days_unfolding

There was a young possum running across the yard, and Bella grabbed it. Apparently they die of fright when she picks them up. Bella wanted to bring it inside, but I said, “No”. And Bella didn’t get a chance to pee.

Zara was suspicious when I went in her room. I had to open the closet and pull her out, but I got her in the carrier.

I’m hungry, but I’m going to have a fasting blood test done after I drop Zara off for her dental appointment. (I had to get up early anyway….) Dropping her off took longer than I expected, given that I got there right when they opened. Got gas for the car and got my blood test done.

Tired, tired, tired.

I did find one white crabapple tree for sale, but it has to wait until the garage is built. Almost everything in the yard needs to wait until the garage is built.

It's feeling hot upstairs already, so I need to bring the laptop downstairs for the afternoon.

There are some abnormal results on my blood test and urine test. Some of it was dehydration, so I'm trying to remember to drink water (which I don't like). Hmm, I wonder if there's a way to get my Apple Watch to remind me to drink. I installed a reminder app on my phone, and it also installed it on my watch. I'm concerned about a reading that said that my platelets were small. My mother had multiple myeloma. But my platelet count was okay. The statin seems to be working; my cholesterol was within normal ranges.

Zara came through her dental procedure well, with a lot of extractions. I'll pick her up at 5:30. Picked her up with two pages of post-op instructions. She was glad to see me but got grumpy when the vet tech showed me how to give her the pain meds and ear meds. (She also has an ear infection.) The bill was almost exactly what I guessed. It was a lot but not shocking.

The plus side of getting up early is being able to feel accomplished before I even start work. But it’s 7:30 and I’m collapsing. I was going to go to the store to get hot dogs and string cheese to cut up as rewards for Bella (the training class is tomorrow night), but I just can’t. I’m going to go to bed early and get up early. The grocery store opens at 6 AM.

Got the garbage out. I still need to swap out Zara’s litter box for a clean one.

I’m resisting going upstairs to post because it’s as hot as hell today. I should bring my laptop downstairs or set up the new one. But not tonight.

The water reminder seems to be a bust. I need something that is as aggressive as my meds reminder to remind me to do it now.

shadowkat

The heat (it was 101 degrees today, and tonight has not dipped past 95 degrees with a high barometric pressure, and moderate air quality) - resulted in a sick nauseous headache by the time I got home, which is still lurking in the background. I felt dizzy, wiped out and off. Most likely the hangers on from my bout with COVID last week.

So instead of walking the fifteen to twenty blocks to the voting place, which is about a twenty minute walk in the heat, not helped by my sciatic nerve, I copped out. I feel really bad about it. But it is what it is. It's not like I have anyone I really want to vote for anyhow. I really did not like any of the people running. I'd landed on one, but I wasn't happy with the choice. I'll vote in the actual election - possibly by mail. This has taught me to try mail in voting from now on.

Heat and menopausal bodies are not mixy things. I also think my blood pressure was a bit off. I took the additional meds, it's seems to have leveled off a little now.

21. What is your favourite salad dressing?

Right now, it's usually lemon juice. I rarely use it. But if I do use it - I live olive oil and vingear, or Cesar Salad Dressing (with anchovies flavoring it).

22. Have you owned an aquarium or had a pond in your garden/backyard?

Don't have a backyard. So no on the pond. Parents had a lagoon for a bit.
And brother has a pond in his backyard, but not sure that counts? I owned an aquarium when I was a child - but not since then, too high maintenance.

23. Where is your favourite holiday destination – have you been more than once?

Don't really have one? I grew up with the view that you go somewhere different every year. I go to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina (it's a nice island off the coast of South Carolina and Georgia, that has sandy beaches, and is large enough to have a town, etc. It's not a small island.) But I only go to visit my mother, previously my parents, whom I'm exceedingly close to.

24. In 1911 French couturier Paul Poiret held his infamous 'The 1002nd Night' costume ball to launch his “Parfums de Rosine", the first signature scent linked to a design house. Have you a favourite scent?

I am allergic to most perfumes, unfortunately. They give me headaches. But I do like Lavender - doesn't bother me. (Note - most people with scent allergies or who are sensitive to perfume, have no problems with lavender for some reason or other). I also like lemon or citrus, euclyaptus, and pine.

Cinnamon now makes me sneeze. And Vanilla can make me queasy at times, weirdly.

I adore the scent of coffee.

***

More on what comforts me?

