I am literally going offline after this. Gardening, writing and playing with the critters. My brain needs a break. I’m still too fatigued to wander far from home (when I need to sleep, sleep I must). I am hoping that eases up this week if other’s Covid experience is a guide.
As promised, some distraction.
I needed a new Facebook profile picture and Scout obliged.
And here is Gabe doing his balancing act. He has been lying on the rail, which is adorable with all his, shall we say, floofiness (we do not body shame here 
) but whenever I get the camera out, he bolts. I’ll keep trying.
The day after Memorial Day, I braved going out into the world. I scored 10 lbs of chicken leg quarters for $4. (That’s $4, not $4 a lb). So I froze most and kept a few out to grill. I use a spicy dry rub and grill them until they are about 160 degrees F, then I coat them in a sweeter sauce (I love me some Sweet Baby Ray’s) and let them finish cooking, about 10 more minutes. That way the sauce doesn’t burn.
Other times, I’ll flip the process and use a sweet rub and coat with Sweet Baby Ray’s Spicy sauce. Either way, I get a nice sweet and spicy mix when it’s done. And yes, those potatoes are sliced in half, coated in oil and salt and then grilled. Gives them a nice crust and they cook in half the time.
(Also, I posted all the recipes I used in both Run Aground and Underway today. There is also a link in there to all my food in fiction recipes, one of my favorite recipe topics, from some of my favorite books.)
And since it’s Sunday Garden time, here is one of my favorite irises. We had a hard freeze early last fall and another one late this spring and most of my irises are looking a little worse for wear because of it. But still pretty.
Okay, this is a RESPITE open thread. We all need a break. Check-in if you need some reassurance. And go offline if you’re really feeling beat up like I am. My brain and my heart just need to check out for a while.
Tell us something good.
Be kind today, especially to yourself….
Nicole
Yesterday I went to pick up face masks made by a friend of mine- I didn’t want to take mass transit so I inline skated to her place, although I miscalculated the distance. Fourteen miles roundtrip was more like 18. But the masks are lovely and beautifully made, I feel no need to exercise today thanks to yesterday and I can’t even muster the anxiety to feel like I should be doing something productive. I’m going to cross stitch and watch documentaries and enjoy the sunshine.
So Sunday is actually being just what a good Sunday should be.
satby
I’m also going offline to preserve my sanity. Have to plant stuff anyway, should have started two FB fights ago ?
Miss Bianca
Hmmm, something good. Well…I’m going to go ride my horse before it rains. But after I eat some eggs. : )
TaMara (HFG)
Oh and I forgot to say, I bought the coolest tomato plant yesterday, I’d never heard of it before. It’s a Mortgage Lifter. Can’t wait to see what it does.
Nicole
@Miss Bianca:
Goddamnit, Miss Bianca, this is supposed to be a respite thread and now you have me all pea green with envy. Over the horseback riding, not the eggs. Eggs, I can get.
;) Have a great ride.
Doc Sardonic
@TaMara (HFG): i have grown these in the past and they are a really good tomato. They can be big like a Beefsteak, but if they bear like mine did at one point be prepared to have to give away tomatoes much like zucchini.
TaMara (HFG)
@Doc Sardonic: All of that makes me very happy. Thanks!
MagdaInBlack
My Gordita is floofy like Gabe. Blue eyes, seal point coloring, body like Gabe, faint M on forehead
Thanks for the respite. ?
RandomMonster
How (or where) the heck do ya get 10 lbs of chicken pieces for $4?! I want in on that.
I took care of obligatory lawn-mowing. I hate lawns, but I’m stuck with one until I get around to replacing it with something sensible.
Now I can relax and do some drawing.
Amir Khalid
Greetings from The First of June.
Those chicken legs look like they’d be a lot less disappointing than the Texas Chicken* I had for lunch. And Gabe looks (as folks in Asia say) “prosperous”.
*They trade as Church’s Chicken in the US.
Dorothy A. Winsor
It’s a nice day, and a brisk walk helped relieve some of my stress.
