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| lots of bleeding hearts |
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| Hairdresser's chickens. Yeah I went back but at least it was close to the Mom's group so it wasn't quite another 70 useless miles which I don't think she apologized for adequately. No eggs were offered |
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| I have 2 chestnut trees which are in full bloom now. Hard to get to the nuts before the squirrels do plus I am not 100% sure they are not buckeyes |
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close up
Recently the many victims of Nassar, associated with Michigan State University were awarded $500 million. I assume at least half of that will go to lawyers but each victim should be able to clear a least $2 million a piece. At least the gymnasts at MSU were adults, adults with child bodies but adults nonetheless. He was the gymnastic team doctor and also for the Olympic program too where he did have access to children. He would do manipulations ungloved to the young girls' privates. He never had a nurse present and was visibly aroused, a total creep. This went on for years. The school was informed on numerous occasions but did nothing. Indeed the trustees, elected by us, are still on the job. They tried to keep the whole thing quiet so new complaints would not come forward. So it is a state institution. It as a sizeable endowment but legally that can't be touched (change the law!!!) so I assume we, the tax payers will end up footing the bill.
I've been busy between training and doing lots of gardening. Aside from lots of weeding and pruning, I got most of what I want planted. The most disgusting job was cleaning the pond, about half the size of a bath tub. Steve thought he sealed it tightly but he was wrong. It was an extremely vile smelly gemisch of decaying chipmunk and mole bodies. We pumped out most of the water after I shoveled the carcasses out (yuck, yuck) leaving just a few inches of wormy putrid water which I scooped out and then scrubbed everything thoroughly. Not fun.
After my second attempt at a haircut (at least it looks good), I went to the Mom's group at her farm. We sat on her deck overlooking her pond having a great time and eating (too much) and drinking (too much). I made an Italian cheesecake with rhubarb sauce for dessert. I processed quite a bit of rhubarb last week. Will make roasted rhubarb scones for my guests coming tomorrow and perhaps a rhubarb pie.
I have much less orioles now than last week. They were not amused at me being near their feeder as I did my many chores. They made their angry squirrel clucking noises as they did their fly bys hoping I would leave.
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10 comments:
Sadly too many of the abusers have been protected. By too many, and for too long. And yes, the abusers and the protectors (who I consider guilty as well) too often manage to force others to pay any financial penalty.
The Nassar story is shocking and horrifying. All the money in the world will never erase those horrible memories of what was done to those young athletes. Thankfully, he will spend the rest of his days locked up.
Your Chestnut tree is magnificent.
How horrible to think of creatures drowning in your pond!
I'm not a betting man, but if I were, I would bet big on your tree NOT being a true chestnut. I've seen so many horse chestnuts by now (aka buckeye) that I don't know if I've ever even seen the real thing, but in looking at photos just now, the leaves are exceedingly different. Also, the real nuts have tassels. Here's a link from your very own state about what the nuts, at least, look like: http://msue.anr.msu.edu/news/whats_the_difference_between_horse_chestnuts_and_sweet_chestnuts, and Wikipedia has a good photo of the leaves: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chestnut
P.S. As for molesters, I'm sure you've heard that Weinstein has now been charged with first degree rape and one other sex-oriented crime. I love seeing the smug and powerful being brought low after thinking they were untouchable. Now, I just wish evidence could be brought against Trump. On a sadder note, the previously respected Morgan Fairchild has also been accused, by seven women no less. How could it be that seven women charged him all on the same day? They must have been in contact with somebody long before now, so does this mean that they all have the same lawyer?
I think you are right about my 'chestnuts' not being edible though they haven't seemed to kill the squirrels. I also never saw the tassels and the spiny coating the sweet chestnuts have. Michigan does have a few stands of isolated (such as the Manitou Island in Lake Michigan) edible chestnuts. My friend out in the country has real chestnuts too though she is in competition with many squirrels even though she has lots of acorns and black walnuts to placate them. As the trees are so small, I was hoping they were a new blight resistant variety but I think they are grown now for their pretty flowers. My husband's last name is derived from the German horse chestnut tree.
I was disappointed by Morgan Freeman as I thought of him as a 'good guy'. Trump seems coated with Teflon. Nothing he is charged with ever sticks.
...my 'chestnuts' ...haven't seemed to kill the squirrels."
Throw harder!
"Trump seems coated with Teflon."
Silly me. I thought it was diarrhea. The thing is that nothing has to be proven about most men before their careers are ruined, whereas with Trump, the people who elected him really and truly don't care. That said, I really hate this saying, "Believe the women," because it clearly implies that no woman would lie out of revenge or because of a failed attempt at extortion, yet the first recorded instance of a woman lying about sexual assault (assuming the story was even real) was Potiphar's wife who said that Joseph raped her when he actually spurned her advances. What this means to me is that the more women who come forward, the more I tend to think they're telling the truth. So far as I know, only one woman ratted on Garrison Keillor, and I couldn't stand Garrision Keillor, yet it didn't see right to me that one person can ruin his career and tarnish his reputation forever. I too, thought that Morgan Freeman was a good guy, but with seven women coming forward, I think he's probably guilty, but of what, I haven't heard. This brings to mind something else that bothers me a lot, and it is this claim that all sexual assault is equal. Really? Being slapped on the ass is equal to violent rape? It's as if the nuts on one side aren't running things; the nuts on the other side are. It's also true that some of what qualifies as sexual assault today--or at least sexual aggression--used to be the subject of humor in movies. That was wrong, of course, but my point is that mores do change.
Well maybe he is covered in diarrhea too. Whatever it is, it's disgusting.
There is a tale in the Bible (at least ones with the Apocrypha) about some early Weinstein trying to seduce Shoshannah. She was either to put out or he would tell everyone she seduced him. Somehow Daniel was able to prove her innocence just as she was about to be stoned.
Not all sexual assault is equal in my mind. What Al Franken confessed to (giving some tongue during a kiss) pales compared to Nassar (kids!!!) and Weinstein.
If only I had some chestnuts to throw at the squirrels.
Apocrypha? Are you a Catholic or an Episcopalian by chance? I remember the story but hadn't thought of it in years.
I put up a "squirrel proof" feeder two weeks ago, and the next morning when I got up, it was empty. I like squirrels, so I didn't mind. I used to have a large feeder just for them, and I also had 2x4 bridges running from tree to tree in the backyard for them to get around on.
I am not a Catholic but I know the story as it tells about Susannah or Shoshannah, which is a version of my name Suzanne. As a child, I went to a mainstream protestant church until I became disillusioned and quit.
I do have some feeders that are 'squirrel proof' as they are too heavy to scale brick walls. Unfortunately the teenage chipmunks just learned how to scamper up the wall much to my annoyance. They scurry back and forth hiding much more than they need in tunnels throughout my garden. The squirrels have a long hike from their nests to get to my house with plenty of hawks to intercept them. We do have a feisty red squirrel who is very cute. The fat fox squirrels haven't been here in a while. I never get gray squirrels though I see them on my runs.
We have mostly have a type of red squirrel that is called a Douglas Squirrel but an occasional gray. I've never seen a chipmunk here, although a California ground squirrel wandered in one day. He was as big as a large tree squirrel, but didn't climb. I had never heard of such a beast. I got a live trap and took him to the woods, but now I wonder why I didn't just let him be. Maybe i thought he would get under the house. This was probably twenty years ago, and I've never seen another one.
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