Just A Day in the Life

President Donald Trump said that Iran has reached out to him and 

suggested a meeting at the White House amid Israel's ongoing 

strikes. Trump has demanded Iran's unconditional surrender.

"I said it's very late, you know. I said it's very late to be talking," Trump 

told reporters on Wednesday morning. "I don't know, there's a big difference 

between now and a week ago, right? Big difference."

Trump continued: "They even suggested they come to the White House." He 

called it a courageous thing, because "it is not easy for them to do."  

Iran responded to the UN: Iran’s Mission to the UN denies US President Donald Trump’s 

claim that Tehran has proposed coming to the White House for negotiations to end the 

ongoing conflict with Israel.

“No Iranian official has ever asked to grovel at the gates of the White House. The only thing more despicable than his lies is his cowardly threat to ‘take out’ Iran’s Supreme Leader” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Iranian mission says.

“Iran does NOT negotiate under duress, shall NOT accept peace under duress, and certainly NOT with a has-been warmonger clinging to relevance,” it adds.

tRUMP announced that the US brokered a peace agreement between Pakistan and India. Indian Prime Minister Modi refutes that: 

PM Modi stressed that India has never accepted mediation, does not accept it, and will never accept it.”

“Talks for ceasing military action happened directly between India and Pakistan through existing military channels, and on the insistence of Pakistan. Prime Minister Modi emphasised that India has not accepted mediation in the past and will never do,” Misri said.

The US is walking back Trump's claims. 

Sad state of affairs, that a US leader is outing himself as a liar on the world stage. People always talk about him humiliating himself. I don't think he has enough self awareness to be embarrassed. 

I watched a program on the death of John Lennon today, and the comment was made that, like JFK's assassination or the Challenger explosion, people will never forget where they were when they heard the news. 

I was stationed in Seoul Korea. I had a clock radio, and I woke up to American Forces Network Yong San breaking the news that John Lennon had been shot and killed in New York City. I'll never forget the shock of that. So, where were you?

That's it really. A quiet day painting trim for the bedrooms. It was a hot and humid day today, and we were grateful for the storms that rolled through and cooled things down tonight. 

I have PT tomorrow, but I spoke very matter of factly with the Physical Therapist on Tuesday. Measurable improvement is expected for PT, but I asked him what improvement he expected to see at this point. He admitted that I was far enough ahead of things that there wasn't much improvement to be had. I have full ROM in his mind, and I am active. There is no swelling. There is no pain. He asked when I went back to see the surgeon and I told him the 27th. He suggested that I come back next week for one last appointment, so that he can get a final list of measurements for the surgeon. As far as he is concerned I am ready to be released. 

Pretty happy about that. 

 Last week, I put an ad up on the local Helping Hands site. I wanted an ankle weight, but it's one of those things that I did not want to sink money into because I don't expect that I'll be using them long. So I asked if anyone had a set that I could borrow for a month. Immediately, a woman replied. She had a 2.5 pound set that I could have. 

She was on the next street over, and I thought I recognized the house, a short walk. Turns out it was on the other side of town. It was not the house that I thought it was. It was okay though. I don't miss an opportunity to have a walk, so I pressed on. 

They are a very nice set of weights, Gold's Gym, still in the box and so when I got home, I messaged her once again to thank her, and to offer to return them. She insisted that she did not need them and was glad that she found someone who did. 

So I've been weighting that ankle. I probably over did it. One day, I wore it for most of the afternoon even. We are building a another shed for Tim's stuff. The basement, the second floor of a 30 x 40 garage, one house and the existing shed are not enough. (I think that he is doing downsizing wrong.)

After wearing that weight for a bit every day, I noticed today that I was walking upstairs with very minimal 'pulling' in my leg. Going down the stairs is still a bit of an issue, but I was very pleased to note definite progress. 

Today was a banner day for another reason. I ran that dishwasher for the first time. I put all the dishes that I'd bought in it, and it ran just fine. I also did two loads of laundry. I also watered the garden. There was no problem with the well. It's a hundred feet deep, but we were not sure if it would be adequate. Worse case scenario would be drilling another well. Looks like that won't be necessary. 

