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?
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NOTE: The comments page will 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 (right before “Leave A Reply”) and use the Pages Tool to view previous pages, shown here with 3 pages of comments available and Page 2 circled.
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Good “morning”, Motley Meese! The week begins …
Morning low of 59 degrees in the Desert Southwest with an expected daytime high of 77. Rain expected in the afternoon.
Have a great day, all y’alls!!
Sunday Meese. 34 degrees here in Kingston (brrrr) going up to 64.
Puerto Rico
Good morning. I got in a good walk this morning, 1.3 mi; now watching the Chicago marathon online and the news on tv. Got tea steeping. Velshi covered the “independent state legislature” theory & case. Scary. Anyway, today’s plan: church and making next week’s breakfast.
The Independent State Legislature Theory would be hard to uphold by an honest Supreme Court majority that has signaled a State Rights bent. It would say that states cannot have their own court system to rule on its own constitution but are entirely controlled by the legislature and/or the executive branch. It would be a huge reach BUT the fact that they accepted the case indicates that the are willing to entertain the idea. Deplorable.
Posted
It’s 57 heading for 78 and cloudy at the moment. But the sun’s trying to break through. I see little blue patches here and there. It did yesterday and we generated 9.4 KWHs by end of day. 2nd best day for the month so far and that’s with dirty panels and one of the 16 pretty much not working. The panels are supposed to be washed today. We shall see.
I’ve got all my Sunday housekeeping chores done and my friend will be here in half an hour. We’re going out for coffee. I’ll do what I can over on twitter before she gets here but probably won’t get to Dee’s diary until after I get back. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
It’s Sunday morning, Pond People! (Oh, dear, that sounds like a Halloween movie.)
Begin again: Good Sunday morning, Moose Peeps! It was 39 F. when we woke up, and now it’s 51 F. on a glorious blue-and-gold morning in Ashburn. Our high today will be 64 F.
Yesterday was NOT a good day. In addition to the two awful things that happened at the grocery store, we received the news late yesterday afternoon that our beloved aunt, the youngest of the original 10 children (my late mum was the second), was in the ICU in Houston hospital after a massive stroke. She’s 86. When my cousin in Corpus Christi couldn’t get in touch with our aunt (I think they talk every day), she called our aunt’s housekeeper. The housekeeper called the police. The police had to break down the front door. Aunt had suffered a stroke two days ago. One of our other cousins is with her.
M’Daughter texted, “I am so thankful that you moved to the Home when you did! Smartest move you ever made.” She was referring to the fact that every night Security walks past the front door of every apartment and flips a little switch. If that little switch is still in place the next morning, they call. If there is no answer, they enter the apartment. I don’t know whether Aunt was wearing one of those Life Alert necklaces, but it’s a good idea to do that.
There are just two of the original 10 children left now. No. 8 lives near Killeen Texas, and No. 9 died in 2006.
There was no little dog getting under my feet this morning when I was cooking breakfast. We’re going to keep looking for a dog, if for no other reason than another dog will keep Dearly alive. He dislikes fresh air and exercise and will only go out when accompanied by a dog, so we’re on a beagle hunt. Despite the well-known disadvantages of beagles, no other breed will do for us.
That’s all I have today, Meese, so I will just wish a good day to all at the Pond.
P.S. Forgot to mention tonight is the night of the full moon. Is it called the Hunter’s Moon, now it’s October? I went out into the courtyard last night and was able to bow to Her, and I saw Her sinking below the horizon this morning, when it was still dark, at 6:15. I was so pleased as it’s been AGES since I was able to see Her!
{{{Diana}}} – another dog sounds like a very good idea. For everybody’s physical and emotional health. Including the dog’s.
Aji’s people call it the Falling Leaves Moon. I’m glad you saw her this morning & hope you see her again tomorrow morning. (Hope I do, too.)
Yay for seeing the fullish moon! I know it is a rare treat for you because of inconvenient clouds. I saw her last night in the east and this morning in the west. Last night she was under the clouds until about 8pm then she burst out.
