Marmalade!

I lucked out. I got to see the whole video of the Queen meeting Paddington Bear. I know I'm lucky because I tried to show Karen the video and it seems like the full version has been taken down everywhere. I'm not really familiar with Paddington Bear but it was very cute. I'm glad Britain had a four-day party, you deserve it. 

I talked with a neighbor and multiple people have removed their azaleas, but not with the idea of keeping it alive afterwards. She removed hers with cussed determination and another neighbor drove by as she was finishing and said he'd just attached his to his SUV and pulled it out. If I decide to remove it I'm sure he'll help me. 

I removed the suffering acuba and the dead blueberry bush through ignorance. Maybe I'll leave the azalea there. Maybe I'll ask my neighbor to move it. I worry that I'll remove it and fail to grow anything else in its place. The soil seemed reasonably nice though. (I actually don't like the current azalea's color at all - but it is alive.) Ok, new question - did you know that azaleas can have variegated foliage???? Thanks to Tookie I now do. 

Ok, newer question - plant a dwarf azalea in its place? 14 inches deep by well over 7 feet wide, but the dwarf is supposed to grow to 2.5 feet. And I don't have to decide this year, although I'm home now and it is easier to establish everything this year. 

This is a new bloom on my beloved blue lacecap hydrangea. It grew so much it covered up my stone path and I forgot I had one. Now it is continuing to grow and I'll have to prune it if I don't want it to cover the newly laid stone path. How big can this grow??

If an enemy is shooting at you, and you want to stop them, you need to know where they are. The best way to find them is counter-artillery radar. This detects shells in flight and traces their trajectory back to the point of origin. The US has supplied Ukraine with some and they can locate where the weapons firing are before the first shells even land. Drones can spot smoke clouds from the artillery firing and Ukraine makes fantastic use of drones.

SpaceX provided Starlink. Starlink has provided internet where cell towers in Ukraine have been destroyed. In cities taken over by Russians where there was no Starlink people were told that there was no longer a country of Ukraine and they were so cut off that they began to believe it.  To date Starlink has resisted Russian hacking attempts. 

A howitzer is a long-range weapon, longer range than a cannon. Ukraine has Norwegian howitzers. Norway may have donated 20, plus 4,700 light anti-tank weapons. Ukraine also got a new batch of French-made howitzers. Then there is yet another type of howitzer developed by the UK, Italy, and Germany, and Ukraine has a bunch of them. 

Lithuania provided and will provide more M113 armored personnel carriers. They look like a tank ate too much. Lithuania is also providing humanitarian and medical assistance., plus weapons, since the beginning. The Turkish company that is providing the drone to Lithuania for free so they can give it to Ukraine? They asked that the money raised to buy the drone be used for humanitarian purposes.  

The US and a number of other countries are also providing M113 armored personnel carriers.

Russians wish the war would stop. They are tired of being international pariahs. They want a McDonald's cheeseburger. McDonald's was a symbol of being part of the international community. They want Netflix. The little things in life are gone and vacation plans are ruined. Some people know what is going on and are horrified and they know the world will never forgive them. Some are buying the official party line. 

Russians leave their dead behind, and often their wounded. Since Russia didn't want to negotiate exchanging dead, Ukraine has been creating a database so Russian parents can find out if their children are gone. It has a website and a Telegram channel so Russians can search pictures or fill out a form. NATO estimates Russia has lost 7-15,000 people. Ukraine, based on battlefield reports and Russian communications and the 7000 Russian bodies it has, estimates 18,600. In ten years in Afghanistan the Soviet Union lost fewer than 15,000.  


The Committee of Soldiers’ Mothers of Russia (CSMR) was formed in 1989 when Russian mothers learned of the horrible conditions their children were serving in. The leader retired but when the Russian military was building up near the Ukrainian border in December, parents called her. Her advice was to get their sons and hide them or tell them to run away. She believes Ukraine's numbers. 

Lots of Ukrainians used to be pro-Russian. They spoke Russian. They felt Russian. Now they are deliberately speaking Ukrainian even if it means they are learning it and they are vowing their children will grow up speaking Ukrainian. 

Back to some happy news, everyone is thrilled that Ukraine won the World Cup qualifier and President Zelensky thanked the team for two hours of happiness. Russia isn't allowed to play.