MOLES, THE SCOURGE OF MY GARDEN

           

Moles…I hate moles; not the kind on your body although if I had a lot of them, I’d probably hate those too. I’m talking about the ones that love to make a mess of my garden. I believe that for the moment, they are dormant; at least none of the decorations planted in the garden have been knocked over recently due to the tunnels beneath.

          The woman next door calls some mole removal service; and while I haven’t checked into that, I believe it wouldn’t fit into my budget. Years ago, I went to a seminar about gardening and the man giving the talk said that having a man pee (women don’t have the right smell/hormones) on the mounds will chase the moles away.

          You laugh, but I told the man who lived across the street and when he had to get up in the middle of the night, he’d go out and pee on the mounds. The moles left and have not returned to that yard and that was years ago. John wasn’t able to get out there to do that to my mole hills back then, so I had him pee in a bottle. Apparently, the pee has to be fresh, or John’s pee was wrong because it didn’t work.

          I receive a gardening catalog from some company, the name of which escapes me right this second. They advertised a method of eliminating the moles. I ordered it, two bags actually. It’s kind of like slug bait in composition. You sprinkle it all about your garden and the moles leave. Well, it worked the first time, but the moles must become habituated to it because this past year it did not work. I’m currently trying to decide if I should order a bunch more and spread it every single place in both the front and back yards.

          One year I tried ordering nematodes. Supposedly, they would take care of the “bugs” in the soil that the moles love to eat. This was expensive and very messy. The nematodes arrived dry and I had to put them into a spray container with water. Then I sprayed them all over the place. Again, I’m not sure they worked.

          Supposedly, the only mole deterrent that really works is catching them. I’m sorry, but I’m old and the idea of digging down to the tunnel, setting a trap and then going back to remove the, hopefully, dead mole seems just a bit beyond my abilities.

          The fact I have a greenbelt on the other side of my fence doesn’t help matters either. I’m sure the moles run rampant back there and eventually decide a trip into my garden for a potentially better menu is the way to go. Well, I’d really like them to just GO!!!

Meanwhile I guess I’ll check with the neighbor and get her mole catching firm’s name. It really sucks to work hard in my garden only to get up the next morning and find new mounds and tunnels…I hate that.

HYENA COMMERCIALS

           

For last couple of weeks, I’ve been sick with a cold and sore throat. As a result of that and lack of energy, I’ve watched a lot of television. I mostly watched old episodes of Criminal Minds, Law and Order, and whatever else caught my eye. I didn’t have the energy or focus ability to find something on Netflicks or Prime or HBO.

          Once good thing about being older is my ability to remember whether I’d seen the episodes before. There were a few where I knew what was going to happen, but so many others were just like new episodes to me. What really caught my eye/attention; however, were the commercials.

          These ads were for a wide variety of what had to be nonprofit companies trying to raise money for their cause whether it was dogs, cats, elephants or children or fixing the country in some way. I hate these commercials and wouldn’t donate a penny to any one of them and here’s why.

          Every single ad asks the viewer to pledge $19.00 every single month forever. Why $19.00? Has some ad reviewer reached the conclusion that this amount will really resonate with the viewer? I have no idea. Another aspect of these commercials is how they portray the immediacy of what my $19.00 will prevent, i.e., the animal won’t starve, especially if I pledge right now. Seriously, how is my pledge going to save an animal that’s on the verge of death? By the time the organization acquired my first $19.00, the animal would be long gone.

          The final thing that irritated the hell out of me was the “gift” I’d receive once I pledged, i.e., a plush or t-shirt. Why can’t these organization utilize those funds to feed the poor starving creatures? And, okay, the cost of these “gifts” is probably minimal, but if you put all those pennies together, you’d have enough to buy some dog food.

          These commercials must work; however, because they play over and over; sometimes more than once in the hour-long program. So, there must be people out there who take a photo of the QR code and sign up to provide $19.00 to that organization forever.

          I don’t have a lot of “disposable” income, but should I choose to make a gift to an organization, you can bet your bottom dollar I’ll check them out on Charity Navigator first. I tried that with a couple of the ones I saw and they weren’t rated…wonder why???

         I used a photo of a hyena because, while these organizations weren't asking me for funds to save them, in my opinion, they are closely related to this animal. 

SEARCHING FOR....

 

          For the last few months I’ve been going through stuff in the house. I think it was October when Thor and Xander came and hauled away all the boxes I’d filled. I think I blogged about this effort the end of October. In any case, it’s stuff that’s GONE.

