 32.

    Ceci n'est pas mon nym

    August 14, 2016 at 8:43 am

    @Princess: When we’ve raised tomatoes in the past, we end up picking them before they’re ripe to stay ahead of the squirrels.

  33. 33.

    Schlemazel

    August 14, 2016 at 8:43 am

    @Princess:
    No garden this year but in the past we have put bird netting over the tomato patch. I am not sure if it is just furry rats or if the deer are framing them. I wouldn’t mind if they ate one or two but they take a bite out of every one of the green tomatoes & we are left with nothing. The bird net put a stop to it.

  34. 34.

    Joel

    August 14, 2016 at 8:52 am

    Putting up shelves in my son’s closet. Finally figured out a reliable way to find studs in a plaster/lath wall — a stack of neodymium disc magnets suspended from a string. Their dipole is so strong that they’ll respond even to the tiny nails that secure lath to studs.

    Beats the alternative of knocking and drilling.

  35. 35.

    Schlemazel

    August 14, 2016 at 9:02 am

    I was reading about the IOCs difficulty with finding nations willing to host.They had some interesting notes on Norway’s withdrawing from the winter games bid. Norway estimated $5-6 billion (Sochi was $51 BILLION!) for the games. Nations used to get 90% of the broadcast revenue but the IOC now gets 68% of all revenue including broadcast. In addition Norway reports that the contract required exclusive receptions with the king and free alcohol at their gatherings. Seems the IOC is intent on draining the games dry and killing them.

  36. 36.

    satby

    August 14, 2016 at 9:04 am

    @Princess: go to a dollar store and by some realistic rubber snakes to put around the tomato plants. Scares most small critters away.

  37. 37.

    Princess

    August 14, 2016 at 9:05 am

    I am going to have to try the bird netting next year. I know it is the squirrels to blame for my losses — I see the little rotters climbing up the trees with green tomatoes in their mouths. I am picking them early too, but it seems to defeat the whole purpose of growing your own.

  38. 38.

    satby

    August 14, 2016 at 9:10 am

    @TheMightyTrowel: Well, I’ve never made peach butter, but almost all of the recipes I’m seeing on teh google are Apple butter ones that just substitute peaches as the fruit. I always use way less sugar (1/2 of of most recipes), and I want a more peach, less spice taste so I’m going to try this one from smittenkitchen.

  39. 39.

    pat

    August 14, 2016 at 9:13 am

    @satby:

    Ohh, I have to try that. There’s a stupid rabbit munching on my new Butterfly Weed.

    I planted some Anise Hyssop that are BEE MAGNETS! And I hope that their anisy-smelling leaves will repel rabbits.

  40. 40.

    cosima

    August 14, 2016 at 9:16 am

    Scotland has had a pretty grey summer, but at least warmer & drier than last year’s (knock wood). Our butterfly bush has grown to a huge size, and the wind has died down enough for the butterflies to come visit. Saw the first one a few days ago, and rushed out to take a photo, but it did not wait.

    We have beautiful succulents going in the back garden that are flowering, and our little one brought some from our trip to England that she found growing in the cracks of the courtyard where we stayed. She’s on to Mr. Cosima to build her a big planter so that she can live out her fairy garden dreams. The succulents will play a big part.

    We planted two cherry trees in the front this year, and a lot of plants that we hope will provide a thick screen. We live in a new-build neighbourhood, so that being the case the house across the street has a nice view into our front sitting room that we hope will be obscured by next spring.

    My sis-in-law posted some photos of a milkweed that has various nicknames all more or less along the lines of “family jewels” due to the appearance of the pods. I’d like one of those to put in our garden, good conversation point.

    Finally, I volunteer to do arts & crafts with the kids at the after-school/summer club, and our project for my days this summer was doing seed bombs for the kids to take home to spread around. It was easy & fun for the kids, and hopefully will bring a bit of joy to the kids and to butterflies and bees.

  41. 41.

    satby

    August 14, 2016 at 9:19 am

    @cosima: I would love to hear how you made seed bombs!

  42. 42.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    August 14, 2016 at 9:22 am

    @Rosalita: I have, as seen here, but I have a membership at the Huntington.

  43. 43.

    TheMightyTrowel

    August 14, 2016 at 9:25 am

    @satby: thanks! Please do report back on the results! I’m definitely intrigued!

