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(Photo by our own SharonW.)
Here's the Sunday Talking Head schedule. Read it and weep: (via the WaPo)
Fox News Sunday (FOX). A discussion of the Gulf Coast one year after Hurricane Katrina with Don Powell, federal coordinator of Gulf Coast rebuilding, and New Orleans City Council President Oliver Thomas; Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) assesses international military conflicts; and an interview with Revolution CEO and Chairman Steve Case.This Week (ABC). A discussion of Katrina with former FEMA head Michael Brown, Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) and Don Powell, federal coordinator of Gulf Coast rebuilding; plus Bill Nye the Science Guy talks about Pluto's downgrade.
The Chris Matthews Show. Topics are the Democrats' hopes for the midterm elections and John McCain's latest statements on Iraq; with Newsweek's Howard Fineman, the New York Times's Elisabeth Bumiller, Time's Michael Duffy and MSNBC's Norah O'Donnell.
Reliable Sources (CNN) assesses the JonBenet Ramsey case with Steve Friedman of CBS News and Mark Jurkowitz of the Project for Excellence in Journalism; the New York Times's Sharon Waxman and the Hollywood Reporter's Ray Richmond talk Tom Cruise; and former presidential press secretaries Mark McKinnon and Joe Lockhart plug their new Web site. (CNN at 10)
Meet the Press (NBC) interviews New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and FEMA Director R. David Paulison on the first anniversary of Katrina; plus, a panel discussion with Bloomberg News's Al Hunt, the Chicago Sun-Times's Robert Novak, the National Review's Kate O'Beirne and The Washington Post's Eugene Robinson.
Face the Nation (CBS) asks if America is ready for another major hurricane; with Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R) and FEMA Director R. David Paulison.
Late Edition With Wolf Blitzer (CNN) interviews Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki; Sens. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) and Carl Levin (D-Mich.) debate the Middle East; and a discussion of Hurricane Katrina with Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco (D) and Donald Powell, federal coordinator of Gulf Coast rebuilding. (CNN at 11)
Q&A. With Peter Galbraith, author of "The End of Iraq: How American Incompetence Created a War Without End" (C-SPAN at 8 and 11).
Hmmmm...anything catch your eye in all of that? Wonder if they'll talk about Rockey the thudding PR stunt? Iraq's going swell, right? Hmmmm...at least they can discuss how things are going "swimmingly" in Afghanistan...oh wait, that was immediately debunked, too.
Um...so, how's the weather? Uh oh. Hurricane heading inland and gaining strength...so I'm guessing talking about the weather isn't going to be an Administration fave, given our level of unpreparedness...still. How about those first responders getting their communications equipment....oh...erm...well, not so much.
So...um...what's for breakfast?
This gorgeous photo of an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail was sent to me by our own SharonW. Isn't it a fantastic shot? She snapped it while the swallowtail was visiting her butterfly bush. I loved the picture, and thought you guys would enjoy a photo taken by one of our own for this morning's Sunday discussion.
We have a darker purplish-red butterfly bush in the front of our house, by our sunroom windows, and the peanut and I spend lots of time watching butterflies on it throughout the summer. I've spent some time since we moved into our house a couple years ago adding perennials that are butterfly and hummingbird friendly.
We have some work to do on a retaining wall at our house, so I haven't gone all out with the landscaping as yet -- I'm just adding a plant or two at a time around the foundation of the house and in a flower bed that I added on the side of the house. I'm filling in the gaps with some annuals like pentas and salvia and vincas and lantana and those fantastic wave petunias that hold up under our nasty humidity, all of which are also great for attracting butterflies and hummingbirds.
If anyone has some other suggestions for heat and humidity friendly flowers, I'd love them. We're in Zone 5 for perennials, so it's always a challenge. But annuals seems to do fairly well here, so long as I stick to the full sun varieties.
It's amazing what a difference just a few plants can make. I'll probably do what I did last year -- pick up several pots of perennials at the end of the season (on sale -- don't you love that?) and get them planted and rooted in this Fall before things get cold. This is really the best time to plant perennials here -- the heat is lower, so there is less shock in the transplanting. And we usually get some decent rain in the Fall -- although this year may prove the exception (it's been a little dry). What's going on in your yard?