We went to pay our respects to an old friend of Tim's.  A quiet guy, a hard worker, someone that Tim had gone to high school with. Brain cancer discovered in Decemeber and 6 months later, he's gone. 

His widow standing there alone in front of the coffin. "It just doesn't feel real," she said. The room was crowded with people come to pay their respects and there was a lot of talking. I said, "Well...I imagine once this part is done, and it is quiet again, you'll finally have a chance to grieve." She said, "Yes. You are right. There is too much going on right now." 

On the drive back home, we commented on how quickly it had all transpired. Tim said, "You know, I remember, probably 15 years ago, he was talking to one of his kids, and saying, "Listen, you know your old dad forgets stuff..." Tim said, "It just makes you wonder." 

I said, "Well, I said it once and I'll say it again. I know cancer has changed a lot for both of us, but we are lucky. We're here. We're still here." 

And Tim said, "You're right." 

I got called for jury duty in July. 

Pretty long, but the first 9 minutes are direct. The rest of it is question and answer. 

Today, he signed a bill that allows VA doctors to refuse to treat people based on their marital status and political affiliations. Furthermore, it allows the VA to remove doctors for their political affiliation. 

https://www.murray.senate.gov/trump-administration-allows-va-doctors-to-deny-care-to-unmarried-women-and-democrats-senator-murray-responds/

Milestone

 Well, today, for myself, I hit a mile stone. For the first time since the knee replacement, I have once again hit 10,000 steps. When you stop to consider that by the time the knee replacement actually rolled around, I was finding it difficult to hit 4000 steps. It had gotten that bad. But...today, 10,000 steps, and there is no pain. 

I just thought that was something lost and gone forever. It will always seem miraculous to me. 

Yesterday: 

Actual crowd size may vary. 

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-flack-steven-cheung-defies-empty-bleachers-with-wild-parade-estimate/

No Kings

 I was afraid to hope, really. It was bucketing down the rain. The DAR had scheduled at competing event at General Warren Park to commemorate the 250th anniversary of his courageous death at Bunker Hill. 

(Ironic, innit? People who proudly trace their lineage back to a Revolutionary war soldier and their triumph over a king, trying to mute the voices of people speaking up against a man who fancies himself the king...)

But we put on our rain jackets and grabbed our umbrella. Tim took his giant taco and I took my "Ain't no faux king way!" sign, and we went to the courthouse. We were a few minutes early, but people were already starting to gather, which was encouraging. 

It continued to pour even as people continued to show up. There were 130-140 people who showed up. 

Some funny signs: 

'Don't make me repeat myself --- (signed) History'

'Keep it down over there. We're trying to hold a riot here.'

'I'm here because I love my grand children.'

A woman wore a taco costume. 

One fellow marched right in the street waving a 'F--- Trump flag', which got a large truck excited. He did a burn out in front of the protesters, smoking his tires, his rear end sliding sideways on the rain slicked roads.  License plate ZTR 6509 is probably regaling anyone who will listen about how the libtards jumped out of his way in terror. No one was terrorized. Everyone held their ground. It was a lot of noise but no real danger. 

The thing that I loved the very most was all the cars going by. We got a lot of honking horns. Some people were not brave enough to honk, but they gave surreptitious clenched fists or thumbs up. A car full of elderly ladies circled the block 3 times to honk and wave and cheer us on. People driving business vehicles who could not honk sat quietly at the light watching and smiling and giving approving signals. The MAGA truck did not show up with his big flags and his outrage. 

We are home now. Dry now. 

News of the day: 

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5350734-trump-ice-hotel-agriculture-restaurant-raids/

Despite the change, ICE has not changed anything. 

There's this: 

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/06/14/us/minnesota-shootings

One of the pardoned proud boys posted that people should shoot at the protesters. "If you take a couple out, the rest will leave quickly, I guarantee it." 

