Just When We Think He's Hit the Bottom...

~ ...he finds a new way to disgust us all. His $1.7 billion slush fund that is earmarked for all his January 6th co-conspirators is highly illegal on its own. But he had to add all the legalese so that he, his family and busineeses would never be held accountble for anything. We'll see about that. ~ And this after he has pushed through his plans for a "triumphal arch in DC and his mucking up of the reflecting pool between the Washington and lIncoln monuments by having it painted swimming American flag blue by his swimming pool technicians. Good God! I cannot imagine what is next. (Oh, and not to mention ripping up more of the White HOuse lawn for a proper helipad. It will take years and billions to undo all the tackiness. ~ Meanwhile, down the road towards Baltimore, the Preakness was held at Laurel last weekend. The "crowd" was limited to 6400 people and shots of the track showed lots of space for everyone. Winner was Napoleon Solo, a new shooter. Hopefully, Pimlico will be back online next year - I'm sure the infield denizens were not happy about his year. ~ Janet Mills has dropped out of the Senatorial race and the DCC has endorsed Platner to be their golden child. I'm not convinced.

Hallmark & Horses

~ As lifelong horse lover and former rider, I am always up for a good horse-related movie. I'm also a devoted Hallmark movie fan, however they really need to hire a dedicated consultant when diving into the horse world. Three cases in point: 1) Taking the Reins - set in the show jumping world (although not at the elite level) the fault that I could not get past was the rider's hold on the reins that was so reminiscent of many beginners and certainly not the position that one would expect to see in a jumping class. Hands way too high and static. I suspect the actress was not a rider and had only rudimentry skills taught to her as it was obvious when the jumping started that there was someone else in the saddle. Close ups only, please. 2) Hats Off to Love - set in Lexington with a fictional Lexington Derby as the main event. There is a scene where the trainer of one of the horses entered (the eventual winner, of course) is leading the horse having apparently just come back from a training session. Sadly, the saddle on the horse is a standard jumping saddle and not a racing exercise saddle. Just a simple detail overlooked, that the casual viewer would never notice. 3) Kentucky Roses - the latest, set against the spectacle at Churchill Downs at Kentucky Derby time. Early in the movie, the main character and her trainer friend are at the Derby draw where the friend's horse draws post 17. Yet when raceday arrives and the horses hit the track in the post paraade, there are at most 10 horses on the track. Did the other 5-6-7 scratch? (Highly unlikely.) Just my observations and a hope that in the future there may be better attention payed to the details.

Historic Kentucky Derby

~ That sound at approxiamtely 7 pm ;ast evening was the glass ceiling breaking in the trainer's old boys club. Cherie DeVaux from Saratoga Springs weilded the hammer that was Golden Tempo and had help from a very capabable jockey in Jose Ortiz, who just edged out his brother Irad at the finish line. The video of Cherie during the final moments of the race is priceless - jumping, slumping and finally rejoicing. All the emotions. And so so gracious in all her remarks. No deceision yet on the Preakness and no need to push that decision. ~ My Threads timeline was filled last night and this morning with all the casual horse racing fans (and some not so casual anti-fans). Some misinforamtion but it's all good. No public breakdowns just a gate scratch of Great white who reared behind the gate before loading, dumping his jockey and landning on his side. He appeared no worse for wear but the vets did their job and he was led away. ~ Just before the Derby NBC aired a retrospective of Barbaro 20 years ago. Footage of Michael Matz showed a much older, wiser and posssibly more tirede man. I have noticed fewer and fewer workouts and entries for his horse and his barn at Fair Hill has a new owner. I think he still has a few horses, likely in the Runnymoore barn. ~ Trump and his minions are still blaming the Dems for last Saturday's shooter incident at the White House Press Association event. And The Justice Department indicted Comey yet again, this time for his "86/47" social media post last year. He reported and was released the same day but what a clown show this administration is proving to be, with all their lies and dodges. No one takes responsibility for their actions and they all have been coached to deflect. The latest dodge is that the 60 day limit before the Senate has to be involved in a war hasn't been reached because when the cease fire went into effect the clock was stopped. Not the case according to the law but no one is stopping them. Meanwhile, Trump says the war is over but then turns around and says he'll start bombing agin if Iran doesn't agree to his terms. ~ Closer to home, in a move I didn't see coming, Janet Mills suspended her campaign for Senate, effectively assuring Graham Platner of the nomination. Something about him just doesn't sit right with me - his testosterone "bro" vibe, his past mysoginistic statements - PTSD: I wonder what sort of decisions he would make. I don't see him going full Fettermen on us but I'm not ready to trust him. And, once Janet was out he bowed out of all future debates with 2 other candidates still in the race. That shows a lot of disrespect to me.