My forthcoming book is the second in a series, and the publisher has the ebook for the first one (The Wind Reader) on sale for $.99, I would guess as a marketing thing. Here’s a blurb: When street kid Doniver accidentally tells a true fortune for the prince, he’s taken into the castle to be the royal fortune teller. Good news? Food and a warm bed. Bad news? He can’t tell fortunes.
opiejeanne
@TaMara (HFG):
Or you could make a lot of marinara with all some of the excessive tomatoes, and freeze it for later use. mr opiejeanne does that every fall, after we give away a lot of tomatoes. Haven’t grown Mortgage Lifter but the varieties we do grow cause similar problems.
Or maybe I’m just growing too many plants.
debbie
I like pets and food, but oh, that iris! ?
opiejeanne
@RandomMonster: Yes! I would like the story behind 40 cents a pound chicken.
Ruckus
TaMara, Satby
Enjoy the vacation but please don’t stay away too long.
We all need a little respite every once in a while, between all that’s going on, I know I feel a lot the same most days any more.
You both brighten up the world and it’s a better place for your efforts.
debbie
@Nicole:
Are the streets still empty or did you have problems navigating your way to your friend’s?
Ruckus
@Doc Sardonic:
If you have too many zucchini blooming – which of course means too many zucchini, one of the most divine meals I’ve ever had was fried zucchini flowers. The plant only makes one zucchini from each blooming flower so – no flower – no zucchini. But in my mind it was well worth not having actual zucchini.
laura
Spotty pup is still spotty! Now off to hate-weed and sow flower seeds.
Doc Sardonic
@Ruckus: I have tried doing the fried zucchini flowers and have never successfully turned them out.
different-church-lady
See you in ten minutes. :-p
HinTN
TaMara
The sauce is the boss – Oh, yeah!
I’m with you on the SBR.
Pet and garden pix are well received. Enjoy your time off the net.
Brachiator
Having a lazy day today, but part of it is recuperating from grocery shopping. I walked to the store to get a little exercise, and usually just get a squirt of hand sanitizer from an employee, grab a shopping cart and walk in. But this time, I guess it was weekend busy, and I had to stand in line for a while to confirm with occupancy rules.
I complied and didn’t complain, but it added extra time and stress to what I thought was going to be a relatively quick jaunt to the store. I bought a few more items than I intended so that I could avoid having to make another shopping run soon.
Everybody was wearing masks and doing the proper social distance dance.
Got back home and watched some clips of the space capsule thingy mission. Cool stuff.
Jeffro
I just finished 7.5 miles of kayaking on the the South River here in central VA in an hour and 40 minutes (!) and I feel like I could keep going all day.
It is SO nice out!
MisterForkbeard
Thank you. I really needed a respite thread. Between the shit hitting the fan at work and working 15 hour days (even yesterday) and then reading the news when I stop working I’m just sort of dead inside.
I spent the morning cooking for my young kids. Decised to make a big treat of out Sunday breakfast and the first time Dad was around for breakfast in 5 days. Ham, eggs, pancakes and waffles.
Considering making a slow-cooked something for dinner. Birria, maybe – I have a good recipe and will need to hit Safeway for a few things but we’re running low anyway. But having that smell float through the house day just seems lovely.
MisterForkbeard
@Jeffro: Well, I’m jealous. That DOES sound amazing. Kayaking is one of my favorite things but I never really do it.
Elizabelle
@Jeffro: I know. It’s like a gorgeous fall day. Underpinning of cool to the sunshine.
Redshift
Hatch is about to be opened after a successful docking of Dragon at the International Space Station.
(And boy am I glad I checked the autocorrect for “docking” before I hit post..)
Dorothy A. Winsor
@MisterForkbeard: That sounds amazing.
patrick II
Since this is a respite thread, it is a good time to update you-all on the condition of my son. About ten days ago I wrote here that he had the virus no longer, but a CT scan showed it had left a blood clot in his lung and that he had chest pains and was short of breath. So the gave him blood thinners and told him to take it easy. I expected another CT to say “all clear”, but they don’t do that. They gave him the medicine, told him short walks were good, and let nature take its course. So, he did, and the pain has gone away gradually and he seems fine. Just an ambiguous enough ending I am going to worry for a while, but I probably shouldn’t.
