SKUNK!

Well, I trapped and eliminated the groundhog that took up living in my bramble-filled corner of the back yard a manth ago.  And usually there isn't more than one that moves in per year.  But when you live in one place 30+ years, you know what you normally see out the windows and what is not normal.

A few days ago, I noticed an un-normal movement out of the corner of my eye in the far back yard (I am far-sighted) and saw a small groundhog slipping back into the brambles.  I don't want any around.  They can dig well and get under the garden enclosure, they love to eat meadow flowers, and they are hard to chase away.  They can eat almost an entire garden in a couple of days.

I don't mind them personally, but they are amazingly destructive.  If they would stay in abandoned fields munching of food that does support them there, I would be thrilled.  But when they start eating things I grow, it is them or me. 

You may not like this, but when I catch one in a live-cage, I just drop it in a large tub of water and drown them.  It is the fastest way I know of.  They don't understand what is happening, they blurt out some air and are dead.  I've made myself watch...

So I had another groundhog set up residence among the blackberries.  I saw the burrow while picking some ripe berries.  So I set the cage with some honeydew melon slices.  They love those.

The next morning, I saw some motion in the cage.  Great!  I went out and discover a skunk in the cage.  Oh damn.  How do I get an angry skunk out of the cage without getting sprayed?

I stood watching it (from a safe distance) and thought about it for a few minutes.  Then I went to my she and took out a 6'x9' plastic tarp and held it in front of me as I approached the cage. 

From the skunk's POV, it wasn't a threat, just some weird blowy thing .  When I got to the cage, I draped the tarp on it all sides but the front.  Then after letting it get used to the cover (to calm down), and open the front of the cage, it walked out and I ran away 20' "just in case".

I had to spray the cage with hose water hard to clean it.  I let it dry for hours, and set it up again with more honeydew melon to try to catch the new groundhog.  If I catch it, it goes into the watertub and gets buried.  If I catch the skunk again, it will go that way as well.

And no, there are no pictures.  My focus was getting the skunk out of the cage without being sprayed...

Been Doing Stuff

First, I have to mention that Bryce Harper of the Washington National baseball team just won the Home Run Contest.  YEEAAAHHHH!

Second, the pond renovation project is complete.  It was harder than I expected.  I originally pulled out all the pots from the pond, and that involved bending down with my arms in the pond cutting roots away to get chunks of plants.  It was exhausting in the heat, but having my arms in the water did help.

I finally got to the point where most of the pond was empty of plants and pulled it up.  That took 3 days of about an hour each day.  I couldn't find the leak in the preformed pond, which still bothers me.  So I added some soil around where I recalled the pond form was low and reinstalled it and filled it.  So after 3 days, there was no leakage, so it was time to replace plants.

Not in the original pots, of course.  I used regular pots years ago but I bought pots designed for ponds last year and used them.  Pond pots have lots is holes for  roots to seeks nutrients in the water.

The 8" pots I had, had growth  around them like beachballs.  So the first thing I did was to chop outside roots off.  That was surprisingly horrible.  The roots were too soft to cut easily.  I finally tried my "digger knife" (like  boning knife with a saw blade).  That wasn't really easy, not I got better using it as I went.

And THAT was only to be able to pull the existing plants out of the old pots (which were broken into pieces by root pressure). 

Planting pond plants is tricky.  You can't just replant them into new pots using regular potting soil (a lot of it just floats away).  What the pond plants want is "muck".  And I was really short on that.  And Home Depot doesn't sell "muck"

As far as I can tell, "muck" is a mixture of organic material, gravel, and clay bound by soil roots.  And you want some stones in the bottom of the pot for the weight to keep the pot sunk and upright.

So I retrieved all the previous pots (most of which didn't even have plants in them anymore - they escaped into the the general root mass) and soaked them in 5 gallon buckets.  When they well utterly soaked, I ripped them apart until the old gravel fell out and I was left with dead roots mass.