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Interesting Armitage story from Isikoff this AM. HuffPo has the link.
I got a phone call last night from a non profit that rescues animals in times of natural disasters. I am their official photographer and they have asked me to be ready to go for Ernesto. So I have to check out for a while. The almond paste will wait until I get back. It has been raining in Tampa Bay for two days straight so first I have to sandbag my house and double check our evacuation plans. But hey I know that all that really matters is who killed JonBenet.
JCB — already on it. :) Thanks for the heads up, though.
FloridaMom at 2 — stay safe and take care. Good luck with the sandbagging. Howie Kurtz will stay on the JonBenet beat until you get back (just take a peek at the schedule…) SIGH
Oh my goodness. Came to FDL as soon as computer booted and before I updated the path of Ernesto. Won’t have to hike up to Pensacola. He’s coming to my house. Oops.
Thanks Christy. I will stay safe and the good news is I am locked and loaded with food and water and life jackets.
I wasn’t trying to be flip about a dead child. I just don’t understand the priorities of the MSM.
I can save Face the Nation a whole bunch of time and trouble. The answer is mostly NO. The majority of folks I have talked with roll their eyes when I ask are they prepared for the next hurricane. There. Done. Sorted. Lets pick another topic like how “swimmingly” things are going in Afghanistan. Especially if you are a poppyseed.
Re: Patricia Todd. Alabama race
Wow! Howard Dean calling all week on the situation. DNC frantic about all the negative feedback..people ticked off & no funds coming in…
Grassroots dems can have huge influence & this really demonstrates that.
I’m headed up to the casino in ct, if anyone wants to meet somewhere for lunch where there are tv’s, I’d love it
ironranger @
6
I thought she won her court case and is in…? There was an announcement from the Gay and Lesbian organization supporting her. This was yesterday afternoon, iirc. I’m looking for the link.
As a bright young child who read too much, I had heard of this strange opium stuff that was made by cooking poppies. I was visiting my grandma who had a beautiful stand of floral poppies - I picked them all, put them in a large stew pot on the stove and proceeded to cook them. Grandma smelled the odd odor and when she saw what I’d done, she threw a fit. Deservedly so! Dont try making opium in Perrysville, Indiana…
Hmmm….“Reliable Sources (CNN) assesses the JonBenet Ramsey case…”.
Is it the desperation for improved ratings that makes these CNN folks so dumb, or is it that these CNN folks are so dumb that they think this improves their standing as reliable “news” sources?
Oh that’s right, whatever was I thinking. It’s “entertainment” stupid!
*ilson46201 - you can never read too much. Am impressed with the initiative you took. Hope you had a nice birthday!
Patricia Todd is the Democratic candidate who has no GOP opponent so she is the guaranteed winner for that legislative seat in Alabama. Go dykes, go!
Am breathing a little better this morning, so I think I am past the worst of this nasty cold (she says hopefully). Went to bed early last night, thinking the extra sleep might help me to kick it. Appears to have helped anyway…
How is everyone this morning?
At what tender age was this *ilson?
Today -with “zero tolerance- you’d prob be sent to a wayward home….
*ilson46201 @ 8
Sound familiar. Books were my first friends. Can remember being 4-5 years old and what a transportingjoy I found in reading.
Loved me some Hardy Boys, Tom Swift…and oh yeah, I liked Nancy Drew and the Bobbsey Twins too. *g*
Mad Dogs @
15
“Chip Hilton” Series by Clair Bee
Good Morning CHS!
Oh sure, you guys forgot Trixie Belden and Cherry Ames, WWII nurse extraordinaire. *g*
Christy Hardin Smith @ 12
Tis sunny and 61 right now here in Minnesota with a high expected of 81.
Our State Fair opened its normal 2 week run yesterday.
With the perfect weather we’ve got, might have to go to the fair and nosh me some foot long hot dogs, fresh-made “Tiny Tim” donuts, and ice-cold milk!