I other news, my 69-year-old brother drove my 97-year-old mother from a virus invaded assisted living facility to my sister’s home in Kohler, WI, 200 miles away. The logistics of the move was not simple. New doctor, new heart doctor, coordination of treatment, pills, etc. But they got it done. The danger is that now all three are threatened. I will be holding my breath. I have a brave brother and sister who love their mother.
Thank you all for your kind thoughts.
Eunicecycle
TaMara, I hope you are writing the next TJ book! I read both in three days and am hooked! Anxiously waiting for the next one.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@patrick II:
I’m glad to hear about your son.
The situation with your mother is scary. I hope they’re all ok.
Baud
@patrick II:
Good news.
CarolDuhart2
First of all, what’s a dry rub? Next, I’ve been inside my condo for the last 90 days and what makes me feel surreal about this is: how beautiful the days are,. all sunny and nice and how it contrasts with the empty streets. Only twice have I seen people walking along the sidewalk across the street from where I live, or even on the same side of the street. We’ve had people come and mow our lawn, others doing some sort of work on the driveway, but just walking on the street? Hardly a soul to be found.
One sign that things are opening up is the Recreational Center swimming pool has been filled. How one socially distances using a community pool beats me, but I hope they have a plan. I’m a member now, but this will be one summer I won’t even think about using the pool.
Cincinnati does a curfew for four communities, which beats the purpose of a curfew and seems discriminatory to boot. Either everybody should be under curfew, or nobody should have a curfew. BTW, marchers moved into the communities that didn’t have curfew.
Elizabelle
@patrick II: I hope that COVID is done with your family, and everyone stays healthy.
Good on your brother!! And hope your son continues to improve.
trollhattan
@MisterForkbeard:
Your Safeway carries goat? Now I’ve heard everything.
Sounds like a properly ambitious Sunday dinner. Bon appetit.
trollhattan
@CarolDuhart2:
Dry rub is just any combo of spices, salt, herbs etc. applied to the meat/foul/fish before cooking and left to chemically interact and draw out moisture. As opposed to marinading. It’s science!
Brachiator
@Redshift:
I think that one of the arriving astronauts bumped his head after moving through the hatch, but nothing too serious.
I often wonder what it feels like to move around in a zero or micro gravity environment.
Also, I find it interesting how they have adapted tablets as their computing tool.
CarolDuhart2
BTW, the DeWine limit of 300 people for an indoor catered event is ridiculous. I think he was lambasted by some rich Bridezilla for this one…how dare this pandemic and the required social distancing and shelter in place ruin my day. Any other event rarely even goes above 100 souls or requires a full ballroom.
Ordered a teeth cleaning device. My teeth need it, and I hope this will suffice until its safe enough to go to the dentist again, and there’s only one dentist I want to go to. He’s gentle, his waiting room rarely has even a second patient in it, and I can walk to him.
Roger Moore
@CarolDuhart2:
A dry rub is a mix of spices you rub onto the outside of your food before cooking it. Dry rubs are better than basting sauces if you want your food to get a crispy outside.
Sure Lurkalot
Started the morning with breakfast tacos and fired up the grill to roast eggplant for baba ganoush (which was supposed to be yesterday’s project but oh well). The baba to be eaten with ground lamb kabobs and muhammara.
CaseyL
Respite indeed: I’ve been house-hunting, in preparation for a sooner-than-expected retirement (my current job is temporary and the permanent one may not happen due to budget issues). I was going to take my time, do things properly, but then saw a place in Brinnon WA that I may be willing to upend all my plans for. Might be willing to sell a close relative for.
Do any of the PNW jackals hereabouts know anything about Brinnon? About living in Brinnon? Most of what I know about the place is there were terrible fires there a few years ago.