Not wanting soil to muddy the new pond water, I blasted the gravel in a large sieve.  I also blasted the ripped off root hairs (that wouldn't regrow).  I slowly cut roots of healthy plants  (waterlillies and Sweet flag) into replantable chunks.

Now I have 4 divided waterlillies potted in the 2' deep section of the pond and 10 potted sweet flag plants and there are still 20 seemingly viable chunks on sweet flag in buskets of water where they will be fine.  I'm keeping them indending them to grow in the the larger 8'x9' pond if I can get it cleared of brambles and relined this year.  Don't worry about all that standing water; I put bT  tablets in all containers monthly.

And that is the next major project.  An 1/8 acre of the backyard has been taken over by wild blackberries, english ivy, and some poison ivy.  Several years ago, my large pond developed a leak and went down to 6" of water.  And the mosquitos moved in.  I only realized the problem  when it was too late to kill the mosquito larvae with bT, so I poked more holes in the liner to drain it.

So now I have a new pond liner, but I have to clear all the space around it to set the new one in.  But it is surrounded with wild blackberries and they are delicious!  So I'm waiting until the harvest ends and then I will clear the whole area.

Today while the area was shaded, I weeded all around the astilbes in the front yard.  It was frustrating.  I added compost to the area last year and the weeds seem to have appreciated it more them the Astilbes.  And the weeds do better in the drought we are having here (not any rain in 4 weeks).  So I went out and pulled weeds out of the dry soil (the best time to do it) and then watered them deeply. 

I lost 2 of 30 Astilbes (according to landscape flags I stuck in when I planted, but that was better that I expected.  A few look weak, but most are thriving.  And I have a dozen more in the backyard where they are struggling.  If I can keep them going til Fall, I will transplant them to the front yard among the others. 

The yard has become infested with poison ivy and some vine.  I'll have to dig the poison ivy out (wearing armlength rubber gloves).  The vines are so widespread, I'll have to spray them.  I don't like that but I don't have much choice. 

There is always SOMETHING to fight with here...  I wish there wasn't.  I have other useful things to do.

A Peaceful Evening

TBT here...  I am sitting here at the computer.  Marley is sitting on the carpet next to me.  Iza is sitting on the floor next to him.  Ayla is on my lap, a rare event.  All is quiet.  All is peaceful.  All is good in our lives...

But the camera is in the kitchen...  And speaking of "no camera"...

OK, about the "Chicken Thigh Incident".  My view is that Iza was young and none of the Mews or previous cats stole food from my plate .  I could always just get up to answer the phone or check email at the back room in perfect confidence that my food ON A TABLE was always untouched.

Food on the floor in bowls was THEIRS.  Food on the table was MINE!

So imagine my surprise when I glanced through the kitchen door and saw Iza running past with my WHOLE chicken thigh in her mouth.  Keep in mind they had all just been fed full bowls of stinky goodness.

So I ran into the bedroom after her.  Of course she went to the hardest place for me to get at.  She KNEW the space under the bed headboard was tricky.  She WASN'T prepared for The Mop.  I shoved it in under the headboard.  And even then, having been stuffed with good cat food before, she refused to give up the chicken thigh.

She didn't realize I had closed the bedroom door...

Seeing no other exit, she ran into the bedroom bathroom.  And I went in there and closed the door behind me.  Iza, the chicken thigh, and me in the small room.  I was pissed.  And as much as I like to share with the cats, I wasn't planning to eat the chicken thigh after she had chewed on it.  There ARE limits to sharing.

But I didn't want to reward her for stealing my food either.  So took the chicken thigh away from her and left her in the bathroom for 5 minutes while I put the thigh away in a marked container to dice up and give her later.  She enjoyed it and hopefully did not recall that was the same chicken thigh.

