Groupthink

 Hello and Happy Friday. In today's fucks- the Supreme Court, wildfire smoke, heat domes and biting insects.   I'll add my own personal fucks in the comments once I finish tearing up my living room.  I woke up this morning 100% sick of it. I cannot look at it for another second.  Take it away folks!

 

    Happy Thursday y'all!  What's going on? We're coming up on the holiday weekend here in Canada and also my 33rd wedding anniversary.  I have exactly zero plans for celebrating any of it.   After my Wednesday morning spilled coffee fiasco, I grabbed my keys and went off into the hills.  I wound up a couple of towns away wandering the shops and then I had lunch- all by myself.  It was kinda nice.  I think I'll work on my plants today. It's time for what's left in my window to get outside and do or die.  And I think it's time to swap out the hats & gloves drawer and get my swimwear in there!   Is anyone gardening/growing anything this season?   *Full disclosure- I'm composing this late Wednesday night.  I cannot get my sleep shit together lately.

  Morning, GT! We're halfway through the week. You're getting there!  We went to see The Room last night and it was a great time. Lots of jokes and laughter, and even some spoon throwing. :) (Not by us!) Those uncomfortable sex scenes are even more uncomfortable on the big screen, though, I can tell you that!    Anyway, what are y'all up to today?

We're getting another rainy day here.  Toronto has a new mayor, the extremely left leaning Olivia Chow who is the first POC to be mayor. She has a long career in both city and federal politics. It's going to be interesting seeing her go toe to toe with Doug Ford, the provincial premier. They are sworn enemies, or what passes for it in Canadian politics, at completely opposite ends of the political spectrum.

  Good morning, groupthink! Where did all the weekend go? It's Monday again & the heat wave broke here. Yesterday was a miserable sauna & Pal returned from his boat trip looking like a tomato. Ouch. He claims he used sunscreen, but his legs & feet disagree.  Here's a cute animal to start the week. :) Long body ✔️ Short legs✔️ Long neck✔️ Round ears✔️ Long whiskers ✔️ Checks out; it must be an ermine. Mustela erminea is a top contender for Katmai's cutest carnivore. These mighty mammals hunt small prey such as voles and insects but also larger game like rabbits and fish. pic.twitter.com/jjP8XX73ur — Katmai National Park (@KatmaiNPS) June 26, 2023 Speaking of nature, yesterday I was on the front porch when I heard something that sounded like a baby goat crying in our blackberry patch. A new born fawn ran out followed closely by a coyote & then, a second after that, the deer's mom arrived, bursting out of nowhere to save the day. I love a happy ending. It ...

  Good morning, GT! Happy Sunday! Last night somebody did a bunch of fireworks and it totally caught me off guard. Somehow my brain hadn't registered that we were quickly approaching July 4th. How are we already going to be in July? Where is the time going? It freaks me out a little to see how quickly time can fly by.  Anyway, I didn't sleep well last night so I'm keeping this post short. What are y'all up to today? I think I'm going to take a drive to the beach this morning to clear my head and prepare for the crazy busy week ahead. I hope y'all enjoy the day!

  Good evening & thanks for all the happy birthdays! It's been a pretty great one & the plan for tonight is wine & cake. Pal ordered my favorite, yellow with chocolate butter cream, & I can't wait to try it. We've been watching Black Mirror, not exactly chipper, but the new season is really good. What's your favorite cake? Or pie if that's more up your alley? Anything afoot this Saturday?

    Good morning, GT, and happy Sat.! What are you up to this fine weekend?  I have a massage this morning (CAN'T. WAIT!), and I'm thinking I might grab a fancy coffee after that. Then I really need to get off my butt re: housework.  Tomorrow, I think Bestie and I will go for a walk and I'm hoping to get a swim invite to BIL's. Tomorrow is also my dating anniversary with Homey! Somehow, it's 27 yeeeeears?!?! Idk what we'll do to celebrate, but maybe we'll finally get those fancy root beer floats. :) How about you? Are you runnin' or restin'?