Songs or musicians that I find comforting?

* Joni Mitchell, Sarah McLachlan, The Magnetic Stripes, Sand Sheff, Bruce Springsteen, The Beatles, Sondheim's Into the Woods, The Stones, David Bowie, Janis Ian, Suzanne Vega, Joan Jett and the Runaways/ also that other band - basically anything with Joan Jett, Brenda Carlyle, the Indigo Girls,
and Pink Floyd

Mostly Folk and Classic Rock, also classical music - anything by Yo Yo Ma, or John Williams movie themes. I have a fondness for Gershwin and Jazz. Jazz reminds me of my Dad, who adored it, that and Frank Sinatra.

**

Smartbitches tempted me to buy another couple of books on Kindle, both were a $1.99. Went to get the first one, Hench, only to discover I'd already purchased it a year ago and forgotten about it. At least Amazon will inform me, other places aren't as considerate.

***

A picture of the fountain outside my workplace. It's finally working. No, no one was climbing into it. They can't without hurting the flowers. It's not a swimming fountain.

People were threatening to open up fire hydrants today - which is illegal. The city parks and the city has fountains folks can play in.

gilda_elise

A group of friends investigates the mystery of a strange staircase in the woods.

While on a camping trip, five high-schoolers bound by an oath to always protect one another discover something in the middle of the forest: a mysterious staircase to nowhere. One friend climbs up but does not come back down. Then the staircase disappears. Twenty years later it reappears, and the friends return to find the lost boy—and what lies beyond the staircase.

While it’s a really creepy story, I didn’t enjoy it as much as I have some of Wendig’s other books. Maybe because, while I found the story compelling and unputdownable, I think the fact that I didn’t care all that much for the characters sort of ruined things. Not terribly, just enough for me to wish that at least one character had been written more likably.

Yet, at the same time, I’m not sure that would have worked. The four remaining characters are all pretty flawed, with some major issues. In that, it worked that the one character who was basically a nice guy is the one who goes missing, because a lot of the what was going on dealt with those issues. Unfortunately, that’s what made the characters not so likable.

It also seemed that none of them had grown much. One would think that, pushing forty, the characters would have more sense. I had a hard time seeing them as adults, their actions often being that of a teenager.

Having said all that, I still enjoyed the story, because it is a good story. And what was happening really tended to outweigh who it was happening to.

Goodreads 35

maju

For the last few weeks I've been working on spending about 15 minutes every day on going through stuff deciding what to keep and what to get rid of (whether by tossing or by donating). I started this mainly with books but now I've moved on to other areas. I figure if I spend 15 minutes every day every month, that's about 8 or so hours per month, or probably about a day's worth of work if I was doing it all at once. Some days I spend more than 15 minutes but not always. I figure I've got the luxury of time with this move so I can take it slowly. In the past I've had to move more than once with no more than a week or so notice, and it was very stressful. (I was younger and had more stamina but it was still hard.) I've already got several boxes of books ready to go to Friends of the Library as well as about three bags of stuff to go to Goodwill, but I've decided I'm not going to take them while the weather is this hot.

susandennis

My company is keeping me busy but we are having a wonderful time. Recap to come.

bill_schubert

I'm not likely to go back to the shelter. They might need dog walkers but if they do it is in the afternoon and I'm not built to walk a dog in 90+ heat. I went today and found what I had feared. Fifty to 60 dogs build up a lot of cleaning issues. Laundry and bowls and toys. They have two commercial washing machines and two commercial dryers and a three deep sink set up. to wash and sterilize the toys and bowls. There is a lady I met last week who is a volunteer that works there four or five days a week. She is on vacation for a couple of weeks. She does the laundry, cleans the toys and bowls and sorts the donatoins. Laundry is washing, drying, sorting and putting on a shelf. Far as I can see she gets no help of any signficance. There is not a full time staff assigned to the area. Nor was there a plan to have any of it done while she is on vacation.

Surprise. The place was a shitstorm pile of stuff to do. I thought it would be but never thought that no one would be there to work on it. There was not. I put in two hours and made a decent dent that will be completely run over in another 24 hours of dog generated bowls and laundry.

At near the end of the two hours one of the staff who was cominig back to collect clean bowls and toys said thank you. Other than that my existance in two hours went completely unacknowledged by a hello or fuck you or anything.

So I won't be going back I don't think. I can't fix their issues and helping them will only make them think that they don't really have issues.