IZA:  I have a different view of the "chicken thigh incident".  He abandoned some great food and I was HUNGRY!  He starved me.  I only weighed 12 pounds at the time and thought I should weigh MORE.  So there was this great-smelling food on the TV Tray that he OBVIOUSLY didn't want , so naturally I just picked it up and walked off to a safe place to eat it.  He went all nuts!

Chased me all around the house, and finally I fled to the room he never goes into in daytime, and went to eat the good stuff in peace.  And then he snuck in while I was distracted and CLOSED THE DOOR.  Oh Bast, that was not good...  Nowhere ta go...  Never ever go hide in the shower...  He pulled the good food RIGHT OUT OF MY MOUTH!  Can you belief that?

And then gave me little bits of it the next day as if I should be pleased.  Well, actually I was.  But still, I grabbed that fair and square.  A WHOLE chicken thigh, unspiced with "stuff" and all mine...  And he took it away from me...

Pond Renovation, Part 1

Well, I have this 5'x3' pre-formed hard pond shape in the flower pond.  It has a shallow shelf around the edge and a deep spot in the center so it cant freeze.  I put in pots of Sweet Flag and waterlilies years ago.  It takes some maintenance.  And I'm not great at maintenance.

Every couple of years I just sort of forget about it and it gets a bit out of control.

Well, apparently, I set a record for ignoring it.  I mean, the plants grow, it rained enough to keep it filled naturally, and everything seemed OK.

Until I noticed that even after heavy rains, it wasn't staying filled.  So I refilled it with the garden hose.  The next day it looked dry again.  Oh damn, a leak!

So a few days ago, I decided to pull the individual potted plants out to find the leak.

Guess what?  I couldn't remove the individual potted plants.  They were intertwined.  In fact, as I discovered, the entire interior of the pond was nothing BUT roots,  and most of the plants were growing outside of the original pots!

I couldn't lift the mass of plants out the the pond.  But I have something called a "Digger Knife".  It is basically a dagger with a saw blade.  I started cutting pots out of the root mass. 

In 2 hours of hard work, I had 1/3 of the root mass removed and stopped for the day.  My work rule is 30 minutes max and 15 minutes relaxing.  I don't want to die stupidly.  I go inside to cool down and drink Gatorade.

I also wanted to save as many of the plants as possible.  Well, it really is amazing how many large containers you have around if you really search.  I found 4 and filled them up with water.  So as I cut one portion on plants loose, I stuck them in those until they were packed.  But as long as they have water, they are fine.

The next day, having many plants in water in containers, I got a bit more brutal.  I just kept cutting with the digger knife until I was down to about 1/3 the root mass.  I weighed myself in the  morning and later in the day.  I lost 3 pounds in sweat.  So I drank a lot more Gatorade, sat inside an hour and went back outside. 

THIS TIME, I was able to lift the preformed pond up and over, spilling the remaining root mass onto the lawn.  Whew, that was a great relief.  I now had the preformed pond loose and could look for a hole to repair.  And I couldn't find one.  The best way to look for a hole in something is to hold it up to the sunlight.  Nothing, nada, zip...  So I set the preform on the lawn and filled it up halfway (because it seemed to be leaking lower than that).

The next morning, the water level was exactly the same!  I was utterly baffled.  So I scooped out the water and poured it on plants (avoiding wasting water) and considered the shaped hole in the ground.  Well, it was never quite level, so I added some soil at the low end, and pounded in in removing the smallest bits of gravel.

So I put the pre-form back in place.  And refilled it.  It isn't "perfectly" level, but within 1/2" and that is good enough.  It used to be a bit tilted toward the back, so the front always looked a little empty.  Now the front always looks full.  Better.

Now I have to wait to see if it leaks again.  I put a stake at the spot where the water overflows.  If it is below that in 2 days (accounting for evaporation), I will drain it and decide whether to line the inside with plastic, scrub the outside and inside and paint it (inside and out with a water sealant, or replace it.

