2024

Not as hot today, to be 82° (28°C). A bit of breeze feels nice too, and it's moving the clouds around.

... I used to have Asters in my Garden plot. And then I had Oregon Sunshine. Maybe I should go for some Asters again next year?

And a wander thru the Community Garden.

Okay, here I am at my plot. Maybe I'll run the hoe today... there's a bit of grass coming up in the main pathway. Can't have that. *rolls eyes*

There's not as many Wax Beans to pick today, thank goodness! *laughs* I've frozen two batches now, and still have loads more in the fridge that I need to do! So tired of Wax Beans!

And the Black Tomatoes!!

Oh! My new Hummingbird companion!

He's easily distracted, tho!

The volunteer Sunflower in the Tofu Patch makes me happy... Loads of blooms, tho they are all pretty small.

Back at home, I'm eating the first Black Tomato!!

hmmm. It's fine. Just kind of a standard tomato taste. It's good, but nothing special.

And while I'm here with the camera, this is the state of the potted Pansies.

Still sprawling!

Cloudy and nice today.

ha, this amuses me... Someone's Squash plant is escaping the Community Garden!

But today I'm walking on past the Garden! I'll still have to water the new Seascape Strawberries, and gather the harvest. But since I won't have to water all the plants, I've got a bit of extra time. And I'm walking!

The Willow tree that lost it's huge limb in the January ice storm.

It's so beautiful, I'm glad they saved it.

Oh, awesome! A Green Heron!

My Dad doesn't think she looks very green and maybe we should call this one Little Blue Heron... There is a Little Blue Heron who lives on the eastern side of the US and down thru Mexico and South America. They are incredibly beautiful as well: Little Blue Heron.

On my way back to the garden, a guy on a bike stops to chat. We run into each other on a regular basis, and it turns out we live in the same apartment complex! ha!

I should have asked his apartment number so I can give him some Wax Beans and Zucchini! Bahaha!

The Sunflower in the Tofu Patch has a bloom that says 4 O'Clock! Haha... the petals in the 4 o'clock positions are darker!

A Scrub Jay goes after some sunflower seeds!

One of the stunted volunteer Sunflowers at the front of the plot, getting ready to bloom a lot!

And a House Finch, eating Hawthorn pomes, right outside the Garden.

There's some cute little clouds at the horizon, but they are burning off, even as I watch!

It's mild again today, but the forecast says 90s thru to the weekend. Peaking at 99° (37°C) on Thursday. Ugh.

There's lots of little Zucchinis coming on to all three plants! I give them all extra water!

The plants that I never water, tho? The Sunchokes! Those things are tough as nails! (The tall plant behind the Tofu Patch Sunflower.)

That one, unfortunately, is right on the border with the left side neighbor... the plot that got vandalized. I might have new neighbors there next year, so I should probably dig that one up as much as I can over the winter. We really shouldn't have tall things growing at the border of the plots, and it annoys me when other people do it!

Fortunately, there's a second, smaller Sunchoke growing at the corner of the front garden square. I had planted that one, and it's a much better spot for a tall plant, but thought the slugs had killed it. It's growing, but got a late start. We'll see how it goes!

At home I boiled and bagged / froze my third round of wax beans... I had forgotten how quickly Wax Beans go bad in the fridge! I need to start freezing some more!

I think I have a technique down.

I rinse and cut Wax Beans, but don't fill the pan quite as full... that one day of 88 beans was too much! One flat spoon of salt, 3 cups water, and 26min at 90%.

Dump the water, let it cool down, then bag up and into the freezer.

That will be good food for my Casserole Bowls or some soups or even just eating straight up... I'm sick of eating Wax Beans right now, but these will be great again in the winter!

The new Seascape Strawberries seem to be doing well and greening up... tho I'm not sure about that one smaller clump on the left.

And the previously established Strawberries are happy with the extra watering too.

The volunteer Sunflower at the edge of the Wax Bean trellis...

I think that's the tallest Sunflower I've had in the plot for a long time! It's probably almost 8feet!

Heading home.

Oh hey! It's the new Heron, No Patches!

Ha, poor thing has a terrible name... But if she'd show up more often, I would have more time to think up a nicer name! :)

Cloudy and mild this morning, tho the forecast says 94° today. The clouds burn off but the remaining haze keeps the high temperature to 91° (33°C).

Oh boy. It's going to be one of Those days.

Well, great. Maybe I will look at plants instead!

This is an interesting thing! A Purple Shamrock from South America...

A pretty shade of Glads.

And some Penstemons hanging out with the tomatoes!

And here's my beautiful volunteer Sunflower in the Tofu Patch.

That Honey Bee gives you an idea about how small the blooms are! Cute lil bee!

I know, I'm obsessing about the stupid strawberries. But I have to water them so much to get to this level of coming back to life! ha.

Tomatillos!

I am wandering around in the Community Garden again... It's so nice when I'm the only human here!

Okay! Finally the camera is going to be agreeable to the birds! Yay!

That little wing motion means this is a fledgling.

Oh my gosh! Here's one of the parents!!

Oh Wow!

Oh Bleh! Slimy!! Haha!!!

Well that was awesome!

I head home, but decide to walk a loop around the park...

Oh my gosh! The artist came back to repaint this Little Free Panty!

Thank goodness. Remember that green monstrosity? I mean, it was art... but this? This is ART! *laughs*

And then at home... Mr Unnamed!

To be 99° (37°C) today and there's a excessive heat warning thru to tomorrow night. So I'm off to the garden to water like crazy!

But because we had most of two weeks with unusually cool weather in August... including a couple very chilly nights... Ugh. Well, parts of the garden are quite done for.

The Lemon Cucumber are dead. And the Brandywine is dead...

The stems are still green, so the remaining tomatoes should ripen up. But the leaves are all dead, so there won't be any more tomatoes coming on.

sighs. But lets look at it a different way:

*laughing* at my own joke!!

Well, I'm happy to have gotten a few Brandywines this year. After all, some years I get zero!

And, anyway... I've got two other plants supplying me with big tomatoes! The Old German is SOOO good... fruity and light, no acid at all. Very tasty and unique. Def growing this one again!

And the Black Tomatoes are good, normal tasting tomatoes.

Altho... now that I'm looking at them, the Old German and the Black Tomato seem to have a bunch of dying leaves as well. foo. Stupid climate change weather, anyway.

The Sungold is still fine, of course. It's a good tough plant. But I've not been eating any, lately. The cool weather took the sweetness away, and they just don't taste good. meh.