MisterForkbeard
@trollhattan: It does, in very limited quantities. Though you can also make it with beef if you want a less authentic experience.
JMG
Some minor good news. After a lengthy search, we found the attachments including the electric motor for the rotisserie function of my charcoal grill. Alice is marinating a chicken in Peruvian spices as this is being typed.
WaterGirl
@patrick II: Excellent news about your son, even if it does seem crazy that they don’t do a follow-up CT scan. Scary about your mom and sister and brother! I can only imagine what it’s like to be worried about all three at once. Hoping that lady luck will be on your side.
Thank you for updating us.
trollhattan
@CaseyL:
Had to look. “Population 797 in 2010” implies you’ll get that peace and quiet you’ve been seeking. :-)
On Hood Canal and next to OMP means oodles of outdoor recreation possibilities. I hope you enjoy fishin’ and hikin’. I backpacked OMP as a teen and love it, would go back in a heartbeat. IDK how much you’d be in the rainshadow of the mountain range, the north end of the peninsula tends to get the nicest weather while other areas can get fifty or more inches of rain annually.
Before committing, make sure you have access to any necessary services, especially medical. Jefferson County is pretty dang rural.
trollhattan
@MisterForkbeard:
Color me impressed. I’ve never once seen it at a meat counter, although I’d guess it can be special ordered.
Nicole
@debbie: I skated up to 125th and cut west, where I could get onto the trails along the Hudson. It’s feeling more like everyday NYC; 125th was pretty crowded, and the bike/run trail was REALLY crowded. Lots of people out exercising not wearing masks, which doesn’t bother me from a health standpoint (unless one of them happens to sneeze just as I’m passing them, I don’t think I’m likely to pick up anything), but is kinda rude.
Once I got off the bike path, waaaay downtown where my friend lives, the roads were pretty empty. Some traffic, but not much.
On the way back, I skated as far up as 59th and then cut over to skate up Central Park West, which is still pretty traffic-free; some cars, but I felt safe skating outside the bike path (which has some weird thing they did to it that makes it rougher than the street. Fine for bikes, I’m sure, but makes for an uncomfortable skate).
(I almost always skate in the street or bike path out of respect for pedestrians.)
Ruckus
@Doc Sardonic:
I great aunt, born/raised in Italy was an amazing cook. And she made anything taste amazing. The trick, as best I remember was to absolutely not cook in too hot a pan and do not cook too long. The flowers are very delicate. There may have been some magic she did with the egg wash as well. But the result looked just like the pedals did growing. Other than being warm, you’d never know they’d been cooked.
CaseyL
@trollhattan: Thanks for the info! Yes, health services will be the first thing my Mom asks about. There appear to be three hospitals within 15-20 miles; not sure about regular ol’ doctor visits, or who accepts what insurance. These are things I need to research.
MomSense
All the seeds I planted Monday have popped through the surface! Yay! I’m trying to clean out the perennial beds and pot up the rest of the herbs and tomatoes I’m growing in containers on my deck. I need to make one more trip to the greenhouse for soil and pick up a patio umbrella for the outdoor dining table.
My lawn is a disaster, though. It looks terrible.
The dog was outside with me all day and finally asked to go indoors. She’s crashed out on her bed dreaming.
debbie
@patrick II:
Great news about your son! Blood clots are scary things.
trollhattan
@CaseyL:
Will add my perspective is of a Seattle kid who visited and not somebody who lived there. Always thought the area was gorgeous, so lush and green.
You’d get to know the WS Ferry system and I’ll add that the Hood Canal Bridge hardly ever sinks.
In case you’ve never lived that far north (~47 degrees) the lingering summer days are wonderful and winter nights can seem endless. It’s not commonly understood the area is north of Maine.
MomSense
@patrick II:
So happy your son is on the mend. ?? for your family.
middlelee
@RandomMonster: At least you get to replace it eventually. I’m a renter and can’t. It’s small but I get pissed off every time I mow it.
