Happy New Year!

Wishing all of you a Happy New Year!

I'm still here.  The year was busy, and there wasn't much time for blogging, sorry.

Mom died during the summer after living with increasing generalized dementia for 14 years.  All of you, take you daily aspirin, if you're not allergic.  Clogging arteries to the brain can really reduce brain power.  It was a long haul.  I am glad that she is at peace, and we will hopefully meet again in heaven, where she will not be limited by a broken body and mind.

As executor of her estate, my address was used as her official address in probate court documents, which has led to annoyances.  It astounds me how stupid people are.  The sheer quantity of letters and phone calls that go something like "We would like to offer our sincere condolences."  Followed in the next breath by, "We would like to buy her house at....." is astounding.  The only sincere emotion they can offer is their greed.  If they had bothered to check property records to find that mother did not own the house at ....., they would have saved themselves postage, a phone bill, my disdain, and unfiltered insults (over the phone) as I explain how stupid and greedy they are.  And when they fail to understand that, explain in very simple terms that no, the house (my house) is not for sale, because I'm still using it!  I swear the last one that called must have been stoned, he was so stupid.

The year also had bright spots.  We fostered two kittens.  Duke the cat found them highly entertaining.  We adopted a senior poodle mix with anxiety issues.  Even medicated, he puts up a struggle when it comes to ear cleaning and haircuts; it's an adventure.  A good amount of rain in the summer made the garden grow well.  The pantry and freezer are well stocked.  I thank God for providing the bounty.  Maybe I'll get around to posting some pictures later.

Wishing you all a Happy New Year!

Happy Independence Day

It will be a fairly quiet day today, except for all the fireworks of course.  I managed to get half of the lawn mowed before it started raining, again.  Guess we'll have to wait for a sunny day to fly the flag. 

Irony

 So planting the garden this year was hampered by a lot of rain.  It is not surprising then that the rainy trend continues, and the installation of the soaker hoses has also been delayed by a large amount of rain.

On the plus side, the raspberries are growing well this year.  Last year they barely produced, because what didn't shrivel from lack of water were eaten by birds or sucked dry by yellow jackets and bees.

Happy Spring Election Day

 It's snowing some more.  The weather forecasters are predicting a lot today and have extended the predicted showers into Thursday.  I'm fine with them being wrong and getting less snow.  Cancellations have been accumulating on the news websites.  So far it is mostly extracurricular activities for schools, but Catholic Churches are also cancelling bingo, so they must be expecting it to get really bad.  We're praying for safe travels for those people who have to get places.

Spring elections are today.  Politics has never been clean, gentlemanly, or ladylike.  I don't know why folks expect politicians to be nice and polite and play fair.  Maybe the referendums on the ballot today will help reduce election tampering in the future, but they won't help much with todays election.  I wonder if Madison, Milwaukee, and Green Bay will have voter turnouts in excess of previously registered voters.  I also really hate it when dead people vote, and when people who have moved out of state continue to vote.  (A friend of ours found the previous owner of his house was still a registered voter and may have been absentee voting when he should not have.)  Unfortunately this is earth not heaven, but I do wish that the people cheating in elections would get a special place in hell when their time comes.  Of course that doesn't stop them from cheating now.

Spring?

 I hope you had a Happy Easter.  Around here for us it was very quiet, with lots of naps.

With the announcement of several road construction projects due to begin today, the weather has basically announced, "April fools!  Oh no you don't!"  It's the day after Easter, and yes indeed it is snowing, and will probably continue to do so until Wednesday.

I'm Dreaming of a White Halloween?

 

It snowed, seriously?!

Had to shovel, just in case the trick-or-treaters actually show.

This reminds me way too much of 1979 when mom and I cleared the driveway of snow and leaves by making leafy snow cylinders, or leafy, dirty sleeping snowmen.  They were too big and heavy to stack.  Everybody is saying it is going to be cold and dry because of El Nino, but the evidence is pointing to cold and wet so far.

How to Get Rain

 First, park several thousand airplanes at the Whitman airport for the EAA convention.  Watch the weather forecast fill with scattered rain showers.  Watch the radar as the rain clouds aim for Oshkosh.

It would be interesting to know if all the airplanes flying around somehow manage to seed storm clouds, or if this phenomenon is just a classic example of Murphy's law.