Tiggy, I hope you are feeling better today. My headache is not as strong. Mark could bot get the air filter unit working again, but the window air unit in our bedroom has a setting for just circulating air without cooling, and that runs the air through the filter, so I have it on and am hiding in there. At some point I need to do the things, but would rather ignore the things, and stay in the filtered air. It is not quite so yellow looking outside, but I can still see ash falling sometimes. We are under a red flag warning both for dangerous air and fire. The air quality ones lasts until midnight tomorrow (Sat. Morning) unless they extend it. The fire warning will continue for who knows how long. No rain since May 7, and the 10 day forecast does not look promising. I got after my mom yesterday. She made a pie for us and then decided to WALK the two blocks to here WITHOUT a mask. Why do my elderly mother and mother in law feel the need to make my head explode on a regular basis?????? 😠 I kept my emotions under control, and handed her a mask, and said I would drive her home, and she got pissy with me. 🙄 So I said that if she really wanted to walk, fine. But if she ended up with breathing trouble, she needed to call 911 and take the ambulance to the ER because I was busy. Then she most me drive her home. I hate being the bad guy. They seem to relish forcing me into that role. School is out, got done last week because they didn't make up snow days. The teachers are still supposed to be there working, but the district page indicated they told the staff and faculty yesterday and today to stay home, and I suspect it will be the same tomorrow. Anyway, I hope everyone is safe and stays that way!

G.R.O.A.N.

I agree. I said it makes me FEEL better, proactive. It isn't actually increasing the odds on safety unless one does avoid population centers, and gatherings of humans.

It is getting worse. Our skies were slightly blue but very hazy this morning. They are now yellow and the haze is worse. I have to take Lewis out in half an hour because he is refusing to use the puppy pad. My poor dog. I can't think of any way to mask him and get him agreeable to wear it. My brother, unfortunately a bit of an idiot who follows his wife's crazy alternative "science", is out there with no mask loading stuff into his van. He had had a heart attack, a stroke, and has allergies. But his wife is convinced that oxygen can't pass through a mask 🙄🙄🙄😠😠😠, so he is without. I swear there are days I could just scream about their delusions. I made a rather stout Mexican Gumbo for supper in the hopes of opening up my sinuses with the spicy heat.

Same. I think where I fall is that of caution. We can't utterly avoid population. But, we are carving out a life, until things change, that avoids things like Wal-Mart, malls, churches, schools, and just limiting our forays into crowded areas, and shopping at low population hours. It doesn't mean we won't experience a shooting. But it makes us feel better to be a bit more people skittish. I am good with all of our hiking, kayaking, sailing, lake swimming, not eating out, grocery shopping in larger amounts so we run to the store less. We both want to renew our classical series membership for the DSO. Classical music is of course my first passion. But, heading into Detroit at night, and congregating with several hundred people for a concert feels like a truly stupid thing to do, and I HATE that feeling. I shouldn't have to think about being maimed or dying just from choosing to go listen to Mahler, and I should be able to support the orchestra without fear! Yet, the powers that be do not give a damn. Governor Whitmer is trying, but I am almost certain the new Red Flag law won't stand supreme court muster given who sits on that bench. Sigh. And of course it takes a long time for an entrenched society to change egocentric when laws are enacted so we are talking about no changes bringing about substantial improvement for several years. Ugh. I am trying to get our bachelor sons to change their shopping habits. They love to walk, and the Meijer near their apartment is just two blocks away. So they often walk to do their grocery shopping, and just take their wagon for hauling stuff. But that place is a madhouse and a prime target for someone wanting to inflict maximum damage. I would rather they drive go Aldi because it never has more than ten or twelve shoppers at a time. Not that this is a guarantee. It just FEELS better to me.

My son in law has asthma, so I worry about him. They put an air purifier in his office, and have the air on so hopefully staying inside will work for him.

Oh, thanks! I had no idea. They don't need to be watered, but I could have Mark put our outside hose on mist, and just use that for a rinse without overwatering them.

I would consider wearing a cloth mask indoors, and a N95/KN95 outdoors. I just went outside with the dog - we live 3 miles west of the "air quality is bad for everyone" warning, inside the "warning for sensitive groups, stay indoors", and frankly, they need to move the very bad warning west to us. I was out five minutes, and didn't realize how bad it was so I did not have a mask on. I now have a near migraine, I am blowing my nose constantly and what is coming out is kind of scary given how little time I spent out, and my eyes are watering. I even feel a little off in my breathing. It feels like when I am super anemic, like not enough oxygen circulating. I am putting down a puppy pad for Lewis and giving him permission to use it this afternoon so I do not have to take him out again. We do not have an air purifier, but we have the air conditioning, and there is a mode for not cooling, but circulating air and running it through the filter so I am turning it on. It is only 72°F out, so it would normally be a day I would putter around in the garden and take a long walk with Lewis. Ugh. So ya. If you can't purify the air, consider masking.

Y'all, I am a total sap! I took the dog out for a walk, circled past the bed, and petted the pea pods! I am nuts. But it is the first harvest from my garden, and I am just over the moon. I then went to tell my broccoli plants that they were very good girls, and admonished a couple of saggy tomato plants - very green, but somehow not winding around their tomato cages and holding themselves up. Stupid tomatoes. Buck up, jerks! Sigh. I need to go use some string and tie them up. But the air quality is so bad. We are 3 miles inside the official warning of "bad for sensitive groups" and then it goes to "bad for everyone". I am having constant headaches, runny noses, and watery eyes. The air purifier conked out. Chances are Mark can figure out why when he gets home. But right now, it is not an option for me to go work in the garden. By the time I got back inside with Lewis, I was not feeling good. I think that I may put down a pee pad for him this afternoon and give him permission to use it. The air can't be good for him either. Supposedly, it is supposed to improve a lot tonight so I am going to wait until dusk to try to work with those disobedient tomatoes.

