Week-long Welcomings from Moosylvania: Oct. 6th through Oct. 12th

Welcome to The Moose Pond! The Welcomings posts give the Moose, old and new, a place to visit and share words about the weather, life, the world at large and the small parts of Moosylvania that we each inhabit.

Welcomings will be posted at the start of each week (usually Saturday night with a Sunday date). To find the posts, just bookmark this link and Voila! (which is Moose for “I found everyone!!”).

The format is simple: each day, the first moose to arrive on-line will post a comment welcoming the new day and complaining (or bragging!) about their weather. Or mentioning an interesting or thought provoking news item. Or simply checking in.

So … what’s going on in your part of Moosylvania?

NOTE: The comments page will now split off after 20 or so left margin comments with the most recent comments on the current page. To see the older comments, scroll to the bottom of the page and use the link.

 

Page One of Comments is HERE!
 
Page Two of Comments is HERE!
 

 

29 Comments

  1. It’s 44 and might make it into the 70s today. Sunny again which is good. But sunny this time of year…yesterday the PV system generated 11 KWHs for the day and won’t do any better unless the oak tree sheds her leaves soon (which she doesn’t do until there’s a hard frost). The m-t-d is 65 so we’re no longer on track for 300 although we’re close. Have to average 10 a day to make it which we obviously haven’t done. But it’s still possible to catch up. IF we don’t get any more really dark days. yeah, right.

    Irony or something considering all the pro-impeachment fervor but Aji’s favorite candidate (Mark Charles) actually agrees with me – that it won’t change anything unless we address the systemic problem that allowed twitler to get into office in the first place. Twitler is melting down which anybody seriously watching him campaign had to know would happen. So I have to think that somehow that’s the plan for the Birchers, that perhaps they want to install Christo-fascist Pence and this was the only way they could think to do it. Because make no mistake. If the target of all this outrage and anger gets removed – impeach/25th amendment/drops dead – it won’t refocus on the Rs, it’ll dissipate. That’s been the point of focusing all the anger and outrage on Twitler and off the Rs in general. And Pence will probably win 2 terms, get 9 years in all, and consolidate the fascist takeover. sigh. However, if Twitler is melting down faster than expected, too early for the Rs to have a hand in getting rid of him and survive politically…we might have a chance. Especially if he brings down the economy with him. Not exactly pleasant thoughts. But then pleasant thoughts, any pleasant thoughts – regarding the political situation have been hard to come by for several years now.

    Meanwhile, I’m trying to hold off on turning on the furnace and also using up my firewood before I get another lot in. So sunshine is good. If I could think of something to bake, that would help. (I baked molasses spice muffin/bread yesterday so I’m set for the next 10 days.) I need to get a kitty shelf over the porch door so I can close that transom window the little boys like to lay on. I’ve got the shelf board. I need shelf brackets and the screws. I’ve asked 4 different guys to do this for me. All 4 were very supportive of the idea and confirmed they could do it, no problem – and all 4 have been no-shows for actually doing it for over 5 weeks now. I hate to take away the little guys’ favorite spot without giving them a replacement. But that window will have to be closed before Friday. So. Coffee, DoReMI’s post, and the internet. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

  2. Good morning, Meesefolk; 45 when I got up with a high of 68 today. I probably shouldn’t have left the back door wide open last night as cold as it got, but it’s my reaction to knowing that the house will be shut up soon enough. As long as the furnace is still off, I’m going to let in as much fresh air as possible.

    Getting sick to my stomach yesterday was ongoing, so clearly it was a stomach bug and not just a reaction to the news. I’m still feeling iffy today and can’t decide whether I’m going to finally make my trip to the unemployment office or procrastinate yet again. I should probably stay home just in case I’m contagious. Maybe I’ll take care of getting my oil changed instead and leave MIWorks! for tomorrow.

    Good day to and for all!

    • {{{DoReMI}}} Healing/Helping Energy. Waiting until you’re sure you aren’t contagious isn’t procrastination, it’s caring for your community in ways we’re not allowed when we’re going to school or have “regular” jobs.