Since I'm still obsessing about the new Seascape Strawberries, here's a different view from the back, with the happy, established strawberry plants front and center. I should look up to see what type of strawberries they are.

oh, haha! There's a couple volunteer squashes coming out of the compost I dumped! Too funny!

And all the plants in the Squash Square are doing well except the Crookneck... I probably should have cleared that Smartweed out. Oh well, it's pretty and makes the bees happy!

So I Thought the Buckwheat seeds would be eaten by the birds. But I'm seeing several stems chopped off...

I'm thinking a squirrel nipped off the whole seed head, and took it away to eat or bury somewhere! Haha! I'm happy to supply anyone's winter meals!

And for my meals:

Yep, I'm freezing another batch of Wax Beans at home today!

And then, the Zucchinis in the Supplementary Squash Square... You can see the Yellow Zuc on the right is losing some leaves. That's from the Squash Beetles.

The Squash Beetles attacked the big Green Zuc on the left, too, but it's perfectly fine. And production here hasn't been affected at all here, tho the Crookneck in the Squash Square is half murdered. So that's a bummer.

But, if I just step back a few steps... the happy flowers cover up all that!

The cute little -- well, stunted, heh -- volunteer sunflowers!

This one is really gearing up!

Home, and here's Mr Unnamed!

It's nice that he's more willing to sit for some photography!

Good Morning My Dear.

Bleh, it's 70° (21°C) already when I leave the house this morning, to be 93° (34°C) today. But I guess we survived the 99° of yesterday... and there's some cooler temperatures in the forecast again, next week to look forward to.

The haze is pretty bad, again today.

This cute lil Downy Woodpecker - heh, molting! - did not stick around for photography.

The Goldfinches are fun to watch too. These are American Goldfinches, who have migrated in for the winter.

And some House Finches make an appearance.

The funny Spaghetti Squash x Delicata Hybrid... Stripetti!

Tomatillo.

The Pot People neighbors have a flower explosion.

And a bunch of their stuff is leaning into my plot. It annoys me when I walk on that side... even tho I love their Sunflowers and Cosmos!

And Zinnias!

Cute Spider sitting on a Calendula. And that red-violet thing is Amaranth.

A Buckwheat seed head.

Partner got a call from our mechanics this afternoon.

The car broke down almost a month ago, and I don't know what the heck they've been doing with it all this time!

But, whatever! They've re-wired the ignition sensor, so it only cost 260$ instead of 700$.

That's still an expensive proposition, seeing how we paid the 700$ just three months ago. But it is convenient to have a car.

Another hot day, to be 91° (33°C) and the haze is still bad.

*laughs* Wouldn't stay still for me!

Everyone is busy eating!

Nom-nom-nom!

Okay! I think we can all agree the Goldfinches are super cute! Moving on!

Here I am at my plot. The stunted volunteer Sunflowers in the front are blooming more and more every day! And the Giant Marigolds have been steadily producing flowers!

Today I'm going to pull out some of the Borage behind the Zucchinis. It reminds me of why I love Borage so much... hardly any weeds or grass can grow up between all the Borage leaves, and it's so easy to clear out!

I thought I might plant some Fava there, for winter cover crop... but when I got done, I realized the clear spot gave me easier access to the volunteer Tomatillo at the back of the Tofu Patch.

The volunteer squashes coming out of the compost I dumped here... amuse me. In the spring, I have such a hard time getting the squash plants to live thru the hungry slugs. But these are growing, unaccosted!

The new Seascape Strawberries.

The Crookneck was mostly killed by Squash Beetles... but it's going to try to live some more!

Ha! Almost a rainbow of harvest today!

I ran out of time to gather Wax Beans. At home today, I'm boiling and freezing yet another batch!

Oh my gosh! A White Crown Sparrow! First of the season! How was Canada, My Dear?

If I could paint, I would perfect this scene! *laughs*

As much as my right side, Pot People neighbors have irritated me this year... Their flower explosion is quite lovely!

Yay! I Will have some Tomatillos!

All the volunteer Tomatillo plants got a late start, and I wasn't sure if they would live long enough for fruits!

When they first break open their husks, they are still pretty green -- ha! They stay that colour! what I mean is Unripe! So I usually wait for them to fall off the plant before I harvest them.

This is one of the stunted Sunflowers in the front of the plot... I had to crouch down on the ground to get this shot! Haha!

The Sungold plants are loaded with fruits... But since they lost their sweetness after the Climate Change cool weather of August, they just don't taste good. I haven't been picking any.

The amusing volunteer squash seedlings, growing out of the compost! I wonder what they are! Zuc? Crookneck? Straightneck? Probably not Patty Pan. But who knows!! *laughs*

And I think these are carrots growing from the compost, too. I don't grow carrots, but we eat them pretty regularly... I'm sure this is just some carrot tops, coming back to life!

Okay. Let's get outta here. But first, more from the flower explosion!

I can never remember this butterfly's name: Hydaspe Fritillary.

What kind of word is Hydaspe, anyway?

(asking the internets...)

Oh! huh!

∞ Hydaspes
(Greek mythology) A god associated with the river.

Well, then! Maybe that will help me remember the word!

But then! Rummaging around the internets... we've got a bunch of different Fritillaries.

∞ Brushfoot Butterflies of Oregon

Thick clouds this morning, instead of the usual haze. But the clouds clear out before too long and the day gets to be 88°, after a string of days in the 90s. Normal for this time of year is 80°.

This Goldfinch is eating Chicory seeds...

But what is this interesting plant?

It looks like the Goldfinches really like whatever it is. I want it for my own plot!

Meantime, everyone else is eating Sunflower seeds!

*laughs*

Okay. Here I am at my garden plot... and here's the front right, which I haven't been showing lately.

After all, the Marigolds and stunted Sunflowers you see in the top left are a much happier entrance to the plot. This is just the dead Lemon Cucumbers and all the Borage and Amaranth I've let grow for the bugs and birds!

I'm not doing much... but there's some Bermuda Grass reaching in from the pathway that's got to go. A bit of Crab Grass as well.

Ha. I've learned the names of those different grasses, but I don't know what the regular grass is, that I'm always pulling out, with the white roots. Quack Grass, maybe?

Corner done!

I also cleared the right side border... not easy since the stupid Pot People have lined the edge of their plot with big plants that are getting in my way:

damn them.

But I also discovered that the Aubergine has fallen over, because it's fruits are so heavy. Ha.

With the weeding and the watering, I don't have time to pick much today.

But I am easily distracted. The Leeks are so pretty!

And the Soybeans are ridiculously stunted, but they are making some pods anyway!