The good news: oregano growing from two directions is invading it and I pretend I don’t notice. I also drop seeds occasionally and my landlady cannot bear to kill living plants so they interrupt things. Sunflowers and zinnias are great self seeders and when I pull the dead plants in winter I carefully throw plants on the lawn for a few days and shake them a lot when I pick them up to carry to compost pile. Always try to take the long view.
Doc Sardonic
@Ruckus: Ah……the heat might be the problem. Being raised in the Deep South where we will fry damn near anything, grease is always supposed to be hotter than Satan’s spit, so next time I grow zucchini I’ll try again at maybe more of a sauté temp and just blanche them in the grease.
Aleta
@patrick II: Glad to hear your good news. Best wishes to your son and you.
Your brother and sister sound loving, tough, courageous and strong. Though my mother is gone, since this started I’ve imagined what it would have been like to move her 600 miles. Just the paperwork and new appts would be exhausting. It’s good to hear that someone else’s mom is watched over.
Peale
Using my stovetop smoker for the first time. Last night was jerked smoked salmon to use in salads this week. Today it’s spicy honey pork chops and shiitake bacon. Then I’ll stop. I mean I can’t smoke everything I eat. Chalking this up to “things I got done because nothing is open that I’m thankful for”.
CaseyL
@patrick II: Glad to hear your son and your mother appear to be out of danger (fingers crossed). Sounds like you have an awesome family.
@trollhattan: Yes, well: the winter’s darkness is hard on me here in Seattle, I don’t expect them to be harder on the Peninsula. At least there I would have something lovely to look at out. “Remote” is looking pretty good these days! Though I need a few more details before upending my life to move so much more quickly than even the accelerated plan!
Feathers
Tamara –
If you like literary cooking, may I recommend Cherry Cake and Ginger Beer by Jane Brocket? It is a “golden treasury of classic treats” from children’s literature. She’s English, so the focus is British, but Little Women (Pickled Limes, of course, as well as a discussion of what sort of apples Jo would have been eating while reading her books) and Little House on the Prairie (Ma’s Pancake Men).
Pulling it down off the shelf, I’m realizing I’ve never fussed with making ginger beer from scratch before, but now seems a good time to try it. Let me know if you want me to send you photos of the index in case there are recipes you’d like from it.
From the back cover: ‘An adventure was one thing – but an adventure without anything to eat was quite another thing. That wouldn’t do at all!” Enid Blyton – The Valley of Adventure
ETA – it’s a UK book, never published in the US, so all the measurements are metric. You can find it used on Amazon, sometimes for a reasonable price. I’ve often gifted it to bookish friends who cook. It is illustrated with original illustrations from several of the books discussed.
cain
I might work on doing some raised beds – there is something calming about cutting wood.
Also my divorce was finalized on Thursday so I am now officially a divorcee (pending approval of the courts) It was pretty sublime.. sign sign sign.. done. We finished our divorce in two weeks or so – I think both of us were taken aback at how fast it was over. We’re still going to be in each others lives in some manner – I don’t think it is going to be like friends – but something.
I got my timing right and I sent my gf some flowers and it turned out that she has been thinking all week of putting our relationship on pause because we haven’t been interacting as much and so on. She’s been having a bad week so the flowers came at a time that brightened up and she thought it was beautiful – so kudos to me! I ended one relationship and saved the other! :D Long convo with my coworker about the events going on here – as both PoCs we have been under a lot of duress – him more than I as a black man. But it’s hard not to feel that pressure.
I’m making bread today – my sour dough starter is kicking ass! Pictures on twitter for those who follow me :)
cain
@patrick II:
That is the kind of thing my parents and their siblings would do. My uncle is taking care of my 99 year old grandmother and his 88 year old grand aunt (my other grandmother) – they haven’t left the house in a long awhile.
Best wishes to your mom and brother and fam and hope all is well. Same for your son, who looks like is on the mend.
