Fair

 The fair has been an interesting experience. I went there expecting to change no MAGA minds, but what I notice is that they are loudest when we are quietest. If there is any amount of pushback, they are not so mouthy.

 That is the way of all bullies, isn't it? 

So, I am there every morning. I have worked with a number of different people, and they all bring their own skill set to our table. We have made good use of all of those skills. 

Today, for instance, a woman stopped. In a rather no nonsense way, she wanted me to give her reasons to support our candidates. She and I talked. She listened. Thanked me for talking with her. 

Another guy went through talking in a loud outraged voice about abortions being legal right up to the day the baby was born. Just as outraged 3 voices answered back in unison 'That is a lie!' Perfectly orchestrated, totally unrehearsed. He insisted it was the truth. I said 'Let me explain to you why that is not true.' He left quickly saying we were all crazy. 

We had a prominent citizen who wanted to talk to us about the Muslim 'agenda'. I told him that he was stereotyping and that there wasn't one. Heck. We are more concerned about the republican agenda.

 Freda was registering people to vote, and nobody passed the table without being asked. A rough looking fellow stopped. Ponytailed biker type if you are looking for a mental picture. Freda fired off her question. He said, 'No.' She asked him why, and he said, 'Because I spent 20 years in prison.'

Freda said, 'So you're not allowed to vote?' 

'Oh, I can vote but I think both parties stink.'

What followed was a polite little discussion on why we felt this was untrue. He listened just as politely. 

Out of the blue, Freda said, 'Am I allowed to ask why you were in prison?' The question shocked both me and the other worker, and we exchanged looks over Freda's seated head.

The man said 'Third degree murder,' and launched into a telling of a man with connections who had molested a young relative. (I am totally not kidding.) And when he was done, he admitted to wishing he hadn't done it, while feeling glad that his family was safe.

I said, 'So what do you think about the Jeffrey Epstein cover up?' We talked about our shared outrage at 'men who got away with it'. Before we were done, my coworker had him sitting at a computer helping to get him registered to vote. 

It surprised me the number of old men we had stopping by to tell us that they were Republicans, but could not understand how anyone in their right mind could support what was happening. A preacher's wife horrified at Christian Nationalists. Two ex coworkers that I never would have dreamed would claim the name 'liberal'. A church secretary. Way more support than I ever expected. Our table was seldom without someone there to talk.

Following Miss Merry's lead, I talked to all the kids and admired all the babies. Parents generally paused for pleasant talk.

Yes. There were those who went by without a word. A couple relatives who made quick shocked eye contact, immediately put their heads down, probably afraid that I would call them by name, and someone might think they were one of us. There were even a few rolled eyes and sarcastic comments, but these were muttered too low to be heard. Like I said, MAGA is not so loud when you are standing right there.

Interestingly, our state representative walks past us daily on the way to her seat at the republican booth. She's run unopposed for a number of years, but this year we have a candidate. She glances our way and averts her eyes in a haughty way. A doctor at our booth always wants to remind her that democrats are her constituents too. 

I am half way through fair week and despite my misgivings, it has been a mostly positive experience. 

The Totally Random Post

A couple days ago, I saw a headline that caught my attention: 4 Charged in Death in Warren Co Home Care Case

I worked in this field. In this county. And as I read the article, I realized that I had worked with these people too. 

I cannot wrap my head around the idea that for forty days a helpless man lay in a recliner dying and no one did anything. I can't wrap my head around the fact that I knew people capable of this. I can't get over the fact that it took 3 years to bring charges.

I cannot stop thinking about this. 

It has been a busy couple of days. Working on the old house. 

I went to a thrift store and boy, did I ever strike paydirt. I found two pair of jeans that looked brand new. Most important thing? The waist sits at my natural waist! Whoot! They were tapered leg! Whoot! They were 1/2 off! Whoot! I found also found a pair of fisherman sandals. And a crystal bowl that fits perfectly in my wrought iron bird bath.

We went to a street fair, which was fun. Tim wanted to see the antique cars and trucks. He wanted Mexican food. It was so hot and humid, I wasn't hungry at all, but they offered a cucumber lime ade. It was enough to pique my curiosity. It was excellent and surprisingly thirst quenching. 

So that was my excitement for the day.