They should be 3 or 4 feet tall, you know, a meter or more! But here they are, barely 1foot! ha, poor things!

Oh well.

We've got 100% rain tomorrow, and I've decided to not water today at the garden. I still need to go get the day's harvest, but I'm going for a good Walk first!

I'm walking thru the neighborhoods, kind of zig zagging across the bike path. Seeing new things!

This is a city park called Gudu-Kut Natural Area...

It must be a wet prairie because Gudu-Kut is a Kalapuya word for Frog! The city website says this natural area is home to the Pacific Chorus Frog. The creek runs at the back of the park, and the bike path is on the other side... So I never even knew this place existed!

One of my zigs takes me over a bridge that I would normally be walking under.

Haha!!

I walk a little bit further... and some flying and motion on the ground catches my attention...

Some Yellow Jackets are taking down some prey!

Adult Yellow Jackets are vegetarian. They only eat nectar.

But their babies need meat to eat! So Yellow Jackets bring them bugs or whatever.

And that's why they show up at your picnic... it's perfect for them! The adults sip at your coke, and then cut off a bit of your burger or hot dog to bring home to the kids!

Ha!

At first I can only see that the prey is a dark colour and I think they've gotten a Roly Poly.

But no! Oh my gosh, they're taking down a Devil's Coach Horse!!

Wow! This is so amazing! The Coach Horse has been subdued and other Yellow Jackets move in.

I am being watched! Both from the ground...

And by others, flying around.

But they understand that I am being utterly respectful.

I love Yellow Jackets. They are awesome little creatures!

Well. I leave them to it, and head back to the garden.

And I've decided to water the new Seascape Strawberries, after all!

The volunteer Squash seedlings coming out of the compost! I watered them too!

And then I gather the veggies! All the tomatoes today are Black Toms.

And, yeah. Those are some dried up Elephant Garlics!

I accidentally brushed by the clump, and they just pulled out of the ground! ha, okay.

You've got a peanut in the shell? Haha, are you going to bury it in the Community Garden?

So the debate tonight is between Harris and Felon #45...

*giggles* Oh how the tide has turned!

Mr Unnamed...

It rained from about 3am to 6am. Maybe. I wasn't very awake. heh.

I'm wearing my rain jacket for my walk today. Mostly because it's chilly and I hoped I wouldn't need it for actual rain.

Spoiler: I got poured on! haha!

I walked on past the garden. I kept seeing wildlife... But with the clouds and the dreary and everybody is just a bit too far away anyway. Well. Blurry, blurry photos!

Well. Never mind!

Here's a cute and clueless fledgling!

I love seeing all the fledglings this time of year!

And just after my turn around point is when the rain starts pouring down! The ducks are happy, I suppose.

A couple of the males are still in eclipse plumage! The duck on the far left is a male, as well the middle Mallard on the water. And, of course, the duck at the bottom is close to his normal plumage.

The rain is still heavy when I reach the Community Garden.

But the front left of the plot is as cheerful as ever!

I don't think I've EVER gathered zucs and tomatoes in the pouring rain! Our rainy season doesn't start until October, so all of these rain showers we've gotten in the last month or so, are highly unusual! Climate Change.

On my way out, I crouch down to get the full effect from the Stunted Sunflowers!

Okay. As I said! The tide has turned.

I didn't actually watch the debate with Harris and Felon 45 last night... I think the previous debate with Biden kind of traumatized me, and I was content to read about other people's reactions, after the fact!

And pretty much everyone's reactions are about the same!

∞ Kamala Harris absolutely killed it at the debate by Kos

∞ Days in politics don't get much better than this for Democrats by Mark Sumner

∞ Tonight was a victory for journalism and democracy. David Muir, Linsey Davis, thanks for your part. (About the real time, fact checking that happened.)

So this is great.

When Biden first dropped out, I felt betrayed. Biden was our nomination. The people nominated Biden!

And I didn't know much about Harris. But I've learned more. And her prosecuting attorney skills were out and shining for this debate.

And I'm excited. We are going to have our first woman president, and I almost have hope that the USA is going to continue get better now.

Yeah. Almost. Hope is a dangerous emotion... Especially for American politics.

We shouldn't get ahead of ourselves. Because there is a lot of MAGA evil to clear out. With Trump out of the picture, that will be easier, I think. But it won't be smooth sailing.

There's just all kinds of happy news today!

∞ Sarah McBride just won her primary and is likely to become the first trans member of Congress It was a landslide election, with McBride winning nearly 80% of the vote.

Wow! This is so cool and I'm so pleased!

I enjoyed her book Tomorrow Will Be Different. I read it a few years ago and it's stuck with me. So of course, I just love her! :)

AND THEN...

∞ Short, Paul going crazy that Tim Walz, future vice president... mentioned his books?

*laughs* Paul is so sweet! But I would assume everyone thinks of And Tango Makes Three, the very delightful banned book about a penguin family.

But it's true, Paul's book is about penguins as well!!

His book is a bit expensive, but you can watch him reading it here...

∞ The Pengrooms, Read Aloud by Paul Castle (and background music is played by his partner, Matthew!)

I am walking the zig-zag along the bike path again today, and I decide to walk around Gudu-Kut Natural Area. They have mowed a big swath around the edges, and I think I can just walk a U-shape around the park.

They've left the middle of the park in it's natural state. Since this is home to Pacific Chorus Frogs, it's undoubtedly wet prairie... and in the winter this will all be a big puddle or maybe even a pond. I will have to check it out!

I get to the back of the park and here's the creek... The bike path is on the other side, but when I see the fence I realize... That Willow tree in the photo above? Ha, I've been looking at it from the bike path for years! I never realized it was in a park!

It's good to get a different perspective sometimes!! :)

What a cool little natural area! And as I was walking back to the sidewalk, thru this mowed area... I heard a frog!!!

I get back around to the garden.

I'm gathering the days Wax Beans but the Zucs coming on are still on the small side, and I don't feel like messing with the tomatoes.

I notice the peppers in Kevin's plot. Aren't they pretty!!

I don't grow any kind of peppers, myself. I don't like them. And haha, I know! I'm a weird vegan who doesn't like peppers!

And the cute little volunteer Squash plants growing from the compost!

As I leave, I crouch down to show the stunted sunflowers to advantage! Barely a meter tall, but so many blooms!

At home, I'm assessing the veggie situation.

I've currently got 13 zucs... That's a lot, and I'm eating them like crazy. So far I haven't had to throw any out, except for the few that went bad in the fridge at the beginning of this adventure. I didn't realize how quickly the Yellow Zucchinis go bad in the fridge!

