On the news from the UK was originally published on Local Blogger Writes the World
#WritingFromIsolationWard
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Your Canadian 2015 Federal Election Guide was originally published on Local Blogger Writes the World
No More Voting Liberal was originally published on Local Blogger Writes the World
I’ve been struggling with my Blood Syrup for a while now, mostly because it *IS* syrup and not blood like I should have. So I have problems like wounds that don’t heal and pain in my hands and feet that never seems to get better, along with some nerve damage that looks to be permanent.
This is all self-inflicted, you know? I should have lived healthier and stuck it out at the gym when the first tingles appeared years ago (and I did for a while, but only a while)
So here I am, medicated and sore.
The short version of this is “Push back from the table while you can still see your feet kids”
Seriously.
Blood Syrup was originally published on Local Blogger Writes the World
Today I performed SCIENCE! I made plasma in the microwave oven.
I will not share the secret of non-destructive plasma making, I will only say that it was violent, bright and loud. There may have been some grapes involved. It took about 20 seconds. More than that and it may have stopped being science and started being pyromania.
I may have engaged in some light pyromania on the road to science.
SCIENCE! was originally published on Local Blogger Writes the World
Spent a good deal of this weekend enjoying having a yard.
Watered and patched the front lawn a bit on Saturday; put down a ton of “shady blend” grass seed and covered it up with soil in hope that in about 2 weeks those bald patches will be covered in soft grass. Watered it all down and enjoyed the cool spray; it was already 75 in the shade by 10 AM Saturday and Sunday!
The back yard took a bit more, as the gardener (Jen) wouldn’t leave her basement lair in the morning, so she ended up toiling in her dirt corner in the hot sun. I spent some of this time tearing down the squirrel house from the big tree out back. I’ve been spoiling to take it down since the day I noticed the squirrels in it; they alternated between it and our roof all winter and I’m tired of the the pitter patter of little feet, truth be told. So I pulled it down and found it full of three things; dirt, fur and BEES. GOD-DAMNED BEES!!! A whole colony of BEES!!! RUN AUGH! AHHH! BUZZZZ.
Yeah, I found a bee’s nest in the thing as I tore it down and spent about 30 minutes trying to coax them into abandoning the furry confines they had built into. After poking and hoping failed, water and drowning appears to have won out. As they (thumb sized, no joke) bumble bees left the pile of fur and dirt for me to spread them over my new grass seeds on the south (shady) side of the yard.
Every time I go back there I see more crap that needs to be taken out of the yard and I get depressed at the sheer volume of stuff that needs to leave; the former owners left us with a literal ton of garbage and random bullcrap to clean up, not to mention a couple hundred dollars worth of basic repairs and painting to take on when we moved in.
Look; I love that when I wake up and look out my window I’m looking at my yard; but all the repairs (we still don’t have a stove due to the broken glass there) and the garbage cut the sweetness pretty hard.
Yellow roses and fresh cherries aside.
Sunday was nice, more watering more relishing the spray. More beers in the heat of the evening. Pad Thai for supper.
Still…
Spent a good deal of this weekend enjoying having a yard.
Watered and patched the front lawn a bit on Saturday; put down a ton of “shady blend” grass seed and covered it up with soil in hope that in about 2 weeks those bald patches will be covered in soft grass. Watered it all down and enjoyed the cool spray; it was already 75 in the shade by 10 AM Saturday and Sunday!
The back yard took a bit more, as the gardener (Jen) wouldn’t leave her basement lair in the morning, so she ended up toiling in her dirt corner in the hot sun. I spent some of this time tearing down the squirrel house from the big tree out back. I’ve been spoiling to take it down since the day I noticed the squirrels in it; they alternated between it and our roof all winter and I’m tired of the the pitter patter of little feet, truth be told. So I pulled it down and found it full of three things; dirt, fur and BEES. GOD-DAMNED BEES!!! A whole colony of BEES!!! RUN AUGH! AHHH! BUZZZZ.
Yeah, I found a bee’s nest in the thing as I tore it down and spent about 30 minutes trying to coax them into abandoning the furry confines they had built into. After poking and hoping failed, water and drowning appears to have won out. As they (thumb sized, no joke) bumble bees left the pile of fur and dirt for me to spread them over my new grass seeds on the south (shady) side of the yard.
