Yeah, he still loves me

its still march cold here on april 9th. and my garden is showing desperate signs of days of below freezing wear and tear. oh, all those tulips. and the primrose are gone.... and i'm afraid to speculate about the damage to the lilac tree buds, the redwood tree buds, or the fruit tree buds. UGH.

but my honey, in an attempt to save at least some of those tulips last week harvested the big buds, and with the sun shining strong outside, we have a little bit of spring in the house. YEAH Dean!

and it's here

and I just want to be in my yard! come on sun. I have tulips up just waiting to bloom. I have hellebores blooming, primrose blooming, scillas, the crocus are long gone.

and the best part. I am going to be here, every day, in my yard to watch it this year.

guess that means I'm in for the weeding too...

here's a shot of my primroses. look in the picture folder for my hellebores, heucharas and tiarellas that need cleaning up so badly, and a little spring visitor to my garden

Yeah, spring's coming

and yesterday, I planted my annual array of poppies and larkspurs. they need a cold stratification... so with 'warnings' of warm days ahead I figured I'd better get them out into the snow melt.

We also found more snow/ice damage from the second time around (5-7" this time) than we'd originally had from the first snowfall. Our older lilacs and honeysuckles really took it hard. Guess it saves us from some spring pruning! Although, my new shade garden will have to have some false shade early in the spring to compensate for one whole bush that came out.

and spring fever is sitting ready on my desktop, and health concerns for all.... here's some thoughts on the insurance industry. I hope you are all sitting sunny and fully insured. if not.... I sure hope you have some options.

brilliantatbreakfast.blogspot.com/2...ml

Snow Days

Did I say I love snow? and that I miss having it around? I do, I really do. So, this weekend was wonderful for me. and I have the pictures to prove it.

and yes, I know its been hard on some folks. and really hard on some branches that were ready to come down.

but I love snow.

Americanrespect.com Check it out

American Respect is a not-for-profit organization that believes invading Iraq has increased global terrorism, is costing thousands of lives, (and literally trillions of tax dollars) and is increasing energy costs.

We believe the US should take a very different approach to addressing this problem. Our principles for reducing terrorism are:

Pursue true terrorists such as al Qaeda by eliminating training camps, preventing arms smuggling, freezing financial assets and apprehending terrorist leaders.

Find balanced solutions in sensitive areas which foment terrorism by rebuilding international coalitions. Violence in regions like Chechnya, Kashmir and especially Palestine directly and adversely affects the entire Muslim world.

Decrease our profile in Iraq and use international coalitions to lead a march toward guaranteed rights, limited government and democratic representation. Further recognize that Iraq was arbitrarily assembled in 1919 from three ethnically and religiously different Ottoman provinces, and that a peaceful solution may require a return, either partly or fully, to this pre-1919 arrangement.

Build up the economies of Muslim countries with the goal of creating a larger middle class in each. If abject poverty is a breeding ground for terrorism, then creating broad prosperity is a key part of the solution--especially in the areas of trade and land reform. And success in the economies of any Muslim country--from Morocco to Indonesia--is positive for stability and peace throughout the region.

Establish a tone of goodwill in policies and actions toward these nations and their growing and increasingly global populations.


© 2004-2006 American Respect. All rights reserved

And all this from the radical center, eh? go check out their site... they have some very thought provoking essays... they also have a place where folks have left criticisms.... it is all very interesting.

I'd like you to meet my friend Cylie

www.keloland.com/videoarchive/index.cfm

Cylie, I've known since birth. Not near as well as I've known her mom, Caryn.... Caryn and I spent many many hours together in college, some we could discuss here in a public forum, some better left to the wanderings of our beer nights. of which we had quite a few, hey, but we studied first.

Cylie's brave. she's nearing the end of her chemo cycle tho...... and as all these go, she could use some more energy. the hours are getting long, the hospital is boring, she's missing her friends and you know, this is really cramping her life. so, send some energy up to the central plains of south dakota would you for my friend Cylie. and while you are at it, send some along for her parents Gary and Caryn, they need some too-- as you can tell from the video, this girl is the bomb for them.

Tritubes to Molly

www.commondreams.org/headlin...1-08.htm

www.salon.com/opinion/con...s/index.html

Saddest news in a while

I loved Molly Ivins. I was introduced to her.... oh, I don't know... had to have been late '90s by a girlfriend from Texas. She wasn't 'mainstream' yet then. but she was still a hoot. I couldn't get enough of her then and I couldn't today.