  44. 44.

    hovercraft

    August 14, 2016 at 9:32 am

    @Schlemazel:
    REAL Sports with Bryant Gumbel was an expose of the IOC, they covered the corruption. The increasing dependence on authoritarian regimes for hosting the games, the IOC feels that the Beijing games in their mind were the most successful, in part because the authorities were able to do as they wanted, without having to yield to outside forces. The imprisoning of people in China, because of their complaints about their ancestral homes being destroyed, journalists, bloggers. In Russia the workers in Socchi were immigrants brought in illegally specifically to build the venues, many were abused, not paid, and killed during the construction. The locals who complained are threatened to this day, journalists have been killed for writing about the corruption and abuse. It was an eye opening episode, when confronted with evidence of human rights abuse and violations, current and former IOC personnel pleaded ignorance, even when the abuses was right in front of them for all to see. They are greedy scum, who have tainted the entire process.

  45. 45.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    August 14, 2016 at 9:36 am

    @Schlemazel: Cool! I’ve never seen one either, so I’m glad you showed us – and told us what it is. I saw a swallowtail last week that was not as interested in modeling as the one on the coneflower. It was the biggest butterfly I’ve ever seen – I had to look through field glasses to be sure it was in fact a butterfly.

    @raven – got your mail and (belatedly) replied

  46. 46.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    August 14, 2016 at 9:41 am

    @Gelfling 545: That’s a pretty coffee spot.

  47. 47.

    raven

    August 14, 2016 at 9:41 am

    @a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): Got it!

  48. 48.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    August 14, 2016 at 9:42 am

    CBS News Politics Verified account
    ‏@CBSPolitics

    Donald Trump: Our campaign is making a big move for Connecticut http://cbsn.ws/2b78qSC

    Someone who looked like Hillary was ejected from his rally in CT yesterday. What would it look like when he actually loses it? How would we be able to tell?

  49. 49.

    Lenora Pohlman

    August 14, 2016 at 9:42 am

    @KlareCole: Hope you don’t mind a stranger answering (but I’m an obsessive nerd). I think the goal for monarchs (aside from milkweed) is to keep the bloom time going all summer into fall. They need goldenrod, asters, etc. to fuel up for their fall migration.

  50. 50.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    August 14, 2016 at 9:54 am

    @Lenora Pohlman: Long bloom season is important for migration, and the reason the milkweed is critical because it’s the only monarch caterpillar host.

    When I told Mr. Q earlier in the week that I was offering harvested seeds around he looked puzzled, probably because I usually just send them to a master gardener friend and he never noticed. “Milkweed?” I explained about milkweed seed projects around the country and he said “you’re just making this up on the spot, right?”

    I had to laugh when I figured out it was the “weed” in the name. Lots of people who aren’t even farmers have just looked at it as another weed to mow. I’m tickled, satby, that you’re seeing more growing around your place.

  51. 51.

    Lenora Pohlman

    August 14, 2016 at 10:01 am

    @a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): Yep, I’m growing milkweed a few blocks from the Chicago border. I mostly grow swamp milkweed, which is pretty enough to blend in with the other landscape flowers. They also spread, though. I tried to put in a bed of radishes next to the milkweed, and bam! A bed of baby milkweed came up.

  52. 52.

    Brachiator

    August 14, 2016 at 10:18 am

    @Schlemazel:

    . Here are pictures of a Mourning Cloak butterfly

    Very cool butterfly. I had not seen that one before. Great photo for the morning.

  53. 53.

    chopper

    August 14, 2016 at 10:26 am

    @satby:

    butter. I’m sure it’s too hot for anything else but a crock pot, and canning isn’t for those who are busy with other more important crap.

    here in Seattle I’m drowning in heirloom tomatoes, cukes and pole beans, speaking of canning. The storage room is gonna be full of pickes this weekend.

  54. 54.

    Eric S.

    August 14, 2016 at 10:26 am

    Question for the experienced ones. How long does it take a red pepper to turn red? I’ve got two full sized peepers on my plant that have been that way for 2 or 3 weeks but remain stubbornly green. I’m wondering if Big Box Hardware had it mislabeled and I actually have a green pepper plant

  55. 55.

    satby

    August 14, 2016 at 10:27 am

    So wandering away from Schlemazel’s butterfly pic I found this.

  56. 56.

    satby

    August 14, 2016 at 10:29 am

    @Eric S.:I think all green ones ultimately will turn red, but it may take a while more.