Since then, I'm storing all the summer squashes on the counter. They last a lot longer that way!

The tomatoes are a thing of beauty. *laughs*

The colour combinations with the big, orange Old Germans, and the darker Black Tomatoes, and the single red Brandywine. I don't know. It's just nice to look at! :)

It's so chilly this morning, I'm wearing my rain jacket for warmth. But the clouds are moving around and the sun will warm things up to 78° today.

Normal for this time of year is 79° (26°C) but the Autumn temperatures started a month ago, and I'm nostalgic for summer already.

The humidity is up tho... 93% and I'm happy to see some Roly Polies out. They have gills, so they can only walk free when the air is humid.

I am walking the Neighborhood Zig Zag again, looking at interesting things. This? I have no idea!

I go around the front of the Events Center...

That sign between the tree trunks says Dahlia Show This Weekend. Well, that sounds interesting! When I look it up online, the hours on Saturday are in the afternoon. But it opens at 10am on Sunday, and there's no entrance fee!

The wild Chicory still has a few blooms.

A Downy Woodpecker up in the dead Leaning Tree.

And who's this?

Oh cool! Juvenile White Crown Sparrow. A winter visitor, they are flying down from Canada!

The American Goldfinches are winter visitors as well, but they didn't have far to fly. Short distance migrant.

The Goldfinches are happily chowing down on Sunflower seeds!

In my garden plot, the volunteer Sunflower in the Tofu Patch is looking pathetic...

The branches are all drooping and Squirrels have taken the bigger flowers, for the seeds. Mostly just tiny blooms are left. That's fine, tho I do hope some seeds have gotten to the ground so another Sunflower grows next year!

A big branch from the bean trellis Tomatillo has also drooped to the ground. I should have put it in a tomato cage.

The new Seascape Strawberries are doing okay. That single leaf strawberry in the lower left has some kind of wood sorrel? growing with it and that makes me happy!

And the cute lil volunteer Squashes growing out of the compost.

I saved this clump of clover when I cleared out the Snap Pea Patch. It was shocked by the removal of all it's shade and sun protection, but has recovered nicely!

And I think that's a Carrot leaf, also growing from the compost!

To be continued!

Oh my gosh, too cute!

heh, overexposed. Let's see if I can get the camera settings corrected!

These are American Goldfinches munching on a Red Amaranth!

And the lovely Cosmos in the Pot People's flower explosion.

The Hollyhocks are drooped over, but still blooming!

On the walk home, I run into a flock of Bushtits. They bounce around way too fast, and the focus on the camera cannot keep up. But I decide to click a few times in their general direction!

Most of the photos look like this...

Bahaha! But it makes me appreciate the ... uh ... Less Imperfect pics!

They are on a Poison Hemlock plant... and definitely eating the seeds.

Stupid stick!

But dang, they are cute!

But... yeah.

I am walking the Neighborhood Zig Zag again today and here is the story of Death Wish Squirrel.

I needed to cross the street, but could see a car coming so I turned onto the sidewalk instead. Mr Death Wish Squirrel was just standing in the middle of the damn road. He was in the middle turn lane, but just sitting there.

And the car is getting closer, and I'm all, Dude! What are you doing?! And the car comes up, and they have slowed down a little, but I'm still frozen in terror!

The squirrel doesn't move from the turn lane and the car goes on by without squishing him dead!

Phew! I can breathe again!

And then the guy walking his long hair chihuahua on the other side of the street says, He's almost gotten run over TWICE.

And I'm all: Oh sheesh! He heard me talking to the wildlife!

Bahaha!

I walk around Gudu-Kut Natural Area again. I don't hear any frogs this time, but I do find this...

Ha, I think it's Basil! Never thought I'd see Basil in the wild!

I didn't attempt any Basil in my garden this year. The slugs like to munch the baby plants to death, and it's just really hard to keep alive in the spring. I should try planting it later!

I keep walking, out past the dead Leaning Tree.

And then I come back on the bike path... The cute little minnows are still hanging around in the creek near where the 2nd Barn Swallow family had their nest.

And then I'm back at the garden. Ha! I've walked 3½ miles just to get here!

The sunshine and blue sky makes everything look all cheerful.

But when I come around the corner... AWW, the end of the big Yellow Zucchini plant has wilted to death! WHY!

The dirt around it is not dry, so maybe it was the cold nights?

The good news is that this plant actually started fruiting at it's other end! I'm not sure why, and I've never seen a zucchini make fruit at two ends... but here we are. And I assume it will keep making squashes at it's other end!

The Compost Squashes are still okay!

And while the Squash Square doesn't look great with the big Crookneck mostly dead, the smaller squash plants there are still fine.

The abundance of life here makes me happy... the blue flowers are Borage, and the pink things are Smartweed.

All making the bugs happy... but uh... guys? Are you just sitting there, drinking up the nectar?? That's NOT how this is supposed to work! You're not pollinating anything!

*laughs* That's a Spotted Cucumber Beetle, and the other one you can't really see is a Striped Cucumber Beetle.

Here's the bean trellis Sunflower... prob 7 or 8 feet tall!

And the top of the Sunchoke... it's well over 7 feet tall too.

And I'm still fascinated by the neighbor's flower explosion.

*laughs*

Okay. Heading out. But first...

See Ya!

I'm heading to the Dahlia Show at the Events Center today... I've been looking forward to it!

I have no idea what to expect! But I assume there will be roots for sale, so I make sure I have some cash with me.

I walk out... oh foo, the back gate is locked.

That's where I want to be! I keep walking... and the other walking gate is locked as well. Okay, I have to go all the way around to the back...

And then the museum gate is shut. And the big, main driveway gate is shut!

Seriously? I had to circle ALL the way around the Events Center and then to the other driveway... And then I had to walk thru the CAR gate, because the people gates on the sidewalks are closed as well!

Sheesh. Just say you don't want humans walking to your stupid event, will ya?! GAH.

I try to release my annoyance as I walk over, because I really am curious about the show!

I walk into the building... Well! This is a Complete Surprise!!!

This is a cut flower competition?! Ha!

So. Okay! I start walking up and down the aisles.

The light in here is terrible, and I don't want to use the flash on the camera. So I jam the exposure up and try to steady my hands to take photos.

Some of the cut flowers have ribbons... They must have awarded them yesterday.

Okay. So! My Expectations have been adjusted and I settle down to do some photography!!!

There are hundreds... Thousands? of cut flowers in here!

