This is a story that is geographically within striking distance of me though not local by any stretch. It.hits.home.hard. https://www.abc12.com/news/as-the-war-continues-saginaw-township-family-worries-about-relatives-in-ukraine/article_34305142-9688-11ec-9f34-9fb783be6f9b.html

Oh yes. That is exactly what everyone else is going to do. And then Moldova, and wringing hands, and "Not in NATO" excuses. And then Finland, and then Sweden same old same old. Evil proliferates when people decide that other people's lives are totally expendable so long as the problem doesn't affect me personally. Zelensky, who is Jewish, appealed to Israel for military assistance. They were given the politically correct equivalent of, "Sucks to be you". 400,000 Jews in Ukraine. Does anyone think that they are going to fair well under Russian occupation led by a Hitler wannabe? I think not. Because if his oligarchs, if his military, cared, they would have done something before now. They don't care who starves in Russia. He is still selling oil, and he still has China as an ally. This is not " doing something" in the grand scheme of things. Meanwhile, Ukrainians die and lose their country. We sanctioned the crap out of Russia in 2014 after the annexation of Crimea. The ruble lost 50% of it's value. They already have a Great Depression going on, and that didn't move the needle. It didn't stop this. China is still going to let him access funds through transactions with them. How many failed attempts on Hitler's life? Again, everyone seems to act like he and his cronies will react to pain the same way we do. They don't whimper, and back down. They think like rabid dogs. So for those who are just so convinced that if we let him have Ukraine, he will be happy and never push his little nuclear button, I want to ask, where does that end? He takes Moldova? We wring our hands and do nothing. He takes Finland and Sweden we do nothing. Do we let him have Denmark and Norway? Poland? Hungary? Slovakia? There is literally zero reason to believe he stops with Ukraine. How much appeasement for fear of nuclear war is there? I am just wondering. I am scared of nuclear war. I am more scared of witnessing Hitler 2.0 rise to power, and letting it happen. I don't believe for an instance anyone in Russia is going to successfully assassinate him. I would have a party, lots of chocolate and champagne if they did. Note I am not running out for supplies.

Russia won't go back to "normal". This is the beginning of a larger vision of his. I don't think he stops at Ukraine. All the pearl clutching and naval gazing, "But they aren't in NATO so we can't engage" crap is no different than Germany annexing Sudetenland, and everyone just wringing their hands and letting it happen. And then it was Poland, and then..... Just a reminder that Russia has always wanted Finland, and they are not in NATO nor is Sweden. So because the world cannot learn from history, the only consideration becomes nukes. "But what about nukes?" Look, if the man wants to use nukes, nothing we do or do not do is going to stop him from using them. Staying out of it, and laying low will not prevent us from being nuked. Don't expect Caligula to think rationally. Putin is an existential threat to ALL the people of Europe. Letting him genocide Ukrainians won't stop him from lobbing nukes into Europe or marching armies of darkness over the continent and eventually parking nuclear subs on the east coast of the US, just daring us to flinch. I do not believe strangling their money will work. It requires him to care about something besides his own maniacal plans. If his oligarchs and military leaders actually possessed spines, they would have done something about him before now.

😂😂😂😂😂😂

I am so glad to hear this report! Go mom!!!

Michigan dropped to an average 620 cases per day for the last three days.

I am so sorry everyone! This is heart breaking. Please stay safe. 2022 sucks eggs so far. I wish you all the very, very best.

Can I just say that I defy any ruskie tank convoy to try to take Detroit during rush hour? I mean seriousLy, I want them to try to navigate I-75 at 5 pm with thousands of cars all doing 90mph, and at least three corvettes doing 100+ and swerving in and out of traffic like the Joker bought himself a sports car in Gotham! I envision tank drivers in tears, and begging the Kremlin to let them come home. There is no accounting for the crazy of a half million people all determined to assault the same highway simultaneously with the expectation of driving twenty miles in fives minutes flat!

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Michigan went back up from around 1200 cases per day, to 2000 at the end of the week. But, from what local HCW's are saying, they think was a clearing out of a back log of tests, and that we will be back down by the end of the week. I hope they are right. Spring break is right around the corner for numerous Michigan universities. Chances of students staying home and not taking covid back to campus? Probably not good, although my collegian says he knows no one who has any significant spring break plans. Many of them are seniors and will be returning for a grueling last seven weeks of school, and want to do nothing but eat home cooked meals and sleep! Fingers crossed....I am hoping they don't muck it up and end up with in person commencement canceled!

No joke! "Turn left at the Buetow barn that burned down a spell back" is a set of legitimate directions here.

I have a relative - retired military - who left yesterday. I am not willing to say where or how he will arrive in country though I do know the basics of his itinerary. His wife is of Ukrainian heritage. Though a 2nd generation US citizen, there are relatives there.

I hope that goes okay, and everyone is safe!