  57. 57.

    satby

    August 14, 2016 at 10:31 am

    @chopper: I’m in agreement. Butter it is. Martha Stewart never needs to watch her back against me, because I’m much too lazy.

  58. 58.

    satby

    August 14, 2016 at 10:33 am

    Ok, time to peel the Kindle out of my hands and get to work; I finished the last cup of coffee. Have a great day!

  59. 59.

    chopper

    August 14, 2016 at 10:38 am

    heading out for a multi family bike ride in the park in a bit. gonna be a perfect day.

  60. 60.

    Ceci n'est pas mon nym

    August 14, 2016 at 10:43 am

    So as I said there is nothing edible in our garden this year. But I’m beginning to think about next year. In particular, there’s a thing called a mouse melon that I’m kind of curious about. One booth at the local farmer’s market has been having them for the last couple weeks, and they’re incredibly addictive.

    They look like baby watermelons (they are about the size of your average chickpea) but they taste like cucumbers with just a little bit of lemony flavor, and a very satisfying crunchy mouth feel. I can chomp down a pint in no time and it’s like eating popcorn.

    They are Mexican in origin so I would think it’s a hot-weather plant, but this local grower is growing them in the local PA area, so I’m thinking it’s not impossible to get them to grow here.

  61. 61.

    Brachiator

    August 14, 2016 at 10:49 am

    @hovercraft:

    . The increasing dependence on authoritarian regimes for hosting the games, the IOC feels that the Beijing games in their mind were the most successful, in part because the authorities were able to do as they wanted, without having to yield to outside forces.

    I guess this makes North Korea and a post President Trump America ideal candidates for future games.

  62. 62.

    danielx

    August 14, 2016 at 10:53 am

    Ain’t doing diddley with the plants etc because this is the third day of rain in a row, with more to come. Not as bad as the poor folks down by the Gulf, but it is becoming wearisome. So no outside work today….wish I was back in Colorado, where the rain doesn’t generally last this long.

    In other news, Zoey the Menace* is in the third week of her diet and it’s finally starting to show. She’s still getting bitchy about the lack of a late night snack.

    *Shown here in the aftermath of a particularly brutal catnip abuse session.

  63. 63.

    TaMara (HFG)

    August 14, 2016 at 10:56 am

    @Schlemazel: That was stunning. Wow.

  64. 64.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    August 14, 2016 at 10:56 am

    @pat: Thanks for the pointer. I’ve got a ~ 8’x8′ plot in the back that I’ve let go fallow – I think I’ll add some of those and a bit of “butterfly and hummingbird mix” to that area next year and see what happens. Last year we had up to 3 hummers by some feeders I put up, but I can’t seem to find the time to keep them clean with the appropriate amount of sugar-water, so I haven’t put them up this year (maybe in a few weeks – maybe). It would be nice if a patch of flowers did the job without so much work on my part!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  65. 65.

    rikyrah

    August 14, 2016 at 10:57 am

    How We Killed the Tea Party
    Greedy PACs drained the movement with endless pleas for money to support “conservative” causes and candidates. I worked for one of them. But Tea Party ideas live on.
    August 14, 2016

    As we watch the Republican Party tear itself to shreds over Donald Trump, perhaps it’s time to take note of another conservative political phenomenon that the GOP nominee has utterly eclipsed: the Tea Party. The Tea Party movement is pretty much dead now, but it didn’t die a natural death. It was murdered—and it was an inside job. In a half decade, the spontaneous uprising that shook official Washington degenerated into a form of pyramid scheme that transferred tens of millions of dollars from rural, poorer Southerners and Midwesterners to bicoastal political operatives.

    What began as an organic, policy-driven grass-roots movement was drained of its vitality and resources by national political action committees that dunned the movement’s true believers endlessly for money to support its candidates and causes. The PACs used that money first to enrich themselves and their vendors and then deployed most of the rest to search for more “prospects.” In Tea Party world, that meant mostly older, technologically unsavvy people willing to divulge personal information through “petitions”—which only made them prey to further attempts to lighten their wallets for what they believed was a good cause. While the solicitations continue, the audience has greatly diminished because of a lack of policy results and changing political winds.

    I was an employee at one of the firms that ran these operations. But nothing that follows is proprietary or gleaned directly from my employment. The evidence of the scheming is all there in the public record, available for anyone willing to look.