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/us/shoot-a-couple-the-rest-will-flee-far-right-extremists-stoke-fear-as-no-kings-protest-gains-momentum/articleshow/121848923.cms?from=mdr

There you have it, people. 'Merica. 

Old and New

 I read a post that surprised me this morning. A man was stopped driving through town last night for a burned out license plate lamp. The interesting thing was that this was in the middle of town, and it was not the town police that stopped him. It was a state trooper. While he said that the officer was polite, he was giving the car a very thorough once over with a flashlight. He is an older gentleman, and he was alone. 

For those of you who do not know how it works, State Troopers monitor state roads and the areas outside towns. Towns have their own police force who handle things inside the towns. 

If State Troopers are providing back up for the city police, this is very interesting. Why is an extra police presence required? It is reported that an ICE vehicle was at a local park. The newspaper reported that Homeland Security is in town.  

So...even out here in the boonies, we are not free from this. 

Glad we are protesting Saturday. So glad.

I made my sign today. After thinking about Gigi's remark that a picture may confuse people, I decided she was right. My sign simply says, in great sparkly letters, "Ain't no faux king way". Tim has a giant taco emblazoned with 'TACO KING'. He will wear his stand with Ukraine shirt, I will wear my 'In a world where you can be anything, be kind'. 

I had PT today, and there was a retired therapist there. He was such a hoot. He took a gander at my scar, and immediately pulled his pant leg up to display his. He had a knee replacement in March. We scandalized the poor aide when we began discussing the bottles of narcotics we both left the hospital with and never used. I mentioned that my husband was watching 'El Chapo' on Netflix and I thought he'd probably learned enough to traffic them for us. 

I actually was afraid that I'd screwed my knee up helping Tim with the tin yesterday. The nerve running down the outside of my leg was making my toes feel very strange. I wasn't sure if I should even try PT today, but I went and figured that I'd leave the decision up to them. They are very practical. They listened. I said, "I wasn't sure whether to try to walk it off, or whether to rest it, so I decided to err on the side of caution. I went to bed with a good book and a heating pad." 

They were glad to hear that I'd decided to be cautious. I said, "Don't get used to it." The consensus was that I could have taken a short walk just to see how it affected my leg. If it got better, well...great. If it got worse, I could always just stop and do the heat. Likewise, I could do the PT and if I felt things getting aggravated, just stop. 

So that's what I did. There was no aggravation. I even went for a walk tonight, just a short one, no more than a mile. 

Tim and I went to our favorite discount grocery store. You honestly cannot tell what you will find there. On the drive there, I said, "Remind me. I need to pick up dishwasher soap. We should try out that dishwasher." 

When we got there, I found a box of those pods for $13.80. I was standing there studying the box when Tim walked up. I said, "You know, I don't even know how much this stuff costs. I haven't bought dishwasher soap for 30 years." Looking closer, I noted that it had 115 pods in it, which would work out to less than 13¢ a load.  I said, "For just you and I, I imagine this would probably come close to a years' worth of pods." I can't imagine we'd be running the dishwasher more than once every two or three days. (All you dishwasher people feel free to weigh in on this.) 

Anyways, good news is that we were not skunked. Buying it in a regular store would have cost us $27.95. 

So...that was today. 

I'm really enjoying the book "Return to Nab's End". It's quite a glimpse of a different time and place, as seen through the eyes of a 16 year old boy. For some reason, the voice of it reminds me of Weaver and Tasker. Sensible, enduring, practical. 

Talking of a different time and place, Tim and I realized we graduated from high school 50 years ago. Crazy to think about.  

Another crazy thing to think about? How about that Air India crash? One lone survivor, a British national from Leicester. His name is Viswash Kumar Ramesh. He has no idea what happened. The theory is that the plane broke apart, and he was thrown free from the plane before it exploded upon impact. Sadly he lost his brother in the crash. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/12/world/asia/viswash-kumar-ramesh-air-india-survivor.html

Another Working Day

 I've got my sign. 

HE'S A FAUX KING JOKE!