    • The entire Trump presidency* is nauseating so it is difficult to identify real illness versus our visceral reactions to the chaos and the mayhem being visited on our democracy and the world. I hope you feel better soon!

  3. Good morning, 48 and raining in Bellingham. It was partly sunny earlier, but now it’s a sewing room day. An unexpected bonus of sorting fabric to donate is that my project list changes. I didn’t realize I was holding on to such a long list! Feels good to have a few empty totes and a shorter list.

    I’m also trying to keep busy with easy sewing, so today I’ll prep and cut napkins for my dil’s Christmas gift. Another bonus, I found the fabric in my stash so no shopping :)

    And yet another bonus, easy sewing is a needed distraction from tRump angst. Best wishes to all.

    • And yet another bonus, easy sewing is a needed distraction from tRump angst.

      I’m taking this as my instructions for what to do today! And one of my bonuses will be getting my ironing board cleared off. I got in the [very bad] habit of piling ironing on my board rather than actually doing it, and in order to sew, I’ll need to get my ironing done first. Win-win!

  4. post-dermatologist report: The dermatologist said I should take more zyrtec – he & his son both take many daily for exema. He took the thing off my scalp & said between that & the itching, he recommended special shampoo, body wash & lotion. He wants to see me again next week – should have the lab report back by then. He distracted me when he was giving the shot so he could take the thing off my scalp with stories from his time in the military.

    I took a zyrtec when I got home, will take another at bedtime. Hope I can sleep tonight.

    • Hi another, hope you’ll get some relief. I was taking the generic version of Zyrtec until I found that it raises the blood pressure. As I was taking blood pressure pills, I thought how stupid the situation was, so I stopped the Zyrtec. Then I found the blood pressure pills were carcinogenic, as are the Zantacs, so now I don’t take much of anything except the Vitamin D my doctor wants me to have.

      Drugs! They all have side effects.

  5. Gonna try being at work today. I brought the expensive lotion, will try to not be putting it on literally constantly. But that would be better than scratching constantly. The news from Syria & Turkey is sickening. I can’t figure out what it is that Edrogan gave Trump; or is he just doing this to suck up? Here’s Head Full of Dreams, because with all this shit happening, we need to hear that Great Dictator speech.

    We all want to help one another. Human beings are like that. We want to live by each other’s happiness – not by each other’s misery. We don’t want to hate and despise one another. In this world there is room for everyone. And the good earth is rich and can provide for everyone. The way of life can be free and beautiful, but we have lost the way.

  6. Good morning, meeses! Wednesday …

    It is 45 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 68. Sunny skies are in the forecast with clouds rolling in later this evening. Tomorrow and Friday we will have rain then the cool front rolls in with highs in the mid-40s through the weekend.

    The Constitutional crisis we are in would not be a crisis at all except that the Keggernaugh Kourt will be deciding whether their party’s president is truly a king (or a dictator?) and not subject to the law. I have no faith in them – at all – to interpret the very clear impeachment clauses in any way other than to find a way to let their guy off the hook. Pay attention, by the way, to how the White House’s letter to Nancy Pelosi is framing this, that the “impeachment farce” is a way to nullify the 2016 election (i.e. sour grapes by Democrats). That is why we need to focus like a white hot laser on Ukraine and national security. None of the other stuff we despise about the literal pile of garbage sitting in the Oval Office should seep into this. Give no credence to his claim.

    Another busy day as yesterday turned into a nightmare of time sinks and I need to get back on track. I have some hard October 15th deadlines and I don’t want to wait until the weekend to get to them. Too often lately, when Saturday rolls around (my quiet time for project work, with no client interruptions), I find myself just wanting to put my feet up and enjoy that quiet time for myself! I can do that when there are no deadlines looming but when I come out of the weekend with no progress, I simply feel more stressed. :(

    See all y’all later!