  Good morning & welcome to Friday! The sun is finally back in my neck of the woods for a couple of days. Yay! On the less great side, I just could not sleep last night.  There's a nap in my future, fingers crossed. It's also another SCOTUS opinion day. Blech. Republicans are claiming the Titan implosion was a false flag to *checks notes* distract from the Hunter Biden story. 🙄 What a bunch of dummies. Related: When Democrats had control of the House, they passed the American Rescue Plan, a bipartisan Infrastructure bill, the first major gun safety legislation in decades, the CHIPS Act, the Inflation Reduction Act, the PACT Act and the Respect for Marriage Act. Republicans have had a… pic.twitter.com/pf0ecWDGpv — Jo🌻 (@JoJoFromJerz) June 22, 2023 Any plans for the weekend? We're meeting Pal's parents for tacos & margaritas on Saturday & probably vegging out for the rest. How about you? Take it away! :)  

  Morning, GT, and happy Th. Since yesterday was solstice, it's now officially summer. So, happy summer, too!  I've been sleeping like a log which is verrrrrry different but, oh my god, will I take it. I think it's getting my grandparents interred, getting my bestie settled in her new place--there's some finality to stuff, which is good. Also, I've been exercising a ton, which I'm sure helps. What's up with y'all today? Anything fun in the works? Homey and I are doing a TJ's and Costco run so, if there's anything you're loving at either place, let me know, will ya?  Also, I watched Polite Society the other day (it's streaming on Peacock) and EVERYONE SHOULD WATCH IT! It was an instant classic, instant favorite. I was texting everyone like half any hour in, Have you watched this yet?! You gotta watch this! And I mentioned this the other day but I'm currently reading The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and really enjoying it. It's o...

Good morning! I woke up in a fantastic mood & the sun is threatening to shine for the first time all week. Pal has a company meeting tonight & my standing lunch with my uncle is canceled bc he's out of town. The stars must be aligning just right or something. The best news is my bestie's husband is actually moving out. Details are still solidifying, but he's found an apartment! It's sad but also the right decision for her.  The big news today is Alito stuff. Folks, the ProPublica story that Sammy Alito was hyping just dropped! https://t.co/FStVT3LNKu — Ian Millhiser (@imillhiser) June 21, 2023 Idk, good, but then what? Speaking of the Wall Street Journal, here's a funny story about why I don't enjoy hanging with my family. Yesterday, I received a letter in the mail from my uncle. He printed a Journal article & mailed it to me which is already funny. The "article" was an ad for a new anti-aging amino acid. 😂 Being crunchy in a family of p...

  Good morning! I start my prep in earnest for my colonoscopy today; fasting, liquids and then laxative and purgatives. I have to drink 3 litres of purgative pretty much at once; a cup every 10 minutes. Really looking forward to it! I hope everyone has a better day than mine! Anyway; who doesn't love miniature animals? These are by Jyo John Mulloor. I think I'd like a mini-manatee to keep in a nice acquarium. https://www.boredpanda.com/macro-animals-digital-art-ai-jyo-john-mulloor-part-2/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic

 Hello Monday and Happy Juneteenth.  I'm leaving some links in the comments on Juneteenth activities.  I wasn't sure how to honor this day or even what the right verbiage is. I settled on celebrating emancipation, acknowledging those that have  been wronged and re- committing to real independence for all of us.  What's going on with you?

  Good morning, GT! Happy Sunday! I slept until 7am and it was wonderful. I’ve been waking up between 3am-5am for the last two weeks and it feels great to get a full night's rest. I needed it.  Anyway, today is Father’s Day so Happy Father’s Day to those of you who are celebrating. I’ll be spending the day with my dad and we are going to do a bit of grilling and maybe breakout the fire pit this evening. I bought him a bunch of his favorite snacks and a third motorcycle cover which I know he’s going to be surprised to get. I gave him two for his birthday earlier in the month and he loves them so I figured I would get him a third for his smaller bike.  How are y’all spending the day?