Another Month of Madness!

~ The war with Iran is currently on pause and at a stalemate as no one can agree on anything it seems. Still no release of the remainder of the Epstein files. Legal action has so far prevented the start of construction on the ballroom, but the underground bunker is full speed ahead. Over the weekend, the White House Correspendents Association held their annual gala and for the first time Trump was in attendance. No comedian as MC - a "mentalist" instead. Before things got rolling, but after most were seated, a lone wolf charged down from upper floors and tried to gain access to the room where everyone was gathered. He did not make it to that floor and was subdued and is alive. Never came close to the President but he and his toadies are all calling it another assasination attempt. Attacker had published a manifesto without specific names but generalized description of those he felt should suffer. ALl the important people were hustled off stage and whisked away to safety. Trump held a news conference at 10:30 and lied through his teeth. All in his orbit are blaming the Dems and their inflamatory rhetoric - taking no responsibility for any of this. And yesterday the Justice Department indicted former FBI Director Comey (AGAIN!), this time claiming the dangerous post he made last year with seashells on the beach "86/47" was the cause of the attack. (no, Donald - YOU are the cause - you and your fat mouth that you can't seem to keep closed.) Oh, and the King and Queen of England are visiting DC and Charles absolutely shredded Trump in his address to Congress yesterday and again last night at the state dinner. ~ A bright note: Ukraine seems to be making some advances in the war with Russia. And no thanks to Trump. Good for them! ~ Working through my list of projects for the house this spring. It's a long, long list. It will get done but I need a break for some quilting now that the new pfaff is back in house. I sold my canopy to one of Connie's friends, so that's one lass thing to stumble over in the garage. I need to photograph and list some of the other stuff soon. Getting to be show season. ~ Derby weekend coming up. No clear emotional favorite and that's okay. 20 years ago it was all Barbaro! Sigh.

Retreat to Hope Valley

~ I remember that during the first Trump presidency we compensated by binge-watching the West Wing, happily immersing ourselves in an administration that was far from perfect but at least had their priorities straight. This second presidency has been more of a challenge - but I have found an antidote - the Hallmark series When Calls the Heart. I'm about a fourth of the way through the back catalog and it's so refreshing to immerse myself in life on the Northwest Canadian frontier of the 1920s, complete with school teachers, villainous businessmen, shady railroad tycoons and, of course, courageous Mounties! Currently, Elizabeth (the school teacher) and Jack (the Mountie) are engaged but separated by his need to wrangle some bad guys farther North than Hope Valley (which was renamed in Season 1 from Coal Valley after a mine accident killed many of the town's husbands and sons). It's been interesting to follow civilization's advances back then, from fashion to technology - cars were just introduced but share the roads with stage coaches. I started watching the current stories last season and could not stay away from this season. It's amazing to me the number of actors that have passed through this series, some as main characters for a season or two and some in recurring occasional roles. It's very well done, if preachy at times but I'm willing to allow that given the gentle nature of the story. ~ The war in Iran continues as prices climb everywhere on everything. The TSA agents at airports have been working without pay for a month, resulting in massively long lines at major airports, especially this week and next as Spring breakers flood the lanes. Many stories of 4,5,6 hour waits and people missing flights. It's all crazy. Last night the Senate passed a bill to fund most of DHS, including TSa but not ICE. We'll see if the House takes it up before they attempt to fly home for their recess. (Good luck - at least one airline - Delta - has suspended their program that gave members of Congress preferential treatment so now those people ar standing in the same lines as the rest of us! ~ David's brother passed away a week ago - he fell somewhere in a parking lot and fractured 5 ribs. Hospital sent him to a rehab facility where he passed. Debbie, his ex-wife in Rochester, flew down earlier this week to do some preliminary arrangements and found the double-wide in a sorry state. She spent a couple of days just cleaning and throwing stuff out. She and Kelly, who inherited the place, will go down in June to see about maybe selling or whatever. I can't imagine Kelly wants that place. She ahs a lovely home in Rochester with a pool and hot tub and friends. David might go down for a couple of days just to grab some things he wants. All in all, a sad end. ~ My two Lupine & Laughter tops are done but still waiting on the new Pfaff to be ready to be picked up. I'm currently wrangling some scraps into usable shapes/sizes, but quickly losing interest. I need to clear them away, finishing cleaning and tidying and get back to Freddie's quilt and my other projects. ~ Third No Kings rally tomorrow. Going to Waterville as they were a kinder crowd than Augusta.