Got in a good walk this morning. Was having weird dreams when the alarm went off — but I was actually asleep for once, so yay. In the office today, but I can deal with the noise, knowing I get 2 quiet days after. There’s a campaign event for my mayoral candidate on Wednesday with Joaquin Castro. I’m thinking about going. But, people. So maybe not.
Another, how is it you aren’t getting today off? Seems weird. Even our sons are getting the day off!
Hasn’t been a holiday in Texas for years. Not for state agencies or local government. I don’t think I’ve ever had it off work.
Monday Meese. 46 here in Kingston and fingers crossed the chimney sweep comes this afternoon so I can once again have fireplace heat in my office. It’s 46 outside atm.
Puerto Rico
🤞🤞🤞 wood heat is so very comforting. {{{Dee}}}
Good morning, meeses! Monday, Indigenous Peoples Day …
It is 59 degrees in Tucson with an expected daytime high of 79. Mainly sunny with a chance for rain in the late afternoon.
As far as I can tell, the second Monday of October is an optional holiday here in Arizona. It is definitely not like it is in New England where it was a huge holiday where schools and businesses close down. It is recognized as Indigenous Peoples Day here (since 2020) which is good – if I recall, some states recognize it as Solidarity With Confederate Racists Day (maybe they should rename it Tommy Tuberville Day??!?) Federal banks are closed and the post office will not process or deliver mail. State offices are closed but schools can decide if they want to be open or closed. I think most businesses will be open just as they were in Wisconsin on the Second Monday in October.
I tried to stay away from the news this past weekend, there is nothing but polls and pundit predictions and I am not interested. In Arizona, there is a citizens referendum on the ballot that will extend in-state tuition to DREAMers (another example of how the will of the people can override our gerrymandered legislature and Republican governor). I hope that it brings a lot of voters to the polls who want to repudiate those who use "border security" as a dog whistle to the haters. It makes me want to scream seeing the ads for those candidates.
I have two clients with extra projects for me this morning and I need to get organized and ready for their emails.
See all y’all later!
Good Monday morning, Moosekind, and Happy Indigenous Peoples Day! It’s 45 F. at 9:30 a.m., another beautiful blue-and-gold day here in Ashburn. I just put the porch cushions back on the furniture, won’t need to take them off again until Thursday—perhaps. Our rainfall is two inches under normal for the year, so far.
We heard yesterday that the nurse said Aunt is somewhat responsive when awake—she gave the thumbs-up sign when he asked her questions. She’s had an MRI already; the stroke happened to the right side of her brain. The neurologist said there is hope that she will be able to regain eating and speaking skills, but they won’t know for a couple of days.
So we’ve been through nail-biting anxiety. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, we went to tea at Younger Son’s house yesterday and there encountered our beautiful granddaughter, who is as tall as I am now. Younger Son is working Friday and Saturday night shifts at a sushi restaurant. He says inflation is really hitting them financially, especially since he had to take a 30 percent cut to get the job with the state government back in February 2021.
And today we are going to see a little beagle girl at the doggy day care place right next door, in Sterling, VA! Hope we all like each other. There is such a hole in our hearts because of Monty’s unexpected death.
Wishing a good day to all at the Pond and a day from hell for Putie the Brutie. May one of those missiles he fired on Kyiv backfire on him.
{{{Diana}}} Holding the Good Thoughts for your aunt – & everybody in your household and heart. Including beagles. Healing Energy & moar {{{HUGS}}}
It’s 59 heading for 77 and sunny at the moment but rain in a few hours. Which shoots my plans for doing laundry. Looks like Thursday is the nearest laundry day. We got just over 8 KWHs yesterday and the m-t-d is 79 and not on track. sigh.
I seem to be getting stiffer and slower in the mornings. Cooler weather and old age, I guess. Not that it really matters but training is hard to overcome. The guy across the way didn’t show up to clean the panels yesterday so I hope the rain will do some good. The guy next door did cut back the hazelnut trees as well as some pruning on the oak. Not of the sort that will make a difference to the PV panels but we can walk around out respective houses without having to brush up against anything, he can park his car without being scraped by oak branches, and nothing’s brushing against my roof. Holding the Good Thought on the PV system – both cleaning and the optimizer getting here soon.