  7. Good Woden’s Day morning, Moosekind! Sunny with a few high cirrostratus clouds this morning. Right now it’s 54 F. in Ashburn, going up to the mid- to high 60s today. I might as well put the porch cushions back on the furniture. It’s never, ever going to rain.

    Yesterday I visited the Fed Ex print shop and found to my delight the printing process is easier than I thought. They’ll print 20 color booklets for me when the file is ready. The friend who’s going to do the desktop publishing for me refuses to accept any money for it. (He must be the second nicest man in North America, the nicest being my husband.) That’s okay, I will look after the girls free when he and his wife are ready for another date night.

    This afternoon I’m going to a crafts meeting re the November bazaar. When it’s my turn to speak, I’ll point out the writing is a craft as well as an art, so I would like to sell the booklets to show what the Writers’ Group can do. I’m hoping the booklets will sell for $5 each, which would raise $100 for the Benevolent Fund.

    Dearly Beloved’s Windows laptop has gone on strike, so he needs the car this morning to take it to the Geek shop at Best Buy. I’ll take the Beast of Birch Point out for his walk, then I’ll go for my own walk.

    The news is so frightful I just can’t comment on it. There’s too much of it and it’s too awful. We’re throwing the Kurds away. It’s like a nightmare: one can’t wake up.

    But at the Pond, we can each get on with our own bit to make our particular patch a happier place. Wishing all a good day!

  8. Wednesday Meese
    52 going up to 71 here in the Catskills

    Puerto Rico

  9. My weather widgets are not in agreement this morning. One says 46 and the other 57 – they do agree that we’re going up to 72 today. And that clouds will be moving in this afternoon. (Except it’s already cloudy so…) Winter’s sneaking up on us. Yesterday we generated 10.8 KWHs and the m-t-d is 76 so not on track and not likely to catch up. Sigh. But then I’ve only had one October reach 300 in the 5 previous (this is the 6th since I’ve had the system). As long as we get over 250 we won’t be in last place. heh.

    I still haven’t turned the furnace on. Need to clean the filters today or tomorrow before the cold front hits Friday (high 49). To spare the wood but still go to bed warm enough to sleep I’m lighting the fire around 5 pm. That way, with 4 wood bricks and one cordwood log, The fire is going good by 7 pm and still quite nicely giving off heat at 9 when I go to bed. I need to start thinking of oven use again. After a summer of avoiding turning it on at all, now I have to think up reasons to turn it on preferably daily. Harder than one would think unless one also lives alone.

    earicicle/AmeliaEarhart1 is still at the extended stay hotel – which is actually quite comfortable for her and wouldn’t be a problem. Except it’s $720 a week which of course her Social Security Disability can’t cover. And neither can my Social Security Retirement. Prayers & invocations that she get situated soon. Like end of this week soon before she has to find someone who can cover next week’s lodging. Aji of course is very much in need of prayers & invocations – for herself and Wings and for Wings’s nephew Ona (the GFM still hasn’t raised enough to get him to the 2 special rehab/treatment centers in Denver). This should be the best time of year for sales but they flatlined a couple of months ago and the holiday season isn’t being one. For them or any other small business folks I know. There are other folks in the same sort of bind. And I’m not able to do much but ask others to help – with cash if they can and prayers if they can’t. And all of this is the future the Rs want. They’re covering quiet desperation with very noisy evil. They expect, unfortunately they are probably correct, that people will be happy with quiet desperation when they replace the noisy evil with quieter evil. My prayers don’t seem to help with that, either.

    I’m gonna have to start getting used to the treadmill again. I’m not getting my walks in. The last two days have had pleasant afternoon temps as long as you were in the sun, but the wind was cutting. I need the exercise or my back’s gonna go out on me. We shall see what we shall see. Meanwhile, visit the internet until the cat gets off my lap, then coffee. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

  10. Good morning, 48 and partly sunny in Bellingham. I hope the partly sunny part prevails and we have a break from yesterday’s intense rain storms. I want to cut the best of the hydrangeas but I don’t want to be soaking wet doing so.