Good evening! What are you getting up to? We're watching The Bear & probably calling it an early night. Popcorn & pj's vibes. :) Random, but this pocket watch is extremely cool. I love it. Opening silver skull pocket watch constructed by watchmaker Isaac Penard c. 1650. pic.twitter.com/GtGlroQzPK — The Museum of Curiosities (@CuriosMuseum) June 16, 2023  Any happenings with you?

  Morno, beloveds--happy weekend and, for those who get one, happy long weekend!   Today's our big farmers market but I think I might stay home and pull a million weeds, just to get it done. I'm going to have some cold brew to get me through.  Yesterday, we moved my bestie from her house to her new apartment, so I'll probably run over and check on her, just to make sure she's settling in ok. She seemed so matter of fact about it, as did her eldest, but her youngest was giving off heartbroken-but-not-going-to-show-it. Poor kiddo. :( Maybe I can try to think of something nice to do for his new room... any ideas? Anyway, how about you? What are y'all up to?  

  We've got fur faces, and I know you can provide more! https://backtalkvillage.blogspot.com/2023/06/fur-face-friday_01489316691.html

  Happy Friday, y'all! It's finally here & my vagenda has almost nothing on it today. :) It's going to be hot & humid so Ruby & I are hiking & running errands first thing before we melt. Awkward segway, but speaking of melting, I heard tons of sirens in our neighborhood last night so I was on the porch like a good Gladys Kravitz when something big exploded. Twice. Pal slept through it, lol. It was a huge fire & I hope everyone's okay. I'm also curious why things were exploding, but not enough to sign up for Next Door. This is just the sweetest.  Big doggo is still just a little puppy.. 😊 pic.twitter.com/XAysFcM2hF — Buitengebieden (@buitengebieden) June 13, 2023 And this one is lol. Personally, I was on the phone & watching 120 minutes on MTV until it was time for Star Trek & then Arsenio. 😂  People who lived in the 90s & earlier, instead of using a phone before going to bed what did you do? Just sleep?? — LetsGoHayes.com (@LetsGoH...

  Good morning! It's a sunny day & almost the weekend. Any big plans for your Friday eve? I'm not sure what my day holds yet, but I'm happy to have no more skunk stuff to deal with, at least. One thing on my list is buying a ticket to see my bestie next month, but her marriage is still rocky with a capital r. It's a sensitive situation, but after weeks of back & forth, I gotta know today or I can't go. I just want what's best for her & to avoid potential awkwardness with her husband. We'll see. 🤞 Anyway, enough rambling from me. Here's a cool coffee mug you can buy for a great cause! Buy a mug. Fund a clinic. (15 oz! It’s a tall boi and a perfectly sized vehicle for your coffee/tea/whiskey/snacks. It might also make you a hot commodity at your coffee shop, if there’s a regular or a barista you’ve got your sleepy eye on 😇) https://t.co/Q8Z2DlHCwJ pic.twitter.com/AUpWMHb3Gf — 🧃you or someone you love🧃 (@hannahmsays) June 13, 2023 How'...

 It's Windy Wednesday here in the shire.  I think the seedlings will be staying inside today.   I made the mistake of continuing Finn's service training without talking with Mr.  While I have been working on the "table" command to get him to place dropped items on the surface in front of me, Mr has been telling him to stop putting stuff on the table. Oops.  Of course, every time Mr removes object, he says "Get away from the TABLE" or something similar, prompting poor Finn to think he's getting the "Table" command.  Poor lil guy and LOL. Speaking of stupid dog tricks- Volume up! You won't regret it 😊 https://t.co/uJ7gghGS2G — Fabiola De la Cueva (@Fabiola31416) June 13, 2023 So that's the morning news here. What about you?   