PST
@CarolDuhart2:
I find Ohio ridiculous at the moment. However good a start DeWine got off to, he’s surrendered to the Trumpists now. My wife and I drove from Chicago to Toledo yesterday for my mother-in-law’s 96th birthday. Thank goodness she is still able to live independently in the house where my wife was born. The staff in the hotel where we stayed was unmasked. Restaurants were crowded with unmasked patrons. DeWine has made masking up in retail establishments voluntary. Most people we saw seemed indifferent to virus precautions.
SiubhanDuinne
@patrick II:
That’s great news about your son. Wishing your entire family good health.
JAFD
@patrick II: Sending thoughts and prayers and healing energy and best wishes to you and your family!
Ceci n est pas mon nym
So here’s a first-world problem: We chose pandemic time to become addicted to the British Baking Show, which is of course a finite resource. We have 1-1/2 seasons left to watch at one episode per day, so in about 2 weeks we’re going to start suffering withdrawal. I see there’s a couple of specials like a “Holiday Edition”, but then what? Any jackals have any suggestions? As with most fans, it’s the friendly nature of the competition and the fact that the competitors are amateurs that pulled us in, so cutthroat reality TV is really not our style.
We’ve discovered there’s a French spin-off (exact same titles and format) called “Le Meilleur Patissier” which we might try, though only a few of those seem to be on YouTube, and our French is not quite up to it. Subtitles, at least French ones, would be helpful but I haven’t been able to track down any source that has them.
Beyond that…?
Nicole
@patrick II: I’m glad your son is feeling better, and send good thoughts for the continued good health of your siblings and your mom!
debbie
@Ceci n est pas mon nym:
I can’t think how many times I’ve watched reruns of GBBO. I may know who will win that season, but it’s still interesting to me to watch them get there.
The American versions have been unwatchable. The whining combined with the narcissism (“I feel I’m a far better baker than the others.”) are just too much.
Anonymous At Work
Obligated to point out that using Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ sauce is the shopping item that most correlates with being “white/Caucasian” on such surveys.
Redshift
I actually did some gardening this week! When I was helping my mom shop for plants a few weeks ago, I impulsively bought some collard greens and a parsley plant to grow and feed to the rabbits (and some for me.) Then we kept having freeze warnings, so I didn’t put them out. (Mom is in the inner suburbs in the urban heat island, but I’m a bit further out, so it’s hard to tell if we’ll get the freeze or not.) Then I was just lazy for a week or so.
But this week I finally did some sod-busting to have a bed in full sun, and got them in before they all died (plus cilantro, which had been out of stock on my original trip.) They seem to be doing okay so far.
LuciaMia
@Feathers: That sounds wonderful.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@Redshift: Where are you? I’m in southeastern PA, and we had nights in the 30s well into May. I kept putting pots out and bringing them in. There was one whole bed that I gave up on after a few weeks of no activity (cilantro and carrots, seeded directly in the ground). So I planted some of the tomato seedlings in there. Then the original seeds sprouted after all.
We’re now in the air conditioning season, which as is the way in this area is about 1 week after the heating season, and everything seems to be pretty happy. Probably overcrowded though because I hate to thin out perfectly good-looking plants.
Redshift
@debbie: Yeah, I’d forgotten there even was an American version. One of the best things about the show is how they really want reach other to succeed, and are genuinely sad when someone has to lose, and American versions of reality and competition shows are always edited and directed to encourage and highlight conflict.
But anyway, I agree about watching reruns of GBBO.
Redshift
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: DC area. I probably made the right choice; a lot of the frosts probably didn’t reach here, but we had one actual freeze right at the end that might have gotten them.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@Redshift: @debbie: From what I’ve read, the original hosts Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc had a lot to do with the tone of GBBO. The producers originally were going for a much harsher tone, trying to goad contestants into crying and so forth, and they threatened to quit after the first couple of episodes.
NotMax
@CarolDuhart2
$20, same as downtown.
(
rimshot):)
mrmoshpotato
Scout! ♥️
Gabe lying on that rail? – that’s some impressive balance. Or quite the sploot with legs a-dangling.