We got two roofs tinned. I stayed on the ground and I did not carry the sheets of tin by myself. It was too windy, and I was afraid that a gust of wind would catch an 11 foot piece of tin, knock me off balance and twist my knee. So Tim told me he needed me to haul sheets of tin to him. I told him I needed him to carry the other end. It went okay, but I'm taking a break tonight and reading The Return to Nab End. 

Here's a funny story. I was at the GoodWill shopping for nice curtain rods. I found a very nice wooden one, unopened, in store packaging which would work for the guest bedroom. It was $2.99. I also took a look at cereal bowls. Remember that box of dishes that I fell in love with and bought because 1) they were $5 and 2) they maaaaaaaatched....?

(Yeah. I feel stupid every time I say it out loud)

Anyways, the set came with plates in three different sizes. Probably 30 or more. But there were no bowls. So when I go to thrift stores, I look for nice bowls that will coordinate with those plates, and I've found five of them. (Turns out I've got a good eye for this sort of thing, something that I never knew about myself). So...anyways, I walked over to the dishware and took a look. I found one nice bowl that I thought would work. It had the same contour as the two bowls I'd found previously and the color would coordinate with the plates. I picked it up and headed to the register. Imagine my surprise to find (only after I got to the register!) that the one bowl was $7.99! One cereal bowl. 

I didn't buy it. 

I'm sure you're not surprised.

We had to stop at the post office to mail something off, and so on the spur of the moment, I said, "Do you mind if we stop at the thrift store here just to look for cereal bowls?" It is not a store that we often go to, so Tim didn't mind. I found just what I was looking for. 4 nice bowls for $2. 

(And they maaaaaaaaaatched...)

Off to bed to read my book.

One Day

 I had a good PT session today.  At this point, my only difficulty would be stairs. I walk up and down a flight of stairs at least once a day. After years of stepping and pegging, I have to remind myself to walk alternating feet. Going upstairs is okay. Not great, but I can do it. Coming downstairs is a bit more of a struggle. I have to hold on to the railing and force myself to do it. So. I brought that up at the session today, and as Boud suggested, I asked about leg weights. 

"Sure," Paul said. "We can add weights," and so he did, just two pounds. We did quite a stair workout today, and by the time that I left, I felt that I had worked. 

The PT said, "Did you move any couches this week?" 

I said, "Good lord, no! You took such a fit about it the last time, I figured that I wouldn't. But did you ever see those people all harnessed up and pulling semi trucks...I was tempted..." 

He laughed. "Well, at least that truck has wheels on it." 

I said, "You just are not getting it. The couch was on sale AND it matched. You didn't expect me to walk away from that, did ya?" 

I got some grocery shopping done, bought cat food, and came back home. I kept myself busy and on my feet. This evening we had a grandson's ball game, and then I asked to be dropped off a mile from home and got an evening walk in. I'll have 7500 steps in before bedtime. Not a huge number, but every day, that number increases. Very satisfying. 

We've had some pretty fierce weather around us. Tornado touchdowns west of us and north east of us. Flooding in Cuba New York caused it to be declared a state of emergency. (You may not realize that Cuba New York is where Laura Ingalls Wilder's pa was raised.) We got nothing but heavy rain and thunderstorms. It is still coolish here and I am hopeful that at some point, we will get a summer. On a positive note, I haven't had to water the gardens. 

Something to remember: 

Escalation.

 This is the light for the kitchen that we got off from Marketplace for $25. I really like it, and the best part is that the lights aim where you need the light, so the counter tops are perfectly lit. So that's my happy for today. We are polyurethaning the trim boards to frame the windows and hope to get that done tomorrow morning before the rain starts again. 

I also walked over two miles today. What a joy it is to be able to do that with no pain. 

Now...

This is a long post, so all of you unhappy with political posts need to click off now. 

From Senator Chris Murphy who sent out this report from the Senate Floor: Last night in the Senate, something really important happened. Republicans forced us to debate their billionaire bailout budget framework. We started voting at 6 PM because they knew doing it in the dark of night would minimize media coverage. And they do not want the American people to see how blatant their handover of our government to the billionaire class is. 