I have enough problems with some parts of the yard as it is (wild blackberries, english ivy, and poison ivy showing up everywhere).  I really didn't need this one.  But it was a very specific problem and I sort of needed that.

Those other problems come next.  I'm in activity-mode...

Independence Day

With admiration for our eventual British friends and compatriots across The Pond, and acknowledging things were hard at first a couple of times, as we got the French to annoy you once and had to take advantage of the first actual world war (1812) etc.  I beg pardon to present the following document.  It means a lot to us here in the US, much like the Magna Carta does in your history.

And face it, you couldn't have hung on to us forever .  Too many people, to much land, too much distance.  Heck, we were too BRITISH to be colonists forever, LOL!

With the spirit of advancements of freedom in mind, I present The Declaration of Independence for all to read.  And I am doing this today because things are not going very well here, and we need some reminders about how we started...

And is important to notice that not all of the reasons were good or would stand the test of time.  Still, it was an impressive try.

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

hen in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

Democrats Are Wimps

I think I am abandoning political parties.  The Democrats are damn wimps, the Republican are hateful and selfish.

The Democrats couldn't beat a 12 year old at chess, the Republicans would and brag about it.  I don't like either idea. 

There has to be another way in the US.  One without Trump but one without the the old guard Democrat leaders either. 

I need some leaders in both parties who will start working together to actually solve some problems.  That means Nancy Pelosi has to go, Mitch McConnell has to go, all the current leaders have to go. 

I'm a Baby Boomer.  We have all screwed up. We did some good things, but it is time for us to let go and give control to the next generations.  It isn't easy saying that.   But sometimes you have to. 

My generation, in control, has fallen into an utterly divisive stalemate. at the extremes of political parties.  We can't get things back to the center.

I pass the torch on to you to get things working again.  Save us from this mess.  Build the Center again, demand that your political leaders demand consensus, choose political leaders who will work together.  Rebuild a Center...

Dr Visit

I haven't been to a Dr since 2008 and thought it was time.  Well, I feel fine, almost all my older relatives died feeling just fine until old age got them, and the family medical history says there is nothing in particular we die of.  Well, 1 Gramma died in her 70s, but that was diabetes from just eating too much gravy and being fat.  Otherwise, we all seem to healthy as horses and die of old age or the ocassional accident.  Mom died at 88 from Parkinson's and Dad died at 92 from general old age and boredom

But you never know what surprise a Dr might find and better late than never.   So I contacted the Dr Office where I last went in 2008 to start getting an annual checkup and blood tests and "all those fun things". 

Every Dr or Dentist I have ever gone too has demanded a paper form describing medical history.  And since my "medical history" is on scraps of paper and letters from Mom and such, I asked if I could come by and pick up the form to fill out at home before the appointment today.  "Sure, just come to the office and pick it up" they said. 

When I did that yesterday, "no such form".  They just ask questions and enter it into the computer.  Actually, the front desk has no idea how the back offices work.  That was STUPID #1

I sat in the exam room for 45 minutes watching green and purple colors flow around under my eyelids before the actual Dr showed up.  Yeah, he's busy, I understand.  But asked a lot of the same questions.  He doesn't use the same computer system the entry people use.  STUPID #2

But he was pretty good.  Asked the right questions to get an idea of my problems (none except some muscle cramps in bed after working hard outside), but I was there for an general physical which takes a 2nd visit.  I told them when I made the appointment that was what I wanted.  STUPID #3

The Dr flexed my calf and thigh muscles after I mentioned cramps and said he could tell I did enough exercise (Yardwork.  If you need deliberate exercise, you don't have enough outside real work to do, LOL!).

I told him about my hand tremors and he suggested I could see a neurolab above the office.  When I was leaving, I asked about the neuro lab referral and he said I didn't need that.  STUPID #4

I'll address that next visit...

