My favorite thing about these kids is how they take all the rightwing bullshit and throw it right back at them.
Saturday Morning Open Thread
Above is another look at the cedar waxwings who visited our bamboo earlier this week. I haven’t seen them in a couple of days, so I assume they’ve flown up to Illinois or wherever they live in the summer.
Today is butter lamb sculpting day! (General butter lamb explanation here; last year’s effort here.) I’ll share the results as usual later on.
I need to go to the store and get stuff to make the two Easter feast side dishes I’m in charge of (asparagus and carrots), plus put Easter baskets together for my kiddo and her roomies. I suspect the store will be a nightmare.
What are you up to today?
Your All in One Domestic Open Thread
Spring is allegedly here, although we are still going to have some chilly weather in the next few weeks, but the daffodils are having none of it:
The tulips will be next. Last fall was my first bulb planting at the new house, and now that I have seen how it looks, I am going to triple my planting this fall.
Dean (the guy who did most of the work on the house) was in town this week, and we spent some time stabilizing the first floor. Remember, when I purchased the house, the idiots before me had cut a joist in the ceiling, which had put all the load bearing on the beams in the basement and created a five inch sag on the main floor, so we had to jack it all up and put 8×8’s in, etc. That, and the addition of the 3/4 inch interlocking hardwood floors firmed things up, but there was still some give. After a year and some of letting the house expand, contract, and settle, it was time to head back to the basement and make a few adjustments. We added some more supports and what now, and I can now report that even my fat ass can do jumping jacks in the living room and none of the china in the corner cupboard so much as jiggles.
The backyard is the next project- the raised bed gardens are going in (I salvaged two from the old house, and am putting in three new ones), and we are hauling all my soil and compost from the old place. Those will all go in the area of my yard that will get the most sun, while on the other half of the yard, where there is shade from pines and I put in the two apple and the chestnut tree, the butterfly and bee pollinator garden will be going in with a bird/butterfly pool. Tht’s also where the compost pile is (in the back corner). Last year I put in a dozen blueberry and blackberry bushes under the pines, so we’ll see if those produce anything. I’m going to throw some mushroom logs back there too and see what happens.
In June, we are cutting the deck in half because it’s too damned big, and I want to reposition where the stairs are and add some support beams as well as some 4×4’s so I have a place to tie off a large retractable tarp for some shade.
As far as actual plants, the babies are doing well:
I’ve got a new run of seedlings in, this time, mainly herbs, some late blooming tomatoes, and my cold weather run of broccoli and cauliflower. So that’s how things are going here.
Brian and Tammy are coming up tomorrow, and we are going to cook an Easter feast for my folks and some locals.
*** Update ***
OMG- I completely forgot the total overshare portion of this post. I bought a bidet attachment for my toilet and from Tushy and I am embarrassingly excited.
Open Thread: Friday Night Electoral History Fights
To critics who say she should "go away" after losing to Trump, Hillary Clinton says, "they never said that to any man who was not elected" https://t.co/Wya8MMvL4B pic.twitter.com/p0lXJvbQrN
— CNN (@CNN) March 30, 2018
…“I’m really glad that, you know, Al Gore didn’t stop talking about climate change,” Clinton said of the former Democratic vice president who ran for president in 2000.
She continued, “And I’m really glad John Kerry went to the Senate and became an excellent secretary of state.”
“And I’m really glad John McCain kept speaking out and standing up and saying what he had to say,” Clinton said of the Arizona Republican.
“And for heaven’s sakes, Mitt Romney is running for the Senate,” said Clinton, referring to the 2012 Republican nominee’s campaign for Senate in Utah.
Clinton added that she’s “really committed to speaking out and doing what I can to have a voice in the debate about where our country is going.”…
Bob Dole, 94 – still tweeting, btw
Gore, 69 – global leader on climate
Kerry, 74 – became Sec of State
McCain, 81 – Senator, writing memoirs
Romney, 71 – Running for Senate
Biden, 75 – Biden 2020!
