Monday, April 19, 2010

Doggie Designs

I'm not alone!
Others enjoy making their dogs into canine topiary!
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/19/sports/19grooming.html

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Spring

I found spring's arrival this year to be inconsistent. We had a week or so of sun in March, then weeks of cold & rain until Saturday. Finally the sun arrive, warmed the air and helped dry out the earth.
I spent Friday night with my mother, out in the woods. We got there late, as we were both up North. I brought a deli dinner - Thanks Andronico's - and then settled into talking. Saturday we got her iTunes and iPod talking friendly. She took me on a private March Walk. I did my best to ask any question I could think of. We had sun at the start, yet fog started rolling in by the time we were done around 2 pm. I left my mother and headed back to sunland.
I did make a stop along the way at the Half Moon Bay Nursery. I intended only to get some lavender for the front yard, two flower plants and then head home, but I could stop. Shortly after I had 4 sage plants, as I think they do good for keeping some pests away from the veggies, or so I thought. Not sure now.
So, one I was home, I kissed Marc hello and then headed into the garden. Marc followed me out and tried to offer assistance. As I put in my 8 tomato plants he did try to dissuade me. He kept saying something about "Wall of Tomatoes" and saying I would need to better contain them this year. What - just because I might have 8 tomato plants instead of 5, that might be a problem.
He kept a close eye on me as I seeded some other plants - I'm working on two bits of eggplant and then I planted some seeds I thought was corn, but now I'm not terribly sure. We'll see what comes up. I put a row of lettuce in between two rows of mystery plants. Cross your fingers.
All this to say that spring really is here. I got my garden in order. Marc bought me a bike - I rode home from REI on my new bike. Loved it. Today we had time to lie about in the sun. Another treat. I think spring is now my favorite season.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Are they Serious?

So I'm reading this:
"I have hopes that President Obama will at least try to appoint somebody who will get a huge bipartisan vote, and if he will, he's going to go down in history as a better president," said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. "If he doesn't, there's going to be a whale of a fight if he appoints an activist to the court. That's not good for him, it's not good for the Senate, it's not good for the country."

Looking toward the hearings, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said, "Americans can expect Senate Republicans to make a sustained and vigorous case for judicial restraint and the fundamental importance of an evenhanded reading of the law."

On Yahoo news and am shocked.
The Republicans are squealing about getting a judicial nomination who understands judicial restraint. What about Bush's appointments to the Supreme Court? I mean, his justices just overturned 100+ years of rulings regarding free-speech limitations for corporations. They're steadily working their way to over turn 30 years of abortion rights. Where is their restraint?

The push by the Republicans to appoint their extremist judges has caused a shift in the court so profound that Stevens - a judge nominated by Republican President Nixon - from the center to the far left.

Their judges have little respect for civil rights - see their opinions on about anything. Their opinion on States rights ends with their own values- see Scalia's ruling on states setting their own laws for marijuana usage, contrasted to his opinions on gun ownership.

President Obama, please nominate a leftist woman who is under the age of 50. I think it is the best way to help keep the balance on the court.