          Just this past week, I was unable to find two pieces of paper I thought I needed, i.e., the property tax valuation card and the property tax notice. The excellent result of this fruitless search was two bags of shredded documents and clean files to begin 2026. Imagine my chagrin when I unclipped the papers that required these documents only to discover both documents attached behind. To add insult to injury, once I read over the document I planned to fill out, it became clear I receive too much money to qualify for old age assistance. Ah well.

          What brought me to write this post was one of the finds I made while searching…Kuma’s baby teeth. There they were, at least the ones I found/saved in a little plastic envelope. Looking at those and comparing them to his adult teeth, it doesn’t seem possible Kuma was ever that small. I don’t have all of them, only eight and am wondering if I couldn’t turn them into a piece of jewelry? You know, encase them in clear liquid plastic and make a bracelet or earrings. Seriously, do you know anyone who has their puppy’s baby teeth in some kind of format like this? Me neither…perhaps I could start one of those do it at home businesses I read about on Facebook.

          In the process of cleaning out drawers, I also pulled out all the connecting cords for I don’t know how many electronic devices. I’m sure I don’t even own some of the recipient pieces. They’re currently in a big pile on the counter with the exception of two which I was smart enough to identify at some point. I guess I need to spend a bit of time figuring out which cord goes to which gadget and eliminate the ones that no longer have a partner.

          Ah, the joy in my life is simply indescribable…can you tell???

LOOKING AHEAD

           

Looking forward from the lofty perch of the second day of the year, I’m feeling just a bit concerned financially. This is because I may have to make several purchases before the year ends. It’s funds I’m not too happy about spending, but the spending may become necessity.

          First, it’s this computer on which I’m currently typing. It was bought around 2016 or so, I think. I remember I had to buy two computers then (John needed one too) because there was a major glitch caused by Seattle City Light. That glitch paid for the computers and a couple of other things that were broken by a huge power surge. In any case, it’s been a good computer and is still working just fine.

          Why replace my computer you ask if it’s working just fine. Well, it has an old Microsoft Windows program and Microsoft has informed me, now almost on a daily basis, that this program is no longer supported. I guess that means I could lose everything that’s on this computer, but I’m not exactly sure. I guess I’ll need to do a bit of research before it gives up the ghost permanently.

          Still, I hate the thought of a new computer and having to figure out all the ins and outs. And yes, I know, it will be a learning challenge and at my age, I should welcome these challenges. But I don’t, really. I find myself preferring things not change AT ALL.

          The second purchase, which I’ve been aware of for some time, is a new refrigerator. Again, the one I have is working just fine. It freezes stuff in the freezer compartment and keeps the stuff cold in the other part. So, what’s the problem you ask.

          The problem is that there is water leaking down the back wall of the inside. It’s not a flood, but does require I use a couple of towels to soak it up when the puddle in the bottom of the fridge becomes large enough to want to run out onto the floor. This happens about every two weeks and it’s not a huge chore to rectify. I Remove one of the vegetable drawers and soak the water up with towels. The water isn’t stinky or discolored, merely COLD.

          My son, at some point last year, investigated the problem, thinking the drain line was plugged. It was not and he couldn’t figure out where or how the water was originating. It’s more of an annoyance than a problem, but it could definitely become one which would require the purchase of a new refrigerator.

          There are other things that could potentially require large monetary expenditures, but I’m choosing to be an ostrich; and, while I cannot actually stick my head in the sand, I am choosing not to think of those other large potential monetary necessities on this, the second day of the new year.

HAPPY NEW YEAR Y'ALL

          

 Happy New Year y’all. On this, the first day of 2026, I’ve resolved (That’s not the same as making a resolution, and I checked the thesaurus to make sure.) to attempt to blog every single day. Some days it may not be more than a sentence or two, especially if I’m not feeling especially inspired; and other days, it might be a lot more.

          I’ve resolved to do this in an effort to get my life under control; and it’s not as though my life has become crazy because, if anything, it’s boring, boring, boring. What I’m attempting is to put aside the books I spend hours of my day devouring only to barely remember what they were about a few days later. I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s a way for me to avoid my life and the choices I need to make to have a better one.