LOLx I was just wondering if we could hack their p.a. systems and broadcast Copacabana, It's a Small World After All, Let it Go, and The I Love You Barney theme song in a 24/7 loop. I mean, I know it is a form a torture and might be against the Geneva Convention but desperate times call for desperate measures!

Anyway, we may as well drop the topic. I don't see the point of continuing.

My raised beds are 36" off the ground. Not sharing ground with the lawn probably helps.

Agreed.

Yes, because so literally do nothing. I stick them in the raised bed, and the hose is on a timer if the need arises. I am a plant killer so I don't spend much time with them. Plants tend to die in my presence. The raised beds took an hour to make out of free oak palettes and we made them years ago. I don't get weeds because of an old roll of weed barrier fabric my dad had. We lined the beds with those. Total investment a long time ago was about $40 in soil and compost. But I do live in an agricultural community where I can get a load of soil cheap or whatever. For us, and I am not saying this is true of everyone, it was inexpensive.

Actually, last season I totaled the amount spent on the garden (of course my start up costs were absorbed through previous seasons) vs the cost of buying all of the produce we did eat from it, and I came out ahead. Eggplant here was $3 each, and I grew them for less than $1 each. We are still eating dehydrated grape tomatoes on our salads and having them in stews. A pint of grape tomatoes in winter here can top $3. I bought my seedling/plants for $1.50 each and each one produced four or five pints of grape tomatoes. We do live on a well so I didn't have a water bill for irrigating during the dry spell. My original grape vine start cost me $3.00 five years ago. I have done exactly nothing to encourage it to live. Last summer I harvested 8 lbs. The cheapest Thompson seedless grapes are sold in supermarkets here is $2 per lb. It had paid for itself and keeps giving. I have the money to buy these things in the store. So technically it isn't "helping me feed my family". However, it did save money, and it was better for the environment than buying trucked in from California, Mexico, and Costa Rica produce. So in some cases it can make a dent in a food bill. The community city garden that the UMC created with cheap seeds from TSC produced hundreds of pounds of vegetables for the community at less than $100 investment. But, to be fair, that one had good soil to begin with, and a farmer who gave composted manure as a donation. It was quite prolific. At one point, families coming to the food bank could take very large boxes of produce home that were otherwise unavailable because there wasn't donation money available to buy it at the supermarket or gamer's market. It isn't for everyone. And as a I said above, I have family members who are about to be deployed over this invasion so my thoughts are jumbled by emotion and feeling helpless beyond making monetary donations that if super lucky, might actually do some good for Ukrainians IF the aid can be gotten to them.

I am worried too. Glad to hear from you, Chooky! 💓💓💓

Where I think it is beneficial is if grain prices rise because of exporting food to make up for potential fall off of Russian and Ukraine exports to those nations. We won't have food shortages here, but probably more price hikes. That always affects our own working poor. Having produce to share or simply to help offset the grocery bill might be preferable. I would like to have more to give to our local food pantry and especially in light of the fact that we could see even more price increases due to this. We have already seen another shocking price increase in fuel. Nearly 50 cents a gallon in the last four days. That is going to cause shipping prices to go up. And when cost rises at the grocerys store, donations go down at the food pantry. But I also do not have any faith that the war in Ukraine will be over before planting time, and then the potential of this being used to raise food prices worldwide to a level that leaves even more people hungry. I would love for surplus and bumper crops from the US to be given, just out and out given, to North African nations, as well as nations such as Yemen. I am sure the US will demand payment however because money is all anyone cares about anymore. Mostly I wish there was something simple but meaningful that could be an impetus to get the nation less divided, but that is probably a total pipe dream. I am rambling, and mostly because one nephew is talking about finding a way to volunteer to fight in Ukraine, and another is being sent to Europe, and so it hits extra close to home, and my brain wanders.

We have so many deer/car accidents here. It is a huge problem! Motorcycle deer accidents are nearly always fatal so it makes me nervous whenever I see people road biking it through our rural area at night.

Three weeks! That is sad. Would have been nice if he could have just stopped permanently. My brother is too self absorbed now to even make the effort to continue to try with me which is very nice.

LOL, my sentiments exactly. Any plant that thrives in criminal neglect, is the plant for me!!

The deer population is really bad here and when the herds get too big, they become diseased, and that spread from the deer to the cows. Our state is actually begging for more hunters. But fewer and fewer people hunt, and the natural predator that used to keep them from becoming overpopulated, the wolf, hasn't been on the loose here in well, forever or at least a REALLY long time. The Oscoda County herd is probably going to have to be put down by the DNR in conjunction with hunters. I don't think any of them will be edible due to bovine tuberculosis. If your garden area gets really, really dark at night, something that has been known to work a little bit is to have the menfolk of the household "water the garden" if you get my drift. Apparently, that human scent may be a bit off putting to them. Squirrels are just frustrating. Yay for your mustard greens!