 

 This video showed up randomly in my youtube feed today (Monday), about an excavation at a medieval abbey, Bradwell Abbey in the U.K. I stayed on the grounds when I was digging a Saxon site over 40 years ago! We (my friends S and D) were billeted in a Victorian/Edwardian period farmhouse on the grounds. One of the structures was a medieval chapel, which we gained access to for a look-see because we were working for the foundation that owned the property. I have/had (can't find them, grrr) some pictures of the interior friezes as well, although this is a google images picture. The linked article has more pictures, and it's been cleaned up a lot since I saw it; I recall there being a lot of rubble around. Apparently it had been used for storage and a chicken house. And it's still consecrated. https://www.northbuckswanderer.com/2023/01/our-lady-of-bradwell.html#gsc.tab=0 One weekend afternoon, when everyone else was somewhere else, I decided to have my lunch inside the low wal...

 Good morning.  Sorry this is a little late.  I slept in and then had issues logging in.  Disqus & Blogspot are fine but I haven't finished my coffee so it was me.    It is sunny  for the first time in a LONG time here.  It's been damp and wet so the bugs are peak vampiring this morning.  I am one of those people who will attract every bug within a mile so I'm itchy after Finn's morning pee.  Interestingly, one of the side effects of chemo was that bugs did not care for me.  It's too bad, I'd have liked some of those little pests to have gotten a taste of my poison blood.   Anyway, I'm off to town for what I hope will be my monthly supplies.  I've had a hard time figuring out par levels since Mr started cooking in earnest.  Not that I mind, last night's pizza was delicious! OK, enough rambling.  What's going on GT? 

  Good morning, GT! Happy Sunday! I slept until 6am this morning which is an improvement over the last few days of waking up at 3am. Thank you melatonin.  Today is going to be a day of yard work and housework. I need to pick some fruit, trim a few trees and clean the bathroom. Not the ideal way to spend a Sunday, but it's needed.  How are y'all spending the day?

Good evening, friends! I hope the weekend is treating you well. We have been lazy bums today & regret nothing. Just good food, quality time, & catching up with television. :)  Speaking of staying in, lol. True! Whenever introverts say “i’ll let u know” pic.twitter.com/PT5G2FFRj4 — introverts memes (@introvertsmemes) June 7, 2023 And speaking of television:   — Alan Sepinwall (@sepinwall) June 10, 2023 The ending makes perfect sense when you think for a moment, but seeing it live was a trip, lol. How's your night going?

  It's the weekend!  What a strange week it's been.  Do you guys need a deep breath and a sigh as much as I do? My vibe is all about resetting today.  After a trip to the states and the doctor drama done I'm moving on to getting the house in order and planning some summer fun.   What's on your vagenda?

I've been slacking off on posting Fur Face links here recently (my apologies), but w e've got our post up over at Backtalk, so stop by to say hi to the Fur Faces and share your own (we always want to see more!) https://backtalkvillage.blogspot.com/2023/06/fur-face-friday_9.html

Ah ah ah ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/Eu5MTY29FP — Muppet History 🎓 (@HistoryMuppet) June 9, 2023 Good morning, groupthink! How'd you sleep? I had gross nightmares & then remembered the news &, all good! Lol. Two indictments down, two to go. It's going to a wild & terrible event to witness, but at least we have lots of practice now? Idk, things have been weird & intense for a good while already.  There were so many great tweets; here's a favorite. 🫣 https://t.co/zjpUQCmAW5 pic.twitter.com/pssV3bqWh5 — yung auntie (she/her). (@MsPackyetti) June 9, 2023 And here's the video because the song is probably playing in your head anyway. :)   How's your day going? Any fuck its or fun weekend plans? We're just staying home & relaxing. 

 I picked the right evening to make popcorn! So glad I'm not working yet on Tuesday!

  I don't see an open thread scheduled, so here's one quickly posted.  Monty was feeling icky yesterday, which worried me, since he's 17 with a number of health issues. He stopped eating and drinking and hid behind the couch last night. He does seem to feel better this morning and has accepted some Fancy Feast for breakfast.

 Good morning folks.  It's Wednesday and I am here in the Shire. Because of jet streams and prevailing winds & such, y'all have all the smoke. I'm hoping everyone is staying safe and breathing easy.  I was watching a weekend news program and the discussion of shoes off vs shoes on in the house (for guests) was explored.  Where do you land on this?   And also, what's going on today? 