          I’ve also resolved to not post on Facebook every single time I blog which will be every single day. This decision isn’t necessarily new because I haven’t been doing that with the blogs I’ve posted now and then in the past. I will post this particular blog piece mainly to let y;all know I’m back at it. It will be then be your choice to save the link and check back now and then to see if I actually have anything to say every single day.

          What’s the plan that will keep me from burying my nose in a book while life rushes on by…and believe me, at the ripe old age of eighty, it’s RUSHING, RUSHING< RUSHING. Well, I want to spend more time working on my driftwood since I now have a space set up for that very purpose. I also want to keep a cleaner, more organized house. And, Kuma, poor Kuma, he needs way more attention than he’s been receiving, so we must take walks and play together. When spring arrives, and perhaps before, I want to be out in the garden. I enjoy that, especially when it grows and blooms and becomes what I envisioned.

          Finally, I want to make my fingers dance across the keyboard while my brain pulls thoughts, ideas and stories from its recesses. And, like I said in the beginning of this, the first one, my brain may provide only a sentence or two; but I never know until my fingers begin to dance over the keyboard what may come forth. Please save and use the link you found on Facebook for my daily posts.

2025 COMES TO AN END

        

Happy New Year!!!! Yep, that’s happening tonight, or should I say tomorrow morning because it changes at midnight and becomes morning immediately. Once again, I’ll undoubtedly be tucked safely and warmly in my bed with Kuma. I might even be asleep unless there’s lots of fireworks and Kuma decides he’s going to bark in celebration this year…or would that be next year.

          Ah, how things have changed over the decades I’ve watched an old year become a new year. I remember finally being allowed to stay up and bang on my mom’s pots to welcome the new year. Back then, it seemed a huge period of time before the next one.

          Grown up, more or less, I took to celebrating with friends and perhaps a bit of illegal booze. It was never that much booze and didn’t happen every year. Once married; however, there was a whole group of us that would congregate, eat, drink and make merry. I fondly remember how all the guys went around kissing all us girls at the stroke of midnight. Of course, the best kiss came from my husband.

          With the advent of children, the partying at the new year pretty much ended. Sure, we’d stay up most times to welcome in the new year; and then, when the boys were older, they got to make noise and participate just as I had when I was their age.

          Much later in life, the boys off on their own, John and I would welcome January 1^st alone together in our bedroom. Sometimes we even managed to stay awake after we’d shared our own festivities. I especially liked those evenings when John would rise and make us fried egg sandwiches on white bread…they were so good so how could they be so bad for us.

          Years later, John didn’t even attempt to stay up to midnight. He was usually tucked up and sound asleep well before midnight. I, on the other hand, would stay up reading my book or watching television. I might also spend some time revisiting the years that came before and marvel at how young we’d been then.

          Nowadays, or at least for the last six new years, I’ve been here on my own. Initially, I had Karma and Kaizer and then Kuma. Of course, Kuma has no idea that tonight will be a big event, so he'll think and will let me know that it’s time for bed. Once there, Kuma will nod off immediately while I’ll watch television until my eyes close, and that could be well before midnight. If there are fireworks, both Kuma and I may wake up. He may bark and I’ll get up and go to the bathroom.

          Then, new year or not, it will be back to sleep for both of us…quite the celebratory pair aren’t we.

AMAZED IT'S ALMOST 2026

          

  Tomorrow will be the end of another year, a year I never actually thought I’d see and live through when I was just a young girl/woman. I think even when I became middle-aged, the idea of being here in 2025 seemed far-fetched. But it came and is now going and I was here for the entire time. Guess I should look back and see if there’s anything momentous for which I should pat myself on the back….beyond surviving that is.

          Actually, when thinking of momentous, I believe those experiences are far behind me. There were no births or extreme changes in my life; at least nothing  that really stands out. Time flew by and it seemed as though passage of the seven days between filling up the weekly pill case happened almost overnight.

          There were no big purchases, trips, or losses to remember and I know I should be and am grateful for the even course my life traveled. My health remained very good which enabled me to live alone with just Kuma as my housemate.

          I did make one new friend, having always thought that once you reached this age, new friendships didn’t happen. There were some deaths which which left a number of holes in the weave of my life  where those folks no longer reside. I do miss those individuals and the knowledge they are no longer a phone call or lunch date away saddens me.

Looking back, I see that in so very many ways, my life in 2025, while not very momentous, was good, very good and for that and the ease with which I traversed that time, I am very very thankful. Now, in one mor day, it’s on to 2026, another year which seemed, not all that long ago, to be far far away.