Catching Up

~ In the month or so since I last wrote, the chaotic administration moves have continued. They removed the head of ICE operations in Minneapolis and his successor claimed ICE was leaving, which, of course was a lie. They continue to harrass citizens in the twin cities area. And they made a brief foray into Maine, arresting several people and disappearing many to who knows where. Just last week they made an appearance at an office in the Lewiston-Auburn area that has been the target due to perceived financial misdealings with federal funds. I haven't seen an update on that one. ~ One positive development was the demotion of Kristi Noem as head of Homeland Security after she said in a Congressional hearing that Trump had approved her spending $2 million on an ad campaign for Homeland Security that featured her prominently. She's been reassigned to some made up post and her replacement is a Republican member of the House of Representatives, Markwayne Mullin. we'll see if he gets confirmed. ~ AND last week Trump joined forces with Isreali leader Netanyahu to attack Iran, claiming they were on the verge of creating a nuclear weapon. It all smacks of Wag the Dog as there is still little news on the Epstein front beyond a release of a few files that are highly damaging to Trump. The things alleged are truly heinous. An immediate result of the war has been a rapid soike in Gas and oil prices. David remarked just yesterday that he's glad we got fuel oil before this al went down. Gas prices were juping 10 to 20 cents per gallon overnight. And still Trump is lying to us about the economy while not landing on any one reason for this absurd war. Now there is talk of boots on the ground following an all ir war so far. Shipping is at a stand still as the Straits of Hormuz have been closed and possibly mined. Hegseth is on tv daily, hyping up the war, while it was revealed yesterday that the Pentagon has spent outrageous amounts of money on luxury foodstuffs and furniture. It jus amazes me that these people get in power and just go wild with our money. Its like a slap in the face. The amount of money being consumed by this war on a daily basis would easily fund healthcare and lower prices for all of us but they do not care. ~ Closer to home, I'm closing in on completing my mystery quilt. I've split the blocks to make 2 lap quilts which will be gifted to Linda and Melissa Turner in memory of son/brother Derrick. After listening to all the stories about his sense of humor, it occured to me this was a good idea, as the name of the pattern is Lupine and Laughter. Once I'm finished witht he tops it will be on to Freddy's quilt which I set aside before Christmas. By the time I finish that top the new Pfaff should be back from Tyler's so I can qult all three and then move on to other projects. ~ Currently taking Tai Chi but willtake a break this Spring to put energy into the yard which ahs gotten short shrift the past few years while I was busy creating to sell. I'm enjoying it and it's making me move, which is a good thing.

More sadness from Minneapolis

~ Last Saturday ICE agents in Minneapolis murdered another US citizen who was observing and filming their illegal activities. He observed the agents shove a woman to the ground, and when he leaned down to help her up and shield her from further mayhem, the agents gassed them both, took his legal fire arm and then proceeded to fire 10 TEN!!! bullets into his body. Another observer filmed the murder and has since come forward to self-identify to CNN. I cannot imagine the hell she experiences every day after witnessing that. Of course, the Trump administration spun it six ways from Sunday, saying he was a hired assassin and a radical terrorist, that he drew his gun, and all sorts of other lies. The only good to come out of this is that Trump's head of ICE, Greg Bovino, has been removed, but sadly replaced by Tom (Bagman) Homan, the "border Czar". He has vowed to reduce the amount of agents in town - we will see. In the meantime, ICE presence in Maine increased last week, although Susan Collins claimed today that ICE Barbie has promised her that their work in Maine is done. They dubbed this action here as Catch of the Day. They love to troll us with what they perceive as clever names for their programs. ~ Locally, we were walloped by a storm on Sunday night/Monday that left us with 15+" of snow. Thankfully it was a dry light fluffy snow so clean up was not as onerous - but it went on far too long. We had finished the front 2/3 of the drive and took a nap break. While we were napping, neighbor farmer Bob Campbell finished the job for us and even came back Tuesday morning to deal with the 3" we gained overnight. And he did a better job than any of the guys we've paid the entire time we've lived here!!! Neighbors helping neighbors - one of the things I love about this town. Now to figure out a way to thank him. ~ I'm on the home stretch of the mystery quilt I've been working on since Christmas. Just 10 more blocks of one kind to finish and 25 of another and I can start assembling it. It will go to be professionally quilted , then I'll bind and likely gift it to Linda Turner to help her heal from the loss of her son, Derrick, who committed suicide 2 weeks ago. There's a celebration of his life a week from Sunday at the Belgrade Community Center.