sometimes politics can't take a back seat

"I listened as they called my President a Muslim.
I listened as they called him and his family a pack of monkeys.
I listened as they said he wasn't born here.
I watched as they blocked every single path to progress that they could.
I saw the pictures of him as Hitler.
I watched them shut down the government and hurt the entire nation twice.
I watched them turn their backs on every opportunity to open worthwhile dialog.
I watched them say that they would not even listen to any choice for Supreme Court no matter who the nominee was.
I listened as they openly said that they will oppose him at every turn.
I watched as they did just that.
I listened.
I watched.
I paid attention.
Now, I'm being called on to be tolerant.
To move forward.
To denounce protesters.
To 'Get over it.'
To accept this...
I will not.
I will do my part to make sure this great American mistake becomes the embarrassing footnote of our history that it deserves to be.
I will do this as quickly as possible every chance I get.
I will do my part to limit the damage that this man can do to my country.
I will watch his every move and point out every single mistake and misdeed in a loud and proud voice.
I will let you know in a loud voice every time this man backs away from a promise he made to them.
Them. The people who voted for him.
The ones who sold their souls and prayed for him to win.
I will do this so that they never forget.
And they will hear me.
They will see it in my eyes when I look at them.
They will hear it in my voice when I talk to them.
They will know that I know who they are.
They will know that I know what they are.
Do not call for my tolerance. I've tolerated all I can.
Now it's their turn to tolerate ridicule.
Be aware, make no mistake about it, every single thing that goes wrong in our country from this day
forward is now Trump's fault just as much as they thought it was Obama's.
I find it unreasonable for them to expect from me what they were entirely unwilling to give."

Author unknown. (Copy and Paste Everywhere)

the little monster

Doesn't this look like some cute little shaggy dog you'd love to pet?
Don't Do It!

This is the furry puss caterpillar of Megalopyge opercularis, the Southern Flannel Moth, and it is considered to be the most venomous caterpillar in the United States.

Must be the season for me to see weird bugs

As I've learned from experience, if a caterpillar is fuzzy, spiky, or begging to be petted, you should avoid it like the plague or be prepared to face Pain. Or as WIRED put it: Never Touch Anything That Looks Like Donald Trump's Hair.


This worm had an interesting brown stripe along its back, which included the tail. Looked like a Mohawk haircut. It was crawling around the withered top of a spider lily in my back yard, perhaps looking for a place to attach itself prior to morph into THIS.

I got a short video of this creature on my phone but forgot & turned it the wrong way.  When I went back outside to redo the video the critter had vanished.  So, apologies for making you turn sideways to view it.

Spiny Backed Orb Weaver

Gasteracantha cancriformis

Earlier in the week it was Spider Lillies, now it's an actual Spider. Another first for me, seeing one of these "smiley face" spiders in real life. This one is pretty small, maybe 1/4 inch in diameter. I almost missed the spider, but couldn't miss the beautiful web.

return of the spider lillies

Three spider lillies popped up and bloomed early last week. A few more appeared later in the week. A grand total of 6 or 7 plants this year; nothing like last year. Maybe it was the unusually wet weather we had in August this year.

the sphinx

The biggest moth I think I have ever seen was resting against the side of my house yesterday. It stayed there for several hours and was back again this morning. It is a Rustic Sphinx (Manduca rustica).

What is the Sphinx trying to tell me?


 

Reupholstery Project

I've had four of these dining chairs for about 20 years, and I decided it was time to change their look. I found some upholstery fabric, watched a lot of videos on YouTube, and dove into my first reupholstery project. After removing the fabric from the first chair I knew I was right about change: the old fabric was so dark and filthy when compared to the original color. You couldn't tell so much when it was still on the chair.

I used a manual stapler to attach the new fabric to the seat, which is made of particleboard.  I have some arthritis in my hands and sometimes had to use both hands to pull the lever on the stapler. It's not easy to hold the fabric in position if you need two hands to staple! I also had to allow a day or two between stapling sessions for my hands to recover. I felt it was worth all the trouble after I got the chairs put back together.

Here's one of the finished chairs. I love the new fabric; it's called "Jungle Jam". It's like getting a whole new set of chairs.

If I do another upholstery project in the future I think I will buy a pneumatic stapler. So much easier on the hands, and faster, too.

summer fruit and polka dot pyrex

Red, white and green is one of my favorite summer color food combinations. Think tomatoes, parsley and feta. These grapes and strawberries are about to be drenched in greek yogurt: yum!