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Patio Residents
A few days ago I saw a tiny Junco was very busy on our patio but could find no evidence of a nest. A few days later I discovered it in a pot of ivy.
I expect by the week-end these little ones will have flown the nest and we'll have our patio back. We've enjoyed watching them though their mother has not appreciated our attention in the least.
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Ninja Coffee Bar
Lord knows if there's anything we need it's another gadget to figure out. Daughter bought this coffee system and loves it so of course we had to have one too. It will make everything from one cup to a pot.
The pod coffee maker bothered me because it was expensive and very abusive to the environment. Personally, I never thought the taste was very good. Our new pot uses regular coffee, no more pods. Brewed coffee is much hotter and tastes much better. Should be much cheaper to operate.
Old Husband has done amazingly well with it. He really wanted it and has tried hard to learn to operate it.
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Zoo in the Rain
Out of 207 days we had 145 days of rain. I think people here are beginning to adjust to the possibility we may never see sunshine and summer so they've decided to go on living. Daughter and I dressed in our rain gear and off we went to visit the zoo. Turns out that's a wonderful way to do it. The animals loved it and were out having a good time, the crowd was light, and parking was easy.
I've developed a real love for our resident otters and Nora, the polar bear. Our resident river otter has two pups that I keep up with on the Oregon Zoo site. It was so fun to watch her teaching her little ones swim.
Tillie wasn't thrilled to be called out of her den to perform for visitors but eventually she drug the pups out and they put on quite a performance.
Then we were off to visit the sea otters and got to see a real show there as well, though I didn't get pictures. I was too busy watching all the activity.
Nora, our young polar bear was really enjoying the cool rainy day so she too was up for a lot of activity to keep her guests entertained.
I was a very happy camper when I left the zoo.
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An Evening With Son
An Evening With Son
I had an evening out with Son when we went to dinner and to see comedian Marc Maron. Not a person you would normally take your mother to see but we've always done weird things together. I had a good time and laughed a lot.
Colored Pencils
I'm still having a good time playing with colored pencils.
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Old Husband
Old Husband's health report card gets mixed grades. On the whole he's in a fairly stable situation, but always there's the slow decline.
Our newest situation is loss of words. It's almost like he has aphasia. He clearly knows what he wants to say but can't find the word. He now wants me to accompany him everywhere so I can talk if he gets in trouble.
We had a anxiety episode a week or so ago. It was time to get the car inspected. He was sure he knew where the place was and it would be no problem. I'm new to taking care of the car so I figured he knew what he was doing. Just to be on the safe side I ran a copy of the directions and it was no where near the location he had given me. He refused to change his mind when I showed him the directions and map. He just wasn't going to have it that way. Finally I put him in the car and drove him by the location so he could see the building. Only then was he willing to admit he was confused.
His decline was very noticeable to daughter when she was here this week-end. She took him to Costco and was amazed how long it took to get the shopping done. She's very aware of my kitchen situation now because every time she went to the kitchen he went to the kitchen. He's so slow he really tested her patience.
She's here for a few days when she comes and gets to see her dad as he really is. Son is clueless. He pops in and visits for a little while and goes on with his life. He looks good to him and figures if anything goes wrong I'll take care of it.
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Political
I have no words to describe how I feel about our political situation. I'm very embarrassed by those representing our country to other countries. It's painful.
I tell people it's like reliving the Bush administration, only this administration is on steroids.
It takes a lot of time to sort the news for the facts these days. Even those whose job it is to do that are sometimes fooled by a piece of "fake" news. This tells me the majority of the country is believing an awful lot of stuff that's simply not true. It's very discouraging trying to stick to the facts when so much that's false surrounds you.
This is the clearest thing I've found on the new budget deal.
__No border wall $
__No $ cuts for 'sanctuary cities'
__Keeps funding for Planned Parenthood
__More defense $
__No $ for Jeff Sessions and his war on medical marijuana
I think this is correct but everything I've read from the White House paints it as a big victory for Trump. How? I don't get it.
The country remains highly agitated and I see no end to that as long as the President and Congress remain out of control. I took up colored pencils to try to keep from checking my digital devices so often but I can't seem to stay away from it. You never know what ridiculous idea will pop up next and you have to follow it until hopefully someone denies it or it's defeated. I'm afraid to turn my back.
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The Ridiculous
In local news this morning we had the story of a man accused of sexually abusing a chicken.