 Window boxes have been planted with a riot of pink, magenta and coral impatiens, with a chartreuse sweet potato vine in the middle. The house is a soft, neutral mushroom brown, which makes flowers and bright foliage really pop. They should fill out nicely in a couple of weeks. This is the first time in quite a number of years that I've planted the window boxes. Now I just have to keep the damned squirrels out of them. Next, I have to plant the Red Osier Dogwood shrubs in the driveway planters, with the wild geranium that a friend passed on to me. The dogwood has white flowers in the spring, kind of like Queen Anne's Lace, for bees and butterflies, berries later on for the birds and then pretty red branches for winter interest.

  Good morning, GT! It's Monday and I'm not thrilled about it. The weekend is never long enough and I could use another day of rest and relaxation. It doesn't help that last night my allergies kicked in after spending some time gardening and I'm still feeling stuffed up. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the stuffiness goes away soon.  Anyway, enough of my complaining. How are y'all doing today? How is the week looking for you? 

  Good morning, GT! Happy Sunday.  I'm heading out early to run a few errands before having lunch with my mom and grandma. We are going to Olive Garden because I have a gift card. I haven't been there in a very long time and I'm hoping the breadsticks and salad are as good as I remember.  How are y'all doing today? How are you closing out this lovely weekend?

  Happy Saturday night everyone! We're away celebrating Pal's 25th high school reunion with tacos & margaritas. It's a low-key affair, thankfully, & tacos are pretty much always a good reason to leave the house. Here's some cute panda content. How they survived without human for help so long is a mystery to me, lol. Hammocks can be tricky jerks. 😂 Baby panda trying to get on a hammock.. 😂 pic.twitter.com/5Rp0Dhn53x — Buitengebieden (@buitengebieden) June 3, 2023 What are you up to tonight? 

Morning, GT, and happy weekend!  We fly out tomorrow, so today will be wrapping up cleaning and packing. Which sounds so easy when I see it written out like that, but seems so overwhelming for some reason? Anyway...  (#teamariana) How about you? What's up with you this weekend?

  Good morning, y'all! I accidentally slept in & will keep this one short. Today is busy for the first half, but with boring stuff, unfortunately. Tomorrow is Pal's 25th high school reunion & we're popping by to say hello. Normally, that isn't particularly fun, except I've been friends with with a ton of people from Pal's class longer than he has, lol. We grew up going & working at summer camp together. Sunday, we're going to see a band at Cumberland Caverns in Kentucky. Live music two weeks in a row! It makes me happy.  I'll just stick to my usual fuck it & say Republicans again. Related, this happened. Oh, boy. Lol. The replies to this are quite an adventure. Highly recommend. https://t.co/3jGYWeVWix — The Volatile Mermaid (@OhNoSheTwitnt) June 1, 2023 Here's a funny dog video just because. The music really raises the stakes. 😂 pic.twitter.com/2n3r7UiGiQ — Heckin Good Dogs (@HeckinGoodDogs) May 30, 2023 How's your Friday goi...

  Good morning & welcome to June! How are we halfway through another year? Jeeze. The best thing about June is strawberries & I'm ready. :) Today is going to be hot & muggy here & the vagenda is staying inside after Ruby & I take our morning stroll. I suppose I should vacuum & mop as well. Thrilling day over here, lol. Here's some very cool wolf pup news. Trumpet is amazing. <3 1/3: As many of you know, Mexican gray wolf Trumpet recently brought 6 lively pups into the world! However, there’s more to celebrate – shortly after their birth, 5 of the pups embarked on a grand journey that few captive-born wolves ever get to experience... pic.twitter.com/vJJ7z9YVDx — Wolf Conservation Center 🐺 (@nywolforg) May 31, 2023 Lol. Always have.😉 pic.twitter.com/KP4MhVPx26 — Dan Phillips.🌊🌊🌊✌#votingbluealways (@Danphillipsresi) May 31, 2023 And finally, a very good point about why the raid yesterday in Atlanta is some fascist bs. Stop Cop City. What the A...