I wasn't PLANNING on having a lovely day

I was actually planning on having a terrible day. This weekend is for cleaning out the garage but I did other things instead and had a good time. I went to my most fabulous eye doctor and got very precise refinements for my eyeglasses AND I asked for three sets of contact lenses for three lagoon visits in Iceland. I am not wearing my glasses in the lagoons because if you get silica on your lenses they are done for. Now, really, ideally you wouldn't wear contacts either, but if I don't wear something I'll get a headache. 

Then I had lunch with a brilliant former coworker. The weather was fantastic. Eating outside was a pleasure. The company was great, we got to discuss all sorts of geeky energy questions. He's done two of my bucket list trips - Machu Piccu and Iceland. Alas for him, he messed up Iceland by going in February and for only three days. September is such a better, safer, warmer time to go and 10 days radically increases our chances of seeing the aurora borealis. 

While there it was just so easy to buy some basil at the hardware store. And then of course, the nursery was on the way home and it was just so easy to buy some more Irish Moss, some compost, and FINALLY some cilantro. While there I bought oyster shells that supposedly will keep the squirrel from ransacking my deck (which had NOTHING and eating my garden bulbs. Plus I got something that is NOT wolf pee but is supposed to repel rabbits, so I can take the cloches off the surviving heucheras. 

The weather was stunning. I drove past so much phlox. Cherry blossoms are in bloom. There are purple buds on trees. There are so many dogwood trees, including all the red dogwoods that I didn't know existed until the other day when Kate posted one. 

I'll clean tomorrow. 

Someone who decorated the eye doctor's stores likes cars very much, but I noticed the front crank from those very early days. 

Putin just banned Boris Johnson from Russia. I'm sure he's so hurt.

Ukraine's ichest man, who was even richer before Russia invaded Crimea, pledged to help rebuild Mariupol. He owns two steelworks there. 

There is bomb sniffing Ukrainian dog who is now famous. His name is Patron. He has helped remove hundreds of explosives left by Russia. He is a a 2-year-old Russell terrier. He loves cheese and belly  rubs. 


That fascinating regiment of ATV driving, drone flying soldiers is named Aerorozvidka. Their Latin motto is "Non dormies" or "You will not sleep." Russia doesn't routinely use night-vision gear. Although Russia's military vastly outspends Ukraine, their ground forces are not well equipped for fighting at night.


Russia silenced independent news media and banned social media platforms, leaving Telegram as the largest remaining outlet for unrestricted information. It is the most downloaded app in Russia. People are using it to access sites they accessed before the information crackdown, to organize antiwar protests, and to share media reports from the West. 


The West has been using sanctions and pushing and pushing to get Russia into a position where it defaults on its debt. Russia has continued to manage to slip out and not. But when they finally default, their cost of borrowing will increase for years. It will be essentially locked out of international capital markets, sharply hurting its economy for years.


Up to 100,000 people in the UK signed up to offer their home as part of the Homes for Ukraine scheme in the first day.