Every time I go back there I see more crap that needs to be taken out of the yard and I get depressed at the sheer volume of stuff that needs to leave; the former owners left us with a literal ton of garbage and random bullcrap to clean up, not to mention a couple hundred dollars worth of basic repairs and painting to take on when we moved in.
Look; I love that when I wake up and look out my window I’m looking at my yard; but all the repairs (we still don’t have a stove due to the broken glass there) and the garbage cut the sweetness pretty hard.
Yellow roses and fresh cherries aside.
Sunday was nice, more watering more relishing the spray. More beers in the heat of the evening. Pad Thai for supper.
Still…
Yesterday was one of those “get things in shape” days.
In short order Jen, Elizabeth and I
- Removed half of the boxes from the master bedroom that had been “hanging on” opening up another 15% of the floor space in there and making it look cleaner.
- Hung some pictures and set the stage for more to go up in the living room area at the front of the house
- Cleaned out the storm drains at the end of the yard
- Cleaned up the damn pine cones all over the yard
- Spiked a bunch of weeds
- Coiled the old holey Garden hose for tossing out… might take it back and bury it in the garden instead as an under-ground watering system… bears more thought really.
- Finally packed away the dining room table. We don’t eat at it and we have a nice breakfast counter to eat at anyway. This opened up a ton of space in the livingroom/kitchen area too.
In terms of stuff to do I checked out Kijiji and Craigslist and found a bunch of lawn mowers for sale. I’ll have to check on them but we should be able to get a simple gas powered one for under 60 bucks as opposed for 90 bucks for an electrical one. Our grass is too long for an underpowered one…..
We have crab grass where I laid the new seed. Was the new seed full of crab grass? Hmmm.
The new seed didn’t really take universally so we still have a kind of patchy lawn. The back yard has really become this lush jungle of weeds though. We need a weed whacker.
I need to repair at least one plug and then get an electrician in to fix the spare bathroom’s lights and power.
Paint needs touching up in places, but I bet a nice rub with a cloth will fix some of them instead.
Still no oven, coming up with 300 bucks for a repair seems less likely as the months come on.
Some outstanding bills to deal with too.
Perhaps it is time to sell off the comic collection if only to get some of this stuff done.
Yesterday was one of those “get things in shape” days.
In short order Jen, Elizabeth and I
- Removed half of the boxes from the master bedroom that had been “hanging on” opening up another 15% of the floor space in there and making it look cleaner.
- Hung some pictures and set the stage for more to go up in the living room area at the front of the house
- Cleaned out the storm drains at the end of the yard
- Cleaned up the damn pine cones all over the yard
- Spiked a bunch of weeds
- Coiled the old holey Garden hose for tossing out… might take it back and bury it in the garden instead as an under-ground watering system… bears more thought really.
- Finally packed away the dining room table. We don’t eat at it and we have a nice breakfast counter to eat at anyway. This opened up a ton of space in the livingroom/kitchen area too.
In terms of stuff to do I checked out Kijiji and Craigslist and found a bunch of lawn mowers for sale. I’ll have to check on them but we should be able to get a simple gas powered one for under 60 bucks as opposed for 90 bucks for an electrical one. Our grass is too long for an underpowered one…..
We have crab grass where I laid the new seed. Was the new seed full of crab grass? Hmmm.
The new seed didn’t really take universally so we still have a kind of patchy lawn. The back yard has really become this lush jungle of weeds though. We need a weed whacker.
I need to repair at least one plug and then get an electrician in to fix the spare bathroom’s lights and power.
Paint needs touching up in places, but I bet a nice rub with a cloth will fix some of them instead.
Still no oven, coming up with 300 bucks for a repair seems less likely as the months come on.
Some outstanding bills to deal with too.
Perhaps it is time to sell off the comic collection if only to get some of this stuff done.
But this does not provide proof of ongoing evolution:
But farmers sprayed so much Roundup that weeds quickly evolved to survive it. “What we’re talking about here is Darwinian evolution in fast-forward,” Mike Owen, a weed scientist at Iowa State University, said.
In all likelihood what the farmers are seeing is the rapid population of a mutant breed of weeds that already existed but is now thriving in the absence of any non-roundup based weed control. It’s nice to think that this is an example of macro-evolution in action, but I suspect that this is simply the proliferation of an existing species. Maybe not, but it’s more likely.