Throw.the.book. Every possible charge. Of course a white judge is likely to let her serve them concurrently instead of consecutively. This crappy "reduction" in time served is often conferred upon white defendants while p.o.c. get slammed with consecutive sentences, and it just p!sses me off which is just an understatement of the rage I feel!! I want this woman to just rot in prison.

We have three snow peas ready to harvest! I am so excited that I have planned an entire stir fry around the peas! 😂

Obey the doctor and heal up! The Hive is watching you. 👀😁

That couple was not legally married. It is a complicated story. They called each other hubby and wife, very committed, but didn't have a filed marriage license so were technically fiance's. Sometimex when I was typing fast, I probably used husband/wife or fiance interchangeably without thinking about that being confusing for the hive. This is our honorary daughter. Our son, in red, is honorary daughter's best friend, and was the man of honor since she did not have female friends for bridesmaids. The groom is in the informal shot, just the two of them in front of the arbor. Many of my pics of the two of them had one or both of his nieces in them, and I would never publish a picture of a child without parental permission. Yes, the bride is in teal blue, and appears in the photo with my husband, tall guy white shirt black tie. Yes, they lost their baby in April.

This is really cute and festive!

Die evil bastards! Die! 💀 I have no patience for those things.

You are my sister! These conversations, we have had them before! 😂😂😂😂😂

I DID A THING!!! My carrots were big enough to thin. I felt really sad about doing it, but I did it. I might actually harvest carrots some day. The fertilizer must have worked! The tomatoes have recovered and are growing rapidly. I ran around finding sticks to create supports. Mark's mom has tomato cages she isn't using, so he is bringing them home. Of my twelve broccoli plants, eight have started making a baby head, and the other four are definitely on the cusp. The peas are full of blossoms now. I am very, very happy about that. I thinned the radishes, but only ten seeds terminated so we now only have five potential radishes. I am going to seed again and see if I can get more. The very stressed basil has bounced back. I also need to harvest basil on the inside houseplants and dehydrate the leaves. I am excited to have homegrown basil to share with my adult kids. the chili peppers refuse to grow. I am really mad at them. Stupid things. All they want to do is produce a million blooms on their tiny, ridiculously fragile bodies. Stupid plants! The bell peppers are finally putting on height. Celery looks good. Cucumbers, especially my home sprouted one, are starting to grow nicely. I am just thrilled! I did not give this garden a whole lot of hope after that frost while we were gone, and then the PH of the soil being so far off plus the high clay content. That moisture/PH meter Mark bought has been the hero. It allowed us to figure out exactly what to give the plants, when and how much water to give. I have been seeing broadway tunes to them, but I am guessing that "Think of Me" and "Memories" is not really the cause of this improvement. 😁

So cute!

Oh my gosh!!! That is so like my geek fest family! 😁😅

They are doing well. Better than I would be. But the hospital has professional grief therapists for the Maternity, NICU, and pediatric wards departments. It is free because a wealthy person in the community who lost a child is currently paying for it. No idea how long this person will do that. But it is a lovely thing. I am just amazed at how much that counseling is helping them. We had a special thing at the ceremony to represent baby A, but we kept it low key because it was important to focus on the joy and moving forward. Definitely there is pain, but they are moving through it better than I thought they would. I am very proud of my kids!

Yes. We should band together and have a hive, safety community where people can knock on each other's doors and share a cup of tea, ride bikes, admire gardens, share fruit trees, enjoy the neighborhood free of fear. I would love that. And all our grandkids can run feral and play because they don't have to worry about being snatched, preyed on, or shot by the crazy loon down the street. Boy, I would love that!!

What a truly bizarre world we are in now! And ya, bwahahahahahaha, sure the police will respond to, 'The neighbor took our tablet" call. Dry that out, you can fertilize the garden with it.

Jealous. We aren't going to be able to do Isle Royale for couple of years. We hope to kayak in Voyage its NP in summer 2025, and then on the way home, stop at Grand Portage, and do some kayaking for a day.

Thanks! I had a wonderful time. No stress at all. Well, maybe until that moment when I realized that neither of my bachelor sons keep dress socks in the house, and their dress shoes were too tight for their thick, black sports socks which necessitated a run to Kohls, thankfully only two miles away from their apartment, for socks while the youngest, just home from work early to get ready, was showering. But that was it. Otherwise, easy peasy, and lots of happiness and laughter.

😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 That precious baby! Every day it gets worse and worse trying to come with the will to stay in the country. The thing is. We could go live in Costa Rica or Belize, easily. But, it means abandoning what is now 11 adult children (four biological, two by marriage, two "adopted" honorary and their spouses, and what appears 3 new young adults without family who have newly adopted us as parents) plus 3 grandsons to this horror show because they can't get out, and we are not willing to leave them. I really am getting good with a more hermit lifestyle. Just gather my chickadees, enjoy nature, garden, hike, kayak, camp, sail, and shun society. We are voting exclusively by mail now because the NRA nutters are now engaging in voter intimidation in our county and no one will do anything about it. Apart from a once a month foray into a supermarket, and some occasional trips to the AutoZone and our tire place, since we have a drive through pharmacy, I could really manage a homestead lifestyle, and that is beginning to look very appealing. I just want to hug this family. So much unnecessary, criminal heartbreak, and a baby gone. Whoever the monster is that did it, I hope he/she rots in prison in a metaphorical hell of his/her own making.