Friday, April 11, 2025

Another day

Marsh marigolds... I found them again with limited blossoming in the Big Spring in the valley.


The Skunk Cabbage has come up in the valley also. I guess these little workers thought they should clean up the plants before I got there.


 
An Eastern Phoebe came to visit us. I hope she/he would stick around. I liked the calls it made. These shots were just before it clouded over and became a dreary day.




So. I was looking at our budgets carefully with all the economic turmoil going on and the 'magical' tariffs that could crush us...

I noticed that Charlie's food which is a bit pricey anyway is made in the USA with components from Canada, Thailand, Peru, and about 7 other countries. The label says "Made in the USA with global components you can trust".

So. What will happen to this line of dog food? I have used Hill's Science Diet for him for a while. 
I started to look at packages to see where the parts come from or where they are shipped from. While some are thinking we might feel a bit of a pinch, I see everything we touch in our homes that is modern has 'global components'.  How did I never think of it before?

I'm just using the dog food as an example. My sweet feed is actually made at a feed mill from local sources, but not everyone can access something like that. But the mill uses 'components' to run its machinery, it pays local farmers for their product that they mix. The farmers need 'components' from other countries to fertilize and run their equipment.

I almost feel like we are entering another episode of Covid in a way. We don't know what the next week will bring or how the supply chains will react. 

Hubby tells me to chill out. He is not really worried [thank goodness for his stroke and dementia for that!]. He also reminds me that our Parents survived WWII and our Grands survived WWI, Prohibition, the Dust Bowl, the Spanish Flu, and the Great Depression. [not all in that order]

I think back to my Grandparents and how they continued to live in a lifestyle that they had during the Depression and the War through our prosperous years. They lived in the fear of everything going to hell in a handbasket as Grandpa Fred used to say.


What does this do to the future for my Grandkids? My adult kids?

I want to ignore what is going on in the news. Wouldn't that be nice? Wouldn't it be nice to go back to boring politics that no one really paid much attention to?

So, I just have to carry on trying to do the right thing, whatever that might be.

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Cob, my Steampunk Minifig, is dealing with things quite well. Apparently he has a notion of building his own place.






Hubby's birthday is today. Yesterday his Home Health Aide brought him candy and a birthday wish. She even gave him a Birthday Hug. 

I imagine that Hospice people really get attached to their patients. I know this young lady does. She brings weekly joy into our house with a simple thing such as a bath.

For now? 
I'll take that.

17 comments:

  1. Anonymous8:03 AM

    Today is my husband’s birthday also! Oh the fires we have to put out from the “Aries”! My mother is an Aries also. Thank goodness for hospice people. I don’t know how they do it, but am so thankful most love their patients. RHill, TX

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    1. Oh how fun! I'm a Gemini so I guess we are okay??? LOL. I cannot see to firey people together, but I bet it works!

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  2. I love your photos of the Eastern Phoebe -- real action shots! I hope your hubby has a wonderful birthday today.

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    1. Thank you, I love taking action shots of birds. I do have a camera that will sort of track and shoot fast so I am pretty lucky in that respect.

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  3. Those angels from Hospice are miracle workers. That is all I can say.
    The photos of the bird - Just Sensational!!
    I am in a hole with tariffs. I am reading every label and over reacting. My hair dye is made in Mexico, I ordered six boxes. I pulled out the foil, made someplace, I went to the store and bought six more boxes. I know I am over reacting. That is what I do. And why do I think it is over reacting? Because he is absolutely nuts. He is either going to sink the ship entirely and hair dye and foil won't matter or he will just laugh, forget the stock market and tariffs and go on to some new pet project like the shower heads or taking voting rights away from women.

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    1. Yes, that 'Save' act is dangerous. I for one will then get a passport as I'd like to travel back to Canada one day.

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    2. Ps...Yes those Hospice workers are Angels aren't they?

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  4. Happy birthday to him! Phoebe, the bird that says her name, and skunk cabbage, the plant with its own heating system.

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    1. Yes! Not many people know that about the skunk cabbage! I have photos of them in the years past with snow and ice around them melted!

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  5. I don't recall seeing the one with the wings spread in the other place.

    It's hard not to fret. The unknown is difficult to face when it comes with threats.

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    1. The shot with the wings spread is on Flickr, I think I posted about 4 shots and maybe only the first one shows up in your feed.

      Fretting is something I am excellent at!

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  6. Those are magical photos of the bird; worth enlarging! Yep, most hospice aides and nurses really enjoy their jobs. Just making things a little more comfortable and easier for families is a blessing. Best part of nursing in my career, except for the horrid paperwork. Enjoy the sunshine. Linda in Kansas

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  7. We have an eastern phoebe stop at our yard for a bit every summer, but I only identified it last year.

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    1. Nice to meet you Kate! I do enjoy seeing the different birds even if they are common ones.

      My step daughter brought her dad a barn shaped feeder for his birthday!

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  8. Great captures of the Eastern Phoebe, especially the way you have frozen the wings. I haven’t seen one here yet, but the other day I heard one in an area where they have nested for years. Great little bird. Hardy, too.

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  9. Anonymous8:42 AM

    First of all, Happy Birthday to Rich!!!! My Mom worked for hospice and yes, that is a very caring thing to do. Not easy, but loving. Little Wonder gets 1 cup of kibble each day but I also make him people food which is mixed in (two tablespoons with each meal.... could be eggs, rice, cooked carrots, peas, pasta, chicken, green beans, and a few other things.) He is happy to eat anything I eat. Maybe I will buy a couple extra bags of the kibble part. So expensive now. There is so much anxiety everywhere now. The world is not happy. Lori

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  10. Congratulations to the Aries child... my grandson also had his birthday yesterday, and my mom's the day before... my husband is also an Aries child, his birthday is at the end of March... and since my birthday is in February, we have the most beautiful flowers of the entire year on our living room table at the end of February and March.
    Love to you from Viola
    P.S. Unfortunately, I didn't buy that beautiful fabric with the flowers - I liked it so much :-))
    Your wonderful photos of the Eastern Phoebe delighted me... I looked online, but they don't have them here. I hope you'll be able to see the bird often.
    Hug

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