  66. 66.

    danielx

    August 14, 2016 at 10:59 am

    The kitty jungle.

  67. 67.

    amk

    August 14, 2016 at 11:03 am

    @rikyrah:

    What began as an organic, policy-driven grass-roots movement

    good joke of the day.

  68. 68.

    shomi

    August 14, 2016 at 11:05 am

    Cue wrong way Cole post about why armed black men are being killed by white cops in Milwaukee. The guy was just going to the store to buy milk for his sick grandmother or whatever sob story they have. He just happened to have a gun with 23 rounds in it is all. Nothing wrong with that.

    In wrong way Coles childishly simplistic world, lived vicariously through the internet, the only thing that matters is that he was black and the cop was white. Mob mentality causes a riot and mobs are never wrong.

  69. 69.

    Ceci n'est pas mon nym

    August 14, 2016 at 11:06 am

    @danielx: What’s in the middle of the bench? Did the kitties put out bait to attract squirrels and now they’re waiting for their prey to show up?

  70. 70.

    rikyrah

    August 14, 2016 at 11:07 am

    Inside the Failing Mission to Tame Trump’s Tongue
    AUGUST 13, 2016

    Donald J. Trump was in a state of shock: He had just fired his campaign manager and was watching the man discuss his dismissal at length on CNN. The rattled candidate’s advisers and family seized the moment for an intervention.

    Joined by his daughter Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner, a cluster of Mr. Trump’s confidants pleaded with him to make that day — June 20 — a turning point.

    He would have to stick to a teleprompter and end his freestyle digressions and insults, like his repeated attacks on a Hispanic federal judge. Paul Manafort, Mr. Trump’s campaign chairman, and Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey argued that Mr. Trump had an effective message, if only he would deliver it. For now, the campaign’s polling showed, too many voters described him in two words: “unqualified” and “racist.”

    Mr. Trump bowed to his team’s entreaties, according to four people with detailed knowledge of the meeting, who described it on the condition of anonymity. It was time, he agreed, to get on track.

    Nearly two months later, the effort to save Mr. Trump from himself has plainly failed. He has repeatedly signaled to his advisers and allies his willingness to change and adapt, but has grown only more volatile and prone to provocation since then, clashing with a Gold Star family, making comments that have been seen as inciting violence and linking his political opponents to terrorism.

    Advisers who once hoped a Pygmalion-like transformation would refashion a crudely effective political showman into a plausible American president now increasingly concede that Mr. Trump may be beyond coaching. He has ignored their pleas and counsel as his poll numbers have dropped, boasting to friends about the size of his crowds and maintaining that he can read surveys better than the professionals.

    In private, Mr. Trump’s mood is often sullen and erratic, his associates say. He veers from barking at members of his staff to grumbling about how he was better off following his own instincts during the primaries and suggesting he should not have heeded their calls for change.

    He broods about his souring relationship with the news media, calling Mr. Manafort several times a day to talk about specific stories. Occasionally, Mr. Trump blows off steam in bursts of boyish exuberance: At the end of a fund-raiser on Long Island last week, he playfully buzzed the crowd twice with his helicopter.

  71. 71.

    Ceci n'est pas mon nym

    August 14, 2016 at 11:07 am

    Bored out-of-material troll is now making up posts so that he can respond to them. Sad.

  72. 72.

    Ripley (Whiskey Fire version)

    August 14, 2016 at 11:09 am

    Rented a 30 yard dumpster for the weekend. Pulled two rooms of carpet, padding and staples Fri/Sat, but left the tackstrip in for now because it was apparently installed with Thor’s own hammer.

    Today is ‘clean out the shop’ day, which is going to be a special treat. Blech… It’s warm but thankfully not as bad as it’s been, so I’m out of excuses.

    Happy weekend,all!

  73. 73.

    Gin & Tonic

    August 14, 2016 at 11:14 am

    @amk: Indeed. You usually have to pay money for humor like that. The Tea Party movement was as “organic” as a jumbo-size bag of Cheetos.

  74. 74.

    MomSense

    August 14, 2016 at 11:16 am

    @Ripley (Whiskey Fire version):

    Ha! I think Thor installed the carpet at my house, too.

  75. 75.

    Baud

    August 14, 2016 at 11:17 am

    @rikyrah:

    He had just fired his campaign manager

    LOL.

  76. 76.