Woahhhh…that makes me hungry, so excuse me while I find me some breakfast! *g*
Everything in my yard is in pots (with a few exceptions). I brought back a truckload of things that I got started in Alabama, just so my flooded, sludged-up yard wouldn’t look too much like a wasteland. Those wave petunias even take the heat and humidity of New Orleans!
My star jasmine actually came back! Well, the leaves look fine…but it only had a few blooms. My passion flower vine is still recovering, but it looks hopeful. The hybiscus finally recovered after being knocked over by the wind and pretty much stripped of its leaves. We lost most of the roses to the flood, but the Norfolk Pine has perked up, and makes the perfect climbing space for two clematis vines. Several of the amarylis died and rotted, but many of them made it (the ones that were in pots).
Ol’ 60 Grit!
Pachacutec @ 19
Heh…i was thinking the same thing, Pach. Hm…actually i was thinking sandpaper snatch.
I must have been eleven years old when I tried my narcotics experiment. Later in my dissolute life, I never tried opiates. A few years ago after oral surgery I was given a pain-killer prescription. I took the recommended dosage and then wanted to nap. What colorful, complex dreams! Fascinating! When I awoke, I checked the pill bottle - it was a synthetic opiate and I’d been having one of those fabled “opium fantasies” so written about by DeQuincey and others. I threw away the bottle promptly…
LindyH at 19 — oh, I’m so glad that some of your flowers survived the deluge. It’s amazing how resilient they can be, isn’t it?
Check http://thiscantbehappening.net/ and be scared by Dave Lindorff and Barbara Olshansky.
Yes indeed. Back in February when I was down here for a visit, the yard looked like the surface of the moon. To see the recovery instills hope for the future.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 16
Now that would be something for a different FDL Book Salon; a journey down memory lane with our first books.
The Hardy Boys “Mystery of Cabin Island” was my most favorite! Loved the idea of almost “flying” across an ice-frozen lake in an ice-boat.
Must’ve had something to do with growing up here in the Frozen Tundra. *g*
CHS, I read everything I could get my greedy little mitts on (I still do), and yes, that included Trixie and Cherry too. *g*
I remember when I first “saw” a word and began to understand the whole concept of reading. It was when my father was reading “Peter Cottontail,” my favorite book which I heard so often I knew the story, and then grok!!
I also read very young and was basically voracious. I loved those biographies written for young readers, everything from Davey Crockett to Abigail Adams, Clara Barton, Sakajawea, Florence Nightengale, Florence Tubman–pretty diverse for books made in the 1950s or so.
I made a new garden area in my yard this summer as my older gardens have become too shady for lots of things. The new place is a very good location, stuff really thriving there now.
Mostly we try to do the low water plants here in the desert, despite the “extreme weather” of rain and more rain we have had this year. The desert is really blooming this summer. I have a friend who has been making beautiful photos of the unusual abundance of flowers this year.
Christy, I totally love “Pull Up a Chair” on Saturdays. One thing I enjoy: reading recipes. I can always go back to PUaC and find something fun, if I have missed it “live.”
Mad Dogs at 26 — as you can imagine, Trixie was a favorite of mine due to her red hair *g*
And our Minnesota Twins team is looking like a playoff quality unit.
And Dems are looking strong in many Congressional races.
Life is good.
-JCB in Stillwater.
Mad Dogs @
18
I sometimes wonder what it’s like remembering learning to read. (I learned young enough that I don’t remember learning. First book of my own, Christmas gift at the age of three. Haven’t stopped reading since.)
Love the picture, Christy!
twolf1 broke this on the prior thread. First link I have seen to it.
Sunday, August 27, 2006; Posted: 8:49 a.m. EDT (12:49 GMT) ‘Multiple fatalities’ in Kentucky plane crash
“(CNN) — A Delta commuter flight — en route from Lexington, Kentucky, to Atlanta, Georgia — crashed just after take-off from Blue Grass Airport on Sunday, and airlines and airport officials reported “multiple fatalities….”