I hardly even saw a dog.

So it goes.

There was an ADHD test I saw on my phone yesterday. I started to take it but it was too long. True story.

I'm in cool down mode right now. Then shower and I'm not sure what else. Dana has a medical appointment that starts in five minutes. The location is half an hour away. She hasn't left yet. I'm staying in my office. No need to be around that kind of stress.

days_unfolding

Now there’s a heat advisory through Thursday. Ugh. I guess that it gives me a lot of time to work on the house.

Ack! Bella was digging in the cats’ litter box and got litter on the clean floor. I need to dig out my stick vacuum to clean up the floor.

Okay, it’s 7:30 AM. Where are the tree guys? They’re here now.

I contacted some garage builders. I'll call them back tomorrow. I don't feel like talking to them today. So tired....

The guys are still working. I’m lying down during lunch.

I gave up and brought my laptop downstairs after my meeting. It's much more comfortable, but the tree guys are louder. I wonder when they'll be done because I need to take Bella out soon. I took Bella out on a leash, and the tree is gone! Amazing! The tree guys removed the unwanted trees from both sides of the house! That saved me a lot of work.

The yard looks totally different without the tree. It got me wondering if I wanted a small pool to take dips in. I found one on Wayfair that I like, but I’m not doing anything until the garage is built. I also want a crabapple tree, but the white ones are sold out, so I guess that I'll get one next year.

I think that I'm too tired to clean tonight. I can’t stop yawning. I’m going to go to bed after I eat dinner.

Someone knocked on the door trying to sell an alarm system. I don't want an alarm system. They do have better cameras, but it's not worth it. She's coming back on Saturday to give me a quote though. Sigh.

maju

I don't know if I'm going to be able to post this on LJ today, because the site is behaving very badly right now - loading the bare-bones text version of the page instead of the usual display, and not loading pictures in people's posts. I'm hoping it will be better later or tomorrow.

Last night was yet another of those nights where I couldn't fall asleep when I went to bed. I ended up getting up and reading for a couple of hours, and therefore only got maybe five hours of sleep. At some point after I'd fallen asleep I woke up to find that the power had gone off - I had had a fan blowing on my legs and I think when it stopped it woke me up - and then I had some trouble falling back to sleep again because I was worried about not having power in this current hot weather. However, it was only off for about 1 ½ hours I think, according to the time flashing on the stove clock.

I got up at my usual time and went for a very low energy walk because of the combination of tiredness and oppressive weather. The temperature was just over 23°C/73°F at 6 am; it could have been worse (and will be over the next few nights) but still uncomfortable for walking. I did, however, see several runners. I read somewhere that if you persist in running for a couple of weeks in high temperatures your body will get conditioned to it and you won't notice it so much, but I'm not convinced.

Another thing that's behaving badly is gmail. It's decided not to show my unread emails in my inbox; instead it hides them away in some other folder where I have to remember to look. Apparently there are system folders for "social", "updates", "forums", and "promotions", which I was unaware of, and now gmail has decided to categorise my incoming emails for me so that I have to go looking for them instead of having them show up right where I want them. I would love to delete those folders but it doesn't seem to be possible. (OK, I've just discovered I can choose to show them in my inbox messages list, so I guess the problem is solved.)

susandennis

Feet first. No pain last night. Whew. I discovered that my Merrells, the clogs, are ok to walk in if I wear socks so that's what I did yesterday. We didn't walk a lot but some and it was fine. I didn't get the sharp pains in my feet. I have now bought what feels like a million pairs of shoes online. I will, likely, return most of them, but, hopefully, I'll find one or two that don't hurt and aren't butt ugly. I did find a couple of possibles that looked very promising but their return policy either sucked or looked suspicious, so, no. Oddly, Zappos had nothing.

Today we'll be going to at least two shoe stores, so that might yield something.

Scott and Julie arrived yesterday in fine form. The Timber Ridge guest suite situation worked fine. There are two guest rooms on this side of the complex. My brother stayed in one that was nice and roomy. The other one, turns out, is not and that's the one Scott and Julie are in. It's a small room that is perfectly adequate and, since they haven't seen the other one, they are quite happy there. But, note to self, get 1301 and not 1300 next time.

We went to downtown Issaquah last night and ate at Jak's Steak House. Reddit says that it is not nearly as good as it used to be and, to be fair, a lot of people never thought it was good but I sure did. And, judging by the crowds and our experience, it has not deteriorated one bit. We got a lovely table by the big windows so they could watch the goings on in town. Our food was really good and there was lots of it and there was not even the tiniest bit to take home as leftovers.