Her death at 62 will leave a hole in my life, seriously. her willingness to say it like it was, well, for me, you could say, it was true blue heroine worship.

it was all about comments like this that she made like when the Washington pundits started counseling bipartisanship after voters routed the Republicans in the 2006 elections, Molly wrote, "The sheer pleasure of getting lessons in etiquette from Karl Rove and the right-wing media passeth all understanding. Ever since 1994, the Republican Party has gone after Democrats with the frenzy of a foaming mad dog. There was the impeachment of Bill Clinton, not to mention the trashing of both Clinton and his wife--accused of everything from selling drugs to murder--all orchestrated by that paragon of manners, Tom DeLay.... So after 12 years of tolerating lying, cheating and corruption, the press is prepared to lecture Democrats on how to behave with bipartisan manners.

and she constantly referred to Bush as the man the supreme court elected president.

I loved her first book : "Shrub: The Short but Happy Political Life of George W. Bush" and was overwhelmed and shocked by some of Bush administration decisions outlined and verified in her other book: "BUSHWHACKED: Life in George W. Bush's America."

I'll leave you with a little taste of Molly -- an excerpt from a column she wrote 10/31/06.....

So with the Bushies continuing their tailspin, it might be time to review the rules in case WE WIN in the upcoming midterm elections:

I realize for many Democrats it has been so long since we won, we have completely forgotten the etiquette. And I realize I'm taking a chance here -- there's nothing more dangerous than overconfidence -- but you have to practice for victory as well as defeat.

First rule: No gloating. Actually, there is gloating allowed, but only in the exclusive presence of other Democrats. Gloating in the face of Republicans is rude and unsportsmanlike, and just gives them one more thing to complain about. Also, remember there is a possibility there may be some Republicans on the civil service staff -- I have seen this when the R's win -- and it is really not good manners to watch them wailing around with their eyes brimming with tears.

Second, I'm sure we will all be full of grand theories if Republicans lose and we win. Dems will be ready to be helpful, offer advice and sort of try to perk the R's up. I do not recommend this. It somehow never feels to me when R's are dumping truckloads of good advice on the D's that they are, actually, sincere about it.

Third, celebratory jigs, reels and renditions of "Danny Boy" are best limited to Irish bars.

Fourth, try to refrain from insulting Republicans en masse. A good start would be, "You know, it was mostly the ones under indictment that hurt you."

photo courtesy of AP/mary altaffer

Boy, do I love Jon Stewart!!!

and he makes watching cheney, well, somewhat tolerable.....

www.salon.com/ent/video_d...r/index.html

check it out and have a laugh yourself!!

Did you think I could go for days without commenting?

the problem was.... I didn't know where to start....

first of all, I'm so angry, note, not mad, I could spit. On our backs, we'll bear the burdens of this war -- how many billions are we up to? the middle class is/will bear the costs of the decisions made by republicans and their leaders. hold your pants on, I am holding you responsible for your votes also. we have a unbelievable deficit, freakin' unbelievable. and I can do my taxes all day long and I get only so many deductions. and now they want to raise the ceiling for taxing for social security, well there goes that small break I had. and the rest of my money... will go to pay that deficit. I don't make enough money to jump up and get out of paying enough taxes. and I certainly make too much money to qualify for any kind of financial aid for our college age student. but come balance our budget every month. see how much we pay in taxes. the budget is usually balanced on the backs of the middle class... come balance with me. How about if I get to pick where my money goes..... what if we got to vote our support of ideas, etc by saying put my taxes in social justice? I want to feed people, support women and children whose men have walked off and left them like that's just fine and dandy, clean up our water and air that corporate america thinks is ok to pollute, I pick those with my money. Not war. Let Halliburton support that, they are making enough money, let them give a little back.

and Bush's proposals the other night? how do you think he even spoke those words? he doesn't believe in one word of which he spoke. reduce gasoline usage? in a world where he eats and excretes oil how could he even form the words? give tax breaks to folks who don't have taxes to reduce? how, how, how does that work? explain the form to me again? if you owe no taxes because you are SO POOR you don't even qualify for the minimum, how would a tax break work for you? its not even magic money? global climate change? this coming from the president who scoffed at the idea of signing the kyoto treating, therefore making us the only industrialized nation not? and talking about setting federal mandates for ethanol that are not only ridiculous for the ethanol producers to meet but the petroleum marketers will have an amazing time putting into place... so dead in the water but not his fault..... if I was Nancy P, I would have hit him with the gavel myself. no questions asked.