I always loved the ‘Doc Savage’ books. Until I discovered Tolkien, anyway…
Mad Dogs @ 26
Christy,
As a flowering shrub, you can’t beat Rose of Sharon (hibiscus syriacus). Mine bloom for weeks and weeks, and are extraordinarily drought tolerant. They are susceptible to winter kill, but if protected and mulched will provide a summer’s worth of ornament.
They’re prone to get as high as 15 feet, so…not something I’d plant in front of the house.
John Casper @ 31
CNN is now reporting that there is one survivor who is in critical condition, 49 fatalities.
*ilson46201 @ 9
Grandmas. For me they are the greatest invention of all time. Mine has been gone for a quarter century. But this woman is with me every day.
Mornin’ Christy,
Trixie Belden ! no more read the words and was immediately transported back to an August long ago - suddently I could smell the snap beans my grandmother was preparing for dinner, could even hear them dropping into her little aluminum pot as I devoured page after page
aaahhh, will have to share with the Nancy Drew lovin’ college girl -
Christian zealots destroy ancient Arctic petroglyphs
Oh, twolf1 at 34 — how horrible! I was so relieved this mornign to wake up and see the FOX journalists had been released. But that really takes the wind out…any early reports on what the cause may have been? Mechanical or otherwise?
Didn’t anyone read scifi? I loved Jules Verne and H.G. Wells.
And Poe– I was obsessed with “The Pit and the Pendulum” because there was a movie by the same name. (The movie had nothing to do with the story, but it was pretty good.)
Christy Hardin Smith @ 38
Nope, very little info. The station weatherpeople seem to think that weather was not an issue.
News from KY: Not a good way to start the week. Ernesto sounding like not so good also.
I was doing the DTD yesterday–not many voters home. The ones I talked to were mostly supporting us, but I did talk to one woman who is the bane of our campaigns–crossover D who votes R. She is the one we need to convince, but I don’t think we will. The Rs seem intransigent on Bush. I was a little surprised.
Reisz at 39 — anything I could get my hands on in the SFF category. Had an uncle who had a huge collection of classics, and I would borrow them by the grocery bag full, read them, and trade them in for another sack. I kept my parents busy running back and forth to the library, too — history, mythology, fantasy, sci-fi, you name it, I read it. I still remember the year I discovered Tolkien, JCB. :)
I linked this on the prior thread, I just thought it was so good, I took the liberty or linking again.
How to Make Tehran Blink
Must read Newsweek article imo.
This could be the foundation for Democratic foreign policy in the ME.
“The best way to prevent a nuclear Iran is for America to offer the kind of security assurances that might reduce support for a nuclear arsenal.”
By Scott D. Sagan
Newsweek International
“Sept. 4, 2006 issue - Given Tehran’s defiant response to the European and American effort to constrain its nuclear program, it is time for bolder diplomacy out of Washington. U.S. President George W. Bush should take a page from the playbook of Ronald Reagan, who negotiated with an evil Soviet regime—competing in the war of ideas, but addressing the enemy’s security concerns through arms-control agreements.”
snip
Tehran’s response is predictable, however, because the offer on the table contains both inadequate economic carrots and barely credible threats of sanctions and military force.
snip
….This is partly a crisis of our own making, as the Bush administration has practiced the reverse of Teddy Roosevelt’s maxim—speaking loudly and carrying a small stick…..”
Bold is mine.
John Casper at 16:
There you go! That’s a name I’d forgotten. Start stirring up those childhood memories and there’s no telling what shows up.
How does one explain to our own children, just what it was like with our childhood fantasies of glorious adventures and outings with the likes of “Howdy Doody”, “Spin and Marty” or Annette Funicello and the rest of the Mouseketeers?
Who remembers stuff like “Sky King” which is destined to probably never see the light of day again?
Mad Dogs @
18
Sure, I was doing just fine fasting this morning, and my neighbor to the west has to start talking about food! :)
Our county fair finishes up today, lots of great things to eat and see. The Dems’ booth has had plenty of action from disgruntled Republicans looking for ‘a reason’ to vote for Democrats for the first time in their lives. We didn’t disappoint them.
