Surprise!

~ Greeted yesterday morning by 5-6" for fressh sanow. This after a decidedly Spring feel to the air last week. But it's Maine, as I so often remind myself. It will all be gone later this week with temps north of freezing each day. ~ Who could not have predicted the clown show that happened when the people charged with securing our country and keeping us safe decided to discuss and formulate their plans to attack the Houthis in Yemen using a commercial messsageing app (SIgnal)? No one would be the wiser save for the fact that national security adviser Michael Waltz invited Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor of the Atlantic to join the chat. (Oooopsie!) To his credit (proving he is much more a patriot than anyone else on the chat) he just remained silent and and no one - ABSOLUTELY NO ONE! - asked who he was and why he was there. After reading the minute details of the attack planned for 2 hours hence, he sat chilly and then checked for confirmation that what he had read about was taking place, which it was. He then left the chat group and contacted some of the other participants off app and asked some very pointed questions. The only reply came from an official at the White House who spun it and never addressed the fact that 1) the group was using an unapproved method of communication and 2) that a member of the press had been added to the group chat. Just the usual nonsense about how successful the operation was. The President denied any knowledge of the mistake and the national Defense Secretary, Hegseth, vehemently denied that any plans were texted to anyone. (A bald faced lie!!!) Goldberg had the foresight to screen shot some of the texts and they do not lie. Once again proof we are living in a kakistocracy. I'd love to be in the Senate hearing with FBI Director Kash Patel, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Tulsi Gabbard, the DNI. This hearing was previsouly scheduled for another purpose but I'm certain this fiasco will be brought up. Waiting for reports.* ~ Quilting continues apace. Lots of progress now that I'm healthy again. And some bad news/good news on the show front. Bad news is that the KVAA show at Snow Pond is a no go this year. KVAA is reorganizing. And the proposed first weekend in December show Linda had created for SSMC did not get approved. Good news: They are looking at a one day summer show on Route One in the Wiscasset area. And Linda will try to put together a 2 day show for the first weekend in December (not SSMC) at the Wiscasset Community Center. And I have been accepted for the Fall Fiesta Show at Stevens Square. And likely will get into Scarborough. (Counting on getting into Brunswick and the Topsham shows as I have done them before.) * ~ And the reports are a mess of stonewalling and deflecting to Hegseth, who was not part of the hearing. These people think they can just lie and deflect their way out of everything. Of course, that strategy comes from the top, the stonewaller and deflector in chief.

WTAF?????

It's taken me a few days to cool down enough to write about what transpired in the Oval Office last Friday, when the duly elected leader of a democratic country was attacked and demeaned in front of the entire world in a set up ambush by the President and Vice-President of the United States. The run up to this included the orange man labelling Zelenskyy a dictator. He and his underling then acted all pissy, saying the Ukrainians had not thanked them enough. (And just what had Trump ever done for them? Nada, except pressure then to start an unfounded investigation into Biden and his son so that Trump would win the 2020 election. All that did was lead to Trump's first impeachment!) Things got very heated, sides separated to cool down and then Trump ordered the Ukrainians to leave, without so much as lunch. Needless to say, there were no agreeemnts on minerals or anything else signed that day. And now I understand why - - - it was all a set up. Thanks to my go-to person for all things Trump (and now Musk), Seth Abramson, I have finally come to understand that Musk is the back channel to Putin that Trump wanted in 2016 but couldn't find a way to establish it. Or, rather, he's the back channel that Putin wanted. He and Musk have a regular conversation it seems, supposedly about Musk doing business in Russia, but it has become obvious to anyone paying attention that Russia sent Musk a large sum of money which he donated to Trump's campaign last year, helping him defeat the Democrats. (I suspect some money found its way to some of the Congressional races as well.) And Musk, in his role as "special advisor to the President" and head of DOGE, is creating just the chaos that Putin wants to see in this country. Citizens are fearing for their jobs, seniors and veterans are fearing they will lose health care and Social Security payments, we all are just waiting for the next shoe to drop. At midnight today, Trump's tarriffs on goods from Canada and Mexico and China went into effect. Who knows what I will see in the grocery store tomorrow? We knew it was going to be more stressful than his first term but this is truly terrifying. The encouraging signs are there...lots of protests everywhere, on all the issues. Vance even got basically run out of Vermont over the weekend, which serves him right. His big mouth and the stupid words coming out of it were what derailed Friday's meeting. I loved Zelinskyy's line" "You’re raising the volume of your voice but not the logic in your argument.” The man is no one's fool. He speaks 3 languages, he thinks fast on his feet and speaks with humility and grace. But the oafs like Trump and Vance only see weak man, because he does not shout and use their faulty logic.