So I wanted to explain what happened last night and what we did to fight back. The apex of Republicans' plan to turn over our government to their wealthy cronies is a giant tax cut for billionaires and corporations. And they plan to pay for it with cuts to programs that working people rely on. Popular and necessary programs like Medicaid, Medicare, and SNAP, are all being targeted. In order to pass the tax cut, Republicans have to go through a series of procedural steps. Last night, they took the first step which requires them to pass an outline of their plan, but with it, any senator can offer as many amendments as we want. So my Democratic colleagues and I did just that. 

Now, we knew that Republicans would largely unanimously oppose them, but we had two objectives here. One, Republicans were forced to put their opinion on record -- many for the first time -- on the most corrupt parts of Trump and Musk's agenda. Two, as I've been saying, I am going to make every process and procedure as slow and as painful as possible for as long as my colleagues choose to ignore the constitutional crisis happening right before our eyes. 

So what did we propose? We proposed no tax cuts for anyone who makes a billion dollars a year. We made them vote on weather or not Elon Musk and DOGE should have limitless access to American's personal data. We made them vote on whether to protect IVF and to require insurers to cover it. Every single amendment Democrats proposed was shot down. On almost every single amendment, Republicans universally opposed it. Every Republican voted against our proposal to prevent more tax cuts for Billionaires. The corruption and theft is happening in the open here. 

The whol game for Republicans is taking your money and giving it to the wealthiest corporations and billionaires -- even if it means kicking your parents out of a nursing home or turning off Medicaid for the poorest children. They know what they are doing is deeply unpopular. They are offering a tax cut to the most wealthy that is 850 times larger than what they are offering working people. Oh. And by the way, any tax cuts for working people are going to be washed out by higher costs for basic necessities, like health care and food. It's a fundamental injustice. 

Thanks to your pressure and support, many of my Democratic colleagues have joined my effort to do everything we can do to make sure they cannot destroy democracy and steal your money in the dark of the night. We are being loud about what is happening. I'm going to continue to grind the gears of Congress down as much as possible to make it harder and slower to get away with this corruption. That's why the votes lasted until nearly 5AM. 

This is a five-alarm fire. I don't think we have two years to plan and fight back. I think we have months. It's still in our power to stop the destruction of our democracy with mass mobilization and effective opposition from elected officials. So we can't miss any opportunity to take advantage to put the Republicans on the record and to shine a light on what is happening. You have a role to play in this as well. I need you to amplify what is happening, support the leaders who are fighting for you to make sure they can continue speaking truth to power against Musk and Trump's billionaire cronies, and  show up and rallies and town halls. Use every tool at your disposal to send a message loud and clear about how you expect my colleagues to lead and fight in this moment. 

Every best wish, 

US Senator Chris Patrick Murphy.

In LA: 

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/live-blog/trump-los-angeles-immigration-protests-rcna211695

You need to understand that the governor has not authorized this and that the action has escalated the violence. We have the right to protest and the protests were, according to the police, non-violent. 

Understand also that he has made it clear that he is prepared to send military troops to wherever the protests are happening "if he deems it necessary". This is martial law. This is the military being used against its own citizens. 

I close with the wisdom of Robert Reich:

Friends,

What is our moral responsibility as citizens of the United States when the President of the United States moves to deploy thousands of American soldiers against us?

Trump signed a memo late yesterday ordering 2,000 members of the National Guard to be deployed in Los Angeles County after federal immigration agents in riot gear squared off with hundreds of protesters for a second consecutive day.

Trump’s action is extreme although technically legal. Governor Gavin Newsom did not call in the Guard. Title 10 of the United States Code allows a president to federalize the National Guard units of states to suppress “any insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combination, or conspiracy.”

In a presidential memo, Trump said, “To the extent that protests or acts of violence directly inhibit the execution of the laws, they constitute a form of rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States.”