Sanders, 76 – Bernard 2020!All have lost presidential runs.
Fact Check: True. https://t.co/M9VG77BFX1
— Jack Miller (@politicalmiller) March 30, 2018
To be fair, failed presidential candidate Jill Stein is most likely also being told to stay out of public & to not talk to the press…by the attorneys representing her in the Congressional & Mueller investigations in to collusion w Russia. https://t.co/VQyPdewra9
— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) March 30, 2018
Aaand, up scurries Erick Erickson (the other white meat), hoping to get in a few kicks on an unconscious victim…
Hillary Clinton is the perfect loser for a selfish generation. In the past, the losing Presidential candidate disappeared from the stage. Not Clinton. It's all about her and you're sexist if you disagree.
— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) March 30, 2018
Lotta folks have the recent history of this being a spectacularly dumb thing say covered, so I'll start at the beginning and work forward. https://t.co/FXicscwqrh
— Mike Duncan (@mikeduncan) March 30, 2018
Thomas Jefferson def 1796. Started a political party so it wouldn't happen again. Became President in 1800 in bitterly contested race.
— Mike Duncan (@mikeduncan) March 30, 2018
Henry Clay also def 1824. Clay also retired quietly and was never heard from again. These are jokes people.
— Mike Duncan (@mikeduncan) March 30, 2018
Open Thread: Friday Night Electoral History FightsPost + Comments (163)
Seattle Meet-Up This Weekend?
From party-sparker Yutsano:
So I made it Thursday afternoon and am just awaiting details of what we’re doing. I know a lot of folks said Saturday was the best day, we just need a location and a time!
Leave a comment below, or contact me at annelaurie (dot) bj (at) gmail (dot) com, and I’ll forward your message…
Do You Need Anybody?
My job is such that sometimes I can be cleaning one damn thing or another from the moment I awake until I collapse into bed. Today is one of those days.
I watched half of that Joe Cocker doc on Netflix last night. It was pretty good! The post title is supposed to invoke the cri de coeur that follows this line. Some further research has lead me to this album which I’ve never heard before and am now sampling as I scrub this house clean. So far so good! Classic Rock Values!
Speaking of cleaning, we can clean up congress this fall with a little elbow grease, some love, and whole heap o’ money. And so I present fund the that’s split between all eventual Democratic nominees in House districts currently held by Republicans.
ETA: Down in the comments Thoughtful David having the thoughts:
I have some suggestions for what you can also do, besides giving money, to help Democrats get elected: get involved with your local Democratic Committee. If you live in a county with, say, <100,000 people, the local Dem Committee is probably desperate and begging for your help.
I’m not talking about just things like making phone calls or writing postcards. If you have accounting skills, they probably need a treasurer or assistant treasurer. If you’re good at organizing events, they’ll need help with that too. Manage email lists. Do data entry. If you’re a good communicator, help with the communication strategy. Write copy. Be the web/Facebook/Twitter/Instagram master. Manage the online events calendar.
No, the pay isn’t great (=$0). But this is the kind of thing that’s needed, and sometimes needed desperately.
You can volunteer to help with this kind of stuff for candidates, too. Town, county, state, or federal.
And the best part: they’re all decent people. No deplorables.
Lunchtime Whodunit (Open Thread)
Saw this mystery novella from @zaktoscani on Twitter just now:
Co-worker got his lunch stolen and they’ve agreed to let him watch the security camera tape. This is the most excited I’ve ever been at any job ever. Ever.
The lunch in question was shrimp fried rice which means this escalates from a misdemeanor to felony no doubt
Case facts:
Lunch was in fridge for less than an hour before it vanished. No shrimp smell remnants in the microwave or kitchen area. This was a professional hit no doubtHOLY SHIT. He’s back. He watched the tape. He knows who did it.