    Gin & Tonic

    August 14, 2016 at 11:17 am

    @rikyrah: I called bullshit on the ending of that story last night. Unless Trump is a licensed and helicopter-rated pilot (which I very much doubt), his “boyish exuberance” consisted of ordering an employee or hired contractor to “buzz the crowd” – thus possibly endangering said employee’s license. The FAA doesn’t define “playful.”

  77. 77.

    danielx

    August 14, 2016 at 11:19 am

    @Ceci n’est pas mon nym:

    Just some brush – as I recall it was too hot that day for anything so energetic as hunting. They were practicing conservation of energy.

  78. 78.

    Miss Bianca

    August 14, 2016 at 11:22 am

    Will milkweed grow at altitude in CO? I’d love to provide some monarch kibble, but I’m afraid it will be too high and dry for it up here!

  79. 79.

    SiubhanDuinne

    August 14, 2016 at 11:27 am

    @Gin & Tonic:

    Silly G&T, Trump doesn’t pay any attention to “licenses.”

  80. 80.

    KlareCole

    August 14, 2016 at 11:28 am

    @Lenora Pohlman: I’m not sure what you mean by stranger, but as an obsessive nerd myself, I definitely appreciate your information. I’ll have to plant with the butterfly’s long term summer need in mind. I miss the days when I had dozen’s of them in my yard.

  81. 81.

    Gin & Tonic

    August 14, 2016 at 11:29 am

    Yeah, and because I’m still finishing my coffee and had a few minutes, here’s the relevant section of the administrative code regarding “buzzing.”

    a) Careless or Reckless Operation

    1) No pilot shall operate an aircraft in a careless or reckless manner so as to endanger the person or property of another.

    2) Examples of careless or reckless aircraft operation that may endanger the person or property of another are:

    A) Buzzing, diving on, or flying in close proximity to livestock, homes, any structure, aircraft, vehicle, vessel, person or group of persons.

    Sure wish Maggie Haberman had taken the time to actually investigate that, as opposed to calling it “playful” or “boyish.”

  82. 82.

    Eric U.

    August 14, 2016 at 11:30 am

    @Gin & Tonic: everyone knows that “playful” means “in fear for their lives.” Just like Trump redefined “sarcastic” to mean, uh, something else. There was some guy buzzing my neighborhood in a small plane — just idiocy given the flight conditions. Wish I had known at that time that it was against regs, would have reported it.

  83. 83.

    Baud

    August 14, 2016 at 11:31 am

    @Gin & Tonic:

    You forgot subparagraph (B):. “Notwithstanding the foregoing, IOKIYAR.”

  84. 84.

    debbie

    August 14, 2016 at 11:32 am

    @Gin & Tonic:

    Or “childish” or “fucking immature.”

  85. 85.

    Baud

    August 14, 2016 at 11:32 am

    Trump is just going after the Johnson vote by flouting oppressive federal regulations.

  86. 86.

    Baud

    August 14, 2016 at 11:33 am

    @debbie: “dangerously impish.”

  87. 87.

    debbie

    August 14, 2016 at 11:38 am

    @Baud:

    You could call his platform dangerously impish too.

  88. 88.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    August 14, 2016 at 11:38 am

    Does anyone else think Claire McCaskill is not the best pitch-person for the Democratic Party? She is on TV a lot and, to my mind, is not our most effective weapon.

  89. 89.

    SiubhanDuinne

    August 14, 2016 at 12:02 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:
    @Gin & Tonic:
    @Baud:

    I seriously now am wondering about that expired registration story. It was widely, if briefly, covered by the media back in mid-April — at which time the FAA stated the plane would not be allowed back in the air until the re-registration fee was paid, paperwork completed, etc. Since then, not a word. I guess either he’s using his other plane for campaigning or he’s just giving the finger to the FAA.

  90. 90.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    August 14, 2016 at 12:06 pm

    @West of the Rockies (been a while): Dunno. She may appeal to the oldsters who are the main TV audience these days?

    Only about 22 M people watch the network evening news. That link doesn’t say, but I assume that audience tilts older based on the ads (pills and stuff rather than kiddie breakfast cereal).

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  91. 91.

    NoraLenderbee

    August 14, 2016 at 12:06 pm

    Picked 42 pounds of tomatoes yesterday.

  92. 92.

    CaseyL

    August 14, 2016 at 12:09 pm

    @Schlemazel @satby

    Wonderful items to share on a lazy Sunday morning!