    I’ve now cut and prepped more sewing projects than I want to think about, but that seems to be the way I work. Right now thinking about new projects is creative fun, but I’ll soon move into a more meditative sewing mode. It’s nice to have such choices.

    Time to find my morning coffee. As always, my best wishes to all.

  11. Came home from work, took a nap, I still itch a lot. Just made a doc appointment for this afternoon. Hope this doesn’t lead to more expensive stuff.

    • More Healing/Helping Energy. Holding you in my heart and in The Light. moar {{{HUGS}}}

  12. Ok, so here I am at work — determined to try to make it through a full day. I actually slept maybe 5 hours last night, the itching woke me up some and I turned the a/c down to 71 (which is just breathtaking extravagance — 75 was my extravagant overnight normal) Brought the expensive lotion, will re-apply on my hands after every time I wash them. Oh, fyi — if you ever end up using a body wash with oil in it, be really certain to use the shower spray all over the floor of the shower.

    What we’re doing to the Kurds…..we’re so ungrateful. Makes me worry that in a few years, the children of some of those killed by ISIS may want revenge. And the Trumpistas are trying the argument that impeachment is unconstitutional, when it’s literally in the Constitution. Too much craziness. Another hot morning but tomorrow we’re supposed to get a cold front. So once again, Shut Your Eyes (shut your eyes & think of somewhere, somewhere cold & caked in snow)

    • Another democrat, what did the doctor say is causing your itching?

      I have eczema on my left hand but it doesn’t itch, it burns. However, lately I’ve noticed a lot of itching on my face and neck. I think it’s because we’ve had no rain in weeks and the poor old epidermis is drying out.

      Hope you can get some relief! It’s another hottie in Austin today, I see.

      • He took a blood sample, we’ll find out what it is. For now, we’re treating it like allergies – I have an oral steroid to take over the next 6 days, and a prescription for Xyzal.

        Supposed to finally cool off tomorrow. And cool off big time. Today will be in the 90s, tomorrow’s high (after the front comes through) will be in the 60s. They’re recommending jackets for people going to ACL.

  13. Good Thor’s Day morning, Moosekind, and another regrettably fair day it is in Ashburn. I do wish I could trade weather with bfitz! It was 52 F. when I took the dog out to the courtyard at 5:30 (yes, I woke up much too early), and it’s going up to the mid-70s today. So, I suppose I’ll put on the pedal-pusher jeans when I get dressed.

    This morning at 10:30 I’ve an interview with the woman who set up sign language classes when she moved here 10 years ago. She’s completely deaf, so her long-time friend will be there too, to interpret.

    Then I have Nanny-Granny duty this afternoon. I’m starting to feel like writing again—began a story the other night, “Cat Walk,” but stopped because I felt it was terrible. Rereading it in the cold light of morning, it didn’t seem so bad. I’d like to finish it for the story collection I want to bring out, called Magical Encounters: Short Stories with a Twist.

    What with waking up too early and not getting a proper nap because of having to leave here at 2:45, I’ll be useless tonight. However, there’s always tomorrow!

    Regarding the international situation, I am speechless.

    Wishing a good day to all at the Pond.

  14. Good morning, Meesefolk; 43 when I got up this morning and going up to a sunny high of 70. It’s a perfect day for yardwork, but I’m still feeling thoroughly drained after my stomach bug. I’ll see how I feel in the afternoon, but it’s likely to be a sewing room day instead. I may not get any sewing done, but at least I can get the backlog of ironing cleared off my ironing board.

    I’m back to walking the dogs at night after dinner. I had to quit doing it while I was working, because I got home too late for it to be feasible. I don’t have that excuse now, so I’m taking one pup out per night. They’re both very well-behaved on the lead as long as they’re not walked at the same time; when I try that, it becomes a tangle of leads and me being tripped by criss-crossing dogs. I’m enjoying the walkies, but I’m not 100% certain the pups are. They’re much more accustomed to short bursts of speed and wresting in the backyard, and the walks require more stamina. They’ll get back in shape, but in the meantime, the Hubby has suggested I start carrying my phone, in case he needs to come pick up a pooped-out Basset. But ask him if he spoils our pups, and he’ll deny it completely…

    Good day to and for all!