Last night, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth threatened to deploy active-duty Marines in Los Angeles:

"The violent mob assaults on ICE and Federal Law Enforcement are designed to prevent the removal of Criminal Illegal Aliens from our soil. A dangerous invasion facilitated by criminal cartels (aka Foreign Terrorist Organizations) and a huge NATIONAL SECURITY RISK. Under President Trump, violence and destruction against federal agents and federal facilities will NOT be tolerated," he continued. "It's COMMON SENSE."

Why is Trump doing this, and why now?

Because Trump can’t stand to be humiliated — as he has been in the last two weeks. By senate Republicans refusal to quickly enact his so-called One Big Beautiful Bill. By Xi Jinping’s refusal to back down on trade (and restrict shipments of China’s rare earths, which American industry depends on). By the federal courts pushing back against his immigration policy. And, now, by insults and smears from the richest person in the world, who has a larger social media following than does Trump.

So what does Trump do when he’s humiliated? He deflects public attention. Like any bully, he tries to find another way to display his power — especially over people who are powerless, such as immigrants. Especially over people whom he doesn’t consider “his” people, such as Californians.

He has despised California since the 2016 election when the state overwhelmingly voted against him.

And what better Ground Zero for him to try out his police state than Los Angeles — a city teaming with immigrants, with Hollywood celebrities who demonize him, and wealthy moguls who despise him?

He is calling out the National Guard to provoke violence. As Governor Newsom said, “that move is purposefully inflammatory and will only escalate tensions.”

Trump wants to escalate tensions. He wants a replay of the violence that occurred in the wake of the George Floyd murder — riots, mayhem, and destruction that allow him to escalate his police state further — imposing curfews, closing down parts of Los Angeles, perhaps seeking to subdue the entire state. And beyond.

Please do not give him this. Don’t fall into his trap.

We cannot be silent in the face of Trump’s dictatorial move. Silence is acquiescence. We must be brave in resisting him. But we must not succumb to violence.

What is needed is peaceful civil disobedience. Americans locking arms to protect those who need protection. Americans sitting in the way of armored cars. Americans singing and chanting in the face of the Americans whom Trump is drafting into his handmade civil war.

Americans who do not attempt to strike back, but who do what many of us did during the Civil Rights and anti-Vietnam War movements — peacefully but unambiguously reject tyranny. To be brave and non-violent in the face of tyranny, to be strong and restrained, to resist with our hearts filled with anger but not succumb to that anger — is terribly difficult. But Martin Luther King Jr. taught us its importance, and George Lewis taught us how.

A humiliated Trump is the most dangerous Trump. He has manufactured this entire crisis. But he will overreach. He already has. And this overreach will ultimately be his undoing.

As long as we keep our heads.

May we look back on this hellish time and feel proud of what we did.

Be strong. Be safe. Hug your loved ones.

Saturday

 Today, Tim wanted to work on his shed for all his things that must be kept forever and ever until he dies and the kids throw it out. It is interesting to note that he's found quite a bit of stuff that belongs to me that we need to be getting rid of, because we are downsizing and we can't take it all. 

Just a thing that I noticed. 

I stayed home. I've been pretty slack on household duties since the knee surgery, and so I wanted some time to catch up. I got laundry done and vacuumed and dusted. I do know that I still have one area of difficulty to work on: going up and down stairs. About the sixth trip to the basement, my knee was feeling it. 

Today: https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/al-qaeda-leader-in-yemen-threatens-trump-musk-over-gaza-war-there-are-no-redlines/

Next week is the No Kings Protest. I'm trying to come up with sign ideas. Of course, there is the obligatory "Rejecting kings since 1776". I need to make one more sign. Suggestions welcome. 

Amish Paypal?

 First of all, thank you Pixie for sharing this: 

A few days back, we'd gone up to visit Levi and Mattie. We took ice creams up for everyone. It made me laugh to see Grandma out there industriously digging a hole in her front yard. I always have to remind myself that Grandma is actually younger than I am, a fact that tickles her pink every time she re-realizes it. 