    My plans: Skype with my mom and brother, do the laundry, start designing the mandala which is to be my next glass piece, and stay out of the freaking sun!

  93. 93.

    Gin & Tonic

    August 14, 2016 at 12:12 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: Look for pictures or video of him arriving someplace, spot the tail number (starts with N) and you can look it up. That’s public info.

  94. 94.

    D58826

    August 14, 2016 at 12:20 pm

    And the GOP is now demanding that the FBI’s investigative documents on Hillary’s e-mails be made public. I really wish she did have the green lantern powers to vaporize these people from a distance.

  95. 95.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    August 14, 2016 at 12:28 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: Trump’s 757 registration expires 3/31/2018. Dunno if there is some other paperwork that isn’t up to date, or something.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  96. 96.

    cosima

    August 14, 2016 at 12:30 pm

    @satby: Super easy — took a bunch of paper from our recycle bin, tore it up into bits, soaked it in water. For the benefit of the kids I added a few coloured sheets of paper to make the seed bombs prettier. Put the paper & water into my Cuisinart & made it into a gloppy mess (add water as needed to make sure that all of the paper is easily goop-ified). To make it interesting for the kids we made them with cookie cutters — squeeze a bit of the water out over bowl so that the paper mixture can be pressed into the cookie cutter a bit firmly, just using enough to make a thin layer, sprinkle some seeds on, then press another layer on top of that. Push out of the cookie cutter and leave to dry.

    I used a mixture of seeds, wildflower mix, lavender, whatever looked like it would survive random planting by young children. My daughter has been making them to give to her friends as gifts, but she jazzes hers up by pressing flower petals into the top.

    You could also use this process to make seed-embedded paper if you have some window screen around. That’s something that we’d have had loads of when living in the U.S. but definitely doesn’t seem to be a thing here in the UK.

  97. 97.

    SiubhanDuinne

    August 14, 2016 at 12:31 pm

    @Gin & Tonic:

    Huh. Never knew that. Thanks!

    Edit: I knew there were tail numbers, of course, but thought they were just for FAA use.

  98. 98.

    SiubhanDuinne

    August 14, 2016 at 12:36 pm

    @I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet:

    It’s his Cessna registration that’s expired (as of 1/31/2016) per my link at #78.

  99. 99.

    Gin & Tonic

    August 14, 2016 at 12:37 pm

    @I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet: The issue was about another plane, not the 757.

  100. 100.

    satby

    August 14, 2016 at 12:40 pm

    @CaseyL: do share when you’re done!

    Vanilla peach butter is on, and I still have about 4-5 lbs of peaches to do something with.
    @NoraLenderbee: holy shit! Have you got your work cut out for you!

  101. 101.

    satby

    August 14, 2016 at 12:42 pm

    @cosima: Fantastic, thanks!
    Projects for my new place, because I have lots of seeds.

  102. 102.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    August 14, 2016 at 12:50 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: Ok, thanks. I’ll try to pay more attention, but it’s hard in this heat. ;-)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  103. 103.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    August 14, 2016 at 12:54 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: He transferred it to another of his companies to get it re-registered quickly..

    Trump Shifts Citation X to New Holding for Registration
    by Kerry Lynch
    – April 27, 2016, 11:26 AM
    Donald Trump’s Cessna Citation X (N725DT) is cleared for flight again after it was re-registered under another one of Trump’s holdings, DT Endeavor I. According to FAA records, the registration for the 1997 Model 750 had expired at the end of January. It previously had been registered on Jan. 17, 2013, with DJT Operations listed as the owner.

    The shift of the aircraft to a separate Trump holding enabled the presidential candidate to quickly bypass what might have been a lengthy process to renew an expired registration. Backlogs for aircraft re-registrations currently span six weeks, while the FAA’s Aircraft Registration Branch in Oklahoma City can immediately issue temporary registration paperwork for an aircraft that has been sold.

    Trump’s registration for his Citation X expired under FAA regulations that took effect in 2010 requiring re-registration every three years. He told the New York Times that the re-registration notices from the FAA had gone to the wrong address. Trump also has a Boeing 757-200 (N757AF) and two Sikorsky S-76Bs (N76DT and N7P) on the U.S. FAA registration (in addition to a Sikorsky S-76B registered in the UK). The Citation X is now registered through April 30, 2019.