Still Coughing....

This is the flu from Hell - Hangs on with the cough. Not as bad as last week but still here. Sigh. Things in DC on the other hand, are getting worse. No one seems to be able to define Musk's role in all the chaos and he's all over X dissing everyone like a 13 year old. Hard to tell who is in charge - I suspect someone behind the scenes, not the glory hogs we hear from on a daily basis. Trump wasted more millions of our tax dollars to make an appearance at the Daytona 500 this weekend, including several laps around the track in the Beast with his escorts. I'm hereby warning Churchill Downs, the Maryland JOckey Club and NYRA that he should not be invited to any of the Triple Crown races. What a catastrophe that would be. And so far, I have yet to see anything approaching competence in any of the confirmed cabinet heads. Hegseth has pissed off anyone he's spoken about, Rubio is just parroting whatever he's been fed, JD Vance has really pissed off our European allies...it just keeps on going. We are already the pariah of the world. And planes keep falling out of the sky - really miss Mayor Pete. I hope I live long enough to see him right the ship.

Sick, Sick, Sick...

We have been suffering a bout of the flu in the house this week. Headaches, stuffy noses, coughs, body aches, chills and fevers. D. suffered one day of nausea, I've had several days of no appetite and a couple of days of diarrhea but seem to have turned the corner. Energy level has been up and down - up enough today to clear the front walk this morning then spent the rest of the day recovering. Sleep has been had in 2 hour increments the past few nights and I'm feeling it. I just want a good night's sleep!!!! Misery loves company and we have it - Linda Turner and Lee Sykes are also in camp with us. It snows every couple of days, enough to have the plow guy come and do a crappy job and then we have to go out and finish up. I still need to do the deck before Sunday's storm arrives. And the Pfaff is ready to be picked up in Portland, so maybe Wednesday next week. I have a hair appointment (rescheduled for this past Weds.) on Tuesday. It's been a week of deliveries - Staples (notebook and shredder lube sheets), Broan (range hood filters), Chewey (cat food), and batting. All done now. I just need to layer and pin the items I've created so I can hit the ground quilting on Wednesday afternoon. Still waiting on the show applications for SSMC so can write those checks. And still waiting on Christa to get back to me. Hurry up and wait. The forewarned chaos is happening in DC - Elon and his band of pranksters are creating choas everywhere they show up. They appear to be all male, all in thier 20s and all angry at someone (parents? girlfriends? authority?) as reports are that they yell at established workers when their demands are ignored or not taken seriously. And there are reports that one posted some racist things on X so he resigned yesterday but today was rehired after JD Vance went to bat for him. Confirmations are ramming through because of the majority held by the GOP. The Senate Dems held a 24 hour talkathon the other night, listing all the ways the nominee for Budget Chair was not qualified. He passed, of course. None of Trump's nominees have tanked so far, save for Matt Gaetz who did not make it to the prelim stage. There have been a daily fusillade of EOs, most illegal, on everything from axing foreign aid to nixing the use of paper drinking straws. Also a flurry of lawsuits to counteract the EOs.

The Day After...

~ The outrage I feel the day after the spectacle that was the innauguration hasn't been felt since the election in November. The day-long cermonies/parade/rallies were such an affront to the people of this country who cannot afford food or rent or medical care. And yet his supporters who were lucky enough to be admitted were there, cheering on every stroke of his Sharpie while he undid much of the good that the Biden administration crafted over the past 4 years. He undid protections for everyone save the white Christian males who bow down to him. He undid protections for the environment. He undid protections for civil cervants who have served the government for years. And right there with him were the broligarchs who had payed for the privilige to have a seat on the dais, pushing more worthy people aside. He pardoned/commuted virtually all of the January 6th rioters, including the leaders and organizers.(Party of law and order? Umm, NO!) And his co-president, Musk, had the nerve - the unrepentant nerve! - to give not one but two Nazi salautes at the afternoon rally. (Blame it on the Ketamine???) It was like a Roman orgy of disgrace and contempt for the people who voted for him and a big middle finger for those of us who didn't. My only solace is that Judy is no longer with us to experience this. She would be so deprssed. ~ So I will again cut down on my national news consumption to avoid any mentions and outrage. I will read non-political books, I will sew and quilt and plan out my schedue of shows for the final year of my business. I will bake and garden and take care of myself and my house and David and Divot. It will be as if DC does not exist for me. (Until it comes for me and then look out!) It is time to worry about me and not the country as a whole.