Since I really don’t see anything worth watching today, I’m heading out to drop lit. 16 days until the primary!
I haven’t watched MTP in a while. Watching now. And Tim Russert looks like he’s put on weight and his eyes look buggy. I wonder if he’s sick.
LindyH: I was gone all of yesterday so I am catching up on the latest. I read Todd story details on americablog…sorry, I am linky challenged. One of my computer expert kids is just home after 3 months away so if I can just get him to edjumacate me…. I was so impressed & encouraged that the outcry of grassroots against the railroading of Todd & other candidate made such a difference. DNC must have really heard it..ahem-donations. Donating, calling, emailing, voting with conviction is making a difference.
“But this time I was quite amazed. Someone has taken some parts of the rock away. There’s graffiti. And someone has been carving with an axe or something sharp in the grooves of the faces. It’s pretty bad.”
Daniel Gendron, chief archeologist with the Inukjuak-based Avataq Cultural Institute, the key promoter of indigenous history and identity in Nunavik, said the latest vandalism at Qajartalik follows the pattern of previous attacks by members of what he called “a very strong movement” of conservative Christians in Kangiqsujuaq and several other Inuit communities in northern Quebec.
Arctic Taliban I guess.
Riesz Fischer @ 38
Luckily, my small town had some science fiction readers who donated their books to the local public library and the school library. I cut my teeth on Robert Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, even Burroughs…not tarzan, but the mars books. Was that Poe obsession contagious? I had it too, til I discovered “hard” SF.
lotus?
Are you out there lurking?
Man, those Hardy boys sure were able to pack a lot more crap into their summer vacations than I ever was.
I liked the Dr Doolittle books when I was a kid.
morning john casper…nice to see you
LindyH @ 49
Wow, I forgot about Edgar Rice Burroughs! Yeah, I loved the Mars books. What was it they called airplanes? They had a special word for everything.
Asimov and Heinlein too. But that was when I was in high school.
Oh, Hope — you’re back safely! Good to see you. :)
L A N T A N A -not a flower, but a flowering shrub the butterflies love
survives anything and everything, including ride along mowers ($%#*!@#@^#!!)
John Casper - our flowah does anything but lurk *g* - she’s probably “at the turn” ’bout now
Mad Dogs - won a big charity trivia contest some years back by being the only one to name Sky King’s plane
Former President Jimmy Carter doesn’t care for Tony Blair’s behavior.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/new.....lair27.xml
Thank you Christy and Good Morning! Dr. Turtle is back as well.
And thank you for these ‘talking head threads’.
I have just begun to appreciate not only the work that goes into assembling the list but the analysis required on your part to diseminate the info.
wow-no wonder I like so many of the folks here-early and voracious readers. Thinkers. Eaters. Gardeners.
community.
Riesz Fischer @ 52
I don’t remember! But I do remember discovering Heinlein and Asimov at the age of 12. Family had no doubt of what I wanted for birthdays and Christmas.
Thanks cbl. I was hoping it was another case of “a good walk ruined” aka “golf.”
Hi HopeSAT, glad you and the Doc are back safely.
Good morning, Firepooches!
Christy, do hope you’re feeling better!
Ok, now back to the top to read the thread ….
Mexican Heather and Portulaca. Both are ground cover but both stay green and have flowers. The do well in this South Texas heat/humidity
Christy, don’t know how it would do in the humidity, but cranesbill geraniums are beautiful and reliably came through the winters in my Zone 3 prairie garden. Johnson’s Blue was my favourite. Makes me laugh to see fretting about the limitations of a zone 5 garden!
cbl at 55:
Nooooo waaaaayyyy! It actually had a name?
I guess I wasn’t paying enough attention to the important stuff at 4-5 years old. *g*
“What’s the golden age of science fiction?”
“Twelve.”
(Down to Anaheim a bit later; I have people to see, some of them for the first time. Denver in ‘08, and Serenity got the ‘long dramatic presentation’ rocketship.)