    HTH.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  104. 104.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    August 14, 2016 at 12:56 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: He transferred it to another of his companies to get it re-registered quickly..

    [elided blockquote to keep this out of the dungeon. ]

    HTH.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  105. 105.

    J R in WV

    August 14, 2016 at 12:57 pm

    @rikyrah:

    The tea party was never a grass-roots movement. From day one it was created, paid for, and controlled by a well known Republican ratfuqer. Bus loads of right wing people recruited for the day would show up and raise hell at select venues as members of the Tea Party.

    Then other right wingers began writing about the Tea Party, and more people who weren’t hired by the creators of the Tea Party began taking part in primaries, and the Republican founders and movers of the Tea Party lost control.

    And that’s how Trump wound up running the Republican Party. No grass roots, not poor conservatives, well-off white bigots mostly.

  106. 106.

    SiubhanDuinne

    August 14, 2016 at 1:00 pm

    @I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet:

    Thanks for this. Story didn’t show up in any of my (admittedly desultory) googling.

    Hand it to Trump, he really does know how to work the system, doesn’t he?

  107. 107.

    SiubhanDuinne

    August 14, 2016 at 1:02 pm

    @I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet:

    Apologies. I came across as snippier than I intended.

    Cheers backatcha.

  108. 108.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    August 14, 2016 at 1:06 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: I didn’t take it that way at all. :-)

    Have a good Sunday!

    Cheers,
    Scott.
    (I’m off to get roasted, spreading dirt and mulch…)

  109. 109.

    cosima

    August 14, 2016 at 2:19 pm

    @satby: No problem. Hope that you have fun with it. I’ll probably try making it into paper somehow, then use fun punches to make shapes from the paper. If you’re a letter-writer (as I am), you could spread joy through including some in your letters/notes. I’m a rubbish gardener, try to populate our garden with very hardy plants. Scotland does dictate the necessity of hardy as well (we are quite far north). However, I got some honesty seedlings at the local farmer’s market about a month ago, so am going to try to keep them alive. Love those plants — they get even more beautiful after they’re cut.

  110. 110.

    opiejeanne

    August 14, 2016 at 7:06 pm

    It’s been too hot to do much, and yes, hot is a relative term. The raised bed gardens are producing daily salads and side dishes, we’ve had to pull up bolted spinach but the spinach dip and greens were brilliant while they lasted; most days we only consider what protein we need to purchase to go with the loads of green beans, lettuce, tomatoes (still a bit sparse), onions, cukes, carrots, sweet corn, and artichokes.
    I have some photos from my youngest’s wedding in July that I will send in if I remember; I still need to edit the crap-ton of photos my BIL took and dump the chaff. He does not have an “eye” (or maybe he was just drunk) but he took so many photos with our digital camera that there are some gems. It was a rip-snorting party in our garden that came together because my kids are awesome and have awesome friends who showed up the morning of and just worked, got stuff done, did it without much direction or question, and everything was fabulous.
    A few days after the wedding, the guy from Scott’s nearly cried when he saw that the moles had returned after months of exile, and undercut huge areas of the beautiful lawn that he’s been helping us maintain. We won’t do that next year because it’s expensive, no weddings are planned for next year (we spent a year getting the garden ready), and the moles will continue to devastate the lawn; it’s a good thing i have rubber ankles.
    One thing about having a wedding in your own garden, the wedding will happen whether you are ready or not, there will always be another weed to pull, and unexpectedly joyful things will happen. And your sister will piss you off, guaranteed.

  111. 111.

    opiejeanne

    August 14, 2016 at 7:08 pm

    @cosima: I thought about doing this but why don’t the seeds sprout when exposed to the wet paper?

  112. 112.

    maurinsky

    August 14, 2016 at 7:50 pm

    I harvested two ripe San Marzano tomatoes today, We have so many more that are green, green, green. Our big mistake in our first garden was watermelon. Jeeebus. I expect that someone was growing watermelon when they were inspired to write Little Shop of Horrors.

    We had a quick sauce this evening at dinner with our black zebra tomato harvest. I thought they were very sweet!

  113. 113.

    opiejeanne

    August 14, 2016 at 9:55 pm

    @maurinsky: did your watermelon plants take over the garden? Squash and pumpkins will do that.

  114. 114.

    maurinsky

    August 15, 2016 at 11:50 am

    @opiejeanne: They are growing like crazy in every possible direction. With all this plant, though, there is only one fruit so far!

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