Then we walked two blocks over and took Julie to her first ever Dollar Tree visit. She was entranced. It was fun.

Today, they want to go to North Bend. I love how they now get on the internet and scope out their choices. Scott wants pants from Columbia, they both want shoes from Skechers and the ride to North Bend is so pretty. We'll be back here in time for dinner, if not earlier.

They are the easiest people in the world to be around. I love having them here. They brought me THREE jigsaw puzzles! And wonderful high end hand cream - 3 different kinds.

Now I need to pop into the shower. We're meeting for breakfast before our adventures.

elusivek

But before about the car, this is an official photo of the yoga event thing I went on Saturday. I've made the decision, I am going to join their studio. I've booked a trial session for coming Sunday, and then I'll see which package I'm going to join after seeing what facilities they have in their studio.

Apparently, Boy-boy (orange cat) is now very good friends with Frankie. Boy-boy isn't very orange-cat-y. He's not boisterous as they say tabbies are, he's a scaredy cat really, so, it was surprising to see him now sticking to Frankie so much. I guess because the Baby cat sometimes bites Frankie so he doesn't always like the Baby lol. Serves her right.

So I picked up the Mini Cooper yesterday. Oh boy how I hate it already haha. It's so... low. Starting the car is so cumbersome. You place the key (that's more like a... totem figure) onto a slot, then you step on the brake, and press the start button. It's like switching on a computer. As I expected, the swiper and the indicator lever are swapped, the window button is not on the door of the window, but in the middle console, where the radio is, the handbrake is partially blocked by that middle container compartment thing which I tried to push it away but it doesn't budge. What else. He didn't tell me how to control the air-con, but he said "just leave it on, it's fine." Hey, I remember since when I was a kid, the rule was to "let the engine warm up first before switching on the air-con," maybe new cars now don't have this worry? If one thing is good, it's that this car's air-con is REALLY COLD. (Mine was a bit wonky, which I asked him to check out as well)

It is very fancy though, all race-car like and such. It's a 3-door, so backseat passengers will have a sucky time getting in and out. The aroma the mechanic is using is such a.... old Portuguese guy fragrance LOL (mechanic is not a Portuguese guy, but as I understood it, he bought this car second hand from a Portuguese guy.... still using the same fragrance?????)

Today when I drove over the bridge, I had a momentary panic because there's a speed limit on the bridge, but I couldn't see the speedometer. The dial there was just for the gear shift (it's an automatic transmission but the dial shows the gear the car's in) and I totally didn't see the speed figure right in the middle. Also, fancy car has a back camera when you put the car on reverse. But damn the camera is crooked LOL. The first time I tried parking I was like "why is my car not straight?" Then I decided to just park normally by looking at the mirrors instead of the screen and figured, oh yeah, it's crooked to start with.

days_unfolding

Well, I went to bed, only to feel a cat jump on the bed. Oliver had been hiding. Then Bella jumped on the bed. I turned the light on and removed Oliver.

Woke up at 7:30 AM. Bella is watching Squirrel TV. Aww. Lily grabbed my hand and rubbed her head against it.

My back hurts. Fed us all. Now I’m going to lie down for a little while.

Had my singing lesson. It went well. I’m working on the song “Silver Springs” by Fleetwood Mac and it’s hard. She thought that it would help me with jumps in sight reading because the song jumps around.

It occurred to me that I haven’t gotten the new web cam for piano, so I need to check on it. Also, my mom’s computer is running Windows 10, so I need to update it. I found the web cam, but I’m missing an Amazon box or bag with the leashes from yesterday. Okay, found them based on the picture that they took. We’re good. Bella is playing with the boxes and packing paper.

Had lunch. I’m going to take a nap because I didn’t have a full one this morning. Couldn’t sleep. It’s actually a little cold in here. I need to turn down the a/c.

It’s going to be an expensive week for me. Monday, the tree guy is coming. Tuesday is Zara’s dental appointment. I’ll have to get up early both days too.

I bought a bunch of compression bags for my Italy trip because I’ll need to get 12 days of clothes in my medium suitcase. I will hand-wash clothes, but still….