I did get some information.  My pulse is 71 beats per minute.  My blood pressure was 130 over 60 (systolic and distolic, IIRC).  My lungs are in better shape than they should be for someone who has smoked for 45+ years.  He suggested I stop smoking (DUH).   I gave a blood sample for lab tests.

I can visit an x-ray lab to look for cancers, but they don't like virtual scans, saying there are too many false positives. 

I sometimes don't understand how professionals operate in such disconnected and confused systems.  In my career as a telecommunications manager for a Federal Agency, I would have been fired if my office had been so disorganized.  And I would have fired anyone who didn't understand the need for coordinated records systems!

Oh, and they let me leave without a new appointment for a physical and a discussion of the blood test results.  STUPID #5

Oh well, I've gotten back on track for regular Dr visits, and that is a good thing I suppose.  Who knows, I might have cancer all through me and better to learn that ASAP.  It would be good to know positive or negative. 

I've reached the age where people start dying of "natural causes" or specific conditions.  That's the only reason I went; to see if I was "OK".  Looks like I will have to wait a few weeks.

Wrong Address

A nice little light-hearted happy post...

I was stepping outside Wednesday to get my mail when a Fed Ex truck stopped.  I had some small items on order from Amazon (more mole repellent pellets because the sprayable liquid kind just would not spray well, a new electric razor because my old one actually fell apart, and some Felliway refills), but I wasn't expecting them that day.  And the Fed Ex guy backed up as close to the garage as he could.  When there are small items. they just stop at the street and bring the boxes up.  So I was a bit curious.

He opened the back of the truck at brought out 2 chewy.com boxes.  Which really surprised me because, while I have an autoship arrangement, it wasn't time for one and I always get an email first.  So I just dragged the boxes into the garage.

I had thought to email Chewy about the "gift" shipment, but I opened the boxes first.  It wasn't stuff I order!  So I glanced at the label to get the order number to see if I had possibly ordered something new (which I was sure I hadn't of course) and noticed the name and address wasn't mine.  It was a neighbor.

Well, I HAD mentioned my surprise the the driver, and he mentioned there were 2 other regular Chewy customers right on my street (which only has 20 houses on it) and indeed, he had 2 more Chewy boxes to deliver further down the street. 

I SHOULD have realized there was an error right then, but who thinks quickly when surprised?

So I looked up the name on Whitepages.com and found one with an address on my street and 2 phone numbers.  I got a lady who said "he moved away 4 years ago".  Oh drat.  Wait, then why was a delivery being made there after 4 years?  So I asked if I was talking to (the address on the box)?

It was his mother (at some other address).  The address on whitepages.com was right, the phone number was old!  So I explained everything and she cracked up.  And said she would call him immediately to come and pick up the boxes. 

Which he did in about 30 minutes.  Turns out he has Chewy autoshipping too.  We had a good laugh about the entire error.  He is going to correct his phone number on whitepages.com.

Meanwhile, he had done exactly what I do about tracking orders and had seen the "delivered" notice and knew he hadn't received the order.  So he contacted them and they had already sent a replacement order before his mother called him to let him know I had his stuff!

Which meant he was getting a whole free order.  Soooo, I said, "How about I keep the bag of kitty litter and you make off with all the other free goodies"?  He laughed and handed me the bag of litter.  It was the least part of the order.

So...

1.  The Fed Ex guy delivered the package to the wrong address.
2.  I had to spend time figuring out where it belonged.
3.  The whitepages.com site had old information.
4.  Chewy did good customer service.
5.  The rightful recipient had to go out of his way to get his order.
6.  But he is getting a whole new order free.
7.  I got a free bag of kitty litter as a reward for my efforts.
8.  Chewy will have a very routine claim against Fed Ex and get their cost back.
9.  Fed Ex will ultimately pay for their delivery error.

It all works out nicely for all involved except the Fed Ex people who made the error!

Don't you wish everything worked out that nicely?