I get around to the other side of the building... and there are arrangements here! I love these!

This one says Best in Show, Water Feature.

But this little one is my favorite!

Ha! It has Tomatillos in it!

And Dill flowers! Oh! And some Sungolds are tucked in there as well!!

And some Kale! And some kind of fancy cabbage! And I don't know what the tiny white flowers are, but they are cool too!

*Laughs* Yep, that one definitely gets my vote!

Okay. Back to walking the aisles. I think I like the squiggly Dahlias the best!

But the variety of blooms is really astonishing!

It is just crazy that these are ALL Dahlias! The Artificial Selection on display here just fascinates me!

I've made my way around to the Flower Arrangements again...

This one is so simple, but the colours are amazing!

I really like this one too.

So, that was awesome! I'm so glad I went!

This is a place holder... I really want to talk about this video as well.

∞ Margaret Atwood on the truth in The Handmaid's Tale

I'm heading straight to the garden today. There's rain in the forecast and I want to get some work done before that happens!

On the way, there's a little flock of our Lesser Goldfinches bouncing around!

And then I get to the Community Garden, and I have it all to myself! So I have a little Walk About!

The flowers around our Bird Bath Art Installation are still lovely.

Okay. Here I am at my plot, and this is the front right corner I'm working on today...

The trellis was for the Lemon Cucumbers, which died after the two weeks of cool weather we got in stupid August. So Disappointing! This was not the year that I got sick of eating Lemon Cucumbers... and I really thought I could do it because I had 12 plants!! Twelve! Stupid Climate Change.

Well anyway.

I left the wild Amaranth for the birds. And I left a couple over ripe Lemon Cucs for the soil. And I thought about leaving a couple Borage plants, but no... if the rain starts and it gets cooler, the Borage will all die off anyway.

Behind all that is the Eggplant.

I still haven't picked any.

And in the back Squash Square... huh. What the heck is this??! Another mutant? *Laughs* It looks a bit like a Straightneck, except Straightnecks are yellow. and it's kind of furry, that's weird!

When I was clearing the front, I noticed how dry the dirt was. So I quickly watered the rest of the garden... I felt pretty weird about it too, ha, it's cloudy and there's 100% rain tomorrow!

So many tomatoes! I love how the Sungold has sprawled all over the Old German and Black tomato plants!

I thought this was a volunteer Snap Pea, coming up behind the Strawberries. But now that it's gotten bigger, I recognize it! It's not a pea... It's a Fava! The first of the winter cover crop!

Ha. I noticed someone has been taking apart the Marigold seed heads. A bunch of the seeds have just fallen...

Messy bird! I wonder if the seeds weren't yummy enough.

Heading home.

At home, Partner tells me he got an email about a Compliance Check at the Community Garden.

Which is... Interesting.

I double checked the Comm Garden Manual. There are compliance checks in late May, late July, and mid-December. Just the three checks and there isn't a fall or September compliance check... and I'm not sure what the point is, or what they are looking for?

I guess I will run the hoe again soon, since I know they don't like grass in the pathways. But Gah. What do they want??!

*grumble*

Looks like today's rain won't get going until this afternoon, the forecast says 70% after 4pm. And I'm glad... that gives me the chance to run the hoe for the Surprise Garden Compliance check. *grumble*

You can see, there's a little bit of grass coming up in the pathway. I know they obsess about that, for whatever stupid reason. (Just MY grass, tho... they don't care about anyone else's grass.) *grumble* some more.

One of the plants in the Squash Square has climbed up the back of the Wax Bean Trellis. Butternut! I hope there's enough time left in the season for it to grow to full size and ripen!

Oh, nice! There's a couple more, hidden under the leaves!

heh, the Cosmos are leaning over from the Pot People's garden plot... I have to step over them when I walk along the right side of my plot! Well. I step over their Cosmos, and I duck under their Sunflowers. Annoying.

It would be nice if the Garden Director, with all her surprise compliance checks, would make the Pot People follow the rules. You aren't supposed to have tall plants on the border of your plot, and your plants def shouldn't be intruding past your borders.

But the Director only hates me. Nothing will be done about others who don't follow the rules.

Okay. Back to the things that make me happy.

Like the cute little volunteer Fava, behind the Strawberries! Plenty of Borage seedlings coming up, too. But they will die back once the nights get chillier.

And the other volunteers, the Squashes growing out of the compost! Unfortunately, they will die back with the cold as well. But they are cute right now!

The Soybeans are terribly stunted, but there are a few pods!

The First Tomatillo!!

I've been checking the fruits on the plants... Tomatillos will fall off once they are ripe, so I give each of the big fruits a little tug. Nope, nope, nope.

But today, one has fallen to the ground! Yay!

Tomatillos are crisp and have a lime taste. You can add them to anything with tomatoes to elevate your meal with contrasting flavors!

Okay, the grass has been murdered, and running the hoe was a good work out for me!

Back at home, in the news...

∞ Scientific American backs Harris, slams Trump: It's only the second time SA has endorsed a candidate

Oh, Heck Yeah! Proud to be a subscriber of Scientific American!

I like Daily Kos for the comments, but here's a direct link to the article at SciAm:

∞ Vote for Kamala Harris to Support Science, Health and the Environment Kamala Harris has plans to improve health, boost the economy and mitigate climate change. Donald Trump has threats and a dangerous record

Neighborhood Zig Zag again, in a different way. Isn't this tree glorious?!

And this is someones hell strip! Just stunning!

Never mind that Road Work sign! haha, just part of the landscape!

At the Community Garden. There are a couple gardeners who have Canna Lilies in their plot...

The leaves are very lovely, but overall not really my thing.

This, behind the Cannas, I had to look up. Red Kuri.

Not sure what these orange ones are.

I'm at my plot, aw, one of the stunted Sunflowers in the front is all droopy, poor thing.

And I notice the Spaghetti Squash vines are quite dead. Great! I grab two... but my goodness they are small. Are they even 1 pound?

And a couple more Tomatillos that came off in my hand!! And the last Crookneck. sighs.

A neighbor has cut down their Red Amaranth... and I decide to do some seed gathering!

Are they mature enough for seeds? I rub a portion of a seed head stalk in my hands. Oh yeah! Tiny black seeds come out!

Heading out, but first I must admire the Hollyhocks!

And some Chrysanthemums!

Morning clouds eventually broke up for a beautiful Autumn day. It's not summer anymore.

*laughs* I don't know about the vaguely cute green creature, but Sí se puede means Yes You Can! That's a nice sentiment!

This tall thing is interesting...