Started cleaning. I told Bella her new name was MessMaker. (She pulled a paper napkin off of the table and was shredding it.) Ow. One of my arthritic toes is complaining. It occurred to me to go upstairs to order a white bath mat while the acetaminophen kicked in. Fuuuuuck, it's hot upstairs. It's like a sauna. I bought the mat though and a swimsuit that was on clearance. There was something else that I wanted, but I don't remember what. Oh, I think that it was to transfer money. I can do that down here.

I was wondering where the toilet bowl brush was when Bella trotted by with it in her mouth. It took a bit of a struggle to get it away from her.

Fed us all. Watered the outside plants. My back hurts.

The large bathroom is clean except for scrubbing the floor. I’ll post, pay a bill (done), get ready for bed, start laundry, and scrub the floor so that it can dry overnight. Then I’ll go to bed. Oh, and submit a grocery order (done).

shadowkat

[Hopefully to drag me out of my apathy, if not the brain fog.]

The Good News Report....and as always, good news is often in the eye of the beholder.

1.Appeals Court blocks Louisiana law forcing Ten Commandments displays in classrooms. Separation of church and state is the law of the land. Shoving Christianity in kids' faces through their public schools is still, for now, illegal.

NBC News

Honestly, it's not as if the idiotic Republicans are following the commandments anyhow, why are they insisting on wasting money fighting for them to be taught in public schools?

2. A fundraiser organized to protest Colorado’s 568-day backlog for processing sexual assault forensic exams resulted in a $6,000 award to the state this week to urge faster action.

Denver Post

3. Washington D.C. residents honor Juneteenth with a Jubilee and Freedom Walk on the very path where enslaved people once escaped to freedom.

Washington Post

4.Barrington, Rhode Island : Members of the Town Council vote unanimously to adopt a resolution declaring it a sanctuary town for transgender people and all members of the LGBTQIA2S+ community.

East Bay Rhode Island

5.New York, NY: More than 75% of the city’s municipal vehicles—about 21,500—are now green (hybrid, electric, or running on renewable biofuel).

https://gothamist.com/news/some-positive-climate-news-for-once-nycs-vehicle-fleet-is-75-green

6.Communities in Los Angeles, New York, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Charlotte, San Diego, Boston, Houston, San Antonio, Minneapolis, Worcester, MA, and other cities show up publicly in support of their neighbors facing unjust ICE raids, detainment, and deportation.

7.Four top lawyers leave the Paul Weiss law firm to start their own firm in protest of its leader’s deals to dodge an executive order that would have limited its business.

https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/more-partners-leave-paul-weiss-join-new-law-firm-2025-06-09/

8.Dementia prevalence among older adults was significantly lower among individuals born more recently (1944-1948) compared to those born earlier (1919-1923), with a more pronounced decline in women, a new study conducted in the US, Europe, and England showed. - SOURCE: This study was led by Xiaoxue Dou, Centre for the Business and Economics of Health, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2834750#google_vignette

9.Dan Mancina, a blind skateboarder, creates the world’s first adaptive skatepark in Detroit, Michigan.

https://www.goodgoodgood.co/articles/adaptive-skatepark-dan-mancina

10.The EU will provide emergency funds to pro-democracy media outlet Radio Free Europe after the U.S. president cut its grants.

https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2025/05/20/eu-to-provide-55mln-in-emergency-funds-to-help-keep-radio-free-europe-afloat

( the rest of the 49 )

Good night and Good Luck, and in case you didn't find anything good enough to make you smile above?

Here's a picture of some flowers on my walk today to the grocery store.

maju

The weather for the coming week looks hellish. 97°F today, 101°F Monday and Tuesday, 98°F Wednesday, and 96°F Thursday. Then a slightly cooler 91°F Friday. (So temperatures around 37-38°C every day until Thursday.) Then the night time temperatures will be in the mid to high 70sF/mid to high 20sC every night. So far my house has stayed comfortable enough with just using a fan when I feel slightly too warm, but I suspect I will be turning on the a/c fairly soon.

This morning I went for a fast walk just before 7 am when it was coolish at around 72°F/22°C, but I might end up skipping exercise for the rest of the week. We'll see how I feel in the early mornings.

I do like getting out on Sundays when the road through the park is closed to vehicles; there's something special about being out very early with a handful of other early risers, the road is like a green tunnel, and I often see people I know (parkrunners) out running. This morning, as well as seeing three other parkrunners, I exchanged greetings with a random dogwalker and her very friendly dog.