Mole Repellent

Nothing like things that don't work to work to get the blood flowing!  The moles finally discovered my raised garden beds and the voles followed the tunnels.

I had a bag of castor oil pellets same to use around veggies, so I spread them around there.  I also had several bottles of liquid sprayable castor oil but with something in it that shouldn't be around veggies and it went downhill from there!

There were 2 ways they suggested applying the liquid.  The first was a hose-end sprayer.  That is basically a small container where you put in a certain amount of the undiluted liquid and add some water and the water from the hose pulls up a small amount as you spray water from the hose.

The other is using a dedicated pump sprayer that you just add some of the liquid repellent and a lot of water and pump the sprayer full of air to force it out the end of a wand.

Both drive me NUTS!  As far as I can tell, unless either are pure water, they clog. 

Using the hose-end sprayer, the mole repellent turned to foam and would get sucked up with the hose water.  I mean, nothing like spraying water all over the yard and discovering that the hose-end container is as full of the application liquid as when you started.  Great!  I just watered a lawn that was already soaked with weeks of rain!

I took the thing apart, made sure everything was working, tried it again, and got the same result.  You can't get this liquid to suck in with the hose water. 

So I tried a pump sprayer.  I even have 3 of them.  One is dedicated to herbicides for wild English ivy, another persistent vine, and poison ivy death.  I can't use that one for any other purpose.  The other 2 are ones that are hard to use.  I have taken them both apart a few times and gotten them working perfectly.  They don't stay working long.  Apparently, the least bit of solid matter stops them completely.  I'm not sure whether to try and clean them out again or give the the "Sledgehammer Of Death" before sending them to the trash can.  There is a certain satisfaction in that.  I need to find a better pump sprayer...

If you have one, please tell me...

You know what finally worked?  A simple watering can.  I mixed the mole repellent in a 5 gallon bucket, filled the 2.5 gallon watering can and put tape inside to output nozzle to make it dribble the mole repellent out slowly to spread it evenly.  And did that 25 times!  Sometimes, you just have to accept doing things slowly if you want a good result.  But it was a long afternoon!

One nice thing was that I could especially pour the castor oil mix on the tunnels AND into the vole holes.

And I timed it well.  The idea is to get the castor oil liquid onto the soil and then have it soaked in with rain or hose water.  It started raining again just when predicted.

So I went inside, washed off any residual mole repellent spray, gave The Mews special treats, played toys with them, and we all had a good dinner an hour later.

The Mews hated being inside all day, but I didn't want them walking around on the stuff and then licking their paws.  And even better, it rained another1/2" as I was typing this.  It is safe now.  They can go out in the afternoon.

My hope is that the moles will decide neighbors' yards are better territory.  My understanding of castor oil is that it makes the worms and grubs taste bad.  And possibly makes them smell "wrong" to their mates and makes them not happy staying together as Mr and Mrs Mole.

And it isn't the moles I am after all that much (though I regret the earthworms they eat).  It is the damn voles that use they tunnels to get at plant roots.  No moles, fewer voles...

A Slight Political Rant

I completely understand that reasonable people can disagree about the proper goals of government and how to get those goals promoted.  I have absolutely no problem with rational and thoughtful debate, and I understand that things can get emotional and intense.

For example, I am not a general fan of US Republican ideology.  The idea that corporations can be trusted to self-regulate always seems to be disproved by what they actually do.  The idea that scientists are making false claims about the climate, the safety of water and food, and the proper way to rehabiliate prisoners (among many issues) seems to me to be a matter of wishing vs reality.  And all evidence I see suggests that giving money to the rich does not result in "trickle-down" economics.

And I might naturally be one of them.  I'm an "older white male with accumulated self-earned assets who worked hard, invested in the stock market, and believes that "success" is generally self-driven". 

So why am I not a Republican?  Because I had advantages many others did not.  And because a functional democracy has to allow social and economic mobilty.