January???

~ It does not look at all like January here in Maine. The pre-Christmas snow was mostly washed away in a rainstorm last week and the rest has been slowly evaporating in the cold dry air. Oh, it's cold but no snow beyond the occasional snow flake early in the morning. The mountains have gotten more and most have been cranking the snowmaking but I suspect holiday numbers were down as the brown backyard thing took over. ~ Off to Portland today to get the new Pfaff to Tyler for maintenance. I set up the old one yesterday and actually started on the first project for 2025. My informal resolution is to do more sewing throughout the year in an attempt to have plenty of inventory for every show. Things got a bit thin in the runner department last Fall. And it should be easy to include at least one holiday runner in each batch. I also have committed to making a baseball quilt for Brenda's nephew Freddie. I should have more time as I will no longer have the UMC Facebook duties. SSMC has generously offered free dues for this year in exchange for the monetary gift UMC is providing. I look forward to participating in more of their shows, if I can get in. And they are exploring more shows to accomodate the increase in membership. Hopefully one of those shows will be in the Augusta area. ~ Peaceful transfer of power yesterday in snowy DC, unlike 4 years ago. I try to keep it all in perspective but the very real possibility that Trump and his minions may never face accountability gnaws at my psyche every day. It seems as if everyone has decided he is the emperor and cannot be touched. Judge Marchan in NY has stayed the course and will sentence him for the 34 convictions but has already said there will be no jail time. Trump and his co-conspirators have requested that special counsel Jack Smith's report on the Jan. 6th activities not be made public. I can see that happening as people just don't want to find themselves in the line of fire. And all his bluster about wanting to buy Greenland now has Don Jr. on his way there today to negotiate a deal. In the perfect meme inducing act, an soldier rented a Cybertruck and blew it up in front of a Trump hotel in Las Vegas on New Year's Day. And, the final (for this week) slap in the face - Trump has in effect erased all negative connotations for Jan. 6th with much help from all his supporters.

Christmas Memories

~Remembering Christmas Eves from decades ago when we would gather at Grandma and Grandpa Loveless’s home on Madison Street in Ithaca to celebrate. I think I remember carols on the television - because they lived in the city they only received one channel, 12 out of Binghamton. I don’t remember any food as this was after Dinner. I do remember their tree, one of those shiny aluminum affairs and the rotating color wheel on the floor. I remember bubble candles at some point,too. We were allowed to bring one present from home to open and there was always the money cards for each child with a crisp five dollar bill from the grandparents. ~Our tree at home was always a real cut tree, usually a scotch pine from Agway. The bottom round of lights were the large C9s, multicolored. Upper branches held the small C7s, also multicolored. The ornaments were a mix of new plastic balls and old glass from Mom’s childhood. And tinsel, the real aluminum stuff, not plastic. Dinner was usually at our house, with family joining some years. Turkey and all the trimmings. My mother was the BEST cook. ~Once David and I relocated to Maine, our Christmases were often spent with brother Paul's family in Topsham. You never knew which members of Cookie's family would show up and it was always colorful. After my neice Kattie returned home the gatherings got noisier - she makes her bossy presence known wherever! We don't participate as often - it was too noisy and too crowded because of the hoarding that has taken over their house. This year Kattie hosted at her apartment just around the corner from Paul & Cookie's - sorry to say the hoarding has moved there now. David and I used to joke when my mother was still living there that going to visit her in her room was like going to a different house - one where you could see the baseboards and you didn't need to move 18 things off the couch to sit down. It must have been torture for her to live there at times. But, hopefully that will get resolved with the ongoing mold remediation as much of that stuff cannot go back in the house. Not sure what will happen to it. I have offered to help in the coming year but we'll see if that happens.