This is Common Mullein, naturalized from Europe and northern Africa and Asia. It is easily managed, and makes all kinds of pollinators happy. And some seed eaters as well! So it's a friendly plant to have around!

Mullein is pronounced mull, like Mull it over, and linn, like the name.

There's a couple House Finches spending time with the Goldfinches, but I guess they are less interested in the photography.

Okay! I'm at my garden plot and I'm going to plant a little bit of winter cover crop today!

These are Fava beans that I collected in 2023 from a cover crop that lived thru the winter. (This past winter's Favas were all killed in the ice storm of January, long before they could make beans.) The holes in the beans are from Broadbean Weevils...

The internets say the holes will affect productivity by about 15%. Might be a problem on big operations, but it's negligible for me! I won't even notice the difference, and I'm happy to support bugs!

I'm putting them down in the Lemon Cucumber area that I cleared the other day. I've moved the trellis, but I'm keeping the wild Amaranth.

I've given the planted beans a good water and now I can goof off. I love it when the garden is a big happy family...

That's a Tomatillo and a Soybean, and the red stalks on the left are some wild type Amaranth!

The volunteer Sunflower in the Tofu Patch is winding down.

Oh hey! There's some Heal All growing in the Tofu Patch as well!

And that blue flower is Creeping Speedwell, another little wildflower that I love.

I got tomatoes off all three big tomato plants: 3 Old Germans, a Black Tomato and a Brandywine!

I was fixin' to leave, and I turned to take in the garden plot... and I noticed the sunflower leaning over from the Pot People's plot! Haha, how did I miss that??!

Sheesh... this is a good 2meters inside my plot. Rude.

But maybe some of the seeds will fall here... I do love the lemon coloured Sunflowers!

Okay, this time I'm leaving for real... Here's some of our native Milkweed in someone else's plot!

It's Showy Milkweed! Good Luck, little seeds!

The sun shines bright this morning, and it's the first time in a few days that it's warm enough to leave the rain jacket behind!

This is blurry pic of a Goldfinch, but the colours and the shapes are kind of captivating.

Oh awesome!

That tail! She must have just taken a bath in the creek, a couple feet below!

And also: That tail! Cooper Hawks are distinctive with that long tail, and this is a juvenile who doesn't have the adult colours on her head yet.

Shake it off!

She's moving to a new branch.

Wow.

Heh! Checking out the nail job on your talons?

Okay. Moving on! And there's another hawk, just outside the Community Garden! A Red Shoulder Hawk!

She flies away. But the Community Garden would be a great place for her to hunt... plenty of mice here, maybe some snakes -- Red Shoulders Love snakes!

But she has scared away all the little birds in the garden. ha. Oh well.

I'm just gathering at the garden today. The cooler weather is slowing down the veggies, but they're still coming!

I have got to get some Nasturtiums next year. They usually mostly re-seed themselves, but I don't have any this year.

Oh! Haha!

Pretty cozy in there!

And then I hear my Young Gentleman Friend!

He's still so nervous around me, and I knew I wouldn't be able to walk around to get a good pic... So I stayed where I was and hoped the camera could pick up the correct focus...

Isn't he adorable!

He's kind of wagging his head in a weird way that I've never seen before...

Ha! I think he's trying to flash his little gorget at me!

He'll need to practice that some more, in order to show off to the girls.

I wonder when he'll get his adult feathers? Those shiny ones should cover his entire head and throat!

Magnolias fascinate me! They've been on Planet Earth for 95 million years! They've lived with dinosaurs!

I am walking the Neighborhood Zig Zag to the garden again today.

The novelty of this walk is starting to wear off... I'm walking on the sidewalks along streets, and there's just not much to look at after I've stared at everyone's yards! *laughs*

I get to the garden and I water. But decide the big tomatoes could ripen a bit more. And the Zucs could get a bit bigger. So I don't harvest a single thing today.

But of course, I take a few pictures!

I try to get Artsy with the Pot Peoples Sunflowers that are leaning down into my plot.

Heading home, someone isn't sticking around for decent photography! *laughs*

Hm... Great Blue Heron... but that's quite a bit of cinnamon colour on their shoulder patch. This is someone new!

At home, I'm reading last week's alternative newspaper, the Eugene Weekly... and I notice my Garden Friend Roz wrote a letter to the editor! Ha! That's awesome!

I am so sick and tired of men making me feel not safe!

Today, I was walking down the sidewalk of a major street, going across the driveway to a diner. A car surprised me... wanting to drive in, but no signal and wasn't even in the damn turn lane!

He saw me and stopped, thank goodness. But with the back end of the car stopping traffic behind him, since he wasn't in the turn lane.

I hurried on across, grateful that I didn't get squished.

But as he pulled into the parking lot he screamed at me thru his open window. F bomb and calling me a few names.

...

Going across that street is the worst. And now I can't even be safe from attack on the damn sidewalk.

Men... you suck!

And do NOT whine to me about Not All Men!

That's bullshit, and you know it!

Because that guy's friend, in the passenger seat? He didn't chide the drivers inexcusable behavior. You know he didn't.

The passenger might have laughed nervously. Or he may even have contributed a few cuss words himself.

And that's the thing, right? All of these maladaptive men have friends who make NO effort to correct bad behavior when they witness it!

So Not All Men? It IS ALL MEN!

And if you are a man, and you don't think so... then you need to step up!

How about using your male privilege for good instead of evil for once?

How about making the world a better place?

One last run of warm weather, here... 82° and 83° (28°C) yesterday and today, and low-90s for tomorrow. After that it looks like more normal temperatures in the mid-70s.

But, really, after the two cool weeks in August... I've been so discombobulated about the weather, I'm mostly just trying to ignore it! ha.

I'm walking the Neighborhood Zig Zag again. Since the sun is shining, I am amused to photo my own shadow.

This glorious tree, again.

And the amazing hell strip flower bed...

Oh my gosh! I come across a flock of Cedar Waxwings!!

But the sun is so stinkin' bright, I can't see the screen on the camera. So I'm just pointing and clicking!

Lots of juveniles in this group... they are the ones with stripes down their front.

This Hawthorn tree looks like it's dying rather than shutting down for winter. I wonder what's wrong with it.

The Hawthorn berries are all dried and shriveled, but apparently still good to eat!

Since I can't really see what I'm doing, it seems like the cutest birds are always right at the edge of the frame! Haha!

Or they are tucked behind someone else!

See ya!

I've zig-zagged for almost an hour, and now I'm at the garden. I water and gather.

It looks like the Wax Beans are going to start another round!