Speaking of swallowtails, I discovered eleven Eastern Swallowtail caterpilliars on my bronze fennel plant week.
I’m so proud, watching the little bugggers eating away at all the fresh fennel seed.
I’ve also had one monarch caterpilliar this year on my swamp milkweed.
Fern at 63 — lol, yeah, I know. But we have a cold portion in the winter, and a hot, hot summer with high humidity. It would be one thing if it were just the cold winter, but the poor plants have to be able to withstand the extremes at both ends. I keep trying to get bee balm going, but the humidity has wreaked havoc on my patch this year — last year, it was gorgeous, this year, it’s all powder mildew-y. SIGH I try not to use a lot of chemicals on the flowers, but now I’m wondering if I can keep bee balm going at all.
I was reading before I hit kindergarten. Thanks to Grandma. Grandma had only three passions. Reading, roses (which she grew, back in the old days before all the fragrance was hybridized out) and me.
Millineryman says
August 27th, 2006 at 7:00 am
One year we grew parsley, and after cutting a bunch (and having it in the fridge for a day or two) found an Anise Swallowtail caterpillar in it. Turned into a pretty butterfly, too. (They also eat dill leaves.)
PJ Evans at 65 — if you see Gardner Dozois, tell him I said hello. Ditto that to Fiona Avery if she is there this year. :) (Had to miss Worldcon this year…major bummer)
Mad Dogs,
The Songbird
I was,um, a little older
Anyone know anything about the Delta crash?
Christy Hardin Smith @ 28
You mean Titan hair, doncha? *g*
Me and red-haired women, excuse me, titan-haired women, are like a magnet and iron filings, can’t keep ‘em apart. Sigh!
cbl @ 71
Egads! Now that you mention it, the memory comes back and says cbl is right on the money!
Ahhh, late-summer sales on flowers. Yup. Went to pick up a length of soaker hose to help our rhododendrons resist the late-summer heat and ended up with a beautiful, hummingbird-attracting hanging basked of petunias for outside the kitchen window (just $9.99!), four sets of marigold starters, and this-and-that to fill in a few places with annuals where the front garden took a beating from August.
So now, it’s out to the mountains for a late-August hike, but only after I check the National Fire News. From that I learn this morning:
Global warming (genteely called “climate change”) dries things out. So how is this year, compared to previous years?
2006 (1/1/06 - 8/26/06) Fires: 78,348 Acres: 7,398,529
2005 (1/1/05 - 8/26/05) Fires: 44,869 Acres: 6,999,880
2004 (1/1/04 - 8/26/04) Fires: 54,483 Acres: 6,716,487
2003 (1/1/03 - 8/26/03) Fires: 43,776 Acres: 2,574,831
2002 (1/1/02 - 8/26/02) Fires: 60,672 Acres: 6,204,511
2001 (1/1/01 - 8/26/01) Fires: 56,936 Acres: 2,823,807
2000 (1/1/00 - 8/26/00) Fires: 71,510 Acres: 6,002,534
If any are interested in what the Forest Service and others face on specific fire, take a look at the Cascade Crest Complex Wildland Fire as an example.
Of course, fires have their role in the ecosystem. So do hurricanes. But our shoddy environmental policies, failing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, are making things much worse as global warming gathers speed.
The fires also have a human story. Has anyone read Norman Maclean’s book, Young Men and Fire?
But my thoughts are also on October and New England. My academic wife and I will be participating in an environmental law conference in New York in mid-October and I’d like to show her the autumn leaves in western Connecticut and Massachusetts, southern Vermont, and perhaps along the Taconic State Parkway.
And we like to hike. And to take digital pictures with our cameras.
Any suggestions for the Oct. 14-15 weekend that starts with a rental car picked up at Newark, swings north, gets out of the car with some walking, sees some remote New England town squares, country churchyards, rivers and reflecting ponds, and ends up in White Plains?