( Read more... )

bill_schubert

This morning was busy. I went out to buy Dana an apple fritter and then came back to ride my bike for about 45 minutes and then walk the dogs. I could feel that my body was tired at the beginning of my ride. I played PB yesterday and it does add up. I'm scheduled for three busy days M-W and then will back off for Thursday and Friday and catch up some rest.

My bike shoes are good. I can move my toes. For brand new shoes that have not at all broken in they were great. So worth the money and will be the last ones I ever buy.

Today is one of my grandaughter's birthdays. She turns 17 today. Mind boggling. I've not seen her for a really long time. Nor her sister. So much water under the bridge.

Her birthday means that I now have two granddaughters that will turn 18 next spring. The other one, my son Matt's daughter, has been hidden away by her sociapathic mother for a dozen years now. My son, who still does, I think, provide child support, has not seen her in about that long either.

Things will surely change next year.

One day soon I'll be a great grandfather.

Still riding my bike and playing pickleball.

Meanwhile, here is an interesting bird we passed while walking this morning:

He didn't move away but kept pecking at the ground scarfing up whatever food he had found.

It is a blue budgie parakeet likely wild and maybe not an escapee. There is a wild population in southern Texas that gets up this way occasionally. The second time I've seen one just hanging in the wild.

The things I see on Mulberry Street.

susandennis

Dr. Google says I have metatarsalgia. And that it's not fatal so, whew! But, ouch.

I've been fighting foot pain, cramps and toe issues for years and years and years. Periodically, I throw out all my shoes and try new ones. It never works but I have learned not to throw out shoes. I have one of those pop up mesh bins that lives in my storage unit and is full of shoes. Among them are the two pair of shoes I bought a couple of years ago at the orthopedic shoe store. I quit wearing them because they were clunky. One, a clog was hard to walk in for long distances and the other, a New Balance sneaker, was just like wearing a huge ugly boat. BUT I did not throw out either of those pair.

Yesterday, I dug out these two pair of not-at-all-acceptable shoes and put one on and OMG, my feet felt like 80% better instantly - just having them on my feet, not even walking! Fuck you, ugly shoes. I took all the shoes in my closet and put them into the old shoe bin in the storage unit. I was able to walk downstairs and get my dinner without pain so victory. Ugly but victorious.

Last night I only woke up once with foot pain. Big improvement.

I'll wear these two pair of horrible shoes until the new ones come in.

Also now I know for sure what good (for me) shoes feel like and if they don't feel like these two ugly pair, then they do not make the cut.

Scott and Julie arrive today. They are going out to the airport to pick up a rental car. When they leave here, they are driving to Oregon and Idaho and Salt Lake City in this rental car. They expect to be here about 2.

I went back to making dolls yesterday. It was like coming home to an old friend. I have a nice little inventory so my missing 4 days of making won't decimate the giving shelf's supply.

Ooops! I forgot her heart!! I need to fix that immediately.

Yesterday's Mariner game was an afternoon game in Chicago. I did not have video, of course, but even listening to it was hot. First they lost the home plate umpire. Then a Mariner pitcher was helped off the field. It was just too fucking hot. Today is more of the same. Ugh.

I saw a weather map yesterday of the United States. Not too many spots were habitable. Ours was one of them. Thank you, weather. It is cool and rainy this morning. Lovely.

shadowkat

1. Finished watching Nonnas on Netflix. It's the true story of a man who decides to open a restaurant in Staten Island featuring the cooking of grandmothers, after his mother dies. Stars Vince Vaughn, Lorraine Braco, Talia Shire, Susan Sarandon, and Brenda Vaccaro, along with Linda Cappelina (who was in ER and Freaks & Geeks).

I looked it up? It's actually in Staten Island. Open on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, and features Nonnas of the World - basically grandmothers from around the world come and cook there. It's located on Hyatt Street in the historic district, not far from the Staten Island Ferry - which is free now.

Oh, this is tempting. You need to get reservations in advance, and have a two hour seating. Also, cash only or Vemo. (They don't appear to want to pay the credit card fees.)

Also, they have gluten-free items (clearly a real Italian establishment, you can always tell by the gluten free items on the menu).

It's called Enoteca Maria.