And the Sunchoke...

Is finally getting some blooms!

Hello, My Dear!

Oh! and Foo! She flew away before I could get closer! Red Shoulder Hawk... same as the other day?

Hot today. It was already 64° when I left the house and the sun is heating stuff up quickly. To be 93° (34°C) today... but hopefully this will be the last of the ninety degree days this year!

I'm doing the neighborhood zig zag... I don't know why this view cracks me up so much!

At the garden, I was just going to water like crazy... but there's no one here! So I walk around and look at the other plots!

These things are interesting!

Okay! Here I am at my plot! The back Sunchoke is just starting to bloom.

And there's a squirrel going after the Pot People's Sunflower heads!

*laughs*

The Wax Beans have a few yellow leaves... but they also have some blooms and some pods growing!

The Sungold is gearing up as well!

Unfortunately, the Sungolds lost their sweetness after the couple of cold nights at the end of August. So I've not been picking any.

The last two Black Tomatoes. Sighs. There's still several Old Germans left on the vine, but that plant is dead as well.

The blooms on the stunted Sunflowers at the front of the plot didn't last very long.

But the Giant Marigolds have bloomed forever!

∞ GOP Senate candidate says women are 'crazy' to care about abortion

Yeah. You know what?

I am a single issue voter this year, and my single issue is abortion.

(well. okay. Maybe climate change, too. But it's absolutely abortion first!)

As a female type person, who is over 50, in a state with zero abortion restrictions... ZERO! ... Yes, abortion bans are an issue for me!

First... there's this little thing called Empathy.

I know that guy in the news article doesn't understand Empathy at all. But most people do.

And then there's the very important fact that abortion is health care. When women and people with uteruses can't get health care in certain parts of the country, it affects ALL OF US!

Honestly, abortion bans terrify me!

Denying health care to women, means that we are less than. We don't have bodily autonomy... which means we are no longer full citizens!

You remember our supposed unalienable rights in the Declaration of Independence? Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness? We cannot pursue Happiness if we are Dead because of abortion bans!!

Be sure to dig into the comments on the article above... good stuff there!

The clouds are moving around a lot this morning, and even the forecast can't figure out what the weather wants to do... the chance of rain is 50%. *laughs*

I have to bring the rain jacket to possibly protect the camera... but it's already 63° when I leave the house, too warm to wear the jacket! I stuff it in my backpack and head out for the Neighborhood Zig Zag.

There's clouds covering the sun when I happen to pass over the bike path... So I don't get to photo my shadow.

Here's a pretty kitty sitting outside their home...

And Look! They are polydactyl! Cool!

And that amazing hell strip flower bed. I just can't get enough of the colours.

I arrive at the Community Garden and the big family group of crows is here!

I'm at my plot. Since I'm not sure what 50% rain is going to do, I decide to water a bit.

Here's the back of the Wax Bean trellis... As I mentioned, there's some yellow leaves but it's gamely trying to make more beans!

The funny little volunteer Squashes growing from the compost!

And the rest of the Squash Square is just a happy jumble! ... Altho, I probably should have pulled out all that Smartweed. *laughs* Oh well.

Yep, I found TWO Wax Beans that were long enough to harvest!

The first Sunchoke blooms.

I'm trying to take photos of the Goldfinches...

But the clouds are getting heavier... and the Goldfinches aren't very cooperative anyway!

Heading out, I notice the blooms on the other stunted Sunflower, in the front, have extra, weird petals...

Must be a genetic thing?

Haha! One of Pot People's Sunflowers is leaning into the Garden path!

Heading home, and Oh Wow! Look at what the clouds are doing!!

I left just in time... when I get home it starts to sprinkle! We don't get much, but I'm bummed that I spent time watering the garden!! Ha!

This is something fun from the news...

∞ How a catchy tune became the soundtrack to TikTok's silliest videos Monkeys Spinning Monkeys!

*laughs* This is super awesome!!

Yesterday I was so mad about idiot republicans, I decided to get another round of Vote Forward addresses...

They give you addresses and letters to print, and you write your own thing on the letter. Just encouraging people to vote. And then I decorate the envelope to have some fun.

When I went to get the addresses, they had a new thing... you could sign up for your own display page! That sounds cool!

But re-reading the info about it, I had to temper my excitement. I think this is just a basic page, and it doesn't look like people will even be able to add an intro or anything personal.

And I got my page today... and yep, it's a bummer that I cannot do a single thing with it. :(

But there I am! An overly boring page with my letter writing progress. ha.

∞ https://votefwd.org/goal-page/riftvegan

Chillier this morning, just 54° when I left the house and the high today is only 70° (21°C).

I'm walking straight to the Garden today, to get some work done!

Okay. I've decided to clear the way for more Fava to be planted... in amongst all that Borage behind the wild Amaranth is a Spaghetti Squash, the secondary Sungold, and the very dead Brandywine.

Bummer... I only found two, very small Spaghetti Squashes! Maybe I shouldn't have let the Borage overrun everything! And I got the last small Brandywines before I hauled the plant to the compost pile.

I couldn't bear to pull out the Sungold... it's still very much alive with fruits and flowers! heh. So the spot isn't as clear as I envisioned it!

But there's a bit of room for planting.

The damn Comfrey has cozied up to the Green Zucchini... and it's too much trouble to try to murder it under all the Zuc branches.

All three Zucchinis have good sized, harvestable squashes... but all that is not going to fit into my small backpack with the two Spag Squashes!

The Sunchoke is just over 7 feet tall.

Okay. Heading out!

On the walk home, I notice this...

Most of the dogwoods along the creek are Red Oiser Dogwoods, which have white berries. I forgot there's a couple of Silky Dogwoods, here too, with lovely pale blue berries!

So the 2025 Community Garden Manual came out, and I'm scanning it over to see about the stupid Autumn Compliance Check that they just made up this year.

Yep, sure enough. It's there and we've now got four checks per year, instead of three.

Which is amusing because they can't employ enough people for all the work there was already... they use the volunteers Extensively! So I don't understand why they want to give themselves more work with a fourth, completely unnecessary compliance check.

But then I notice a new section...

I am shocked and DISMAYED that Borage is on the list of Prohibited Plants.

Borage is NOT an invasive plant!!! It is easy to identify and it is easy to kill by simply pulling it up. It's a naturalized plant, and in my opinion probably the most perfect summer cover crop AND companion plant.

So that's going to be a major problem for me next year. I'm almost surprised that they didn't ding me on their illicit Compliance Check this month, for all my precious Borage.