For starters, let's just say that I had middle class parents who could live in a safe suburban neighborhood, I attended a safe suburban school, and I had safe suburban friends, all of whom were "just like me".  Of my senior high school class of 254 students, only 4 did not graduate and THAT was actually a sort of scandal.  There were some "minority students" in the school, but my recollection was that they were treated the same as the the rest of us (they might disagree), but even they were from middle class professional families and living in the same neighborhoods.  Their parents attended the same neighborhood parties.

I was probably about 16 when I discovered that there was another high school in town (when I got my learner's permit and drove around town.  It was decrepit.  It looked like a prison (barred windows - ours opened), had a small playground with rough ground and no grass - ours was a couple acres and had actual grass),  our school was neat and clean on the outside - that one was spray painted with words I didn't even know.

I asked my parents about it.  They said it was a poor school because the parents of the kids who went there were poor and couldn't donate much to their school.  But they also said it was about racism, politics, and that they routinely voted for town officials who promised to fix those things but those people never got elected.

You do have to understand that, in the 1960s, kids even at 16 years old were not so much exposed to reality outside their neighborhoods.  We didn't have much on TV to watch other than national news, sitcoms and western show, and cartoons.  We watched Walter Chronkite, Bonanza, Disney, and The Flintstones.

I went to school, did my assigned homework, pulled weeds in the garden, helped my Dad around the yard, learned to play golf as Dad's caddy, played some football and board games with friends, and that was about IT!

Two years later and I was thrown into college at the safe State University.  I was supposed to learn some academic skill, get a good job, and carry on the White European tradition.  I went to college in 1968, and The Vietnam War got in the way.  I started to learn things I wasn't supposed to learn. 

I learned about the treatment about minorities.  I learned about inequities.  I learned that not all was fair.  I learned that minority students faced difficulties I did not. 

And the Vietnam War was bad, but worse for minority soldiers than white soldiers.  They didn't get promoted as readily, so they were on the front lines more often.  When they came home wounded, they didn't get the same treatment.

And to be honest here, I was never in Vietnam.  My college deferment protected me until the government had that one massive lottery and I dropped my college deferment and I drew a number never called.  If my number had come up, I would have gone, and I would probably be a very different person than I am today.  But my number wasn't called.

So I stayed in college and started thinking about things.  I changed my major from mechanicl engineering to political science and started studying people and society and how "it all worked".  I had been vaguely Progressive Republican and changed to Progressive Democrat.   There is a difference. 

The former has a "noblesse oblige"aspect of helping those lesser than you; the latter has more of a "we are all equal so help those who need help".  I fail sometimes in attitude sometimes, but I keep in mind that a good start in life helps make a better future for most people. 

I know too many people who think that skin color somehow implies ability.  I know why skin varies and it is just a general adaptation to sunlight exposure.  There is a reason why Scandinavians have whiter skin than Southern Europeans and them being lighter than Africans.  It has nothing to do with intelligence or ability.  It has everything to do with history and geographical advantages. 

Read 'Guns, Germs, and Steel' sometime.  It will open your eyes.

Meanwhile, for the rest of my life after college, I have supported ideas to make the cultural and financial differences of minorities fairer. 

It's why I am a Democrat now.  Things have to become fairer.  That is basically the whole premise of a fair society.  I cannot not support the "Me First" attitude of the Republicans.  And to be honest, I think some Democrats go overboard.  But given 10 issues, I will probably agree with the Democrats on 8.

OK, I've had my say on the subject. 

Odds and Ends

No recent updates on my niece and the consequences of the accident.  News could come tomorrow or in months.

I basically solved my confusion about the EU GDPR notice requiring even foreigners to post about cookie use.  I found a brief one elsewhere and stole it.  It seems to say enough.  Feel free to steal it yourself from here (right under the header).  I think that, after a month, I will move it to the bottom of the blog, and later, somewhere barely findable.  Eventually, it will become nearly meaningless like "This site complies with all international laws applicable in the United States Courts to the best of our understanding. 