I know, I shouldn’t laugh at you - it gets quite hot, but it tend to be a dry heat (local joke to go with “dry cold”) - so things like bee balm do quite nicely - but even here they can be prone to mildew. Tough prairie plants like purple coneflower and goldenrod did beautifully. I also had Russian sage, monkshood (though I wouldn’t put that in a garden if I had a peanut), and tough rugosa roses. Can’t remember the rest - I do miss my garden though - had some financial adventures and have been in an apartment for quite some time now.
genteelly is the proper spelling.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 68
Kiddo…we had the same gramma..I miss her so
Mad Dogs — do you like women with Titan (gigantic) hair - beehives and Marge Simpson styles or do you like Titian (Italian painter) hair like Nancy Drew with her red hair?
Christy, If I see Gardner, I just might do that. Meanwhile, for the newshungry:
Hugo winners, from Locus
another list, with the vote count (for the masochists, because it’s a preferential ballot: been there, done that, have the source code to prove it)
JOE LIEBERMAN SHOULD BE NO MORE WELCOME IN THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY THAN LARRY DARBY!
My yard, gosh. Well, I’m halfway through taking out a nasty too-fast-growing evergreen hedge, and getting ready to put in some small trees and bushes which I’ve started to topiary-sculpt in the side garden. Huge pots full of colorful caladiums just outside the door — I could never winter their finicky little bulbs and just treat them as annuals.
My Zamia is sending out another round of leaves, and the pots of species Sansevieria I’m starting to collect are filling up nicely. My little collection of Shunran wild cymbidiums is getting lots of water this summer, and should produce some nice fragrant blossoms in February, before even the plums start to blossom….
Jeex, I could garden (and garden-thread) all day…
can y’all imagine the trivia contest we could have with this crew . . .
ding ding ding: Spinoza!
ding ding ding: white truffles !
ding ding ding: Jim Keltner !
ding ding ding: Harold Ickes !
ding ding ding: Pope Urban III !
sweet jeebus, the brain cells sacrificed !
PJ at 80 — I don’t know if Gardner and Susan made the trip out this year, but I hope they did. Both are sweethearts — and Gardner is a fascinating guy. He has the BEST stories about the golden years of SF — he and Harlen Ellison both, if you can get them at a table in the bar at the same time, will make you laugh until tears are streaming down your cheeks. (Been there, done that…and if you add in Resnick, you’d better be prepared for a long, long night…) Have much fun. Wish I were there to see everyone. :)
cbl–yes, FDL team take out the little green footballs in a nanosec.
Morning All, If you get the chance to watch MTP it is REALLY worth the time.
CLICK!
Globe Thistle does well for me in zone 3/4. Likes hot & dry. We get humidity here but I don’t know how it would like high humidity all summer. It survives our cold winters & hot summers & low maintainance.It’s tall with walnut size blue flowers. Great for dried flower arrangements.
HopeSAT– President of Comair on cnn now–
Plane carrying 50 crashes in Kentucky; 1 known survivor
A Delta commuter flight carrying 50 people crashed near Lexington’s airport shortly after take-off today, airport and airline officials said. One person is known to have survived. Delta Flight 5191 — which was operated by Delta’s commuter carrier, Comair — crashed about a mile from the airport.
DEVELOPING STORY
http://www.cnn.com/
(RIP)
Two plants that hummingbirds can not leave alone are cardinal climber vine and Texas sage (Salvia coccinea), both annuals, but both will self seed. They are rampant in my Zone 5 late summer garden when a lot of other plants have stopped flowering.
Two perennials I recommend are ‘Ruby Throat’ Daylily (bright red) and ‘Frans Hals’ Daylily(three orange petals and three yellow petals). They are later than the more common daylilies, and they make your garden look like the circus has come. Both butterflies and hummingbirds love crocosmia (’Lucifer’ survives Zone 5 winters and is a beautiful red.)
Cut down and divide that bee balm and be ruthless! It can take it, and the less crowded, the less powdery mildew.
I was raised by the public library, and without it I cannot imagine what my life would have been…miserable, no doubt.
