where does it stop?

I have a very needy puppy in my lap, so this might take awhile. I'm not thinking he wants me to write at all, as he climbed up here and considered chewing on my screen.  There truly isn't anything quite like puppy love.  Belle was in my lap earlier and just snuggled up and cuddled.  For her that is unusual, she struggles to stay that still.  But she is the puppy that stays up at night until mom comes to bed, Beau goes to bed the minute he is tired. They are such a blessing. 

I managed to get all the curtains up to darken the east side of the house yesterday.  The only room that doesn't have darkening curtains is the laundry room and I am considering putting them in that one too. I was able to raise the air conditioner temp and still keep the house comfortable. I got curtains for the west facing windows that I will put up today. 

I got up early and got all of the outside work completed, at least for now.  After a bit I will go out and water the garden again, the heat is horrible and the garden boxes don't hold a lot of moisture, they are too shallow. I harvested what is probably the last of the peas, this heat is finally taking them out, maybe a day or two more at most.  The sprinkler is still running out front, as I forgot to water yesterday and my ferns were looking rough this morning. I might need to gather some of the grass clippings for mulch when Hubs mows again, especially if this is going to go on much longer. 

very few left... I'll plant more in the fall

pickle #2

Looks like summer is going to be a scorcher this year.  Figures.  Nothing seems to be easy right now.  And I do mean nothing. It is feeling like any and everything that will make life a better, is going to require some serious effort on our part. 

Hubs was feeling a touch under the weather yesterday so I went and did the errands.  The rising cost of everything definitely is encouraging me to spend time on my own inflation busting, i.e. canning up meals and produce while the prices are semi-reasonable. 

I will admit that I rarely go to Costco during the week, I am not a huge fan of going places period and I am usually very busy during the day. But with gas shooting up forty cents over the weekend, I knew I would be wise to fill up my gas tank before it went any higher.  It felt almost dirty to be excited over the $4.64 a gallon that I was able to get at Costco.  Regardless, it was over $36 to fill my half empty tank.  Talk about a state of shock.  The long lines in the brutal heat made me envision the pictures from the 70's.  A super sweet older lady pulled up next to me and asked where she could see the price, I told her I'd just looked on the app and it was $4.64 as opposed to the $4.89 everywhere else.  She was visibly shaken. Even though she smiled at me and thanked me, it looked like even that was simply too much as she drove away. 

Going into the store was even more of an eye opener.  One reason I don't go there often is that I do not do well with crowds and crowded spaces.  Absorbing the energy of so many people is harsh and makes me feel fussy and unbalanced.  Yesterday, that was not a problem.  I was able to easily get a spot near the front of the store, no need for parking at the back of the lot because that is all that is available.  The store was light on customers and even lighter on inventory.  I was shocked.  I've never seen it that empty.  I was remembering how the stores were back in March of 2020, when things were first starting to wobble into insanity. 

I didn't need much, which was good, because there wasn't much.  It was sort of frightening.  I've pretty much stopped going to the store closer to my house, too many times they are out of pretty much everything on my list.  Anyone else wondering how much worse it is going to get?  

I was watching a video while making applesauce yesterday and they were talking about the search for feminine hygiene products.  All I could think was well, maybe it is only in that area.  By the end of the day, I'd seen at least 6 other sources with many comments and concerns that feel far too reminiscent of the baby formula debacle.  So I guess this is the next thing folks won't be able to get. 

I'm starting to wonder if folks will finally wake up and start questioning the bull crap when they have beer shortages?  I simply don't know how far this mess has to continue before we all start picking up our proverbial pitch forks and fighting back.  We've allowed our businesses to be regulated, mandated, taxed etc to the point that it is easier to give it up and walk away.  

We've allowed our government and the lobbyist to push us all into a corner.  The reason for the feminine hygiene shortage?  A cotton shortage.  I mean come on, we have or at least had some of the richest cotton farms in the world.  Have we plowed it all under and created condo's on the land?

I didn't get all of my errands run yesterday, I was far too hot and had chores to finish at home.  I need to go out and pick up a few bags of peat moss and such for my last raised bed.  I'm dreading it.  The bags of dirt and such for a garden have tripled in cost this year.  The same bag I paid $7 for last year, was over $25 this year at the same store.  I am getting ready to start my compost pile, I'm tired of paying a stupid amount of money for subpar fill dirt, when what I need is rich soil. 

I simply do not understand all of this.  I'm tired of reading of all these various food processing plants being burned to the ground.  Ironically, too many of the fires are starting on the roofs.  Really?  Why?  How?  Why isn't the media reporting on this strange phenomenon? 

Oh yeah... that's right.  The media isn't there to report on the truth, it doesn't care about reality, it isn't paid to do that.  George Carlin tried to warn us about that, quite some time ago. 

Today will be another busy one.  After I get the new curtains installed, I have a long list of things that are going in my canners.  I also want to start processing some of the things in my freezers, sadly I have zero faith that the power is not going to go out and/or be spotty.  They have already warned us it is coming, I figure they are simply waiting for everyone to be hot and miserable first. 

I've seen some crazy stuff in my life, but the past couple of years takes the cake.  The number of fearful people unwilling to look around and see what is happening is absolutely unnerving.... 

By the way... look who was back this
morning... yikes! I scared it while
cleaning up puppy poo... seems he lives
in the wood stack outside the back door. 

Well, it's time to go and move the sprinkler and then get busy. Please take care of yourselves and pay attention.  

love and peace...