Anyways, in the process of front porch sitting, Levi mentioned a book that he was trying to find on medicinal herbs. I pulled out my phone and went to Better World Books and found that they had one for sale for $5.91, listed as used, very good condition. Levi was surprised by that, because new, the books are $25. He said, "Well...if you can find it, it would be nice to get three of them, one for my mother and one for Mattie's mother." I did a little searching, and there were 3 of them, all of them listed at $5.91. I don't access my paypal on my phone, but promised him that I'd place the order as soon as we got home. 

When I got home, I ordered the books. When it came to the shipping address, I used the drop down and saw that I'd never sent books to their house, so I went ahead and typed in their address, reviewed the order and accessed my paypal. I received the confirmation e-mail, which I didn't read through, but took it as affirmation that the order had gone through. 

Today, it occurred to me that I'd not gotten anything telling me that the order had shipped, something that normally happens very promptly, so I went to the confirmation e-mail and much to my surprise, saw that somehow, Levi had been entered as the buyer, and I had become the ship-to address. I don't even know how that happened, but I know that Levi's name did not match the name on the paypal. I figured that the order had rejected. I contacted the company, but they told me it was too late to change anything. The order was on its way to me, which made me laugh. How on earth that order got through, I cannot even tell you. I know for a fact that Amish do not have paypal. 

Today was a quiet day. Tim did some work at a tenant's house. We stopped by Mia's to finish the plumbing. No one was there, so we headed to the new house. The thunder rumbled and the rain fell, and 'the garden' looks as if it is doing well. Best of all, we've had a haze for the past week from the smoke of Canadian fires. The heavy rains yesterday and today knocked that back a bit. 

Late edit: I neglected to link Pixie's page to her name. My apologies for the oversight, Pixie. 

Shit's getting real.

 I went off to PT this morning, and did my workout. My appointment was at 10:45, and I was walking out of there at about 10 after 12. It's a workout to be sure, but it is easily accomplished. I wonder what that means? I still am hopeful to be done with all of this by the end of next week. 

I am continually cautioned about swelling, which is not an issue. I wore my blue jeans today, and the concern was that the knee would swell and I wouldn't be able to remove them. The knee does not swell, however. It hasn't since I began PT. Still they caution about it over and over again. I think that I am mindful. If I had swelling or pain, I surely would not press on. I've had a bad knee for a lot of years, and I sure do not want to damage this one. They were shocked that I spent yesterday working on the garden. "How many hours?" I was asked. When I said all afternoon, they once again began to stress the importance of not pushing that knee. 

I am anxious to discuss this with the surgeon. I have so many questions. Is it really pushing that joint if you have no signs of overuse? That appointment is not until the 27th, however. The PT laughed when I said, "Well...warn him I am coming!" 

So. I'm beginning to see that I may be a bit of a 'unicorn' as far as bouncing back from this surgery. My results are not normal. I am "off the bell chart", so probably best to avoid measuring yourself against my progress. 

I am enjoying the people I meet there. They've all got such stories. Today, I met a military widow. Her husband died 7 years ago. She was there for balance issues and we blabbed while we were working out.

 Another man was going to San Antonio. His son is at Lackland Air Force base. I mentioned that I'd been stationed at Ft. Sam Houston, and I loved San Antonio. You can never tell about people. I was shocked when he said, "Well, right now, it's pretty sad there." I assumed storms, since we've had quite a few bad ones, but he said, "No. Last week 400 hundred illegal aliens were rounded up by ICE," and the way he said 'illegal' made it clear he what he thought of this round up. 

It's getting crazy, masked men grabbing people off the streets, when they show up for appointments, when they go to their children's schools. 

So...that was an unexpected conversation, but a welcome one. 

I went grocery shopping by myself. Ran into an old friend (well...not literally). It just felt so blessedly ordinary. 

Driving home in a thunder storm today, I was surprised to see a little boy playing on one of those inflatable slides. It was pouring rain and he was having the time of his life all by himself. That's something you don't often see...kids playing in the rain. 