I do NOT like that Blogger has eliminated forwarding of comments to email account.  There was no reason given.  If it saved them money, they should say so.  If they polled the community and got a positive response to the idea, they should say so. 

The change is a real inconvenience to me.  I mean, no complaint to Blogger if they had a good reason, but none was given.

I'm also annoyed about the end to Open ID commenters.  I have enough of them who are frustrated and they are long-time commenters who don't want to establish Google accounts.  Its not up to ME if they should or should not.

The rain as been amazing this Spring.  Starting in early May, it has rained about 16-20" total.  I didn't keep track (at the start, who knew it would be a lot?).  But I have a good rain gauge and a general idea of how many times I have seen 1/4" to 3".

And the hardest thing is that it has been rather steady.  3" was a LOT at once.  But most times it is 1/2" every day or so.  The problem is that it keeps the soil soaked.  You plant seeds in soaked soil and they just rot.

Joke:  "I planted rice in early May and they have all drowned".

Seriously, I have lost a month of planting.  I planted 4 square feet of Spinach and got only 4 seedlings.  There should have been 4 dozen.  And I can't plant my deck pots when they are all mud.  Squishing around the wet soil creates little tubs that dry out and form hard layers later that flower roots don't penetrate well.

I have molehills EVERYWHERE!  The soft soil is like Heaven to them.  They are even in the front lawn and I've never had them there before; it is usually too hard for them to dig through.  And the voles use the mole tunnels to get at plant roots.  I'm going to have to spray carol oil over the yard.  That doesn't bother the earthworms the moles feed on, but apparently, it gives them  an awful taste to the moles, so they go elsewhere.  and if there are no mole tunnels, the voles are forced aboveground where nearly everything wants to eat them. 

Their are mole poisons, but I can't use them.  A poisoned mole can mean a poisoned predator (like my cats).  And I've never found a mole trap that had any meaningful affect.  You spike or whatever an few adult moles and it makes little difference.  There are always a few fertile adults left and that means more mole babies.  You have to make the adult moles actually LEAVE!

I've started unclutterring the house.  Well, you have to unclutter before you can clean, and I've let that go for too long.  And no matter what you want to do, something else seems to have to be done first.  So I looked around for "first things". 

I tend to save interesting home maintenance, gardening articles and recipes out of the newspaper and stack them on a corner of the dining table.  I went through the stack and threw most of them away.  I'm not really ever going to make those fancy chocolate truffles or hazelnut cookies, I'm not going to make those "tandoori/honey/duck burritos", and I really don't need a 13th way to BBQ a chicken...

And really, if I ever need to refinish a water-spot on a table top or re-grout a tile, I'll just look it up on the internet. It is time to stop saving information when it it so easily available online!

What I DO need to do is collect all the random stuff off the living room bookcases.  There are aquarium supplies sitting there.  So I need to enclose the existing aquarium stand with wall panel wood and make doors so the stuff has a place to be altogether and out of sight. 

And move some kitchen appliances I seldom use out of the cat-stuff closet to above the cabinets, making room for the 2 shelves of cat toys so THEY are out of sight (but surely not forgotten). 

And then move some stacked books INTO the bookcases, etc...  Figuring out the FIRST thing to do is very important, or else I just end up shifting the clutter around...

And then there is the Cat Room.  Which doubles as a storage room.  My Xmas decorations are still out loose.  I could spend a whole day just in there!  I would like to store them up in the attic, but I had some energy-saving contractor in there a few years ago insulating the place 12' deep (and have never noticed any reduction in my electric bill).  So it is time to put down some plywood flooring (like I used to have there).  And I still have the plywood I originally installed and then removed for the increased insulation in my basement.  But that has to be done before I can move the seldom-used Xmas decorations up there.

There is always something that has to be dome first...