2. The Senate Parliamentarian Cuts Out Chunks of the Big ~~Beautiful~~ Ugly Bill because they violate the Byrd Rule.
( Bill had chunks cut out of it due to the fact they violate the Byrd Rule of Law )

3. Apparently Pope Leo has been sending folks to help stop ICE raids.

Bishop Michael Pham - the first U.S. appointment by Pope Leo - showed up at immigration court along with other religious leaders, in solidarity with immigrants going through the legal process, but where ICE has been arresting people. No ICE arrests were made. San Diego, California.

Go HERE

days_unfolding

I forgot to mention that I got my camping mattress from REI. My sleeping bag should arrive on Monday. Then I'll have to test them out. I second-guessed my choice of sleeping bag, but it has an outer polyester shell and a removable inner down bag. So I could take the down bag out for summer camping.

Lily is lying flat on the floor upstairs, stretched out. I don’t know why she is up here when it’s cooler downstairs. Hmm, Oliver was upstairs too. Keeping an eye on me?

Crud. I forgot to put clothes in the dryer, including my summer pajamas. I dug out some shorts and an “A Woman’s Place Is in the White House“ t-shirt (so much for that) to sleep in, which I can also wear for cleaning tomorrow.

Hmm. A CNN article about beating the heat suggested sleeping in the basement. Maybe I should test my camping mattress down there.

Oliver discovered the package of little cat ball toys, and he’s trying to open it.

I’m in bed, and Bella is zonked out cold in her bed.

Woke up at 8 AM. It’s already 80F/27C out. Sigh. Fed us all. Now it’s nap time. Napped, and now I feel groggy. Had lunch. A box of donuts fell down and Bella snatched one.

91F/32C now.

I’m going to nap for an hour and then get cleaning. Boy, did I zonk out. I dreamed that I was looking for a place to be buried in Urbana. Hmm. Bella is still asleep.

Oh fuck. I forgot about the garden walk today. Oh well. But it’s too hot anyway.

It is oppressively hot out (94F/34C). Crazy Bella wanted to lie in the sun. I convinced her to come in quickly though.

I’ve got the sleeping bag and the tent! The sleeping bag seems nice and cushy. I’m assuming that next weekend will be cooler so that I can practice pitching the tent. (The forecasters are predicting the high 80sF.) Maybe I’ll test the camping mattress and sleeping bag later. Oh, and I got the cooler. Bella is playing with the box that the sleeping bag came in. Now she’s bugging Oliver.

Okay, I’ve cooled off. I should get cracking on cleaning the house. I was petting Lily, and Bella was jealous. Critters :) Oliver is trying to tell me something, but I’m not sure what.

Oliver was climbing in the dishwasher. Fun with cleaning with pets. Got the clothes in the dryer.

I’m feeling shaky, so I’m making something to eat.

Hmm. Sling is advertising Queer As Folk for Pride. I always meant to see that, so maybe I’ll watch later if it’s on demand.

Bella is playing with a tug-of-war rope. She’s twirling it around.

I asked ChatGPT for women’s hiking sandals with wide widths. It recommended hiking sandals without wide widths. Sigh. Okay, the last one that they had did have a wide width, so I bought it.

Hmm. The BBC had an article about a "death cafe" in Bangkok, which asks, “Who would you talk to if it was your last night?” I don’t know the answer to that. I need to make more friends.

I have a headache. I need to feed the critters , but then I’ll lie down for a little while. Watered the outside plants while I was out with Bella. It occurred to me that I need to pull out the stake from the camping supplies because I’ll need to stake the puppy out while I work in the yard. I could put the dog pool out for her. Bella is flaked out on the kitchen floor. I’ll feed the cats and start cleaning the bathroom. Then I think that I’ll shower before bed.

I found a pair of waterproof Columbia hiking boots on sale. I checked, and I don’t have hiking boots, so I bought them. I need a taller shoe rack (ordered).

I’m feeling headachy and tired. I think that I’ll take my nighttime meds, post, and go to bed. I can clean in the morning when it’s cooler. Wow, it's hot upstairs. Work is going to suck on Monday. Maybe I'll bring my work laptop downstairs, where it's cooler. I need to get a workman to install my new air conditioner.

susandennis

I have vivid memories of my cousin falling into a big chair moaning 'my dogs are barkin'!! For some reason I thought that expression was just hilarious. Today my feet are not laughing. I've been wearing questionable shoes. Shoes that might not have enough support but a are cute (and cheap). And my feet are suffering. One of them kept me awake part of last night. There's a sharp pain in the middle of my feet near my toes. It was just constant last night. They were ok during volleyball but then mostly that are just lightly touching the ground during play. I'm held up by the water.