Today was protest. Small group. We had a black SUV pass by. In the back seat was an elderly woman, a tiny thing. The window was down and much to my surprise a wrinkled hand came out, pointed like a gun and she made the motion of shooting us, picking us off, one right after another. It was a surreal moment.

I got my shirt and ticket for the fair booth. I am working every day. The guy in charge said that despite the initial enthusiasm and support, as the event drew closer, people had begun to 'ghost' him.

I get that. Standing on a street corner in a red county holding a sign is far different than engaging with people one on one. 

One thing I notice is that they want to engage on an emotional level. They want to provoke an emotional response. I have been practicing unemotional factual responses, but I would be a liar if I said I wasn't worried about this week. 

After the protest, we stopped to eat. Much to my surprise, my aunts and uncles were there celebrating a cousin's birthday. It has been years since I saw them. 

We walked today 5 miles today. I collected seed heads from a wildflower I am not familiar with and hope to grow here. It is called ironweed and it was covered in butterflies.

We are having one heck of a thunder storm. The rain has been torrential. It will be interesting to see the final precipitation amounts. 

I am back!

 I got back from my son's house pretty late last night. There was A LOT of construction on 80, with one lane traffic. This created huge bottlenecks because people will wait until the last damn minute to merge. Traffic crawled for miles. Consider the fact that there were 5 or 6 of these construction zones, welp...I did not get home until almost 7. I was whupped. 

It was such a fun visit, as always. 

Today was a jump up and get on the road. We have a tenant that is particular. She did not like her apartment sized washer and dryer. It was replaced with an LG all in one. She didn't like that. It is something that Tim and I feel strongly about. Clean clothes are a basic human dignity, so everyone has a washer and dryer. I said to the tenant, "We have met our scope of responsibility. This is a new $1900 unit. If you are unhappy with it, we will pull it, but you can buy your own." 

This was the morning. She messaged me over the weekend.  I told her to call Tim, that I was not home. She didn't. That meant that the first Tim heard that we had to get an appliance moved was late last night.

So, we got up early and got going. Tim was cranky. We did not have any place to store this appliance. He snapped, 'I am hauling it to the scrap yard.'  

I told him he wasn't. The machine was installed on April 17th, 2025. I told him there were plenty of people who'd be glad for a new washer. I put an ad on a Helping Hands site, and then we wheeled it to the road to load on the truck. These things are heavy as heck, so it was a bit of huffing and puffing. 

A guy passing by in his truck stopped to give a hand and the job was done. Tim asked him if he wanted it.

"No," he said, and asked how much we wanted for it. Tim told him it was free. My husband was bound and determined that he was not moving that thing into the basement where we have a stock pile of appliances. Like I said, the thing is heavy.

Our helper took down our number and names and drove away. We went down the street and dug up a snowball bush from the old house that I wanted to take to the new. I also wanted some lamb's ear.

We were about to head out when my phone rang. It was an elderly man. He and his wife were raising their great-grandkids, if you can believe it. They had just had their washer repaired and had been told that it was on its last legs. A stepson had called to tell him about ours. 

We told him it was on our truck and that we would deliver it.

And we did. 

His wife was so pleased. A naked 3 year old came to the door with her. I laughed and said that if the rest of them dressed like this one, she might not need to do laundry at all. Great-grandma wearily said, "this week she doesn't want to wear clothes."

We got the washer off the truck with the ramps and wheeled up on their porch. Their son in law was coming after work to switch everything out. We left the dolly there. He will drop it at the old house tomorrow.

Tim's mood brightened considerably once he stopped worrying about that washer. We stopped to grab a late lunch. "What should we do now?"

I reminded him that there was a bush we needed to get in the ground. I did suggest stopping by a yard sale on the way out of town. I had seen a hummingbird feeder that was perfect for my bottle tree.

The proprieter was a talker. He and his wife had just moved in. I pointed to their fence behind the house and explained that on the other side of that was our backyard. One thing led to another, and somehow he wound up on the subject of guns.

"You may not agree with me but if they're going our guns away ('oh no...not one of those!') the only ones left with guns will be law enforcement, and those seem to be the people we have to worry about."

Could have knocked me over with a feather. 

The evening was spent planting a bush, hanging my new bird feeder and two solar lanterns on my bottle tree. 

I have my first zucchini from my own garden.

How Does My Garden Grow.

My favorite Garrison Keillor.