The chicken and potatoes look deeeeelicious.
Catherine D.
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: I liked the Great Flower Fight and Repair Shop on Netflix.
debbie
@Ceci n est pas mon nym:
I know why they left, but I wish they hadn’t.
Miss Bianca
@TaMara (HFG): The story I saw in a seed catalog is that the “Mortgage Lifter” was so named because that’s exactly what it accomplished for its developer!
@Nicole: Michael Korda, who worked for many years at a major New York publisher, wrote a book called “Horse People” where he described meeting his not-yet wife at a livery stable in Central Park. I’m guessing that in these litigious times, livery stables and horses for rent for a ride in the park are long gone. Too bad – if someone had a properly trained Quarter Horse, you could go skijoring on your roller blades! : )
geg6
@Redshift:
If you want the very best of American cooking competitions, watch Top Chef. Yeah, there are some assholes among the chefs, but mostly good natured competition. Padma Lakshmi is a good host and head judge Tom Coliccio (sp ?) is the awesome. I never miss it.
Uncle Cosmo
@NotMax: I REMEMBER THE ORIGINAL VERSION OF THAT, YOU SONOFABITCH!
(& I’m still trying to pick myself up off the floor… ;^p )
NotMax
@Ceci n est pas mon nym
On Netflix? Food-centric? Only 6 episodes, Taco Chronicles (Las Crónicas del Taco).
Some folks say they have become addicted to Nailed It!.
MisterForkbeard
I spent the morning building a house for my kids out of amazon delivery boxes. So much duct tape, so much use of an X-acto knife. So now there’s a 3′ x 4′ x 3′ cardboard monstrosity in my living room with windows, doors, and a view of the TV.
So far there’s only been one fight over who gets to be in it. I’m personally just happy to have USED the boxes for something. :)
MomSense
@MisterForkbeard:
The fort years are the best. Enjoy!
MisterForkbeard
@MomSense: If quarantine keeps up for much longer I’m going to make myself one.
Geminid
This week I put up a bathouse at my friend Joan’s that I made out of poplar left over from her recent renovation. It’s 22″ tall, 17″ wide, 2″ deep. Maybe should be 1 1/2″ deep, but we’ll see. Plenty of bugs around, and it’s ~18′ up a wall, out of reach of snakes. Instead of fastening mesh to the house side I used her table saw to cut a lot of shallow kerfs on the house side for the bats to climb on. I want to go back to Bat Cave State Park in northwest Oklahoma and get one of their bumper stickers: “Bats Need Friends.” Maybe July.
Shana
Older daughter has gone to downtown DC for a demonstration. She very kindly let us know ahead of time and asked us to keep phones nearby in case we need to come bail her out. That I don’t mind doing, I just hope she doesn’t end up hurt. I just spent too much time looking at all the police brutality videos over at DKos.
TaMara (HFG)
@Feathers: That sounds amazing, am looking at Amazon now. Yes a screen shot of the table would be great.
@patrick II: As with everyone else, I’m so glad to hear about your son’s recovery and hope the remainder of the fam stays well. If my parents were in assisted living, I’d probably get them out, too if possible.
@Eunicecycle: Love hearing that. At the moment I’m working on two new series, first books in both of those. TJ’s conclusion needs a bit of travel for research. There will be a big time jump in book three and some fun career developments for her.
TaMara (HFG)
@Shana: Keeping a good thought…
Miss Bianca
@Shana: Oh, my. Thinking good thoughts for you and yours.
J R in WV
@Anonymous At Work:
R. Teagues or just fry it. Or Jamaica Jerk, that’s OK too.
J R in WV
@Ceci n est pas mon nym:
My grandfather next door was an organic gardener back in the 1950s, and I spread his compost as soon as I was able to handle a wheelbarrow. The one thing he couldn’t do was a wheelbarrow, having only one leg. Here in southern WV the average last frost date used to be May 14th. Higher elevations later on of course.
I have to bounce back and forth between heating and A/C for about a month. Glad it’s just a switch on the thermostat!!