But I just walked downstairs to get the mail and I could barely get back home and I'm wearing my best shoes with arch supports and socks. And still they really hurt when I got up here.

At the mailbox, I got a check for $250 - the escrow from my condo closing. I sat down here, deposited the check, and then used Gemini to find shoes without laces for seniors with arch support and a big toe box. I have to say that Gemini did a good job. I proceeded to buy 3 pair - one from Orthofeet, one from Kuru and one from Vivonic. I may not keep any or I may keep all of them. I gotta do something. Cause my dogs are barkin'!

bill_schubert

Dana is at the grocery store. By herself. With a cane. So there's that. A victory.

She is obviously doing much better. The Ortho doc saw her most recent xray and proclaimed that her cracked bone was growing back together (aka - fuzzy stuff on the xray - the way it always looks to me). And she is in much less pain. So now it is about getting stronger and regrowing her resiliance.

And I finally had to replace my cycling shoes. The ones I had disintegrated last time I rode them. They were about 20 years old and had maybe 5000 miles on them. Got my money's worth.

The big problem is finding shoes that are wide enough for me. Cycling people are tiny and have tiny feet. The last that was used for the shoes I finally received last night was a special wide one for people like me. I'd already bought and returned one 'wide' sized shoe. The pair I got last night feels right. I'll give them a run tomorrow. I can tell a huge difference on the pickleball court now I've been riding. Much better balance. And I've not done much.

We did have a good group this morning playing PB. I was the only male there but I knew everyone in the group and they are about the same level as me so it was competitive. And fun. I won some and lost some and played for most of two hours.

Not much else going on today. I do need to catch up on some sleep and I need to decide whether to watch the Austin vs Seattle soccer game tonight or in the morning. It doesn't start here until 9:30 so I'm not sure. We'll see.

I'm kind of spinning my wheels waiting for Wimbleton and the Tour de France to start. The tennis starts Monday. It is on ESPN+ and I bought three months of that for cheap. Then the Tour starts on the 6th. I will watch the first stage and then pick it up in the mountains. And watch the end. Always a busy time this time of year.

Now to get serious about the nap.

gilda_elise

In a narrative sown with rural folklore and superstition, Pearly Everlasting is an enchanting woodland Gothic about the triumph of good over evil and the forgotten beauty of the natural world.

New Brunswick, 1934. When a cook in a logging camp finds an orphaned baby bear, he brings it home to his wife, who names the cub Bruno and raises him alongside her newborn daughter, Pearly Everlasting.

During the Great Depression, amidst severe poverty and dangerous work conditions, Pearly’s family and the woodsmen form a close-knit community that embraces the tame, young bear in their camp.

But when a new camp supervisor—who increasingly endangers the lives of the loggers for profit—arrives, he is less accepting of Bruno. When the supervisor is found dead, Bruno is blamed, and soon after is kidnapped and sold to an animal trader. Pearly, now a teenager, has no choice but to find Bruno and sets off on a hazardous solo journey through the forest—her first trip to “the Outside”—to rescue him.

To make her way home again, Pearly will have to tramp more than fifty miles through ice and snow, elude the malevolent spirit of Jack in the Dark and confront the modern-day cruelty of villagers fearful of her family’s way of life. Over those harrowing miles, Pearly will discover what it really means to be family to a bear.

I loved the relationship between Pearly and Bruno, but sometimes the story seemed to meander. But the writing was poetic in its description of their love; it’s the heart of the story.

I think I enjoyed the first part of the book the best, though always in the back of my mine was dreading the kidnapping of Bruno. How will it be done? How will Pearly get him back? Pearly will do anything to get Bruno back, and pretty much does.

Because the only world she’s ever known is the logging camp where she and her family live, her journey away from it is probably more dangerous than for someone who knows the way. It’s just another example of what she will do to get her “brother” back.

Based on a photograph taken in 1903 of a woman nursing her newborn daughter alongside an orphan bear cub.

( Mount TBR 2025 Book Links 1-25 )

26. Lost and Found by Marilyn Harris
27. Strange Weather: Four Short Novels by Joe Hill
28. Three Wild Dogs by Markus Zusak
29. Full Throttle by Joe Hill
30. Lost in a Good Book (Thursday Next #2) by Jasper Fforde
31. Elder Race by Adrian Tchaikovsky
32. Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King
33. Pearly Everlasting by Tammy Armstrong

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