Elon Musk is speaking out against tRUMP's big beautiful bill. 

Trump is threatening to cut Musk's government contracts. 

Bannon wants Musk's immigration status looked into. 

Margery Taylor Greene attacks the bill after she voted for it. After she admits she didn't read it. 

Pass the popcorn. Shit's getting real. 

Not Interested

 I received a curious little glossy pamphlet in the mail yesterday. It was called Imprimis. The main article was on tariffs. I figured that skimming that article would be quick to spot what kind of publication it was, and I was right. President Trump was praised for his work to level the playing field. Never mind the damage that he's doing to the world, it was all about us, and screw the rest of the world. That attitude is ultimately going to bite us in the ass too, but people aren't going to believe this until they see the teethmarks. 

Flipping through, I saw that it was a free publication from Hillsdale College, and they had a very easy way to sign up for a life long income, done by turning over your property to them. You continue to live there, I guess, and they pay you a monthly income. When you die, your stuff becomes their stuff. 

For anyone who doesn't know, Hillsdale College also assisted in crafting Project 2025 and has close ties to tRUMP's current White House. The latest from them is that they suggest Harvard simply align themselves with the current administration because it is the right thing to do, and if they don't want to do that, than they should not be receiving federal money. 

I called the number and asked to be removed from their mailing list. "Just the magazine?" the young woman asked. "Well...no," I said. "I am not sure what else you are dropping in the mail, but I am not interested in any of it, really." 

Today was another knee work out. We filled the two remaining raised beds and I got them planted. We spent the afternoon spreading the dirt and topping everything with mulch and planting. I also got bit the heck up by some sort of bug that was chewing on the back of my arms and my elbows. Tim was unaffected. He's always unaffected. I'm not sure why this is. 

I will admit to pulling a completely amateur gardening mistake. I started my tomato seeds and they were all carefully marked. Beefsteak, San Marzano, and cherry tomatoes. When they got too large for the trays, I transplanted them into larger cups, and was happily working away. I put them on to two trays...and realized that I had no idea which tomatoes were which.

So.

Always room for improvement. 

The idea with these beds is that every fall, the plants will be cleaned out, a layer of manure and compost added on top of what is there and the beds will be tarped off for the winter, and remain tarped over the winter and uncovered just before we are ready to plant again. We are hoping to avoid picking up blight, which is why the garden was abandoned. Every year, the blight just got worse and worse. 

So. Fingers crossed. 

The couch we got yesterday. 

 It doesn't really look it in the picture but it's a sage green color, and you all do know how particular I have become about 'matchy-matchy'. I may be carrying this to an extreme, and will try to show some amount of self control from here on out. Actually, I can't think of anything else that I really think we need. (We didn't really need the couch, but well...it matched. *blush*)

I also drove for the first time today. I drove to Titusville to pick up some cypress mulch. 

So that was today. The hot shower at the end of it felt quite wonderful. 

https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/05/29/nx-s1-5414345/american-doctors-look-to-relocate-to-canada-to-avoid-the-trump-administration

Cards

 I had my first out-patient PT appointment today, and it went very well, so well that they are only seeing me two times a week instead of three. I met another woman there who had her replacement 3 weeks before me. She is struggling still. It was really brought home to me that I'm very, very lucky. 

Freddie came inside to eat today. I just left the door open so that he could run out if he got scared, and he did, three times, but he always came back. I think he's getting comfortable. 

I got two of the kittens spaying appointments this month. I did not want to be greedy and use up more than my share of appointments. This Fix'n Wagon is a huge thing, and it is something that I can see myself making regular donations to. Their plan is to return every month until the demand for neutering dies down. This, of all things, will make such a huge difference to the feral cat population. 

We are getting the last two raised beds together, and hauling dirt in tomorrow. I'll get my gardens done by the weekend. 

That's it. Not much to say today. 

The White House seemed a little surprised that they were not given advance notice about the Ukrainian drone attack. 

I'm not surprised at all.