What's your sign?

Somewhat Optimistic Horoscopes
by Kenneth Ronkwoitz

Aries:  You woke up again today.

Taurus: Nothing bad can happen to you as you read this.

Gemini: Even if you can't see them, the Sun and Moon are watching over you.

Cancer:  In a parallel universe, you are laughing.

Leo: Someone loves you. Perhaps they will tell you tomorrow.

Virgo:  You didn't notice, but someone noticed you yesterday, and just thought about you again.

Libra: When you are reading this poem, you look quite beautiful.

Scorpio:  The stars are aligning for you right now.  Concentrate. Can you feel it?

Sagittarius: Like you, the seasons change.  But they never end.

Capricorn:  Once you were stardust, and some of it is still shining inside you.

Aquarius:  You are a water baby.  The rain and waves are yours.  But not yours alone.

Pisces:  The rest of today is all the future you need to be truly happy. 

National Hot Dog Day

Today is Hot Dog Day, so why not celebrate with a special recipe? We like hot dogs so much in America that we buy 900 million packages a year.  

There's an old saying that "laws are like sausages, it is better not to see them being made." But if you feel up to it, the "Queen of Wien" will show you exactly how hot dogs are made.

A strange (but nice) July

In what is typically the driest month of the year, it's been unusually wet in Seattle. There's a chance of rain every day this week. But today (hopefully) only cloudy. We're taking the ferry over to Vashon Island for a trail ride. It's been a month since I rode sweet old Moe. I miss him and summer is flying by.

This weather, of course, is good news, after the catastrophic wildfires in B.C. last summer and the smoke pollution.  No one is complaining about the perfect temperatures, with highs in the mid-70's.

I'm bummed. I just opened my last jar of home-canned plums. There are none on the tree this summer. On top of that, the poor thing is so diseased with aphids we might lose it. The grass and plants around it are covered with a nasty black secretion from the aphids. Usually, you can blast aphids off with a hose, but the tree is much too big. Maybe if I have it topped back this winter, we can somehow get the aphids under control and save it.

I can always buy store plums to make chutney, but for plain whole canning, there's no substitute for our big, meaty, sweet homegrown ones. That tree really gave its all over the years. I've canned countless jars and made dozens of plum kuchens. Like so many things, I took it completely for granted at the time.

Remembering past bounty...

My goodness.

The weather was perfect this weekend, and the garden is at a lovely peak. John and I were busy Saturday watching Nova, Maya (and Nica) while Amanda and Tom shopped and ran errands all around Seattle.

We did all the usual Nana things: baked cookies, played games, make fairy gardens, sewed and walked to the park. Two parks, actually. We tried to wear them out. Didn't happen.  

Out and about

Seattle Art Museum

We're off and running

Busy weekend ahead...West Seattle street fair today, art museum this afternoon, and lots of play time in between.