Does anyone remember the series of the childhood biographies of famous Americans for children? The binding (at my library) was turquoise cloth with red letters. It had all the usual males….fathers of the country, etc, but thank goodness whoever put the series together decided they needed an equal number of women, so I was introduced to my future early feminist heroes….Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Elizabeth Blackwell (doctor), Susan B., Howe, and all the others. I remember being amazed that those women fought the same prejudices in the 1800’s that I faced in my blue-collar household in the 1960’s. They were my inspiration and gave me the courage to defy my parents and leave home for college, (I worked my way through) even though my mother threatened suicide if I left the house before I was married.
My favorites to devour were the Phyllis Whitney mysteries….I thought they were even better than Nancy Drew.
Oh. My. God. I’m going to assume that was Don Powell I just caught on This Week.
“We’re not done. We’re going to stay until the job’s done,” he says about NOLA to George Stephanopoulous.
Jebus. That’s their answer for EVERYTHING, isn’t it? Stay and screw up until they’re forcibly removed?
Thanks Angie…watching now. The thing is…now when a plane crashes I automatically think, “Who was on that plane and what did they know/do to mess with BushCo..”
That’s my post 9/11 mindset.
After Ned’s win, weren’t we all saying, “stay off of small airplanes!”
I despise these criminals.
Anyone ever hear of the children’s book series, “The Adventures of Rupert”?
*ilson46201 @ 79
Or Titan women like Saturn’s moon? Me and a Moonie; talk about a cultural mis-match, that’d be something to see! *g*
emma says
personal faves in the series -
Helen Keller, Jane Adams, Maria Mitchell
and HopeSAT,
don’t feel bad about your post 9/11 mindset - my poor spouse was somewhat embarassed this past week to suggest maybe that poor soul now in a Boulder jail was an intentional plant/distraction - nothing too tin foil with this current cabal
cbl @ 96
I second that.
Ahh, reading when I was young was my lifesaver. With parents who were older (40 when they had me) and being an only child, I had no playmates. And with both parents working, I was with aunts and uncles most of the time.
And so being the stubbord scorpio I am, I refused to talk. Nope — nada. Not at all. Everyone thought I was retarded. Socially I guess I was. And so I went to school and did not talk. Refused to answer questions. Nope not going to talk.
By second grade the teachers just tsk-tsked and assumed I would never learn; smiled at me patiently, and ignored me. But I had a big secret. I was learning to read along with the class but I REFUSED to tell anyone. And so I went throughout gradeschool with everyone thinking I was absolutely slow as all get out and secretly I was reading everything I could get my hands on. THEY were my friends.
Anything with dogs and horses. The Flicka series was well read. Betsy, Tacy & Tib were also a favorite along with the Nancy Drew and Hardy boys.
But alas in 6th grade they tested me (I did not have to talk) and my secret was out. But it was great was it lasted. :)
My blood pressure can’t handle this.
Who’s paying Nicole Wallace, “former” White House communications director…the girl is ALL spin. She’s on This Week to do nothing but tar Democratic folks right now; they must be absolutely terrified.
Emma @ 91,
Me too!
Plus, the Worldbook Encyclopedias - I loved Greek mythology!
And Louis L’Amour.
I traded Hardy Boys with my cousin for her Nancy Drews.
Ahhhhh, good times.
you know, I always have a hinky feeling getting on one of those Comair Delta flights– they look so rundown in my experience… and I have to get on 2 of ‘em in order to get to and from my family. I now take a direct flight on JetBlue or Southwest and utilize the ground transport.
Love all the books mentioned– Nancy, Trixie, The Hardy Boys, Cherry Ames, the Twins, and all those bios (Emma). I still read books daily– don’t know how I would ever sleep without one in my greedy little paws. When I got in trouble as a kid (*rarely*– *g*)
I was sent to my room and I read some more. As soon as I could work, my first job was in the library. My sis and I ran the summer reading program…
Anybody remember Edith and Mr. Bear– The Lonely Doll books?
Gahhh, what a dreadful talking head line up today. Looks like the kitties will get some extra “us” time hehe.