  15. It’s 70 heading for 78 and raining. It wasn’t supposed to start raining until after dark tonight. sigh. So even though it will be warm enough, if the rain doesn’t stop, no walk today either. We got just under 8.5 KWHs yesterday and the m-t-d is 84.5 – if we manage to reach 90 today I’ll be surprised. Certainly we won’t reach the 100 that would have put us back on track for the 300 goal. We might not reach 90 and certainly won’t reach 100 tomorrow either considering the forecast. Since today’s supposed to still be above 70 at 8 pm I won’t be doing a fire tonight. But I’ll probably be doing a fire all day tomorrow (high 50, rain) I’ll use “tonight’s” wood then. And more. I’ll call Tractor Supply today to see if the wood bricks have come in yet.

    Evil Ones being evil. To twitler the whole thing is TV/twitter fantasy. To the cabal behind all this, they are the only real people, everyone else is a counter on a game board – but they own the propaganda machine. So the memes and myths they want, that suit their fascist purpose, are aired/printed 24/7. And yes, people die because of this. Lots of people die because of this. Meanwhile folks like Aji and earicicle are struggling to stay alive in a system that would be happier if they didn’t. Evil. And we will never stop that evil as long as we keep targeting the titular head and don’t dismantle the system.

    When the cat gets off my lap I’ll get coffee. LOL. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

  16. Good morning, meeses! Thursday …

    It is 59 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 69. We will get rain late this afternoon as part of the storm system that will coat the upper plains with 2 feet of snow. Yikes!

    I have not had time to do anything with the news except to save off a couple of stories to read later. I was encouraged to see from Twitter yesterday that pro-impeachment is at 51% – on a Fox News poll. For what it is worth, only 31% ever wanted Clinton impeached and the percentage on Nixon did not reach 51% until the middle of summer 1974 – two weeks later he resigned. Nixon’s supporters also called it a coup and also promised to stonewall so the Trump Impeachment talking points are following a pattern. NOW we just need the “resign” part. I hope that our 2020s can pivot to running against Republicanism (which is what they should have been doing all along, looking at you, Joe Biden) because if Trump is gone, they will be running against Mike Pence unless the RNC opens up the primary process which is currently closed. That will surely muddle things!

    See all y’all later!

  17. Good morning, 36 and mostly sunny in Bellingham. The colder temps are making flower removal easier so today the coleus will become compost. I want to cut back the overgrown salvia but the hummingbirds are still enjoying feeding from the blossoms so those will stay. Fortunately the hydrangeas are fine until a real freeze happens.

    Time for coffee and to try to clear my mind from the awful tRump angst that keeps afflicting me. Best wishes to all.

  18. Good morning, meeses! Friday …

    It is 64 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 51. Rain and gloom all day! The overnight low is expected to hit 34 with freeze warnings for tomorrow. I thought I had plenty of time to get the hoses in but alas, I do not – today’s the day.

    Gosh, Donald J. Trump did not win the Nobel Peace Prize. This should shock exactly no one as he sets the Middle East on fire, emboldens Russia to invade Ukraine, gives the green light to baby dictators in North Korea, and embraces right-wing dictators and oppressive regimes around the world. As he becomes more and more unhinged I am starting to wonder if we survive until January 20, 2021 – goddess, that seems so far away. :(

    Another grifter who managed to stay one step ahead of the law in his post-political career has been caught up in the inescapable fact that Everything Trump Touches Dies. This time Rudy Giuliani, another Trump lawyer and bag man, is seeing a close-up of the wheels of the bus he was just thrown under. Yesterday, “you’ll have to ask Rudy”, today “I don’t really know Rudy very well”, tomorrow “he had nothing to do with me or my campaign – he just brought coffee to meetings.”

    See all y’all later!

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