*** Oh, and I checked that link for City of Eugene, Prohibited Plant List and Borage is not on it. What a surprise.

But now that I'm over my initial outrage... well, not really. I'm still extremely outraged!

But I'm looking a bit closer at the list.

Marsh Marigold?

What the hell. Who wrote this ridiculous list???

As far as I know, we don't even have Marsh Marigold here... and it's a native wildflower, not aggressive. What kind of moron puts that on an invasive species list??

It IS a look-alike to Lesser Celandine, tho. Which is horrifyingly invasive. And, seriously, who's going to plant it, knowing how horrible the Lesser Celandine is? But regardless, Marsh Marigold has no business being on that list!

And then they snuck in GRAPES there under Large Woody Perennials?! oh my god. People have to... what? just cut down their grape plants. This is ... GAH!

The Community Garden at the river has a whole row of glorious, OLD grape vines! The thought of pulling those out, killing them, oh gah it's tragic.

Dang it, I hope someone objects.

And finally, at the bottom... Yes, mint should always be in a pot. But Raspberries and Marionberries? There are a few gardeners who grow berries, including my friend Roz. What's he supposed to do? Dig them up to put in a damn pot? He said he loved his berry harvest so much this year. Sticking the raspberries in a pot is going to disrupt production, and shrink it to hardly anything.

Grr! *Grumble, Grumble*

It's just terrible and I'm ready to revolt!

Cloudy but nice this morning, it was 61° when I left the house, to be 71° (22°C) today. But there are warmer and sunny days in the forecast, and I'm going to put down more Fava seeds to take advantage of the warmth!

I'm not having much luck with the birds today...

I've brought two bags of Fava today: one I bought a couple years ago and one I collected from the garden last year... and here's a surprise!

They are different colours?! That's so odd!

And does that mean I hadn't planted any of the lighter coloured Favas when I was collecting the darker beans? And, why? Did none of the lighter bean plants survive? Or did they survive and just not produce any beans?

So that's a mystery. But I'm still going to plant a mix of both, here in the spot I cleared yesterday!

And then I have plenty of time to relax!

One of the Sunchoke branches is drooping, so I get to have a different view of the flowers.

Ha! I didn't notice the house fly! My little pollinator friend!

I'm walking out of the Garden... but a flock of Goldfinches distracts me.

They seem to love this plant! I must find out what it is and plant some in my plot next year!

Just look at them all!

At home... here is the state of the kitchen!

Haha! Need to eat faster! The tomatoes are starting to go. The zucs are fine yet, they last longer on the counter rather than in the fridge!

I need to visit the garden today, to water the Fava seeds I put down yesterday. But I'm going for a good walk first!

The fallen Leaning Tree.

Oh nice. Someone has Sunchoke growing in their hell strip!

And there's a cute lil Hoverfly!

Oh foo.

Huh, this is interesting! This Sunchoke bloom hasn't opened yet and it won't have any seeds made...

Maybe they are going after whatever bits will become seeds?

At my plot, I've watered everything pretty heavily. Especially the new Fava seeds in front. Not much to pick today, but there's more Wax Beans coming on, so that's nice!

I had gotten so sick of eating stupid Wax Beans, and I froze a bunch of bags. But now I could eat them again. In moderation, you know! ha.

∞ A Call For Men to Engage

*nods*

The sun is shining and I saw Mr Unnamed, our Western Grey Squirrel neighbor... but he was too quick for me to get photos. Next time, Buddy!

*laughs* I love my Sunchokes!

So while I was all focused on the front of the plot, clearing the Garden Square and planting Fava... the new Seascape Strawberries just kind of ... died?

what the heck? Why? I've been watering them. Were the nights too cold? The lows have mostly been in the 50s but it had gotten down to 43° a week ago. But that hardly seems like something to die over.

Well, I don't know. But there is a tiny new leaf in there, so maybe it will live.

The volunteer Squashes, growing out of the compost are still alive... and you'd think they would be more delicate than strawberries with cooler nights.

Well, anyway. On the way out, I stop to look at the section of Favas I planted last week! Yay Baby Favas!

The sun is shining again today and it will warm up to a very pleasant 75°... Normal for this time of year is 73° (23°C) and with all the crazy fluctuations I've been trying to ignore lately -- last tuesday the high was 93° and the next day the high was 67° -- yeah, I'll take some normal!

I'm walking the neighborhood zig zag today.

oh! Haha! Here's a House Finch with yellow feathers instead of red!

The colour of the feathers depends on what they eat! And they need a variety of carotenoids to add up to the usual red-orange colour! Maybe this one has been binging on a favorite food that's full of beta-carotene!

Monday's are now my compost run days.

This used to be Partner's chore to handle. When we accumulated a full bag of kitchen scraps, he would drive it to the Garden and dump it on the Community compost heap.

But in August, the car broke down and was in the shop for a month. And I started taking care of our bags of compost... A week's worth of kitchen scraps fits almost perfectly into my small backpack with my water bottle.

And since I've been clearing some areas, where stuff has been dying, I've been able to put the scraps into our own garden plot. I'm just spreading it out a bit on the surface, sometimes I cover it with a pulled up Borage plant.

Over the winter, with the rain we get, it will all break down to nothing! I might find a bit of avocado shell, later... not to mention some volunteers growing like the Squash seedlings and the carrot tops! But that's all good.

And ever more Favas coming up in the first area that I seeded!

The cute little Fava bunny ears!

And, of course, Borage comes up whenever you disturb the soil! That's fine, it will die off when it gets cold.

I happened to come across this article in my internet wanderings, and I want to contribute a few of my own thoughts!

∞ Not every public mention of religion is 'creeping Christian nationalism' Magazine editor Clara Jeffery saw backlash after complaining about a flight attendant who wished her a 'blessed' night

I was walking on the bike path the other day, and there's a guy going the other way. I smile at him in greeting and he says, Have a blessed morning!

And, yeah. Like the complaining person in the above article, I was a bit disgusted. This guy was NOT wishing me a happy morning. He was just broadcasting his religiosity. ugh.

It ruined a chunk of my nature time as I thought about all the different ways that religion has screwed people up.

But when I went to rant about it here... yeah, it just sounded kind of petty! *laughs* I deleted my original rant... But, with the article, I'm glad I'm not the only one who has the impulse to complain about how people greet me!

And I got good ideas from reading the comments, too!

I can respond with the very Wiccan, Blessed Be! Just to remind the jesus freaks that there are other religions out there!

Or, if I'm feeling especially spicy I could just say, Hail Satan! *giggles*