This might be the year my own garden gets ahead of me.

I planted San Marzaos, Beefsteak and cherry tomatoes. Then my sister had some extra romas looking for a home. 

I do love tomatoes. 

I have 24 plants, and they are huge. Tim had to enclose them and run cross members to keep them from repeatedly falling over. I wired the cages to the boards. (Funny part? He is not a fan of to.atoes, although he does love tomato sauce.)

I am hopeful that once I am back from my son's house, I will see them showing signs of turning red. I can't wait. 

One of my distressed delphinium put out the most beautiful bloom.

I will see you when I get back.

Ordinary day.

 Today, I ran into town to buy 3 dozen ears of corn to take to my son and daughter in law's. I also wanted to pick up some Italian sausage. 

My sister is up to her armpits in zucchini and sent 6 more over. I am not sure who she thinks is going to eat all that. We are just two people! We have had squash 4 nights in a row. Luckily, we both like it. I am going to take four down to my son's house. 

I found a great deal today. Green peppers are 75 cents apiece in the store. They are not ready from the garden. I needed a pepper to stuff my zucchini and was prepared to grin and bear it. I was happy to see that they had some past -their-prime peppers, 3 for $1. You better believe I was all over that! I got $3 worth of them. I sliced some for stir fries and fajitas, and diced up the rest. I have 3 qts in the freezer, and that is happy news.

I also spent some time in the greenhouse. I planted basil, rosemary, and lavender. The columbine seeds I collected from last year all sprouted. Flushed with success, I collected some anise hyssop seeds. Not sure what I will do with them yet.

I also planted yet another distressed coneflower in my flower bed. 

Tonight, we watched the biggest blackest clouds rolling in. They were moving across the sky so quickly. I slipped on my sandals and threw open the door to run to the greenhouse and shut the door there. Just that quick, it had gotten dark as night. I headed to the greenhouse, but the skies opened up before I got there. 

I slid the door to the greenhouse shut  and was checking my plants. I was delighted to see Possum wiggle in through her little entrance. She accepted some pets and together we listened to the rain pounding down on the roof. When I left, she stayed put, curled up on the rug. 

I am glad she knows to use her safe place.

Cats and kids

Tonight, for the first night, Tiger has not hidden in the house. I moved the couch a couple days back to vacuum under it, and found quite a stash of cat toys. I set them aside and today he found them. What a good time he is having, running up and down the hall, chasing jingling balls. 

Just to see what would happen, I put down a paper bag.

Instant mayhem.

Houdi has never shown any interest in a paper bag, until now.

You'll  have to excuse the low light. I did not want to interrupt the excitement. It is nice to see Tiger relaxing though.

Tomorrow will be spent getting my stuff together for a trip east. We are having a bit of a pre-celebration for the girls' birthdays, since they will spending their actual birthdays on the beach. They are excited about this. I bought them their own small beach bags, with hats and sunglasses and beach toys. 

The car ride is 7 hours to the Outer Banks. I got them each a bag of things to open every hour to break up the monotony of the drive. 

I did that with my own and now I am doing it with my 4 and 8 year old granddaughters. Boggles my mind.

Time flies...

I sent my daughter a small package. Checking the tracking on the package, I was amused to see it is at Heathrow, United States!

Tiger Makes Up his Mind

We have two ferals left. Possum was one of the original four kittens born in the garage, and Tiger Kitty, her nephew. 

They lived in the heated garage over the winter but as the weather warmed, they spent more time outside. When I am doing outside work, they are stretched beside me, and when I pet them, they purr contentedly

Tiger Kitty went awol for about a week. I had just about given up hope when he reappeared, thin, nervous and hungry. I was so glad to see him and for once, he seemed very glad to see me, as opposed to his normal 'Meh...she doesn't seem like a bad sort' demeanor. 

Much to my surprise, he darted inside as soon as I opened the door to get some catfood. I fed him inside, to see what he would do. He ate and disappeared. In the morning, he was waiting at the door to go out. 

At night, he darts back inside. I am not sure where he hides away. I think he is afraid of something outside at night. But except for one small overturned plant, he behaves perfectly.

I would rather have them in at night, really. Possum is still not interested in the great indoors. If she comes in, she has had her fill after a couple minutes and heads for the door.

I have no idea what is out there, but we have made two escape places for her to hide.