I had a lovely visit with my friend yesterday. Her cousin’s coffee shop caters to the young – everything except plain coffee or espresso is way too sweet – but the coffee’s good. We drank it outside because the shop was full of unmasked people. Then we ran errands together – hers because I didn’t have any – and extended the visit to a little over 2 hours. I’ll see her again today for a minute or two because I left my presents in the car. She brought me some chocolate covered dried cherries from her family gathering in Seattle. I put them in my pocket but they fell out, fortunately in the car, when I got out.
Hands are chilly and stiff. Makes typing a bit difficult. But that’s life this time of year. Off to twitter. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Sorry about the cold affecting your hands, bfitz. Are you able to harvest any of the hazelnuts? They make such wonderful additions to cakes.
Nothing new under the sun or something. I think in all these years I’ve managed to get maybe 2 hazelnuts. The squirrels got the rest. LOL. {{{HUGS}}}
Good morning, 58 and partly cloudy outside my window today. I was distracted with family phone calls yesterday and forgot to check in. I’m not sleeping well either, so that makes me even more forgetful. Oh well, I’m not doing much of interest either so you all have been spared my laments!
I did wander around the garden yesterday and put together a new bouquet for the kitchen. The hydrangeas were slow to bloom this year, and then the deer started eating them, but they have persisted and I now have lovely flowers to arrange. Feeling sleepy but grateful. Best wishes to all.
Good Monday evening, Moosekind. The weirdos where we live are going to turn off the electricity from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. tomorrow, so I won’t be able to check in. Will have to check in tomorrow evening. We’re to get three free cold boxed meals tomorrow to compensate. Gawd.
We did meet the little beagle today and she was very friendly and sweet. I hope we can bring her home.
So tired that I must go and rest now. Y’all be good and play naicely!
Tuesday Meese. 40 and foggy here in Kingston going up to 70. Sweep came and I got bad news. Our fireplace insert is over 40 years old and they won’t service it. Buying a new one will run 3 to 4 thousand bucks – cannot afford.
Sigh. Guess I will be stuck with using a space heater.
Puerto Rico
2nd opinion on the fireplace insert? Unless you know/trust the company who came out first. Then never mind.
Good morning, Meese, sneaking in to say “hi” before they turn off the electricity. We made our own coffee and are drinking it now. Then we’ll go get whatever they’ve got for breakfast.
I thought I heard Monty bark and woke up early this morning. It’s full daylight now, 42 F. Everyone at the Pond have a good day!
That’s a really long time to be without electricity! I hope it is for a good cause like putting you on emergency backup power. Looking forward to hearing from you about the new doggie! Will need photos.
Good morning. I slept in, will walk tomorrow. Watching astronomy & eating breakfast. Have a good day, y’all.
It’s 67 and muggy. If we got any rain it wasn’t enough to lay the dust. But the clouds kept us at 6.5 KWHs for yesterday. Not on track and losing ground. Meanwhile my computer fan is making noise so I’m going to log off and hope giving it a rest makes it stop. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Good morning, meeses! Tuesday …
It is 62 degrees in Tucson with an expected daytime high of 82. Mostly sunny skies are in the forecast with the obligatory 10% chance of rain in the late afternoon. Yesterday’s rain did not materialize but I could see it up in the mountains, where it is needed to replenish our reservoirs.
Today is the last day to register to vote in Arizona and early voting will begin tomorrow with mail-in ballots being sent out. Our candidate for Secretary of State has an excellent ad that prominently mentions that he supports mail-in ballots and that his opponent wants to eliminate them. Mail-in ballots are very popular here and tying the tRump election denier to that unpopular position is a good plan. No one here (apparently) actually cares about the election denying part of the trumpers but they do care about the potential for ratfking our future elections so it is important that people know what rights are on the line.
I am hoping to get caught up so that I can watch the January 6th Hearing tomorrow, live. I have a few projects to finish up this morning and then I think I can set everything else aside.
See all y’all later!
Well, the fan was noisy when I turned it back on – just noisy, not grinding like a bearing going out – but it’s settled back down now. Gonna go do my twitter stuff. Healing Energy to everybody who needs/accepts it.